CN114098154A

CN114098154A - Atomizer and electronic cigarette

Info

Publication number: CN114098154A
Application number: CN202010901121.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 吴泽鑫; 戴朋新; 施再明; 徐中立; 李永海
Original assignee: Shenzhen FirstUnion Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Shenzhen FirstUnion Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-09-01
Filing date: 2020-09-01
Publication date: 2022-03-01

Abstract

The application provides an atomizer and an electronic cigarette; wherein the atomizer comprises a housing; the shell is internally provided with: a liquid storage cavity; a support having a first sidewall and a second sidewall and defining an aerosolization chamber therebetween; a tubular heating element extending in a transverse direction between the first and second side walls, the ends of the heating element being positioned on the first and second side walls and providing a first aperture in the first side wall and a second aperture in the second side wall; a wicking element extending through the heating element and at least partially through the first aperture and/or the second aperture into the reservoir chamber to wick the liquid substrate. In the atomizer, the tubular heating element is tightly matched and maintained by the hole on the side wall of the supporting part, and the liquid guide element penetrates into the liquid storage cavity from the inside of the heating element to suck the liquid substrate; no leakage of the liquid matrix occurs between the heating element and the support, and between the liquid-conducting element and the heating element.

Description

Atomizer and electronic cigarette

Technical Field

The embodiment of the application relates to the technical field of electronic cigarettes, in particular to an atomizer and an electronic cigarette.

Background

Aerosol-providing articles, such as so-called e-cigarette devices, exist. These devices typically contain a liquid that is heated to vaporize it, thereby generating an inhalable vapor or aerosol. The liquid may comprise nicotine and/or a fragrance and/or an aerosol generating substance (e.g. glycerol). As a known electronic cigarette device, the' 201420819372.2 patent proposes a configuration of a transverse liquid absorbing member perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the electronic cigarette, a heating element being wrapped outside the transverse liquid absorbing member to heat the absorbed liquid to generate aerosol; in the fixing and installation of imbibition piece, adopt a mount pad that has the breach to erect or support horizontal imbibition piece to through a crimping platform or joint platform and mount pad cooperation to erect or support horizontal imbibition piece and carry out the centre gripping. Above known electron cigarette device, when crimping platform or joint platform cooperation centre gripping transversely put imbibition piece, too tight then imbibition piece can't smoothly transmit liquid matrix, liquid matrix oozes out by imbibition piece in the gap between the breach when pine.

Disclosure of Invention

Embodiments of the present application provide an atomizer for atomizing a liquid substrate to generate an aerosol for inhalation; the method comprises the following steps: a housing having a longitudinal direction and a transverse direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction; the shell is internally provided with:

a reservoir chamber for storing a liquid substrate;

a support portion having a first sidewall and a second sidewall sequentially arranged in the transverse direction; the first and second sidewalls are configured to extend in the longitudinal direction and define an atomization chamber between the first and second sidewalls;

a tubular heating element configured to extend between the first and second sidewalls in the transverse direction; the ends of the heating element are positioned on a first side wall and a second side wall of the supporting part, and a first hole is provided on the first side wall and a second hole is provided on the second side wall;

a wicking element extending at least partially within the heating element; the wicking element extends at least partially into the reservoir cavity through the first and/or second apertures to draw liquid substrate, the heating element configured to heat at least a portion of the liquid substrate within the wicking element to generate an aerosol for inhalation.

In the atomizer, the tubular heating element is tightly matched and maintained by the hole on the side wall of the supporting part, and the liquid guide element penetrates into the liquid storage cavity from the inside of the heating element to suck the liquid substrate; no leakage of the liquid matrix occurs between the heating element and the support, and between the liquid-conducting element and the heating element.

In a preferred implementation, the heating element is formed on the first and second side walls by pre-forming.

In a preferred implementation, the heating element is in contact with the first and second sidewalls, and there is no sealing material between the heating element and the first and second sidewalls.

In a preferred implementation, the method further comprises the following steps:

a sealing element for sealing the reservoir chamber to prevent liquid substrate from entering the nebulization chamber; the sealing element is not in contact with the liquid guiding element and/or the heating element.

In a preferred implementation, the sealing element is configured to envelop the support and is provided with a window at least partially exposing the first and second side walls.

In a preferred implementation, the heating element comprises first and second tubular portions facing away from each other in an axial direction, and a resistive heating portion extending between the first and second tubular portions;

the first tubular portion being at least partially retained on the first sidewall;

the second tubular portion is at least partially retained on the second sidewall.

