Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US10045562B2/en
Timestamp: 2019-04-20 06:38:18+00:00

Document:
a capillary gap at least partly formed by the carrier plate for the automatic supplying of the compound structure with the liquid material in that an end segment of the wick protrudes into the capillary gap.
In the present patent application, the term “inhaler” refers to medical as well as nonmedical inhalers. Moreover, the term refers to inhalers for administering of pharmaceuticals and substances that have not been declared to be pharmaceuticals. The term furthermore refers to smoking articles and cigarette replacement articles, such as are contained in the European patent class A24F47/00B, insofar as these are designed to provide the user with a mixture of vapor and air, and/or a condensation aerosol. The term “inhaler” should also make no limitations as to how the resulting mixture of vapor and air and/or condensation aerosol is supplied to the user or his body. The mixture of vapor and air and/or condensation aerosol can be inhaled into the lungs, or also only be taken to the oral cavity—without inhalation into the lungs.
A “capillary gap” is considered to be any gap that brings about a liquid transport simply by virtue of the capillary action of its bounding walls. Wicks, jacketed wicks, or channels filled with wick material are not capillary gaps.
The use of the singular “compound structure” does not preclude the presence of several compound structures. The invention explicitly includes arrangements with several compound structures.
Finally, a storage buffer 53 is integrated in the top piece 42, which communicates with the capillary gap 41 and itself consists of capillaries—see FIG. 11 and FIG. 17. The storage buffer 53 has the ability to take up liquid material 16 from the capillary gap 41, store it temporarily, and return it to the capillary gap 41 when needed. In this way, the inhaler component can also be operated in an inverted position—the mouth piece 5 pointing downward—at least for as long as liquid material 16 is on hand in the storage buffer 53. The storage buffer 53 consists of parallel arranged slits 54 that are worked into the top piece 42. The slits 54 communicate, on the one hand, via openings 55 with the capillary gap 41 and on the other hand via a ventilation gap 56 with the chamber 21. The capillarity of the slits 54 has the effect that the liquid material 16 flows from the reservoir 45 via the capillary gap 41 and via the openings 55 into the slits 54, where it is temporarily stored, and it can be pulled back again by the capillary gap 41 as needed.
The problem is solved by the characterizing features of patent claim 1. Accordingly, it is specified that both the front side and the back side of the carrier plate form boundary walls of the capillary gap, at least for a portion. Thus, the supplying of the compound structure with the liquid material occurs not merely on one side of the carrier plate, but on both sides. On both sides of the carrier plate there are provided capillary gaps or capillary gap segments that are bounded by the carrier plate. In this way, an additional capillary gap volume can be created in a simple and space-saving manner, serving at the same time as a buffer. Another beneficial effect is to be seen in the redundancy of the liquid supply; if the supply fails is one capillary gap segment—for whatever reason—the compound structure can still be supplied with/the liquid material at least via the capillary gap segment lying on the other side of the carrier plate.
The aerosol particles produced by condensation generally have a mass median aerodynamic diameter (MMAD) less than 2 μm and therefore also reach the alveoli. The inhaler of the invention is especially suitable for the administering of substances with systemic action—especially those active substances that deploy their main action in the central nervous system. As an example, one can mention nicotine, whose boiling point is 246° C. The nicotine-containing aerosol particles are deposited primarily in the bronchi and alveoli, where the active substance passes into the blood stream lightning-fast. A few seconds later the nicotine reaches the brain in concentrated form and can deploy the known effects there.
The inhaler part 1 consists of a main housing 5, which again is preferably made of plastic. The main housing 5 contains at least one battery 6 and as electrical circuit 7 (shown by broken line in FIG. 1) with switch 7 a. The battery 6 and the electrical circuit 7 provide the electrical energy needed for the evaporation of the liquid material. The battery 6 consists preferably of a rechargeable battery, such as the type CGRI8650K from Panasonic, www.industrial.panasonic.com. This is a cylindrical lithium ion cell of size 18650 with a storage capacity of 1650 mAh and a current load capacity up to 30 A. Comparable cells are also manufactured by other manufacturer, such as Sony, Samsung, LG Chem, in large numbers.
The mechanical coupling between the interchangeable inhaler component 2 and the reusable inhaler part 1 occurs by insert tongues 8 a and guide lugs 9 a formed by the housing 3, which fit into corresponding insert sockets 8 b and guide grooves 9 b formed by the main housing 5 of the reusable inhaler part 1. The insert tongues 8 a and insert sockets 8 b serve at the same time to channel the electrical energy into the interchangeable inhaler component 2 for evaporation of the liquid material, as will be shown in further detail below.
