CN116234457A

CN116234457A - Device for generating aerosols

Info

Publication number: CN116234457A
Application number: CN202180066959.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: P·休娜曼
Original assignee: Kolber Technology Co ltd
Current assignee: Kolber Technology Co ltd
Priority date: 2020-09-30
Filing date: 2021-09-15
Publication date: 2023-06-06
Also published as: EP4221522A1; WO2022069226A1; US20230363462A1; DE102020125538A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a device for generating aerosols, comprising an evaporator chamber, a suction nozzle having an outlet for the aerosols, and a mixing chamber having an air inlet, wherein an electrical heating element for evaporating a liquid is arranged in the evaporator chamber, which is in contact with a wick material, i.e. a porous material having a capillary action, which is provided for supplying the liquid to be evaporated to the electrical heating element, wherein the evaporator chamber comprises at least one first nozzle opening, which is arranged in a wall of the evaporator chamber in such a way that a fluid-conducting connection is formed between the evaporator chamber and the mixing chamber by means of the first nozzle opening, such that the liquid evaporated in the evaporator chamber can enter the mixing chamber as a free jet of vapor, wherein the device is configured such that the free jet of vapor can be mixed in the mixing chamber with an air stream entering through the air inlet and the generated aerosol can be discharged from the device through the outlet opening.

Description

Device for generating aerosols

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a device for generating an aerosol, a cartridge for an evaporator system comprising the corresponding device, an evaporator system comprising such a cartridge and a method for generating an aerosol.

The subject matter of the invention is defined in the appended claims.

Background

It is known that administration of active substances via the respiratory tract is an efficient and gentle method for delivering physiologically active substances to the human or animal body, wherein in particular conventional inhalation methods, which can be carried out with partly simplest means, have found a robust position not only in traditional medicine but also in household stock medicines. In these simple processes, the active substance dissolved in the carrier substance (usually water) is heated and thereby evaporated, usually in a tank or similar container.

Such inhalation methods have become increasingly the focus of attention in recent years due to the increasing criticizing of smoking, i.e. the consumption of tobacco products by burning the tobacco product and inhaling the generated smoke (e.g. in the form of cigarettes or cigars), in many parts of the world. In the inhalation method, physiologically active substances which are conventionally absorbed by tobacco smoke are instead applied by a corresponding inhalation method which is carried out without burning tobacco, wherein this approach is also transferred to other active substances which are otherwise frequently associated with smoking, such as Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and other cannabinols.

The progressive technical development enables a correspondingly smaller and smaller design of the evaporator system for evaporating the component containing the active substance, so that nowadays evaporator systems can be used with which the evaporation of the component containing the active substance can be carried out in portable handheld devices, which can have, for example, the dimensions of a conventional cigar or cigarette case. The most important applications for the corresponding vaporizer system are electronic cigarettes and inhalers for medical applications.

The systems known today are mostly based on the fact that the component, usually called liquid, stored in the reservoir is vaporized by a more or less controlled transfer of heat energy from a heating element, for example a heating screw, so that the user can inhale the generated vapor. In this case, the transport of the liquid from the reservoir to the heating element is often effected by means of a wick, so that a wick-screw system is often also referred to. A corresponding system is disclosed, for example, in US 20140096782 A1.

The evaporated liquid forms an aerosol in the evaporator system in a converging manner with air, said aerosol containing fine droplets produced by condensation of the gas phase. In this case, some parts of the evaporated liquid generally remain in the gaseous state, it being possible in many commercially customary systems for larger droplets of liquid to be ejected from the liquid phase during boiling to be contained in the aerosol.

For evaporator systems that are provided as a substitute for conventional cigarettes, a great challenge is to provide the user with a smoking experience similar to conventional cigarette products, so that the user obtains a smoking experience similar to conventional cigarettes when using the evaporator system. In contrast, for the use of the corresponding vaporizer system in the medical field, an important point is to be able to achieve a targeted precise application of the contained active substance in the specified region of the respiratory tract. Ideally, these presets must be able to be achieved unchanged in both cases over a large number of uses.

The inventors have studied these aspects, namely the optimal smoking experience or the targeted administration of a medical active in the respiratory tract, in a broad test series. To the knowledge of the inventors, both effects may be determined to a large extent by the size of the droplets produced in the aerosol and in particular their droplet size distribution. Thus, microdroplets in the diameter range of about 1 to 5 μm are preferably deposited in the lower respiratory tract, while microdroplets exceeding 8 μm remain largely in the upper respiratory tract. Rather, very fine droplets are exhaled again in part by the user.

To the knowledge of the inventors, the depth of the generated micro-droplets into the respiratory tract is important to whether a smoking experience similar to that of conventional smoking products can be obtained with an evaporator system. The inventors have known during their own study that in order to provide an evaporator system that enables an optimal consumption experience or to provide a medical inhaler that enables optimal administration of the contained active substance, it is important to achieve an aerosol quality that remains as unchanged and reproducible as possible, which should ideally be characterized by a targeted adjustable droplet size distribution. In this regard, it has been determined that conventional evaporator systems known from the prior art, in particular wick-screw-systems, generally do not meet these requirements.

Disclosure of Invention

The primary task of the present invention is to indicate a device for generating aerosols which obviates or at least reduces the drawbacks of the prior art.

A particular object of the present invention is to indicate a device for generating aerosols, which is capable of generating aerosols of particularly high quality. In this case, it is predefined that the device for generating aerosols should be able to generate aerosols with a quality which remains as unchanged as possible even in a large number of uses.

The object of the present invention is, furthermore, to create an aerosol with an apparatus for generating aerosols, the average droplet size of which can be set in a targeted manner and the droplet size distribution of which is as narrow as possible. In this case, the additional task is that the device for generating an aerosol should be able to supply an aerosol having a particularly small average droplet size, in order thereby to be able to penetrate the aerosol deeper into the respiratory tract.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a device for generating aerosols in which larger, unvaporised droplets are reliably prevented from being undesirably carried out of the liquid to be evaporated.

Ideally, the previously indicated tasks should be able to be accomplished with relatively few modifications to conventional evaporator systems. Furthermore, the device for generating aerosols should advantageously be as powerful in terms of the quantity of aerosols generated, i.e. in terms of the aerosol yield that can be obtained from the mouthpiece for each milliliter of evaporated liquid, at least as powerful as the evaporator systems known from the prior art.

