US-20260123683-A1 - AEROSOL GENERATING DEVICE

US20260123683A1US 20260123683 A1US20260123683 A1US 20260123683A1US-20260123683-A1

Abstract

An aerosol generating device is provided. The aerosol generating device includes: a body; a cartridge structured to couple to the body and shaped to define an inlet that is open at a side of the cartridge, wherein the body may be shaped to define a sensing hole that is located adjacent to the inlet when the cartridge is coupled to the body, wherein positioning of the sensing hole relative to the inlet forms a gap between the sensing hole and the inlet which permits introduction of air into the gap; and a sensor positioned relative to the sensing hole and being configured to sense a flow of air through the sensing hole, wherein the sensing hole may be positioned to overlap the inlet.

Inventors

Taehun Kim
Hyungjin JUNG
Jueon Park
Jungho Han
Sungwook Yoon

Assignees

KT&G CORPORATION

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20221125
Priority Date: 20211201

Claims (14)

1 . An aerosol generating device comprising: a body; a cartridge structured to couple to the body and shaped to define an inlet that is open at a side of the cartridge, wherein the body is shaped to define a sensing hole that is located adjacent to the inlet when the cartridge is coupled to the body, wherein positioning of the sensing hole relative to the inlet forms a gap between the sensing hole and the inlet which permits introduction of air into the gap; and a sensor positioned relative to the sensing hole and being configured to sense a flow of air through the sensing hole, wherein the sensing hole is positioned to overlap the inlet.
2 . The aerosol generating device of claim 1 , wherein a circumference of the sensing hole is less than a circumference of the inlet.
3 . The aerosol generating device of claim 2 , wherein a boundary of a projection of the sensing hole facing the gap is located inside a boundary of a projection of the inlet facing the gap.
4 . The aerosol generating device of claim 3 , wherein a center axis of the sensing hole is closer to a center axis of the inlet than it is to the boundary of the projection of the inlet.
5 . The aerosol generating device of claim 1 , wherein the sensing hole is shaped to form an incline that slants toward the inlet.
6 . The aerosol generating device of claim 5 , wherein a projection of the sensing hole at the incline overlaps a plane of an end portion of the inlet that faces the gap.
7 . The aerosol generating device of claim 6 , wherein a boundary of the projection of the sensing hole is located inside a boundary of the end portion of the inlet.
8 . The aerosol generating device of claim 1 , wherein the inlet is open upward at an upper end portion of the cartridge.
9 . The aerosol generating device of claim 8 , wherein the body comprises an extension portion having the sensing hole and extending to one side to form the gap in cooperation with the inlet, and wherein the sensor is located in the extension portion.
10 . The aerosol generating device of claim 9 , further comprising a sealer contacting the sensor and the extension portion and being shaped to seal a periphery of the sensing hole, wherein the sealer is shaped to define a sealer hole that is in communication with the sensing hole.
11 . The aerosol generating device of claim 10 , wherein a circumference of the sealer hole is less than a circumference of the inlet.
12 . An aerosol generating device comprising: a body; a cartridge structured to couple to the body and shaped to define an inlet; wherein the body is shaped to define a sensing hole that is positioned to cooperate with the inlet when the cartridge is coupled to the body, wherein the coupling of the cartridge to the body forms a gap between the sensing hole and the inlet, which permits introduction of air into the sensing hole and into the inlet, via the gap; and a sensor located in the body and being positioned relative to the sensing hole to sense a flow of the air through the sensing hole, wherein the sensing hole is positioned to overlap at least a portion of the inlet.
13 . The aerosol generating device of claim 12 , wherein a center axis of the sensing hole is closer to a center axis of the inlet than it is to a boundary of a projection of the inlet.
14 . The aerosol generating device of claim 12 , wherein the sensing hole is shaped to form an incline that slants toward the inlet.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates to an aerosol generating device. BACKGROUND ART An aerosol generating device is a device that extracts certain components from a medium or a substance by producing an aerosol. The medium may contain a multicomponent substance. The substance contained in the medium may be a multicomponent flavoring substance. For example, the substance contained in the medium may include a nicotine component, an herbal component, and/or a coffee component. Recently, various research on aerosol generating devices has been conducted. DISCLOSURE Technical Problem It is an objective of the present disclosure to solve the above and other problems. It is another objective of the present disclosure to provide an aerosol generating device that can accurately sense the flow of air. It is yet another objective of the present disclosure to provide an aerosol generating device that can prevent failure of a sensor. It is yet another objective of the present disclosure to increase the degree of freedom for placement of a sensor. Technical Solution According to one aspect of the subject matter described in this application, an aerosol generating device includes: a body; a cartridge structured to couple to the body and shaped to define an inlet that is open at a side of the cartridge, wherein the body may be shaped to define a sensing hole that is located adjacent to the inlet when the cartridge is coupled to the body, wherein positioning of the sensing hole relative to the inlet forms a gap between the sensing hole and the inlet which permits introduction of air into the gap; and a sensor positioned relative to the sensing hole and being configured to sense a flow of air through the sensing hole, wherein the sensing hole may be positioned to overlap the inlet. Advantageous Effects According to at least one of the embodiments of the present disclosure, an aerosol generating device that accurately senses the flow of air may be provided. According to at least one of the embodiments of the present disclosure, an aerosol generating device that prevents failure of a sensor may be provided. According to at least one of the embodiments of the present disclosure, the degree of freedom for placement of a sensor may be increased. The additional scope of applicability of the present disclosure will be apparent from the following detailed description. However, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications and alterations are possible, without departing from the idea and scope of the present disclosure, and therefore it should be understood that the detailed description and specific embodiments, such as the preferred embodiments of the present disclosure, are provided only for illustration. DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIGS. 1 to 8 are views illustrating an aerosol generating device according to embodiments of the present disclosure. MODE FOR INVENTION Description will now be given in detail according to exemplary embodiments disclosed herein, with reference to the accompanying drawings. For the sake of brief description with reference to the drawings, the same or equivalent components are provided with the same or similar reference numerals, and description thereof will not be repeated. In the following description, a suffix such as “module” and “unit” may be used to refer to elements or components. Use of such a suffix herein is merely intended to facilitate description of the specification, and the suffix itself is not intended to give any special meaning or function. In the present disclosure, that which is well known to one of ordinary skill in the relevant art has generally been omitted for the sake of brevity. The accompanying drawings are used to help easily understand the technical idea of the present disclosure and it should be understood that the idea of the present disclosure is not limited by the accompanying drawings. The idea of the present disclosure should be construed to extend to any alterations, equivalents, and substitutes besides the accompanying drawings. It will be understood that although the terms “first”, “second”, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. It will be understood that when a component is referred to as being “connected to” or “coupled to” another component, it may be directly connected to or coupled to another component, or intervening components may be present. On the other hand, when a component is referred to as being “directly connected to” or “directly coupled to” another component, there are no intervening components present. As used herein, a singular representation is intended to include a plural representation unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Referring to FIG. 1, an aerosol generating device may include at least one of a battery 10, a controller 20, a heater 30, and a cartridge 300. At least one