Controlled Bubble Nucleation
Assignee2792684 Ontario Inc.
InventorJay Clarke HANAN
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A heater with intentional surface aberrations spaced apart a predetermined distance allows for an efficient heating process by encouraging bubble nucleation at the sites of the aberrations. The spacing between aberrations creates a soft restriction to the size of the bubbles, which encourages a maximum bubble size. This reduces the likelihood of the creation of large bubbles that may inhibit heat transfer to the liquid. In embodiments where the liquid is a thin film over the heater, such as in ENDS applications, this structure can be used to skew droplet production to certain ranges of droplet sizes based on controlling the size of the bubbles.
Claims20
A heater for heating a liquid having a set of physical characteristics including a viscosity and a boiling point, the heater comprising:
- a heating surface for transferring heat into the liquid;
- and
- first and second aberrations on the heating surface spaced apart by a distance determined in accordance with at least one of the set of physical characteristics and a heating objective.
A pod for storing an atomizable e-liquid having a set of physical characteristics, the pod for use in a vaping device, having an airflow passage therethrough, the pod comprising:
- a reservoir for storing the atomizable e-liquid;
- a wick, in fluid communication with the reservoir for drawing the atomizable e-liquid across the length of the wick through capillary action;
- and
- a heater in contact with the wick, and aligned with the airflow passage, the heater further comprising:
- a heating surface for transferring heat into the atomizable e-liquid to atomize the e-liquid drawn across the wick;
- and
- first and second aberrations on the heating surface spaced apart by a distance determined in accordance with at least one of the set of physical characteristics and a heating objective.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.