EP4029392B1

EP4029392B1 - Method for controlling electronic cigarette and electronic cigarette

Info

Publication number: EP4029392B1
Application number: EP20864246.2A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Huiyong Yan; Guangping NING; Zhongli XU; Yonghai LI
Original assignee: Shenzhen FirstUnion Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Shenzhen FirstUnion Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-09-11
Filing date: 2020-09-11
Publication date: 2023-12-13
Anticipated expiration: 2040-09-11
Also published as: WO2021047654A1; US20220330619A1; EP4029392A1; EP4029392A4; CN110506999A; CN110506999B

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application claims priorities to Chinese Patent Applications entitled "A method for controlling an electronic cigarette and an electronic cigarette" with application number of 201910856514.X, submitted to China National Intellectual Property Administration on September 11th, 2019 .

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to the field of electronic smoking sets, and in particular to a method for controlling an electronic cigarette and an electronic cigarette.

BACKGROUND

At present, two working modes are available for electronic cigarettes. One is full-power output to heat, the other is constant-power output to heat. For the mode of full-power output to heat, a working power of a heating module of the electronic cigarette is affected by a power of a power supply module, which causes the device to generate different amounts of aerosol when the power supply module has sufficient and insufficient electricity, thus the amount of smoke is instable; furthermore, the electronic cigarette generates a great quantity of heat in the first few puffs, which is easy to burn mouth and brings a poor experience. For the constant-power output to heat, in the condition of cold start (cold start is required only when not used for a long period of time), the amount of aerosol is very small when the device is just started, thus the amount of smoke is instable. A similar method to control an electronic cigarette is disclosed in CN 109907379 A .

SUMMARY

The technical problems to be solved by the present disclosure is to overcome the shortcomings of the prior art and provide a method for controlling an electronic cigarette and an electronic cigarette which have a stable amount of smoke and avoid mouth burning.
In a first aspect, in order to solve the above technical problem, the embodiment of the present disclosure provides a method for controlling an electronic cigarette, including:

acquiring a work start signal of the electronic cigarette;
acquiring a time interval between starting work this time and stopping work last time; and
comparing the time interval with a preset time interval, when the time interval is greater than a first preset time interval, controlling the electronic cigarette to work at a first power, and when a duration of the first power is greater than a first preset duration, turning off the electronic cigarette; when the time interval is greater than a second preset time interval but less than or equal to the first preset time interval, controlling the electronic cigarette to work at a second power, and when a duration of the second power is greater than a second preset duration, turning off the electronic cigarette; wherein, the first power is greater than the second power.

Further, the first preset duration is less than the second preset duration.
Further, the second preset time interval is 0 second.
Further, the method for controlling the electronic cigarette further includes: when the time interval is less than or equal to the second preset time interval, controlling the electronic cigarette to work at a third power, and when a duration of the third power is greater than a third preset duration, turning off the electronic cigarette; wherein, the second power is greater than the third power.
Further, the second preset duration is less than the third preset duration.
Further, before acquiring a time interval between starting work this time and stopping work last time, the method further includes:

acquiring e-liquid remaining amount information;
comparing the e-liquid remaining amount with a preset e-liquid remaining amount, to judge whether the e-liquid remaining amount is less than a first preset remaining amount; and
when the e-liquid remaining amount is less than the first preset remaining amount, controlling the electronic cigarette to keep a turnoff state.

Further, when the e-liquid remaining amount is greater than or equal to the first preset remaining amount but less than a second preset remaining amount, controlling the electronic cigarette to work at a fourth power; wherein, the fourth power is less than the first power.
Further, the fourth power is less than the second power.
Further, before acquiring a time interval between starting work this time and stopping work last time, the method further includes:

acquiring environment temperature information; and
adjusting the first preset time interval and the second preset time interval according to the environment temperature.

