Heater and heating atomizer

Abstract

The heater (10) includes a first electrode (100) and a second electrode (200) configured to generate a plasma arc, the first electrode (100) and the second electrode (200) are spaced apart from each other and configured to be in direct contact with the atomization medium, the plasma arc is located between the first electrode (100) and the second electrode (200), and heat generated by the plasma arc is transferred to the atomization medium by the first electrode (100).

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of heat atomization, and in particular to a heater and a heat atomization device including the heater. [Background technology]

[0002] A heating atomizer is typically used to heat a solid atomizing medium and atomize the atomizing medium in a heated, non-combustion manner to generate an aerosol for inhalation by a user. The heater of a conventional heating atomizer typically heats and atomizes the atomizing medium in a resistance heating or electromagnetic induction heating mode. However, the above heating modes usually have the disadvantage of a long pre-heating waiting time, which affects the heating speed of the atomizing medium. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0003] The technical problem that the present application aims to solve is how to improve the heating speed of a heater. [Means for solving the problem]

[0004] The heater includes a first electrode and a second electrode configured to generate a plasma arc, the first electrode and the second electrode being spaced apart from each other and configured to be in direct contact with the atomization medium, the plasma arc being located between the first electrode and the second electrode, and heat generated by the plasma arc being transferred to the atomization medium by the first electrode.

[0005] The heating atomization device includes any one of the heaters described above.

[0006] The details of one or more embodiments of the invention are set forth in the drawings and description which follow. Other features, objects, and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the description, drawings, and claims. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0007] To better depict and explain the embodiments and / or examples of those inventions disclosed herein, reference may be made to one or more drawings, in which additional details or examples used to depict the drawings should not be construed as limiting the scope of any of the disclosed inventions, the currently depicted embodiments and / or examples, and the best modes of those inventions as currently understood.

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a heater according to a first embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the heater shown in FIG. 1 at a different viewing angle. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a perspective cross-sectional view of the heater shown in FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a heater according to a second embodiment. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a plan sectional view of the heater shown in FIG. [Figure 6] FIG. 5 is a perspective cross-sectional view of the heater shown in FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] In order to facilitate an understanding of the present application, the present application will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which there is shown a preferred embodiment of the present application. However, the present application may be embodied in many different forms and is not limited to the embodiments set forth herein. On the contrary, the purpose of providing these embodiments is to provide a more complete and thorough understanding of the present disclosure.

[0010] It should be noted that when an element is referred to as "fixed" to another element, the element may be directly on the other element, but there may also be intervening elements between them. When an element is referred to as "connected" to another element, the element may be directly connected to the other element, but there may also be intervening elements between them. As used herein, the terms "inner", "outer", "left", "right" and similar terms are merely for descriptive purposes and do not represent the only embodiments.

[0011] As shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the heating atomization device according to an embodiment of the present application includes a heater 10 and a power source. The heater 10 includes a first electrode 100 and a second electrode 200. The first electrode 100 is connected to the negative pole of the power source, so that the first electrode 100 is a cathode, and the second electrode 200 is connected to the positive pole of the power source, so that the second electrode 200 is an anode. Of course, the first electrode 100 may be an anode and the second electrode 200 may be a cathode. In the case of direct current, the cathode temperature is high, which is more favorable for atomization. The first electrode 100 and the second electrode 200 are spaced apart from each other without contacting each other, and both the first electrode 100 and the second electrode 200 are for generating a plasma arc, and when the power source supplies power to the first electrode 100 and the second electrode 200, the plasma arc is located between the first electrode 100 and the second electrode 200. The voltage applied to the first electrode 100 and the second electrode 200 may be 10KV to 20KV. The first electrode 100 is in direct contact with the atomization medium, which may be a powder or paste-like solid or may be a liquid, and the heat of the plasma arc is transferred to the atomization medium by the first electrode 100 to heat and atomize the atomization medium to generate an aerosol for inhalation by the user.

