Aerosol generating device and system

Abstract

The present application provides an aerosol generating device and system, comprising: a housing having an inlet for at least partially removably inserting an aerosol-generating product containing smokable material into the aerosol generating device; a heater disposed within the housing for heating the smokable material in the aerosol-generating product to generate an aerosol; and a heat transfer element disposed at least partially between the inlet and the heater, the heat transfer element being in thermal contact with a surface of at least a portion of the aerosol-generating product when the aerosol-generating product is inserted into the aerosol generating device and for transferring heat of the portion of the aerosol-generating product. The present application transfers the heat of the portion of the aerosol-generating product by the heat transfer element, avoiding the problem that smokers are prone to feel burning pain when smoking or when smoking for the first time, and improving the smoking experience of users.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] (CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS) This application claims priority to a Chinese patent application bearing application number 2021104782722, entitled "Aerosol Generating Apparatus and System," filed with the China Patent Office on April 30, 2021, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0002] The present application relates to the technical field of smoking articles, and in particular to aerosol generating devices and systems. [Background technology]

[0003] Smoking articles, such as cigarettes and cigars, burn tobacco to produce smoke during use. As an alternative to these products that burn tobacco, efforts have been made to produce products that release compounds without burning. One example of such a product is a heat-not-burn product, which releases compounds by heating a material rather than burning it.

[0004] The document with application publication number CN109068748A discloses an equipment for heating smokable material, in which when a consumable is inserted into the equipment, an air gap exists between the hollow cavity and the consumable, and cold air can enter the cavity from outside the equipment through the ventilation passage, further contributing to reducing the temperature and the content of water vapor components released by the heating volatile components from the smokable material.

[0005] This smoking device uses cold air from outside the device to cool the cigarettes, but the cooling effect is not ideal, and the smoker is likely to feel a burning pain when smoking. In particular, when smoking for the first time, the cigarette has a high moisture content, so when it evaporates due to heat, it contains water vapor with a high calorific value, which is a problem that the smoker feels more noticeably. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The present application provides an aerosol generating device and system that aims to solve the problem present in conventional smoking articles that users are prone to feel burning pain when smoking.

[0007] One aspect of the present application is a housing having an inlet for at least partially removably inserting an aerosol generating product containing smokable material into said aerosol generating device; a heater disposed within the housing for heating smokable material within the aerosol generating product to generate an aerosol; a heat transfer element disposed at least in part between the inlet and the heater; The present invention provides an aerosol generating device, wherein the heat transfer element is in thermal contact with a surface of at least a portion of the aerosol generating product when the aerosol generating product is inserted into the aerosol generating device, and is for transferring heat of a portion of the aerosol generating product.

[0008] Another aspect of the present application provides an aerosol generation system including an aerosol generating product and an aerosol generating device.

[0009] The aerosol generating device and system provided in the present application transfer the heat of a portion of the aerosol generating product by a heat transfer element, avoiding the problem that smokers are prone to feel burning pain when smoking or when smoking for the first time, and improving the smoking experience of users. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0010] One or more embodiments are illustrated by way of example only and not by way of limitation in the accompanying drawing figures, in which elements having the same reference numerals in the drawings represent similar elements, and the drawings are not to scale unless otherwise specified. [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an aerosol generating device provided in an embodiment of the present application. [Diagram 2]1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an aerosol generating device provided in an embodiment of the present application. [Diagram 3] 1 is a cross-sectional schematic diagram of an aerosol generation system provided in an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is an exploded view of an aerosol generating device provided in an embodiment of the present application. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of FIG. 4 as viewed from a different angle. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a heater provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] In order to facilitate understanding of the present application, the present application will be described in more detail below in conjunction with the drawings and specific embodiments. It should be noted that when an element is described as being "fixed" to another element, it may be directly located on the other element, or there may be one or more intervening elements therebetween. When an element is described as being "connected" to another element, it may be directly connected to the other element, or there may be one or more intervening elements therebetween. The terms "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "inner", "outer" and similar descriptions used herein are for illustrative purposes only.

