CN214289213U - Ultrasonic atomizer and electronic cigarette device - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to an ultrasonic atomizer and an electronic cigarette device, comprising an ultrasonic atomizing sheet and a porous body, wherein the ultrasonic atomizing sheet comprises a piezoelectric ceramic plate and a vibrating plate, the piezoelectric ceramic plate is arranged on the vibrating plate, opposite electrodes are arranged on two opposite surfaces of the piezoelectric ceramic plate or/and between the two opposite surfaces to serve as piezoelectric active regions, the porous body is arranged on the surface of the ultrasonic atomizing sheet, alternating current is applied between the arranged electrodes to enable the ultrasonic atomizing sheet to vibrate in the thickness direction, and the vibration can enable liquid in the porous body to be atomized. The atomizer and the electronic cigarette device can obviously improve the atomization efficiency; the temperature rise amplitude is obviously reduced during atomization, the noise is obviously reduced, the damage is not easy to occur, and the mechanical strength is obviously improved; the device can be used for a miniaturized portable device, the size is reduced, the device is light and thin, and the device is convenient to carry; has more purposes.

Description

Ultrasonic atomizer and electronic cigarette device

[ technical field ] A method for producing a semiconductor device

The invention relates to an ultrasonic atomizer and an electronic cigarette device. More particularly, the present invention relates to a multi-purpose ultrasonic atomizer and electronic vaping device with improved performance.

[ background of the invention ]

The present ultrasonic atomizer or ultrasonic atomizing plate typically has a structure in which a vibrating plate is formed by bonding a circular metal plate to one surface of a circular piezoelectric ceramic plate, wherein the peripheral portion of the piezoelectric ceramic plate is supported in the circular wall of the metal plate, wherein the piezoelectric ceramic plate has a through hole at the center thereof, and wherein the metal plate has a atomizing area having a plurality of micro holes formed therethrough up and down at the center thereof, the micro hole area being opposite to the through hole. However, such an ultrasonic atomizer or an ultrasonic atomizing sheet has many disadvantages such as a small effective vibration displacement, difficulty in obtaining strong vibration, low effective energy conversion efficiency, a small area occupation ratio of an atomizing area, and a low atomizing capability, and is difficult to be used particularly for a miniaturized portable device.

Other atomizing devices such as chinese patent CN102219511A disclose in its embodiment (fig. 2, paragraph 0069) a rectangular or bar-shaped "piezoelectric element 10 (test piece)" comprising a "piezoelectric substrate 11" of "7 mm × 4.5 mm" and " vibration electrodes 12, 13" on its surface, and in paragraph 0058, it is pointed out that "the piezoelectric ceramic composition (piezoelectric element) of the present invention, in addition to an oscillator, can be used in a … … atomizer … …".

Chinese patents CN206079025U and CN107752129A also disclose an ultrasonic atomizer, which "comprises an ultrasonic atomizing sheet, the upper surface of the ultrasonic atomizing sheet is provided with a tobacco tar adsorbing layer to form a piezoelectric ceramic component (10), the ultrasonic atomizing sheet and the tobacco tar adsorbing layer form an integrated structure, the tobacco tar adsorbing layer is used for adsorbing and transporting tobacco tar", and the tobacco tar adsorbing layer is provided with a ceramic slurry layer, cotton and non-woven fabric.

The above listed ultrasonic nebulizing devices or ultrasonic nebulizers are also deficient:

the piezoelectric ceramic used by the atomizing sheet basically adopts a driving mode in the length-width direction and the non-thickness direction, and the telescopic vibration in the length-width direction and the non-thickness direction causes the atomizing efficiency of the ultrasonic atomizer in the invention to be very low, and causes the center of the ultrasonic atomizing sheet to vibrate too much, generate heat seriously, generate noise greatly and possibly damage the ultrasonic atomizing sheet.

Therefore, in reality, there is a need for further improvement of the ultrasonic atomizer of the above invention.

[ summary of the invention ]

The invention aims to provide an ultrasonic atomizer, which has improved atomization efficiency.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an ultrasonic atomizer which is reduced in the temperature rise during atomization.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an ultrasonic atomizer which is reduced in noise upon atomization.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an ultrasonic atomizer which is less likely to be damaged during atomization and has improved mechanical strength.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an ultrasonic nebulizer that is suitable for pulmonary inhalation, in particular for electronic cigarettes.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an ultrasonic atomizer which can be used in miniaturized portable devices, is reduced in size, is light and thin, and is portable.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an ultrasonic atomizer, which is more versatile, particularly suitable for medical use, and improves clinical effects.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an ultrasonic nebulizer that is suitable for pulmonary inhalation, in particular for electronic cigarettes.

The present inventors have surprisingly found that, by using an ultrasonic atomizing sheet (particularly, a square shape) comprising a piezoelectric ceramic plate (or a piezoelectric element) (particularly, a square shape, without through holes) and a vibrating plate (e.g., a metal plate) (particularly, a square shape), the piezoelectric ceramic plate (or the piezoelectric element) being fixedly mounted on the vibrating plate, electrodes being provided on front and back surfaces of the piezoelectric ceramic plate (or the piezoelectric element), and an alternating signal applied between the electrodes can be bent and vibrated in a thickness direction, which is advantageous for reducing a size, particularly a size in a width and/or a thickness, and is suitable for a miniaturized portable device, which is advantageous for increasing an effective vibration displacement amount, obtaining a strong effective vibration, increasing an effective energy conversion efficiency, increasing an atomizing area, greatly improving an atomizing ability, an atomizing efficiency, and improving an atomizing effect, and the ultrasonic atomization sheet can generate heat lightly, the temperature rise amplitude is not high, the noise is reduced, and the ultrasonic atomization sheet is not easy to damage.

Based on the above findings, the present invention has been accomplished with a view to achieving some or all of the above objects.

The present invention relates to an ultrasonic atomizer comprising an ultrasonic atomizing sheet and a porous body (preferably, a porous body having conductivity in the thickness direction and length direction or/and width direction or thickness direction and radial direction),

the ultrasonic atomizing sheet includes a piezoelectric ceramic plate (or a piezoelectric element) and a vibrating plate, the piezoelectric ceramic plate (or the piezoelectric element) is provided (mounted or fixed) on (a surface of) the vibrating plate, and an overlapping area is provided between the piezoelectric ceramic plate (or the piezoelectric element) and the vibrating plate as viewed from a thickness direction, an area of the overlapping area is 30% or more (more preferably, 50% or more, more preferably, 70% or more, more preferably, 85% or more, more preferably, 95% or more, and most preferably, 99% or more (the area of the overlapping area is larger, the larger the vibration in the thickness direction is, the smaller the planar contraction-expansion vibration is, the more the atomization performance is improved)),

opposing electrodes are provided on or/and between (e.g., in) opposing surfaces of the piezoelectric ceramic plate (or piezoelectric element) as piezoelectric active regions (more preferably, opposing electrodes are provided as piezoelectric active regions at least on or/and between (e.g., in) opposing surfaces in the overlapping region of the piezoelectric ceramic plate (or piezoelectric element) and the vibration plate), or interdigital electrodes provided with adjacent (next to/adjacent to) on or/and in a subsurface of the piezoelectric ceramic plate (or piezoelectric element) become piezoelectric active regions,

the porous body is provided on the surface of the ultrasonic atomization sheet, and the area of the porous body having the micropores and the area of the piezoelectric active region of the ultrasonic atomization sheet partially or completely overlap with each other (preferably, at least 30% or more (more preferably, 50%, more preferably, 70%, more preferably, 90%, most preferably, 95%) of the area of the porous body having the micropores overlaps with the piezoelectric active region of the ultrasonic atomization sheet, or at least 30% or more (more preferably, 50%, more preferably, 70%, more preferably, 90%, most preferably, 95%) of the area of the piezoelectric active region of the ultrasonic atomization sheet overlaps with the area of the porous body having the micropores) (the more the overlapping area is, the more the atomization performance is improved),

(application of an alternating current (or alternating) electric (signal) between the electrodes arranged as described above can cause the ultrasonic atomization sheet to vibrate in its thickness direction (bending or/and twisting) (thickness direction vibration (contraction-expansion type vibration relative to the conventional mainstream plane) is advantageous for improved atomization), (the porous body can sense the vibration of the ultrasonic atomization sheet), and the vibration can atomize the liquid in (the pores of) the porous body).

Preferably, the piezoelectric ceramic plate is not provided with through holes, and the through holes are not provided, so that the atomization performance is improved compared with the through holes (in the central area), the atomization area is reduced due to the through holes, and the central area has the strongest atomization capability, and the closer to the central area, the stronger atomization capability is.

Preferably, the piezoelectric ceramic plate (or the piezoelectric element) and/or the vibrating plate are substantially (or generally) a square flat body, and preferably, a rectangular flat body (the square flat body (as opposed to a circular flat body) is advantageous in terms of improving atomization performance and/or reducing a space occupation ratio).

Preferably, the thickness of the piezoelectric ceramic plate is lower than that of the vibrating plate, which is beneficial to improving atomization performance.

The width (a) of the interdigital electrode or the distance (b) between adjacent interdigital electrodes (fingers) is generally 10nm to 1mm, preferably 20nm to 500 μm, more preferably 40nm to 200 μm, and most preferably 80nm to 100 μm, respectively. The effective length (w) of the interdigital electrodes (fingers) (or the aperture of the interdigital transducer formed by the adjacent interdigital electrode pairs) is not limited, and is generally 0.5mm to 30mm, preferably 1mm to 20mm, and preferably 3mm to 15 mm. The width (a) of the interdigital electrode and the distance (b) between the adjacent interdigital electrodes (fingers) are preferably substantially equal, and the excited surface acoustic wave wavelength is substantially four times the width (a) of the finger. The period length of an interdigital transducer formed by adjacent interdigital electrode pairs can be represented by p, and p is 2a +2 b. The interdigital electrode is preferably a fence electrode. When the two bus bars are respectively connected or communicated with two ends (positive pole or negative pole) of alternating current, the surface wave is generated on the surface of the piezoelectric ceramic plate (or piezoelectric element) arranged on the two bus bars, and the surface wave can vibrate in the thickness direction (bending or/and twisting), and the vibration can strengthen the vibration plate fixed on the piezoelectric ceramic plate.

Preferably, the interdigital electrodes are disposed on or/and under two opposite surfaces of the piezoelectric ceramic plate (or the piezoelectric element). Preferably, the polarity of the first interdigital electrode on the upper surface is made opposite to the polarity of the first interdigital electrode on the lower surface, and the interdigital electrodes on the upper and lower surfaces are counted from the same end of the piezoelectric ceramic plate. More preferably, the interdigital electrodes are substantially symmetrically disposed on or/and in the lower layer on the opposite surfaces of the piezoelectric ceramic plate (or the piezoelectric element).

Preferably, the mechanical strength of the vibrating plate is higher than that of the piezoelectric ceramic plate, which is beneficial to improving the mechanical strength of the ultrasonic atomization plate and reducing the damage rate during atomization and accidental mechanical impact.

Preferably, the piezoelectric ceramic plate (or piezoelectric element) in the ultrasonic atomization sheet is substantially or generally a square body, at least one pair of opposite sides of which are fixed to the vibration plate, more preferably, at least two relatively short sides of which are fixed to the vibration plate, and most preferably, at least four corners (corners) of which are fixed to the vibration plate, so as to facilitate the maximum range of thickness direction vibration.

The piezoelectric ceramic plate (or piezoelectric element) in the ultrasonic atomization sheet is positioned on one side (with a single-sided structure) of the vibrating plate, or two sides (with a double-sided structure, namely a sandwich structure) of the vibrating plate, so that the ultrasonic atomization sheet is formed; or the piezoelectric ceramic plate (or the piezoelectric element) is sandwiched or wrapped by the vibrating plate.

The ultrasonic atomizing plate is preferably of a sandwich structure which is basically (or mainly) formed by attaching and fixing two piezoelectric ceramic plates (or piezoelectric elements) and a vibrating plate which is fixedly clamped between the two piezoelectric ceramic plates (or piezoelectric elements). The two piezoelectric ceramic plates (or the electrodes on the piezoelectric elements) are connected in series, and the polarities of the electrodes on the opposite surfaces of the two piezoelectric ceramic plates (or the piezoelectric elements) are the same (the two piezoelectric ceramic plates are polarized in opposite directions), or the two piezoelectric ceramic plates (or the electrodes on the piezoelectric elements) are connected in parallel, and the polarities of the electrodes on the opposite surfaces of the two piezoelectric ceramic plates (or the piezoelectric elements) are opposite (the two piezoelectric ceramic plates are polarized in the same direction), so that bending vibration is realized. Preferably, the edge of the vibrating plate extends out of the periphery of the two piezoelectric ceramic plates (or the piezoelectric elements); preferably, the ultrasonic atomization plate is provided with a bonding pad outside the peripheries of the two piezoelectric ceramic plates (or piezoelectric elements), and more preferably, the bonding pad is connected to the vibration plate.

Detailed Description

Piezoelectric ceramic plate (or piezoelectric element)

The piezoelectric ceramic plate (or piezoelectric element) in the ultrasonic atomization plate according to the present invention may be a single piezoelectric ceramic plate, or may be a laminated body formed substantially (or mainly) by two or three or more piezoelectric ceramic plates/layers, wherein opposing electrodes are disposed on opposing surfaces or/and between opposing surfaces (e.g., in the surface layer), and an alternating current (or alternating current) electric (signal) is applied between the electrodes to vibrate the ultrasonic atomization plate in its thickness direction (bending or/and twisting).

The piezoelectric ceramic plate (or piezoelectric element) in the ultrasonic atomization sheet according to the present invention is preferably a laminated body formed substantially (or mainly) of two piezoelectric ceramic plates/layers, an inner electrode is provided between the two piezoelectric ceramic plates/layers, two outer side surfaces are provided with two outer side electrodes and communicate with each other, the inner electrode is insulated from the two outer side electrodes, and application of an alternating current (or alternating current) electric (signal) between the inner electrode and the outer side electrodes causes the ultrasonic atomization sheet to vibrate in its thickness direction (bending or/and twisting). Preferably, the inner electrode is led out to the outer side surface and arranged in parallel with the outer electrode (with a predetermined space therebetween).

Another preferable example of the piezoelectric ceramic plate (or piezoelectric element) in the ultrasonic atomization sheet according to the present invention includes a laminated body formed by laminating two or three piezoelectric ceramic layers; main surface electrodes each formed on an upper surface and a lower surface of the laminate; and internal electrodes formed between the adjacent two piezoelectric ceramic layers, wherein all the ceramic layers are polarized in the same direction with respect to the thickness direction; and by applying an alternating current (signal) across the main surface electrodes and the internal electrodes, the laminated body generates (bending or/and twisting) vibration in its thickness direction in its entirety. Preferably, the above piezoelectric ceramic plate (or piezoelectric element) includes three laminated piezoelectric ceramic layers, and the thickness of the intermediate ceramic layer is between 50 percent and 80 percent of the entire thickness of the laminated body. In the three laminated stacks, since there is no potential difference between the two internal electrodes, the intermediate layer does not contribute to the bending vibration, but its thick thickness increases the mechanical strength of the piezoelectric ceramic plate (or piezoelectric element), and the two thin outer layers increase the amount of displacement and increase the amount of atomization (the thinner the piezoelectric ceramic plate (or piezoelectric element), the greater the amount of displacement, the stronger the atomization ability).

Still another preferable example of the above-mentioned laminated type piezoelectric ceramic plate (or piezoelectric element) includes a laminated body in which at least two piezoelectric ceramic layers are laminated, main surface electrodes provided on front and back surfaces of the laminated body, and internal electrodes located between each of the ceramic layers, where all the ceramic layers are polarized in the same direction in a thickness direction, the laminated body vibrating entirely in a bending mode in response to an alternating current (/ or alternating) electric (signal) applied between the main surface electrodes and the internal electrodes.

Still another preferable example of the piezoelectric ceramic plate (or piezoelectric element) in the ultrasonic atomization sheet according to the present invention includes a plurality of piezoelectric ceramic layers laminated to define a laminate; main surface electrodes provided on front and rear main surfaces of the laminate; internal electrodes disposed between the respective ceramic layers, and all the ceramic layers are polarized in the same direction in the thickness direction thereof; the piezoelectric ceramic plate (or piezoelectric element) generates bending vibration in response to an (alternating signal) alternating current (/ or alternating) electricity (signal) applied between the main surface electrode and the internal electrode; and a resin layer provided so as to cover substantially all of the front and rear surfaces of the laminate (to protect the electrodes thereon and to improve crushing strength and fogging resistance).

Still another specific example of the laminated piezoelectric ceramic plate (or piezoelectric element) includes:

at least three sheet-like piezoelectric ceramic sintered bodies having an upper surface, a lower surface, and opposing 1 st and 2 nd end surfaces;

an upper surface electrode formed on an upper surface of the ceramic sintered body located at the uppermost portion;

a lower surface electrode formed on a lower surface of the ceramic sintered body located at the lowermost portion;

a1 st external electrode formed on a1 st end face of the ceramic sintered body;

a2 nd external electrode formed on a2 nd end face of the ceramic sintered body;

at least one 1 st internal electrode formed between the adjacent ceramic sintered bodies and led out to the 1 st external electrode;

and at least one 2 nd internal electrode formed between the adjacent ceramic sintered bodies and led out to the 2 nd external electrode;

the above-mentioned ceramic sintered body is laminated with the 1 st internal electrode and the 2 nd internal electrode;

the 1 st internal electrode is insulated from the 2 nd external electrode, and the 2 nd internal electrode is insulated from the 1 st external electrode;

the upper surface electrode and the uppermost 1 st internal electrode, the 1 st internal electrode and the 2 nd internal electrode, and the lower surface electrode and the lowermost 2 nd internal electrode are opposed to each other with the ceramic sintered body interposed therebetween, and a part of a ceramic layer is interposed between the upper surface electrode and the uppermost 1 st internal electrode, between the 1 st internal electrode and the 2 nd internal electrode, and between the lower surface electrode and the lowermost 2 nd internal electrode as an active layer, and has at least three active layers;

when the total number of the ceramic sintered bodies is an odd number, the 1 st external electrode lead-out is communicated with the lower surface electrode, the 2 nd external electrode lead-out is communicated with the upper surface electrode, and the upper surface electrode and the lower surface electrode are insulated (preferably, the surface electrodes are led out to the same surface and arranged in parallel with the surface electrode formed thereon, but are insulated with the surface electrode (a preset interval is reserved between the surface electrodes));

when the total number of the above-mentioned ceramic sintered bodies is an even number, the 1 st external electrode is insulated from the upper surface electrode and the lower surface electrode (but preferably the 1 st external electrode is led out to the upper surface and/or the lower surface, juxtaposed with the surface electrode formed thereon, but insulated from the surface electrode (with a predetermined interval therebetween)), and the 2 nd external electrode is led out to communicate with the upper surface electrode and the lower surface electrode;

the atomizing sheet can be caused to flexurally vibrate in the thickness direction by applying (alternating signal) alternating current (/ or alternating) electricity (signal) to the 1 st and 2 nd external electrodes.

Another specific example of the above laminated piezoelectric ceramic plate (or piezoelectric element) comprises

A ceramic sintered body made of piezoelectric ceramic and having an upper surface, a lower surface, and opposing 1 st and 2 nd end surfaces;

an upper surface electrode formed on an upper surface of the ceramic sintered body;

a lower surface electrode formed on a lower surface of the ceramic sintered body;

a1 st external electrode formed on a1 st end face of the ceramic sintered body;

a2 nd external electrode formed on a2 nd end face of the ceramic sintered body;

at least one 1 st internal electrode formed in the ceramic sintered body and led out to the 1 st end face;

at least one 2 nd internal electrode formed in the ceramic sintered body and led out to the 2 nd end face;

and at least three ceramic layers formed in the ceramic sintered body and laminated together with the 1 st internal electrode and the 2 nd internal electrode;

the 1 st internal electrode is insulated from the 2 nd external electrode, and the 2 nd internal electrode is insulated from the 1 st external electrode;

the top surface electrode and the uppermost 1 st internal electrode, the 1 st internal electrode and the 2 nd internal electrode, and the bottom surface electrode and the lowermost 2 nd internal electrode are opposed to each other with the ceramic layers interposed therebetween in a ceramic sintered body, and a part of the ceramic layers are sandwiched between the top surface electrode and the uppermost 1 st internal electrode, between the 1 st internal electrode and the 2 nd internal electrode, and between the bottom surface electrode and the lowermost 2 nd internal electrode as active layers, and have at least three active layers;

when the number of the ceramic layers is odd, the 1 st external electrode lead-out is communicated with the lower surface electrode, the 2 nd external electrode lead-out is communicated with the upper surface electrode, and the upper surface electrode and the lower surface electrode are insulated (preferably, the surface electrodes are led out to the same surface and arranged in parallel with the surface electrode formed thereon, but are insulated from the surface electrode (a preset interval is reserved between the surface electrodes));

when the number of the ceramic layers is even, the 1 st external electrode is insulated from the upper surface electrode and the lower surface electrode (but preferably, the 1 st external electrode is led out to the upper surface and/or the lower surface, is arranged in parallel with the surface electrode formed thereon, but is insulated from the surface electrode (with a preset interval therebetween)), and the 2 nd external electrode is led out to be communicated with the upper surface electrode and the lower surface electrode;

the atomizing sheet can be caused to flexurally vibrate in the thickness direction by applying (alternating signal) alternating current (/ or alternating) electricity (signal) to the 1 st and 2 nd external electrodes.

