Reservoir and heater system for controllable delivery of multiple aerosolizable materials in an electronic smoking article

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12114706-B2
Application number	US-202117474239-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 14, 2021
Priority date	Jun 28, 2012
Publication date	Oct 15, 2024
Grant date	Oct 15, 2024

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to an electronic smoking article that provides for improved aerosol delivery. Particularly, the article provides for separate delivery of two or more components of an aerosol precursor composition to one or more heaters so as to control the rate of delivery or the rate of heating of the separate components of the aerosol precursor composition.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A smoking article comprising:
a mouthend comprising an opening;
an air passage through at least a portion of the smoking article;
storage containing an aerosol precursor composition that comprises at least one aerosol forming material and one or more inhalable substances, the storage comprising at least two separate reservoirs;
at least one vaporization component that uses electrical energy to vaporize the aerosol precursor composition for addition to air in the air passage to form an aerosol for delivery through the opening of the mouthend; and
a control component configured to separately control vaporization of the at least one aerosol forming material and the one or more inhalable substances,
wherein the smoking article is effective to provide for generation of aerosols of desired composition by controlling a rate of transport of the at least one aerosol forming material and a rate of transport of the one or more inhalable substances to the at least one vaporization component and controlling the operation of the at least one vaporization component,
wherein the rate of transport of the at least one aerosol forming material differs from the rate of transport of the one or more inhalable substances by about 15% or less.

2. The smoking article of claim 1 , wherein the at least one vaporization component includes a heating element.

3. The smoking article of claim 2 , wherein the heating element is a resistive heating element.

4. The smoking article of claim 1 , wherein the at least one aerosol forming material comprises one or more polyols.

5. The smoking article of claim 1 , wherein the aerosol precursor composition further includes one or more organic acids.

6. The smoking article of claim 1 , wherein the one or more inhalable substances is nicotine.

7. The smoking article of claim 1 , wherein the one or more inhalable substances is a flavor.

8. The smoking article of claim 1 , wherein the one or more inhalable substances is a tobacco component or tobacco-derived material.

9. The smoking article of claim 1 , wherein the smoking article is configured for input of one or more commands by a user.

10. The smoking article of claim 9 , wherein the one or more commands are effective to elicit a variety of responses by the smoking article.

11. The smoking article of claim 9 , wherein the smoking article comprises a capacitance sensor configured for the input of the one or more commands.

12. The smoking article of claim 11 , wherein the capacitance sensor includes one or more of a touch capacitance sensor, a motion capacitance sensor, and a liquid capacitance sensor.

13. The smoking article of claim 9 , wherein the smoking article comprises an accelerometer configured for the input of the one or more commands.

14. The smoking article of claim 1 , wherein the control component is configured to separately control vaporization so that the one or more inhalable substances are released at a desired dose.

15. The smoking article of claim 14 , wherein the control component is configured to energize the at least one vaporization component for a specified duration to effect release of the one or more inhalable substances at the desired dose.

16. The smoking article of claim 14 , wherein the at least one vaporization component is a heater, and wherein the control component is configured to energize the heater to a specified temperature to effect release of the one or more inhalable substances at the desired dose.

17. The smoking article of claim 1 , wherein the smoking article is configured to control the rate at which the aerosol precursor composition is transported to the at least one vaporization component to effect release of the one or more inhalable substances at the desired dose.

18. The smoking article of claim 1 , wherein the at least one vaporization component is a heater, and wherein the control component is configured to control a flow of electrical current to the heater such that the heater provides about 5 to about 50 Joules of heat per second.

Assignees

• Rai Strategic Holdings Inc

Inventors

• Sebastian Andries Don
• Taluskie Karen V
• Sears Stephen Benson
• Ingebrethsen Bradley James
• Ademe Balager
• Alderman Steven Lee
• Collett William Robert
• Dooly Grady Lance
• Novak Iii Charles Jacob

Classifications

• A24F40/44

  Wicks · CPC title

• A24F40/10

  Devices using liquid inhalable precursors · CPC title

• A24F40/30 Primary

  Devices using two or more structurally separated inhalable precursors, e.g. using two liquid precursors in two cartridges · CPC title

• A24F40/50 Primary

  Control or monitoring · CPC title