[0012] As shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3, in some embodiments, the first electrode 100 is a pot-like structure having a containing cavity 110 that contains the atomization medium, and the plasma arc is located outside the containing cavity 110.

[0013] The pot-shaped first electrode 100 includes a bottom plate 120 and a side tube 130, the bottom plate 120 may be disk-shaped and extend along the horizontal direction, the side tube 130 may be annular and extend along the vertical direction, the bottom plate 120 is located at the end of the side tube 130, and the side tube 130 is connected to the edge of the bottom plate 120, so that the side tube 130 is arranged to surround the bottom plate 120, and the side tube 130 and the bottom plate 120 together form a receiving cavity 110, which is an open cavity with one end closed and the other end open. The second electrode 200 has a columnar structure, and the second electrode 200 is located outside the receiving cavity 110 and directly below the bottom plate 120, so that the second electrode 200 and the bottom plate 120 are spaced apart from each other along the axial direction of the entire heater 10. The second electrode 200 may have a sheet-like structure. When the first electrode 100 and the second electrode 200 are powered, the second electrode 200 and the bottom plate 120 generate a plasma arc, and the bottom plate 120 and the side cylinder 130 absorb the heat of the plasma arc and transfer it to the atomization medium located in the receiving cavity 110, so that the atomization medium absorbs the heat of the bottom plate 120 and is atomized. The first electrode 100 may be made of a metal or ceramic conductive material, for example, a stainless steel material. The first electrode 100 further has high thermal conductivity and low heat capacity, so that the first electrode 100 quickly heats up after absorbing heat, ensuring that the atomization medium reaches the atomization temperature in a short time, and improving the atomization speed of the atomization medium and the heating speed of the heater 10.

[0014] When the temperature of the plasma arc is high and the first electrode 100 absorbs the heat of the plasma arc, the temperature of the first electrode 100 can reach 200° C. to 450° C. In this way, the preheating time of the atomization medium can be significantly shortened to within 20 seconds, for example, within 10 seconds, ensuring that the atomization medium is atomized to generate aerosol within a short time of inhalation by the user, and ultimately improving the heating speed of the entire heater 10.

[0015] In fact, the heat of the first electrode 100 of the pot structure comes from three directions: first, heat from the plasma arc, second, heat from the resistance of the first electrode 100 itself, and third, heat excited by the impact between the plasma arc and the bottom plate 120. Since the first electrode 100 has three heat sources, it can rise to the atomization temperature of the atomization medium in a short time, ensuring the rapid atomization of the atomization medium and improving the heating speed of the heater 10.

[0016] The heater 10 may further include an insulating member 310, and the bottom plate 120 has a bottom surface 121, which is located outside the receiving cavity 110 and spaced apart from the second electrode 200. The insulating member 310 is attached to the bottom surface 121, and has a certain thickness. The thickness of the insulating member 310 may be in the range of 0.3 mm to 1 mm, for example, the thickness of the insulating member 310 may be 0.3 mm, 0.8 mm, or 1 mm, and since the insulating member 310 has a thickness, the insulating member 310 is provided protruding from the bottom surface 121. Since the insulating member 310 is located within the coverage area of ​​the bottom surface 121, a certain distance is maintained between the edge of the insulating member 310 and the edge of the bottom surface 121. When both the bottom plate 120 and the insulating member 310 are disk-shaped, in order to ensure that the insulating member 310 is located within the coverage area of ​​the bottom surface 121, both the bottom plate 120 and the insulating member 310 are provided coaxially, and the diameter of the bottom plate 120 is larger than that of the insulating member 310, for example, the diameter of the bottom plate 120 is 6 mm to 12 mm, and the diameter of the insulating member 310 is 4 mm to 10 mm. The second electrode 200 may be directly fixed and attached to the surface of the insulating member 310 provided on the opposite side to the bottom plate 120, and the insulating member 310 can effectively prevent the first electrode 100 and the second electrode 200 from being electrically connected to each other. Alternatively, the second electrode 200 is located directly under the insulating member 310, so that the second electrode 200 and the insulating member 310 are provided at a distance from each other along the axial direction of the heater 10.

