Patent Application
20240349809
The present invention relates to the technical field of low-temperature aerosol-forming devices, and particularly relates to an aerosol-forming device and an aerosol-forming system comprising the same.
The heating temperature of an aerosol-forming substrate is usually 250-350° C. Compared with common burning cigarettes, aerosol-forming articles may greatly reduce harm of harmful substances in the aerosol-forming substrate to smokers while reserving the taste of conventional cigarettes, without a high-temperature burning pyrolysis process, so that the release amount of tar and harmful substances in the aerosol-forming substrate is reduced, and thus, the harm of second hand smoking may be greatly reduced.
At present, the heating technology for heating the aerosol-forming article usually includes resistance heating or magnetic heating. Moreover, the form of a heating element usually includes a tubular heating tube for heating the around aerosol-forming article in an encircling manner and/or a sheet/needlelike heating sheet/heating needle inserted into the aerosol-forming article for heating. For the heating element by resistance heating, it heats the aerosol-forming article by heat generated by a resistance circuit on the heating element energized. For the heating element by magnetic heating, it generates a current and heats by an induced magnetic field to heat the aerosol-forming article. An existing aerosol-forming article includes a filter segment through which a user inhales by mouth and an aerosol-forming substrate segment away from the filter segment. An air flow may enter the aerosol-forming article from the end surface of the aerosol-forming substrate segment and flows out from an end surface of the filter segment. The problem brought about by this is as follows: regardless of heating the aerosol-forming substrate with the heating tube or the heating sheet/heating needle, on the one hand, when the user does not inhale, there is still a small amount of cold air enters the aerosol-forming substrate through the end surface of the aerosol-forming substrate segment, a small part of atomized aerosol in the aerosol-forming substrate segment encounters the cold air and is condensed to form a liquid, and the liquid flows out from the end surface of the aerosol-forming substrate to pollute an appliance; and on the other hand, when the user smokes, the negative pressure of the aerosol-forming substrate segment is low, which makes the aerosol flow to the filter segment, and when the user does not inhale, without the inhaling of the user, under the action of the negative pressure, the small part of aerosol flows from the filter segment to the aerosol-forming substrate segment and forms the liquid when being condensed, and the liquid flows out from the end surface of the aerosol-forming substrate segment to pollute the appliance.
Besides, in an existing aerosol-forming device for heating the aerosol-forming article with the heating tube, the bottom end of the heating tube generally flushes with the bottom end of the aerosol-forming substrate, and the bottom wall surface of the heating tube supports the bottom end surface of the aerosol-forming substrate. In this case, the heating tube heats the bottom end (the end away from the filter) of the aerosol-forming substrate. The aerosol generated by atomization at the bottom end of the aerosol-forming substrate segment has no time to be inhaled after inhaling is stopped, and the aerosol will be condensed and flows out from the end surface of the aerosol-forming substrate segment to pollute the bottom of the heating tube. Further, if there is still external air entering from the end surface of the aerosol-forming substrate segment in this case, the aerosol generated by atomization at the bottom end of the aerosol-forming substrate segment is more likely to condense when encountering cold air and flows out to pollute the bottom wall of the heating tube.
Therefore, to prevent the atomized aerosol from being condensed again is an important method for preventing the appliance from being polluted. In order to solve the above problems, the present disclosure is provided.
In an embodiment, the present invention provides an aerosol-forming device, comprising: a main body; an accommodating cylinder located in the main body configured to accommodate an aerosol-forming article; and a heating element configured to heat the aerosol-forming article to generate an aerosol, wherein the accommodating cylinder comprises a top opening into which the aerosol-forming article is insertable and a bottom wall opposite the top opening, wherein the heating element comprises a top end and a bottom end facing away from the top end, and wherein the bottom end of the heating element is higher than the bottom wall of the accommodating cylinder in vertical height.
