Inventor Hon says the idea of the electronic cigarettes came to him in a dream in 2000: Coughing and wheezing, he imagined he was drowning, until suddenly the waters around him lifted into a fog.
He gave one of the first prototypes to his dying father.
"It was too late for my father, but not for me. I switched over myself to electronic cigarettes."
Above excerpt from this 2009 article: A high-tech approach to getting a nicotine fix - Los Angeles Times
View the patent here:
http://www.pat2pdf.org/patents/pat7832410.pdf
Interestingly, Hon Lik's original concept used an ultrasonic atomizer that seems to have been abandoned in current products in favor of a simple heating coil with wicking fluid delivery system.
He gave one of the first prototypes to his dying father.
"It was too late for my father, but not for me. I switched over myself to electronic cigarettes."
Above excerpt from this 2009 article: A high-tech approach to getting a nicotine fix - Los Angeles Times
View the patent here:
http://www.pat2pdf.org/patents/pat7832410.pdf
Interestingly, Hon Lik's original concept used an ultrasonic atomizer that seems to have been abandoned in current products in favor of a simple heating coil with wicking fluid delivery system.
