Detailed Description
To facilitate an understanding of the present application, the present application is described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and detailed description. It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being "secured to" another element, it can be directly on the other element or intervening elements may also be present. When an element is referred to as being "connected" to another element, it can be directly connected to the other element or intervening elements may be present. The terms "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "inner", "outer" and the like as used herein are for illustrative purposes only.
Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this application belongs. The terminology used in the description of the present application is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the present application. As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.
Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of an aerosol-generating system provided by embodiments of the present application.
As shown in fig. 1, the aerosol-generating system comprises an aerosol-generating article 100 and an aerosol-generating device 200. The aerosol-generating device 200 has a chamber for receiving or removing the aerosol-generating article 100, the aerosol-generating article 100 being insertable into or withdrawable from the chamber through an opening a on the aerosol-generating device 200, the aerosol-generating device 200 being for heating at least a portion of the aerosol-generating article 100 inserted into the chamber to generate an aerosol for inhalation.
Figure 2 is a schematic view of an aerosol-generating article provided by embodiments of the present application.
As shown in fig. 2, the aerosol-generating article 100 comprises a filter segment 101 and a tobacco segment 102.
The tobacco section 102 comprises an aerosol-forming substrate. An aerosol-forming substrate is a substrate capable of releasing volatile compounds that can form an aerosol, which can be released by heating the aerosol-forming substrate.
The aerosol-forming substrate may be a solid aerosol-forming substrate. Alternatively, the aerosol-forming substrate may comprise solid and liquid components. The aerosol-forming substrate may comprise a tobacco-containing material comprising volatile tobacco flavour compounds which are released from the substrate upon heating. Alternatively, the aerosol-forming substrate may comprise a non-tobacco material. The aerosol-forming substrate may further comprise an aerosol former. Examples of suitable aerosol formers are glycerol and propylene glycol.
The aerosol generated by the heating of the tobacco segment 102 is delivered to the user through the filter segment 101, which filter segment 101 may be a cellulose acetate filter. The filter segment 101 may be sprayed with flavored liquid to provide flavor or separate fibers coated with flavored liquid may be inserted into the filter segment 101 to improve the longevity of the flavor delivered to the user. The filter segment 101 may also have a spherical or cylindrical shaped capsule, which may contain the contents of a flavouring substance.
Only the components of the aerosol-generating article 100 relevant to the present embodiment are shown in figure 2. Accordingly, those skilled in the art to which this embodiment relates will appreciate that common components other than those shown in fig. 2 may also be included in the aerosol-generating article 100. For example, a cooling segment for cooling the aerosol generated by heating the tobacco segment 102 so that the user can inhale the aerosol cooled to an appropriate temperature.
The outer surface of the filter segment 101 at the interface with the tobacco segment 102 has a label C1. The color of the label C1 may be a single color, for example: red, blue, green, etc., as well as mixed colors. The colour of the label C1 may be indicative of one taste of different aerosol-generating articles 100 (not limited to this type), for example: red for mint, blue for coffee, mango, etc. The label C1 is a different color than the outer surface of the tobacco segment 102 to facilitate detection identification by the color detection device.
Figure 3 is an exploded schematic view of an aerosol-generating device according to embodiments of the present application.
As shown in fig. 3, the aerosol-generating device 200 comprises a housing 6 and a heater 1, the heater 1 being provided within the housing 6.
The housing 6 includes a housing 61, a fixed casing 62, a base 63 and a bottom cover 64, the fixed casing 62 and the base 63 are both fixed in the housing 61, wherein the base 63 is used for fixing the substrate 11, the base 63 is disposed in the fixed casing 62, and the bottom cover 64 is disposed at one end of the housing 61 and covers the housing 61.
Specifically, the base 63 includes the base 631 that cup joints the upper end of base 11 and the base 632 that cup joints the lower extreme of base 11, base 631 and base 632 all locate in fixed shell 62, the bottom 64 epirelief is equipped with intake pipe 641, the one end that base 632 deviates from base 631 is connected with intake pipe 641, base 631, heater 1, base 632 and intake pipe 641 coaxial arrangement, and accessible sealing member seals between heater 1 and base 631, the base 632, base 632 and intake pipe 641 also can seal, intake pipe 641 and the smooth air admission of accessible so that the user can intake when sucking.
The aerosol-generating device 200 further comprises a control circuit board 3 and a battery 7. Fixed casing 62 includes preceding shell 621 and backshell 622, is equipped with opening A on the backshell 622, preceding shell 621 and backshell 622 fixed connection, and control circuit board 3 and battery 7 all set up in fixed casing 62, and battery 7 is connected with control circuit board 3 electricity, and button 4 is protruding to be established on shell 61. The control circuit board 3 is further connected with a charging interface 31, the charging interface 31 is exposed on the bottom cover 64, and a user can charge or upgrade the aerosol generating device 200 through the charging interface 31 to ensure the continuous use of the aerosol generating device 200.