As is best shown by FIG. 4b and FIG. 7, the sheetlike compound structures 10 are mounted by two end segments 10 a, 10 b on a carrier plate 11. The carrier plate 11 has a large cavity 12, across which the compound structures 10 stretch without contact. The carrier plate 11 in the specific sample embodiment is configured as a circuit board, especially a multilayer circuit board. Basically all known circuit board materials are suited as the material for the circuit board 11, especially materials of type FR1 to FR5. The sheetlike compound structures 10 are in electrical contact in the region of the end segments 10 a, 10 b on conductor tracks 13 of the circuit board 11. In FIG. 7, the conductor tracks 13 are shown as black areas. In the case of the aforementioned metal foil compound structures, the electrical contacting occurs preferably by a soldering at the foil side, possibly after prior treatment with a suitable flux agent. Refined steels of material grades AISI 304 and AISI 316 can be easily soldered, for example, with a solder concentrate commercially known as “5050S-Nirosta” from Stannol GmbH, www.stannol.de. Alternatively, the electrical contacting can consist of a glue connection by means of an electrically conductive adhesive, such as a silver-containing glue on an epoxy basis. The fitting of the circuit board 11 with the sheetlike compound structures 10 and the production of their contacts is done fully automatic, in which methods of the circuit board industry can be used, which methods moreover are also suited to a mass production.
The circuit board 11 protrudes from the housing 3 in the form of the already mentioned insert tongues 8 a. The two insert tongues 8 a serve to channel the electrical energy into the inhaler component 2. The electrical energy is supplied to the compound structures 10 via the conductor tracks 13. According to FIG. 7, the conductor tracks 13 are arranged on both the front side 11 a and the back side 11 b of the circuit board 11, while the front side 11 a is the component mounting side, that is, the side on which the compound structures 10 make contact. Additional conductor tracks can also be arranged optionally in intermediate layers. The individual conductor track layers are advisedly joined together by means of so-called throughplatings of the prior art. FIG. 7, moreover, shows the current flow. Accordingly, in the specific example, every three compound structures 10 are hooked up in series with each other. In this way, the resulting heating resistance and thus the heating power and rate of evaporation can be influenced in certain limits. If can also be provided that the individual electrical resistances of the six compound structures 10 are of different size, for example, by appropriately varying the thickness of the metal foil. With this measure, the evaporation process can be made to depend on the location, as with a cigarette.
On the front side 11 a of the circuit board 11 is placed an essentially platelike top piece 14, preferably made of plastic (see FIG. 4c and FIG. 8-10). The top piece 14 has a recess 15, which correlates in size and arrangement with the cavity 12 in the circuit board 11. In the most simple case, the top piece 14 is mounted directly on the end segments 10 a, 10 b of the sheetlike compound structures 10. In this way, the top piece 14 together with the circuit board 11 forms a first capillary gap segment 16 a, whose clear width or gap width basically corresponds to the thickness of the sheetlike compound structures 10 (see FIG. 9 and FIG. 11). The gap width is typically 0.2 mm. In FIG. 4f , the two-dimensional extent of the first capillary gap segment 16 a is shown as a black area. The top piece 14 is fastened to the circuit board 11 by a glue connection. The glue sites are shown as black areas in FIG. 4d . The circuit board 11 and the top piece 14 are preferably joined outside of the housing 3, i.e., they constitute a preassembled unit.
The circuit board 11 is mounted by its back side 11 b at least partially on a rectangular liquid container 18 containing the liquid material 17 (see FIG. 4a /4 b, FIG. 8-9 and FIG. 11). The liquid container 18 or its walls 18 a are formed by the housing 3. The circuit board 11, however, is not mounted directly on the liquid container wall 18 a, but rather on spacers 19. The spacers 19 are formed partly by the liquid container wall 18 a and partly by other housing segments; they are shown in FIG. 4a as black areas. In this way, a second capillary gap segment 16 b is formed. The back side 11 b of the circuit board 11 and the adjacent liquid container wall 18 a form the boundary walls of this second capillary gap segment 16 b. In FIG. 4c the two-dimensional extent of the second capillary gap segment 16 b is shown as a black area. The gap width is determined by the height of the spacers 19 and typically amounts to 0.3 mm. The circuit board 11 is fastened preferably by means of a glue connection to the spacers 19. The filling of the liquid container 18 with the liquid material 17 is done at the factory at the end of the manufacturing process, preferably through a small hole in the container wall 18 a (not shown) in a fully automatic process using a cannula and a dispensing unit. After the filling, the hole is closed, for example, it is melted shut, and the entire inhaler component is packed air-tight.
