Flat ceramic heater having discrete heating zones

DETAILED DESCRIPTION It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a resistive heater for use in an electrically-powered smoking article.
It is also an object of this invention to provide a low-voltage battery-powered ceramic heater that produces temperatures sufficiently high to release tobacco flavors from tobacco or a tobacco derivative.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a ceramic heater that has a plurality of discrete resistive heating elements that may be individually energized.
It is a still further object of this invention to provide a heater having ceramic heating elements that may be energized rapidly.
It is a yet further object of this invention to provide a process for fabricating such a heater.
This invention provides a resistive heater for use in an electrically-powered smoking article.
Such a smoking article is preferably provided with a heater having a plurality of resistive heating elements that may be individually energized by a low-voltage battery.
Tobacco or a tobacco derivative is placed in contact with the heating elements so that when they are energized a flavored aerosol or vapor is produced that may be inhaled by a smoker.
The tobacco flavor-generating medium may be sprayed onto the heating elements and subsequently dried before use.
After the tobacco flavor-generating medium in contact with the heating elements has been consumed, a new set of heating elements is used.
The electrically-powered smoking article is intended to be held by a smoker in the lips and therefore is relatively lightweight, compact and portable.
Further, when desired by a smoker, one of the heating elements may be selectively energized thus delivering a predetermined quantity of tobacco flavored vapor.
The smoking article may be configured so that power is switched between individual heating elements directly by the smoker or triggered by control circuitry.
An advantage of electrically-powered smoking articles is that they may be stored after being partially consumed