Patent Application
20230114383
Priority is claimed to Chinese Patent Application No. 202111171326.7, filed on Oct. 8, 2021, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein.
The present invention relates to the field of vaporization technologies, and in particular, to an aerosol-generation article, an electronic vaporizer, and a vaporization system.
An electronic vaporizer is a device that mainly heats an aerosol-generation article to form aerosols. A heat-not-burn (HNB) electronic vaporizer can bake an aerosol-generation article at a low temperature (not greater than 450° C.) to generate aerosols without a large amount of harmful substances brought by high-temperature pyrolysis, so that the HNB electronic vaporizer is adored by people.
Heating methods used in a conventional HNB electronic vaporizer includes a contact heating technology. That is, an external heat source (a sheet-shaped heating body, a pin-shaped heating body, or an electromagnetic induction heating body) of an aerosol-generation article conducts heat to the aerosol-generation article, and the aerosol-generation article vaporizes effective components in the aerosol-generation article after the heat is absorbed to generate aerosols. However, residues generated during heating are easily adhered to a heating layer of an electronic vaporizer based on the conventional contact heating technology, which is hard to clean and easily affects the inhalation taste.
In an embodiment, the present invention provides an aerosol-generation article, comprising: an aerosol-generation substrate comprising a solid substrate, wherein the aerosol-generation article is configured to generate heat under action of an alternating electric field to form aerosols through vaporization.
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-generation article. The aerosol-generation article generates heat when the aerosol-generation article matches an electronic vaporizer generating an alternating electric field. In this case, the electronic vaporizer does not need to be provided with a heating body, thereby preventing the inhalation taste from being affected by residues deposited on the heating body, and use of the electronic vaporizer is more convenient since the heating body does not need to be cleaned.
In addition, an electronic vaporizer and a vaporization system that are convenient to use and can improve the inhalation taste of the aerosol-generation article are further provided.
An aerosol-generation article is provided, including an aerosol-generation substrate, where the aerosol-generation substrate is a solid substrate; and the aerosol-generation article generates heat under the action of an alternating electric field to form aerosols through vaporization.
The aerosol-generation article includes an aerosol-generation substrate, the aerosol-generation substrate is a solid substrate, the aerosol-generation article can generate heat under the action of an alternating electric field to form aerosols through vaporization, and the aerosol-generation article has a high heating speed. In addition, the matching electronic vaporizer does not need to be provided with a heating body, thereby preventing the inhalation taste from being affected by residues deposited on the heating body, and use of the electronic vaporizer is more convenient.
In an embodiment, the aerosol-generation substrate includes polar molecules.
In an embodiment, the polar molecules are at least one of water, alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, lipids, phenols, terpenoids, or low-grade fatty acids.
In an embodiment, a frequency of the alternating electric field ranges from 10 MHz to 5 GHz.
In an embodiment, the aerosol-generation article further includes a heating-assisting material close to the aerosol-generation substrate.
In an embodiment, under the action of the alternating electric field, a dielectric loss factor of the heating-assisting material is greater than a dielectric loss factor of the aerosol-generation substrate.
In an embodiment, the heating-assisting material is attenuation ceramic.
In an embodiment, water content in the aerosol-generation substrate ranges from 6 wt % to 18 wt %.
In an embodiment, the water content in the aerosol-generation substrate ranges from 8 wt % to 14 wt %.
An electronic vaporizer is provided, including a power source module and an alternating electric field generation module, where the power source module supplies power to the alternating electric field generation module, and the alternating electric field generation module is configured to generate an alternating electric field causing the aerosol-generation substrate of the foregoing aerosol-generation article to generate heat to form aerosols.
In an embodiment, a frequency of the alternating electric field ranges from 10 MHz to 5 GHz.
In an embodiment, a waveform of an alternating voltage generating the alternating electric field is a sine wave, a square wave, or a sawtooth wave.
In an embodiment, the alternating electric field generation module includes an alternating voltage generator, a first electrode, and a second electrode; the alternating voltage generator provides an alternating voltage for the first electrode and the second electrode, to form the alternating electric field between the first electrode and the second electrode; and an accommodating space for accommodating the aerosol-generation substrate is provided in at least some regions on which the alternating electric field is distributed.
In an embodiment, the first electrode is in a shape of a plate or a cylinder; and the second electrode is in a shape of a plate or a cylinder.
In an embodiment, the electronic vaporizer includes a plurality of first electrodes that are arranged at intervals and a plurality of second electrodes that are arranged at intervals, and the alternating voltage generator is configured to provide an alternating voltage for the plurality of first electrodes and the corresponding second electrodes according to a preset mode.
In an embodiment, the preset mode is to perform segmented heating with different powers or perform sequential segmented heating.
In an embodiment, the electronic vaporizer further includes an electromagnetic shielding member, and the electromagnetic shielding member is configured to shield or attenuate an overflowed electromagnetic field excited by the alternating electric field.
