CN118303668A - Atomizer, electronic atomizing device, atomizing assembly and preparation method - Google Patents

Abstract

The present application proposes an atomizer, an electronic atomization device, an atomization assembly, and a preparation method; wherein the atomizer comprises: a liquid storage chamber; a porous body, comprising a liquid absorption surface and an atomization surface; the liquid absorption surface is in fluid communication with the liquid storage chamber to absorb a liquid matrix; a heating element, combined with the atomization surface, for heating at least part of the liquid matrix in the porous body to generate an aerosol; a rigid coating element, coating part of the surface of the porous body, and avoiding or exposing at least part of the liquid absorption surface and at least part of the atomization surface. The above atomizer, in which at least part of the surface of the porous body is wrapped by the coating element, is advantageous for maintaining the strength of the porous body at a lower thickness.

Description

Atomizer, electronic atomization device, atomization assembly and preparation method

Technical Field

The embodiments of the present application relate to the field of electronic atomization technology, and in particular to an atomizer, an electronic atomization device, an atomization component, and a preparation method.

Background technique

Smoking articles (e.g., cigarettes, cigars, etc.) burn tobacco during use to produce tobacco smoke. People have tried to replace these tobacco-burning products by making products that release compounds without combustion.

An example of such a product is a heating device that releases a compound by heating rather than burning a material. For example, the material may be tobacco or other non-tobacco products that may or may not contain nicotine. As another example, there are aerosol providing products, such as so-called electronic atomization devices. These devices typically contain a liquid that is heated to vaporize it, thereby producing an inhalable aerosol.

Summary of the invention

An embodiment of the present application provides an atomizer, comprising:

A liquid storage chamber, used for storing a liquid matrix;

A porous body, comprising a liquid absorbing surface and an atomizing surface; the liquid absorbing surface is in fluid communication with the liquid storage chamber to absorb the liquid matrix;

a heating element, coupled to the atomizing surface, for heating at least a portion of the liquid matrix in the porous body to generate an aerosol;

A rigid covering element covers a portion of the surface of the porous body and avoids or exposes at least a portion of the liquid absorption surface and at least a portion of the atomization surface.

In some implementations, the covering element is dense.

In some implementations, the material of the covering element includes metal or alloy.

In some implementations, the porous body and the covering element are inseparable or non-detachable from each other.

In some implementations, the porous body is molded from a moldable slurry onto the covering element and sintered therewith to form an integral structure.

In some implementations, the porous body is configured in a plate or sheet shape.

In some implementations, the thickness of the porous body is less than or equal to 2 mm.

In some implementations, the average pore size of the micropores in the porous body is less than 10 μm.

In some implementations, the porous body includes a first side and a second side that are opposite to each other, and a peripheral surface extending between the first side and the second side; the liquid absorption surface is located on the first side, and the atomization surface is located on the second side;

The covering element comprises a top wall and a side wall extending from the top wall; wherein the top wall covers a part of the liquid absorbing surface; and the side wall surrounds and covers the peripheral side surface.

In some implementations, the outer surface of the top wall is flush with the liquid wicking surface.

In some implementations, one or more holes are provided on the top wall; a portion of the liquid wicking surface is exposed through the holes.

In some implementations, the side wall is provided with one or more teeth extending away from the top wall.

In some implementations, the side wall and/or the teeth are spaced apart from the second side.

In some implementations, the thickness of the top wall and/or the side wall is between 0.05 mm and 0.2 mm.

Another embodiment of the present application further provides an atomizer, comprising:

A liquid storage chamber, used for storing a liquid matrix;

The porous body comprises a liquid absorbing surface and an atomizing surface which are arranged opposite to each other in the thickness direction, and a peripheral side surface extending between the liquid absorbing surface and the atomizing surface; the liquid absorbing surface is in fluid communication with the liquid storage chamber to absorb the liquid matrix;

a heating element, coupled to the atomizing surface, for heating at least a portion of the liquid matrix in the porous body to generate an aerosol; and

A dense covering element is combined on the porous body, the covering element comprises a top wall and a side wall extending from the top wall, the top wall covers a part of the liquid absorbing surface, and the side wall surrounds and covers the peripheral side surface;

Wherein, the thickness of the porous body is less than or equal to 2 mm.

