Patents by Inventor Michel THORENS

Michel THORENS has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 10499690
    Abstract: The aerosol-generating article is capable of being used with an electrically-operated aerosol-generating device. The aerosol-generating article is a consumable article having an outlet end, a distal end upstream from the outlet end, and a mid-point located an equal distance between the outlet end and the distal end. The article includes a first volatile liquid substrate contained within a first frangible capsule, the frangible capsule being located between the distal end and the mid-point, and a second volatile liquid substrate contained within a second frangible capsule, the second frangible capsule being located between the distal end and the mid-point. The article also includes a liquid retention medium, at least a portion the liquid retention medium being located between the distal end and the mid-point, wherein the article is configured to allow air to be drawn through the article from the distal end to the outlet end.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 21, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 10, 2019
    Assignee: Altria Client Services LLC
    Inventor: Michel Thorens
  • Patent number: 10485266
    Abstract: A smoking system includes a capillary wick for holding liquid, at least one air inlet, at least one air outlet and a chamber between the air inlet and air outlet. The air inlet, the air outlet and the chamber are arranged so as to define an air flow route from the air inlet to the air outlet via the capillary wick so as to convey aerosol formed from the liquid to the air outlet. The smoking system further includes at least one guide for channeling the air flow in the air flow route, so as to control particle size in the aerosol. The smoking system optionally includes at least one heater for heating the liquid in at least a portion of the capillary wick to form the aerosol.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 22, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 26, 2019
    Assignee: Philip Morris USA Inc.
    Inventors: Michel Thorens, Jean-Marc Flick, Olivier Yves Cochand, Flavien Dubief
  • Publication number: 20190297949
    Abstract: An electrically heated aerosol-generating system is provided, including an aerosol-generating device and a cartridge configured to be removably coupled with the device, the device including a device housing comprising a cavity configured to receive at least a portion of the cartridge when the device housing is engaged with the device housing, an inductor coil disposed around or adjacent to the cavity, and a power supply connected to the inductor coil and configured to provide a high frequency oscillating current to the inductor coil; and the cartridge including a cartridge housing configured to engage the device housing and containing an aerosol-forming substrate, the cartridge housing having an external surface surrounding the aerosol-forming substrate, at least a portion of the external surface being formed by a fluid permeable susceptor element configured to allow the aerosol-forming substrate, in liquid phase, to permeate therethrough.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 18, 2019
    Publication date: October 3, 2019
    Applicant: Philip Morris Products S.A.
    Inventors: Oleg MIRONOV, Ihar Nikolaevich ZINOVIK, Michel THORENS
  • Patent number: 10426197
    Abstract: An aerosol-generating system includes a liquid storage portion having a housing holding a liquid aerosol-forming substrate and a capillary medium. The housing has an opening. A fluid permeable heater assembly includes an arrangement of electrically conductive filaments arranged to define a substantially non-planar air impingement surface. The fluid permeable heater assembly extends across the opening of the housing. The capillary medium is provided in contact with the heater assembly. The capillary medium draws the liquid aerosol-forming substrate to the electrically conductive filament arrangement. The capillary medium includes a capillary medium opening allowing airflow to pass through the capillary medium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 5, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2019
    Assignee: ALTRIA CLIENT SERVICES LLC
    Inventor: Michel Thorens
  • Patent number: 10398175
    Abstract: A method of controlling operation of an inhaling device is provided, the inhaling device including a gas flow path through which gas can be drawn by the action of a user puff, a gas flow sensor within the gas flow path, and a memory, the method including recording gas flow measurements from the gas flow sensor; comparing the gas flow measurements with the user puff signature stored in the memory to provide a correlation score; and enabling or disabling further operation of the device based on a value of the correlation score. The method allows an inhaling device, such as an electrically operated smoking device or a medical inhaler, to authenticate a user of the device based on a detected puffing behavior.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 1, 2015
    Date of Patent: September 3, 2019
    Assignee: Philip Morris Products S.A.
