Aerosol-generating system and method of dispensing liquid aerosol-forming substrate with pumped air
An aerosol-generating system may include a liquid storage portion, a vaporizer, and a pump. The liquid storage portion may be configured to store a liquid aerosol-forming substrate. The vaporizer may be configured to volatilize the liquid aerosol-forming substrate. The pump may be configured to pump air into the liquid storage portion so as to push out a volume of the liquid aerosol-forming substrate from the liquid storage portion and to supply the volume of the liquid aerosol-forming substrate to the vaporizer. A method for generating an aerosol may be performed with the system.
1 . An aerosol-generating system, comprising:
a main unit configured to pump an incoming volume of air, via a tube, into an inlet of a storage portion connected to the tube to displace an outgoing volume of an aerosol-forming substrate from the storage portion and to heat the outgoing volume of the aerosol-forming substrate to generate an aerosol.
2 . The aerosol-generating system of claim 1 , wherein the main unit is configured to pump the incoming volume of the air into the inlet of the storage portion to displace the outgoing volume of the aerosol-forming substrate through an outlet of the storage portion.
3 . The aerosol-generating system of claim 2 , wherein the storage portion further defines a first storage volume and a second storage volume containing the aerosol-forming substrate.
4 . The aerosol-generating system of claim 3 , wherein the storage portion includes a first dividing wall and a second dividing wall configured to partition the first storage volume and the second storage volume.
5 . The aerosol-generating system of claim 4 , wherein the first dividing wall and the second dividing wall are configured to inhibit a passage of the incoming volume of the air through the storage portion.
6 . The aerosol-generating system of claim 4 , wherein the first dividing wall and the second dividing wall have overlapping portions.
7 . The aerosol-generating system of claim 6 , wherein the overlapping portions of the first dividing wall and the second dividing wall define a gap therebetween.
8 . The aerosol-generating system of claim 3 , wherein the storage portion is configured such that the incoming volume of the air is confined to the first storage volume.
9 . The aerosol-generating system of claim 3 , wherein the main unit is configured to pump the incoming volume of the air into the first storage volume via the inlet in the storage portion.
10 . The aerosol-generating system of claim 3 , wherein the storage portion is configured such that the outgoing volume of the aerosol-forming substrate is displaced from the second storage volume.
11 . The aerosol-generating system of claim 1 , wherein the main unit includes a micropump upstream from the storage portion, the micropump configured to pump the incoming volume of the air into the storage portion.
12 . The aerosol-generating system of claim 1 , wherein the main unit includes a vaporizer downstream from the storage portion, the vaporizer configured to heat the outgoing volume of the aerosol-forming substrate.