[0012] Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by those skilled in the art of this application. As used herein, the terms used in the specification of this application are only for describing specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the scope of this application. As used herein, the term "and / or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

[0013] 1 to 6, an embodiment of the present application provides an aerosol generating device 100. The aerosol generating device 100 includes:

[0014] The housing 13 may be composed of multiple parts, such as an upper cover, a main body, and a lower cover (not shown). Inside the housing 13, there is an accommodation space capable of accommodating a heater 131, a battery cell 132, a circuit 133, and the like.

[0015] The housing 13 has a first end and a second end opposite to each other, and the first end is provided with an inlet 13a, and the second end is provided with a cleaning port 13b. At least a portion of the aerosol generating product 200 is removably inserted into the aerosol generating device 100 through the inlet 13a. The first end is sequentially provided with a heat transfer element 12 and a cover assembly 11, and the cover assembly 11 has a slide cover that can slide left and right relative to the housing 13 and a through hole corresponding to the inlet 13a, and the inlet 13a can be opened or covered by the movement of the slide cover. The second end is provided with a cleaning plug 14, and the cleaning plug 14 is removably inserted into the aerosol generating device 100 through the cleaning port 13b. When the aerosol generating product 20 is inserted into the aerosol generating device 100, the cleaning plug 14 can provide an end restriction to keep the heating segment 23 of the aerosol generating product 20 in the heating region. The cleaning plug 14 is further provided with an intake passage, through which external cold air flows in, passes through the heater 131, and then flows out from the inlet 13a. For details, see the arrows shown in FIG.

[0016] Heater 131 is for heating smokable material within aerosol generating product 20 to generate a smokable aerosol.

[0017] FIG. 6 is a heater 131 provided in an embodiment of the present application, where the heater 131 includes:

[0018] The main body 1311 is configured in a tubular shape extending in the axial direction of the cavity 11 and surrounding the cavity 11. Specifically, the main body 1311 includes a first end, a second end, and a surface extending between the first end and the second end. The main body 1311 may be cylindrical, prismatic, or other columnar. The main body 1311 is preferably cylindrical, and a cylindrical hole penetrating the center of the main body 1311 forms a heating cavity, and the inner diameter of the hole is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the aerosol-generating product 20, making it easy to place the aerosol-generating product 20 in the heating cavity and heat it. The heating cavity is in approximately linear communication with the inlet 13a and the cleaning port 13b. The main body 1311 may be made of a high-temperature resistant and transparent material such as quartz glass, ceramics, or mica, or may be made of other materials having high infrared transmittance, for example, high-temperature resistant materials with infrared transmittance of 95% or more, the specific examples of which are not limited here.

[0019] The infrared electric heating coating 1312 is formed on the surface of the main body 1311. The infrared electric heating coating 1312 may be formed on the outer surface of the main body 1311 or on the inner surface of the main body 1311. The infrared electric heating coating 1312 generates heat upon receiving electric power, and further generates infrared rays of a certain wavelength, for example, far infrared rays of 8 μm to 15 μm. When the wavelength of the infrared rays matches the absorption wavelength of the smokable material, the energy of the infrared rays is easily absorbed by the smokable material. The wavelength of the infrared rays is not limited, and may be infrared rays of 0.75 μm to 1000 μm, and is preferably far infrared rays of 1.5 μm to 400 μm.

[0020] The conductive element includes a first electrode 1313 and a second electrode 1314 spaced apart from the main body 1311 for supplying said electrical power to the infrared electrothermal coating 1312. Both the first electrode 1313 and the second electrode 1314 are at least partially electrically connected to the infrared electrothermal coating 1312 such that electrical current flows from one electrode to the other through the infrared electrothermal coating 1312.

[0021] The first electrode 1313 and the second electrode 1314 are arranged symmetrically along the central axis of the main body 1311. The first electrode 1313 includes a coupling electrode 1313b extending in the circumferential direction of the main body 1311 and a strip electrode 1313a extending in the axial direction from the coupling electrode 1313b toward the first end of the main body 1311, where the coupling electrode 1313b does not contact the infrared electrothermal coating 1312 and the strip electrode 1313a at least partially contacts the infrared electrothermal coating 1312 to form an electrical connection. The second electrode 1314 includes a coupling electrode 1314b extending in the circumferential direction of the main body 1311 and a strip electrode 1314a extending in the axial direction from the coupling electrode 1314b toward the first end of the main body 1311, where the coupling electrode 1314b does not contact the infrared electrothermal coating 1312 and the strip electrode 1314a at least partially contacts the infrared electrothermal coating 1312 to form an electrical connection.