Another embodiment of the present application further provides an atomizer, comprising:

A liquid storage chamber, used for storing a liquid matrix;

A rigid liquid-absorbing element comprises a first surface and a second surface which are spaced apart from each other; wherein

The first surface includes a first area and a second area; the first area is dense, and the second area is porous; the second area is in fluid communication with the liquid storage chamber to absorb the liquid matrix; the second surface is porous;

A heating element is combined with the second surface and is used to heat at least a portion of the liquid matrix in the porous body to generate aerosol.

In some implementations, the wicking element comprises:

A porous portion, and a dense coating layer at least partially covering the porous portion;

The first region is defined by the coating layer, and the second region is defined by the porous portion.

Yet another embodiment of the present application provides an electronic atomization device, comprising the atomizer described above, and a power supply mechanism for supplying power to the atomizer.

Another embodiment of the present application further provides an atomization assembly for an electronic atomization device, comprising:

The porous body comprises a liquid absorbing surface and an atomizing surface; the liquid absorbing surface is used to absorb the liquid matrix;

a heating element, coupled to the atomizing surface, for heating at least a portion of the liquid matrix in the porous body to generate an aerosol;

A rigid covering element covers part of the surface of the porous body and avoids or exposes at least a part of the liquid absorption surface and at least a part of the atomization surface; the porous body is molded on the covering element from a moldable slurry and sintered with the covering element to form an integral structure.

Another embodiment of the present application further provides a method for preparing an atomizer assembly by a metal insert injection molding process, the method comprising:

Obtaining a coating component and fixing the coating component in advance in a mold cavity;

Molding the moldable slurry at least partially in the covering element to form a green body, and coupling the covering element to at least a portion of the surface of the green body;

The green body and the covering element are sintered integrally.

In the above atomizer, at least a portion of the surface of the porous body is wrapped by the covering element, which is beneficial for maintaining the strength of the porous body at a lower thickness.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

One or more embodiments are exemplarily described by pictures in the corresponding drawings, and these exemplified descriptions do not constitute limitations on the embodiments. Elements with the same reference numerals in the drawings represent similar elements, and unless otherwise stated, the figures in the drawings do not constitute proportional limitations.

FIG1 is a schematic diagram of an electronic atomization device provided by an embodiment;

FIG2 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of the atomizer in FIG1 ;

FIG3 is a schematic diagram of the atomization assembly in FIG2 from one viewing angle;

FIG4 is a schematic diagram of the atomization assembly in FIG3 from another viewing angle;

FIG5 is a cross-sectional schematic diagram of the atomization assembly in FIG3 from one viewing angle;

FIG6 is an exploded schematic diagram of the atomization assembly in FIG3 from one viewing angle;

FIG7 is a schematic diagram of an atomization assembly according to yet another embodiment;

FIG8 is a cross-sectional schematic diagram of the atomization assembly in FIG7 from one viewing angle;

FIG. 9 is an exploded schematic diagram of the atomization assembly in FIG. 7 from one perspective.

Detailed ways

In order to facilitate the understanding of the present application, the present application is described in more detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific implementation methods.

The present application proposes an electronic atomization device, as shown in FIG. 1 , including an atomizer 100 that stores a liquid matrix and vaporizes the liquid matrix to generate an aerosol, and a power supply mechanism 200 that supplies power to the atomizer 100 .

In an optional implementation, such as shown in FIG. 1 , the power supply mechanism 200 includes a receiving cavity 270 disposed at one end along the length direction for receiving and accommodating at least a portion of the atomizer 100, and an electrical contact 230 at least partially exposed on the surface of the receiving cavity 270, for supplying power to the atomizer 100 when at least a portion of the atomizer 100 is received and accommodated in the power supply mechanism 200.

According to the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 1 , an electrical contact 21 is provided on the end of the atomizer 100 opposite to the power supply mechanism 200 along the length direction, and when at least a portion of the atomizer 100 is received in the receiving cavity 270 , the electrical contact 21 contacts and abuts against the electrical contact 230 to form conduction.

