EA039609B1 - Puff sensing and power circuitry for vaporizer devices - Google Patents

Abstract

Vaporizer device features capable of improving on current approaches to mitigating against device damage or inoperability occurring from liquid exposure (e.g. exposure to liquid vaporizable material possibly affecting a pressure sensor, internal electronic circuitry, and/or electrical contact pins) are described.

Description

Cross-reference to related applications

This patent application claims priority of the provisional patent application

U.S. No. 62/590518, filed November 24, 2017, and U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/593801, filed December 1, 2017, both titled Puff Sensing and Power Circuitry for Vaporizer Devices, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein link.

This application is related to the following co-owned patents and/or patent applications, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Various nicotine formulations having features that can be used with implementations of the present invention are described in one or more of US 2014/0345631 A1 and WO 2015/084544 A1. Evaporative devices with features that may relate to implementations of the present invention are described in one or more of the publications/patents US 2015/0150308 A1, US 2016/0338412 A1, US 2016/0345631 A1, US 9408416, U 2013/0312742 A1, US 2017/0079331-A1, US 2016/0262459-A1, US 2014/0366898-A1, US 2015/0208729-A1, US 2016/0374399-A1, US 2016/0366947-A1, US 2017/0035115-A1, US 905-217 US 2016/0157524 A1 and pending applications No. 15/605890.

Technical field

The subject matter described herein relates to vaporization devices such as, for example, portable personal vaporizers for generating an inhalable aerosol from one or more vaporizable materials.

State of the art

Vaporizers, which may also be referred to as electronic vaporizers or e-smoking devices, can be used to deliver an aerosol (also sometimes referred to as vapor) containing one or more active ingredients by inhalation of the aerosol by the user of the vaporizer. Electronic cigarettes, which may also be referred to as e-cigarettes, are a class of vaping devices that are typically battery powered and that can be used to simulate the sensation of smoking a cigarette but without burning tobacco or other substances. When using a vaporizing device, the user inhales an aerosol, commonly referred to as vapor, which may be generated by a heating element, which vaporizes (generally refers to causing at least a partial transition of a liquid or solid to a gas phase) a vaporizable material, which may be a liquid, a solution , solid, paraffin, or may be in any other form compatible with the use of a particular evaporator device.

To receive the inhalable aerosol generated by the vaporizer, the user may, in some instances, activate the vaporizer by puffing, pressing a button, or some other means. Puff in the normal use of the term (and also as used herein) refers to inhalation by the user in such a way that it causes a volume of air to be drawn into the vaporizer so that an inhalable aerosol is generated by mixing the vaporized vaporizable material with the air. A typical method by which a vaporizer device generates an inhalable aerosol from vaporized material involves heating the vaporizable material in a vaporization chamber (also sometimes referred to as a heating chamber) to cause the vaporized material to enter a gaseous (vapor) phase. Evaporation chamber generally refers to the area or volume in an evaporator device within which a heat source (e.g., heat transfer, convection, and/or radiant) provides heat to the material to be vaporized to create a mixture of air and material to be vaporized in some equilibrium between gaseous and condensed (e.g. , liquid and/or solid) phases.

Some components of the gas-phase evaporable material may condense after evaporation due to cooling and/or pressure changes to form by this aerosol, which includes particles (in gas and/or solid phase) suspended in at least some volume of air drawn into the evaporator through tightening. If the vaporized material includes a semi-volatile mixture (for example, a mixture such as nicotine, which has a relatively low vapor pressure at inhalation temperatures and pressures), then the inhaled aerosol may include this semi-volatile mixture in some local equilibrium between gaseous and condensed phases.

The term evaporative device as used herein, compatible with the present invention, generally refers to portable self-contained devices that are convenient for personal use. Typically, such devices are controlled by one or more switches, buttons, touch devices, or other user input functionality, and the like. (which may be referred to generically as controls) located on the evaporator, although some devices have recently become available that can communicate wirelessly with an external controller (eg smartphone, smart watch, other wearable electronic devices, etc.). Control means in this context refers generally to the ability to influence one or more of a variety of operating parameters, which may include, without limitation, any control means for turning the heater on and/or off, setting the minimum and/or maximum temperature. to which the heater heats up during operation, various games or other interactive media that the user may access on the device, and/or other operations.

The essence of the invention

In some aspects of the present invention, the requirements associated with the presence of liquid vaporizable materials in or near certain receptive components of an electronic vaporizer device may be satisfied by incorporating one or more of the means described herein, or comparable/equivalent approaches understood by those skilled in the art.

In one aspect, the vaporizer may include an absolute pressure sensor positioned to detect a first air pressure along an airflow path connecting air outside the vaporizer to the vaporizer vapor chamber and the vaporizer mouthpiece, and an additional absolute pressure sensor positioned to detect a second air pressure representing the pressure of the ambient air which acts on the evaporator device. The controller may be configured to perform operations that include receiving a first signal from an absolute pressure sensor representing a first pressure and a second signal from an additional absolute pressure sensor representing a second pressure, determining that a puff is occurring based on at least a first signal and a second signal (wherein the puff includes air flowing along the airflow path in response to the user drawing through the mouthpiece) and providing an electric current to the vaporizer resistance heating element in response to said determination. The applied electrical current causes the volatilized material to be heated to form an inhalable aerosol in the air flowing along the airflow path.

In another related aspect, the method may include receiving a first signal from a vaporizer absolute pressure sensor, the first signal representing a first pressure, and receiving a second signal from a further vaporizer absolute pressure sensor, the second signal representing a second pressure. The absolute pressure sensor is positioned or positioned such that it is subject to a first air pressure that occurs along an airflow path connecting air from outside the evaporator body to the evaporator evaporator chamber and the evaporator mouthpiece. An additional absolute pressure sensor is positioned or positioned such that it detects a second air pressure, which is the ambient air pressure that is applied to the evaporative device. Said method may further include the step of determining that a puff is occurring based on at least the first signal and the second signal (wherein the puff includes air flowing along the airflow path in response to the user drawing through the mouthpiece), and providing an electrical current to the resistive heating element of the evaporative device in response to said step of determining.

Optionally, one or more of the following features may be included in any possible combination. The operations may further comprise receiving a third signal from the additional sensor and adapting a determination that a puff is occurring based on the third signal. The additional sensor may include an accelerometer or other motion detection device. The airflow path may include an orifice of a particular size, which may be known and well-defined, and an absolute pressure sensor may provide a measurement of the differential pressure that results from the user's puff.

In some aspects, the operations performed by the controller further comprise calculating the air velocity and volume flow, determining the amount of volatilized material passing into the vapor phase per unit time, and controlling the amount of inhaled aerosol generated for a given volume of air based on said calculation and said determination. The operations may further include controlling the temperature of the heater and/or providing a consistent aerosol concentration at different puff rates. In still other aspects, the operations performed by the controller further comprise applying an ambient pressure correction to correct for the effect of atmospheric pressure on the amount of airflow. The operations may further include prompting the user to take a sample puff or sequence of sample puffs and/or describing or storing information regarding the user's relative puff intensity. In still other aspects, the operations may further include changing the size of the pressure drop required to indicate a puff based on the user's relative puff intensity to better detect actual puffs and discard false positives when detecting user puffs.

In another aspect, an evaporator having a evaporator body shell and an inner frame may include a liner configured to prevent

- 2 039609 passage of liquids between the volume inside the evaporator body cartridge receiver and the volume inside the evaporator body shell containing internal electronic circuits (possibly including one or more electronic components, circuit boards, etc.) and/or power supply . The gasket may include a connection means by which the pressure recording device, which is connected to a portion of the internal electronic circuitry, is exposed to air pressure in the cartridge receiver. An improved seal between the gasket and the evaporator body can be provided by positioning a reinforcing rib on the gasket between the evaporator shell and the inner frame of the evaporator body.

In another aspect, the vaporizer may include an electrical contact pin for electrically connecting to a cartridge terminal configured to be received by insertion of the vaporizer body into the cartridge receiver. The electrical contact pin may include a liquid-resistant means.