In an embodiment, the electronic vaporizer further includes a temperature sensor and a controller, the temperature sensor is configured to feed back a temperature of the aerosol-generation substrate to the controller, and the controller is further configured to control an output of the alternating voltage generator according to the temperature fed back by the temperature sensor, to control a heating temperature of the aerosol-generation substrate.
A vaporization system is provided, including the foregoing aerosol-generation article and the foregoing electronic vaporizer matching with the aerosol-generation article.
10: Vaporization system; 100: Aerosol-generation article; 110: Aerosol-generation substrate; 120: Temperature sensor; 200: Electronic vaporizer; 210: First electrode; 220: Second electrode; and 230: Electromagnetic shielding member.
For ease of understanding the present invention, the present invention is described more comprehensively below. The present invention may be implemented in many different forms, and is not limited to embodiments described in this specification. On the contrary, the embodiments are provided to make the disclosed content of the present invention clearer and more comprehensive.
It should be noted that, when an element is expressed as “being fixed to” another element, the element may be directly on the another element, or one or more intermediate elements may exist between the element and the another element. When an element is expressed as “being connected to” another element, the element may be directly connected to the another element, or one or more intermediate elements may exist between the element and the another element. Orientation or position relationships indicated by terms such as “vertical”, “horizontal”, “left”, “right”, “upper”, “lower”, “inner”, “outer”, and “bottom” are based on orientation or position relationships shown in the accompanying drawings, and are used only for ease of description, rather than indicating or implying that the mentioned apparatus or element must have a particular orientation or must be constructed and operated in a particular orientation. Therefore, such terms should not be construed as a limitation to the present invention. In addition, terms “first” and “second” are merely used for description and should not be understood as indicating or implying relative importance.
Unless otherwise defined, meanings of all technical and scientific terms used in this specification are the same as that usually understood by a person skilled in the technical field to which the present invention belongs. In this specification, terms used in this specification of the present invention are merely intended to describe objectives of the specific embodiments, but are not intended to limit the present invention.
Referring to
The aerosol-generation article 100 can generate heat under the action of an alternating electric field generated by the electronic vaporizer 200 to form aerosols through vaporization. The aerosols are solid particles or suspended droplets in gas (for example, air).
Specifically, the aerosol-generation article 100 includes a packaging layer and an aerosol-generation substrate 110.
The packaging layer is used as outer packaging and is configured to wrap other components (for example, the aerosol-generation substrate 110) of the aerosol-generation article 100 in the packaging layer. In some embodiments, the packaging layer is at least one of packaging paper or plastic. In some embodiments, the aerosol-generation article 100 is in a shape of a column. Correspondingly, the packaging layer is in a shape of a cylinder (for example, a barrel). In an embodiment, the aerosol-generation article is in a shape of a column, and the aerosol-generation article 100 includes the aerosol-generation substrate, a hollow tubular element, and a suction nozzle member that are sequentially arranged on a central axis of the packaging layer and defined by the packaging layer. The hollow tubular element is arranged between the aerosol-generation substrate and the suction nozzle member and is configured to extend a distance that the aerosols reach the suction nozzle member, so as to buffer the aerosols. In some embodiments, a cooling element configured to cool the aerosols is further arranged in the hollow tubular element. In an embodiment, a filtering material (for example, acetate fiber) is further arranged in the suction nozzle member. In an embodiment, an aerosol cooling element is further arranged between the hollow tubular element and the suction nozzle member, to prevent the aerosols from being too hot. It may be understood that, in some embodiments, the aerosol-generation article 100 is the aerosol-generation substrate 110. That is, in this case, the aerosol-generation article 100 omits the packaging layer, the hollow tubular element, the suction nozzle member, and the cooling element. It may be understood that, in some implementations, some of the elements may alternatively be included.
In some embodiments, the aerosol-generation substrate 110 can generate heat under the action of the alternating electric field to form aerosols through vaporization. The aerosol-generation substrate 110 has complex compositions, and at the molecule level, a sequence of molecules included in the aerosol-generation substrate 110 in a natural state is disordered; because a dipole moment of each polar molecule is not zero, polar molecules in the aerosol-generation substrate 110 suffer an electric field force under the action of the electric field and rotate; and under the action of the alternating electric field at a specific frequency, the polar molecules rotate or vibrate, and friction or collision occurs among the molecules to generate heat. Therefore, alternating electric field heating is to place a medium in an alternating electric field at a specific frequency, polar molecules in the medium rotate or vibrate at a high speed under the action of the alternating electric field, so that friction or collision occurs, and the medium generates heat. The frequency of the alternating electric field causing the medium to generate heat is related to properties of the medium, so that the alternating electric field heating may be performed selectively. Under the action of the alternating electric field, the aerosol-generation substrate 110 generates heat at a high speed and uniformly, so that the utilization of the aerosol-generation substrate 110 is high. In addition, because the aerosol-generation substrate 110 can generate heat to vaporize the aerosol-generation substrate to form aerosols, the matching electronic vaporizer 200 does not need to be provided with a heating body, thereby preventing the inhalation taste from being affected by residues deposited on the heating body, and use of the electronic vaporizer 200 is more convenient.
