Aerosol provision system

Abstract

The embodiments of the present application disclose an aerosol provision system comprising: a mouthpiece provided with an aerosol outlet; a housing, the housing being provided with an aerosol channel in fluid communication with the aerosol outlet, the aerosol channel being configured to guide an aerosol flow to the aerosol outlet for spray; and a flow regulating member arranged on the housing, the flow regulating member being configured to change the flow pattern of the aerosol flow after the aerosol flow passes therethrough, thereby changing the flow pattern of the aerosol flow sprayed from the aerosol outlet. Through embodiments of the present application, the technical problem of changing the pattern of the aerosol flow sprayed from the aerosol outlet has been solved.

Description

[0001] AEROSOL PROVISION SYSTEM

[0002] Technical Field

[0003] The present application relates to the field of aerosol provision technology, particularly to an aerosol provision system.

[0004] Technical Background

[0005] In the e-cigarette industry, aerosol channels are designed in a straight and smooth horn shape. During the user's puffing process, the aerosol flows through a smooth aerosol channel, allowing the aerosol to flush out of the e-cigarette mouthpiece. However, different types of aerosol airflow, such as relatively focused or dispersed airflow, also may produce different sensations. The existing method for implementing different types of airflow is to change the diameter or slope of the horn shaped aerosol channel, but this variation does not have a significant impact on the shape of the airflow.

[0006] Summary

[0007] The present application aims to solve at least one of the technical issues present in the existing technology. Therefore, the present application puts forward an aerosol provision system, to solve the technical problem of changing the pattern of the aerosol flow sprayed from the aerosol outlet.

[0008] In the first aspect, the present application provides an aerosol provision system, the aerosol provision system comprising: a mouthpiece provided with an aerosol outlet; a housing, the housing being provided with an aerosol channel in fluid communication with the aerosol outlet, the aerosol channel being configured to guide an aerosol flow to the aerosol outlet for spray; and a flow regulating member arranged on the housing, the flow regulating member being configured to change the flow pattern of the aerosol flow after the aerosol flow passes therethrough, thereby changing the flow pattern of the aerosol flow sprayed from the aerosol outlet.

[0009] In a technical solution of the aerosol provision system mentioned above, the flow regulating member may act on the aerosol flow in the aerosol channel or at the aerosol outlet in the form of non-physical contact when changing the flow pattern. In the present application, the flow regulating member may affect the aerosol flow in the aerosol channel or at the aerosol outlet in the form of non-physical contact, for example, the flow regulating member is configured to be capable of emitting an interference flow, which acts on the aerosol flow in the aerosol channel or at the aerosol outlet when changing the flow pattern, that is, by impacting the aerosol flow with another interference flow, the sprayed pattern of the aerosol flow may be affected, making the aerosol flow more dispersed, and the interference flow may be an airflow.

[0010] Further, the housing may be provided with an aerosol branch channel, and the interference flow is another stream of aerosol flow passing through the aerosol branch channel, that is, the interference flow may also be another stream of aerosol flow, which not only changes the pattern of the sprayed aerosol flow, but also adds the another stream of aerosol flow to increase the quantity of the aerosol flow and enhance the user's puffing experience.

[0011] In a technical solution of the aerosol provision system mentioned above, the flow regulating member is configured as a recessed structure arranged on an inner wall of the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet, the recessed structure has a concave surface in fluid communication with the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet, and when the aerosol flow passes through the recessed structure, the aerosol flow is configured to flow out after passing through the concave surface. In the present application, the flow regulating member may be in a concave form, and the aerosol flow flowing through the concave surface is increased in the dispersion area, making the aerosol flow more dispersed. Further, there are at least two recessed structures spaced in the circumferential direction of the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet, and all of the recessed structures have the same shape, which achieves multi-position and uniform dispersion of the sprayed aerosol flow.

[0012] In a technical solution of the aerosol provision system mentioned above, the flow regulating member may act on the aerosol flow in the aerosol channel or at the aerosol outlet in the form of physical contact when changing the flow pattern. The form of physical contact in the present application may comprise the following ways: in a cross-sectional direction of the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet, the flow regulating member has a transverse length that may be exposed in the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet, and the transverse length forms a flow barrier to change the flow pattern. In this form, the flow barrier may not be in contact with the inner wall of the channel or the outlet, and the pattern of the aerosol flow may be changed by simply satisfying the transverse length in the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet, at the same time, the flow barrier may also be in contact with the inner wall of the channel or outlet, that is, the flow barrier is in contact with or fixed to the inner wall of the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet at two ends of the transverse length, respectively.

[0013] Further, the form of the flow barrier may further comprise: a form in which the flow barrier protrudes transversely from one side of the inner wall of the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet, the flow barrier only needs to protrude in the transverse direction, and the extension direction may be any direction; a form in which the flow barrier is configured to extend from one side of the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet towards the other side in the transverse direction, that is, the flow barrier extends transversely; a form in which the flow barrier is configured to extend from one side of the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet to the other side in the transverse direction, to form a flow barrier spanning two sides of the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet; a form in which the flow barrier protrudes towards a center position from the inner wall of the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet, that is, the flow barrier extends towards the center, but the direction may not be transverse; a form in which the flow barrier protrudes towards the center of the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet in the transverse direction, that is, the flow barrier extends transversely towards the center; a form in which the flow barrier is arranged on the center line of the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet, that is, the flow barrier not only passes through the center of the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet, but also is located on the center line of the inner wall of the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet, for example, the flow barrier spans the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet, then the entire flow barrier is located on the transverse center line of the aerosol outlet and passes through the center; a form in which the flow barrier is provided with a stop block with a preset shape, and the stop block is configured to create a predetermined interference with the flow pattern of the aerosol flow passing by, the stop block may be in the form of a ball, droplet, etc., and the stop block is arranged on the center line of the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet, which has a more significant impact effect.

[0014] The above are separate forms of the flow barrier, and based on the separate basic forms mentioned above, there are at least two flow barriers spaced around the circumferential direction of the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet, that is, there are at least two flow barriers having any one of the above forms arranged at the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet. Further, the at least two flow barriers are not in contact and have gaps between their ends that extend transversely, for example, there are several projections on the inner wall of the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet, and they are not in contact with each other; the at least two flow barriers are in contact along their ends that extend transversely, that is, two flow barriers may form one flow barrier.

[0015] In a technical solution of the aerosol provision system mentioned above, the flow barrier and the housing are configured to be able to move relative to each other, so that the flow barrier moves relative to the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet to be exposed in the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet, or at least partially hidden outside the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet. In the present application, the form in which the flow barrier is exposed in the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet may adopt a relative moving form, to provide the mobility for the flow barrier, and the flow regulating member further comprises a driving element connected to the flow barrier and an operation end for user operation, and is configured such that operation of the operation end by a user drives the driving element to drive the movement of the flow barrier. Wherein, there may be two types of operation ends: the operation end is arranged on a surface of the housing, and is configured as a controller to drive the movement of the driving element and the flow barrier through a physical motion, or, the operation end is arranged on a surface of the housing, and is configured as a controller to drive the movement of the driving element and the flow barrier through an electrical signal.

[0016] Based on the above-mentioned form in which the flow barrier moves relative to the housing, one form is a sliding manner, that is, the flow barrier is configured to slide in in a sliding manner to be exposed in the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet, or to slide out to be at least partially hidden outside the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet. When users need the flow barrier to regulate the pattern of the aerosol flow, the flow barrier is slid out, and during normal use, the flow barrier may be hidden, the sliding manner achieves switching between no flow barriers and with a flow barrier, and at the same time, changing the length of the flow barrier sliding out of the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet may achieve switching the shape of the flow barrier, to make different impacts on the pattern of the sprayed aerosol flow.

[0017] In particular, in the present application, the flow barrier may be designed to be in the housing, that is, the housing is provided with a hollow channel, the hollow channel is in fluid communication with the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet at one end thereof, the flow barrier is arranged in the hollow channel, and the flow barrier may slide along the hollow channel to extend and be exposed to the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet, or retract into the hollow channel, to achieve the movement of the flow barrier relative to the housing in a sliding manner. To ensure the smooth sliding of the flow barrier, the flow barrier may be a flexible element made of an elastic material or a wire harness.

[0018] Based on the above-mentioned form in which the flow barrier moves relative to the housing, another form is a rotating manner, that is, the flow barrier is configured to screw in in a rotation manner to be exposed in the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet, or to screw out to be at least partially hidden outside the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet. When users need the flow barrier to regulate the pattern of the aerosol flow, the flow barrier is rotated out, and during normal use, the flow barrier may be hidden, the rotating manner achieves switching between no flow barriers and with a flow barrier, and at the same time, changing the flow barrier exposed at the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet by rotation may achieve switching between different shapes of the flow barrier, to make different impacts on the shape of the sprayed aerosol flow.

