GB2533174A

GB2533174A - Electronic cigarette designs for automated manufacturing

Info

Publication number: GB2533174A
Application number: GB1503157.8A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Kui Ho Ka
Original assignee: Fontem Holdings 2 BV
Current assignee: Fontem Ventures BV
Priority date: 2014-12-08
Filing date: 2015-02-25
Publication date: 2016-06-15
Also published as: GB201503157D0

Abstract

An electronic cigarette 20 comprising a tube (22); a control module 24, a battery 28, a heater module 50 and a liquid supply 72 within the tube, wherein the control module and the heater are on opposites sides of the battery, and wherein the control module and the heater module each have a cylindrical housing; and a connector strip 30 electrically connecting the heater module to the control module. The connector strip preferably connects the heater and control modules without the use of wired connections. The connector strip preferably comprises first and second tabs 32 which extend into the control and heater modules respectively. The electronic cigarette preferably comprises no soldered connections or screw threads on any elements. The connector strip preferably comprises the only electrical connection between the battery and the heater module. The connector strip preferably has a central region with a curvature substantially matching that of the inside of the tube, and when present, the end tabs extend perpendicular to the central region. A method of manufacture is also disclosed. The claimed construction is disclosed to have reduced construction complexity and thereby reduced manufacturing costs.

Description

ELECTRONIC CIGARETTE DESIGNS FOR AUTOMATED MANUFACTURING

Field of the Invention

The field of the invention is the design and manufacture of electronic cigarettes.

Background of the Invention

Use of electronic cigarettes or so-called c-cigarettes is rapidly expanding as an alternative to smoking conventional real tobacco cigarettes. An electronic cigarette generally has a battery, an atomizer having a heating element, a container of liquid, and an electronic control circuit linked to the battery, the heating element, and an inhalation sensor, When the user inhales, the inhalation sensor detects the inhalation and the control circuit provides electrical current from th battery to the heating element. The heating element heats liquid to create vapor, which is inhaled by the user.

Even with the rapid growth of e-cigarettes, they are largely still manufactured by hand, often including electrical connections made via soldering manually. Hand assembly of e-cigarettes limits production capacity and stability. It can also affect quality control, results in inefficient use of materials, and largely prevents achieving the cost savings associated with automated manufacturing.

Many e-cigarettes are sold as single-use or disposable products. In these e-cigarettes, the battery is necessarily discarded with the e-cigarette when the liquid supply is exhausted. This may limit the types of batteries that may be used in the e-cigarette, and/or create environmental battery disposal complications. Notwithstanding the motivation to overcome these disadvantages, various engineering challenges remain in providing improved e-cigarette designs and methods of e-cigarette manufacture.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings, the same reference number indicates the same element in each of the views.

Fig. 1 is an exploded perspective view of e-cigarette components.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of an e-cigarette tube.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the components of Fig. 1 installed in the tube shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is rear perspective view of the heater module shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a side perspective view of the heater module shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a rear perspective view of the electronic control module shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 7 is a front and side perspective view of the control module shown in Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a side perspective view of the heater and control modules electrically connected via a connector strip, as shown in Fig. 1.

Figs. 9A-9D show an example of an assembly method.

Fig. 10 is an enlarged side view of the battery, the heater module and the liquid supply installed within the tube.

