This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202110487341.6, entitled “VAPORIZER AND AEROSOL GENERATION APPARATUS” filed with the China National Intellectual Property Administration on May 5, 2021, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
This application belongs to the field of vaporization technologies, and relates to a vaporizer and an aerosol generation apparatus.
An aerosol generation apparatus includes two parts: a vaporizer and a power supply apparatus. An end portion of the power supply apparatus is connected to the vaporizer to supply power to the vaporizer. A vaporizer with a typical structure includes a cartridge, a vaporization assembly, a fixing member for fixing a vaporization assembly, and a sealing member, where there is an air outlet channel in a middle position of the whole cartridge.
For example, in the Chinese Patent Application No. 201821397292.7, an aerosol that is formed by vaporizing a liquid substrate in a cartridge by a vaporization assembly needs to bypass a side surface of a fixing member, and then enters an air outlet channel through an air outlet hole at an upper end of a fixing base. The whole airflow path is tortuous. In addition, because the air outlet channel is located at a center of the cartridge, a complex structure needs to be designed on the fixing member and the sealing member to ensure that the liquid substrate is guided into the vaporization assembly and an airflow is output into the air outlet channel.
To resolve the problem that a vaporizer in the related art has a complex structure, embodiments of this application provide a vaporizer, including a housing, where the housing has a liquid storage cavity configured to store a liquid substrate and a first air outlet channel for outputting an aerosol; and a fixing bracket, mounted inside the housing, where the fixing bracket has a liquid guide portion extending toward the liquid storage cavity, where at least a part of a surface of the liquid guide portion that faces toward the first air outlet channel is recessed to form a first recessed portion; and a vaporization assembly, fixedly mounted on the fixing bracket, and being in fluid communication with the liquid storage cavity through the liquid guide portion, where the vaporization assembly is configured to vaporize the liquid substrate to form the aerosol.
Preferably, in the foregoing technical solution, the liquid guide portion has a liquid guide cavity, and the liquid guide cavity is in communication with the liquid storage cavity in a longitudinal direction of the housing.
Preferably, in the foregoing technical solution, a cross-sectional shape of the liquid guide portion in a direction perpendicular to an axial direction of the housing is the same as a cross-sectional shape of the liquid storage cavity in the direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the housing, and the cross-sectional shape includes an irregular ring shape.
Preferably, in the foregoing technical solution, the fixing bracket further includes an accommodating portion, and the accommodating portion is capable of accommodating at least a part of a surface of the vaporization assembly; the fixing bracket further includes a separation portion configured to separate the accommodating portion from the liquid guide portion; and at least one first liquid guide hole in communication with the liquid guide cavity is provided on the separation portion.
Preferably, in the foregoing technical solution, the accommodating portion includes a first side wall that is arranged at least partially around the vaporization assembly, at least a part of a surface of the first side wall is arranged at intervals, to form an air outlet in communication with the first air outlet channel, and the air outlet is in communication with the first air outlet channel in the longitudinal direction of the housing.
Preferably, in the foregoing technical solution, the liquid guide portion is accommodated in the liquid storage cavity, and the accommodating portion is located outside the liquid storage cavity.
Preferably, in the foregoing technical solution, the housing includes a housing front-surface and a housing rear-surface that are arranged opposite to each other, and a housing side-surface that is formed between the housing front-surface and the housing rear-surface; and the first air outlet channel is close to the housing front-surface or the housing rear-surface.
Preferably, in the foregoing technical solution, a wall configured to separate the liquid storage cavity from the first air outlet channel is arranged in the housing, and the wall includes first curved surface at least partially extending longitudinally.
Preferably, in the foregoing technical solution, the housing further includes a second curved surface arranged opposite to the first curved surface, and a curvature of the second curved surface is less than a curvature of the first curved surface; and the second curved surface and the first curved surface jointly define and form the first air outlet channel.
Preferably, in the foregoing technical solution, at least a part of the wall is transversely abutted against the first recessed portion.