Further, the first preset time interval and the second preset time interval are directly proportional to the environment temperature.
Further, the first power and the second power are inversely proportional to the environment temperature.
Further, the first power or/and the second power is/are a constant power(s).
Further, the first preset time interval is not less than 60 seconds, or/and the second preset time interval is not less than 15 seconds.
Further, the method of acquiring a time interval between starting work this time and stopping work last time includes: acquiring according to a time interval between starting sending a sensing signal this time and stopping sending a sensing signal last time of an airflow sensor of the electronic cigarette, or acquiring according to a time interval between starting work this time and stopping work last time of an electrical heating element of the electronic cigarette.
In a second aspect, the embodiment of the present disclosure further provides an electronic cigarette, including:

at least one processor; and
a memory in communication connection with the at least one processor;
wherein the memory is configured for storing an instruction executable by the at least one processor, and the instruction is executed by the at least one processor so that the at least one processor can execute the control method described in any item of the first aspect.

In a third aspect, the embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a nonvolatile computer readable storage medium, which stores a computer executable instruction, which, when executed by an electronic cigarette, causes the electronic cigarette to execute the method described above.
In a fourth aspect, the embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a computer program product, which includes a computer program stored on a nonvolatile computer readable storage medium, wherein the computer program includes a program instruction, which, when executed by an electronic cigarette, causes the electronic cigarette to execute the method described above.
The embodiment of the present disclosure has the following benefits. In the method for controlling an electronic cigarette provided in the present disclosure, when the time interval is greater than a first preset time interval, the electronic cigarette is controlled to work at a first power; when the time interval is greater than a second preset time interval but less than or equal to the first preset time interval, the electronic cigarette is controlled to work at a second power; therefore, in the condition of cold start, a great amount of smoke can be generated, thus the amount of smoke per puff is relatively stable; if a duration of the first power is greater than a first preset duration, the electronic cigarette is turned off, which better avoids mouth burning due to long time of working.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

One or more embodiments are illustrated through the image(s) in corresponding drawing(s). These illustrations do not form restrictions to the embodiments. Elements in the drawings with a same reference number are expressed as similar elements, and the images in the drawings do not form restrictions unless otherwise stated.

FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a method for controlling an electronic cigarette according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a method for controlling an electronic cigarette according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method for controlling an electronic cigarette according to a third embodiment of the present disclosure.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a method for controlling an electronic cigarette according to a fourth embodiment of the present disclosure.
FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of an electronic cigarette according to a fifth embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

For a better understanding of the purpose of the present disclosure, the present disclosure is described below in further detail in conjunction with accompanying drawings and specific embodiments. It should be understood that the embodiments described below are merely to illustrate the present disclosure, rather than to limit the present disclosure.