    Inventor: Michel Thorens
  • Patent number: 10375994
    Abstract: An electrically heated aerosol-generating system is provided, including an aerosol-generating device and a cartridge configured to be used with the device, the device including a device housing configured to engage at least a portion of the cartridge; an inductor coil positioned around or adjacent to the cavity; and a power supply connected to the inductor coil and configured to provide a high frequency oscillating current to the inductor coil; the cartridge including a cartridge housing configured to engage the device housing and containing an aerosol-forming substrate, the housing having an external surface surrounding the aerosol-forming substrate, at least a portion of the external surface being formed by a fluid-permeable susceptor element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 14, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 13, 2019
    Assignee: Philip Morris Products S.A.
    Inventors: Oleg Mironov, Ihar Nikolaevich Zinovik, Michel Thorens
  • Publication number: 20190223509
    Abstract: An aerosol-generating system includes a liquid storage portion including housing holding a liquid aerosol-forming substrate and a capillary medium. The housing has an opening. A fluid permeable heater assembly includes an arrangement of electrically conductive filaments arranged to define an air impingement surface. The fluid permeable heater assembly extends across the opening of the housing. The filament arrangement defines a filament opening allowing airflow to pass through. The capillary medium is provided in contact with the heater assembly. The capillary medium is configured to draw the liquid aerosol forming substrate to the electrically conductive filament arrangement. The capillary medium includes a capillary medium opening extending the filament opening through the capillary medium.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 29, 2019
    Publication date: July 25, 2019
    Applicant: Altria Client Services LLC
    Inventor: Michel THORENS
  • Patent number: 10342260
    Abstract: An aerosol-generating device is provided, including a reservoir configured to hold a liquid; a release medium; and a heater, wherein the reservoir and the release medium are configured to transport liquid from the reservoir to the release medium, wherein the release medium and the heater are disposed in physical contact with each other, wherein the aerosol-generating device further includes a means for reversibly releasing the physical contact between the release medium and the heater to form a gap between the heater and the release medium, and wherein the aerosol-generating device is configured to activate the heater when the gap is formed between the heater and the release medium. A method for forming an aerosol by the aerosol-generating device is also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 9, 2019
    Assignee: Philip Morris Products S.A.
    Inventors: Michel Thorens, Ihar Nikolaevich Zinovik
  • Patent number: 10244794
    Abstract: An aerosol-generating system includes a liquid storage portion including housing holding a liquid aerosol-forming substrate and a capillary medium. The housing has an opening. A fluid permeable heater assembly includes an arrangement of electrically conductive filaments arranged to define an air impingement surface. The fluid permeable heater assembly extends across the opening of the housing. The filament arrangement defines a filament opening allowing airflow to pass through. The capillary medium is provided in contact with the heater assembly. The capillary medium is configured to draw the liquid aerosol forming substrate to the electrically conductive filament arrangement. The capillary medium includes a capillary medium opening extending the filament opening through the capillary medium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 5, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2019
    Assignee: Altria Client Services LLC
    Inventor: Michel Thorens
  • Publication number: 20190059447
    Abstract: There is provided an aerosol generating device for heating an aerosol-forming substrate, including a storage portion for storing the aerosol-forming substrate and a vaporizer for heating the aerosol-forming substrate to form an aerosol. The storage portion has an outer housing and an internal passageway, the storage portion forming a reservoir for the aerosol-forming substrate between the outer housing and the internal passageway, and the vaporizer extends at least partially inside the internal passageway in the storage portion. The device further includes a porous interface at least partially lining the internal passageway for conveying the aerosol-forming substrate from the storage portion towards the vaporizer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 25, 2018
    Publication date: February 28, 2019
    Applicant: Philip Morris Products S.A.