Preferably, in the ceramic sintered body, the ceramic layer between the uppermost internal electrode of the 1 st internal electrode and the 2 nd internal electrode and the upper surface of the ceramic sintered body is set to be a1 st inactive layer (i.e., no upper surface electrode is provided, or the upper surface electrode and the uppermost internal electrode are not opposed to each other with the ceramic layer interposed therebetween in the ceramic sintered body), the ceramic layer between the lowermost internal electrode of the 1 st internal electrode and the 2 nd internal electrode and the lower surface of the ceramic sintered body is set to be a2 nd inactive layer (i.e., no lower surface electrode is provided, or the lower surface electrode and the lowermost internal electrode are opposed to each other with the ceramic layer interposed therebetween in the ceramic sintered body, wherein no ceramic layer is sandwiched between the lower surface electrode and the internal electrode positioned at the lowermost portion as an active layer), the thickness of the ceramic layer provided as the inactive layer is thinner than the thickness of the ceramic layer provided as the active layer,

and the length of the 1 st internal electrode or the 2 nd internal electrode is set to be the distance from the 1 st end face or the 2 nd end face from which the 1 st internal electrode or the 2 nd internal electrode is extracted to the tip of the 1 st internal electrode or the 2 nd internal electrode, at least one of the lengths of the internal electrode positioned at the uppermost portion and the internal electrode positioned at the lowermost portion is shorter than the lengths of the other internal electrodes,

the 1 st and 2 nd external electrodes are formed so as not to overlap internal electrodes connected to different potentials among the uppermost and lowermost internal electrodes with an inactive layer interposed therebetween when viewed in a plan view in a stacking direction of the ceramic sintered bodies.

Thus, it is possible to provide a multilayer piezoelectric actuator and a piezoelectric vibration device including the same, in which even if the outermost ceramic layer is an inactive layer, the amount of displacement is increased by reducing the thickness of the inactive layer, and thus, breakage in the ceramic sintered body is less likely to occur.

The shape of the electrode on the piezoelectric ceramic plate (or piezoelectric element) in the ultrasonic atomization sheet according to the present invention may be substantially rectangular, or circular, or any other shape without limitation.

The (natural) vibration frequency of the piezoelectrically active region of the above piezoelectric ceramic plate (or piezoelectric element) or/and the above alternating (/ or alternating) electric (signal) frequency range is usually 10kHz-500MHz, preferably 20kHz-100MHz, more preferably 80 k-200 kHz or 160 k-260 kHz or 1 MHz-3 MHz, or 3.5 MHz-50 MHz. Preferably, the vibration frequency of the piezoelectric ceramic plate (or the piezoelectric element) is substantially the same as the frequency of the alternating current (/ or alternating) electricity (signal).

The piezoelectric ceramic plate (or piezoelectric element) has a substantially flat square (e.g., square, rectangular, or elongated) shape. Preferably, the center or middle portion of the piezoelectric ceramic plate (or the piezoelectric element) is solid, preferably, the center or middle portion is solid made of any elastic solid material for buffering the central mechanical energy and reducing the central damage, and particularly, the elastic solid material is solid and can rebound the potential energy accumulated in the center or middle portion to reduce the energy loss and improve the energy utilization rate, the elastic solid material can be a solid polymer material (polymer) which is elastic at a high temperature higher than the glass transition temperature, examples of the elastic solid material include, but are not limited to, rubber, vulcanized rubber, silicone (rubber), foamed (or porous) plastic, polyurethane elastomer (TPU) material, PE (polyethylene), PP (polypropylene), PS (polystyrene), PVC, PU (polyurethane, foamed polyurethane), EVA (ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer rubber product), and the like, CR (chloroprene rubber), PEF (polyethylene chemically crosslinked high foaming material), EPS (expanded polystyrene), EPE (expanded polyethylene), EPP (expanded polypropylene), phenol foam, EPDM (ethylene propylene diene elastomer, commonly known as cellular rubber), and the like.

The above-mentioned piezoelectric ceramic plate (or piezoelectric element) material, i.e., piezoelectric ceramic, is not particularly limited in its composition or otherwise. Any and every piezoelectric ceramic may be used herein. As long as ceramics exhibiting piezoelectricity can be used in the present invention, specifically, examples of ceramics that can be used include a Bi layered compound, a tungsten bronze structure material, a perovskite structure compound of Nb acid-base compounds, lead magnesium niobate (PMN system), lead nickel niobate (PNN system), lead zirconate titanate containing Pb (PZT system), a material containing lead titanate, barium, or the like (see CN 1502469A).

Among these, a perovskite-type compound containing at least Pb is preferable for higher piezoelectric performance. Examples of the perovskite-type compound containing Pb include lead magnesium niobate (PMN-based), lead nickel niobate (PNN-based), lead zirconate titanate containing Pb (PZT-based), lead titanate-containing materials, and the like. By adopting such a composition, a piezoelectric ceramic sheet having piezoelectric vibration with a high piezoelectric constant can be obtained. Among these, lead zirconate titanate or lead titanate containing Pb is more suitable because of having a larger displacement.

For environmental protection and improvement of safety, a perovskite-type compound of niobic acid, zirconic acid or titanic acid is more preferable.

As one preferable example of the perovskite-type crystal, PbZrTiO3 containing Pb as an a-site constituent element and Zr and Ti as a B-site constituent element can be used. Further, other oxides may be mixed, or the a-site and/or the B-site may be replaced with other elements as a subcomponent insofar as the characteristics are not adversely affected. For example, Zn, Sb, Ni and Tc may be added as subcomponents to form a solid solution of Pb (Zn1/3Sb2/3) O3 and Pb (Ni1/2Te1/2) O3.

According to the present invention, the perovskite-type crystal preferably further contains an alkaline earth element as an a-site constituent element. Examples of the alkaline earth element include Ba, Sr, Ca, and the like, and particularly, Ba and Sr are more preferable because a high displacement can be obtained. Thus, as a result of increasing the dielectric constant, a higher piezoelectric constant can be obtained.

Specifically, Pb may be mentioned_1-x-ySr_xBa_y(Zn_1/3Sb_2/3)_a(Ni_1/2Te_1/2)_bZr_1-a-b-cTi_cO₃+ α mass% of Pb_1/2NbO₃(x is 0. ltoreq. x.ltoreq.0.14, y is 0. ltoreq. y.ltoreq.0.14, a is 0.05. ltoreq. a.ltoreq.0.1, b is 0.002. ltoreq.0.01, c is 0.44. ltoreq. c.ltoreq.0.50, and α is 0.1 to 1.0).

Other specific examples are: single component systems such as BaTiO3, PbTiO3, KxWO3, PbNb2O6 and the like; two-component systems such as PbTiO3-PbZrO3, PbTiO3-Pb (Mg1/3Nb2/3) O3 and the like; and three-component systems such as PbTiO3-PbZrO3-Pb (Mg1/3Nb2/3) O3, PbTiO3-PbZrO3-Pb (Co1/3Nb2/3) O3, K1-X-zNaxLizNO3 (e.g., { LiX (K1-YNaY)1-X } (Nb1-Z-WTaZSBW) O3, etc.). Specific examples of complex oxides and compounds useful in the present invention are found in CN 1206700A. Derivatives of the substances shown in Table 1 obtained by partially replacing Pb with any of Ba, Sr, Ca, etc., or partially replacing Ti with Sn, Hf, etc., may also be used.

The piezoelectric ceramic plate material can also be mixed with a polymer material to form a sheet with piezoelectricity. Examples of the polymer material include fluoroplastics (e.g., polyvinylidene fluoride and polytetrafluoroethylene), polylactic acid, and silica gel.

The piezoelectric ceramic preferably contains 0.1 mass% or less, and particularly preferably contains 0.07 mass% or less of carbon. Since carbon causes poor insulation in polarization due to the insulation of the piezoelectric body, the carbon can be suppressed within the above range to suppress the flow of current in polarization, thereby enabling polarization to a saturated polarization state. Therefore, a displacement failure due to a polarization failure can be prevented.

The porosity of the piezoelectric ceramic is preferably 5% or less, more preferably 1% or less, and particularly preferably 0.5% or less. By reducing the porosity, the strength of the piezoelectric ceramic can be improved, and breakage can be suppressed even when the thickness is small.

In the case where the piezoelectric ceramic of the present invention is used as an atomizer, the piezoelectric strain constant can be, for example, d31 mode. In order to fully exert the atomization capacity, d31 should be 50pm/V or more, preferably 100pm/V or more, more preferably 150pm/V or more, particularly preferably 200pm/V or more, and particularly preferably 250pm/V or more.

The electrode of the piezoelectric ceramic sheet may be an internal electrode or a surface electrode, and the material thereof may be conductive, and for example, a good conductor such as Au, Ag, Pd, Pt, Cu, Sn, Al, Ni, or an alloy thereof may be used, and preferably at least Ag is contained. Among them, Ag is preferable in terms of improving sinterability, and is excellent in conductivity and low in cost, while Pd is preferable in terms of conductivity and heat resistance. In addition, the use of the internal electrode, preferably Ag or Ni, promotes the lowering of the firing temperature (for example, in the case where the piezoelectric ceramic contains a volatile oxide such as Pb, K, Na, or Li).

The electrodes of the piezoelectric ceramic sheet are required to have a thickness such that they have conductivity and do not interfere with displacement, and the thickness is preferably 0.1 to 500 μm, more preferably 0.5 to 50 μm, and most preferably 1 to 5 μm. Particularly, the thickness of the internal electrode is preferably about 1 to 3 μm, and the thickness of the surface electrode is preferably 0.2 to 0.5 μm.

Vibrating plate

The vibrating plate in the ultrasonic atomization sheet can convert the fixed piezoelectric ceramic plate (or piezoelectric element) from the original straight telescopic vibration (such as expansion-contraction vibration in the length direction and expansion-contraction vibration in the area direction) into the thickness (bending or/and torsion) vibration, so that the effective vibration displacement can be increased, the strong effective vibration can be obtained, the effective energy conversion efficiency can be increased, the area of an atomization area can be increased, the atomization capacity and the atomization efficiency can be greatly improved, the atomization effect can be improved, the ultrasonic atomization sheet can generate heat lightly, and the ultrasonic atomization sheet is not easy to damage.

At least one end or one side of the vibrating plate of the ultrasonic atomizer described above is fixed, preferably, substantially or generally square, and at least two relatively short sides thereof are fixed, and more preferably, at least four corners (corners) thereof are fixed.

When two adjacent piezoelectric ceramic plates (or piezoelectric elements) with opposite expansion and contraction vibration in the straight direction are fixed together, one of the piezoelectric ceramic plates (or piezoelectric elements) can be mutually regarded as a vibration plate of the other piezoelectric ceramic plate (or piezoelectric element), so that the effect is stronger.

Examples of the vibrating plate in the present invention include, but are not limited to, a metal plate (of a square body), a ceramic plate (including a piezoelectric ceramic plate), a glass plate, a resin or plastic plate, and a composite plate thereof, and a wood plate, a bamboo plate may also be used in the present invention.

Examples of the metal and ceramic raw materials listed below as the "porous body" can be used for the metal plate and the ceramic plate (including the glass plate), and are not described herein.

The raw material of the resin or plastic plate may be one of non-metallic materials such as epoxy resin, acryl resin, Polyimide, polyamideimide, etc. having an elastic modulus of 500MPa to 1500MPa in a cured state, such as acrylic resin such as polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), Polyimide, Polyethylene (PE), Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polypropylene (PP), poly (cyclohexane dimethanol terephthalate) (PCT), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE), and polyether ether ketone (PEEK), or any high-order engineering plastic.

The vibrating plate and the piezoelectric ceramic plate (or the piezoelectric element) may be a square (e.g., square, rectangle, or strip), a rhombus, a triangle, a trapezoid, a polygon, a circle, an ellipse, or another flat body, preferably a substantially rectangular body (round bodies or other shapes may also be used in the present invention), and may have substantially the same or different lengths and/or widths and/or thicknesses. The size of the vibrating plate is larger than, equal to, or smaller than the size of the piezoelectric ceramic plate (or piezoelectric element), and preferably larger than the size of the piezoelectric ceramic plate (or piezoelectric element).

The vibrating plate has certain rigidity and elasticity. The Young's modulus, thermal expansion coefficient and other favorable parameters of the vibration plate are substantially the same as or within + -50% (preferably + -30%) of the Young's modulus of the piezoelectric plate.

In order to increase the effective vibration displacement amount and obtain strong effective vibration, the weight and thickness of the vibrating plate are reduced as much as possible (30% or more) without greatly (30% or less) lowering the advantageous parameters such as the coefficient of thermal expansion of rigidity. The lighter the vibrating plate is, the higher the atomization ability per unit energy is. It is necessary that the piezoelectric ceramic plate (or piezoelectric element) has a thickness of about 5 to 2000 μm (preferably 10 to 1000 μm, more preferably 10 to 500 μm, still more preferably 10 to 200 μm, most preferably 20 to 100 μm), and the vibrating plate (e.g., 42# alloy) has a thickness of about 10 to 2000 μm (preferably 20 to 1000 μm, still more preferably 20 to 500 μm, still more preferably 20 to 200 μm, most preferably 50 to 100 μm). Too thin, the rigidity of the vibration plate becomes low, which makes it difficult to reliably support the piezoelectric element, or makes it difficult to sufficiently convert the shape distortion of the piezoelectric element into amplitude motion. If the thickness is too large, the rigidity of the vibration plate will be significantly increased, which will result in that deformation due to distortion of the shape of the piezoelectric element is difficult to transmit to the vibration plate, the vibration amplitude of the vibration plate is not obtained, and the atomization ability is reduced.

The frequency of the natural vibration mode of the piezoelectric ceramic plate (or the piezoelectric element) and the frequency of the natural vibration mode of the vibration plate are set to be different from each other, but preferably, substantially the same.

The mechanical quality factor Qm of the ultrasonic atomization sheet formed by integrally combining the piezoelectric ceramic plate (or piezoelectric element) and the vibration plate satisfies: qm is less than or equal to 5.0.

Preferably, the vibration plate is a metal plate having a length greater than that of the piezoelectric ceramic plate (or the piezoelectric element) and electrically connected to the back surface electrode of the piezoelectric plate. The vibrating plate is a metal plate having a thickness of 10 to 300 μm.

Preferably, the piezoelectric ceramic plate (or the piezoelectric element) is fixed to the first surface of the vibrating plate at a position deviated from the longitudinal direction of the vibrating plate, and the vibrating plate has an exposed portion at the second surface of the vibrating plate (not more than 50%, preferably 30%, which is slightly more than the original length of the vibrating plate to reduce a part of noise, but is excessively more than the original length, mainly extends and contracts in the straight direction, is greatly reduced or disappears in the thickness direction (bending or/and twisting), and the function of the vibration is greatly reduced or disappears).

Preferably, a relationship between an area Ap of the piezoelectric ceramic plate (or the piezoelectric element) and an area Am of the vibration plate satisfies: Am/Ap is more than or equal to 1.1 and less than or equal to 10.

Preferably, the outer shape of the vibrating plate is larger than the piezoelectric ceramic plate (or the piezoelectric element), and the piezoelectric ceramic plate (or the piezoelectric element) is bonded to a substantially central portion of the surface thereof. Preferably, the vibrating plate is a resin film. Preferably, the area of the piezoelectric ceramic plate (or the piezoelectric element) is 40 to 70% of the area of the vibration plate (preferably, a resin film), and the vibration plate (preferably, the resin film) is thinner than the piezoelectric ceramic plate (or the piezoelectric element). Preferably, the vibrating plate (preferably, the resin sheet) is formed of a material having an elastic modulus of 500MPa to 1500 MPa.

Preferably, the vibrating plate is made of a metal (outer) clad material in which different materials are bonded to each other in a layered form and a sandwich structure is formed in a cross section thereof, so that the weight of the vibrating plate is not reduced by lowering the rigidity of the vibrating plate and the thermal expansion coefficient of the surface of the vibrating plate of the piezoelectric atomization sheet, and the vibrating plate is supported and fixed by the frame portion so as to form a damper portion having a linear amplitude, thereby obtaining a piezoelectric atomizer having improved atomization characteristics (amount).

A specific example of the above-mentioned vibrating plate comprises 2 surface layers constituting both surfaces of a clad material using a1 st raw material, and an elastic material layer having a higher elasticity than the clad material, which is formed by bonding both surfaces thereof to the surface layers, respectively, between the 2 surface layers using a2 nd raw material different from the 1 st raw material. The above-mentioned 1 st raw material has a thermal expansion coefficient which is close in value to that of the piezoelectric element (the above-mentioned piezoelectric ceramic plate) mounted and fixed thereto (in the range of ± 50% (preferably ± 30%, most preferably ± 10%), and the density of the above-mentioned 2 nd raw material is smaller than that of the above-mentioned 1 st raw material. The thickness of the surface layer is thinner than that of the elastic material layer (core layer). The 1 st and 2 nd materials are each composed of a metal and a polymer resin sheet. The 1 st material is a metal sheet made of 42# alloy stainless steel, and the 2 nd material is one of a metal and a polymer resin sheet selected from the group consisting of 42# alloy stainless steel and the like. The 2 nd material is a metal thin plate of a material made of aluminum as a basic component (material). As the polymer resin sheet, for example, a rubber-based polymer resin sheet made of rubber such as Styrene Butadiene Rubber (SBR), Butadiene Rubber (BR), acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (NBR), ethylene propylene rubber (EPM), ethylene propylene diene rubber (EPDM), or a compound thereof can be used. As a raw material of the woven fabric or the nonwoven fabric, for example, a polyurethane fiber can be used. As an example, when the diaphragm material is made of a material of alloy 42# or stainless steel 304 having a thickness of 10 μm as a surface material and a material of a flexible light metal such as aluminum, magnesium or titanium having a thickness of 30 μm as an elastic (magnetic core) material, and the total thickness is 50 μm, the flexural rigidity of the entire material made of alloy 42# or stainless steel 304 having a thickness of 50 μm can be approximated. The thickness of the elastic (magnetic core) material is 30-60 μm. In another example, the elastic (core) material may be made of aluminum, and the elastic (core) material may be made of a manganese-copper alloy having a good internal loss or a lightweight metallic film of magnesium, titanium, or the like. For example, as the elastic (core) material, a plastic material such as polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene, polypropylene, polyurethane, polyamide, or polyimide, or a rubber polymer resin such as styrene-butadiene rubber, butyl rubber, ethylene-propylene rubber, or a compound thereof, or a polymer resin film such as synthetic rubber, may be used.

Generally, when the frequency of the operating alternating current is lower or higher than the frequency of the natural vibration mode, the atomizing ability of the piezoelectric element is greatly reduced, and the more the deviation is, the more the reduction is, but in the following preferred embodiment, the frequency of the operating alternating current is lower or higher than the frequency of the natural vibration mode of the piezoelectric ceramic plate (or piezoelectric element) mounted (fixed) on the above-mentioned membrane body, particularly, at an ultra high frequency exceeding 100KHz, the atomizing ability can be maintained high, and the generation of large peaks and valleys (lower atomizing ability) can be reduced.

Therefore, it is preferable that the diaphragm is a film-shaped body, the piezoelectric ceramic plate (or the piezoelectric element) is attached (fixed), and the film-shaped body is fixed to a frame member provided on an outer peripheral portion of the film-shaped body in a state where tension is applied.

Alternatively, the diaphragm is a film-like body that is provided around the piezoelectric ceramic plate (or piezoelectric element) and elastically holds the piezoelectric ceramic plate (or piezoelectric element); the vibrating plate is larger in size than the piezoelectric ceramic plate (or the piezoelectric element), and the piezoelectric ceramic plate (or the piezoelectric element) is attached (fixed) to a substantially central portion thereof.

