Description:
FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to an aerosol generating device, powered by a super capacitor within the integrated housing.

BACKGROUND

The majority of aerosol generating devices are powered by a rechargeable battery, a non-rechargeable battery, or a user-replaceable battery (rechargeable or non-rechargeable). Many aerosol generating devices use lithium batteries because they can store a large amount of energy in a compact space. However, the inherent characteristics of lithium batteries can pose a risk of fire and explosion. Poor design, use of low-quality materials, manufacturing flaws and defects, operating temperature constrain (charging from 10 to 45 degree centigrade and discharge from (-)20 to 60 degree centigrade), and improper use and handling can all contribute to a condition known as “thermal runaway,” whereby the internal battery temperature can increase to the point of causing a battery fire or even an explosion.

In general, the most aerosol generating device has a minimum charging time of around 30 minutes, and a lithium-ion battery powers them with thermal runaway issues as aforementioned. Consumer needs to charge the device very carefully within the operating temperature range, and proper precaution needs to be taken about the environment where it is being charged to avoid thermal runaway issues. Due to thermal runaway issues, device gets heated up, and there are possible fire hazards from battery.

As lithium-ion battery is powering the device, increasing charge current is limited based on the battery specification, which causes an increase in the charge time. As charge time is directly proportional to the charging current, bringing the charge time below some threshold is impossible. These two issues are important problems in the aerosol generating devices. As these parameters concerns the consumer the most, there exists a need to address the said problems.

Currently, in the market, no devices exist with the concept, such as short time for charging, preferably less than five minutes, and free from fire hazards. By incorporating these design changes in the device, consumers get enormous benefits.

Reference has been made to “WO2016108694A1” relating to a personal electronic delivery system comprising a housing having a first end with an inlet and a second end with an outlet; a fluid path substantially extending between the inlet and the outlet; a buffer for holding a delivery fluid, and connecting means configured to transfer delivery fluid to the fluid path; and a heater that is provided in, at or close to the fluid path configured for heating the delivery fluid and an energy source configured for providing energy to the heater. This electronic delivery system employs the use of two energy source which is battery and a super capacitor, so that the device can be operated. The battery provides the energy required for the device operation and super capacitor act as booster.

Reference has been made to “US2016360787A1”, where a super capacitor vaping electronic cigarette includes improvements in power recharging capabilities. The object of the invention is to provide a rapid recharging of an aerosol generating device. In this invention one or more capacitor is characterized to include a first super capacitor operatively connected in series to a second super capacitor, first super capacitor is operatively connected to pulse width modulator and digital current control board controller and second super capacitor is operatively connected to first super capacitor and digital current control board controller. This particular invention describes the use of wireless charging system that charges the battery (energy source) which is not a super capacitor. Energy source is different between prior arts and present invention. However, US’787 employs a battery along with two super capacitors to achieve the same output that the instant invention achieves using a single super capacitor, thus making the power generation complex.

Reference has also been made to “CN210869896U”, relating to a wireless charging electronic cigarette, which comprises an electronic cigarette body and a wireless charging emitter for charging the electronic cigarette body, wherein the electronic cigarette body is placed on the wireless charging emitter for charging; the electronic cigarette body also comprises a shell and a battery for providing power for the electronic cigarette, and the battery is arranged in the shell; the power input end of the battery is connected with a wire, and the wire is connected with a wireless receiving module matched with the wireless charging transmitter. The wireless charging system that charges the battery is not a super capacitor and hence it cannot facilitate very fast charging of e-cigarettes. This invention also describes the use of wireless charging system that charges the super capacitor

Reference is further made to “EP2957017B1”. The system and method described herein discloses an electronic cigarette ("e-Cig") wireless charging system and method. In particular, the e-Cig may be wirelessly charged through an inductive charging system. Alignment of the receiving coil in the e-Cig with the primary coil in the charging base can wirelessly charge the battery of the e-Cig. The wireless charging may be done with the fully-assembled e-Cig. Usage of the e-Cig while being charged may be possible since no cord is required for charging. Wireless charging may eliminate the need to assemble and disassemble the e-Cig for charging, and may eliminate the need for the smoker/vaper to carry a charger. The user experience may be hampered when connected with cable while it generates aerosol. The wireless charging described includes the convenience merely placing an e-Cig on a charger (i.e. base or charging device). As described, the charging device may be designed to resemble an ash tray or as an easy drop-in container/cup, so that usage of the charging is accomplished with little or no effort from the user and the charging is automatic and continuous.

However, EP’017 talks about wireless charging method to charge the battery by employing any standard charging method.