Systems and methods are described that are compatible with this approach, as well as products that contain a tangible computer-readable medium configured to prescribe to one or more machines (for example, computers, microcontrollers, etc., which may include processors or circuits general and/or special purpose, etc.) perform the operations described here. Similarly, computer systems are also described, which may include a processor and memory associated with the processor. The memory may include one or more programs that cause the processor to perform one or more of the operations described herein.

The details of one or more embodiments of the invention described herein are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features and advantages of the invention described here will be apparent from the description and drawings, as well as from the claims.

Description of drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are included in and form part of this specification, show certain aspects of the invention disclosed herein and, together with the description, help explain some of the principles associated with the disclosed implementations. In the drawings of FIG. 1A is a schematic view showing features of a vaporizer having a vaporizer cartridge and body compatible with embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 1B shows an image providing a top view of a vaporizer with a cartridge separated from the cartridge receiver on the body of a vaporizer compatible with the present invention;

fig. 1C shows an image providing a top view of a vaporizer with a cartridge inserted into a cartridge receptacle on the body of a vaporizer compatible with the present invention;

fig. 1D shows an image providing an isometric top perspective view of a vaporizer with a cartridge inserted into a cartridge receptacle on the body of a vaporizer compatible with embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 1E shows an isometric top view, mouthpiece side, perspective view of a cartridge suitable for use with a vaporizer body compatible with embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 1F shows an image providing an isometric perspective view from above, from the opposite side of a cartridge suitable for use with a vaporizer body compatible with embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 2A shows a schematic view illustrating features of a cartridgeless evaporator compatible with embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 2B shows an image providing an isometric perspective side view of a cartridgeless evaporative device;

fig. 2C shows an image providing an isometric perspective view from below of a cartridgeless evaporative device;

fig. 3A shows a view illustrating a plan view of the body of the evaporator;

fig. 3B shows an image illustrating a sectional top view of an evaporator body having a gasket;

fig. 3C shows an image illustrating another top sectional view of the evaporator body having the gasket;

fig. 4 shows an isometric view of the body of the evaporator;

fig. 5 shows an isometric view of a circuit board for an evaporative device including an analog pressure sensor;

fig. 6 shows an isometric perspective view of a circuit board for an evaporative device including an absolute pressure sensor compatible with implementations of the present

- 3 039609 inventions;

fig. 7A shows an image illustrating a plan view of the body of an evaporative device compatible with embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 7B shows an image illustrating a sectional plan view of the body of an evaporator device having a gasket compatible with embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 7C shows an image illustrating another top sectional view of the body of an evaporator device having a gasket compatible with embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 8 shows an image providing a side/top isometric perspective view of the evaporator body showing features of a gasket compatible with embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 9 shows an isometric perspective view of the internal components of the evaporator body;

fig. 10 shows an isometric perspective view of a pin design that may be included as an electrical contact in the body of an evaporative device compatible with embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 11 is a schematic diagram illustrating features of pressure transmitters compatible with embodiments of the present invention; and fig. 12 shows a flowchart illustrating features of a method compatible with implementations of the present invention.

Where appropriate, like reference numerals refer to like structures, means, or elements.

Detailed description

Examples of vaping devices compatible with embodiments of the present invention include electronic vaporizers, electronic cigarettes, electronic cigarettes, and the like. As noted above, such vaporizers are typically hand-held devices that heat (via convection, heat transfer, radiation, or some combination thereof) vaporizable material to provide an inhalable dose of material. The vaporizable material used with the vaporizer may, in some instances, be provided with a cartridge (which may refer to the portion of the vaporizer that contains the vaporizer material in a reservoir or other container and which may be replenished when empty or disposable to accommodate a new cartridge containing additional vaporizer material of such the same or another type). Optionally, the vaporizer can be any of a cartridge vaporizer, a cartridgeless vaporizer, or a general purpose vaporizer that can be used with or without a cartridge. For example, the versatile evaporator may include a heating chamber (eg, an oven) configured to receive vaporized material directly in the heating chamber, as well as receive a cartridge having a reservoir and the like. for the content of the evaporated material. In various implementations, the vaporizer may be configured to be used with a liquid vaporizable material (e.g., a carrier solution in which the active and/or inactive ingredient(s) are suspended or contained in a solution or liquid form of the vaporizable material itself) or a solid vaporizable material. Solid vaporizable material may include plant-based or non-plant-based material that emits some of the solid vaporizable material as vaporizable material (e.g., such that some of the material remains as waste after the vaporizable material is emitted for inhalation by the user ) or optionally may be the solid form of the vaporized material itself, such that all of the solid material may eventually be vaporized for inhalation. Liquid vaporizable material likewise may be completely vaporizable, or may include some of the liquid material that remains after all of the respirable material has been consumed.

Implementations of the present invention may provide advantages over currently available approaches for activating a vaporizer in response to a user's puff. Alternatively or additionally, embodiments of the present invention may improve the robustness of such devices in terms of long term availability, less maintenance, and the like. Other advantages, either expressly described herein or implied or otherwise inherent in light of the description provided, may also be generally associated with avoidable difficulties that may arise in evaporator devices, in particular in those evaporator devices that are based on the system , which includes a cartridge containing (or configured to contain) vaporizable material, and a vaporizer body to which and/or to which the cartridge may be removably attached. In some examples, a releasable cartridge may have cartridge means (which may, but not necessarily include some or all of the cartridge body) of the cartridge, which is received by insertion by a cartridge receptacle on the vaporizer body. Other releasable cartridge and vaporizer body implementations may include a portion of the vaporizer body received by insertion by a receptacle on the cartridge. Yet other forms of releasably attachable cartridge and evaporator body may include a threaded connection in which the male thread portion of the vaporizer body mates with a corresponding female thread portion of the cartridge and/or in which the male thread portion of the cartridge mates with a corresponding female thread portion of the cartridge. internal thread of the evaporator body.

As noted above, some vaporizer devices include a cartridge receiver on the vaporizer body that receives, by insertion, at least a portion of a cartridge containing liquid vaporizable material. Other evaporator configurations may include one or more of the general ideas described herein, which in some implementations relate to one or more improved gaskets and/or other sealing means (e.g., for evaporator body parts), improved corrosion resistance of electrical contacts, improved approaches for fixing puffs, etc. Such improvements apply more broadly to evaporators in general, including in some examples those evaporators that differ in one or more respects from the evaporators described below as part of the description and illustration of various inventive aspects of the present invention. Those skilled in the art will readily understand how these ideas should be applied to obtain various benefits, which may include, but are not limited to, the benefits listed here.

Possible forms of evaporative device failures may include complete failure at start-up or otherwise operation, intermittent or malfunctioning puff locking, premature discharge, or partial or complete failure when charging a power source contained within the evaporator device, including the body of the vaporizer device and etc. Some of these forms of failure may be caused or otherwise accelerated by exposure of one or more components of the evaporative device to liquid vaporizable material. For example, some parts of an evaporative device, such as circuit boards, power supply, internal and/or external electrical contacts or circuits that are part of the charging circuit and/or power supply, etc., may be susceptible to damage from moisture and /or corrosion resulting from exposure to liquid vaporizable material and/or other liquids such as condensed water and the like. To prevent or at least reduce such damage to internal components, the evaporator may include one or more gaskets or other sealing means configured to act as a barrier to liquid penetration into the portion of the evaporator containing moisture sensitive components. The barrier function of such a sealing means may deteriorate due to various factors, such as, for example, improper handling of the vaporizer by the user (for example, excessive bending or bending of the body of the vaporizer when sitting on it or when it is in a pants pocket, etc., falling device to a hard surface, etc.), temperature changes that cause displacement (for example, due to thermal expansion and/or contraction effects) of the gasket or other sealant, the interaction of materials used in the construction of the gasket or other sealant with one or more chemical components of the evaporated material and / or other environmental factors, etc.

