Patent Description:
TWM593161U discloses an electronic cigarette. The electronic cigarette comprises a casing including a first casing and a second casing. The first casing and the second casing can be docked and assembled with each other. One side of the second casing is provided with a first air passage, and the second housing and an outer wall of the first air passage are an e-liquid chamber. A second air passage is arranged inside the e-liquid chamber, and a bottom of an outer wall of the second air passage has a protruding outward stop wall. An open oil delivery port is formed between the stop wall and the e-liquid chamber, and a space below the e-liquid chamber is the atomization gas tank. The electronic cigarette comprises atomization component, and the atomization component is installed in the atomization gas tank. An upper part of the atomization component is the second air passage, and the atomization component includes an oil delivery part disposed on both sides of a heater. The oil delivery part fills the oil delivery port. The electronic cigarette comprises a breathing sensing device, the breathing sensing device communicates with the second air passage. The sensing device can detect the air pressure in the environment to activate the power supply of the electronic cigarette.

A further electronic cigarette is disclosed in <CIT>.

An electronic cigarette is an electronic product that imitates a cigarette, and the electronic cigarette can produce smoke by atomizing a smoke liquid for a user to inhale.

The electronic cigarette is equipped with a liquid storage tank (otherwise referred to as a vapor pad), and a tip of the vapor pad can be held and inhaled by the user. When the electronic cigarette is being used, air enters through an interval between a main body of the electronic cigarette and the vapor pad, and enters the mouth of the user through a central passage of the vapor pad.

When the interval between the main body of the electronic cigarette and the vapor pad is affected by a processing accuracy, a resistance experienced by the user during inhalation (or "draw resistance" for short) can be easily affected. A conventional method is to improve the processing accuracy, so that the interval between the main body of the electronic cigarette and the vapor pad can be within an acceptable tolerance range. In this way, the draw resistance of the electronic cigarette can be controlled and maintained within a certain range after mass production. The conventional method relies on the processing accuracy of a production machine to ensure that the interval meets its design specification. The disadvantage of the conventional method resides in that the production machine needs to achieve a certain degree of processing accuracy. In addition, the complexity of a manufacturing process is high and a certain degree of control accuracy is required, which result in an increase of manufacturing costs. Furthermore, the accuracy problem often causes an actual draw resistance to be inconsistent with a designed draw resistance.

In response to the above-referenced technical inadequacies, the present invention provides an electronic cigarette that has a reduced manufacturing complexity, and a draw resistance of the manufactured electronic cigarette is consistent with an estimated draw resistance according to independent claim <NUM>. The dependent claims show further embodiments of claim <NUM>.

In one aspect, the present invention provides an electronic cigarette. The electronic cigarette includes a main body and a cigarette cartridge. The main body includes an accommodating slot and a magnetic valve. The magnetic valve movably protrudes from a bottom surface of the accommodating slot. The cigarette cartridge includes a joint surface and a magnetic body that is disposed on the joint surface, and configured to be disposed in the accommodating slot. The magnetic body attracts the magnetic valve to move and protrude from the bottom surface of the accommodating slot, so that the magnetic body is connected to the magnetic valve, and an interval is formed between the cigarette cartridge and the main body. The main body further comprises a limiting receiving groove, the magnetic valve is movably accommodated in the limiting receiving groove, the limiting receiving groove comprises a lower portion and an upper portion, the upper portion is in spatial communication with the lower portion, a width of the upper portion is smaller than a width of the lower portion, the magnetic valve further comprises a limiting portion, the limiting portion is movably disposed in the lower portion, and a width of the limiting portion is greater than the width of the upper portion.

Therefore, in the electronic cigarette provided by the present disclosure, by virtue of "the magnetic body of the cigarette cartridge attracting the magnetic valve to move and protrude from the bottom surface of the accommodating slot, so that an interval is formed between the cigarette cartridge and the main body," the draw resistance of the electronic cigarette can be accurately controlled and be consistent with the estimated draw resistance.

These and other aspects of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the embodiment taken in conjunction with the following drawings and their captions, although variations and modifications therein may be affected without departing from the scope of invention as defined by the appended claims.

