Vape Cartridge with Automatic Heat Mobilization

This invention relates generally to a cartridge with automatic heat mobilization, and more particularly to a cartridge for non-aqueous forms of cannabis with automatic heat mobilization.

“Vape” devices and heat-not-burn (HNB) devices (collectively, “vaporizer devices”) present an alternative to smoking and work by vaporizing a consumable vaporizable product, e.g., liquid or extract, by heating the vaporizable product at a lower temperature than an open flame so that a user can inhale the vaporizable product in vapor form, rather than smoke.

There is a large demand for cartridges used in vaporizer devices. These cartridges are typically filled with derivatives of cannabis in liquid forms, such as oils, distillates, extracts, glycerin, glycols, or other aqueous substances that have been processed from and/or mixed with cannabis. These cartridges offer the user a streamlined, convenient way to consume cannabis in liquid forms.

There is also high demand for cannabis in non-aqueous or dry flower form. Users enjoy the bodily effects, taste, aroma, and purity of the dry flower form of cannabis. Accordingly, what is needed is a cartridge for consuming non-aqueous and/or dry flower forms of cannabis.

The present invention relates to a cartridge with automatic heat mobilization. The cartridge is suitable for use with non-aqueous products, particularly dry flower, and/or other non- aqueous forms of cannabis, such as, but not limited to, thick extracts, hash, and/or wax.

An embodiment includes a cartridge for use in a vaporizer device, comprising: a housing having a wall portion defining a reservoir; a mouthpiece provided on a top portion of the housing, wherein the mouthpiece is provided with an airway passage; at least one airway conduit member provided within the reservoir defined by the wall portion; a shell member provided within the reservoir and supported by at least one coil spring member; a heating element provided within the shell member and supported by a core member within the shell member; and an adapter and electrical connector provided on a bottom portion of the housing and supporting the at least one coil spring member.

The at least one airway conduit member may be extended longitudinally along an inner surface of the wall portion of the housing, and wherein a plurality of apertures may be extended along the at least one airway conduit member. The shell member may be provided with a cylindrical wall portion which extends to a tapered upper end portion having a tip portion. The core member may be provided with an annular recessed portion to receive the heating clement therein, and wherein an upper end portion may be provided on the core member which abuts an inner wall surface of the shell member. The least one coil spring member may be a pair of inner and outer coil spring members, and wherein an upper end portion of the inner coil spring member may directly support a lower end portion of the core member. An upper end portion of the outer coil spring member may support an outwardly extending annular flange portion provided about a lower end portion of the core member. An outwardly tapered flange portion may be provided about a periphery of a lower portion of the shell member, and wherein the outwardly tapered flange portion sits atop of the outwardly extending annular flange portion of the core member. A flexible electrical conductor may be provided within the at least one coil spring member. The flexible electrical conductor may be provided with an upper end portion configured to be secured to the core member and a lower end portion configured to be secured within the adapter and electrical connector. The reservoir defined by the wall portion of the housing may be configured to hold non-aqueous product, and wherein the at least one coil spring member has a spring force less than about a resistive force of the non-aqueous product while at about room temperature and greater than about the resistive force of the non-aqueous product when heated.

Another embodiment includes a method of assembly of a cartridge for use in a vaporizer device, comprising: providing a housing having a wall portion defining a reservoir; providing a mouthpiece on a top portion of the housing, wherein the mouthpiece is provided with an airway passage; providing at least one airway conduit member within the reservoir defined by the wall portion; providing a shell member within the reservoir and supported by at least one coil spring member; providing a heating element within the shell member and supported by a core member within the shell member; and providing an adapter and electrical connector on a bottom portion of the housing and supporting the at least one coil spring member.

The method may further comprise extending longitudinally the at least one airway conduit member along an inner surface of the wall portion of the housing, wherein a plurality of apertures may extend along the at least one airway conduit member. The method may further comprise providing the shell member with a cylindrical wall portion which extends to a tapered upper end portion having a tip portion. The method may further comprise providing the core member with an annular recessed portion to receive the heating element therein, wherein an upper end portion on the core member may abut an inner wall surface of the shell member. The method may further comprise providing the at least one coil spring member as a pair of inner and outer coil spring members and directly supporting a lower end portion of the core member with an upper end portion of the inner coil spring member. The method may further comprise supporting an outwardly extending annular flange portion provided about a lower end portion of the core member with an upper end portion of the outer coil spring member. The method may further comprise providing an outwardly tapered flange portion about a periphery of a lower portion of the shell member, wherein the outwardly tapered flange portion sits atop of the outwardly extending annular flange portion of the core member. The method may further comprise providing a flexible electrical conductor within the at least one coil spring member. The method may further comprise providing the flexible electrical conductor with an upper end portion configured to be secured to the core member and a lower end portion configured to be secured within the adapter and electrical connector. The method may further comprise filling the reservoir defined by the wall portion of the housing with non-aqueous product, wherein the at least one coil spring member has a spring force less than about a resistive force of the non-aqueous product while at about room temperature and greater than about the resistive force of the non-aqueous product when heated.