Subject matter of the present disclosure will be described in even greater detail below based on the exemplary figures. All features described and/or illustrated herein can be used alone or combined in different combinations. The features and advantages of various embodiments will become apparent by reading the following detailed description with reference to the attached drawings, which illustrate the following:
In an embodiment, the present invention provides an aerosol-forming device, including a device main body 1, an accommodating cylinder 2 located in the main body 1 for accommodating an aerosol-forming article, and a heating element 3 for heating the aerosol-forming article to generate an aerosol;
Preferably, the heating element 3 is a heating tube arranged separately from the accommodating cylinder 2, and the heating tube and the accommodating cylinder 2 jointly accommodate the aerosol-forming article. That is, the heating tube and the accommodating cylinder 2 are two separate components.
Preferably, the heating tube is coaxially arranged in the accommodating cylinder 2, and the bottom end 32 of the heating tube is higher than the bottom wall 22 of the accommodating cylinder 2 in vertical height.
Preferably, the accommodating cylinder 2 is in the shape of a stepped tube as a whole and includes an upper portion and a lower portion that are different in diameter; at the joint of the upper and lower portions, i.e., the step, the diameter of the upper portion is larger than that of the lower portion, the top end of the lower portion is sleeved with the heating tube 3, and the upper portion encircles the outer side of the heating tube 3. That is, there is no heating tube on the inner side of the lower portion, and there is a heating tube on the inner side of the upper portion. Thus, the purpose that the bottom end of the heating tube 3 is higher than the bottom wall of the accommodating cylinder 2 in vertical height is achieved.
Further preferably, the heating tube is coaxially arranged above the accommodating cylinder 2, and the bottom end 32 of the heating tube is higher than the top end of the accommodating cylinder 2 in vertical height. That is, the heating tube and the accommodating cylinder 2 may be partially overlapped in the vertical direction or may be two completely separated segments.
Preferably, the heating element 3 and the accommodating cylinder 2 are integrated, and the heating element 3 is a part of the accommodating cylinder 2. That is, the portion of the accommodating cylinder 2 close to the top end has a heating function, which serves not only as the accommodating cylinder for accommodating the aerosol-forming article, but also as the heating element for heating the aerosol-forming article.
Preferably, a guide tube 4 for guiding the aerosol-forming article is arranged at the top opening 21 of the accommodating cylinder 2.
The bottom wall 22 of the accommodating cylinder 2 may at least partially seal the end surface on one side of an aerosol-forming substrate of the accommodated aerosol-forming article to prevent or reduce a gas from entering the aerosol-forming substrate from the end surface on one side of the aerosol-forming substrate. It should be noted that here that the bottom wall 22 may at least partially seal the end surface on one side of the aerosol-forming substrate, which is optional. When the end surface on one side of the aerosol-forming substrate of the accommodated aerosol-forming article has a seal member, the at least partial sealing arrangement of the end surface by the bottom wall 22 may be either omitted or reserved. However, when the end surface on one side of the aerosol-forming substrate of the accommodated aerosol-forming article has no seal member, i.e., when the gas can enter the aerosol-forming substrate via the end surface without hindrance, the at least partial sealing arrangement of the end surface by the bottom wall 22 needs to be reserved.
Preferably, the heating element 3 is peripherally wound with a coil 5 capable of generating electromagnetic induction, the heating element 3 is capable of receiving the electromagnetic induction generated by the coil 5 to heat, and the heating element 3 is selected from an electromagnetic metal material. A thermal insulation structure 6 is provided between the heating element 3 and the coil 5, and the thermal insulation structure 6 and the heating element 3 are arranged in a spaced manner.
Further preferably, the heating element 3 is an insulation tube, and the heating element has a resistance heating wire on the inner surface and/or the outer surface. The insulation tube here may be selected from a tube body made from an insulation material such as a ceramic, or a tube body made from a non-insulation material subjected to insulation treatment. The inner surface and/or the outer surface have the resistance heating wire, and a resistance circuit may be formed by screen printing to heat the aerosol-forming article through resistance heating. The arrangement of the heating tube in the present disclosure may be described by virtue of a heating mode of the electromagnetic heating tube and a resistance heating mode in the prior art.
In a second aspect of the present disclosure, provided is an aerosol-forming system, including the aerosol-forming device in the first aspect and an aerosol-forming article 8.
