Patent Publication Number: US-10321722-B2

Title: Atomizing head, atomizing device and electronic cigarette

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a Continuation application of U.S. application Ser. No. 15/664,494 filed on Jul. 31, 2017, which claims the benefit of the Chinese Patent Applications No. 201620826293.3 filed on Aug. 2, 2016, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     FIELD 
     The present disclosure relates to the field of smoking simulation, and more particularly, to an atomizing head, an atomizing device and an electronic cigarette. 
     BACKGROUND 
     In a conventional electronic cigarette, the atomizing head is generally wrapped with cotton. The cotton needs to be replaced frequently due to damage or other reasons. The replacing process is very complicated since the user needs to wrap the cotton onto the heating component. This is inconvenient to the user, and the user experience is relatively poor. On the other hand, the user may choose to replace the whole atomizing head, which is convenient, but its cost is high, and is a big waste. 
     SUMMARY 
     In view of the above deficiencies in the prior art, an objective of the present disclosure is to provide an atomizing head which can be replaced and used easily. 
     Another objective of the present disclosure is to provide an atomizing device with the atomizing head. 
     A further objective of the present disclosure is to provide an electronic cigarette with the atomizing device. 
     According to an aspect of the present disclosure, an atomizing head is provided, which includes a heating component, a liquid absorption component and at least one contact ring. The liquid absorption component is wrapped around the outer circumference of the heating component. The contact ring includes a base and a first clamping flange extending at a certain angle from a circumferential edge of the base. The base covers one end of the heating component in an axis direction of the heating component. The first clamping flange presses against an outer surface of the liquid absorption component to fasten the liquid absorption component onto the heating component. 
     In one embodiment, the contact ring further includes a second clamping flange provided on the base. The first clamping flange and the second clamping flange are separated from each other on the base and extend towards a same direction along the axis direction of the heating component. A groove configured to receive a circumferential edge of the heating component wrapped with the liquid absorption component is defined between the first clamping flange and the second clamping flange. 
     In one embodiment, the heating component is one of a Clapton heating coil, a heating wire with a diameter of 0.1-1 mm, and a steel heating wire, or any combination thereof. 
     In one embodiment, the heating component is a hollow heating tube with a plurality of pores arranged thereon. 
     In one embodiment, each pore has a diameter of 0.1 to 5 mm, and the distance between centers of two adjacent pores is greater than the diameter of the pore. 
     In one embodiment, the heating component has a cylindrical structure rolled by a heating sheet with a plurality of pores formed thereon, and the contact ring is formed integrally with the heating sheet. 
     In one embodiment, the contact rings are in the form of clamping flanges punched at the two ends of the heating sheet, respectively. 
     In one embodiment, the at least one contact ring includes two contact rings made of flexible metal sheets, the two contact rings are fastened to and contact both ends of the heating component in the axis direction of the heating component, so as to serve as a positive electrode and a negative electrode of the atomizing head, respectively. 
     According to another aspect of the present disclosure, an atomizing device is provided, which has the above atomizing head. 
     According to a further aspect of the present disclosure, an electronic cigarette is provided, which has the above atomizing device. 
     During the assembling process of the atomizing head of the present disclosure, it only requires the liquid absorption component to wrap around the heating component and be pressed against and fastened by the contact ring. Such an assembling process is simple, and the atomizing head is easy to replace at a low cost. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The accompanying drawings illustrate one or more embodiments of the disclosure and together with the written description, serve to explain the principles of the disclosure. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like components of an embodiment. 
         FIG. 1  is a structural schematic diagram illustrating an atomizing head according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded view of the atomizing head shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view of the atomizing head shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 4  is a structural schematic diagram illustrating an atomizing head according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 5  is an exploded view of the atomizing head shown in  FIG. 4 . 
         FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional view of the atomizing head shown in  FIG. 4 . 
         FIG. 7  is an enlarged view of the portion B of the atomizing head shown in  FIG. 6 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     In the following description of embodiments, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof, and in which it is shown by way of illustration specific embodiments of the present invention that can be practiced. It is to be understood that other embodiments can be used and structural changes can be made without departing from the scope of the disclosed embodiments. 
