Abstract
A cartridge or pod for use in an electronic cigarette, or electronic vaporizer, makes use of a displacement member to reduce or eliminate air bubbles within the pod after filling. During assembly, liquid is filled to a desired level in a pod, and an end cap is inserted. The end cap makes use of the displacement member, which may be integrated with a wick holder, to displace e-liquid. The displacement of the e-liquid further displaces air left in the pod before it is sealed.
Claims
1. A pod for storing a defined volume of a liquid, the pod comprising: a reservoir having a post wick air flow passage extending from a closed end of the reservoir to a terminating end, the reservoir having an open end opposite the closed end and an interior volume greater than the defined volume of the liquid; and an end cap assembly sized for sealing the open end of the reservoir and for engaging the terminating end of the post wick air flow passage, and having a volume determined in accordance with the difference between the interior volume of the reservoir and the defined volume of the liquid.
2. The pod of claim 1 wherein the liquid is an e-liquid comprising at least one of propylene glycol, vegetable glycerine, nicotine, and a flavouring.
3. The pod of claim 1 wherein the end cap is sized to sit flush with the top of the reservoir.
4. The pod of claim 1 wherein the end cap assembly sealingly engages the terminating end of the post wick air flow passage with at least one of an O-ring and a gasket.
5. The pod of claim 1 wherein the end cap assembly comprises an end cap configured to house a heater and wick.
6. The pod of claim 1 wherein the end cap assembly further comprises a displacement member for displacing fluid within the reservoir during insertion of the end cap into the reservoir.
7. The pod of claim 6 wherein the displacement member is configured to engage with the end cap assembly to hold a wick.
8. The pod of claim 6 wherein the displacement member is centered on the end cap, descends from a bottom of the end cap, and sealingly engages the terminating end of the post wick air flow passage when the end cap is fully inserted into the reservoir.
9. The pod of claim 8 wherein the end cap assembly further comprises a seal for engaging with an interior wall of the reservoir.
10. The pod of claim 8 wherein, the displacement member is sized to displace sufficient fluid from the reservoir so that when the defined volume of liquid has been loaded into the reservoir, and the end cap is inserted into the open of the reservoir so that the seal engages with the interior wall of the reservoir, any air in the reservoir has been substantially displaced.
11. The pod of claim 10 wherein the end cap assembly is sized to displace liquid from the reservoir into a wick housed in the end cap assembly.
12. The pod of claim 1 wherein the pod further comprises the defined volume of a nicotine-based liquid within the reservoir.
13. The pod of claim 1 wherein the reservoir is rigid.
14. The pod of claim 1 wherein the end cap assembly has a volume substantially equal to the difference between the interior volume of the reservoir and the defined volume of the liquid.
15. An electronic vaporizer comprising: a reservoir having a post wick air flow passage extending from a closed end of the reservoir to a terminating end, the reservoir having an open end opposite the closed end and an interior volume greater than the defined volume of the liquid; a vaporizer device having a power supply and control circuitry for providing power to a heater in response to user activity, the vaporizer device comprising: a displacement member having a volume determined in accordance with the difference between the interior volume of the reservoir and the defined volume of the liquid; a wick for drawing e-liquid from the reservoir towards the heater; and a seal for sealingly engaging with the open end of the reservoir upon insertion of the displacement member into the reservoir.
16. The electronic vaporizer of claim 15 wherein the liquid is an e-liquid comprising at least one of propylene glycol, vegetable glycerine, nicotine, and a flavouring.
17. The electronic vaporization of claim 15 wherein the displacement member is sized to have a volume substantially identical to the difference between the interior volume of the reservoir and the defined volume of the liquid.
