CROSS REFERENCE TO THE RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is the national phase entry of International Application No. PCT/CN2019/099831, filed on Aug. 8, 2019, which is based upon and claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 201910228759.8, filed on Mar. 25, 2019, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention belongs to the technical field of electronic cigarettes, and more specifically, relates to a magnetic drive pumping apparatus for electronic cigarette liquids and an electronic cigarette product including the magnetic drive pumping apparatus.

BACKGROUND

Liquids of electronic cigarettes are typically delivered to a heating element by way of siphoning a wicking component, e.g., wicking cotton, or a liquid tank. When transmitted in this manner, the volume of liquid delivered to the heating element is unable to be controlled. Whether excessive or insufficient, if the incorrect volume of cigarette liquid is delivered, certain heating inefficiencies of the heating element are realized. An insufficient amount of electronic cigarette liquid delivered may lead to a dry burning or a ruined heater as a result of the element's elevated operating temperatures, in which case malodorous smoke and steam may be produced. On the other hand, an excessive amount of electronic cigarette liquid delivered may result in insufficient atomization of the liquid as a result of the heating element operating below its ideal temperature, in which case the amount of smoke may be significantly reduced and the user made to feel as if s/he is inhaling the cigarette liquid.

In order to manage the transmission of cigarette liquid and solve the above problems, manufacturers have employed micro-pumps through which directional quantitative pumping of electronic cigarette liquid may be achieved. Some of the subject pumps and devices have been patented. In prior patent documents, however, the liquid tank and the micro-pump are generally disclosed as being separated resulting in an electronic cigarette of relatively large overall size. Moreover, the micro-pump components of such devices must be connected to the liquid tank and the heating element through various conduits and sealing apparatus, which presents numerous inefficiencies and too many parts. This makes the product not well-integrated, difficult and expensive to manufacture and assemble and increases the risk that the electronic cigarette liquid may leak.

Magnetic drive micro-pumps are driven by external magnetic fields and are capable of pumping a large volume of liquids safely and reliably under low voltage with rapid response time.

SUMMARY

The present invention provides a magnetic drive pumping apparatus for electronic cigarette liquids and an electronic cigarette product including the magnetic drive pumping apparatus. The apparatus has the advantages of low input voltage, highly flexible pump diaphragm, ease of frequency adjustment, and quick response, which can lower the power consumption and accelerate the delivery of electronic cigarette liquids when pumping.

The present invention is implemented by the following technical solutions.

In one aspect of the invention, a magnetic drive pumping apparatus for electronic cigarette liquids, which includes the following components:

the magnetic drive micro-pump101; wherein the magnetic drive micro-pump101includes the housing body5and the pump body6. The pump diaphragm10is arranged inside the housing body5, and the pump chamber7is formed between the housing body5and the pump diaphragm10. The valve seat1and the valve diaphragm2are set in the pump body6. The pump diaphragm10, the valve seat1and the valve diaphragm2jointly define the flow channel4of electronic cigarette liquids. One end of the flow channel is the inlet9of electronic cigarette liquids, and the other end of the flow channel is the outlet8of electronic cigarette liquids. The pump diaphragm10is fixed with the permanent magnet11, and the inner wall of the housing body5is fixed with the electromagnet12corresponding to the permanent magnet11; and

the liquid storage element102; wherein the liquid storage element102includes the liquid tank3and the air vent14; and the inlet9of electronic cigarette liquids is connected to the liquid tank3for liquids to pass through.

In a preferred implementation of the present invention, the outlet8of electronic cigarette liquids is connected to an atomizer.

In a preferred implementation of the present invention, the outer wall of housing body5is fixed with annular electrodes or the housing body5is fixed with pin-shaped or chip-shaped contact electrode, so that the magnetic drive micro-pump is connected to a power supply and a control system.

In a preferred implementation of the present invention, the outer wall of the housing body5is equipped with a wiring duct, wires are contained in the wiring duct, and the wires are configured to connect the magnetic drive micro-pump101to the annular electrode.

In a preferred implementation of the present invention, the flow channel4of electronic cigarette liquids is a non-linear flow channel.

In the present invention, the flow channel4of electronic cigarette liquids is designed in a form of broken line or spiral line to extend the flow path of liquids increase the pumping pressure on liquids in the case of the magnetic drive micro-pump101having a small size.