A sealing member 260 is provided inside the power supply mechanism 200, and at least a portion of the internal space of the power supply mechanism 200 is separated by the sealing member 260 to form the above receiving chamber 270. In the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG1 , the sealing member 260 is configured to extend along the cross-sectional direction of the power supply mechanism 200, and is preferably made of a flexible material, thereby preventing the liquid matrix that infiltrates from the atomizer 100 to the receiving chamber 270 from flowing to the controller 220, the sensor 250 and other components inside the power supply mechanism 200.

In the exemplary embodiment shown in Figure 1, the power supply mechanism 200 also includes a battery cell 210 for powering the battery at the other end away from the receiving cavity 270 along the length direction; and a controller 220 arranged between the battery cell 210 and the receiving cavity, which can be operated to guide current between the battery cell 210 and the electrical contact 230.

During use, the power supply mechanism 200 includes a sensor 250 for sensing the suction airflow generated when the atomizer 100 is inhaled, and then the controller 220 controls the battery cell 210 to output current to the atomizer 100 according to the detection signal of the sensor 250 .

Further in the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 1 , the power supply mechanism 200 is provided with a charging interface 240 at the other end away from the receiving cavity 270 for charging the battery cell 210 .

FIG. 2 shows a schematic structural diagram of an embodiment of the atomizer 100 in FIG. 1 , comprising:

The main housing 10; as shown in FIG. 2 , the main housing 10 is generally in the shape of a longitudinal cylinder, and of course the interior thereof is hollow and is a necessary functional component for storing and atomizing liquid matrix; the main housing 10 has a proximal end 110 and a distal end 120 which are opposite to each other along the length direction. The proximal end 110 is configured as an end for the user to inhale the aerosol, and an inhalation port A for the user to inhale is provided at the proximal end 110; and the distal end 120 is used as an end for combining with the power supply mechanism 200.

As shown in FIG2 , the main housing 10 is provided with a liquid storage chamber 12 for storing a liquid matrix, and an atomizing assembly for drawing the liquid matrix from the liquid storage chamber 12 and heating and atomizing the liquid matrix. In the schematic diagram shown in FIG2 , an aerosol transmission tube 11 is provided in the main housing 10 along the axial direction, and the space between the aerosol transmission tube 11 and the inner wall of the main housing 10 forms the liquid storage chamber 12 for storing the liquid matrix; the aerosol transmission tube 11 extends to or terminates at the inhalation port A, thereby transmitting the generated aerosol to the inhalation port A for inhalation.

In some optional implementations, the aerosol transmission tube 11 and the main housing 10 are integrally molded with a moldable material, and the liquid storage chamber 12 defined by the molding is open toward the distal end 120 .

As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the atomizer 100 further includes an atomization assembly for atomizing at least part of the liquid matrix to generate an aerosol. Specifically, the atomization assembly includes a porous body 30 for receiving or absorbing the liquid matrix from the liquid storage chamber 12; and a heating element 40 for heating at least part of the liquid matrix of the porous body 30 to generate an aerosol. And in some embodiments, the porous body 30 is rigid; and in some implementations, the porous body 30 includes at least one of porous ceramics, porous glass, porous metal, etc.

In some embodiments, the porous body 30 has a porosity of about 40-80%, the pore size of the micropores in the porous body 30 is between 1 and 200 μm, and the average pore size of the micropores in the porous body 30 is between 5 and 80 μm. In some embodiments, the porous body 30 is prepared by mixing raw materials such as ceramics and glass with a pore-forming agent and a liquid additive into a slurry, and then forming the slurry in a mold and sintering it.

And further as shown in FIG2 , the atomizer assembly is contained or held in a flexible sealing element 20. And, the sealing element 20 basically surrounds the atomizer assembly and/or the porous body 30, and the sealing element 20 is at least partially used to provide a seal between the main housing 10 and the porous body 30. The flexible sealing element 20 is made of a flexible material including silicone, a thermoplastic elastomer, etc.

