WO2024041557A1

WO2024041557A1 - An electronic atomizer and its manufacturing method

Info

Publication number: WO2024041557A1
Application number: PCT/CN2023/114404
Authority: WO
Inventors: Xiaogang DENG; Xiaofeng Peng
Original assignee: Shanghai QV Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Shanghai QV Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2022-08-24
Filing date: 2023-08-23
Publication date: 2024-02-29
Anticipated expiration: 2025-02-24
Also published as: CN117617562A

Abstract

The present invention aims to provide an electronic atomizer which comprises a liquid storage, a shell, and a base assembly; The base assembly comprises a bottom cover, and an atomizing element bracket; The liquid storage, shell and bottom cover form a cavity, the atomizing element bracket is located in the cavity, and the atomizing element is arranged on the bracket; The part not occupied by the atomizing element bracket and the atomizing element forms the flowing space for aerosol in the cavity; The ratio between the width of the aerosol flowing space and the thickness of the electronic atomizer ranges from 30% to 65%. The invention also provides a manufacturing method of electronic atomizers which covers the step for determining the thickness of the electronic atomizer; the step for determining the size of atomizing element in the electronic atomizer; the step for determining the thickness of the shell based on the size of the atomizing element, the thickness of the electronic atomizer, and the relative size of the aerosol flowing space; the relative size of the aerosol flowing space ranges from 35%～55%.

Description

An Electronic Atomizer and Its Manufacturing Method

Field of Technology

This invention relates to the field of electronic atomization, in particular to an ultra-thin electronic atomizer and its manufacturing method.

Background Art

The basic principle of the electronic atomizer is that the atomizing liquid is heated and atomized to aerosol by the electronic heating unit for the user to extract from the electronic heating unit for utilization via exerting negative pressure to the suction port of the atomizer. Electronic atomizers are widely used in e-cigarette, medical and recreational products.

Because of the need for appropriate space and air passage to expel the aerosol particles from the cartridge as much as possible after the atomizing liquid is atomized into aerosol, the space shall not be too small, and the air passage shall be as smooth as possible, otherwise it is difficult to discharge the aerosol and easy to reunite the aerosol into large particles and even give rise to condensation, backflow and the appearance of condensate.

Due to the lack of specific and effective manufacturing methods and principles, the manufacturing and design of electronic atomizers now available either unilaterally pursue the effect of atomization such as expanding the above space, but this would thicken the entire atomizer and seriously affect the portability and aesthetics; or strive to produce thin atomizer, making the above space too small, and affecting the use. Therefore, how to efficiently find a balance between the two is a critical problem for prior art.

Summary of this Invention

In view of the shortcomings of the prior art described above, the purpose of the invention is to provide an electronic atomizer characterized in that it comprises a liquid storage, a shell, and a base assembly; The liquid storage comprises an oil chamber, and an air outlet passage; The base assembly comprises a bottom cover, and an atomizing element bracket; The liquid storage, shell and bottom cover form a cavity, the atomizing element bracket is located in the cavity, and the atomizing element is arranged on the bracket; The part not occupied by the atomizing element bracket and the atomizing element forms the flowing space for aerosol in the cavity; The ratio between the width of the aerosol flowing space and the thickness of the electronic atomizer ranges from 30%to 65%.

Preferably, the ratio between the width of the aerosol flowing space and the thickness of the electronic atomizer ranges from 35%to 55%.

Preferably, the shell is made of metal or alloy, and the thickness range is 0.1-0.4 mm in the electronic atomizer.

Preferably, the electronic atomizer is less than 8 mm thick.

Preferably, the electronic atomizer is less than 7.5 mm thick.

Preferably, the electronic atomizer is less than 6.5 mm thick.

Preferably, the shell is also attached with a thermal-protective coating inside or outside.

Preferably, the atomizing element ranges from 1.0 to 4 mm in width in the electronic atomizer.

Preferably, the outer wall of the liquid storage is metal or alloy, and the thickness ranges from 0.1 to 0.4 mm in the electronic atomizer.

Preferably, the shell and the base assembly are assembled in a interference fit manner in the electronic atomizer.

Preferably, the interlocking part is lower than or high as the bottom of the oil chamber, and the liquid storage is made of transparent material in the electronic atomizer.