Specifically, the aerosol-generation substrate 110 includes polar molecules. In some embodiments, the polar molecules are at least one of water, alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, lipids, phenols, terpenoids, or low-grade fatty acids. Water is a polar molecule having a good polarity, and when the content of water in the aerosol-generation substrate 110 is relatively great, water may be used as a heating substance to cause the aerosol-generation substrate 110 to form aerosols through vaporization. In an embodiment, water content in the aerosol-generation substrate 110 ranges from 6 wt % to 18 wt %. Further, the water content in the aerosol-generation substrate 110 ranges from 8 wt % to 14 wt %. Alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, lipids, phenols, terpenoids, and low-grade fatty acids have polarities and may be heated by an alternating electric field at an appropriate frequency. In some embodiments, at least one of alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, lipids, phenols, terpenoids, and low-grade fatty acids is mainly used as a flavor substance, but content of the alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, lipids, phenols, terpenoids, or low-grade fatty acids used as the flavor substance is generally relatively small, which cannot be independently used for heat generation or cannot achieve an apparent heating effect, and need to match other polar molecules (for example, water) to generate heat. It may be understood that, in some embodiments, at least one of alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, lipids, phenols, terpenoids, or low-grade fatty acids may alternatively be used as a heating substance, and content thereof in this case is enough to cause the aerosol-generation substrate 110 to form aerosols through vaporization.
In some embodiments, the aerosol-generation substrate 110 is a solid substrate. Optionally, the aerosol-generation substrate 110 is in at least one shape of powders, particles, sheets, wires, spaghettis, or strips. It may be understood that, the solid aerosol-generation substrate 110 is not limited to the foregoing shape and may also be in another shape.
Specifically, the aerosol-generation substrate 110 includes a functional material and a substrate material. The functional material causes the aerosol-generation substrate 110 to generate aerosols; and the substrate material provides support to the functional material to form the aerosol-generation substrate 110. More specifically, the functional material includes a volatile flavor substance and an aerosol-forming agent. The aerosol-forming agent is used for forming aerosols; and the volatile flavor substance is used for adding flavors to aerosols, and use amounts and types of the volatile flavor substance and the aerosols may be selected and matched according to a requirement.
The volatile flavor substance is a natural raw material or artificially synthesized. Optionally, the volatile flavor substance is selected from at least one of alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, lipids, phenols, terpenoids, or low-grade fatty acids that include flavors. In an embodiment, the volatile flavor substance is an extract of at least one of a leaf, a stem, a root, or a flower of a plant. Certainly, the volatile flavor substance may be selected and matched according to an actual requirement. It may be understood that, in some embodiments, the volatile flavor substance may be omitted.
Optionally, the aerosol-forming agent includes water and/or other polar molecules. As described above, water is a polar molecule having a good polarity, which can generate heat in an alternating electric field for heating. In an embodiment, the aerosol-generation substrate 110 is a solid substrate, and water content in the aerosol-generation substrate 110 ranges from 6 wt % to 18 wt %. Further, the water content in the aerosol-generation substrate 110 ranges from 8 wt % to 14 wt %. Optionally, the other polar molecules are selected from at least one of triethylene glycol, butylene glycol, glycerol, or propylene glycol. It may be understood that, in some other embodiments, the other polar molecules are not limited to the foregoing.
In some embodiments, the substrate material is made of a natural raw material including a volatile flavor substance; and the aerosol-generation substrate 110 is made by mixing the substrate material and the functional material. In an embodiment, the substrate material is at least one of a leaf, a stem, a root, or a flower of a plant. In an optional specific example, the plant is an herb. Under the action of the alternating electric field, a natural material including a volatile flavor substance can release the flavor substance and form aerosols. It may be understood that, when the substrate material is made of a natural raw material (for example, an herb) including a volatile flavor substance, the volatile flavor substance and the aerosol-forming agent can be both provided by the substrate material, and the functional material can be omitted in this case. In this case, the water content of the plant is enough to cause the plant to be heated under the action of the alternating electric field to form aerosols through vaporization. For example, in this case, the water content of the plant ranges from 6 wt % to 18 wt %.
In an optional specific example, the substrate material is tobacco. Main compositions in the tobacco are insoluble polysaccharides, such as starch, cellulose, and pectin. Content of the starch in mature tobacco ranges from 10% to 30%; the cellulose is a basic substance forming cellular tissue and skeleton of the tobacco, and content of the cellulose in the tobacco is generally about 11%, which increases as a grade of the tobacco decreases; and content of the pectin in the tobacco is about 12%, the pectin affects physical performance such as the elasticity and toughness of the tobacco, due to the existence of the pectin, when water content in the tobacco is great, the elasticity and toughness of the tobacco are increased, and when water content is small, the tobacco is friable and fragile. Certainly, when the substrate material is tobacco, the functional material can be omitted. In this case, the water content of the tobacco is enough to cause the tobacco to be heated under the action of the alternating electric field to form aerosols through vaporization. For example, in this case, the water content of the tobacco ranges from 6 wt % to 18 wt %.
