Patent Publication Number: US-2023139744-A1

Title: Electronic vaporizer

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is in the field of electronic vaporizers. 
     DISCUSSION OF RELATED ART 
     A variety of different electronic vaporizers have been described in the prior art for smoking articles. For example, in the international publication number WO2016126698A1 published on Nov. 8, 2016, titled Personal Electronic Vaporizer by inventor Curtis R. BERRY, the abstract discloses, “The disclosure relates to a personal electronic vaporizer (1) configured to receive a selected oven assembly (13) and heat the medium therein in accordance with a heating profile associate with the selected oven assembly. The personal electronic vaporizer may define a pathway (129) entirely surrounded by a material (131). The material is preferably an inert material such as glass or a material otherwise desirable to channel the vapors emitted by the heated medium to the user. The user may swap or select a different oven assembly associated with a different heating profile. The first oven assembly is thereafter removed from the personal electronic vaporizer and replaced with the newly selected oven assembly. The personal electronic vaporizer may automatically recognize the particular selected oven assembly and heat the substance therein according to a predefined heating profile associate with the oven assembly.” 
     For example, in the United States publication number US20210282232A1 published on Sep. 9, 2021 titled Electronic Smoking Article Comprising One or More Microheaters by inventor William Robert Collett et al., the abstract discloses, “The present disclosure relates to an electronic smoking article that provides for improved aerosol delivery. Particularly, the article comprises one or more microheaters. In various embodiments, the microheaters provide for improved control of vaporization of an aerosol precursor composition and provide for reduced power requirements to achieve consistent aerosolization. The present disclosure further relates to methods of forming an aerosol in a smoking article.” 
     For example, in the international patent number CN112535323A published on Mar. 23, 2021 titled Double-heating-wire Electronic Cigarette Controller and Double-heating-wire-Control Method by inventor Chen Yi, the abstract discloses, “The invention relates to a double-heating-wire electronic cigarette controller and a double-heating-wire control method. The double heating wire control method comprises the following steps of S1: when the electronic cigarette controller is powered on, one of the first heating wire and the second heating wire is randomly selected as a main heating wire, and the other one is selected as an auxiliary heating wire; s2: and detecting the number of the smoking ports, and switching the auxiliary heating wire to be the main heating wire when the number of the smoking ports reaches a first preset value n. The invention has the advantages that: the two heating wire terminals are arranged, and the main heating wire and the auxiliary heating wire are switched according to the number of the smoking openings, so that the service life of the heating wires can be prolonged, and the service life of the electronic cigarette can be prolonged; the first preset value and the working state of the auxiliary heating wire are adjusted according to the real-time smoking frequency of a user, so that the working time of a single heating wire can be prevented from being too short or too long.” 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An electronic vaporizer has a battery, and a set of controls. The first heater is activated by the set of controls. A middle chamber is heated by the first heater. An airflow is configured to pass through the middle chamber. A second heater is activated by the set of controls. The second heater heats an upper chamber. The airflow is configured to pass through the upper chamber from the middle chamber. The mouthpiece tube is connected to the upper chamber. The airflow passes through the mouthpiece tube. A processor is configured with a timing program which distributes battery power alternatively between the first heater the second heater according to a clock having a clock frequency. A control system has a voltage feedback loop inside a temperature feedback loop for controlling both the voltage and the temperature of the heating coil. The clock cycle for the voltage feedback loop is higher than the clock cycle for the temperature feedback loop. The control system further includes a temperature sensor and a voltage sensor. The temperature sensor can be a thermocouple mounted in the second heater. 
     The mouthpiece tube is preferably made of glass having spiral indentations to promote a vortex flow. The mouthpiece tube seals to a mouthpiece gasket which in turn is mounted to a mouthpiece assembly. The mouthpiece assembly has a magnetic connection to an upper housing. The upper housing is connected to a lower housing. The battery is mounted between the upper housing and lower housing. 
     A lower chamber has an air intake formed on a lower housing which has a lower frame. 
