The present invention relates to a vaporiser for inhaling (vaping) vapours of a liquid, which liquid may for example contain nicotine or nicotine derivatives.

Vaping devices now predominantly fall into one of two categories, the first category comprising relatively simple and inexpensive devices. These usually have a reusable casing holding a battery, the casing being arranged to receive a separate pod, which pod is pushed into the top of the casing, where electrical contacts on the pod, for energising a heating element in the pod, make contact with the electrical contacts in the casing. These contacts are switchably connected to the battery within the casing.

The pod is normally disposable (by which it is meant that it is not intended to be, and is not arranged to be, refilled) and may be selected from one of a number of interchangeable pods containing liquids of different strengths or flavours. The pod has a central chimney terminating at an upper end in a mouthpiece, through which air can be sucked from an opening at the bottom of the pod through the chimney. The chimney is normally surrounded by a reservoir of the liquid to be vaporised, with a wick, typically of cotton, silica or ceramic extending across the bottom portion of the chimney and through a hole in the wall of the chimney to the reservoir. The heating element, which is normally in the form of a coil wrapped around the wick, is connected to contacts on the bottom of the pod which make contact with the contacts in the casing to enable the coil to be energised to vaporise the liquid in the wick for inhaling through the mouthpiece. This type of pod vaping device is popular due to its ease of use and compactness.

The second category of vaping devices are generally intended to be completely reusable and are commonly referred to as vape kits. A vape kit is normally a far larger and chunkier device, having both a larger battery and reservoir, which reservoir is arranged to be refilled. Thus the heating element and wick are not intended to be disposable items and subsequently may fail and need to be periodically replaced.

Although vape kits are bulkier and more expensive to produce than the pod type devices, they offer some significant advantages. Not only do they have a far better battery life, but they also enable the vaping experience to be tailored to a user’s requirements, by providing means for varying one or more of either the temperature of the heating element or the flow of air through the chimney.

The present invention aims to provide a new class of vaping device offering advantages over both the above mentioned types.

According to the present invention there is provided a vaporiser comprising a main body arranged to receive a replaceable pod and a replaceable pod arranged to be received in the main body, the pod comprising: a housing; a reservoir for a liquid to be vaporised; a chimney extending within the housing and permitting air to be drawn through the chimney from an upstream opening of the pod to a downstream opening of the pod; a wick for receiving liquid from the reservoir and a heating element for heating liquid in the wick to vaporise it and create vapour in the chimney, the vaporiser being characterised in that the main body and the pod are arranged such that the pod may be inserted into the main body in one of at least two possible orientations relative to the main body and wherein the rate at which air may be drawn in through an upstream opening, for a given pressure difference between the downstream opening and atmospheric pressure, depends on the orientation of the pod within the main body.

A vaporiser in accordance with the present invention may be arranged to provide a relatively compact main body in which the battery is housed and a replaceable pod, which may be refillable but would normally be disposable along with the wick and heating element housed within the pod. Thus, the present invention may provide a vaporiser having the advantages of known pod type devices, which are easy to maintain and operate, simply requiring the pod to be replaced as necessary and providing a clean and easy way of changing from one liquid type to another, or for replenishing the liquid.

A vaporiser in accordance with the present invention offers the additional advantage over known pod types, of enabling a user to tailor the vaporiser to their own specific requirements at a particular time, simply by choosing which way to insert the pod into the vaporiser. This advantage is provided without incurring any additional cost by the manufacturer and without increasing the bulk of the device to any significant extent

Advantageously, the pod has two upstream openings, with one of the upstream openings arranged to be closed, depending on the orientation of the pod within the main body.

The above arrangement provides a simple mechanism whereby the ease of drawing air through the vaporiser can simply be determined by determining which one of two or more upstream openings air is to be drawn through, whereby this will determine the resistance to drawing air through the mouthpiece.

One simply way of determining which upper opening air will be drawn through is by the main body having a portion which will come into contact and seal one of the two upstream openings of the pod, depending on which way the pod is inserted into the main body.

