JP2023506272A - e-cigarette charger device - Google Patents

Abstract

A method performed by a charger device (10) for an electronic cigarette (20) and a charger device are provided. The method comprises establishing a communication pairing (32) between the charger device (10) and the computing device (30) and establishing a communication pairing (32) between the charger device (10) and the electronic cigarette (20). obtaining data about the user of the electronic cigarette; determining a charge level to be provided to the electronic cigarette based on the obtained data; based on the determined charge level, the charging device and charging the electronic cigarette when the electronic cigarette is electrically connected. Data obtained from an electronic cigarette may include battery health. Determining the charge level may further be based on configurable rules regarding the maximum usage level of the electronic cigarette. The charger device may further include a biometric sensor (18) for receiving biometric user data such as fingerprints.

Description

The present invention relates to a method performed by an electronic cigarette charger device, such as a charger capable of communicating with an electronic cigarette.

Electronic cigarettes generally include a battery as a power source. This provides the power to operate the e-cigarette. These batteries are typically rechargeable.

To charge the battery of the e-cigarette, the e-cigarette is connected to an external power source. This can be as simple as a plug connected to a mains electrical socket and a cable connected between the plug and the e-cigarette. Alternatively, the charger device may be provided in the form of a hub to which one or more electronic cigarettes are attached for charging.

Additionally, the charger device may itself have a battery to which the electronic cigarette can be attached. This makes it possible to make the charger mobile and carry it with the user, allowing charging while moving.

Regardless of the power source of the charger device, how well the electronic cigarette is charged is an important consideration to ensure that the electronic cigarette can be used as desired by the user. As part of the user's desired use, the user may of course have a desire to limit the use of the electronic cigarette.

With this in mind, it is known to limit charging by adjusting the charging function between providing charging (i.e. "on" state) and not providing charging (i.e. "off" state). (eg, in US Patent Application Publication No. 2016/0345628 A1). This limits the overall amount of charge provided, thereby allowing the e-cigarette to charge to a lower level and thus be usable for a shorter period of time between charges. Therefore, this typically applies when the user wants to limit the use of electronic cigarettes.

Applying charging in this manner does not take into account variations in user behavior and e-cigarette use. In addition, switching charging on and off increases the number of charge cycles that the e-cigarette battery undergoes. This adversely affects battery performance over time. Therefore, these issues need to be addressed.

According to a first aspect, there is provided a method performed by an electronic cigarette charger device, the method comprising establishing a communication pairing between the charger device and a computing device; obtaining data about the electronic cigarette user from the computing device and from the electronic cigarette; and determining a charge level to be provided to the electronic cigarette based on the obtained data. and charging the electronic cigarette to the determined charge level when the charger device and the electronic cigarette are electrically connected.

This makes it possible to customize the amount of charge provided to the electronic cigarette, thereby tailoring it to the user's requirements. This is achieved while extending the battery life of the electronic cigarette by limiting the number of charging cycles by providing an adequate amount of charge each time the electronic cigarette is charged by the charger device.

The charge level may be the State of Charge (also called "SoC"). This is the level of charge relative to the capacity of the electric battery. SoC units are percentage points, typically 0% empty and 100% full. Charge level may similarly be another metric that specifies how much charge the electronic cigarette's power supply has or how much power is left in the power supply.

Data transmission between the charger device and the e-cigarette and power transmission from the charger device to the e-cigarette for charging the e-cigarette by establishing a communication pairing between the charger device and the e-cigarette becomes possible.

Obtaining data from the electronic cigarette and determining the charge level based on the obtained data, including the data obtained from the electronic cigarette, allows information about the electronic cigarette to be used to determine the charge level.

In practice, usage data may be collected by the e-cigarette and initially stored on the e-cigarette. When the electronic cigarette is connected to a computing device such as a phone, usage data may be transferred from the electronic cigarette to the computing device. The transferred data may then be deleted from the electronic cigarette at some point. Since the storage capacity on electronic cigarettes is usually small, this makes it possible to reduce the amount of data stored on the electronic cigarette.

As a result of the usage data being transferred to the computing device, the computing device will be able to access the usage data until the most recent connection with the electronic cigarette (such as by storing the usage data locally or by being able to access the usage data when stored remotely). You may have access to the complete history of your usage data. The e-cigarette retains new usage data collected (ie, not sent anywhere and available only on the e-cigarette) since the last connection with the computing device. More complete data can be obtained when the charger device establishes a communication pairing with the e-cigarette and the computing device. This allows the charge level prediction to be customized by the e-cigarette user and more accurately tailored to the user's usage patterns.