Preferably, the shell is integrated with the liquid storage, is made of plastic, and is 0.4-0.7 mm thick in the electronic atomizer.

Preferably, the electronic atomizer is 10 -100 mm long, and the shell is 10-20 mm long.

The invention also provides a manufacturing method of the electronic atomizer which is characterized in that it covers steps for determining the thickness of the electronic atomizer; steps for determining the width of atomizing element in the electronic atomizer; steps for determining the thickness of the shell based on the width of the atomizing element, the thickness of the electronic atomizer, and the relative size of the aerosol flowing space; the relative size of the aerosol flowing space refers to the ratio between the width of the aerosol flowing space and the thickness of the atomizer, and ranges from 30%to 50%.

The invention also provides an electronic atomizer which comprises a liquid storage, a shell, and a base assembly; The base assembly comprises a bottom cover, and an atomizing element assembly; The atomizing element assembly includes atomizing element bracket and the atomizing element on the bracket; The liquid storage, shell and bottom cover form a cavity, the atomizing element assembly is located in the cavity, and the wider sides of the atomizing element assembly form the first and second aerosol passages with the inner wall of the shell, respectively; The ratio between the sum of the widths of the first and second passages and the thickness of the electronic atomizer ranges from 21%to 85%.

Preferably, the shell is made of metal or alloy, and the thickness ranges from 0.1 to 0.4 mm in the electronic atomizer.

Preferably, the electronic atomizer is less than 7.5 mm wide.

Preferably, the first passage is as wide as the second passage or not in the electronic atomizer.

Preferably, the shell and the liquid storage are integrated and made of plastic. The shell is thicker than the wall of the liquid storage, and ranges from 0.4-0.7 mm in thickness.

Preferably, the shell and the liquid storage are integrated, and the ratio between the sum of the widths of the first and second passages and the thickness of the electronic atomizer ranges from 35%～55%in the electronic atomizer.

The invention reveals the effect and influence factors of aerosol flowing space in electronic atomizer, and puts forward a manufacturing method and the electronic atomizer manufactured by the method accordingly, enabling the ultra-thin electronic atomizer to be thin while have the effect of atomization, and thus greatly simplifying the design of ultra-thin atomizer and reducing the experiment cost.

Brief introduction to the Drawings

Fig. 1 is the stereogram of an embodiment of the electronic atomizer of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a top view of the embodiment in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is the exploded view of the embodiment in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the embodiment along Line A-Ain Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the second embodiment of the invention.

Embodiments

The execution of this invention is explained by specific embodiments below, and a person in this art can easily understand other advantages and effects of this invention from the details disclosed herein. The invention can also be implemented or applied in other different ways, and the details herein can also be modified or changed in various ways based on different views and applications without deviating from the spirit of this invention.

Please refer to the attached drawings then. To be sure, the drawings provided in this embodiment are only explaining the basic conception of this invention, and thus do not show the actual number, size and shape of the component put into practice but only showing the component associated with the invention; The type, number and proportion of the components actually put into practice can be a random change, and the component layout pattern may also be more complex. Unless otherwise specified, the words “up” , “down” , “left” , and “right” used herein are all from the perspective of the observer in the attached drawing.

Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 are stereoscopic and top views of the first embodiment of the invention, respectively. For clarity, the maximum size of the atomizer in the three dimensions of x, y and z is defined as the size of the atomizer in this dimension, and among the three dimensions, the smallest dimension is defined as the thickness of the atomizer, and the largest dimension is defined as the length of the atomizer. For example, Fig. 2, the corresponding dimensions are the size of the atomizer in the two dimensions of x and z, where the largest size in dimension z is T but not t, so T is used as the size of the atomizer in dimension z. Moreover, because the size of the atomizer in dimension z is the smallest among the three dimensions of x, y and z, the size in dimension z is the thickness of the atomizer. Unless otherwise specified, the thickness of the atomizer is defined accordingly.

