KR20240003658A - Ceramic heating device for induction heating - Google Patents

Abstract

It relates to a heating device for induction heating that increases the amount of atomization by forming ferromagnetic or paramagnetic metal particles on the atomizing surface of a porous hygroscopic material or being located inside the middle of the porous hygroscopic material.
A heating device for induction heating, which is an embodiment, includes an atomizer including a porous block body and a heater unit composed of a first metal grain layer of a ferromagnetic material formed on the surface of the block body, and the surface of the block body on which the heater unit is formed is atomized. am.

Description

Heating device for induction heating {CERAMIC HEATING DEVICE FOR INDUCTION HEATING}

The embodiment relates to a heating device for an aerosol generating device, in particular, heating for induction heating in which ferromagnetic or paramagnetic metal particles are formed on the atomizing surface of the porous hygroscopic material or are located inside the middle of the porous hygroscopic material to increase the amount of atomizing. It's about devices.

In general, an electronic cigarette refers to an electronic device made to inhale a solution containing nicotine filled in a replaceable cartridge into an aerosol or gaseous state (atomized state).

Such electronic cigarettes can satisfy the desire to smoke in place of regular cigarettes, and do not contain harmful ingredients such as tar, thereby reducing the harmful effects on the human body caused by cigarettes. At the same time, they do not cause the indirect damage of smoking. Due to its advantages, the number of users is increasing explosively. In other words, electronic cigarettes allow smoking indoors and have the same effect as smoking cigarettes while preventing the damage caused by cigarettes that cause various diseases.

In particular, in recent years, electronic cigarettes have been released that allow users to enjoy a variety of flavors by adding other flavors, such as fruit, to the taste of cigarettes.

In these electronic cigarettes, when an atomizer containing liquid nicotine is connected to the battery unit, the heating element of the atomizer generates heat and creates a haze that vaporizes the liquid nicotine.

An atomizer according to the prior art has a porous block body that has at least one side of the liquid moisture-absorbing surface in contact with the liquid to absorb and transport the liquid, and a side other than the liquid moisture-absorbing surface of the porous block body (non-screen surface) to the outside. It consists of first and second terminals that are mounted to be exposed and spaced apart at regular intervals, electrically connecting the first and second terminals, and a heating wire mounted on the screen so that at least a portion of the screen is exposed to the outside. .

The heat wire is a conductive material and can be formed in a curved or zigzag shape, such as a square wave shape.

Conventional atomizers use a single coil-shaped heating wire, so there is a problem that vaporization or atomization occurs only in the area in contact with the heating wire, and atomization does not occur in the space between the width of the heating wire and the pattern. In other words, since the area of the atomization area is small, the power of the power source applied to the heating wire must be increased to increase the amount of atomization, but in this case, there is a problem in that the heating temperature locally rises high and a burnt taste is generated. In addition, since power is applied to the heating wire only when the contact between the heating wire and the power supply terminal of the control device is accurate, there is a problem in that in case of poor contact, the heating wire does not generate heat or generates only a small amount of heat.

The purpose of the embodiment is to provide a heating device for induction heating that increases the amount of atomization by forming ferromagnetic or paramagnetic metal particles on the atomizing surface of the porous moisture absorbent or being located inside the middle of the porous moisture absorbent.

A heating device for induction heating, which is an embodiment, includes an atomizer including a porous block body and a heater unit composed of a first metal grain layer of a ferromagnetic or paramagnetic substance formed on the surface of the block body, and the surface of the block body on which the heater unit is formed is It's no screen.

In addition, it is preferable that the heater unit additionally includes a second metal grain layer of ferromagnetic material inside the block body spaced apart from the surface of the block body.

In addition, the heating device includes an induction heating coil that is spaced apart from the heater unit and generates an induced electromotive force, and a control device that applies a first alternating current power having a first frequency for induction heating in the first metal grain layer to the induction heating coil. It is desirable to have it.

In addition, the heating device includes an induction heating coil spaced apart from the heater unit to generate an induced electromotive force, and a first alternating current power source or a second metal granule layer having a first frequency for induction heating in the first metal granule layer in the induction heating coil. It is desirable to have a control device for selectively applying a second alternating current power source with a second frequency for induction heating.

Additionally, the moisture-absorbing surface of the block body is in contact with the aerosol-forming substrate, and is preferably different from the non-screening surface.

Additionally, it is preferable that the moisture-absorbing surface of the block body is mounted on a cartridge containing the aerosol-forming substrate and is in contact with the aerosol-forming substrate.

In addition, it is preferable that the moisture-absorbing surface and the non-screening surface of the block body are the same or overlap.