[0019] In particular, in the present application, the rotation may be implemented through the following methods: the flow regulating member comprises a rotating shaft and a plurality of said flow barriers, and the plurality of said flow barriers may be screwed in a manner rotating around the rotating shaft to be alternately exposed in the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet, rotating the rotating shaft to implement with / without a flow barrier at the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet may also achieve the switching between different flow barriers.

[0020] The above method is that one rotating shaft may be provided with a plurality of separate flow barriers or a non-separate flow barrier, if it is a non-separate flow barrier, the flow regulating member comprises a rotating member, the rotating member is provided with a plurality of said flow barriers with different shapes, and the rotating member is configured to drive the flow barriers in a rotation manner to alternately expose in the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet, to implement the same rotating member with flow barriers of multiple different shapes, and rotating the rotating member may achieve switching between different shapes.

[0021] There may be a plurality of devices driving the flow barrier to rotate, that is, the flow regulating member comprises at least two rotating members, each of the rotating members is provided with at least one said flow barrier, and the at least two rotating members are configured to drive the flow barriers to be exposed in the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet, which may achieve exposing the respective flow barriers in the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet through the at least two rotating members simultaneously or alternately, achieve switching between the flow barriers of different shapes, which may achieve a combined form of flow barriers presenting in the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet. Further, the arrangement of the at least two rotating members may be: the at least two rotating members are arranged coaxially, and may be rotated synchronously during rotation, may have flow barriers of different shapes in different directions, and the flow barriers of different shapes may be exposed in the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet during rotation; and / or, the at least two rotating members are spaced in the circumferential direction of the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet, that is, a plurality of rotating members may be arranged in the circumferential direction, and at least two rotating members are implemented to be formed at the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet and spaced around the circumferential direction of the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet.

[0022] In the scheme of a plurality of rotating members, the flow barriers on the at least two rotating members arranged coaxially have different shapes, which may achieve switching the flow barriers of different shapes to be exposed in the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet by rotating the same rotating shaft; and / or, the flow barriers on the at least two rotating members arranged circumferentially have the same shape, that is, a plurality of rotating members may be arranged in the circumferential direction, which may implement at least two flow barriers of the same shape formed at the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet and spaced around the circumferential direction of the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet.

[0023] In any one of the above schemes of a plurality of rotating members, at least one of the at least two rotating members causes the flow barriers in a manner of rotating and moving radially relative to the rotating shaft to expose in the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet, that is, the other rotating member(s) may also adopt other manners to expose the flow barriers, one of which is that at least one of the at least two rotating members causes the flow barriers in a manner of rotating and moving radially relative to the rotating shaft to be exposed in the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet, which may achieve moving (such as pushing) the rotating members in another direction to expose the flow barriers in the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet while rotating the rotating members.

[0024] In the above scheme of a plurality of rotating members arranged in the circumferential direction, the at least two rotating members are spaced in the circumferential direction of the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet, and are configured to rotate synchronously at a specified angle and to expose the flow barriers with the same shape in the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet, which may achieve a centrosymmetric distribution of the flow barriers around the aerosol outlet, having a uniform impact on the aerosol flow and making the effect more significant. The at least two rotating members are spaced in the circumferential direction of the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet, and may be configured to rotate asynchronously, and rotate at at least one specified angle to expose the flow barriers with different shapes in the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet, which may switch to flow barriers with different shapes at the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet while achieving asynchronous rotation.

[0025] In the above scheme of the flow barrier configured in a rotating manner, the plurality of flow barriers is provided in accordance with any one of the forms of the flow barriers at the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet.

[0026] Further, in the above scheme of the flow barrier configured in a rotating manner, the operation end is configured as the housing, and the housing is configured to drive the driving element in a rotation manner to rotate the rotating shaft, to drive the flow barrier to screw in and expose in the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet, which may achieve switching the flow barriers at the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet by rotating the housing. In the present application, the housing is configured to drive the flow barrier to screw in and expose in the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet, or to hide outside the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet, in every 180 degrees of rotation, that is, in every 180 degrees of rotation of the housing, the shape of the flow barrier is switched once at the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet, or the flow barrier is hidden.

[0027] In a technical solution of the aerosol provision system mentioned above, the mouthpiece and the housing may be detachably mounted to each other, the aerosol outlets of different mouthpieces are mounted with flow regulating members with different shapes, and the flow regulating member is replaced by replacing a mouthpiece combined with the housing, users may directly replace the mouthpiece according to their needs to change the pattern of the sprayed aerosol flow by replacing the flow regulating member.

[0028] In a technical solution of the aerosol provision system mentioned above, the mouthpiece and the housing are detachably mounted to each other, or formed into an integral structure, in both ways, the flow regulating member may be integrated with the mouthpiece or the housing, or may be mounted to the mouthpiece or the housing in other manners, when being integrated with the housing, only one kind of flow regulating member can be selected to use, and when being integrated with the mouthpiece, the flow regulating member may be replaced by replacing the mouthpiece.

[0029] The above one or more technical solutions of the present application have at least one or more beneficial effects as follows:

[0030] In the technical solution implementing the present application, by designing a flow regulating member on the housing, the flow pattern of the aerosol flow is changed after the aerosol flow passes through the flow regulating member, thereby changing the flow pattern of the aerosol flow sprayed from the aerosol outlet, and changing the user's sensory experience, further, users may choose and use different types of flow adjusting members according to their sensory preferences, to meet their puffing needs.

[0031] Additional aspects and advantages of the application will be partially described in the following description, some will become apparent from the following description, and others will be learned through the practice of the application.

[0032] Description of Drawing

[0033] Referring to the accompanying drawings, the disclosed content of the present application will become more understandable. It is easily understood by those skilled in the art that these drawings are only for illustrative purposes and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present application. Moreover, similar numbers in the figures are used to represent similar components, among which:

[0034] Figure 1 is a schematic structure diagram of an aerosol provision system according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0035] Figure 2 is a schematic structure diagram of a flow barrier according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0036] Figure 3 is a schematic structure diagram of another flow barrier according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0037] Figure 4 is a schematic structure diagram of still another flow barrier according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0038] Figure 5 is a schematic structure diagram of yet another flow barrier according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0039] Figure 6 is an aerosol flow effect diagram of an aerosol provision system according to the present application without mounting a flow barrier;

[0040] Figure 7 is an aerosol flow effect diagram of an aerosol provision system according to the present application mounted with a flow barrier shown in Figure 2;

[0041] Figure 8 is an aerosol flow effect diagram of an aerosol provision system according to the present application mounted with a flow barrier shown in Figure 3;

[0042] Figure 9 is an aerosol flow effect diagram of an aerosol provision system according to the present application mounted with a flow barrier shown in Figure 4;

[0043] Figure 10 is an aerosol flow effect diagram of an aerosol provision system according to the present application mounted with a flow barrier shown in Figure 5;

[0044] Figure 11 is a schematic structure diagram of an aerosol provision system according to an embodiment of the present application with one interference flow;

[0045] Figure 12 is a schematic structure diagram of an aerosol provision system according to another embodiment of the present application in which the flow barrier is switched in a sliding manner;

[0046] Figure 13 is a schematic structure diagram showing the implementation effect in Figure 12 according to the present application;

[0047] Figure 14 is another schematic structure diagram showing the implementation effect in Figure 12 according to the present application;

[0048] Figure 15 is a schematic structure diagram of an aerosol provision system according to another embodiment of the present application in which the flow barrier is switched in a rotating manner;

[0049] Figure 16 is a schematic structure diagram of specific configuration of a flow barrier according to another embodiment of the present application;

[0050] Figure 17 is a schematic exploded structure diagram of an aerosol provision system according to another embodiment of the present application;

[0051] Figure 18 is a schematic structure diagram showing the rotation of the housing relative to the mouthpiece according to another embodiment of the present application;

[0052] Figure 19 is a schematic structure diagram of specific configuration of a rotating member according to another embodiment of the present application;

[0053] Figure 20 is a schematic structure diagram of specific configuration of a second rotating member according to another embodiment of the present application;

[0054] Figure 21 is a schematic structure diagram of the second rotating member rotating to a state according to another embodiment of the present application;

[0055] Figure 22 is a schematic structure diagram of the second rotating member rotating to another state according to another embodiment of the present application.

[0056] Detailed description

[0057] The following describes some embodiments of the present application with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that these embodiments are only for explaining the technical principles of the present application and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present application.