Embodiment 1

As shown in FIG. 1, the embodiment of the present disclosure provides a method for controlling an electronic cigarette, including the following steps:
S1: acquiring a work start signal of the electronic cigarette.
Whether there is a work start signal of the electronic cigarette can be detected through a senor or a button switch. If the sensor senses a work start signal or the button switch is triggered, it is indicated that there is a work starting signal. That is to say, the work start signal may be generated by the sensor, also may be generated by a manual control of the button. In case of manual generation, a button is arranged on the surface of the electronic cigarette, and when the button is pressed down, it is equivalent to give a signal to start smoking, that is, to generate a work starting signal. In case of automatic generation, a user sucks a mouthpiece on the electronic cigarette, such that the airflow pressure inside the electronic cigarette changes and thus a work start signal is generated. Then, a controller connected to the sensor or the button switch can acquire the work starting signal. The controller can be a single-chip and the like. It is understandable that the method of acquiring the work start signal of the electronic cigarette can also be performed by an acousto-optic element, and the method is not specifically defined here. In the present embodiment, the controller of the electronic cigarette cyclically scans the airflow sensor of the electronic cigarette so as to acquire the work start signal of the electronic cigarette.
S2: acquiring a time interval between starting work this time and stopping work last time.
The time interval between starting work this time and stopping work last time refers to a time interval between the current puff and the last puff, that is, the time difference between two puffs. The time of each smoking can be recorded locally or in the cloud. The method of acquiring a time interval between starting work this time and stopping work last time may include: acquiring according to a time interval between starting sending a sensing signal this time and stopping sending a sensing signal last time of an airflow sensor of the electronic cigarette, or acquiring according to a time interval between starting work this time and stopping work last time of an electrical heating element of the electronic cigarette. For example, when a user smokes an electronic cigarette, the airflow sensor of the electronic cigarette senses a work start signal generated due to the user's smoking, then the controller acquires the work start signal through the airflow sensor and thus controls the heating element of the electronic cigarette to operate to vaporize the e-liquid to form an aerosol; after each puff, the electrical heating element stops working, and the controller records the time when the electrical heating element stops working. When the user smokes again, the controller again controls the electrical heating element to work and records the time when the electrical heating element starts working.
That is to say, for two adjacent puffs, the time interval is the time difference between the time when the electrical heating element stops working and the time when the electrical heating element starts working. It is understandable that, in one type of embodiments, when the work start signal of the electronic cigarette is acquired through the triggering of the button switch, for two adjacent puffs, the time interval is the time difference between the end time of the work start signal and the start time of the work start signal. Therefore, the method of acquiring a time interval between starting work this time and stopping work last time is not specifically defined here.
S3: comparing the time interval with a preset time interval, when the time interval is greater than a first preset time interval, controlling the electronic cigarette to work at a first power, and when a duration of the first power is greater than a first preset duration, turning off the electronic cigarette; when the time interval is greater than a second preset time interval but less than or equal to the first preset time interval, controlling the electronic cigarette to work at a second power, and when a duration of the second power is greater than a second preset duration, turning off the electronic cigarette; wherein, the first power is greater than the second power.
The first preset time interval is greater than the second preset time interval. The first preset time interval and the second preset time interval can be set according to requirements, for example, the first preset time interval can be set to 40 seconds, 50 seconds or 60 seconds, etc. The second first preset time interval can be set to 10 seconds, 15 seconds or 20 seconds, etc. Of course, the second preset time interval can also be set to 0 second, which is not specifically defined here. In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the first preset time interval is not less than 60 seconds, and/or the second preset time interval is not less than 15 seconds, which is more suitable for user's habits and thus can provide an appropriate amount of smoke for a user to inhale and achieve a good experience.
The first power and the second power can be set according to the types of the electronic cigarette and the types of the e-liquid, which are not specifically defined here. When the electronic cigarette starts work, a voltage of a battery supplying power to the electronic cigarette is collected, then a duty ratio of a pulse width modulated signal is calculated according to the voltage of the battery and the preset first power or second power, and then the conduction of a semiconductor switch which controls the operation of the electrical heating element is controlled according to the calculated pulse width modulated signal, so as to perform a heating control on the electrical heating element. It is understandable that the first power and the second power may be variable or constant. In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the first power and the second power are constant, for easy control.
The first preset duration is less than the second preset duration. The first preset duration and the second preset duration can be set according to requirements, for example, they can be set to 6 seconds, 7 seconds, 8 seconds, 9 seconds or 10 seconds, etc. In the present embodiment, the first preset duration is 6 seconds, and the second preset duration is 9 seconds. If a duration of the first power is greater than the first preset duration, turn off the electronic cigarette, that is, control the semiconductor switch which controls the operation of the electrical heating element to be off. Similarly, if a duration of the second power is greater than the second preset duration, turn off the electronic cigarette. That is to say, the electronic cigarette is controlled to have a shorter duration of working at a high power than at a low power, which better ensures the amount of smoke and avoids mouth burning due to long time of working.

