CN213604392U

CN213604392U - Aerosol generator

Info

Publication number: CN213604392U
Application number: CN202022148217.0U
Authority: CN
Inventors: 卢志明; 胡瑞龙; 徐中立; 李永海
Original assignee: Shenzhen FirstUnion Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Shenzhen FirstUnion Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-09-25
Filing date: 2020-09-25
Publication date: 2021-07-06
Anticipated expiration: 2030-09-25
Also published as: EP4218441A1; EP4218441A4; US20230329342A1; WO2022063233A1

Abstract

The utility model provides an aerosol generating device, which is used for heating an aerosol generating product to generate aerosol for inhalation and comprises a shell; the shell is internally provided with: a chamber; at least one heater for heating the aerosol-generating article; a support mechanism configured to surround at least a portion of the chamber; providing a plurality of first projections and a plurality of second projections circumferentially spaced apart on an inner surface of the support mechanism to grip an aerosol-generating article received in the chamber; the plurality of first protrusions and the plurality of second protrusions are arranged in order along the axial direction of the support mechanism. The aerosol generating device can hold the aerosol generating product at different heights through the double-layer bulges, so that the aerosol generating product can be stably received in the aerosol generating device, and further the aerosol generating device can stably transfer heat with the heater.

Description

Aerosol generator

Technical Field

The embodiment of the utility model provides a heating incombustible smoking set technical field especially relates to an aerial fog generates device.

Background

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

An example of such a product is a heating device that releases a compound by heating rather than burning the material. For example, the material may be tobacco or other non-tobacco products, which may or may not include nicotine. As another example, there is a heating device that generates an aerosol by heating the tobacco product around its circumference to release a compound, the heating device receiving the tobacco product internally through a heating chamber. As known in the art, in order to ensure that the tobacco products are smoothly received in the heating device, the inner diameter of the receiving cavity is generally slightly larger than the outer diameter of the tobacco products, which causes the tobacco products to shake after being received in the receiving cavity to affect the heat transfer with the heater.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

An embodiment of the present invention provides an aerosol-generating device for heating an aerosol-generating article to generate an aerosol for inhalation, comprising a housing; the shell is internally provided with:

a chamber for receiving an aerosol-generating article;

at least one heater for heating the aerosol-generating article;

a support mechanism configured to surround at least a portion of the chamber; a plurality of first projections and a plurality of second projections circumferentially spaced apart are provided on an inner surface of the support means for providing support in a radial direction to smokable material received in the chamber to grip an aerosol-generating article received in the chamber; the plurality of first protrusions and the plurality of second protrusions are arranged in sequence along an axial direction of the support mechanism.

In an alternative implementation, the first and second plurality of projections are offset from each other in an axial direction of the support mechanism.

In an alternative implementation, one of the first and second plurality of projections is rigid and the other is flexible.

In an alternative implementation, the housing has a receiving aperture at one end through which an aerosol-generating article can be removably received in the chamber;

the first plurality of projections being closer to the receiving aperture than the second plurality of projections; the plurality of first protrusions are configured in an elongated bar shape extending in an axial direction of the support mechanism, and the second protrusions are configured in a circular shape.

In an alternative embodiment, the second protrusion is provided on a surface thereof with an elongated slit or groove extending in an axial direction of the support mechanism.

In an alternative implementation, the support mechanism comprises a coaxially arranged annular rigid support and an annular flexible support;

the plurality of first protrusions are formed on an inner surface of the rigid support, and the plurality of second protrusions are formed on an inner surface of the flexible support.

In an alternative implementation, the flexible support comprises an inner wall and an outer wall which are arranged in sequence from inside to outside along the radial direction, and a clamping cavity formed between the inner wall and the outer wall; the rigid support is at least partially retained within the clamping cavity.

In an alternative implementation, the chamber includes proximal and distal ends that are axially opposite one another;

the support mechanism comprises a first support with a first protrusion and a second support with a second protrusion; the first support is adjacent the proximal end of the chamber and the second support is adjacent the distal end of the chamber.

In an alternative implementation, the first plurality of projections have a different surface coefficient of friction than the second plurality of projections.

In an alternative implementation, the plurality of first protrusions and/or the plurality of second protrusions are symmetrically arranged along a central axis of the support mechanism.

In an alternative implementation, at least part of the surface of the first plurality of projections is configured to be angularly disposed for providing guidance when smokable material is received into the chamber.