Preferably, the aerosol-forming article includes a tight segment 81, an aerosol-forming substrate segment 82, an airway segment 83, and a filter segment 84,
The tight segment 81, the aerosol-forming substrate segment 82, the airway segment 83, and the filter segment 84 are segments coiled and formed in the aerosol-forming article by a wrapper or segments filled and formed in the aerosol-forming article by being filled into an integrally formed pipe fitting.
Preferably, the bottom end of the heating element 3 is higher than or flushes with the connection between the tight segment 81 and the aerosol-forming substrate segment 82 in the vertical height.
Preferably, the tight segment 81 is selected from a non-aerosol-forming material, and is selected from, but is not limited to, a carbon fiber material, a metal membrane, a ceramic or a high molecular material. The high molecular material is selected from, but is not limited to, polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene glycol terephthalate or polylactic acid.
Or, the material of the tight segment 81 is as same as that of the aerosol-forming substrate segment 82 and both the materials are selected from an aerosol-forming material, and the bulk density of the tight segment 81 is higher than that of the aerosol-forming substrate segment 82.
That is, the material of the tight segment 81 is consistent with that of the aerosol-forming substrate segment 82 in this case and both the materials are the aerosol-forming material. The degrees of compaction at both ends are completely inconsistent. The density of the tight segment 81 is higher than that of the aerosol-forming substrate segment 82. The axial air permeability of the tight segment 81 is less than that of the aerosol-forming substrate segment 82. When the tight segment 81 is the aerosol-forming material, it may be integrally formed with the aerosol-forming substrate segment 82 in an aerosol-forming substrate manufacturing process, and a high density aerosol-forming substrate segment is formed by a compaction process as the tight segment 81, which is easy to manufacture.
Preferably, the airway segment 83 is hollow and is provided with a side wall and a hollow cavity, and the hollow cavity is the airflow channel 831 axially penetrating the airway segment 83; and the airway segment 83 is cylindrical and is prepared from a cellulose acetate fiber material.
Preferably, a side flow hole 832 penetrating the side wall is further formed in the side wall of the airway segment 83; the axial position of the side flow hole 832 is close to the position of the aerosol-forming substrate segment 82 and is away from the position of the filter segment 84; and the reason why the axial position of the side flow hole is closer to the position of the aerosol-forming substrate segment 82 is that the closer the axial position of the side flow hole 832 is to the aerosol-forming substrate segment 82, the easier it is to extract the aerosol from the aerosol-forming substrate segment 82 is. The number of the side flow holes 832 may be, but is not limited to, 6-8.
Preferably, the airway segment 83 includes a first airway segment 833 close to the aerosol-forming substrate segment 82 and a second airway segment 834 close to the filter segment 84; and the first airway segment 833 and the second airway segment 834 may be either integrated or separated.
The cross sectional area of the airflow channel 831 of the first airway segment 833 is smaller than or equal to or larger than that of the airflow channel 831 of the second airway segment 834. When the airway segment 83 is hollow, it is provided with a side wall and a hollow cavity, and the hollow cavity is the airflow channel 831 axially penetrating the airway segment 83. The inner diameter of the hollow cavity of the first airway segment 833 is less than or equal to or larger than the inner diameter of the hollow cavity of the second airway segment 834. In this case, a connection therebetween may be either a conical bevel or a vertical section, and either a flat angle structure or a chamfered structure. When the inner diameter of the hollow cavity of the first airway segment 833 is larger than the inner diameter of the hollow cavity of the second airway segment 834, more air is introduced by the first airway segment 833, so that the extraction effect on the aerosol is better, and the amount of the aerosol is larger. When the inner diameter of the hollow cavity of the first airway segment 833 is less than the inner diameter of the hollow cavity of the second airway segment 834, more aerosols may be gathered in the second airway segment 834, so that the condensation effect on the aerosol is better, the cooling effect on the aerosol is better, and the aerosol is more suitable to inhale.
Preferably, when the aerosol-forming device is the electromagnetic heating device, the aerosol-forming substrate segment 82 further has a sheet metal 7 arranged axially. The middle sheet metal 7 may also induce electromagnetism generated by the coil to heat.
Preferably, the airway segment 83 is cylindrical and is prepared from, but is not limited to, a cellulose acetate fiber material and a high molecular material.