Referring to <FIG>, a first embodiment of the present disclosure provides an electronic cigarette <NUM> that includes a main body <NUM> and a cigarette cartridge <NUM>. The cigarette cartridge <NUM> is detachably disposed on the main body <NUM>, and the main body <NUM> includes an accommodating slot <NUM> and a magnetic valve <NUM>. An inside portion of the main body <NUM> can further have other components, such as a battery (not shown in the drawings) and a control circuit (not shown in the drawings), so as to control and supply power to the cigarette cartridge <NUM>. An inside portion of the cigarette cartridge <NUM> can further have a smoke liquid container (not shown in the drawings) for storing a smoke liquid and an atomizer (not shown in the drawings). When the electronic cigarette <NUM> is being used, the electronic cigarette <NUM> is heated by the power of the main body <NUM>, so that the smoke liquid in the cigarette cartridge <NUM> is atomized into gas by the atomizer. A center of the cigarette cartridge <NUM> has a smoke outlet channel <NUM> that travels from a bottom of the cigarette cartridge <NUM> to a top of the cigarette cartridge <NUM>. The smoke outlet channel <NUM> in the present embodiment is exemplarily illustrated. In fact, the smoke outlet channel <NUM> passes through the atomizer and is in spatial communication with a smoke pipe of the smoke liquid container.

The magnetic valve <NUM> can movably protrude from a bottom surface of the accommodating slot <NUM>. In addition, referring to <FIG>, the cigarette cartridge <NUM> includes a joint surface <NUM> and a magnetic body <NUM> disposed on the joint surface <NUM>, and the cigarette cartridge <NUM> can be disposed in the accommodating slot <NUM>. In the present embodiment, the magnetic body <NUM> of the cigarette cartridge <NUM> can attract the magnetic valve <NUM> to move and protrude from the bottom surface of the accommodating slot <NUM>, so that the magnetic body <NUM> is connected to the magnetic valve <NUM>, and an interval H is formed between the cigarette cartridge <NUM> and the main body <NUM>, as shown in <FIG>. A draw resistance of the electronic cigarette <NUM> can thus be accurately controlled and be consistent with an estimated draw resistance.

In the present embodiment, the magnetic valve <NUM> can be a metal or a magnet (such as a powerful magnet made of neodymium iron boron), but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Correspondingly, the magnetic body <NUM> can be a magnet (e.g., a powerful magnet made of neodymium iron boron) or a metal, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Or, the magnetic valve <NUM> and the magnetic body <NUM> can both be magnets, and magnetic poles thereof are opposite and attract each other. The following description describes the details of the magnetic valve <NUM> and the magnetic body <NUM> in a more specific manner.

The main body <NUM> has a partition wall <NUM>, so as to separate the accommodating slot <NUM> and a plurality of accommodating spaces that accommodate other components. In other words, a top surface of the partition wall <NUM> is used as the bottom surface of the accommodating slot <NUM>. The partition wall <NUM> in the present embodiment can be in a rectangular shape. Correspondingly, the main body <NUM> has a pair of first side walls <NUM> and a pair of second side walls <NUM>, and the first side walls <NUM> and the second side walls can be collectively referred to as side walls. The pair of first side walls <NUM> and the pair of second side walls <NUM> are connected to a periphery of the partition wall <NUM> to form the accommodating slot <NUM>. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, the partition wall can be a wall in an oval shape, a cylindrical shape, or other shapes.

In the present embodiment, a bottom half of the cigarette cartridge <NUM> is in a cuboid shape, and has two first sides <NUM> and two second sides <NUM>. The two first sides <NUM> are narrower than the two second sides <NUM>. In addition, the magnetic body <NUM> in the present embodiment is in a rectangular shape. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, the bottom half of the cigarette cartridge <NUM> can be in a cylindrical shape having an oval cross-section, a cylindrical shape, or other shapes. The shape of the partition wall <NUM> corresponds to the shape of the joint surface <NUM> of the cigarette cartridge <NUM>. In addition, a side wall of the main body <NUM> may be ring-shaped and surround the partition wall. For example, the side wall can be in a cylindrical shape or an oval cylindrical shape, and a quantity of the side wall is one.

