Heater structure for electronic cigarette

Abstract

An embodiment of the utility model provides a heater structural body for an electronic cigarette, which is characterized by comprising a porous ceramic component, a heating element, a heating element and a heating element, and is characterized in that the porous ceramic component is porous so as to absorb liquid aerosol generating substances; and a heater member which is formed so as to be attached to one surface of the porous ceramic member and atomizes the liquid aerosol-generating substance, the heater member comprising: a conductive pattern body which is in contact with an external electrode terminal and supplies an electric current to heat the heater member and an anchor, and which is formed so as to be attached to the other surface of the porous ceramic member; and a conductive pattern body formed so as to be connected to the conductive pattern body and formed so as to protrude in the vertical direction with respect to the conductive pattern body, thereby improving the bonding strength between the porous ceramic member and the heater member.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The utility model relates to a heater structure for an electronic cigarette, and more particularly to a heater structure for an electronic cigarette with improved bonding strength between a porous ceramic component and a heater component. Background Art

[0002] Generally speaking, cigarette-shaped tobacco used to be almost the only way to inhale the substance of choice, but recently liquid e-cigarettes have become a way.

[0003] This liquid e-cigarette applies heat or ultrasound to a cartridge containing a liquid inhalable substance, using steam to atomize the inhalable substance and produce particles. This is fundamentally different from conventional cigarette-shaped smoke, which produces smoke flavor, and in particular, it can prevent the production of many harmful substances caused by combustion.

[0004] Most of the above-mentioned liquid electronic cigarettes utilize an assembly consisting of a porous component that absorbs the liquid aerosol-generating substrate and a heater that heats the liquid. To prepare the assembly consisting of the porous component and heater described above, an in-mold method can be used, in which the heater is built into the interior of the porous component, or a method in which the heater is recessed inward on the surface of the porous component according to the thickness of the heater.

[0005] As described above, when the heater is recessed on the porous component to about its thickness, the production cost of the assembly of the porous component and the heater is relatively reduced, and the amount of aerosol generated is increased compared to the in-mold method.

[0006] On the other hand, in order to recess the heater into the porous component to the same thickness as the component itself, a portion of the heater must be inserted into the porous component to secure it. However, the bonding strength between the sintered porous beads and the heater portion is weak, causing the heater to separate from the porous ceramic component or lift off. This weakening of the bonding strength between the heater and the porous ceramic component can cause the liquid in the space between the heater and the porous ceramic component to sinter, resulting in a burning odor. Utility Model Content

[0007] Technical issues

[0008] The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a heater structure for an electronic cigarette in which a heater is accurately embedded in a porous ceramic component and the heater will not separate even if the heater expands at a high temperature due to heat generation.

[0009] The technical problems to be solved by the present invention are not limited to the technical problems mentioned above. Ordinary technicians in the technical field to which the present invention belongs can clearly understand other technical problems not mentioned through the following records.

[0010] Means of solving the problem

[0011] In order to achieve the technical problem, one embodiment of the present invention provides a heater structure for an electronic cigarette, characterized in that it includes: a porous ceramic component, which is formed with porosity so as to be able to absorb liquid aerosol-generating substances; a heater component, which is formed in the form of being attached to one side of the above-mentioned porous ceramic component, and atomizes the above-mentioned liquid aerosol-generating substances, and the above-mentioned heater component includes: a conductive pattern body, which is in contact with an external electrode terminal and supplies current to heat the above-mentioned heater component, and an anchor-shaped object, which is formed by being connected to the above-mentioned conductive pattern body and protruding in a vertical direction relative to the above-mentioned conductive pattern body to improve the bonding strength between the above-mentioned porous ceramic component and the above-mentioned heater component.

[0012] In an embodiment of the present invention, the conductive pattern body may be formed in a form exposed on the surface of the porous ceramic component, and the anchor may be formed in a form inserted into the interior of the porous ceramic component.

