KR20130116887A - Aerosol generator - Google Patents

Abstract

A generally cylindrical aerosol generator that can be used as a substitute for conventional cigarettes includes a horn member 8 extending longitudinally carrying a piezo actuator 9 mounted within the main housing 4 and the mouthpiece 5. Have The cartridge 7 has an inner chamber wall 13 that extends longitudinally between the proximal end 15 and the distal end 16 of the cartridge to form a receptacle for receiving the horn member 8 from the proximal end, and the inner chamber wall. Longitudinally spaced apart from the inner chamber wall to form a longitudinally extending outer chamber wall 17, an inner proximal end wall 18 crosslinking the inner chamber wall to the proximal end, and a discharge region 20. An aerosolizable liquid 28 in the chamber having an outer proximal wall 19. The nozzle 23 discharges liquid through the outer proximal wall from the discharge area as an aerosol 39. The capillary driver wall 24 is spaced apart from the inner chamber wall to form a capillary passage 25 extending longitudinally narrow enough to drive liquid in the chamber into the discharge region by capillary action along the gap. Located between the outer chamber walls, the liquid is aerosolized by the vibrating action of the piezoelectric device and is transferred along the horn 8 to the discharge zone 20.

Description

Aerosol Generator {AEROSOL GENERATOR}

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to aerosol generators using vibration sources such as piezoelectric devices that atomize liquid to produce aerosols, and cartridges for use in such generators, which are used as substitutes for conventional cigarettes. There is a special but non-exclusive application for providing aerosols of liquids which may contain nicotine-based substances or perfumes.

Piezoelectric generators have been proposed so far to form a spray spray. For example, WO 2002/241777 discloses the use of piezoelectric devices, which not only form vibrations in the fluid flow, but also monitor the flow by using the piezoelectric device as a pressure transducer. FR 2929861 describes the use of capillary action to supply liquid to piezoelectric actuators to form aerosols. JP 2004313871 also discloses a nebulizer using a piezoelectric device that supplies vibrations through a horn to focus the vibrations when forming an aerosol spray.

The present invention provides an improved aerosol generator that uses a cartridge to cause the liquid to be aerosolised, which can be used as a cigarette replacement device.

The present invention provides a cartridge for an aerosol generator that includes a chamber for receiving an aerosolizable liquid, the chamber comprising a proximal end and a distal end, a generally tubular inner chamber wall extending longitudinally between the proximal end and the distal end; An outer chamber wall extending in the longitudinal direction surrounding the inner chamber wall, an inner proximal wall for crosslinking the inner chamber wall to the proximal end, and longitudinally spaced apart from the inner chamber wall to form a discharge area between the proximal end walls; An outer proximal wall, a nozzle for discharging liquid from the discharging region through the outer proximal wall as an aerosol, and a capillary passage extending longitudinally narrow enough to drive liquid in the chamber into the discharging region by capillary action along the capillary passageway; Spaced from the inner chamber wall to provide And a capillary driver wall between the inner chamber wall and the outer chamber wall.

The capillary passage narrows from the distal end to the proximal end such that the force due to the capillary action of the liquid phase increases toward the proximal end.

The present invention provides a general tubular housing, an elongate horn member configured longitudinally in the interior of the housing extending inside the distal end of the cartridge chamber to engage the inner surface with the inner chamber wall, and generating vibrations therein to produce the interior of the chamber. It also includes an aerosol generator configured to receive a cartridge comprising a vibrating actuator on the horn member that acts to deliver the liquid through the nozzle by acting upon delivery to the proximal wall.

In order that the present invention may be more fully understood, embodiments will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a schematic perspective view of an aerosol generator,
2 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the generator shown in FIG. 1,
3 is a perspective view of a cartridge for use in an aerosol generator,
4 is an exploded view of the cartridge shown in FIG.
5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the cartridge with the horn removed when installed in the mouthpiece of the aerosol generator,
6 is a cross-sectional view of the cartridge installed in the mouthpiece of the generator, showing the horn also in cross section,
7 is a schematic circuit diagram of a driver circuit used in the apparatus of the present invention for operating a piezoelectric generator,
FIG. 8 is a schematic circuit diagram of a detection circuit for detecting when a user suctions a mouthpiece to operate the device and generate an aerosol by the circuit shown in FIG. 6.

