Who invented the electronic cigarette? The first e-cigarette that actually worked and started the vaping revolution was invented by Hon Lik, a Chinese pharmacist, in 2003. Consequently, the short answer to who invented the electronic cigarette is Hon Lik. That is the easy answer! But, the concept of an electronic cigarette can be traced back almost 100 years.
Story of the electronic cigarette goes back much farther than 2003. In fact, an American named Herbert Gilbert invented and patented an electronic cigarette design in 1965. However, Gilbert’s design was never developed. Going back further, Joseph Robinson filed for a patent on an e-cig in 1930, although there is no information on the design or how it would work.
While the first functional and marketable e-cigarette was not invented until 2003, the literal concept of an electronic smoking alternative goes back almost a century. When Joseph Robinson filed for his patent back in 1927, which was granted in 1930, the technology was not available to actually make it. There is no record or a model much less a prototype. But Robinson had a great idea. His “electric vaporizer” patent indicated similarities to today’s electronic cigarettes.
Of course in 1930, the dangers of smoking were not well known. And Robinson’s design was not specifically made for tobacco or with the idea of harm reduction. Nonetheless, his electric vaporizer was the first time on record that someone patented a concept of an e-cig.
Herbert Gilbert E-cigarette Patent 1963
If you ask who invented the e-cig, typically you will get one of two answers. Hon Lik and Herbert Gilbert. Many actually credit Gilbert with being the inventor of the electronic cigarette.
By the 1960s, the public was beginning to become aware of the dangers of smoking. The Big Tobacco companies were well aware of the dangers of smoking but kept it quiet. In 1964, the Surgeon General of the United States issues his report on tobacco and smoking. The report sounded the alarm about the terrible risks of smoking cigarettes. One year before that report was released, a man named Herbert Gilbert had filed for a patent on an electronic cigarette.
who-invented-the-e-cigarette
Gilbert’s patent was filed in 1963 and received in 1965. His design is pictured above. As can be seen, Gilbert’s design looks very much like the electronic cigarettes available today. It looks like what is called an eGo style vape mod. Quite similar to our eGo style mod the SR72. And unlike Robinson’s design, Gilbert’s e-cigarette was conceived as an alternative to smoking cigarettes. The idea was using heat to generate a steam that contains nicotine.
Unfortunately, Gilbert’s design was never commercially produced. At the time, there were no lithium ion batteries at the time. In fact, the lithium ion batteries were still decades away. As a result, powering an e-cigarette device in the 1960s would require an outlet limiting it to home use. Perhaps that was an impediment along with other reasons. Whatever the case may be, Gilbert’s patent faded in memory as did the idea of an electronic cigarette. That is until 2003.
Smoking Alternative Concepts In The 80s and 90s
In the 80s and 90s there were a few smoking alternatives considered and some even made it to market. But they were not like electronic cigarettes. For example, in the 90s Philip Morris made the Accord, which was a heat not burn device. The Accord was battery powered.In 1979 and into the 80s, computer pioneer Phil Ray and Dr. Norman Jacobson collaborated on an “evaporation” device that generated an inhaleable nicotine. While the device was not a success, the inventors lay claim to the term “vape”.
The concepts of smoking alternatives in the 80s and 90s were different than what we now call electronic cigarettes. Also different than Gilbert’s concept from the 60s. None of the ideas took off. Although the heat not burn concept is still alive and well, the e-cig proved to be the one invention that worked after almost 100 years of misses.
Lithium Ion Batteries
Lithium ion batteries helped power the world as we know it today. Laptop computers, cell phones and other mobile devices, and e-cigs! Lithium ion batteries can store large amounts of charge. A lot of charge in a small space that is! In addition, they can be efficiently and quickly recharged hundreds of times before requiring replacement.
There were essentially three levels of development of the lithium ion battery. That includes three levels of inventors to share credit:
M Stanley Whittingham proposed the concept of a lithium ion battery in the 1970s.