The above-mentioned atomizing assembly is accommodated and held in the sealing element 20, and the porous body 30 of the atomizing assembly is in fluid communication with the liquid storage chamber 12 through the liquid channel 13 defined by the sealing element 20 to receive the liquid matrix. In use, as shown by the arrow R1 in FIG2 , the liquid in the liquid storage chamber 12 flows to the atomizing assembly through the liquid channel 13 and is then absorbed and heated; and the aerosol generated is then output to the inhalation port A through the aerosol transmission tube 11 to be inhaled by the user, as shown by the arrow R2 in FIG2 .

As shown in FIG. 2 , the atomizing assembly is basically arranged vertically to the longitudinal direction of the main housing 10; and an atomizing chamber 340 is defined between the distal end 120, and the atomizing chamber 340 is located on the side of the atomizing assembly away from the liquid storage chamber 12; the atomizing chamber 340 is used to contain the released aerosol. And the heating element 40 is exposed in the atomizing chamber 340. When inhaling, the external air enters the atomizing chamber 340 from the air inlet 22 of the distal end 120, and carries the aerosol in the atomizing chamber 340 to the aerosol transmission tube 11, and then is inhaled by the user at the inhalation port A.

And in the implementation shown in Figure 2, the heating element 40 is basically perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the main shell 10; and the electrical contact 21 penetrates from the distal end 120 into the main shell 10, and then abuts or combines with the heating element 40 to form conduction, thereby supplying power to the heating element 40.

Further referring to FIG. 3 to FIG. 6 , the specific structure of the atomization assembly includes:

The porous body 30 is generally configured in a plate-like or sheet-like shape; and the porous body 30 has a surface 310 and a surface 320 that are separated from each other. And in the implementation, the surface 310 and the surface 320 are arranged opposite to each other along the thickness direction of the porous body 30. Among them, the surface 310 is used as a liquid absorption surface, and is in liquid communication with the liquid storage chamber 12 through the liquid channel 13 to absorb the liquid matrix; and the surface 320 is used as an atomization surface, and a heating element 40 is arranged on the surface 320; the liquid matrix is heated and vaporized by the heating element 40 at the surface 320 to generate an aerosol.

And in some implementations, the heating element 40 is bonded to the surface 320 of the porous body 30 by printing, deposition, sintering or physical assembly such as surface mounting. And in an implementation, the heating element 40 is in the shape of a patterned track extending in a circuitous or curved manner on the surface 320. For example, in FIG. 4 , the heating element 40 is in an Ω shape.

And in some implementations, the material of the heating element 40 is a metal material, metal alloy, graphite, carbon, conductive ceramic or other ceramic material and metal material composite material with appropriate impedance. Among them, the appropriate metal or alloy material includes at least one of nickel, cobalt, zirconium, titanium, nickel alloy, cobalt alloy, zirconium alloy, titanium alloy, nickel-chromium alloy, nickel-iron alloy, iron-chromium alloy, iron-chromium-aluminum alloy, iron-manganese-aluminum-based alloy or stainless steel.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 3 to 6 , the length dimension d1 of the porous body 30 is approximately between 8 and 12 mm; the width dimension d2 of the porous body 30 is approximately between 2.5 and 4 mm; and the thickness dimension d3 of the porous body 30 is approximately between 0.8 and 2 mm. Furthermore, the extension dimension d41 of the heating element 40 along the length direction of the surface 320 is approximately between 6 and 10 mm.

And further referring to FIGS. 3 to 6 , the atomization assembly further includes:

The coating element 50 is used to provide fastening and restriction at least partially outside the porous body 30 to prevent the porous body 30 from expanding and deforming during sintering or molding. Since the coating element 50 limits or reduces the expansion and deformation of the porous body 30 during sintering, the sintered porous body 30 can still have a higher strength in a thinner thickness, for example, less than 2.0 mm, and is also beneficial for controlling the internal pore precision during sintering. In the porous body 30 prepared in this embodiment, the micropores in the porous body 30 can have a smaller pore size than the micropores of the porous body 30 prepared by conventional sintering.

In some implementations, the average pore size of the micropores in the plate-shaped or sheet-shaped porous body 30 with higher strength prepared above is less than 10 μm; more preferably, the average pore size of the micropores in the porous body 30 is less than 5 μm. And in some implementations, the proportion of micropores with a pore size between 1 and 5 μm in the prepared porous body 30 to all micropores is greater than 80%, or higher.