[0017] By providing the insulating member 310, the plasma arc is an approximately annular planar arc, and the annular planar arc is provided surrounding the insulating member 310, so that the coverage area of ​​the plasma arc can be reasonably enlarged, thereby increasing the heating area of ​​the bottom plate 120 by the plasma arc, making the heating of the bottom plate 120 more uniform, minimizing or eliminating the temperature gradient of the bottom plate 120, and realizing the uniform heating of the atomization medium by the first electrode 100.

[0018] The heater 10 may further include an annular magnetic member 320, which may be a permanent magnet. The annular magnetic member 320 is in the shape of a closed ring and is provided surrounding the central axis of the side cylinder 130. The annular magnetic member 320 and the bottom surface 121 of the bottom plate 120 are provided with a gap along the axial direction of the heater 10, and the gap in the axial direction may be 0 mm to 4 mm, and the specific value may be 0 mm, 1 mm, 4 mm, etc. The annular magnetic member 320 may be located above the bottom surface 121 or below the bottom surface 121, and the annular magnetic member 320 may be a samarium-cobalt magnet. By providing the annular magnetic member 320, the annular magnetic member 320 generates an annular magnetic field in the vertical direction, makes the plasma arc more planar, and ensures that the plasma arc is arranged around the insulating member 310 and distributed more uniformly around the insulating member 310, thereby further improving the heat receiving uniformity of the bottom plate 120, so that the first electrode 100 uniformly heats the atomization medium.

[0019] The bottom plate 120 includes a flat plate portion 122 and an annular protrusion portion 123, the flat plate portion 122 is directly connected to the end of the side cylinder 130, the bottom surface 121 is located on the flat plate portion 122, and the annular protrusion portion 123 is protrudingly connected to the bottom surface 121, that is, the annular protrusion portion 123 protrudes to a certain height from the bottom surface 121. At the same time, the annular protrusion portion 123 may be provided surrounding the insulating member 310, and the provision of the annular protrusion portion 123 serves to improve the heat receiving uniformity of the bottom plate 120, and further ensures that the first electrode 100 heats the atomization medium uniformly. In another embodiment, the annular protrusion portion 123 may be replaced by a silver layer or a graphite layer having high thermal conductivity, which can also improve the heat receiving uniformity of the bottom plate 120. In another embodiment, the bottom plate 120 may include only the flat plate portion 122 and not include the annular protrusion portion 123, and the bottom surface 121 of the flat plate portion 122 is flat.

[0020] The first electrode 100 has an inner surface 152, which defines the boundary of the receiving cavity 110, and an infrared film layer may be attached to the inner surface 152 so that a part of the heat of the first electrode 100 is radiated to the atomization medium by infrared rays. Since infrared rays have a strong permeability to the atomization medium, the inner layer and the outer layer of the atomization medium are heated at the same time, thus further shortening the time for the atomization medium to rise to the atomization temperature and improving the heating speed of the heater 10. A smooth glass layer or glaze layer may be attached to the infrared film layer, which is in direct contact with the atomization medium, and is therefore advantageous for quickly removing the deposits on the glass layer or glaze layer and improving the cleaning effect of the first electrode 100. The glass layer or glaze layer may also play a protective role in preventing the first electrode 100 from rusting. A glass or glaze layer may be provided on an outer surface 151 of the first electrode 100, which obviously is located outside the receiving cavity 110. The side tube 130 of the first electrode 100 may be electrically connected to a power source by a movable pogo pin or a movable leaf spring, which allows easy removal of the first electrode 100.

[0021] As shown in Figures 4, 5 and 6, in some embodiments, the first electrode 100 is a tubular structure having a accommodating cavity 110, which is not for accommodating the atomizing medium, and the atomizing medium is located outside the accommodating cavity 110 and covers the first electrode 100, which may be understood as the first electrode 100 being inserted into the atomizing medium and the plasma arc being located within the accommodating cavity 110.