[0022] In this example, the first electrode 1313 and the second electrode 1314 are both conductive coatings, which may be metal coatings or conductive tapes, etc., and the metal coatings may include silver, gold, palladium, platinum, copper, nickel, molybdenum, tungsten, niobium, or alloy materials of the above metals.

[0023] 2, the aerosol generating device 100 further includes a thermal insulation pipe fitted to the outside of the main body 1311. The thermal insulation pipe has an inner pipe and an outer pipe arranged in a radial direction, and a sealed space is formed between the inner pipe and the outer pipe. The sealed space may be evacuated, filled with a gas, or filled with a thermal insulation material. The gas includes, but is not limited to, an inert gas, air, carbon dioxide, etc. The thermal insulation material includes, but is not limited to, aerogel, mica sheet, mica tube, alumina microporous ceramic, cordierite, rock wool board, rock wool felt, and other low thermal conductivity materials.

[0024] It should be noted that the infrared emitter composed of the infrared electrothermal coating 1312, the first electrode 1313 and the second electrode 1314 is not limited to the example in Fig. 3. In other examples, the infrared emitter may be formed by a thermally excited infrared emitting layer or a thin film structure that can be wound around the main body 1311.

[0025] It should be further noted that in the above example, the heater 131 is described as being of an infrared heating type. In other examples, the heating type of the heater 131 is not limited thereto and may be resistance heating, electromagnetic heating, etc. The number of heaters 131 is also not limited here and may be one or more.

[0026] In this embodiment, the heat transfer element 12 includes a jacket and a wick in the jacket, and the jacket is filled with an appropriate amount of working liquid after a certain negative pressure is applied to the inside of the jacket, and the capillary porous material of the wick that is in close contact with the inner wall of the jacket is filled with liquid, and then the jacket is sealed. In this way, when one end of the heat transfer element 12 receives heat, the working liquid in the jacket is rapidly vaporized, and the vapor flows to the other end under the force of thermal diffusion, and then condenses at the cold end to release heat, and the working liquid returns to the evaporation end by capillary action along the wick again, thus circulating until the temperatures at both ends of the heat transfer element 12 are equal.

[0027] The jacket may be made of a material with high thermal conductivity, such as copper, aluminum, carbon steel, stainless steel, alloy steel, etc., and the working liquid is made of a material with a relatively high specific heat capacity, such as water, liquid ammonia, liquid hydrogen, acetic acid, etc., and preferably, water is selected.

[0028] As shown in FIG. 2, and FIGS. 4 to 5, in this example, the heat transfer element 12 includes an insertion portion 121 and an extension portion 122. As shown in FIG.

[0029] The insertion portion 121 is provided between the inlet 13a and the heater 131, and has opposing proximal and distal ends 121a, 121b. The proximal end 121a is provided close to the inlet 13a or is provided flush with the inlet 13a, and the distal end 121b passes through the inlet 13a and enters the aerosol generating device 100, i.e., extends toward the heater 131.

[0030] In this example, the insert 121 is configured as a tube surrounding a portion of the aerosol generating product 20, which may be inserted at least partially into the heater 131 through a tubular cavity of the insert 121. In an alternative implementation, the inner surface of the insert 121 has one or more circumferentially spaced bumps (not shown) that are in contact with the aerosol generating product 20 when the aerosol generating device 100 inserts the aerosol generating product 20.

[0031] In other examples, the insert 121 may be configured in a shape that partially surrounds the aerosol generating product 20, such as a semi-tubular shape (with an arc-shaped cross section), and the insert 121 may further be configured in a sheet, strip, other regular or irregular shape, etc. that is in thermal contact with at least a portion of the surface of the aerosol generating product 20. In alternative implementations, the number of inserts 121 may be one or more.