John Goodenough, Rachim Yazami, and Akira Yoshino developed the lithium ion battery in the 1980s.
Asahei Kasai and Sony commercially developed a successful Li-on battery in 1991.
In the 90s, the lap-tops and cell phones changed everything. Mobile technology became the driver of innovation. And it was all powered by batteries! That same battery technology was a key to the invention of the electronic cigarette. Because of Lithium Ion batteries, a battery the size of a cigarette could power a device with enough current to vaporize a liquid. You can see where this is going!
Hon Lik Invents The Modern Electronic Cigarette
who invented the first commercially successful e-cig for mass production
Hon Lik vaping his electronic cigarette. Photo courtesy of Reuters.
In 2003, Hon Lik was a 52 year old pharmacist working for Golden Dragon Holdings. Lik came up with the e-cig concept and the company built a working model. A cigalike style device. In the patent applications, we do not have a history of schematics. But we do know that the first e-cigs were cigalikes. (Mods would not come around until much later.) Following Lik’s design of the e-cig, the company knew it had something and changed their name to Ruyan. By the way, Ruyan means “like smoke”. The e-cig was marketed in China in 2004 and imported to the United States in 2006. By 2007, the beginnings of the vaping revolution began to take hold in America.
In the early days of vaping, there was a story about Hon Lik. Specifically, a story about how Hon thought of an e-cig. Hon, a smoker himself, had lost his father to smoking. It was said that in a dream he imagined drowning. But just before drowning, he breaks the surface of the water and can breathe the misty air above the lake. The misty air gave him the idea of vapor. Now, this story may or may not be true. But, it is a good story!
At any rate, Mr. Lik’s electronic cigarette became successful. The cigarette style design is still very popular, especially with adult vapers. The similarity to a cigarette provides a familiar look and feel when smokers switch to vapor.
From the cigalike came larger and larger devices like vape mods and vape pens. At the end of the day, they all have three things in common. A battery, and atomizer, and e-liquid. They are all related to the invention of the e-cigarette.
E-Liquid
Perhaps the more ingenious aspect of Lik’s invention is the e-liquid. The vape juice. As a pharmacist, Lik understood how to incorporate nicotine into a liquid that could be vaporized. He is also familiar with what nicotine levels will satisfy smokers. As a result, the combination of technical, electronic, and pharmaceutical knowledge are all components of an ultimately successful design.
The difference between vaping and smoking is the difference between smoke and vapor. Vapor is the gaseous form of vape liquid. Smoke is the byproduct of rampant, out of control chemical reactions that produce thousands upon thousands of chemicals. If keeping score at home, Hon Lik gets huge points for who invented the electronic cigarette because of the e-liquid. The e-liquid is why e-cigs are able to deliver nicotine. And nicotine delivery is why the evapor products of the 90s failed.
Who Invented The Electronic Cigarette?
Who invented the electronic cigarette? Hon Lik deserves the credit for the first commercial e-cig. But Herbert Gilbert’s design is similar to what we use today. Gilbert’s idea was right, it just wasn’t developed. The choice of who invented the e-cig boils down to these two men.
Herbert Gilbert definitely had the right idea! His design looks like today’s e-cigarettes. But the technology to successfully develop his concept was not available at the time. And if it was, would he have invented e-juice as well? There is some distance between Gilbert’s design and the e-cigs of today. However, there is no denying that he was ahead of his time and on the right track.
Hon Lik’s pharmaceutical background was key to inventing e-juice, which is really what makes vaping work. The story of how Hon invented the e-cig is equally intriguing. And it cannot be denied that Lik’s invention is the one that worked. It was the right idea at the right time.
Who do you think should get credit for who invented the e-cig? Should it be Hon Lik or Herbert Gilbert? or, do they both get credit?
