# US 11,432,594 B2 · Dispenser unit for aerosol precursor > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,432,594 B2 - Document ID: US11432594B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 16/896,700 - Filed: 2020-06-09 - Published: 2020-09-24 - Granted: 2022-09-06 - Earliest claimed: 2017-02-02 - Assignees: RAI Strategic Holdings, Inc. - Applicants: RAI Strategic Holdings, Inc. - Inventors: Andries Don Sebastian; Charles Jacob Novak, III; Alvaro Gonzalez-Parra; Eugenia Theophilus; Marielle Anitra Keyna des Etages; Joseph Dominique; Wesley Steven Jones; Bradley Phillips; Mark Dockrill; Simon A. English; Simon Philip Adam Higgins; Thomas Crugnale; Jeffrey Hughes; Robert Neil; David Pritchard - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11432594B2 ## CPC - A24F 47/00: Smokers' requisites not otherwise provided for - B01F 31/22: with supporting means moving in a horizontal plane, e.g. describing an orbital path for moving the containers about an axis which intersects the receptacle axis at an angle - B01F 31/50: with a receptacle submitted to a combination of movements, i.e. at least one vibratory or oscillatory movement - B01F 33/85: Mixing plants with mixing receptacles or mixing tools that can be indexed into different working positions - B65B 3/003: {Filling medical containers such as ampoules, vials, syringes or the like} - B65B 3/12: mechanically, e.g. by pistons or pumps - B65B 3/30: by volumetric measurement - B65B 7/28: by applying separate preformed closures, e.g. lids, covers - B65B 31/003: {Adding propellants in fluid form to aerosol containers (in solid form B65B31/10)} - B65B 43/42: Feeding or positioning bags, boxes, or cartons in the distended, opened, or set-up state; Feeding preformed rigid containers, e.g. tins, capsules, glass tubes, glasses, to the packaging position; Locating containers or receptacles at the filling position (by means of filling-nozzles B65B39/00); Supporting containers or receptacles during the filling operation (by filling-nozzles B65B39/00) - B65B 57/10: responsive to absence, presence, abnormal feed, or misplacement of articles or materials to be packaged - B65D 1/0246: {Closure retaining means, e.g. beads, screw-threads} - B65D 41/04: Threaded or like caps or cap-like covers secured by rotation - B65D 47/12: having removable closures - B65D 47/36: Closures with frangible parts adapted to be pierced, torn or removed, to provide discharge openings (caps with pierceable membranes B65D41/20, B65D41/50; arrangements of closures with protective outer cap-like covers or of two or more co-operating closures B65D51/18) - B65D 50/00: Closures with means for discouraging unauthorised opening or removal thereof, with or without indicating means, e.g. child-proof closures - B65D 50/04: requiring the combination of simultaneous actions, e.g. depressing and turning, lifting and turning, maintaining a part and turning another one ({B65D50/061} takes precedence) - B65D 50/048: {and such deformation causes the engagement of means, e.g. threads, to allow removal of the closure by simultaneous rotation} - B65D 51/18: Arrangements of closures with protective outer cap-like covers or of two or more co-operating closures {(B65D51/247 takes precedence)} - A24F 15/015: with means for refilling of liquid inhalable precursors - A24F 40/00: Electrically operated smoking devices; Component parts thereof; Manufacture thereof; Maintenance or testing thereof; Charging means specially adapted therefor - A24F 40/10: Devices using liquid inhalable precursors - B65B 2210/04: Customised on demand packaging by determining a specific characteristic, e.g. shape or height, of articles or material to be packaged and selecting, creating or adapting a packaging accordingly, e.g. making a carton starting from web material - B65B 2220/14: Adding more than one type of material or article to the same package - B65D 2251/0015: of the 41-type - B65D 2251/0046: of the 41-type - B65D 2251/0087: of the 47-type - A24F: SMOKERS' REQUISITES; MATCH BOXES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES (inhaling appliances for medical purposes, shaped like cigars, cigarettes or pipes A61M15/06) - B01F: MIXING, e.g. DISSOLVING, EMULSIFYING OR DISPERSING (mixing paints B44D3/06) - B65B: MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING (bundling and pressing devices for cigars A24C1/44; devices for tensioning and securing binders adapted to be supported by the article or articles to be bound B25B25/00; applying closure members to bottles, jars or similar containers B67B1/00-B67B6/00; concurrent cleaning, filling and closing of bottles B67C7/00; emptying bottles, jars, cans, casks, barrels or similar containers B67C9/00) - B65D: CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES ## Abstract A unit for mixing and dispensing an aerosol precursor composition, and containers to be dispensed therefrom. The unit includes a plurality of bulk material filling stations, the plurality of bulk material filling stations have at least one first filling station with aerosol former and at least one second filling station with a flavor material for creating the aerosol precursor. The unit also includes a bulk consumable pack staging a plurality of containers configured to receive the aerosol precursor, and a robot configured to retrieve a container from the bulk consumable pack and move the container through at least two dimensions to stop at at least two of the plurality of bulk material filling stations. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A unit for mixing and dispensing an aerosol precursor composition, the unit comprising: a plurality of bulk material filling stations, the plurality of bulk material filling stations comprising at least one first filling station having aerosol former and at least one second filling station having a flavor material for creating the aerosol precursor; a bulk consumable pack staging a plurality of containers configured to receive the aerosol precursor; and a robot configured to retrieve a container from the bulk consumable pack and move the container through at least two dimensions to stop at at least two of the plurality of bulk material filling stations. