Patent Grant
12121064
The present invention relates to a liquid atomization device, and more particularly to an electronic atomization device and an atomization assembly thereof, and a manufacturing method of the atomization assembly.
Typical electronic atomization devices, such as electronic cigarettes, include an atomization assembly that is made up of a porous ceramic body for conducting liquid and a heating film disposed on the porous ceramic body. In the related art, the ceramic atomization assembly is made by directly printing electronic paste on a ceramic blank, followed by baking at a high temperature and then subjected to processing for electrodes and wirings to form the ceramic atomization assembly. However, printing electronic paste may suffer localized density inhomogeneity of the electronic paste, and this may result in non-uniform resistance in the heating circuit, and eventually leading to non-uniform distribution of temperature in the heating film. This may easily cause breaking of the heating wires and makes the ceramic atomization assembly warping and deforming. Once the extent of warping exceeds the pre-stressing of the ceramic, the ceramic atomization assembly gets cracking, and the service life of the atomization assembly is thus affected. Further, the fabrication cycle is long. The ceramic matrix, after sintering, must be subjected to secondary sintering for the screen-printed heating film. Screen printing operation cycle is long and the management control is severe, and the cost is high. Stability of resistance is influenced by the manufacturing operation and selecting must be applied for appearance defects and cracking. Further, as the heating film is formed by sintering and jointing alloy particles, it is not possible to eliminate internal microscopic defects, and the distribution of the internal microscopic defects is not uniform. This leads to poor temperature uniformity of the heating film during heating, and the distribution of stress is poor, resulting in localized stress concentration, leading to worsening of the cracking and defects, and eventually becoming failure, which may cause the risk of electrical resistance increasing resulting from dry burning due to running out of liquid during vaping. As being affected by the stability of resistance, it is relatively hard to realize extended service life and high power. The heating film is disposed above the ceramic surface and as being constrained by the size of alloy particles and screen printing plat, it is hard to reduce and thin the film width and film thickness. This makes it hard for cigarette liquid to permeate, and as the heating film cannot be efficiently permeated by the cigarette liquid, it is easy to cause dry burning and scorching, this being disadvantageous for extension of service life and operation with high power. The heating film is tightly attached to the ceramic, and as the heating film is more brittle and is inflexible, local stress may get great due to thermal oscillation during vaping, and this may readily cause cracking and peeling of the heating film.
The technical issue that the present invention is made to overcome is to provide an improved atomization assembly and a manufacturing method thereof.
To resolve the above technical issues, the present invention provides an atomization assembly, wherein the atomization assembly comprises a porous matrix and a heating body, and the porous matrix comprises an atomization face; the beating body comprises a heating part and at least one fixing part connected to the heating part, and the at least one fixing part is embedded in the porous matrix so as to have the heating body mounted on the porous matrix, the heating part being arranged to correspond to the atomization face.
In some embodiments, the heating body is integrally formed on the porous matrix by means of sintering.
In some embodiments, the porous matrix is a porous ceramic matrix.
In some embodiments, the porous ceramic matrix is made of a diatomite ceramic material.
In some embodiments, the at least one fixing part is formed with at least one fixing hole, and at least one embedding groove comprises a fixing pillar penetrating in the at least one fixing hole.
In some embodiments, the at least one fixing part comprises a large-size portion distant from the heating part and a small-size portion adjacent to the heating part.
In some embodiments, the at least one fixing part is of a shape of trapezoid, wherein a short-base portion of the trapezoid of the at least one fixing part is located adjacent to the heating part, and a long-base portion of the trapezoid is located distant from the heating part.
In some embodiments, the at least one fixing part is of a shape of trapezoid, wherein a short-base portion of the trapezoid of the at least one fixing part is located adjacent to the heating part, and a long-base portion of the trapezoid is located distant from the heating part.
In some embodiments, at least one second fixing part is further included and connected to the heating part, the at least one second fixing part being of a T-shape, the heating part being connected to a small end of the T-shape.
In some embodiments, the heating body is made of a FeCrAl alloy material.
In some embodiments, the heating part comprises a heating net.