Or in some other implementations, the sheet-shaped or plate-shaped porous body 30 may have a lower thickness, for example, less than 1.5 mm or less.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3 to FIG. 6 , the porous body 30 has a first side 31 and a second side 32 that are opposite to each other in the thickness direction; wherein the covering element 50 includes:

The top wall 510 is coupled to the first side 31 of the porous body 30 and at least partially covers the surface of the porous body 30 located on the first side 31;

The side wall 520 is extended and defined by the top wall 510 ; the side wall 520 at least partially surrounds or wraps the peripheral surface of the porous body 30 .

And, a hole 511 is defined on the top wall 510 of the covering element 50; the porous body 30 has a boss 311 located on the first side 31, and the boss 311 extends into the hole 511; and the boss 311 defines a surface 310 located in the hole 511. The surface 310 is not covered or blocked by the top wall 510 of the covering element 50, and the surface 310 is exposed by the hole 511 of the top wall 510, so that the liquid matrix can be transferred to the surface 310 and absorbed. And in practice, the surface 310 is flush with the surface of the top wall 510.

As further shown in FIGS. 3 to 6 , the length dimension d11 of the surface 310 defined by the boss 311 is 6 to 12 mm, and the width dimension d12 is 1 to 3 mm. For example, in a specific implementation, the length dimension d11 of the surface 310 is 7.2 mm, and the width dimension d12 is 1.2 mm. Furthermore, the area of the surface 310 is slightly smaller than the area of the outer surface of the top wall 510.

And in implementation, the surface 310 is surrounded by the top wall 510 of the covering element 50. Alternatively, the surface 310 is porous; and the surface of the top wall 510 of the covering element 50 is dense; and the covering element 50 is rigid rather than soft. And the surface of the atomizing assembly facing the liquid storage chamber 12 is jointly defined by the surface 310 and the surface of the top wall 510 of the covering element 50. The surface of the atomizing assembly facing the liquid storage chamber 12 is partially dense and partially porous; wherein the dense part is defined by the top wall 510 of the covering element 50 and is impermeable to the liquid matrix, and the porous part is defined by the porous body 30 and is permeable to the liquid matrix.

Furthermore, at least one of the teeth 521 extending away from the top wall 510 is arranged on the side wall 520 of the covering element 50, so as to provide clamping or holding on the circumferential side of the porous body 30. The teeth 521 can be generally rectangular, trapezoidal, circular, elliptical, polygonal, etc. Furthermore, the teeth 521 are arranged at intervals in the circumferential direction of the side wall 520.

And in the implementation, the side wall 520 of the covering element 50 does not completely cover or surround the peripheral surface of the porous body 30, so that the peripheral surface of the porous body 30 is at least partially exposed outside the side wall 520 of the covering element 50. And in the implementation, the teeth 521 on the side wall 520 do not extend to the surface 320 and/or the second side 32, so that there is a spacing d4 between the teeth 521 and the surface 320 and/or the second side 32. In some specific implementations, the spacing d4 is approximately between 0.4 and 0.8 mm; the spacing d4 is less than 1/2 of the thickness of the porous body 30.

In addition, a recess 33 adapted to the side wall 520 of the covering element 50 is defined on the peripheral surface of the porous body 30, so that when the side wall 520 surrounds or is coupled to the peripheral surface of the porous body 30, it is embedded in the recess 33, so that the surface of the side wall 520 is flush with the exposed portion of the peripheral surface of the porous body 30.

And in some implementations, the cladding element 50 includes a metal or an alloy. And, the cladding element 50 is dense.

In some specific implementations, the boss 311 of the porous body 30 adapted to the covering element 50 and the recess 33 are not formed by cutting or other processing on the plate-like or sheet-like porous body 30; instead, they are formed by directly injecting the slurry into the covering element 50 and then sintering it.