[0032] The extension portion 122 extends from the proximal end 121a in the radial direction of the insertion portion 121, and its shape generally matches the shape of the upper end of the housing 13. The extension portion 122 is held by the housing 13, and may be fixed to the housing 13 by an adhesive material or a fixing connecting material, and is not limited here.

[0033] With reference to Figure 3, the aerosol generating product 20 and the aerosol generating device 100 form an aerosol generating system, with the aerosol generating product 20 including a filter segment 21, a heating segment 23 containing smokable material, and a connecting segment 22 disposed between the filter segment 21 and the heating segment 23.

[0034] A smokable material is a substrate capable of releasing volatile compounds capable of forming an aerosol. Such volatile compounds can be released by heating the smokable material. Smokable materials can be solid, liquid, or contain solid and liquid components. Smokable materials can be attached to a carrier or support by adsorption, coating, impregnation, or other methods.

[0035] When the aerosol-generating product 20 is inserted into the aerosol-generating device 100, the heating segment 23 is located in the heating cavity of the main body 1311, and the heat transfer element 12 is in thermal contact with the connecting segment 22. In this way, during smoking, some heat of the connecting segment 22 can be absorbed and transferred by the phase change of the working liquid in the heat transfer element 12, thereby reducing the temperature at the connecting segment 22 or the filter segment 21, avoiding the problem that smokers are prone to feel burning pain when smoking or smoking for the first time, and improving the smoking experience of users.

[0036] It should be mentioned that the heat transfer element 12 may also be in thermal contact (direct contact or indirect contact) with the filter segment 21 and the connection segment 22. The aerosol generating product 20 may have one or more connection segments 22. In other examples, the aerosol generating product 20 may not have a connection segment 22, i.e., the aerosol generating product 20 only includes the filter segment 21 and the heating segment 23 containing the smokable material. In this case, when the aerosol generating product 20 is inserted into the aerosol generating device 100, the heating segment 23 is located in the heating cavity of the main body 1311 and the heat transfer element 12 may be in thermal contact with a portion of the filter segment 21. As an alternative implementation, when the aerosol-generating product 20 is inserted into the heating cavity, the heat transfer element 12 surrounds a portion of the outer surface of the filter segment 21, which may be a partial surface area away from the end of the filter segment 21, and similarly can transfer a portion of heat downstream of the aerosol-generating product 20 to achieve the purpose of reducing the temperature of the filter segment 21, particularly the end of the filter segment 21 that contacts the lips.

[0037] Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 2, in order to avoid heat transfer of the heater 131 by the heat transfer element 12, the heat transfer element 12 and the heater 131 are kept out of contact, while the distance h1 between the far end 121b of the insertion portion 121 and the heater 131 is greater than the distance h2 between the far end 121b and the inlet 13a, and preferably, h1≧2*h2.

[0038] It should be noted that in other examples, the heat transfer element 12 may not include a wick, in which case the working liquid may return to the evaporation end by gravity or other forces.

[0039] It should be further explained that in another example, the heat transfer element 12 may not contain a material with a high specific heat capacity, and the specific structure thereof may be referred to Figures 4 to 5 and the above. In this case, the heat transfer element 12 does not need to be filled with a working liquid, and may have a solid structure. Alternatively, in another example, it is possible to have a part of the heat transfer element 12 contain a material with high thermal conductivity, and another part contain a material with high specific heat capacity.

[0040] It should also be noted that the above examples are described using a working liquid, i.e., the working liquid transitions from a liquid phase to a gas phase to transfer heat from a portion of the aerosol generating product 20. As can be easily imagined, other examples could employ other phase change materials, such as a paraffin material, where the paraffin transitions from a solid phase to a liquid phase to transfer heat from a portion of the aerosol generating product 20.

[0041] The battery cell 132 provides power for operating the aerosol generating device 100. For example, the battery cell 132 can provide power for heating the heater 131. The battery cell 132 can also provide the power necessary to operate other elements provided in the aerosol generating device 100.

[0042] The battery cells 132 may be rechargeable or disposable batteries. The battery cells 132 may be, but are not limited to, lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries. For example, the battery cells 132 may be lithium cobalt oxide (LiCoO2) batteries or lithium titanate batteries.