The inventors have known that the task described above can be solved by a controlled guiding of the fluid flow occurring in the interior of the evaporator system. In the devices known from the prior art, the air flow required for generating the aerosol is mostly directed directly on the surface of the heated and evaporated liquid, for example by flowing directly around a wick-spiral structure. In this case, there is not only the risk of larger, non-evaporated droplets of liquid being carried away undesirably, but, according to the knowledge of the inventors, locally strong fluctuations in the mixing ratio between vapor and air can occur on the surface of the boiling liquid, which hamper controlled aerosol formation, in particular with a narrow micro-droplet size distribution. In particular, the possibilities for targeted influencing of the droplet size or the droplet size distribution are generally small for these constructions, especially because the fluid flow inside these evaporator systems can vary strongly due to the different pumping actions of the user.

It has now surprisingly been found that a controlled fluid guidance required for solving the aforementioned task can be achieved if the vapor generated by the electric heating element from the liquid to be evaporated does not enter the mixing chamber uncontrollably, in which mixing with the air flow takes place, but rather means are provided for generating an aerosol, in which the generated vapor is directed controllably, i.e. as a free jet of vapor, into the mixing chamber. This is achieved by providing an evaporator chamber from which the free jet of steam can escape through a spout arranged in the wall of the evaporator chamber, through which spout steam is forced to pass due to its own steam pressure in the evaporator chamber. By means of such a device, a mixing of air and steam can be achieved in a controlled and as uniform as possible manner in the mixing chamber, whereby a high stability and reproducibility of the aerosol characteristics (reproduzierbarkit) is achieved.

By means of the corresponding device, aerosol formation can take place in the mixing chamber at as great a distance as possible from the wall region, whereby aerosol losses due to undesired condensation are reduced. Furthermore, a particularly small average droplet size and a particularly advantageous narrow droplet size distribution are achieved by means of a corresponding device for generating aerosols.

Without wishing to be bound by this theory, the inventors believe that the number of initial droplets formed by a uniform nucleation phenomenon (which can act as nuclei for further condensation) depends on the rate of change of the air mass fraction over time when the critical air mass fraction in the flow is reached. The critical air mass fraction is related to the temperature of the evaporated material and the intermixed fluid.

It may happen that, at least in the size range which may be important in practice, the as large as possible rate of change to which small volumes moving together in the fluid are subjected when critical conditions are reached leads to the formation of a larger number of droplets, wherein it cannot be excluded that extremely high rates of change can lead to too fast a passage through the critical range, which may have an adverse effect on the number of nuclei. This large number of droplets formed by uniform nucleation results in a small average micro-droplet size and a narrow micro-droplet size distribution. Thus, the inventors know that if the goal is a small average micro-droplet size and a narrow micro-droplet size distribution, it is necessary to achieve as rapid a mixing of air and steam as possible.

The inventors succeeded in the scope of development in precisely achieving these aforementioned conditions of controlled and rapid mixing of fluids by using free jets of steam to produce a large rate of change of air mass fraction over time. It has proven to be particularly advantageous here that, in comparison with the prior art, local fluctuations in the steam concentration can be reduced by using free jets of steam, which disadvantageously increase the distribution width of the particle size in the evaporator systems known from the prior art.

That is to say that by using a free jet of steam, particularly in the region of the laminar flow of the free jet of steam, particularly controlled and constant conditions can be achieved, under which the mixing of steam and air is largely dependent on the diffusion speed of the laminar flow, which can be particularly well controlled when designing the evaporator system. Furthermore, in contrast to the prior art, particularly high-frequency and small-space turbulence is generated in the turbulent region of the free jet of steam, which likewise enables particularly rapid and low-wave mixing with the surrounding air and thus enables efficient aerosol generation.

Based on these explanations, those skilled in the art will recognize that the aforementioned tasks are solved by a device, cartridge, evaporator system and method as defined in the claims. Preferred embodiments according to the invention emerge from the dependent claims and the following description.

Such features of the cartridge, evaporator system and method according to the invention, which are hereinafter referred to as preferred, are in particularly preferred embodiments combined with other features referred to as preferred. Thus, very particular preference is given to combinations of two or more of the subject matters which are referred to below as particularly preferred subject matters.

Preferred features of the corresponding cartridge, evaporator system and method according to the invention result from the features of the preferred device according to the invention.

The invention relates to a device for generating aerosols, comprising an evaporator chamber, a suction nozzle having an outlet for the aerosol and a mixing chamber having an air inlet,

wherein an electrical heating element for evaporating a liquid is arranged in the evaporator chamber, which electrical heating element is in contact with a wick material, i.e. a porous material having a capillary action, which wick material is provided for feeding the liquid to be evaporated to the electrical heating element,

wherein the evaporator chamber comprises at least one first nozzle opening, which is arranged in a wall of the evaporator chamber in such a way that a fluid-conducting connection is formed between the evaporator chamber and the mixing chamber through the first nozzle opening, so that liquid evaporated in the evaporator chamber can enter the mixing chamber as a free jet of steam,

wherein the device is configured such that the free jet of steam in the mixing chamber is capable of mixing with an air stream entering through an air inlet in order to generate an aerosol and the generated aerosol is capable of being expelled from the device through an outlet of the mouthpiece.

The device according to the invention comprises an evaporator chamber, a suction nozzle with an outlet for aerosol and a mixing chamber with an air inlet. Within the scope of the invention, the evaporator chamber and the mixing chamber are understood here to be chambers which are at least partially separated from one another by structural measures. In the prior art, the evaporator chamber is also mostly a chamber in which the generated steam is mixed with the transported air; in contrast to the prior art, the device according to the invention thus comprises at least two separate chambers which are at least partially separated from one another by structural measures, so that the fluid cannot pass completely unimpeded from the evaporator chamber into the mixing chamber. In this case, a device according to the invention is very particularly preferred in which the steam generated in the evaporator chamber can substantially only enter the mixing chamber via the first outlet opening.

According to the invention, the mixing chamber has an air inlet. In the simplest embodiment, this air inlet can be a simple recess in the wall of the mixing chamber. The air inlet is used for the following purposes: when using the device according to the invention, i.e. when the user sucks at the mouthpiece, air can enter the mixing chamber from outside the device, in order in this way not only to achieve pressure equalization but also to provide the air required for generating the aerosol as an air flow. The device according to the invention is preferred in that an air filter for filtering the air flow entering the mixing chamber is arranged at the air inlet or in the inlet line leading to the air inlet, or in that the air inlet is connected to a supplementary reservoir for containing clean air, wherein the supplementary reservoir is preferably a pressure vessel.