One or more forms of failure, such as an intermittent or malfunctioning puff lock, a failure to deliver steam, a total inoperability of the evaporator device, etc., may also or alternatively be caused by damage to the electrical contacts completing the circuit between the body of the evaporator device and the cartridge. For example, vaporizers whose functionality includes attaching a cartridge containing liquid vaporizable material and a resistive heating element to a separate vaporizer body containing electronic circuitry and a power source (e.g., battery, supercapacitor, fuel cell, etc.), may be susceptible to damage occurring when even a relatively small amount of liquid vaporizable material comes into prolonged contact with electrical contacts on the cartridge and/or the body of the vaporizer, in particular when these contacts are not positioned or configured to allow light cleaning. While damage to contacts on a cartridge can be of relatively minor importance, provided that the cartridge can be repaired or replaced after a sufficiently short time (for example, after emptying or otherwise depleting its reservoir of volatilized material, whereby it can be replaced with a new one). cartridge), damage to electrical contacts in or on the body of an evaporative device, which may be generally designed for continuous use, including with a large number of disposable cartridges, can be a significant problem in terms of long-term reliability. In addition to the potential problems associated with damage to electrical contacts on the evaporator, exposure of liquid evaporative material to other parts of the evaporator can also be problematic, as discussed further below.

The electrical contacts for completing the circuit between the evaporator body and the cartridge may be located within the cartridge receiver, so that these electrical contacts of the receiver are configured and placed to make contact with the corresponding electrical contacts on the portion of the cartridge that is received by insertion by the cartridge receiver when the cartridge and the evaporator body are connected to use the evaporator device. Leakage of liquid vaporizable material from a reservoir that is in or otherwise part of the cartridge may result in liquid vaporizable material on the outer surfaces of the cartridge when the cartridge is received by insertion by the cartridge receiver on the vaporizer body. The liquid vaporizable material may also or alternatively directly leak from the reservoir while the cartridge is received by insertion or otherwise being connected or engaged with the body of the vaporizer device, whereby the leaking liquid vaporizer material can easily be placed in close proximity to any components of the vaporizer body. devices that are in or near the cartridge receiver. While the description provided herein is presented in the context of an exemplary evaporative device in which at least a portion of a cartridge that includes a reservoir for holding liquid evaporable material is received by being inserted by the cartridge, it should be understood that such features are not intended to are limiting except to the extent that they are essentially necessary in the present invention as claimed below.

A useful feature of some currently available electronic vaporizers is the ability to detect when a user is taking a puff, which is defined here as inhaling, to cause air to be drawn through the vaporizer chamber of the vaporizer. The puff detection functionality may allow the user to control such a device simply by taking a puff rather than by pressing a button or performing some other action to cause the device to become capable of generating an inhalable aerosol. The various failure modes of a vaporizer having puff detection means may include failure modes resulting from a failure or intermittent failure of a pressure sensor that is part of the vaporizer's puff detection system. Typically, the pressure sensor is positioned so that it is exposed to the air flow path that delivers air to the evaporation chamber of the evaporation device. When the user puffs through the mouthpiece to draw air along the airflow path, it causes a pressure differential which draws air into the vaporizer. The differential pressure is detected by a pressure transducer which provides the controller (eg microcontroller, circuit board, other control circuits, etc.) of the evaporative device with a signal indicative of the change in pressure. The controller may interpret this signal to determine if the indicated pressure change was due to a puff, and if it is determined that this is the case, then the controller may cause a heating element (eg, a resistance heating element) to be activated in response to this signal. Activating the heating element may include providing electrical power from a power source to the heating element. The controller may deactivate the heating element after determining based on a signal from a pressure sensor indicating that the differential pressure has disappeared. In some examples, the puff detection system may indicate that a puff is in progress (eg, it has started but not finished yet).

Some currently available evaporative devices use an analog pressure sensor to generate a signal representing a change in pressure (for example, a pressure drop or the disappearance of a pressure drop). In some examples, the pressure sensor may include a capacitive membrane, such as, for example, a capacitive membrane similar to capacitive membranes used in microphones. However, a capacitive diaphragm or similar analog pressure transmitter may be susceptible to distortion when contaminated by liquids such as liquid evaporative material, water, etc. For example, an air passage that connects a pressure sensor to an airflow path may become at least partially blocked by a liquid column. Alternatively, liquid in contact with the capacitive membrane of an analog pressure sensor can greatly alter the capacitive properties of the membrane, causing the pressure sensor to fail to perform its function and correctly detect puff.

The use of a pressure sensor to identify that a user is puffing on an evaporative device typically requires that there be air contact between the pressure sensor and the airflow generated during the puff. In some evaporator devices, the pressure sensor may be located at a relatively large distance from the reservoir material to be evaporated. However, this arrangement is typically provided by passing an airflow path through some significant portion of the evaporator body such that contact is made between the air drawn in by the user and the internal electronics and/or circuitry of the evaporator body. As such, it may be desirable for the airflow path to bypass most of the internals of the evaporator body. However, it may be necessary to position the pressure transducer closer to where the evaporation chamber is located, in

- 6 039609 as a result of which the possibility of leakage of the evaporating material increases, and the evaporating material may be in close proximity to the pressure sensor, which can lead to the failure of the pressure sensor due to contact of the liquid evaporable material with the capacitive membrane.

As noted above, the subject matter of the present invention relates to various features that may be advantageous in terms of reducing or even eliminating these failure modes in a vaporizer. The following description relates to illustrative evaporative devices in which one or more features of the present invention may be implemented. These illustrative evaporators are described to provide context for describing the features provided by the present invention.

Fig. 1A-2C show exemplary evaporator devices 100, 200, and the means that may be included therein, that are compatible with implementations of the present invention. Fig. 1A shows a schematic of a vaporizer 100 that includes a cartridge 114, and FIG. 1B-1E show views of an exemplary evaporator 100 with a evaporator body 101 and a cartridge 114. FIG. 1B and 1C show top views before and after the cartridge 114 is attached to the evaporator body 101. Fig. 1D shows an isometric perspective view of a vaporizer 100 that includes a vaporizer body 101 integrated with a cartridge 114, and FIG. 1E shows an isometric perspective view of one embodiment of a cartridge 114 containing liquid vaporizable material. In general, when a vaporizer includes a cartridge (such as cartridge 114), cartridge 114 may include one or more reservoirs 120 configured to contain vaporizable material (or possibly multiple vaporizers). Any suitable vaporizable material may be contained in reservoir 120 (or multiple reservoirs) of cartridge 114, including solutions of nicotine or other organic materials, as well as compositions that may include one or more pure (for example, not dissolved in solution) chemical compounds. , mixtures, compositions, etc.

As noted above, the evaporator 100 shown in FIG. 1 includes an evaporator body 101. As shown in FIG. 1, an evaporator body 101 compatible with embodiments of the present invention may include a power source 103 (e.g., a device or system that stores electrical power for use as needed), which may be a battery, a capacitor, a combination thereof, or the like. . and which may or may not be rechargeable. A controller 105 that may include a processor (eg, a programmable processor, special purpose circuitry, and the like) may also be included as part of the body 101 of the evaporative device. Vaporizer body 101 may include a housing that surrounds one or more evaporator body components such as power supply 103, controller 105, and/or any other components described herein as part of such an apparatus. In various implementations of a vaporizer that includes vaporizer body 101 and cartridge 114, cartridge 114 may be attached to, in, or partially within vaporizer body 101. For example, vaporizer body 101 may include cartridge receptacle 152 into which cartridge 114 may be received by insertion.

The controller processor 105 may include circuitry for controlling the operation of a heater 118, which may, but need not, include one or more heating elements to vaporize vaporizable material contained in cartridge 114, such as a reservoir or container that is part of the cartridge. 114. In various implementations, the heater 118 may be in the evaporator body 101, or in the cartridge 114 (as shown in FIG. 1A), or both. The controller circuits may include one or more clock generators (oscillators), charging circuits, I/O controllers, memory, and so on. Alternatively or additionally, the controller circuitry may include circuitry for one or more wireless communication modes, including Bluetooth, near-field communication (NFC), Wi-Fi, ultrasonic communication, ZigBee, RFID, etc. . The evaporator body 101 may also include a memory 125 which may be part of the controller 105 or otherwise communicate with the controller. Memory 125 may include volatile (eg, random access memory) and/or non-volatile (eg, read only memory, flash memory, solid state storage, hard disk drive, other magnetic storage device, etc.) memory or storage device.