While you are here, please make sure to check out our latest vape products and e-juice flavors. At Mig Vapor, we have an R&D team of aggressive, can do people that have continued to push e-cig technology forward. We also have patent protected dry herb and CBD vaporizers. We are the vaping company.
Story of the electronic cigarette goes back much farther than 2003. In fact, an American named Herbert Gilbert invented and patented an electronic cigarette design in 1965. However, Gilbert’s design was never developed. Going back further, Joseph Robinson filed for a patent on an e-cig in 1930, although there is no information on the design or how it would work.
While the first functional and marketable e-cigarette was not invented until 2003, the literal concept of an electronic smoking alternative goes back almost a century. When Joseph Robinson filed for his patent back in 1927, which was granted in 1930, the technology was not available to actually make it. There is no record or a model much less a prototype. But Robinson had a great idea. His “electric vaporizer” patent indicated similarities to today’s electronic cigarettes.
Of course in 1930, the dangers of smoking were not well known. And Robinson’s design was not specifically made for tobacco or with the idea of harm reduction. Nonetheless, his electric vaporizer was the first time on record that someone patented a concept of an e-cig.
Herbert Gilbert E-cigarette Patent 1963
If you ask who invented the e-cig, typically you will get one of two answers. Hon Lik and Herbert Gilbert. Many actually credit Gilbert with being the inventor of the electronic cigarette.
By the 1960s, the public was beginning to become aware of the dangers of smoking. The Big Tobacco companies were well aware of the dangers of smoking but kept it quiet. In 1964, the Surgeon General of the United States issues his report on tobacco and smoking. The report sounded the alarm about the terrible risks of smoking cigarettes. One year before that report was released, a man named Herbert Gilbert had filed for a patent on an electronic cigarette.
who-invented-the-e-cigarette
Gilbert’s patent was filed in 1963 and received in 1965. His design is pictured above. As can be seen, Gilbert’s design looks very much like the electronic cigarettes available today. It looks like what is called an eGo style vape mod. Quite similar to our eGo style mod the SR72. And unlike Robinson’s design, Gilbert’s e-cigarette was conceived as an alternative to smoking cigarettes. The idea was using heat to generate a steam that contains nicotine.
Unfortunately, Gilbert’s design was never commercially produced. At the time, there were no lithium ion batteries at the time. In fact, the lithium ion batteries were still decades away. As a result, powering an e-cigarette device in the 1960s would require an outlet limiting it to home use. Perhaps that was an impediment along with other reasons. Whatever the case may be, Gilbert’s patent faded in memory as did the idea of an electronic cigarette. That is until 2003.
Smoking Alternative Concepts In The 80s and 90s
In the 80s and 90s there were a few smoking alternatives considered and some even made it to market. But they were not like electronic cigarettes. For example, in the 90s Philip Morris made the Accord, which was a heat not burn device. The Accord was battery powered.In 1979 and into the 80s, computer pioneer Phil Ray and Dr. Norman Jacobson collaborated on an “evaporation” device that generated an inhaleable nicotine. While the device was not a success, the inventors lay claim to the term “vape”.
The concepts of smoking alternatives in the 80s and 90s were different than what we now call electronic cigarettes. Also different than Gilbert’s concept from the 60s. None of the ideas took off. Although the heat not burn concept is still alive and well, the e-cig proved to be the one invention that worked after almost 100 years of misses.
Lithium Ion Batteries
Lithium ion batteries helped power the world as we know it today. Laptop computers, cell phones and other mobile devices, and e-cigs! Lithium ion batteries can store large amounts of charge. A lot of charge in a small space that is! In addition, they can be efficiently and quickly recharged hundreds of times before requiring replacement.
There were essentially three levels of development of the lithium ion battery. That includes three levels of inventors to share credit:
M Stanley Whittingham proposed the concept of a lithium ion battery in the 1970s.
John Goodenough, Rachim Yazami, and Akira Yoshino developed the lithium ion battery in the 1980s.
