TWI858000B - Electronic cigarette device - Google Patents

Abstract

An electronic cigarette device includes a battery, an atomizing component, a power converter, a connection interface and a memory device. The battery provides a first power. The atomizing component receives the first power, and generates vapor by heating chemical material base on the first power. The power converter performs a power converting operation on the first power to generate a second power. The connection interface is detachable connected to an external electronic device. The memory device is coupled to the connection interface and the power converter, and performs data accessing operation with the external electronic device based on the second power.

Description

Electronic smoking devices

The present invention relates to an electronic smoking device, and in particular to an electronic smoking device with multiple functions.

An electronic cigarette device is a device that uses electricity to provide a heat source and heats a chemical substance (oil-like liquid) to produce mist. Electronic cigarettes do not require actual combustion behavior, only produce steam, and do not produce tar and carbon monoxide. In theory, it can also reduce the impact of traditional paper cigarettes on the body and reduce the possibility of fire.

The present invention provides an electronic cigarette device with multiple functions.

The electronic cigarette device of the present invention includes a battery, an atomizer, a power converter, a connection interface and a memory device. The battery provides a first power source. The atomizer receives the first power source and heats the chemical substance and generates aerosol based on the first power source. The power converter is coupled to the battery and performs a power conversion operation on the first power source to generate a second power source. The connection interface is used for detachable connection to an external electronic device. The memory device is coupled to the connection interface and the power converter and performs data access operations with the external electronic device based on the second power source.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the power converter is a DC-to-DC power converter.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned connection interface is a universal serial bus interface.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned memory device includes at least one memory cell array and a memory controller. The memory controller is coupled between at least one memory cell array and a connection interface to control data access actions between at least one memory cell array and an external electronic device.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the electronic cigarette device further includes a bridge circuit. The bridge circuit is coupled between the connection interface and the memory controller to perform a communication signal conversion operation between the connection interface and the memory controller.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the at least one memory cell array and the memory controller are integrated on the same chip.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the at least one memory cell array and the memory controller are respectively disposed on different chips.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the electronic cigarette device further includes a power management circuit. The power management circuit is coupled to the battery to generate charging power based on an external power source and provide the charging power to charge the battery.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the electronic cigarette device further includes an external power receiving interface. The external power receiving interface is coupled to the power management circuit and is used to receive external power.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the power management circuit is coupled to a connection interface and receives external power through the connection interface.

Based on the above, a memory device is further provided in the electronic cigarette device of the present invention so that the electronic cigarette device can provide multiple functions. In an embodiment of the present invention, the usage status of the electronic cigarette device can be recorded in the memory device to reflect the user's usage status.

Please refer to FIG. 1, which shows a schematic diagram of an electronic smoking device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The electronic smoking device 100 includes a battery 110, an atomizer 130, a power converter 120, a connection interface 150, and a memory device 140. The battery 110 is used to provide a power source V1. The atomizer 130 is coupled to the battery 110. The atomizer 130 receives the power source V1 and heats the chemical substance and generates aerosol based on the power source V1. The power converter 120 is coupled to the battery 110, and the memory device 140 is directly connected to the power converter 120. The power converter 120 is used to perform a power conversion operation on the power source V1 to generate the power source V2. In this embodiment, the power converter 120 is a DC power converter, which is used to perform power conversion on the power source V1 which is a DC power source, and generate the power source V2 which is also a DC power source. In this embodiment, the voltage values of the power sources V1 and V2 may be different. For example, the voltage value of the power source V2 may be lower than the voltage value of the power source V1. The power converter 120 may be a step-down DC-to-DC power converter.

The power converter 120 provides power V2 to the memory device 140 and the connection interface 150. The memory device 140 receives the power V2 as an operating power source. The memory device 140 is coupled to the connection interface 150 and is detachably coupled to the external electronic device 101 through the connection interface 150. When the memory device 140 is connected to the external electronic device 101, the external electronic device 101 can access data to the memory device 140 through the connection interface 150.

In this embodiment, the connection interface 150 can be a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface. Alternatively, in other embodiments of the present invention, the connection interface 150 can also be other types of connection interfaces that are well known to those skilled in the art, without any particular limitation.