Additionally, with reference to FIG. 1, vaporizer 100 may include a charger 133 (and charging circuitry that controller 105 may control), optionally including an inductive charger and/or a plug-in charger. For example, a universal serial bus (USB) connection can be used to charge vaporizer 100 and/or enable wireless communication between computing device and controller 105. Charger 133 can charge onboard power supply 103. Evaporative device 100 compatible with embodiments of the present invention may also include one or more input devices 117, such as buttons, dials, and the like, a sensor 137, which may include one or more

- 7 039609 sensors such as accelerometers or other motion sensors, pressure sensors (eg relative and/or absolute pressure sensors, which may be capacitive, semiconductor, etc.), flow sensors, and the like. One or more of these sensors 137 may be used by vaporizer 100 to detect user control and user interaction. For example, detection of rapid motion (eg, shaking motion) of vaporizer 100 may be interpreted by controller 105 (eg, by receiving a signal from one or more sensors 137) as a user command to communicate with a user device that is part of the vaporizer system and which may be used to control one or more of the operations and/or parameters of the vaporizer 100, described in more detail below. Additionally or alternatively, detection of rapid motion (e.g., shaking motion) of vaporizer 100 may be interpreted by controller 105 (e.g., by receiving a signal from one or more sensors 137) as a user command to cycle through a plurality of temperature settings to which vaporized material stored in cartridge 114 must be heated by heater 118. In some embodiments, controller 105 detects the removal of cartridge 114 (for example, by receiving a signal from one or more sensors 137) while cycling through a plurality of temperature settings may affect the temperature setting ( for example, when the cycle passes through the desired temperature, the user may remove the cartridge 114 to set the desired temperature). Cartridge 114 can then be reattached by the user to vaporizer body 101 to enable vaporizer 100 to be used with a heater controlled by controller 105 in accordance with a selected temperature setting. Multiple temperature settings may be indicated by one or more indicators on the body 101 of the evaporator. A pressure sensor, as noted above, can be used in detecting any of the start, end, or continuation of a puff.

Evaporative device 100 compatible with implementations of the present invention may also include one or more output devices 115. The output devices 115 used here can refer to any of the optical (eg, LEDs, displays, etc.), tactile (eg, vibration, etc.), or audible (eg, piezoelectric, etc.) components. feedback, etc. or some combination of them.

Evaporative device 100 compatible with embodiments of the present invention that includes cartridge 114 may include one or more electrical contacts (e.g., pins, pads, connectors, mating receivers, or other means for electrically connecting to other contacts, etc. .), such as the electrical contacts 109, 111, 113 of the evaporator body shown in FIG. 1A, on or in the evaporator body 101, which can complementarily engage with cartridge contacts 119, 121, 123 (e.g., pins, pads, connectors, mating receptacles, or other means for electrically connecting to other contacts, etc.) on the cartridge 114 when the cartridge is engaged with the evaporator body 101. The contacts on the evaporator body 101 are collectively referred to here as evaporator body contacts, and the contacts on the cartridge 114 are generally referred to here as cartridge contacts. These contacts can be used to provide power from power source 103 to heater 118 in embodiments of the present invention in which heater 118 is included in cartridge 114. For example, when cartridge contacts and vaporizer body contacts are respectively engaged by connecting cartridge 114 to vaporizer body 101, an electrical circuit can be formed to control the power supply 103 in the evaporator body 101 to the heater 118 in the cartridge 114. The controller 105 in the evaporator body 101 can regulate this power supply to control the temperature to which the heater 118 heats the vaporized material, contained in cartridge 114.

While three contacts 109, 111, 113 of the evaporator body and three contacts 119, 121, 123 of the cartridge are shown, some implementations of the present invention may use only two of each type to complete an electrical circuit that can be used to supply power from a power source. 103 supply to the heater 118 and possibly also to measure the temperature of the heating element in the heater (for example, by briefly and intermittently interrupting the flow of current through the heating element, measuring the resistance of the heating element during these short interruptions, and using the thermal resistance coefficient to obtain the temperature based on measured resistance) and/or data communication between optional identifier 138 and controller 105. Alternatively or additionally, additional contacts (for example, optional contacts 113 and 123, which may be more than one additional contact on each of the cartridge and evaporator body) can be enabled for data communication, temperature measurements, pressure sensor measurements (eg if a pressure sensor is included in the cartridge while the controller 105 is in the evaporator body 101).

The airflow path (150 in FIG. 1E) may direct air to the heater where it

Air combines with the vaporized vaporizable material from reservoir 120 such that an inhalable aerosol is generated for delivery to the user through mouthpiece 144, which may also be part of cartridge 114. Airflow path 150 may, in some instances, extend between the outer surface of cartridge 114 and the inner surface of the cartridge receiver on the evaporator body 101, as described further below.

Any compatible electrical contact may be used, including pins (eg, spring pins), pads, and the like. Additionally, as described below, in some embodiments of the present invention, one-way or two-way communication is provided between the evaporator body 101 and the cartridge 114 through one or more electrical contacts, which may include electrical contacts used to provide power from the power source 103 to the heater 118 , which may include a heating element, such as a resistive heating element. Cartridge 114 and evaporator body 101 may be removably connected together, for example, by engaging a portion of cartridge body 114 with evaporator body 101 and/or vaporizer body in a mechanical connection (eg, snap fit and/or friction fit). Alternatively or additionally, cartridge 114 and vaporizer body 101 may be connected magnetically or through some other coupling or coupling mechanism. Other types of compounds are also within the scope of the present invention, as are combinations of two or more types of compounds.

Fig. 1B-1F show an example of an evaporator 100 with an evaporator body 101 and a cartridge 114. The latter two are separated in FIG. 1B and connected in FIG. 1C. Fig. 1D shows an isometric perspective view of the combined evaporator body 101 and cartridge 114, and FIG. 1E and 1F show the cartridge 114 separately from two different angles. Fig. 1B-1F show in combination an exemplary cartridge evaporator device incorporating many of the features shown collectively in FIG. 1A. Other configurations, including some or all of the features described here, are also within the scope of the present invention. Fig. 1D shows a vaporizer 100 having a cartridge 114 coupled to a cartridge receiver 152 of the vaporizer body 101. In some implementations of the present invention, the reservoir 120 may be formed entirely or partially of a translucent material so that the level of vaporized material is visible through the window 158. The cartridge 114 and/or the body 101 of the evaporation device can be configured so that the window 158 remains visible, when the cartridge 114 is received by inserting the cartridge receiver 152. For example, in one exemplary configuration, window 158 may be placed between the bottom edge of mouthpiece 144 and the top edge of vaporizer body 101 when cartridge 114 is coupled to cartridge receptacle 152.

Fig. 1E shows an exemplary airflow path 150 for air drawn by a user puffing on the outside of cartridge 114 past heater 118 (e.g., through a vaporization chamber that includes or contains heater 118) and to mouthpiece 144 to deliver an inhaled aerosol. The mouthpiece may, but need not, have multiple openings through which the inhaled aerosol is delivered. For example, cartridge receptacle 152 may be located at one end of evaporator body 101 such that insertion end 154 of cartridge 114 may be received by cartridge receptacle 152 being inserted. When the cartridge insertion end 154 is fully inserted into the cartridge receptacle 152, the inner surface of the cartridge receptacle 152 forms one surface of the airflow path portion 150 and the outer surface of the cartridge insertion end 154 forms the other surface of that airflow path portion.

As shown in FIG. 1E, this configuration allows air to flow downstream around cartridge insertion end 154 into cartridge receptacle 152 and then back in the opposite direction after passing around the insertion end (e.g., the end opposite the end that includes mouthpiece 144) of cartridge 114 when it enters the cartridge body towards the vaporization chamber and heater 118. The airflow path 150 then passes through the interior of the cartridge 114, such as through one or more tubes or internal channels to one or more outlets 156 formed in the mouthpiece 144. For a cartridge 114 having a non-cylindrical shape, the mouthpiece 144 may also be non-cylindrical, and more than one outlet 156 may be formed in the mouthpiece, optionally located in a line along the longer of the two transverse axes of the cartridge 114, where the longitudinal axis of the cartridge is oriented along the direction of movement of the cartridge 114 to receive through m insertion or, otherwise, connection with the body 101 of the evaporator device, and the two transverse axes are perpendicular to each other and the longitudinal axis.

