A gel-state e-liquid preparation device and method for reducing bubbles

Abstract

The present invention belongs to the field of electronic cigarettes, and particularly relates to a gel-state smoke oil preparation device and preparation method for reducing bubbles. The preparation device comprises: a negative pressure chamber (1), a cooling member (3); a porous smoke oil storage chamber (2) is arranged in the negative pressure chamber (1), the temperature controller (1-3) controls the temperature of the cooling member (3), and the gap between the porous smoke oil storage chamber (2) and the cooling member (3) serves as a smoke oil storage chamber (4). The present invention is the first to design a gel-state smoke oil preparation device for reducing bubbles, which combines a negative pressure chamber (1) and a cooling member, wherein the cooling member is a central cooling member, so that the sol-state smoke oil can be cooled from the inside to the outside, and the negative pressure chamber (1) provides a negative pressure environment for the smoke oil, so that during the cooling process of the sol-state smoke oil from the inside to the outside, the bubbles inside the sol-state smoke oil move to the outside under the action of negative pressure, and are finally completely discharged from the smoke oil. The gel-state smoke oil finally obtained has no bubbles, a uniform appearance, high transparency, and beautiful appearance.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the field of electronic cigarettes, and in particular relates to a gel-state cigarette oil preparation device and a preparation method for reducing bubbles. Background Art

[0002] People's demand for tobacco harm reduction has driven the birth and rapid development of electronic cigarettes. Electronic cigarettes are made by dissolving nicotine and flavors in polyol solvents such as glycerin or propylene glycol to make smoke oil, which is then filled into electronic cigarette smoking devices. The smoke oil is transferred to the atomizer in the smoking device through conductive elements such as oil-conducting cotton, where the smoke oil is atomized by electric heating elements to form smoke similar to traditional cigarettes for users to inhale.

[0003] However, since the e-liquid is in liquid form, the e-liquid container, e-liquid guide cotton and electric heating element of the electronic cigarette smoking device are inevitably not well sealed during the actual assembly due to the inaccurate and consistent processing dimensions of the parts, or although they are assembled with sealing at the factory, the sealing is destroyed due to vibration and bumps during subsequent storage and use, so there will be more or less leakage, affecting the customer experience. For this reason, some people have proposed to use gel-state e-liquid instead of liquid e-liquid as a smoking material to solve the leakage problem. In the gel-state e-liquid that has been reported, a gelling agent is often used to solidify the liquid e-liquid into a gel (jelly or solid). The gel can usually undergo a thermally reversible phase change, that is, it solidifies into a gel at low temperature, and can be liquefied after being heated, and solidified into a gel again after cooling.

[0004] However, gelled e-liquid has brought new problems in actual use: the existing solid e-liquid preparation methods mostly simply mix gel factors (or gelling agents) or thickeners, flavors and atomizers, and only seek to obtain solid e-liquid after mixing. However, gas will inevitably be mixed into the mixing process, and bubbles of various sizes will exist in the solid e-liquid after cooling. This causes the solid e-liquid to have defects such as uneven appearance, low transparency, and unsightly appearance, which seriously affects the user's smoking experience and visual enjoyment.

[0005] The present invention aims to solve at least one of the above problems. Summary of the invention

[0006] A first aspect of the present invention provides a gel-state e-liquid preparation device for reducing bubbles, the preparation device comprising a negative pressure chamber 1 having a negative pressure extraction device, a porous e-liquid storage chamber 2 being arranged in the negative pressure chamber 1, a cooling member 3 being arranged in the porous e-liquid storage chamber 2, a gap being provided between the inner wall of the porous e-liquid storage chamber 2 and the outer wall of the cooling member 3, and the gap being used as an e-liquid storage chamber 4;

[0007] The side wall of the porous e-liquid storage bin 2 has holes that allow gas to pass through but do not allow liquid e-liquid to pass through.

[0008] Preferably, the shape of the holes is regular or irregular, and the equivalent diameter of the holes is 0.01 to 2 mm.

[0009] Preferably, the side wall of the porous e-liquid storage bin 2 is a wire mesh structure with pores, the equivalent diameter of the pores is 0.01 to 2 mm, and the pores on the wire mesh are equivalent to the holes.

[0010] Preferably, a temperature controller 1 - 3 is further provided in the negative pressure chamber 1 , which is connected to the cooling element 3 and controls the temperature change of the cooling element 3 .