Referring to FIG. 1, the aerosol generator 1 generally has a generally cylindrical outer surface extending from the circular proximal end 2 to the circular distal end 3. The aerosol generator 1 has a mouthpiece housing 5 with a main housing 4 and a proximal end hole 6, through which the aerosol is delivered to the user.

The mouthpiece 5 is removably mounted on the housing 4 as, for example, a push-fit or bayonet mounting (not shown).

The cartridge 7 containing the aerosol liquid is received in the mouthpiece housing 5 and can be replaced when emptied by the removal of the housing 5 from the main body housing 4. As shown in FIG. 2, the main housing 4 comprises a horn 8, on which a piezoelectric transducer 9 is mounted. The housing 4 also includes an electrical circuit 10 coupled to the piezoelectric transducer 9 to cause the piezoelectric transducer to vibrate when the user inhales the mouthpiece housing 5 and also to detect pressure changes. The electrical circuit 10 is driven by the batteries 11 in the housing 4. In addition, an LED 12 to be driven by the electric circuit 10 is mounted to the distal end 3 of the aerosol generator to indicate when the aerosol generator is in use.

The cartridge 7 is shown in more detail in FIGS. 3 and 4. The cartridge 7 has a generally donut shape with a distal opening 14 (shown in FIG. 5) and generally having a tubular inner chamber wall 13 extending from the proximal end 15 to the distal end 16. The tubular outer chamber wall 17 surrounds the inner chamber wall 13 and extends between the proximal end 15 and the distal end 16. The inner proximal end wall 18 closes the proximal end of the inner chamber wall so that the interior of the inner chamber wall 13 together with the inner proximal end wall 18 receives a distal end that receives the horn 8 as will be described in more detail below. Form an open receptacle at 16. In addition, the outer chamber wall 17 is closed at its proximal end by an outer proximal end wall 19 longitudinally spaced from the inner proximal end wall 18 to form the discharge region 20 clearly shown in FIG. 5. The outer proximal end wall 19 includes an opening 21 for receiving a nozzle plate 22 formed with one or more holes 23 for forming an aerosol from the liquid in the cartridge to be fed into the mouthpiece housing 5. do. In general, the conical capillary driver wall 24 is formed of the outer proximal end wall 19 to provide the capillary passage 25 shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 between the inner chamber wall 13 and the capillary driver wall 24. Mounted on an inner surface. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the passage 25 narrows from the distal end 16 toward the proximal end 15.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the space between the inner chamber wall 13 and the outer chamber wall 15 contains a liquid forming an aerosol. The capillary driver wall 24 cooperates with the inner chamber wall 13 to drive the liquid to the discharge region 20 by capillary action. The holes 26 in the proximal end wall 19 allow air to enter the cartridge 7 to prevent air lock as shown by arrow 27. The liquid is shown at 26 in FIGS. 5 and 6. The passage of the liquid 28 towards the discharge area 20 is shown by arrow 29. As shown in FIG. 6, the horn 8 has a conical or cylindrical tongue 30 fitted through the opening 14 intimately inside the recess 31 formed by the inner chamber wall 13; tongue). The tongue 30 has a proximal end 32 spaced apart from the inner surface of the inner proximal end wall 18. The inner surface of the inner chamber wall 13 and the outer surface of the tongue 30 cooperate with grooves 33 and recesses that cooperate to release the tongue inside the chamber wall when the cartridge is inserted inside the aerosol generator. 34). The horn 8 may also include a cylindrical base member 35, with an tongue 30 extending from the base member, which base member includes an O-shaped ring 36 inside the main housing 4. Is mounted within. The piezoelectric device 9 is mounted on the distal end 38 of the horn 8 of the base member 35 so that in operation the horn can vibrate back and forth in the longitudinal direction inside the inner cylindrical region 37 of the main housing 4. have.

In use, the piezoelectric device 9 is activated to produce ultrasonic vibrations in the base member 35, which are concentrated by the tongue 30 and are transmitted along the tongue to the inner chamber wall 13. The gap between the end 32 of the tongue and the proximal inner chamber wall 18 is such that the wall 18 vibrates freely in a drum manner, forcing the liquid in the discharge region 20 to pass through the hole 23. The aerosol 39 shown in FIG. 5 is formed, which is directed to pass through the outlet 6 of 5).

