The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 06, 2008
Filed:
Aug. 27, 2003
Gene G. Faison, Jr., Richmond, VA (US);
Rajiv Gupta, Glen Allen, VA (US);
Douglas D. Mcrae, Chesterfield, VA (US);
Walter A. Nichols, Chesterfield, VA (US);
Gene G. Faison, Jr., Richmond, VA (US);
Rajiv Gupta, Glen Allen, VA (US);
Douglas D. McRae, Chesterfield, VA (US);
Walter A. Nichols, Chesterfield, VA (US);
Philip Morris USA Inc., Richmond, VA (US);
Abstract
A fluid vaporizing device useful for vaporizing fluid into an aerosol includes a capillary tube made from an electrically conductive material, an upstream electrode connected to the capillary tube, and a downstream electrode connected to the tube and provided with an electrical resistivity sufficient to cause heating of the downstream electrode during operation. According to various manufacturing techniques (a) the downstream electrode can be made of a material having a resistivity that is approximately constant over a desired temperature range, (b) the ratio of the resistance of the downstream electrode to the resistance of the capillary tube can be selected as a function of a preset liquid flow rate through the capillary tube, (c) the tuning range over which a desired quality aerosol can be produced can be selected to compensate for dimensional tolerances during mass production, and (d) the total hot resistance of the downstream electrode and capillary tube can be adjusted to control the location of a meniscus of a liquid vaporized in the capillary tube to produce a desired quality aerosol.