Inhaler having a heater to selectably volatilise at least some components of a compostion

Abstract

An inhaler comprising a reservoir of an inhalable composition, a heater to selectably volatilize at least some components of the composition, and a power source arranged to selectively supply electrical power to the heater when the user inhales from the inhaler. The power source is arranged to heat the heater to a temperature that will volatilize some, but not all of the components of the composition.

Claims

1. An inhaler comprising a pressurized reservoir of an inhalable composition, a heater to selectably volatilise at least some components of the composition, and a power source arranged to selectively supply electrical power to the heater when the user inhales from the inhaler, the power source being arranged to heat the heater to a temperature that will volatilise some, but not all of the components of the composition.

2. The inhaler according to claim 1, wherein the heater is arranged to heat the composition to between 40 and 180 C.

3. The inhaler according to claim 2, wherein the heater is arranged to heat the composition to between 40 and 100 C.

4. The inhaler according to claim 1, wherein the composition includes ethanol and the heater is arranged to heat the formulation to volatilise the majority of the ethanol.

5. The inhaler according to claim 1, wherein the composition includes propylene glycol and the heater is arranged to heat the formulation not to volatilise the majority of the propylene glycol.

6. The inhaler according to claim 1, wherein the heater is arranged to heat the composition after the composition has left the reservoir.

7. The inhaler according to claim 1, further comprising at least one airflow path arranged to draw air in through the side of the inhaler as a user inhales from an inhaling end, and impinge on the composition leaving the heater at the inhaling end.

8. The inhaler according to claim 7, further comprising more than one airflow path and wherein the more than one airflow paths are arranged to generate swirl around a main axis of the inhaler.

9. The inhaler according to claim 1, wherein the inhaler is a simulated cigarette.

10. The inhaler according to claim 1, wherein the composition includes a propellant.

11. The inhaler according to claim 10, wherein the propellant is HFA.

12. A combination of an inhaler and a refill pack, the combination comprising: the inhaler comprising a reservoir for an inhalable composition, a heater to selectively volatilise at least some components of the composition and at least one inhaler capacitor arranged to supply electrical power to the heater when a user inhales from the inhaler; and the refill pack comprising a refill reservoir of inhalable composition and a battery coupled to a refill capacitor, and being arranged to engage with the inhaler and to refill the reservoir from the refill reservoir and recharge the inhaler capacitor from the refill capacitor, wherein the heater is configured to heat the composition to a temperature that will volatilise some, but not all of the components of the composition.

13. The combination according to claim 12, wherein the heater is arranged to heat the composition to between 40 and 180 C.

14. The combination according to claim 13, wherein the heater is arranged to heat the composition to between 40 and 100 C.

15. The combination according to claim 12, wherein the refill pack is arranged to fully recharge and refill the inhaler from empty in less than 30 seconds and preferably less than 10 seconds.

16. The combination according to claim 12, wherein the battery is non-rechargeable.

17. The combination according to claim 12, wherein the refill reservoir is pressurised with a propellant or a compressed gas, the inhaler reservoir having a closable refill valve and the refill pack having a complementary refill valve such that engagement of the inhaler with the refill pack will cause the two refill valves to open thereby allowing the pressurised composition to flow into the inhaler reservoir.

18. The combination according to claim 12, wherein the refill pack is configured such that the refill pack will automatically terminate the refill and recharge operations.

19. An inhaler comprising a pressurized reservoir of an inhalable composition, a heater to selectably volatilise at least some components of the composition, and a power source arranged to selectively supply electrical power to the heater when the user inhales from the inhaler, the power source being arranged to heat the heater to a temperature that will volatilise some, but not all of the components of the composition, further comprising at least one airflow path arranged to draw air in through the side of the inhaler as a user inhales from an inhaling end, and impinge on the composition leaving the heater at the inhaling end, wherein the inhaler further comprising more than one airflow path and wherein the airflow paths are arranged to pass through a constriction in the vicinity of an outlet end of the inhaler thereby generating a venturi effect and promoting suction of the composition out of the inhaler.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) An example of a combination of an inhaler and refill pack will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

(2) FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-section of an inhaler;

(3) FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-section of an inhaler within a refill pack; and

(4) FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram for the recharging operation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(5) The inhaler is in the form of a simulated cigarette having a generally cylindrical configuration the approximate size of a cigarette.

(6) The inhaler has a cylindrical housing 1 which may be in one or more parts. The housing may be wrapped with a paper-like wrap to provide a more realistic cigarette-like appearance and feel.

