Nicoventures Trading Limited

Hitachi, Ltd.

Julian Darryn White

Martin Daniel Horrod

Walid Abi Aoun

Patrick Moloney

Gary Fallon

Kazuo Nakazato

Haroon Ahmed

Thomas Alexander John Woodman

Shasa Harris

Sandeep Kaur Brar

Disclosed is an article for use with an apparatus for heating smokable material to volatilize at least one component of the smokable material. The article includes a carrier having plural thermally-conductive portions, on which are locatable respective discrete quantities of smokable material. Between the portions of the carrier, the carrier is shaped to form a thermal barrier for inhibiting heat conduction from one or more of the portions of the carrier towards another of the portions of the carrier in use.

Apparatus for heating smokable material

Circuitry for a plurality of induction elements for an aerosol generating device is disclosed. Each of the plurality of induction elements is for inductive heating of one or more susceptors for heating aerosol generating material in use. The circuitry includes a plurality of driver arrangements, each one of the plurality of driver arrangements being arranged to provide, from an input direct current, an alternating current to a respective one of the plurality of induction elements in use. Each driver arrangement includes one or more first transistors each controllable by a switching potential to substantially allow current to pass therethrough in use. The circuitry also includes a converter arranged to step up an input potential to provide the switching potential in use, the converter being common to each of the plurality of driver arrangements.

Circuitry for a plurality of induction elements for an aerosol generating device

A method, apparatus and computer program is described including: applying an impulse to a resonant circuit including an inductive element, for inductively heating a susceptor, and a capacitor, wherein the applied impulse induces an impulse response between the capacitor and the inductive element of the resonant circuit, wherein each impulse response has a resonant frequency; and generating an output signal dependent on one or more properties of the impulse response.

Apparatus for an aerosol generating device

Disclosed is a tubular heating element for use in an apparatus for heating aerosolizable material to volatilize at least one component of the aerosolizable material. The tubular heating element further includes a heating material layer that is heatable by penetration with a varying magnetic field on a tubular support. The tubular heating element has a wall thickness of no more than one millimeter. Further, the tubular heating element can include a protective layer. The heating layer includes a ferromagnetic material based on cobalt or nickel.

Tubular heating element suitable for aerosolizable material

An aerosol generating apparatus has a composite susceptor for heating an aerosol generating material in use thereby to generate an aerosol. The composite susceptor comprises a support portion and a susceptor portion supported by the support portion. The apparatus comprises an induction element arranged for inductive energy transfer to the susceptor portion in use; and a driving arrangement arranged to drive the induction element with an alternating current in use thereby to cause the inductive energy transfer to the susceptor portion, thereby to cause the heating of the aerosol generating material by the composite susceptor, thereby to generate the aerosol. The alternating current has a waveform comprising a fundamental frequency component having a first frequency and one or more further frequency components each having a frequency higher than the first frequency. A method of operating the aerosol generating apparatus is also disclosed.

Aerosol generating apparatus and method of operating same

Disclosed is a heating element for use in heating aerosolizable material to volatilize at least one component of the aerosolizable material. The heating element includes a heat resistant support and a coating on the support. The coating includes cobalt.

Heating element suitable for aerosolizable material

Disclosed is an induction coil arrangement for use with an apparatus for heating smokable material to volatilize at least one component of the smokable material. The induction coil arrangement includes a plate having opposite first and second sides, a first flat spiral coil of electrically-conductive material mounted on the first side of the plate, and a second flat spiral coil of electrically-conductive material mounted on the second side of the plate.

Induction coil arrangement for heating smokable material

Disclosed is a method and apparatus for use with an RLC resonance circuit for inductive heating of a susceptor of an aerosol generating device. The apparatus is arranged to determine a resonant frequency of the RLC resonance circuit; and determine, based on the determined resonant frequency, a first frequency for the RLC resonance circuit for causing the susceptor to be inductively heated, the first frequency being above or below the determined resonant frequency. The apparatus may be arranged to control a drive frequency of the RLC resonance circuit to be at the determined first frequency in order to heat the susceptor. Also disclosed is an aerosol generating device including the apparatus.

Apparatus for a resonance circuit

Circuitry for an induction element for an aerosol generating device. The induction element is for inductive heating of a susceptor for heating an aerosol generating material in use. The circuitry includes a driver arrangement arranged to provide, from an input direct current, an alternating current for driving the induction element in use. The driver arrangement includes a plurality of transistors arranged in a H-bridge configuration. The H-bridge configuration includes a high side pair of transistors and a low side pair of transistors, the high side pair being for connection to a first electric potential higher than a second electric potential to which the low side pair is for connection is use. At least one of the high side pair of transistors is a p-channel field effect transistor.

Circuitry for an induction element for an aerosol generating device

Disclosed is a tubular heating element for use in an apparatus for heating aerosolizable material to volatilize at least one component of the aerosolizable material. The tubular heating element further includes heating material layer that is heatable by penetration with a varying magnetic field on a tubular support. The tubular heating element has a wall thickness of no more than one millimeter. Further, the tubular heating element can include a protective layer. The heating layer includes a ferromagnetic material based on cobalt or nickel.

A method of forming a nano-scale device with a probe such as a STM on a substrate includes the step of rendering the relevant part of the substrate conductive whilst the device is being formed with the probe so that current can flow from the probe to the substrate. Thereafter, to operate the device, the substrate is rendered non-conductive so as to prevent dissipation of current from the device through the substrate. The substrate can be altered in conductivity by cooling to undergo a Mott transition, can be heated from a normally non-conductive condition to become conductive, or subject to laser radiation to induce charge carriers to render it conductive.

Nanofabricated structures having a region of changeable conductivity

A memory device includes a memory node (2) to which is connected a tunnel barrier configuration such that the node exhibits first and second quantized memory states for which the level of stored charge is limited by Coulomb Blockade and a surplus or shortfall of a small number of electrons for example ten electrons or even a single electron can be used to represent quantized memory states. A series of the nodes N0-N3 that are interconnected by tunnel barriers D can be arranged as a logic device. Clock waveforms V1-V3 applied to clock lines C1 1-C1 3 selectively alter the probability of charge carriers passing through the tunnel diodes D from node to node. An output device, typically a Coulomb blockade electrometer provides an output logical signal indicative of the logical state of node N3. Arrays of separately addressable memory cells M.sub.mn are also described, that utilize gated multiple tunnel junctions (MTJs) as their barrier configurations. Side gated GaAs MTJ structures formed by selective etching and lithography are described. Also, gate structures which modulate a conductive channel with depletion regions to form multiple tunnel junctions are disclosed.

Growing community of inventors

Cambridge, United Kingdom

Julian Darryn White