The aerosol-forming substrate segment 82 contains the aerosol-forming material, and the aerosol-forming material is an aerosol-forming material in the form of particles or filaments.
Here, the forms of the aerosol-forming material are only illustrated but are not limited to the above several forms actually, and aerosol-forming media capable of generating the aerosol are applicable.
The total length of the aerosol-forming article in the present disclosure may be 30-80 mm, where the range of the tight segment is 2-10 mm, preferably 5 mm; the length of the aerosol-forming substrate segment 82 is 8-25 mm, preferably 12 mm; the length of the airway segment 83 is 10-20 mm, preferably 15 mm; and the length of the filter segment 84 is 8-15 mm, preferably 10 mm.
On the premise of no conflicts, the above preferred solutions may be combined freely. Compared with the prior art, the present disclosure has the following beneficial effects:
However, after the tight segment is added in front of the aerosol-forming substrate segment, in the inhaling process of the user, because the external gas can hardly be supplemented by the tight segment to enter the aerosol-forming substrate segment, the negative pressure of the aerosol-forming substrate segment will not increase, and the aerosol can be prevented from flowing back to the aerosol-forming substrate segment and flowing out from the end surface of the aerosol-forming substrate segment when inhaling is stop, so as to further solve the problem that the aerosol condensate flows out from the end surface of the aerosol-forming substrate segment to pollutant the appliance.
When the inner diameter of the hollow cavity of the first airway segment 833 is larger than the inner diameter of the hollow cavity of the second airway segment 834, more air is introduced by the first airway segment 833, so that the extraction effect on the aerosol is better, and the amount of the aerosol is larger.
When the inner diameter of the hollow cavity of the first airway segment 833 is less than the inner diameter of the hollow cavity of the second airway segment 834, more aerosols may be gathered in the second airway segment 834, so that the condensation effect on the aerosol is better, the cooling effect on the aerosol is better, and the aerosol is more suitable to inhale.
List of numerals: 1—device main body of; 2—accommodating cylinder; 21—top opening; 22—bottom wall; 3—heating element; 31—top end; 32—bottom end; 4—guide tube; 5—coil; 6—thermal insulation structure; 7—sheet metal; 8—aerosol-forming article; 81—tight segment; 82—aerosol-forming substrate segment; 83—airway segment; 84—filter segment; 831—airflow channel; 832—side flow hole; 833—first airway segment; 834—second airway segment.
The present disclosure will be further described in detail below with reference to embodiments.
Persons skilled in the art will understand that the embodiments below are merely used for explaining the present disclosure and are not to limit the scope of the present disclosure. The embodiments without specific technologies or conditions indicated are carried out according to technologies or conditions described by literature in the art or description of a product. The used materials or equipment not indicated by manufacturers are conventional products which can be purchased.
Persons skilled in the art may understand that unless otherwise specified, the singular forms “a”, “an”, “the” and “this” used herein may also include plural forms. It should be further understood that the expression “include” used in the description of the present disclosure refers to the existence of the characteristics, integers, steps, operations, components and/or assemblies, but not excludes the existence or addition of one or more other characteristics, integers, steps, operations, components, assemblies and/or their groups. It should be understood that when a component is referred to as being “connected to” another component, it may be directly connected to the another component or there may be an intermediate component. In addition, “connection” used herein may include wireless connection.
In the description of the present disclosure, unless otherwise specified, “a plurality of” means two or more than two. Orientation or position relationships indicated by the terms such as “inside”, “up”, “down” and the like are based on orientation or position relationships shown in the drawings, and are used only for ease and brevity of illustration and description of the present disclosure, rather than indicating or implying that the mentioned device or component must have a particular orientation or must be constructed and operated in a particular orientation. Therefore, such terms should not be construed as limiting of the present disclosure.
In the description of the present disclosure, it should be noted that unless otherwise explicitly specified and limited, the terms “mount”, “connect”, “connection”, and “provided with” should be understood in a broad sense. For example, the connection may be fixed connection, detachable connection, or integral connection; or the connection may be mechanical connection or electrical connection; or the connection may be direct connection, or indirect connection through an intermediate. Persons of ordinary skill in the art may understand the specific meanings of the foregoing terms in the present disclosure according to specific situations.