[0058] As used herein, the term “delivery system” is intended to encompass systems that deliver at least one substance to a user in use, and includes: combustible aerosol provision systems, such as cigarettes, cigarillos, cigars, and tobacco for pipes or for roll-your-own or for make-your-own cigarettes (whether based on tobacco, tobacco derivatives, expanded tobacco, reconstituted tobacco, tobacco substitutes or other smokable material); non-combustible aerosol provision systems that release compounds from an aerosolgenerating material without combusting the aerosol-generating material, such as electronic cigarettes, tobacco heating products, and hybrid systems to generate aerosol using a combination of aerosol-generating materials; and aerosol-free delivery systems that deliver the at least one substance to a user orally, nasally, transdermally or in another way without forming an aerosol, including but not limited to, lozenges, gums, patches, articles comprising inhalable powders, and oral products such as oral tobacco which includes snus or moist snuff, wherein the at least one substance may or may not comprise nicotine.

[0059] According to the present disclosure, a “combustible” aerosol provision system is one where a constituent aerosol-generating material of the aerosol provision system (or component thereof) is combusted or burned during use in order to facilitate delivery of at least one substance to a user.

[0060] In some embodiments, the delivery system is a combustible aerosol provision system, such as a system selected from the group consisting of a cigarette, a cigarillo and a cigar.

[0061] In some embodiments, the disclosure relates to a component for use in a combustible aerosol provision system, such as a filter, a filter rod, a filter segment, a tobacco rod, a spill, an aerosol-modifying agent release component such as a capsule, a thread, or a bead, or a paper such as a plug wrap, a tipping paper or a cigarette paper.

[0062] According to the present disclosure, a “non-combustible” aerosol provision system is one where a constituent aerosol-generating material of the aerosol provision system (or component thereof) is not combusted or burned in order to facilitate delivery of at least one substance to a user.

[0063] In some embodiments, the delivery system is a non-combustible aerosol provision system, such as a powered non-combustible aerosol provision system.

[0064] In some embodiments, the non-combustible aerosol provision system is an electronic cigarette, also known as a vaping device or electronic nicotine delivery system (END), although it is noted that the presence of nicotine in the aerosol-generating material is not a requirement. In some embodiments, the non-combustible aerosol provision system is an aerosolgenerating material heating system, also known as a heat-not-burn system. An example of such a system is a tobacco heating system.

[0065] In some embodiments, the non-combustible aerosol provision system is a hybrid system to generate aerosol using a combination of aerosol-generating materials, one or a plurality of which may be heated. Each of the aerosol-generating materials may be, for example, in the form of a solid, liquid or gel and may or may not contain nicotine. In some embodiments, the hybrid system comprises a liquid or gel aerosol-generating material and a solid aerosol-generating material. The solid aerosol-generating material may comprise, for example, tobacco or a non-tobacco product.

[0066] Typically, the non-combustible aerosol provision system may comprise a non- combustible aerosol provision device and a consumable for use with the non-combustible aerosol provision device.

[0067] In some embodiments, the disclosure relates to consumables comprising aerosolgenerating material and configured to be used with non-combustible aerosol provision devices. These consumables are sometimes referred to as articles throughout the disclosure.

[0068] In some embodiments, the non-combustible aerosol provision system, such as a non- combustible aerosol provision device thereof, may comprise a power source and a controller. The power source may, for example, be an electric power source or an exothermic power source. In some embodiments, the exothermic power source comprises a carbon substrate which may be energised so as to distribute power in the form of heat to an aerosol-generating material or to a heat transfer material in proximity to the exothermic power source.

[0069] In some embodiments, the non-combustible aerosol provision system may comprise an area for receiving the consumable, an aerosol generator, an aerosol generation area, a housing, a mouthpiece, a filter and / or an aerosol-modifying agent.

[0070] In some embodiments, the consumable for use with the non-combustible aerosol provision device may comprise aerosol-generating material, an aerosol-generating material storage area, an aerosol-generating material transfer component, an aerosol generator, an aerosol generation area, a housing, a wrapper, a filter, a mouthpiece, and / or an aerosolmodifying agent.

[0071] In some embodiments, the delivery system is an aerosol-free delivery system that delivers at least one substance to a user orally, nasally, transdermally or in another way without forming an aerosol, including but not limited to, lozenges, gums, patches, articles comprising inhalable powders, and oral products such as oral tobacco which includes snus or moist snuff, wherein the at least one substance may or may not comprise nicotine.

[0072] In some embodiments, the substance to be delivered may be an aerosol-generating material or a material that is not intended to be aerosolised. As appropriate, either material may comprise one or more active constituents, one or more flavours, one or more aerosolformer materials, and / or one or more other functional materials.

[0073] In some embodiments, the substance to be delivered comprises an active substance. The active substance as used herein may be a physiologically active material, which is a material intended to achieve or enhance a physiological response. The active substance may for example be selected from nutraceuticals, nootropics, psychoactives. The active substance may be naturally occurring or synthetically obtained. The active substance may comprise for example nicotine, caffeine, taurine, theine, vitamins such as B6 or B12 or C, melatonin, cannabinoids, or constituents, derivatives, or combinations thereof. The active substance may comprise one or more constituents, derivatives or extracts of tobacco, cannabis or another botanical.

[0074] In some embodiments, the active substance comprises nicotine. In some embodiments, the active substance comprises caffeine, melatonin or vitamin B12.

[0075] As noted herein, the active substance may comprise one or more constituents, derivatives or extracts of cannabis, such as one or more cannabinoids or terpenes.

[0076] As noted herein, the active substance may comprise or be derived from one or more botanicals or constituents, derivatives or extracts thereof. As used herein, the term "botanical" includes any material derived from plants including, but not limited to, extracts, leaves, bark, fibres, stems, roots, seeds, flowers, fruits, pollen, husk, shells or the like. Alternatively, the material may comprise an active compound naturally existing in a botanical, obtained synthetically. The material may be in the form of liquid, gas, solid, powder, dust, crushed particles, granules, pellets, shreds, strips, sheets, or the like.

[0077] Example botanicals are tobacco, eucalyptus, star anise, hemp, cocoa, cannabis, fennel, lemongrass, peppermint, spearmint, rooibos, chamomile, flax, ginger, ginkgo biloba, hazel, hibiscus, laurel, licorice (liquorice), matcha, mate, orange skin, papaya, rose, sage, tea such as green tea or black tea, thyme, clove, cinnamon, coffee, aniseed (anise), basil, bay leaves, cardamom, coriander, cumin, nutmeg, oregano, paprika, rosemary, saffron, lavender, lemon peel, mint, juniper, elderflower, vanilla, Wintergreen, beefsteak plant, curcuma, turmeric, sandalwood, cilantro, bergamot, orange blossom, myrtle, cassis, valerian, pimento, mace, damien, marjoram, olive, lemon balm, lemon basil, chive, carvi, verbena, tarragon, geranium, mulberry, ginseng, theanine, theacrine, maca, ashwagandha, damiana, guarana, chlorophyll, baobab or any combination thereof. The mint may be chosen from the following mint varieties: Mentha Arventis, Mentha c.v., Mentha niliaca, Mentha piperita, Mentha piperita citrata c.v., Mentha piperita c.v, Mentha spicata crispa, Mentha cardifolia, Memtha longifolia, Mentha suaveolens variegata, Mentha pulegium, Mentha spicata c.v. and Mentha suaveolens.

[0078] In some embodiments, the active substance comprises or is derived from one or more botanicals or constituents, derivatives or extracts thereof and the botanical is tobacco. In some embodiments, the active substance comprises or derived from one or more botanicals or constituents, derivatives or extracts thereof and the botanical is selected from eucalyptus, star anise, cocoa and hemp.

[0079] In some embodiments, the active substance comprises or derived from one or more botanicals or constituents, derivatives or extracts thereof and the botanical is selected from rooibos and fennel.