Asahei Kasai and Sony commercially developed a successful Li-on battery in 1991.
In the 90s, the lap-tops and cell phones changed everything. Mobile technology became the driver of innovation. And it was all powered by batteries! That same battery technology was a key to the invention of the electronic cigarette. Because of Lithium Ion batteries, a battery the size of a cigarette could power a device with enough current to vaporize a liquid. You can see where this is going!
Hon Lik Invents The Modern Electronic Cigarette
who invented the first commercially successful e-cig for mass production
Hon Lik vaping his electronic cigarette. Photo courtesy of Reuters.
In 2003, Hon Lik was a 52 year old pharmacist working for Golden Dragon Holdings. Lik came up with the e-cig concept and the company built a working model. A cigalike style device. In the patent applications, we do not have a history of schematics. But we do know that the first e-cigs were cigalikes. (Mods would not come around until much later.) Following Lik’s design of the e-cig, the company knew it had something and changed their name to Ruyan. By the way, Ruyan means “like smoke”. The e-cig was marketed in China in 2004 and imported to the United States in 2006. By 2007, the beginnings of the vaping revolution began to take hold in America.
In the early days of vaping, there was a story about Hon Lik. Specifically, a story about how Hon thought of an e-cig. Hon, a smoker himself, had lost his father to smoking. It was said that in a dream he imagined drowning. But just before drowning, he breaks the surface of the water and can breathe the misty air above the lake. The misty air gave him the idea of vapor. Now, this story may or may not be true. But, it is a good story!
At any rate, Mr. Lik’s electronic cigarette became successful. The cigarette style design is still very popular, especially with adult vapers. The similarity to a cigarette provides a familiar look and feel when smokers switch to vapor.
From the cigalike came larger and larger devices like vape mods and vape pens. At the end of the day, they all have three things in common. A battery, and atomizer, and e-liquid. They are all related to the invention of the e-cigarette.
E-Liquid
Perhaps the more ingenious aspect of Lik’s invention is the e-liquid. The vape juice. As a pharmacist, Lik understood how to incorporate nicotine into a liquid that could be vaporized. He is also familiar with what nicotine levels will satisfy smokers. As a result, the combination of technical, electronic, and pharmaceutical knowledge are all components of an ultimately successful design.
The difference between vaping and smoking is the difference between smoke and vapor. Vapor is the gaseous form of vape liquid. Smoke is the byproduct of rampant, out of control chemical reactions that produce thousands upon thousands of chemicals. If keeping score at home, Hon Lik gets huge points for who invented the electronic cigarette because of the e-liquid. The e-liquid is why e-cigs are able to deliver nicotine. And nicotine delivery is why the evapor products of the 90s failed.
Who Invented The Electronic Cigarette?
Who invented the electronic cigarette? Hon Lik deserves the credit for the first commercial e-cig. But Herbert Gilbert’s design is similar to what we use today. Gilbert’s idea was right, it just wasn’t developed. The choice of who invented the e-cig boils down to these two men.
Herbert Gilbert definitely had the right idea! His design looks like today’s e-cigarettes. But the technology to successfully develop his concept was not available at the time. And if it was, would he have invented e-juice as well? There is some distance between Gilbert’s design and the e-cigs of today. However, there is no denying that he was ahead of his time and on the right track.
Hon Lik’s pharmaceutical background was key to inventing e-juice, which is really what makes vaping work. The story of how Hon invented the e-cig is equally intriguing. And it cannot be denied that Lik’s invention is the one that worked. It was the right idea at the right time.
Who do you think should get credit for who invented the e-cig? Should it be Hon Lik or Herbert Gilbert? or, do they both get credit?
While you are here, please make sure to check out our latest vape products and e-juice flavors. At Mig Vapor, we have an R&D team of aggressive, can do people that have continued to push e-cig technology forward. We also have patent protected dry herb and CBD vaporizers. We are the vaping company.