[0022] For example, the heater 10 further includes a central tube 330, which is made of an insulating material, and the insulating material may be a dense ceramic with high strength and high insulating performance, including a material such as sodium oxide or zirconium oxide. A cavity 331 is formed in the central tube 330, and the diameter of the cavity 331 may be 0.3 mm to 0.6 mm, and the thickness of the central tube 330 may be 0.4 mm to 0.6 mm. Since the central tube 330 has a sufficiently large thickness, it is possible to effectively prevent the plasma arc in the central tube 330 from destroying the entire central tube 330.

[0023] The first electrode 100 of the tubular structure includes a side tube 130 and a top plate 140, the top plate 140 may be cone-shaped and the side tube 130 may be annular, and the bottom plate 120 is connected to one end of the side tube 130, so that the side tube 130 is arranged surrounding the top plate 140, and the side tube 130 and the top plate 140 together form an accommodating cavity 110, which is an open cavity with one end closed and the other end open. The central tube 330 is inserted into the receiving cavity 110, so that the side tube 130 is fitted onto the central tube 330, and the side tube 130 and the central tube 330 form a tightly fitted relationship, eliminating the gap between the side tube 130 and the central tube 330 along the radial direction of the heater 10, ensuring that heat is directly radiated from the central tube 330 to the first electrode 100, and the one end of the central tube 330 located in the receiving cavity 110 and the top plate 140 are spaced apart from each other along the axial direction of the heater 10. The second electrode 200 is inserted into the cavity 331 of the central tube 330, and the end of the second electrode 200 located in the cavity 331 is spaced apart from the end of the second electrode 200 located in the receiving cavity 110 of the central tube 330. When a plasma arc is generated, the plasma arc is located between the second electrode 200 and the top plate 140, so that at least a portion of the plasma arc is located in the cavity 331 of the central tube 330. For example, a portion of the plasma arc is located in the cavity 331, and another portion is located in the receiving cavity 110 between the central tube 330 and the top plate 140. In order to prevent the plasma arc from destroying the first electrode 100, the portions of the top plate 140 and the side cylinder 130 corresponding to the plasma arc may be thickened. The heat generated by the plasma is also transferred to the atomization medium by the first electrode 100, which is also advantageous for improving the atomization speed of the heater 10.

[0024] The first electrode 100 further includes a conductive member 340, which is located in the receiving cavity 110 and can contact the side cylinder 130 and / or the top plate 140 so as to be electrically connected to the side cylinder 130 and / or the top plate 140. The conductive member 340 covers the end opening of the cavity 331 so that the plasma arc is located between the conductive member 340 and the second electrode 200, i.e., the plasma arc is entirely located within the cavity 331 of the central tube 330. Since the conductive member 340 does not occupy any installation space other than the receiving cavity 110, a compact and miniaturized design of the heater 10 can be realized.

[0025] The first electrode 100 of the tubular structure has an outer surface 151 located outside the accommodating cavity 110, and the outer surface 151 may be coated with an infrared film layer, so that a part of the heat of the first electrode 100 is radiated to the atomization medium by infrared rays, thereby improving the heating rate of the heater 10.

[0026] The technical features of the above embodiments can be combined in any combination. For the sake of brevity, all possible combinations of the technical features in the above embodiments are not described, but all such combinations should be considered to fall within the scope of the present specification.

[0027] The above examples only describe some embodiments of the present application, and although the descriptions are specific and detailed, they should not be construed as limiting the scope of the patent of the present application. It should be noted that those skilled in the art can make various modifications and improvements without departing from the spirit of the present application, and these modifications and improvements belong to the scope of protection of the present application. Therefore, the scope of protection of the patent of the present application should be based on the scope of the attached claims.

Claims

1. A heater comprising: a first electrode and a second electrode configured to generate a plasma arc, the first electrode and the second electrode being spaced apart from each other and configured to be in direct contact with an atomization medium, the plasma arc being located between the first electrode and the second electrode, and heat generated by the plasma arc being transferred to the atomization medium by the first electrode.