18. The electronic vaporizer of claim 17 wherein the displacement member is sized to displace liquid from the reservoir into the wick upon insertion of the displacement member into the reservoir.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0023] FIG. 1 illustrates a rendering of a cut away view of a prior art pod;
[0024] FIG. 2 illustrates a cutaway view of an end cap according to an embodiment of the present invention;
[0025] FIG. 3 illustrates an exploded cutaway view of an exemplary reservoir and end cap according to an embodiment of the present invention;
[0026] FIG. 4 illustrates a cutaway view of the reservoir and end cap of FIG. 3 in a partially assembled state;
[0027] FIG. 5 illustrates a cutaway view of the reservoir and end cap of FIG. 3 in an assembled state;
[0028] FIG. 6 illustrates a cutaway view of an exemplary pod according to an embodiment of the present invention;
[0029] FIG. 7 illustrates a sectioned and exploded view of an e-cigarette incorporating a displacement member for engagement with a reservoir.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0030] In the instant description, and in the accompanying figures, reference to dimensions may be made. These dimensions are provided for the enablement of a single embodiment and should not be considered to be limiting or essential. Disclosure of numerical range should be understood to not be a reference to an absolute value unless otherwise indicated. Use of the terms about or substantively with regard to a number should be understood to be indicative of an acceptable variation of ±10% unless otherwise noted.
[0031] Although presented below in the context of use in an electronic cigarette (e-cig) or a vaporizer (vape) it should be understood that the scope of protection need not be limited to this space, and instead is delimited by the scope of the claims.
[0032] Some pod designs, including those in which the atomization chamber and other related functions are effectively integrated into the base of the reservoir have been developed. This results in a simple end cap design (and a pod design that is effectively upside down in relation to the pod of FIG. 1). This means that a post wick air flow passage and heater assembly are inserted into the reservoir, and the post wick air flow passage is simply aligned with a port (typically with a seal) in the end cap. In addition to other design motivations, this allows the reservoir to be filled as close to the top of the chamber as possible, and the top cap can then be affixed. This results in a very different pod design, that requires very fine control of the assembly process to avoid the installation of the end cap causing a spilling of the e-liquid. Due to the small size of many reservoirs, this is a complex process that requires an expensive manufacturing process. Solutions are presented below that provide a pod where the assembly of the pod is similar to that of the prior art discussed above, that also mitigates leakage issues associated with the presence of air bubbles being captured during manufacturing.
[0033] FIG. 2 illustrates a sectioned view (also referred to as a cut away view) of an end cap assembly 105 for a pod in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The design of the overall pod and corresponding reservoir will be discussed in relation to figures below. End cap assembly 105 includes an end cap 106 for mating with the reservoir. Where the prior art end cap assembly was somewhat compact and self-contained, the end cap assembly 105 has an end cap 106 with a wick holder 108 extending therefrom. This wick holder 108 is designed so that after assembly, it cooperates with the end cap to hold the wick 114 and seals against the post wick air flow passage of the reservoir (ensuring a seal optionally through use of a seal such as O-ring 110). The sealing of wick holder 108 and post wick air flow passage prevents e-liquid from entering the atomization chamber. In place of the O-ring 110, the seal can be provided through the use of another type of seal, through the use of a gasket or through the use of resilient materials and tight tolerances in manufacturing). Wick holder 108 and end cap 106 engage with each other so that they hold wick 108 so that it can be in fluid communication with e-liquid in the reservoir, but also so that the e-liquid cannot enter the atomization chamber 112. In some embodiments, wick holder 108 and end cap 106 will have a wick mounting surface 109 (shown in dashed lines as it would otherwise be obscured by the wick 114). Although in some embodiments, wickholder 108 may be integrated with end cap 106, in the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 2, wick holder 108 is a discrete element within end cap assembly 105, and is designed to seal against other elements of the end cap assembly 105. The interior of the wick holder 108 can be considered to be a part of the atomization chamber 112, within which are found both the wick 114 and heater coil 118. As noted above, wick 114 can extend outside the limits of wick holder 108 so that it is in fluid communication with e-liquid in the reservoir when filled and assembled. Heater coil 118, as before, engages with wick 114, and connects to contact pins 120.
[0034] Seal 116 in this illustrated embodiment is an o-ring and it serves to both secure the end cap assembly 105 in the reservoir, and also prevents fluid from inside the reservoir escaping once end cap assembly 105 has been inserted into the reservoir. The shape of the end cap 106 is designed to match a corresponding reservoir, and other variations of the shaping of the end cap 106 will be discussed in relation to other figures below.
[0035] Illustrated in FIG. 3 is a cross section of a pod 100 according to a non-limiting embodiment of the present invention. As before, a pod 100 comprises a reservoir 102 having a post wick air flow passage 104, and an end cap assembly 105. End cap assembly 105 has been designed to mate with reservoir 102, with the intent of reducing the size of an air bubble after filling, and in some embodiments effectively eliminating the air bubble. Through the elimination of the air bubble, leaking during shipping will be mitigated as there is no air bubble to expand and displace the e-liquid. Reservoir 102 is preferably a rigid container and is not flexible enough to either expand or contract as a result of the filling process, nor is reservoir 102 a flexible insert in a rigid carrier.