(7) Within the housing 1 is a reservoir 2 of inhalable composition. The reservoir 2 has an outlet 3, flow from which is controlled by a ball valve 4 which is opened by an electromagnetic actuator against the action of a spring 5 which biases the ball valve 4 onto the outlet 3. As an alternative, the outlet valve may be a breath operated valve such as that disclosed in WO 2011/015825 and WO 2014/033438. Downstream of the ball valve 4 is a heater 6. This is made of any highly efficient conductive material, preferably fibreglass, and has an internal pathway 7 along its central axis for the passage of composition. The heater 6 is powered by a super capacitor 8 (also known as an ultra-capacitor). A suitable capacitor is sold by Maxwell Technologies as part of the HC series. This preferably has a capacity of 3-7 F and a diameter of 6 mm to 10 mm and a length of 5 to 50 mm. There may be more than one capacitor provided. FIG. 1 also shows an optional battery 9 which will charge the capacitor 8. However, the current preference is for no battery to be present. The capacitor 8 is connected to the heater 6 by a wire 10. Circuitry 11 is provided to control the operation of the inhaler.

(8) The inhaler has an inhaling end 12 and a refill end 13. The inhaling end is provided with an outlet orifice 14 which is in communication with the internal pathway 7 from the heater. Surrounding the heater 6 in the vicinity of the inhaling end 12 are a number of air paths 15 as shown in FIG. 1. In practice, there may be a number of air paths arranged around the axis, but there are preferably 2 to 4 such passages. These are angled with respect to the main axis A of the inhaler as shown. They are also be offset with respect to the axis such they general swirl of the air about the main axis A. In particular, the air paths 15 are configured to generate a Venturi effect causing suction in the internal pathway 7 of the heater 6 when a user inhales from the inhaling end 12.

(9) The refill end is provided with a refill valve 16 in the form of a ball valve which opens against the action of a spring 17 which biases the valve closed onto a refill nozzle 18. The refill valve 16 is connected to the reservoir 2 by a refill conduit 19 which extends past the capacitor 8 to provide fluid communication between the refill nozzle 18 and the reservoir 2. A pair of electrical contacts 20 with exposed ends 21 are arranged to provide an electrical connection from the refill end 13 to the opposite terminals of the capacitor 8.

(10) When a user inhales from the inhaling end 12, air flow is detected by a sensor switch (not shown) in the air flow path 15 triggering the current flow from the capacitor 8 to the heater 6 in order to heat the composition. The composition comprises ethanol (boiling point 78.4 C.), nicotine (boiling point 247 C.), propylene glycol (boiling point 188 C.) and HFA (boiling point 26 C.). Thus, by heating the composition to a temperature of under 180 C., all but the nicotine and propylene glycolene are volatilised. Preferably the composition is heated to 80 C. which will comprise the ethanol but not the propylene glycol. The result of this heating is a mixture of non-volatilised liquid formation and vapour.

(11) At the same time, the ball valve 4 is opened by the electromagnetic actuator. Thus, the composition in the reservoir 2, which may be pressurised to for example, 6 bar if a propellant is used, leaves the reservoir along the internal pathway 7 assisted by the suction force generated by the airflow in the air paths 15. This airflow also serves to break up the composition ensuring that the plume emitted from the outlet orifice 4 has a fine aerosolisation that promotes higher pulmonary deposition.

(12) The refill pack will now be described by reference to FIG. 2. This shows the inhaler of FIG. 1 inserted into the refill pack with the refill end 13 lowermost. The refill pack is approximately the size and shape of a standard cigarette pack but can have any configuration.

(13) The refill pack comprises a housing 30 and is broadly divided into three sections namely, from left to right (in FIG. 2), a storage port 31 to receive the inhaler, a power supply 32 and a composition refill reservoir 33. These are connected across the base of the housing 30 as described below.

(14) The power supply 32 comprises a capacitor 34 which is charged from the battery 35 as shown in FIG. 3. Control circuitry 36 is retained in place by a screw cap 37. The composition refill reservoir 33 is pressurised by a plunger 38 which is biased downwardly by a spring 39 held in place by a screw cap 40. The bottom end of the reservoir is connected by a refill duct 41 to a refill valve 42 beneath the storage port 31.

(15) The refill valve 42 is a ball valve which is biased closed by a spring and which is opened, in use, by the refill nozzle 18 of the inhaler which presses downwardly on the refill valve 42.

(16) A release spring 43 is provided in the housing 30 underneath the storage port 31. This spring will push the inhaler away from the refilling position to a storage position when the refilling process is complete. This may be done, for example, by releasing the inhaler when a certain priority is detected which indicates that the refill operation is complete.

(17) When the reservoir 2 is depleted of composition, the inhaler is inserted into the housing 30 in the orientation as shown in FIG. 2 and downward pressure is applied to overcome the release spring 42. The refill nozzle 18 opens the refill valve 42 such that the pressure in the composition refill reservoir 33 is sufficient to lift the refill valve 16 in the inhaler thereby allowing composition to flow along the refill conduit 19 and link to the reservoir 2. The refill operation is automatically terminated as described above and the release spring urges the inhaler to the storage position.

(18) At the same time as the inhaler is being refilled, the exposed ends 21 of the electrical contacts 20 make contact with inner 44 and outer 45 charging plate rings in the housing 30 which are electrically coupled to the capacitor 34. This causes the inhaler capacitor 8 to be recharged simultaneously with the refill. The recharge circuit is shown in FIG. 3.