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US 7,500,479 B2Granted
Aerosol generators and methods for producing aerosols
AssigneePhilip Morris USA Inc.
InventorsWalter A. Nichols, Rajiv Gupta, Gene G. Faison, Kenneth A. Cox
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An aerosol generator includes a flow passage having an inlet end, an outlet end, and a constriction in the flow passage at the outlet end. A heater is operable to heat liquid in the flow passage to produce a vapor, which is expelled from the outlet end of the flow passage.
Claims52
An aerosol generator, comprising:
- a flow passage including an inlet end, an expelling end and a first flow section;
- a constriction at the expelling end of the flow passage, the constriction defining a second flow section of the flow passage downstream from the first flow section;
- and
- a heater arranged along the flow passage which heats liquid in the first flow section to produce vapor and liquid which is expelled from the outlet expelling end into ambient air;
- wherein the constriction is adapted to create sufficiently high fluid shear forces to break up droplets of the liquid into smaller droplets.
2 more elements
A handheld aerosol generator, comprising:
- a flow passage including an inlet end, an expelling end and a first flow section;
- a constriction at the expelling end of the flow passage, the constriction defining a second flow section of the flow passage downstream from the first flow section;
- a heater arranged along the flow passage which heats liquid in the first flow section to produce a vapor and liquid which is expelled from the expelling end;
- and
- a mouthpiece in fluid communication with the expelling end of the flow passage through which a user can draw aerosol from the aerosol generator;
- wherein the constriction is adapted to create sufficiently high fluid shear forces to break up droplets of the liquid into smaller droplets.
3 more elements
An aerosol generator, comprising:
- a flow passage including an inlet end, an expelling end and a first flow section;
- a constriction at the expelling end of the flow passage, the constriction defining a second flow section of the flow passage downstream from the first flow section;
- a liquid source in flow communication with the inlet end of the flow passage, the liquid source containing a liquid formulation including a medicament;
- and
- a heater arranged along the flow passage which heats the liquid formulation in the first flow section to produce a vapor and liquid which is expelled from the expelling end so as to form an aerosol;
- wherein the constriction is adapted to create sufficiently high fluid shear forces to break up droplets of the liquid into smaller droplets.
3 more elements
An aerosol generator, comprising:
- a flow passage including an inlet end, an expelling end and a first flow section;
- a constriction at the expelling end of the flow passage, the constriction defining a second flow section of the flow passage downstream from the first flow section;
- a heater arranged along the flow passage;
- a power supply adapted to supply power to the heater;
- and
- a controller controlling operation of the power supply to supply an effective amount of power to the heater to heat liquid in the first flow section to produce a vapor and liquid which is expelled from the expelling end;
- wherein the constriction is adapted to create sufficiently high fluid shear forces to break up droplets of the liquid into smaller droplets.
4 more elements
An aerosol generator, comprising:
- a flow passage including an inlet end, an expelling end and a first flow section;
- a constriction at the expelling end of the flow passage, the constriction defining a second flow section of the flow passage downstream from the first flow section;
- and
- a heater arranged along the flow passage which heats liquid in the first flow section to produce vapor and liquid which is expelled from the expelling end so as to form an aerosol, a first electrode attached to the heater and a second electrode attached to the heater downstream of the first electrode, the second electrode being of a material that has a smaller resistance than a material of the heater;
- wherein the constriction is adapted to create sufficiently high fluid shear forces to break up droplets of the liquid into smaller droplets.
2 more elements
A method of producing an aerosol, comprising:
- supplying a liquid to the inlet end of a flow passage including an expelling end, a first flow section and a constriction at the expelling end, the constriction defining a second flow section of the flow passage downstream from the first flow section;
- and
- heating the liquid in the first flow section to produce vapor and liquid which is expelled from the expelling end into ambient air;
- wherein the constriction is adapted to create sufficiently high fluid shear forces to break up droplets of the liquid into smaller droplets.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.