[0080] In some embodiments, the substance to be delivered comprises a flavour. As used herein, the terms "flavour" and "flavourant" refer to materials which, where local regulations permit, may be used to create a desired taste, aroma or other somatosensorial sensation in a product for adult consumers. They may include naturally occurring flavour materials, botanicals, extracts of botanicals, synthetically obtained materials, or combinations thereof (e.g., tobacco, cannabis, licorice (liquorice), hydrangea, eugenol, Japanese white bark magnolia leaf, chamomile, fenugreek, clove, maple, matcha, menthol, Japanese mint, aniseed (anise), cinnamon, turmeric, Indian spices, Asian spices, herb, Wintergreen, cherry, berry, red berry, cranberry, peach, apple, orange, mango, clementine, lemon, lime, tropical fruit, papaya, rhubarb, grape, durian, dragon fruit, cucumber, blueberry, mulberry, citrus fruits, Drambuie, bourbon, scotch, whiskey, gin, tequila, rum, spearmint, peppermint, lavender, aloe vera, cardamom, celery, cascarilla, nutmeg, sandalwood, bergamot, geranium, khat, naswar, betel, shisha, pine, honey essence, rose oil, vanilla, lemon oil, orange oil, orange blossom, cherry blossom, cassia, caraway, cognac, jasmine, ylang-ylang, sage, fennel, wasabi, piment, ginger, coriander, coffee, hemp, a mint oil from any species of the genus Mentha, eucalyptus, star anise, cocoa, lemongrass, rooibos, flax, ginkgo biloba, hazel, hibiscus, laurel, mate, orange skin, rose, tea such as green tea or black tea, thyme, juniper, elderflower, basil, bay leaves, cumin, oregano, paprika, rosemary, saffron, lemon peel, mint, beefsteak plant, curcuma, cilantro, myrtle, cassis, valerian, pimento, mace, damien, marjoram, olive, lemon balm, lemon basil, chive, carvi, verbena, tarragon, limonene, thymol, camphene), flavour enhancers, bitterness receptor site blockers, sensorial receptor site activators or stimulators, sugars and / or sugar substitutes (e.g., sucralose, acesulfame potassium, aspartame, saccharine, cyclamates, lactose, sucrose, glucose, fructose, sorbitol, or mannitol), and other additives such as charcoal, chlorophyll, minerals, botanicals, or breath freshening agents. They may be imitation, synthetic or natural ingredients or blends thereof. They may be in any suitable form, for example, liquid such as an oil, solid such as a powder, or gas.

[0081] In some embodiments, the flavour comprises menthol, spearmint and / or peppermint. In some embodiments, the flavour comprises flavour components of cucumber, blueberry, citrus fruits and / or redberry. In some embodiments, the flavour comprises eugenol. In some embodiments, the flavour comprises flavour components extracted from tobacco. In some embodiments, the flavour comprises flavour components extracted from cannabis. In some embodiments, the flavour may comprise a sensate, which is intended to achieve a somatosensorial sensation which are usually chemically induced and perceived by the stimulation of the fifth cranial nerve (trigeminal nerve), in addition to or in place of aroma or taste nerves, and these may include agents providing heating, cooling, tingling, numbing effect. A suitable heat effect agent may be, but is not limited to, vanillyl ethyl ether and a suitable cooling agent may be, but not limited to eucolyptol, WS-3.

[0082] Aerosol-generating material is a material that is capable of generating aerosol, for example when heated, irradiated or energized in any other way. Aerosol-generating material may, for example, be in the form of a solid, liquid or gel which may or may not contain an active substance and / or flavourants. In some embodiments, the aerosol-generating material may comprise an “amorphous solid”, which may alternatively be referred to as a “monolithic solid” (i.e. non-fibrous). In some embodiments, the amorphous solid may be a dried gel. The amorphous solid is a solid material that may retain some fluid, such as liquid, within it. In some embodiments, the aerosol-generating material may for example comprise from about 50wt%, 60wt% or 70wt% of amorphous solid, to about 90wt%, 95wt% or 100wt% of amorphous solid.

[0083] The aerosol-generating material may comprise one or more active substances and / or flavours, one or more aerosol-former materials, and optionally one or more other functional material.

[0084] The aerosol-former material may comprise one or more constituents capable of forming an aerosol. In some embodiments, the aerosol-former material may comprise one or more of glycerol, propylene glycol, diethylene glycol, triethylene glycol, tetraethylene glycol, 1 ,3-butylene glycol, erythritol, meso- Erythritol, ethyl vanillate, ethyl laurate, a diethyl suberate, triethyl citrate, triacetin, a diacetin mixture, benzyl benzoate, benzyl phenyl acetate, tributyrin, lauryl acetate, lauric acid, myristic acid, and propylene carbonate.

[0085] The one or more other functional materials may comprise one or more of pH regulators, colouring agents, preservatives, binders, fillers, stabilizers, and / or antioxidants.

[0086] The material may be present on or in a support, to form a substrate. The support may, for example, be or comprise paper, card, paperboard, cardboard, reconstituted material, a plastics material, a ceramic material, a composite material, glass, a metal, or a metal alloy. In some embodiments, the support comprises a susceptor. In some embodiments, the susceptor is embedded within the material. In some alternative embodiments, the susceptor is on one or either side of the material.

[0087] A consumable is an article comprising or consisting of aerosol-generating material, part or all of which is intended to be consumed during use by a user. A consumable may comprise one or more other components, such as an aerosol-generating material storage area, an aerosol-generating material transfer component, an aerosol generation area, a housing, a wrapper, a mouthpiece, a filter and / or an aerosol-modifying agent. A consumable may also comprise an aerosol generator, such as a heater, that emits heat to cause the aerosolgenerating material to generate aerosol in use. The heater may, for example, comprise combustible material, a material heatable by electrical conduction, or a susceptor.

[0088] A susceptor is a material that is heatable by penetration with a varying magnetic field, such as an alternating magnetic field. The susceptor may be an electrically-conductive material, so that penetration thereof with a varying magnetic field causes induction heating of the heating material. The heating material may be magnetic material, so that penetration thereof with a varying magnetic field causes magnetic hysteresis heating of the heating material. The susceptor may be both electrically-conductive and magnetic, so that the susceptor is heatable by both heating mechanisms. The device that is configured to generate the varying magnetic field is referred to as a magnetic field generator, herein.

[0089] An aerosol-modifying agent is a substance, typically located downstream of the aerosol generation area, that is configured to modify the aerosol generated, for example by changing the taste, flavour, acidity or another characteristic of the aerosol. The aerosolmodifying agent may be provided in an aerosol-modifying agent release component, that is operable to selectively release the aerosol-modifying agent. The aerosol-modifying agent may, for example, be an additive or a sorbent. The aerosol-modifying agent may, for example, comprise one or more of a flavourant, a colourant, water, and a carbon adsorbent. The aerosolmodifying agent may, for example, be a solid, a liquid, or a gel. The aerosol-modifying agent may be in powder, thread or granule form. The aerosol-modifying agent may be free from filtration material.

[0090] An aerosol generator is an apparatus configured to cause aerosol to be generated from the aerosol-generating material. In some embodiments, the aerosol generator is a heater configured to subject the aerosol-generating material to heat energy, so as to release one or more volatiles from the aerosol-generating material to form an aerosol. In some embodiments, the aerosol generator is configured to cause an aerosol to be generated from the aerosolgenerating material without heating. For example, the aerosol generator may be configured to subject the aerosol-generating material to one or more of vibration, increased pressure, or electrostatic energy.

[0091] The present disclosure relates to aerosol delivery systems (which may also be referred to as vapour delivery systems) such as nebulisers or e-cigarettes. Throughout the following description the term "e-cigarette" or "electronic cigarette" may sometimes be used, but it will be appreciated this term may be used interchangeably with aerosol delivery system I device and electronic aerosol delivery system I device. Furthermore, and as is common in the technical field, the terms "aerosol" and "vapour", and related terms such as "vaporise", "volatilise" and "aerosolise", may generally be used interchangeably.

[0092] Aerosol delivery systems (e-cigarettes) often, though not always, comprise a modular assembly comprising a reusable device part and a replaceable (disposable / consumable) cartridge part. Often, the replaceable cartridge part will comprise the aerosol-generating material and the vaporiser (which may collectively be called a “cartomizer”) and the reusable device part will comprise the power provision (e.g. rechargeable power source) and control circuitry. It will be appreciated these different parts may comprise further elements depending on functionality. For example, the reusable device part will often comprise a user interface for receiving user input and displaying operating status characteristics, and the replaceable cartridge device part in some cases comprises a temperature sensor for helping to control temperature. Cartridges are electrically and mechanically coupled to the control unit for use, for example using a screw thread, bayonet, or magnetic coupling with appropriately arranged electrical contacts. When the aerosol-generating material in a cartridge is exhausted, or the user wishes to switch to a different cartridge having a different aerosol-generating material, the cartridge may be removed from the reusable part and a replacement cartridge attached in its place. Systems and devices conforming to this type of two-part modular configuration may generally be referred to as two-part systems / devices.

