Rotatable Collar Ventilation Control for E-Cigarette Airflow
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Electronic vapor provision systems, such as e-cigarettes, lack an effective airflow control mechanism that allows users to easily adjust draw resistance and ventilation, affecting the ease of use and reliability.
Innovation Solution
The system incorporates a collar with multiple notches and a shaft having corresponding openings, allowing for variable ventilation control by rotating the collar to align or misalign air inlet holes, which alters airflow past the vaporizer, and a mechanism for positive engagement at predetermined positions to maintain selected ventilation levels.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If air inlet holes are provided away from the mouthpiece for vaporization, then vapor generation is enabled, but airflow control and draw resistance adjustment become difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The collar is made rotatable relative to the housing, allowing dynamic adjustment of the air inlet hole openings. This enables the user to change airflow control settings by rotating the collar to different angular positions, providing variable draw resistance while maintaining reliable vapor generation through the vaporizer.
Solution Approach 2:
The air inlet holes are segmented into multiple discrete openings arranged around the circumference of the collar. This segmentation allows selective opening and closing of individual holes through collar rotation, enabling fine-grained control over airflow and draw resistance adjustment.
2Ease of operation
If variable ventilation control is added to adjust draw resistance, then ease of use is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The rotatable collar serves multiple functions: it acts as a structural component of the housing, a control element for airflow adjustment, and a user interface for setting draw resistance. By making the collar multi-functional, the patent reduces overall device complexity while still providing variable ventilation control.
Solution Approach 2:
The collar is designed to be rotatable by the user without requiring additional actuators or complex control systems. The user directly manipulates the collar to adjust airflow, making the control mechanism self-service and simple, thereby improving ease of use without significantly increasing device complexity.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple air inlet holes are provided for ventilation control, then airflow variability is enabled, but manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
Rather than requiring precise fixed positioning of multiple air inlet holes, the patent uses a dynamic collar that can be rotated to different angular positions. This dynamic approach allows the same set of holes to provide variable airflow control through rotation, reducing the manufacturing precision requirements for hole alignment while still enabling airflow variability.
Solution Approach 2:
The collar features asymmetric positioning of engagement features (such as protrusions or recesses) that create distinct angular positions for the air inlet holes. This asymmetry allows the collar to be rotated to specific positions for different airflow rates, enabling airflow variability without requiring each hole to be precisely manufactured at fixed locations.
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
This solution provides users with adjustable draw resistance and airflow control, enhancing the ease of use and personalization of the vaping experience while maintaining consistent operating parameters.
Implementation Method 1
a heater is activated to vaporise a small amount of liquid
Implementation Method 2
a heater is activated to vaporise a small amount of liquid
Implementation Method 3
When a user sucks on the mouthpiece, air is drawn in through the inlet holes
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
Figure 5
AI summary
An electronic vapour provision system comprises a housing, a vapouriser contained within the housing, and a mouthpiece at one end of said system. The mouthpiece provides an air outlet. At least one air inlet hole is provided in a portion of the housing. In response to a user inhalation at the mouthpiece, air flows into the system through the one or more air inlet holes, past the vapouriser, and out through the mouthpiece. The system further includes a collar located around the portion of the housing in which the one or more air inlet holes are provided. The collar is movable with respect to the housing. The system further includes a mechanism for positively engaging the collar and the housing at a plurality of predetermined positions as the collar is moved with respect to the housing. Different ones of said plurality of predetermined positions result in different degrees of alignment between the one or more air inlet holes of the housing and the collar, thereby providing different levels of ventilation into the system.