The atomizer in this embodiment comprises liquid storage 1, shell 2, and base assembly 3. Base assembly 3 comprises bottom cover 31, and atomizing element bracket 32, on which atomizing element 33 is arranged; atomizing element bracket 32 and atomizing element 33 are jointly defined as an atomizing assembly. Atomizing element bracket 32 goes with a groove for housing atomizing element 33, or atomizing element bracket 32 clamps both ends, usually two shorter sides, of atomizing element 33. See Fig. 3 for the exploded view of liquid storage 1, shell 2, and base assembly 3. Liquid storage 1 and shell 2 as well as base assembly 3 and shell 2 are assembled in the direction indicated by the dashed arrow in Fig. 3 to form an interference fit connection and avoid leakage of aerosol-forming matrix.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the embodiment along Line A-Ain Fig. 1. Liquid storage 1 comprises oil chamber 11 and outlet passage 12, whose upper end is exhaust port 13. In actual use, air nozzle of different shapes and materials can be installed at exhaust port 13 to adapt to different scenes. Oil chamber 11 is used to store the atomizing liquid (aerosol-forming matrix) , and the aerosol formed by atomization is sucked out of the atomizer through outlet passage 12 from exhaust port 13.

As to the liquid storage in the assembly state of Fig. 4, atomizing element bracket 32 is enclosed in shell 2, and there is a space between atomizing element bracket 32 and the inner wall of shell 2 to facilitate the formation and flow of aerosols. This space is referred to as the aerosol flowing space hereinafter, and is marked as 21 in Fig. 4.

As mentioned in the Background Art, there is no practical value in merely pursuit of the dimensions of the aerosol flowing space. According to the experiment, it is more practical to evaluate the size of the aerosol flowing space by its relative size (namely, the ratio between the size of the aerosol flowing space and the overall size of the atomizer) . In view of the fact that the aerosol flowing space may not be regular in shape, the narrowest point of the aerosol flowing space in the direction of the thickness of the atomizer is defined as the width of the aerosol flowing space, i.e., the minimum value of w1 +w2 in Fig. 4. And the ratio between the width of the aerosol flowing space and the thickness of the atomizer is regarded as the relative size of the aerosol flowing space for evaluating the size of the aerosol flowing space. As a result, the relative size of the aerosol flowing space changes with the thickness of the atomizer, the width of the atomizing element and the aerosol flowing space, but the range shall be controlled in 21%～ 85%, preferably in 30%～65%, and more preferably in 35%～55%.

In another representation, the first aerosol passage 21 and the second aerosol passage 21' are formed between the wider sides of the atomizing element assembly (along the width of the atomizing element) and the inner wall of shell 2, respectively (see Fig. 5) . The width of the aerosol flowing space described above can also be defined as the sum of the widths of the first and second passages. The widths of the first and second passages are usually equal, and they can be unequal. Usually, the first or second passage is 0.5 to 2.0 mm wide, preferably 1.2 to 1.6 mm wide, and it is 1.3 mm in this embodiment. Too wide passage would result in too thick atomizer; Too narrow one would lead to poor exhausting, and the aerosol is easy to gather into large particles with bad taste or condensation. So the size here is not reduced in the design of the ultra-thin atomizer.

Narrowing atomizing element 31 (the size of atomizing element 31 in the direction of the thickness of atomizer 3) , thinning shell 2, or thickening atomizer 3 can increase the relative size aerosol flowing space 21. However, due to the requirement of atomization heating power and the production process of atomizing element, atomizing element 31 cannot be too small. In this embodiment, its size is controlled within 1-4 mm to be an ultra-thin atomizer. For portability, aesthetics and other factors, atomizer 3 of the invention is no more than 8 mm thick; For the light and thin atomizer, the thickness is no more than 7.5 mm, and for the ultra-thin atomizer, the thickness is no more than 6.5 mm.

In this embodiment, the entire atomizer is 6.1 mm thick, and atomizing element 31 is 3 mm wide. The shell shall be made of metal or alloy to maximize the strength, and in this case, it is made of medical grade stainless steel 316L. After testing, shells 2 with thickness of 0.15, 0.2, 0.25, 0.35 or 0.4 mm all meet the requirement on strength, that is, the relative size of the aerosol flowing space can be controlled within 37%～46%in this embodiment. In addition, according to the experiment, in the thickness range of 0.15～0.4 mm, the preferred materials for shell 2 also include other medical or food-grade stainless steel, such as 304, 316.

