A Cartridge for a Vapour Generating Device and Its Packaging

Abstract

A cartridge for a vapour generating device has a housing with an air inlet, an air outlet, at least one air channel extending from the air inlet to the air outlet, a liquid reservoir for containing a vapour generating liquid and a vaporization chamber in communication with the liquid reservoir, at least part of an inner surface of the housing being provided with a barrier coating applied by a chemical vapour deposition process. A removable or breakable seal is provided over a fluid outlet of the housing.

1 . A cartridge for a vapour generating device, the cartridge configured to connect to a base part to provide an operable device, the cartridge comprising:
 a housing having a liquid reservoir for containing a vapour generating liquid and an interface for connection to the base part, at least the liquid reservoir made of thermoplastics;   wherein an inner surface of the liquid reservoir is provided with a barrier coating.   
     
     
         2 . The cartridge as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein one or more other inner surfaces of the housing are provided with the barrier coating in addition to the inner surface of the liquid reservoir. 
     
     
         3 . The cartridge as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the barrier coating has a thickness of less than 100 nm. 
     
     
         4 . The cartridge as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the barrier coating is selected from a vapour deposition coating, an atomic layer deposition coating, a molecular layer deposition coating, or a chemical vapour deposition coating, or a plasma enhanced chemical deposition coating. 
     
     
         5 . The cartridge as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the barrier coating is selected from at least one of silicon oxide (SiOx), silicon nitride, diamond-like carbon (DLC) and silicon oxycarbide (SiOC). 
     
     
         6 . The cartridge as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein an undercoating is provided between the inner surface of the housing of the cartridge and the barrier coating to aid adhesion of the barrier coating to the surface. 
     
     
         7 . The cartridge as claimed in  claim 6 , wherein the undercoating is an organosilane, or 3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (3APTMS). 
     
     
         8 . The cartridge as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the cartridge is configured to thermally, electrically or inductively connect to the base part via the interface. 
     
     
         9 . The cartridge as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the housing of the cartridge further comprises an air inlet, at least one air channel extending from the air inlet to an air outlet and a vaporisation chamber in communication with the liquid reservoir, the at least one air channel extending from the air inlet, through the vaporisation chamber to the air outlet. 
     
     
         10 . The cartridge as claimed in  claim 1 , the cartridge further comprising a fluid outlet between the liquid reservoir and an exterior of the housing, wherein a removable or breakable seal is provided over the fluid outlet. 
     
     
         11 . The cartridge as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the inner surface of the housing is provided with multiple layers of a barrier coating. 
     
     
         12 . A packaging for at least one cartridge of a vapour generating device, the packaging comprising an outer package comprising a recyclable cardboard packaging container and an inner package comprising a cartridge having a barrier coating applied directly to an inner surface of the cartridge. 
     
     
         13 . A method for applying a barrier coating to an inner surface of a cartridge for a vapour generating device, the method comprising:
 (a) placing at least a liquid reservoir part of at least one cartridge for a vapour generating device in a coating chamber;   (b) applying a vacuum to at least the liquid reservoir of the cartridge to evacuate at least the interior of the reservoir;   (c) introducing a coating precursor gas into at least the liquid reservoir of the cartridge;   (d) supplying energy to cause deposition of the coating onto at least the inner surface of the liquid reservoir;   (e) releasing the vacuum; and   (f) removing the coated cartridge from the coating chamber.   
     
     
         14 . The method according to  claim 13 , wherein step (d) comprises supplying radio-frequency electromagnetic waves to at least the inner surface of the liquid reservoir to cause plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition of the coating. 
     
     
         15 . The method according to  claim 13 , further comprising applying an undercoat to at least the inner surface of the liquid reservoir prior to application of the barrier coating. 
     
     
         16 . The packaging according to  claim 12 , wherein a removable or breakable seal is provided over a fluid outlet of the cartridge. 
     
     
         17 . The cartridge according to  claim 11 , wherein the multiple layers of the barrier coating are separated by buffer layers. 
     
     
         18 . The cartridge according to  claim 17 , wherein the buffer layers comprise an organsilane.