The liquid container 18 has at its lower end a slitlike supply opening 20 (see FIG. 5-6, FIG. 9-10). The second capillary gap segment 16 b draws all liquid material 17 through this supply opening 20. The capillary coupling occurs by a shoulder 21 formed by the liquid container wall 18 a. Thanks to the shoulder 21, one wall segment of the supply opening 20 is lengthened outwardly (see FIG. 9). The forces of adhesion acting on the lengthened wall segment have the effect of a small quantity of liquid material 17 escaping from the supply opening 20. The effect is enough for the liquid material 17 to also reach the circuit board 11, which abuts by its edge 11 c against the shoulder 21 (see FIG. 6 and FIG. 9). In an alternative embodiment, the circuit board 11 rests by its back side 11 b on the shoulder 21 (see FIG. 12). As soon as the liquid material 17 wets the back side 11 b of the circuit board 11, the second capillary gap segment 16 b can produce its suction action and take up liquid material 17. For stiffness, the shoulder 21 thrusts against the housing 3 by a web 22.
The slitlike supply opening 20 has a widening, roughly in the middle. The widening forms a ventilation opening 23. The ventilation opening 23 communicates with a ventilation groove 24, worked into the circuit board 11 on its back side 11 b, which in turn communicates via the cavity 12 with an interior space under atmospheric pressure. The ventilation opening 23 and the ventilation groove 24 bring about a pressure equalization, in that each portion of liquid material 17 that is taken up by the second capillary gap segment 16 b is immediately replaced by an equal-volume portion of air.
As is best shown by FIGS. 10 and 11, the first capillary gap segment 16 a and the second capillary gap segment 16 b are joined together by a third capillary gap segment 16 c. The third capillary gap segment 16 c is formed by the circuit board edge 11 c and an adjacent housing wall 3 a. The platelike top piece 14 that is connected to the circuit board is used for the exact placement of the third capillary gap segment 16 c. This adjoins the housing wall 3 a and projects beyond the edge of the circuit board 11 c by a precisely defined measure. The measure corresponds to the gap width of the third capillary gap segment 16 c and typically amounts to 0.3 mm. The circuit board 11 and the platelike top piece 14, which as already mentioned form a preassembled unit, must thus be joined precisely.
The three capillary gap segments 16 a, 16 b, 16 c together form the capillary gap 16. The capillary gap 16 thus consists of an extended, interconnected capillary gap system, which partly encloses the circuit board 11. Leaving out of consideration the segments of the circuit board 11 protruding from the housing 3, i.e., the insert tongues 8 a, then in the specific sample embodiment distinctly more than 50% of the circuit board surface form boundary walls of the capillary gap 16. The resulting beneficial effects with regard to the buffering of the liquid material 17, as well as the supply reliability and supply capacity, have already been discussed. A basic requirement for achieving these favorable effects is that the liquid material 17 sufficiently wet all exposed surfaces. To make sure of this, the affected parts—namely the liquid container 18 a, the circuit board 11 and compound structures 10, the top piece 14 and at least parts of the housing 3—should undergo hydrophilic treatment in a suitable process even prior to assembly. Suitable processes are hydrophilic treatment in oxygen plasma and hydrophilic treatment by means of plasma polymerization. Both processes are offered, for example, by the firm Diener electronic GmbH u. Co. KG, www.plasma.de, on a subcontract order basis. Furthermore, this firm is able to design and erect suitable plants for mass production according to the client's specifications.