[0011] The cooling element 3 may be a metal heating tube, or a ceramic tube printed with a heating coating or a heating circuit, and the temperature controller 1 - 3 may be a control board for controlling the power supplied to the cooling element 3 .

[0012] Preferably, the smoke oil containing chamber 4 is a hollow cylinder or a hollow rectangular cylinder, and the wall thickness of the hollow cylinder or the hollow rectangular cylinder is 0.2 cm to 1.5 cm.

[0013] Preferably, the negative pressure chamber 1 has an openable upper cover 1 - 1 .

[0014] Preferably, a base 1 - 2 is further provided in the negative pressure chamber 1 , the temperature controller 1 - 3 is provided in the base 1 - 2 , and the temperature controller 1 - 3 is electrically connected to the cooling element 3 .

[0015] The negative pressure chamber 1 can use any existing suitable chamber that provides negative pressure.

[0016] For example, the negative pressure chamber 1 further includes: an exhaust pipe connected to the negative pressure extraction device and the porous smoke oil storage chamber 2, a pressure sensor for detecting the air pressure in the negative pressure chamber 1, etc. The negative pressure extraction device can be selected from a micro vacuum pump, etc.

[0017] The preparation device further comprises: a temperature sensor for measuring the temperature of the outer wall of the cooling member 3. The temperature sensor may be one or more thermocouples arranged on the outer wall of the cooling member 3.

[0018] A negative pressure extraction device and an exhaust pipe may also be arranged in the base 5 .

[0019] Preferably, the preparation device also includes: an operation display screen 1-4 arranged on the outer wall of the negative pressure chamber 1, and the operation display screen 1-4 is communicatively connected to the negative pressure extraction device, the temperature controller 1-3, the pressure sensor, the temperature sensor, etc., and can operate the negative pressure extraction device and the temperature controller 1-3, and can also display the pressure and temperature values ​​of the pressure sensor and the temperature sensor in real time.

[0020] The preparation device is provided with a power supply, which supplies power to the temperature controller 1-3, the negative pressure extraction device, the operation display screen 1-4, etc.

[0021] Preferably, the cooling element 3 is a cylinder or a cuboid.

[0022] Preferably, the porous smoke oil storage chamber 2 is a hollow cylinder or a hollow cuboid.

[0023] Preferably, the porous smoke oil containing chamber 2 and the cooling element 3 are coaxially arranged.

[0024] The second aspect of the present invention provides a method for preparing a high-permeability gel-state e-liquid, which uses the gel-state e-liquid preparation device described in the first aspect of the present invention, and the preparation method comprises the following steps:

[0025] Prepare a sol-state e-liquid, wherein the sol-state e-liquid contains bubbles naturally mixed in during the preparation process;

[0026] Controlling the temperature of the outer wall of the cooling element 3 so that its initial temperature is greater than or equal to the temperature of the sol-state e-liquid;

[0027] The negative pressure chamber 1 is opened, and the sol-state tobacco oil is poured into the tobacco oil containing chamber 4 in the preparation device, the negative pressure chamber 1 is closed, and the negative pressure extraction device of the negative pressure chamber 1 is turned on, so that the entire negative pressure chamber 1 is in a negative pressure state, and at the same time, the temperature of the cooling member 3 is controlled to gradually decrease, and the cooling process of the sol-state tobacco oil begins: the sol-state tobacco oil in contact with the outer wall of the cooling member 3 first begins to cool and become a gel, that is, the sol-state tobacco oil begins to cool and solidify from the inside to the outside, and at the same time, the bubbles in the sol-state tobacco oil are extracted from the porous tobacco oil containing chamber 2 from the inside to the outside through the holes on the side wall of the porous tobacco oil containing chamber 2. After a period of time, the temperature of the cooling member 3 drops to room temperature, the sol-state tobacco oil is completely cooled to a gel state, and the bubbles therein are completely discharged, and finally a high-permeability gel-state tobacco oil 5 is obtained, and the space occupied by the cooling member 3 forms a hollow cavity of the gel-state tobacco oil 5.

[0028] Preferably, during the cooling process of the sol-state e-liquid, the temperature of the cooling element 3 drops from the initial temperature to 25 degrees Celsius and remains constant, and the time taken to drop from the initial temperature to 25 degrees Celsius is 1 to 3 hours.

[0029] Preferably, during the cooling process of the sol-state e-liquid, the pressure in the negative pressure chamber 1 can be a constant value or a variable value.