Reference is further made to “WO2010118644A1” relating to a heating atomization electric-cigarette adopting capacitor for power supply comprises a power part, a cigarette body part and a hollow cigarette holder. The power and the cigarette body part are separated or connected by plugging the electrode connecting plugs and the lead connecting plug into the electrode connecting plugholes, and the lead connecting plughole. It describes a low voltage capacitor with specifications 2.3V, 120F and 2.7 V, 5F along with buck boost converter to deliver the power required for the device operation. The buck booster convertor is essential so the required power/voltage can be generated to make the device operational. The device mentioned in this invention have shorter life cycle, generally only 1000 charge cycles. Also, the devices have charging and discharge constraints with respect to temperature, like charging allowed for 10 to 45 degrees centigrade and discharge allowed for (-)20 to 60 degrees centigrade.

Most aerosol generating device offers 200 times of inhalation when fully charged. Typically, consumers preferred to take 20 inhalation each time under regular use. After one full charge, the consumer uses it about 13 times and then will recharge it again. Therefore, instead of charging the device to support 200 inhalation, super capacitor enables to charge the device to support only 20 inhalations every time. By doing this, there is no necessity to use a very high energy density battery like a lithium-ion battery.

There are few implementations of super capacitors for power generation in aerosol generating devices with buck boost converter or with the series arrangement of capacitors. However, none could effectively reduce the charging time to the range of five minutes or less and therefore have not been very popular for the user application.

In view of the hitherto prior art, there is an urgent need to provide an on-demand power supply enabled aerosol generating device powered through a hybrid super capacitor to decrease the charging time. Also, where the super capacitor of aerosol generating device is adapted to charge via both wired and wireless charging.

ITC inputs: fast charge time, and no fire hazards. It is not related to the charging method. Charging is a subsidiary feature of the invention.

SUMMARY

The following presents a simplified summary of the invention to provide basic understanding of some aspects of the invention, neither to identify the critical elements nor to delineate the scope of the invention. Its sole purpose is to present some concept of the invention in a simplified form, as a prelude to a more detailed description of the invention presented later.

The primary object of the present invention is to overcome the practical limitations of using a conventional aerosol generating devices.

An object of the present invention is to power the aerosol generating device with super-capacitor instead of lithium-ion battery.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a simplified power generation method for aerosol generating devices by eliminating the need of buck booster convertor.

Another object of the present invention is to provide sufficient power of preferably six watts, more preferably five watts enough to support inhalation required for single use, thereby achieving reduced charging time of preferably less than five minute, more preferably less than three minutes and most preferably less than one minute.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide wireless charging feature to automatically charge the aerosol generating device in idle mode. One aspect, the present invention provides an aerosol generating device is provided. The device comprises an aerosol generating device body and a cartridge coupled or couplable to the aerosol generating device body. The cartridge is adapted to equip a heater plus wick assembly and an aerosol generating liquid. The aerosol generating device body includes a control body, electrically coupled or couplable with said cartridge, comprising an energy source configured to provide power to the heater plus wick assembly to activate and volatilize components of an aerosol generating liquid. The energy source comprises a super-capacitor within the aerosol generating device body, to power the aerosol generating device.

The key feature of the instant invention is to replace the battery (lithium-ion batteries) with super capacitors in the aerosol generating device, in other words to eliminate the need of batteries in the device. The instant invention further enables the super capacitor to be wirelessly charged. The wireless charging methods available in the art can be adapted to charge the super capacitor.

The aim of the instant invention is to simplify the power generation method for aerosol generating devices, to provide sufficient power of preferably six watts enough to support inhalations required for single use, thereby achieving reduced charging time of preferably less than five minutes. The prior art describes the use of battery (lithium-ion battery) either alone or in combination with a series arrangement of capacitors or buck booster convertor. The battery provides the energy required for the device operation and super capacitor or buck booster convertor act as booster. However, none could effectively reduce the charging time to the range of five minutes or less and therefore have not been very popular for the user application. Hence, the instant invention solves the above technical problem by using a single super capacitor as a power source to decrease the charging time. Current invention simplifies the device power generation and provides technical inventiveness over the existing power generation means present in the art. Also, the super capacitor is adapted to charge via both wired and wireless charging.

Other aspects, advantages and salient features of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the detailed description, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings, discloses exemplary embodiments of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS

The above and other features, aspects, and advantages of the subject matter will be better understood with regard to the following description and accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 illustrates the aerosol generating device and its parts according to present invention.

Figure 2 illustrates detailed view of different parts of aerosol generating device according to the present invention.