Persons skilled in the art may understand that unless otherwise defined, all terms used herein including technical terms and scientific terms have the same meanings as those commonly understood by persons of ordinary skill in the art. It should be further understood that those terms defined in a general dictionary should be understood as having meanings consistent with the meanings in the context in the prior art. Unless otherwise defined herein, those terms will not be explained by idealized or too formal implications.
In the embodiment, the total length of an aerosol-forming article 8 may be 42 mm, where the range of the tight segment is 5 mm, the length of the aerosol-forming substrate segment 82 is 12 mm, the length of the airway segment 83 is 15 mm, and the length of the filter segment 84 is 10 mm.
The aerosol-forming article 8 with a tight segment shown in
The axial air permeability of the tight segment 81 is less than that of the aerosol-forming substrate segment 82.
The tight segment 81 is selected from a non-aerosol-forming material such as a carbon fiber material.
The airway segment 83 is hollow and is provided with a side wall and a hollow cavity, and the hollow cavity is the airflow channel 831 axially penetrating the airway segment 83.
A side flow hole 832 penetrating the side wall is further formed in the side wall of the airway segment 83.
The axial position of the side flow hole 832 is close to the position of the aerosol-forming substrate segment 82 and is away from the position of the filter segment 84.
The number of the side flow holes 832 is 6.
The airway segment 83 is cylindrical and is prepared from a cellulose acetate fiber material.
As shown in
The heating element 3 is a heating tube arranged separately from the accommodating cylinder 2, and the heating tube and the accommodating cylinder 2 jointly accommodate the aerosol-forming article. The heating tube is coaxially arranged in the accommodating cylinder 2, and the bottom end 32 of the heating tube is higher than the bottom wall 22 of the accommodating cylinder 2 in vertical height.
The accommodating cylinder 2 is in the shape of a stepped tube as a whole and includes an upper portion and a lower portion that are different in diameter; the joint of the upper and lower portions, i.e., the step, the diameter of the upper portion is larger than that of the lower portion, the top end of the lower portion is sleeved with the heating tube 3, and the upper portion encircles the outer side of the heating tube 3.
A guide tube 4 for guiding the aerosol-forming article is arranged at the top opening 21 of the accommodating cylinder 2.
The heating element 3 is peripherally wound with a coil 5 capable of generating electromagnetic induction, the heating element 3 is capable of receiving the electromagnetic induction generated by the coil 5 to heat, and the heating element 3 is selected from an electromagnetic metal material. A thermal insulation structure 6 is provided between the heating element 3 and the coil 5, and the thermal insulation structure 6 and the heating element 3 are arranged in a spaced manner.
The bottom end of the heating tube 3 is higher than the connection between the tight segment 81 and the aerosol-forming substrate segment 82 in the vertical height.
The aerosol-forming article used in the embodiment is consistent with that in Embodiment 1, and the difference is that the heat no turn aerosol-forming device is different from that in Embodiment 1.
According to the heat no turn aerosol-forming device used in the embodiment, the heating element 3 is a heating tube arranged separately from the accommodating cylinder 2, and the heating tube and the accommodating cylinder 2 jointly accommodate the aerosol-forming article. The heating tube is coaxially arranged above the accommodating cylinder 2, and the bottom end 32 of the heating tube 3 is higher than the top end of the accommodating cylinder 2 in vertical height. Other features of the aerosol-forming device are consistent with those in Embodiment 1.
The aerosol-forming article used in the embodiment is consistent with that in Embodiment 1, and the difference is that the heat no turn aerosol-forming device is different from that in Embodiment 1.
According to the heat no turn aerosol-forming device used in the embodiment, the heating element 3 and the accommodating cylinder 2 are integrated, and the heating element 3 is a part of the accommodating cylinder 2. That is, the portion of the accommodating cylinder 2 close to the top end has a heating function, which serves not only as the accommodating cylinder for accommodating the aerosol-forming article, but also as the heating element for heating the aerosol-forming article. Other features of the aerosol-forming device are consistent with those in Embodiment 1.