[0036] To understand this displacement of the air bubble, it is helpful to consider that the reservoir 102 is sized to store a quantity of the e-liquid, but has an internal volume 103 that is larger than the defined quantity of e-liquid to be stored. When the reservoir 102 is filled with e-liquid, the reservoir 102 is storing two fluids. It stores the desirable e-liquid (shown as a hatched area), and an undesirable quantity of air (shown as the clear portion of 103), also referred to as “head space”. This undesirable quantity of air should be substantially driven out of the reservoir 102 before end cap assembly 105 is fully inserted. It should be understood that before filling, the reservoir 102 contained only one fluid, the air, some of which is displaced when the e-liquid is added.
[0037] As can be seen in FIG. 3, a slightly different design of end cap assembly 105 can be used. Pod 100 is a combination of end cap assembly 105, and reservoir 102 (optionally a mouthpiece can be included as well). Reservoir 102 includes post wick air flow passage 104, which defines an annular internal space 103 in reservoir 102 for storage of e-liquid. A defined volume of e-liquid is filled into reservoir 102. This defined volume of e-liquid will fill the reservoir 102 to a level below the height of the post wick air flow passage 104.
[0038] For the purposes of the following discussion, the words top and bottom will be used in reference to different elements, and it should be understood to be used in reference to the illustrated orientation of the elements in FIGS. 3-5. This is an intended orientation for the filling process, but the assembled and filled pod would be inverted from this orientation in use. This orientation is inverted with respect to the orientation shown in FIG. 1. As end cap assembly 105 is inserted into reservoir 102, wick holder 108 will come into engagement with post wick air flow passage 104. Wick holder 108 engages with the top of post wick air flow passage 104, and then as it continues downwards, it starts to displace e-liquid. As noted previously in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, a substantially sealing engagement between post wick air flow passage 104 and wick holder 108 can be assured through the use of O-ring 110. This sealing engagement prevents e-liquid from being displaced from space 103 within reservoir 102 and into the aerosolization chamber 112.
[0039] Wick holder 108, as it is submerged into the e-liquid within reservoir 102 will effectively displace a volume of e-liquid equal to the volume of a solid equivalent in size to the submerged portion of wick holder 108. As the e-liquid is displaced, it will displace the air above it, and the air will be pushed out of the reservoir 102 through the space between the open end of reservoir 102 and walls of end cap assembly 105.
[0040] Consider the reservoir 102 and space 103 as illustrated in FIG. 3. A defined volume of e-liquid, for example 2 mL, is poured into the reservoir 102. Reservoir 102 has an internal volume (the volume of space 103) larger than the defined volume of e-liquid. The liquid rises to a known height along a sidewall of reservoir 102, below the height of the post wick air flow passage 104.
[0041] As end cap assembly 105 is inserted into the filled reservoir 102, a wick holder 108 enters the reservoir 102 in advance of the rest of the end cap assembly 105. The wick holder 108 is sized for engagement with the post wick air flow passage 104. Wick holder 108 will engage with the post wick air flow passage 104 to form a seal. In the illustrated embodiment, wick holder 108 is wider than post wick air flow passage 104 and includes an O-ring 110 that will prevent liquid from passing from the reservoir 102 into the atomization chamber 112 or the interior of post wick air flow passage 104. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that a seal such as O-Ring 110 may not be necessary, and can be replaced by any of a variety of different elements that provide a sealing function. In an unillustrated embodiment, wick holder 108 has no O-ring 110, but is instead made of a resilient material that distorts upon engagement with post wick air flow passage 104 to allow insertion of post wick air flow passage 104 into wick holder 108 so that a seal is formed. In another embodiment, the post wick air flow passage 104 can be made of the resilient material instead of (or in addition to) the wick holder 108. As end cap assembly 105 is further inserted into reservoir 102, wick holder 108 is effectively pushed into the e-liquid in reservoir 102. This displaces e-liquid in proportion to the volume of the wick holder 108 under the surface of the e-liquid. This causes the level of the e-liquid in the reservoir 102 to rise and displace air. This allows for a reduction, and possible elimination, of the air bubble residing within the sealed pod. The width of wick holder 108 and the depth to which it is submerged in e-liquid will define the volume of e-liquid that is displaced by wick holder 108.