The aerosol generating device can hold the aerosol generating product at different heights through the double-layer bulges, so that the aerosol generating product can be stably received in the aerosol generating device, and further the aerosol generating device can stably transfer heat with the heater.

Drawings

One or more embodiments are illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings, which correspond to the figures in which like reference numerals refer to similar elements and which are not to scale unless otherwise specified.

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of an aerosol-generating device according to an embodiment in use;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the aerosol generating device of FIG. 1 from yet another perspective;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the internal construction of the aerosol generating device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the aerosol generating device of FIG. 3 taken along the width direction thereof;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of the construction of one embodiment of the heater of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of the structure of one embodiment of the lower support mechanism of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a schematic perspective cross-sectional view of the upper support mechanism of FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional schematic view of portions of the upper support mechanism of FIG. 7 prior to assembly;

FIG. 9 is an exploded schematic view of the portions of the upper support mechanism of FIG. 8 prior to assembly;

figure 10 is a schematic view of an upper and lower support mechanism provided by a further embodiment to clamp an aerosol-generating article near the upper and lower ends of the chamber respectively.

Detailed Description

In order to facilitate understanding of the present invention, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

One embodiment of the present application proposes an aerosol-generating device that heats, rather than burns, an aerosol-generating article, such as a tobacco rod, thereby volatilising or releasing at least one component of the aerosol-generating article to form an aerosol for inhalation.

In a preferred embodiment, the aerosol-generating device heats the aerosol-generating article by radiating far infrared rays having a heating effect; for example, 3 to 15 μm, when the wavelength of the infrared light matches the wavelength of absorption of the volatile components of the aerosol-generating article during use, the energy of the infrared light is readily absorbed by the aerosol-generating article, and the aerosol-generating article is heated to volatilize at least one of the volatile components and produce an aerosol for inhalation.

In other alternative implementations, heating of the aerosol-generating article by the aerosol-generating device heats the aerosol-generating article by resistive or electromagnetic induction heating.

The configuration of the aerosol-generating device according to an embodiment of the present application can be seen from fig. 1 to 2, and the overall external shape of the device is substantially configured into a flat cylindrical shape, and the external member thereof includes:

a main housing 10 having a hollow interior to form an assembly space for assembling necessary functional components; main housing 10 has a proximal end 110 and a distal end 120 opposite along its length; wherein,

the proximal end 110 is provided with a receiving aperture 111 through which the aerosol-generating article a may be received in the main housing 10, heated or removed from the main housing 10;

the far end 120 is provided with an air inlet hole 121 and a charging interface 122; the air intake holes 121 are used to supply external air into the main housing 10 during suction; the charging interface 122, such as a USB type-C interface, a Pin interface, or the like, is connected to an external power supply or an adapter, and then used to charge the aerosol-generating device.

Further, the configuration inside the main casing 10, as shown in fig. 3 and 4, includes a first compartment 130 and a second compartment 140 which are arranged in order in the width direction; among them, the first compartment 130 is a mounting space for mounting electric cells and electronic components such as a circuit board (not shown in the figure), and the second compartment 140 is a mounting space for mounting and holding a heating mechanism.

Referring to the preferred embodiment shown in fig. 4, the heating mechanism comprises:

a heater 30 configured in a tubular shape, the tubular hollow being configured to receive and heat a chamber of an aerosol-generating article a. In alternative implementations, the heater 30 is a resistive heating tube having a resistivity, or a metallic induction heating tube that is penetrated by a magnetic field to generate heat, or an infrared emitter that radiates infrared light toward the aerosol-generating article a to heat the aerosol-generating article a.

A heat insulation mechanism 40 for insulating the heater 30 to prevent heat of the heater 30 from being transferred to other components or the surface of the main housing 10 to cause thermal damage; in the preferred embodiment of fig. 4, the insulation means 40 is a vacuum tube disposed around the heater 30, insulated by a vacuum region formed between two layers of tube walls.

The main housing 10 further has disposed therein:

upper and

lower support mechanisms

50 and 60, respectively, for providing support to the heater 30 and the heat insulating mechanism 40 at upper and lower ends thereof. In implementation, the upper support mechanism 50 and the lower support mechanism 60 are each configured in a hollow annular shape, and are positioned coaxially with the heater 30;

the intake duct 20, which is positioned between the lower support mechanism 60 and the intake hole 121, provides an air flow path between the intake hole 121 and the heater 30. The air inlet duct 20 also serves to provide support to the lower support mechanism 60 so that it can be stably held within the main casing 10. The airflow during smoking is shown by the arrows R4 in figure 4, and after entering the air inlet conduit 20 through the air inlet apertures 121, it flows into the aerosol-generating article a held by the heater 30 and carries the generated aerosol output.