Before going further into the mode of operation of the inhaler according to the invention, we shall now describe additional parts of the inhaler component 2. Even though these parts might not be directly relevant to the invention, their description still contributes to a better understanding of the function of the invented inhaler component as a whole, and to further assure the implementation of the invention: between the top piece 14 and the housing 3 there are arranged two open-pore, absorbent sponges 25 a, 25 b (see FIG. 4g and FIG. 11). The space between the sponges forms, together with the recess 15, a chamber 26 (also see FIG. 8), in which the actual formation of the mixture of vapor and air and/or condensation aerosol occurs. The sponges 25 a, 25 b take up condensate deposits formed from the vapor phase into their pores and prevent freely movable condensate accumulations from forming in the inhaler component 2, which might impair the function of the inhaler component. Such condensate accumulations can also be a problem from a hygiene standpoint, especially if they get into the user's oral cavity through the mouth piece 4. The sponges 25 a, 25 b preferably consist of a fine-pore fiber compound structure. The firm Filtrona Fibertee GmbH, www.filtronafibertec.com, specializes its the manufacture of such fiber compound structures, processing both cellulose acetate fibers bound by means of triacetin and also thermally bound polyolefin and polyester fibers.
The sponges 25 a, 25 b are mounted on angle profiles 27 a, 27 b formed from a U-beam 27 (see FIG. 4g and FIG. 11). The beam 27 is joined to the top piece 14 by a glue connection. The beam 27 and angle profiles 27 a, 27 b preferably consist of a hydrophobic plastic. The hydrophobic material acts like a moisture barrier and ensures that no liquid material 17 can get to the sponges 25 a, 25 b by capillary effects. In the legs 27 c joining the angle profiles 27 a, 27 b, at the side facing the top piece 14, there is made a depression 28 which, together with the top piece 14, forms an air nozzle 29 (see FIG. 9 and FIG. 10). The air nozzle 29, as shall be discussed more closely hereafter, serves to bring ambient air into the chamber 26. So that condensate deposits do not block the air nozzle 29, it is recommended to cover the surface of the top piece 14 with a thin hydrophobic adhesive tape (not shown) is the region of the air nozzle 29.
The supplying of the inhaler component 2 with ambient air to form the mixture of vapor and air and/or condensation aerosol occurs via a suction snorkel 30 termed by the housing 3 (see FIG. 3a /3 b and FIG. 8). The suction snorkel 30 is arranged at the end of the inhaler component 2 opposite the mouth piece 4. This position best protects against entry of rain water. In the connected state, the suction snorkel 30 of the inhaler component 2 projects through a hole 31 formed by the main housing 5 of the inhaler part 1 (see FIG. 2). There is a flow throttle 32 in the suction snorkel 30. The flow throttle 32 has the purpose of creating flow resistance, similar to that of a cigarette, so that the user feels a similar draw resistance to that when drawing on a cigarette. Specifically, the flow resistance should be in the range of 8-16 mbar for a flow rate of 1.05 L/min and have the most linear characteristic possible. The flow throttle 32 is required when the resulting mixture of vapor and air and/or condensation aerosol is to be supplied as with a cigarette, namely, by drawing into the oral cavity (draw volume around 20-80 mL), possibly followed by an inhalation into the lungs. This mode of operation is recommended primarily when the liquid material 17 contains nicotine. The flow throttle 32 is not needed, however, when the inhaler is to provide a direct lung inhalation in a single step, as is the case with most medical inhalers. The flow throttle 32 consists preferably of a fiber compound structure similar to a cigarette filter, wherein the density of the material should be attuned to the aforementioned flow characteristic. The material, in turn, can be ordered from the firm Filtrona Fibertec GmbH, www.filtronafibertec.com.
In the following, the function of the inhaler shall be described in detail: a user attaches a new inhaler component 2 to the reusable inhaler part 1. The electrical circuit 7 registers the connection and may order to carrying out of certain preparatory operations, such as one or more evaporation cycles with the aim of supplying the compound structures 10 with fresh liquid material 17 and/or bringing about stationary conditions. Once these operations are concluded, the electrical circuit 7 signals the readiness of the inhaler, for example, through a light-emitting diode. The user brings up the mouth piece 4 of the inhaler to his mouth and activates the switch 7 a. At the same time, he begins to draw on the mouth piece 4. The partial vacuum produced in this way has the effect that air flows from the surroundings into the suction snorkel 30. After the air has passed through the flow throttle 32, the flow bends at a right angle (see arrows in FIG. 8 and FIG. 9) and emerges into a plenum chamber 33, where the air accumulates and is then supplied uniformly to the slitlike air nozzle 29. The air flow is accelerated in the air nozzle 29 and enters with a high exit velocity into the chamber 26.
