Granted Patent B2

US 12,420,035 · App. 18/421,364 · Granted Sep 23, 2025

Inventors: Ariel Atkins (San Francisco, CA); Christopher L. Belisle (Somerset, WI); Steven Christensen (Burlingame, CA); Alexander M. Hoopai (San Francisco, CA); Eric Joseph Johnson (San Francisco, CA); Jason King (San Francisco, CA); Esteban Leon Duque (Berkeley, CA); Christopher James Rosser (Cambridge, GB)

Assignee: JUUL Labs, Inc.

A61M11/042A24F40/46H05B3/44H05B2203/021

Abstract

Claims (18)

1. A wick housing of a vaporizer cartridge configured to be coupled to a vaporizer body, the wick housing comprising:

an outer wall comprising two opposing short sides and two opposing long sides;

an interior volume defined by the outer wall, the interior volume configured to receive a portion of a heating element and a wicking element, wherein the heating element comprises a heating portion configured to heat vaporizable material stored in the wicking element to generate an aerosol and a connecting portion configured to electrically communicate with a power source to provide power to the heating portion; and

a base end and an open end opposite the base end, wherein the connecting portion of the heating element extends from the interior volume through the open end, and

wherein the outer wall is configured to be positioned between the heating portion and the connecting portion.

2. The wick housing of claim 1 , wherein each of the two opposing long sides includes a recess configured to releasably couple the vaporizer cartridge to a corresponding detent of the vaporizer body.

3. The wick housing of claim 2 , wherein the recess is positioned proximate to an intersection between a long side of the two opposing long sides and a short side of the two opposing short sides.

4. The wick housing of claim 1 , wherein each of the two opposing long sides includes two recesses.

5. The wick housing of claim 1 , wherein the outer wall further comprises a base positioned at the base end and approximately perpendicular to the two opposing short sides and two opposing long sides.

6. The wick housing of claim 5 , wherein the base comprises one or more slots, wherein air pressure caused by the flow of vaporizable material within the heater portion is configured to escape through the one or more slots.

7. The wick housing of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the two opposing short sides comprises a chip recess configured to receive an identification chip.

8. The wick housing of claim 7 , wherein the chip recess comprises at least two walls configured to surround and retain the identification chip.

9. The wick housing of claim 8 , wherein the chip recess comprises at least four walls.

10. The wick housing of claim 1 , further comprising an outer rim surrounding the opening and extending away from the opening.

11. The wick housing of claim 10 , wherein the outer wall comprises a capillary feature, the capillary feature causing an abrupt change in capillary pressure between the heating element and the wick housing to thereby prevent the vaporizable material from flowing beyond the capillary feature.

12. The wick housing of claim 11 , wherein the capillary feature comprises a curved surface formed at the intersection between at least one of the two opposing long sides and the outer rim.

13. The wick housing of claim 12 , wherein the curved surface has a radius that is sufficient to break tangency points between the outer surface and the outer rim.

14. The wick housing of claim 11 , wherein the capillary feature is positioned within a cutout in the outer wall, the cutout configured to space the heating element from the outer wall, thereby preventing excess heat from contacting the outer wall.

Assignments (8)

Continuity (7)

References Cited (217)