ATOMIZER AND AN ELECTRONIC CIGARETTE COMPRISING SAME

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001]Pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 119 and the Paris Convention Treaty, this application claims foreign priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202420507286.1 filed Mar. 15, 2024, the contents of which, including any intervening amendments thereto, are incorporated herein by reference. Inquiries from the public to applicants or assignees concerning this document or the related applications should be directed to: Matthias Scholl P.C., Attn.: Dr. Matthias Scholl Esq., 245 First Street, 18th Floor, Cambridge, MA 02142.

BACKGROUND

[0002]The disclosure relates to an atomizer and an electronic cigarette comprising the same.

[0003]Conventional atomizers include an e-liquid tank, an atomization core, a silicone seal, and electrodes. The e-liquid tank includes an e-liquid accommodation space and a mouthpiece. The mouthpiece includes a through hole for inhaling. The atomization core includes a metal tube and a heating core disposed in the metal tube. The metal tube is located in the e-liquid accommodation space and connected to the mouthpiece. The metal tube communicates with the through hole, and includes an e-liquid inlet. The e-liquid enters the metal tube via the e-liquid inlet and is absorbed and heated by the heating core to produce aerosols. The generated aerosols are sequentially discharged from the metal tube and the through hole. The joint of the metal tube and the mouthpiece of the e-liquid tank requires a sealing ring, which increases the operation, and is labor-consuming. Due to differences in manual assembly, the product quality may be inconsistent. In addition, the arrangement of the sealing ring in the joint leads to the risk of e-liquid leakage.

SUMMARY

[0004]The disclosure provides an atomizer comprising an e-liquid tank, a mouthpiece, and a heating core, the e-liquid tank comprising an inner tube, an outer tube, and a connection wall, wherein the inner tube is integrated with the outer tube and is disposed in the outer tube; the inner tube comprises a first end and a second end, and the outer tube comprises a third end and a fourth end; the mouthpiece is disposed on the first end of the inner tube; the first end of the inner tube is connected to the third end of the outer tube through the connection wall; an e-liquid accommodation space is formed between the inner tube and the outer tube; the inner tube comprises an atomization channel; the mouthpiece comprises a through hole, and the atomization channel communicates with the through hole; the heating core is disposed on the second end of the inner tube; and the inner tube comprises an e-liquid inlet corresponding to the heating core in position.

[0005]In a class of this embodiment, the e-liquid tank comprises a transparent or semitransparent material.

[0006]In a class of this embodiment, the e-liquid tank comprises glass, quartz, agate, jade, or ceramic.

[0007]In a class of this embodiment, the inner tube is coaxial with the outer tube, and the mouthpiece protrudes from the first end of the inner tube.

[0008]In a class of this embodiment, the e-liquid accommodation space comprises an opening between the second end of the inner tube and the fourth end of the outer tube; the atomizer further comprises a sealing element, and the sealing element is disposed in the opening.

[0009]In a class of this embodiment, one surface of the sealing element facing the e-liquid accommodation space is sloped, comprising a higher outer edge and lower central part.

[0010]In a class of this embodiment, the sealing element comprises a first through hole communicating with the atomization channel; the atomizer further comprises a base; the base comprises at least one air channel communicating with the atomization channel.

[0011]In a class of this embodiment, the sealing element is a puncturable sealing plug that is able to restore to its original state after puncturing; the base comprises at least one e-liquid injection hole, and the at least one e-liquid injection hole corresponds to the sealing plug.

[0012]In a class of this embodiment, the base comprises a bottom wall and a side wall; the bottom wall and the side wall define a cavity; the fourth end of the outer end extends into the cavity; the bottom wall comprises a second through hole communicating with the first through hole of the sealing element; the side wall comprises at least one air hole; the at least one air channel is disposed in the bottom wall and extends to communicate with the at least one air hole and the second through hole on two opposite ends; and the at least one e-liquid injection hole is disposed in the bottom wall.

[0013]In a class of this embodiment, the bottom wall protrudes outward with respect to the second through hole to form a hollow tubular first conductive electrode; the hollow tubular first conductive electrode comprises an outer wall having an external thread; a second conductive electrode is embedded in the first conductive electrode, and an insulation part is disposed between the first conductive electrode and the second conductive electrode.

[0014]In a class of this embodiment, the heating core comprises a first e-liquid absorption piece, a second absorption piece, and an electric heating element; the heating element is electrically connected to the first conductive electrode and the second conductive electrode.

[0015]In another aspect, the disclosure further provides an electronic cigarette, comprising the atomizer and a battery module supplying power to the atomizer

[0016]The following advantages are associated with the atomizer and an electronic cigarette comprising the same of the disclosure.