     The lower chamber can be mounted on the lower frame. The middle chamber and the upper chamber are mounted to the middle frame. A silicone heater cover is sandwiched between the lower housing and the lower frame. 
     The electronic vaporizer has a timing program that has a clock cycle greater than 100 Hz. The clock cycle has a high half and a low half. Either the first heater or the second heater is activated in the high half, and either the first heater or the second heater is activated in the low half. In a 50 percent program, if the first heater is activated in the high half, the first heater is not activated again in the low half. The first heater is a convection heater that heats air passing through it, and the second heater is a conduction heater that heats the article directly. 
     The convection heater has a convection heater coil. The airflow passes around and through the convection heater coil. The conduction heater is a ceramic heater having a ceramic body. The timing program alternates between heating the upper chamber and heating the lower chamber at a clock cycle greater than 10 Hz when the timing program is set for half convection heating and half conduction heating. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG.  1    is a perspective right side view of the present invention. 
         FIG.  2    is a perspective left side view of the present invention. 
         FIG.  3    is a left view of the present invention. 
         FIG.  4    is a right view of the present invention. 
         FIG.  5    is a rear view of the present invention. 
         FIG.  6    is a front view of the present invention. 
         FIG.  7    is a top side view of the present invention. 
         FIG.  8    is a bottom view of the present invention. 
         FIG.  9    a cross-section diagram. 
         FIG.  10    is an exploded view diagram. 
         FIG.  11    is a timing diagram. 
         FIG.  12    is a control system diagram. 
     
    
    
     The following call out list of elements can be a useful guide in referencing the elements of the drawings.
       20  Battery     21  Upper Connection Pad     22  Lower Connection Pad     30  Upper Housing     31  Upper Housing Magnet     32  Mouthpiece Assembly Magnet     40  Mouthpiece Assembly     41  Mouthpiece Tube     42  Mouthpiece Gasket     43  Vapor Exit     44  Mouthpiece Assembly Grip     45  Mouthpiece Gasket Groove     50  Ceramic Conduction Heater     51  Insulation Tubing     52  Temperature Sensor     53  Upper Heater Cover     54  Coil Holder     55  Convection Heating Coil     56  Coil Heating Cover     57  Silicone Heating Cover     58  Air Intake     59  Heater Cover Openings     60  Housing     61  Ceramic Coil Top Spacer     62  Screen Coil Cover     63  Lower Frame     64  Ceramic Coil Bottom Spacer     65  Upper Chamber     66  Middle Chamber     67  Lower Chamber     70  Printed Circuit Board Assembly     71  Liquid Crystal Display Screen     72  Central Processing Unit     73  Fire Button     74  Up And Down Buttons     75  Up Button Switch     76  Down Button Switch     77  Universal Serial Bus Socket     78  Fire Button Switch     90  Coil Timing System     91  Convection Coil First Half Of First Clock Cycle     92  Conduction Coil First Half Of First Clock Cycle     93  Clock First Half Of First Clock Cycle     94  Convection Coil Second Half Of First Clock Cycle     95  Conduction Coil Second Half Of First Clock Cycle     96  Conduction Coil Second Half Of First Clock Cycle     97  Convection Coil First Half Of Second Clock Cycle     98  Conduction Coil First Half Of Second Clock Cycle     99  Clock First Half Of Second Clock Cycle     100  Clock     101  Convection Coil Second Half Of Second Clock Cycle     102  Conduction Coil Second Half Of Second Clock Cycle     103  Clock Second Half Of Second Clock Cycle     104  Convection Coil First Half Of Third Clock Cycle     105  Conduction Coil First Half Of Third Clock Cycle     106  Clock First Half Of Third Clock Cycle     107  Convection Coil Second Half Of Third Clock Cycle     108  Conduction Coil First Second Of Third Clock Cycle     109  Clock Second Half Of Third Clock Cycle     120  Convection Coil Cycle     121  Conduction Coil Cycle     110  Control System     111  Reference Temperature     112  Voltage Feedback Loop     113  Temperature Feedback Loop     114  Voltage Sensor Measurement     115  Temperature Sensor Measurement     116  Voltage Comparator     117  Temperature Comparator     118  Voltage Proportional Integral Derivative Controller     119  Temperature Proportional Integral Derivative Controller   

     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     As seen in  FIGS.  9 - 10   , the present invention is an electronic vaporizer. The electronic vaporizer has a battery  20  that powers a pair of heaters, such as a first heater and a second heater. The second heater can be a ceramic conduction heater  50  that heats an upper chamber  65 , and the first heater can be a convection heating coil  55  that heats a middle chamber  66 . The processor, controller or central processing unit  72  can be configured with firmware or software so that it switches between the first heater and the second heater. The second heater is a conduction heater and the first heater is a convection heater. Air passes first through the second heater for preheating and then passes into the upper chamber  65  where the conduction heater heats the plant material. 