[0043] The circuit 133 can control the overall operation of the aerosol generating device 100. The circuit 133 not only controls the operation of the battery cell 132 and the heater 131, but also controls the operation of other elements in the aerosol generating device 100. For example, the circuit 133 obtains temperature information of the heater 131 detected by a temperature sensor, and controls the power supplied from the battery cell 132 to the heater 131 based on the information.

[0044] It should be noted that although the specification and drawings of the present application show preferred embodiments of the present application, the present application can be realized in many different forms and is not limited to the embodiments described herein, and these embodiments are not additional restrictions on the contents of the present application, but are provided to provide a more detailed, deeper and complete understanding of the disclosure of the present application. In addition, the above technical features can be continuously combined with each other to form various embodiments not listed above, all of which are considered to be within the scope of the description of the present application. Furthermore, a person skilled in the art can make improvements or modifications based on the above description, and all of these improvements and modifications are within the scope of protection of the claims attached to this application.

Claims

1. a housing having an inlet for at least partially removably inserting an aerosol generating product containing smokable material into an aerosol generating device; a heater disposed within the housing for heating smokable material in the aerosol generating product to generate an aerosol; a heat transfer element disposed at least in part between the inlet and the heater; An aerosol generating device, wherein the heat transfer element is configured in a tubular shape surrounding a surface of a portion of the aerosol generating product, the material of the heat transfer element includes at least one of copper, aluminum, carbon steel, stainless steel, and alloy steel, and at least a portion of the heat transfer element is in thermal contact with a surface of at least a portion of the aerosol generating product when the aerosol generating product is inserted into the aerosol generating device, and is for transferring heat of the portion of the aerosol generating product.

2. the heat transfer element includes an insert having opposed proximal and distal ends; 2. The aerosol generating device of claim 1, wherein the proximal end is disposed proximate the inlet and the distal end extends toward the heater.

3. The aerosol generating device according to claim 2 , wherein the insert is configured as a tube surrounding a surface of a portion of the aerosol generating product.

4. The insert has a bump on its inner surface; 4. An aerosol generating device according to claim 3, wherein the bump is for maintaining contact with the aerosol generating product when the aerosol generating product is inserted into the aerosol generating device.

5. 5. The aerosol generating device according to claim 4, wherein the bumps are a plurality of bumps, the plurality of bumps being circumferentially spaced apart along the inner surface of the insertion portion.

6. The aerosol generating device of claim 2 , wherein the distal end of the insert remains out of contact with the heater.

7. 7. The aerosol generating device of claim 6, wherein a distance between the far end and the heater is greater than a distance between the far end and the inlet.

8. 8. The aerosol generating device according to claim 7, wherein a distance between the far end and the heater is at least twice the distance between the far end and the inlet.

9. The aerosol generating device of claim 2 , wherein the heat transfer element further includes an extension carried by the housing.

10. The aerosol generating device of claim 9 , wherein the extension extends radially from a proximal end of the insertion portion.

11. 2. The aerosol generating device of claim 1, wherein the heat transfer element further comprises a phase change material for transferring heat of a portion of the aerosol generating product by a phase change.

12. 12. The aerosol generating device of claim 11, wherein the heat transfer element further comprises a jacket, and the phase change material is sealed within the jacket.

13. 12. The aerosol generating device of claim 11, wherein the phase change material comprises at least one of water, liquid ammonia, liquid hydrogen, acetic acid, and paraffin.

14. The aerosol generating device of claim 3, wherein the inner diameter at the proximal end of the insertion portion is larger than the inner diameter at the distal end.

15. 15. An aerosol generation system comprising an aerosol generating product and an aerosol generating device according to any one of claims 1 to 14.

16. The aerosol-generating product includes a filter segment and a heating segment containing smokable material; 16. The aerosol generation system of claim 15, wherein at least a portion of the heat transfer element is in thermal contact with a surface of the filter segment.

17. The aerosol generating product includes a filter segment, a heating segment containing smokable material, and a connecting segment disposed between the filter segment and the heating segment; 16. The aerosol generation system of claim 15, wherein the heat transfer element is in thermal contact with a surface of the connecting segment, or the heat transfer element is in thermal contact with both a surface of the filter segment and a surface of the connecting segment.

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