In some other embodiments, the substrate material is an artificially synthesized material. In an embodiment, the substrate material is a porous material, and the functional material is filled in the substrate material. In another embodiment, the substrate material is in a shape of particles, wires, pieces, or powders, the functional material is distributed in the substrate material, and the aerosol-generation substrate 110 is formed by mixing the functional material and the substrate material. When the substrate material is an artificially synthesized material, the substrate material only serves as a carrier and does not release a flavor substance. Specifically, the substrate material is an artificially synthesized porous material, for example, a porous polymer.
A frequency of an alternating electric field required by the aerosol-generation substrate 110 for generating aerosols ranges from 10 MHz to 5 GHz. In some embodiments, the frequency of the alternating electric field required by the aerosol-generation substrate for generating aerosols ranges from 10 MHz to 49 MHz. In an optional specific example, the frequency of the alternating electric field required by the aerosol-forming substrate for generating aerosols is 10 MHz, 15 MHz, 20 MHz, 25 MHz, 30 MHz, 35 MHz, 40 MHz, or 49 MHz. In some other embodiments, the frequency of the alternating electric field required by the aerosol-generation substrate for generating aerosols ranges from 981 MHz to 5 GHz. In an optional specific example, the frequency of the alternating electric field required by the aerosol-forming substrate for generating aerosols is 985 MHz, 1000 MHz, 1 GHz, 1.5 GHz, 2 GHz, 2.5 GHz, 3 GHz, 3.5 GHz, 4 GHz, or 4.5 GHz.
In some embodiments, the aerosol-generation article 100 further includes a heating-assisting material close to the aerosol-generation substrate 110. Specifically, the heating-assisting material is arranged in the aerosol-generation substrate 110. Further, the heating-assisting material is distributed in the aerosol-generation substrate 110. By distributing the heating-assisting material in the aerosol-generation substrate 110, the aerosol-generation substrate 110 can be heated uniformly, and the consistency of aerosols formed by the aerosol-generation substrate 110 is better. It may be understood that, in some embodiments, the heating-assisting material is not limited to being distributed in the aerosol-generation substrate, and may also be in a shape of a sheet, a rod, or a pin and close to the aerosol-generation substrate 110, to conduct heat to the aerosol-generation substrate 110.
In some embodiments, the heating-assisting material is a material that can generate heat more easily and/or have a higher heating efficiency than the aerosol-generation substrate 110 in the alternating electric field in which the aerosol-generation substrate 110 is located. In this case, one part of a heat source for vaporization of the aerosol-generation substrate 110 is heat generated by the aerosol-generation substrate under the alternating electric field, and another part of the heat source is heat generated by the heating-assisting material under the alternating electric field. It may be understood that, in some embodiments, heat generated by the aerosol-generation substrate 110 under the action of the alternating electric field is relatively small. In this case, heat required for vaporization of the aerosol-generation substrate 110 is mainly from heat generated by the heating-assisting material.
Optionally, under the action of the alternating electric field, a dielectric loss factor of the heating-assisting material is greater than a dielectric loss factor of the aerosol-generation substrate 110. It may be understood that, the heating-assisting material can have a higher heating efficiency than the aerosol-generation substrate 110 under a heating frequency of the alternating electric field, which can achieve a more efficient heating efficiency. For example, a dielectric loss of tobacco with water content of 15 wt % is about 0.075, the dielectric loss increases as the water content increases, and the dielectric loss is about 0.487 when the water content is 30 wt %. However, the quality of the tobacco may be affected when the water content is excessively great. Therefore, it is relatively appropriate when the water content of the aerosol-generation substrate 110 ranges from 6 wt % to 18 wt %. Meanwhile, in a case that the water content is relatively low, to improve the heating efficiency, the heating-assisting material may be added to the aerosol-generation substrate 110 to improve the heating efficiency.
In some embodiments, the heating-assisting material is attenuation ceramic. In an optional specific example, the attenuation ceramic is aluminum nitride-based attenuation ceramic. The aluminum nitride-based attenuation ceramic has good thermal conduction performance, where a theoretical value of thermal conductivity is about 320 W/m·K, and has a moderate thermal expansion coefficient, reliable electrical insulation, stable chemical and thermal performance, good mechanical performance, and no toxicity. In addition, during actual production, some substances with a great loss, for example, attenuation agents such as SiC, TiB2, Mo, W, and C, are generally added to a substrate of the aluminum nitride-based attenuation ceramic, to achieve a specific attenuation effect. In some specific embodiments, a dielectric loss of AlN—TiB2 attenuation ceramic is about 0.17, and a dielectric loss of tobacco whose water content is greater than 15% is 0.075.