     The battery  20  is housed within an upper housing  30  and a lower housing  60 . The upper housing has an upper housing magnet  31  that clicks to a mouthpiece assembly magnet  32  mounted on a mouthpiece assembly  40 . The magnetic attraction between the upper housing magnet  31  and the mouthpiece assembly magnet  32  provides a click audio indicator. The upper housing magnet  31  is mounted within a recess on the upper housing  30 , and the mouthpiece assembly magnet  32  is mounted within a recess on the mouthpiece assembly  40 . The magnet interface is formed at an angle relative to the mouthpiece tube  41  and the battery  20  and is generally tagging only oriented. The mouthpiece tube  41  can be formed as a glass mouthpiece that has spiral oriented indentations in it for providing a vortex flow. A concentrate can be put on a fibrous sponge pad which is inserted into the heating chamber which is the upper chamber  65 . Alternatively, plant material can be put directly into the heating chamber. 
     The mouthpiece assembly  40  has a mouthpiece tube  41  inserted into the mouthpiece assembly  40  and a mouthpiece gasket  42  that forms an airtight seal. The mouthpiece gasket  42  retains to the mouthpiece assembly  40  at a mouthpiece gasket groove  45 . The mouthpiece tube  41  has a vapor exit  43  that is collinear with an air intake  58  at an opposite end of the electronic vaporizer. The orientation of the magnet interface is parallel to the mouthpiece assembly grip  44  which is formed on the exterior surface of the mouthpiece assembly  40 . 
     A printed circuit board assembly  70  may include a central processing unit  72  and a liquid crystal display screen  71 . Up and down buttons  74  can be formed as an elastomeric cover that operates an up button switch  75  and a down button switch  76 . The battery can be charged through the universal serial bus socket  77  which also allows data operation between the central processing unit and a memory stored on the printed circuit board assembly  70 . The printed circuit board assembly  70  is mounted adjacent to the battery  20 . A fire button  73  has a fire button switch  78  that is mounted to the printed circuit board assembly  70 . The fire button  73  is parallel to the up and down buttons  74  with an LCD screen  71  mounted between the fire button  73  and the up and down buttons  74 . 
     The ceramic conduction heater  50  is mounted in the lower housing  60  between an upper heater cover  53  and a coil holder cover  54 . The coil holder cover  54  also holds the convection heating coil  55 . The temperature sensor  52  can be formed as a thermocouple that is mounted on the ceramic conduction heater  50 . The convection heating coil  55  is preferably set off from the coil holder  54  such as by a ceramic coil bottom spacer  64  that fits within a lower opening of the coil holder  54 . At an upper opening of the coil holder  54 , a ceramic coil top spacer  61  retains the convection coil. The convection coil can be activated when airflow is active. The coil holder cover  56  preferably has multiple lower openings such as heater cover openings  59  for allowing the flow of air to pass through the convection heating coil  55 . The convection heating coil  55  allows airflow to pass through the middle of the coil as well as along its sides. 