Figure 3 illustrates an operational overview of aerosol generating device according to the present invention.

Figure 4 illustrates a functional block diagram of aerosol generating device powered through super capacitor according to the present invention.

Figure 5 illustrates a graph of charge time vs number of inhalation for the aerosol generating device powered through super capacitor according to the present invention.

Figure 6 illustrates wireless charging details of the aerosol generating device according to present invention.

Persons skilled in the art will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and may have not been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figure may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. Throughout the drawings, it should be noted that like reference numbers are used to depict the same or similar elements, features, and structures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings is provided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of exemplary embodiments of the invention. It includes various specific details to assist in that understanding but these are to be regarded as merely exemplary.

Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications of the embodiments described herein can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, descriptions of well-known structure and method are omitted for clarity and conciseness.

The terms and words used in the following description and claims are not limited to the bibliographical meanings, but, are merely used by the inventor to enable a clear and consistent understanding of the invention. Accordingly, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the following description of exemplary embodiments of the present invention are provided for illustration purpose only and not for the purpose of limiting the invention as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

Features that are described and/or illustrated with respect to one embodiment may be used in the same way or in a similar way in one or more other embodiments and/or in combination with or instead of the features of the other embodiments.

It should be emphasized that the term “comprises/comprising” if used in this specification is taken to specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps or component but does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, components or groups thereof.

In respect to present invention, the term “Hybrid” relates to construction. Hybrid super capacitor is constructed using Electric double layer capacitor (EDLC), a super capacitor in itself and Lithium-Ion Battery electrodes to get the benefit of low self-discharge, higher density, long life cycle.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, an aerosol generating device is provided. The device comprises an aerosol generating device body and a cartridge coupled or couplable to the aerosol generating device body. The cartridge (100) is adapted to equip a heater plus wick assembly (101) and an aerosol generating liquid (102). The aerosol generating device body (200) includes a control body, electrically coupled or couplable with said cartridge, comprising an energy source (204) configured to provide power to the heater plus wick assembly (101) to activate and volatilize components of an aerosol generating liquid (102). The energy source (204) comprises a super-capacitor within the aerosol generating device body, to power the aerosol generating device.

In another embodiment, the super capacitor is adapted to charge via both wireless or wired charging mode.

In a further embodiment, the super capacitor has a capacitance range 100F to 300F.

In another embodiment, the super capacitor has a maximum charge voltage of 3V to 6V.

In yet another embodiment, the super capacitor has a diameter less than 20mm, and length less than 50mm.

In a further embodiment, the super capacitor gets charged at current range of 100 mA to 3 A.

In another embodiment, the super capacitor has a load / discharge current from 500mA to 10 A.

In a further embodiment, the super capacitor has a heater resistance of 0.5 ohm to 2 ohms.

The super capacitor has unique features such as support higher charge/discharge current, wide operating temperature, no thermal runaway issues, and compact size.

According to an exemplary implementation, when 0.6-ohm heater is used in the cartridge, maximum current drawn from the super capacitor will be 6.3 amperes for the maximum capacitor charge voltage is 3.8V. The power across the heater is controlled in the range of 4 watts to 7 watts. As the super capacitor has enough energy to heat the heat engine, power delivery happens to the heater without any buck-boost converter. 120F /3.8 V capacitor can deliver around 14 watts of peak power for One Ohm Load/Heater. When the super capacitor voltage varies from 3.8V to 2.5V based on the charge level, constant power delivery can be done.

The invention is now construed with respect to illustrative drawings/figures which are provided for illustration and does not limit the invention.

Referring to Figure 1, illustrating the device outlook wherein aerosol generating device and its different parts such as cartridge (100), aerosol generating device body (200), indication LEDs (201), activation button/switch (202) and type C charging port (203) to perform all the necessary functions are shown.

Figure 2 illustrates the exploded view of the aerosol generating device in which cartridge (100), pogo pins (207), super capacitor (204), light guides (201), switch plunger (202), control unit (300), chassis (205), type C charging port (203) and the outer shell (206) thereof are displayed.