In this embodiment, the electronic cigarette device 100 not only provides general electronic cigarette functions, but also provides data access functions to enhance the convenience of use.

Please refer to FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B below, which are schematic diagrams of different implementations of the memory device of the present invention. In FIG. 2A, the memory device 200 includes one or more memory cell arrays 211 and a memory controller 221. The memory cell array 211 and the memory controller 221 are coupled to each other. The memory controller 221 is also used to receive external instructions to perform data access actions on the memory cell array 211. Corresponding to the embodiment of FIG. 1, the memory controller 221 can be coupled to the connection interface 150 and execute the data access actions required by the external electronic device 101 to be performed on the memory cell array 211.

Please note that in this embodiment, the memory cell array 211 and the memory controller 221 can be respectively disposed on different chips 210 and 220. The memory controller 221 can be a processor chip with computing capabilities, or a hardware circuit designed by a hardware description language (HDL) or any other digital circuit design method known to those skilled in the art, and implemented by a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a complex programmable logic device (CPLD) or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC).

In addition, in FIG. 2B , the memory cell array 211 and the memory controller 221 can be integrated on the same chip 230. The data access operations performed by the external electronic device 101 can also be performed.

Please refer to FIG. 1 and FIG. 3 below, wherein FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a partial circuit of an electronic cigarette device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 3, a bridge circuit 310 is included between the memory device 140 and the connection interface 150. The bridge circuit 310 is used to perform a communication signal conversion operation between the connection interface 150 and the memory controller in the memory device 140. Taking the example of the connection interface 150 being a universal serial bus interface and the memory controller of the memory device 140 being a universal asynchronous receiver/transmitter (UART) interface, the bridge circuit 310 can perform format conversion between the communication signal IF1 in the serial bus format and the communication signal IF2 in the universal asynchronous receiver/transmitter transmission format. And the memory device 140 and the connection interface 150 can smoothly perform signal communication and transmission operations.

Of course, in the embodiment of the present invention, the memory controller in the memory device 140 can also provide the communication signal IF2 through other types of communication interfaces. The above-mentioned universal asynchronous transceiver interface is only an example for illustration and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.

Please refer to FIG. 1 and FIG. 4 below, wherein FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of another part of the circuit of the electronic cigarette device of the embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 4, the electronic cigarette device 100 further includes a power management circuit 410 and an external power receiving interface 420. The power management circuit 410 is coupled to the battery 110 and coupled to the external power receiving interface 420. The external power receiving interface 420 is used to receive the external power EXTP1 and transmit the external power EXTP1 to the power management circuit 410. The power management circuit 410 generates a charging power CV according to the external power EXTP1, and provides the charging power CV to charge the battery 110.

In this embodiment, the power management circuit 410 can detect the power state of the battery 110, and determine the charging strategy based on the actual power state of the battery 110, and then provide an appropriate charging power CV to charge the battery 110 based on the charging strategy.

Please note that in this embodiment, the power management circuit 410 can also record the number of charging cycles and the full charge capacity decay rate of the battery 110. The full charge capacity decay rate can be obtained by the formula: (FCCD-FCC)/FCCD, where FCCD is the ideal full charge capacity in the design specification of the battery 110, and FCC is the actual measured full charge capacity of the battery 110.

The power management circuit 410 can store the above-mentioned charging cycle number and full charge power attenuation rate in a specific field of the memory device 140, and when the external electronic device 101 is connected to the connection interface 150, the external electronic device 101 can read the charging cycle number and full charge power attenuation rate of the battery 110 from the memory device 140. In this way, the external electronic device 101 can know the life status of the battery 110, and the use frequency of the electronic smoking device 100 can also be calculated through the life status of the battery 110. When the use frequency of the electronic smoking device 100 is too high, a corresponding warning message can be generated to ensure the health of the user.

