Smoking substitute apparatus

Abstract

A smoking substitute apparatus for generating an aerosol, comprising: a housing; an air inlet and an outlet formed at the housing; a passage extending between the air inlet and outlet, air flowing in use along the passage for inhalation by a user drawing on the apparatus; and an aerosol generation chamber containing an aerosol generator being operable to generate an aerosol from an aerosol precursor; wherein the aerosol generator is in fluid communication with a downstream portion of the passage for allowing the aerosol to entrain into an air flow along the passage; wherein the downstream portion of the passage comprises a flow converging section having a curved sidewall tapered towards the outlet, and wherein an upstream end of the flow converging section substantially conforms to a cross sectional profile of the aerosol generation chamber.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A smoking substitute apparatus for generating an aerosol, comprising:
 a housing having a first end and a second end opposite to the first end;   at least one air inlet formed at a base of the housing at the first end;   an outlet opened at the second end;   a passage extending between the air inlet and the outlet, air flowing in use along the passage for inhalation by a user drawing on the apparatus; and   an aerosol generation chamber at the first end of the housing, the aerosol generation chamber containing an aerosol generator being operable to generate an aerosol from an aerosol precursor, the aerosol generation chamber comprises at least one chamber outlet in fluid communication with the passage, the at least one chamber outlet permitting, in use, aerosol generated by the aerosol generator to be entrained into an air flow along the passage;   wherein said at least one air inlet is separated from a base of the aerosol generation chamber at the first end of the housing, said at least one air inlet and the base of the aerosol generation chamber being configured so that substantially all of the airflow that subsequently entrains the aerosol flows through said at least one air inlet.   
     
     
         2 . The smoking substitute apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the aerosol generation chamber is sealed against air flow except for the at least one chamber outlet. 
     
     
         3 . The smoking substitute apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the aerosol generation chamber is configured to allow the aerosol to entrain into the air flow along the passage based on the pressure difference between the aerosol generation chamber and the passage. 
     
     
         4 . The smoking substitute apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein passage is configured to allow all of the air flow entering the housing through the air inlet to bypass the aerosol generation chamber. 
     
     
         5 . The smoking substitute apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the chamber outlet opens towards the second end of the housing. 
     
     
         6 . The smoking substitute apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the chamber outlet is positioned adjacent to the passage and opens in the direction of air flow. 
     
     
         7 . The smoking substitute apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the aerosol generator is located adjacent to the chamber outlet. 
     
     
         8 . The smoking substitute apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the aerosol generator is spaced from the chamber outlet. 
     
     
         9 . The smoking substitute apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the passage comprises a flow converging portion downstream to the aerosol generation chamber, and wherein the flow converging portion is configured to converge the aerosol with the air flow in the passage. 
     
     
         10 . The smoking substitute apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the passage forms an annulus around the aerosol generation chamber. 
     
     
         11 . The smoking substitute apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the passage comprises one or more passages each extending alongside the aerosol generation chamber. 
     
     
         12 . The smoking substitute apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the aerosol precursor comprises a liquid aerosol precursor, and wherein the aerosol generator comprises a heater configured to generate the aerosol by vaporising the liquid aerosol precursor. 
     
     
         13 . The smoking substitute apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the smoking substitute apparatus is configure to generate an aerosol having a droplet size, d 50 , of at least 1 μm. 
     
     
         14 . A smoking substitute system for generating an aerosol, comprising:
 i) a smoking substitute apparatus, comprising:
 a housing having a first end and a second end opposite to the first end; 
 at least one air inlet formed at a base of the housing at the first end; 
 an outlet opened at the second end; 
 a passage extending between the air inlet and the outlet, air flowing in use along the passage for inhalation by a user drawing on the apparatus; and 
 an aerosol generation chamber at the first end of the housing, the aerosol generation chamber containing an aerosol generator being operable to generate an aerosol from an aerosol precursor, the aerosol generation chamber comprises at least one chamber outlet in fluid communication with the passage, the at least one chamber outlet permitting, in use, aerosol generated by the aerosol generator to be entrained into an air flow along the passage; 
 wherein said at least one air inlet is separated from a base of the aerosol generation chamber at the first end of the housing, said at least one air inlet and the base of the aerosol generation chamber being configured so that substantially all of the airflow that subsequently entrains the aerosol flows through said at least one air inlet; and 
   ii) a main body configured to engage with the smoking substitute apparatus; wherein the main body comprises a controller and a power source configured to energise the aerosol generator.   
     
     
         15 . A method of using a smoking substitute apparatus for generating an aerosol, the smoking substitute apparatus comprising:
 a housing having a first end and a second end opposite to the first end;   at least one air inlet formed at a base of the housing at the first end;   an outlet opened at the second end;   a passage extending between the air inlet and the outlet, air flowing in use along the passage for inhalation by a user drawing on the apparatus; and   an aerosol generation chamber at the first end of the housing, the aerosol generation chamber containing an aerosol generator being operable to generate an aerosol from an aerosol precursor, the aerosol generation chamber comprises at least one chamber outlet in fluid communication with the passage, the at least one chamber outlet permitting, in use, aerosol generated by the aerosol generator to be entrained into an air flow along the passage;   wherein said at least one air inlet is separated from a base of the aerosol generation chamber at the first end of the housing, said at least one air inlet and the base of the aerosol generation chamber being configured so that substantially all of the airflow that subsequently entrains the aerosol flows through said at least one air inlet,   
       wherein the method comprises:
 i) generating the aerosol with the aerosol generator; 
 ii) drawing on the apparatus to entrain the generated aerosol, through the at least one chamber outlet, into the air flow along the passage.