As shown in
The different between the structure of the aerosol-forming article 8 with a tight segment shown in
The aerosol-forming device used in the embodiment is consistent with that in Embodiment 1. The difference is that the aerosol-forming articles are different.
The different between the structure of the aerosol-forming article 8 with a tight segment shown in
The cross sectional area of the airflow channel 831 of the first airway segment 833 is smaller than or that of the airflow channel 831 of the second airway segment 834. When the airway segment 83 is hollow, it is provided with a side wall and a hollow cavity, and the hollow cavity is the airflow channel 831 axially penetrating the airway segment 83. The inner diameter of the hollow cavity of the first airway segment 833 is less than the inner diameter of the hollow cavity of the second airway segment 834, and in this case, the connection therebetween may be a conical bevel.
When the inner diameter of the hollow cavity of the first airway segment 833 is less than the inner diameter of the hollow cavity of the second airway segment 834, more aerosols may be gathered in the second airway segment 834, so that the condensation effect on the aerosol is better, the cooling effect on the aerosol is better, and the aerosol is more suitable to inhale.
The aerosol-forming device used in the embodiment is consistent with that in Embodiment 1. The difference is that the aerosol-forming articles are different.
The different between the structure of the aerosol-forming article 8 with a tight segment shown in
The cross sectional area of the airflow channel 831 of the first airway segment 833 is larger than or that of the airflow channel 831 of the second airway segment 834. When the airway segment 83 is hollow, it is provided with a side wall and a hollow cavity, and the hollow cavity is the airflow channel 831 axially penetrating the airway segment 83. The inner diameter of the hollow cavity of the first airway segment 833 is larger than the inner diameter of the hollow cavity of the second airway segment 834, and in this case, the connection therebetween may be a conical bevel.
When the inner diameter of the hollow cavity of the first airway segment 833 is larger than the inner diameter of the hollow cavity of the second airway segment 834, more air is introduced by the first airway segment 833, so that the extraction effect on the aerosol is better, and the amount of the aerosol is larger.
The aerosol-forming device used in the embodiment is consistent with that in Embodiment 1. The difference is that the aerosol-forming articles are different.
The different between the structure of the aerosol-forming article 8 with a tight segment shown in
The tight segment 81 may be integrally formed with the aerosol-forming substrate segment 82 in an aerosol-forming substrate manufacturing process, and a high density aerosol-forming substrate segment is formed by a compaction process as the tight segment 81, which is easy to manufacture.
While the invention has been illustrated and described in detail in the drawings and foregoing description, such illustration and description are to be considered illustrative or exemplary and not restrictive. It will be understood that changes and modifications may be made by those of ordinary skill within the scope of the following claims. In particular, the present invention covers further embodiments with any combination of features from different embodiments described above and below. Additionally, statements made herein characterizing the invention refer to an embodiment of the invention and not necessarily all embodiments.
The terms used in the claims should be construed to have the broadest reasonable interpretation consistent with the foregoing description. For example, the use of the article “a” or “the” in introducing an element should not be interpreted as being exclusive of a plurality of elements. Likewise, the recitation of “or” should be interpreted as being inclusive, such that the recitation of “A or B” is not exclusive of “A and B,” unless it is clear from the context or the foregoing description that only one of A and B is intended. Further, the recitation of “at least one of A, B and C” should be interpreted as one or more of a group of elements consisting of A, B and C, and should not be interpreted as requiring at least one of each of the listed elements A, B and C, regardless of whether A, B and C are related as categories or otherwise. Moreover, the recitation of “A, B and/or C” or “at least one of A, B or C” should be interpreted as including any singular entity from the listed elements, e.g., A, any subset from the listed elements, e.g., A and B, or the entire list of elements A, B and C.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 202111620889.X | Dec 2021 | CN | national |
This application is a continuation of International Patent Application No. PCT/CN2022/129725, filed on Nov. 4, 2022, which claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202111620889.X, filed on Dec. 28, 2021. The entire disclosure of both applications is hereby incorporated by reference herein.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | PCT/CN2022/129725 | Nov 2022 | WO |
| Child | 18758745 | US |
