US 11,865,246 B2
Apparatus for generating an inhalable medium
Richard Hepworth, London (GB); Dominic Woodcock, London (GB); Joseph Sutton, London (GB); and Sharon Goodall, London (GB)
Assigned to NICOVENTURES TRADING LIMITED, London (GB)
Appl. No. 15/553,785
Filed by NICOVENTURES TRADING LIMITED, London (GB)
PCT Filed Feb. 29, 2016, PCT No. PCT/EP2016/054232
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Aug. 25, 2017,
PCT Pub. No. WO2016/135342, PCT Pub. Date Sep. 1, 2016.
Claims priority of application No. 1503411 (GB), filed on Feb. 27, 2015; and application No. 1517470 (GB), filed on Oct. 2, 2015.
Prior Publication US 2018/0027882 A1, Feb. 1, 2018
Int. Cl. A61M 11/04 (2006.01); A61M 15/06 (2006.01); A24F 40/42 (2020.01); A24F 40/10 (2020.01); A24F 40/20 (2020.01)
CPC A61M 11/041 (2013.01) [A24F 40/42 (2020.01); A61M 15/06 (2013.01); A24F 40/10 (2020.01); A24F 40/20 (2020.01); A61M 2205/3653 (2013.01)] 18 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An apparatus for generating an inhalable medium, the apparatus comprising:
a liquid container for holding a liquid;
a heater for volatilizing the liquid held in the liquid container;
a stack comprising a plurality of discrete material elements, wherein each discrete material element of the plurality of discrete material elements is abutted with another of the plurality of discrete material elements; and
a receiving portion for receiving the stack comprising the plurality of discrete material elements,
the apparatus being arranged such that in use the liquid volatized by the heater passes, in the form of at least one of a vapor or an aerosol, through a material of one or more of the plurality of discrete material elements received by the receiving portion in use thereby to entrain one or more constituents of the one or more of the plurality of discrete material elements to produce the inhalable medium;
wherein the receiving portion comprises a receptacle having received therein said stack comprising said plurality of discrete material elements, the receiving portion having a first permeable retainer at an upstream end of the receptacle and a second permeable retainer at a downstream end of the receptacle to prevent passage of solid material through the receptacle and into a mouthpiece; and
wherein the first permeable retainer and the second permeable retainer cooperatively retain the plurality of discrete material elements within the receptacle, and wherein the second permeable retainer is removable to allow access to the plurality of discrete material elements, and wherein one of the plurality of discrete material elements is exchangeable for another discrete material element.