Activating the switch 7 a has the effect of turning on the heating current circuit 7. The heating current is preferably switched by means of a power MOSFET, and the supplied power can be adapted to the particular requirements by a duty cycle. This adapting can also be done in certain limits by the user via an interface, making it possible for him to influence the resulting quantity of aerosol or smoke. The heating current is switched on for a predetermined period of time (“heating period”), typically amounting to 1.0-1.8 seconds. The heating current is taken to the compound structures 10 via the insert tongues 8 a and the conductor tracks 13 of the circuit board 11 and brings about a lightning-fast heating of the compound structures 10 and the liquid material 17 stored in the wicks, whereupon the liquid material 17 evaporates. The vapor is emitted into the chamber 26, where it mixes with the air flowing in through the air nozzle 29. The arrangement and dimensioning of the air nozzle 29 produces a fast and uniform flow across the compound structures 10. This makes sure that the vapor released by the compound structures 10 encounters approximately the same mixture conditions everywhere, and the mixture of vapor and air is intimate. The air brings about a cooling of the vapor, so that a condensation aerosol can also form, provided the evaporated liquid material 17 contains substances with sufficiently low vapor pressure—so-called aerosol-forming substances. A typical example of such aerosol-forming substances is glycerol.
Suitable fleecelike fiber materials can be ordered, for example, from the firm Freudenberg Vliesstoffe KG, www.freudenberg-filter.com. The material consisting of polyolefin fibers and marketed under the name Viledon® filter mats is prepared by customer specification, and the material properties can be attuned so that the end product is largely permeable to the fine particles of the resulting condensation aerosol. A suitable foam material can be ordered, for example, from the firm Dunlop Equipment, www.dunlop-equipment.com. This supplier offers Ni and NiCr foam under the product name Retimer® (Grade 80) with a porosity of 90-95% and a pore diameter of around 300 μm in slabs up to thickness of 15 mm. According to an oral communication from firm representatives, even somewhat more fine-pored foams can be produced from a technological standpoint. The metal foams, furthermore, can be additionally compacted by roll treatment. The slabs can be further processed by laser cutting or wire erosion. Ni foam and especially NiCr foam are characterized by high strength, as well as high temperature and oxidation resistance. These properties make advisable a recycling and reusing of the relatively expensive metal foams at the end of the useful life of the inhaler component 2. If the liquid material 17 contains nicotine, the inhaler component 2 should be provided to the consumer only in return for a suitable deposit. This makes sure that the majority of the coolers 34, sponges 25 a, 25 b and liquid containers 18 contaminated with nicotine residue will be properly disposed of and possibly recycled.
At the end of the heating period, the circuit 7 deactivates the switch 7 a for a couple of seconds. The deactivation is reported to the user, for example, by a light-emitting diode, and is necessary so that the compound structures 10 can cool down, and the wicks can again take up new liquid material 17. The liquid transport is brought about by the capillarity of the compound structures 10 and their wicks. The wicks take up the liquid material 17 through the compound structure end segments 10 a, 10 b from the first capillary gap segment 16 a (see FIG. 4b /4 f and FIG. 11). Thus, the wicks are infiltrated from two sides. The uptake of liquid material 17 from the first capillary gap segment 16 a induces a capillary pressure in the capillary gap 16 that works its way back to the liquid container 18. The capillary pressure has the consequence that liquid material 17 flows from the liquid container 18 across the slitlike supply opening 20 into the second capillary gap segment 16 b (see arrows in FIG. 4a ). From there, the liquid material 17 goes through the third capillary gap segment 16 c into the first capillary gap segment 16 a, where it finally replaces the quantity of liquid removed. If, for whatever reason, disturbances in the capillary flow occur at one or more places in the capillary gap system 16, in most instances an alternative pathway will be found to get around the affected sites.
In an inverted position of use of the inhaler component 2—the month piece 4 points downward—the capillary coupling between the capillary gap 16 and the liquid material 17 in the liquid container 18 is lost, because the air cushion 35 always present in the liquid container 18 always points upwards in every position on account of buoyancy, i.e., in the invested position of use it will come to lie in the region of the supply opening 20. An operation of the inhaler is still possible, at least for a certain number of draws or inhalations, because enough liquid material 17 has been buffered in the extended capillary gap system 16. Only when all capillary gap segments 16 a, 16 b, 16 c are completely empty are the wicks liable to dry out. It is necessary, at latest at this time, to turn the inhaler component 2 back to a normal position of use, so that the capillary gap 16 can again fill with the liquid material 17, which process incidentally takes only a few seconds.
a liquid container, wherein a portion of a surface of the liquid container at least partially defines a portion of the capillary gap.
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References: Application No. 14
 Application no. 200980152395
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