[0093] It is common for electronic cigarettes to have a generally elongate shape. For the sake of providing a concrete example, certain embodiments of the disclosure will be taken to comprise this kind of generally elongate two-part system employing disposable cartridges. However, it will be appreciated that the underlying principles described herein may equally be adopted for different configurations, for example single-part systems or modular systems comprising more than two parts, refillable devices and single-use disposables, as well as other overall shapes, for example based on so-called box-mod high performance devices that typically have a boxier shape. More generally, it will be appreciated certain embodiments of the disclosure are based on aerosol delivery systems which are operationally configured to provide functionality in accordance with the principles described herein and the constructional aspects of systems configured to provide the functionality in accordance with certain embodiments of the disclosure is not of primary significance.

[0094] As described in technical background, in traditional e-cigarette products, there is only one constant aerosol channel, which prevents the shape of the aerosol from changing significantly during the puffing process, and not all users are satisfied with a single straight aerosol flow, based on this, the present application puts forward an aerosol provision system that can change the flow pattern of the aerosol flow sprayed from the aerosol outlet.

[0095] Referring to Figure 1 , an example of a device 100 for generating an aerosol flow is shown. The device 100 may be an aerosol provision system. In general, the device 100 can be used to heat articles including an aerosolizable media to generate an aerosol inhaled by the user of the device 100. In the example of Figure 1 , the device 100 comprises a housing 101 and a mouthpiece 102, and the mouthpiece 102 has an aerosol outlet 103. The housing 101 is provided with an aerosol channel 104 in communication with the aerosol outlet 103, and the aerosol channel 104 is configured to guide an aerosol flow generated in an aerosol generating area A within the device 100 to the aerosol outlet 103 for spray. The present application is intended to dispose a flow regulating member in the aerosol channel 104 or at the aerosol outlet 103, to change the flow pattern of the aerosol flow after the aerosol flow passes through the flow regulating member, thereby changing the flow pattern of the aerosol flow sprayed from the aerosol outlet 103. It should be noted that Figure 1 only shows a schematic diagram of multiple components that may be included in the device 100, and is not intended to convey specific positions and fixed structural patterns of various components. For example, the housing 101 and the mouthpiece 102 may be detachably mounted to each other, or in an integrated structure, and there is no restriction on the specific structure of the housing 101 and the mouthpiece 102. It should also be understood that the device 100 may comprises other components not shown in Figure 1 , for example, the device 100 further comprises a power supply component, the housing 101 and the power supply component may be detachably or fixedly mounted to each other, and the device 100 further comprises components such as a control unit, a heating element in the aerosol generating area A, etc.

[0096] For ease of explanation, certain components of the aerosol provision system have been omitted in Figure 2, only the housing 101 and / or the mouthpiece 102 near the aerosol outlet 103 are illustrated, and the aerosol outlet 103 is the end near the user's mouth when inhaling aerosols as expected.

[0097] Example 1

[0098] This example demonstrates the structural form and functional effect of the flow regulating member through some illustrative ways, without specific restrictions on the flow regulating member, and is intended to change the flow pattern of the aerosol flow sprayed from the aerosol outlet 103.

[0099] In one implementation, the flow regulating member may be in the form of physical contact, such as in a form of a flow barrier exposed in the aerosol channel 104 or at the aerosol outlet 103, the flow barrier may be disposed in a cross-sectional direction of the aerosol channel 104 or at the aerosol outlet 103, or in a non-cross-sectional direction; meanwhile, it may be in contact with or fixed on an inner wall of the aerosol channel 104 or the aerosol outlet

[0100] 103 at one end, and be in contact or not in contact with the inner wall of the aerosol channel

[0101] 104 or the aerosol outlet 103 at the other end, and there is no specific restriction on the direction or the contact position of the flow barrier on the inner wall. In terms of quantity, there is no specific restriction on the flow barrier, only the flow barrier is spaced around the circumferential direction of the aerosol channel 104 or the aerosol outlet 103, and all ends of the flow barrier(s) may be in contact or non-contact with the inner wall of the aerosol channel 104 or the aerosol outlet 103. For example, as shown in Figure 2, a top view of a flow barrier form is shown, this flow barrier is a beam flow barrier 201 , located in the transverse direction of the aerosol outlet 103, and spans the aerosol outlet 103, and located on the center line of the aerosol outlet 103; further, as shown in Figure 3 and Figure 4, based on Figure 2 respectively, a stop block is disposed on the center of the beam flow barrier 201 , namely on the center of the aerosol outlet 103, the stop block in Figure 3 is a ball-shaped stop block 2011 , the stop block in Figure 4 is a drop-shaped stop block 2012, and the stop block may be in any shape, and there is no restriction on this.

[0102] As shown in Figure 5, a top view of a combined form of flow barrier is shown, which is composed of two protruding flow barriers 202 exposed at the aerosol outlet 103 and symmetrically disposed on two side walls of the aerosol outlet 103, with their ends not in contact with each other.

[0103] To illustrate the effect of the flow barrier on the pattern of the aerosol flow, in the same environment, the same heater, the same power mode, and the same device, aerosol flow spray experiments were conducted in conditions without flow barriers and with flow barriers in the form of those shown in Figure 2 to Figure 5, the sprayed aerosol flows were photographed, and the pattern of the aerosol flow was captured in a transparent box. Figure 6 shows the result of the aerosol flow without flow barriers, Figure 7 shows the result of the aerosol flow with the flow barrier in the form of Figure 2, Figure 8 shows the result of the aerosol flow with the flow barrier in the form of Figure 3, Figure 9 shows the result of the aerosol flow with the flow barrier in the form of Figure 4, Figure 10 shows the result of the aerosol flow with the flow barrier in the form of Figure 5, and it can be seen that the beam flow barrier 201 and the form of adding a stop block on it make the aerosol flow more separated compared with the aerosol flow without flow barriers in the prior art, while the aerosol flow when using the protruding flow barriers 202 is more focused, the results show that adding a flow barrier will bring significant changes to the aerosol flow, and then change the sensations, specifically, adding a beam flow barrier 201 or a similar form of flow barrier in the aerosol channel 104 or the aerosol outlet 103 will cause the aerosol flow to change from a stable laminar flow to turbulent flow, and after the aerosol flow flows out of the mouthpiece, it will be dispersed; adding two protruding flow barriers 202 on both sides of the beam flow barrier 201 will make the aerosol flow more focused and have a stronger impact on the mouth cavity.

[0104] In one implementation, the flow regulating member may also be in a non-physical contact form, such as another interference flow, the interference flow may be an airflow or another aerosol flow, specifically, as shown in Figure 11 , an aerosol branch channel 105 may be provided inside the housing, and the interference flow sprayed through the aerosol branch channel 105 may impact and interfere with the aerosol flow in the aerosol channel 104, which may change the flow pattern of the original aerosol flow. In one implementation, the flow regulating member may be a recessed structure arranged on the inner wall of the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet, the recessed structure has a concave surface in fluid communication with the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet, and when the aerosol flow passes through the recessed structure, the aerosol flow flows out after passing through the concave surface, there may be one or more concave surfaces in terms of quantity, and the concave surfaces may have the same shape, the aerosol flow increases in the diffusion area after it flows out of the concave surface(s), which can make the original aerosol flow more dispersed.

[0105] The flow barrier based on the form of physical contact mentioned above may be fixed or replaceable in the aerosol provision system, and to enable users to switch between different shapes of flow barriers in the same aerosol provision system and change the pattern of the aerosol flow sprayed from the aerosol outlet 103 in the same device 100 according to their own sensory preferences, providing multiple experiences, multiple methods for replacing the flow barrier are designed in the present application, which are explained in detail through the following examples 2 to 4.

[0106] Example 2

[0107] In this example, the flow barrier may be disposed on the mouthpiece 102, or may be directly disposed inside the housing 101 , and slide in in a sliding manner to expose in the aerosol channel 104 or at the aerosol outlet 103, or may hide in the mouthpiece 102 or the housing 101 , without changing the aerosol flow.

[0108] In one implementation, as shown in Figure 12, the housing 101 is provided with a hollow channel 1011 , the hollow channel 1011 is in fluid communication with the aerosol outlet 103 at one end thereof, the flow barrier 200 is arranged in the hollow channel 1011 , and the flow barrier 200 can slide along the hollow channel 1011 to extend and be exposed to the aerosol outlet 103, or entirely retract into the hollow channel 1011 to hide. Where, if the mouthpiece 102 and the housing 101 are of a detachable design, the hollow channel 1011 is provided in the mouthpiece 102.