In the embodiment, metal particles that are ferromagnetic or paramagnetic are attached to the non-screen surface of the porous moisture absorbent or are placed in the middle of the interior of the porous moisture absorbent to increase the screen-free surface, and temperature control is performed by individual heating operation for a plurality of metal granule layers. It has the effect of being able to perform easily.

Figure 1 is a bottom view of an atomizer of a heating device for induction heating according to a first embodiment.
Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the heating device of Figure 1.
Figure 3 is a partial conceptual cross-sectional view of an aerosol generating device to which an atomizer of a heating device for induction heating is applied according to the second embodiment.
Figure 4 is another embodiment of an atomizer.

Hereinafter, embodiments are described in detail through the drawings. However, this is not intended to be limiting to specific embodiments, and the described embodiments should be understood to include various modifications, equivalents, and/or alternatives of the embodiments. In connection with the description of the drawings, similar reference numbers may be used for similar components.

In this document, expressions such as “have,” “may have,” “includes,” or “may include” refer to the existence of the corresponding feature (e.g., a numerical value, function, operation, or component such as a part). , and does not rule out the existence of additional features.

In this document, expressions such as “A or B,” “at least one of A or/and B,” or “one or more of A or/and B” may include all possible combinations of the items listed together. . For example, “A or B”, “at least one of A and B”, or “at least one of A or B” (1) includes at least one A, (2) includes at least one B, or (3) it may refer to all cases including both at least one A and at least one B.

As used herein, expressions such as "first", "second", "first", or "second" may describe various elements in any order and/or importance, and may refer to one element as another. It is only used to distinguish from components and does not limit the components. For example, a first user device and a second user device may represent different user devices regardless of order or importance. For example, a first component may be renamed a second component without departing from the scope of rights described in this document, and similarly, the second component may also be renamed to the first component.

A component (e.g., a first component) is “(operatively or communicatively) coupled with/to” another component (e.g., a second component). When referred to as being “connected to,” it should be understood that any component may be directly connected to the other component or may be connected through another component (e.g., a third component). On the other hand, when a component (e.g., a first component) is said to be “directly connected” or “directly connected” to another component (e.g., a second component), It may be understood that no other component (e.g., a third component) exists between other components.

The expression “configured to” used in this document may mean, for example, “suitable for,” “having the capacity to,” or “having the capacity to.” It can be used interchangeably with ", "designed to," "adapted to," "made to," or "capable of." The term “configured (or set) to” may not necessarily mean “specifically designed to” in hardware. Instead, in some contexts, the expression “a device configured to” may mean that the device is “capable of” working with other devices or components.

Terms used in this document are merely used to describe specific embodiments and may not be intended to limit the scope of other embodiments. Singular expressions may include plural expressions, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, may have the same meaning as commonly understood by a person of ordinary skill in the technical field described in this document. Among the terms used in this document, terms defined in general dictionaries may be interpreted to have the same or similar meaning as the meaning they have in the context of related technology, and unless clearly defined in this document, they may be interpreted in an ideal or excessively formal sense. It is not interpreted. In some cases, even terms defined in this document cannot be interpreted to exclude embodiments of this document.

In an embodiment, a liquid or liquid aerosol cartridge contains a liquid or gel-type aerosol-forming base material (e.g., flavoring, nicotine, VG (vegetable glycerin), PG (propylene glycol), medicine, clove, etc.) in the internal receiving space. Accept.

In an embodiment, the heating device includes a porous block body and an atomizer that is mounted on the porous block body and has a heater unit that is mounted on a surface or part where atomization or vaporization is to be performed and generates and applies or transmits heat energy. The porous block body can have various shapes other than a rectangular parallelepiped.

As an example of a part that requires atomization or vaporization, an atomizer may be installed on the liquid cartridge. The atomizer mounted on the liquid cartridge is made of a porous moisture absorber or a porous ceramic moisture absorber so that the aerosol-forming substrate can be transferred by capillary action in contact with the aerosol-forming substrate.

The material of the porous block is at least one material from the group consisting of Silicate Ceramic (Bricks, tiles, Terra-cotta), Oxide series (AlO ₃ , MgO, BeO _3, etc.), or Non-Oxide series (Sic, BN, etc.). It consists of:

In an embodiment, the porous block body of the atomizer is comprised of a liquid suction side that contacts the aerosol-forming substrate, and a side that is not adjacent to the liquid suction side or an atomizing or discharge side on which the aerosol-forming substrate is atomized. In an embodiment, a heater element composed of metal granules is formed on the screen or discharge surface. Here, the atomization surface or discharge surface corresponds to the part where atomization or vaporization must occur.