[0013] In an embodiment of the present invention, the anchor may be formed with a connecting support hole that penetrates to the center portion, so as to increase the contact area with the beads of the porous ceramic member sintered around the periphery of the anchor.

[0014] In an embodiment of the present invention, the anchor may be formed in a polygonal or circular shape, and the coupling support hole may be formed in a polygonal or circular shape.

[0015] In an embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned combining support hole can be formed in plurality.

[0016] In an embodiment of the present invention, the conductive pattern body may include a current applying portion located at both ends of the heater component and in contact with an external electrode terminal, a connecting portion formed in a zigzag shape and used to connect the current applying portions, and a plurality of anchors formed on both sides of the current applying portion and the connecting portion, which may be spaced apart at a specified interval.

[0017] Effect of utility model

[0018] According to the embodiments of the present invention, the heater will not separate from the porous ceramic component even if it thermally expands at high temperatures, thereby enabling users to minimize the generation of burnt odor.

[0019] The effects of the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned effects, and should be understood to include all effects that can be inferred from the configuration of the present invention described in the description or claims of the present invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] Figure 1 This is a diagram schematically showing a heater structure for an electronic cigarette according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0021] Figure 2 This is a three-dimensional diagram showing a heater structure for an electronic cigarette according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0022] Figure 3 This figure is shown to illustrate the detailed structure of an anchor according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0023] Figure 4 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of an anchor having a configuration of a combined support hole according to various embodiments of the present invention.

[0024] Figure 5 2 is a diagram briefly showing the structure of an aerosol generating device for an electronic cigarette according to one embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0025] The present invention is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention can be implemented in a variety of different forms and is not limited to the embodiments described herein. Furthermore, in order to clearly illustrate the present invention, portions not relevant to the description are omitted from the accompanying drawings. Similar portions are denoted by similar reference numerals throughout the specification.

[0026] Throughout this specification, when certain parts are "connected (connected, in contact with, or coupled)" to other parts, this includes not only cases of "direct connection" but also cases of "indirect connection" with other components interposed therebetween. Furthermore, when certain parts "include" certain structural elements, this implies that the other structural elements may also be included, not that the other structural elements are excluded, unless otherwise stated.

[0027] The terms used in this specification are intended only to describe specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the present invention. Singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. In this specification, it should be understood that terms such as "including" or "having" are used to refer to the presence of a feature, number, step, action, structural element, component, or combination thereof listed in the specification, and do not preclude the presence or addibility of one or more other features, numbers, steps, actions, structural elements, components, or combinations thereof.

[0028] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Hereinafter, an electronic cigarette heater structure and an electronic cigarette aerosol generating device including the same will be described.

[0029] Figure 1 This is a diagram schematically showing a heater structure for an electronic cigarette according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0030] refer to Figure 1 According to an embodiment of the present invention, the heater structure may include a porous ceramic component 100 and a heater component 200 .

[0031] The heater structure of the present invention serves to apply heat to atomize the liquid aerosol material when the liquid aerosol material is absorbed by the porous ceramic component 100 and passes through the porous ceramic component 100 .

[0032] Among them, the liquid aerosol-forming substance may mean a liquid composition including one or more aerosol-forming substances. For example, the liquid aerosol-forming substance may include at least one of propylene glycol (PG) and glycerol (GLY), and may include at least one of ethylene glycol, dipropylene glycol, diethylene glycol, triethylene glycol, tetraethylene glycol, and oleyl alcohol. As another example, the aerosol-forming substance may also include at least one of nicotine, water, and aromatic substances. As yet another example, the aerosol-forming substance may also include various additives such as cinnamon and capsaicin. The constituent substances constituting the aerosol-forming substance can be selected in a variety of ways according to the embodiment, and their combination ratios may also vary according to the embodiment.

[0033] The porous ceramic component 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention can be formed to be porous so as to be able to absorb liquid aerosol-generating substances.