In some embodiments, the heating net comprises a heating wire, and the heating wire has a cross-section that is of a shape of trapezoid, a long base of the trapezoid being embedded in the atomization face, a short base of the trapezoid being slightly higher than the atomization face or being flush with the atomization face.
In some embodiments, the porous matrix comprises a liquid suction face opposite to the atomization face, the liquid suction face being recessed in a direction toward the atomization face to form a recessed cavity.
In some embodiments, the at least one fixing part comprises a first fixing part and a second fixing part that are spaced from each other, the first fixing part and the second fixing part being respectively connected with two ends of the heating part and extended in a direction toward one side of the heating part.
In some embodiments, the heating body further comprises a first electrode part and a second electrode part connected to two ends of the heating part, and the first electrode part and the second electrode part are in the form of a rectangular plate.
In some embodiments, the heating part comprises a first soldering part and a second soldering part located on two ends thereof; the atomization assembly further comprises two electrode wires, the two electrode wires being respectively and electrically connected with the first soldering part and the second soldering part.
In some embodiments, the heating part is embedded in or laid flat on the atomization face.
An electronic atomization device comprises the above-described atomization assembly.
A manufacturing method for the above-described atomization assembly comprises the following steps:
In some embodiments, a step is added between Step Two and Step Three: subjecting the porous ceramic blank to glue-removing sintering in an oxygen-containing environment at a temperature of 200° C.-800° C. to obtain a glue-removed porous ceramic blank.
The beneficial effect of the present invention is that mounting of the heating body is realized by having the fixing parts embedded in the porous matrix to improve reliability of the atomization assembly.
A more detailed illustration and clear and complete description is provided below for a specific structure, a manufacturing method, and efficacy of the present invention, with reference to the instant embodiment and the attached drawings together. Reference is now made to the attached drawings, in which similar reference signs are used to indicate the same structural components of the present invention or features of the drawings.
The porous ceramic matrix 10 is generally in the form of a rectangular cuboid and comprises a liquid suction face 11 located on a top thereof and an atomization face 12 located on a bottom thereof and opposite to the liquid suction face 11. The liquid suction face 11 is configured for contacting with the liquid medium in order to suck the liquid medium into the porous ceramic matrix 10. The atomization face 12 is configured for contacting with the heating body 20 to allow the liquid medium in the porous ceramic matrix 10 to be heated and atomized by the atomization face 12. It is appreciated that the arrangement of the liquid suction face 11 and the atomization face 12 is not limited to being opposite to each other, and in certain circumstances, it is possible to have two arranged adjacent to each other.
In some embodiments, the porous ceramic matrix 10 is made of a diatomite ceramic material. Diatomite ceramic undergoes a phase change from α-cristobalite to β-cristobalite within a predetermined range of temperature, such as in the range of 180° C. to 270° C. Such a phase change causes a certain amount of deformation of diatomite ceramic within a predetermined temperature range, meaning possession of a predetermined thermal expansion coefficient. Specifically, adjusting the content of diatomite in diatomite ceramic may control the thermal expansion coefficient thereof in a predetermined range, 18-45*10−6/° C. Through adjusting the content of diatomite, the porous ceramic body 10 is made to have a thermal expansion coefficient thereof greater than or equal to a thermal expansion coefficient of the heating body 20, so as to prevent the alloy heating body 20 embedded in the porous ceramic body 10 from detaching from the porous ceramic body 10 due to warpage and deformation. The heating body 20 that detaches from the porous ceramic body 10 would suffer dry burning due to being not kept in contact with the cigarette liquid and such dry burning would lead to localized excessively high temperature in the heating body, fusing broken the beating body. On the other hand, the high temperature resulting from the dry burning may cause chemical reaction of the cigarette liquid that may generate harmful substance entraining air to get into human body to cause damage to human health. In some embodiments, the liquid suction face 11 is recessed in a direction toward the atomization face 12 in order to form a recessed cavity 110. The recessed cavity 110 may, on one hand, increase a surface area of the liquid suction face, and, on other hand, reduce a distance from the atomization face 12 to the liquid suction face 11 in order to increase a liquid transmission efficiency. In some embodiments, the atomization face 12 is planar and comprises a first embedding groove 121 and a second embedding groove 122 that are arranged parallel and spaced from each other to respectively receive a first fixing part 21 and a second fixing part 22 of the heating body 20 to fix therein. In some embodiments, the first embedding groove 121 and the second embedding groove 122 are parallel to each other in a lengthwise direction and are perpendicular to the atomization face 12 in a depth direction. It is appreciated that the first embedding groove 121 and the second embedding groove 122 are not limited to being in the atomization face.