In case the overall thickness of the atomizer is under control, the wall thickness of liquid storage 1 would affect the amount of oil deposited, and the strength of the storage would be affected if it is too thin. As a general rule, if the outer wall of liquid storage 1 is made of metal or alloy, it can be 0.15-0.4 mm thick. In the preferred embodiment of Fig. 4, liquid storage 1 is made of a transparent material, such as plastic, and the juncture of shell 2 and liquid storage 1 is lower than or high as the bottom of oil chamber 11 to facilitate the observation of the residual amount of atomizing oil in the chamber. The plastic shall be 0.5-1.1 mm thick.

Another embodiment is also given schematically in Fig. 5, and it differs from the embodiment in Fig. 4 in that shell 2 is lengthened. Usually, the atomizer is 10-100 mm long, and shell 2 can be 5-20 mm in length. In this embodiment, the atomizer is 47 mm long, and shell 2 is 14 mm long.

To avoid thermal conductance from the aerosol to the shell which will decrease the grip experience, a layer of heat-insulating film can be attached to the inside or outside of shell 2 preferably. There are many techniques for attaching heat-insulating film, and those applicable include electroplating, magnetron sputtering, nano-ceramics, and indium-tin heat-insulating film. The thickness of the heat-insulating film is usually in micrometer or even nanometer, so it does not affect the relative size of the aerosol flowing space.

As mentioned above, the electronic atomizer of the present invention can reach a balance between the lightness of the atomizer and the effect of atomization by controlling the ratio between the width of the aerosol flowing space and the thickness of the entire atomizer, and according to the preferred embodiment, it is light and thin with uncompromising effect of atomization.

The invention also provides a design method for ultra-thin electronic atomizers, including the following steps:

S1: Determining the thickness of the electronic atomizer. Thickness directly determines the portability and aesthetics of the atomizer to a large extent, and usually shall not exceed 8 mm; Light and thin atomizers are thinner than 7.5 mm or 7 mm, and ultra-thin atomizers are usually thinner than 6.5 mm; In this embodiment, the atomizer is 6.1 mm thick.

S2: Determining the size of atomizing element. The smaller the atomizer element, the lighter the atomizer designed, but the power of the atomizing element depends on the amount of smoke in the atomizer. In addition to the production process and other restrictions, the atomizing element generally cannot be smaller than 2.5 mm but ranges from 1 mm and 4 mm, and the atomizing element is 3mm in this embodiment.

S3: Determining the thickness of the shell based on the size of the atomizing element, the thickness of the atomizer, and the relative size of the aerosol flowing space. Wherein the relative size of the aerosol flowing space refers to the ratio between the size of the aerosol flowing space and the size of the entire atomizer, shall be controlled in 21%～85%, preferably in 30%～65%, and more preferably in 35%～55%. In this embodiment, the relative size of the aerosol flowing space is determined to be 40%, and the shell shall be 0.33 mm. To guarantee the shell strength, medical or food-grade stainless steel 316L is used in this embodiment preferably. According to the experiment, other medical or food-grade stainless steels in the range of 0.10 mm to 0.4 mm, such as 304 and 316, are also preferred shell materials.

By the manufacturing method of ultra-thin electronic atomizers provided hereby, the thickness of the atomizer and the size of the aerosol flowing space can be conveniently determined, and the balance between the lightness of the atomizer and the effect of atomization can be reached.

The above embodiments are illustrative only of the principle and effectiveness of the invention and are not intended to limit the invention. Any person who is familiar with the technique may modify or alter the above embodiments without prejudice to the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, in the preferred embodiment, the atomizer consists of three parts: shell 2, liquid storage 1, and base assembly 3; Shell 2 is tightly socketed with liquid storage 1 and base assembly 3, but this is illustrative only and is not prerequisite. In some disposable atomizers, the shell and the liquid storage can be integrally formed as shown by 1 in Fig. 6; And after testing, when the shell and the liquid storage are integrated into one, and the same plastic is used, the thickness of the shell ranges from 0.45-0.65 mm, the liquid storage is 0.8-1.2 mm thick, the shell is thinner than the wall of the liquid storage while the strength is guaranteed and also meets the requirement. Therefore, all equivalent modifications or changes made by those with common sense in the technical field to which the invention belongs without prejudice to the spirit and technical ideas revealed by the invention shall still be covered by the claims of the invention.