[0034] The porous ceramic member 100 is a structure comprising a plurality of beads 110. For example, the structure may be sphere-packed in a body-centered cubic (BCC) or face-centered cubic (FCC) structure, but the present invention is not limited thereto and may have various packing structures. The shape of the porous ceramic member 100 is not particularly limited, as long as it facilitates the absorption of liquid aerosol-forming substances from the chamber storing the liquid aerosol-forming substances. For example, various shapes such as H-shaped, ∩-shaped, and U-shaped can be used.

[0035] The porous ceramic member 100 includes a plurality of porous beads 110. The porous beads 110 can be made of various materials, such as glass beads, ceramic beads, or alumina beads. The porous material is not particularly limited as long as it can smoothly transfer liquid aerosol-forming substances.

[0036] In this specification, "one surface" of the porous ceramic member may be defined as a region formed by continuously connecting porous beads located at the outermost contour in the porous ceramic member and exposed to the outside, and may include a flat surface or a curved surface.

[0037] Furthermore, the heater member 200 is formed in a form of being attached to one surface of the porous ceramic member 100 and can atomize the liquid aerosol-generating substance.

[0038] refer to Figure 1 The heater component 200 of the present invention may include a conductive pattern body 210 and an anchor 230 .

[0039] The conductive pattern body 210 is in contact with an external electrode terminal, thereby supplying current and heating the heater member 200 .

[0040] According to this embodiment, the conductive pattern body 210 is as follows Figure 1 As shown, it may include: a current applying part 211 located at both ends of the heater component and in contact with the external electrode terminal; a connecting part 213 formed in a zigzag shape and connecting the current applying parts 211 located at both ends of the heater component.

[0041] The connecting portion 213 forms a flat heating pattern in which horizontal patterns and vertical patterns are alternately and repeatedly connected.

[0042] Among them, the "horizontal pattern" can be defined as a pattern arranged along the direction of the longer edges and corners on one side of the porous ceramic component where the heater component 200 is located or one side of the porous ceramic component with a built-in heater component, and the "longitudinal pattern" can be defined as a pattern arranged along the direction of the shorter edges and corners on one side of the porous ceramic component or one side of the porous ceramic component with a built-in heater component.

[0043] The heating pattern may be a structure that connects the horizontal pattern as a connecting part to maintain the balance between the vertical patterns. Figure 1As shown, current applying portions 211 (terminals) are provided at both ends of the heater component 200. A heating pattern may be provided between the current applying portions 211 at the two ends in a repeating sequence of a horizontal pattern, a vertical pattern, a horizontal pattern, and a vertical pattern. This may be a structure in which a horizontal pattern is connected at the end of each vertical pattern, and a vertical pattern is connected at the end of each horizontal pattern. By virtue of the heater component structure in which the horizontal and vertical patterns are repeated, gaps are formed between the vertical patterns. Liquid aerosol-generating substances absorbed by the porous ceramic component 100 are transferred through these gaps to the side of the heater component in contact with the air or the side of the heater component facing outward, thereby generating aerosols during heating.

[0044] The anchor 230 of the present invention is connected to the conductive pattern body 210 and protrudes perpendicularly relative to the conductive pattern body 210 , thereby improving the bonding strength between the porous ceramic component 100 and the heater component 200 .

[0045] Figure 2 This is a three-dimensional diagram showing a heater structure for an electronic cigarette according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0046] refer to Figure 2 The conductive pattern body 210 of the present invention can be formed in a form exposed on the surface of the porous ceramic component 100 , and the anchor 230 can be formed in a form inserted into the interior of the porous ceramic component 100 .

[0047] More specifically, the conductive pattern body 210 is inserted into the porous ceramic component 100 with thickness (i.e., only the top and side surfaces of the conductive pattern body 210 are recessed into the porous ceramic component), and only the bottom surface is exposed to the outside.

[0048] Furthermore, the anchor 230 is completely inserted into the porous ceramic member 100 in a vertical direction, and plays a role in fixing and supporting the heater member 200 on the porous ceramic member 100 .