The pod may have two upstream openings on respective opposite side edges of the housing of the pod, or two upstream openings equally spaced from opposite side edges of the housing of the pod, whereby the pod may be received in the main body of the vaporiser in one of two opposite orientations, whereby the said portion of the main body will seal with a first upstream opening on the pod when the pod is received in one orientation and the same portion will seal with the second upstream opening when the pod is received in the main body with the opposite orientation relative to the main body. In this manner, the ease of drawing air through the mouthpiece may simply be determined by inserting the pod in one orientation or in an opposite orientation.

Advantageously, where each upstream opening forms an opening directly into the chimney, or where each upstream opening is connected to the chimney by a respective passage, each upstream opening, or associated passage, forms or has a restriction which acts to restrict airflow through that upstream opening; with the restriction associated with one upstream opening being of a different size to the restriction associated with one other upstream opening. Each restriction may then act to restrict the quantity of air drawn in through the associated upstream opening for a given pressure difference between the downstream opening and atmospheric pressure. The restriction through which air is drawn in to the chimney depends on the orientation of the pod within the main body and thus which upstream opening is open and which upstream opening is sealed by said portion of the main body. This arrangement provides a way in which a restriction may be placed in the airflow simply by determining the size of an associated upstream opening of the pod or the size of a restriction in a passage leading from that upstream opening.

In an alternative arrangement, the pod may have one upstream opening.

The main body of the vaporiser may then have at least one passage arranged to align and seal with the one upstream opening on the pod when the pod is in one orientation and not to seal with the one upstream opening when the pod has a different orientation. The at least one passage having a restriction in it, or forming a restriction, thus acts to restrict the rate at which air is drawn into the upstream opening of the pod through the passage.

The main body may comprise two passages each with a restriction of a different size to the other, such that the rate at which air is drawn in through the upstream opening of the pod, for a given pressure difference between the downstream opening and atmospheric pressure, depends on the orientation of the pod within the main body and which passage in the main body the upstream opening of the pod is aligned with. In this manner, the main body may regulate the rate at which air is drawn through the upstream opening of the pod depending on the orientation of the pod within the main body.

The chimney within the pod may extend from, or towards, the top of the pod to, or towards, the bottom of the pod, wherein the wick and the heating element are located at, or towards, the bottom of the chimney. The passage associated with the, or each, upstream opening then connects the bottom of the chimney to the, or each, respective upstream opening with the, or each, upstream opening positioned above the level of the bottom of the chimney.

The above features may be employed with either of the alternative embodiments described above. The advantage here is that if liquid seeps from the wick and collects in the bottom of the chimney, instead of leaking out of the bottom of the chimney and contaminating the contacts, casing or battery, that liquid will instead be contained within the bottom of the chimney as a result of the upstream openings being above the level of the bottom of the chimney.

Preferably, the main body of the vaporiser has a lower portion and an upper portion between which the pod is received and the pod has the, or each, upstream opening located on an upper face of the pod. This arrangement provides maximum containment of any liquid seeping from the wick and collecting in the bottom of the chimney and will likely contain that liquid even if the vaporiser is laid on its side or is even slightly inverted.

The pod and main body may preferably be arranged so that the pod may be received in the main body from a side face of the main body. With this

arrangement, the pod may be mounted in the side of the main body by single handed operation, using the pressure of the thumb to push the pod easily into an aperture in a side face of the main body. However, the pod could equally be arranged to be inserted from a side edge of the main body. The main body of the vaporiser may be arranged to have a lower portion and an upper portion between which the pod is received, wherein the upper portion has a mouthpiece extending from a top surface of the upper portion and a chimney extension passage extending through the upper portion to connect the mouthpiece with the downstream opening of the pod.

An advantage of the above arrangement is that the mouthpiece is no longer a part of the disposable pod and thus the materials of the mouthpiece may be of a superior quality. For example the mouthpiece may be of stainless steel, which would not be cost effective where the mouthpiece is part of the disposable pod.

Preferably, the chimney in the pod is vertical and passes up the middle of the pod and the chimney extension passage is inclined at an angle to connect to the mouthpiece, which is offset to one side if the main body. The chimney extension passage through the upper portion of the main body being inclined, permits the mouthpiece to be offset to the side of the main body, which may be a preferable position for the user. It may also tend to contain any spitting that may sometime occur as liquid is heated at the wick.

The main body and pod may both be substantially planar and rectangular with the pod, when received in the body, being visible from both sides of the main body. This may provide a particularly aesthetically pleasing vaporiser and one that is both practical and comfortable to hold.