    Inventors: Flavien DUBIEF, Olivier COCHAND, Michel THORENS, Jean-Marc FLICK, Yvan DEGOUMOIS
  • Patent number: 10206430
    Abstract: A capsule for an aerosol-generating device is provided, including a shell including a base and at least one side wall extending from the base, the shell containing an aerosol-forming substrate; and a lid sealed on the at least one side wall for forming a sealed capsule, wherein the base includes a recess extending into said shell along the longitudinal axis for receiving a heater of an aerosol-generating device. An aerosol-generating device is also provided, including a power supply; at least one heater; a cavity for receiving the capsule containing the aerosol-forming substrate; and a mouthpiece including a piercing element for piercing the lid of the capsule, wherein the at least one heater is configured to be insertable into a recess of the capsule. An aerosol-generating system including the aerosol-generating device and the capsule is also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 19, 2019
    Assignee: Philip Morris Products S.A.
    Inventors: Oleg Mironov, Michel Thorens, Rui Nuno Batista
  • Patent number: 10206428
    Abstract: An aerosol-generating device is provided, including a housing containing or configured to receive an aerosol-forming substrate; an outlet formed in the housing, wherein in use aerosol generated from the aerosol-forming substrate is delivered through the outlet, wherein the housing includes a first wall surrounding the outlet and a second wall surrounding the first wall such that an open-ended annular recess is defined between the first and second walls, the annular recess being suitable for retaining a compliant mouthpiece cover to the housing. In use, the mouthpiece cover is placed into a user's mouth in order to directly inhale an aerosol generated by the aerosol-generating device. There is also provided a removable mouthpiece cover for an electrically operated smoking device, including a compliant tubular portion defining a central bore and a filter portion covering the bore of the filter portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2013
    Date of Patent: February 19, 2019
    Assignee: Philip Morris Products S.A.
    Inventors: Michel Thorens, Alexis Louvet
  • Publication number: 20190014826
    Abstract: There is provided an aerosol generating system for heating a liquid aerosol-forming substrate. The system includes an aerosol-forming chamber, and a leakage preventer for preventing or reducing leakage of liquid aerosol condensate from the aerosol generating system. The leakage preventer may include one or more of: at least one cavity in a wall of the aerosol-forming chamber, for collecting droplets of condensed liquid aerosol-forming substrate; at least one hooked member for collecting droplets of condensed liquid aerosol-forming substrate; an impactor for disrupting airflow in the aerosol-forming chamber so as to collect liquid droplets; and a closure member for substantially sealing the aerosol-forming chamber when the aerosol generating system is not in use.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 17, 2018
    Publication date: January 17, 2019
    Applicant: Philip Morris Products S.A.
    Inventors: Michel Thorens, Jean-Marc Flick, Olivier Yves Cochand, Flavien Dubief
  • Publication number: 20180360101
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a process to obtain tobacco flavor extracts, the process comprising: —conditioning a mixture of tobaccos in a primary tobacco manufacture heating the mixture of tobacco to a temperature comprised between about 30 degrees Celsius and about 90 degrees Celsius for a time interval comprised between about 30 seconds and about 1 hour; —recovering emissions produced by the mixture conditioning; and —obtaining at least one flavor extract from the recovered emissions. The present invention also relates to an apparatus to obtain tobacco flavor extracts.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 25, 2016
    Publication date: December 20, 2018
    Inventors: Frederic Ulysse Buehler, Michel Thorens, Patrick Charles Silvestrini
  • Patent number: 10143233
    Abstract: There is provided an aerosol generating device for heating an aerosol-forming substrate, including a storage portion for storing the aerosol-forming substrate and a vaporizer for heating the aerosol-forming substrate to form an aerosol. The storage portion has an outer housing and an internal passageway, the storage portion forming a reservoir for the aerosol-forming substrate between the outer housing and the internal passageway, and the vaporizer extends at least partially inside the internal passageway in the storage portion. The device further includes a porous interface at least partially lining the internal passageway for conveying the aerosol-forming substrate from the storage portion towards the vaporizer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 4, 2018
    Assignee: Philip Morris Products S.A.
