Atomizer Wire Winding for Aerosol Delivery Manufacturing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing aerosol delivery devices, such as electronic cigarettes, face challenges in replicating the sensations of traditional smoking without significant combustion, incomplete combustion products, and inefficient manufacturing processes for atomizers.
Innovation Solution
The development of aerosol delivery devices that utilize a wire continuously wound about a liquid transport element to form heating elements with varying pitches, creating a heating element comprising coils that extend along the device's length, allowing for efficient heat production and aerosol formation without combustion, and a method for producing atomizers that simplifies manufacturing by continuous wire extension and cutting.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If traditional discrete wire winding methods are used for atomizer production, then manufacturing precision can be maintained, but device complexity and manufacturing time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements continuous wire winding to form heating elements, eliminating the need for discrete stopping and starting of the winding process. This continuous action allows the wire to be wound around the liquid transport element in one uninterrupted motion, then the entire assembly is cut into multiple atomizers simultaneously, dramatically increasing production speed while maintaining consistent heating element geometry across all units.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a single long wire assembly that can be divided into multiple individual atomizers through cutting. This segmentation approach allows one continuous manufacturing process to produce multiple discrete heating elements, improving productivity while maintaining manufacturing precision through consistent wire tension and spacing throughout the entire winding process.
2Productivity
If wire is continuously wound about liquid transport element, then manufacturing efficiency improves, but heat distribution uniformity may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs varying wire winding pitches along the length of the heating element. The wire is wound more densely in certain regions and more sparsely in others, creating localized variations in heating characteristics. This allows different sections of the atomizer to be optimized for their specific functions, maintaining uniform heat distribution across the entire heating element despite the continuous winding process.
3Object-generated harmful factors
If combustion is eliminated in favor of electrical heating, then harmful combustion products are reduced, but energy efficiency may decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses electrical heating elements to vaporize the liquid aerosol-forming composition rather than combusting it. The heating elements raise the temperature of the liquid to its vaporization point, creating an inhalable aerosol through phase transition from liquid to vapor. This process eliminates harmful combustion products while maintaining energy efficiency by directly converting electrical energy to thermal energy for vaporization.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
These devices effectively produce inhalable aerosols without combustion, providing a smoking experience similar to traditional smoking while reducing manufacturing complexity and costs through continuous wire winding and efficient heat distribution.
Implementation Method 1
a wire continuously extending along a longitudinal length of the liquid transport element and defining a plurality of heating elements. The heating elements may respectively comprise a plurality of coils of the wire
Implementation Method 2
configured to heat a material, which may be made or derived from tobacco or otherwise incorporate tobacco, to form an inhalable substance for human consumption
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure relates to atomizers for an aerosol delivery device such as a smoking article. The atomizer may include a liquid transport element and a wire continuously extending along a longitudinal length thereof. The wire may define end portions, contact portions, and a heating portion. The wire may be continuously wound about the liquid transport element such that each of the portions of the wire defines coils. A related input, cartridge, and method of forming atomizers also provided.