[0030] Preferably, in the cooling process of the sol-state e-liquid, the initial temperature of the cooling element 3 is 90 degrees Celsius, and the temperature control process of the cooling element 3 is: first, it drops from 90 degrees Celsius to 60 degrees Celsius, with a drop rate of 0.5 degrees Celsius / minute, and then drops from 60 degrees Celsius to 25 degrees Celsius and keeps constant, with a drop rate of 1 degree Celsius / minute.

[0031] Preferably, during the cooling process of the sol-state e-liquid, the pressure in the negative pressure chamber 1 gradually increases from the initial pressure value to the atmospheric pressure. The initial pressure value is lower than the atmospheric pressure, and is 0 to 95 KPa, preferably 50 to 95 KPa, and more preferably 80 to -90 KPa. The initial pressure value can be slightly negative pressure, as long as the bubbles in the e-liquid can be discharged.

[0032] The above temperature and pressure control process depends on factors such as the composition, temperature, and shape of the bubbles contained in the sol-state e-liquid.

[0033] The third aspect of the present invention provides a use of the gel-state e-liquid preparation device for reducing bubbles as described in the first aspect, which can be used to eliminate bubbles in the gel-state e-liquid 5 .

[0034] The fourth aspect of the present invention provides the use of the high-permeability gel-state e-liquid 5 prepared by the high-permeability gel-state e-liquid preparation method described in the second aspect for a center-heating electronic cigarette, wherein the heating element of the center-heating electronic cigarette is inserted into the hollow cavity of the gel-state e-liquid 5 for use.

[0035] The above technical solutions can be freely combined under the premise of no contradiction.

[0036] The present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0037] 1. The present invention designs for the first time a gel-state e-liquid preparation device for reducing bubbles, which is combined with a negative pressure chamber, a cooling element, and a porous e-liquid containing chamber. The cooling element is a central cooling element, so that the sol-state e-liquid can be cooled from the inside to the outside. The negative pressure chamber provides a negative pressure environment for the e-liquid, so that during the cooling process of the sol-state e-liquid from the inside to the outside, the bubbles inside the sol-state e-liquid move to the outside under the action of negative pressure, and are finally completely discharged from the e-liquid. The gel-state e-liquid finally obtained has no bubbles, a uniform appearance, high transparency, and beautiful appearance.

[0038] 2. In the preferred technical solution, the thickness of the e-liquid containing chamber is very thin, ranging from 0.2 cm to 1.5 cm, so that the air bubbles encounter less resistance when moving outward, which is helpful for the discharge of the air bubbles.

[0039] 3. The gel-state e-liquid prepared by the present invention is a columnar structure with a hollow cavity as a whole, and can be applied to a center-heating electronic cigarette. The heating element of the center-heating electronic cigarette is inserted into the hollow cavity of the gel-state e-liquid 5 for use.

[0040] 4. Similarly, since the segmented central heating element is easy to prepare, the gel-state e-liquid of the present invention is suitable for segmented central heating electronic cigarettes, and the segmented heating can atomize the gel-state e-liquid in segments according to the user's smoking needs. The gel-state e-liquid does not need to undergo repeated melting-solidification, which maximizes the use of the electric energy of the heating element and can be atomized almost without delay, avoiding the user's feeling of suction lag, and avoiding the deterioration of the chemical substances in the gel-state e-liquid due to repeated heating, reducing the possibility of generating odor.

[0041] 5. Also, because the segmented heating can atomize the gel-state e-liquid in segments, the gel-state e-liquid does not have to undergo repeated melting and solidification, so it is not necessary to require the obtained gel-state e-liquid to have a thermally reversible solid-liquid phase change property. This greatly expands the selection range of usable gelling agents, allowing some gelling agents that do not have a thermally reversible solid-liquid phase change property to be used.

[0042] 6. Generally, the process of cooling the sol-state e-liquid to the gel state is from the periphery to the inside, and the surface of the e-liquid solidifies first. Even in a negative pressure environment, the bubbles inside the e-liquid cannot be discharged. The present invention sets the cooling element inside the e-liquid storage bin as the central cooling element, so that the e-liquid starts to cool from the inside to the outside. At the same time, under the action of negative pressure, the bubbles in the center of the e-liquid move from the inside to the outside and are discharged. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0043] Figure 1 The present invention is a schematic structural diagram of a gel-state e-liquid preparation device for reducing bubbles.

[0044] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the high-permeability gel-state e-liquid obtained in the present invention.