Please refer to Figures 1, 4 and 5 below, wherein Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of another part of the circuit of the electronic cigarette device of the embodiment of the present invention. In Figure 5, the power management circuit 410 is coupled to the connection interface 150 and receives the external power EXTP2 through the connection interface 150. The power management circuit 410 generates the charging power CV according to the external power EXTP2 to perform the charging operation on the battery 110.

Please note that FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 can be implemented in combination with each other. The power management circuit 410 can be coupled to the connection interface 150 and the external power receiving interface 420 at the same time. When the external power receiving interface 420 is connected to a power supply device such as an adapter, the power management circuit 410 can generate a charging power CV according to the external power EXTP1 provided by the adapter. In addition, when the connection interface 150 receives the external power EXTP2, the power management circuit 410 can generate a charging power CV according to the external power EXTP2 provided by the adapter. If the external power receiving interface 420 and the connection interface 150 receive the external power EXTP2 and EXTP1 respectively at the same time, the power management circuit 410 can select one of the external power EXTP2 and EXTP1 to generate the charging power.

In this embodiment, the specifications of the external power sources EXTP2 and EXTP1 do not need to be the same. The power management circuit 410 can convert the specifications of the external power sources EXTP2 and EXTP1 to generate charging power.

In summary, the electronic smoking device of the present invention provides multiple functions and effectively improves the practicality of the electronic smoking device and enhances product competitiveness.

100: Electronic cigarette device

101: External electronic devices

110:Battery

120: Power converter

130: Atomizer

140, 200: Memory device

150: Connection interface

210, 220, 230: Chip

211: Memory cell array

221:Memory controller

310: Bridge circuit

410: Power management circuit

420: External power receiving interface

CV: Charging power

EXTP1, EXTP2: external power supply

IF1, IF2: communication signal

V1, V2: power supply

FIG1 is a schematic diagram of an electronic cigarette device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B are schematic diagrams showing different implementations of the memory device of the present invention.

FIG3 is a schematic diagram showing a partial circuit diagram of an electronic cigarette device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG4 is a schematic diagram showing another part of the circuit of the electronic cigarette device of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG5 is a schematic diagram showing another part of the circuit of the electronic cigarette device of an embodiment of the present invention.

100: Electronic cigarette device

101: External electronic devices

110:Battery

120: Power converter

130:Atomizer

140:Memory device

150:Connection interface

V1, V2: power supply

Claims (10)

An electronic cigarette device includes: a battery, providing a first power source; an atomizer, receiving the first power source, heating a chemical substance based on the first power source to generate atomization; a power converter, coupled to the battery, performing a power conversion operation on the first power source to generate a second power source; a connection interface, used for detachably connecting to an external electronic device; and a memory device, coupled to the connection interface and the power converter, performing a data access operation with the external electronic device based on the second power source, wherein the memory device is directly connected to the power converter and receives the second power source as an operating power source, wherein the voltage value of the second power source is lower than the voltage value of the first power source. As described in item 1 of the patent application scope, the power converter is a DC power converter. An electronic cigarette device as described in item 1 of the patent application, wherein the connection interface is a universal serial bus interface. The electronic cigarette device as described in item 1 of the patent application scope, wherein the memory device includes: at least one memory cell array; and a memory controller coupled between the at least one memory cell array and the connection interface to control the data access action between the at least one memory cell array and the external electronic device. The electronic cigarette device as described in item 4 of the patent application scope further includes: a bridge circuit coupled between the connection interface and the memory controller to perform a communication signal conversion operation between the connection interface and the memory controller. An electronic cigarette device as described in Item 4 of the patent application, wherein the at least one memory cell array and the memory controller are integrated on the same chip. The electronic cigarette device as described in item 4 of the patent application scope, wherein the at least one memory cell array and the memory controller are respectively arranged on different chips. The electronic cigarette device as described in item 1 of the patent application scope further includes: a power management circuit coupled to the battery, used to generate a charging power source based on an external power source, and provide the charging power source to charge the battery. The electronic cigarette device as described in Item 8 of the patent application scope further includes: an external power receiving interface coupled to the power management circuit and used to receive the external power. As described in Item 8 of the patent application scope, the power management circuit is coupled to the connection interface and receives the external power through the connection interface.

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