ATOMIZING DEVICE AND ELECTRONIC CIGARETTE HAVING SAME

[0001] 1. Technical Field

[0002] The present invention relates to electronic cigarettes, particularly to an atomizing device and an electronic cigarette having the atomizing device.

[0003] 2. Description of Related Art

[0004] Atomizing devices are key components of electronic cigarettes. A typical atomizing device includes a glass fiber core and a heating coil winding around the glass fiber core. Two ends of the heating coil are electrically connected to a power source. In application, a tobacco solution absorbed in the glass fiber core is atomized by the heating coil to obtain a smoking effect.

[0005] During work, the entire heating coil generates heat. As the heating coil support supports the glass fiber core, the contact portion of heating coil support between the heating coil and the heating coil support may be scalded after a long time of high temperature produced by the entire heating coil, which may bring an abnormal taste and influence the atomizing effect.

[0006] In application, only the section of the heating coil winding around the glass fiber core atomizes the tobacco solution; then the remaining of the heating coil which does not wind around the glass fiber core would yield an energy surplus during work, thereby leads to an energy loss. In addition, the two ends of the heating coil electrically connected to the power source may generate a great welding contact resistance, which leads to another energy loss.

[0007] Therefore, what is needed is a new kind of atomizing device and electronic cigarette, which has little contact resistance and energy loss, and would not change the taste of the electronic cigarette.

[0019] Embodiments of the present atomizing device and electronic cigarette will now be described in detail below and with references to the drawings.

[0020] Referring to FIGS. 4 and 6, an atomizing device for an electronic cigarette includes a screw sleeve 5, an electrode ring 6 fixed in the screw sleeve 5 and an insulated ring 4 located between the electrode ring 6 and the screw sleeve 5. The screw sleeve 5 includes a glass fiber core 1, a heating coil 2 winding around the glass fiber core 1 and a heating coil support 3. Each of two ends 21 of the heating coil 2 is respectively connected to a silver coated bare electrical wire 22. The heating coil support 3 has a central through hole 32 and two side wall through holes 31 formed in the ring-shaped wall. In the present embodiment, the side wall through holes 31 and the central through 32 are parallel, but in other embodiments, they may not be parallel. In addition, the side wall through holes 31 are exposed to two ends of the heating coil support 3. Each of the bare electrical wires 22 extends respectively through the side wall through holes 31, then respectively in contact with the screw sleeve 5 and the electrode ring 6. As the ends 21 of the heating coil 2 are connected to the bare electrical wires 22, the ends 21 of the heating coil 2 do not in contact with the heating coil support 3. As known, silver has an excellent conductivity, and the silver coated bare electrical wires would generate little heat when electric current flows through the bare electrical wires, thus the heating coil support 3 would not be scalded.

[0021] Referring to FIG. 1, as the bare electrical wires 22 extend through the side wall through holes 31, they are bended respectively at an the outer wall of the heating coil support 3 and an inner wall of the central through hole 32 (see FIG. 8), such that it is convenient to connect the electrode ring 6 to the atomizing device, and thus avoid welding.

[0022] In addition, in the present embodiment, the diameter of the bare electrical wire 22 is in a range between 0.2-0.4 mm. Although the greater the diameter of the bare electrical wire 22, the smaller the contact resistance, the bare electrical wire 22 in the present diameter range is more easily to insert into the side wall through hole 31.

[0023] Referring to FIG. 2, the ends 21 of the heating coil 2 are connected to the bare electrical wires 22 via riveting. Although there are many types of connection, for example, welding, it does not work very well due to the chemical reaction occurring in a high welding temperature. Via riveting, a contact 23 is formed between the end 21 and the bare electrical wire 22 as shown in FIG. 2.

[0024] Referring to FIGS. land 3, a cutout 33 is formed at an end of the heating coil support 3, such that the bare electrical wire 22 is bended at the outer wall of the heating coil support 3 through the cutout 33. Referring to FIG. 1, the cutout 33 allows one of the bended bare electrical wires 22 position at a different horizontal level from the other one of the bended bare electrical wires 22, thereby preventing the circuit from being cut out.

[0025] As known, the resistance changes inversely to the diameter of the conductor under the condition of a same material and a same resistivity, that is, the greater the diameter of the conductor, the smaller the resistance. Therefore, to yield enough energy to atomize the tobacco solution, a nichrome wire (Cr₂₀Ni₁₈) is selected to be the heating coil 2 in the present embodiment, and it is better that the diameter of the heating coil 2 is in a range between 0.09-0.16 mm. Specifically, when the diameter of the heating coil 2 is 0.12 mm, the volume of smoke is the greatest; when it is 0.09 mm or 0.16 mm, the volume of smoke is a little less than that when it is 0.12 mm.