When the user inhales the mouthpiece 5, air is sucked into the aerosol 39 by the arrow 40 as shown in FIG. 6. Referring to FIG. 1, the main housing 4 includes an air inlet hole 41, and in the air inlet hole, referring to FIG. 6, air enters in the direction of the arrow 42 and the outer side shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. It passes through the longitudinal passages formed by the oppositely opposed outer grooves 43 in the chamber wall 17. 5 and 6, the mouthpiece housing 5 forms a plenum 44 between the outlet 6 of the cartridge 7 and the outer proximal end wall 19. In use, the air flow 40 shown in FIG. 6 is mixed with the aerosol 39 shown in FIG. 5 and sent to the user through the outlet 6.

When the user inhales the mouthpiece 5, the final pressure reduction in the plenum 44 is a piezoelectric device coupled to an electrical circuit that switches the electrical drive to the aerosol generator 1 so that it produces an aerosol 39. It is detected by (9).

The electrical circuit is shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 and includes a breath detector circuit 45 together with the driver circuit 46. The driver circuit 46 is shown in detail in FIG. 7 and includes a fine controller 47 responsive to the output from the breath detector circuit 45 indicating that the user is inhaling the mouthpiece housing 5. As described later, the breath detector circuit 45 provides a step voltage change in response to the suction of the user's mouthpiece housing 5, in response the microcontroller 47 provides a driver circuit 48. To generate a pulsed rectangular waveform as shown in graph G1, the driver circuit typically operating at a frequency in the range of 420 to 450 Hz shown in graph G2, although other suitable frequencies may be used. Acts as a modulator to modulate the output of oscillator 49. The final modulated output is shown in graph G3 and fed to the voltage converter circuit 50 and to the switching circuit 51 which supplies the modulated waveform to the piezoelectric device 9 at a frequency that allows for later generation of ultrasonic vibrations. The ultrasonic vibrations are transmitted through the horn 8 to the discharge zone 20 as described previously, resulting in the release of the liquid 28 through the nozzle 23 as the aerosol 39 shown in FIG. 5. . The components of the driver circuit 46 accept the regulated drive voltage from the regulator 52 powered by the batteries 53 mounted in the battery chamber 11 shown in FIG. 2 as previously described. do. The batteries may also illuminate the LED 12 shown in FIG. 2 continuously or when the driver circuit 46 is activated. The batteries 53 may be rechargeable batteries, in which case the external battery charger 54 is provided as a cradle or some other convenient configuration, for example, allowing the batteries 53 to be recharged by a user. Can be.

Referring to FIG. 8, the respiration detector circuit 45 includes a preliminary amplifier 55 which amplifies a signal received from the piezoelectric element 9 through the switching circuit 51, which is amplified in the graph G4. It is shown schematically. Signal processor 56 detects an envelope of the signal shown in graph G4 and threshold detector 57 detects step changes in the signal from signal processor 56. As shown in the graphs G5, G6, G7, when the user inhales the mouthpiece 5 and when the flow rate of suction increases above the threshold [in this case shown in graph G6]. About 1.6 liters per minute], turbulence in the mouthpiece causes a step change in the output of the signal processor 56, which can be detected by the threshold detector 57 to switch the driver circuit 46. . The voltage output from threshold detector 57 is shown schematically in graph G8. Thus, the piezoelectric element 9 switches from the pressure sensor to the ultrasonic driver to produce an aerosol 39 in response to the suction of the user's mouse housing 5. It should be noted that the piezoelectric element detects turbulence due to suction of the mouthpiece housing without actually being directly exposed to the airflow itself.

The components of the breath detector circuit 45 are driven by the batteries 53.

Thus, the aerosol generator device may generate an aerosol from the liquid 28 in the cartridge 7. The liquid may comprise a suitable active ingredient such as nicotine, in which case the aerosol generator device may be used as a substitute for conventional cigarettes. The liquid may comprise perfume in addition to or instead of nicotine or may contain other active ingredients.