A battery 7 providing power for operating the aerosol-generating device 200. For example, the battery 7 may provide power to heat the heater 1 and may provide power required to operate the controller. The battery 7 may be, but is not limited to, a lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) battery. For example, the battery 7 may be a lithium cobaltate (LiCoO2) battery or a lithium titanate battery. The battery 7 may be a rechargeable battery or a disposable battery.
The aerosol-generating device 200 further comprises an insulating tube 5, the insulating tube 5 is disposed in the fixed case 62, the insulating tube 5 is disposed on the periphery of the base 11, and the insulating tube 5 can prevent a large amount of heat from being transferred to the housing 61 to cause the user to feel hot. The heat insulation pipe comprises heat insulation materials, and the heat insulation materials can be heat insulation glue, aerogel felt, asbestos, aluminum silicate, calcium silicate, diatomite, zirconia and the like. The heat insulation pipe may be a vacuum heat insulation pipe. An infrared reflective coating may also be formed inside the heat insulating pipe 5 to improve heating efficiency.
The aerosol-generating device 200 further comprises a temperature sensor 2, for example an NTC temperature sensor, for detecting a real-time temperature of the heater 1 and transmitting the detected real-time temperature to the control circuit board 3, the control circuit board 3 adjusting the magnitude of the current flowing through the heater 1 in accordance with the real-time temperature.
In particular, when the NTC temperature sensor detects a low real-time temperature of the heater 1, for example less than 150 ℃, the control circuit board 3 controls the battery 7 to output a higher voltage to the heater 1, thereby increasing the heating power of the aerosol-forming substrate and reducing the time a user waits for a first puff.
When the NTC temperature sensor detects that the temperature of the heater 1 is 150-200 deg.c, the control circuit board 3 controls the battery 7 to output a normal voltage to the heater 1.
When the NTC temperature sensor detects that the temperature of the heater 1 is 200 c-250 c, the control circuit board 3 controls the battery 7 to output a lower voltage to the heater 1.
When the NTC temperature sensor detects that the temperature of the heater 1 is 250 ℃ or more, the control circuit board 3 controls the battery 7 to stop outputting the voltage to the heater 1.
Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of part of a device in an aerosol-generating device provided in an embodiment of the present application; figure 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of part of a device in an aerosol-generating device provided in an embodiment of the present application;
figure 6 is a schematic view of a heater in an aerosol-generating device provided by an embodiment of the present application.
As shown in fig. 4-6, the aerosol-generating device 200 further comprises a heater 1 and a color detection means comprising a light source 201 and a color sensor 202.
The heater 1 is for heating at least a portion of an aerosol-generating article 100 received in a chamber of an aerosol-generating device 200 to generate an aerosol for inhalation.
The heater 1 may be a central heating mode (in which the heater is in direct contact with the aerosol-forming substrate through the periphery of the heater) or a peripheral heating mode (in which the cylindrical heater wraps the aerosol-forming substrate), or may be a heater that heats the aerosol-forming substrate through one or more of heat conduction, electromagnetic induction, chemical reaction, infrared action, resonance, photoelectric conversion, and photothermal conversion to generate aerosol for inhalation.
The following description will be given taking the heater 1 as an infrared heater as an example:
as shown in fig. 6, the heater 1 includes a substrate 11, an infrared electrothermal coating 12, and a conductive member 13.
The substrate 11 may be cylindrical, prismatic, or other cylindrical shape, and is preferably cylindrical. The base 11 is hollow inside and constitutes at least part of the chamber of the aerosol-generating device 200, and the base 631 at the upper end of the base 11 is provided with a through hole corresponding to the hollow into which the aerosol-generating article 100 is removable or insertable in sequence through the opening a.
An electrothermal infrared coating 12 is formed on the outer surface of the substrate, the electrothermal infrared coating 12 receiving power from the battery 7 via the conductive element 13 to generate heat and transferring the generated heat at least in the form of infrared radiation to an aerosol-generating article inserted into the chamber.
The conductive element 13 includes a first electrode 131 and a second electrode 132 disposed on the substrate 11, and both the first electrode 131 and the second electrode 132 are electrically connected to the infrared electrothermal coating 12. The first electrode 131 and the second electrode 132 may be annular conductive coatings coated on the outer surfaces of the substrate 11 near the upper and lower ends, the conductive coatings may be metal coatings or conductive tapes, and the metal coatings may include silver, gold, palladium, platinum, copper, nickel, molybdenum, tungsten, niobium, or metal alloy materials thereof.
