Flavor vortex device

Abstract

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.

What is claimed is: 
     
         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.