In some implementations, the above atomizing assembly having the metal or alloy covering element 50 and the porous body 30 is prepared by metal insert molding (outserr molding) process. The term "metal insert molding" is a process term in the field of mold molding, specifically refers to pre-fixing the metal insert at an appropriate position in the mold cavity, and then injecting the material to be molded into the cavity, and after the mold is opened, the metal insert is combined with the cooled and solidified molding material into one.

In some specific implementations, the preparation of the above atomization assembly includes:

Obtain the covering element 50, and pre-fix the covering element 50 in the mold cavity; of course, the mold cavity and the shape of the atomizing component are adapted or consistent;

The raw materials of ceramics, glass, etc. are mixed with a pore-forming agent and a liquid additive to form a slurry, and the slurry is injected into a mold cavity in which a coating element 50 is fixed in advance;

After the slurry is cooled and solidified, demolding is performed to obtain a green body with the coating element 50 surrounding or coated on the surface; the green body with the coating element 50 surrounding or coated is sintered to form a porous body 30;

The heating element 40 is formed on the surface 320 of the sintered porous body 30 by printing, deposition, mounting, etc.

During the slurry injection molding, part of the slurry enters into the hole 511 of the top wall 510 of the covering element 50 to define the boss 311 .

Furthermore, in the above implementation, since the coating element 50 at least partially provides fastening and restriction outside the green embryo, the expansion and deformation of the porous body 30 can be effectively suppressed when the porous body 30 is sintered to form the porous body 30, so that the sintered porous body 30 can still have a higher strength in a thinner thickness, for example, less than 2.0 mm, and it is also beneficial for controlling the internal pore accuracy of the porous body 30 prepared by sintering.

And in some optional implementations, the coating element 50 itself selects a metal or alloy with a smaller thermal expansion coefficient. In some optional implementations, the coating element 50 includes at least one of nickel-iron alloy, nickel-iron-manganese alloy, nickel-copper alloy, tungsten or tungsten steel, etc. For example, in some specific implementations, the coating element 50 is made of nickel-iron-manganese alloy with a relatively small expansion coefficient, such as the linear expansion coefficient of nickel-iron-manganese alloy is 0.0000015 (1/°C) and the volume expansion coefficient is 0.0000045 (1/°C).

Furthermore, the covering element 50 comprising metal or alloy is thin; the thickness of the top wall 510 and/or the side wall 520 of the covering element 50 is between 0.05 and 0.2 mm; for example, in a specific implementation, the thickness of the top wall 510 and/or the side wall 520 of the covering element 50 made of nickel-iron-manganese alloy material is 0.1 mm.

In the above atomizer assembly that is integrally molded by metal insert injection molding and then sintered, the porous body 30 and the covering element 50 are not detachable or separable.

Alternatively, FIGS. 7 to 9 show schematic diagrams of an atomization assembly of yet another variant embodiment, in which the atomization assembly comprises:

The porous body 30a has a first side 31a and a second side 32a opposite to each other; and the peripheral side surface 31a of the porous body 30a defines a recess 33a adjacent to the first side 31a;

The covering element 50a has a top wall 510a and a side wall 520a; wherein the top wall 510a partially covers or is coupled to the first side 31a of the porous body 30a; the side wall 520a circumferentially surrounds or wraps the peripheral surface of the porous body 30a; and the side wall 520a is located in the recess 33a; and the outer surface of the side wall 520a is flush with the exposed portion of the peripheral surface of the porous body 30a.

Furthermore, the top wall 510a of the covering element 50a is provided with a plurality of discretely or dispersedly arranged holes 511a; and the first side 31a of the porous body 30a has a plurality of discretely or dispersedly arranged protrusions 311a; the protrusions 311a extend into the holes 511a to define the surface 310a for serving as a liquid absorbing surface for absorbing the liquid matrix.

It should be noted that the preferred embodiments of the present application are given in the specification and drawings of the present application, but are not limited to the embodiments described in the specification. Furthermore, it is possible for a person of ordinary skill in the art to make improvements or changes based on the above description, and all such improvements and changes should fall within the scope of protection of the claims attached to the present application.