In the present invention, the magnetic drive micro-pump101and the pump chamber7are small enough to concentrate the driving energy, facilitating the rapid and powerful pumping of the liquids.

In the present invention, the magnetic drive micro-pump101is integrated with the liquid storage element102to form one piece. The various pipelines through which the magnetic drive micro-pump101is connected to the liquid storage element and the heating element can be eliminated by providing the wiring duct on the pump body for accommodating wires, greatly enhancing the integration of the magnetic drive micro-pump101, the liquid storage element102and the heating element, significantly minimizing the apparatus and increasing the portability.

In a preferred implementation of the present invention, the valve diaphragm2can be produced by spin coating the room temperature vulcanized silicone rubber on the stainless steel substrate. The pump diaphragm10can be produced by a solvent casting method, namely, pouring the room temperature vulcanized silicone rubber on the polypropylene substrate. Alternatively, the pump diaphragm10can also be made of other highly elastic polymer materials (such as SU-8, PMMA, etc.). The permanent magnet11is placed in the center of the pump diaphragm10. The electromagnet12is embedded in the inner wall of the housing body5and directly opposite to the permanent magnet11. To ensure vibration of the pump diaphragm, a predetermined distance should be maintained between the electromagnet12and the permanent magnet11. The wire duct can be provided on or inside the micro-pump housing body to contain the wires connected to the electromagnet12.

In a preferred implementation of the present invention, the permanent magnet11can be a Nd—Fe—B block or a Sm—Co magnet, which is combined with the pump diaphragm10by bonding. Alternatively, magnetic materials can be integrated on the pump diaphragm10by micro-manufacturing techniques such as electroplating, sputtering, pulsed laser deposition and others. The electromagnet12can be a conventional ring-core structure, a curved ring-core structure, or a multi-layer patterned chip-shaped structure.

In a preferred implementation of the present invention, each of the micro components can be manufactured using Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) technology, and the assembly of the components can be achieved by lamination, adhesion, bonding, and other known securing methods. The air vent14is provided at the bottom of the housing of the liquid storage element102and configured for balancing the pressures inside and outside the apparatus during inhalation. In addition, the air vent14allows the liquid tank3to shrink and expand to facilitate the flow of electronic cigarette liquids to the micro-pump.

The second aspect of the present invention relates to an electronic cigarette product including the magnetic drive pumping apparatus for electronic cigarette liquids, including any one of the above magnetic drive pumping apparatus for electronic cigarette liquids.

The working principle of the present invention is as follow. The electromagnet12produces an external magnetic field when being applied with a voltage. The permanent magnet11is attracted and repelled accordingly to induce the vibration of the pump diaphragm10, which ultimately drives the opening and closing of the valve diaphragm2. By periodical opening and closing of the valve diaphragm2, the electronic cigarette liquids13in the liquid tank3is driven to enter the magnetic drive micro-pump101(when pumping into) and be discharged from magnetic drive micro-pump101(when pumping out).FIG.2andFIG.3show the effects of pumping-in and pumping-out of the electronic cigarette liquids, respectively.

Advantages

1. In the present invention, the flow channel of electronic cigarette liquids is designed in a form of broken line or spiral line to extend the flow path of the electronic cigarette liquids and increase the pumping pressure on the electronic cigarette liquids in the case of the magnetic drive micro-pump having a small size.

2. In the present invention, the magnetic drive micro-pump is integrated with the liquid storage element to form one piece. The various conduits through which the magnetic drive micro-pump is connected to the liquid storage element and the heating element can be eliminated by providing the wiring duct on the pump body for accommodating wires, significantly enhancing the integration of the magnetic drive micro-pump, the liquid storage element and the heating element, substantially minimizing the apparatus and increasing the portability.

3. The magnetic drive micro-pump has the advantages of low input voltage, highly flexible pump diaphragm, the ease of frequency adjustment, and quick response, which can lower the power consumption and accelerate the delivery of electronic cigarette liquids when pumping.

4. The flow channel of electronic cigarette liquids is enclosed inside the micro-pump, avoiding the flow blockage caused by bubbles in the pipelines arranged outside the micro-pump and the possible leakage of electronic cigarette liquids due to poor sealing between the pipelines and the micro-pump.

5. The built-in liquid tank is conducive to the miniaturization and portability of electronic cigarettes because separate external liquid tank components can be eliminated. Furthermore, the electronic cigarette liquids stored in the built-in liquid tank are stable and clean because they are totally isolated from the external environment.