The foregoing and other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following more detailed description of the particular embodiments of the invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

As discussed above, embodiments of the present invention relate to a cartridge with automatic heat mobilization. The cartridge is suitable for use with non-aqueous products, particularly dry flower, and/or other non-aqueous forms of cannabis, such as, but not limited to, thick extracts, hash, and/or wax. The non-aqueous product is heated via a heating element. The heating element is biased by at least one spring in order to be driven through the non-aqueous product, gradually and evenly distributing the heat. The heating is localized to where the heating element resides.

Generally, dry flower and/or other non-aqueous forms of cannabis are more viscous, thicker, and more stable prior to heating. In the present invention, at least one coil spring member pushes a spearhead or shell member which contains the heating element through the dry flower and/or other non-aqueous forms of cannabis in a reservoir as the cannabis heats. The spring force is less than about the resistive force of the dry flower and/or other non-aqueous forms of cannabis while at about room temperature and greater than about the resistance force when heated.

The present invention offers an automatic way to mobilize a heat source throughout dry flower and/or other non-aqueous cannabis and does not require any additional user steps or manual operation to vape. One of the advantages of the present invention is continuous heating of new, unheated cannabis throughout the life of the cartridge, as opposed to heating the same localized area of the cartridge or having to heat the entirety of the cannabis within the cartridge at one time, shortening the life of the cartridge.

The cartridge allows for easy filling of the non-aqueous product, such as dry flower, as well as the opportunity to pack and/or compress the dry flower in the reservoir. The reservoir may be opened before filling, and then the cartridge assembly may be completed after filling.

Referring to, a cartridgeis provided with a housinghaving a wall portiondefining a reservoir. Wall portionmay be a cylindrical wall portion. A mouthpieceis provided on a top portionof the housing. The mouthpieceis provided with an airway passagewhich communicates with at least one airway conduit member, such as one, two, three or more airway conduit members. Each one of the at least one airway conduit memberis provided with a plurality of aperturesextending longitudinally there along. The at least one airway conduit membermay comprise a unitary sleeve member(See) with channels or recessesextending along the length and within the reservoirto act as airways defined by the wall portionof the housing. A plurality of aperturesmay extend longitudinally along the unitary sleeve memberprovided within and along the reservoirdefined by the wall portionof the housing. The housingis further provided with a bottom portion.

Spearhead or shell memberis supported by at least one coil spring member, such as a pair of inner and outer coil spring membersand. A coil or heating element, such as a resistive heating element, is provided within the spearhead or shell member(See). The coil or heating elementis supported by a core memberwithin the spearhead or shell member. An adapter and electrical connectoris provided on the bottom portionof the housing.

In, a first upper end portionof the inner coil spring memberdirectly supports a lower end portionof the core member. A second upper end portionof the outer coil spring membersupports an outwardly extending annular flange portionprovided about the lower end portionof the core member. An outwardly extending tapered flange portionis provided about a periphery of a lower portionof the spearhead or shell member. The outwardly extending tapered flange portionis positioned to sit atop of the outwardly extending annular flange portionof the core member. The inner and outer coil spring membersandbias the spearhead or shell memberhaving the coil or heating elementand the core memberwithin the reservoir.

The spearhead or shell memberis provided with a cylindrical wall portionwhich extends to a tapered upper end portionhaving a tip portion. The tip portionmay be a blunt-shaped tip portion or a pointed-shaped tip portion or any other shaped tip portion. The coil or heating elementis received within an annular recessed portionprovided about the core member. An upper end portionis provided on the core memberand abuts an inner wall surfaceof the spearhead or shell member. Both the inner and outer coil spring membersandare supported at their respective first and second lower end portionsandwithin the adapter and electrical connector.

The at least one airway conduit membermay be provided with a bridging member(See) which positions the at least one airway conduit memberon diametrically opposite surface portionsof the reservoir. A top portionof the bridging memberis provided a plurality of upwardly extending protrusions. The plurality of upwardly extending protrusionsare received within a corresponding plurality of recessesprovided within the mouthpieceabout the airway passage. An elongated recessextends from the top portionof the bridging memberdownwardly along each one of the at least one airway conduit memberto respective end portionsthereof. Each respective end portionengages a respective top portionof a pair of prong membersthat extend upwardly from a guide bushing or annular base memberreceived within the adapter and electrical connectorprovided on the bottom portionof the housing.