Embodiment 2

Referring to FIG. 2, the present embodiment is similar to Embodiment 1 in steps, except that: the S3 of the method for controlling the electronic cigarette in the present embodiment further includes: when the time interval is less than or equal to the second preset time interval, controlling the electronic cigarette to work at a third power, and when a duration of the third power is greater than a third preset duration, turning off the electronic cigarette; wherein, the second power is greater than the third power.
The third power and the third preset duration can be set according to requirements, as long as the second power is greater than the third power. Optionally, the second preset duration is less than the third preset duration. The present embodiment sets multiple different powers corresponding to multiple different time intervals in a process of smoking to atomize the e-liquid. The higher the power, the shorter the duration; the lower the power, the longer the duration. The present embodiment better stabilizes the amount of smoke and avoids the problem of mouth burning due to high temperature.

Embodiment 3

Referring to FIG. 2, the present embodiment is similar to Embodiment 1 in steps, except that: before acquiring a time interval between starting work this time and stopping work last time, the present embodiment further includes the following steps.
S11: acquiring e-liquid remaining amount information.
Before a user uses the electronic cigarette, an e-liquid is filled in the electronic cigarette and the total amount of the e-liquid is written in a memory of the electronic cigarette. During the work process of the electronic cigarette, the consumption of the e-liquid is directly proportional to the power; each time the user takes a puff, the controller of the electronic cigarette calculates the consumption of the e-liquid per puff according to the power and the time of each puff, and subtracts the consumption per puff from the total amount before the puff after finishing the puff, thereby calculating the current remaining amount of the e-liquid and writes it into the memory of the electronic cigarette. Therefore, after acquiring the work start signal, and before acquiring a time interval between starting work this time and stopping work last time, the controller acquires the current remaining amount of the e-liquid by reading the remaining amount of the e-liquid written in the memory. It is understandable that the remaining amount of the e-liquid can be calculated by different methods according to different types of e-liquids and different types of electronic cigarettes. Therefore, the method of acquiring the remaining amount of the e-liquid is not specifically defined here.
S12: comparing the e-liquid remaining amount with a preset e-liquid remaining amount, to judge whether the e-liquid remaining amount is less than a first preset remaining amount.
Calculate the difference between the e-liquid remaining amount read from the memory and the e-liquid remaining amount preset in the memory, to obtain the remaining amount of the e-liquid.
S13: when the e-liquid remaining amount is less than the first preset remaining amount, controlling the electronic cigarette to keep a turnoff state.
That is to say, when there is a very little e-liquid, which is likely to cause dry burning immediately after smoking, the electronic cigarette is also controlled to keep a turnoff state to avoid dry burning and protect user's health, even if the work start signal is acquired.
In one embodiment of the present disclosure, when the e-liquid remaining amount is greater than or equal to the first preset remaining amount but less than a second preset remaining amount, control the electronic cigarette to work at a fourth power; wherein, the fourth power is less than the first power. That is to say, when the e-liquid remaining amount is greater than or equal to the first preset remaining amount but less than a second preset remaining amount, one cannot smoke at will. By working at a low power, the electronic cigarette prevents the electrical heating element from dry burning and can make full use of the remaining e-liquid and avoid waste. In a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, the fourth power is less than the second power, to better preventing dry burning.

Embodiment 4

Referring to FIG. 1, the present embodiment is similar to Embodiment 1 in steps, except that: before acquiring a time interval between starting work this time and stopping work last time, the present embodiment further includes the following steps.
S14: acquiring environment temperature information.
Since different environment temperatures may lead to different surface temperatures of the electronic cigarette, the heat transferred to the mouth of the user is different when smoking. A temperature sensor which is connected to the controller may be arranged on the electronic cigarette. When the work start signal is acquired, the controller reads a temperature signal on the temperature sensor to acquire an environment temperature around the electronic cigarette, that is, the temperature of the user environment.
S15: adjusting the first preset time interval and the second preset time interval according to the environment temperature.
The controller adjusts the first preset time interval and the second preset time interval according to the environment temperature; thus, a good user experience can be obtained in areas at different temperatures. Optionally, the first preset time interval and the second preset time interval are directly proportional to the environment temperature, the first power and the second power are inversely proportional to the environment temperature. That is to say, the higher the environment temperature, the longer the first preset time interval and the second preset time interval, the lower the first power and the second power, which can better prevent mouth burning. The lower the environment temperature, the shorter the first preset time interval and the second preset time interval, the higher the first power and the second power, which can better ensure the amount of smoke and can provide sufficient heat to the user in cold environments.