Fig. 1F shows additional features that may be included in a cartridge 114 compatible with the present invention. For example, cartridge 114 may include two cartridge contacts 119, 121 disposed at insertion end 154 that is configured to be inserted into cartridge receptacle 152 of vaporizer body 101. Each of these cartridge contacts 119, 121 may, but need not be, part of a single metal element that forms a conductive structure 159, 161 connected to one of the two ends of the resistive heating element. The two conductive structures may optionally form opposite sides of the heating chamber and may also act as heat shields and/or heat sinks to reduce heat transfer to the outer walls of the cartridge 114. FIG. 1F also shows a central tube 162 in the cartridge 114 which defines a portion of the airflow path 150 between the heating chamber formed between the two conductive structures 159, 161 and the mouthpiece 144.

As mentioned above, the cartridge 114 and optionally the evaporator body 101 may be, but need not be, non-circular in cross section, with different elongations (for example, one of the two transverse axes that are perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the evaporator 100 is longer than other transverse axis) by intended cross-sectional shapes, including approximately rectangular, approximately rhomboidal, approximately triangular or trapezoidal, approximately oval, etc. It will be well understood by those skilled in the art that the use of the word approximately in this context implies that any vertices of the cross-sectional shape need not be sharp, but may instead have a non-zero radius of curvature, and that any surfaces between such vertices are not necessarily sharp. order must be perfectly flat, but instead may have a finite radius of curvature.

Fig. 2A-2C refer to an exemplary implementation of the present invention in which the evaporator device is non-cartridge. Fig. 2A shows a schematic of a evaporator 200 that does not use a cartridge (but may, but does not have to, accept a cartridge), but instead (or additionally) can be configured for use with loose sheeting or some other evaporative material ( e.g. solid, wax, etc.). Evaporator 200 in FIG. 2A may be configured to receive in the oven 220 (eg, flash chamber) a vaporizable material, such as particulate vaporizer, wax, and/or some other liquid or solid vaporizer. Many elements, like those present in vaporizer 100 using cartridge 114 shown in FIG. 1A-1E may also be included as part of a vaporizer 200 that does not require the use of cartridges. For example, vaporizer 200 may include control circuits 105 in one package, which may include power management circuits and/or wireless circuits 207, and/or memory 125. Power supply 103 (e.g., battery, capacitor, etc.) .) in the case may be charged by the charger 133 (and may include charge control circuits, which are not shown). Vaporizer 200 may also include one or more output devices 115 and one or more input devices 117 with sensors 137, which may include one or more of the sensors described above in connection with cartridge vaporizer 100.

Additionally, the evaporation device 200 may include one or more heaters 118 that heat the evaporation chamber, which may be a furnace 220 or other heating chamber. Heater 118 may be controlled using the resistance of heater 118 to determine the temperature of the heater, such as by using a temperature coefficient of resistivity for the heater. A mouthpiece 144 may also be included in such a vaporizer 200 to deliver the generated inhaled aerosol to a user. Fig. 2B shows an isometric perspective side view of an exemplary vaporizer 200 with a vaporizer body 201. In the bottom isometric perspective view of FIG. 2C, cover 230 is shown removed from evaporator body 201, with oven/evaporator chamber 220 exposed.

Fig. 3A, 3B, 3C and 4 respectively show views of the body 101 of the evaporator, namely the external top view (Fig. 3A), the top view with a partial section (Fig. 3B) showing the outer shell as transparent to show the internal components, the top view with local cut with outer sheath removed (FIG. 3C) and top/side isometric view with local cut (FIG. 4). The evaporator body 101 includes an outer shell 303, which in this example includes a port 302 (e.g., a hole, window, etc. in the outer shell 303) through which a visible indicator (e.g., light source, LED, light guide) , fiber optic device, etc.) can provide device status feedback to the user. Port 302 is present in all figures 3A, 3B, 3C and 4. The views in FIG. 3A and 3B show an example of a cartridge 114 received by inserting a cartridge receiver 152 to enable the vaporizer 100 to be used. The views in FIG. 3B and 3C also show a power source 103 that is housed within the vaporizer body 101, as well as a pressure sensor 304, gasket 306, or other sealing means to provide a barrier between the cartridge receptacle 152 and various internal components of the vaporizer body 101. The pressure sensor 304 is positioned and the gasket 306 is configured such that the pressure sensor is exposed to the air in the cartridge receptacle 152 through a channel 310 (e.g., a gap, channel, or some other connection that allows air pressure changes to be easily transmitted along its length). ) so that the pressure sensor is exposed to the air and/or other environmental factors present on the outside of the gasket 306.

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The use of a pressure sensor to identify that a user is puffing on a vaporizer generally requires that there be contact between the pressure sensor and the airflow generated during the puff. In some evaporator devices, the pressure sensor may be located at a relatively large distance from the reservoir of material to be evaporated. However, this arrangement is typically provided by passing an airflow path through some portion of the evaporator body such that the air drawn in by the user comes into intimate contact with the internal electronics and/or circuitry of the evaporator body. Such an arrangement may be undesirable for the long-term performance of the device, for example, because moisture, dust, etc. from the incoming air can be deposited on the sensitive internal electronics of the evaporator. Positioning a pressure sensor (e.g., a puff detector) closer to the reservoir (e.g., near where the cartridge 114 containing reservoir 120 is inserted into or received by the vaporizer body 101) can mitigate this problem by preventing airflow over the interior of the vaporizer body. . However, this placement of the pressure sensor may cause it to be more sensitive to liquid evaporative material, etc., which may render the analog pressure sensor unusable as described above.

Airflow in cartridge 114 that is received by cartridge receptacle 152 may, in some embodiments of the present invention, follow an airflow path 150 that passes through a gap between a sidewall (e.g., the outer surface of a portion of cartridge 114 that is received by cartridge receptacle 152). ) of the cartridge 114 and the inner wall of the cartridge receptacle 152, as shown in FIG. 3b. From inside the cartridge receptacle 152, air may flow into the cartridge 114 through one or more inlets located at or near the end of the cartridge that is opposite the mouthpiece 144. A conduit 310 connecting the air in the cartridge receptacle 152 to the pressure sensor 304 is shown in FIG. 3B and 3C. This configuration can be generally described as arranging pressure sensor 304 such that it is subject to pressure changes (and therefore also environmental factors such as moisture, evaporative material leakage, dust, etc.) that occur. or present in cartridge receptacle 152.

The cartridge receiver 152 may, as shown in FIG. 3B and 3C also include or include electrical contacts, as well as a passage 310 through which pressure changes in cartridge receptacle 152 are measured by analog pressure sensor 304. The electrical contacts shown in Fig. 3B and 3C include two pins 109, 111 which are configured to provide electrical connection to corresponding contacts 119, 121 on the cartridge. In some embodiments of the present invention, cartridge 114 may be axisymmetric and the two electrical contacts 119, 121 may be equivalent such that cartridge 114 may be received by insertion by cartridge receptacle 152 in either of the two orientations.

As noted above, a potential form of failure for evaporative device 100 that uses an analog pressure sensor (eg, capacitive sensor, microphone, etc.) may result from exposure to liquid or other contaminant present in channel 310 through which the analog a pressure sensor 304 is in communication with the airflow in the cartridge. In some embodiments of the present invention, an absolute pressure sensor such as, for example, a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) or other semiconductor sensor may be used in place of the analog sensor. Semiconductor sensor, etc. may be a digital component that returns a signal or value representing the absolute pressure to which the pressure transmitter is currently exposed. Such sensors may be water resistant and significantly less sensitive to the effects associated with exposure to liquid evaporative material than an analog pressure sensor. Fig. 5 shows an example circuit board 500 having a capacitive sensor 304 (eg, an analog pressure sensor) mounted thereon for inclusion in a evaporative device 100, such as the evaporative devices described herein. The circuit board 500, which is merely an example of how an analog pressure sensor 304 can be implemented in the evaporator 100, includes an analog pressure sensor 304 mounted such that when the circuit board 500 is installed in the evaporator body 101, the analog sensor 304 pressure is aligned with the receiving means on gasket 306.

