An aerosol electronic cigarette

[0001] The present invention relates to an electronic cigarette, in particular an electronic atomizing cigarette, which contains only tar-free nicotine.

Background Art [0002] Although it is well known that "smoking is injurious to health", the number of smokers in the world reaches 1 billion and this number increases every year. On March 1, 2003, the World Health Organization (WHO) concluded the Worldwide Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. According to WHO statistics, about 4.9 million people die from smoking-related illnesses every year. Although smoking can cause serious respiratory diseases and cancer, it is still extremely difficult for smokers to quit smoking completely.

[0003] The active ingredient in the cigarette is nicotine. During smoking, nicotine, along with a large amount of tar droplets in the aerosol generated when the cigarette is burning, enters the smoker's alveoli, where it is rapidly absorbed. When it enters the smoker's blood, nicotine exerts its effect on the receptors of the smoker's central nervous system, causing his relaxation and intoxication similar to the condition after taking laughing agents.

[0004] Nicotine is a type of low molecular weight alkaloid, with a low dose of nicotine being essentially harmless to the human body and its half-life in blood being quite short. The main harmful substance in tobacco is tar, with tar in tobacco containing thousands of ingredients, of which tens are carcinogenic. It has now been proven that the so-called passive smoking by non-smokers.

[0005] Cigarette substitutes have already been proposed that contain only tar-free nicotine, and many of them such as "nicotine patch", "nicotine mouth fluid", "spray agent packaged in a high pressure gas container with ejection agent", "nicotine chewing gum "," nicotine drink ", is made from pure nicotine. Although these cigarette substitutes are tar-free, their main disadvantage is that no effective peak concentration in the smoker's blood can be achieved due to the slow absorption of nicotine, so the smoker cannot achieve complete satisfaction. In addition, these cigarette substitutes do not provide the habitual activities of the smoker, for example puffing or suctioning, so they are unlikely to be widely accepted as effective substitutes for cigarettes when quitting or replacing them with substitutes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0006] The object of the present invention, to overcome the abovementioned disadvantages, is to provide an electronic aerosol cigarette that functions as a substitute for smoking cessation or substitution.

[0007] The object of the present invention has been achieved by the following technical solution.

[0008] The present invention comprises a hard shield, mouthpiece, air inlet placed in the outer wall of the shield, electronic circuit board, chamber with normal pressure, sensor, steam and liquid distributor, atomizer, bottle with liquid supply longitudinally placed in the shield, flow passage ensured on one side of the sensor, the vacuum chamber located in the sensor, the atomization chamber located in the atomizer, retaining ring for blocking the bottle with liquid supply located on one side of the bottle with liquid supply between this bottle and the cover, aerosol passage provided on the other side of the bottle with liquid supply, the circuit board with electronic circuit including electronic switching circuit and high frequency generator, bottle with liquid supply is in contact with the atomizer and the air inlet, chamber with normal pressure, steam and liquid distributor, atomizer, Aerosol passage, gas outlet and mouthpiece are connected in series. At the front end, inside the cover, there are LED (light diode) and battery, together forming a whole like a cigarette, cigar or pipe holder.

[0009] In addition, a display screen has been placed on the inner wall of the casing, and a micro switch for manual cleaning is connected in parallel with the sensor inside the casing. A pleated membrane is located between the sensor and the vacuum chamber inside the cover. Inside the sensor there is a Reed switch between the first magnetic plate and the second magnetic plate, with the second magnetic plate attached to the creased membrane. The sensor has a check valve made of silicone gel, and a third magnetic plate is connected to this valve. The Reed switch is located outside the valve, on the proximal side of this magnetic plate. A through hole is made in the steam and liquid distributor, and a silicon gel check valve covers this through hole in the steam and liquid distributor. There is an overflow hole in the wall of the atomization chamber. There is a heating element inside the atomization chamber. A porous body is located outside the wall of the atomization chamber. On one side of the atomizer is the first piezoelectric element, and on the other side there is a convexity, with a second piezoelectric element placed in the atomizer. The porous body in the atomizer can be made of foam nickel, felt made of stainless steel fibers, high molecular polymer foam and ceramic foam. The heating element can be made of platinum wire, nickel chromium alloy or rare-earth doped iron, chromium and aluminum alloy wire, or it can be made in the form of a sheet of conductive ceramics or PTC ceramics. The wall of the atomization chamber can be made of aluminum oxide or ceramics. The steam and liquid distributor can be made of plastic or silicone rubber. The porous body for holding the solution is placed in a bottle with a supply of liquid and may contain polypropylene, terylene or nylon fibers or contain foam-shaped plastics. Alternatively, it may be in the form of a column with laminated layers of polyvinyl chloride, polypropylene, polycarbonate. The Reed switch, the first magnetic plate, the second magnetic plate and the wrinkled membrane can be replaced by a semiconductor strain gauge with a hermetically sealed membrane, mounted in place of the sensor shirred membrane.