Figure 3 illustrates a high level overview of the aerosol generating device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The aerosol generating device generally consists of two parts: cartridge (100) and aerosol generating device body (200). The cartridge has a heater plus wick assembly (101), pogo pins, condensation chamber (103), and aerosol generating liquid (102). The aerosol generating device body (200) has a control unit (300) that controls the overall function of the device, super capacitor (204), charging port (203), user activation switch (202), and user indication LEDs (201). As soon as the cartridge (100) is inserted into the aerosol generating device body (200), the control unit (300) detects the presence of the cartridge (100) and makes the device usable. When consumers activate the device by either switch activation or inhaling, the control units (300) activate the heater until (101) the user stops releasing switch activation or inhaling. The user gets the charge status, heater on indication, and alarm events such as the low battery, charge full, and heater faulty in the indication LEDs (201). User can charge the device using a power adaptor and Type C Cable. The device shows a charging indication in the LEDs. Once the device is fully charged, the control unit (300) stops charging the super capacitor (204) and indicates charge full indication. The maximum charge time of the device is 5 minutes. Once the device is fully charged, user can use it for 20 inhalations.

In heater plus wick assembly (101) the heater resistance decides the energy storage device capacity which can be used. In this current invention, a heater resistance ranges from 0.6 ohms to 2 ohms can be connected directly across the capacitor for power delivery. Super-capacitor supports a wide range of heater resistance value, different types of heater types can be used in the cartridge, for example nichrome coil, mesh heater, blade heater, and ceramic heater.

When 0.6-ohm heater is used in the cartridge, maximum current drawn from the super capacitor will be 6.3 Amps for the maximum capacitor charge voltage is 3.8V.

Figure 4 illustrates a functional block diagram of the aerosol generating device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The charging happens by control unit (300), charge controller (301), coulomb counter (303), input supply connector (304) and super-capacitor (204). Input supply (5V DC, 2A) for charging capacitor (204) is given via input supply connector (Type C) (304) to the control unit (300). Control unit (300) charge the super capacitor using super capacitor (204) charge controller (302). During charging, the charge current will be set in the range of 600mA. Super capacitor (204) is charged using constant current mode and constant voltage mode. The changeover of operating mode will happen based on the internal resistance, charge current, and charge voltage. Control unit (300) maintains charge maximum of 3.8V across the super capacitor (204) and charge controller (302) stops charging the super-capacitor when the charge current reaches from 600mA to 50mA. During charging, charge current which is coulomb per second, will be recorded by coulomb counter to control the charge time and estimation amount of charge. Charge time is controlled based on the charge level present in the super-capacitor. Charge time is around 5 min while charging the capacitor at the rate of 600mA. Power delivery happens to the heater (101) by control unit (300), PWM controller (301), MOSFET switch (310), heater (101), and pogo pins. Constant average power delivery is done across the heater by adjusting the duty cycle. The operating frequency of the heater is around 100 Hz. The load / heater is directly connected to the super-capacitor via PWM controller (301). Power across the heater is controlled in the range of 4 watts to 7 watts. As the super capacitor has enough energy to heat the heat engine, power delivery happens to the heater without any buck-boost converter. 120F /3.8 V capacitor can deliver around 14 watts of peak power for One Ohm Load/Heater. When the super capacitor voltage varies from 3.8V to 2.5V based on the charge level, constant power delivery can be done.

The 120F / 3.8V capacitor (204) takes around 2 to 5 Minutes for the full charge. Charging times vary based on the amount of charge used in the Capacitor (204). Coulomb counter (303) tracks the amount of coulomb injected or taken from the capacitor (204). The amount of charge presence is indicated using a set of LEDs (309). Each LED (309) shows the presence of charge in terms of percentage. In this case, 5 LEDs (309) indicate the presence of charge. Each LEDs (309) shows 20% charge is present / accumulated.

Figure 5 shows the super-capacitor voltage and current signal during the charge and discharge cycle. It is clear from the figure that the total charging time is around 120 seconds for the full charge when super-capacitor is charged at 600mA charging current in constant current mode and maintains 3.8V at constant voltage mode till the charge current drops to 50mA. Super-capacitor charges the capacitor in constant current and voltage mode during charging. Once the super-capacitor is fully charged, the device can be used at different power levels based on adjusting the operating power level in the device.

In this Figure 5 it shows, around 25 inhalations can be taken at the power level of 5 watts as per the standard inhalation profile. Standard inhalation profile means that inhalation time is 3 seconds and inhalation to inhalation interval is 28 seconds. Figure 5 shows the evidence that power delivery to the heater is taken around 25 times from the super-capacitor. "Inhalation 1" to "Inhalation 25" in the figure shows proof of power delivery.