Embodiment 5

Referring to FIG. 5, the embodiment of the present disclosure further provides an electronic cigarette, including:
one or more processors 1 and a memory 2.
The electronic cigarette further includes an airflow sensor 3 and an electrical heating element 4 in electrical connection with the processor 1, and the processor 1 controls the electrical heating element 4 to atomize an e-liquid to form an aerosol according to a trigger signal sent by the airflow sensor 3. The electrical heating element 4 may be a heating wire or a heating sheet, etc.
The processor 1 is connected to the memory 2 through a bus or other ways. The processor 1 may also be called a controller. The processor 1 may be a single-chip and the like, which is not specifically defined here.
The memory 2, as a nonvolatile compute readable storage medium, is configured for storing a nonvolatile software program, a nonvolatile computer executable program and a module, for example, a program instruction/module/unit corresponding to the method for controlling the electronic cigarette in the embodiments of the present disclosure. The processor 1 executes various function applications and data processing by running the nonvolatile software program, instruction and module/unit stored in the memory 2, that is, implementing the method for controlling the electronic cigarette in the above method embodiments.
The memory 2 includes a program storage area and a data storage area, wherein the program storage area can store an operating system, and an application needed by at least one function; the data storage area can store the data created according to the use of a generating device of instruction sets. In addition, the memory 2 may include a high speed random access memory 2, also may include a nonvolatile memory 2, for example at least one disk memory 2 device, a flash memory device, or other nonvolatile solid state memory 2 devices. In some embodiments, the memory 2 optionally includes a memory 2 remotely set relative to the processor 1, and the remote memory 2 can be connected to the generating device of instruction sets through a network. Examples of the above network include, but not limited to, internet, intranet, a local area network, a mobile communication network and combinations thereof.
The one or more modules are stored in the memory 2, which, when executed by the one or more processors 1, will execute the method for controlling the electronic cigarette in any method embodiment above.
To sum up, in the method for controlling an electronic cigarette provided in the present disclosure, when the time interval is greater than a first preset time interval, the electronic cigarette is controlled to work at a first power; when the time interval is greater than a second preset time interval but less than or equal to the first preset time interval, the electronic cigarette is controlled to work at a second power; therefore, in the condition of cold start, a great amount of smoke can be generated, thus the amount of smoke per puff is relatively stable; if a duration of the first power is greater than a first preset duration, the electronic cigarette is turned off, which better avoids mouth burning due to long time of working. In addition, if a duration of the second power is greater than a second preset duration, the electronic cigarette is turned off. The first preset duration is less than the second preset duration. That is to say, when the power is lowered, a constant amount of smoke and a constant heat quantity are acquired by increasing the duration of inhalation per puff, so as to stabilize the amount of smoke and avoid mouth burning.

Embodiment 6

The embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a nonvolatile computer readable storage medium, which stores a computer executable instruction, which, when executed by one or more processors, for example, a processor 1 shown in FIG. 5, can cause the above one or more processors to execute the method for controlling the electronic cigarette described in any method embodiment above.