In a preferred implementation, the resistive heating section comprises first and second sides that are radially opposite; the resistance heating part is provided with hollows or notches which are alternately arranged on the first side and the second side.

In a preferred implementation, the reservoir at least partially surrounds the support.

In a preferred implementation, the heating element extends at least partially outside the first sidewall; the portion of the heating element located outside the first side wall is configured in a wide mouth shape with an inner diameter gradually increasing outward in the axial direction.

In a preferred implementation, the housing further comprises:

the smoke output channel is used for outputting aerosol in the atomization chamber;

the supporting part is provided with a communication port, and the atomizing chamber is in airflow communication with the smoke output channel through the communication port.

In a preferred implementation, the housing has proximal and distal ends that are opposite in the longitudinal direction; the distal end is configured as an open end and is provided with an end cap;

at least a portion of the end cap extends toward the proximal end and forms the support.

Still another embodiment of the present application further provides an electronic cigarette, including an atomizing device and a power supply device for supplying power to the atomizing device; the atomization device comprises the electronic cigarette atomizer.

Drawings

One or more embodiments are illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings, which correspond to the figures in which like reference numerals refer to similar elements and which are not to scale unless otherwise specified.

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of an electronic cigarette provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the atomizer of FIG. 1 from a perspective;

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the atomizer of FIG. 2 taken along the width direction thereof;

FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the end cap of FIG. 3 with the fluid conducting element and the heating element assembled;

FIG. 5 is an exploded view of portions of the atomizer of FIG. 3 from a perspective;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of the end cap of FIG. 5 with the fluid conducting element and the heating element assembled;

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of the heating element and end cap of FIG. 5 integrally injection molded;

fig. 8 is a schematic structural view of a heating element according to still another embodiment.

Detailed Description

To facilitate an understanding of the present application, the present application is described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and detailed description.

The present application provides an electronic cigarette, which can be seen in fig. 1, and includes an atomizer 100 storing a liquid substrate and vaporizing the liquid substrate to generate an aerosol, and a power supply device 200 for supplying power to the atomizer 100.

In an alternative embodiment, such as that shown in fig. 1, the power supply device 200 includes a receiving chamber 270 disposed at one end along the length for receiving and accommodating at least a portion of the atomizer 100, and a first electrical contact 230 at least partially exposed at a surface of the receiving chamber 270 for making an electrical connection with the atomizer 100 when at least a portion of the atomizer 100 is received and accommodated in the power supply device 200 to supply power to the atomizer 100.

According to a preferred embodiment shown in fig. 1, the atomizer 100 is provided with a second electrical contact 21 on the end opposite the power supply means 200 in the longitudinal direction, such that when at least a portion of the atomizer 100 is received in the receiving chamber 270, the second electrical contact 21 is brought into electrical conduction by coming into contact against the first electrical contact 230.

The sealing member 260 is provided in the power supply device 200, and at least a portion of the inner space of the power supply device 200 is partitioned by the sealing member 260 to form the above receiving chamber 270. In the preferred embodiment shown in fig. 1, the sealing member 260 is configured to extend along the cross-sectional direction of the power supply device 200 and is made of a flexible material, so as to prevent the liquid medium seeping from the atomizer 100 to the receiving cavity 270 from flowing to the controller 220, the sensor 250 and other components inside the power supply device 200.

In the preferred embodiment shown in fig. 1, the power supply apparatus 200 further includes a battery cell 210 near the other end opposite to the receiving cavity 270 along the length direction for supplying power; and a controller 220 disposed between the cell 210 and the housing cavity, the controller 220 operable to direct electrical current between the cell 210 and the first electrical contact 230.

In use, the power supply device 200 includes a sensor 250 for sensing a suction airflow generated when suction is performed through the nozzle cover 20 of the atomizer 100, and the controller 220 controls the battery cell 210 to output current to the atomizer 100 according to a detection signal of the sensor 250.

In a further preferred embodiment shown in fig. 1, the power supply device 200 is provided with a charging interface 240 at the other end opposite to the receiving cavity 270, for charging the battery cells 210 after being connected to an external charging device.

The embodiment of fig. 2 to 4 show a schematic structural diagram of one embodiment of the atomizer 100 of fig. 1, including:

a main housing 10; as shown in fig. 2 to 4, the main housing 10 is substantially in the form of a flat cylinder, of course, the interior of which is hollow for storing and atomizing the liquid medium; main housing 10 has a proximal end 110 and a distal end 120 opposite along its length; wherein, according to the requirement of common use, the proximal end 110 is configured as one end of the user for sucking the aerosol, and a nozzle opening A for the user to suck is arranged on the proximal end 110; and the distal end 120 is used as an end to be combined with the power supply device 200, and the distal end 120 of the main housing 10 is open, on which the detachable end cap 20 is mounted, and the open structure is used to mount each necessary functional component to the inside of the main housing 10.