Fig. 11 is an enlarged side view of the front end of the e-cigarette shown in Fig. 3 with the front cap installed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A novel e-cigarette design is provided. Novel methods for manufacturing an e-cigarette are also disclosed. Turning now in detail to the drawings, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, an e-cigarette 20 includes components that may be assembled together and then installed into a tube 22. The tube 22 may be a thin-wall metal tube, for example stainless steel, having a length and diameter similar to a conventional tobacco cigarette, typically 80-120 mm long and a diameter of 812 mm. In the example shown, the components of the e-cigarette 20 may include a control module 24 and a heater module 50 located on opposite sides of a battery 28. A connector strip 30 may be used to provide an electrical connection between the control module 24 and the heater module 50, instead of using conventional wiring. Referring still to Fig. 1, in the example shown, the e-cigarette 20 may further include a PCB or heater plate 64 positioned between the heater module 50 and a liquid supply 72.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 3, the components 24, 28, 50, and 72 are generally cylindrical or disk-shaped, and have outside diameters nominally smaller than the inner diameter of the tube 22. This allows installation of the components into the tube22 by sliding the components into the tube 22 from either open end of the tube. As shown in Figs. 3 and 11, an 0-ring 36 on the control module 24 holds the control module 24 in place near the front end of the tube 22. A front cap 26 snaps onto the tube 22 to close off the open front end of the tube. Similarly, a mouth cap 80 snaps onto the back end of the tube 22.

Referring now to Figs. 4 and 5, the heater module 50 may be provided with an 0-ring 54 around a cylindrical housing 52. The heater module 50 may have a wire coil 60 or similar heating element on or at the back end of the heater module housing 52, with the wire coil used to vaporize liquid. In the example of Figs. 4 and 5, the wire coil 60 has a central axis AA perpendicular to the longitudinal axis LL of the tube 22. Wire leads 62 of the wire coil 60 may pass through openings in a heater plate 64 and extend into the heater module housing 52. A first electrical contact 66 on or at the front end of the heater module housing 52, optionally in the form of a spring, connects to one of the wire leads 62. A second electrical contact 68 which may be in an opening in the side of the heater module housing 52 is electrically connected to the other wire lead 62 and to the back end of the connector strip 30, as shown in Fig. 10. A clip 56 may optionally be provided on the side of the heater module housing 52, to make electrical contact between the tube 22 and the heater module 50, and/or to help hold the heater module 50 in place within the tube 22. The heater module 50 may also have a switch 58 which may be used to prevent electrical current from flowing to the wire coil 60, regardless of the control operation provided by the control module 24.

As shown in Figs. 6 and 7, the control module 24 may also have a cylindrical housing 46, an 0-ring 36 and a clip 38, similar to the heater module 50. Axial air holes 44 may extend through the housing 46 to vent the battery compartment 48 formed in the tube 22 between the control module 24 and the heater module 50. An LED 42 may be provided on the front end of the control module housing 46. An end contact 40 on the back end of the control module housing 46 is electrically connected to the front end of the connector strip 30 via an internal conductor 45, as shown in Fig. 11.

As shown in Fig. 8, the connector strip 30 electrically connects the control module 24 to the heater module 50. The connector strip may be made of a plastic material, such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) having a conductive coating. The connector strip may be thin (e.g. 0.5 to 1.5 mm) and curved to match and lay flat against the inside diameter of the tube. As shown in Figs. 2, 10 and 11, the ends of the connector strip 30 may be formed or bent up into tabs 32 that insert into side openings in the control module housing 46 and the heater module housing 52, to make electrical connections. With the components assembled into the tube 22, the tabs 32 cannot pull out from the modules 24 and 50, so that reliable electrical connections are made. Referring once again to Figs. 1 and 8, with the e-cigarette 20 assembled, the control module 24 is connected to the anode of the battery directly via the end contact 40, and to the cathode of the battery through the spring 66 and the contact strip 30.

The connector strip 30 may have multiple separate conductive lines to provide power and signals between the control module 24 and the heater module 50. Use of the connector strip 30 allows the e-cigarette to be manufactured without the need for wiring or soldering. It also allows the battery to be easily removed from the tube 22 for recycling or separate disposal. The tube 22 itself, or a conductive plated layer on the inside of the tube 22, may also optionally be used as an additional electrical conductor between them.