Claims (20)

1. An atomizer, comprising:

a liquid storage chamber for storing a liquid matrix;

A porous body comprising a liquid-absorbing surface and an atomizing surface; the wicking surface is in fluid communication with the reservoir to wick liquid matrix;

a heating element coupled to the atomizing surface for heating at least a portion of the liquid matrix within the porous body to generate an aerosol;

a rigid coating element that coats a portion of the surface of the porous body and that avoids or exposes at least a portion of the liquid-absorbing surface and at least a portion of the atomizing surface.

2. The nebulizer of claim 1, wherein the cover element is dense.

3. The nebulizer of claim 2, wherein the material of the cladding element comprises a metal or an alloy.

4. A nebulizer as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the porous body and the cover element are not separable or detachable from each other.

5. The atomizer of claim 4 wherein said porous body is molded from a moldable slurry onto said cover member and sintered thereto to form a unitary structure.

6. A nebulizer as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the porous body is configured in a plate or sheet form.

7. A nebulizer as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the thickness of the porous body is 2mm or less.

8. A nebulizer as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the average pore size of the micropores in the porous body is less than 10 μm.

9. A nebulizer as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the porous body comprises first and second sides facing away from each other, and a peripheral side surface extending between the first and second sides; the liquid-absorbing surface is located on the first side and the atomizing surface is located on the second side;

The cover member includes a top wall, and a side wall extending from the top wall; wherein the top wall covers a portion of the wicking surface; the side wall surrounds and wraps the peripheral side surface.

10. The atomizer of claim 9 wherein an outer surface of said top wall is flush with said liquid-absorbing surface.

11. The atomizer of claim 9 wherein said top wall is provided with one or more holes; a portion of the wicking surface is exposed through the aperture.

12. The atomizer of claim 9 wherein said side wall is provided with one or more teeth extending away from said top wall.

13. A nebulizer as claimed in claim 12, wherein the side wall and/or tooth is spaced from the second side.

14. A nebulizer as claimed in claim 9, wherein the thickness of the top wall and/or the side wall is between 0.05 and 0.2mm.

15. An atomizer, comprising:

a liquid storage chamber for storing a liquid matrix;

A porous body including a liquid suction surface and an atomizing surface which are disposed opposite to each other in a thickness direction, and a peripheral side surface extending between the liquid suction surface and the atomizing surface; the wicking surface is in fluid communication with the reservoir to wick liquid matrix;

A heating element coupled to the atomizing surface for heating at least a portion of the liquid matrix within the porous body to generate an aerosol; and

A dense coating member bonded to the porous body, the coating member including a top wall covering a portion of the liquid-absorbing surface, and a side wall extending from the top wall, the side wall surrounding and coating the peripheral side surface;

wherein the thickness of the porous body is 2mm or less.

16. An atomizer, comprising:

a liquid storage chamber for storing a liquid matrix;

A rigid, liquid absorbent member comprising a first surface and a second surface facing away from each other; wherein,

The first surface comprises a first area and a second area; the first region is dense and the second region is porous; the second region is in fluid communication with the reservoir to aspirate a liquid matrix; the second surface is porous;

a heating element coupled to the second surface for heating at least a portion of the liquid matrix within the porous body to generate an aerosol.

17. The nebulizer of claim 16, wherein the wicking element comprises:

A porous portion, and a dense coating at least partially coating the porous portion;

the first region is defined by the cover layer and the second region is defined by the porous portion.

18. An electronic atomising device comprising a nebuliser as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 19, and a power supply mechanism for supplying power to the nebuliser.

19. An atomizing assembly for an electronic atomizing device, comprising:

a porous body comprising a liquid-absorbing surface and an atomizing surface; the liquid absorbing surface is used for absorbing liquid matrix;

a heating element coupled to the atomizing surface for heating at least a portion of the liquid matrix within the porous body to generate an aerosol;

A rigid coating member that coats a portion of the surface of the porous body and that avoids or exposes at least a portion of the liquid-absorbing surface and at least a portion of the atomizing surface; the porous body is molded from a moldable slurry onto the cover member and sintered therewith to form a unitary structure.

20. A method of preparing an atomizing assembly according to claim 19, comprising:

molding a moldable slurry at least partially into the cover member to form a green body, and coupling the cover member to at least a portion of a surface of the green body;

and sintering the green body and the cladding element integrally.