In the device according to the invention, the evaporator chamber comprises an electric heating element. This electrical heating element is used to evaporate a liquid that can be transported by the wick material in contact with the electrical heating element. The electrical heating element enables the liquid to be evaporated inside the evaporator chamber to be converted into a gas phase and thereby produce steam.

According to the invention, the evaporator chamber comprises at least one first nozzle opening through which the generated steam can enter the mixing chamber. Within the scope of the present invention, the term "spout" means, in a manner consistent with the understanding of the person skilled in the art, a technical means for influencing the flow of a fluid as it passes from the evaporator chamber into the mixing chamber, by means of which the pressure of the vapor generated by the evaporation of the liquid in said evaporator chamber is converted into kinetic energy of the vapor. The spout can here, for example, have a constant cross section, a tapered or more complex shape. From a functional point of view, the jet must be able to convert the vapor pressure formed in the interior of the evaporator chamber into the kinetic energy of the vapor so that the vapor enters the mixing chamber as a free jet of vapor.

Within the scope of the invention, a free jet is a flow from a jet orifice into a free space that is not restricted by a wall, so that the steam flowing out of the jet orifice and the gas located in the mixing chamber have different velocities, wherein the gas surrounding the free jet is generally sucked in and carried away by the free jet.

In the simplest arrangement according to the invention, the evaporator chamber comprises only one first nozzle. However, a particular advantage of the device according to the invention is that the flow characteristics of the steam free jet can also be adjusted in such a way that more than one first jet orifice can be provided from which steam can accordingly enter the mixing chamber as a steam free jet. This is therefore also particularly advantageous, since this can be achieved in a targeted manner, for example by selecting nozzles of different sizes and differently configured in terms of their shape, even in the case of a relatively complex distribution of particle sizes, wherein a superposition of the particle sizes obtained with each individual free jet of steam is brought about. This enables, for example, simultaneous administration of two different active substances in different regions of the respiratory tract.

The device according to the invention is configured such that the free jet of steam exiting the evaporator chamber through the jet orifice is mixed in the mixing chamber with the air flow entering through the air inlet, thereby causing a temperature reduction of the mixture produced in said mixing chamber and a very high degree of supersaturation which leads to a uniform condensation, i.e. a uniform nucleation, taking place at the desired higher nucleation rate.

The at least one first nozzle opening can either be provided as a separate component fastened in the wall of the evaporator chamber or, in a simple embodiment, can also be formed directly through the wall of the evaporator chamber, so that the wall of the evaporator chamber forms the nozzle opening by its structure as a discharge opening toward the mixing chamber. In this connection, it is preferred for cost reasons to provide a device according to the invention in which the at least one first nozzle opening is formed through the wall of the evaporator chamber.

In self-contained experiments and simulations relating thereto, it has been shown that optimal results are achieved with the device according to the invention, in which the heating element and the first nozzle opening are arranged on different sides of the evaporator chamber, in particular on opposite sides. To the knowledge of the inventors, this enables as uniform a pressure build-up as possible in the interior of the evaporator chamber and thus a free jet of steam to be produced as uniformly as possible, with which the best results are generally achieved when producing aerosols.

In particular, in the case of planar electric heating elements, such as flat heater chips or heatable wire mesh, the electric heating elements can also be integrated into the walls of the evaporator chamber. This means that the evaporator chamber is delimited at least in sections by the electric heating element. The device according to the invention is therefore preferred in which the electrical heating element is arranged in the evaporator chamber in such a way that it forms part of the evaporator chamber, preferably part of the wall of the evaporator chamber.

Even if this is not preferred in many cases, it is possible according to the previous explanation that the electric heating element not only forms part of the wall of the evaporator chamber, but by its geometry also forms the first nozzle opening or one or all of the first nozzle openings at the same time. For example, the planar heater chip can be configured with through-voids which function as outlet openings through which steam generated below the heater chip in the contact region of the wick can enter the mixing chamber as a free jet of steam. The device according to the invention is therefore preferred in which the at least one first nozzle is constructed by a component separate from the electric heating element or by a heating element arranged in the wall of the evaporator chamber, wherein the at least one first nozzle is very particularly preferably constructed by a component separate from the electric heating element.

In the course of the development of the invention, it was initially assumed that in order to solve the task defined above, the device according to the invention must be designed in such a way that the air flow also enters the mixing chamber as a free jet of air. However, it has been shown in the course of the further development of the invention that this is not necessary and that the main feature for solving the aforementioned task is the corresponding design of the device according to the invention with the corresponding first nozzle opening and the steam flow as a free jet of steam. Nevertheless, it has been shown that the device according to the invention, in which the air flow also enters the mixing chamber as a free jet of air, can offer advantages just for certain applications, in particular because the controllability of the aerosol formation is further improved and that the person skilled in the art obtains additional adjustment possibilities for fine-tuning the aerosol formation. In these experiments, it has been shown that a high mixing rate can be achieved which is desirable, in particular, with a second nozzle which is designed as a nozzle tapering toward the mixing chamber, wherein the flow profile, in particular produced by a flat nozzle, has proven to be particularly effective.

It is accordingly preferred that the device according to the invention, wherein the air inlet comprises at least one second nozzle opening such that the incoming air flow can enter the mixing chamber as a free jet of air, wherein the at least one second nozzle opening is preferably a nozzle opening tapering towards the interior of the mixing chamber, and/or wherein the at least one second nozzle opening is preferably a flat nozzle opening, preferably a flat nozzle opening having a rectangular cross section, wherein the combined cross section of all second nozzle openings is preferably between 0.5 and 10mm ² Preferably 1 to 4mm ² Within a range of (2).

If the device according to the invention disclosed above is used with the first and second nozzle openings, it has proven to be advantageous if the components of the device according to the invention are oriented such that the steam free jet and the air free jet intersect in the mixing chamber. It has been found that a large angular range (Spektrum) can be achieved with respect to the angle of intersection between the intermediate jet of the two free jets, whereby a particularly high degree of structural freedom is advantageously achieved. It has been shown, however, that particularly good aerosol quality with a micro-droplet size distribution that is as narrow as possible is achieved, in particular if the angle between the free jets is selected such that the free jets meet each other as orthogonally as possible.

Accordingly, a preferred device according to the invention is preferred, wherein the air inlet and the evaporator chamber are arranged such that the steam free jet and the air free jet intersect in the mixing chamber, preferably in the region of laminar flow, such that the intermediate jet of the steam free jet encloses an angle with the intermediate jet of the air free jet in the range from 5 ° to 175 °, preferably from 30 ° to 150 °, particularly preferably from 50 ° to 130 °, very particularly preferably from 70 ° to 110 °, wherein the angle is preferably substantially 90 °.

