Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A24—TOBACCO; CIGARS; CIGARETTES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES; SMOKERS' REQUISITES
  • A24F—SMOKERS' REQUISITES; MATCH BOXES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES
  • A24F40/00—Electrically operated smoking devices; Component parts thereof; Manufacture thereof; Maintenance or testing thereof; Charging means specially adapted therefor
  • A24F40/60—Devices with integrated user interfaces
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A24—TOBACCO; CIGARS; CIGARETTES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES; SMOKERS' REQUISITES
  • A24F—SMOKERS' REQUISITES; MATCH BOXES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES
  • A24F40/00—Electrically operated smoking devices; Component parts thereof; Manufacture thereof; Maintenance or testing thereof; Charging means specially adapted therefor
  • A24F40/40—Constructional details, e.g. connection of cartridges and battery parts
  • A24F40/46—Shape or structure of electric heating means
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A24—TOBACCO; CIGARS; CIGARETTES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES; SMOKERS' REQUISITES
  • A24F—SMOKERS' REQUISITES; MATCH BOXES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES
  • A24F40/00—Electrically operated smoking devices; Component parts thereof; Manufacture thereof; Maintenance or testing thereof; Charging means specially adapted therefor
  • A24F40/20—Devices using solid inhalable precursors
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A24—TOBACCO; CIGARS; CIGARETTES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES; SMOKERS' REQUISITES
  • A24F—SMOKERS' REQUISITES; MATCH BOXES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES
  • A24F40/00—Electrically operated smoking devices; Component parts thereof; Manufacture thereof; Maintenance or testing thereof; Charging means specially adapted therefor
  • A24F40/40—Constructional details, e.g. connection of cartridges and battery parts
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A24—TOBACCO; CIGARS; CIGARETTES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES; SMOKERS' REQUISITES
  • A24F—SMOKERS' REQUISITES; MATCH BOXES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES
  • A24F40/00—Electrically operated smoking devices; Component parts thereof; Manufacture thereof; Maintenance or testing thereof; Charging means specially adapted therefor
  • A24F40/50—Control or monitoring
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A24—TOBACCO; CIGARS; CIGARETTES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES; SMOKERS' REQUISITES
  • A24F—SMOKERS' REQUISITES; MATCH BOXES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES
  • A24F7/00—Mouthpieces for pipes; Mouthpieces for cigar or cigarette holders