In some embodiments, the porous ceramic matrix 10 may further comprise a first step 13 and a second step 14. The first step 13 and the second step 14 are respectively formed on two opposite sides of the porous ceramic matrix 20 to facilitate mounting of the porous ceramic matrix 10 in the electronic atomization device.
In some embodiments, the heating body 20 may comprise the first fixing part 21, the second fixing part 22, and a heating part 23. The first fixing part 21 and the second fixing part 22 are respectively connected to two ends of the heating part 23 and are extended in a direction toward one side of the heating part 23 for being respectively fixed in the first embedding groove 121 and the second embedding groove 121 of the atomization face 12. In some embodiments, the first fixing part 21, the second fixing part 22, and the heating part 23 are integrally formed, as one piece, of a metal plate through etching or stamping. The heating part 23 is configured for tightly contacting the atomization face 12 to have the liquid medium in the porous ceramic matrix 10 heated and thus atomized on the atomization face 12. The heating part 23 is bent, generally in a S-shaped form, and disposed on a plane to form a heating net, which, on one hand, enables uniformly heating of the heating part 23 to reduce non-uniformity of stress resulting from non-uniform heating of the heating body 20 and thus prolong the service life of the heating body 20, and, on other hand, enables uniform atomization of the liquid medium by the atomization face 12.
In some embodiments, the heating body 20 is made of a metal plate, such as a nickel-chromium alloy plate, an iron-chromium-aluminum alloy plate, and a stainless steel plate, and preferably, the heating body 20 is made of an iron-chromium-aluminum (FeCrAl) alloy material. The iron-chromium-aluminum (FeCrAl) alloy material may form a dense aluminum oxide film on a surface thereof at a high temperature in vacuum of 0.2-10 Pa, which prevents the iron-chromium-aluminum (FeCrAl) alloy material from being further oxidized. Specifically, the heating body 20 that is made of the iron-chromium-aluminum (FeCrAl) alloy material would have a surface thereof oxidized to form a dense aluminum oxide film during an operation of being integrally formed with the ceramic paste to form the atomization assembly 1. Preferably, the conditions of being oxidized to form the dense aluminum oxide film are: vacuum of 0.2-10 Pa and temperature of 1100° C.-1400° C. The dense aluminum oxide film may effectively prevent the heating body 20 from being oxidized through contacting the cigarette liquid medium, which may cause a chemical reaction for generating heavy metals so as to inhale, with atomized gas, into human lungs to influence the human health.
The heating body 20 preferably comprises an S-shaped net-like heating part 23, which is of a compact structure of which internal microscopic structure is uniformly distributed and electrical paths are excellently conducting so that the net-like heating part 23 has a uniform temperature distribution during heating, without causing excessive stress concentration. Further, when the net-like heating part 23 is made of metal, it shows excellent toughness and does not cause failure through defects and cracking, and has excellent stability of resistance and requires no inspection for outside flaws and dry burning performance, allowing for prolongation of service life of the heating body 20, operability under high power, and stable resistance facilitating design for circuit controlling temperature.
In some embodiments, as the heating body 20 is made of a metal plate by means of for example stamping, the fabrication cycle is short and the cost is low, allowing for realization of integral formation of the heating body 20 and the porous ceramic matrix 10 through one sintering operation, the operation being simple and cost being low.
In some embodiments, the heating part 23 is formed as a net-like configuration by means of etching processing, allowing the film width and film thickness to be slender and thin, and during the fabrication, the heating part 23 may be embedded in the porous ceramic matrix 10, meaning a plane defined by the heating part 23 of the heating body 20 is generally flush with the atomization face of the porous ceramic matrix 10 or slightly embedded in the atomization face, but does not affect atomization, so as to efficiently impregnate with a liquid medium such as the cigarette liquid, and achieve an effect of fast supply of the liquid in an application to electronic cigarettes, enhancing matchability with cigarette liquid, making flavor restoration high, realizing extended service life and high power.