Once the contents of the cartridge are exhausted, the mouthpiece housing 5 can be removed and the cartridge 7 is removed from the horn 8 and replaced with another.

It has been found that piezoelectric devices provide an effective aerosol generating technology. In particular, the shape of the tongue 30 of the horn 8 amplifies the ultrasonic vibrations from the piezoelectric element 9 to the inner proximal wall 18, which vibrations due to their clearance from the tongue proximal end 32. Vibrates freely and thus pressurizes the liquid in the discharge zone 20 to drive the liquid through the apertures 23 to form an aerosol.

In addition, the gradual tapering of the capillary passages 25 assists in transporting the liquid from the interior of the cassette to the discharge zone, towards the proximal end 15 along the cartridge for driving the liquid 28 into the discharge zone 20. It produces a gradually increasing capillary force. In addition, when the generator is maintained in a vertical configuration, gravity may help drive liquid 28 into the capillary passage 25 from the space between the outer chamber wall 17 and the capillary driver wall 24. To aid in the transfer of liquid to the discharge zone 20.

Since the cartridge can be replaced periodically, it will be understood that the quality of the cartridges 7 used successively generally has similar spray characteristics. The cartridge 7 can be checked in situ in terms of its spray features, which largely depends on the friction force between the tongue 30 of the horn 8 and the inner chamber wall 13, which in turn is a piezoelectric device 9. It was found that this results in a different electrical load on). Referring to FIG. 7, the driver 48 or the voltage converter 50 compensates for the load vibrations of the piezoelectric device from the cartridge to the cartridge to maintain the uniformity of the aerosol spray 39 produced when the cartridges are changed in the device. In order to properly adjust its voltage.

It will be understood that many variations and modifications of the described examples of aerosol generators and cartridges may be made within the scope of the following claims. For example, the nozzle (s) 23 may be formed directly within the cartridge outer wall rather than inside a separate nozzle plate. In addition, respiratory detection can be performed by means other than piezoelectric devices to allow for aerosol generation and respiratory detection at the same time.

Claims (24)