The material of the metal particles in the heater unit is a ferromagnetic or paramagnetic material, and for example, materials such as iron, stainless steel, and copper may be used. Metal particles may have a spherical or plate-shaped shape, and the diameter or length of the metal particles ranges from 1㎛ to several tens of mm.

The metal particles are attached, mounted, or formed by printing, spraying, molding, or layering on the surface of the part of the porous block that is to be atomized or vaporized.

Metal grains may be a single type and consist of a layer (metal grain layer) that is formed only on the surface of the screen. In another embodiment, the heater unit may include a plurality of metal grain layers formed at different heights inside (or in the middle of) the porous block body and spaced at a certain distance from the screen. For example, the first metal grain layer is formed on the surface of the screen, and the second metal grain layer is spaced apart from the screen by a preset distance (e.g., 2 mm) or formed inside the porous block at a high position. It may be possible. Additionally, each of the first and second metal grain layers may be composed of different metal types, the metal grains may have different sizes, or may have different magnetization powers. By induction heating in each of these plural metal grain layers, it is possible to control different temperatures depending on the height of the porous block body.

FIG. 1 is a bottom view of an atomizer of a heating device for induction heating according to a first embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the heating device of FIG. 1 .

The atomizer 10 includes a porous block body 12 and a heater unit 14 formed on the bottom of the porous block body 12. The moisture-absorbing surface of the atomizer 10 is the upper or side surface of the porous block body 12, and the atomizing surface of the atomizer 10 is the side or bottom surface of the porous block body 12. In Figure 1, the metal grains (first metal grain layer) of the heater unit 14 should be understood as shown as an example.

As shown in FIG. 2, the porous block body 12 of the first embodiment is coupled to an aerosol cartridge that accommodates the aerosol-forming substrate, and the moisture-absorbing surface, which is the upper side of the porous block body 12, is in contact with the aerosol-forming substrate, and the aerosol The formation substrate is absorbed through the moisture-absorbing surface and is transported through the interior to reach the non-screened surface, which is the bottom surface of the porous block body 12.

As shown in FIG. 2, in order to generate heating and atomization in the atomizer 10, the heating device is around or adjacent to the atomizer 10, but is electrically insulated or spaced apart, and generates an induced electromotive force or magnetic force to heat the metal. It is provided with an induction heating coil that causes induction heating in each grain, and a control device (not shown) that can apply alternating current power to the induction heating coil. The induction heating coil is preferably located adjacent to the screen.

The control device applies AC power to the induction heating coil, stores the frequency corresponding to the type of metal grain (ferromagnetic metal type) of the heater unit 14 for induction heating, and generates AC power corresponding to the stored frequency. Apply to induction heating coil.

As described above, when the heater unit 14 is composed of a single type of metal grain layer, the control device generates alternating current power corresponding to the frequency according to the single type of metal grain layer and applies it to the induction heating coil.

The heater unit 14 generates heat energy by induction heating and applies it to the porous block body 12, so that the aerosol-forming substrate absorbed into the porous block body 12 is atomized or vaporized, thereby generating an aerosol.

The atomizer of the heating device according to the first embodiment is mounted on a cartridge, and the aerosol generating device includes a main body on which the cartridge is fixedly mounted, that is, the aerosol generating device includes a cartridge, a heating device, and a main body. . The induction heating coil of the heating device is mounted on the main body or cartridge, and the control device is mounted on the main body.

An airflow path or an airflow conduit is formed in either the cartridge or the main body, and the airflow path allows external air to communicate with the suction space through a space in contact with the screen of the ceramic atomizer (10). The suction space corresponds to the area where the mouthpiece, cigarette, or filter is located. When the user inhales through the suction space, an airflow is formed within the airflow path.

Figure 3 is a partial conceptual cross-sectional view of an aerosol generating device to which an atomizer of a heating device for induction heating is applied according to the second embodiment.

The main body of the aerosol generating device includes an airflow conduit 20 that communicates the external space, the atomization area, and the suction space. The airflow in the airflow pipe 20 is caused by the user's inhalation in the suction space, and the air in the external space passes through the atomization area and reaches the suction space together with the aerosol (green dotted arrow). As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the atomization area corresponds to the area in contact with the atomization surface (heater unit 14) of the atomizer 10. The suction space corresponds to the area where the mouthpiece, cigarette, or filter is located.

