Waterless vaporizer

A waterless vaporizer comprising

• a case having a bottom member and a top member defining a closed receptacle,
• the top member having an arcuate planar pad-receiving surface adapted to receive a refill pad in any of a plurality of selected positions, said pad-receiving surface being defined by spaced-apart inner and outer arcuate edges having a common center axis and by angularly spaced-apart lateral edges, and
• the top member having a dome portion adjacent the pad-receiving surface that includes a circular cylindrical front surface having its center coincident with the center axis;
• a chimney member mounted on the top member of the case for pivotal movement about the center axis and for displacement along the center axis so that it is adapted to be lifted up to enable a refill pad to be placed on the pad-receiving surface of the top member of the case,
• the chimney member having a box-like refill pad retainer/holder portion overlying a portion of the pad-receiving surface of the top member, the pad retainer/holder portion being both a retainer and a holder for a refill pad, the pad retainer/holder portion having spaced-apart side walls that are in sliding clearance with the pad-receiving surface when the chimney member is in a lower position and are in sliding clearance with the cylindrical front surface of the dome portion of the top member, a front wall in sliding clearance with the pad-receiving surface adjacent the front edge thereof when the chimney member is the lower position, and a top wall adapted to receive a refill pad at the option of a user in lieu of positioning a refill pad on the pad-receiving surface of the top member of the case;
• air inlet openings in the bottom member of the case in a position generally below a medial portion of the pad-receiving surface of the top member, air outlet openings in the pad-receiving surface, and air outlet openings in the top wall of the refill pad retainer/holder portion of the chimney member, all said openings defining a path for convective air flow through the receptacle and the pad retainer/holder portion of the chimney member;
• and
• an elongated heating module having an electrical resistance wire fully encapsulated in a molded member of a high-temperature resistant, heat-conducting polymeric material and received in the receptacle below a portion of the pad-receiving surface of the top member adjacent one of the side edges thereof so as to establish a gradient of heat and thermally induced air flow along the pad-receiving surface in the circumferential direction.