Definitions

• the invention relates to an aerosol-generating device and a method of indicating an operational state of an aerosol-generating device.
• US10849360B2 is related to an aerosol-generating device with an array of LEDs, which are switched corresponding to heaters, also provided in an array, and/or controlled by a controller. Further, thermosensitive paint can be provided corresponding to the heaters. Similar devices are derivable from KR20200000635A and CN210747275U . CN 204 377 921 U is related to the preamble of claim 1.
• the aerosol-generating device has thermochromic material visible from outside the device and extending in a longitudinal direction, which can typically also be the longitudinal direction of the device, in other words the direction corresponding to the longest side thereof.
• a heat transfer structure is provided inside the device relative to the thermochromic material and essentially extends in the same longitudinal direction as the thermochromic material and at least overlaps with it.
• a thermal resistance of the heat transfer structure preferably having a heat transfer material increases gradually or step by step, in either case not necessarily with a monotone curve, in the longitudinal direction.
• thermochromic material will gradually or step by step change its colour.
• a first part, portion or section thereof will change its colour first, and can thus indicate towards the user, that, for example, heating has started.
• further parts, sections or portions of the thermochromic material will gradually change their colour, as heating continues, and the temperature of the heat rises, so that more and more heat is transferred to the thermochromic material despite the partially increased thermal resistance.
• the successively heated, and, consequently, colour changing portions can essentially have the shape of a bar or column, but they can also resemble a trademark, brand or logo.
• thermochromic material can originally have a colour, essentially corresponding to that of the outside of the device, so that the indicator described herein is initially invisible or almost invisible. Further, the thermochromic material can advantageously be chosen to change to a colour significantly different from that of the outside of the device, when heated, so that the continuous heating is easily visible.
• a progressive colour change has the advantage of making it easier for the user to judge the progression of heating, as compared to a simple, static colour change in one and the same, constant portion of the device provided with a thermochromic material.
• the device can be kept simple, both with regard to the internal structure and the control logic.
• thermochromic material in particular paint, can be smoothly and visually attractively integrated into the device, when it is filled in at least one recess formed on the surface of the device. In this manner, the material is both easily visible and at the same time disruptions of the device's surface can be avoided or at least minimized.
• thermochromic material As regards the specific type of thermochromic material, a Leuco dyes-based paint is currently preferred.
• the heat transfer structure responsible for transferring heat from a heater, such as an oven, to the thermochromic material this is preferably adapted to reduce the temperature present at an inside end of the heat transfer structure by at least about 75% and preferably by a maximum of about 90%. This is related to the fact that heat needs to be transferred, but the outside surface of the device must not become too hot, as this would risk too high temperatures being applied to the user's hands.
• the temperature present at the outside end of the heat transfer structure in other words that end or surface, which is essentially in contact with the thermochromic material and transfers heat to it, should be at a maximum of about 45°.
• heat can also be transferred to some extent in the longitudinal direction of the heater structure, this can be kept shorter than an oven or other heater inside the device in the longitudinal direction. In this manner, the structure can be simple, and heat can still be sufficiently transferred.
• the heat transfer structure can alternatively, or additionally, be adapted to be heated by an electrical resistance. This can, for example, be easily controlled based on the heating progress.
• thermochromic material will be particularly visible, when it is provided on at least one portion of the surface of the device.
• the thermal resistance of the heat transfer structure increasing in its longitudinal direction
• this can easily be realized by composing the heat transfer structure of at least two different materials, the content of which changes along the longitudinal direction.
• the different materials typically have a different thermal resistance, and by varying the content thereof along the longitudinal direction, the thermal resistance can appropriately be varied, in particular, increased or decreased, depending on the direction considered.
• Such a combination of two different materials can be realized particularly easy, if different materials are provided with at least one step.
• the dimension measured along the step will remain the same throughout the entire heat transfer structure, but different contents of the different materials will be present along the longitudinal direction.
• the different materials are provided with at least two projections having different thicknesses measured in the longitudinal direction, and are combined in a manner such that the projections mesh with each other, so that the thermal resistance along the longitudinal direction can also be appropriately adjusted.
• thermochromic material In the method of indicating at least one operational state of an aerosol-generating device as described herein, at least two portions of thermochromic material are heated successively due to the structure as detailed above. Further details and preferred embodiments of the method described herein essentially correspond to those of the device and can accordingly be applied to the method. This also applies vice versa in view of any method features mentioned herein.
• an aerosol-generating device 10 can essentially have a rectangular appearance with a longest side and, correspondingly, a longitudinal direction extending vertically in FIG. 1 .
• a tobacco stick 12 is visible, so that the upper end in accordance with FIG. 1 essentially corresponds to a mouthpiece end.
• the thermochromic material is, in the embodiment shown, essentially invisible, as it essentially has the same colour as the outside of the device 10.
• a circle or large dot 14 in the embodiment shown centered in a lateral direction and just above the center in a longitudinal direction, will appear and indicate that heating has started.
• the dot 14 grows, and colour change essentially progresses towards the mouthpiece end so as to form a kind of column 16 as visible in FIG. 1E .
• the column does not grow towards the mouthpiece end anymore, this indicates to the user, that heating is completed, and the first puff can be drawn.
• FIG. 2 shows a number of details of the internal structure of the device 10, which are relevant only to the extent that a tubular oven 18 is present, into which the tobacco stick 12 is essentially inserted, and that a heat transfer structure 20 abuts the oven along a substantial length thereof.
• the length of the heat transfer structure 20 is shorter than that of the oven, and essentially all of the heat transfer structure 20 abuts the oven 18.
• the thermochromic material 22 is provided outside the heat transfer structure 20, the thermochromic material 22, successively being visible as the dot 14 of FIG 1B and eventually as the column 16 of FIG 1E , is provided.
• the heat transfer structure is provided towards one of the smaller side surfaces of the device 10.
• the heat transfer structure 20 is provided towards one of the larger side surfaces facing the viewer of FIG 1 .
• This can be taken from the fact that one of the smaller side surfaces faces the viewer of FIG 3 , whereas it can be taken from the dimensions of FIG 2 , that one of the larger side surfaces would face the viewer of FIG 2 , if it was not removed for showing the internal structure.
• FIG 3 it is already indicated, as shown in more detail in FIG 5 , that two different materials, hatched differently, make up the heat transfer structure and are each provided with, in the embodiment shown, the three steps 24. Further, they are combined with each other in a complementary manner, so that the dimension measured from left to right in FIG 3, 4 and 5 remains the same along the longitudinal direction, which is vertical in all figures.
• the material which is present to a greater extent at the bottom of FIG 5 , has a thermal resistance smaller than that of the material being present to a greater extent towards the top of FIG 5 , the thermal resistance is lower at the bottom and gradually increases towards the top. As a consequence, the colour change will progress as shown in FIG 1 .
• both materials constituting the heat transfer structure together have plural projections 26, the width of which changes along the longitudinal direction.
• the width measured in the longitudinal direction, of the material having the lower thermal resistance is greater at the bottom of FIG 4 and lower at the top of FIG 4 , and it is exactly the other way around for the other material, having the higher thermal resistance, so that the total thermal resistance increases towards the top of FIG 4 .
• the two materials are combined kind of meshing, in other words, each projection is accommodated in the space between two projections of the other material, so that an essentially solid heat transfer structure with the desired thermal resistance gradient will be achieved, as it is the case with the embodiment of FIG s 3 and 5. This will result in the same progression or vertical motion of colour change indicated in FIG 1 . In other words, due to the thermal resistance increasing toward the top of the figures, colour changes towards the top and achieves the desired visual effect.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Human Computer Interaction (AREA)
• Toys (AREA)
• Heat Sensitive Colour Forming Recording (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (3)

Family

ID=77021250

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (7)

Families Citing this family (1)

Family Cites Families (6)

• 2022
  • 2022-07-19 CN CN202280050897.1A patent/CN117813021A/zh active Pending
  • 2022-07-19 WO PCT/EP2022/070198 patent/WO2023001822A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 2022-07-19 PL PL22743504.7T patent/PL4373323T3/pl unknown
  • 2022-07-19 JP JP2024503428A patent/JP2024526861A/ja active Pending
  • 2022-07-19 US US18/291,022 patent/US20240349801A1/en active Pending
  • 2022-07-19 EP EP22743504.7A patent/EP4373323B1/en active Active
  • 2022-07-19 KR KR1020247002859A patent/KR20240036579A/ko active Pending

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