[0042] End cap assembly 105 has within it, a atomization chamber 112 that includes a wick 114. The wick 114 is in fluid communication with the reservoir 102, and allows for the e-liquid to be drawn into the atomization chamber 112 in a controlled manner.
[0043] FIG. 4 illustrates pod 100 in a partially assembled state. End cap assembly 105 is partially inserted into reservoir 102. In this configuration, air has been substantially driven out of the reservoir 102 by the displacement of both air and e-liquid caused by insertion of the wick holder 108 of end cap assembly 105. It should be understood that in the described embodiments, wick holder 108 is serving as a displacement member. In addition to engaging with post wick air flow passage 104, the wick holder 108 is serving to displace fluid from the reservoir 102. By being sized appropriately, knowing both the defined volume of liquid, and the volume of the reservoir 102, wick holder 108 (or another displacement member) can displace the air in the reservoir 102. At the final stage of insertion, the end cap assembly 105 itself may also displace air in the reservoir 102. The volume of the wick holder 108, and the other elements of the end cap assembly 105 inserted fully into the reservoir 102, can be matched to the difference between the capacity of the reservoir 102 and the determined volume of the e-liquid to be stored in pod 100.
[0044] When seal 116 of end cap assembly 105 engages with the top of reservoir 102, pod 100 can be considered to be at a first state of closure as illustrated in FIG. 4. This would be accomplished by further insertion of end cap assembly 106 into reservoir 102 to arrive at a state illustrated in FIG. 5. At this stage, through appropriate sizing of elements of end cap assembly 105, the level of the e-liquid can be at the top of reservoir 102, thus expelling all, or substantially all, the air in the reservoir 102. The volume of e-liquid that will be displaced, by pushing end cap assembly 105 into its final closed state, is a function of the shape of the bottom of end cap assembly 105, and the top of reservoir 102. In the illustrated embodiment, the pod 100 is already closed and fluids can no longer escape from an opening between reservoir 102 and end cap assembly 105. Further insertion of end cap assembly 105 into reservoir 102 will displace e-liquid into wick 114. This ensures that pod 100 is ready for use, as the wick 114 is primed with e-liquid without requiring action from the user.
[0045] FIG. 5 shows a final state for pod 100. End cap assembly 105 has been fully inserted into reservoir 102. Wick holder 108 is sealingly engaged with post wick air flow passage 104. During a transition between the states of FIGS. 4 and 5, the end cap assembly 105 has been inserted into reservoir 102 until it is flush. From the illustrated configuration, it should be apparent that the sizing of the volume of the wick holder 108 and other parts of end cap assembly 105 can be sized to offset the difference in the volume of liquid and the volume of reservoir 102 under the level at which the seal 116 rests. The volume above this level in reservoir 102 is matched, in this exemplary embodiment, by the volume of the end cap assembly 105 above the seal 116. In embodiments where the end cap assembly 105 does not sit flush with the top of the reservoir 102 (including embodiments such as the end cap assembly of FIG. 2), the volume of any displacement member will substantially match the volume difference between the predefined volume of liquid and the volume of the reservoir below the level at which the end cap seal will rest.
[0046] In embodiments where the configuration of FIG. 4 is reflective of a scenario in which seal 116 has engaged with the reservoir 102 and wick holder 108 has not fully displaced the air pocket the volume of air retained has been reduced, and the problems caused by the air bubble are mitigated. In some embodiments, the final push of end cap 105 into reservoir 102 will push e-liquid into the wick 114 as described above. In other embodiments, air may be pushed through wick 114, further reducing the air bubble size. In such a situation, capillary action can then be relied upon to draw e-liquid into the wick 114. Although the air bubble is not fully removed, the size of the air bubble can be reduced, mitigating some of the undesirable effects of the air bubble. In some embodiments, removal of the final portion of the air bubble can be facilitated through the inclusion of a feature in one or both of reservoir 102 and end cap 106. Such a feature may include grooves in the end cap 106 to allow for air flow, or an aperture in reservoir 102 that would be outside the sealed area after insertion of end cap assembly 105.