[0045] List of reference numerals:

[0046] 1. Negative pressure chamber; 1-1. Upper cover; 1-2. Base; 1-3. Temperature controller; 1-4. Operation display screen; 2. Porous smoke oil storage chamber; 3. Cooling element; 4. Smoke oil storage chamber; 5. Gel smoke oil. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0047] The content of the present invention is further explained below through specific implementation examples.

[0048] Example 1

[0049] This embodiment 1 uses Figure 1The gel-state e-liquid preparation device for reducing bubbles described in the above invention content is used to prepare high-permeability gel-state e-liquid.

[0050] The first step is to prepare the sol-gel e-liquid;

[0051] 1. Prepare tobacco flavor, wherein the content of decolorized tobacco pure oil, mint oil and nicotine is 50%, 30% and 20%, respectively, and stir and mix at a speed of 500 r / min for 15 minutes until the mixture is uniform;

[0052] 2. Prepare liquid e-liquid, wherein the content of vegetable glycerin, edible propylene glycol and tobacco flavor is 42%, 56% and 2%, respectively; mix and stir with an electric stirrer at a speed of 500 r / min for 10 min until uniform; and filter to obtain clear liquid e-liquid;

[0053] 3. Mix 3 parts of fish glue with 5 parts of water and gradually add to 81 parts of liquid e-liquid under stirring. After adding, raise the temperature to 80℃, keep the temperature constant and continue stirring for 1 hour;

[0054] 4. Adjust the pH of the reaction system to 5, and gradually add 0.5 parts of a mixture of xanthan gum and 10.5 parts of water. After the addition, raise the temperature to 90°C, maintain the constant temperature reaction and continue stirring the reaction for 3 hours to obtain a sol-state tobacco oil.

[0055] It was found through observation that the sol-state e-liquid inevitably contains bubbles of various sizes.

[0056] The second step is to prepare the colloidal smoke oil using the colloidal smoke oil preparation device of the present invention:

[0057] The gap between the inner wall of the porous smoke oil containing bin 2 and the outer wall of the cooling element 3, namely the smoke oil containing chamber 4, is a hollow cylinder, and the wall thickness of the hollow cylinder is 0.5 cm and the height is 10 cm.

[0058] Using the temperature controller 1-3 to control the temperature of the cooling element 3 so that its initial temperature is 90 degrees Celsius;

[0059] Open the upper cover 1-1, pour the sol-state e-liquid obtained in the first step into the e-liquid containing chamber 4 in the preparation device, close the upper cover 1-1, turn on the negative pressure pumping device of the negative pressure chamber 1, and make the whole negative pressure chamber 1 be in a negative pressure state of 50KPa. At the same time, the temperature controller 1-3 controls the temperature of the cooling element 3 to gradually decrease from 90 degrees Celsius to 25 degrees Celsius and keep it constant, and the decreasing speed is 0.5 degrees Celsius / minute;

[0060] During this process, it was observed that the sol-state smoke oil in contact with the outer wall of the cooling member 3 began to cool and turn into gel first, that is, the sol-state smoke oil began to cool and solidify from the inside to the outside, and at the same time, the bubbles in the sol-state smoke oil passed through the holes on the side wall of the porous smoke oil containing chamber 2 from the inside to the outside and were drawn out of the porous smoke oil containing chamber 2. When the temperature of the cooling member 3 dropped to room temperature and maintained for 3 hours, the sol-state smoke oil was completely cooled to a gel state, and the bubbles therein were completely discharged, finally obtaining a high-permeability gel-state smoke oil 5, which was a columnar structure with a hollow cavity as a whole.

[0061] Comparative Example 1

[0062] The sol-state e-liquid obtained in step 4 of Example 1 was directly poured into a mold having a rectangular groove, the width and height of the rectangular groove were 0.5 cm, and the length was 10 cm. The mold was cooled at room temperature for 8 hours to obtain a gel-state e-liquid. It was found through observation that the above-mentioned bubbles still existed in the gel-state e-liquid.

[0063] Comparative Example 2

[0064] The sol-state e-liquid obtained in step 4 of Example 1 is directly poured into a mold having a rectangular groove, the width and height of the rectangular groove are 0.5 cm, and the length is 10 cm. It is placed in an arbitrary negative pressure environment for cooling, the negative pressure is 50 KPa, the temperature is room temperature, and cooled for 8 hours to obtain a gel-state e-liquid. It is found through observation that the above-mentioned bubbles still exist in the gel-state e-liquid and are not discharged.

