EP-4734780-A1 - AN AEROSOL GENERATING DEVICE COMPRISING A VACUUM CHAMBER

Abstract

Disclosed herein is an aerosol generating device, comprising: a vacuum chamber (402) defined between a plurality of walls (404a, b, c, d), the plurality of walls each having internal surfaces; a heater (406) provided on at least one of the walls of the vacuum chamber, wherein the heater is disposed within the vacuum chamber; one or more electrical connections (408a, b), wherein the heater is electrically connected to a power source provided external to the vacuum chamber through at least one of the walls of the vacuum chamber using the one or more electrical connections; and a coating, wherein the coating (410, 420, 430, 440, 450) is provided on one or more of the heater (410), the one or more electrical connections (420), and any of the internal surfaces (430, 440, 450), thereby to prevent outgassing into the vacuum chamber.

Inventors

• GARCIA GARCIA, Eduardo Jose

Assignees

• JT International SA

Dates

Publication Date

20260506

Application Date

20240625

Claims (12)

1. 1. An aerosol generating device, comprising: a vacuum chamber defined between a plurality of walls, the plurality of walls each having internal surfaces; a heater provided on at least one of the walls of the vacuum chamber, wherein the heater is disposed within the vacuum chamber; one or more electrical connections, wherein the heater is electrically connected to a power source provided external to the vacuum chamber through at least one of the walls of the vacuum chamber using the one or more electrical connections; and a coating, wherein the coating is provided on the one or more electrical connections, thereby to prevent outgassing into the vacuum chamber.
2. 2. An aerosol generating device according to claim 1 , wherein the coating is provided on the heater and/or any of the internal surfaces.
3. 3. An aerosol generating device according to any preceding claim, wherein the one or more electrical connections comprise solder.
4. 4. An aerosol generating device according to any preceding claim, wherein the vacuum chamber is defined between an inner wall, an outer wall, an upper wall, and a lower wall.
5. 5. An aerosol generating device according to claim 4, wherein the coating is provided on any of the internal surfaces of inner, outer, upper and lower walls.
6. 6. An aerosol generating device according to claims 4 or 5, wherein the heater is electrically connected to a power source provided external to the vacuum chamber through the lower wall of the vacuum chamber using the one or more electrical connections.
7. 7. An aerosol generating device according to any preceding claim, wherein the heater comprises a printed heating element.
8. 8. An aerosol generating device according to any preceding claim, wherein the electrical connections comprise pogo pins.
9. 9. An aerosol generating device according to any preceding claim, wherein the coating comprises silicon.
10. 10. A method for forming an aerosol generating device, comprising: forming a vacuum chamber defined between a plurality of walls, the plurality of walls each having internal surfaces; providing a heater on at least one of the walls of the vacuum chamber, wherein the heater is disposed within the vacuum chamber; forming one or more electrical connections, wherein the heater is electrically connected to a power source provided external to the vacuum chamber through at least one of the walls of the vacuum chamber using the one or more electrical connections; and coating the one or more electrical connections, thereby to prevent outgassing into the vacuum chamber.
11. 11. A method according to claim 10, further comprising: coating the heater and/or any of the internal surfaces, thereby to prevent outgassing into the vacuum chamber.
12. 12. A method according to claim 10 or claim 11 , wherein the coating is applied via chemical vapour deposition.

Description

AN AEROSOL GENERATING DEVICE COMPRISING A VACUUM CHAMBER FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an aerosol generating device comprising a vacuum chamber. More specifically, the present invention relates to an aerosol generating device comprising a vacuum chamber, wherein a heater is disposed within the vacuum chamber. BACKGROUND It is a developing field of interest to produce electronic cigarettes that heat, but do not bum, a solid or semi-solid aerosol forming substrate which comprises tobacco. One issue in these devices is that a heater which supplies heat to a heating chamber can also undesirably heat the remainder of the device. In compact devices this can be disadvantageous because the temperature of the outer surfaces of the device, which are held by a user, can become unacceptably high. In order to mitigate these effects some aerosol generating devices have been provided with vacuum chambers that can space the heater from the outer surfaces of such devices. This can provide thermal separation between the heating chamber and the outer surfaces which are held by a user. The heater can be disposed within the vacuum chamber along with electrical connections which connect the heater to a power source provided external to the vacuum chamber. It is important that a vacuum state is maintained in the vacuum chamber so that heat transfer via gases in the chamber can be minimised. The term vacuum used herein may not necessarily refer to a completely evacuated space. The vacuum state within the vacuum chamber may be a low, mid, or high-grade vacuum. There may be some trace amounts of gases within the vacuum chamber, for example. Generally, the vacuum state should be held at a sufficiently low pressure such that heat transfer from the heater to the outer surfaces of the device is reduced. A small quantity of heat transfer may be tolerated. There is a demand for producing aerosol generating devices that include vacuum chambers that have a vacuum state that will be preserved for sustained periods of time. It is an object of the present invention to provide an aerosol generating device that addresses these requirements. SUMMARY OF INVENTION Described herein is an aerosol generating device, comprising: a vacuum chamber defined between a plurality of walls, the plurality of walls each having internal surfaces; and a heater provided on at least one of the walls of the vacuum chamber, wherein the heater is disposed within the vacuum chamber; one or more electrical connections, wherein the heater is electrically connected to a power source provided external to the vacuum chamber through at least one of the walls of the vacuum chamber using the one or more electrical connections; and a coating, wherein the coating is provided on one or more of the heater, the one or more electrical connections, and any of the internal surfaces, thereby to prevent outgassing into the vacuum chamber. In an aspect of the present invention there is provided an aerosol generating device, comprising: a vacuum chamber defined between a plurality of walls, the plurality of walls each having internal surfaces; and a heater provided on at least one of the walls of the vacuum chamber, wherein the heater is disposed within the vacuum chamber; one or more electrical connections, wherein the heater is electrically connected to a power source provided external to the vacuum chamber through at least one of the walls of the vacuum chamber using the one or more electrical connections; and a coating, wherein the coating is provided on the one or more electrical connections, thereby to prevent outgassing into the vacuum chamber. Preferably, the coating is provided on the heater and/or any of the internal surfaces. It has been found that components of aerosol generating devices, such as the internal walls of the vacuum chambers, heaters, and electrical connections, can outgas when heated, which means that they can release gases. Organic compounds in particular can decompose when heated to cause outgassing. Heaters and the internal walls of the vacuum chambers may contain trace quantities of organic materials. Furthermore, the materials forming the heaters and the internal walls may begin to decompose into gases when heated. Solder, which is used to connect the electrical connections to the heaters, often contains traces of flux and flux often comprises organic compounds such as naturally occurring resins. Organic compounds in components of the device therefore may cause outgassing into the vacuum chamber during operation of the device, damaging the vacuum state of the vacuum chamber. In devices wherein the vacuum state is a low-grade vacuum state, trace amounts of gases may be present within the vacuum chamber. However, such a vacuum state may still be effective at preventing significant heat transfer. If outgassing were to occur into such a vacuum state, the amount of gas present within the vacuum chamber would increase and so would the