[0010] The present invention also discloses an electronic aerosol cigarette of a different design in which the atomizer is moved backwards in the shield, a bottle with liquid supply is placed between the vapor and liquid distributor and the atomizer, and a spring element for pressing the bottle with the liquid supply to the atomizer is placed at one end of the bottle with a supply of liquid.

[0011] Advantages of the present invention include tar-free smoking, which significantly reduces the risk of cancer. In addition, users still feel as if they are smoking and feeling the same excitement, with no need to light a cigarette and the danger of fire.

[0012] After slight modification, the solution holding container, device and connecting structure according to the present invention can be filled with a conventional drug in a form intended for a respiratory drug delivery device.

Description of the drawings [0013]

Fig. 1 schematically illustrates the general structure of the present invention,

Fig. 2 schematically shows another general structure according to the present invention,

Fig. 3 schematically illustrates the general structure of the present invention with a display screen,

Fig. 4 is a structural diagram of the sensor of the present invention,

Fig. 5 is a structural diagram of a sensor with a silicone gel check valve according to the present invention,

Fig. 6 is a structural diagram of the atomizer according to the present invention,

Fig. 7 is a structural diagram of the ceramic atomizer member of the present invention,

Fig. 8 is a structural diagram of another atomizer according to the present invention,

Fig. 9 is a structural diagram of the vapor and liquid distributor according to the present invention,

Fig. 10 is a structural diagram of another vapor and liquid distributor according to the present invention,

Fig. 11 is a structural diagram of the connection of a bottle with a supply of liquid and a mouthpiece according to the present invention,

Fig. 12 is a structural schematic diagram of the present invention.

Detailed description of the invention [0014] The present invention was then described with reference to the attached drawings.

Embodiment 1 [0015] As shown in Fig. 1, the present invention may form a whole in the form of a cigarette, cigar or pipe holder. The outer wall of the cover 14 has an air inlet 4. Inside the cover 14 are successively arranged LED 1, battery 2, circuit board 3, chamber 5 with normal pressure, sensor 6, steam and liquid distributor 7, atomizer 9, bottle with supply liquid 11 and mouthpiece 15. The electronic circuit board 3 includes an electronic switching circuit and a high frequency generator. As shown in Fig. 4, the sensor 6 has a vacuum chamber 8 separated by a crimped membrane 22 from the sensor 6. The sensor 6 also has a first magnetic plate 20, a second magnetic plate 21 and a Reed switch located between them, with a second plate magnetic 21 is connected to a crinkle membrane 22. The atomizer 9 is in contact with the bottle with the liquid supply 11 through the projection 36, and the atomizer 9 has an atomization chamber

10. As shown in Figs. 6 and 7, an overflow hole 29 is made in the wall 25 of the atomization chamber 10. The heating element 26, which can be made of platinum wire, nickel chromium alloy, or iron alloy wire, chromium and aluminum rare earth, is placed in this chamber and can also be made in the form of a sheet of conductive ceramics or PTC ceramics. The ejection hole is on the side opposite the heating element 26, whereby the choice of the long stream ejection hole 24 or the short stream ejection hole 30 can be selected depending on the material used for the atomization chamber wall 25. The long jet ejection hole 24 may be a 0.1 mm - 1.3 mm slot pattern or a 0.2 mm to 1.3 mm circular hole pattern with one or more holes. The short jet ejection hole 30 has a diameter of about 0.3 mm to 1.3 mm. The wall 25 of the atomization chamber is surrounded by a porous body 27, which can be made of foamed nickel, felt made of stainless steel fibers, high molecular polymer foam and ceramic foam. The first piezoelectric element 23 is located on the atomizer 9. The wall 25 of the atomization chamber can be made of aluminum oxide or ceramic. As shown in Fig. 9, a through hole is made in the steam and liquid distributor 7. The steam and liquid distributor 7 can be made of plastic or silicone rubber. As shown in Fig. 11, a retaining ring 13 for blocking the bottle with liquid supply 11 is placed on one side of the bottle with liquid supply 11, between this bottle and the cover 14, and an aerosol passage 12 is provided on the other side of the bottle with liquid supply 11 . In the liquid supply bottle 11 there is a porous body 28 for holding the solution, which may contain polypropylene, terylene or nylon fibers or contain foam-shaped plastics. Alternatively, it may be in the form of a column with laminated layers of polyvinyl chloride, polypropylene or polycarbonate. The air inlet 4, chamber 5 with normal pressure, steam and liquid distributor 7, atomizer 9, aerosol passage 12, gas outlet 17 and mouthpiece 15 are connected in series.

[0016] As shown in the circuit structural diagram in Fig. 12, K1 refers to switch 19 of Reed type, RL refers to heating element 26, LED 1 refers to light diode 1, U2 refers to low voltage sensor element used for protection lithium battery before excessive discharge, M1 refers to the first piezoelectric element 23, and C1, C2, R3, L1, C3, BG and M1 together form a Colpitts oscillator. The working principle of this circuit is as follows: when K1 is closed, U1, i.e. power field effect transistor, is turned on, RL begins to work, and the Colpitts oscillator begins to vibrate. M1 delivers a high frequency vibration mechanical wave to atomizer 9 for atomization.