[0065] The above is only a specific embodiment of the present invention, but the protection scope of the present invention is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art can easily think of changes or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed by the present invention, which should be included in the protection scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention should be based on the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A gel-state e-liquid preparation device for reducing bubbles, characterized in that: The preparation device comprises a negative pressure chamber (1) having a negative pressure extraction device, a porous smoke oil storage chamber (2) being arranged in the negative pressure chamber (1), a cooling element (3) being arranged in the porous smoke oil storage chamber (2), a gap being provided between the inner wall of the porous smoke oil storage chamber (2) and the outer wall of the cooling element (3), and the gap being used as a smoke oil storage chamber (4); The side wall of the porous e-liquid storage chamber (2) has holes that allow gas to pass through but do not allow liquid e-liquid to pass through; the equivalent diameter of the holes is 0.01 to 2 millimeters; The smoke oil containing chamber (4) is a hollow cylinder or a hollow rectangular cylinder, and the wall thickness of the hollow cylinder or the hollow rectangular cylinder is 0.2 cm to 1.5 cm.

2. The gel-state e-liquid preparation device for reducing bubbles according to claim 1, characterized in that: The shape of the holes is regular or irregular.

3. The gel-state e-liquid preparation device for reducing bubbles according to claim 1, characterized in that: The side wall of the porous e-liquid storage bin (2) is a wire mesh structure with pores, the equivalent diameter of the pores is 0.01-2 millimeters, and the pores on the wire mesh are equivalent to the holes.

4. The gel-state e-liquid preparation device for reducing bubbles according to claim 1, characterized in that: The negative pressure chamber (1) is also provided with a temperature controller (1-3), which is connected to the cooling element (3) and controls the temperature change of the cooling element (3).

5. A method for preparing a high-permeability gel-state e-liquid, characterized in that: The gel-state e-liquid preparation device according to claim 1 is used, and the preparation method comprises the following steps: Prepare a sol-state e-liquid, wherein the sol-state e-liquid contains bubbles naturally mixed in during the preparation process; Controlling the temperature of the outer wall of the cooling element (3) so that its initial temperature is greater than or equal to the temperature of the sol-state tobacco oil; The negative pressure chamber (1) is opened, and the sol-state tobacco oil is poured into the tobacco oil containing chamber (4) in the preparation device. The negative pressure chamber (1) is closed, and the negative pressure extraction device of the negative pressure chamber (1) is turned on, so that the entire negative pressure chamber (1) is in a negative pressure state. At the same time, the temperature of the cooling member (3) is controlled to gradually decrease, and the cooling process of the sol-state tobacco oil begins: the sol-state tobacco oil in contact with the outer wall of the cooling member (3) first begins to cool and become a gel, that is, the sol-state tobacco oil begins to cool and solidify from the inside to the outside, and at the same time, the bubbles in the sol-state tobacco oil are extracted from the porous tobacco oil containing chamber (2) from the inside to the outside through the holes on the side wall of the porous tobacco oil containing chamber (2). After a period of time, the temperature of the cooling member (3) drops to room temperature, the sol-state tobacco oil is completely cooled to a gel state, and the bubbles therein are completely discharged, and finally a high-permeability gel-state tobacco oil (5) is obtained, and the space occupied by the cooling member (3) forms a hollow cavity of the gel-state tobacco oil (5).

6. The preparation method according to claim 5, characterized in that: During the cooling process of the sol-state e-liquid, the temperature of the cooling element (3) drops from the initial temperature to 25 degrees Celsius and remains constant, and the time taken to drop from the initial temperature to 25 degrees Celsius is 1 to 3 hours; During the cooling process of the sol-state e-liquid, the pressure in the negative pressure chamber (1) may be a constant value or a variable value.

7. The preparation method according to claim 5, characterized in that: In the cooling process of the sol-state e-liquid, the initial temperature of the cooling element (3) is 90 degrees Celsius, and the temperature control process of the cooling element (3) is: firstly, the temperature is decreased from 90 degrees Celsius to 60 degrees Celsius, with a decreasing rate of 0.5 degrees Celsius per minute, and then, the temperature is decreased from 60 degrees Celsius to 25 degrees Celsius and kept constant, with a decreasing rate of 1 degree Celsius per minute.

8. The use of the gel-state e-liquid preparation device for reducing bubbles according to claim 1, characterized in that: It can be used to eliminate bubbles in gel-like e-liquid (5).

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