     Airflow passes through the air intake  58  on the lower surface of the floor housing  60  into a lower chamber  67 . The lower chamber  67  slows the air speed so that any particulates entrained within the airflow will drop out. The airflow then passes into the middle chamber  66 . After airflow is heated by the convection coil in the middle chamber  66 , the airflow passes along the convection heating coil  55  which is sealed within the coil holder  54  between the ceramic coil top spacer  61 , and the ceramic coil bottom spacer  64 . The middle chamber  66  is mounted to the lower frame  63  which extends from the lower housing  60 . A screen coil cover  62  has perforations that prevent plant or herb material from falling out of the upper chamber  65  into the middle chamber  66 . The urban material is in the upper chamber  65 . The screen coil cover  62  is preferably stainless steel but can be aluminum. The upper chamber  65  has a ceramic conduction heater  50  which defines the upper chamber  65 . The ceramic conduction heater  50  may have a lower grille which is ceramic and has openings allowing airflow to pass through from the convection heating coil  55 . The ceramic conduction heater  50  has trace of electric coils in the sidewalls which heat by resistance heating. The ceramic material of the ceramic conduction heater  50  receives heat and conducts it to the plant material. As the plant material vaporizes, the airflow passes upward through the mouthpiece gasket  42 , then through the mouthpiece tube  41  and finally out through the vapor exit  43 . As the mouthpiece tube  41  is sealed to the mouthpiece gasket  42  in a socket of the mouthpiece gasket  42 , the airflow does not leak out into the upper housing  30 , or the mouthpiece assembly  40 . Similarly, a silicone heater cover  57  at the air intake  58  prevents air from leaking into the lower housing. The airflow is linear and passes vertically parallel to the battery and the liquid crystal display. 
     Therefore, a key feature of the present invention is that the air is heated first by convection, then by conduction. The proportion of the convection and conduction is user controllable. When a user desires to have more convection heating, the user can control the convection using the buttons. Similarly, when a user desires to have more conduction heating, the user can control that as well. The user can also control the amount of heat and heat duration. Insulation tubing  51  encapsulates the sidewalls of the ceramic conduction heater  50  and the upper half of the convection heating coil  55 . The insulation tubing  51  can be fiberglass, mineral wool or the like. 
     The battery  20  does not power both the trace in the ceramic conduction heater  50  and the convection heating coil  55  at the same time. The battery  20  is controlled by the printed circuit board assembly  70  which switches the power based on a clock cycle. The clock cycle can be 10 kilohertz for example. 
     As seen in  FIG.  11   , a coil timing system  90 , a clock  100  provides timing for a convection coil cycle  120  and a conduction coil cycle  121 . The convection coil has an activation input on a cycle that is offset by 180 degrees to the conduction coil cycle. A complete clock cycle has a high clock segment and a low clock segment comprising a total of 360 degrees. The coil timing system  90  begins with a convection coil first half of first clock cycle  91  where the convection coil is activated. The conduction coil first half of first clock cycle  92  deactivates the conduction coil. The clock first half of first clock cycle  93  is high. Then, the convection coil second half of first clock cycle  94  has a deactivation of the convection coil. The conduction coil second half of first clock cycle  95  is high which means that the conduction coil is activated. The conduction coil second half of first clock cycle  96  is low. That concludes the first cycle. 
     In the second cycle, the timing repeats. The convection coil first half of second clock cycle  97  is high, and the conduction coil first half of second clock cycle  98  is low because the clock first half of second clock cycle  99  is high. This mirrors the sequence from 360 degrees ago in the first cycle. Then, the value of the convection coil second half of second clock cycle  101  is high, and the value of the conduction coil second half of second clock cycle  102  is low. The clock second half of second clock cycle  103  is low. Again, in the third cycle, the timing repeats again. The convection coil first half of third clock cycle  104  is high, then low in the convection coil second half of third clock cycle  107 . This coordinates with the conduction coil value where the conduction coil first half of third clock cycle  105  is low and the conduction coil first second of third clock cycle  108  is high. The clock first half of third clock cycle  106  is high, and the clock second half of third clock cycle  109  is low. The coil timing system  90  can be implemented on the central processing unit  72 . The clock can be set at two kilohertz for example. 
