Aerosol generating device

Abstract

An aerosol generating device includes an aerosol generator configured to generate aerosols, a main path configured to supply air to the aerosol generator or discharge the air or the aerosols generated in the aerosol generator, a diverged path in which a side is connected to an area of the main path and an other side is connected to another area of the main path, and a puff sensor connected to the diverged path and configured to detect flow of any one of the air and the aerosols in the diverged path.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An aerosol generating device comprising:
 an aerosol generator configured to generate aerosols;   a main path configured to supply air to the aerosol generator or discharge the air or the aerosols generated in the aerosol generator;   a diverged path in which a side is connected to an area of the main path and another side is connected to another area of the main path; and   a puff sensor connected to the diverged path and configured to detect flow of at least one of the air or the aerosols in the diverged path.   
     
     
         2 . The aerosol generating device of  claim 1 , wherein a width of the main path is greater than a width of the diverged path. 
     
     
         3 . The aerosol generating device of  claim 1 , wherein
 the diverged path comprises a first path connected to the area of the main path and a second path connected to the other area of the main path and to the first path, and   the puff sensor is connected to the first path.   
     
     
         4 . The aerosol generating device of  claim 3 , wherein a width of the second path is greater than a width of the first path, and a width of the main path is greater than the width of the second path. 
     
     
         5 . The aerosol generating device of  claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the main path extends to slope with respect to a longitudinal direction of the aerosol generating device. 
     
     
         6 . The aerosol generating device of  claim 1 , wherein
 the aerosol generator comprises an accommodating portion accommodating an aerosol generating article for generating the aerosols and a heater configured to heat the aerosol generating article, and   the main path is connected to the accommodating portion, and the air is supplied to the accommodating portion through the main path.   
     
     
         7 . The aerosol generating device of  claim 1 , wherein
 the aerosol generator comprises a generation chamber configured to generate the aerosols from an aerosol generating material, the main path is connected to the generation chamber, and through the main path, the air is supplied to the generation chamber, or the air or the aerosols generated in the generation chamber is discharged.   
     
     
         8 . The aerosol generating device of  claim 1 , wherein the puff sensor is configured to detect a change in any one of a pressure, an amount of flow, or a flow rate of the flow, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         9 . The aerosol generating device of  claim 1 , further comprising
 a filtering element located in the diverged path and configured to filter out droplets or foreign substances included in the air or the aerosols.   
     
     
         10 . The aerosol generating device of  claim 1 , further comprising an additional diverged path connected to the main path in parallel to the diverged path. 
     
     
         11 . The aerosol generating device of  claim 1 , wherein
 the aerosol generating device extends in a direction, and with reference to the direction, the diverged path is closer to an end portion of the aerosol generating device in the direction than to the main path.   
     
     
         12 . The aerosol generating device of  claim 1 , wherein
 the aerosol generating device extends in a direction, and with reference to the direction, the main path is closer to an end portion of the aerosol generating device in the direction than to the diverged path.   
     
     
         13 . The aerosol generating device of  claim 1 , wherein
 at least a portion of the main path and at least a portion of the diverged path extend in a direction crossing a direction in which the aerosol generating device extends.   
     
     
         14 . The aerosol generating device of  claim 1 , further comprising
 a supply block located outside the aerosol generating device, wherein at least one of the main path and the diverged path penetrates the supply block.   
     
     
         15 . The aerosol generating device of  claim 1 , wherein
 the aerosol generator comprises an accommodating portion accommodating an aerosol generating article, and   the main path is formed by a space between an external surface of the aerosol generating article accommodated in the accommodating portion and an internal wall of the accommodating portion.