As an alternative to the previously described device, more precisely to a device which utilizes direct mixing of two directed free jets, such a device according to the invention has proved to be particularly advantageous for certain applications, in which aerosol formation takes place predominantly in the boundary region between the steam free jet and the incoming air stream, i.e. in which aerosol formation is caused predominantly by diffusion at the boundary layer, which also advantageously enables an additional control of the aerosol formation process by the temperature of the fluid used. The device according to the invention is thus preferably one in which the air inlet and the evaporator chamber are arranged such that the free jet of steam and the incoming air flow extend at least in sections substantially parallel to one another in the mixing chamber.

For this purpose, the steam free jet or the first jet and the air inlet of the evaporator chamber must either be arranged directly in such a way that the air flow and the steam free jet extend parallel to each other at least in sections in the interior of the mixing chamber, or one or more air guiding elements must be provided in the mixing chamber, so that an at least in sections parallel guidance is possible. In this case, it has of course proved to be the guiding object (zielthrend) that a corresponding air guiding element is provided for the air flow and not for the steam free jet, in particular because the turning of the steam free jet also leads to undesired condensation at the air guiding element. The device according to the invention is therefore preferred in which the air inlet and the at least one first nozzle opening of the evaporator chamber are arranged such that the steam free jet and the incoming air flow extend at least in sections parallel to one another in the mixing chamber, or in which one or more air guiding elements are arranged in the mixing chamber such that the steam free jet and the incoming air flow extend at least in sections parallel to one another in the mixing chamber. In a context consistent with the understanding of those skilled in the art, the term "parallel" means within the scope of the present invention that the fluid flows extend substantially parallel, wherein angles of 5 ° or less, preferably 2 ° or less, particularly preferably 1 ° or less, enclosed by the flows can be considered substantially parallel.

For the aforementioned preferred devices, in which the fluid flows extend at least in sections parallel to one another, devices of both structures have proven particularly reliable. In a first variant, the air inlets are provided on different, opposite sides of the first nozzle opening, such that the air flow entering through them is placed on at least two sides of and flows around the steam free jet, in order thereby to create a particularly large contact area in which the aerosol generation takes place in the boundary area under similar conditions. This has proved to be more advantageous in terms of reproducibility and the particle size distribution obtained than in the case where the air flow enters the mixing chamber from only one side and must first flow around the free jet of steam in order to also cause aerosol formation on the side of the free jet of steam facing away from the air inlet. That is to say that in this case different condensation conditions appear on different sides of the free jet of steam, which naturally also lead to different average droplet sizes and a wider droplet size distribution.

An alternative embodiment of the solution described above has proved to be a device according to the invention in which the individual air inlets are configured around one or more first nozzles such that, for example, an annular air inlet extends coaxially around the first nozzles. The corresponding device produces as uniform conditions as possible on all sides of the steam free jet and has proven to be one of the devices in which the region of the parallel laminar flow between the incoming air flow in the mixing chamber and the steam free jet remains unchanged over a particularly long section in such a way that the aerosol generation is influenced advantageously particularly strongly by the diffusion process on the boundary layer. The device according to the invention is therefore preferred, wherein the mixing chamber has at least two air inlets or a single air inlet surrounding at least one first nozzle, which air inlets are arranged such that the incoming air flow extends parallel to the steam free jet on both sides of the steam free jet at least in sections in the mixing chamber.

As already disclosed above in connection with the second nozzle openings, it has proven advantageous to configure at least one first nozzle opening or all first nozzle openings as nozzle openings tapering towards the mixing chamber. Such a nozzle, also called Konfuser, is particularly advantageously suitable for increasing the speed of the steam exiting the evaporator chamber and obtaining a free jet of steam which is as advantageous as possible for the present invention. A configuration in which the first spout is a flat spout has also proven to be very advantageous for the first spout. Such flat jet nozzles produce a free jet of steam with a particularly large surface at the same volumetric flow rate, whereby a large boundary area is obtained with respect to the surrounding air flow, in which the aerosol formation can take place particularly efficiently by condensation. To the knowledge of the inventors, an aerosol which is particularly condensed as much as possible, i.e. a dense aerosol, is obtained with a correspondingly flat nozzle, in which the average droplet size is particularly small due to the large number of initial nuclei. This combination of the first and second spray openings being configured as flat spray openings has proved to be particularly advantageous here, since the resulting free spray with a flat profile has a relatively small and well-defined intersection area in terms of volume in the case of intersection of the free spray, whereby particularly controlled aerosol formation can be achieved.

A device according to the invention is accordingly preferred, wherein at least one first nozzle orifice is a nozzle orifice tapering towards the mixing chamber, and/or wherein the combined cross-sectional area of all first nozzle orifices is in the range of 0.01 to 1mm ² Preferably in the range of 0.05 to 0.8mm ² In the range of 0.1 to 0.5mm, particularly preferred ² Within the range of from 0.15 to 0.4mm, very particularly preferably ² And/or wherein said at least one first spout is a flat spout, preferably a flat spout with a rectangular cross section, preferably having a gap width of 0.3mm or less, preferably 0.2mm or less, particularly preferably 0.05mm or less.

The inventors have found that in order to achieve as advantageous aerosol generation as possible, it is expedient to provide as large a thermal gradient as possible between the participating fluids. This means that the temperature difference between the hot free jet of steam and the incoming cold air stream should be as large as possible. In this regard, the inventors have observed that, especially when continuing to operate a device according to the invention, for example in an electronic cigarette, the operation of the electric evaporator unit can result in heating of the entire device, by means of which the air flow into the mixing chamber is also warmed before aerosol generation, thereby reducing the temperature gradient. It has been advantageously shown that this problem can be eliminated or at least reduced in a coordinated manner with the device according to the invention. Since the evaporator chamber in the device according to the invention is naturally separated from the mixing chamber or other components of the device for the purpose of generating a free jet of steam, it is possible to construct the evaporator chamber or the walls of the evaporator chamber entirely or partly from thermally insulating material which at least partly shields the remaining components of the device according to the invention from the thermal energy generated by the electrical heating unit. This ensures that a temperature gradient can be obtained between the free jet of discharged steam and the air flow that is as high and as constant as possible. The device according to the invention is preferred, wherein the evaporator chamber has walls which are formed at least in sections from or are coated with a thermally insulating material, wherein the thermally insulating material preferably has a thermal conductivity of 0.5W/(m K) or less, preferably 0.1W/(m K) or less.