In the present embodiment, a positioning mechanism is formed between the pair of first side walls <NUM> and the cigarette cartridge <NUM>, and includes at least one locking block <NUM> and at least one locking groove <NUM>. Specifically, in the present embodiment, there are two locking block <NUM> and two locking groove <NUM>. The two locking blocks <NUM> are formed on the two first side walls <NUM> of the main body <NUM>, respectively. The two locking grooves <NUM> are formed on the two first sides <NUM> of the cigarette cartridge <NUM> that are opposite to each other, respectively. The locking blocks <NUM> may be in a hemispherical shape, and the locking grooves <NUM> may be in a hemispherical shape. Accordingly, after the cigarette cartridge <NUM> is installed in the main body <NUM>, the positioning mechanism can allow the interval H to be formed between the bottom surface of the cigarette cartridge <NUM> and the bottom surface of the accommodating slot <NUM> (that is, the partition wall <NUM> of the main body <NUM>). In other words, the positioning mechanism can prevent the cigarette cartridge <NUM> from being in close contact with the bottom surface of the accommodating slot <NUM>, which can affect airflow. However, the positioning mechanism in the present disclosure is not limited thereto. A quantity of the locking blocks <NUM> of each of the first side walls <NUM> can be at least one. Correspondingly, a quantity of the locking grooves <NUM> can be at least one. Or, positions of the locking blocks <NUM> and the locking grooves <NUM> can be interchanged. In another one of the embodiments, a protruding portion in a stepped shape can be formed at a periphery of the main body <NUM>, so that a top edge of the side wall of the main body <NUM> can abut against the protruding portion, or the positioning mechanism can be formed between the cigarette cartridge <NUM> and the main body <NUM>.

Referring to <FIG> and <FIG>, in the present embodiment, the second side walls <NUM> of the main body <NUM> each have a grip groove in a semicircle shape, so that a user can easily hold the cigarette cartridge <NUM> to separate the cigarette cartridge <NUM> and the main body <NUM>.

Referring to <FIG> and <FIG>, the main body <NUM> also has a pair of conductive terminals <NUM> located in an inner side of magnetic valve <NUM>. In other words, the pair of conductive terminals <NUM> are surrounded by the magnetic valve <NUM>. Correspondingly, the cigarette cartridge <NUM> has a pair of electrodes <NUM>, and the pair of electrodes <NUM> correspondingly contact the pair of conductive terminals <NUM>. Preferably, the pair of conductive terminals <NUM> may be flexible terminals, such as a POGO pin including a plunger, a tube, and a spring, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, the pair of conductive terminals <NUM> can also be other elastic terminals. An electric power received by the pair of conductive terminals <NUM> can allow the atomizer located in the cigarette cartridge <NUM> (not shown in the drawings) to heat the smoke liquid.

Referring to <FIG> and <FIG>, when the magnetic valve <NUM> is attracted by the magnetic body <NUM> of the cigarette cartridge <NUM>, a top end of the magnetic valve <NUM> abuts against the cigarette cartridge <NUM> and a valve port 11E is formed by the magnetic valve <NUM>. An outer surface of the magnetic body <NUM> is preferably flush with the joint surface <NUM> of the cigarette cartridge <NUM>. In other words, the outer surface of the magnetic body <NUM> is the same plane as the joint surface <NUM> of the cigarette cartridge <NUM>. In the present embodiment, a width W of the valve port 11E and a height of the magnetic valve <NUM> that protrudes from the main body <NUM> can be adjusted through a design process. The height of the magnetic valve <NUM> may be the interval H between the cigarette cartridge <NUM> and the main body <NUM>). Referring to <FIG>, the interval H is configured to accurately control a resistance of an inflow of air, that is, an accuracy of the draw resistance. The above-mentioned structure in the present embodiment can replace a processing tolerance of the interval H between the main body and the cigarette cartridge of the electronic cigarette, and reduce a tolerance caused by a production machine and a manufacturing process, so as to ensure that the draw resistance of a product is consistent with the estimated draw resistance.