An improvement to this design provided by various implementations of the present invention is shown in FIG. 6 which illustrates the means of another circuit board 600 in which an absolute pressure sensor 604 has replaced the analog pressure sensor 304 of FIG. 5. As shown, the circuit board 600 with the absolute pressure sensor 604 may be configured such that the absolute pressure sensor 604 is in a position similar to that of the analog pressure sensor 304 on the circuit board 500. Thus, the absolute pressure sensor 604 may be configured with capable of being inserted into the receiving means on the gasket 306, similar to the analog pressure sensor 304 on the circuit board 500. The absolute pressure sensor 604 can be five or more times more sensitive than a conventional capacitive sensor. Additionally, a MEMS or other semiconductor pressure sensor can also provide significant improvements in measurement reproducibility (eg, accuracy) relative to currently used approaches.

While a solid-state absolute pressure sensor 604, or other similar devices that do not become ineffective or inoperable when exposed to liquids, can easily overcome the aforementioned problems that result from such exposure, other difficulties may arise when using such a device. For example, an analog pressure sensor 304, in particular an analog pressure sensor that operates by capacitive measurements of a membrane that moves in response to pressure differences between different sides of the membrane, provides a relative pressure measurement that can be easily distinguished among local pressure changes on the first side of the membrane. , which is exposed through the channel 310 or the like to the air flow into the cartridge 114, and changes in ambient pressure, which may be caused by changes in altitude, the Venturi effect (for example, may be caused by opening a vehicle window while driving at a relatively high speed , the opening of a boat door or other structure exposed to strong winds, etc.), pressure waves (for example, may be caused by a vehicle such as a train, etc. entering a tunnel or other confined air volume), and etc. If only the signal generated by the absolute pressure sensor 604 is used to determine if a puff is being applied, then the probability of a false positive result is greater than when using a relative pressure sensor. In light of other advantages of the solid-state absolute pressure sensor 604, the present invention may, in some implementations, include additional sensors and firmware and/or software to determine whether or not a puff is being performed based on input from the absolute pressure sensor 604, and also from one or more other sensors. Said one or more other sensors may include a second pressure sensor and optionally one or more sensors that measure something other than pressure.

In one example, vaporizer body 101 may include an additional absolute pressure sensor 606 that provides a signal to controller 105. Thus, a virtual relative pressure sensor can be created by processing signals from at least two absolute pressure sensors. An additional absolute pressure sensor 606 may be positioned to sense the ambient pressure to which vaporizer 100 is currently exposed. In some examples, the additional absolute pressure sensor 606 may be located on the circuit board 600 such that the additional absolute pressure sensor 606 is not pressurized in the cartridge receptacle 152, but instead is subjected to pressure in the vaporizer body 101, which may have one or more holes to expose the optional MAP sensor to ambient pressure (or alternatively, the optional MAP sensor may not be fully sealed against ambient pressure). Alternatively, the additional absolute pressure sensor 606 may be positioned, positioned, etc. so that it is directly exposed to the ambient air and ambient pressure outside the shell of the evaporator 100, such as by exposing it through a channel, port, orifice, or the like. in the shell.

The signals from the absolute pressure sensor 604 and the additional absolute pressure sensor 606 can be received by the controller 105 of the evaporation device 100, which can use these signals to determine or otherwise identify the pressure change of the absolute pressure sensor 604 relative to ambient pressure and, thus, implement the logic to exclude pressure changes detected by the absolute pressure sensor 604 that are not related to puffing or pressure changes induced by the airflow. Alternatively or additionally, this logic may be implemented directly in hardware, such as through a series of transistors forming logic gates, or in some combination of software and hardware and/or firmware. In some examples, this logic may include comparing the absolute pressure measured by both the absolute pressure sensor 604 and the optional absolute pressure sensor 606, and determining that puffing occurs when the signal from the absolute pressure sensor 604 indicates a certain value (e.g., absolute, relative, etc.) differential pressure that is greater than the differential pressure indicated by the optional absolute pressure sensor 606. Thus, signals received by the controller from the optional absolute pressure sensor 606 can act as a selector signal to discard signals from the absolute pressure sensor 604 that the controller would otherwise interpret as puff signals, but which could instead be due to pressure changes. environment.

An evaporative device compatible with embodiments of the present invention may also be affected by other factors that can cause incorrect puff detection. For example, even though the absolute pressure sensor 604 described above may be waterproof and/or otherwise impervious or at least resistant to

- 12 039609 become inoperable or otherwise malfunctioning under the influence of liquids, such as liquid evaporative material, the presence of fluid in the channel 310 of the gasket or similar structure can act as a pressure column, which leads to different pressure readings detected by the absolute pressure sensor 604, depending on the orientation of the vaporizer 100. In other words, if a column of liquid is present in the channel 310 when the vaporizer 100 is oriented such that gravity pulls the column toward the absolute pressure sensor 604, the absolute pressure sensor 604 can detect a greater absolute pressure. than when the evaporator 100 is oriented such that gravity, centripetal force, etc. pulls this post from the absolute pressure sensor 604. This effect can result in a noticeable pressure drop indicated by the absolute pressure sensor 604 as the evaporator rotates and causes gravity to pull the column of liquid in channel 310 away from the absolute pressure sensor 604 if the user swings the evaporator in an arc, causing the pulse of such liquid column is directed away from the absolute pressure sensor 604, etc. A noticeable pressure drop of this type is likely not related to the user puffing on the device. Various possible features of the present invention may be included in the vaporizer to help the controller 105 or the vaporizer logic realize that a pressure drop caused by one of these factors or similar effects does not indicate a user is puffing. For example, signals from one or more additional sensors may be included in the logic described above. In some implementations of the present invention, an accelerometer or other motion detection device may provide signals that are interpreted by the control logic. When the differential pressure relative to ambient pressure is indicated by the signals from the absolute pressure sensor 604 and the optional absolute pressure sensor 606, the implemented puff detection logic may further include determining if other vaporizer sensors indicate that the detected differential pressure may be associated with additional factors that may incorrectly indicate an airflow-related pressure drop. If this determination indicates another reason for the detected differential pressure, then the controller or other implemented logic may discard an appreciable puff.

When the controller 105 or other logic actually detects that a puff is occurring, this detection can cause an electrical current to be applied from the power source to the resistive heater, which provides heat to vaporize some of the vaporizable material in the reservoir 120 to thereby generate an inhalable aerosol. in the air flowing along the airflow path to the mouthpiece 144 and the outlets 156 therein.

From the above description, which is related to the vaporizer 100, which includes the cartridge 114 and the vaporizer body 101, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the use of an absolute pressure sensor 604 in a vaporizer 200 that does not require the use of cartridges (e.g., since the vaporized material can be inserted into the furnace 220 for heating) may also be preferred. As noted, such pressure sensors may be more sensitive and less prone to damage or malfunction due to environmental factors. In such an evaporative device, the absolute pressure sensor 604 may be positioned so that it is exposed to the air flow path connecting the air inlet, the evaporator chamber (e.g., oven, etc.) and the outlet, which may be in the mouthpiece. 144. An optional absolute pressure sensor 606 may be positioned to be exposed to ambient pressure. Other sensors (eg, a motion sensor, etc.) may, but need not, also provide signals used by the control logic to determine if a puff is occurring or if other factors are affecting the signal from the absolute pressure sensor 604.

Implementations of the present invention may also provide board-level pressure sensor verification functionality. Because the absolute pressure sensor 604 provides a direct digital absolute pressure output, devices can be tested for accurate operation of such sensors immediately after the circuit board or other internal electronics are assembled, without requiring a complete assembly of the device for testing. This capability can provide the benefits of more efficient production since error detection can be implemented earlier in the manufacturing process.

Additionally, since the absolute pressure sensors described herein for use with evaporative devices can be functional even when exposed to water or other liquids, it is possible to make the entire body 101 of the evaporator device water-resistant, for example, by positioning an additional absolute pressure sensor 606 with access to air. outside the internal volume within the enclosure 303 and providing one or more gaskets or sealing means that seal the entire internal volume (eg, power supply 103, any circuitry, etc.) from ingress of liquids or other environmental factors.