[0109] The flow barrier 200 changes its shape at the aerosol outlet 103 by sliding out by different lengths at the aerosol outlet 103, for example, as shown in Figure 13, when flow barriers 200 on two sides of the hollow channel 1011 slide out but do not close and contact each other, protruding flow barriers 202 similar to that in Figure 5 are formed, similarly, as shown in Figure 14, when the flow barriers 200 on two sides of the hollow channel 1011 slide out and contact each other, a beam flow barrier 201 similar to that in Figure 2 is formed. Further, for the convenience of sliding operation, sliders 300 are provided at the other ends of the flow barriers 200, specifically, when the sliders 300 move upwards, the flow barriers 200 on both sides will also be pushed upwards, forming the situation shown in Figure 13; when the sliders 300 are located at the top limit, two ends of the flow barriers 200 on both sides are connected in the middle of the aerosol outlet 103, forming the situation shown in Figure 14.

[0110] To make the sliding operation smoother, the flow barrier 200 is a flexible element made of an elastic material or a wire harness, which can deform according to the shape of the hollow channel 1011 without being deformed by the flow, and the specific material may be aluminum alloy, titanium alloy, stainless steel, polypropylene, etc.

[0111] Example 3

[0112] In this example, the flow barrier is screwed in in a rotation manner to be exposed in the aerosol channel 104 or the aerosol outlet 103, or to screw out to be at least partially hidden outside the aerosol channel 104 or the aerosol outlet 103, that is, the shape of the flow barrier can be switched or the flow barrier can be hidden by rotation.

[0113] In one implementation, as shown in Figure 15, a rotating shaft 401 may be provided inside the housing 101 , and a rotating member such as a first rotating member 402 and a second rotating member 403 may be provided on the rotating shaft 401 , the same rotating member may be provided with a plurality of flow barriers of different shapes, such as a first flow barrier 4021 , a second flow barrier 4022, and a third flow barrier 4031 , each flow barrier may be exposed to the aerosol outlet 103 in a rotating manner around its respective rotating shaft 401. It should be noted that in the present application there is no restriction on the specific number of rotating members and flow barriers, and each rotating member has at least one flow barrier. Further, the rotating members may be coaxially arranged, that is, the first rotating member 402 and the second rotating member 403 may be arranged on the same rotating shaft 401 , or may be spaced along the circumferential direction of the aerosol outlet 103 and arranged on different rotating shafts 401 , for example, in the case of Figure 16, the same shaft may be provided with the first rotating member 402 and the second rotating member 403 vertically arranged, two groups of first rotating members 402 and second rotating members 403 may be symmetrically arranged about the aerosol outlet 103, the first rotating member 402 is provided with a first flow barrier 4021 and a second flow barrier 4022, and the second rotating member 403 is provided with a third flow barrier 4031 , that is, the flow barriers on the rotating members coaxially arranged have different shapes, and the flow barriers on different rotating members uncoaxially (not coaxially) arranged may have the same shape, provided according to requirements. In the first rotating member 402 and the second rotating member 403, in addition to both being able to drive the respective flow barriers in a rotating manner to be exposed in the aerosol outlet 103, one of them may also enable the flow barriers to be exposed in the aerosol outlet 103 in a manner of rotating and radially moving relative to the rotating shaft 401 , for example, the second rotating member 403 may drive the third flow barrier 4031 in a rotating manner to be exposed in the aerosol outlet 103, at the same time, the length of the third flow barrier 4031 exposed in the aerosol outlet 103 may be changed by radial movement, to achieve switching between different types of flow barriers. Further, in the arrangement of rotating members as shown in Figure 16, the two groups of rotating members on both sides of the aerosol outlet 103 may be disposed to rotate synchronously, and after rotating a specified angle, the shape of the flow barriers exposed in the aerosol outlet 103 is the same, for example, after the first rotating members 402 on both sides rotate synchronously for a certain angle, the first flow barriers 4021 are exposed in the aerosol outlet 103, forming the situation shown in Figure 5, with protruding flow barriers on the two sides, or after the second rotating members 403 rotate synchronously for a certain angle, the third flow barriers 4031 are exposed in the aerosol outlet 103, and the third flow barriers 4031 on both sides are in contact with each other at ends thereof to form a closed shape, forming the situation shown in Figure 2, with a beam flow barrier in the aerosol outlet 103. Similarly, the two groups of rotating members may also rotate non-synchronously, and the shape of the flow barriers exposed in the aerosol outlet 103 may also be different for each rotation of a certain angle.

[0114] In a specific implementation, as shown in Figure 17, the device 100 is configured that the housing 101 and the mouthpiece 102 are detachable, the rotating shaft 401 is connected to a driving gear 404, the housing 101 is provided with a transmission gear 405, and the driving gear 404 can rotate and mesh with the transmission gear 405, that is, the transmission gear 405 drives the driving gear 404 to rotate in a rotating manner, thereby driving the rotating shaft

[0115] 401 to rotate and driving the rotating member to rotate. In the present application, the mouthpiece 102 comprises a base 1021 and a mouthpiece cover 1022, the base 1021 is provided with an opening 1023, the transmission gear 405 passes through the opening 1023 to contact the driving gear 404, and a group of first rotating member 402 and second rotating member 403 are respectively provided on both sides of the opening 1023, and are mounted on their respective corresponding rotating shafts 401.

[0116] Specifically, as shown in Figure 18, when the housing 101 is used as the operating end and the housing 101 is rotated, the transmission gear 405 is rotated, thereby driving the driving gears 404 on both sides to rotate, finally rotating the rotating members on the rotating shafts 401 on both sides, driving the flow barriers to screw in and expose in the aerosol outlet 103. In the present application, every 180 degrees of rotation of the housing 101 may drive the flow barriers to screw in and expose in the aerosol outlet 103, or hide in the mouthpiece 102, specifically, in order to ensure that the flow barriers on both sides can be exposed or hidden for each 180 degrees of rotation of the housing 101 , as shown in Figure 19, it is necessary to arrange the center line of the first flow barrier 4021 in the first rotating member

[0117] 402 at a 120 degree angle to the center line of the third flow barrier 4031 in the second rotating member 403, at the same time, the second flow barrier 4022 may be aligned with the third flow barrier 4031 in the same coaxial direction, which can help calibrate the position of the third flow barrier 4031 , the initial position of the center line of the first flow barrier 4021 inside the mouthpiece 102 is arranged at a 120 degree angle to the centerline of the cross-section of the aerosol outlet 103, the transmission gear 405 is an incomplete gear, and when the incomplete gear rotates 180 degrees, the driving gears 404 on both sides are rotated by 120 degrees, therefore, it may achieve that for every 180 degrees of rotation of the housing, the aerosol outlet 103 may switch from no flow barrier to with the first flow barrier 4021 , from with the first flow barrier 4021 to with the third flow barrier 4031 , and from with the third flow barrier 4031 to a hidden flow barrier state.

[0118] Further, due to the limited space inside the mouthpiece 102, longer flow barriers may encounter space limitations during rotation, resulting in difficulties in smooth rotation, and to avoid space limitations, a reset element may be mounted on the flow barrier, which can radially move the flow barrier relative to the rotating shaft 401 , to prevent the flow barrier from contacting the inner wall of the mouthpiece 102 during rotation, for example, as shown in Figure 20, the second rotating member 403 is provided as a racetrack-shaped structure, with one end being the third flow barrier 4031 and the other end having a lug boss 4032 on the lower side, the inner wall of the elliptical ring structure is provided with a magnet 4033 at the end near the third flow barrier 4031 , the magnet 4033 is conventionally attracted to the rotating shaft 401 , as shown in Figure 21 , an arc-shaped step 1024 is provided inside the mouthpiece 102, during the rotation of the second rotating member 403, when rotating to the vertical direction relative to the mouthpiece 102, the lug boss 4032 comes into contact with the step 1024, as the rotation process progresses, the step 1024 forces the second rotating member 403 to move radially relative to the rotating shaft 401 , causing the magnet 4033 to move away from the rotating shaft 401 , as shown in Figure 22, when the third flow barriers 4031 on both sides are completely closed and in contact with each other at the aerosol outlet 103, the step 1024 completely forces the other end of the second rotating member 403 without the magnet 4033 to be at the rotating shaft 401 , in this way, it not only saves the radial length of the rotating member when rotating to the vertical direction of the mouthpiece 102, preventing it from touching the inner wall of the mouthpiece 102, but also allows the third flow barriers 4031 to have sufficient length at the aerosol outlet 103 when being rotated in place, enabling the third flow barriers 4031 on both sides to be closed to form a beam flow barrier.

[0119] It should be noted that although Figure 15 to Figure 22 in this example only demonstrate the rotation forms of the protruding flow barrier and the beam flow barrier, it is not limited to the switching between the protruding flow barrier, the beam flow barrier and the hidden state, and switching to any flow barrier form through rotation should be within the scope of protection of the present application.