    Inventors: Flavien Dubief, Olivier Cochand, Michel Thorens, Jean-Marc Flick, Yvan Degoumois
  • Patent number: 10104911
    Abstract: There is provided an aerosol generating system for heating a liquid aerosol-forming substrate. The system includes an aerosol-forming chamber, and a leakage preventer for preventing or reducing leakage of liquid aerosol condensate from the aerosol generating system. The leakage preventer may include one or more of: at least one cavity in a wall of the aerosol-forming chamber, for collecting droplets of condensed liquid aerosol-forming substrate; at least one hooked member for collecting droplets of condensed liquid aerosol-forming substrate; an impactor for disrupting airflow in the aerosol-forming chamber so as to collect liquid droplets; and a closure member for substantially sealing the aerosol-forming chamber when the aerosol generating system is not in use.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 2, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 23, 2018
    Assignee: Philip Morris Products S.A.
    Inventors: Michel Thorens, Jean-Marc Flick, Olivier Yves Cochand, Flavien Dubief
  • Publication number: 20180279685
    Abstract: An electrically heated aerosol generating system for receiving an aerosol-forming substrate includes at least one electric heater for heating the aerosol-forming substrate to form the aerosol. The heater includes a heating element of a first cross section electrically connected to a plurality of elongate support elements. Each support element has a cross section greater than the first cross section. At least one of the support elements is integrally formed with the heating element.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 4, 2018
    Publication date: October 4, 2018
    Applicant: Philip Morris USA Inc.
    Inventors: Michel THORENS, Jean-Marc FLICK, Olivier Yves COCHAND, Flavien DUBIEF
  • Publication number: 20180206556
    Abstract: An electrically heated smoking system includes a shell and a replaceable mouthpiece. The shell includes an electric power supply and electric circuitry. The mouthpiece includes a liquid storage portion and a capillary wick having a first end and a second end. The first end of the wick extends into the liquid storage portion for contact with liquid therein. The mouthpiece also includes a heating element for heating the second end of the capillary wick, an air outlet, and an aerosol forming chamber between the second end of the capillary wick and the air outlet. When the shell and mouthpiece are engaged or connected, the heating element is in electrical connection with the power supply via the circuitry, and a flowpath for air is defined from at least one air inlet to the air outlet via the aerosol forming chamber. In use, liquid is transferred from the liquid storage portion towards the heating element by capillary action in the wick.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 22, 2018
    Publication date: July 26, 2018
    Applicant: Philip Morris USA Inc.
    Inventors: Michel Thorens, Jean-Marc Flick, Olivier Yves Cochand
  • Patent number: 9986761
    Abstract: An electrically heated aerosol generating system for receiving an aerosol-forming substrate includes at least one electric heater for heating the aerosol-forming substrate to form the aerosol. The heater includes a heating element of a first cross section electrically connected to a plurality of elongate support elements. Each support element has a cross section greater than the first cross section. At least one of the support elements is integrally formed with the heating element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 5, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 5, 2018
    Assignee: PHILIP MORRIS USA INC.
    Inventors: Michel Thorens, Jean-Marc Flick, Olivier Yves Cochand, Flavien Dubief
  • Publication number: 20180140016
    Abstract: A smoking article includes a housing having a mouthpiece and configured to receive a nicotine-containing aerosol generating substance. The smoking article also includes control electronics configured to control delivery of an amount of nicotine-containing aerosol from the nicotine-containing aerosol generating substrate through the mouthpiece. The smoking article further includes a nicotine metabolite sensor positioned at the mouth piece and operably coupled to the control electronics. The sensor is positioned such that when a smoker places their lips in contact with the mouthpiece the sensor can detect an amount or concentration of a nicotine metabolite in the smoker's saliva. The smoking article can store or report data regarding the amount of nicotine metabolite detected by the sensor to, for example, the smoker. In addition or alternatively, the control electronics can receive data from the sensor to control whether the amount of the nicotine-containing aerosol is delivered.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 9, 2016
    Publication date: May 24, 2018
    Inventor: Michel Thorens