[0017] When the smoker smokes, the mouthpiece 15 is under the influence of vacuum, and the air pressure difference or the rapid flow stream between the chamber 5 with normal pressure and the vacuum chamber 8 causes the sensor 6 to emit an actuating signal, the connected circuit board with electronic circuit 3 begins to work . Now the creased membrane 22 in sensor 6 creases so that it moves the second magnetic plate 21 away from the Reed switch 19 and the Reed switch closes (i.e. closes K1) under the influence of the prevailing magnetic forces from the first magnetic plate 20, actuating the electronic switch of the power field transistor (i.e. U1 is open). The high frequency oscillator can use the Colpitts oscillator with a frequency of 550 KHz - 8 MHz, and the automatic, precisely tuned element in the vibration circuit together with the first piezoelectric element 23 in the shape of a ring, for supplying energy with liquid particles and the LED 1 is powered from battery battery 2. The air enters the chamber 5 at normal pressure through the air inlet 4, passes through the air passage 18 of the sensor and then through the through hole in the steam and liquid distributor 7, and enters the atomization chamber 10 of the atomizer 9. The fast flow stream passing through the ejection hole ejects in the form of droplets a nicotine solution contained in the porous body 27 into the atomization chamber 10, where the nicotine solution is subjected to supersonic atomization by means of the first piezoelectric element 23, and then further atomized by means of the heating element 26. After atomization, large diameter droplets adhere to the wall under the influence of vortex flow and are again absorbed by the porous body 27 through the overflow opening 29, while small diameter droplets float in the stream forming an aerosol which is sucked through the aerosol passage 12, gas outlet 17 and mouthpiece 15. The porous body 28 for holding the solution in a bottle with a supply of liquid 11 stays in contact with the protuberance 36 of the atomizer 9, thereby ensuring capillary infiltration of the supplied liquid.

[0018] The mouthpiece 15 is threaded. When the nicotine solution in the bottle with the supply of liquid 11 is used up, the user can unscrew the mouthpiece 15, remove the bottle with the supply of liquid 11, fill the bottle with the supply of liquid 11 with the nicotine solution, put the bottle with the supply of liquid 11 back into the cover 14, and then screw on the mouthpiece 15 .

[0019] The Reed switch 19, the first magnetic plate 20, the second magnetic plate 21 and the crinkle membrane 22 can be replaced by a semiconductor strain gauge with a hermetically sealed membrane, mounted in place of the sensor crinkle membrane.

[0020] For simplicity of design, the first piezoelectric element 23 on the atomizer 9 can be omitted and the atomization of the nicotine solution can only be done with the help of the heating element 26. The size of such a atomizer can be smaller, and the connection structure of the entire electronic atomizing cigarette remains the same as for embodiment 1. In addition, as shown in Fig. 8, both the first piezoelectric element 23 and the heating element 26 in the atomizer 9 can be omitted. A second piezoelectric element with one or more laminated layers may be placed in the atomization chamber. The stream passing through the ejection hole vibrates in the focus located in the middle of the second piezoelectric element obtaining the effect of strong atomization.

[0021] As shown in Fig. 10, a silicone gel check valve 31 may cover the outside of the through hole of the steam and liquid distributor 7. When smoking, the stream enters the check valve 31, the air pressure increases and the air expands, the third magnetic plate 34 in the valve gradually approaches the Reed switch 19 until this switch closes, the circuit is not turned on, and the air outlet in the silicone gel check valve 31 will not open due to the increased air pressure difference. The Reed switch 19 can be replaced by a Hall device, magnetic diode or magnetic triode. Embodiment 2 [0023] As shown in Fig. 2, to improve liquid delivery, the atomizer 9 is shifted backwards in the cover 14, the bottle with liquid supply 11 is placed between the vapor and liquid distributor 7 and the atomizer 9, and the spring element 33 for pressing bottles with a supply of liquid 11 to the atomizer 9 is placed at one end of the bottle with a supply of liquid 11. Other components and their functions are the same as in version 1.

[0024] On the inner wall of the casing 14 of the electronic atomizing cigarette described in embodiments 1 and 2, a screen 32 of the digital display may be arranged to show the number of burns per day and the capacity of the battery. Sensor 6 has a linear signal output that is proportional to the suction force (i.e. the more someone sucks, the longer the operation time), and the atomizer 9 also works in linear mode, thereby simulating a "humanized" cigarette that looks like a regular cigarette.

[0025] Inside the cover 14 there is a microswitch 16 connected in parallel with the sensor 6, used for manual cleaning. When the user is not smoking, he can press the micro switch 16 to turn on a sensor connected in parallel or remove residues or other pollutants from the cover 14.

[0026] The nicotine atomization solution contains 0.4-3.5% nicotine, 0.05-2% cigarette essence, 0.1-3.1% organic acid, 0.1-0.5% antioxidant, and the residue is 1,2-propylene glycol.

Proxy:

Ewa Grenda, patent attorney

EP 1 736 065