Preferably, the film-like body has a dense-sparse portion having a physically sparse portion capable of forming a peak and/or a trough in the outer circumferential direction, and the film-like body is disposed so as to correspond to a natural frequency of a same-phase mode in which the abdomen portion and the node portion are formed in a concentric ring shape.

Preferably, the film-like body has a bellows structure which is provided around the piezoelectric ceramic plate (or the piezoelectric element) to hold the piezoelectric ceramic plate (or the piezoelectric element) and has ridges and/or valleys in an outer circumferential direction to elastically hold the piezoelectric ceramic plate (or the piezoelectric element).

Preferably, the bellows structure of the membrane body is configured as follows: the abdomen of the bellows coincides with the apex of the abdomen of the vibration mode of the same phase mode of the natural frequency.

Preferably, there are no bellows, i.e., crests and troughs, at the positions of the nodes of the above-described vibration modes.

Preferably, in the bellows structure of the membrane body, the bellows and the abdomen in the vibration mode correspond to each other in a one-to-one manner, and an apex of the abdomen in the bellows and an apex of the abdomen in the vibration mode coincide with each other.

Preferably, the edge of the membrane body is held by an elastic body.

Preferably, the elastomer is polyurethane foam or thermoplastic elastomer.

The plate-like body is a metal plate.

Preferably, the film-like body is a resin film.

Preferably, the natural frequency is a resonance point between 20kHz and 400kHz

Preferably, the metal plate and the piezoelectric body have a substantially rectangular plate shape, and a length-width ratio of the metal plate to the piezoelectric body is substantially 10: 4.

Porous body

The porous body related to the invention can obviously improve the atomization capability and the atomization efficiency, improve the atomization effect, and can ensure that the particle size distribution range of fog drops (atomized particles) is narrower, wherein, the larger particles are fewer, and the fog drops (atomized particles) have balanced auxiliary atomization performance, liquid guiding and absorbing performance, liquid storing capacity and mechanical performance, and preferably also have the conductivity in the thickness direction and the length direction or/and the width direction or the thickness direction and the radial direction so as to improve the atomization performance and overcome the difference of the atomization performance caused by different body positions of an atomizer (compared with a through hole which has no conductivity in the length direction or/and the width direction or the thickness direction and the radial direction and only has the conductivity in the thickness direction).

The average pore diameter of the porous body of the present invention is usually less than 100 or 50 μm, but for the purpose of balancing the auxiliary atomization performance, the liquid guiding and absorbing performance, the liquid storing capability and the mechanical performance, the average pore diameter is 0.05 to 30 μm, preferably 0.1 to 20 μm, more preferably 0.5 to 10 μm, still more preferably 0.5 to 5 μm, and most preferably 1 to 3 μm. The aperture is too large, the atomization effect is not good, and particularly, when the aperture is too small, the aerosol is easy to be blocked by insoluble substances when being used for pulmonary administration such as electronic cigarettes. The porous body should comprise a solid porous support material having a porosity of at least 10% (by volume, the same applies hereinafter), preferably, the solid porous support material has a porosity of about 20% to about 80%, more preferably, about 30% to about 60%, and most preferably, about 35% to about 50%. Too high porosity, reduced functional performance of the porous body, susceptibility to damage, and too low, greatly reduced atomization efficiency and liquid storage capacity.

The porous body of the present invention is generally located on or outside the surface of the ultrasonic atomization sheet in the above vibration range of the ultrasonic atomization sheet, and the vertical distance between the two is generally 0 to 500 times the thickness of the ultrasonic atomization sheet, preferably 0 to 200 times the thickness of the ultrasonic atomization sheet, more preferably 0 to 100 times the thickness of the ultrasonic atomization sheet, more preferably 0 to 50 times the thickness of the ultrasonic atomization sheet, more preferably 0 to 20 times the thickness of the ultrasonic atomization sheet, more preferably 0 to 10 times the thickness of the ultrasonic atomization sheet, more preferably 0 to 5 times the thickness of the ultrasonic atomization sheet, and most preferably 0 to 2 times the thickness of the ultrasonic atomization sheet.

The porous body may be in any shape, including but not limited to a substantially flat shape, including a substantially square shape (e.g., square, rectangle, strip), diamond, triangle, trapezoid, polygon, circle, ellipse, or other flat shape, and the substantially flat shape may be in a form that has a maximum cross-sectional area that is not greater than the maximum cross-sectional area of the ultrasonic atomization sheet and that does not generally extend beyond the ultrasonic atomization sheet, but in some embodiments, may be greater than the maximum cross-sectional area of the ultrasonic atomization sheet and that extends beyond the ultrasonic atomization sheet.

The thickness of the porous body is usually 0.01 to 5mm, preferably 0.05 to 2mm, more preferably 0.05 to 1mm, and most preferably 0.1 to 0.5 mm.

The surface of the porous body and the ultrasonic atomization sheet form an integrated or split structure, the whole surface of the porous body can be attached to the surface of the ultrasonic atomization sheet, part of the surface can also be attached to the surface peripheral region of the ultrasonic atomization sheet, the central or middle region is not attached, preferably, part of the surface peripheral region of the ultrasonic atomization sheet is not attached, the central or middle region is not attached, and other surface peripheral regions are attached, and the non-integrated or integrated structure is favorable for easy replacement of the porous body after being blocked.

Part of the surface of the porous body may be attached to the surface of the container wall, so that the porous body, the container wall and the ultrasonic atomization sheet together form one or more containers having a volume. Also, the structure in which such a porous body is not integrated or integrated with the above-described ultrasonic atomizing sheet is advantageous in that the porous body can be easily replaced after clogging.

One specific example of the porous body is a microporous ultrasonic atomization sheet with multiple pores, which generally includes, but is not limited to, a metal sheet with micropores in the middle region, and an annular piezoelectric ceramic sheet with a through hole in the center, which is attached and fixed on the metal sheet, wherein the opposite sides of the annular piezoelectric ceramic sheet have two opposite electrodes, and the middle region with micropores of the metal sheet is opposite to the through hole of the annular piezoelectric ceramic sheet, so as to form an atomization functional region.

The porous body may contain one or more support materials, or support materials in which different regions have different average pore sizes, which are insoluble in the liquid to be atomized by the ultrasonic atomizer (/ ultrasonic atomization sheet) described above.

In a preferred embodiment, the porous support material is based on, but not limited to, one or more insoluble inorganic materials such as ceramics, geopolymer materials (inorganic polymer materials), metals, glasses, insoluble silicates, zeolites, and carbons (e.g., activated carbon), or one or more plastics (i.e., insoluble solid (organic) polymer materials (polymers)), and particularly, plastics (i.e., insoluble solid (organic) polymer materials (polymers), such as fluoroplastics or silica gels), are preferred because they have better properties such as elasticity and toughness than other materials, are less likely to be damaged by vibration, and more importantly, they can rebound the aggregation potential energy, reduce energy loss, and improve energy utilization. The above-mentioned "insolubility" means insolubility in the liquid to be atomized by the above-mentioned ultrasonic atomizer (/ ultrasonic atomizing sheet).

The container wall material should be non-porous.

The porous body support material described above may be based on one or more sintered ceramic materials.

The term "ceramic" is understood to include compounds formed between metallic and non-metallic elements, often oxides, nitrides and carbides formed and/or processable by some form of solidification process, typically involving the action of heat. In this regard, clay materials, cements, and glasses are included in the definition of ceramics (calister, "materials science and engineering," john wiley & Sons, 7 th edition (2007)).

The ceramic may comprise a sintered ceramic (e.g., kaolin, metakaolin, ceria, zirconia, scandia, aluminum oxide (/ combination), aluminum nitride (/ combination), titanium oxide (/ combination), titanium nitride (/ combination), silicon oxide (/ combination), silicon carbide (/ combination), silicon nitride (/ combination), boron nitride (/ combination), and combinations thereof).

Preferably, the ceramic material employed is based on metal oxides (such as alumina or zirconia), or on ceramics based on metal (or metalloid or non-metal) oxides, which are particularly useful because they cannot undergo further oxidation and therefore exhibit good stability at high temperatures.

The ceramic material may also be an oxide and/or double oxide, and/or a nitride and/or carbide of the elements scandium, cerium, yttrium, boron, silicon, aluminum, carbon, titanium, zirconium or tantalum or preferably any one of silicon, aluminum, carbon, titanium, zirconium or tantalum or combinations thereof.

In a preferred embodiment, the ceramic material is an oxide, nitride and/or carbide of any of the elements silicon, aluminum, carbon, titanium, zirconium or tantalum or a combination thereof. Specific materials that may be mentioned include ceria, zirconia, scandia, aluminum oxide (/ alloy), aluminum nitride (/ alloy), titanium oxide (/ alloy), silicon carbide (/ alloy) layer, silicon nitride (/ alloy), boron nitride (/ alloy), and combinations thereof.

Sintered ceramics (including materials formed from ceria, zirconia, scandia, aluminum oxide (/ alloys), aluminum nitride (/ alloys), titanium oxide (/ alloys), titanium nitride (/ alloys), silicon oxide (/ alloys), silicon carbide (/ alloys, silicon nitride (/ alloys), boron nitride (/ alloys), and combinations thereof) are well known to the skilled artisan. Such sintered ceramics are particularly suitable as carrier materials in which liquids can be stored.

After sintering has occurred and the ceramic has formed, the porous sintered ceramic may store a liquid, i.e. using a method of draining liquid drawn into the pores of the carrier material by capillary forces.

The pore size in the support material can be controlled by various techniques known to the skilled person. For ceramics (and geopolymers), control of pore size is typically achieved during the manufacture of the network structure of the support material. Examples of known methods of manufacturing porous scaffolds are disclosed in SubiaB et al (2010) biomaterial scaffold manufacturing techniques for potential tissue engineering applications (biomaterials ScaffoldFabric technologies for porous tissue engineering applications), tissue engineering (tissue engineering), DanielEberli (eds.).

Alternatively, the porous body support material described above may be based on one or more chemically bonded ceramic materials. One or both of these may be provided in the form of pellets.

Suitable chemically bonded ceramics include non-hydrated, partially hydrated, or fully hydrated ceramics, or combinations thereof.

Non-limiting examples of chemically bonded ceramic systems include calcium phosphate, calcium sulfate, calcium carbonate, calcium silicate, calcium aluminate, magnesium carbonate, and combinations thereof. Preferred chemical compositions include those based on chemically bonded ceramics that consume a controlled amount of water to form a network after hydration of one or more suitable precursor species.

Other specific systems available are those based on aluminates and silicates, both of which consume large amounts of water. Phases such as CA2, CA3 and C12a7, and C2S and C3S (according to common cement terminology, C ═ CaO, a ═ Al2O3, SiO2 ═ S) in crystalline or amorphous states can be used, which are readily available. The calcium aluminate and/or calcium silicate phases may be used as separate phases or as a mixture of phases. The phases described above, both in non-hydrated form, act as a binder phase (cement) in the carrier material when hydrated. The weight ratio of liquid (water) to cement is generally in the range of 0.2 to 0.5, preferably in the range of 0.3 to 0.4.

Further materials which may be mentioned in this connection include clay minerals, such as aluminium silicate and/or aluminium silicate hydrate (crystalline or amorphous). Non-limiting examples include kaolin, dickite, halloysite, nacrite, zeolite, illite, or combinations thereof, preferably halloysite.

In a further embodiment of the invention, the porous body is based on a ceramic material formed from a self-setting ceramic. Non-limiting examples of self-setting ceramics include calcium sulfate, calcium phosphate, calcium silicate, and calcium aluminate-based materials. Specific ceramics that may be mentioned in this connection include alpha-tricalcium phosphate, calcium sulfate hemihydrate, CaOAl2O3, CaO (SiO2)3, CaO (SiO2)2 and the like.

Other ceramic materials which may be used include those based on sulfates such as calcium sulfate or phosphates such as calcium phosphate. Specific examples of such materials include alpha or beta phase calcium sulfate hemihydrate (finished calcium sulfate dihydrate), basic or neutral calcium phosphate (apatite), and acidic calcium phosphate (brushite).

For the avoidance of doubt, the porous body material may comprise more than one ceramic material, for example a mixture comprising sintered and chemically bonded ceramics.

Alternatively, the porous body support material described above may be based on one or more geopolymer materials.

The skilled person will understand that the term "geopolymer" includes or means any material selected from the class of synthetic or natural aluminosilicate materials, which can be formed by reaction of an aluminosilicate precursor material, preferably in powder form, with an aqueous alkaline liquid (e.g. a solution), preferably in the presence of a silica source.

The term "silica source" will be understood to include any form of silicon oxide, such as SiO2, including silicates. The skilled artisan understands that silica can be made in several forms, including glass, crystals, gels, aerogels, fumed silica (or fumed silica), and colloidal silica (e.g., Aerosil).

Suitable aluminosilicate precursor materials typically (but not necessarily) crystallize in their native form and include kaolin, dickite, halloysite, nacrite, zeolite, illite, preferably dehydroxylated zeolite, halloysite, or kaolin, and more preferably metakaolin (i.e., dehydroxylated kaolin). Dehydroxylation (e.g. kaolin) is preferably carried out by calcining (i.e. heating) the hydroxylated aluminosilicate at a temperature above 400 ℃. For example, metakaolin can be prepared as described in Stevenson and Sagoe-huntsil, journal of materials science (j.mater.sci.), 40, 2023(2005), and zuulgami et al, physics of europe (eur.physj.ap), 19, 173(2002) and/or as described below. Dehydroxylated aluminosilicates may also be produced by condensing a silica source and a vapor containing a source of alumina (e.g., Al2O 3).

Thus, in a further embodiment, the support material may be a material obtainable by a process in which an aluminosilicate precursor material (such as a material selected from the group consisting of kaolin, dickite, halloysite, nacrite, zeolite, illite, dehydroxylated zeolite, dehydroxylated halloysite, and metakaolin) is reacted with an aqueous alkaline liquid, optionally in the presence of a silica source.

Precursor materials can also be made using sol-gel methods, typically resulting in nanoscale aluminosilicate amorphous powder (or partially crystalline) precursors, as described by Zheng et al in journal of materials science, 44, 3991-3996 (2009). This results in a finer microstructure of the hardened material. (e.g., sol-gel routes may also be used to make the precursor materials for the chemically bonded ceramic materials described above.)

If provided in powder form, the aluminosilicate precursor particles have an average grain size of less than about 500 μm, preferably less than about 100 μm, more preferably less than about 20 (or 30) μm.

In the formation of geopolymer materials, such precursor materials may be dissolved in an aqueous alkaline solution, for example, wherein the pH is at least about 12, such as at least about 13. Suitable hydroxide ion sources include strong inorganic bases such as alkali or alkaline earth metal (e.g. Ba, Mg or more preferably Ca or especially Na or K, or combinations thereof) hydroxides (e.g. sodium hydroxide). The molar ratio of metal cation to water can vary between about 1: 100 and about 10: 1, preferably between about 1: 20 and about 1: 2.

Preferably, a silica source (e.g., a silicate such as SiO2) is added to the reaction mixture by some means. For example, the aqueous alkaline liquid may comprise SiO2, forming what is commonly referred to as water glass, i.e., a sodium silicate solution. In such cases, the amount of SiO2 and water in the liquid is preferably at most about 2: 1, more preferably at most about 1: 1, and most preferably at most about 1: 2. The aqueous liquid may also optionally contain sodium aluminate.

Alternatively, the silicate (and/or alumina) may be added to an optionally powdered aluminosilicate precursor, preferably as a fumed silica (AEROSIL @ silica). The amount that can be added is preferably up to about 30 wt%, more preferably up to about 5 wt% of the aluminosilicate precursor.

Free hydroxide ions are present in this intermediate alkaline mixture, causing aluminum and silicon atoms from the source material to dissolve. The geopolymer material may then be formed by allowing the resulting mixture to solidify (cure or harden), during which process the aluminum and silicon atoms from the source material are reoriented to form a hard (and at least largely) amorphous polymer material. Curing may be carried out at room temperature, at elevated temperatures, or at reduced temperatures, such as at about or slightly above ambient temperature (e.g., between about 20 ℃ and about 90 ℃, such as about 40 ℃). Hardening may also be performed under any atmosphere, humidity or pressure (e.g., under vacuum or other conditions). The resulting inorganic polymer network is typically a highly coordinated 3-dimensional aluminosilicate gel in which the negative charge on the tetrahedral aluminium Al3+ sites is balanced by the alkali metal cation charge.

In this regard, the geopolymer-based carrier material may be formed by mixing a powder comprising an aluminosilicate precursor and an aqueous liquid (e.g., solution) comprising water, a source of hydroxide ions as described above, and a source of silica (e.g., a silicate) to form a paste. The ratio of liquid to powder is preferably between about 0.2 and about 20 (weight/weight), more preferably between about 0.3 and about 10 (weight/weight). Calcium silicate and calcium aluminate may also be added to the aluminosilicate precursor component.

Such pores may thus be essentially "secondary pores" formed by chemical interactions (e.g. "bonding") between the surfaces of primary particles of a support material (which may be itself porous (i.e. "primary" pores containing) such as a ceramic or geopolymer.) such pores may for example result from exposure of such material to one or more chemical agents which cause a physical and/or chemical transformation (such as partial dissolution) at that surface (which may itself result from some other physicochemical process such as drying, curing, etc.) and then the surfaces are physically and/or chemically bonded together, creating the pores/voids.

For geopolymers, control of pore size is typically achieved during the manufacture of the network structure of the support material. Examples of known methods of manufacturing porous scaffolds are disclosed in SubiaB et al (2010) biomaterial scaffold manufacturing techniques for potential tissue engineering applications, tissue engineering, DanielEberli (eds.).

In yet another alternative, the porous body support material described above may be based on one or more metals.

By using the term "metal" we include both pure metals and alloys (i.e. mixtures or two or more metals). Suitable metals that can be used as support materials include those that remain solid up to or above the heating temperature used in the device of the invention, e.g. above 400 ℃ or preferably above 500 ℃. Specific metal support materials include those based on titanium, nickel, chromium, copper, iron, aluminum, zinc, manganese, molybdenum, platinum, and alloys containing the metals. So-called refractory metals may also be used in view of their high heat resistance and wear resistance.

In this case, specific pure metals and alloys that may be used include brass, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, platinum, zinc, and in particular include titanium, titanium alloys, nickel-chromium alloys, copper-nickel alloys, iron, steel (e.g., stainless steel), aluminum, iron-chromium-aluminum alloys.

The pore size in the metal support material can be controlled by various techniques known to the skilled person. Examples of suitable methods that can be used to form the metal substrate with the desired porosity include three-dimensional printing and drilling. 3D printing of porous bodies can be achieved using conventional 3D printing equipment, and pore sizes as low as 10 μm or less can be achieved using this fabrication technique. Drilling methods to introduce porosity or increase the level of porosity in a material are known to the skilled person. Such a method may be particularly advantageous as it provides a greater degree of control over the pore size and overall porosity level in the material. Such drilling methods can be used to form pores down to an average size of about 20 (or 30) μm and possibly lower.

Internal porosity can also be developed in metallic structures (particularly in the case where the metallic structure is present as an electrically conductive part of an induction heating system) by a gas expansion (or foaming) process based on hot isostatic pressing (hip). Porous bodies with isolated porosities typically in the range of 20-40% are obtained by these processes. When foaming is carried out in a highly reactive multicomponent powder system, such as a system subjected to self-propagating high temperature synthesis (SHS), porosity can develop more rapidly. The highly exothermic reaction initiated by local or global heating of the compacted powder mixture to the reaction ignition temperature results in the vaporization of the hydrous oxides on the powder surface and the release of gases dissolved in the powder. The reaction powder mixture is rapidly heated to form a liquid containing (primarily hydrogen) gas bubbles and, when the reaction is complete, rapidly cooled, trapping the gas to form a foam. Gas formation and foam expansion can be enhanced by adding a vapor forming phase such as carbon (which burns in air to produce CO) or blowing agents that react together to raise the reaction temperature and produce fine particles that stabilize the foam. Other suitable methods known to the skilled person are disclosed in AndrewKennedy (2012), porous metals and metal foams made from powders (porousmetals and metal foams madefrom powders), powder metallurgy (powdermallargy), doctor KatsuyoshiKondoh (ed.).

