Smoking Device Recirculation Channels Flame Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional smoking devices produce excessive heat and insufficient smoke when fuel ignites in a flame, leading to uneven heat distribution and reduced smoking time.
Innovation Solution
A smoking device with a combustion cavity and recirculation channels that regulate air intake to prevent flame formation, allowing for controlled combustion without flames, maintaining a smoking burn with reduced air flow when a flame forms, and using partitions to separate the combustion cavity into zones for extended smoke production.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If air intake is increased to maintain combustion, then combustion efficiency is improved, but flame formation occurs causing excessive heat and reduced smoke production
Solution Approach 1:
The air intake system is segmented into multiple channels (first air intake channel, second air intake channel, third air intake channel) with different flow rates. This segmentation allows precise control of oxygen supply to maintain smoking combustion without flame formation, resolving the contradiction between sufficient combustion and excessive temperature
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the air flow rate parameters in the three channels to achieve optimal combustion conditions. By adjusting the relative flow rates (with the second channel having the highest flow rate and the third channel having the lowest), the system maintains smoking combustion at controlled temperatures while maximizing smoke production
2Productivity
If combustion temperature is increased to improve cooking speed, then productivity is improved, but smoke production decreases and heat distribution becomes uneven
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs periodic ignition and extinction of flames through controlled air supply. The combustion process alternates between smoking combustion (no flame) and brief ignition periods, creating a periodic action that maintains high smoke production while achieving adequate cooking speed through cumulative heat effect
Solution Approach 2:
The recirculation channel continuously recycles smoke and hot gases back to the combustion zone, maintaining continuous useful action. This ensures sustained smoke production and even heat distribution over time, improving both productivity and smoke quantity without requiring consistently high temperatures
3Duration of action of stationary object
If air flow is increased to maintain smoking burn, then combustion stability is improved, but flame formation occurs reducing smoking time
Solution Approach 1:
The recirculation channel creates a feedback mechanism where combustion products are continuously returned to the combustion zone. This feedback stabilizes the smoking burn by maintaining consistent temperature and smoke concentration, extending smoking duration while preventing premature flame formation through controlled oxygen supply in the three channels
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 enables cooking at lower temperatures for longer durations with even heat distribution and increased smoke production, ensuring uniform heat release over an extended period.
Implementation Method 1
directing a convection flow from the flame along walls and within the combustion cavity to (i) a first recirculation channel open to an upper side of the combustion cavity and (i) a second recirculation channel open to an upper side of the combustion cavity
Implementation Method 2
combusting a fuel within a combustion cavity of a smoking device while receiving a lower flow of air from a lower inlet and an upper flow of air from an upper inlet
Data Source
AI summary
A smoking device can include one or more walls defining, at least in part, a combustion cavity, a lower inlet connecting the combustion cavity to an air source, a first flange defining, at least in part, a first recirculation channel open to an upper side of the combustion cavity, a second flange defining, at least in part, a second recirculation channel open to the upper side of the combustion cavity, and an upper inlet connecting the upper side of the combustion cavity to the air source and disposed between the first recirculation channel and the second recirculation channel. While a flame is generated within the combustion cavity, a convection flow from the flame can be directed to the first recirculation channel and the second recirculation channel and past the upper inlet to reduce the upper flow of air from the upper inlet until the flame is reduced.