Further figure 5 shows a schematic diagram of a preferred embodiment of a heater 30 heated by means of radiant infrared. Wherein,

the heater 30 includes: a tubular substrate 31, the inner space of the tubular substrate 31 forming a chamber for receiving and heating an aerosol-generating article a; an infrared-emitting coating 32 formed on the outer surface of the tubular substrate 31 for radiating infrared rays to the aerosol-generating article a received within the tubular substrate 31, thereby heating the aerosol-generating article a; the electrode coating 33 is formed on the infrared emission coating 32 and is electrically conductive to the infrared emission coating 32, and then is connected to the positive electrode/negative electrode of the battery cell by means of a welding pin, a conductive ring, or the like to supply power to the infrared emission coating 32.

In general, the tubular substrate 31 is made of a material having excellent infrared transmittance, such as quartz, glass, silicon carbide, ceramic, mica, or the like. The infrared emission coating layer 32 is preferably composed of oxides of at least one metal element of Mg, Al, Ti, Zr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Cr, Zn, etc., which can radiate far infrared rays having heating effect when heated to a suitable temperature; the thickness of the coating layer can be controlled preferably to 30 μm to 50 μm. The electrode coating 33 is made of a low resistivity metal or alloy, such as silver, gold, palladium, platinum, copper, nickel, molybdenum, tungsten, niobium, or a metal alloy thereof.

Referring to fig. 6, the lower support mechanism 60 includes: an annular projection 61 extends into the heater 30 and an annular socket 62 is formed between the annular projection 61 and the outer wall of the lower support mechanism 60. The smokable material a rests on the annular projection 61 after the annular projection 61 has extended into the heater 30 in use to provide a stop for the aerosol-generating article a. Meanwhile, the lower end of the heater 30 is inserted into the socket 62 and fixed.

With further reference to fig. 7-9, the upper support mechanism 50 includes: a rigid support 51 and a flexible support 52 each configured in a ring shape; wherein,

the rigid support 51 is typically of a rigid plastics material such as PEEK or the like, and has an inner wall provided with a plurality of elongate strip-shaped projections 511 spaced around the aerosol-generating article a of the chamber in a circumferential direction thereof, the elongate strip-shaped projections 511 being of a design inclined from top to bottom so as to provide inclined guidance in operation through the rigid support 51 as the aerosol-generating article a is received by the heater 30; and the elongate strip-shaped projections 511 are also capable of gripping the aerosol-generating article a after it has been received in the chamber.

The flexible support 52 is flexible, for example made of silicone, and has a number of circular protrusions 521 provided on its inner wall, arranged around the aerosol-generating article a in the chamber; the circular protrusion 521 is substantially circular in shape and also provides a clamping fixation for the received aerosol-generating article a.

Further reference is made to the cross-sectional view of the upper support mechanism 50 shown in fig. 7 after assembly by the rigid support 51 and the flexible support 52; the elongated bar-shaped protrusion 511 is arranged closer to the upper end and the circular protrusion 521 is arranged relatively farther to the lower end. The maximum protruding heights of the elongated strip-shaped protrusion 511 and the circular protrusion 521 are different in use, particularly, the circular protrusion 521 is made of a flexible material and can elastically contract, so that the protruding height of the circular protrusion 521 in the structure is slightly larger than that of the strip-shaped protrusion 511, and is usually about 1-3 mm higher; and further together grip the aerosol-generating article a at different axial positions respectively when the aerosol-generating article a is received in the chamber and with a suitable degree of tightness to keep the central axis of the aerosol-generating article a as coincident as possible with the heater 30.

In practice, the elongate strip-shaped projections 511 and the circular projections 521 have different surface coefficients of friction such that the resistance increases gradually as the aerosol-generating article a is received in the chamber and remains stable after receipt without being shaken slightly or the like out of the receiving aperture 111 during tilted use.

Of course, in the preferred embodiment shown in the drawings, the elongated bar-shaped projections 511 and the circular projections 521 are each even in number and are each arranged axisymmetrically with respect to the central axis of the upper support mechanism 50; this provides a more stable grip on the aerosol-generating article a.