[0047] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the end cap illustrated in FIG. 2 and the end cap illustrated in FIGS. 3-5 differ in certain ways. In FIG. 2 the placement of seal 116 and the shaping of both the end cap assembly and the reservoir, will result in a pod which is sealed with a lip of end cap 106 sitting atop the reservoir 102. In FIGS. 3-5 the placement of seal 116 and the shaping of the end cap assembly and reservoir result in a pod which is sealed with the top of the end cap assembly 105 flush with the open end of reservoir 102. It will be appreciated that these are differing design choices, but do not necessarily materially affect the functions discussed above.
[0048] In the above-discussed illustrated embodiments, wick holder 108 serves the role of a displacement member. That is, in addition to securing the wick 114, wick holder 108 is sized to displace a predetermined volume of e-liquid, which in turn will displace the same volume of air from the reservoir 102. In other embodiments such as the one illustrated in FIG. 6, a dedicated displacement member, distinct from wick holder 108, may be included as an element of the end cap assembly. Pod 200 comprises reservoir 202 and end cap assembly 208. As before, reservoir 202 has an interior space 204 and an internal post wick air flow passage 206. End cap assembly 208 includes an aerosolization chamber 210 in controlled fluid communication with the interior space 204, to allow for e-liquid to be provided to a wick and heater assembly (not shown in this figure). Aerosolization chamber 210 will sealingly engage with post wick air flow passage 206. A displacement member 212, shown here as a dual armed structure, is inserted into reservoir 202 in advance of other parts of the end cap assembly 208. As end cap assembly 208 is inserted into reservoir 202, it will begin displacing air and e-liquid contained within reservoir 202. In some embodiments, displacement member 212 will be an annular structure sized to allow air to pass between the reservoir and end cap assembly. In other embodiments, displacement member 212 will not completely encircle end cap assembly 208. In some embodiments it may be possible to provide a feature in at least one of the end cap assembly 208 and the reservoir 202 to allow for an air path to allow for venting of the displaced air in a controlled manner. In earlier figures, the function of the displacement member 212 is integrated into wick holder 108. As illustrated in FIG. 6, the structure of a prior art end cap such as the end cap shown in FIG. 1 can be supplemented by the addition of a displacement member 212. In such an embodiment, the desired volume for fluid displacement from reservoir 202 will be used to define the volume of displacement member 212.
[0049] FIG. 7 illustrates a section view of an exemplary embodiment of an e-cigarette according to an embodiment of the present invention. Where previous figures illustrate the mating of a reservoir to an end-cap, the completed pod is often sold to the consumer with a vaporizer or as a replacement pod for use with the previously purchased device. In some embodiments, single use devices are sold to users. These are typically non-rechargeable, non-refillable devices sold to consumers with the intent that the device will be used until the battery dies. The device can then be disposed of. The pod design presented above can be adapted by including the device sub-components with an integrated end-cap with a displacement member for mating with a filled reservoir. As shown in FIG. 7, an electronic cigarette or electronic vaporizer using a displacement member to minimize the air bubble in a reservoir is illustrated in a cutaway view.
[0050] E-cigarette or vaporizer 250 comprises a device 260 and a reservoir 252. Reservoir 252 has an internal space 254 and a post wick air flow passage 256. A defined quantity of e-liquid can be filled into internal space 254 and will rise to a defined height on post wick air flow passage 256, as discussed above.
[0051] Device 260 has a wick holder 262 that contains both an atomization chamber (which is not illustrated in this figure) and a wick 263. At the interface between the body of device 260 and the wick holder 262 is a seal 264. As in earlier illustrated embodiments, wick holder 262 also serves as a displacement member. As device 260 is inserted into the partially filled reservoir 262, wick holder 262 engages with post wick air flow passage 256. As it is further inserted, wick holder 262 will displace the e-liquid and drive air from the reservoir 252. When fully inserted, reservoir 252 will engage with seal 264 and be secured to device 260. Device 260 will include a power supply such as a battery and any control elements needed to allow for power to be applied to a heater in communication with the wick 263 to allow for the generation of the atomized droplets of e-liquid in response to a defined user activity.
[0052] As noted above, the sizes provided in the drawings are provided for exemplary purposes and should not be considered limiting of the scope of the invention, which is defined solely in the claims.
