PORTABLE VAPORIZATION MODULE, DEVICE, CONTAINER, AND METHODS
Aspects of the present invention relate to a portable electronic vaporizing device for use in the vaporization of substances, as well as a container for holding and heating a vaporizable product. Methods of using such a device and a removably attachable vaporization module that is compatible with the device are provided. A method of heating vaporizable substances is also provided.
1 . A removably attachable atomizer for an electronic vaporizing device, the removably attachable atomizer comprising:
a container configured to hold vaporizable product,
wherein the container comprises:
container walls comprising one or more sidewalls and a bottom wall that form a space to receive the vaporizable product, and
a heating device comprising one or more resistive heating elements embedded in one or more of the sidewalls, the heating device configured to be electrically connected to a power source and transfer energy to the vaporizable product in the container to heat the vaporizable product and form a vaporized product therefrom;
wherein the one or more resistive heating elements are embedded in sidewall heating portions of the one or more sidewalls of the container, wherein the one or more sidewalls extend vertically from the bottom wall to a vertical height H c , and wherein the sidewall heating portions extend vertically from the bottom wall to a vertical height Hp along the one or more sidewalls,
wherein the bottom wall of the container does not contain gas inlets and/or outlets, and wherein:
the heating device is configured such that the sidewall heating portions are heated to a higher temperature than the bottom wall during operation of the atomizer.
2 . The atomizer according to claim 1 , further comprising an atomizer inlet configured to receive a flow of gas into a top of the atomizer, to provide the flow of gas to the container, and one or more atomizer outlets located towards a bottom of the atomizer that are capable of receiving the gas having the vaporized product entrained therein from the container.
3 . The atomizer according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more resistive heating elements extend at least partly circumferentially about an interior of the container.
4 . The atomizer according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more resistive heating elements are partly covered by one or more materials forming the container walls, such that the one or more resistive heating elements are at least partly exposed to the environment external to the container.
5 . The atomizer according to claim 2 , wherein the container comprises (i) a container inlet capable of introducing the flow of gas provided by the atomizer inlet into the container from a top of the container to entrain the vaporized product, and (ii) one or more container outlets capable of exhausting the gas having the vaporized product entrained therein from the top of the container.
6 . The atomizer according to claim 1 , wherein the container is pre-filled with vaporizable product, or is a refillable container that is capable of being re-filled with vaporizable product.
7 . The atomizer according to claim 1 , wherein the bottom wall of the container and the one or more sidewalls of the container are configured to contain a vaporizable product that is liquid or that becomes at least partially liquefied during vaporization thereof.
8 . The atomizer according to claim 5 , wherein the one or more container outlets are located near the top of the container.
9 . The atomizer according to claim 5 , wherein the one or more container outlets are located radially external to the container inlet.
10 . The atomizer according to claim 1 , wherein the bottom wall of the container does not contain any resistive heating elements embedded therein, and/or the container does not contain any resistive heating elements adjacent to the bottom wall.
11 . The atomizer according to claim 1 , wherein the container walls comprise a ceramic material having metal heater traces embedded therein.
12 . The atomizer according to claim 11 , wherein the container walls comprise a ceramic material comprising any of silicon carbide, alumina, aluminum nitride, zirconia, quartz, ruby, sapphire, bososilicate and combinations thereof, and the metal heater traces comprising any of tungsten, kanthal, titanium, stainless steel, and nickel.
13 . The atomizer according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more resistive heating elements are embedded in the one or more sidewalls of the container such that a thickness of the one or more sidewalls on either side of the embedded one or more resistive heating elements is at least 0.1 mm, at least 0.15 mm, and/or at least 0.2 mm, and/or wherein the one or more sidewalls comprising the embedded one or more resistive heating elements comprise a thickness of at least 0.5 mm, at least 0.6 mm, and/or at least 0.8 mm.
14 . The atomizer according to claim 1 , wherein the container is formed by embedding the one or more resistive heating elements in a soft ceramic material and forming a tube shape, adhering a thin ceramic bottom wall to the tube shape, and firing the soft ceramic tube shape with the one or more resistive heating element embedded therein.
15 . The atomizer according to claim 1 , wherein the container is formed by printing heater traces onto a first layer of soft ceramic material, covering the printed heater traces with a second layer of soft ceramic material to embed the printed heater traces between the first and second layers of soft ceramic material, wrapping the first and second layers of soft ceramic material having the printed heater traces embedded therebetween into a tube shape, adhering a thin ceramic bottom wall to the tube shape, and firing the soft ceramic tube shape with the printed heater traces embedded therein.
16 . The atomizer according to claim 1 , wherein the bottom wall of the container has no heating device embedded therein.
17 . The atomizer according to claim 1 , wherein the vertical height Hp of the sidewall heating portions having the one or more resistive heating elements embedded therein is lower than 55% of the height H c of the one or more sidewalls of the container.
18 . The atomizer according to claim 1 , wherein the vertical height H D of sidewall heating portions having the one or more resistive heating elements embedded therein is lower than 45% of the height H c of the one or more sidewalls of the container.
19 . The atomizer according to claim 1 , wherein the vertical height H D of sidewall heating portions is at least 20% of H c .
20 . The atomizer according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more sidewalls of the container have an interior sidewall surface facing an interior of the container, and wherein a ratio of that portion of the interior sidewall surface corresponding to an interior surface of sidewall heating portions having the embedded one or more resistive heating elements, to the total interior sidewall surface is less than 55%.
21 . The atomizer according to claim 1 , wherein sidewall portions of the container without resistive heating elements embedded therein have an interior surface area, which makes up at least 20% of the total interior sidewall surface area.
23 . The atomizer according to claim 1 , wherein the heating device is configured such that a power delivered to the one or more resistive heating elements embedded in the sidewall heating portions during operation of the atomizer is greater than any power delivered to the bottom wall, and/or no power is delivered to the bottom wall.
24 . The atomizer according to claim 1 , wherein the sidewall heating portions comprise a height H D of no more than 7.5 mm, as measured from the bottom wall, and comprise a height Hp of at least 3 mm as measured from the bottom wall.
25 . The atomizer according to claim 11 , wherein the heater traces form a switchback pattern across at least a portion of sidewall heating portions of the one or more sidewalls of the container.
26 . The atomizer according to claim 11 , wherein the heater traces comprise a plurality of substantially horizontal segments at least partly circumferentially surrounding an interior of the container, and comprise a plurality of substantially vertical segments connecting the substantially horizontal segments.
27 . An electronic vaporizing device comprising the atomizer according to claim 1 .
28 . The device according to claim 27 , further comprising:
a base configured to receive the atomizer, having a gas flow path conduit therein, and
a mouthpiece that is removably attachable to the base, comprising a mouthpiece inlet and an inhalation outlet,
wherein a flow of gas having the vaporized product entrained therein flows from the atomizer and through the gas flow conduit inlet of the base to the mouthpiece inlet, and along the mouthpiece to the inhalation outlet.