Claims

An electronic atomizer characterized in that it comprises:

a liquid storage, a shell, and a base assembly;

The liquid storage comprises an oil chamber, and an air outlet passage;

The base assembly comprises a bottom cover, and an atomizing element bracket;

The liquid storage, shell and bottom cover form a cavity, the atomizing element bracket is located in the cavity, and the atomizing element is arranged on the bracket; The rest part that is not occupied by the atomizing element bracket and the atomizing element forms the flowing space for aerosol in the cavity;

The ratio between the width of the aerosol flowing space and the thickness of the electronic atomizer ranges from 30%to 65%.
The electronic atomizer mentioned in claim 1 is characterized in that the ratio between the width of the aerosol flowing space and the thickness of the electronic atomizer ranges from 35%to 55%.
The electronic atomizer mentioned in claim 1 is characterized in that the shell is made of metal or alloy, and the thickness range is 0.1-0.4 mm.
The electronic atomizer mentioned in claim 1 is characterized in that the electronic atomizer is less than 8 mm thick.
The electronic atomizer mentioned in claim 1 is characterized in that the electronic atomizer is less than 7.5 mm thick.
The electronic atomizer mentioned in claim 1 is characterized in that the electronic atomizer is less than 6.5 mm thick.
The electronic atomizer mentioned in claim 1 is characterized in that the shell is also attached with a heat-insulating film inside or outside.
The electronic atomizer mentioned in claim 1 is characterized in that the atomizing element ranges from 1 to 4 mm in width.
The electronic atomizer mentioned in claim 1 is characterized in that the outer wall of the liquid storage is metal or alloy, and the thickness ranges from 0.1 to 0.4 mm.
The electronic atomizer mentioned in claim 1 is characterized in that the shell and the base assembly are assembled in interference fit.
The electronic atomizer mentioned in claim 1 is characterized in that the shell and the liquid storage are assembled in interference fit.
The electronic atomizer mentioned in claim 11 is characterized in that the juncture between the shell and the liquid storage is lower than or high as the bottom of the oil chamber, and the liquid storage is made of transparent material.
The electronic atomizer mentioned in claim 1 is characterized in that the shell is integrated with the liquid storage and is made of plastic, the shell side corresponding to the atomizing element is 0.4-0.7 mm thick.
The electronic atomizer mentioned in claim 1 is characterized in that the electronic atomizer is 35-60 mm long, and shell 2 is 10-20 mm long.
A manufacturing method of electronic atomizer characterized in that it covers:

determining the thickness of the electronic atomizer;

determining the width of atomizing element in the electronic atomizer;

determining the thickness of the shell based on the width of the atomizing element, the thickness of the electronic atomizer, and the relative size of the aerosol flowing space; the relative size of the aerosol flowing space refers to the ratio between the width of the aerosol flowing space and the thickness of the atomizer, and ranges from 30%to 50%.
The manufacturing method of electronic atomizer mentioned in claim 15 is characterized in that the electronic atomizer is less than 7 mm thick.
The manufacturing method of electronic atomizer mentioned in claim 15 is characterized in that the atomizing element is 1 -4 mm wide.
The manufacturing method of electronic atomizer mentioned in claim 15 is characterized in that the shell is metal or alloy, and the thickness ranges from 0.1 to 0.4 mm.
An electronic atomizer characterized in that it comprises:

a liquid storage, a shell, and a base assembly;

The base assembly comprises a bottom cover, and an atomizing element assembly; The atomizing element assembly includes atomizing element bracket and the atomizing element on the bracket;

The liquid storage, shell and bottom cover form a cavity, the atomizing element assembly is located in the cavity, and the wider sides of the atomizing element assembly form the first and second aerosol passages with the inner wall of the shell, respectively;

The ratio between the sum of the widths of the first and second passages and the thickness of the electronic atomizer ranges from 21%to 85%.
The electronic atomizer mentioned in claim 19 is characterized in that the shell is made of metal or alloy, and the thickness ranges from 0.1 to 0.4 mm.
The electronic atomizer mentioned in claim 19 is characterized in that the electronic atomizer is less than 7.5 mm wide.
The electronic atomizer mentioned in claim 19 is characterized in that the shell and the liquid storage are integrated and made of plastic. The shell corresponding to the side of the atomizing element is thicker than the wall of the liquid storage, and ranges from 0.4-0.7 mm in thickness.
The electronic atomizer mentioned in claim 19 is characterized in that the ratio between the sum of the widths of the first and second passages and the thickness of the electronic atomizer ranges from 35%～55%.