2. 2. The heater of claim 1, wherein the first electrode surrounds a containing cavity and the plasma arc is located outside the containing cavity, or the plasma arc is located within the containing cavity.

3. 3. The heater according to claim 2, wherein the first electrode includes a bottom plate and a side cylinder, the side cylinder is annular and surrounds and is connected to the bottom plate, the bottom plate and the side cylinder surround the accommodating cavity that accommodates the atomization medium, the second electrode is located outside the accommodating cavity and is spaced apart from the bottom plate along the axial direction of the heater, and the plasma arc is located between the second electrode and the bottom plate.

4. 4. The heater according to claim 3, further comprising an insulating member, the bottom plate having a bottom surface located outside the accommodating cavity and spaced apart from the second electrode, the insulating member attached to the bottom surface and located within a range covering the bottom surface, an edge of the insulating member and an edge of the bottom surface maintaining a predetermined distance, a thickness of the insulating member being 0.3 mm to 1 mm, the second electrode being fixed to the insulating member or the second electrode being spaced apart from the insulating member.

5. The heater of claim 4, further comprising an annular magnetic member, the annular magnetic member being arranged to surround a central axis of the side cylinder, and an axial distance between the annular magnetic member and the bottom surface being 0 mm to 4 mm.

6. 6. The heater of claim 5, further comprising an annular magnetic member, said annular magnetic member being a permanent magnet.

7. 5. The heater according to claim 4, wherein the bottom plate includes a flat portion and an annular protrusion portion, the flat portion being connected to the side cylinder and having the bottom surface, and the annular protrusion portion being connected to and protruding from the bottom surface and surrounding a central axis of the heater.

8. The heater according to claim 7 , wherein the annular projection is provided so as to surround the insulating member.

9. The heater according to claim 4 , wherein the bottom plate is provided coaxially with the insulating member.

10. 3. The heater of claim 2, further comprising a central tube, the central tube being made of an insulating material and having a cavity, the central tube being fitted to the receiving cavity, the second electrode being provided extending into the cavity, and at least a portion of the plasma arc being located within the cavity.

11. 11. The heater of claim 10, wherein the first electrode includes a tapered top plate and an annular side tube, the side tube is arranged to surround the top plate, the top plate and the side tube surround the accommodating cavity, and an end of the central tube is arranged at a distance from the top plate.

12. 12. The heater of claim 11, wherein the first electrode further comprises a conductive member, the conductive member being located within the accommodating cavity and contacting the side tube and / or the top plate, the conductive member covering an end opening of the cavity, and the plasma arc being located between the conductive member and the second electrode.

13. The heater according to claim 11 , wherein a gap between the central tube and the side tube along a radial direction of the heater is zero.

14. 11. The heater of claim 10, wherein the central tube has a cavity diameter of 0.3 mm to 0.6 mm, the central tube has a wall thickness of 0.4 mm to 0.6 mm, and the central tube is made of a dense ceramic material containing sodium oxide or zirconium oxide.

15. 3. The heater of claim 2, further comprising an infrared film layer, wherein when the plasma arc is located outside the accommodating cavity, the infrared film layer is applied to an inner surface defining a boundary of the accommodating cavity, and when the plasma arc is located inside the accommodating cavity, the infrared film layer is applied to an outer surface outside the accommodating cavity.

16. 16. The heater of claim 15, further comprising a glass layer or a glaze layer, the glass layer or the glaze layer being attached to the infrared film layer.

17. 3. The heater according to claim 2, wherein the voltage applied to the first electrode and the second electrode is 10 KV to 20 KV.

18. The heater according to claim 2 , wherein the second electrode is columnar or sheet-shaped.

19. 3. The heater of claim 2, wherein the first electrode is a cathode and is made of a metallic or ceramic conductive material, and the second electrode is an anode.

20. A heating atomization device comprising the heater according to any one of claims 1 to 19.

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