| abstract |
An electronic cigarette vaporiser that includes a front section (52) comprising a wick and heating assembly but no e-liquid cartridge, the front section being removably fitted to a body (53) of the vaporiser to enable a replacement front section to be used once the original wick or heating element starts to degrade, that replacement front section being supplied to the end-user with no e-liquid in it. The vaporiser is not intended to be dis-assembled for filling with e-liquid, but is filled from a user-replaceable e-liquid cartridge. The front section may attach to the body via a magnetic latch, a press-fit, or may screw into the body. The wick may comprise cotton or a ceramic, and may be a ceramic cell with a heating element inside the ceramic cell. The vaporiser may include or co-operate with an electronics module that monitors electrical characteristics, such as resistance, of the heating element and determines if said characteristics are associated with degradation of the heating element. The module may generate a signal indicating that the front section should be changed if degradation is detected. The vaporiser may be filled while inserted into a re-fill and re-charge case, which may be filled by a replaceable cartridge. |