With the above arrangement, it is preferable that the pod housing is clear or translucent and the reservoir is directly formed by said housing, so that liquid in the reservoir is visible when the pod is received within the main body. Preferably light may pass from one side of the housing of the pod to other through the liquid, making it very easy to visually determine the level of liquid in the pod without having to remove the pod. According to a second aspect of the present invention a vaporiser kit may comprise a vaporiser as claimed in any preceding claim and a plurality of different interchangeable main bodies for use with a common pod. In this way, a

manufacturer, or different manufacturers, may manufacture main bodies of vaporisers in different styles which may all use a common pod, enabling such a pod to become standard for such vaporising devices.

Several embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying figures, of which:

Figure 1 A is an elevation of a front edge of a vaporiser in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 1 B is a side elevation of the vaporiser of Figure 1 A;

Figure 2 is a first perspective view of the vaporiser of Figures 1 A and 1 B with the pod removed;

Figure 3 is a second perspective view of the vaporiser of Figures 1 A and 1 B with the pod removed;

Figure 4 is a top perspective view of a pod of the vaporiser of Figures 1 A and 1 B;

Figure 5 is a bottom perspective view of the pod of Figure 4;

Figure 6 is the bottom perspective view corresponding to Figure 5 but with the base portion of the pod removed;

Figure 7 is a top perspective view of the base portion removed from the pod shown in Figure 6;

Figure 8 is an exploded view showing the components of the pod of Figure

4;

Figure 9 is a cross-section through the pod of Figure 4;

Figure 10 is a side elevation through the main body of the vaporiser of Figure 2, but with the position of an inner chimney passage shown;

Figures 11 A and 11 B are a front edge elevation and a side elevation respectively of an alternative embodiment of a vaporiser, in accordance with the present invention, having a side loading pod; Figure 12 is a bottom perspective view of the pod of the vaporiser of

Figures 11A and 11 B;

Figure 13 is a top perspective view of the pod of Figure 12;

Figure 14 is a perspective view of a further alternative embodiment of a vaporiser in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 15 is a perspective view of the pod of the vaporiser of Figure 14;

Figures 16A and 16B are detailed right and left hand perspective views, respectively, of the receiving portion of the vaporiser of Figure 14, with the pod removed;

Figures 17A is a right hand perspective view corresponding to Figure 16A, but with the pod of Figure 15 shown partially inserted into the receiving portion with a first orientation; and

Figure 17B, is a left hand perspective view corresponding to Figure 16B, but with the pod of Figure 15 shown partially inserted into the receiving portion with a second orientation opposite to that shown in Figure 17A.

Referring now to Figures 1A and 1 B, here there is illustrated a vaporiser, indicated generally as 1. This comprises a main body 2 for receiving a pod 3, the main body having a mouthpiece 4 screwed into it, by which a user may inhale vapours generated in the vaporiser 1.

Figures 2 and 3 show the main body 2 with the pod 3 removed. In Figure 2 there can be seen a switch 5 for activating the vaporiser and a port 6 for receiving a connector to charge the vaporiser 1. Also seen from Figure 2, in the region where the pod 3 is received in the main body 1 , there is a pair of rails 7 for engaging with a bottom surface of the pod 3 pod and a pair of sprung loaded electrical contact pins 8, for contacting a corresponding pair of electrical contacts on the bottom surface of the pod 3.

Referring now to Figure 3, in the region where the pod 3 is received in the main body 2, there is seen: a pair of slots 9 for engaging with a top surface of the pod 3, a seal 10 for sealing an upstream opening (described below) on the pod 3; a sprung loaded pin 11 for retaining the pod 3 in place in the main body 2; and a chimney extension portion 12, with a peripheral seal 13, for engaging with a chimney (described below) in the pod 3.

Referring now to Figures 4 and 5, these respectively show top and bottom views of the pod 3 of Figures 1 A and 1 B. The pod 3 comprises a one piece homogeneous moulded clear top portion 14 (seen in Figure 6) with a base portion 15 (shown in Figure 7) extending across a bottom edge of the top portion 14. The top portion 14 and the base portion 15 house a number of further components, as described below with reference to Figures 8 and 9.