[0026] Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, in order to more easily fix the glass fiber core 1, two arms extend from one end of the screw sleeve 5, then a receiving space 51 is formed between the two arms, then the glass fiber core 1 is fixed in the receiving space 51.

[0027] In addition, the diameter of the glass fiber core 1 is in a range from 1.5 to 2.5 mm in the present embodiment, and the number of coils of the heating coil 2 winding around the glass fiber core 1 is in a range between 3 to 7.According to experiment results, if the glass fiber core 1 is too thin, the tobacco solution absorbed in the glass fiber core 1 will be not enough, a smell of burnt will be generated due to repeatedly heating of the atomized tobacco solution; and if the glass fiber core 1 is too thick, the tobacco solution absorbed in the glass fiber core 1 will be redundancy, leading to the tobacco solution cannot be atomized sufficiently and the total volume of smoke will be not enough. Furthermore, if the glass fiber core 1 is too thick, the glass fiber core 1 would be stuck by an inner wall of the receiving space 51, and then the tobacco solution cannot reach the portion of the glass fiber core 1 where the heating coil 2 winds around. When the number of coils of the heating coil 2 is less than 3, the resistance of the heating coil 2 will become smaller with a constant voltage, the tobacco solution will be over-heated and generates a peculiar smell due to the over-heat produced by the heating section of the heating coil 2. When the number of coils of the heating coil 2 is more than 7, the total resistance will be greater due to the longer length of the heating coil, the amount of heat and smoke will be smaller with a constant voltage. Preferably, the diameter of the glass fiber core is 2.5 mm and the number of coils winded is 6, then the volume of smoke will be appropriate.

[0028] Referring to FIG. 5, a knurling 54 is formed at an outer wall of the screw sleeve 5. The knurling 54 can enhance a touch feeling when users hold the screw sleeve 5.

[0029] Referring to FIG. 5, one end of the screw sleeve 5 that fixing the glass fiber core 1 has an outer screw 53. Preferably, to facilitate connect and disconnect, an outer screw 52 and an outer screw 53 are respectively fixed at two ends of the screw sleeve 5. Accordingly, the outer screw 52 can be replaced by an inner screw.

[0030] Referring to FIG. 7, an air pipe support 7 is coupled upon one end of the screw sleeve 5, and then a sealing element 8 is fixed at the other end of the air pipe support 7. Due to the air pipe support 7, the fiber glass core 1 can be fixed, and an airtight air funnel is formed upon the screw sleeve 5 to avoid the tobacco solution flowing towards the screw sleeve 5.

[0031] Referring to FIG. 8, an atomizing device in accordance with a second embodiment is provided. The difference of the atomizing device between the present embodiment and the first embodiment is that there is no receiving space 51 formed on the top end of the screw sleeve 5. Instead, a receiving space could be formed in the air pipe support 7.

[0032] Referring to FIG. 9, an atomizing device in accordance with a third embodiment is provided. The atomizing device includes not only all the technical characteristics in the first embodiment but also an atomizing sleeve 9, a suction nozzle 11 arranged at one end of the atomizing sleeve 9 and an air pipe 14. The air pipe 14 is located in the atomizing sleeve 9, and is connected between the suction nozzle 11 and the atomizing device. Specifically, the air pipe support 7 is firstly arranged on the top end of the screw sleeve 5, then a sealing element 8 of the air pipe 14 is arranged on the top end of the air pipe support 7. Then the atomizing device is connected to the atomizing sleeve 9 via the outer screw 53, and the air pipe 14 is inserted into the sealing element 8. In the present embodiment, it is convenient to connect and disconnect between the atomizing device and the atomizing sleeve 9 to obtain an effect of directly adding tobacco solution to the atomizing sleeve 9 due to the outer screw 53. That is, after making use of the tobacco solution in the atomizing device, it is allowed to disconnect the atomizing device and add tobacco solution to the atomizing sleeve 9 to realize a recycled utilizing in the present embodiment.

[0033] Referring to FIG. 10, an electronic cigarette in accordance with a fourth embodiment is provided. The electronic cigarette includes not only all the technical characteristics in the fourth embodiment but also a battery assembly 18. The battery assembly 18 is configured to be electrically connected to the atomizing device.

[0034] It is understood that the above-described embodiments are intended to illustrate rather than limit the disclosure. Variations may be made to the embodiments and methods without departing from the spirit of the disclosure. Accordingly, it is appropriate that the appended claims be construed broadly and in a manner consistent with the scope of the disclosure.