In a further alternative, the porous support material may be based on one or more plastics (i.e. (water/alcohol) insoluble solid (organic) polymeric materials (polymers)), preferably (water/alcohol) insoluble heat resistant plastics, the term "heat resistant plastics" referring herein to plastics (e.g. silica gels, fluoroplastics) that can withstand temperatures of at least 150 ℃, preferably 200 ℃, more preferably 250 ℃ without deforming, softening or liquefying. Examples of the above porous plastic support material include polysulfones (PS, such as bisphenol a type Polysulfone (PSF), polyether sulfone (PES) polysulfone amide (PSA), phenolphthalein type polyether sulfone (PES-C), polyether ketone (PEK-C)), cellulose ester, cellulose ether, polyamide (such as nylon 6, nylon 66), silica gel, fluoroplastic, polyolefins (such as Polyethylene (PE), polypropylene, Polyacrylonitrile (PAN)), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), PC (polycarbonate), PAC, Chitosan (CS), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), polyvinyl butyral (PVB), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), poly (cyclohexanedimethanol terephthalate) (PCT), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE), and the like. Such fluoroplastics include, but are not limited to, Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), tetrafluoroethylene-perfluoroalkoxy vinyl ether copolymer (PFA) (polytetrafluoroethylene-perfluoropropyl vinyl ether PFA-P, polytetrafluoroethylene-perfluoromethyl vinyl ether PFA-M), vinylidene fluoride-hexafluoropropylene copolymer (viton. RTM., F26), fluorinated ethylene propylene copolymer (FEP), vinylidene fluoride-chlorotrifluoroethylene copolymer (Kel-F, F23), Polychlorotrifluoroethylene (PCTFF), one or more of tetrafluoroethylene-ethylene copolymer (ETFE), polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), poly (ethylene-co-chlorotrifluoroethylene) (ECTFE), polytetrafluoroethylene-hexafluoropropylene-vinylidene fluoride (THV), and vinylidene fluoride-tetrafluoroethylene copolymer (F24).

The above-mentioned plastic (i.e., the (water/alcohol) insoluble solid (organic) polymeric material (polymer)) porous body preparation method may be well known, and includes, but is not limited to: melt-blowing, immersion precipitation phase inversion, melt extrusion-stretching, Thermally Induced Phase Separation (TIPS), and alternating deposition self-assembly. The immersion precipitation phase inversion method is a phase inversion method, and comprises preparing homogeneous polymer solution with certain composition, changing thermodynamic state of the solution by certain physical method, allowing the solution to undergo phase separation from the homogeneous polymer solution, and finally converting into a three-dimensional macromolecular network type gel structure. The melt extrusion-stretching method comprises the steps of carrying out melt extrusion on pure high polymers in the melt extrusion-stretching process, pulling apart platelet structures which are arranged in parallel and are vertical to the extrusion direction of hard elastic materials in the stretching process to form micropores, and then fixing the pore structures through a heat setting process. Wherein the Thermal Induced Phase Separation (TIPS) comprises forming a homogeneous solution of a polymer and a diluent with a high boiling point and a low molecular weight at a high temperature, reducing the temperature to perform solid-liquid or liquid-liquid phase separation, and then removing the diluent to obtain the microporous polymer body. Wherein, the alternative deposition self-assembly method is to prepare the polyelectrolyte separation layer on the porous ceramic membrane support body by electrostatic self-assembly, which is an effective method for preparing the organic-inorganic composite membrane body. The method comprises the steps of alternately depositing oppositely charged polyelectrolytes at a liquid/solid interface through electrostatic interaction to form a multi-layer membrane body; the research on the number of self-assembled layers, the material and the time, the pH value of a polyelectrolyte solution and the like shows that the pore diameter and the thickness of the composite membrane body are adjusted in a nanometer range.

The pore size of the porous bodies is controlled during the manufacture of the network structure of the support material by various known techniques. A particular process suitable for use in the porous body support materials used in the present invention is a porogen leaching process which involves the use of a sacrificial phase during the shaping of the support material. During shaping of the support material, a porogen material may be included as part of the reaction mixture to aid in shaping of pores within the final support material network. The pore-forming material includes, for example, volatile oil (e.g., perfume), volatile liquid (e.g., water, alcohol), organic solid material with high volatility (e.g., benzyl alcohol, menthol, borneol, camphor, salicylic acid, caproic acid, caffeine), organic or inorganic solid material (e.g., ammonium carbonate, ammonium bicarbonate, ammonium acetate) which can be thermally degraded into gas, etc., and has an average particle size of 0.05 to 20 (or 30) μm, preferably 0.1 to 10 μm, more preferably 0.5 to 5 μm, and most preferably 0.5 to 3 μm, and is used in a ratio of at least 10% (by volume, the same applies hereinafter), preferably about 20% to about 80%, more preferably about 30% to about 70%, and most preferably about 40% to about 60%, based on the total volume of the carrier material and the pore-forming material. The porogen material may then be removed from the support material, for example by volatilizing, subliming or thermally degrading the porogen material as it is heated during the curing process, or by dissolving the porogen material away using a suitable solvent. Dissolution is usually achieved with water in order to avoid leaving a residual amount of material which may have a detrimental effect on the operation of the device or on the user.

Foaming methods may also be used to increase the pore size of the support materials mentioned herein. Such methods will be known to the skilled person and are particularly suitable for forming support materials having larger pore sizes.

Any of the carrier materials described herein can be used in the device of the present invention. The above-mentioned support materials are preferably based on one or more chemically bonded ceramic materials, one or more geopolymer materials or one or more metals or one or more heat-resistant plastics. In a further embodiment, the present invention relates to a device as described above, wherein the carrier material is selected from the list consisting of:

(i) oxides, nitrides and/or carbides of any of the elements silicon, aluminum, carbon, titanium, zirconium, yttrium, titanium, zirconium, cerium, scandium, boron or tantalum and combinations thereof;

(ii) a material obtainable by a process in which an aluminosilicate precursor material is reacted with an aqueous alkaline liquid;

(iii) calcium phosphate, calcium sulfate, calcium carbonate, calcium silicate, calcium aluminate, magnesium carbonate, aluminum silicate, and combinations thereof;

(iv) brass, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, platinum, zinc, titanium alloys, nickel-chromium alloys, copper-nickel alloys, iron, steel, aluminum, and iron-chromium-aluminum alloys; and

(v) heat resistant plastics such as silica gel, fluoroplastics, and the like.

The materials listed above under (i), (ii) and (iii) are particularly preferred.

The preferred preparation method of the porous reservoir device comprises the following steps:

3D printing ceramic, geopolymer, metal or heat-resistant plastic printing material (such as paste or powder) to obtain a ceramic, geopolymer, metal or heat-resistant plastic precursor, wherein the ceramic, geopolymer, metal or heat-resistant plastic printing material (such as paste or powder) contains a pore-forming agent with an average particle size of 0.05-20 (or 30) μm, preferably 0.1-10 μm, more preferably 0.5-5 μm, and most preferably 0.5-3 μm, (by volume, at least 10% (by volume, the same below), preferably about 20-80%, more preferably about 30-70%, and most preferably about 40-60%), the above-mentioned ratio is based on the sum of the volume of the whole carrier material and the volume of the pore-forming material); the ceramic, geopolymer, metal or heat-resistant plastic precursors described above are treated by heat treatment or other known techniques to solidify or integrate them to form a porous body, i.e., a porous reservoir.

Elastic bonded (/ combined) body

Preferably, the ultrasonic atomizer according to the present invention further includes an elastic bonding element interposed between a1 st surface, which is one surface on which the piezoelectric element (or piezoelectric ceramic plate) is bent, and one main surface of the vibrating plate in the ultrasonic atomizing sheet, the elastic bonding element bonding the 1 st surface of the piezoelectric element (or piezoelectric ceramic plate) to the one main surface of the vibrating plate, and at least a part of the elastic bonding element being formed of a deformable viscoelastic body; and/or between the ultrasonic atomization sheet and the porous body.

The elastic bonded (or bonded) body is softer and more easily deformed than the vibrating plate, and has a smaller elastic modulus and rigidity, such as Young's modulus, rigidity, and bulk modulus, than the vibrating plate. That is, the elastic adhesive (/ synthetic) body is deformable, and when the same force is applied, it is deformed more than the vibration plate.

The thickness of the elastic adhesive (/ synthetic) body is larger than the amplitude of the bending vibration of the piezoelectric element (or piezoelectric ceramic plate).

The elastic adhesive (/ synthetic) body has at least a base layer and an adhesive layer composed of the viscoelastic body.

The elastic adhesive (/ synthetic) body has a 3-layer structure composed of 2 adhesive layers and the base layer disposed between the 2 adhesive layers. The base layer is composed of a nonwoven fabric and the viscoelastic body interposed between fibers of the nonwoven fabric.

The elastic adhesive (/ or elastomer) body has the viscoelastic body in all cross sections between the surface on the piezoelectric element (or piezoelectric ceramic plate) side and the surface on the vibrating plate side.

The vibrating plate is fixed to the support via a2 nd elastic bonding element at least a part of which is composed of a viscoelastic body.

The elastic adhesive/bonding material is made of a resin such as glass epoxy (FR-4), composite material (CEM-3), polyetherimide, polyimide, polyester, acryl, silicon, urethane, or rubber, a metal such as stainless steel, aluminum, or an alloy thereof, and has a thickness of 50 to 200 μm.

The adhesive layer is composed of a viscoelastic body, and the thickness thereof is set to be, for example, about 10 to 30 μm. As the viscoelastic material constituting the adhesive layer, for example, known viscoelastic materials formed of polymer materials such as acryl, silicon, urethane, and rubber can be suitably used. The base layer has a higher rigidity than the adhesive layer, and the thickness thereof is set to be, for example, about 50 to 200 μm. The base layer is preferably composed of a viscoelastic material and a nonwoven fabric which constitute the adhesive layer. That is, the base layer is preferably formed of a nonwoven fabric impregnated with the viscoelastic material constituting the adhesive layer (the viscoelastic material constituting the adhesive layer penetrates between fibers of the nonwoven fabric). As a result, the elastic bonded (/ bonded) body including a viscoelastic body over at least a part of the entire thickness direction, that is, the elastic bonded (/ bonded) body including a viscoelastic body in all cross sections between the surface on the piezoelectric element (or piezoelectric ceramic plate) side and the surface on the vibrating plate side can be obtained. Examples of the fibers used for the nonwoven fabric include natural fibers, chemical fibers, glass fibers, and metal fibers. The base layer 132 may be formed using a resin, for example. Examples of the resin include polyester, polyethylene, polyurethane, and propylene. Further, a foam made of these resins may be used.

Protective coating (protective film)

The protective coating (protective film) may be used in combination with the above-described ultrasonic atomization sheet and/or the above-described porous body in the ultrasonic atomizer disclosed in the present invention.

Protective coatings (protective films) can be used to help control the rate of atomization of the stored liquid during use. One or more coatings may be applied to the outer surface of the above-described carrier material. This may assist in controlling the delivery/drainage of the stored liquid, for example by ensuring that the user receives the aerosolized material/stored liquid within a short period of time, and thereby reducing the likelihood that the user may stop inhaling before receiving the entire intended dose.

The protective coating (protective film) may also be used to improve the stability of the atomized liquid and the ultrasonic atomizing sheet and/or the porous body in the ultrasonic atomizer, to prevent or slow down thermal degradation or oxidation of the atomized liquid, to prevent or slow down chemical corrosion of the ultrasonic atomizing sheet and/or the porous body in the ultrasonic atomizer, and the like. For example, the coating may shield the atomized liquid body or the above-mentioned ultrasonic atomization sheet and/or the above-mentioned porous body in the above-mentioned ultrasonic atomizer from its external environment, or may serve as a barrier thereto.

The protective coating materials used in the present invention can be designed to be inert in the following manner:

(a) general physicochemical stability under normal storage conditions, including a temperature of between about negative 80 and about positive 50 ℃ (preferably between about 0 and about 40 ℃, and more preferably room temperature, such as from about 15 to about 30 ℃), a pressure of between about 0.1 and about 2 bar (preferably at atmospheric pressure), a relative humidity of between about 5 and about 95% (preferably about 10 to about 75%), and/or prolonged (i.e., greater than or equal to six months) exposure to about 460 lux uv/visible light. Under such conditions, as above, a chemical degradation/decomposition of less than about 5%, such as less than about 1%, of the carrier material network as described herein may be found; and

(b) general physicochemical stability under acidic, basic, and/or alcoholic (e.g., ethanol) conditions at room temperature and/or at elevated temperatures (e.g., up to about 200 ℃), which may result in less than about 15% degradation.

(c) It is preferred in this respect that the network exhibits a compressive strength at the micro-and nano-structural level of greater than about 1MPa, such as greater than about 5MPa, for example about 10MPa, which is high enough to withstand damage to the material at the micro-structural level, i.e. less than about 200 μm.

The protective coating described above comprises: aluminum oxide Al2O3 thin film, silicon dioxide SiO2 thin film, titanium dioxide TiO2 thin film, zinc oxide ZnO thin film, hafnium dioxide HfO2 thin film, magnesium oxide MgO thin film, zirconium dioxide ZrO2 thin film, nickel oxide NiO thin film, cobalt oxide CoO thin film, iron oxide thin film FeOx thin film, copper oxide thin film CuOx thin film, boron oxide B2O3 thin film, indium oxide In2O3 thin film, TiN oxide SnO2 thin film, gallium oxide Ga2O3 thin film, niobium pentoxide Nb2O5 thin film, gadolinium oxide Gd2O3 thin film, tantalum pentoxide Ta2O5 thin film, boron nitride BN thin film, aluminum nitride AlN thin film, titanium nitride TiN thin film, silicon carbide SiC thin film, zinc sulfide ZnS thin film, zirconium sulfide ZrS thin film, hyaluronic acid thin film HA, tungsten thin film, platinum Pt thin film, ruthenium thin film, palladium thin film, pyromellitic dianhydride-diaminodiphenyl ether-DADA-diaminodiphenyl oxide thin film, pyromellitic dianhydride-HMDA-hexamethylenediamine thin film, PMDA-HMA-HMDA-HMA-HMD-HMA thin film, Pyromellitic dianhydride-ethylenediamine PMDA-EDA film, pyromellitic dianhydride-p-phenylenediamine PMDA-PDA film, silica gel film and fluoroplastic film.

When the coating material is a layer, the coating material is any one of the films; when the coating material is a plurality of layers, the coating material is a plurality of layers of films formed by overlapping any one of the films, or a plurality of layers of films formed by alternately overlapping any one of the films, or a combination of a plurality of layers of films formed by overlapping any one of the films and a plurality of layers of films formed by alternately overlapping any one of the films.

One embodiment of a protective coating (protective film):

the protective film is preferably formed by applying a paste resin in a thin film shape and curing the resin, or by bonding an adhesive sheet and curing the adhesive sheet, and has a fracture at a corner portion of the piezoelectric vibrating piece to expose the main surface electrode.

The resin layer should have a thickness covering the piezoelectric element and be provided so as to cover substantially the entire front and rear surfaces of the piezoelectric vibrating piece (e.g., laminate). Preferably, the resin layer is a hardened coating layer.

Terminal

The ultrasonic atomizer according to the present invention further comprises a pair of terminals for internal electrical connection and/or external electrical connection of both electrodes of the piezoelectric vibrating piece in the ultrasonic atomizing plate and/or a conductive adhesive (conductive adhesive) for fixing and electrical connection of the internal electrical connection and/or the external electrical connection.

Preferably, the interconnection has a bifurcated structure located in a corner of the piezoelectric vibrating piece.

Preferably, the terminal includes a conductive member electrically connected to both electrodes of the piezoelectric vibrating piece in the ultrasonic atomizing plate with conductive paste, respectively.

The invention also relates to an electronic cigarette device which is characterized by comprising the ultrasonic atomizer. Preferably, the device further comprises a heating component, and the heating component heats the smoke atomized by the ultrasonic atomizer so as to overcome the defects that the temperature of the smoke atomized by the ultrasonic atomizer is low and cold stimulation is caused to a smoke inhalator. Preferably, the mist atomized by the ultrasonic atomizer is heated to 40 to 100 ℃, more preferably to 40 to 80 ℃, and most preferably to 50 to 70 ℃. Preferably, the heating element is located in or adjacent to a mouthpiece of the appliance, and more preferably in or adjacent to a smoke outlet in the mouthpiece of the appliance.

The preferable technical scheme is as follows:

1. an ultrasonic atomizer comprises an ultrasonic atomizing sheet and a porous body,

the ultrasonic atomization sheet includes a piezoelectric ceramic plate and a vibration plate, the piezoelectric ceramic plate is provided on the vibration plate, an overlapping area is provided between the piezoelectric ceramic plate and the vibration plate when viewed from a thickness direction, an area of the overlapping area occupies 30% or more of an entire area of one surface of the piezoelectric ceramic plate (or the piezoelectric element) including the overlapping area,

the opposite electrodes are arranged on the two opposite surfaces of the piezoelectric ceramic plate (I) or/and between the two opposite surfaces to be used as piezoelectric active areas, or the adjacent interdigital electrodes are arranged on the surface of the piezoelectric ceramic plate (II) or/and in the lower layer of the surface to be used as piezoelectric active areas,

the porous body is provided on the surface of the ultrasonic atomization sheet, and the area of the porous body having the micropores and the piezoelectrically active region of the ultrasonic atomization sheet partially or completely overlap with each other as viewed in the thickness direction (the piezoelectric active region,

applying an alternating current between the electrodes causes the ultrasonic atomization sheet to vibrate in its thickness direction, and the vibration causes the liquid in the porous body to be atomized).

2. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, characterized in that the piezoelectric ceramic plate or/and the vibrating plate is a substantially or generally square flat body.

3. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, characterized in that the piezoelectric ceramic plate or/and the vibrating plate is a substantially or generally rectangular flat body.

4. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein the distance between the opposing electrodes in any one of the piezoelectric active regions of said piezoelectric ceramic plate (I) is smaller than the thickness of said vibrating plate.

5. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein the mechanical strength of said vibrating plate is higher than the mechanical strength of said piezoelectric ceramic plate.

6. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, characterized in that the ultrasonic atomizer is a generally elongated body having a length to width ratio of not less than 1.5.

7. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, characterized in that the ultrasonic atomizer is an elongated body as a whole, and the length-to-width ratio thereof is not less than 2 but not more than 8.

8. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, characterized in that the ultrasonic atomizer is an elongated body as a whole, and the length-to-width ratio thereof is not less than 2 but not more than 6.

9. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein an area of said overlapped region occupies at least 50% or more of an entire area of said one face of said piezoelectric ceramic plate.

10. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein an area of said overlapped region occupies at least 70% or more of an entire area of said one face of said piezoelectric ceramic plate.

11. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein an area of said overlapped region occupies at least 90% or more of an entire area of said one face of said piezoelectric ceramic plate.

12. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein an area of said overlapped region occupies at least 95% or more of an entire area of said one face of said piezoelectric ceramic plate.

13. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, characterized in that opposed electrodes are provided as piezoelectric active regions on or/and between opposed surfaces at least in the overlapping area of said piezoelectric ceramic plate (I) and said vibrating plate.

14. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein at least one end or one side of the vibrating plate of the ultrasonic atomization sheet is fixed.

15. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, characterized in that the vibrating plate of the ultrasonic atomizing plate is substantially or generally a square body, at least two relatively short sides of which are fixed.

16. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, characterized in that the vibrating plate of the ultrasonic atomizing plate is substantially or generally a square body, at least four corners of which are fixed.

17. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, characterized in that the piezoelectric ceramic plate in the ultrasonic atomizing plate is substantially or generally a square body, at least one pair of opposite sides of which are fixed to the vibrating plate.

18. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, characterized in that the piezoelectric ceramic plate in the ultrasonic atomizing plate is substantially or generally a square body, at least two relatively short sides of which are fixed to the vibrating plate.

19. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, characterized in that the piezoceramic plate in the ultrasonic atomization sheet is substantially or generally a square body, at least four corners of which are fixed to the vibration plate.

20. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, characterized in that the distance between opposing electrodes in the piezoelectric active region in said piezoelectric ceramic plate (I) is less than half the thickness of said vibrating plate.

21. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein the distance between the opposing electrodes in the piezoelectric active region in said piezoelectric ceramic plate (I) is less than one tenth of the thickness of said vibrating plate.

22. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, characterized in that the distance between opposing electrodes in the piezoelectrically active area in said piezoelectric ceramic plate (I) is less than one percent of the thickness of said vibrating plate.

23. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, characterized in that the distance between opposing electrodes in the piezoelectrically active area in said piezoelectric ceramic plate (I) is less than one thousand times the thickness of said vibrating plate.

24. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein the distance between opposing electrodes in the piezoelectric active region in said piezoelectric ceramic plate (I) is less than one ten-thousandth of the thickness of said vibrating plate.

25. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein the distance between the opposing electrodes in the piezoelectric active region in the piezoelectric ceramic plate (I) is 0.1 to 500 μm.

26. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein the distance between the opposing electrodes in the piezoelectric active region in the piezoelectric ceramic plate (I) is 0.5 to 50 μm.

27. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein the distance between the opposing electrodes in the piezoelectric active region in the piezoelectric ceramic plate (I) is 0.5 to 5 μm.

28. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein the distance between the opposing electrodes in the piezoelectric active region of the inner electrode in the piezoelectric ceramic plate (I) is 1 μm to 3 μm, and the thickness of the surface electrode is 0.2 μm to 0.5 μm.

29. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein the piezoelectric ceramic plate in the ultrasonic atomization sheet is located on one side of the vibration plate, or on both sides thereof; or the piezoelectric ceramic plate is clamped or wrapped by the vibrating plate.

30. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein said ultrasonic atomizing plate is of a sandwich structure, and is basically or mainly composed of two piezoelectric ceramic plates (I) each having a piezoelectric active region and a vibrating plate, which are bonded and fixed, the vibrating plate is fixed and held between the two piezoelectric ceramic plates, the two piezoelectric ceramic plates are connected in series, and the two piezoelectric ceramic plates are polarized in opposite directions, or the two piezoelectric ceramic plates are connected in parallel, and the two piezoelectric ceramic plates are polarized in the same direction, so as to realize flexural vibration.

31. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, characterized in that said piezoelectric ceramic plate (I) is a single piezoelectric ceramic plate containing one piezoelectric active region, or a laminated body formed substantially or mainly of two or three or more piezoelectric ceramic plates/layers each containing one piezoelectric active region.

32. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, characterized in that the piezoelectric ceramic plate (I) comprises a laminated body in which at least two piezoelectric ceramic layers each having one piezoelectric active region are laminated, main surface electrodes provided on front and back surfaces of the laminated body, and internal electrodes located between each of the ceramic layers, wherein all the ceramic layers are polarized in the same direction in the thickness direction, the laminated body vibrating entirely in a bending mode in response to an alternating current applied between the main surface electrodes and the internal electrodes.

33. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein said piezoelectric ceramic plate (I) is a laminated body formed substantially or mainly of two piezoelectric ceramic plates/layers each having a piezoelectric active region, an inner electrode is provided between the two piezoelectric ceramic plates/layers, two outer side surfaces are provided with two outer side electrodes and communicated, the inner electrode is insulated from the two outer side electrodes, and an alternating current is applied between the inner electrode and the outer side electrodes to vibrate the inner electrode in a thickness direction thereof.

34. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 33, wherein the inner electrode is led out to the outer side surface and arranged in parallel with the outer electrode.

35. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, characterized in that said piezoelectric ceramic plate (I) comprises a laminated body formed by laminating two or three piezoelectric ceramic layers each having a piezoelectric active region; main surface electrodes each formed on an upper surface and a lower surface of the laminate; and internal electrodes formed between the adjacent two piezoelectric ceramic layers, wherein all the ceramic layers are polarized in the same direction with respect to the thickness direction; and the laminated body is vibrated in its thickness direction in its entirety by applying an alternating current across the main surface electrodes and the internal electrodes.

36. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, characterized in that said piezoelectric ceramic plate (I) comprises three laminated piezoelectric ceramic layers, two piezoelectric ceramic layers located at the outer layer each comprising a piezoelectric active region, and the thickness of the middle ceramic layer being between 50 percent and 80 percent of the entire thickness of said laminated body.

37. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein said piezoelectric ceramic plate (I) comprises a plurality of piezoelectric ceramic layers each having a piezoelectric active region, which are laminated to define a laminated body; main surface electrodes provided on front and rear main surfaces of the laminate; internal electrodes disposed between the respective ceramic layers, and all the ceramic layers are polarized in the same direction in the thickness direction thereof; the piezoelectric ceramic plate (I) generates flexural vibration in response to an alternating current applied between the main surface electrode and the internal electrode.

38. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein said piezoelectric ceramic plate further comprises resin layers provided so as to cover substantially all of the front and rear surfaces of the laminated body.

39. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein said vibrating plate is selected from the group consisting of a metal plate, a resin or plastic plate, and a composite plate thereof.

40. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein the vibrating plate is selected from a resin or a plastic plate having an elastic modulus of 500MPa to 1500MPa in a cured state.

41. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein the thickness of the vibrating plate is 10 to 2000 μm.

42. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein a mechanical quality factor Qm of the ultrasonic atomizing sheet formed by integrating the piezoelectric ceramic plate and the vibrating plate satisfies: qm is less than or equal to 5.0.

43. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, characterized in that said vibrating plate is a metal plate having a length longer than that of said piezoelectric ceramic plate and electrically connected to a back surface electrode of the piezoelectric plate.

44. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein said vibrating plate is a metal plate having a thickness of 10 μm to 300 μm.

45. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein said piezoelectric ceramic plate is fixed to a first surface of said vibrating plate at a position offset from a longitudinal direction of the vibrating plate, and the vibrating plate has an exposed portion at a second surface of the vibrating plate.

46. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein a relationship between an area Am of said vibrating plate and an area Ap of said piezoelectric ceramic plate satisfies: Am/Ap is more than or equal to 1.1 and less than or equal to 10.

47. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein the vibrating plate has a larger outer shape than the piezoelectric ceramic plate, and the piezoelectric ceramic plate is bonded to a substantially central portion of a surface thereof.

48. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein the vibrating plate has a larger outer shape than the piezoelectric ceramic plate, and is bonded to a substantially central portion of a surface thereof, the vibrating plate is a resin film, an area of the piezoelectric ceramic plate is 40 to 70% of an area of the vibrating plate, and the vibrating plate is thinner than a total thickness of the piezoelectric ceramic plate.

49. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein the vibrating plate is made of a clad material in which different materials are bonded in a layered manner and a cross section thereof has a sandwich structure.

50. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein said vibrating plate includes 2 surface layers constituting both surfaces of a clad material using a1 st raw material, and an elastic material layer having a higher elasticity than said clad material, which is formed by bonding both surfaces thereof to said surface layers, respectively, between said 2 surface layers using a2 nd raw material different from said 1 st raw material.

51. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 50, wherein said 1 st raw material has a thermal expansion coefficient within ± 50% of a thermal expansion coefficient of a piezoelectric ceramic plate to which said 1 st raw material is attached, and said 2 nd raw material has a density lower than that of said 1 st raw material.

52. The ultrasonic atomizer of claim 50, wherein the thickness of the surface layer is thinner than the thickness of the elastomeric layer.

53. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 50, wherein the 1 st and 2 nd raw materials are respectively formed by one of a metal and a polymer resin or a light soft metal or an alloy sheet thereof.

54. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein said vibrating plate is a membrane-like body to which said piezoelectric ceramic plate is attached, and said membrane-like body is fixed to a frame member provided at an outer peripheral portion of the membrane-like body in a state in which tension is applied thereto.

55. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, characterized in that said vibrating plate is a membrane-like body which is provided around said piezoelectric ceramic plate and elastically holds said piezoelectric ceramic plate; the vibrating plate is larger in size than the piezoelectric ceramics plate, and the piezoelectric ceramics plate is installed at a substantially central portion thereof.

56. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein the porous body has a conductivity in a thickness direction and a length direction and/or a width direction or a thickness direction and a radial direction.

57. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein the average pore diameter of the porous body is less than 100 μm.

58. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein the average pore diameter of the porous body is 0.05 μm to 30 μm.

59. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein the average pore diameter of the porous body is 0.5 μm to 10 μm.

60. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein the average pore diameter of the porous body is 0.5 μm to 5 μm.

61. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein the porosity of the porous body is 20% to 80%.

62. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein the porous body has a thickness of 0.01mm to 5 mm.

63. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, characterized in that at least 30% or more of the area of the porous body having the micropores coincides with the piezoelectrically active region of the ultrasonic atomizing sheet; or

At least more than 30% of the area of the piezoelectric active region of the ultrasonic atomization sheet coincides with the area of the porous body with the micropores.

64. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, characterized in that at least 50% or more of the area of the porous body having the micropores coincides with the piezoelectrically active region of the ultrasonic atomizing sheet; or

At least 50% of the area of the piezoelectric active region of the ultrasonic atomization sheet coincides with the area of the porous body with the micropores.

65. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, characterized in that at least 70% or more of the area of the porous body having the micropores coincides with the piezoelectrically active region of the ultrasonic atomizing sheet; or

At least 70% of the area of the piezoelectric active region of the ultrasonic atomization sheet coincides with the area of the porous body having micropores.

66. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, characterized in that at least 90% or more of the area of the porous body having the micropores coincides with the piezoelectrically active region of the ultrasonic atomizing sheet; or

At least more than 90% of the area of the piezoelectric active area of the ultrasonic atomization sheet coincides with the area of the porous body with the micropores.

67. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, characterized in that the porous body material is selected from one or more ceramic, geopolymer, metal, glass, zeolite, carbon or plastic materials.

68. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein the porous body and the ultrasonic atomizing plate form an integrated or split structure.

69. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, characterized in that the porous body is substantially or generally a square body.

70. The ultrasonic atomizer according to any one of claims 1 to 69, wherein said ultrasonic atomization sheet further includes an elastic adhesive body interposed between a1 st surface, which is one surface of said ultrasonic atomization sheet on which said piezoelectric ceramic plate is bent, and one main surface of said vibration plate, and joining said 1 st surface of said piezoelectric ceramic plate and said one main surface of said vibration plate, and at least a part of which is composed of a deformable viscoelastic body.

71. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 70, wherein said elastic bonded body is softer and more deformable than said vibrating plate, and has a smaller elastic modulus and rigidity than said vibrating plate.

72. The ultrasonic atomizer of claim 70, wherein said elastic bonding body has a thickness greater than the amplitude of bending vibration of said piezoceramic sheet.

73. The ultrasonic atomizer of claim 70, wherein said elastic bonding body comprises at least a base layer and an adhesive layer comprising said viscoelastic body.

74. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 70, wherein said elastic adhesive body has a 3-layer structure comprising 2 adhesive layers and said base layer disposed between said 2 adhesive layers.

75. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 74, wherein the base layer is composed of a nonwoven fabric and the viscoelastic body interposed between fibers of the nonwoven fabric.

76. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 70, characterized in that the viscoelastic body is present in all cross sections of the elastic bonding body between the surface on the piezoelectric ceramic plate side and the surface on the vibrating plate side.

77. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 70, wherein the vibrating plate is fixed to the support body via a2 nd elastic bonding body at least a part of which is composed of a viscoelastic body.

78. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claims 1 to 69, characterized in that the ultrasonic atomization plate is further used in combination with a protective coating.

79. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claims 1 to 69, wherein said ultrasonic atomizing plate further comprises a pair of terminals for internal electrical connection and/or external electrical connection of both electrodes of the piezoelectric vibrating piece in the ultrasonic atomizing plate and/or a conductive paste for fixing and electrical connection of said internal electrical connection and/or external electrical connection.

80. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 79, wherein said interconnector has a bifurcated structure located in a corner of said piezoelectric vibrating piece.

81. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 79, wherein said terminal comprises a conductive member electrically connected to both electrodes of a piezoelectric vibrating piece in said ultrasonic atomizing plate by conductive adhesives, respectively.

82. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein said piezoelectric ceramic plate is free of through holes.

83. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, characterized in that the finger width of the interdigital electrode or the distance between adjacent interdigital electrodes is 10nm to 1mm, respectively.

84. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein the finger width of the interdigital electrode or the distance between adjacent interdigital electrodes is 20nm to 500 μm, respectively.

85. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein the finger width of the interdigital electrode or the distance between adjacent interdigital electrodes is 40nm to 200 μm, respectively.

86. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein the finger width of the interdigital electrode or the distance between adjacent interdigital electrodes is 80nm to 100 μm, respectively.

87. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein the effective length of piezoelectric activity of the interdigital electrode finger is 0.5mm to 30 mm.

88. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein the finger width of said interdigital electrode is substantially equal to the distance between the adjacent interdigital electrode fingers.

89. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein said interdigital electrodes are selected from the group consisting of fence electrodes.

90. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein the interdigital electrode fingers of the same polarity are connected or communicated with the same bus bar, and the interdigital electrode (finger) of the other polarity is connected or communicated with the other bus bar.

91. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein the frequency range of the alternating current is 10kHz to 500 MHz.

92. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein the frequency range of the alternating current is 20kHz to 100 MHz.

93. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein the natural frequency of the piezoelectric active region of the piezoelectric ceramic plate is substantially the same as the frequency of the alternating current.

94. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein said interdigital electrodes are provided on or/and in a lower layer of the opposite surfaces of said piezoelectric ceramic plate.

95. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 94, wherein the polarity of said first interdigital electrode on the upper surface is opposite to the polarity of said first interdigital electrode on the lower surface, and said interdigital electrodes on both said upper and lower surfaces are counted from the same end of said piezoelectric ceramic plate.

96. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 94, wherein said interdigital electrodes are substantially symmetrically disposed on or/and in a lower layer on opposite surfaces of said piezoceramic plate.

97. An electronic cigarette device characterized by comprising the ultrasonic atomizer according to claims 1 to 96.

98. An electronic cigarette device according to claim 97, further comprising a heating component for heating the smoke atomized by the ultrasonic atomizer.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The ultrasonic atomizer has the following advantages:

1) the atomization efficiency can be obviously improved;

2) the temperature rise amplitude is obviously reduced during atomization;

3) the noise is obviously reduced during atomization;

4) the atomization is not easy to damage, and the mechanical strength is obviously improved;

5) the device can be used for a miniaturized portable device, the size is reduced, the device is light and thin, and the device is convenient to carry;

6) the cigarette has more purposes, is particularly suitable for medical use, such as lung inhalation, and is particularly suitable for electronic cigarettes.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of bending vibration when two piezoelectric ceramic plates (reverse polarization) are connected in series.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of bending vibration when two piezoelectric ceramic plates (with same polarization) are connected in parallel.

Fig. 3 shows a perspective view of the ultrasonic atomizer/sheet of example 1-1.

Fig. 4 shows a cross-sectional view in the width direction (a) and the length direction (B) of the ultrasonic atomizer/sheet of example 1-1.

FIG. 5A shows a cross-sectional view in the length-width direction of the ultrasonic atomizer of example 1-2; b shows a cross-sectional view along the length-height direction of the ultrasonic atomizer of examples 1-2.

Fig. 6 shows a cross-sectional view in the height-width direction of the ultrasonic atomizer of examples 1-2.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view in the width direction (A) and the length direction (B) of the ultrasonic atomization sheet of example 2-1.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view in the width direction (A) and the length direction (B) of the ultrasonic atomizer of example 2-1.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view in the width direction (A) and the length direction (B) of an ultrasonic atomizer according to example 3-1.

Fig. 10 shows a cross-sectional view in the length-height direction of the ultrasonic atomizer of example 4.

Fig. 11 is a cross-sectional view in the height-width direction of the lower part of the ultrasonic atomizer of example 4.

Fig. 12 shows a cross-sectional view in the height-width direction of the upper part of the ultrasonic atomizer of example 4.

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view in the height-width direction of the ultrasonic atomizer (containing no porous body) of example 6-1.

FIG. 14 is a projection view of a projected length-width plane from the height direction of an ultrasonic atomizer (containing no porous body) of example 6-1.

FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view of an ultrasonic atomizer according to example 7-1 taken along the length direction.

Fig. 16 is a cross-sectional view of the ultrasonic atomizer relating to comparative example 7-2 in the length direction.

FIG. 17 is a perspective view of a piezoelectric element according to embodiment 3-2.

Fig. 18 is a side sectional view of a piezoelectric element according to example 3-2.

Fig. 19 is a side sectional view of a piezoelectric element according to example 3-3.

Fig. 20 is a side sectional view of a piezoelectric element according to embodiments 3 to 4.

Fig. 21 is a side sectional view of a piezoelectric element according to embodiments 3 to 5.

Fig. 22 is a side sectional view of a piezoelectric ceramic plate 10 (laminated piezoelectric actuator) according to examples 3 to 6.

Fig. 23 is a perspective view of a piezoelectric ceramic plate 10 (laminated piezoelectric actuator) according to examples 3 to 6.

Fig. 24 is an exploded perspective view of the electrode arrangement in the piezoelectric ceramic plate 10 (multilayer piezoelectric actuator) according to examples 3 to 6.

Fig. 25 is a side sectional view of a piezoelectric element according to example 3.

Fig. 26 is a side sectional view in the width direction of an ultrasonic atomizing sheet according to example 8.

Fig. 27 is a schematic plan view showing interdigital electrodes in the ultrasonic atomizer of examples 10 and 11, wherein a denotes the (finger) width of the interdigital electrode, b denotes the distance between adjacent interdigital electrodes (fingers), p denotes the period length of an interdigital transducer composed of adjacent pairs of interdigital electrodes, and w denotes the piezoelectric active effective length of the interdigital electrode (finger) (or the aperture of the interdigital transducer described above).

FIG. 28 is a perspective view of an ultrasonic atomization sheet (not containing a porous body) relating to comparative example 1-1.

FIG. 29 is a perspective view of an ultrasonic atomizing sheet (containing a porous body) relating to comparative example 1-1.

[ examples ] A method for producing a compound

Example 1 and comparative example thereof

Example 1-1 (shown in FIGS. 3 and 4) preparation method:

1) manufacturing a piezoelectric ceramic plate 1 (such as lead zirconate titanate with the length of 20mm, the width of 10mm and the thickness of 1mm or other arbitrary piezoelectric materials), coating metal silver on two opposite surfaces with the largest area as surface electrodes 12 (not marked in the figure and positioned below the porous body 3), and respectively welding wires/leads 4 on the two electrodes to obtain an element 1;

2) the piezoelectric element 1 thus fabricated is mounted (fixed) on a vibrating plate 2 (bonded by an adhesive, the distance of three sides of the piezoelectric ceramic plate from the edge of the vibrating plate is, for example, 1mm) to obtain an element 2, such as a plate made of a metal sheet (e.g., 304 stainless steel or other material) having a length of 60mm, a width of 12mm and a thickness of 1 mm;

3) a porous body 3 (e.g., a plastic sponge such as polyamide and/or polyester and/or polyethylene having a length of 20mm and a width of 10mm and a thickness of 1mm, an average pore diameter of 4.5 μm and a porosity of 50%) having conductivity in the thickness direction and the length direction and/or the width direction and/or the radial direction was mounted (fixed) on the surface of the piezoelectric element 1 in the element 2 (the distance between each side of the porous body and the edge of the piezoelectric element by adhesive bonding is about 0mm) to obtain an element 3, i.e., example 1-1;

example 1-2 (as shown in fig. 5 and 6, 50 indicates a wall of a case 5, and 51 indicates an elastic adhesive for fixation) preparation method:

4) in the above-mentioned element 3, a groove 21 (for example, 2mm wide) is formed in the middle of about half of the portion of the vibrating plate not covered with the piezoelectric ceramic plate, which is adjacent to the piezoelectric ceramic plate, and the element is mounted (fixed) in the longitudinal direction (by means of a slit and an adhesive on both long lateral sides) in the middle of a square box 5 (for example, 55mm in outside length, 15mm in outside width, 15mm in outside height, 15mm in wall thickness, 2mm), a large portion (for example, 15mm in length) is exposed outside the box, a small portion (for example, 3mm in length) is hermetically held in the box, one side (for example, 15mm × 15mm) of the box holding the porous body is a bottom, the other opposite side (for example, 15mm × 15mm) is a top having an opening through which a liquid can be added, and no liquid leakage occurs from the bottom and the sides, the above-mentioned bonding wire/lead body is outside the box, and an alternating current (or alternating current) electric (signal) is applied between both electrodes to bend or bend the ultrasonic atomization sheet in the thickness direction thereof And/or torsional vibration, thereby obtaining example 1-2.

