Releasable mouthpiece locking mechanism

1 . A releasably locking mouthpiece 100 having a first end and an opposed second end disposed along a longitudinal axis 300 , the mouthpiece comprising:

a support structure 130 having a passage 170 extending along the longitudinal axis;

one or more pairs of opposed first and second arms 180 extending longitudinally from the support structure towards the first end of the mouthpiece,

each of the first and second arms comprising a first hooked portion 180 A and a second hooked portion 180 B extending radially inwardly toward the longitudinal axis, the first and second arms being radially flexible;

each of the first hooked portions 180 A comprising a surface 182 that is tapered away from the second end of the mouthpiece and toward the longitudinal axis 300 of the mouthpiece;

each of the second hooked portions 180 B including a first side facing toward the first end of the mouthpiece 100 , the first side having a surface 186 that is angled relative to the longitudinal axis 300 of the mouthpiece 100 .

2 . The mouthpiece of claim 1 , wherein the one or more pairs of opposed first and second arms are disposed for accommodating therebetween a radially extending portion of a tube of a vaporization cartridge 200 that is aligned with the passage along the longitudinal axis, wherein the mouthpiece releasably locks with the vaporization cartridge.

3 . The mouthpiece of claim 2 , further comprising: a sealing cap ring 140 disposed at the second end of the mouthpiece, the sealing ring being supported by the support structure.

4 . The mouthpiece of claim 1 , further comprising:

a mouthpiece housing 150 having a passage 110 disposed therethrough, the passage extending along the longitudinal axis 300 and including a hole 120 disposed at the first end of the mouthpiece 100 ;

wherein the support structure is disposed within the mouthpiece housing and extends from the mouthpiece housing at the second end of the mouthpiece;

and wherein the passage of the support structure is longitudinally aligned with and in fluid communication with the passage of the mouthpiece housing.

5 . The mouthpiece of claim 1 , wherein:

(a) the support structure is made of a flexible material;

(b) the one or more pairs of first and second arms are integrally formed with the support structure;

(c) one or more pairs of first and second arms comprise first and second pairs of first and second arms, the first and second arms of each of the first and second pairs being diametrically opposed to one another; and

(d) each of the first hooked portions 180 A comprises:

a first side facing toward the second end 108 of the mouthpiece 100 , the first side having the surface 182 that is tapered relative to the longitudinal axis 300 of the mouthpiece 100 ; and

a second side facing away from the second end 108 of the mouthpiece 100 , the second side having a surface 184 that is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis 300 of the mouthpiece 100 .

6 . The mouthpiece of claim 4 , wherein the support structure is fixed to the mouthpiece housing.

7 . The mouthpiece of claim 6 , wherein the support structure is fixed to the mouthpiece mouthpiece housing via a snap fit, an ultrasonic weld, or an adhesive 160 .

8 . The mouthpiece of claim 4 , wherein the support structure is not fixed to the mouthpiece housing.

9 . The mouthpiece of claim 5 , wherein for each pair of first and second arms the second hooked portions 180 B are separated by a distance D 2 .

10 . The mouthpiece of claim 5 , comprising displacing the opposing second hooked portions 180 B radially away from the longitudinal axis 300 so that the second hooked portions 180 B are separated by a distance greater than D 2 displaces the opposing first hooked portions 180 A away from the longitudinal axis 300 so that the opposing first hooked portions 180 A are separated by a separation distance D 1 that is greater than a distance D 3 between radially outer surfaces of a tube of a vaporization cartridge to release the mouthpiece from the vaporization cartridge.

11 . The mouthpiece of claim 5 , wherein the mouthpiece further comprises a longitudinally extending pin 400 having a cross-sectional dimension Dp that is larger than the distance D 2 between the second hooked portions 180 B,

wherein insertion of the longitudinally extending pin from the first end of the mouthpiece 100 displaces the opposing second hooked portions 180 B radially away from the longitudinal axis 300 so that the second hooked portions 180 B are separated by a distance greater than D 2 .

12 . The mouthpiece of claim 11 , wherein the longitudinally extending pin has a circular cross-section in shape having a diameter that is equal to the cross-sectional dimension.