In the process of discharging the aerosol into the intake space through the airflow conduit 20, the aerosol is cooled on the inner surface of the airflow conduit 20, and droplets 30 are stacked or piled up. Additionally, the atomizers 10a and 10b may absorb moisture so that the droplets 30 do not flow to the outside in a liquid state. These droplets 30 may cause blockage in the air flow conduit 20. In order to prevent clogging in the air flow pipe 20, the aerosol generating device includes atomizers 10a and 10b in the air flow pipe 20 and a main body so that a non-flammable surface is formed on the inner surface of the air flow pipe 20. It is additionally provided with an induction heating coil (not shown) that surrounds or is located adjacent to the atomizer (10a, 10b). Additionally, a control device for applying alternating current power to the induction heating coil is also provided in the main body.

The control device applies alternating current power to the induction heating coil so that each heater unit 14 of the atomizer 10a, 10b performs induction heating during the first puff operation or immediately before, after the last puff operation, or during the entire puff section. Thus, the accumulated liquid droplets 14 are vaporized or atomized and discharged into the suction space.

In the atomizer 10 in the first embodiment, the moisture-absorbing side of the aerosol-forming substrate and the non-screening surface are different, and in the atomizers 10a and 10b in the second embodiment, the moisture-absorbing side of the aerosol-forming substrate and the non-screening side are different. It is the same or overlapping.

Figure 4 is another embodiment of an atomizer.

In Figure 4, the heater unit 14 mounted on the atomizer 10c includes first to third metal granule layers 14a, 14b, and 14c of different types (different magnetizing powers), sizes, and shapes. This is a case where it is composed. For example, the first metal grain layer 14a is plate-shaped and made of, for example, Fe material, and the second metal grain layer 14b is made of a metal sphere, for example, SUS430 material, and the third metal. The grain layer 14c is made of a metal sphere, for example, a copper material. Additionally, the diameter of the individual spheres of the third metal granular layer 14c may be larger than the diameter of the individual spheres of the second metal granular layer 14b. The first metal grain layer 14a is positioned adjacent to the atomization area or atomizing surface, and the third metal grain layer 14c is positioned adjacent to the moisture absorption surface.

The control device controls a first frequency for induction heating in the first metal grain layer 14a, a second frequency for induction heating in the second metal grain layer 14b, and a third frequency for induction heating in the third metal grain layer 14c. Each of the third frequencies for induction heating is stored. The control device applies alternating current power with a first frequency, alternating current power with a second frequency, and alternating current power with a third frequency to the induction heating coil selectively, sequentially, or alternately to achieve different levels of the porous moisture absorbent 12. Height or area can also be controlled to different temperatures.

As explained above, it is not limited to the specific preferred embodiments described above, and various modifications can be made by anyone skilled in the art without departing from the gist of the claims. Of course, such changes are within the scope of the claims.

10: Atomizer 12: Porous block body
14: Heater unit

Claims (9)

A porous block body;
It includes an atomizer including a heater section composed of a first metal granular layer of ferromagnetic material formed on the surface of the block body,
A heating device for induction heating, characterized in that the surface of the block body on which the heater unit is formed is screenless. According to claim 1,
A heating device for induction heating, characterized in that the heater unit is additionally provided with a second metal grain layer of ferromagnetic material inside the block body spaced apart from the surface of the block body. According to claim 1,
The heating device is provided with an induction heating coil that is spaced apart from the heater unit and generates an induced electromotive force, and a control device that applies a first alternating current power having a first frequency for induction heating in the first metal grain layer to the induction heating coil. A heating device for induction heating, characterized in that. According to claim 2,
The heating device includes an induction heating coil that is spaced apart from the heater unit and generates an induced electromotive force, and the induction heating coil is provided with a first alternating current power source having a first frequency for induction heating in the first metal granule layer or an induction heating coil in the second metal granule layer. A heating device for induction heating, comprising a control device for selectively applying a second alternating current power source having a second frequency for induction heating. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
A heating device for induction heating, characterized in that the moisture-absorbing surface of the block body is in contact with the aerosol-forming substrate and is different from the non-screen surface. According to claim 5,
A heating device for induction heating, characterized in that the moisture-absorbing surface of the block body is mounted on a cartridge accommodating the aerosol-forming substrate and contacts the aerosol-forming substrate. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
A heating device for induction heating, characterized in that the moisture-absorbing surface and the non-screening surface of the block body are the same or overlap. A heating device according to claim 6;
An aerosol generating device comprising a main body having an airflow path communicating with a space in contact with the screen of a block body. A heating device according to claim 7;
It is provided with a main body having an airflow pipe communicating the external space and the suction space,
An aerosol generating device, characterized in that the screenless surface of the heating device is formed on the inner side of the airflow pipe.