     When a feature or component is herein referred to as being “on” another feature or component, it can be directly on the other feature or component or intervening features and/or components may also be present. It will also be understood that, when a feature or component is referred to as being “connected”, “attached” or “coupled” to another feature or component, it can be directly connected, attached or coupled to the other feature or component or intervening features or components may be present. 
     Terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items and may be abbreviated as “/”. 
     With reference to  FIG. 1 , in an embodiment of the present disclosure, the atomizing head  100  includes a heating component  10 , a liquid absorption component  30  and at least one contact ring  50 . The liquid absorption component  30  wraps around the outer circumference of the heating component  10  and is fixed by the contact ring  50 . In this way, when the heating component  10  is energized, the tobacco liquid absorbed on the liquid absorption component  30  can be atomized into smoke by the heating component  10 . The smoke then enters the mouth of the smoker through a smoke discharging channel (not shown) when a suction action is conducted by the smoker. 
     With reference to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , in a first embodiment of the present disclosure, the heating component  10  is a heating wire of a hollow cylindrical structure, and the liquid absorption component  30  is a porous component wrapped around the heating wire. The liquid absorption component  30  may be selected from any one of cotton, cotton fabric, fiber rope, porous ceramic, foam metal, foam graphite and other porous components. 
     The contact ring  50  includes a base  51  and a first clamping flange  53  extending at a certain angle from a circumferential edge of the base  51 . The base  51  covers one end of the heating component  10  in the axis direction of the heating component  10  and communicates with the inner cavity of the heating component  10 . The first clamping flange  53  extends along the axis direction of the heating component  10  from the circumferential edge of the base  51 , and presses against the outer surface of the liquid absorption component  30  to fasten the liquid absorption component  30  onto the heating component  10 , so that the liquid absorption component  30  and the heating component  10  are assembled into a whole. 
     In this embodiment, the contact rings  50  further includes a second clamping flange  55  provided on the base  51  and is separated from the first clamping flange  53 . The base  51  is in the shape of a hollow ring. The first clamping flange  53  extends towards the axis direction of the heating component  10  from the edge of the external circle of the base  51 , and the second clamping flange  55  extends towards the same direction as the first clamping flange  53  from the inner circumference of the base  51 . In this case, the first clamping flange  53  and the second clamping flange  55  form two coaxial hollow circular cylinders at the internal and external circles, respectively, and the two coaxial hollow circular cylinders define a groove  57  therebetween. The groove  57  is adapted to receive a circumferential edge of the heating component  10  wrapped with the liquid absorption component  30 . 
     It will be appreciated that the structure of the contact ring  50  may be determined according to the structure of the heating component  10  in other embodiments. For example, the first clamping flange  53  of the contact ring  50  may be designed to have a L-shaped structure extending from the circumferential edge of the base  51 , and the second clamping flange  55  may be omitted. In addition, in other embodiments, the shapes of the first clamping flange  53  and the second clamping flange  55  may also be determined as needed. For example, each of the first clamping flange  53  and the second clamping flange  55  may be designed to have a plurality of clamping strips extending along the axis direction of the heating component  10 , and the plurality of clamping strips are separated from each other in the internal and external circles of the contact ring  50  respectively. The clamping strips of the first clamping flange  53  may correspond to the clamping strips of the second clamping flange  55 , or the clamping strips of the first clamping flange  53  and the clamping strips of the second clamping flange  55  may be arranged in a staggered manner. The arrangement is not limited here, provided that the liquid absorption component  30  can be fastened to and engaged with the heating component  10 . 
     Further, there may be two contact rings  50  made of elastic metal sheets. The two contact rings  50  are fastened to and contact with both ends of the heating component  10  in the axis direction of the heating component  10 , so as to serve as a positive electrode and a negative electrode of the atomizing head  100 , respectively. In such a way, when the heating component  10  and the liquid absorption component  30  are assembled together through the contact rings  50 , an electrical path between the atomizing head  100  and a battery device (not shown) providing electrical drive is formed, such that the heating component  10  atomizes the tobacco liquid absorbed by the liquid absorption component  30  in accordance with a user operation. This shows the atomizing head  100  is easy to assemble and use. 