[0120] Those skilled in the art can understand that respective modules in the system may be adaptively split or merged. Such splitting or merging of specific modules will not cause the technical solution to deviate from the principles of the present application, therefore, the technical solution after splitting or merging will fall within the scope of protection of the present application.

[0121] It should be understood that each part of the present application may be implemented by hardware, software, firmware or combinations thereof. In the above implementations, multiple steps or methods may be implemented with software or firmware stored in memory and executed by an appropriate instruction execution system. For example, if it is implemented by hardware, as in another implementation, it can be implemented by any one of the following technologies known in the art or combinations thereof: discrete logic circuits with logic gate circuits for implementing logic functions for data signal, special integrated circuits with appropriate combined logic gate circuits, programmable gate arrays (PGAs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), etc.

[0122] In the description of this specification, the referential terminology "an embodiment," "some embodiments," "example," "specific example," or "some examples" means that specific features, structures, materials, or characteristics described in connection with the embodiment or example are comprised in at least one embodiment or example of the present application. In this specification, the indicative expression of the above-mentioned terms does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or example. Furthermore, the described specific features, structures, materials, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable way in any one or more embodiments or examples.

[0123] Moreover, the terms "first," "second," etc., are used merely for descriptive purposes and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly specifying the quantity of the indicated technical features. Thus, the characteristics defined as "first," "second," etc., may explicitly or implicitly comprise at least one such characteristic. In the description of the present application, the term "multiple" means at least two, such as two, three, etc., unless otherwise specifically defined.

[0124] In the present application, unless explicitly defined and limited, terms such as "mounting," "connecting," "connection," "fixing," etc., should be understood broadly. For instance, the connection can be a fixed connection or a detachable connection, or integrated; it can be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it can be a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediary medium, it can be the internal communication of two components or the interaction between two components, unless explicitly defined otherwise. Those skilled in the art can understand the specific meanings of these terms in the context of the application based on the circumstances.

[0125] Although the embodiments of the application have been shown and described above, it should be understood that the above-described embodiments are exemplary and should not be considered as limiting the application. Those skilled in the art within the scope of the application can make variations, modifications, replacements, and variations to the above- described embodiments.

[0126] The present disclosure can be summarized in accordance with the following numbered clauses:

[0127] 1. An aerosol provision system, wherein the aerosol provision system comprises: a mouthpiece provided with an aerosol outlet; a housing, the housing being provided with an aerosol channel in fluid communication with the aerosol outlet, the aerosol channel being configured to guide an aerosol flow to the aerosol outlet for spray; and a flow regulating member arranged on the housing, the flow regulating member being configured to change the flow pattern of the aerosol flow after the aerosol flow passes therethrough, thereby changing the flow pattern of the aerosol flow sprayed from the aerosol outlet.

[0128] 2. The aerosol provision system according to clause 1 , wherein the flow regulating member acts on the aerosol flow in the aerosol channel or at the aerosol outlet in the form of non-physical contact when changing the flow pattern.

[0129] 3. The aerosol provision system according to clause 1 or 2, wherein the flow regulating member is configured to be capable of emitting an interference flow, which acts on the aerosol flow in the aerosol channel or at the aerosol outlet when changing the flow pattern.

[0130] 4. The aerosol provision system according to clause 3, wherein the interference flow is an airflow.

[0131] 5. The aerosol provision system according to clause 3, wherein the housing is provided with an aerosol branch channel, and the interference flow is another stream of aerosol flow passing through the aerosol branch channel.

[0132] 6. The aerosol provision system according to clause 1 , wherein the flow regulating member is configured as a recessed structure arranged on an inner wall of the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet, the recessed structure has a concave surface in fluid communication with the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet, and when the aerosol flow passes through the recessed structure, the aerosol flow is configured to flow out after passing through the concave surface.

[0133] 7. The aerosol provision system according to clause 6, wherein there are at least two recessed structures spaced in the circumferential direction of the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet.

[0134] 8. The aerosol provision system according to clause 7, wherein all of the recessed structures have the same shape.

[0135] 9. The aerosol provision system according to clause 1 , wherein the flow regulating member acts on the aerosol flow in the aerosol channel or at the aerosol outlet in the form of physical contact when changing the flow pattern. 10. The aerosol provision system according to clause 9, wherein in a cross-sectional direction of the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet, the flow regulating member has a transverse length that can be exposed in the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet, and the transverse length forms a flow barrier to change the flow pattern.

[0136] 11. The aerosol provision system according to clause 10, wherein the flow barrier is in contact with or fixed to the inner wall of the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet at two ends of the transverse length, respectively.

[0137] 12. The aerosol provision system according to clause 10, wherein the flow barrier protrudes transversely from one side of the inner wall of the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet.

[0138] 13. The aerosol provision system according to clause 10, wherein the flow barrier is configured to extend from one side of the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet towards the other side in the transverse direction.

[0139] 14. The aerosol provision system according to clause 10, wherein the flow barrier is configured to extend from one side of the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet to the other side in the transverse direction.

[0140] 15. The aerosol provision system according to clause 10, wherein the flow barrier protrudes towards a center position from the inner wall of the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet.

[0141] 16. The aerosol provision system according to clause 10, wherein the flow barrier protrudes towards the center of the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet in the transverse direction.

[0142] 17. The aerosol provision system according to clause 10, wherein the flow barrier is arranged on the center line of the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet.

[0143] 18. The aerosol provision system according to clause 10, wherein the flow barrier is provided with a stop block with a preset shape, and the stop block is configured to create a predetermined interference with the flow pattern of the aerosol flow passing by.

[0144] 19. The aerosol provision system according to clause 18, wherein the stop block is arranged on the center line of the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet.

[0145] 20. The aerosol provision system according to any one of clauses 10 to 19, wherein there are at least two flow barriers spaced around the circumferential direction of the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet.

[0146] 21 . The aerosol provision system according to clause 20, wherein the at least two flow barriers are not in contact and have gaps between their ends that extend transversely.

[0147] 22. The aerosol provision system according to clause 20, wherein the at least two flow barriers are in contact along their ends that extend transversely.

[0148] 23. The aerosol provision system according to any one of clauses 10 to 19, wherein the flow barrier and the housing are configured to be able to move relative to each other, so that the flow barrier moves relative to the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet to be exposed in the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet, or at least partially hidden outside the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet.

[0149] 24. The aerosol provision system according to clause 23, wherein the flow regulating member further comprises a driving element connected to the flow barrier and an operation end for user operation, and is configured such that operation of the operation end by a user drives the driving element to drive the movement of the flow barrier.

[0150] 25. The aerosol provision system according to clause 24, wherein the operation end is arranged on a surface of the housing, and is configured to drive the movement of the driving element and the flow barrier through mechanism motion.

[0151] 26. The aerosol provision system according to clause 24, wherein the operation end is arranged on a surface of the housing, and is configured as a controller to drive the movement of the driving element and the flow barrier through an electrical signal.

[0152] 27. The aerosol provision system according to any one of clauses 24 to 26, wherein the flow barrier is configured to slide in in a sliding manner to be exposed in the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet, or to slide out to be at least partially hidden outside the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet.

[0153] 28. The aerosol provision system according to clause 27, wherein the housing is provided with a hollow channel, the hollow channel is in fluid communication with the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet at one end thereof, the flow barrier is arranged in the hollow channel, and the flow barrier can slide along the hollow channel to extend and be exposed to the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet, or retract into the hollow channel.

[0154] 29. The aerosol provision system according to clause 28, wherein the flow barrier is a flexible element made of an elastic material or a wire harness.

[0155] 30. The aerosol provision system according to any one of clauses 24 to 26, wherein the flow barrier is configured to screw in in a rotation manner to be exposed in the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet, or to screw out to be at least partially hidden outside the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet.

[0156] 31. The aerosol provision system according to clause 30, wherein the flow regulating member comprises a rotating shaft and a plurality of said flow barriers, and the plurality of said flow barriers can be screwed in a manner rotating around the rotating shaft to be alternately exposed in the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet.

[0157] 32. The aerosol provision system according to clause 31 , wherein the flow regulating member comprises a rotating member, the rotating member is provided with a plurality of said flow barriers with different shapes, and the rotating member is configured to drive the flow barriers in a rotation manner to alternately expose in the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet. 33. The aerosol provision system according to clause 31 , wherein the flow regulating member comprises at least two rotating members, each of the rotating members is provided with at least one said flow barrier, and the at least two rotating members are configured to drive the flow barriers to expose in the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet.