Also, the elongate strip-shaped projections 511 and the circular projections 521 are relatively staggered in the axial direction, which is advantageous for preventing tilting or decentering of the aerosol-generating article a.

Further in the preferred embodiment shown in fig. 7 and 8, the circular protrusion 521 is provided on its surface with an elongated slot or groove 5211 extending along the length of the upper support mechanism 50. The elongated slits or grooves 5211 may reduce the contact area of the surface of the circular protrusion 521 with the aerosol-generating article a, which in turn is advantageous for reducing frictional resistance during movement of the aerosol-generating article a.

To further facilitate assembly of the rigid support 51 and the flexible support 52, see fig. 8; the flexible support 52 has an inner wall 522 and an outer wall 523 arranged in sequence from inside to outside along the radial direction, and a clamping cavity 524 formed on the inner wall 522 and the outer wall 523; the rigid support 51 comprises a portion 513 of reduced thickness; in assembly, the reduced thickness portion 513 of the rigid support 51 is extended into the clamping chamber 524 and clamped by the inner wall 522 and the outer wall 523.

Meanwhile, the upper support mechanism 50 further includes a positioning mechanism for providing a positioning aid and preventing a fall-out during the assembly of the rigid support 51 and the flexible support 52. For example, in the embodiment shown in fig. 8, the positioning mechanism comprises a recess or hole 512 formed on the reduced thickness portion 513 of the rigid support 51, and a snap projection 525 or the like provided on the corresponding flexible support 52 to mate with the recess or hole 512.

The rigid support member 51 is provided with a plurality of plate-like extending portions 514 which are located outermost in the radial direction and extend in the axial direction, and the surfaces of the extending portions 514 are adapted to abut against the heat insulating means 40 and thereby are fixed to the heat insulating means 40.

In yet another alternative embodiment shown in fig. 10, a circular protrusion 511b is disposed on the inner wall of the upper support mechanism 50 b; the lower support means 60b, while providing an axial stop for the aerosol-generating article a, also has a projection 611b with a radially directed clamping and abutment surface in an inclined configuration. Thereby providing support in a radial direction to the aerosol-generating article a at different heights adjacent the upper and lower ends of the chamber respectively to grip the aerosol-generating article a received in the chamber.

It should be noted that the preferred embodiments of the present invention are shown in the specification and the drawings, but not limited to the embodiments described in the specification, and further, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications and variations can be made in the above description and all such modifications and variations should fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. An aerosol-generating device for heating an aerosol-generating article to generate an aerosol for inhalation, comprising a housing; it is characterized in that:

a chamber for receiving an aerosol-generating article;

at least one heater for heating the aerosol-generating article;

a support mechanism configured to surround at least a portion of the chamber; a plurality of first projections and a plurality of second projections provided on an inner surface of the support means, circumferentially spaced apart along the chamber, for providing support in a radial direction to smokable material received within the chamber to grip an aerosol-generating article received within the chamber; the plurality of first protrusions and the plurality of second protrusions are sequentially arranged in an axial direction of the chamber.

2. The aerosol-generating device of claim 1, wherein the first plurality of projections and the second plurality of projections are offset from each other on the support mechanism inner surface in an axial direction of the chamber.

3. An aerosol-generating device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein one of the first and second plurality of projections is rigid and the other is flexible.

4. An aerosol-generating device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the housing has a receiving aperture at one end through which an aerosol-generating article can be removably received in the chamber;

the first plurality of projections are closer to the receiving hole than the second plurality of projections.

5. An aerosol-generating device according to claim 4, wherein the second projection is provided with an elongate slit or groove on a surface thereof extending in an axial direction of the support means.

6. An aerosol-generating device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the support mechanism comprises an annular rigid support and an annular flexible support arranged coaxially;

7. An aerosol-generating device according to claim 6, wherein the flexible support comprises an inner wall and an outer wall arranged in sequence from inside to outside in a radial direction, and a clamping cavity formed between the inner wall and the outer wall; the rigid support is at least partially retained within the clamping cavity.

8. An aerosol-generating device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the chamber comprises proximal and distal ends that are axially opposite one another;

9. An aerosol-generating device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first plurality of projections have a different surface coefficient of friction than the second plurality of projections.

10. An aerosol-generating device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the plurality of first projections and/or the plurality of second projections are symmetrically arranged along a central axis of the chamber.