A cartridge for an aerosol generator,
A chamber containing an aerosolizable liquid, the chamber
Proximal and distal ends,
A generally tubular inner chamber wall extending longitudinally between the proximal and distal ends,
An outer chamber wall extending longitudinally surrounding said inner chamber wall;
An inner proximal wall for crosslinking an inner chamber wall to the proximal end;
An outer proximal wall longitudinally spaced from the inner chamber wall to form an emission region between the proximal walls;
A nozzle that discharges liquid from the discharge zone through the outer proximal wall as an aerosol, and
Capillary actuator walls spaced from the inner chamber wall and between the inner chamber wall and the outer chamber wall to provide a capillary passage extending longitudinally narrow enough to drive liquid in the chamber into the discharge region by capillary action along the capillary passage. Having,
Cartridge for aerosol generator.
The method of claim 1,
The capillary passage narrows from the distal end to the proximal end such that the force due to the capillary action of the liquid phase increases towards the proximal end,
Cartridge for aerosol generator.
3. The method according to claim 1 or 2,
Wherein the nozzle comprises one or more holes in a nozzle plate received in a hole in the outer proximal wall;
Cartridge for aerosol generator.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
An air inlet hole in the outer proximal wall to allow air to enter the chamber;
Cartridge for aerosol generator.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The chamber includes a first cartridge element comprising inner and outer chamber walls and a second cartridge element comprising a capillary driver wall and an outer proximal wall, wherein the inner proximal and distal wall are inner and outer chamber walls at the distal end. Extended between,
Cartridge for aerosol generator.
6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
A generally tubular housing, an elongate horn member configured longitudinally within the housing extending inside the distal end of the cartridge chamber to engage the inner surface with the inner chamber wall, and an interior proximal end of the chamber, generating vibrations therein. And a vibrating actuator on the horn member that acts to transfer to the wall and thereby acts with the liquid in the discharge region to release the liquid through the nozzle.
Cartridge for aerosol generator.
The method according to claim 6,
A mouthpiece at one end of the housing, and a detector for detecting turbulent flow in the mouthpiece to actuate the vibration actuator to produce an aerosol;
Cartridge for aerosol generator.
The method of claim 7, wherein
The mouthpiece is removable from the housing to allow insertion and removal of the cartridge,
Cartridge for aerosol generator.
9. The method according to claim 7 or 8,
The vibrating actuator comprises a piezoelectric element and the detector comprises the piezoelectric element for detecting turbulent flow,
Cartridge for aerosol generator.
The method of claim 9,
An electrical circuit in the housing for driving a piezoelectric element to generate ultrasonic vibrations and responsive to electrical signals from the actuator to detect pressure changes detected by the piezoelectric element,
Cartridge for aerosol generator.
11. The method of claim 10,
The housing includes a battery compartment containing a battery for powering a circuit;
Cartridge for aerosol generator.
The method according to any one of claims 8 to 11,
The horn includes an elongated tongue having a proximal end to be inserted from its distal end into the tubular inner chamber wall, and a base member at the distal end of the tongue, resiliently mounted within the housing, the piezoelectric element being on the base member. Mounted,
Cartridge for aerosol generator.
13. The method of claim 12,
The base member is generally cylindrical and mounted in an elastic o-ring in the housing,
Cartridge for aerosol generator.
The method according to claim 6 to 13,
A cartridge in the housing, wherein the horn is received within the tubular inner chamber wall to engage the tubular inner chamber wall;
Cartridge for aerosol generator.
15. The method of claim 14,
The outer chamber wall includes a longitudinal groove to provide a passage through which air enters the mouthpiece and mixes with the liquid discharged from the nozzle,
Cartridge for aerosol generator.
15. The method of claim 14,
The inner chamber wall of the cartridge is a truncated cone and the horn is tapered to engage the inner surface of the inner chamber wall,
Cartridge for aerosol generator.
17. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 16,
The inner surfaces of the horn and inner chamber wall are formed with cooperating rings and grooves for releasably joining them together,
Cartridge for aerosol generator.
18. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 17,
When fitted to the inner wall of the chamber, the proximal end of the horn is spaced from the inner proximal wall to allow liquid to be discharged through the nozzle from the discharge zone by its vibration.
Cartridge for aerosol generator.
As an aerosol generator,
With an elongate horn member,
A vibration actuator on the horn member, and
A chamber containing an aerosolizable liquid,
The chamber includes a proximal end and a distal end, an inner chamber wall extending longitudinally between the proximal end and the distal end and a receptacle for receiving a horn member from the distal end, and an outer chamber extending longitudinally surrounding the inner chamber wall. Discharging liquid through the wall, an inner proximal wall that crosslinks the inner chamber wall to the proximal end, an outer proximal wall longitudinally spaced from the inner chamber wall to form a discharge zone, and an outer proximal wall from the discharge zone as an aerosol; And a capillary driver spaced apart from the inner chamber wall by a capillary passage extending longitudinally narrow enough to drive the liquid in the chamber into the discharge area by capillary action along the gap and between the inner chamber wall and the outer chamber wall. Having a wall,
Aerosol generator.
As an electrical device,
(a) a cartridge having a space containing humectants and having a nozzle outlet for discharging liquid,
(b) a vibrating membrane arranged proximate to said nozzle outlet,
(c) a housing including a support for holding the cartridge;
(d) a vibrating element arranged to actuate the vibrating membrane arranged to transmit vibrations from the wetting agent to the space, and
(e) battery operated electronics for delivering electrical energy to the vibrating element,
Electrical devices.
21. The method of claim 20,
The vibrating membrane is shaped to allow efficient ultrasonic energy transfer from the vibrating element to the liquid,
Electrical devices.
22. The method according to claim 20 or 21,
Wherein the cartridge is prefilled with humectants to be evicted through the nozzle outlets and the air chamber is arranged to have a pressure drop in the range of 10 mbar to 20 mbar for an air flow rate of 1 to 1.6 liters / minute,
Electrical devices.
23. The method according to any one of claims 20 to 22,
The vacuum element is arranged to detect and vibrate turbulent flow in the air chamber without contact with the piezoelectric element,
Electrical devices.
24. The method according to any one of claims 20 to 23,
The battery operated electronics include a bridge driver and a puff sensing circuit,
Electrical devices.

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