The guide bushing or annular base memberguides the at least one coil spring member (inner and outer coil spring membersand) in a linear fashion as the at least one coil spring member (inner and outer coil spring membersand) extends upwardly through the housing. The pair of prong membersare respectively provided with snap hooks or inwardly projecting detent portions(See) which engage the outwardly extending tapered flange portionduring assembly which keeps the at least one coil spring member (inner and outer coil spring membersand) compressed. The snap hooks or inwardly projecting detent portionsbecome disengaged from the outwardly extending tapered flange portionwhen the pair of prong membersare engaged by the at least one airway conduit member, thereby releasing the at least one coil spring member (inner and outer coil spring membersand).

The plurality of aperturesare provided longitudinally along each one of the at least one airway conduit memberpositioned within the reservoirdefined by the wall portionof the housing. As the spearhead or shell memberhaving coil or heating elementtravels through the reservoirunder the bias of the at least one coil spring member (inner and outer coil spring membersand) and through the non-aqueous product contained within reservoir, such as dry flower, the non-aqueous product is vaporized through heating by the coil or heating elementcontained within the spearhead or shell member. The vapor is sequentially drawn through the plurality of aperturesprovided in each of the at least one airway conduit memberby the user drawing vapor through the airway passageof the mouthpiece.

In the present invention, the coil or heating elementis controlled electrically by an electrical circuit (not shown) that connects to an external power source (not shown). The temperature of the coil or heating elementdepends on the power delivered. Generally, the temperature is in the range of from about 200° F. to about 600° F., wherein the temperature range includes light vaporization to full on burning of the cannabis.

The at least one coil spring member, which may be the inner and outer coil spring membersand, may also act as electrical conductors, wherein the inner and outer coil spring membersandare used to complete the circuit. In one embodiment (See), the inner coil spring membermay be replaced with a flexible electrical conductor. The flexible electrical conductorhas an upper end portionwhich may be secured to the core memberand a lower end portionwhich may be secured within the adapter and electrical connector. The flexible electrical conductoris provided with an inner electrically conductive portionand an outer insulative portionwhich may be an insulating materialthat is either wrapped or formed around the inner electrical conductive portion. The insulating materialmay be a rubber jacket or any other type of insulative material. The insulating materialprevents the inner electrically conductive portionfrom unintentionally contacting the outer coil spring memberand causing a short.

In one embodiment, the cartridgemay be provided with threads of a universally accepted thread size that can interface with threads of a power supply (not shown). In one embodiment, the cartridgemay also be provided with a magnetic connector (not shown) on the bottom portionof the housingwhich may be used to mate with a power supply (not shown).

is a block diagram of steps of a methodof assembling a cartridge for use in a vaporizer device. Methodcomprises: providing a housing having a wall portion defining a reservoir (Step); providing a mouthpiece on a top portion of the housing, wherein the mouthpiece is provided with an airway passage (Step); providing at least one airway conduit member within the reservoir defined by the wall portion (Step); providing a shell member within the reservoir and supported by at least one coil spring member (Step); providing a heating element within the shell member and supported by a core member within the shell member (Step); and providing an adapter and electrical connector on a bottom portion of the housing and supporting the at least one coil spring member (Step).

The method further comprises extending longitudinally the at least one airway conduit member along an inner surface of the wall portion of the housing, wherein a plurality of apertures extends along the at least one airway conduit member; providing the shell member with a cylindrical wall portion which extends to a tapered upper end portion having a tip portion; providing the core member with an annular recessed portion to receive the heating element therein, wherein an upper end portion on the core member abuts an inner wall surface of the shell member; providing the at least one coil spring member as a pair of inner and outer coil spring members and directly supporting a lower end portion of the core member with an upper end portion of the inner coil spring member; supporting an outwardly extending annular flange portion provided about a lower end portion of the core member with an upper end portion of the outer coil spring member; providing an outwardly tapered flange portion about a periphery of a lower portion of the shell member, wherein the outwardly tapered flange portion sits atop of the outwardly extending annular flange portion of the core member; providing a flexible electrical conductor within the at least one coil spring member; providing the flexible electrical conductor with an upper end portion configured to be secured to the core member and a lower end portion configured to be secured within the adapter and electrical connector; and filling the reservoir defined by the wall portion of the housing with non-aqueous product, wherein the at least one coil spring member has a spring force less than about a resistive force of the non-aqueous product while at about room temperature and greater than about the resistive force of the non- aqueous product when heated.

The embodiments and examples set forth herein were presented in order to best explain the present invention and its practical application and to thereby enable those of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the invention. However, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the foregoing description and examples have been presented for the purposes of illustration and example only. The description as set forth is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the teachings above without departing from the spirit and scope of the forthcoming claims.