The person skilled in the art is able to select for this purpose a wide range of thermally insulating materials, wherein the person skilled in the art has to find a suitable compromise between low thermal conductivity of the material meeting his requirements and good workability, wherein the latter depends inter alia on the remaining construction of the device as planned by the person skilled in the art. In addition to the large number of possible plastic materials, particularly typical insulation materials, such as mineral wool or aerogel, have proven to be reliable as insulation materials, which are mostly characterized by the porous structure frequently seen for the respective insulation materials.

Furthermore, the inventors have found that it can be particularly advantageous, if certain circumstances are present, for the first nozzle opening or all of the first nozzle openings to be at least partially formed from or coated with a thermally conductive material. This is only seen at first hand, which contradicts the previously disclosed advantages of the embodiment of the evaporator chamber made of insulating material. In addition to the undesired heating of the air flow caused by the electric heating element, which undesired heating should be excluded by the thermally insulating material, other problems may also exist in the evaporator chamber.

Since in the device according to the invention the steam is essentially discharged from the evaporator chamber through the one or more first ports, the inner wall of the evaporator chamber is a condensation surface on which undesired condensation of the steam may occur. In the case of such undesired condensation, a portion of the vapor which would otherwise be discharged as a free jet of vapor into the mixing chamber in order to contribute there to the aerosol formation condenses as condensed liquid on the walls of the evaporator chamber, from where it reaches the user through the mouthpiece, possibly even as large, non-evaporated droplets. Through this process, the vapor concentration is reduced and accordingly losses occur, thereby reducing the efficiency of aerosol generation and aerosol yield. Of course, this effect occurs not only on the wall but also on the first nozzle opening, in particular because the steam in this position has to be guided through a relatively small volume (volume), which in many cases is also cooled from the rear side by the incoming air flow and can easily become a condensation surface for the steam by a correspondingly lower temperature. This extends to the theoretical design in which a portion of the vapor condensed in the first jet may in continued operation lead to a reduction in the effective cross section of the first jet and thereby alter the aerosol-generating characteristics of the overall device according to the invention.

In order to solve this problem, it is, as explained above, the object to construct the first nozzle opening and/or the inner side of the evaporator chamber from a thermally conductive material, wherein in particular typical metals, such as copper, aluminum and platinum, or semi-metals, such as silicon, have proven suitable. In a very particularly preferred embodiment of the device according to the invention, the correspondingly configured inner side of the evaporator chamber and/or the first nozzle opening is thermally coupled to the heating element and/or to a separate heating device in order to ensure that these components are at such high temperatures when the device according to the invention is in operation that condensation of steam on these components can be prevented or at least reduced. In this case, in particular, the first design has proven to be particularly advantageous in self-contained tests, in which the respective component is realized with an electrical heating element which is already present for the production of steam, since in this case the basic function of the electrical heating element can be utilized in a coordinated manner in order to compensate for the features which occur in part of the device according to the invention.

According to the above explanation, the device according to the invention is preferred, wherein the evaporator chamber has a wall, which at least in sections is formed from or is coated with a thermally conductive material at the inner side of the evaporator chamber, wherein the thermally conductive material has a thermal conductivity of 20W/(m K) or more, preferably 80W/(m K) or more, and wherein the thermally conductive material at the inner side of the evaporator chamber is thermally coupled to an electrical heating element and/or connected to a separate heating device, and/or wherein the first nozzle is formed from a thermally conductive material having a thermal conductivity of 20W/(m K) or more, preferably 80W/(m K) or more, and wherein the first nozzle is preferably thermally coupled to the electrical heating element and/or connected to a separate heating device.

The device according to the invention is particularly preferred in which the individual components are oriented relative to one another in such a way that the aerosol formation takes place inside the mixing chamber, i.e. at as great a distance as possible from the inner wall of the mixing chamber. From a hydrodynamic point of view, it has proved to be particularly advantageous if the mixing chamber tapers in the direction of the mouthpiece, so that the outlet for the aerosol functions in the mouthpiece again as a kind of spout which increases the kinetic energy of the generated aerosol in the direction of the user. Thus, a device according to the invention is preferred, wherein the mixing chamber has an irregular cross-sectional profile along the flow direction of the aerosol, wherein the cross-section of the mixing chamber preferably decreases towards the mouthpiece.

Even if it is possible in principle to operate the device according to the invention in all possible forms of an electrical heating element, for example in a wick-screw arrangement, it has been shown in the experiments of the inventors that the use of a sheet-shaped heater chip is particularly advantageous. Such a sheet-like heater chip allows particularly good and controlled steam generation and thus supports the pursuit of the device according to the invention in general for as controlled a steam generation and aerosol generation as possible. Furthermore, the respective sheet-like heater chip can be thermally coupled particularly well to other components of the evaporator chamber and, owing to its shape, can also be formed particularly easily as a component of the evaporator chamber. In this case, the heater chip is particularly preferably arranged on the bottom of the evaporator chamber, i.e. on the side opposite the first nozzle opening. The respective sheet-like heater chip can also be configured such that it forms not only a part of the wall of the evaporator chamber, but also one or more first ports defined in the device according to the invention. The device according to the invention is therefore preferred in which the electrical heating element is a coil or a sheet-shaped heater chip, preferably a sheet-shaped heater chip, particularly preferably a sheet-shaped heater chip made of doped or undoped semiconductor material, which is preferably penetrated by a plurality of microchannels.

The device according to the invention can be combined with a liquid reservoir for containing a liquid to be evaporated, whereby a so-called cartridge is obtained, which cartridge is suitable for use in an evaporator system, for example in an electronic cigarette. The respective cartridge is typically configured as a disposable component, which together with the reusable component constitutes the evaporator system.

The invention thus also relates to a cartridge for an evaporator system comprising a device according to the invention and a liquid reservoir for containing a liquid to be evaporated.

It is preferred that the cartridge according to the invention, wherein the liquid reservoir comprises one or more materials selected from the group consisting of glass, crystal, metal, ceramic, wood and plastic, wherein the reservoir preferably has a further housing and/or wherein the liquid reservoir is preferably provided with elements for pressure equalization.