As shown in Fig. 9A, in an initial assembly step, a gasket 70, such as a wooden fiber gasket, may be attached to the liquid supply 72. The liquid supply 72 may be a PET filter material within a plastic or metal tube 74, with a central passageway 76 extending through the liquid supply 72 from the mouth cap 80 to the heater module 50. In a second assembly step as shown in Fig. 9B, the control module 24, the battery 28, the heater module 50 and the liquid supply 72 may be aligned and brought together on or in a fixture to form a component group. Referring to Fig. 9C, in a third assembly step the connector strip 30 is installed with the tabs 32 inserted into contact openings in the control module housing 46 and in the heater module housing 52. In a fourth assembly step shown in Fig. 9D, the component group, now including the conductor strip, is moved e.g., pushed into the tube 22. The final assembly step is shown in Fig. 3, with the mouth cap 80 and the front cap 26 pressed or snapped onto the ends of the tube 22.

The outer diameters of the 0-rings 36 and 54 may be nominally larger than the inside diameter of the tube 22. In this case, the 0-rings are compressed slightly when installed into the tube 22, creating sufficient frictional forces to securely hold the components in place within the tube 22. The 0-rings may also help to block leakage of any stray liquid within the tube 22.

Referring back to Figs. 1-3, in comparison to existing e-cigarettes, the e-cigarette 20 has fewer discrete components. Each of the components is substantially cylindrical or disk-shaped. Consequently, the components may be queued and up and handled via automation or robotics. For example, the components may be positioned into a holder or fixture via a robot, in axial alignment with the tube 22, and then pushed into the tube 22. In this case the only remaining assembly steps are installing the front cap 26 and the mouth cap 80, which may also be done via automation. Unlike many existing e-cigarettes, no screw threads, soldering, wire positioning, heat shrinkage tubing, etc. are used or needed.

Thus, a novel e-cigarette and manufacturing methods have been shown and described. Various changes and substitutions may of course be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The invention, therefore, should not be limited, except by the following claims and their equivalents.

References here to the e-cigarette being free of soldered connections and wiring refers to the components shown in the drawings, and not to any connections, wiring, or component inside of the control or heating modules, such as microelectronic components having soldered connections or wiring.

Claims

SCLAIMS: 1. An electronic cigarette, comprising: a tube; a control module, a battery, a heater module and a liquid supply within the tube, wherein the control module and the heater module are on opposite sides of the battery, and wherein the control module and the heater module each have a cylindrical housing; and a connector strip electrically connecting the heater module to the control module.
2. The electronic cigarette of claim 1, wherein the connector strip electrically connects the heater module to the control module without wiring,
3. The electronic cigarette of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the tube comprises a continuous integral single piece.
4. The electronic cigarette of any preceding claim, wherein the connector strip has a first end tab extending into the control module housing and a second end tab extending into the heater module housing.
5. The electronic cigarette of any preceding claim, having no screw threads on any element.
6. The electronic cigarette of any preceding, claim having no soldered 20 connections.
7. The electronic cigarette of any preceding claim, further comprising a battery contact spring on a front end of the heater module and a wire coil on a back end of the heater module.
8. The electronic cigarette of any preceding claim, wherein the connector strip comprises the only electrical connections between the control module and the heater module.
9. The electronic cigarette of any preceding claim, comprising a single connector strip having a central region with a curvature substantially matching the inside diameter of the tube, wherein the end tabs are perpendicular to the central region.
10. A method for manufacturing an electronic cigarette, comprising: positioning a control module, a battery, a heater module and a liquid supply in sequence and in axial alignment with each other to form a component group; installing a connector strip electrically connecting the control module and the heater module; aligning a tube with the component group; moving the tube and/or the component group to position the component group entirely within the tube; and placing end caps onto the ends of the tube.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein the electronic cigarette has no soldered connections.
12. The method of any one of claims 10 to 11, wherein the electronic cigarette has no threaded components.
13. The method of any one of claims 10 to 12, wherein the steps performed via automation or robotically.
14. An electronic cigarette as herein described with reference to and/or as shown in the accompanying drawings.