Returning to Figure 4, an upper face of the top portion 14 is shaped so as to define a pair of rails 17 for engaging corresponding slots 9 in the main body, seen in Figure 3. Also formed in the upper face 16 of the pod 3 is an opening 18, which is a downstream opening for air exiting a chimney 40 formed in the top portion 14 of the pod 3, which chimney 40 is described below with reference to Figure 9.

The upper face 16 of the top portion 14 has two recesses 19 and 20, a respective one of which (depending on the orientation of the pod 3) will engage with the spring loaded pin 11 of Figure 3, to retain the pod 3 in position within the main body 2.

Extending through the upper face 16 of the top portion 14 of the pod 3 is a small opening 21 and a slightly larger opening 22. Through either of these openings 21 or 22, air may be drawn into the pod, by air being drawn through the pod and out of the downstream opening 18. The seal 10, shown in Figure 3, is arranged to seal with and therefore close one of these opening 21 or 22, depending on which way round the pod 3 is received in the main body 2.

Referring now to Figure 5, this shows a bottom view of the pod 3 and particularly a lower face 23 of the base portion 15 of the pod 3. This has a pair of slots 24 formed in it which engage with the rails 7 of the main body 2, shown in Figure 2, to permit the pod 3 to slide into the main body 2. Also in the lower face 23 are positioned two electrical contacts 25, for connecting with the corresponding electrical contacts 8 of Figure 2.

Referring now to Figure 6, this perspective view from below the top portion

14 of the pod 3, with the base portion 15 removed, reveals one of two partition walls 26 and 27 (27 can be seen from Figure 9) which extend from the position seen in Figure 6 to the top of the top portion 14. (The other partition wall 27, not seen in Figure 6, is identical but is opposed to the partition wall 26).

Referring now to Figure 7, this shows a top perspective view of base portion

15 of the pod 3, with the top portion 14 removed. This is a one piece moulding and seals with a bottom edge of the top portion 14. As represented by pairs of arrows 28 and 29, air may pass through respective passages 30 and 31 formed in the base portion 14, from peripheral outer regions of the base portion 15 to an inner region 32. The purpose of these passages 30 and 31 will become apparent from the description below of Figures 9 and 10.

Referring first to Figure 8, this shows the top portion 14 and base portion 15, previously described with reference to Figures 6 and 7 respectively. The additional components shown comprise the contacts 25, seen in Figure 5, a seal 33 for sealing the base portion 15 with a lower edge of the top portion 14, seals 34 for sealing respective ones of the contacts 25 in the base portion 15, a further seal 35 for extending across the top of and sealing with the top of the base portion 15, a ceramic wick 36, a coiled heating element 37 wound on the wick 36, a holder 38 for the wick 36 and a further seal 39 for sealing the top of the holder 38 with the bottom of the chimney 40, as shown in the Figure 9 cross-section of the assembled components.

When the pod 3 is assembled, as shown in Figure 9, the chimney 40 and partition walls 26 and 27, together with the seal 35, form an annular reservoir 41 about the chimney 40, which reservoir 41 is filled with a liquid 42 to be vaporised The partition walls 26 and 27 also define respective passages 26a and 27a which connect respective openings 21 and 22 in the upper face 16 with respective passages 30 and 31 in the base portion 15 of the pod 3.

The liquid 42 is in contact with the wick 22, which extends into the reservoir 41. This liquid in the wick is heated by the heating element 37, in order to vaporise it. The heating element is operated by the switch 5 shown in Figure 2 and provides electrical energy from a battery within the main body to the contacts 8 of Figure 2, which are in electrical contact with the contacts 25 in the base portion 15.

With reference to Figure 10, there is shown in broken line the position of the chimney extension portion 12 running through an upper portion of the main body 2. When the pod 3 (not shown) is inserted in the main body 3, the seal 13 about the chimney extension portion 12, engages and seals with the upper face 16 of the pod 3 about the downstream opening 18 from the pod 3. The inclined chimney extension portion 12 thus connects the chimney 40 within the pod 3 with the mouthpiece 4, so that drawing air by inhaling at the mouthpiece 4 draws air and vapour generated in the chimney 40, up the chimney to the mouthpiece. This air is replenished by air being drawn in to one of the openings 21 or 22 formed in the upper face 16 of the top portion 14 of the pod 3 and through respective passages 26a, 30 and 27a, 31 respectively, as represented by the respective arrows 43 of Figure 9. Flowever, only one of the openings 21 or 22 will be open, for the other will be closed by the seal 10, of Figure 3. Thus, the flow of air will be restricted by the size of the one of the openings, either 21 or 22, depending with which orientation the pod 3 is inserted into the main body 2. Thus, a user may select, by inserting the pod in a particular orientation, the amount of vapour that will be drawn through the pod for a given inhaling force.