The electronic vaporizer 200 can generate an alternating electric field to cause the aerosol-generation substrate 110 of the aerosol-generation article 100 to generate heat to form aerosols through vaporization. Specifically, the electronic vaporizer 200 includes a housing, a power source module, and an alternating electric field generation module. The housing is configured to accommodate other elements of the electronic vaporizer 200, the power source module supplies power to the alternating electric field generation module, and the alternating electric field generation module is configured to generate an alternating electric field causing the aerosol-generation substrate 110 of the foregoing aerosol-generation article 100 to generate heat to form aerosols through vaporization.
Specifically, the housing includes an accommodating cavity, and the power source module and the alternating electric field generation module are both arranged in the accommodating cavity. More specifically, the accommodating cavity includes a bottom portion and an opening opposite to the bottom portion. The power source module supplies power to other components (for example, the alternating electric field generation module) in the electronic vaporizer 200. In an embodiment, the power source module is close to the bottom portion of the accommodating cavity. The power source module includes a battery. It may be understood that, in some embodiments, the battery may be omitted. In this case, the electronic vaporizer 200 needs to be connected to an external power source for use.
The alternating electric field generation module includes an alternating voltage generator, a first electrode 210, and a second electrode 220. The alternating voltage generator is electrically connected to the power source, and the alternating voltage generator provides an alternating voltage for the first electrode 210 and the second electrode 220, to form the alternating electric field between the first electrode 210 and the second electrode 220. An accommodating space that can accommodate the aerosol-generation substrate 110 is provided in at least some regions on which the alternating electric field is distributed, so that the aerosol-generation substrate 110 in the alternating electric field can generate heat and form aerosols through vaporization under the action of the alternating electric field. The first electrode 210, the aerosol-generation article 100 arranged between the first electrode 210 and the second electrode 220, and the second electrode 220 form an equivalent capacitor.
Referring to
In some embodiments, the numbers of the first electrodes 210 and the second electrodes 220 are both one. In some other embodiments, the electronic vaporizer includes a plurality of first electrodes 210 that are arranged at intervals and a plurality of second electrodes 220 that are arranged at intervals, and the alternating voltage generator is configured to provide an alternating voltage for the plurality of first electrodes 210 and the corresponding second electrodes 220 according to a preset mode. Optionally, the preset mode is to perform segmented heating with different powers or perform sequential segmented heating. Specifically, the segmented heating with different powers refers to that heating degrees of different positions on the aerosol-generation substrate 110 are different. For example, in an embodiment whose structure arrangement is shown in
In the embodiment shown in
A frequency of the alternating electric field generated by the alternating electric field generation module matches with the heated aerosol-generation substrate 110 and/or heating-assisting material. Optionally, the frequency of the alternating electric field generated by the alternating electric field generation module ranges from 10 MHz to 5 GHz. In an embodiment, the frequency of the alternating electric field generated by the alternating electric field generation module ranges from 10 MHz to 49 MHz. In an optional specific example, the frequency of the alternating electric field required by the aerosol-forming substrate for generating aerosols is 10 MHz, 15 MHz, 20 MHz, 25 MHz, 30 MHz, 35 MHz, 40 MHz, or 49 MHz. In some other embodiments, the frequency of the alternating electric field generated by the alternating electric field generation module ranges from 981 MHz to 5 GHz. In an optional specific example, the frequency of the alternating electric field required by the aerosol-forming substrate for generating aerosols is 985 MHz, 1000 MHz, 1 GHz, 1.5 GHz, 2 GHz, 2.5 GHz, 3 GHz, 3.5 GHz, 4 GHz, or 4.5 GHz. Further, the frequency of the alternating electric field generated by the alternating electric field generation module ranges from 985 MHz to 1000 MHz, from 1 GHz to 1.5 GHz, from 1.6 GHz to 2 GHz, from 2.1 GHz to 2.5 GHz, from 2.6 GHz to 3 GHz, from 3.1 GHz to 3.5 GHz, or from 3.6 GHz to 4 GHz.
In an embodiment, a waveform of an alternating voltage generated by the alternating voltage generator is a sine wave, a square wave, or a sawtooth wave.
In some embodiments, the electronic vaporizer 200 further includes an electromagnetic shielding member 230, and the electromagnetic shielding member 230 is configured to shield or attenuate an overflowed electromagnetic field excited by the alternating electric field between the first electrode 210 and the second electrode 220. In an embodiment, a material of the electromagnetic shielding member 230 is selected from a conductive material, a composite material of metals and insulators, or a ferrite material. In an optional specific example, the conductive material is selected from at least one of copper, aluminum, iron, or nickel. The composite material is selected from rubber or plastic filled with metal powder or metal fiber (for example, nickel wire, copper wire, or silver wire). The ferrite material is selected from manganese-zinc ferrite or nickel-copper ferrite. It may be understood that, in some other embodiments, the conductive material, the composite material of metals and insulators, and the ferrite material forming the electromagnetic shielding member 230 are not limited to the foregoing.