[0049] According to this embodiment, the anchor 230 is as follows Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, a plurality of the current applying parts 211 and the connecting part 213 are formed on both sides thereof, so that they can be spaced apart at a predetermined distance.

[0050] Figure 3 This figure is shown to illustrate the detailed structure of an anchor according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0051] The anchor 230 is formed with a coupling support hole 231 penetrating to the center thereof to increase the contact area with the beads 110 of the porous ceramic member 100 sintered around the periphery of the anchor.

[0052] Figure 3 Part (a) shows the shape of the beads sintered around the anchor when there is no support hole 231. Figure 3 Part (b) shows the morphology of beads sintered around the anchor 230 having the coupling support hole 231 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0053] As described in the present invention, if a coupling support hole 231 is provided in the center, many beads 110 can be filled between the coupling support holes 231 and sintered together, thereby increasing the area for fixing the anchor 230 and improving the bonding strength between the heater component 200 and the porous ceramic component 100.

[0054] At this time, the size of the coupling support hole 231 according to this embodiment must be larger than the particle size of the raw material constituting the porous ceramic member 100 .

[0055] When heat is applied to the anchor, a force is applied due to thermal expansion, and at this time, the connection portion 213 of the heater member 200 needs to be fixed to prevent it from being separated from the porous ceramic member 100 .

[0056] On the other hand, as described above, if the anchor 230 forming the coupling support hole 231 of the present invention is used, it is accurately embedded in the porous ceramic member 100 and the connection portion 213 will not separate even if it is thermally expanded at high temperature due to heat.

[0057] Although the above example illustrates that only one coupling support hole 231 of the present invention is formed in the center of the anchor 230 , this is only one embodiment. As another embodiment, a plurality of coupling support holes 231 may be formed.

[0058] Figure 4 FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of an anchor having a configuration combined with a support hole according to various embodiments of the present invention.

[0059] refer to Figure 4 According to the embodiment of the present invention, in the anchor 230, the outer frame can be formed by polygons such as triangles, quadrilaterals, pentagons, hexagons, etc., and can also be formed by a circular shape.

[0060] Furthermore, the shape of the coupling support hole 231 may be formed in a polygonal shape such as a triangle, a quadrilateral, a pentagon, or a hexagon, or may be formed in a circular shape.

[0061] The combination of the shape of the outer frame of the anchor 230 and the shape of the coupling support hole 231 can be realized in various combinations.

[0062] Figure 5 The figure briefly shows the structure of the electronic cigarette aerosol generating device according to one embodiment of the present invention. The electronic cigarette aerosol generating device according to this embodiment includes the reference Figures 1 to 4 A device constructed with the above-mentioned heater structure.

[0063] refer to Figure 5 The aerosol generating device according to this embodiment may include a porous ceramic component 100 , a heater component 200 , a chamber 300 , an outer cover 400 , a separation intermediate component 500 , and a sealing component 600 .

[0064] Due to the description and reference of the porous ceramic component 100 and the heater component 200 Figures 1 to 4 The description is repeated and therefore omitted below.

[0065] The chamber 300 is located at the upper portion of the aerosol generating device and can store liquid aerosol-generating substances therein.

[0066] The outer cover 400 is located at the bottom of the aerosol generating device and supports the chamber 300, the heater component 200, the separating intermediate component 500 and the silicone component 600. According to this embodiment, the outer cover 400 is hollow in the center and is formed only in the edge area.

[0067] The heater component 200 is in contact with the electrode terminals in the external electronic cigarette body, thereby enabling heating operation.

[0068] The sealing member 600 is formed along the lower periphery of the chamber 300 and can securely support the chamber 300, the porous ceramic member 100, and the heater member 200. The sealing member 600 according to an embodiment of the present invention can be formed of silicon.