Examples 1-3 to 5 and comparative examples preparation methods:

the same as in examples 1-2 except for the following differences,

examples 1-3 the average pore diameter of the porous body was 0.5. mu.m;

examples 1-4 the average pore diameter of the porous bodies was 2.5. mu.m;

examples 1-5 the average pore size of the porous bodies was 15. mu.mL;

examples 1-6 the average pore diameter of the porous bodies was 25 μm;

examples 1-7 the average pore diameter of the porous bodies was 50 μm;

comparative example 1-1 (see Chinese patent CN208909134U, shown in FIGS. 28 and 29)

1) The length and width of the piezoelectric ceramic plate 2 were the same as those of the vibrating plate 2 in example 1, the thickness of the piezoelectric ceramic plate 2 was the same as that of the piezoelectric ceramic plate 1 in example 1, the piezoelectric ceramic plate 2 was fabricated, metallic silver was coated on both sides of the same position as that of the piezoelectric ceramic plate 1 on the vibrating plate 2 in example 1 to form surface electrodes 12, the length and width of the piezoelectric ceramic plate 2 were the same as those of the surface electrodes 12 in example 1, leads/leads 4 were respectively bonded to the two electrodes in the same manner as in example 1, the piezoelectric active region 1 was fabricated as in example 1, and one end having no piezoelectric active region was fabricated as a fixed end of the ultrasonic atomization sheet;

2) the same porous body 3 as in example 1 was bonded to the surface electrode 12 (piezoelectric active region 1) in the same manner as in example 1 to obtain comparative example 1-1;

comparative examples 1 to 2

The porous body is a porous body having only the thickness direction and no conductivity in the length direction, the width direction, and the radial direction (that is, the pores are through-holes in the thickness direction, and the size, material, average (surface) pore diameter, surface porosity, and the like are the same as those of example 1-1);

comparative examples 1 to 3

The porous body is a ceramic porous body having only the length direction or/and width direction or/and radial direction but no conductivity in the thickness direction (the surface of the ceramic body has grooves with concave and convex parts parallel to the surface, the size and material are the same as those of the porous body in example 1-1, and the width of the groove is the same as the average pore diameter of the porous body);

comparative examples 1 to 4

The porous body was a nonwoven fabric (average pore diameter was 100 μm, and conductivity in the thickness direction was substantially the same);

example 2 and comparative example thereof

Example 2-1 (shown in FIGS. 7-8) preparation method:

1) 2 pieces of piezoelectric ceramic plates 1 (such as lithium potassium sodium niobate (titanate) with the length of 30mm, the width of 10mm and the thickness of 0.05mm or other arbitrary piezoelectric materials) are manufactured, the two opposite surfaces with the largest area are coated with metal silver to be used as surface electrodes 12 (not marked in the figure), and wires/leads 11 are respectively welded on the two electrodes to obtain elements 1 (the two piezoelectric ceramic plates are polarized in the same direction);

2) mounting (fixing) the above-prepared 2 elements 1 on two sides and one side of a vibrating plate 2 (bonded by an adhesive, three sides of a piezoelectric ceramic plate are 1mm away from the edge of the vibrating plate) to obtain an element 2, wherein the plate is a resin plate (rigid plastic plate) with the length of 38mm, the width of 12mm and the thickness of 1mm, two inner electrodes (solid marking electrodes) are connected with one electrode 1, the other two outer electrodes (hollow marking electrodes) are connected with the other electrode 2, and applying an alternating current (or alternating current) electric (signal) between the electrodes 1 and 2 can bend or/and torsionally vibrate the element 2 in the thickness direction (as shown in fig. 7A, B);

3) 2 porous bodies 3 (e.g., ceramic and/or metal sponges having a length of 29mm and a width of 9mm and a thickness of 2mm, an average pore diameter of 2.0 μm, and a surface porosity of 40%) having conductivity in the thickness direction and the width direction and/or the radial direction were mounted (fixed) on the surface of the piezoelectric element 1 in the element 2 (bonded by an adhesive, and the distance between each side of the porous body and the edge of the piezoelectric element was about 0.5mm), respectively, to obtain an element 3, i.e., example 2-1 (see fig. 8A, B);

examples 2-2 to 7 and comparative examples thereof preparation methods:

the same as in example 2-1 except for the following differences,

example 2-2 the average pore diameter of the porous body was 0.5. mu.m;

examples 2-3 the average pore diameter of the porous body was 2.5. mu.m;

examples 2-4 the average pore diameter of the porous bodies was 25 μm;

examples 2-5 the average pore diameter of the porous body was 50 μm;

examples 2-6 the average pore diameter of the porous bodies was 100. mu.m;

examples 2 to 7

The two piezoelectric ceramic plates 1 are polarized in opposite directions (opposite-surface electrodes have the same polarity), two inner-side electrodes are connected together, and two outer-side electrodes are respectively connected with two ends of alternating current (or alternating current) electricity (signals) (as shown in fig. 1);

comparative example 2-1

The porous body was a nonwoven fabric porous body having conductivity only in the thickness direction and not in the longitudinal direction, the width direction, or the radial direction (i.e., the pores were through-pores in the thickness direction, and the other properties such as the size, material, average (surface) pore diameter, and surface porosity were the same as those of example 2-1).

Comparative example 2-2

Only the polarization of the two piezoelectric ceramic plates in opposite directions is changed (the polarities of the electrodes on the opposite surfaces are the same, and the electrodes are connected in parallel);

comparative examples 2 to 3

Only the electrodes are connected in series (from the original parallel connection) (namely two inner electrodes are connected together, and two outer electrodes are respectively connected with two ends of alternating current (/ or alternating current) electricity (signal)) (the two piezoelectric ceramic plates are polarized in the same direction, or the polarities of the electrodes on the opposite surfaces are opposite).

Example 3 and comparative example thereof

Example 3-1 (shown in FIG. 9) preparation method:

1) manufacturing a piezoelectric ceramic plate 1 (such as lead magnesium niobate or any other piezoelectric material with the length of 25mm, the width of 15mm and the thickness of 2mm), coating metal silver on two opposite surfaces with the largest area as surface electrodes 12 (not marked in the figure), and respectively welding wires/leads 11 on the two electrodes to obtain an element 1;

2) the piezoelectric element 1 thus fabricated is mounted (fixed) on a vibrating plate 2 (bonded by an adhesive, the distance of three sides of the piezoelectric ceramic plate from the edge of the vibrating plate is, for example, 1mm) to obtain an element 2, such as a plate made of a metal sheet (e.g., 304 stainless steel or other material) having a length of 60mm, a width of 17mm and a thickness of 1 mm;

3) a porous body 3 (e.g., a plastic sponge such as polyamide and/or polyester and/or polyethylene having a length of 25mm and a width of 15mm, a thickness of 0.5mm, an average pore diameter of 0.5 μm, and a porosity of 65%) having a conductivity in the thickness direction and the width direction and/or the radial direction is attached (fixed) to the surface of the element 2 on the side where the vibrating plate 2 is not provided with the piezoelectric element 1 (bonded by an adhesive, and the distance between the three sides of the porous body and the edge of the vibrating plate is 1mm, for example) to obtain an element 3, i.e., example 3-1;

examples 3-2 to 6 the same procedures, modes and preparation methods as in example 3-1 were followed for examples 3-1 except that the following were used:

example 3-2, example 3-1 in which the piezoelectric element 1 was replaced with the piezoelectric element 30 shown in FIGS. 17 to 18 and described below (the length, width and thickness thereof were the same as those of example 3-1);

example 3-3, example 3-1 the piezoelectric element 1 therein was replaced with the piezoelectric element 50 shown in FIG. 19 and described below (the length, width and thickness thereof were the same as those of example 3-1);

example 3-4, example 3-1 the piezoelectric element 1 therein was replaced with the piezoelectric element 30' shown in fig. 20 and described below (the length, width and thickness thereof were the same as those of example 3-1);

example 3-5, example 3-1 in which the piezoelectric element 1 was replaced with the piezoelectric element 50' shown in fig. 21 and described below (the length, width and thickness thereof were the same as those of example 3-1), the other points were the same as those of example 3-1;

in examples 3-6 and 3-1, the piezoelectric element 1 was replaced with the piezoelectric element 10 shown in FIGS. 22 to 24 and described below (the length, width and thickness thereof were the same as those in example 3-1), and the other points were the same as those in example 3-1.

As shown in fig. 17 and 18, the piezoelectric element 30 in example 3-2 is obtained by laminating two piezoelectric ceramic layers 31 and 32. The main surface electrodes 33 and 34 are formed on the upper surface and the lower surface of the piezoelectric element 30, respectively, and the internal electrode 35 is formed between the ceramic layers 31 and 32. The two ceramic layers 31 and 32 are polarized in the same direction with respect to the thickness direction shown by the bold arrows in fig. 18. In this embodiment, the upper main surface electrode 33 and the bottom main surface electrode 34 are formed so that their widths are both equal to the shorter sides of the piezoelectric element 30 and their lengths are both slightly shorter than the long sides of the piezoelectric element 30. One end of each of the upper and lower main surface electrodes 33 and 34 is connected to a terminal electrode 36 formed on an end face of one shorter side of the piezoelectric element 30. Thereby, the upper and lower main surface electrodes 33 and 34 are connected. The internal electrode 35 is formed so as to have a substantially symmetrical shape to the main surface electrodes 33 and 34. One end of the internal electrode 35 is separated from the terminal electrode 36, and the other end is connected to a terminal electrode 37 formed on an end face of the other shorter side of the piezoelectric element 30. Narrow auxiliary electrodes 38 connected to the end face electrodes 37 are formed on the upper and lower surfaces of the end portions on the other shorter side of the piezoelectric element 30.

Fig. 19 shows a piezoelectric element in embodiment 3-3. The piezoelectric element 50 in the present embodiment is obtained by laminating three piezoelectric ceramic layers 51 to 53. In this piezoelectric element 50, main surface electrodes 54 and 55 are formed on the upper surface and the lower surface of the piezoelectric element 50, respectively, and internal electrodes 56 and 57 are formed between the ceramic layers 51 and 52, and between the ceramic layers 52 and 53, respectively. The three ceramic layers are polarized in the same direction along the thickness direction shown by the bold arrows in fig. 19. In this embodiment, the main surface electrodes 54 and 55 are formed by the same method as shown in fig. 18 so that both of them have a width equal to that of the shorter side of the piezoelectric element 50 and both of them have a length shorter than that of the longer side of the piezoelectric element 50. One ends of the respective upper and lower main surface electrodes 54 and 55 are connected to an end face formed on one shorter side of the piezoelectric element 50. Thereby, the upper and lower main surface electrodes 54 and 55 are connected to each other. One end of each of the internal electrodes 56 and 57 is separated from the terminal electrode 58, and the other end thereof is connected to an end-face electrode 59 formed on the end face on the other shorter side of the piezoelectric element 50. Thereby, the internal electrodes 56 and 57 are also connected to each other. Narrow auxiliary electrodes 59a connected to the end face electrodes 59 are formed on the upper and lower surfaces of the end portions on the other shorter side of the piezoelectric element 50.

For example, when a negative voltage and a positive voltage are applied to the end face electrodes 58 and 59, respectively, an electric field is generated in a direction shown by an arrow of a thin body in fig. 19. At this time, since the internal electrodes 56 and 57 located on opposite sides of the intermediate ceramic layer 52 have equal potentials, they do not generate an electric field. Since the polarization direction is the same as the electric field direction of the upper ceramic layer 51, the ceramic upper layer 51 contracts in the planar direction, and since the polarization direction is opposite to the electric field direction of the ceramic lower layer 53, the lower ceramic layer 53 expands in the planar direction. The intermediate ceramic layer 52 neither expands nor contracts. Accordingly, the piezoelectric element 50 is bent so as to protrude downward. Applying an alternating voltage between the end face electrodes 58 and 59 can periodically vibrate the piezoelectric element in a bending mode and thereby generate a high amount of fogging.

In fig. 19, partial electrodes are used as the internal electrodes 56 and 57, but the entire electrodes may be used as shown in fig. 20.

The method of manufacturing the above-described piezoelectric element 50 having a three-layer structure is the same as the two-layer piezoelectric element 1 shown in fig. 25. That is, three ceramic green sheets are laminated and pressure-bonded by forming an electrode film in a predetermined pattern by printing on the surface of the ceramic green sheet in a mother substrate state or the like. Next, the laminated body is stamped or cut into a shape corresponding to the piezoelectric element 50. The already embossed or cut laminate is then simultaneously fired to a sintered laminate. Next, main surface electrodes 54 and 55 are formed on the upper and lower main surfaces of the sintered laminate, and all of the ceramic layers 52 to 53 constituting the laminate are polarized in the same direction with respect to the thickness direction by applying a polarizing voltage across these main surface electrodes. After that, the end face electrodes 58 and 59 and the like are formed, thereby realizing the piezoelectric element 50. Also in this case, when polarization is performed, connection between the internal electrodes 56 and 57, and between the main surface electrodes 54 and 55 is not necessary. Polarization may be performed by applying a voltage across only the major surface electrodes 54 and 55. This makes the polarization process simple.

Fig. 20 shows a piezoelectric element in embodiment 3-4, which is a modification shown in fig. 18. In fig. 18, the internal electrode 35 is a partial electrode, but in fig. 20, the internal electrode 35 is an entire electrode. In this case, since the entire electrode 35 extends to the end face electrode 36, there is a risk that the internal electrode is connected to the end face electrode 36. To avoid this risk, an insulating layer 39 is formed on the end face of the piezoelectric element 30', and then, an end face electrode 36 connecting the main surface electrodes 33 and 34 is formed on the insulating layer 39. Thereby, even when the internal electrode 35 is the entire electrode, the internal electrode 35 can be reliably insulated from the main surface electrodes 33 and 34.

Fig. 21 shows a piezoelectric element in embodiments 3 to 5. The embodiment shown in fig. 19 is a piezoelectric element having such a structure in which the thicknesses of all the ceramic layers 51 to 53 are substantially the same. On the other hand, the embodiment shown in fig. 21 is a piezoelectric element having such a structure that the intermediate ceramic layer 52 is thicker than the ceramic layers 51 and 53. Preferably, the thickness of the intermediate ceramic layer 52 is 50 to 50 percent of the overall thickness of the piezoelectric element 50

As shown in fig. 22 to 24, the piezoelectric ceramic plate 10 (laminated piezoelectric actuator) in example 3-6 includes a laminated body 3 having a plurality of laminated piezoelectric ceramic layers 1, and a plurality of first effective internal electrodes 2a and a plurality of second effective internal electrodes 2b that are provided so as to face each other with the piezoelectric ceramic layers 1 interposed therebetween and contribute to finding piezoelectric characteristics.

The regions where the first effective internal electrodes 2a and the second effective internal electrodes 2b face each other with the piezoelectric ceramic layers 1 interposed therebetween constitute an actual drive region Q.

In fig. 22 to 24, arrows indicate the polarization direction of the piezoelectric ceramic layer 1. This representation is the same for the other figures showing the piezoelectric stack of the present embodiment.

The first effective internal electrodes 2a are led out to the first side surface 3a of the laminated green body 3, and the second effective internal electrodes 2b are led out to the second side surface 3 b.

The first side surface 3a and the second side surface 3b of the laminated green body 3 are provided with a first side surface electrode 4a electrically connected to the first effective internal electrode 2a led out to the first side surface 3a and a second side surface electrode 4b electrically connected to the second effective internal electrode 2b led out to the second side surface 3 b.

Of the upper (front) main surface 3c and the lower (reverse) main surface 3d of the laminated green body 3, the upper main surface 3c is provided with a first main surface electrode 5a1 electrically connected to the first side surface electrode 4a and a second main surface electrode 5b1 electrically connected to the second side surface electrode 4b, and the lower main surface 3d is provided with a first reverse main surface electrode 5a2 electrically connected to the first side surface electrode 4a and a second reverse main surface electrode 5b2 electrically connected to the second side surface electrode 4 b.

The first main surface electrode 5a1 has a region (stress application region) Ra to which stress is applied in any one of the polarizing step, the characteristic confirming step, the laminated green body conveying step, and the connecting step for applying a driving voltage, and the second main surface electrode 5b1 also has a region (stress application region) Rb to which stress is applied in any one of the steps.

Further, when viewed from the lamination direction, the first dummy electrodes 6a that do not contribute to the discovery of piezoelectric characteristics are provided in the regions 3Ra of the laminated green body 3 corresponding to the regions Ra to which the first main surface electrodes 5a1 are stressed, and the second dummy electrodes 6b that do not contribute to the discovery of piezoelectric characteristics are provided in the regions 3Rb of the laminated green body 3 corresponding to the regions Rb to which the second main surface electrodes 5b1 are stressed.

The first dummy electrodes 6a and the second effective internal electrodes 2b are formed on the same plane, and the number of layers of the first dummy electrodes 6a is the same as the number of layers of the second effective internal electrodes 2 b. And the second dummy electrodes 6b are formed on the same plane as the first effective internal electrodes 2a, and the number of layers of the second dummy electrodes 6b is the same as that of the first effective internal electrodes 2 a.

In examples 3 to 6, the first side electrode and the second side electrode were provided on a pair of sides of the laminated green body facing each other, but a structure in which the first side electrode and the second side electrode were provided on adjacent sides, or a structure in which they were provided on the same side, may be employed. A known technique is used for a method of manufacturing the piezoelectric ceramic plate 10 (multilayer piezoelectric actuator).

Example 4 and comparative example thereof

Example (as shown in FIGS. 10-12) preparation method:

1) manufacturing a piezoelectric element 1 (such as one with the length of 25mm, the width of 12mm and the thickness of 0.3mm, wherein two layers of piezoelectric ceramic plates (perovskite structural compounds of Nb acid-base compounds or other arbitrary piezoelectric materials) are polarized in the same direction, an inner electrode 11 (such as 70% of silver and 30% of palladium alloy) is arranged in the piezoelectric element 1, two opposite surfaces with the largest area are coated with metal silver to be used as outer electrodes 12, the inner electrode and the outer electrode are respectively welded with leads 13 (wherein the two outer electrodes are connected together, and the inner electrode and the outer electrode are respectively connected with two ends of alternating current (or alternating current) electricity (signals)), and the leads are provided with insulating sheaths;

2) punching a metal sheet 2 (e.g., about 80mm long by about 15mm wide by about 0.2mm thick) into a sheet-like case 3 (e.g., about 40mm long by about 12.5mm wide by about 12mm wide by about 0.7mm thick by about 0.3mm high by about 12mm wide by about 0.3mm wide), wherein one side of the case having the smallest surface area is open 31 and the other five sides are closed, mounting (fixing) the element 1 (by an elastic adhesive 4) in the sheet-like case (the element 1 is connected to the unopened side of the case having the smallest surface area), and leading a lead 13 out from the opening 31 of the case (the lead body is outside the case, applying an alternating current (or alternating) electric (signal) between the internal and external electrodes can bend or/and torsionally vibrate the ultrasonic atomization sheet in the thickness direction thereof), and the excess space in the case 3 is filled with the elastic adhesive 4, thereby obtaining an element 2 in which the piezoelectric element is surrounded by a vibrating plate;

3) a porous body 5 (e.g., an epoxy resin type or acrylic type or polyimide type plastic sponge or geopolymer material (inorganic polymer material) having a length of 25mm and a width of 10mm and a thickness of 2mm and a width of 15mm and a width of 10mm and a thickness of 6 mm) and having a conductivity in the thickness direction and the length direction or/and the width direction or/and the radial direction, and having an average pore diameter of 2.5 μm and a porosity of 70%) is mounted (fixed) on both surfaces (central portions) of the element 2 opposite to each other having the largest surface area (bonded by an elastic adhesive 4) to obtain a desired element.

Comparative examples 4-1 and 4-2

The same as in the examples except that the average pore diameters of the porous bodies were 50 μm and 100 μm, respectively;

comparative examples 4 to 3

The same as the embodiment except that the piezoelectric element 1 does not include an internal electrode, and the two opposite surfaces with the largest area are coated with metallic silver as two electrodes (the application of alternating current (or alternating current) electricity (signal) between the two electrodes does not substantially cause the ultrasonic atomization sheet to bend or/and vibrate in torsion in the thickness direction);

comparative examples 4 to 4

The same applies to the embodiment except that the sheet-like case is not included, and the porous body is mounted (fixed) on the surfaces of the two opposing electrodes having the largest area of the piezoelectric element 1 (bonded by an adhesive);

comparative examples 4 to 5

The porous body is a porous body having only a thickness direction and no conductivity in a length direction, a width direction, and a radial direction (that is, the pores are through-holes in the thickness direction, and the size, material, average (surface) pore diameter, surface porosity, and the like are the same as those in the examples), and the others are the same as those in the examples.