In some embodiments, the metal heating body 20 is embedded in the porous ceramic matrix 10 and is excellently combined with the porous ceramic matrix 10. Further, the heating body 20 is arranged in a net-like form that shows elasticity, allowing for easy release of stress during thermal oscillation resulting from vaping and being not easy to detach.
In some embodiments, the heating body 20 is integrally formed with the porous ceramic matrix 10 as one piece, with the heating part 23 thereof tightly attached to the atomization face 12 (meaning being laid flat on the atomization face 12). In some embodiments, the first fixing part 21 and the second fixing part 22 are each in the form of a rectangular plate embedded in the porous ceramic matrix 10 and are respectively formed with a plurality of first fixing holes 210 and second fixing holes 220. Jointly referring to
In some embodiments, the heating body 20 may further comprise two first positioning holes formed in the first electrode and two second positioning holes formed in the second electrode. The first positioning holes and the second positioning holes are fit to first positioning pegs and second positioning pegs inside a forming cavity for positioning or fixing the heating body and to prevent the heating body from shifting due to impact by ceramic paste in the operation of being integrally formed with the porous ceramic blank.
A manufacturing process for the above-described atomization assembly 1 may include the following steps:
In some embodiments, a material for the heating body 20 provided in Step One includes a metallic material that features fast temperature rise and uniform heat generation, such as one of the following materials, a nickel-chromium alloy, an iron-chromium-aluminum alloy, stainless steel, pure nickel, titanium, and nickel iron. In some embodiments, the material of the heating body 20 in Step One is an iron-chromium-aluminum (FeCrAl) alloy material.
In some embodiments, in Step Two, the positioning of the heating body is achieved by having two first positioning holes and two second positioning holes fit to positioning pillars inside the forming cavity.
In some embodiments, the heating body 20 includes a one-piece metal part, which is manufactured as being integrally formed by adopting one or more of a laser cutting technique, a stamping technique, and an etching technique, or alternatively, the heating body 20 may have parts that are made separately and is formed through bonding together by applying welding or other bonding techniques.
In some embodiments, in Step Two, the heating body 20 that features fast temperature rise and uniform heat generation is positioned in the forming cavity and the ceramic paste that is in a melt form and is uniformly stirred is poured into the forming cavity in which the heating body 20 is positioned at a predetermined location.
In some embodiments, before high temperature sintering of Step Four, an additional step is provided: removing out the cured and shaped ceramic paste to obtain a ceramic heating body blank, and subjecting the ceramic heating body blank to glue-removing sintering in an oxygen-containing environment so as to have vaporize a bonding agent in a high temperature to thereby obtain a glue-removed blank. Preferably, a temperature for the above sintering is arranged at 200° C.-800° C.
In some embodiments, the high temperature sintering of Step Four is performed with vacuum high temperature sintering, and preferable vacuum is 0.2-10 Pa. High temperature sintering performed in such a vacuum (0.2-10 Pa) environment allows the alloy material of the heating body 20 that is formed on the porous ceramic matrix 10 to form a dense oxide film. Particularly, for the heating body 20 that is made of a FeCrAl alloy material, the densification effect is even better, and the dense oxide film can effectively prevent the heating body 20 from chemically reacting with a liquid, such as the cigarette liquid, to cause precipitation of heavy metals to entrain with atomization gas into human lungs to affect human health.
In some embodiments, the temperature for the high temperature sintering of Step Four is 1100° C.-1400° C.
The heating part 23a is bent, generally in an S-shaped form, and is disposed, in a tight engagement manner, on the atomization face 12, but is not securely fixed thereto. In this way, the heating part 23a is provided with a space for movement for thermal expansion and contraction, in order to reduce the tensile stress thereof to thereby prolong the service life of the heating body 20a. In some embodiments, the first fixing part 21a and the second fixing part 22a are each in the form of a rectangular plate, and are respectively formed with a plurality of first fixing holes 210a and second fixing holes 220a. Jointly referring to
In some embodiments, the heating part 23a may further comprises a first soldering part 231a and a second soldering part 232a. The first soldering part 231a is connected and fixed between the first fixing part 21a and the heating part 23a, and the second soldering part 232a is connected and fixed between the second fixing part 22a and the heating part 23a, so that the heating part 23a is arranged to receive each of the first fixing part 21a and the second fixing part 22a to connect thereto and to generate heat jointly with the heating part 23a, to allow the liquid medium in the porous ceramic matrix 10 to be heated and atomized on the atomization face 12. In some embodiments, the first soldering part 231a and the second soldering part 232a are each of a rectangular shape having a surface area generally corresponding to that of the fixing parts, for having the heating body securely fixed thereto without easily breaking.