[0017]The e-liquid tank of the atomizer comprises an inner tube, an outer tube, and an e-liquid accommodation space formed between the inner tube and the outer tube; the heating core is disposed on the e-liquid accommodation space, no need to provide a metal tube as disposed in conventional atomizers, and the inner tube is integrated with the outer tube to form a closed e-liquid accommodation space, preventing the leakage of e-liquid, saving the operation step, improving the production efficiency, and reducing the production costs. Without the metal tube, the deterioration of the e-liquid resulting from the soaking of the metal tube in the e-liquid is prevented, thus improving the user's experience.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018]FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an atomizer of the disclosure;

[0019]FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the atomizer of the disclosure in another angle of view;

[0020]FIG. 3 is an exploded view of an atomizer of the disclosure;

[0021]FIG. 4 is a sectional view of an atomizer taken from line A-A in FIG. 1;

[0022]FIG. 5 is a sectional view of an atomizer taken from line B-B in FIG. 1;

[0023]FIG. 6 is a local exploded view of an atomizer of the disclosure;

[0024]FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a base of an atomizer of the disclosure;

[0025]FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a sealing element of an atomizer of the disclosure; and

[0026]FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of an electronic cigarette of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027]To further illustrate the disclosure, embodiments detailing an atomizer and an electronic cigarette comprising the same are described below. It should be noted that the following embodiments are intended to describe and not to limit the disclosure.

[0028]The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure will be described clearly and completely in the following in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, and it is clear that the described embodiments are only a part, and not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present disclosure, all other embodiments obtained by a person of ordinary skill in the art without making creative labor fall within the scope of protection of the present disclosure.

[0029]It should be noted that all directional indications (such as up, down, left, right, forward, backward, etc.) in the embodiments of the present disclosure are only used to explain the relative positional relationship, movement, etc. between the components in a particular attitude (as shown in the accompanying drawings), and that the directional indications are changed accordingly if the particular attitude is changed.

[0030]In the present disclosure, unless otherwise y specified and limited, the terms “connection”, “fixation”, and the like are to be broadly construed as, for example, a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium, a connection within two elements or an interaction relationship between two elements, unless otherwise expressly defined. For ordinary technical personnel in this field, the specific meanings of the above terms in this disclosure can be understood based on specific circumstances.

[0031]In this disclosure, “flow” refers to the flow of fluids, that is, fluids (including liquids and/or gases) can flow from one component to another. In addition, in this disclosure, the connection between two components refers to direct connection between two components, for example, at least partially aligned between two holes, or connected through intermediate media.

[0032]In this disclosure, unless otherwise specified, all numbers used in the specification and claims to represent component parameters, technical effects, etc. shall be understood as being modified by the term “approximately” or “roughly”. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, the numerical parameters listed in the following specification and accompanying claims are approximate values. For those skilled in the art, they may vary based on the expected properties and effects sought through this disclosure, and each numerical parameter should be explained based on the number of significant digits and conventional rounding methods, or in a way understood by those skilled in the art.

[0033]Atomizable substances (e-liquid) refer to a mixture or auxiliary substance that can be atomized, in whole or in part, into an aerosol by an electronic or similar device. The atomizable substances can be an e-cigarette liquid, tobacco oil, a gel, a medical drug or skin lotion. By atomizing the medium, an aerosol can be produced and delivered to the user for vaping or absorption.

[0034]“Aerosol” means a colloidal dispersion system formed by the dispersion and suspension of small solid or liquid particles in a gaseous medium.

[0035]As shown in FIGS. 1-5, FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an atomizer 10 of the disclosure; FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the atomizer 10 in another angle of view; FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the atomizer in FIG. 1; FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the atomizer 10 taken from line A-A in FIG. 1; FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the atomizer 10 taken from line B-B in FIG. 1.

[0036]Specifically, the disclosure provides an atomizer 10 comprising an e-liquid tank 11, a heating core 12, a sealing element 15, a base 16, a first conductive electrode 163, and a second conductive electrode 18. The heating core 12 and the sealing element 15 are at least partially disposed in the e-liquid tank 11. One end of the e-liquid tank 11 comprises an opening, and the sealing element 15 is embedded in the opening of the e-liquid tank 11.