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The unit of claim 1, further comprising a capping station configured to remove a cap from the container prior to filling the container at at least two of the plurality of bulk material filling stations, and configured to attach the cap after filling the container with the aerosol precursor. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The unit of claim 1, further comprising a testing station configured to measure an amount of the aerosol precursor within the container. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The unit of claim 1, further comprising a labeling station configured to provide indicia based upon the flavor material. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The unit of claim 1, wherein each bulk material filling station comprises a pump. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The unit of claim 5, wherein the pump is integrated with a reservoir to form a bulk material pack that is removable from the bulk material filling station. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The unit of claim 6, wherein the pump comprises a staging chamber in communication with the reservoir, the staging chamber configured to hold a measured dose of the respective bulk material. ### Claim 8 (depends on 6) The unit of claim 6, further comprising an RFID antenna attached to a stage of the robot, the RFID antenna configured to read an RFID tag on the bulk material pack. ### Claim 9 (depends on 5) The unit of claim 5, wherein the pump is configured to dispense a measured dose of the respective bulk material with each activation of the pump. ### Claim 10 (depends on 5) The unit of claim 5, wherein the pump is activated by being pressed by a portion of the robot or the container. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The unit of claim 1, wherein each container comprises a child resistant feature and a tamper evident feature. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The unit of claim 11, wherein each container comprises: a bottle having a storage volume for holding the aerosol precursor, and a cap, the cap comprising: a nozzle; an inner cover comprising a tamper evident band; and an outer cover provided over the inner cover, wherein the outer cover creates the child resistant feature limiting an ability to remove the inner cover from the bottle, wherein, in a first state, the nozzle, inner cover, and outer cover are simultaneously removable from the bottle, and in a second state, the nozzle is substantially permanently fixed to the bottle. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The unit of claim 12, wherein the bottle has a neck comprising external threads; the nozzle is configured to at least partially fit within the neck, the nozzle having an aperture for dispensing the aerosol precursor from the bottle; the inner cover further comprises: internal threads for engagement with the external threads of the neck, and the tamper evident band is positioned within an interior of the inner cover. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The unit of claim 13, wherein, in the first state, the cap is engaged with the bottle such that the nozzle is inserted into the neck by a first insertion distance I1, and the inner cover is threadingly engaged with the neck by a first thread distance T1; wherein, in the second state, the cap is engaged with the bottle such that the nozzle is inserted into the neck by a second insertion distance I2, I2 being greater than I1, and the inner cover is threadingly engaged with the neck by a second thread distance T2, T2 being greater than T1; and wherein, in a third state, the nozzle is inserted into the neck by the second insertion distance I2, and the inner cover is not threadingly engaged with the neck such that the aerosol precursor within the bottle can be dispensed through the aperture of the nozzle. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The unit of claim 14, further comprising a fourth state, wherein in the fourth state, the cap is removed from the bottle to allow for at least partially filling the storage volume with the aerosol precursor. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The unit of claim 15, wherein the nozzle comprises a detent to snap fit into the inner cover such that the nozzle is removed from the bottle with the inner cover. ### Claim 17 (depends on 13) The unit of claim 13, wherein the neck further comprises a radial flange, and wherein, in the first state, the tamper evident band is not activated, and wherein, in the second state, the tamper evident band is activated by being positioned below the radial flange, such that when the inner cover is removed to achieve the third state, the band is damaged as the band passes the radial flange. ### Claim 18 (depends on 12) The unit of claim 12 wherein, in the second state, the inner cover abuts a bottle alignment stop formed on the neck, wherein the bottle alignment stop facilitates alignment of side walls of the bottle with side wall of the cap in the second state if the respective side walls are not cylindrical. ### Claim 19 (depends on 1) The unit of claim 1, comprising a plurality of second bulk material filling stations, each having a bulk material selected from one of nicotine, menthol, fruit flavors, floral flavors, and savory flavors. ### Claim 20 (depends on 1) The unit of claim 1, further comprising a user interface configured to receive selection information that dictates at which of the plurality of bulk material stations the robot will stop. ### Claim 21 (depends on 20) The unit of claim 20, further comprising a controller having a processor for controlling the robot to stop at the desired bulk material filling stations and dispense the desired amount of bulk material from each bulk material filling station.