FLAVOR VORTEX DEVICE
The present disclosure relates to devices and methods for controlling particle size, flow direction, and flow rate of an aerosol in an electronic smoking device. A flow discharge device 100 for an electronic smoking device 800 comprises a body and a through-hole 140 . The body is configured for assembly with a housing 810 of an electronic smoking device 800 , and has a first surface 110 and a second surface 130 . The through-hole 140 extends from the first surface 110 to the second surface 130 , and is shaped to adjust characteristics of flow between the first surface 110 and the second surface 130 . In one particular embodiment, the through-hole 140 is shaped as a nozzle having a throat region 190 and a diverging region 180 downstream of the throat region 190.
1 . A flow discharge device for an electronic smoking device, the flow discharge device comprising the following:
a body configured for assembly with a housing of an electronic smoking device, the body having a first surface and a second surface; and
a through-hole extending from the first surface to the second surface, the through-hole being shaped to adjust characteristics of flow between the first surface and the second surface.
2 . The flow discharge device of claim 1 , wherein the body comprises a mouthpiece of an electronic cigarette.
3 . The flow discharge device of claim 1 , wherein the through-hole comprises the following:
an exit located in the first surface;
an inlet located in the second surface, wherein the second surface is positioned on the body for insertion into the electronic smoking device; and
a throat positioned between the exit and inlet.
4 . The flow discharge device of claim 3 , wherein the through-hole has an hourglass-like shape.
5 . The flow discharge device of claim 4 , wherein the inlet has a larger diameter than that of the exit, and the throat has a smaller diameter than those of the exit and inlet.
6 . The flow discharge device of claim 5 , wherein the throat has a diameter in the range of about 1.0 mm to about 3.0 mm.
7 . The flow discharge device of claim 4 , wherein:
an inlet region of the through-hole between the inlet and the throat has a curved shape;
an exit region of the through-hole between the throat and the exit has a cone shape; and
a throat region between the inlet and exit regions has a cylindrical shape.
8 . The flow discharge device of claim 4 , wherein:
an inlet region of the through-hole between the inlet and the throat has a first length;
an exit region of the through-hole between the throat and the exit has a second length; and
a throat region between the inlet and exit regions has a third length;
wherein the second length is longer than the third length, and the third length is longer than the first length.
9 . The flow discharge device of claim 8 , wherein:
the first length is in the range from about 0.75 mm to about 2.0 mm;
the second length is in the range from about 1.0 mm to about 4.0 mm; and
the third length is in a range from about 0.75 mm to about 3.0 mm.
10 . The flow discharge device of claim 4 , wherein:
an inlet region of the through-hole between the inlet and the throat is shaped to accelerate flow velocity; and
an exit region of the through-hole between the throat and the exit is shaped to decelerate flow velocity.
11 . The flow discharge device of claim 3 , wherein the through-hole comprises a cylindrical throat region and a diverging exit region.
12 . The flow discharge device of claim 11 , wherein the diverging exit region comprises a conical section having an exit angle of fifteen degrees or thirty degrees.
13 . The flow discharge device of claim 1 , wherein the first surface includes a pattern indicative of the through-hole shape.
14 . The flow discharge device of claim 13 , wherein the pattern has a depth into the first surface.
15 . The flow discharge device of claim 1 , wherein the body further includes a plurality of ribs extending from the first surface to the second surface along a length of the through-hole.
16 . The flow discharge device of claim 1 , wherein the body includes a cylindrically-shaped wall between the first and second surfaces.
17 . The flow discharge device of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of through-holes extending from the first surface to the second surface, the plurality of through-holes collectively being shaped to adjust characteristics of flow between the first surface and the second surface.
18 . The flow discharge device of claim 17 , wherein the body further includes a protrusion positioned to direct flow toward at least one of the plurality of through-holes.
19 . An electronic cigarette comprising the following:
an elongate cylindrical housing;
a battery disposed in the housing;
a liquid storing area disposed in the housing;
an atomizer powered by the battery and configured to receive a liquid from the liquid storing area in order to generate an aerosol; and
a mouthpiece connected to an end of the elongate cylindrical housing and having a nozzle disposed to receive aerosol drawn from the atomizer, the nozzle having a throat region and a diverging region downstream of the throat region.
20 . The electronic cigarette of claim 19 , wherein the nozzle includes an inlet opening located within the housing, and an exit opening located outside of the housing.
21 . The electronic cigarette of claim 19 , wherein the nozzle includes a converging inlet section.
22 . The electronic cigarette of claim 19 , wherein the mouthpiece includes a three-dimensional pattern visible from outside of the electronic cigarette when assembled with the elongate cylindrical housing.
23 . The electronic cigarette of claim 19 , wherein the mouthpiece includes a plurality of through-holes.
24 . The electronic cigarette of claim 19 , wherein the nozzle has a conical exit region with an exit angle of fifteen degrees or thirty degrees.
25 . A method for controlling aerosol discharge in an electronic smoking device, the method comprising the following:
drawing air into an electronic smoking device;
generating an aerosol using the air and an atomizer disposed within the electronic smoking device;
drawing the aerosol into a shaped passage through a mouthpiece of the electronic smoking device; and
adjusting characteristics of the aerosol with the shaped passage as the aerosol passes through the mouthpiece.
26 . The method of claim 25 , wherein adjusting characteristics of the aerosol comprises controlling flow velocity of the aerosol.
27 . The method of claim 25 , wherein adjusting characteristics of the aerosol comprises controlling flow direction of the aerosol.
28 . The method of claim 25 , wherein adjusting characteristics of the aerosol comprises controlling uniformity in particle size of the aerosol.
29 . The method of claim 25 , wherein adjusting characteristics of the aerosol comprises the following:
accelerating flow of the aerosol in an inlet region of the shaped; and
decelerating the flow of the aerosol in an exit region of the shaped passage.
30 . The method of claim 29 , wherein adjusting characteristics of the aerosol comprises passing the aerosol through a shaped passage having an hourglass-like shape.
31 . The method of claim 25 , wherein adjusting characteristics of the aerosol comprises decelerating the flow of the aerosol in an exit region of the shaped passage.