	US 11,785,990 B2
	Heating elements formed from a sheet of a material and inputs and methods for the production of atomizers
John DePiano, Burlington, MA (US); David Smith, Needham, MA (US); Charles Jacob Novak, III, Winston-Salem, NC (US); Frank S. Silveira, Wilmington, MA (US); Michael Laine, Newburyport, MA (US); Robert Alden Metcalfe, Newburyport, MA (US); and John William Wolber, Nashua, NH (US)
Assigned to RAI Strategic Holdings, Inc., Winston-Salem, NC (US)
Filed by RAI Strategic Holdings, Inc., Winston-Salem, NC (US)
Filed on Jun. 15, 2018, as Appl. No. 16/9,830.
Application 15/232,389 is a division of application No. 13/842,125, filed on Mar. 15, 2013, granted, now 9,491,974, issued on Nov. 15, 2016.
Application 16/009,830 is a continuation of application No. 15/232,389, filed on Aug. 9, 2016, granted, now 10,595,561.
Prior Publication US 2018/0303164 A1, Oct. 25, 2018
Int. Cl. A24F 40/46 (2020.01); A24F 40/40 (2020.01); A24F 40/70 (2020.01); A24F 40/10 (2020.01); H05B 3/46 (2006.01)

CPC A24F 40/46 (2020.01) [A24F 40/40 (2020.01); A24F 40/70 (2020.01); H05B 3/46 (2013.01); A24F 40/10 (2020.01); H05B 2203/017 (2013.01); H05B 2203/021 (2013.01); Y10T 29/49387 (2015.01)]

17 Claims

1. A smoking article comprising:

a reservoir including a liquid;

a liquid transport element configured for transfer of liquid from the reservoir; and

a heating element at least partially surrounding the liquid transport element so as to be in a heating relationship with the liquid transport element and configured to vaporize the liquid transferred by the liquid transport element, wherein the heating element has a longitudinal axis extending from a first end thereof to a second end thereof and comprises a plurality of interconnected loops extending between the first end and the second end;

wherein a portion of the heating element extending along the longitudinal axis from the first end to the second end remains substantially planar when the heating element is at least partially surrounding the liquid transport element.