In some embodiments, the electromagnetic shielding member 230 is arranged between the first electrode 210 and the second electrode 220, and wraps the aerosol-generation article 100 in the electromagnetic shielding member, for example, the embodiment shown in
In some embodiments, the aerosol-generation article 100 further includes a temperature sensor 120. Specifically, the temperature sensor 120 is configured to sense a temperature of the aerosol-generation substrate 110, which facilitates the electronic vaporizer 200 to control a heating temperature of the aerosol-generation substrate 110. In some embodiments, the temperature sensor 120 is a thermocouple temperature sensor, a negative temperature coefficient (NTC) temperature sensor, a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) temperature sensor, or a temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) temperature sensor. Certainly, in some other embodiments, the temperature sensor 120 is not limited to the foregoing and may also be a temperature sensor of another type.
Referring to
Optionally, the dielectric material is a solid dielectric material. In some embodiments, the dielectric material is a ferroelectric material. In an embodiment, the dielectric material is selected from at least one of niobate, zirconate, titanate, or bismuthate. In an optional specific example, the dielectric material is selected from at least one of NaNbO3, K0.5Na0.5NbO3, or 0.96K0.5Na0.5NbO3-0.04Bi0.5Na0.5ZrO3. It may be understood that, the dielectric material is not limited to the foregoing and may also be selected according to a specific situation. It may be understood that, in some other embodiments, the temperature sensor 120 may further include other components in addition to the solid dielectric material. Certainly, the dielectric material is not limited to a solid dielectric material and may also be a liquid dielectric material.
In some embodiments, the temperature range required by the aerosol-generation substrate 110 for forming aerosols ranges from 250° C. to 450° C.; and the Curie temperature of the dielectric material ranges from 250° C. to 450° C. Further, the temperature range required by the aerosol-generation substrate 110 for forming aerosols ranges from 250° C. to 400° C.; and the Curie temperature of the dielectric material ranges from 250° C. to 400° C. Further, the temperature range required by the aerosol-generation article 100 for forming aerosols ranges from 200° C. to 350° C.; and the Curie temperature of the dielectric material ranges from 200° C. to 350° C. In an embodiment, the temperature range required by the aerosol-generation substrate 110 for forming aerosols ranges from 250° C. to 400° C., and the Curie temperature of the dielectric material is 400° C.
In some embodiments, the temperature sensor 120 is arranged in the aerosol-generation substrate 110. In this case, the temperature sensor 120 represents a temperature inside the aerosol-generation substrate 110. In an embodiment, the temperature sensor 120 is in a shape of a rod or a sheet. In this case, the temperature sensor 120 is inserted in the aerosol-generation substrate 110. Further, a length direction of the temperature sensor 120 and a length direction of the aerosol-generation article 100 form an acute angle. In the embodiment shown in
In some other embodiments, the temperature sensor 120 is arranged on a surface of the aerosol-generation substrate 110. Specifically, the aerosol-generation substrate 110 is a substrate including a shape (for example, a sheet or a column) formed by powders, particles, and/or wire-shaped fine materials through a forming process; and the temperature sensor 120 is arranged on an outer surface of the aerosol-generation substrate 110. In this case, the temperature sensor 120 represents a temperature outside the aerosol-generation substrate 110.
In some other embodiments, the temperature sensor 120 is arranged on a surface of the packaging layer and close to the aerosol-generation substrate 110. In this case, the temperature sensor 120 represents a temperature outside the aerosol-generation substrate 110. In an embodiment, the temperature sensor 120 is arranged on an outer surface of the packaging layer. In another embodiment, the temperature sensor 120 is arranged on an inner surface of the packaging layer.
Specifically, to implement temperature control, in addition to that the aerosol-generation article 100 includes the temperature sensor 120, the electronic vaporizer 200 further includes a detection module and a controller. The detection module is configured to detect the changes of the dielectric constant of the aerosol-generation article 100 arranged in the alternating electric field and feed back a detection result to the controller. The controller is configured to control the output of the alternating voltage generator according to the detection result to control the temperature of the aerosol-generation substrate 110, thereby preventing the aerosol-generation article 100 from generating a burnt flavor due to an excessively high temperature of the aerosol-generation substrate 110. It may be understood that, the detection module may directly detect the dielectric constant of the aerosol-generation article 100 arranged in the alternating electric field, or may indirectly obtain the dielectric constant of the aerosol-generation article 100 arranged in the alternating electric field by detecting a parameter related to the dielectric constant. For example, the changes of the dielectric constant of the aerosol-generation article 100 is detected by detecting capacitance changes of the equivalent capacitor formed by the first electrode 210, the second electrode 220, and the aerosol-generation article 100 arranged between the first electrode 210 and the second electrode 220 or a resonance frequency of a resonance circuit in which the equivalent capacitor is located.
