Aerosol Medium Feed and Heating Layout for Rapid Delivery

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing aerosol provision devices require significant warm-up times before delivering an aerosolized payload, and often necessitate device modifications for changing the aerosol generating medium.

Innovation Solution

An aerosol provision system with a movement mechanism that translates aerosol generating medium past a heating zone, allowing individual portions to be heated efficiently, and a flow path angled relative to the aerosol outlet for rapid aerosol delivery.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Loss of time

If conventional heaters are used to generate aerosol from medium, then aerosol can be produced, but significant warm-up time is required before aerosol delivery

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvewarm-up timeVSAvoidaerosol delivery speed
Core Design Contradiction:
Loss of timeVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The aerosol generating medium is pre-loaded onto a movable substrate (such as a spool or tape) before use. This preliminary preparation allows the medium to be readily available for immediate aerosol generation without requiring extensive warm-up of the entire system, thereby reducing warm-up time while maintaining productivity

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The aerosol generating medium is divided into separate portions or segments on the substrate, allowing individual sections to be heated and used sequentially. This segmentation enables faster aerosol delivery by focusing heating energy on specific segments rather than requiring the entire system to reach operational temperature, thus reducing overall warm-up time

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

2Adaptability or versatility

If device configuration is changed to use different aerosol generating media, then media variety is improved, but device modification or reloading is required

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvemedia varietyVSAvoiddevice modification requirement
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The device is designed with a universal substrate holder and heating mechanism that can accommodate multiple types of aerosol generating media loaded on different substrate formats. This multi-functional design allows the same device to work with various media without requiring structural modifications, thereby improving adaptability while maintaining device simplicity

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Solution Approach 2:

The substrate carrying the aerosol generating medium is designed as a disposable component that can be easily replaced. Different substrates with different media can be loaded into the same device without modification, allowing users to change media types by simply replacing the substrate rather than modifying the device, thus improving versatility while minimizing device complexity

Inventive Principle:
Principle #27Cheap short-living objects (Disposable)

3Speed

If aerosol generating medium is moved along a line at an angle to the flow path, then rapid aerosol delivery is achieved, but heating zone positioning becomes more complex

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveaerosol delivery speedVSAvoidheating zone positioning
Core Design Contradiction:
SpeedVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The substrate is positioned and moved at an angle relative to the aerosol flow path, creating a geometric arrangement where the medium travels through the heating zone efficiently. This angular positioning optimizes the path length and heating efficiency while maintaining rapid aerosol delivery, balancing speed requirements with heating zone positioning complexity

Inventive Principle:
Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

Applied Scientific Principles

This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.

Function Achieved in This Case

The system enables rapid aerosol delivery without lengthy warm-up times and reduces the need for device modifications, improving user experience and operational efficiency.

Implementation Method 1

a source of energy for heating, wherein the source of energy for heating is configured to cause heating of the aerosol generating medium in a heating zone

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectHeating: Heating

Data Source

PatentEP3945877B1Aerosol provision system
Publication Date: 2025.10.01 NICOVENTURES TRADING LTD
  • EP3945877B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3945877B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3945877B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

There is provided an aerosol provision system (100) comprising: - an aerosol generating medium (114); - a source of energy for heating (120), wherein the source of energy for heating is configured to cause heating of the aerosol generating medium in a heating zone (140); - a movement mechanism (130) arranged to move the aerosol generating medium; - an aerosol outlet (150) through which an aerosol can flow to be inhaled by a user; and - a flow path (160) arranged between the heating zone and the aerosol outlet such that aerosol formed from heated aerosol generating medium flows along the flow path, wherein the aerosol generating medium is translatable past the source of energy for heating, into the heating zone, such that respective portions of aerosol generating medium are individually presented to the source of energy for heating to form an aerosol; and wherein the aerosol generating medium is arranged to move along a line that is at an angle to the flow path of generated aerosol.