Patent Application
20240074504
Electronic cigarettes or vaporizing devices are increasingly used by smokers as a substitute for real tobacco cigarettes. In general, these devices typically use a wire heater, often provided as a coil, to vaporize liquid nicotine, or other liquid substances. The user's inhalation on a mouthpiece may be detected by a sensor, causing an electronic circuit to supply electrical current from a battery to the heater. The wire coil heater provides heat, which creates the vapor from the liquid. The user's inhalation typically also draws ambient air into one or more inlets in the vaporizing device housing. The vapor is entrained in the air flow moving through the housing and is inhaled by the user.
Vaporizing devices have several advantages over real tobacco cigarettes. Initially, the risks of lung cancer associated with real tobacco cigarettes is largely reduced or avoided, as the tar and other chemicals in tobacco linked to lung cancer are not present in a vaporizing device. Vaporizing devices generate vapor and not smoke. Consequently, there is no comparable second-hand smoke problem with use of vaporizing devices. In addition, since there is no burning material in a vaporizing device, the risk of fire is reduced.
Many vaporizing devices have been proposed and used, with varying degrees of success. Existing designs though have various disadvantages, including leakage of liquid causing failure of internal electronic components and/or degradation or contamination of the liquid. In designs where the liquid contacts the wire heater, the heater performance may be degraded by corrosion of electrical components or connections, or buildup of residue. Accordingly, there is a need for an improved vaporizing device.
A new vaporizing device has now been invented that provides significant improvements over existing designs.
In a first aspect, an induction heater in a vaporizing device allows the heating element to be separated or sealed off from the electrical or electronic components. Potential for liquid leaking onto the electrical or electronic components is avoided. In another aspect, a replaceable or disposable liquid cartridge has an induction energy collection component, with no electrical or electronic components needed in the cartridge. This offers manufacturing and cost advantages.
In one embodiment, a vaporizing device includes a battery unit having a battery, an electronic controller, and a wire coil on or in a core, such as a ferrite split ring magnetic core or a cup magnetic core. A cartridge holding liquid has at least one heater plate and a liquid conductor. The cartridge is attachable to the battery unit with the heater plate adjacent to the core. The heater plate heats the liquid conductor to create vapor when high frequency alternating electric current is provided to the wire coil.
Other and further objects and advantages will become apparent from the following detailed description which is provide by way of example, and is not intended as a statement of the limits of the invention. The invention resides as well in sub-combinations of the elements and steps described.
In the drawings, the same element number indicates the same element in each of the views.
As shown in
Referring now to
As shown in
Generally, the battery unit 12 and the cartridge 14 have the same cross section, such as a round cross section. In this case both the battery unit 12 and the cartridge 14 are elongated cylinders. However, the battery unit 12 and the cartridge 14 may also have other shapes, and the shape of the battery unit 12 may be different from the shape of the cartridge 14. Similarly, while the recess 40, the projection 42 and the plate assembly 45 are shown as rectangular in
In use, the cartridge 14 is snapped, screwed, latched, or otherwise attached onto the battery unit 12, with the projection 42 inserted partly or fully into the recess 40. The space between the plate assembly 45 and the split ring 34 is minimized to increase the efficiency of the induction heater 30. For example, the projection 42, and/or the entire main body 15 of the cartridge may be made of a thin-wall plastic material. Or the wall thickness of cartridge housing may be reduced only at the projection 42.
Liquid is provided onto or into the liquid conductor 48 from the liquid container. Intermediate wicks, fiber materials or capillary tubes may be used for this purpose. When the user inhales on the outlet 54, the sensor 22 provides a signal to the electronic controller 20, which then provides high frequency alternating current to the wire induction coil 32. This creates eddy currents in the plates 26 which heats the plate assembly 45, including liquid in the liquid conductor 48. The liquid is heated into a vapor.
Air flow induced by the inhalation moves into the inlet 18 and through a first air flow path in the battery unit 12 to a recess air opening 41 in the recess 40. Air flowing out of the recess air opening 41 moves into a second air flow path in the cartridge 14 through a projection air opening 44 in the projection, over the plate assembly 45, and through the central channel 52 to the outlet 54. The air flowing through the cartridge mixes with the vapor created at the plate assembly 45, with the air and vapor flowing to the outlet 54 for inhalation by the user. A seal ring 26 may be provided in the recess 40 around the recess air opening 41 to substantially seal the first air flow path in the battery unit 12 with the second air flow path in the cartridge 14.
In an alternative design, the inlet 18 may be in the cartridge, avoiding the need for any air opening in the battery unit 12. This prevents any liquid from the cartridge from entering into the battery unit 12. In this design, the sensor 22 is also located in the cartridge 14, with signals from the sensor carried to the electronic controller 20 using non-contact techniques, or through a liquid resistant connector. Optionally, in this alternative design, the sensor 22 may be replaced with a manually operated switch on the battery unit.
Turning now to
The cartridge 59 has a liquid container 50, a channel 52 and an outlet 54, similar to the cartridge 14. A heater plate 74 is positioned at the front end of the cartridge. A liquid conductor 76 contacts the heater plate 74 or is otherwise positioned to be heated by the heater plate 74. The heater plate 74 may be a plate or round disk of metal or metal mesh, or other material that can be heated by induction. The liquid conductor 76 may be a fiber or porous material, or an absorbent material, also optionally provided as a round disk.
In use, the cartridge 59 is attached to the battery unit 61. The space between the heater plate 74 and the ferrite cup 62 is minimized to increase the efficiency of the induction heater 60. Liquid is provided onto or into the liquid conductor 76 from the liquid container 50. When the user inhales on the outlet 54, the sensor 22 provides a signal to the electronic controller 20, which then provides a high frequency alternating current flow to the wire induction coil 70. This creates eddy currents in the heater plate 74 which heats the liquid conductor 48. Liquid in the liquid conductor is heated into a vapor.
Air flow induced by the inhalation moves into the inlet 18 and through a first air flow path 72, optionally passing through the ferrite cup 62, and through opening 69 in the back end of the battery unit housing. Air flowing out of the opening 69 moves into a second air flow path in the cartridge 59 through a front air opening in the cartridge aligned with the opening 69 in the battery housing. The air then flows over and around the heater plate 74 and through the central channel 52 to the outlet 54. The vapor generated at the liquid conductor 76 is entrained in the air flow and is inhaled by the user.
As with the first embodiment, the vaporizing device 58 of the second embodiment may be modified to provide the air inlet 18 in the cartridge, so that no air inlet in required in the battery unit 61. In this modification, the sensor 22 is in the cartridge with operation as explained above relative to
Except as described above, the vaporizing device 58 of the second embodiment may be the same as the vaporizing device 10 of the first embodiment. As used here, vaporizing device includes vaporizing devices generally. The ferrite split ring and the ferrite cup provide a magnetic core. Although a ferrite ring and a ferrite cup are described, the ring 34 and the cup 62 may of course be made of other types of magnetic core materials, such as iron, laminated steel, vitreous metals, ceramics, etc. Adjacent to means within 5 mm or less, or within 3 mm or less, so that the core and the heater plate are close enough together to allow the vaporizing device to provide at least 50 puffs on a single battery charge.
The examples and embodiments described herein are intended to illustrate various embodiments of the invention. As such, the specific embodiments discussed are not to be construed as limitations on the scope of the invention. It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that various equivalents, changes, and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of invention. The invention, therefore, should not be limited, except by the following claims, and their equivalents. Elements and features described in one embodiment may of course be included in other embodiments as well.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/CN2019/113937 | 10/29/2019 | WO |