In some embodiments, the heating body 20a may further comprise two electrode wires 30a. The two electrode wires 30a are respectively mounted on the first soldering part 231a and the second soldering part 231a and are respectively perpendicular to the first soldering part 231a and the second soldering part 232a for electrical connection with positive and negative terminals of a power source.
In some embodiments, the first fixing part 21a and the second fixing part 22a of the heating body 20a are each of a shape of trapezoid, wherein the trapezoid short-base portions of the two are located close to the heating part 23a, while the trapezoid long-base portions are located distant from the heating part 23a, namely the first fixing part 21a and the second fixing part 22a each comprise a large-size portion that is distant from the heating part 23a and a small-size portion that is close to the heating part 23a. Such a structural arrangement allows the first fixing part 21a and the second fixing part 22a not to readily detach when integrally embedded in the porous matrix.
In some embodiments, the heating part connected between the first electrode part 24c and the second electrode part 25c is such that line width is gradually increased from the connection thereof with the first electrode and the second electrode toward a middle of the heating part. This could balance temperature of the entire heating part 20c, ensuring temperature distribution uniformity of the entirety of the heating part.
In some embodiments, as shown in
In some embodiments, the first electrode part 24c and the second electrode part 25c are each in the form of a rectangular plate, and are respectively formed with a plurality of first positioning holes 240c and second positioning holes 250c, which are fit to corresponding positioning pegs inside a forming cavity in a one-piece forming process, in order to prevent the heating body from shifting due to impact by ceramic paste.
In some embodiments, the heating body 20c may further comprise a plurality of first fixing part 21c and a plurality of second fixing part 22c. The plurality of first fixing part 21c are respectively arranged on two opposite short-edged sides of the first electrode part 24c and two opposite short-edged sides of the second electrode part 25c and are extended in a direction toward one side of the heating part 23c for being integrally formed with the porous ceramic body blank to fix the heating body 20c. In some embodiments, the plurality of first fixing part 21c and the plurality of second fixing part 22c may be respectively formed on ends of long-edge sides of the first electrode part 24c and the second electrode part 25c that are distant from the heating part 23c. The plurality of second fixing part 22c are respectively connected to side edges of the heating part 23c and extended in a direction toward one side of the heating part 23c for being integrally formed with the porous ceramic body blank to fix the heating body 20c. In some embodiments, as shown in
In some embodiments, the first fixing parts 21c may comprises a plurality of first fixing holes 210c formed therein. The first fixing holes 210c are arranged to receive a material of the porous ceramic matrix 10 to extend therethrough in a forming process, in order to make the heating body 20c and the porous ceramic matrix 10c more securely fixed after being integrally formed together. In some embodiments, the first fixing parts 21c are of a shape of trapezoid, and a short-base portion of the trapezoid is located close to the heating part 23c, while a long-base portion of the trapezoid is located distant from the heating part 23c, namely the first fixing parts 21c each comprise a large-size portion that is distant from the heating part 23c and a small-size portion that is close to the heating part 23c. Such a structural arrangement allows the first fixing parts 21c not to readily detach when integrally embedded in the porous matrix.
In some embodiments, the first fixing parts 21c and the second fixing parts 22c are each perpendicular to a plane on which the heating part 23c in located.
For some embodiments, the above description provides only some specific examples of the present invention. However, the present invention is not limited to the description, and variations that can be contemplated by those skilled in the field fall in the protection scope of the present invention.
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| Number | Date | Country | |
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| Number | Date | Country | |
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| Parent | PCT/CN2019/127194 | Dec 2019 | WO |
| Child | 17527193 | US |