Further in the embodiment shown in fig. 2, a second electrical contact 21 for making a conduction with the first electrical contact 230 of the power supply device 200 is provided on the end cap 20; and a magnetic element 22 which is stably held by magnetic attraction when the receiving cavity 270 of the power device 200 and the power device 200 are received.

As further shown in fig. 2, the main housing 10 is provided with a reservoir 12 for storing a liquid medium therein; specifically, in the cross-sectional schematic view shown in fig. 2, a flue gas conveying pipe 11 extending along the axial direction is arranged in the main housing 10, and a liquid storage cavity 12 for storing liquid matrix is formed in a space between an outer wall of the flue gas conveying pipe 11 and an inner wall of the main housing 10; the upper end of the smoke transmission pipe 11 is communicated with the smoke suction port a, and is further used for outputting aerosol generated in the atomizer 100 to the smoke suction port a for a user to suck.

Further, in order to uniformly vaporize the liquid medium, a liquid absorbing member 30 extending in the width direction is provided in the main housing 10; the wicking element 30 is made of a porous material and is capable of wicking the liquid matrix in the reservoir 12 by capillary infiltration. In an alternative implementation, the wicking element 30 can include cellucotton, fiberglass strands, capillary tubes, microporous ceramics, or the like. Of course, in use, the wicking element 30 extends at least partially into the reservoir 12 to wick the liquid-absorbing matrix.

And a heating element 40 configured in a tubular shape extending in the width direction of the main housing 10 and disposed at least partially around the liquid absorbing member 30. And in use, at least a portion of the liquid substrate within the liquid absorbent element 30 can be heated to generate an aerosol for inhalation.

In the configuration shown in fig. 2, the main housing 10 defines an aerosolizing chamber 291 therein bounded by the support portion 29 extending from the end cap 20 toward the proximal end 110, and the reservoir 12 at least partially surrounds the aerosolizing chamber 291. In the embodiment shown in fig. 5 and 7 in particular, the support portion 29 has a side wall 29a and a side wall 29b arranged in this order in the width direction, and an atomization chamber 291 is defined between the side wall 29a and the side wall 29 b. In accordance with the preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the liquid absorbing member 30 is primarily contained or positioned within the aerosolizing chamber 291, with the ends of the liquid absorbing member 30 along the length extending from the aerosolizing chamber 291 through the support portion 29 into the reservoir 12 to absorb the liquid substrate by capillary wicking.

Further in the preferred implementation shown in fig. 2 and 4, the heating element 40 is positioned within the nebulization chamber 291 such that aerosol generated by heating can be released into the nebulization chamber 291.

As further shown in fig. 3-6, the end of the support portion 29 adjacent the proximal end 110 is in the form of an open mouth 292; in use the open end 292 of the support portion 29 is covered with a sealing element 50; the sealing element 50 is provided with an insertion hole 51, and the lower end of the flue gas transmission pipe 11 is inserted into the insertion hole 51 and is further in airflow communication with the atomizing chamber 291. In use, aerosol generated by heating of the heating element 40 is released into the atomizing chamber 291, and then is output to the smoking port a by the smoke transmission pipe 11 to be smoked by a user.

At the same time, the sealing member 50 covers the support portion 29 to seal the gap between the support portion 29 and the inner wall of the main housing 10, thereby preventing the liquid medium from seeping or entering the atomization chamber 291. Of course, the outer surfaces of

side walls

29a and 29b of support portion 29 are exposed, i.e., not covered by sealing member 50, to ensure that liquid-absorbing member 30 extends through

side walls

29a and 29b and into chamber 12 to absorb the liquid substrate.

In a further preferred embodiment shown in fig. 6, the sealing element 50 is provided with a rib 52, and of course, the rib 52 is supported by the supporting portion 29 so as to be tightly abutted against the inner wall of the main housing 10, which is beneficial to improving the sealing effect.

In a further preferred embodiment, the above structural design of the atomizer 100 for air intake during suction is shown in fig. 3 to 5, and includes:

a main air storage chamber 232 is arranged in the end cover 20; and the number of the first and second groups,

a first air vent 24 for admitting external air into the primary air reservoir 232 during suction;

a second air hole 27 communicating the main air reservoir 232 with the atomizing chamber 291;

in use, external air enters the main air reservoir 232 through the first air port 24 and then passes from the main air reservoir 232 through the second air port 27 to the atomizer chamber 291, forming a first air flow path shown by the arrow R1 in fig. 4.