In some embodiments, the detection module is configured to detect the capacitance changes of the equivalent capacitor formed by the first electrode 210, the second electrode 220, and the aerosol-generation article 100 arranged between the first electrode 210 and the second electrode 220. The changes of the dielectric constant of the aerosol-generation article 100 are detected by detecting the capacitance changes of the equivalent capacitor. Specifically, the detection module is configured to detect a capacitance of the equivalent capacitor and feed back a detection result to the controller; and the controller matches the detection result fed back by the detection module with a preset heating program to implement heating control. In this case, the controller is electrically connected to the alternating voltage generator, and the controller is configured to control the output of the alternating voltage generator according to the capacitance changes of the equivalent capacitor, to implement temperature control during heating. In this case, the principle that the controller obtains the temperature of the aerosol-generation substrate 110 is that: there is a correspondence between the dielectric constant of the dielectric material of the temperature sensor 120 and the temperature, and there is a correspondence between the capacitance of the equivalent capacitor and the dielectric constant of the dielectric material of the temperature sensor 120 in the equivalent capacitor. Therefore, the temperature of the aerosol-generation substrate 110 that is sensed by the temperature sensor 120 can be obtained by detecting the capacitance of the equivalent capacitor. Specifically, the controller stores a dielectric constant-temperature feature curve of the dielectric material of the temperature sensor 120. It may be understood that, when the dielectric constant-temperature feature curve of the dielectric material of the temperature sensor 120 is stored in the controller, changes of dielectric constants of other components with the temperature of the aerosol-generation article 100 in the alternating electric field can be omitted. It may be understood that, in some other embodiments, the feature curve stored in the controller is not limited to the dielectric constant-temperature feature curve of the dielectric material of the temperature sensor 120, and may also be a dielectric constant-temperature feature curve of a composite material formed by the dielectric material and other related materials, provided that the temperature of the aerosol-generation substrate 110 can be reflected. Certainly, in this case, the changes of the dielectric constants of other components with the temperature other than the dielectric material of the temperature sensor 120 of the aerosol-generation article 100 are not specifically limited.
In the embodiment shown in
In some embodiments, the detection module is configured to detect changes of a resonance frequency of a resonance circuit in which the equivalent capacitor is located. The changes of the dielectric constant of the aerosol-generation article 100 is obtained by detecting the changes of the resonance frequency of the resonance circuit in which the equivalent capacitor is located. Specifically, the electronic vaporizer 200 further includes an inductance coil. The power source, the inductance coil, and the equivalent capacitor form a resonance circuit; the detection module is configured to detect a resonance frequency of the resonance circuit and feed back a detection result to the controller; and the controller matches the detection result fed back by the detection module with a preset heating program to implement heating control. In this case, the principle that the controller obtains the temperature of the aerosol-generation substrate 110 is that: there is a correspondence between the dielectric constant of the dielectric material of the temperature sensor 120 and the temperature, there is a correspondence between the capacitance of the equivalent capacitor and the dielectric constant of the dielectric material of the temperature sensor 120 in the equivalent capacitor, and there is a correspondence between the resonance frequency of the resonance circuit and the capacitance of the equivalent capacitor. Therefore, the temperature of the aerosol-generation substrate 110 that is sensed by the temperature sensor 120 can be obtained by detecting the resonance frequency of the resonance circuit.
Further, because the temperature change in the aerosol-generation substrate is apparent when aerosols formed by the aerosol-generation article 100 are inhaled, the change can be sensed by the temperature sensor 120, and the change can be reflected on the resonance frequency (the resonance frequency jumps apparently), the number of times of inhalation can be counted according to peaks and valleys of the feature change of the resonance frequency, and an output of an alternating voltage generator is adjusted according to the counted number of times of inhalation to improve the taste of the aerosols. Therefore, in some embodiments, the electronic vaporizer 200 further includes an inhalation counting module. The inhalation counting module is configured to collect the number of peaks and/or valleys of the resonance frequency, calculate the number of times of inhalation, and feed back the number of times of inhalation to the controller. In this case, the controller is further configured to control the output of the alternating voltage generator according to a counting result fed back by the counting module.
Specifically, the heating program includes a warming program and a cooling program. When a temperature corresponding to the detection result (the capacitance of the equivalent capacitor, the dielectric constant, or the resonance frequency) fed back by the detection module and received by the controller is lower than a preset cooling temperature, the controller controls the alternating voltage generator to output normally, which is the warming program; and when the temperature corresponding to the detection result fed back by the detection module and received by the controller is higher than or equal to the preset cooling temperature, the controller controls the alternating voltage generator to reduce the output, which is the cooling program.