     Further, in order to allow the atomizing head  100  to have a supporting function, the heating component  10  may be preferably one of a Clapton heating coil, a heating wire with a diameter of 0.1-1 mm, and a steel heating wire, or any combination thereof. If the heating component  10  is a nickel heating wire, it is preferably a nickel Clapton heating coil or a nickel heating wire with a diameter of 0.1-1 mm. 
     With reference to  FIGS. 4 and 5 , in a second embodiment of the present disclosure, the heating component  10  is a hollow heating tube provided with a plurality of pores  11 . The liquid absorption component  30  wraps around the heating component  10 . When the heating component  10  is energized, the heating component  10  may generate a high temperature to atomize the tobacco liquid absorbed on the liquid absorption component  30  wrapped around the heating component  10 , to create smoke. The smoke may flow out through the pores  11  in the heating component  10  and enter the smoke discharging channel (not shown), and then be brought into the mouth of the smoker with the flow. 
     With reference to  FIGS. 6 and 7 , when the heating component  10  is a heating tube, chemical corrosion or laser engraving may be conducted to the heating tube (such as nickel tube or steel tube) to form a porous hollow metal cylinder with extremely tiny pores  11 . Each pore has a diameter D of 0.1 to 5 mm, and the distance A between centers of two adjacent pores is greater than the diameter of the pore, that is, A&gt;D. 
     In the case where the heating component  10  is a heating sheet, the heating component  10  is formed by providing pores  11  on the heating sheet (such as nickel sheet or steel sheet), rolling the heating sheet into a cylindrical structure with a welding technology, and punching both ends of the cylindrical structure to form two contact rings  50  in the shape of a flange, and the contact rings  50  are adapted to cover the porous liquid absorption component  30  outside the heating component  10 . Meanwhile, the contact rings  50  in the shape of a flange have larger contact areas, and are easy to form positive and negative electrodes. 
     In the case that the heating component  10  is the above-mentioned heating tube or heating sheet, it is also advantageous to increase the heating area of the heating component  10 , and make the heating component  10  to generate heat uniformly to avoid damaging the liquid absorption component  30  due to local overheating. 
     During assembling of the atomizing head  100  when the atomizing head  100  is required to be replaced, the liquid absorption component  30  may wrap around the heating component  10 , the two contact rings  50  may be inserted into the inner cavity of the heating component  10  through the respective second clamping flanges  55 , and the second clamping flanges  55  may contact the inner wall of the heating component  10 , so that the edge of the heating component  10  wrapped with the liquid absorption component  30  in the circumference direction of the heating component  10  is nested and fastened within the groove  57 . Meanwhile, the two contact rings  50  form the positive electrode and the negative electrode of the heating component  10 , respectively, such that an electrical path between the atomizing head  100  and a battery device may be formed, and that the heating component  10  may heat and atomize the tobacco liquid absorbed on the liquid absorption component  30 . 
     During the assembling process of the atomizing head  100  of the present disclosure, it only requires the liquid absorption component  30  to wrap around the heating component  10  and be pressed against and fastened by the contact rings  50 . Such assembling process is simple, and the atomizing head is easy to replace at a low cost. Meanwhile, the contact rings  50  may serve as a positive electrode and a negative electrode of the heating component  10 , so that when the atomizing head  100  is electrically connected to the battery device after assembly, an electrical path may be formed, and the tobacco liquid absorbed on the liquid absorption component  30  may be heated to create smoke. 
     The present disclosure also provides an atomizing device (not shown) having the atomizing head  100  and the smoking discharging channel which is in fluid communication with the atomizing head  100 . 
     The present disclosure further provides an electronic cigarette (not shown) having the above atomizing device. 
     The above are embodiments of the present disclosure described in detail, and should not be deemed as limitations to the scope of the present disclosure. It should be noted that variations and improvements will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which the present disclosure pertains without departing from its spirit and scope. Therefore, the scope of the present disclosure is defined by the appended claims.