In some implementations of the present invention, an absolute/accurate pressure sensor on a

- 13 039609 A third party device may allow the device to provide other functions. For example, in an evaporative device where the airflow path 150 includes an orifice of known and well-defined size, an accurate measurement of the pressure drop due to a user puff can be used to calculate the air velocity and volumetric flow rate. Accurate measurement of airflow volume can be used in conjunction with heater temperature control (or possible other factors affecting the amount of volatilized material to vaporize per unit time) to control the amount of respirable aerosol generated for a given volume of air. This capability may allow the vaporizer to provide a consistent aerosol concentration at different puff rates. Additionally, information from the additional absolute pressure sensor 606 may allow the ambient pressure to be corrected, for example, to allow correction of the influence of atmospheric pressure on the amount of air flow, etc.

Additional enhancements associated with these capabilities may include providing a variable trigger threshold for puff detection. In one example, the device may prompt the user to take a reference (eg, test) puff or sequence of reference puffs such that the device can describe and store information as to how strong (or weak) the user's puff is. Using this information, the vaporizer can change the amount of pressure drop required to indicate a puff to better detect real puffs thereby and discard false positives when detecting user puffs. Additionally, this capability may also allow the device to avoid gaps in puff detection by providing low puff detection thresholds for users with weaker puffs.

With respect to the gasket 306 or other sealing means in the evaporator 100, the present invention may also provide improvements over available approaches. Some possible forms of failure of such a gasket 306 may result from deformation of the gasket 306 caused by mechanical, thermal, and/or chemical stresses on the gasket material. Deformation of gasket 306 due to mechanical factors can result from bending of vaporizer shell 303, drop of vaporizer, excessive pressure, possibly at an inappropriate angle, applied during insertion of cartridge 114 into cartridge receptacle 152, etc. To protect against such impacts, pad 706 may include multiple redundant reinforcing ribs 710, as shown in the views of FIG. 7B, 7C and 8. FIG. 7A shows a view similar to that shown in FIG. 3A provided with reference to the views of FIG. 7B and 7C.

Alternatively, or additionally, one or more reinforcing ribs 710 may be located on the distal side of the pad 706, with the distal side of the pad 706 opposite the side of the pad closest to the cartridge receptacle 152. This arrangement of reinforcing rib(s) can provide additional reinforcement between the shell 303 of the evaporator body 101 and the inner frame 712.

Gasket 706 may be made from a material that is resistant to swelling or other chemically induced changes that may result from contact with non-aqueous solvents such as, for example, vegetable glycerin, propylene glycol, oils, and the like. In some examples, gasket 706 may be made from silicone. In other examples, it may be made from one or more of 70A silicone, NBR 70A, NANCAR 1052 70A, 80% silicone/20% fluorosilicone blend, 70A, and the like.

Additionally, as noted above, the electrical contacts that complete the circuit between the power source in the evaporator body and the heating element in the cartridge can have various failure modes that occur due to contact with liquids (such as liquid vaporized material) and also allow the flow of electrical current. . For example, the anti-corrosion plating or coating on these contacts may become eroded or even completely destroyed due to such galvanic effects. In addition to spring-loaded electrical contacts, other contact elements such as the springs themselves, pusher bushings, and the like may also experience corrosion-related failures and/or excessive heat or other damage.

Fig. 9 is an isometric view showing various means of the internal components of the exemplary evaporator body 101. As shown, the two electrical contacts 109, 111 of the evaporator body extend into the volume of a cartridge receptacle 152 configured to receive a cartridge having additional cartridge contacts 119, 121 (not shown in FIG. 9). The electrical contacts 109, 111 of the body of the evaporator may, in some embodiments of the present invention, be spring pins, optionally with internal springs, which cause the pusher of each pin to move upward to contact its respective additional contacts 119 or 121 of the cartridge. Implementations of the present invention may include one or more liquid resistant agents such as, for example, those described below.

Fig. 10 shows a view illustrating elements of a spring pin 1000 compatible with embodiments of the present invention. As shown, such a pin may include a sleeve 1002, a pusher 1004 that can move along the axis 1006 of the sleeve 1002, and a spring 1010 that pushes the pusher 1004 outward along the axis 1006 to provide a pushing force capable of bringing the pusher into contact with another surface, such as pin 119 or 121 of a cartridge.

Damage to the pusher 1004 may result from corrosion, wear, foreign object contamination, and the like. As such, in some embodiments of the present invention, the electrical contacts used on the evaporator body 101 can be improved by providing a liquid-resistant means, which may, but does not have to, include one or more of an improved anti-corrosion coating, an extended contact surface, and some constructive means (for example, a modified design). The constructive means may include eliminating spring actuation means and/or means that require movement of two or more mechanical parts relative to each other.

In one example of a fluid-resistant means, spring 1010 may be made from (or alternatively coated with) a material that has an overall conductivity less than that of pusher 1004 and/or bushing 1006. Thus, spring 1010 may be less susceptible to leakage. electrical current, which can reduce the possibility of corrosion and/or excessive heating of the spring.

In other embodiments of the present invention, the electrical contacts 109, 111 of the evaporator body may be formed as solid contacts (eg, without a spring or other pushing means). Additional cartridge contacts 119, 121 compatible with this example may have flexibility or resilience capabilities that provide intimate contact with the pins when the cartridge is attached to the vaporizer body 101.

Fig. 11 shows an exemplary pressure sensor circuit diagram 1100 compatible with embodiments of the present invention. As shown, PS1 604 is a puff sensor passing through a channel in the gasket to the device shell. PS2 606 is an ambient pressure sensor. In some implementations, the PS1 604 may include a metal can to facilitate mating with the gasket. PS1 604 may also include a gel inside the jar to protect the actual sensor below on the ceramic substrate and to prevent damage to the sensor by liquid vaporized material. The capacitors shown in Fig. 11 are power supply decoupling capacitors for each pressure sensor PS1 604 and PS2 606. The pressure sensors PS1 604 and PS2 606 can communicate via I2C or other bus (SCL 1110/SDA 1120, shown in Fig. 11) with the controller.

With reference to FIG. 12, flowchart 1200 illustrates features of a method that may, but need not, include some or all of the following steps. At 1210, a first signal from an absolute pressure sensor (eg, absolute pressure sensor 604) of the evaporator and a second signal from an additional absolute pressure sensor (eg, additional absolute pressure sensor 606) of the evaporator are received in the evaporator electronics. The first signal represents the first pressure and the second signal represents the second pressure. The absolute pressure sensor is positioned or positioned such that it is subjected to a first air pressure that occurs along an airflow path connecting air from outside the vaporizer body to the vaporizer vaporizer chamber and the vaporizer mouthpiece. An additional absolute pressure sensor is positioned or positioned such that it detects a second air pressure, which is the ambient air pressure that is applied to the evaporative device.

At 1220, the electronics determine that a puff is occurring based on at least the first signal and the second signal. In accordance with embodiments of the present invention, air flowing along the airflow path in response to the user drawing air through the mouthpiece indicates that a puff has taken place.

At 1230, in response to this puff determination, the electronic circuitry provides electrical current to the vaporizer resistance heating element.

As noted above, the subject matter of the present invention may be relevant to both electronic cigarettes in particular and vaping devices in general, including vaping devices used with any of a variety of vaporizable materials. As such, the description of the various features provided herein is generally formulated in terms of evaporator devices. Those skilled in the art will readily understand, based on the description and explanation provided herein, how such features should be applied in specific use cases, including but not limited to electronic cigarettes and other vaping devices. Incorporating one or more of the features of the present invention into an evaporative device may provide improvements in various aspects of utility, reliability, and reliability that may affect currently available evaporative devices.

One or more aspects or features of the present invention described herein may be implemented in digital electronic circuits, integrated circuits, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable gate arrays ( FPGA)) computer hardware, firmware, software and/or any combination thereof. These various aspects or features may include implementation in one or more computer programs that are executable and/or interpretable on a programmable system including at least one programmable processor, which may be a special purpose or general purpose processor configured to receive data and commands from the data storage system, at least one input device and at least one output device, and transmit data and commands to them.

