Battery Connector Flange Channels for Side Air Intake Compatibility
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electronic cigarette designs with tip-intake air flow face issues of sensor clogging and inconsistent airflow due to vapor condensation, making it difficult to transition to side-intake designs without redesigning the entire device and compromising compatibility and manufacturing ease.
Innovation Solution
A battery connector design that allows side air intake without modifying the female Cartomizer connector, utilizing a modified male Battery connector with strategically cut notches and channels for efficient airflow, ensuring compatibility with both tip-intake and side-intake types and reducing noise.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If tip-intake air flow design is used, then air can enter through the tip and pass through the battery and cartomizer, but the sensor becomes clogged due to vapor condensation and excess liquid flow
Solution Approach 1:
The air intake function is segmented from the tip location to the side location on the battery connector. The side intake creates a separate air entry point that bypasses the sensor location, preventing vapor and liquid from reaching the sensor while still providing adequate airflow to the cartomizer.
Solution Approach 2:
The air intake opening is extracted from the tip area and relocated to the side of the battery connector. This extraction removes the harmful pathway that allowed vapor and liquid to reach the sensor, while the air intake function itself is preserved at the new location.
2Reliability
If side-intake design is implemented, then sensor clogging is prevented, but the entire device must be redesigned and compatibility with existing cartomizers is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The battery connector is designed with universal compatibility features that allow it to work with both traditional tip-intake cartomizers and the new side-intake configuration. The side intake openings on the battery connector provide airflow functionality without requiring corresponding modifications to the cartomizer, enabling the same battery to work with multiple cartomizer types.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of modifying the cartomizer to enable side intake (which would require female threaded portion modifications), the invention inverts the approach by implementing side intake features on the male battery connector. This reversal allows the battery to provide the side intake function independently, maintaining compatibility with unmodified cartomizers.
3Reliability
If side air intake is implemented through modified male connector, then manufacturing complexity increases, but mass production ease is maintained through strategic notch and channel cuts
Solution Approach 1:
The air channels and notches are pre-formed as integral features of the male battery connector during the molding or fabrication process. This preliminary incorporation of airflow pathways eliminates the need for post-assembly modifications or separate components, simplifying the overall manufacturing process while ensuring consistent airflow characteristics.
Solution Approach 2:
The connector is designed with localized notches and channels at specific strategic positions to create the side intake airflow pattern. Rather than redesigning the entire connector structure, only specific local areas are modified with air passages, maintaining the overall connector design while achieving the desired airflow characteristics for consistent performance.
Data Source
AI summary
The method includes first defining a longitudinal channel in a major body, the major body including a first portion, a second portion and a flange, the flange being located between the first portion and the second portion, the longitudinal channel traversing through a longitudinal length of the major body from the first portion through the second portion, the first portion including a shaft, and second defining a first side end of the flange, the first side end at least partially defining a first segment of at least one first airflow inlet, the first segment being in communication with the longitudinal channel.