Preferably, in the foregoing technical solution, a mouthpiece is further included, where the mouthpiece covers at least a part of a surface of the housing; and the mouthpiece and the wall jointly define and form a second air outlet channel for outputting the aerosol, and the second air outlet channel is in communication with the first air outlet channel longitudinally; and a mouthpiece opening for outputting the aerosol is provided on the mouthpiece, and the mouthpiece opening is in communication with the second air outlet channel.
Preferably, in the foregoing technical solution, the first curved surface includes a first section that is at least partially arranged inclined, and a second section that at least partially extends in the longitudinal direction of the housing, where the first section is configured to define the second air outlet channel; and the second section is configured to define the first air outlet channel.
Preferably, in the foregoing technical solution, the first section includes an inclined section, and an angle between the inclined section and a longitudinal axis of the housing is an acute angle.
Preferably, in the foregoing technical solution, a sealing sleeve is further included. The sealing sleeve is sleeved on the liquid guide portion, and a second recessed portion matching the first recessed portion is arranged on the sealing sleeve.
Preferably, in the foregoing technical solution, the second recessed portion is located between the wall and the first recessed portion.
Preferably, in the foregoing technical solution, a sealing member is further included, where the sealing member is arranged between the fixing bracket and the vaporization assembly; and several convex ribs are arranged on a surface of the sealing member facing toward the vaporization assembly.
Preferably, in the foregoing technical solution, an air inlet member for the external air to enter is further included, where at least a part of the air inlet portion extends in a longitudinal direction of the housing, and at least a part of a surface of the air inlet member is abutted against the sealing member.
This application further provides an aerosol generation apparatus, including the foregoing vaporizer and a power supply apparatus providing electric drive for the vaporizer.
Beneficial effects of this application are optimizing structural designs of the fixing bracket and the air outlet channel, so that the whole structure of the vaporizer is simpler.
This application is further described with reference to the embodiments below.
This application provides an aerosol generation apparatus, which, as shown in
Referring to
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Further, referring to
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A vaporization assembly 40 that can vaporize the liquid substrate to form an aerosol and a fixing bracket 20 for fixedly mounting the vaporization assembly 40 are fixedly mounted in the second-section housing 102. Referring
To enhance sealing performance, a sealing sleeve 15 is sleeved on an outer wall surface of an upper end of the liquid guide portion 21. The sealing sleeve 15 is arranged close to the liquid storage cavity 12, and is preferably made of flexible silicone, so that a sealed connection is formed between the liquid guide portion 21 and an inner wall of the housing 10.
Because a part of the surface of the liquid guide portion 21 is recessed inward, the corresponding sealing sleeve 15 has a second recessed portion 151. Further, to prevent the liquid substrate from leaking downward, a plurality of capillary grooves 201 are arranged transversely on the whole outer wall surface of the fixing bracket 20. It may be understood that the capillary grooves 201 may alternatively be arranged longitudinally or staggered transversely and longitudinally. The capillary groove 201 can further prevent the liquid substrate from leaking downward. In addition, the capillary groove 201 can absorb a condensate formed through condensation of the aerosol on the outer wall of the fixing bracket 20 or leaking from an inner wall of the air outlet channel, to keep the condensate inside the capillary groove 201.
The fixing bracket 20 further includes an accommodating portion 23 that can accommodate the vaporization assembly 40. The accommodating portion 23 includes a first side wall 231 surrounding at least a part of a surface of the vaporization assembly 40. The first side wall 231 encloses and forms a first accommodating cavity 232. The fixing bracket 20 further includes a separation portion 24 separating the liquid guide cavity 211 from the accommodating cavity 231. The wall 107 longitudinally extends into the inner cavity 1021 of the second-section housing, and is stopped by an upper end surface 241 of the separation portion 24.