Referring now to Figures 11 A and 11 B, here there is disclosed a main body of a second embodiment of a vapouriser in accordance with the present invention. This is essentially the same as the vaporiser previously described, except here the main body 44 is arranged to accept a pod 45 from the side. The pod 45, shown in the perspective bottom view of Figure 12 and the perspective top view of Figure 13, is identical to the pod 3 previously described in all aspects, except that on the upper face 16 of the pod 45 four short protrusions have replaced the two longer protrusions 17 of Figure 4. Also on the bottom surface of the pod 45 the pair of recesses running lengthwise along the lower face 23 have been supplemented by a pair of additional recesses 47, extending transversely across the lower face 23. This enables the pod 45 of Figures 12 and 13 to be received in the main body 2 of the Figure 3 embodiment, by sliding the pod 45 in from an end face, in the same manner as the pod 3 may slide into the main body 2. Flowever it also enables the pod 45 to be received into the main body 44, shown in Figure 11 B, by sliding it in sideways through the side face. Flere the four protrusions 46 on the top face of the pod 45 engage with upper transverse slots 48, seen in Figure 12 on the main body, whilst the transverse recesses 47, on the lower face 23 of the pod 45, engage with the two transverse rails 49 of the main body 44.

With the pods 3 and 45 previously described the rate of inhaling is modified by arranging that one of the openings 21 or 22 restricts the flow, with the desired opening selected by inserting the pod 3 or 45 in the desired orientation.

In a further alternative embodiment, described below with reference to Figures 14 to 17B, the same affect is achieved by having a single opening in a pod arranged to connect to one or more restrictive openings or passages in a main body.

Referring to Figure 14, this shows an alternative vaporiser, indicated generally as 50, comprising a main body 51 and a pod 52. The functioning of the pod 52 is the same as the functioning of the pods previously described, except that the pod 52 has a single upstream opening 53, for drawing air into the pod 52, as can be seen from Figure 15. In this embodiment the opening 53 is to one side of the pod 52, but it could equally be in the top or even the bottom surface of the pod 52. In this embodiment, where the opening 53 is in the side, the passage in the pod to the opening 53 is inclined upwards from the base of the chimney 54, to which it connects, so that any liquid accumulating at the base of the chimney 54 tends to be retained within the chimney 54. A receiving portion, indicated generally as 55 in Figures 16A and 16B, of the main body 51 of vaporiser 50 has a small slot 57 to one side and a larger slot 56 to the other side.

With the exception of the side opening 53 only being to one side of the pod 52, the pod is otherwise symmetrical and may be inserted into the main body 51 either way round. When fully inserted in the orientation illustrated in Figure 17A (here shown only partly inserted), the side opening 53 of the pod 52 will be sealed by a side face of the receiving portion 55, except for in the region of the large slot 56. Similarly, when inserted in the orientation illustrated in Figure 17B, when fully inserted the side opening 53 of the pod 52 will be sealed by the other side face of the receiving portion 55, except for in the region of the small slot 57. Thus, with this embodiment the user may again select a desired flow rate from the vaporiser 50, by simply selecting to insert the pod 52 in one of two possible orientations.

Many modifications are possible to the embodiments disclosed, in particular there is no requirement that the openings restricting the flow be in any particular surface of the pod. Similarly, although in the embodiments illustrated the pod may be inserted with one of two possible orientations, it will be appreciated that more than two different orientations are possible. For example, if the pod was square it may be inserted in one of four possible orientations and may then have four openings of difference sizes to restrict the flow through the pod. Such a pod could adopt an engagement system with a main body similar to that illustrated with reference to Figures 11 A, 11 B, 12 and 13.

Thus the present invention has been described above by way of example only with reference to the accompanying figures and various modifications may be made which fall within the scope of the invention, as defined by the following claims.