Furthermore, it is preferred that the cartridge according to the invention, wherein the liquid reservoir is constructed by a bag, wherein the bag is entirely or partly made of silicone (Silikon), rubber, latex or other suitable elastic or inelastic material, preferably plastic. The use of bags as liquid reservoirs is particularly advantageous because they can be manufactured cheaply and generally produce only small amounts of waste. It is furthermore advantageous that no pressure equalization has to be provided in the liquid reservoir, since the bag contracts if necessary with the internal pressure remaining unchanged. Furthermore, bags are advantageous from a safety technology point of view for certain applications, since they do not chip and are thus associated with very low potential hazards.

Preferably, the cartridge according to the invention comprises a liquid in a liquid reservoir, wherein the liquid comprises at least one active substance component, at least one first carrier substance having a boiling point higher than the active substance component and at least one second carrier substance having a boiling point lower than the active substance component, wherein the active substance component is preferably selected from the group consisting of nicotine, tetrahydrocannabinol, cannabidiol, substances of the respective substance class and medical active substances, and wherein the liquid furthermore preferably comprises one or more solvents selected from the group consisting of 1, 2-propanediol, glycerol and water.

The liquids described above have proved particularly advantageous in practice for the provision of the active substance component to the user via the device according to the invention via the corresponding aerosol. Within the scope of the present invention, it is known that particularly small droplet sizes and particularly narrow droplet size distributions can be achieved if the glycerol fraction used is as high as possible. Accordingly, a cartridge according to the invention comprising liquid in a liquid reservoir is preferred, wherein the mass fraction of glycerol relative to the total mass of liquid is in the range of 20-80%, preferably 30-60%.

As previously explained, in the device according to the invention, the free jet of steam and the air flow delivered for generating the aerosol can be adjusted in a targeted manner in order to obtain the desired aerosol properties. In practice, this can result in that the volume of fluid discharged from the mixing chamber, constituted by uncondensed vapor, air and aerosol, is insufficient to quickly compensate for the pressure difference created in the mouth of the user by the user's suction, especially if a second spout is also used which limits the volume of air flow into the mixing chamber. In this case, despite the excellent quality of the aerosol, the user's steam experience may also be adversely affected by creating the impression that the device according to the invention causes excessive resistance to the user's suction. For this case, it has proven advantageous to provide one or more air passages in the cartridge according to the invention, with which additional air can be guided to the user via the mixing chamber in order to compensate for the situation described above. It is therefore preferred that the cartridge according to the invention comprises one or more air channels arranged for guiding air through the mixing chamber to the mouthpiece. It has proven to be a particular object here to provide a valve in the additional air duct, which valve opens only when a predetermined pressure difference is exceeded, so that the pressure difference generated by the user at least at the beginning of the suction substantially promotes the formation of a free jet of steam and an air flow inside the mixing chamber.

The invention further relates to a vaporizer system for vaporizing a liquid, preferably for use in a portable vaporizing device, preferably in a handheld device, particularly preferably in an electronic cigarette or for a medical inhaler, comprising a cartridge according to the invention and a reusable element comprising at least one electrical energy source, preferably a battery or a fuel cell, particularly preferably a lithium ion battery, particularly preferably a lithium polymer battery, for operating an electrical heating element, wherein the cartridge and the reusable element are connected or connectable to each other in a reversible and non-destructive manner such that an electrical contact is made between the electrical energy source and the electrical heating element. Use for medical purposes here includes, in particular, administration of medicaments for respiratory diseases and analgesics.

Finally, the invention also relates to a method for generating aerosols, which is preferably carried out with the device according to the invention, comprising the following steps:

a) The liquid is evaporated in the evaporator chamber with an electrical heating element arranged in the evaporator chamber,

b) Expelling the vaporized liquid from the evaporator chamber into the mixing chamber through at least one first nozzle opening arranged in a wall of the evaporator chamber for generating a free jet of steam,

c) In the mixing chamber, an aerosol is generated by mixing the free jet of steam with an air flow entering the mixing chamber through an air inlet, and

d) The aerosol produced is discharged from the mixing chamber through the outlet of the mouthpiece.

The method according to the invention is preferably performed with the device according to the invention or preferably with the device according to the invention. The method according to the invention provides for the liquid to be evaporated in the evaporator chamber by means of an electrical heating element. The generated steam is then discharged from the evaporator chamber into a mixing chamber, wherein the discharge is effected through a first nozzle opening arranged in a wall of the evaporator chamber, whereby a free jet of steam is obtained. An aerosol is then generated in the mixing chamber by mixing the free jet of steam with an air stream entering the mixing chamber through an air inlet. The aerosol thus generated is finally guided from the mixing chamber to the user through the outlet of the mouthpiece.

Drawings

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be explained and illustrated in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Wherein:

fig. 1 shows in cross section a schematic view of a preferred cartridge according to the invention with a device according to the invention;

Fig. 2 shows a schematic partial view of a device according to the invention from the preferred point of view in cross section;

fig. 3 shows a schematic partial view of a device according to the invention from the preferred one;

fig. 4a shows a schematic partial view of a device according to the invention from the preferred embodiment in cross section;

fig. 4b shows a schematic partial view of the device according to the invention from the preferred point of view;

FIG. 5 shows a schematic view of a flat spout;

FIG. 6a shows a schematic view of a first relative arrangement of a first spout and a second spout;

FIG. 6b shows a schematic view of a second relative arrangement of a first spout and a second spout;

fig. 6c shows a schematic view of a third relative arrangement of the first and second spouts.

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 shows a schematic cross-sectional illustration of a cartridge 42 according to the invention comprising a device 10 according to the invention. An electrical heating element 24, which is configured as a sheet-like heater chip, is arranged in the evaporator chamber 12. This electrical heating element 24 is in contact with the wick material 28 by means of which the liquid 26 to be evaporated is transported from the liquid reservoir 44 to the electrical heating element 24. In the example shown in fig. 1, the wick material 28 is a nonwoven fabric. The liquid reservoir 44 is composed of glass, wherein the liquid as a solvent in which nicotine as an active substance component is dissolved includes a mixture of 1, 2-propanediol, glycerin and water. The device shown in fig. 1 is configured for a liquid evaporation rate of 2mg/s, which requires a heating power of about 3-4W. The mixing ratio of air to steam is in the range of 5:1 to 10:1, such that the air mass flow is about 10 to 16mg/s and the air volume flow is about 8 to 16cm ³ /s。

A first nozzle opening 30a is arranged in the evaporator chamber 12 or in a wall 32 of the evaporator chamber 12, through which a fluid-conducting connection is formed between the evaporator chamber 12 and the mixing chamber 20. The first spray opening 30 serves to introduce the evaporated liquid 26 as a free jet 34 of steam into the mixing chamber 20, wherein the first spray opening 30a in the exemplary embodiment shown is configured as a first spray opening 30a with a circular cross section, which tapers in the direction of the mixing chamber. In said mixing chamber 20, the free jet 34 of steam is mixed with an air flow 36 entering through the air inlet 22a, so as to generate an aerosol 18 which can be expelled from the device 10 through the mouthpiece 14 or the respective outlet 16 of the mouthpiece 14. In fig. 1, the electrical heating element 24 is arranged in the evaporator chamber 12 in such a way that it is disposed opposite the first nozzle opening 30a, which is not formed as a separate component but is formed by a wall 32 of the evaporator chamber 12.