The vaporization assembly 40 includes a porous body 41 and a heating element 42 that heats the liquid substrate absorbed by the porous body 41. The porous body 41 may be made of a hard capillary structure such as porous ceramic, porous glass ceramic, and porous glass. The porous body 41 can absorb the liquid substrate. In this application, a porous ceramic material is preferred, which is generally formed by sintering components, such as an aggregate, an adhesive, and a pore former at a high temperature, and has a large quantity of pore structures inside, where the pore structures are in communication with each other and in communication with a surface of the material. The liquid substrate may penetrate into the porous body through a surface of the porous body, and be vaporized by the heating element 42 to form an aerosol. The heating element 42 may be a heating coating layer, a heating sheet, or a heating mesh. The heating coating layer may include, but is not limited to, an electromagnetic induction heating coating, an infrared induction heating coating, and the like. The heating sheet or the heating mesh is embedded and mounted on the surface of the porous body. In this application, the heating element is preferably formed on the surface of the porous body 40 by mixing conductive raw material powder with a printing aid into a slurry and then, sintering after printing, and has effects of high vaporization efficiency, a small heat loss, and preventing or greatly reducing dry burning. In some embodiments, the heating element 42 may be made of a material such as stainless steel, nickel chromium alloy, iron chromium aluminum alloy, or metallic titanium.
A shape of the porous body 41 is constructed into a substantially block-shaped structure in this embodiment, a top surface of the porous body 41 is substantially H-shaped, a left side surface and a right side surface of the porous body 41 are substantially U-shaped, a front surface, a rear surface, and a bottom surface of porous body 41 are square, and a through trough 411 is formed in the middle of the porous body 41. The through trough may be configured to temporarily store the liquid substrate, to improve a speed of diffusion of the liquid substrate inside the porous body 41. A specific shape of the porous body 41 may change according to a requirement, and is not limited to a specific shape. A surface of a bottom wall of the whole through trough 411 forms a liquid absorbing surface, the heating element 42 is shaped on a bottom surface, and the bottom surface is a vaporization surface 412.
A sealing member 30 is further arranged between the accommodating portion 23 and the vaporization assembly 40. The sealing member 30 is preferably made of flexible silicone, so that a sealed and fixed connection is formed between the accommodating portion 22 and the vaporization assembly 40. Referring to
The side wall 302 of the sealing member 30 encloses and forms a second accommodating cavity 33 accommodating at least a part of a surface of the porous body 41. To conveniently seal and fix the porous body 41, the inner wall of the sealing member 30 has several convex ribs 34 that match an edge shape of the porous body 41 and that are closed form a ring. An outer surface of the porous body 41 may be directly abutted against the convex rib 34, to come into tight contact with the sealing member 30.
Referring to
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The vaporization surface 412 and the main body portion 51 of the end cap jointly define and form a vaporization cavity 43. The accommodating portion 23 includes a first side wall 231 arranged around the porous body 41, and the first side wall 231 is arranged at intervals, forming an air outlet 25. One end of the air outlet 25 is connected to the vaporization cavity 43, and another end of the air outlet 25 is connected to the first air outlet channel 141. The second side wall 302 of the sealing member 30 is also arranged at intervals at a position opposite to the air outlet 25, to expose at least a part of the surface of the porous body 41. At least a part of the air outlet 25 longitudinally extends and is stopped by an upper surface 241 of the separation portion, and is in communication with the first air outlet channel 141 longitudinally. The aerosol formed on the vaporization surface 412 can directly enter the air outlet 25, and enters the first air outlet channel 141 through the air outlet 25 in the longitudinal direction of the housing 10. Because the first air outlet channel 141 is arranged on the front surface of the housing 10, and the air outlet 25 arranged on the fixing bracket 20 is directly in communication with the first air outlet channel 141 longitudinally, after being output from the air outlet 25, the aerosol does not need to bypass the surface of the fixing bracket 20, the aerosol formed on the vaporization surface 412 can enter the first air outlet channel 141 through a shorter airflow path, and the first air outlet channel 141 and the second air outlet channel 142 are arranged nearly parallel to the longitudinal direction of the housing 10. A distance of the whole path of outputting the aerosol is short, so that the condensate is not easily formed. Preferably, a capillary groove or a blocking portion that can buffer liquid may be arranged on the first curved surface 103 of the wall 107, to further prevent the condensate from being output to the outside of the vaporizer 100 through the mouthpiece opening 110.