As shown in fig. 4-5, the light source 201 and the colour sensor 202 are provided in a through hole of the base 631, the colour sensor 202 being provided at a position corresponding to the label C1 of the aerosol-generating article 100 when the aerosol-generating article 100 is inserted into the chamber of the aerosol-generating device 200 in position. The light source 201 is configured to emit light into the chamber of the aerosol-generating device 200, i.e. into the through-hole of the base 631; a color sensor 202 configured to detect a reflection of the light to generate a color signal.
In this example, the light source 201 may be an LED lamp. The color sensor 202 may include a color filter and a photoelectric converter, which detect a color in the reflection of the light by a color filter and a photodetector and generate a corresponding color signal. Photodetectors include, but are not limited to, photodiodes, photoresistors, phototransistors, and the like. Note that the configuration of the color sensor 202 is not limited to this case. It is also possible that the light source 201 and the color sensor 202 may be provided separately or integrated together.
The aerosol-generating device 200 further comprises a controller which may control the overall operation of the aerosol-generating device 200. In detail, the controller controls not only the operation of the battery 7 and the heater 1, but also the operation of other elements in the aerosol-generating device 200. Further, the controller may determine whether the aerosol-generating device 200 is operable by checking the status of elements of the aerosol-generating device 200. In this example, the controller acquires the color signal generated by the color sensor 202, and generates a control signal to control the operation of the heater 1 according to the color signal.
The controller includes at least one processor. The processor may comprise an array of logic gates, or may comprise a combination of a general purpose microprocessor and memory storing programs executable in the microprocessor. Further, one skilled in the art will appreciate that the controller may comprise another type of hardware.
In an example, the aerosol-generating device 200 further comprises:
the input module is used for receiving an opening instruction input by a user to generate an opening signal;
the microcontroller is further configured to receive the turn-on signal, and control the light source 201 and the color sensor 202 to turn on according to the turn-on signal.
In this example, the input module may be the key 4 shown in fig. 3, but is not limited to this case.
As will be understood in conjunction with fig. 1 to 6, in an example, the controller is further configured to generate an article insertion in-place signal when the second color signal and the first color signal generated by the color sensor 202 are sequentially acquired within a first preset time; and controlling the heater 1 to start heating according to the product insertion in-place signal.
In particular, when the aerosol-generating article 100 is inserted into the hollow portion of the substrate 11 sequentially through the opening a, the through-hole of the base 631, the light emitted by the light source 201 will impinge on the aerosol-generating article 100, and the colour sensor 202 will detect the colour of the outer surface of the tobacco segment 102 and the colour of the label C1 in sequence and generate corresponding second and first colour signals. Upon acquiring the second color signal and the first color signal, the controller may determine that the aerosol-generating article 100 is inserted into the chamber of the aerosol-generating device 200 in place, thereby generating an article insertion in-place signal. The heater 1 is then controlled to automatically activate heating by the product insertion in-place signal.
Further, the controller is further configured to:
determining from the first colour signal the identity of the aerosol-generating article 100 received in the chamber; determining, from the type of aerosol-generating article 100, its corresponding temperature profile; controlling power supplied to the heater 1 according to the temperature configuration information.
In particular, the colour of the label C1 may be indicative of one taste of different aerosol-generating articles 100, for example: red for mint, blue for coffee, mango, etc. Upon acquisition of the first color signal by the color sensor 202, a corresponding heating profile, i.e., temperature configuration information, may be selected among the previously stored heating profiles. And then controls the heater 1 to heat according to the heating curve, so that the user can obtain the best taste.
Further, the controller is further configured to:
under the condition that a second color signal and a third color signal generated by the color sensor 202 are sequentially acquired within a second preset time, a product pulling-out signal is generated; and controlling the heater 1 to stop heating according to the product pulling-out signal.
In particular, when the heater 1 is controlled to automatically initiate heating, if a user pulls the aerosol-generating article 100 out of the chamber of the aerosol-generating device 200, the colour sensor 202 will detect the colour of the outer surface of the tobacco segment 102 and the colour of the inner wall of the chamber in sequence and generate corresponding second and third colour signals. The controller, upon acquiring the second and third colour signals in sequence, may determine that the aerosol-generating article 100 is removed from the cavity of the aerosol-generating device 200, thereby generating an article pull-out signal and controlling the heater 1 to stop heating.
Further, the controller is further configured to:
generating a product no-insert-bit signal when only a second color signal generated by the color sensor 202 is acquired within a second preset time; and controlling the heater to stop heating and recording the heating time of the heater which is finished according to the product insertion-less-bit signal.
In particular, if the aerosol-generating article 100 is accidentally dialled resulting in a non-correct insertion of the aerosol-generating article 100 into the chamber of the aerosol-generating device 200 after controlling the heater 1 to automatically initiate heating, the colour sensor 202 may only detect the colour of the outer surface of the tobacco segment 102 and generate a corresponding second colour signal. When the second colour signal is obtained, the controller can determine that the aerosol-generating article 100 is not inserted in place and then generate an article not-inserted-in-place signal, control the heater 1 to stop heating and record the time for which the heater 1 has completed heating.