In the preferred embodiment shown in fig. 1, the air inlet 22a also includes a second spout 38a configured as a tapered spout having a circular cross section. The air inlet 22a and the evaporator chamber 12 or the air inlet 22a and the first nozzle opening 30a are arranged relative to one another in such a way that the steam free jet 34 and the air free jet 40 meet in the mixing chamber 20 at an angle of substantially 90 ° in the region of laminar flow.

In order to prevent an undesired heating of the incoming air flow 36 by the electric heating element 24, the wall 32 of the evaporator chamber 12 in the embodiment shown is composed of a plastic which assumes a thermally insulating function. The mixing chamber 20 has an irregular cross-sectional profile along the flow direction of the aerosol 18, wherein the mixing chamber 20 tapers in particular in the direction of the mouthpiece 14. The respective cartridge 42 as schematically shown in fig. 1 can be combined in a reversible and non-destructive manner with a reusable component in which an electrical energy store for operating the electrical heating element 24 is arranged into the evaporator system according to the invention.

Fig. 2 shows a partial view of the device 10 according to the invention, which is preferred from the standpoint of its cross section, wherein the aerosol 18 is produced in particular in the boundary region of the steam free jet 34 with respect to the incoming air flow 36. In order to achieve as uniform an generation of aerosols 18 as possible, two

individual air inlets

22a, 22b are provided on opposite sides of the first nozzle opening 30a, which is in turn formed by the wall 32 of the evaporator chamber 12, so that the generated air flow 36 surrounds the steam free jet 34 as uniformly as possible on both sides.

In the preferred embodiment shown in fig. 2, the electrical heating element 24 is reconfigured into a sheet-like heater chip that is traversed by a plurality of micro-channels 25 through which the liquid 26 provided by the wick material 28 and evaporated by the electrical heating element 24 can traverse the electrical heating element 24.

Fig. 3 schematically shows that the first spout 30a and the second spout 38a shown in fig. 1 are movable relative to each other such that the steam free jet 34 and the air free jet 40 enclose an angle of less than 90 °.

Fig. 4a and 4b respectively show a cross-section or a plan view of a preferred embodiment of the device according to the invention instead of the one shown in fig. 2. In the cross-sectional illustration in fig. 4a, it can be seen that the steam generated in the evaporator chamber 12 enters the mixing chamber 20 as a free jet 34 of steam and is surrounded omnidirectionally by the air flow 36, so that the aerosol 18 forms in particular at the boundary layer between the free jet 34 of steam and the air flow 36, while at the same time the aerosol is guided through the mixing chamber 20 to the outlet 16 for the aerosol 18 arranged in the suction nozzle 14.

It can be seen that in this case only one air inlet 22a is provided, which is however arranged around the first nozzle opening 30a in such a way that a coaxial structure is produced and an air flow 36 entering through said air inlet 22a surrounds the steam free jet 34 in all directions, as is shown in fig. 4 b.

Fig. 5 schematically shows a flat spout with a rectangular cross section, which has proven to be a particularly suitable spout shape within the scope of the invention, especially when it is configured as a spout tapering in the direction of the mixing chamber 20 as shown in fig. 5. The flat jet shown schematically in fig. 5 has proven to be an advantageous design both for the first jet 30a and for the second jet 38a, since a free jet with a particularly large surface or circumferential surface is thereby obtained.

Fig. 6a, 6b and 6c schematically show possible configurations of the nozzle openings which can be provided in the device according to fig. 1, i.e. in the device 10 according to the invention, in which both the steam free jet 34 and the air free jet 40 are used, which meet in the mixing chamber 20. Fig. 6a shows a single first nozzle opening 30a and a single second nozzle opening 38a, each tapering in the direction of the mixing chamber and having a circular cross section, as is also disclosed in fig. 1.

In contrast, in fig. 6b, the air inlet 22a and the outlet 16 of the evaporator chamber 12 are each configured such that four ports are correspondingly inserted. Thus, there are four

first jets

30a, 30b, 30c, 30d and a total of four

second jets

38a, 38b, 38c, 38d. In the example shown in fig. 6b, the individual spouts are correspondingly configured as spouts having a constant and round cross section.

In contrast, fig. 6c shows a configuration in which both the first orifice 30a and the second orifice 38a are configured as flat orifices having a rectangular cross section, wherein the configuration shown in fig. 6c does not use the flat orifice shown in fig. 5, but rather correspondingly uses orifices having a cross-sectional profile that is constant over the entire length.

List of reference numerals:

10. device and method for controlling the same

12. Evaporator chamber

14. Suction nozzle

16. An outlet

18. Aerosol aerosol

20. Mixing chamber

22a, 22b air inlet

24. Electric heating element

25. Microchannel

26. Liquid

28. Wick material

30a, 30b, 30c, 30d first nozzle

32. Wall with a wall body

34. Steam free jet

36. Air flow

38a, 38b, 38c, 38d second nozzle

40. Free jet of air

42. Charging barrel

44. Liquid reservoir

Claims

1. Device (10) for generating aerosols, comprising an evaporator chamber (12), a suction nozzle (14) having an outlet (16) for aerosols (18) and a mixing chamber (20) having air inlets (22 a, 22 b),

Wherein an electrical heating element (24) for evaporating a liquid (26) is arranged in the evaporator chamber (12), said electrical heating element being in contact with a wick material (28) which is provided for feeding the electrical heating element (24) with the liquid (26) to be evaporated,

wherein the evaporator chamber (12) comprises at least one first nozzle opening (30 a, 30b, 30c, 30 d) which is arranged in a wall (32) of the evaporator chamber (12) in such a way that a fluid-conducting connection is formed between the evaporator chamber (12) and the mixing chamber (20) by means of the first nozzle opening, so that liquid (26) evaporated in the evaporator chamber (12) can enter the mixing chamber (20) as a free jet of steam (34),

wherein the device (10) is designed such that the free jet of steam (34) can be mixed in the mixing chamber (20) with an air flow (36) entering through the air inlets (22 a, 22 b) for generating aerosols (18), and the generated aerosols (18) can be discharged from the device (10) through the outlet (16) of the mouthpiece (14).