These computer programs, which may also be referred to as programs, software tools, software applications, applications, components, or code, include machine instructions for a programmable processor and may be implemented in a high-level procedural language, an object-oriented programming language, a functional programming language, logical programming language and/or machine language/assembly language. As used herein, the term computer-readable medium refers to any computer program product, apparatus, and/or device, such as, for example, magnetic disks, optical disks, memory, and Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs), used to provide machine instructions and /or data for a programmable processor including a computer-readable medium that receives machine instructions in the form of a computer-readable signal. The term computer readable signal refers to any signal used to provide machine instructions and/or data to a programmable processor. The computer-readable medium may store such machine instructions regardless of the presence of power, such as non-volatile solid-state memory or a hard disk drive, or any equivalent data storage device, may store them. The computer readable medium may alternatively or additionally store such machine instructions depending on the availability of power, such as the processor's cache or other random access memory associated with one or more physical processor cores.

In order to provide user interaction, one or more aspects or features of the present invention described herein may be implemented on a computer having a display device such as, for example, a cathode ray tube (CRT)), or a liquid crystal display (liquid crystal display (LCD) or light emitting diode (LED) monitor for displaying information to the user, as well as a keyboard and pointing device, such as a computer mouse or trackball, through which the user can provide data input to a computer. Other types of devices may be used to provide user interaction. For example, the feedback provided to the user may be any type of sensory feedback, such as, for example, visual feedback, audible feedback, or tactile feedback; and input from the user may be received in any form, including, but not limited to, acoustic, speech, or tactile input. Other possible input devices include, but are not limited to, touch screens or other touch-sensitive devices such as single-point or multi-point resistive or capacitive touch pads, speech recognition hardware and software, optical scanners, optical pointers, digital image capture devices, and appropriate interpretation software, etc. A computer remote from the analyzer can be connected to the analyzer via a wired or wireless network to enable communication between the analyzer and the remote computer (for example, to receive data on the remote computer from the analyzer and transfer information such as calibration data, operating parameters, software updates, tools, etc.), as well as for remote control, diagnostics, etc. analyzer.

Phrases such as at least one of, or one or more of, followed by a linked list of elements or features, may occur in the description above and in the claims. The term and/or may also occur in a list of two or more elements or features. Unless this phrase conflicts implicitly or explicitly with the context in which it is used, then such phrase is intended to mean: any of the listed elements or features alone, or any of the listed elements or features in combination with any other listed elements or features. For example, it is assumed that each of the phrases is at least one of A and B; one or more of A and B; and A and/or B means A only, B only, or A and B together. A similar interpretation is also assumed for lists that include three or more items. For example, each of the phrases is assumed to be at least one of A, B, and C; one or more of A, B and C; and A, B and/or C means A only, B only, C only, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, or A and B and C together. The use of the term based above and in the claims is intended to mean at least partly based, so that a feature or element not listed is also acceptable.

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The present invention described herein may be implemented in systems, apparatus, methods, and/or articles, depending on the desired configuration. The implementations set forth in the above description do not represent all implementations compatible with the present invention described here. Instead, they are only some examples that are compatible with aspects related to the described present invention. Although some variants have been described in detail above, other modifications or additions are possible. In particular, additional features and/or options may be provided in addition to the features and/or options set forth herein. For example, the implementations described above may target various combinations and subcombinations of the disclosed features and/or combinations and subcombinations of more additional features disclosed above. Additionally, the logical sequences of operations shown in the accompanying figures and/or described herein do not necessarily require the particular order shown, or sequential order, to achieve the desired results. Other implementations may be within the scope of the following claims.

CLAIM

Claims (18)

CLAIM 1. An evaporative device comprising an absolute pressure sensor disposed to detect a first air pressure along an airflow path connecting air from outside the evaporator body to the evaporator evaporator chamber and the evaporator mouthpiece; an additional absolute pressure sensor disposed to detect a second air pressure representative of the ambient air pressure that is applied to the evaporative device; and a controller configured to perform operations comprising receiving a first signal from the absolute pressure sensor representing the first air pressure and a second signal from the additional absolute pressure sensor representing the second pressure, determining, based on at least the first signal and the second signal, that puffing occurs, wherein air flows along the airflow path in response to the user's drawing through the mouthpiece; and providing, in response to said determination, an electrical current is applied to the vaporizer resistance heating element, the applied electrical current causing the vaporizable material to be heated to form an inhalable aerosol in the air flowing along the airflow path. 2. The evaporative device of claim 1, further comprising an additional sensor, said steps further comprising receiving a third signal from the additional sensor and adapting a determination that a puff is occurring based on the third signal. 3. The evaporative device of claim 2, wherein the additional sensor comprises an accelerometer or other motion detection device. 4. An evaporative device according to any preceding claim, wherein the airflow path includes an orifice of a known and precisely defined size, and wherein an absolute pressure sensor provides a measurement of differential pressure due to user puffing, wherein the operations performed by the controller further comprise calculating velocity and volumetric air flow; determination of the amount of evaporated material passing into the vapor phase per unit of time; and controlling the amount of inhaled aerosol generated for a given volume of air based on said calculation and said determination. 5. The evaporative device of claim 4, wherein the operations performed by the controller further comprise controlling the temperature of the heater. 6. An evaporative device according to any one of claims 4, 5, wherein the operations performed by the controller further comprise providing a compatible aerosol concentration at different puff rates. 7. An evaporative device according to any one of claims 4 to 6, wherein the operations performed by the controller further comprise applying an ambient pressure correction to correct for the effect of atmospheric pressure on the amount of airflow. 8. Evaporative device according to any one of paragraphs.4-7, in which the operations performed by the controller, further include prompting the user to perform a model puff or sequence of exemplary puffs; and describing and storing information regarding the relative puff intensity of the user. 9. The evaporation device according to claim 8, in which the operations performed by the controller are additionally - 17 039609 specifically contain changing the amount of differential pressure required to indicate a puff based on the relative puff intensity of the user to better detect actual puffs and discard false positives when detecting user puffs. 10. The method of operation of the evaporator, comprising the steps of receiving in electronic circuits the first signal from the absolute pressure sensor of the evaporator and the second signal from the additional absolute pressure sensor of the evaporator, the first signal representing the first pressure and the second signal representing the second pressure, the absolute pressure sensor pressure is placed so that it is exposed to the first air pressure, which occurs along the path of the air flow connecting the air outside the body of the evaporator device with the evaporator chamber and the evaporator mouthpiece, and an additional absolute pressure sensor is placed with the ability to detect the second air pressure, which represents the pressure of the ambient air, which affects the evaporation device; determining that a puff is taking place based on at least the first signal and the second signal, the puff flowing air along the airflow path in response to the user drawing in through the mouthpiece; and supplying electric current to the resistive heating element of the evaporator device in response to said determination step. 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the vaporizer further comprises an additional sensor, the method further comprising receiving a third signal from the additional sensor and adapting the determination that a puff is occurring based on the third signal. 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the additional sensor comprises an accelerometer or other motion detection device. 13. A method according to any one of claims 10-12, wherein the airflow path includes an orifice of known and well-defined size, wherein the absolute pressure sensor provides a measurement of the differential pressure due to the user puffing, and the method further comprises calculating air velocity and volume flow; determine the amount of evaporated material passing into the vapor phase per unit time; and controlling the amount of inhaled aerosol generated for a given volume of air based on said calculation and said determination. 14. The method of claim 13, further comprising controlling the temperature of the heater. 15. The method according to any one of claims 13, 14, further comprising the step of providing a compatible aerosol concentration at different puff rates. 16. A method according to any one of claims 13 to 15, further comprising applying an ambient pressure correction to correct for the effect of atmospheric pressure on the amount of airflow. 17. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 16, further comprising the steps of prompting the user to perform an exemplary puff or sequence of exemplary puffs; and describing and storing information regarding the relative puff intensity of the user. 18. The method of claim 17, further comprising changing the amount of differential pressure required to indicate a puff based on the relative puff intensity of the user to better detect actual puffs and discard false positives when detecting user puffs.