Only a separate liquid guide hole needs to be designed on the whole fixing bracket 20 and the sealing member 30, and it is unnecessary to further design an air outlet hole in communication with the air outlet channel 14, which simplifies the structures of the fixing bracket 30 and the sealing member 30. In addition, the fixing bracket 20, the sealing member 30, and the sealing sleeve 15 fixed on the liquid guide portion 21 may be integrally formed through liquid-silicone injection molding, which leads to convenient mounting, and simplifies the structural design of the whole vaporizer 100 and mounting procedures. An air inlet member 53 for the external air to enter is further arranged in the housing 10. The air inlet member 53 may be separately arranged, or may be arranged on the end cap 50, which is not limited herein. Preferably, the air inlet member 53 is arranged between the two electrode column holes 513, and longitudinally extends upward from at least a part of an inner side wall of the main body portion 51 to be abutted against a part of an inner surface of the sealing member 30. Further, a top end surface of the air inlet member 53 is arranged protruding from a top end surface of the main body portion 51 of the end cap, and a part of an inner wall surface of the sealing member 30 is recessed inward, to form a second shallow groove 36. The second shallow groove 36 can accommodate at least a part of a surface of the air inlet member 53. Because an air outlet end of the air inlet member 53 is arranged facing toward the vaporization surface 412, and the top end surface of the air inlet member 53 is close to the vaporization surface 412, so that the external air can be fast transferred to the vaporization surface 412, thereby improving the vaporization efficiency.
The inner wall surface of the main body portion 51 encloses and forms a buffer region 514, and the buffer region 514 is arranged opposite to the vaporization surface 412 of the porous body 41. The condensate formed when the aerosol in the vaporization cavity 43 is cooled may be stored in the buffer region 514. The air inlet member 53 includes two air inlet holes 531, and the external air may directly enter the vaporization cavity 43 through the air inlet hole 531. To prevent the condensate from leaking from the air inlet hole 531, a projection plane of the air inlet hole 531 perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the housing 10 does not overlap with a projection plane of the vaporization surface 412 perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the housing 10. An arc-shaped liquid guide inclined surface 532 is arranged downward from the top end surface of the air inlet member 531. The liquid guide inclined surface 532 is arranged facing toward the buffer region 514, and the condensate near the air inlet hole 531 may enter the buffer region 514 along the liquid guide inclined surface 532. The two air inlet holes 531 are located on the liquid guide inclined surface 532, and it is difficult for the liquid to enter the air inlet holes 531 along a surface around the air inlet holes 531. A part of a wall surface of the air inlet member 53 is recessed inward, to form a liquid guide groove 533. The liquid guide groove 533 is in communication with the liquid guide inclined surface 532 sequentially, and the liquid substrate directly enters the liquid guide groove 533 along the liquid guide inclined surface 532, and flows into the buffer region 514.
Further, the air inlet member 53 is arranged on one side of the porous body 41, and the air outlet 25 of the fixing bracket 20 for outputting the aerosol is provided on another side surface of the porous body 41, so that the one side is for air inlet, the other side is for air outlet, and a cool airflow and a hot airflow are transferred through different regions, thereby reducing formation of the condensate and improving the vaporization efficiency.
In the vaporizer 100, because the first air outlet channel 141 and the second air outlet channel 141 are defined and formed by the first curved surface 103 that is formed by recessing a part of the housing 10, are close to the front surface or the rear surface of the housing 10, and are separated from the liquid storage cavity 12, the aerosol can directly enter the first air outlet channel 141 longitudinally through the air outlet 25 on the front surface of the vaporization assembly without bypassing the fixing bracket 20, which improves the vaporization efficiency. An air outlet hole in communication with the first air outlet channel 141 does not need to be separately provided on the fixing bracket 20 and the sealing member 30, which optimizes the structures of the fixing bracket 20 and the sealing member 30.
This literal description discloses this application using examples, including the best mode, and also enables a person skilled in the art to make and use this application. The patentable scope of this application is limited by the claims and may include other examples conceived by a person skilled in the art. Such other examples are intended to fall within the scope of the claims if such other examples have structural elements that do not differ from the literal language of the claims, or if such other examples include equivalent structural elements that do not differ substantially from the literal language of the claims. All citations referenced herein are incorporated herein by reference to an extent of not causing inconsistency.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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202110487341.6 | May 2021 | CN | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/CN2022/090507 | 4/29/2022 | WO |