The magnetic valve <NUM> in the present embodiment is in a rectangular shape and has the valve port 11E. The valve port 11E may be a channel for air flow. Specifically, the magnetic valve <NUM> has a first retaining wall <NUM>, two second retaining walls <NUM>, and two third retaining walls <NUM>. Two first ends of the two second retaining walls <NUM> are respectively connected to two ends of the first retaining walls <NUM>, and two first ends of the two third retaining walls <NUM> are respectively connected to two second ends of the two second retaining walls <NUM>. The valve port 11E is formed between two second ends of the two third retaining walls <NUM>. Specifically, the two second ends of the two third retaining walls <NUM> are free ends. The free ends are not connected to each other, so as to form the valve port 11E therebetween. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, the magnetic valve <NUM> can be in any semi-closed geometric shape, such as a C shape. Or, the magnetic valve <NUM> can be in a circular or polygonal shape with openings.

Referring to <FIG>, when the electronic cigarette <NUM> is used by a user, an outside air flows through the intervals between the first side walls <NUM> and the main body <NUM> and between the second side wall <NUM> and the main body <NUM> to form a first airflow A1. Then, the firs airflow A1 flows into the interval H between the cigarette cartridge <NUM> and the bottom surface of the accommodating slot <NUM> to form a second airflow A2. Since the second airflow A2 is limited by the shape of the magnetic valve <NUM>, the second airflow A2 flows to the valve port 11E and then flows into the smoke outlet channel <NUM> of the cigarette cartridge <NUM>, thereby forming a third airflow A3.

Referring to <FIG>, the magnetic valve <NUM> in the present embodiment can movably protrude from the bottom surface of the accommodating slot <NUM>. Such a configuration has an advantage of easily controlling the top surface of the magnetic valve <NUM> to properly fit with the joint surface <NUM> of the cigarette cartridge <NUM>. With respect to the magnetic valve <NUM> being floatable, a feasible implementation is exemplified as follows. The partition wall <NUM> of the main body <NUM> includes a limiting receiving groove <NUM> that is substantially in a T-shape. The magnetic valve <NUM> can be movably accommodated in the limiting receiving groove <NUM>, and includes a lower portion <NUM> and an upper portion <NUM>. The upper portion <NUM> is in spatial communication with the lower portion <NUM>. A width of the upper portion <NUM> is smaller than a width of the lower portion <NUM>. In order to prevent the magnetic valve <NUM> from separating from the main body <NUM>, the magnetic valve <NUM> has a limiting portion <NUM> movably disposed in the lower portion <NUM>. A width of the limiting portion <NUM> is greater than the width of the upper portion <NUM>. Accordingly, the limiting portion <NUM> of the magnetic valve <NUM> cannot leave the upper portion <NUM> of the limiting receiving groove <NUM>.

Referring to <FIG>, the difference between the present embodiment and the above embodiment mainly resides in that the magnetic body of the cigarette cartridge <NUM> includes a pair of magnets 21a configured to attract to two sides of the magnetic valve <NUM>, respectively. The bottom surfaces of the pair of magnets 21a is flush with the joint surface <NUM> of the cigarette cartridge <NUM>. The pair of magnets 21a in the present embodiment are two rectangles, but a quantity and a shape of the magnets are not limited thereto. For example, the magnets can also be in a circular shape, and the quantity of the magnets can be more than two.

Referring to <FIG>, the difference between the present embodiment and the above embodiment mainly resides in that the electronic cigarette <NUM> can further include at least one motor M. The at least one motor M is disposed in the main body <NUM> and electrically connected to the magnetic valve <NUM>. The at least one motor M can drive the magnetic valve <NUM> to move (e.g., push up), so that the magnetic valve <NUM> can protrude from the bottom surface of the accommodating slot <NUM> or fine-tune the height of the magnetic valve <NUM> that protrudes from the bottom surface of the accommodating slot <NUM>. The main body <NUM> includes the limiting receiving groove <NUM>, and the magnetic valve <NUM> can be movably accommodated in the limiting receiving groove <NUM>. The at least one motor M can be disposed under the magnetic valve <NUM> and accommodated in the limiting receiving groove <NUM>. To ensure that a horizontal height of the magnetic valve <NUM> is uniform during ascension, a quantity of the motor M in the electronic cigarette <NUM> of the present embodiment can be two. The two motors M are disposed under the two second retaining walls <NUM> of the magnetic valve <NUM>, and are configured to abut against the bottom surface of the magnetic valve <NUM>, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, the quantity of the motor M can be at least one, and is disposed in other positions of the main body <NUM>. Or, the motor M and the magnetic valve <NUM> can be connected to each other by a connection structure, so that the motor M drives the magnetic valve <NUM> to move through the connection structure.