Figure 6 describes wireless charging, as the devices (500) can charge quickly (less than five minutes), incorporating wireless charging technology in the device will benefit the consumers. The transmission power between the device and the charging case or charging pad will happen via electromagnetic waves. The transmitter (503) can be a wireless charging pad and charging case (504). Device act as the receiver (502) always. Usually, wireless charging is enabled in the device by embedding an induction coil (501) in the back of the device. This induction coil (501) receives the charging power from the transmitter (503) via electromagnetic waves. The electromagnetic waves are converted into electrical current and then used to charge the device by storing energy in the device's super-capacitor (204). In the device, Qi wireless charging or Qi technology is enabled. Qi uses both resonant and inductive charging. So the device is compatible with any other universal wireless charger.

Super capacitor has unique features such as support higher charge/discharge current, wide operating temperature, no thermal runaway issues, and compact size. In the present invention battery is not required at all in order to operate the device. The same desired effect of obtaining the energy require for 20 inhalations can be handled alone by the super capacitor. The use of super capacitor provides a short time for charging of about preferably less than five minutes, and is free from fire hazards. Along with that the invention makes use of wireless charging system to charge the super capacitor.

According to present invention one can deliver the required power with which the device is operational by only using high voltage super capacitor (3.8V).

The optimization of the super capacitor to operate efficiently during the life cycle of the aerosol generating device is the key challenge that is addressed in the instant invention. It requires details experimentation and research to select a suitable super capacitor with optimum capacitance value, operating voltage, size, and current limit.

120F/3.8V Capacitor can hold a maximum energy of 866 Joules. The single capacitor can deliver a peak power of 14 Watts for One Ohm Load/Heater. The size of a super-capacitor is 13mm in diameter and 27mm in length, and weighs 7 grams. A hybrid super-capacitor from Eaton Make fits perfectly for handheld aerosol generating devices.

The aerosol generating device of present invention is well suited wherever continuous discharge power is not necessary. As aerosol generating device is not intended for constant usage, consumers use aerosol generating device at random intervals. There is in a short span of charge time to support around 20 inhalations. The super-capacitor works in wide operating temperatures from -20 to 85 degree. It holds a limited amount of energy to support only 20 inhalations, which is sufficient for single use. There will not be any fire hazards because of the super capacitor construction.

Additionally, by adding the wireless charging features to the device, the consumer does not feel he is spending time charging the device. Whenever the device is in idle condition along with Charging Case or Wireless charger, the device charges automatically. There is no additional effort needed from the consumer.

Some of the non-limiting advantages of the present invention are:

1. No power / voltage conversion required to suit the heater resistance.
2. Only capacitor and no additional batteries are required in the device.
3. In the device, only capacitor is being used for the storage of energy.
4. ‘120F / 3.8V’ single hybrid capacitor is good enough to handle required power delivery. There is no need of multiple capacitors for increasing the voltage / energy level.
5. No boost converter required-no need of any boost converter to modify the voltage and power level to suit the heater resistance.
6. Load / heater range-supports low resistance. low resistance (0.6 ohm to 2 ohm) heater can be connected directly to the super capacitor.
7. As the overall dimensions of the capacitor are so small and lightweight, it can be fitted in a handheld device.
8. Fast charge time-takes around 2 to 5 minutes for the full charge which is sufficient to give 20 inhalations.
9. High power delivery-able to deliver high power for instant heating. 14 Watts of peak power for 1-ohm Load/heater.
10. Per charge / 20 inhalation- supports 20 inhalations per full charge.
11. More life cycle-supports long life. 5 lakhs charge cycle.
12. No charging constraints at cold temperature-able to charge and discharge the device from -15 degree to 70 degrees.
, Claims:
1. An aerosol generating device comprising:
an aerosol generating device body; and
a cartridge coupled or couplable to the aerosol generating device body, comprising a heater plus wick assembly (101) and an aerosol generating liquid (102);
wherein the aerosol generating device body (200) includes a control body, electrically coupled or couplable with said cartridge, comprising an energy source (204) configured to provide power to the heater plus wick assembly (101) to activate and volatilize components of an aerosol generating liquid (102);
characterized by the energy source (204) comprising a super-capacitor within the aerosol generating device body, to power the aerosol generating device.

2. The aerosol generating device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the super capacitor is adapted to charge via both wireless or wired charging mode.

3. The aerosol generating device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the super capacitor has a capacitance range 100F to 300F.

4. The aerosol generating device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the super capacitor has a maximum charge voltage of 3V to 6V.

5. The aerosol generating device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the super capacitor has a diameter less than 20mm, and length less than 50mm.

6. The aerosol generating device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the super capacitor gets charged at current range of 100 mA to 3 A.

7. The aerosol generating device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the super capacitor has a load / discharge current from 500mA to 10 A.

8. The aerosol generating device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the super capacitor has a heater resistance of 0.5 ohm to 2 ohms.