[0037]The e-liquid tank 11 comprises an e-liquid accommodation space 51 for atomizable substances. Optionally, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the e-liquid tank comprising an inner tube 111, an outer tube 112, and a connection wall 114; the inner tube 112 is integrated with the outer tube 114 and is disposed in the outer tube 114; the inner tube 112 comprises a first end and a second end, and the outer tube 114 comprises a third end and a fourth end. The first end of the inner tube is connected to the third end of the outer tube through the connection wall. The second end and the fourth end are open. The sealing element 15 is disposed on the opening ends of the two tubes. The outer tube 112, the inner tube 111, the connection wall 114, and the sealing element 15 form the e-liquid accommodation space 51. The inner tube 111 comprises an atomization channel 52. The inner tube 111 divides the cavity of the e-liquid tank 11 into the e-liquid accommodation space 51 and the atomization channel 52. The inner tube 111 comprises an e-liquid inlet 1111 communicating with the e-liquid accommodation space 51 and the atomization channel 52. The heating core 12 is disposed in the atomization channel 52 and is at least partially towards the e-liquid inlet 1111. The heating core 12 is used for atomizing the atomizable substance flowing from the e-liquid accommodation space 51 to the atomization space via the e-liquid inlet 1111 to produce aerosols, and the aerosols flow along the atomization channel 52.

[0038]The heating core 12 comprises a second absorption piece 122 and an electric heating element 123. The second absorption piece 122 is made of cotton, fibers, textiles or porous ceramics, and the electric heating element 123 is made of conductive metal, graphene or carbon nanotubes. The second absorption piece 122 is used to absorb the atomizable substance from the e-liquid accommodation space 51 through the e-liquid inlet 1111. The electric heating element 123 is used to heat the atomizable substance absorbed by the second absorption piece 122 to produce aerosols. The electric heating element 123 is wrapped around the outer wall of the second absorption piece 122, or the electric heating element 123 is wrapped inside the second absorption piece 122. For example, the electric heating element 123 is printed, deposited, sintered, or physically embedded on the inner wall of the ceramic tube of the second absorption piece 122, or a heating wire is wrapped outside the second absorption piece. In another embodiment, the heating core 12 further comprises a first e-liquid absorption piece 121. The first e-liquid absorption piece 121 is disposed around the periphery of the second e-liquid absorption piece 122, and the electric heating element 123 is disposed inside the second e-liquid absorption piece 122. Typically, the first e-liquid absorption piece 121 is a piece of e-liquid absorption cotton or fiber, and the e-liquid absorption piece 122 is a ceramic. The e-liquid absorption cotton or fiber has the advantages of good taste and stable e-liquid conductivity, while porous ceramics have the advantages of stable chemical properties. The combination of cotton or fiber materials with porous ceramics for the first e-liquid absorption piece 121 and the second e-liquid absorption piece 122 makes the e-liquid conductivity more stable while improving the stability of the heating core 12.

[0039]Compared to the existing technology where the heating core 12 is disposed in a single metal tube, and then the metal tube is installed in the e-liquid tank and connected to the mouthpiece, the atomizer of the disclosure does not employ a sealing ring. Instead, the outer tube 112, the inner tube 111, and connection wall 114 of the e-liquid tank 11 are connected to form a cavity. The e-liquid accommodation space 51 is completely separated from the atomization channel 52, so that the atomizable substance can only be guided into the atomization channel 52 through the e-liquid inlet 1111, preventing the penetration of the e-liquid from the joint between the metal tube and the mouthpiece into the atomization channel 52 due to assembly error, and further avoiding the direct inhalation of the atomizable substance by users without being atomized, improving the user experience.

[0040]As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the inner tube 111 and the outer tube of the e-liquid tank 11 are cylindrical, and the inner tube 111 and the outer tube 112 are coaxial (not shown in the figure). The connection wall 114 extends from the first end of the inner tube 111 to the third end of the outer tube 112. The connection wall 114 is perpendicular to the central axis, which facilitates processing and reduces the scrap rate.

[0041]In certain embodiments, the e-liquid tank 11 further comprises a mouthpiece 113. The mouthpiece is disposed on one side of the connection wall 114 away from the inner tube 112 and the inner tube 111. The mouthpiece 113 comprises a through hole 53 communicating with the atomization channel 52. The aerosol formed by heating the heating core 12 flows towards the through hole 53 along the atomization channel 52 for the user to inhale. Furthermore, the mouthpiece 113 is integrated with the outer tube 112, the inner tube 111, and the connection wall 114, which has the advantages of convenient processing and better integration. In other examples, the mouthpiece 113 can also be different in material from the outer tube 112 and the inner tube 111, and they are combined together.

[0042]Understandably, the integrated molding process includes but is not limited to injection molding, extrusion molding, hot pressing molding, stamping molding, sintering molding, or computer numerical control (CNC) integrated molding. Those skilled in the art can choose the processing technology based on the material of the e-liquid tank 11 as needed.

[0043]In certain embodiments, the e-liquid tank 11 is made of transparent or semitransparent materials, which facilitate users to observe the amount of atomizable substance in the e-liquid tank. For example, the e-liquid tank 11 is made of glass, quartz, agate, jade, or ceramics, preferably, glass. Glass has the advantages of stable chemical properties, mature sintering process, and low production cost, avoiding the problem of a chemical reaction between metal tubes and atomizable substances, polluting the atomizable substances and causing adverse effects on the user's physical health in the related art.