     As seen in  FIG.  12   , the central processing unit  72  can also implement a voltage and temperature control system  110 . A user input reference temperature  111  can be checked with a temperature comparator  117  which calculates an error that a temperature proportional integral derivative controller  119  uses to output a voltage reference to a voltage comparator  116  which then calculates an error which the voltage proportional integral derivative controller uses to generate a voltage output to a heating coil. The heating coil has a temperature sensor measurement  115  taken from the temperature sensor  52 , and the output of the voltage proportional integral derivative controller  118  has a voltage sensor measurement  114  from a voltage sensor. This provides a voltage feedback loop  112  inside a temperature feedback loop  113  which controls the temperature of the heating coil. The heating coil voltage output value is sent to power the convection heating coil  55  and the ceramic heater  50  alternatively on a 2 kHz alternating clock cycle for example. 
     The example given is for a 50% convection and 50% conduction profile. The voltage cycle frequency is at a higher frequency than the temperature cycle frequency. The voltage cycle frequency can be set at 62.5 Hz and the temperature cycle frequency set at 10 Hz. The thermocouple temperature sensor is preferably attached to the ceramic cup of the ceramic heater  50 . The ceramic heater  50  preferably has a cylindrical body with a cylindrical opening for receiving the head of the thermocouple with a pair of legs extending from the thermocouple and out of the ceramic cup of the ceramic heater  50 . The thermocouple can be integrally formed with the ceramic sidewall of the ceramic heater  50 . Alternatively, two separate control systems can be used for controlling the convection heating coil  55  and the ceramic heater  50  separately, but still using the same temperature reference input. 
       FIGS.  1 - 8    show the exterior of the electronic vaporizer. From the exterior, the user does not see that the device has both a conduction and convection heater, however the user can check the status of the conduction and convection heater on the display screen. The user can control each heater individually and can set a desired temperature and then a percentage for each heater. The display screen on default preferably shows 50% conduction and 50% convection. The percentage can vary from 0 to 100 degrees in 10 degrees increments for example. Both will add up to 100%. For example, the temperature can be set to 180° C. with the conduction heater at 20% and the convection heater at 80%. The display screen will have a temperature with a countdown timer, the conduction percentage, convection percentage, battery indicator, and a vibration on-off symbol. The power and fire button, increase temperature button and decrease temperature button are all grouped together around the display screen. 
     By using different combinations of the buttons, the user can turn on the device, turn off the device, set the temperature, turn on the heat, turn off the heat, extend the session timer by 30 seconds, reset, change the units of the temperature, activate a stealth mode, and turn on and off a vibration. The device settings preferably have a temperature between 115° C. and 221° C. with a timer of five minutes and time extensions of 30 seconds each up to an additional five minutes. The default starting temperature is preferably 176° C. which is 350° F., with a default conduction heater utilization percentage of 50% and a default convection heater utilization percentage of 50%. The utilization percentage ratios correspond to a set activation timing pattern with the simplest timing pattern being alternation on every clock cycle. 
     The default values can be stored based on the last settings before powering off the device. By changing the variation of heat distribution between conduction and convection, a user can change the quality of the vapor depending upon user tastes and depending upon the herbal material or other articles being vaporized. Conduction preferably has a faster heating and uses less power, but may not be as easily vaporized and as flavorful as convection heating. 
     By combining the electronically controlled two heaters, the user has the ability to customize their vaporization session as they please. If the user were to modify the heat so that the heat was 30% conduction and 70% convection, the clock cycle could have three half cycles of conduction heating for every seven cycles of convection heating. The  30  to  70  ratio pattern may be conduction, convection, convection, conduction, convection, convection, convection, conduction, convection, and convection in that order where each conduction heating signal pulse is followed by three or four pulses of convection heating signal pulses.