In some embodiments, the controller is further configured to control a heating start program. Specifically, when the aerosol-generation article 100 is arranged between the first electrode 210 and the second electrode 220 to form an equivalent capacitor, the detection module detects the dielectric constant of the aerosol-generation article 100 arranged between the first electrode 210 and the second electrode 220 and feeds back a detection result to the controller, and the controller matches the detection result fed back by the detection module with a preset startup parameter. If the detection result matches the preset startup parameter, the heating program is started; and if the detection result does not match the preset startup parameter, the heating program is not started. The heating start program is controlled by the controller, so that the heating program is started only after the aerosol-generation article 100 is identified by the electronic vaporizer 200 as a heatable aerosol-generation article, thereby preventing false heating and improving the user experience. Meanwhile, the electronic vaporizer 200 corresponds to the heatable aerosol-generation article 100, which also achieves an anti-counterfeiting effect. It may be understood that, the preset startup parameter is a range in consideration of application scenarios of the aerosol-generation article 100. It may be understood that, similarly, when the controller is further configured to control the heating start program, a parameter detected by the detection module is also not limited to the dielectric constant of the aerosol-generation article 100 arranged between the first electrode 210 and the second electrode 220, and may alternatively be another parameter related to the dielectric constant, such as the capacitance of the equivalent capacitor or the resonance frequency of the resonance circuit in which the equivalent capacitor is located that can indirectly reflect the dielectric constant.
In the foregoing embodiment, identification is implemented by using the detection module of the electronic vaporizer 200 to detect the capacitance or the resonance frequency corresponding to the dielectric constant of the aerosol-generation article arranged between the first electrode 210 and the second electrode 220. It may be understood that, in some other embodiments, that the electronic vaporizer 200 identifies the aerosol-generation article 100 may alternatively be implemented through an identifying material (for example, an identifying label) additionally arranged on the aerosol-generation article 100 and a corresponding identifying module arranged on the electronic vaporizer 200. For example, the aerosol-generation article 100 further includes an identifying material matching with the electronic vaporizer 200. In some embodiments, the identifying material is arranged in the aerosol-generation substrate 110 or arranged on a surface of the aerosol-generation substrate 110. In some other embodiments, the identifying material is arranged on the packaging layer. For example, the identifying material is arranged on an outer surface or an inner surface of the packaging layer. It may be understood that, specific compositions of the identifying material are not specifically limited, provided that the identifying material can match with the identifying module of the electronic vaporizer 200. Certainly, in some embodiments, if the electronic vaporizer 200 does not need to have an identifying function, the electronic vaporizer 200 also does not need to have a corresponding identifying module, and the aerosol-generation article 100 also does not need to be provided with an identifying material.
In some embodiments, the electronic vaporizer 200 further includes a temperature sensor configured to sense a temperature of the aerosol-generation article. In an embodiment, the principle that the temperature sensor senses the temperature of the aerosol-generation substrate 110 and the principle of the temperature sensor 120 in the aerosol-generation article 100 are the same. In this case, a material of the temperature sensor and the material of the temperature sensor 120 described above are the same. Specifically, the temperature sensor is arranged on the first electrode 210 and/or the second electrode 220 and arranged in the cavity. If a position relationship between the first electrode 210 and the second electrode 220 is that the first electrode 210 is arranged in the second electrode 220, for example, as shown in
In addition, it may be understood that, when the aerosol-generation article 100 includes the temperature sensor 120, and the electronic vaporizer 200 also includes the temperature sensor, positions of the temperature sensor 120 and the temperature sensor do not conflict with each other. For example, when the position relationship between the first electrode 210 and the second electrode 220 is shown in
The vaporization system 10 includes an aerosol-generation article 100 and an electronic vaporizer 200 matching with the aerosol-generation article 100. The electronic vaporizer 200 matches the aerosol-generation article 100, and the electronic vaporizer 200 generates an alternating electric field to cause an aerosol-generation substrate 110 to form aerosols through vaporization. The vaporization system 10 at least includes the following advantages:
(1) High heating efficiency. Because the aerosol-generation article 100 generates heat (the aerosol-generation substrate 110 and/or the heating-assisting material generate heat) under the action of the alternating electric field, when compared with a vaporization system in which the aerosol-generation substrate is heated by a component other than the aerosol-generation article through heat conduction, the heating efficiency is high.
(2) Uniform heating and high heating speed. Because heat is generated from the inside of a substance, an object in an electric field can be heated uniformly, and the object reaches the same temperature from inside to outside, thereby improving the taste of the aerosol-generation article 100 and also improving the utilization of the aerosol-generation article 100.
(3) Immediate heating when powered on and immediate stop when powered off. In addition, because at a specific frequency, loss factors of various substances are different, and electric field energy absorbed by the substances is also different, so that the aerosol-generation article 100 can be heated in a targeted manner, thereby greatly improving the heating efficiency and reducing power consumption.
(4) The electronic vaporizer 200 is easy to clean. When compared with arranging a heating body in a conventional electronic vaporizer, the vaporization system 10 implements vaporization through heat generated by the aerosol-generation article 100. Therefore, a heating body does not need to be arranged in the electronic vaporizer 200, and the inhalation taste is prevented from being affected by residues deposited on the heating body. In addition, because the electronic vaporizer 200 may not be provided with a heating body, the electronic vaporizer is easier to clean.
The technical features in the foregoing embodiments may be randomly combined. For concise description, not all possible combinations of the technical features in the embodiments are described. However, provided that combinations of the technical features do not conflict with each other, the combinations of the technical features are considered as falling within the scope described in this specification.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 202111171326.7 | Oct 2021 | CN | national |