[0044]In certain embodiments, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, the heating core 12 is disposed on one end of the atomization channel 52 close to the sealing element 15. The inner tube 111 comprises at least one e-liquid inlet 1111 corresponding to the heating core 12. The e-liquid inlet 1111 is used to connect the e-liquid accommodation space 51 with the atomization channel 52, to supply e-liquid for the heating core 12. The e-liquid inlet 1111 can be one or more windows, or one or more holes, or a combination of the two, and the disclosure is not limited to this. The number and size of the e-liquid inlet 1111 can be selected as needed, for example, according to the predetermined flow rate of the atomizable substance.

[0045]As shown in FIGS. 4, 5 and 8, the atomizer 10 further comprises a sealing element 15. The sealing element 15 is disposed on one end of the e-liquid tank 11 away from the mouthpiece 113. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 9, the surface of the sealing element 15 facing the e-liquid accommodation space 51 is sloped, comprising a higher outer edge and lower central part. When the sealing element 15 is inserted into one end of the e-liquid accommodation space 51, the e-liquid inlet 1111 is located at the junction of the surface of the sealing element 15 and the e-liquid accommodation space 51. The e-liquid inlet 1111 can partially extend into the sealing element 15 and be blocked. The e-liquid inlet can also be flush with the surface of the sealing element at the lowest point along the axial direction of the inner and outer tubes, so that the atomizable substance can be absorbed by the heating core 12 along the inclined slope through the e-liquid inlet 1111 even with less remaining amount, which helps to fully utilize the atomizable substance in the e-liquid accommodation space 51. The sealing element 15 comprises a first through hole 15a communicating with the atomization channel 52 of the inner tube 111.

[0046]As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the atomizer 10 further comprises a base 16; the base 16 comprises at least one air channel 16e communicating with the atomization channel 52.

[0047]In certain embodiments, the sealing element 15 is a puncturable sealing plug that is able to restore to its original state after puncturing; the base 16 comprises at least one e-liquid injection hole 16d, and the at least one e-liquid injection hole 16d corresponds to the sealing plug. Specifically, the thickness of the sealing element 15 ranges from 3.0 mm to 3.5 mm, such as 3.0 mm, 3.1 mm, 3.2 mm, 3.3 mm, 3.4 mm, and 3.5 mm. Technical personnel in this field can adjust the value according to the volume of the e-liquid accommodation space 51 to ensure that the sealing element is easily punctured and restores to its good sealing performance without leakage.

[0048]In certain embodiments, as shown in FIG. 7, the base 16 comprises a bottom wall 161 and a side wall 162; the bottom wall and the side wall define a cavity 16b; the fourth end of the outer end 112 extends into the cavity 16b; the bottom wall 161 comprises a second through hole 16a communicating with the first through hole 15a of the sealing element 15; the side wall 162 comprises at least one air hole 16c; the at least one air channel 16e is disposed in the bottom wall 161 and extends to communicate with the at least one air hole 16c and the second through hole 16a on two opposite ends; and the at least one e-liquid injection hole 16d is disposed in the bottom wall 161.

[0049]As shown in FIGS. 2, 4 and 5, the bottom wall 161 protrudes outward with respect to the second through hole 16a to form a hollow tubular first conductive electrode 163; the hollow tubular first conductive electrode comprises an outer wall having an external thread

[0050]A second conductive electrode 18 is embedded in the first conductive electrode 163, and an insulation part 17 is disposed between the first conductive electrode 163 and the second conductive electrode 18. The first conductive electrode 163 and the second conductive electrode 18 are made of conductive metal, graphene or carbon containing nanomaterials; the insulation part 17 is made of rubber or plastic.

[0051]FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of an electronic cigarette of the disclosure. The electronic cigarette comprises the aforesaid atomizer 10 and a battery module supplying power to the atomizer. Optionally, the atomizer 10 is detachably connected to the battery module 20, and the atomizer 10 can be replaced. Optionally, the atomizer 10 is fixedly connected to the battery module 20, and the atomizer 10 cannot be replaced, and the electronic cigarette is an integrated structure.

[0052]The atomizer 10 is used to store and atomize the atomizable substrate to generate aerosols.

[0053]The battery module 20 is used to supply power to the atomizer 10 and control the atomizer 10 to work. Specifically, the battery module 20 comprises a battery and a control element; the control element is electrically connected to the battery and controls the power supply to the atomizer 10.

[0054]It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made, and therefore, the aim in the appended claims is to cover all such changes and modifications.