Embodiment 7

The embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a computer program product, which includes a computer program stored on a nonvolatile computer readable storage medium, wherein the computer program includes a program instruction, which, when executed by an electronic cigarette, causes the electronic cigarette to execute any method for controlling the electronic cigarette described above.
Through the description of the above implementations, the ordinary skill in the art can clearly understand that each implementation can be achieved by means of software plus a common hardware platform, of course as well as through hardware. The ordinary skill in the art can understand that all or part of the processes in the above method embodiments may be implemented by instructing related hardware through a computer program which may be stored in a computer readable storage medium and which, when executed, may include, for example, the process of the embodiment of the above methods. The storage medium may be a disk, a compact disk, a Read-Only Memory (ROM) or Random Access Memory (RAM) and the like.

Claims

A method for controlling an electronic cigarette, comprising:
acquiring a work start signal of the electronic cigarette;

acquiring a time interval between starting work this time and stopping work last time; and

comparing the time interval with a preset time interval, when the time interval is greater than a first preset time interval, controlling the electronic cigarette to work at a first power, and when a duration of the first power is greater than a first preset duration, turning off the electronic cigarette; when the time interval is greater than a second preset time interval but less than or equal to the first preset time interval, controlling the electronic cigarette to work at a second power, and when a duration of the second power is greater than a second preset duration, turning off the electronic cigarette; wherein, the first power is greater than the second power,

characterized in that:
the first preset duration is less than the second preset duration.
The method for controlling the electronic cigarette according to claim 1, wherein the second preset time interval is 0 second.
The method for controlling the electronic cigarette according to claim 1, further comprising: when the time interval is less than or equal to the second preset time interval, controlling the electronic cigarette to work at a third power, and when a duration of the third power is greater than a third preset duration, turning off the electronic cigarette; wherein, the second power is greater than the third power.
The method for controlling the electronic cigarette according to claim 3, wherein the second preset duration is less than the third preset duration.
The method for controlling the electronic cigarette according to claim 1, wherein before acquiring a time interval between starting work this time and stopping work last time, the method further comprises:
acquiring e-liquid remaining amount information;

comparing the e-liquid remaining amount with a preset e-liquid remaining amount, to judge whether the e-liquid remaining amount is less than a first preset remaining amount; and

when the e-liquid remaining amount is less than the first preset remaining amount, controlling the electronic cigarette to keep a turnoff state.
The method for controlling the electronic cigarette according to claim 5, wherein when the e-liquid remaining amount is greater than or equal to the first preset remaining amount but less than a second preset remaining amount, controlling the electronic cigarette to work at a fourth power; wherein, the fourth power is less than the first power.
The method for controlling the electronic cigarette according to claim 6, wherein the fourth power is less than the second power.
The method for controlling the electronic cigarette according to claim 1, wherein before acquiring a time interval between starting work this time and stopping work last time, the method further comprises:
acquiring environment temperature information; and

adjusting the first preset time interval and the second preset time interval according to the environment temperature.
The method for controlling the electronic cigarette according to claim 8, wherein the first preset time interval and the second preset time interval are directly proportional to the environment temperature.
The method for controlling the electronic cigarette according to claim 8, wherein the first power and the second power are inversely proportional to the environment temperature.
The method for controlling the electronic cigarette according to claim 1, wherein the first power or/and the second power is/are a constant power(s).
The method for controlling the electronic cigarette according to claim 1, wherein the first preset time interval is not less than 60 seconds, or/and the second preset time interval is not less than 15 seconds.
The method for controlling the electronic cigarette according to claim 1, wherein the method of acquiring a time interval between starting work this time and stopping work last time comprises: acquiring according to a time interval between starting sending a sensing signal this time and stopping sending a sensing signal last time of an airflow sensor of the electronic cigarette, or acquiring according to a time interval between starting work this time and stopping work last time of an electrical heating element of the electronic cigarette.
An electronic cigarette, comprising:
at least one processor; and

a memory in communication connection with the at least one processor;

wherein the memory is configured for storing an instruction executable by the at least one processor, and the instruction is executed by the at least one processor so that the at least one processor can execute the control method according to any one of claims 1 to 13.