Meanwhile, two buffer air chambers 231 arranged at both sides of the main air storage chamber 232 in the width direction are provided in the end cover 20; of course, the buffer air chamber 231 is in air flow communication with the main air reservoir 232; and the number of the first and second groups,

a third air hole 23 for allowing external air to enter the buffer air chamber 231 in suction;

in use, external air may also enter the buffer air chamber 231 through the third air hole 23, then enter the main air reservoir 232 through the buffer air chamber 231, and then enter the atomizing chamber 291 through the second air hole 27 from the main air reservoir 232, thereby forming a second air flow path shown by arrow R2 in fig. 4.

In practice, the external air may partially enter the atomization chamber 291 directly through the main air reservoir 232 as shown by the arrow R1 in fig. 4, or partially enter the atomization chamber 291 sequentially through the buffer air chamber 231 and the main air reservoir 232 as shown by the arrow R2 in fig. 4.

The above preferred multi-path air inlet arrangement helps to reduce the seepage of aerosol condensate from the aerosolizing chamber 291, and the buffer plenum 231 helps to store much more aerosol than is otherwise necessary.

In a specific embodiment, the end cap has a partition wall 233 defining or separating the buffer air chamber 231 and the main air storage chamber 232, and the partition wall 233 has a notch, so that the separated or defined buffer air chamber 231 and the main air storage chamber 232 are communicated with each other in terms of air flow.

With further reference to the preferred embodiment shown in fig. 5-7, the heating element 40 includes a first tubular portion 41 at a first end along the length, a second tubular portion 42 at a second end, and a resistive heating portion 43 between the first and second

tubular portions

41, 42.

In the preparation or assembly, the heating element 40 is prepared by forming a required hollow or notch 431 on a tubular resistive metal substrate by laser cutting or etching, and then forming a resistive heating part 43 with a suitable resistance value on a part in the middle. For example, the resistance heating portion 43 shown in fig. 7 is obtained by cutting the tubular metal substrate with hollows or notches 431 alternately on two radially opposite sides by means of laser cutting.

In alternative implementations, the tubular metal substrate used to make heating element 40 may include at least one of nickel, cobalt, zirconium, titanium, nickel alloys, cobalt alloys, zirconium alloys, titanium alloys, nickel-chromium alloys, nickel-iron alloys, iron-chromium alloys, titanium alloys, iron-manganese-aluminum based alloys, or stainless steel, among others.

In other alternative implementations, the hollow 431 of the resistance heating portion 43 is spiral, or is a plurality of round holes, square holes, polygonal holes, or other shapes.

In the preferred embodiment shown in fig. 5, the heating element 40 is integrally formed with the support portion 29 of the end cap 20 by in-mold injection molding; in particular, the method comprises the steps of,

referring to fig. 7, the first tubular portion 41 and the second tubular portion 42 of the heating element 40 are made to penetrate the side walls 29a/29b of the support portion 29 by in-mold injection molding and are brought into a tightly fitted state as shown in fig. 5. Also, openings at both ends of the heating element 40 form holes 293 in the side walls 29a/29b for the liquid guiding member 30 to pass through and to transmit the liquid medium.

By integrating the heating element 40 with the end cap 20 in the above manner, the heating element 40 is supported and fixed by the support portion 29 with the resistance heating portion 43 located in the atomizing chamber 291. At the same time, the in-molded first and second

tubular portions

41, 42 are highly tight-fitting with the side walls 29a/29b of the support portion 29, without leakage of the liquid matrix therebetween, and without the need for filling a sealing material between the heating element 40 and the side walls 29a/29b during use. In practice, the liquid substrate in the reservoir 12 can only exit the reservoir 12 through the openings at the two ends of the heating element 40 after assembly.

In a variant embodiment other than the above injection molding, the heating element 40 and the support portion 29 may be formed as a close-fitting integral body by performing a similar pre-molding process such as hot pressing, riveting, or the like, and a sealing material may not be filled between them, and the liquid matrix may not be able to seep out from between them.

According to a preferred embodiment, the second air hole 27 is located centrally in the main housing 10 and coincides with at least a portion of the resistive heating portion 43 along the length of the main housing 10, so that the air flow is in operative contact with the resistive heating portion 43 during the suction process.