[0069] The separating intermediate member 500 is disposed below the sealing member 600 to minimize heat transfer from the heater member 200 to the sealing member 600 . The separating intermediate member 500 is disposed between the sealing member 600 and the porous ceramic member 100 , thereby separating the two members 100 and 600 .

[0070] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the intermediate component 500 for separation is a structure formed to reduce the amount of harmful substances generated. The harmful substances are generated when the heat generated by the heater component 200 to atomize the liquid aerosol-generating substance is applied to the silica gel. The intermediate component 500 for separation of the present invention prevents direct contact between the porous ceramic component 100 and the sealing component 600, thereby reducing the amount of harmful substances (for example, siloxane, etc.) generated.

[0071] The intermediate member 500 for separation is as follows Figure 5 As shown, the sealing member 600 is formed along the lower periphery of the chamber 300 , and can assist in fixing and supporting the chamber 300 and the porous ceramic member 100 .

[0072] The intermediate separation member 500 and the sealing member 600 of the present invention may be hollow in the center, and the porous ceramic member 100 and the heater member 200 located below may be exposed through the hollow portion.

[0073] On the other hand, for previous liquid e-cigarettes, as people inhale the liquid form of the inhaled substance inside the cartridge, the pressure inside the cartridge changes. At this time, due to the silicone, the external air cannot flow smoothly into the cartridge. As time goes by, there is the inconvenience of gradually being unable to smoothly inhale the liquid form of the inhaled substance.

[0074] According to the aerosol generating device of an embodiment of the present invention, the liquid aerosol generating substance inside the chamber 300 is atomized by the heater component 200 and discharged to the outside. Therefore, in order to compensate for the negative pressure phenomenon generated inside the chamber 300, an air inlet can be formed on the sealing component 600 and the intermediate component 500 for separation, so that the air flowing in from the outside can flow into the interior of the chamber 300.

[0075] The above description of the present invention is for illustrative purposes only. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention can be readily modified to other specific forms without altering the technical principles or essential features of the present invention. Therefore, it should be understood that the embodiments described above are illustrative in all respects and are not intended to be limiting. For example, structural elements described as being singular can also be implemented in a dispersed manner, and similarly, structural elements described as being dispersed can also be implemented in a combined manner.

[0076] The scope of the present invention is indicated by the appended claims, and the meaning and scope of the claims and all changes or modifications derived from their equivalent concepts should be interpreted as being within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A heater structure for an electronic cigarette, characterized in that: include: The porous ceramic component is formed with high porosity so as to be able to absorb the liquid aerosol-generating substance. The heater member is formed in a form of being attached to one side of the porous ceramic member and atomizes the liquid aerosol-forming substance. The heater component comprises: The conductive pattern body contacts the external electrode terminal and supplies current to heat the heater component. The anchor is formed by connecting with the conductive pattern body and protruding in a vertical direction relative to the conductive pattern body to improve the bonding strength between the porous ceramic component and the heater component.

2. The heater structure for an electronic cigarette according to claim 1, characterized in that: The conductive pattern body is formed in a form exposed on the surface of the porous ceramic member. The anchor is formed so as to be inserted into the porous ceramic member.

3. The heater structure for an electronic cigarette according to claim 1, characterized in that: The anchor is formed with a coupling support hole that penetrates to the center portion, so as to increase the contact area with the beads of the porous ceramic member sintered to surround the periphery of the anchor.

4. The heater structure for an electronic cigarette according to claim 3, characterized in that: The anchor is formed by a polygon or a circle. The combining support hole is formed in a polygonal or circular shape.

5. The heater structure for an electronic cigarette according to claim 3, characterized in that: The combining support hole is formed in plurality.

6. The heater structure for an electronic cigarette according to claim 1, characterized in that: The conductive pattern body includes: The current applying part is located at both ends of the heater component and contacts the external electrode terminals. The connecting portion is formed in a Z shape and is used to connect the current applying portions. The anchors are formed in plurality on both sides of the current applying portion and the connecting portion and are spaced apart at a predetermined distance.

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