2. The device (10) according to claim 1, wherein the air inlet (22 a, 22 b) comprises at least one second nozzle (38 a, 38b, 38c, 38 d) such that the incoming air flow (36) can enter into the mixing chamber (20) as a free jet of air (40), wherein the at least one second nozzle (38 a, 38b, 38c, 38 d) is preferably a nozzle tapering towards the interior of the mixing chamber, and/or wherein the at least one second nozzle (38 a, 38b, 38c, 38 d) is preferably a flat nozzle, preferably a flat nozzle with a rectangular cross section, wherein the combined cross section of all second nozzles (38 a, 38b, 38c, 38 d) is preferably between 0.5 and 2mm ² Preferably 0.8 to 1.4mm ² Within a range of (2).

3. The device (10) according to claim 2, wherein the air inlets (22 a,22 b) and the evaporator chamber (12) are arranged such that the steam free jet (34) and the air free jet (40) intersect in the mixing chamber (20), preferably in the region of laminar flow, such that an intermediate jet of the steam free jet (34) encloses an angle with an intermediate jet of the air free jet (40) in the range of 5 ° to 175 °, preferably 30 ° to 150 °, particularly preferably 50 ° to 130 °, very particularly preferably 70 ° to 110 °, wherein the angle is preferably substantially 90 °.

4. The device (10) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the air inlets (22 a,22 b) and the evaporator chamber (12) are arranged such that the steam free jet (34) and the incoming air flow (36) extend at least in sections substantially parallel to each other in the mixing chamber (20).

5. The device (10) according to claim 4, wherein the air inlet (22 a,22 b) and at least one first nozzle (30 a, 30b, 30c, 30 d) of the evaporator chamber (12) are arranged such that the steam free jet (34) and the incoming air flow (36) extend parallel to each other at least sectionally in the mixing chamber (20),

Or alternatively

Wherein one or more air guiding elements are arranged in the mixing chamber (20) in such a way that the steam free jet (34) and the incoming air flow (36) extend parallel to each other at least in sections in the mixing chamber (20).

6. The device (10) according to any one of claims 4 or 5, wherein the mixing chamber (20) has at least two air inlets (22 a, 22 b) or one single air inlet (22 a, 22 b) surrounding the at least one first nozzle, the air inlets being arranged such that an incoming air flow (36) extends parallel to the steam free jet (34) at least in sections in the mixing chamber (20) on both sides of the steam free jet (34).

7. The device (10) according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the at least one first spout (30 a, 30b, 30c, 30 d) is a spout tapering towards the mixing chamber (20),

and/or is attached to

Wherein the combined cross-sectional area of all the first spouts (30 a, 30b, 30c, 30 d) is in the range of 0.01 to 1mm ² Preferably in the range of 0.05 to 0.8mm ² In the range of 0.1 to 0.5mm, particularly preferred ² Within a range of from 0.15 to 0.4mm, very particular preference ² Within the range of (2),

and/or is attached to

Wherein the at least one first spout (30 a, 30b, 30c, 30 d) is a flat spout, preferably a flat spout having a rectangular cross section, preferably having a gap width of 0.3mm or less, preferably 0.2mm or less, particularly preferably 0.05mm or less.

8. The device (10) according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the evaporator chamber (12) has a wall (32) which is at least partially made of or is coated with a thermally insulating material, wherein the thermally insulating material preferably has a thermal conductivity of 0.5W/(m K) or less, preferably 0.1W/(m K) or less.

9. The device (10) according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the evaporator chamber (12) has a wall (32) which is at least partially formed from or is coated with a thermally conductive material at the inner side of the evaporator chamber (12), wherein the thermally conductive material has a thermal conductivity of 20W/(m K) or more, preferably 80W/(m K) or more, and wherein the thermally conductive material at the inner side of the evaporator chamber (12) is thermally coupled to the electrical heating element (24) and/or connected to a separate heating device,

And/or is attached to

Wherein the at least one first nozzle opening (30 a, 30b, 30c, 30 d) is composed of a thermally conductive material having a thermal conductivity of 20W/(mK) or more, preferably 80W/(m K) or more, and wherein the at least one first nozzle opening (30 a, 30b, 30c, 30 d) is preferably thermally coupled to the electrical heating element (24) and/or connected to a separate heating device.

10. The device (10) according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the electrical heating element (24) is a coil or a sheet-shaped heater chip, preferably a sheet-shaped heater chip, particularly preferably a sheet-shaped heater chip composed of doped or undoped semiconductor material, which sheet-shaped heater chip is preferably penetrated by a plurality of microchannels (25).

11. Cartridge (42) for an evaporator system, comprising a device (10) according to any one of claims 1 to 10 and a liquid reservoir (44) for containing a liquid (26) to be evaporated.

12. The cartridge (42) of claim 11, comprising one or more air channels arranged to direct air through the mixing chamber (20) to the mouthpiece (14).

13. Evaporator system for evaporating a liquid (26), preferably for use in a portable evaporation device, preferably in a handheld device, particularly preferably in an electronic cigarette or an inhaler for medical use, comprising a cartridge (42) according to any of claims 11 or 12 and a reusable element comprising at least one source of electrical energy for operating an electrical heating element (24),

Wherein the cartridge (42) and the reusable element are connected or connectable to each other in a reversible and non-destructive manner so as to form an electrical contact between the source of electrical energy and the electrical heating element (24).

14. Method for generating an aerosol, preferably performed with a device (10) according to any one of claims 1 to 10, the method comprising the steps of:

a) Evaporating a liquid (26) in the evaporator chamber (12) with an electric heating element (24) arranged in the evaporator chamber (12),

b) The vaporized liquid (26) is discharged from the evaporator chamber (12) into the mixing chamber (20) through at least one first nozzle (30 a, 30b, 30c, 30 d) arranged in a wall (32) of the evaporator chamber (12) for generating a free jet of steam (34),

c) In the mixing chamber (20), an aerosol (18) is generated by mixing the free jet of steam (34) with an air flow (36) entering the mixing chamber (20) through air inlets (22 a, 22 b), and

d) The generated aerosol (18) is discharged from the mixing chamber (20) through the outlet (16) of the mouthpiece (14).