In the preferred embodiment shown in fig. 5, both ends of the assembled heating element 40 are flush with the surfaces of the side walls 29a/29b of the support portion 29.

As further shown in fig. 4 and 7, the end cap 20 is further provided with a lead hole 26 for a lead (not shown) to pass through; after the specific lead wire passes through the lead hole 26, the upper end is welded with the first tubular portion 41/the second tubular portion 42 of the heating element 40, the lower end is in conductive contact with or welded with the second electrical contact 21, and the like; thereby causing the power supply device 200 to supply power to the heating element 40.

In further implementation, the liquid absorbing element 30 made of soft material, such as fiber rope, fiber cotton and the like, is inserted from the first end to the second end of the heating element 40 to complete the assembly; the tubular heating element 40 provides support and retention for the wicking element 30 after assembly. The configuration of the liquid absorbing member 30 after assembly is shown in fig. 5 and 6, with the first portion 31 received and retained within the heating element 40 compressed into an elongated cylindrical configuration, and the second portion 32, which is outside of the heating element 40 and exposed to the reservoir 12, in a fluffy or diverging expanded configuration to further facilitate the absorption of the liquid matrix. At the same time, the flexible filling of the wicking element 30 allows for a small gap with the heating element 40, and the wicking element 30 is capillary wicking, and substantially no leakage of liquid matrix therebetween.

Fig. 8 shows a schematic view of a heating element 40a of still another preferred embodiment, and both ends of the tubular heating element 40a are configured as truncated-cone-shaped wide-mouth ends 411a/421a with gradually increasing inner diameters, the shape of the wide-mouth being advantageous for the operation of the wicking element 30 passing through the heating element 40a in assembly.

Further in the sealed configuration, the end cap 20 defines with the space within the main housing 10 a reservoir 12; the sealing member 50 at least partially covers the end cap 20 and is at least partially located between the points where the end cap 20 is coupled to the main housing 10 to prevent the liquid medium from seeping out through the gap where the end cap 20 is coupled to the main housing 10.

Referring also to fig. 5, the sealing member 50 has windows 53 on both sides in the width direction for exposing the outer surfaces of the side walls 29a/29 b. Therefore, the sealing element 50 is not in contact with the heating element 40 and the liquid guiding element 30, and the sealing element 50 made of flexible silica gel or rubber is prevented from being thermally cured and failing due to heat transfer to the sealing element 50.

Referring to fig. 7, the end cap 20 is further provided with an annular mounting groove 28 near the distal end 120, and the sealing ring 25 is received and retained in the mounting groove 28 to further enhance the sealing effect.

It should be noted that the description and drawings of the present application illustrate preferred embodiments of the present application, but are not limited to the embodiments described in the present application, and further, those skilled in the art can make modifications or changes according to the above description, and all such modifications and changes should fall within the scope of the claims appended to the present application.

Claims

1. An atomizer for atomizing a liquid substrate to produce an aerosol for inhalation; the method comprises the following steps: a housing having a longitudinal direction and a transverse direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction; it is characterized in that:

a reservoir chamber for storing a liquid substrate;

2. The atomizer of claim 1, wherein said heating element is preformed on said first and second sidewalls.

3. The atomizer of claim 1, wherein said heating element is in contact with a first sidewall and a second sidewall, and wherein there is no sealing material between said heating element and said first sidewall and said second sidewall.

4. The nebulizer of claim 1, further comprising:

5. The atomizer of claim 4, wherein said sealing member is configured to encase said support portion and is provided with a window at least partially exposing said first and second sidewalls.

6. The atomizer of any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein said heating element comprises first and second axially opposed tubular portions, and an electrically resistive heating portion extending between said first and second tubular portions;

7. The atomizer of claim 6, wherein said resistive heating portion comprises first and second radially opposed sides; the resistance heating part is provided with hollows or notches which are alternately arranged on the first side and the second side.

8. A nebulizer as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the reservoir chamber at least partially surrounds the support portion.

9. A nebulizer as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the heating element extends at least partially out of the first side wall; the portion of the heating element located outside the first side wall is configured in a wide mouth shape with an inner diameter gradually increasing outward in the axial direction.

10. A nebulizer as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein there is further provided within the housing:

11. The nebulizer of claim 10, wherein the housing has a proximal end and a distal end opposite in the longitudinal direction; the distal end is configured as an open end and is provided with an end cap; at least a portion of the end cap extends toward the proximal end and forms the support.

12. An electronic cigarette comprises an atomizing device and a power supply device for supplying power to the atomizing device; characterised in that the atomising device comprises an electronic smoke atomiser as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 11.