Example 5

Based on example 1-2, where the various components (as indicated in the dimensions) were scaled down by half, a smaller ultrasonic atomizer was constructed, with the following modifications, in addition to the above modifications, and others:

example 5-1

The porous body 3 is moved from the surface of the piezoelectric element 1 to the back surface of the vibrating plate 2 (i.e., the surface without the piezoelectric element 1), and the porous body 3 is substantially overlapped with the piezoelectric element 1 as viewed in the thickness direction;

examples 5 and 2

Moving the porous body 3 from the surface of the piezoelectric element 1 to the other end of the vibrating plate 2 on the side of the piezoelectric element 1, wherein the porous body 3 and the piezoelectric element 1 are bilaterally symmetrical on the vibrating plate 2 about the central axis thereof, and when assembling the box, the opening 21 on the vibrating plate 2 is shortened to the edge of the porous body 3 and the piezoelectric element 1 (for example, the opening is 1mm away from the center) except that the porous body 3 replaces the original position of the piezoelectric element 1 and the piezoelectric element 1 is fixed in the square box 5 (namely, the position of the ultrasonic atomization sheet is rotated by 180 degrees by taking the center as the origin), and the other parts are unchanged;

examples 5 to 3

On the back of the vibrating plate 2 (i.e. one side without the piezoelectric element 1), another same piezoelectric element 1 (with the same polarization direction or the opposite electrodes of the piezoelectric element are opposite in polarity) and a porous body 3 (wherein two outer electrodes are connected together, two inner electrodes are connected together, and the outer electrode and the inner electrode are respectively connected to two ends of an alternating current (/ or alternating current) electric (signal) as shown in fig. 2) are symmetrically arranged in the left-right direction by the same method, so that the ultrasonic atomizer becomes a double-piezoelectric element double-porous body, when the box is assembled, no slot is formed on the vibrating plate 2, the vibrating plate 2 is properly extended to the opening of the square box 5 (flush with the edge of the box shell), two side spaces of the box separated by the vibrating plate are not communicated, two independent liquid storage containers are formed, and two ultrasonic atomizers which can be operated in parallel and can atomize two different liquids;

examples 5 to 4

On the back surface of the vibrating plate 2 (i.e. the surface without the piezoelectric element 1), the piezoelectric element 1' with the opposite polarization direction to the original piezoelectric element 1 (i.e. the electrodes on the opposite surfaces of the piezoelectric element have the same polarity, wherein the two inner electrodes are connected together, and the two outer electrodes are respectively connected with the two ends of the alternating current (/ or alternating current) electricity (signal), as shown in fig. 1) and the porous body 3 are symmetrically arranged in the left-right direction, so that the ultrasonic atomizer with the double piezoelectric element and the double porous bodies is formed, and the others are the same as the example 5-3;

examples 5 to 5

An ultrasonic atomizer constructed in which various components (as shown in the dimensions) were reduced in equal proportion by half based on examples 1-2.

Comparative example 5-1

Only the polarization of the two piezoelectric ceramic plates is changed in opposite directions (the polarities of the electrodes on the opposite surfaces are the same, and the electrode connection is still parallel), and the others are the same as those in example 5-3;

comparative example 5-2

Only the two piezoelectric ceramic plates have the same polarization direction (or the opposite electrodes have opposite polarities), and the electrodes are connected in series (i.e., two inner electrodes are connected together, and two outer electrodes are respectively connected to two ends of an alternating current (/ or alternating current) power (signal)), and the other is the same as that of example 5-4.

Example 6

Example 6-1 based on example 4, in which the various components (as indicated in the dimensions) were reduced by half in equal proportion, a smaller ultrasonic atomizer was constructed, which, in addition to the above-mentioned variations, also had the following modifications, including the fixing means, and others:

a new element 2 'is made on the basis of the original element 2 according to the figures 13 and 14, namely 4U-shaped slot assemblies 6 are bonded on the upper, middle and lower parts and the bottom parts of two sides of the original element 2 by elastic bonding agents 4, an elastic body 7 is adhered on the surface of the element 2 combined with the porous body, the elastic body 7 is also adhered on the inner side of the U-shaped slot, the difference between the width d1 in the slot and the sum of the thicknesses of the element 2 and the two porous bodies 5 is larger than 0 but slightly smaller than the sum of the thicknesses of the elastic body 7 on the element 2 and the elastic body 7 on the inner side of the U-shaped slot, the difference between the inner width d2 between the slot and the element 2 and the thickness of the porous body 5 is larger than 0 but slightly smaller than the sum of the thicknesses of the elastic body 7 on the element 2 and the elastic body 7 on the inner side of the U-shaped slot, thereby the porous body 5 can be stably fixed but not strongly restrain the element 2' and the porous body 355 (facilitating the vibration atomization thereof), and the length of the slot d0 is smaller than one third of the length of the element 2 and larger than one tenth of the one fourth of the element 2 or three tenth of the width of the element 2 At one fourth, the depth d3 of the clamping groove is less than one tenth and more than one twentieth of the width of the element 2 (the surface of the porous body 5 is not covered too much to avoid affecting the atomization function thereof, and the porous body 5 can be stably fixed);

a rectangular parallelepiped porous body 5 (a porous polypropylene-based meltblown having a conductivity in the thickness direction and the length direction and/or the width direction and/or the radial direction, and having an average pore diameter of 4.5 μm in example 6-1) is inserted into the above-mentioned fitting grooves of the element 2' and fixed (the porous body 5 can be easily inserted into or taken out of the above-mentioned fitting grooves, and the porous body 5 can be easily replaced when damaged or when another pore diameter needs to be replaced).

Examples 6-2, 3 and 4 the same as example 6-1 except for the following differences,

example 6 to 2

The porous body is a ceramic slurry layer;

examples 6 to 3

The porous body is cotton;

comparative example 6-1

The porous body is a nonwoven fabric (polypropylene type, basically, conductivity in the thickness direction);

example 7 and comparative example thereof

Example 7-1, 2 (shown in FIGS. 15, 16) preparation methods:

1) making a piezoelectric ceramic plate 1 (such as lead magnesium niobate or any other piezoelectric material), coating metal silver on two opposite surfaces with the largest area as surface electrodes 12 (not marked in the figure), and respectively welding wires/leads 11 on the two electrodes to obtain an element 1;

2) the piezoelectric element 1 thus fabricated was mounted (fixed) on a vibrating plate 2 (bonded by an adhesive, the piezoelectric ceramic plate and the vibrating plate were partially overlapped with each other, and the overlapped area occupied 30% of the area of the piezoelectric ceramic plate), to obtain an element 2;

3) a porous body 3 (e.g., a polyamide-based/polyester-based/polyethylene-based sponge body having a mean pore diameter of about 4.5 μm and a porosity of about 56%) having a conductivity in the thickness direction and the length direction or/and the width direction or/and the radial direction was mounted (fixed) on the surface of the piezoelectric element 1 in the above element 2 (bonded by an adhesive, and the distance from each side of the porous body to the edge of the piezoelectric element was about 0mm), to obtain an element 3, i.e., example 7-1 (see fig. 15);

or a porous body 3 (e.g., a fluoroplastic or silicone-based sponge having an average pore diameter of about 4.5 μm and a porosity of about 56%), was mounted (fixed) on the vibrating plate 2 in the above-mentioned element 2 (the porous body 3 and the vibrating plate were partially overlapped with each other by adhesive bonding, and the overlapping area occupied the area of the porous body 3 was 30%), to obtain an element 3, i.e., example 7-2 (see fig. 16).

Comparative example 7-1

The same as in example 7-1 except that the overlapped area was 5% of the area of the piezoelectric ceramic plate;

comparative example 7-2

The same procedure as in example 7-2 was repeated, except that the overlapping area was 5% of the area of the porous body 3.

Example 8 and comparative example thereof

Examples 8-1 and 2 according to the method and mode of example 1-1, only the structure layer of the vibrating plate 2 is changed as shown in fig. 26, that is, the middle layer of the vibrating plate 2 is replaced by the elastic material to form an elastic material interlayer 2-2 and two surface layers 2-1, the size and the whole thickness of the vibrating plate 2 are the same as those of example 1-1, the surface layer (metal plate) 2-1 is made of phosphor copper 42Ni or 304 stainless steel material,

example 8-1: the interlayer elastic material layer 2-2 is a rubber elastic resin sheet, and as the film sheet, for example, a rubber-based polymer resin sheet made of rubber such as Styrene Butadiene Rubber (SBR), Butadiene Rubber (BR), acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (NBR), ethylene propylene rubber (EPM), ethylene propylene diene rubber (EPDM), or a compound thereof;

example 8-2: the interlayer elastic material layer 2-2 is a metal sheet which takes aluminum, magnesium, titanium or alloy thereof as raw materials;

the rest of the process was the same as in example 1-1.

Comparative example 8-1

Same as in example 1-1.

Example 9 and comparative example thereof

In the method and mode of example 3-1, the vibrating plate 2 in the ultrasonic atomization sheet was replaced with the film body 10 described below, the piezoelectric element 1 was fixed to the substantially central portion of the film body 10, and the surface area of the piezoelectric element 1 was appropriately adjusted to 25% (example 9-1), 45% (example 9-2), and 70% (example 9-3) of the surface area of the film body 10, and fixed as described below, and the others were the same as in example 3-1.

The film body is a film body made of a polyimide resin having a thickness of 25 μm, and is fixed to a case (frame member) in a state where tension is applied thereto, and the piezoelectric element 1 is bonded by applying an adhesive locally to the center of the main surface of the fixed film body, and the adhesive is cured in air at 120 ℃ for 1 hour. The size of the membrane body in the housing (frame member) was set to 38mm in the longitudinal direction and 31mm in the transverse direction, which was adapted to the size of the housing.

Comparative examples 9-1 and 2 were similar to example 9-1 except that the surface area of the piezoelectric element 1 was appropriately adjusted to 10% and 90% of the surface area of the film body 10, respectively.

Example 10

The preparation method of the ultrasonic atomization sheet 1 comprises the following steps:

1) preparing a piezoelectric ceramic plate 11 (such as lead zirconate titanate with the length of 25mm, the width of 15mm and the thickness of 1mm or any other piezoelectric material), coating a surface with the largest area with metal silver (the thickness is about 2 μm), engraving an interdigital electrode by using laser in the central area (the length is about 20mm and the width is about 10mm) of the piezoelectric ceramic plate, respectively welding a lead/lead 111 to two bus bars, wherein a is 200 μm, w is 8mm, p is 2a +2b is 4a, and each bus bar is 2.5mm wide in width according to the mode in fig. 27;

2) the element 1 thus produced was attached (fixed) to the substantially central portion of the vibrating plate 12 (by bonding with an adhesive) without the interdigital electrode on one surface thereof to obtain an element 2, such as a hard resin plate having a length of 30mm, a width of 20mm and a thickness of 1 mm;

3) rectangular parallelepiped porous bodies 5 (porous polyester meltblown having conductivity in the thickness direction and length direction and/or width direction and/or radial direction, average pore diameter of 15 μm, porosity of 50%, and length, width and thickness substantially the same as those of the piezoelectric ceramic plate 11) were respectively attached (fixed) to the surfaces of the above-mentioned elements 1 and 2 having interdigital electrodes, to obtain examples 10-1 and 10-2.

Comparative example the same as example 10-2 (including the vibrating plate) was conducted except that the following differences,

comparative example 10-1

The porous body was a nonwoven fabric (polypropylene type, having an average pore diameter of 15 μm and basically having conductivity in the thickness direction);

example 11

The preparation method of the ultrasonic atomization sheet 1 comprises the following steps:

1) making a piezoelectric ceramic plate 11 (such as nickel lead niobate with a length of 25mm, a width of 15mm and a thickness of 15 μm or any other piezoelectric material), coating a surface with the largest area with silver (with a thickness of about 1 μm), etching an interdigital electrode in a central area (with a length of about 20mm and a width of about 10mm) of the piezoelectric ceramic plate by using a photoetching machine in a manner shown in fig. 27, leaving a margin area with a width of 2.5mm on each of four sides, wherein a is 50nm, w is 8mm, p is 2a +2b is 4a, welding wires/leads 111 on two busbars, and finally spraying a polytetrafluoroethylene coating on the surface of the element to form a dense protective film to wrap the whole element, thereby obtaining an element 1;

2) one surface of the element 1 formed as described above, which has no interdigital electrode, is attached (fixed) to a substantially central portion of the vibration plate 12 (by bonding with an adhesive) to obtain an element 2, such as a metal plate (e.g., 304 stainless steel or other metal material) having a length of 30mm, a width of 20mm, and a thickness of 200 μm;

3) rectangular parallelepiped porous bodies 5 (porous polytetrafluoroethylene sponges having conductivity in the thickness direction and length direction and/or width direction and/or radial direction, average pore diameter of 5 μm, porosity of 50%, and length, width, and thickness substantially the same as those of the piezoelectric ceramic plate 11) were respectively attached (fixed) to the surfaces of the elements 1 and 2 on which the interdigital electrodes were provided, to obtain examples 11-1 and 11-2.

Comparative example the same as example 11-2 (including the vibrating plate) was conducted except that the following differences,

comparative example 11-1

The porous body was a nonwoven fabric (polytetrafluoroethylene, average pore diameter 5 μm, conductivity in the thickness direction).

Example 12 and comparative example thereof

The piezoelectric element 1 was modified as follows in accordance with the method and mode of example 1-1, and the others were the same as in example 1-1.

The piezoelectric element 1 is: one surface of the piezoelectric ceramic plate having the largest area is coated with silver metal (thickness about 2 μm), an interdigital electrode is formed in the central area thereof by a photolithography machine in the manner shown in fig. 27, four sides thereof are each left with a margin about 2mm wide, wherein a is 25 μm, b is 15 μm, w is 4mm, and p is 2a +2b is 80 μm, the two bus bars are respectively welded with a lead/lead 4, and finally, a resin of polyamideimine with thickness of 5 to 10 μm is sprayed on the surface of the element to form a dense protective film to wrap the entire element.

Comparative example 12

The same procedure as in example 12 was repeated except that the vibration plate 2 was removed.

Example 13

The preparation method comprises the following steps:

1) manufacturing an ultrasonic atomization sheet 1: metallic silver (thickness about 2 μm) is coated on opposite surfaces of a piezoelectric ceramic plate 11 (e.g., lead zirconate titanate having a length of 25mm, a width of 15mm and a thickness of 0.1mm or any other piezoelectric material) having the largest area, interdigital electrodes are laser-engraved in a central area thereof (length about 20mm, width about 10mm) in the manner shown in fig. 27, four sides each leaving a margin region having a width of 2.5mm, wherein a is 20 μm, w is 8mm, and p is 2a +2b is 4a, lead wires/leads 111 are respectively welded to the two bus bars, the lead wires/leads are respectively connected to both ends of alternating current, and the polarity of the first interdigital electrode on the upper surface is opposite to the polarity of the first interdigital electrode on the lower surface (the interdigital electrodes on the upper and lower surfaces are both counted from the same end) (e.g., in series mode, that the two bus bars on the upper and lower surfaces are electrically connected together at one end of the piezoelectric ceramic plate 11, the two bus bars on the upper surface and the lower surface of the other end of the element are respectively and electrically connected with two ends of alternating current (or alternating) electricity (signals), and finally polyester paint is sprayed on the surface of the element to form a compact protective film to wrap the whole element to obtain an element 1;

2) the element 1 thus produced was attached (fixed) to the substantially central portion of the vibrating plate 12 (by bonding with an adhesive) with the interdigital electrode on one side thereof to obtain an element 2, such as a hard resin plate having a length of 60mm, a width of 20mm and a thickness of 0.3 mm;

3) a rectangular parallelepiped porous body 5 (porous polyester meltblown having conductivity in the thickness direction and length direction and/or width direction and/or radial direction, average pore diameter of 5 μm, porosity of 50%, and length, width and thickness substantially the same as those of the piezoelectric ceramic plate 11) was respectively bonded (fixed) to both surfaces of the above-mentioned element 1 or 2 having interdigital electrodes, to obtain example 13-1 or 13-2.

Comparative example

In the comparative example, the above-mentioned wires/leads were connected to both ends of alternating current, respectively, and the polarity of the first interdigital electrode on the upper surface was made the same as that of the first interdigital electrode on the lower surface (the interdigital electrodes on the upper and lower surfaces were counted from the same end) (e.g., parallel mode), except that otherwise, the same as in example 13-2.

Test example

Test example 1 atomization Performance test

Dropping a liquid (such as water or an aqueous solution) to be atomized into the uppermost end of the porous body or a container (such as examples 1-2, 5 and a comparative example) in the ultrasonic atomizer of each example or the comparative example (the side with the porous body faces upwards and forms an included angle of 80 degrees with the horizontal direction), connecting alternating current (or alternating current) electricity (signal) under a constant temperature and humidity environment (such as the temperature of 25 ℃ and the relative humidity of 75%) to atomize the liquid, gradually increasing the dropping speed until droplets which cannot be atomized drop down from the ultrasonic atomizer or overflow from the container, and recording the maximal dropping speed of the droplets which cannot be atomized drop down from the ultrasonic atomizer or overflow from the container, namely the maximal atomization amount (g) per minute;

measuring the noise at the position (same direction or angle) 10cm away from the atomizer during atomization;

and (3) measuring the temperature difference between the surface temperature of the atomizer (at the same position) after the atomization in the same running time (such as 0.5-1 hour) and the temperature rise value before the atomization.

Using 1350 samples of example or control atomizers, 1000 replicates or until failure (1000 replicates) were performed as described above, and the failure rate of the atomizer was counted and calculated before 1000 replicates.

The results of the above experiments are shown in Table 1.

Immediately introducing the atomized mist into a closed low container at a temperature of not higher than-40 deg.C, quickly freezing to obtain solid particles, measuring the particle diameter r of the solid particles in a low temperature environment at a temperature below-5 deg.C, calculating the average particle diameter (average r') and counting the particle diameter distribution. The results are shown in Table 2.

TABLE 1-1 test results of Performance of examples and comparative examples thereof

	Examples 1 to 2	Comparative example 1 to 1	Comparative examples 1 to 2	Comparative examples 1 to 3	Example 2-1	Examples 2 to 7
							Amount of atomized particles/g	3.52	1.13	0.32	2.02	20.6	17.8
Noise/db	29	37			28	29
							Temperature rise value/. degree C	6	15			4	5
Percent of damage/%)	2.7	11.6			1.4	1.6

Description of the drawings: the above examples refer to embodiments, the above examples refer to comparative examples, and the following is the same.