Further, the controller is further configured to:
after the heater 1 is controlled to stop heating, generating first prompt information;
the aerosol-generating device 200 further comprises:
a first prompting module for obtaining the first prompting information to prompt a user that an abnormality exists in a location of the aerosol-generating article 100.
In particular, after the heater 1 has been activated to heat, if the aerosol-generating article 100 is accidentally dialled, causing the heater 1 to cease heating, the user may be alerted by vibration, light or sound to the presence of an anomaly in the aerosol-generating article location 100, facilitating the user to reinsert the aerosol-generating article 100 into position in the chamber.
Further, the controller is further configured to:
under the condition that the second color signal and the first color signal generated by the color sensor 202 are sequentially acquired within a third preset time, a product reinsertion in-place signal is generated; calculating the remaining heating time of the heater according to the completed heating time of the heater; and controlling the heater 1 to heat according to the product reinsertion-in-place signal and the remaining heating time of the heater.
In particular, after the heater 1 has been activated to heat, if the aerosol-generating article 100 is accidentally dialled, the heater 1 is caused to cease heating. If the user reinserts the aerosol-generating article 100 into position in the chamber, heating of the aerosol-generating article 100 can continue without the user initiating heating, further simplifying operation of the aerosol-generating device 200 and improving user experience.
Further, the controller is further configured to:
when only the second color signal generated by the color sensor 202 is acquired within a first preset time or when the second color signal and the fourth color signal generated by the color sensor 202 are sequentially acquired within the first preset time, the heater 1 is controlled to be in an off state.
In particular, a situation in which only the second color signal generated by the color sensor 202 is acquired within a first predetermined time may be considered that the aerosol-generating article 100 is not inserted in place. At this time, the heater 1 is controlled to be in a disconnected state without controlling the heater 1 to start heating. Alternatively, when the second color signal and the fourth color signal generated by the color sensor 202 are acquired sequentially within a first predetermined time, it may be determined that an aerosol-generating article is inserted that does not match the aerosol-generating device 200. At this time, the heater 1 does not need to be controlled to start heating, namely, the heater 1 is controlled to be in a disconnected state. Wherein the fourth color is different from the color of label C1, and is different from the color of the outer surface of tobacco segment 102 and the color of the inner wall of the chamber.
The first preset time, the second preset time, and the third preset time may be empirical values, and are set when the aerosol-generating device 200 is shipped; or set by the user himself.
Further, the controller is further configured to:
generating second prompt information when only the second color signal generated by the color sensor 202 is acquired within a first preset time or when the second color signal and the fourth color signal generated by the color sensor 202 are sequentially acquired within the first preset time;
the aerosol-generating device 200 further comprises:
and the second prompt module is used for receiving the second prompt information and prompting the user that the abnormality exists.
Fig. 7 is a schematic flow chart of a control method of an aerosol-generating device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The method comprises the following steps:
step S11, a color signal generated by the color detection device is acquired.
And step S12, generating a control signal according to the color signal to control the operation of the heater.
An overall control process for the aerosol-generating device 200 is described below in connection with fig. 8:
step S21, inserting cigarettes;
step S22, detecting whether the cigarette is inserted;
specifically, when a cigarette is inserted, the color sensor 202 detects the color of the outer surface of the tobacco segment 102 and generates a corresponding second color signal, thereby determining that the cigarette is inserted.
Step S23, continuously inserting cigarettes;
step S25, detecting that the cigarette is inserted in place;
specifically, when a cigarette is inserted into the chamber, the color sensor 202 will sequentially detect the color of the outer surface of the tobacco segment 102 and the color of the label C1 and generate corresponding second and first color signals.
Step S26, when the cigarette is inserted into the chamber in place, the controller controls the heater to start heating;
step S261, step S27: the cigarette heating is finished, the cigarette is pulled out, and the heating is finished;
step S262, step S263, and step S27: the controller controls the heater to stop heating when the cigarette is abnormally separated from the insertion position; at this time, if the cigarette is pulled out, the heating is finished.
It should be noted that the description of the present application and the accompanying drawings set forth preferred embodiments of the present application, however, the present application may be embodied in many different forms and is not limited to the embodiments described in the present application, which are not intended as additional limitations to the present application, but are provided for the purpose of providing a more thorough understanding of the present disclosure. Moreover, the above-mentioned technical features are combined with each other to form various embodiments which are not listed above, and all the embodiments are regarded as the scope described in the present specification; further, modifications and variations may occur to those skilled in the art in light of the foregoing description, and it is intended to cover all such modifications and variations as fall within the scope of the appended claims.