Mist inhaler devices for delivering nicotine

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12434019-B2
Application number	US-202418609731-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 19, 2024
Priority date	Dec 15, 2019
Publication date	Oct 7, 2025
Grant date	Oct 7, 2025

Abstract

A mist inhaler device ( 200 ) for generating a mist for inhalation by a user. The device includes a mist generator device ( 201 ) and a driver device ( 202 ). The driver device ( 202 ) is configured to drive the mist generator device ( 201 ) at an optimum frequency to maximise the efficiency of mist generation by the mist generator device ( 201 ).

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A mist inhaler device for delivering nicotine, the device comprising:
a liquid to be atomized, the liquid including the nicotine;
an ultrasonic transducer to atomize the liquid to generate a mist comprising the atomized liquid;
a housing for housing the ultrasonic transducer the housing comprising an air inlet port and a mist outlet port of a mouthpiece;
an AC driver for generating an AC drive signal at a frequency to drive the ultrasonic transducer;
an active power monitor for monitoring the active power used by the ultrasonic transducer when the ultrasonic transducer is driven by the AC drive signal, wherein the active power monitor provides a monitoring signal which is indicative of the active power used by the ultrasonic transducer;
a processor for controlling the AC driver and for receiving the monitoring signal from the active power monitor; and
a memory storing instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
A) control the AC driver to output an AC drive signal to the ultrasonic transducer at a predetermined sweep frequency;
B) calculate the active power being used by the ultrasonic transducer based on the monitoring signal;
C) control the AC driver to modulate the AC drive signal to maximise the active power being used by the ultrasonic transducer;
D) store a record in the memory of the maximum active power used by the ultrasonic transducer and the sweep frequency of the AC drive signal;
E) repeat steps A-D for a predetermined number of iterations with the sweep frequency varying with each iteration such that, after the predetermined number of iterations has occurred, the sweep frequency has been varied between a start sweep frequency to an end sweep frequency;
F) identify from the records stored in the memory an optimum frequency for the AC drive signal which is the sweep frequency of the AC drive signal at which a maximum active power is used by the ultrasonic transducer; and
G) control the AC driver to output the AC drive signal to the ultrasonic transducer at the optimum frequency to drive the ultrasonic transducer to atomize the liquid.

2. The mist inhaler device of claim 1 further comprising:
an identification arrangement comprising:
an integrated circuit having a memory which stores a unique identifier; and
an electrical connection which provides an electronic interface for communication with the integrated circuit.

3. The mist inhaler device of claim 1 further comprising:
a current sensor for sensing a drive current of the AC drive signal driving the ultrasonic transducer, wherein the active power monitor provides the monitoring signal which is indicative of the sensed drive current.

4. The mist inhaler device of claim 3 , wherein the current sensor comprises an Analog-to-Digital Converter which converts the sensed drive current into a digital signal for processing by the processor.

5. The mist inhaler device of claim 1 , wherein the memory stores instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
repeat steps A-D with the sweep frequency being varied between a start sweep frequency of 2900 kHz to an end sweep frequency of 2960 KHz.

6. The mist inhaler device of claim 1 , wherein the memory stores instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
repeat steps A-D with the sweep frequency being incremented from a start sweep frequency of 2900 kHz to an end sweep frequency of 3100 kHz.

7. The mist inhaler device of claim 1 , wherein the memory stores instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
repeat steps A-D with the sweep frequency being incremented from a start sweep frequency of 2.8 MHz to an end sweep frequency of 3.2 MHz.

8. The mist inhaler device of claim 1 , wherein the memory stores instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
in step G, control the AC driver to output an AC drive signal to the ultrasonic transducer at frequency which is shifted between 1-10% of the optimum frequency.

9. The mist inhaler device of claim 1 further comprising:
a wireless communication microcontroller including a transceiver which is in communication with the processor, the wireless communication microcontroller being configured to wirelessly transmit and receive data between the mist inhaler device and a second processor remote from the mist inhaler device.

10. The mist inhaler device of claim 1 , wherein the AC driver modulates the AC drive signal by pulse width modulation to maximise the active power being used by the ultrasonic transducer.

11. The mist inhaler device of claim 1 , further in combination with a mobile companion digital app.

12. The mist inhaler device of claim 11 , wherein the mobile companion digital app is a link between a user account on a manufacturer's digital platform and the mist inhaler device to control usage of the liquid to be atomized for a restricted duration of time and to control a puff duration of the atomized liquid.

13. The mist inhaler device of claim 11 , wherein the mobile companion digital app restricts access to the mist inhaler device to a time frame.

14. The mist inhaler device of claim 13 further comprising:
a one-time-programmable (OTP) integrated circuit to identify the mist inhaler device and the liquid to be atomized associated with the mist inhaler device.

15. The mist inhaler device of claim 14 , wherein the OTP integrated circuit identifies whether the mist inhaler device is a genuine device manufactured by a trusted party and sold on an authorized digital sale point.

16. The mist inhaler device of claim 1 , wherein the liquid has a liquid viscosity between 1.05 Pa·s and 1.412 Pa·s and a liquid density between 1.1 g/ml and 1.3 g/ml.

17. The mist inhaler device of claim 1 , wherein the liquid includes at least one of:
a nicotine salt, nicotine levulinate, a flavoring, propylene glycol (PG), or vegetable glycerin (VG).

18. The mist inhaler device of claim 1 , wherein the liquid comprises a nicotine salt consisting of nicotine levulinate.

19. The mist inhaler device of claim 1 , wherein the liquid comprises an amount of the nicotine and/or nicotine salt from 0.1 to 80 mg/ml, or from 0.1 to 50 mg/ml, or from 1 to 25 mg/ml, or from 10 to 20 mg/ml, or 17 mg/ml.

20. The mist inhaler device of claim 1 , wherein the liquid comprises an amount of vegetable glycerin (VG) from 55 to 80% (w/w), or from 60 to 80% (w/w), or from 65 to 75% (w/w), or 70% (w/w).

21. The mist inhaler device of claim 1 , wherein the liquid comprises an amount of propylene glycol (PG) in the composition from 5 to 30% (w/w), or from 10 to 30% (w/w), or from 15 to 25% (w/w), or 20% (w/w).

22. A system including a mist inhaler device for delivering nicotine, the system comprising:
a liquid to be atomized, the liquid including the nicotine;
an ultrasonic transducer to atomize the liquid to generate a mist comprising the atomized liquid;
a housing for housing the ultrasonic transducer, the housing comprising an air inlet port and a mist outlet port of a mouthpiece;
an AC driver for generating an AC drive signal at a frequency to drive the ultrasonic transducer;
an active power monitor for monitoring the active power used by the ultrasonic transducer when the ultrasonic transducer is driven by the AC drive signal, wherein the active power monitor provides a monitoring signal which is indicative of the active power used by the ultrasonic transducer;

Assignees

• Shaheen Innovations Holding Ltd

Inventors

• Alshaiba Saleh Ghannam Almazrouei Mohammed
• Bhatti Sajid
• Machovec Jeff
• Lamoureux Clement
• Lahoud Imad

Classifications

• A61M2205/3331

  Pressure; Flow · CPC title

• A24F40/50

  Control or monitoring · CPC title

• B05B17/0669

  Excitation frequencies · CPC title

• A61M2205/8212

  with means or measures taken for minimising energy consumption · CPC title

• A61M2230/40

  Respiratory characteristics · CPC title