Tables 1-2 test results of the Performance of examples and comparative examples thereof

	Comparative example 2-1	Comparative examples 2 to 2	Comparative example2-3	Example 3-1	Examples 3 to 2	Examples 3 to 3
							Amount of atomized particles/g	6.53	0.67	0.81	3.83	6.87	10.8
Noise/db		38	39
							Temperature rise value/. degree C		16	18
Percent of damage/%)		11.3	12.8

Tables 1-3 test results of the Performance of examples and comparative examples thereof

	Examples 3 to 4	Examples 3 to 5	Examples 3 to 6	Example 4	Comparative examples 4 to 3	Comparative examples 4 to 4
							Amount of atomized particles/g	7.84	15.6	28.8	8.62	2.83	3.92
Noise/db				28		34
							Temperature rise value/. degree C				3		7
Percent of damage/%)				1.2		9.8

Tables 1-4 test results of the Performance of examples and comparative examples thereof

Comparative examples 4 to 5

Example 5-1

Examples 5 to 2

Examples 5 to 3

Examples 5 to 4

Examples 5 to 5

Amount of atomized particles/g

1.27

4.56

2.02

11.1

8.46

3.23

Noise/db

Temperature rise value/. degree C

Percent of damage/%)

Tables 1-5 examples and comparative examples thereof

Comparative example 5-1

Comparative example 5 to 2

Example 6-1

Example 6-2

Examples 6 to 3

Comparative example 6-1

Amount of atomized particles/g

0.61

0.82

5.73

3.83

2.93

1.76

Noise/db

Temperature rise value/. degree C

Percent of damage/%)

Tables 1-6 examples and comparative examples thereof

	Example 7-1	Example 7-2	Comparative example 7-1	Comparative example 7-2	Example 8-1	Example 8-2
							Amount of atomized particles/g	2.26	1.58	0.71	0.48	11.3	6.45
Noise/db					24	26
							Temperature rise value/. degree C					2	4
Percent of damage/%)					1.0	1.3

Tables 1 to 7 examples and comparative examples thereof

	Comparative example 8	Example 9-1	Example 9-2	Examples 9 to 3	Comparative example 9-1	Comparative example 9-2
							Amount of atomized particles/g	3.83	5.56	2.58	2.82	1.08	1.73
Noise/db	29
							Temperature rise value/. degree C	7
Percent of damage/%)	2.8

Tables 1-8 examples and comparative examples thereof

	Example 10-1	Example 10-2	Comparative example 10-1	Example 11-1	Example 11-2	Comparative example 11-1
							Amount of atomized particles/g	1.32	2.23	0.38	14.1	23.3	3.52
Noise/db
							Temperature rise value/. degree C
Percent of damage/%)	12.5	3.25		18.2	4.53

Tables 1 to 9 results of performance test of examples and comparative examples thereof

	Example 12	Comparative example 12	Example 13-1	Example 13-2	Comparative example 13
							Amount of atomized particles/g	7.35	5.21	23.6	33.8	3.82
Noise/db
							Temperature rise value/. degree C
Percent of damage/%)	3.72	16.8	13.4	2.76	15.8

TABLE 2-1 test results of Performance (II) of examples and their comparative examples

	Examples 1 to 2	Examples 1 to 5	Examples 1 to 6	Examples 1 to 7	Comparative examples 1 to 3	Comparative examples 1 to 4
							Average r' (μm)	5.3	18.6	28.4	57.7	153.8	115.2
r≤5μm	61.7	15.9	11.8	7.4	0.8	1.2
							5＜r≤10μm	20.6	23.7	19.7	11.8	2.8	4.2
10＜r≤30μm	9.6	32.8	34.5	18.6	5.1	7.6
							30＜r≤50μm	4.8	16.7	20.2	28.5	13.7	15.7
50＜r≤100μm	2.5	8.4	9.6	23.6	22.5	25.8
							r＞100μm	0.8	2.5	4.2	10.2	55.1	45.5

Table 2-2 examples and their comparative examples Performance (ii) test results

	Examples 2 to 4	Examples 2 to 5	Examples 2 to 6	Example 4	Comparative example 4-1	Comparative example 4 to 2
							Average r' (μm)	28.7	56.3	108.9	5.1	53.7	106.8
r≤5μm	9.7	4.5	2.6	56.6	4.6	2.3
							5＜r≤10μm	18.3	9.4	5.2	26.2	9.8	6.9
10＜r≤30μm	36.7	20.5	14.7	10.9	18.3	12.4
							30＜r≤50μm	21.6	31.8	23.8	3.8	38.2	22.4
50＜r≤100μm	9.6	23.6	32.8	1.8	20.7	36.5
							r＞100μm	4.1	10.2	20.9	0.7	8.4	19.5

Claims (97)

1. An ultrasonic atomizer is characterized by comprising an ultrasonic atomizing sheet and a porous body,

the ultrasonic atomization sheet includes a piezoelectric ceramic plate and a vibration plate, the piezoelectric ceramic plate is disposed on the vibration plate, an overlapping area is formed between the piezoelectric ceramic plate and the vibration plate when viewed from a thickness direction, an area of the overlapping area accounts for more than 30% of an entire area of one surface of the piezoelectric ceramic plate including the overlapping area,

the opposite electrodes are arranged on the opposite surfaces of the piezoelectric ceramic plate or/and between the opposite surfaces to be used as piezoelectric active regions, or the adjacent interdigital electrodes are arranged on the surface of the piezoelectric ceramic plate or/and in the surface lower layer to be used as the piezoelectric active regions,

the porous body is arranged on the surface of the ultrasonic atomization sheet, and the area of the porous body with the micropores and the piezoelectric active area of the ultrasonic atomization sheet are partially or completely overlapped with each other when viewed from the thickness direction.

2. An ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, characterized in that said piezoelectric ceramic plate or/and said vibrating plate is a substantially or generally square flat body.

3. An ultrasonic nebulizer according to claim 1, wherein the piezoelectric ceramic plate or/and the vibrating plate is a substantially or generally rectangular flat body.

4. An ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein the distance between opposing electrodes in any one of said piezoelectrically active regions of said plate is less than the thickness of said vibrating plate.

5. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, characterized in that the mechanical strength of said vibrating plate is higher than the mechanical strength of said piezoelectric ceramic plate.

6. An ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein said ultrasonic atomizer is a generally elongated body having a length to width ratio of not less than 1.5.

7. An ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein said ultrasonic atomizer is a generally elongated body having a length to width ratio of not less than 2 but not more than 8.

8. An ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein said ultrasonic atomizer is a generally elongated body having a length to width ratio of not less than 2 but not more than 6.

9. An ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein said area of overlap is at least 50% or more of the total area of said one face of said piezoceramic plate.

10. An ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein said area of overlap is at least 70% or more of the total area of said one face of said piezoceramic plate.

11. An ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein said area of overlap is at least 90% or more of the total area of said one face of said piezoceramic plate.

12. An ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein said area of overlap is at least 95% or more of the total area of said one face of said piezoceramic plate.

13. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein opposed electrodes as piezoelectric active regions are provided on or between opposed surfaces at least in said overlapping area of said piezoelectric ceramic plate and said vibrating plate.

14. An ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein at least one end or one side of a vibrating plate of said ultrasonic atomization plate is fixed.

15. An ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein said vibrating plate of said ultrasonic atomizing plate is substantially or generally a square body, at least two relatively shorter sides thereof being fixed.

16. An ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein said vibrating plate of said ultrasonic atomizing plate is substantially or generally a square body, at least four corners of which are fixed.

17. An ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein said piezoelectric ceramic plate in said ultrasonic atomizing plate is substantially or generally a square body, at least one pair of opposite sides of which are fixed to said vibration plate.

18. An ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein said piezoelectric ceramic plate of said ultrasonic atomizing plate is substantially or generally a square body, at least relatively short sides of which are fixed to said vibrating plate.

19. An ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein said piezoelectric ceramic plate in said ultrasonic atomizing plate is substantially or generally a square body, at least four corners of which are fixed to said vibration plate.

20. An ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein said piezoelectric ceramic plate has a piezoelectric active region in which the distance between opposing electrodes is less than half the thickness of said vibrating plate.

21. An ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein said piezoelectric ceramic plate has a piezoelectric active region in which the distance between opposing electrodes is less than one tenth of the thickness of said vibrating plate.

22. The ultrasonic atomizer of claim 1, wherein the distance between opposing electrodes in said piezoelectrically active area of said piezoelectric ceramic plate is less than one percent of the thickness of said vibrating plate.

23. The ultrasonic atomizer of claim 1, wherein the distance between opposing electrodes in said piezoelectrically active area of said piezoelectric ceramic plate is less than one thousand times the thickness of said vibrating plate.

24. An ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein said piezoelectric ceramic plate has a piezoelectric active region in which the distance between opposing electrodes is less than one ten-thousandth of the thickness of said vibrating plate.

25. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein the distance between the opposing electrodes in the piezoelectric active region in said piezoelectric ceramic plate is in the range of 0.1 μm to 500 μm.

26. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein the distance between the opposing electrodes in the piezoelectric active region in said piezoelectric ceramic plate is in the range of 0.5 μm to 50 μm.

27. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein the distance between the opposing electrodes in the piezoelectric active region in said piezoelectric ceramic plate is in the range of 0.5 μm to 5 μm.

28. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein the distance between the opposing electrodes in the piezoelectric active region of the inner electrode in said piezoelectric ceramic plate is 1 μm to 3 μm, and the thickness of the surface electrode is 0.2 μm to 0.5 μm.

29. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein the piezoelectric ceramic plate in said ultrasonic atomization sheet is located on one side of the vibration plate, or both sides thereof; or the piezoelectric ceramic plate is clamped or wrapped by the vibrating plate.

30. The ultrasonic atomizer of claim 1, wherein said ultrasonic atomizing plate is of a sandwich type structure consisting essentially of or consisting of two piezoelectric ceramic plates each having a piezoelectric active region and a vibrating plate fixedly held between the two piezoelectric ceramic plates, said two piezoelectric ceramic plates being connected in series and the two piezoelectric ceramic plates being polarized in opposite directions, or said two piezoelectric ceramic plates being connected in parallel and the two piezoelectric ceramic plates being polarized in the same direction, so as to realize flexural vibration.

31. An ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein said piezoelectric ceramic plate is a single piezoelectric ceramic plate containing one piezoelectric active region, or a laminated body formed substantially or mainly of two or three or more piezoelectric ceramic plates/layers each containing one piezoelectric active region.

32. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein said piezoelectric ceramic plate comprises a laminated body in which at least two piezoelectric ceramic layers each having a piezoelectric active region are laminated, main surface electrodes provided on front and back surfaces of the laminated body, and internal electrodes located between each of the ceramic layers, wherein all the ceramic layers are polarized in the same direction in a thickness direction, the laminated body vibrating entirely in a bending mode in response to an alternating current applied between the main surface electrodes and the internal electrodes.

33. An ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein said piezoelectric ceramic plate is a laminated body formed substantially or mainly of two piezoelectric ceramic plates/layers each having a piezoelectric active region, an inner electrode is provided between the two piezoelectric ceramic plates/layers, two outer side surfaces are provided with and communicate with two outer side electrodes, the inner electrode is insulated from the two outer side electrodes, and application of an alternating current between the inner electrode and the outer side electrodes causes the inner electrode to vibrate in a thickness direction thereof.

34. An ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 33, wherein said inner electrode extends to an outer side surface and is juxtaposed with said outer electrode.

35. An ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein said piezoelectric ceramic plate comprises a laminated body formed by laminating two or three piezoelectric ceramic layers each having a piezoelectric active region; main surface electrodes each formed on an upper surface and a lower surface of the laminate; and internal electrodes formed between the adjacent two piezoelectric ceramic layers, wherein all the ceramic layers are polarized in the same direction with respect to the thickness direction; and the laminated body is vibrated in its thickness direction in its entirety by applying an alternating current across the main surface electrodes and the internal electrodes.

36. An ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein said piezoelectric ceramic plate comprises three laminated piezoelectric ceramic layers, two piezoelectric ceramic layers at the outer layer each comprising a piezoelectric active region, and the thickness of the intermediate ceramic layer is between 50 percent and 80 percent of the overall thickness of said laminated body.

37. An ultrasonic nebulizer as claimed in claim 1, wherein said piezoelectric ceramic plate comprises a plurality of piezoelectric ceramic layers each having a piezoelectric active region, laminated to define a laminated body; main surface electrodes provided on front and rear main surfaces of the laminate; internal electrodes disposed between the respective ceramic layers, and all the ceramic layers are polarized in the same direction in the thickness direction thereof; the piezoelectric ceramic plate generates bending vibration in response to an alternating current applied between the main surface electrode and the internal electrode.

38. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein said piezoelectric ceramic plate further comprises resin layers provided so as to cover substantially all of the front and rear surfaces of the laminated body.

39. An ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, characterized in that said vibrating plate is selected from the group consisting of metal plates, resin or plastic plates and composite plates thereof.

40. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, characterized in that said vibrating plate is selected from a resin or plastic plate having an elastic modulus in a cured state of 500MPa to 1500 MPa.

41. The ultrasonic atomizer of claim 1, wherein the vibrating plate has a thickness of 10 to 2000 μm.

42. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein a mechanical quality factor Qm of said ultrasonic atomizing sheet formed by integrating said piezoelectric ceramic plate and said vibrating plate satisfies: qm is less than or equal to 5.0.

43. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, characterized in that said vibrating plate is a metal plate having a length longer than that of said piezoelectric ceramic plate and electrically connected to a back surface electrode of the piezoelectric plate.

44. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, characterized in that said vibrating plate is a metal plate having a thickness of 10 μm to 300 μm.

45. The ultrasonic atomizer of claim 1, wherein said piezoelectric ceramic plate is fixed to a first surface of a vibrating plate at a position offset from a longitudinal direction of the vibrating plate, and the vibrating plate has an exposed portion at a second surface of the vibrating plate.

46. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, characterized in that the relationship between the area Am of said vibration plate and the area Ap of said piezoelectric ceramic plate satisfies: Am/Ap is more than or equal to 1.1 and less than or equal to 10.

47. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein said vibrating plate has a larger outer shape than said piezoelectric ceramic plate, and is bonded to said piezoelectric ceramic plate at a substantially central portion of a surface thereof.

48. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein said vibrating plate has a larger outer shape than said piezoelectric ceramic plate, and is bonded to a substantially central portion of a surface thereof, said vibrating plate being a resin film, an area of said piezoelectric ceramic plate being 40 to 70% of an area of said vibrating plate, and said vibrating plate being thinner than a total thickness of said piezoelectric ceramic plate.

49. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein said vibrating plate is made of a clad material having a cross section formed in a sandwich structure by bonding different raw materials to each other in a layer shape.

50. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein said vibrating plate comprises 2 surface layers of which both surfaces are formed of a clad material of a1 st raw material, and an elastic material layer of which both surfaces formed of a2 nd raw material different from said 1 st raw material among said 2 surface layers are bonded to said surface layers, respectively, and which is stronger in elasticity than said clad material.

51. The ultrasonic atomizer of claim 50, wherein said 1 st starting material has a coefficient of thermal expansion which is numerically within ± 50% of the coefficient of thermal expansion of the piezoceramic plate mounted and fixed thereto, and said 2 nd starting material has a density which is less than the density of said 1 st starting material.

52. The ultrasonic atomizer of claim 50, wherein the thickness of said surface layer is thinner than the thickness of said elastomeric layer.

53. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein said vibrating plate is a membrane-like body to which said piezoelectric ceramic plate is attached, and said membrane-like body is fixed to a frame member provided at an outer peripheral portion of the membrane-like body in a state in which tension is applied thereto.

54. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, characterized in that said vibrating plate is a membrane-like body which is provided around said piezoelectric ceramic plate and elastically holds said piezoelectric ceramic plate; the vibrating plate is larger in size than the piezoelectric ceramics plate, and the piezoelectric ceramics plate is installed at a substantially central portion thereof.

55. An ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein said porous body is a porous body having a conducting ability in a thickness direction and a length direction or/and a width direction or a thickness direction and a radial direction.

56. An ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, characterized in that the average pore size of said porous body is less than 100 μm.

57. The ultrasonic atomizer of claim 1, characterized in that the average pore diameter of the porous body is 0.05 μm to 30 μm.

58. The ultrasonic atomizer of claim 1, characterized in that the average pore diameter of the porous body is 0.5 μm to 10 μm.

59. The ultrasonic atomizer of claim 1, characterized in that the average pore diameter of the porous body is 0.5 μm to 5 μm.

60. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, characterized in that the porosity of the porous body is 20 to 80%.

61. The ultrasonic atomizer of claim 1, characterized in that the thickness of the porous body is 0.01mm to 5 mm.

62. An ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein at least 30% or more of the area of said porous body having pores coincides with said piezoelectrically active region of said ultrasonic atomization sheet; or

At least more than 30% of the area of the piezoelectric active region of the ultrasonic atomization sheet coincides with the area of the porous body with the micropores.

63. An ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein at least 50% or more of the area of said porous body having pores coincides with said piezoelectrically active region of said ultrasonic atomization sheet; or

At least 50% of the area of the piezoelectric active region of the ultrasonic atomization sheet coincides with the area of the porous body with the micropores.

64. An ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein at least 70% or more of the area of said porous body having pores coincides with said piezoelectrically active region of said ultrasonic atomization sheet; or

At least 70% of the area of the piezoelectric active region of the ultrasonic atomization sheet coincides with the area of the porous body having micropores.

65. An ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein at least 90% or more of the area of said porous body having pores coincides with said piezoelectrically active region of said ultrasonic atomization sheet; or

At least more than 90% of the area of the piezoelectric active area of the ultrasonic atomization sheet coincides with the area of the porous body with the micropores.

66. An ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, characterized in that said porous body material is selected from one of ceramic, metal, glass, zeolite, carbon or plastic material.

67. The ultrasonic atomizer of claim 1, characterized in that the porous body forms an integral or split structure with the ultrasonic atomization sheet.

68. An ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, characterized in that said porous body is substantially or generally square.

69. The ultrasonic atomizer according to any one of claims 1 to 68, wherein said ultrasonic atomization sheet further comprises an elastic adhesive body interposed between a1 st surface, which is one surface of said ultrasonic atomization sheet on which said piezoelectric ceramic plate is bent, and one main surface of said vibration plate, and joining said 1 st surface of said piezoelectric ceramic plate to said one main surface of said vibration plate, and at least a part of said elastic adhesive body is composed of a deformable viscoelastic body.

70. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 69, wherein said elastic bond is softer and more deformable than said vibrating plate, and has a lower elastic modulus and stiffness than said vibrating plate.

71. The ultrasonic atomizer of claim 69, wherein said elastic bonding body has a thickness greater than the amplitude of bending vibration of said piezoceramic sheet.

72. The ultrasonic atomizer of claim 69, characterized in that said elastic bonding body has at least a base layer and an adhesive layer consisting of said viscoelastic body.

73. The ultrasonic atomizer of claim 69, wherein said elastic bonding body has a 3-layer construction consisting of 2 adhesive layers and said base layer disposed therebetween.

74. The ultrasonic atomizer of claim 73, wherein said base layer is comprised of a nonwoven fabric and said viscoelastic body between fibers entering the nonwoven fabric.

75. The ultrasonic atomizer of claim 69, characterized in that said elastic bonding body has said viscoelastic body in all cross-sections between said piezoceramic plate-side surface and said vibration plate-side surface.

76. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 69, characterized in that said vibrating plate is fixed to its support body via a2 nd elastic bonding body at least a part of which is composed of a viscoelastic body.

77. An ultrasonic atomizer according to any one of claims 1 to 68, characterized in that said ultrasonic atomizing plate is further used in combination with a protective coating.

78. The ultrasonic atomizer according to any one of claims 1 to 68, wherein said ultrasonic atomizing plate further comprises a pair of terminals for internal electrical connection and/or external electrical connection of both electrodes of the piezoelectric vibrating piece in the ultrasonic atomizing plate and/or a conductive paste for fixing and electrical connection of said internal electrical connection and/or external electrical connection.

79. The ultrasonic atomizer of claim 78, wherein said interconnections have bifurcated formations located in corners of said piezoelectric vibrating reed.

80. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 78, wherein said terminals comprise electrically conductive members electrically connected to both electrodes of a piezoelectric vibrating piece in said ultrasonic atomizing plate by means of conductive adhesives, respectively.

81. An ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein said piezoelectric ceramic plate is free of through holes.

82. The ultrasonic atomizer of claim 1, wherein the finger width of said interdigital electrodes or the distance between adjacent interdigital electrode fingers is 10 nm-1 mm, respectively.

83. The ultrasonic atomizer of claim 1, wherein the finger width of said interdigital electrodes or the distance between the adjacent interdigital electrodes is 20 nm-500 μm, respectively.

84. The ultrasonic atomizer of claim 1, wherein the finger width of said interdigital electrodes or the distance between adjacent interdigital electrode fingers is 40 nm-200 μm, respectively.

85. The ultrasonic atomizer of claim 1, wherein the finger width of said interdigital electrodes or the distance between adjacent interdigital electrode fingers is 80 nm-100 μm, respectively.

86. The ultrasonic atomizer of claim 1, wherein said interdigitated electrode fingers have a piezoelectrically active length of 0.5mm to 30 mm.

87. The ultrasonic atomizer of claim 1, wherein the finger width of said interdigitated electrodes is substantially equal to the distance between said adjacent interdigitated electrode fingers.

88. The ultrasonic atomizer of claim 1, wherein said interdigitated electrodes are selected from the group consisting of fence electrodes.

89. The ultrasonic atomizer of claim 1, wherein said interdigitated electrode fingers of the same polarity are connected to or in communication with the same bus bar and said interdigitated electrode fingers of the other polarity are connected to or in communication with the other bus bar.

90. An ultrasonic nebulizer according to claim 1, wherein the alternating current has a frequency in the range of 10kHz to 500 MHz.

91. An ultrasonic nebulizer according to claim 1, wherein the alternating current has a frequency in the range of 20kHz to 100 MHz.

92. The ultrasonic atomizer of claim 1, wherein the natural frequency of vibration of said piezoelectric active region of said piezoelectric ceramic plate is substantially the same as said alternating current frequency.

93. The ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 1, wherein said interdigital electrodes are disposed on or/and under opposite surfaces of said piezoelectric ceramic plate.

94. The ultrasonic atomizer of claim 93, wherein said first interdigitated electrodes on said upper surface have a polarity opposite to that of said first interdigitated electrodes on said lower surface, said interdigitated electrodes on said upper and lower surfaces counting from a same end of said piezoelectric ceramic plate.

95. An ultrasonic atomizer according to claim 93, wherein said interdigital electrodes are substantially symmetrically disposed on or/and in a lower layer on opposite surfaces of said piezoelectric ceramic plate.

96. An electronic vaping device, characterized by comprising an ultrasonic nebulizer according to any one of claims 1 to 95.

97. The electronic vaping device of claim 96, further comprising a heating element for heating the aerosol atomized by the ultrasonic atomizer.

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