[0158] 34. The aerosol provision system according to clause 33, wherein the at least two rotating members are arranged coaxially; and / or, the at least two rotating members are spaced in the circumferential direction of the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet.

[0159] 35. The aerosol provision system according to clause 34, wherein the flow barriers on the at least two rotating members arranged coaxially have different shapes; and / or, the flow barriers on the at least two rotating members arranged circumferentially have the same shape.

[0160] 36. The aerosol provision system according to any one of clauses 33 to 35, wherein at least one of the at least two rotating members drives the flow barriers in a rotation manner to expose in the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet.

[0161] 37. The aerosol provision system according to any one of clauses 33 to 35, wherein at least one of the at least two rotating members causes the flow barriers in a manner of rotating and moving radially relative to the rotating axis to expose in the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet.

[0162] 38. The aerosol provision system according to any one of clauses 33 to 35, wherein the at least two rotating members are spaced in the circumferential direction of the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet, and are configured to rotate synchronously at a specified angle and to expose the flow barriers with the same shape in the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet.

[0163] 39. The aerosol provision system according to any one of clauses 33 to 35, wherein the at least two rotating members are spaced in the circumferential direction of the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet, and are configured to rotate asynchronously, and rotate at at least one specified angle to expose the flow barriers with different shapes in the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet.

[0164] 40. The aerosol provision system according to clause 31 , wherein the plurality of said flow barriers is provided in accordance with the flow barrier according to any one of clauses 12 to 19.

[0165] 41 . The aerosol provision system according to clause 24, wherein the operation end is configured as the housing, and the housing is configured to drive the driving element in a rotation manner to rotate the rotating shaft, to drive the flow barrier to screw in and expose in the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet. 42. The aerosol provision system according to clause 41 , wherein the housing is configured to drive the flow barrier to screw in and expose in the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet, or to hide outside the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet, in every 180 degrees of rotation. 43. The aerosol provision system according to clause 1 , wherein the mouthpiece and the housing are detachably mounted to each other, the aerosol outlets of different mouthpieces are mounted with flow regulating members with different shapes, and the flow regulating member is replaced by replacing a mouthpiece combined with the housing.

[0166] 44. The aerosol provision system according to clause 1 , wherein the mouthpiece and the housing are detachably mounted to each other, or formed into an integral structure.

Claims

Claims1. An aerosol provision system, wherein the aerosol provision system comprises: a mouthpiece provided with an aerosol outlet; a housing, the housing being provided with an aerosol channel in fluid communication with the aerosol outlet, the aerosol channel being configured to guide an aerosol flow to the aerosol outlet for spray; and a flow regulating member arranged on the housing, the flow regulating member being configured to change the flow pattern of the aerosol flow after the aerosol flow passes therethrough, thereby changing the flow pattern of the aerosol flow sprayed from the aerosol outlet.

2. The aerosol provision system according to claim 1 , wherein the flow regulating member acts on the aerosol flow in the aerosol channel or at the aerosol outlet in the form of non-physical contact when changing the flow pattern.

3. The aerosol provision system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the flow regulating member is configured to be capable of emitting an interference flow, which acts on the aerosol flow in the aerosol channel or at the aerosol outlet when changing the flow pattern.

4. The aerosol provision system according to claim 1 , wherein the flow regulating member is configured as a recessed structure arranged on an inner wall of the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet, the recessed structure has a concave surface in fluid communication with the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet, and when the aerosol flow passes through the recessed structure, the aerosol flow is configured to flow out after passing through the concave surface.

5. The aerosol provision system according to claim 4, wherein there are at least two recessed structures spaced in the circumferential direction of the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet.

6. The aerosol provision system according to claim 1 , wherein the flow regulating member acts on the aerosol flow in the aerosol channel or at the aerosol outlet in the form of physical contact when changing the flow pattern.

7. The aerosol provision system according to claim 6, wherein in a cross-sectional direction of the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet, the flow regulating member has atransverse length that can be exposed in the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet, and the transverse length forms a flow barrier to change the flow pattern.

8. The aerosol provision system according to claim 7, wherein the flow barrier is in contact with or fixed to the inner wall of the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet at two ends of the transverse length, respectively.

9. The aerosol provision system according to claim 7, wherein either: the flow barrier protrudes transversely from one side of the inner wall of the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet; the flow barrier is configured to extend from one side of the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet towards the other side in the transverse direction; the flow barrier is configured to extend from one side of the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet to the other side in the transverse direction; the flow barrier protrudes towards a center position from the inner wall of the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet; the flow barrier protrudes towards the center of the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet in the transverse direction; the flow barrier is arranged on the center line of the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet; or the flow barrier is provided with a stop block with a preset shape, and the stop block is configured to create a predetermined interference with the flow pattern of the aerosol flow passing by.

10. The aerosol provision system according to any one of claims 7 to 9, wherein there are at least two flow barriers spaced around the circumferential direction of the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet.

11. The aerosol provision system according to claim 10, wherein the at least two flow barriers are not in contact and have gaps between their ends that extend transversely, or wherein the at least two flow barriers are in contact along their ends that extend transversely.

12. The aerosol provision system according to any one of claims 7 to 9, wherein the flow barrier and the housing are configured to be able to move relative to each other, so that the flow barrier moves relative to the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet to be exposed in the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet, or at least partially hidden outside the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet.

13. The aerosol provision system according to claim 12, wherein the flow regulating member further comprises a driving element connected to the flow barrier and an operation end for user operation, and is configured such that operation of the operation end by a user drives the driving element to drive the movement of the flow barrier.

14. The aerosol provision system according to claim 13, wherein the operation end is arranged on a surface of the housing, and is configured to drive the movement of the driving element and the flow barrier through mechanism motion; or wherein the operation end is arranged on a surface of the housing, and is configured as a controller to drive the movement of the driving element and the flow barrier through an electrical signal.

15. The aerosol provision system according to any one of claims 13 to 14, wherein the flow barrier is configured to slide in in a sliding manner to be exposed in the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet, or to slide out to be at least partially hidden outside the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet.

16. The aerosol provision system according to claim 15, wherein the housing is provided with a hollow channel, the hollow channel is in fluid communication with the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet at one end thereof, the flow barrier is arranged in the hollow channel, and the flow barrier can slide along the hollow channel to extend and be exposed to the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet, or retract into the hollow channel.

17. The aerosol provision system according to any one of claims 13 to 14, wherein the flow barrier is configured to screw in in a rotation manner to be exposed in the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet, or to screw out to be at least partially hidden outside the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet.

18. The aerosol provision system according to claim 17, wherein the flow regulating member comprises a rotating shaft and a plurality of said flow barriers, and the plurality of said flow barriers can be screwed in a manner rotating around the rotating shaft to be alternately exposed in the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet.

19. The aerosol provision system according to claim 18, wherein the flow regulating member comprises a rotating member, the rotating member is provided with a plurality of said flow barriers with different shapes, and the rotating member is configured to drive the flow barriers in a rotation manner to alternately expose in the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet.

20. The aerosol provision system according to claim 18, wherein the flow regulating member comprises at least two rotating members, each of the rotating members is provided with at least one said flow barrier, and the at least two rotating members are configured to drive the flow barriers to expose in the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet.

21. The aerosol provision system according to claim 20, wherein the at least two rotating members are arranged coaxially; and / or, the at least two rotating members are spaced in the circumferential direction of the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet.

22. The aerosol provision system according to any one of claims 20 to 21 , wherein either: at least one of the at least two rotating members drives the flow barriers in a rotation manner to expose in the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet; at least one of the at least two rotating members causes the flow barriers in a manner of rotating and moving radially relative to the rotating axis to expose in the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet; the at least two rotating members are spaced in the circumferential direction of the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet, and are configured to rotate synchronously at a specified angle and to expose the flow barriers with the same shape in the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet; and the at least two rotating members are spaced in the circumferential direction of the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet, and are configured to rotate asynchronously, and rotate at at least one specified angle to expose the flow barriers with different shapes in the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet.

23. The aerosol provision system according to claim 18, wherein the plurality of said flow barriers is provided in accordance with the flow barrier according to claim 9.

24. The aerosol provision system according to claim 13, wherein the operation end is configured as the housing, and the housing is configured to drive the driving element in a rotation manner to rotate the rotating shaft, to drive the flow barrier to screw in and expose in the aerosol channel or the aerosol outlet.

25. The aerosol provision system according to claim 1 , wherein the mouthpiece and the housing are detachably mounted to each other, the aerosol outlets of different mouthpiecesare mounted with flow regulating members with different shapes, and the flow regulating member is replaced by replacing a mouthpiece combined with the housing.

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