The advantage of the present embodiment is that the electronic cigarette <NUM> can control the height of the magnetic valve <NUM> that protrudes from the bottom surface of the accommodating slot <NUM> by adjusting the at least one motor M, so as to fine-tune the interval H between the cigarette cartridge <NUM> and the main body <NUM> and thereby adjust the draw resistance. In other words, the user can adjust the draw resistance by adjusting a lifting height of the at least one motor M according to personal preference. When the at least one motor M further pushes up the magnetic valve <NUM>, the interval H between the cigarette cartridge <NUM> and the main body <NUM> is increased, which can reduce the draw resistance. When the at least one motor M slightly reduces the height of the magnetic valve <NUM> that protrudes from the bottom surface of the accommodating slot <NUM>, the interval H between the cigarette cartridge <NUM> and the main body <NUM> is reduced, which can increase the draw resistance. Moreover, since the electronic cigarette <NUM> can control the height of the magnetic valve <NUM> that protrudes from the bottom surface of the accommodating slot <NUM> through the at least one motor M, the positioning mechanism can even be omitted.

In conclusion, in the electronic cigarette provided by the present disclosure, by virtue of "the magnetic body <NUM> of the cigarette cartridge <NUM> attracting the magnetic valve <NUM> to move and protrude from the bottom surface of the accommodating slot <NUM>, so that an interval is formed between the cigarette cartridge <NUM> and the main body <NUM>," a draw resistance of the electronic cigarette <NUM> can be accurately controlled to be consistent with a draw resistance that is an estimated design, as shown in <FIG>.

More specifically, when the magnetic valve <NUM> is attracted by the magnetic body <NUM> of the cigarette cartridge <NUM>, the top end of the magnetic valve <NUM> abuts against the cigarette cartridge <NUM> and the valve port 11E is formed by the magnetic valve <NUM>. In the present embodiment, the width W of the valve port 11E and the height of the magnetic valve <NUM> that protrudes from the main body <NUM> (that is, the interval H between the cigarette cartridge <NUM> and the main body <NUM>) can be adjusted through a design process. The interval H is configured to accurately control an inflow of air (that is, an accuracy of the draw resistance).

Claim 1:
An electronic cigarette (<NUM>), characterized by comprising:
a main body (<NUM>) comprising an accommodating slot (<NUM>) and a magnetic valve (<NUM>), wherein the magnetic valve (<NUM>) movably protrudes from a bottom surface of the accommodating slot (<NUM>); and
a cigarette cartridge (<NUM>) comprising a joint surface (<NUM>) and a magnetic body (<NUM>) disposed on the joint surface (<NUM>), wherein the cigarette cartridge (<NUM>) is configured to be disposed in the accommodating slot (<NUM>), the magnetic body (<NUM>) attracts the magnetic valve (<NUM>) to move and protrude from the bottom surface of the accommodating slot (<NUM>), so that the magnetic body (<NUM>) is connected to the magnetic valve (<NUM>), and an interval (H) is formed between the cigarette cartridge (<NUM>) and the main body (<NUM>);
characterized in that
the main body (<NUM>) further comprises a limiting receiving groove (<NUM>), the magnetic valve (<NUM>) is movably accommodated in the limiting receiving groove (<NUM>), the limiting receiving groove (<NUM>) comprises a lower portion (<NUM>) and an upper portion (<NUM>), the upper portion (<NUM>) is in spatial communication with the lower portion (<NUM>), a width (W) of the upper portion (<NUM>) is smaller than a width (W) of the lower portion (<NUM>), the magnetic valve (<NUM>) further comprises a limiting portion (<NUM>), the limiting portion (<NUM>) is movably disposed in the lower portion (<NUM>), and a width (W) of the limiting portion (<NUM>) is greater than the width (W) of the upper portion (<NUM>).