The data obtained from the e-cigarette may include the current charge level of the battery, time of last use, time since last use, mode of e-cigarette, age of use, make, model and/or type, use of heatable substances. It may include any information or data such as age, make, model and/or type, time interval between last use or between previous uses, average time interval between uses and/or last length. Typically, the data obtained from an e-cigarette includes the health of the e-cigarette's battery. This allows the charging level to be applied to be adapted taking into account the health of the battery to take into account the deterioration of battery health over time and the associated increased discharge rate of the battery during use. become. By "state of health" we intend to mean the health, performance, or condition of the battery compared to the ideal condition of the battery.

Determining the charge level may further be based on configurable rules regarding the desired maximum usage level of the electronic cigarette. This allows the charge level to be modified to limit how much the e-cigarette can be used, such as when the user is trying to reduce their use.

Acquired data may include data related to e-cigarette usage over a predetermined period of time and/or e-cigarette users over a predetermined period of time. This can be obtained from a computing device, but can also be obtained from an electronic cigarette, or instead of a computing device. When data is retrieved from the electronic cigarette, it allows fewer data transfer operations to be performed in order for the data to reach the charger device. This data may include the user's usage profile or the user's usage history. This allows the charge level determination to take into account, for example, variations in the amount of charge required on a particular day or at a particular time of day. For example, on Mondays and Fridays, the user's usage history may indicate high usage, causing an appropriate charge level to be about 95%, while on other days the appropriate charge level may be only about 70%. become. Adopting this approach is not related to restricting e-cigarette use, but the battery is best kept at a charge level of about 65% to 75% at all times, such as when the battery is a lithium-ion battery. It will have a long lifespan, thus making it possible to extend the battery life. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the optimal charge level will depend on many factors such as battery model, charge voltage, charge current, and any other suitable metrics, and is not limited to the examples given above. would do. This is based on the assumption that the user will charge the e-cigarette in advance, such as overnight or in the morning of the day, but also includes alternatively or additionally applying charging at other times. obtain.

To assist in determining the charge level, the charger device may have an internal timer. This allows the current time of day and/or the day of the week or date to be taken into account in the charge level determination.

Determining the charge level may further be based on predicted usage of the electronic cigarette, predicted based on the acquired data and/or previous predicted usage. This allows possible future use of the electronic cigarette to be taken into account when determining the charge level. This means that the charge level applied when charging an electronic cigarette can be tailored more closely to the usage conditions likely to be applied by the user.

Charging based on the determined charge level may provide charging according to a charging scheme. When this occurs, the method comprises: storing biometric user data in the charger device; obtaining biometric data from the user attempting to charge the electronic cigarette; and authorizing charging of the electronic cigarette according to the charging scheme based on the determined match. This allows the user to authorize the use of charging schemes and thereby select the mode to be applied by the charger device.

Alternatively or additionally, the method comprises storing biometric user data in a charger device; obtaining biometric data from a user attempting to charge an electronic cigarette; It may further include determining whether there is a match with the biometric data and authenticating the charger device for connection to the additional device based on the determined match. This allows user control over what devices are connected to the charger device, thereby improving the security of the charger device.

Further alternatively or additionally, the method comprises: storing biometric user data in a charger device; obtaining biometric data from a user attempting to charge an electronic cigarette; It may further include determining whether there is a match with the metric data and allowing the charger device to obtain data about the electronic cigarette user based on the determined match. This allows the user to authorize whether or not to retrieve the data so that when the user is unfamiliar with the location from which the data is to be retrieved or when data retrieval is not required. Security measures are enhanced by allowing users to prevent data acquisition.

Regardless of the context in which the biometric data is handled, when determining whether the acquired biometric data matches the stored biometric user data, subsequent actions should be taken when there is a positive match (i.e., the acquired when the biometric data matches the stored biometric user data), or when there is a negative match (i.e., when the acquired biometric data and the stored biometric user data do not match). Subsequent actions usually occur when there is a positive match. This means that when there is a negative match, no subsequent action may occur, instead no action may occur or a notification that there is a negative match may be issued. means that alternative actions, such as

Biometric data may include fingerprints. Alternatively or additionally, other biometric dates may be used. This may include iris scanning and/or facial recognition. This allows the user to be uniquely identified and thus allows individual user-specific actions to be applied by the charger device.

The stored biometric user data may be updated when ownership of the electronic cigarette and/or charging device is changed. This allows the ownership of the charger device and/or the e-cigarette to be changed without compromising the functionality of one or the other (or each).

An ID tag associated with the electronic cigarette can be received at the charger device. This may be used to verify the ability of the charger device to interact with and/or control charging of the e-cigarette.

According to a second aspect, configured to establish a communication pairing between the charger device and the computing device, and configured to establish a communication pairing between the charger device and the electronic cigarette. obtaining data about the user of the electronic cigarette from the interface, the computing device and the electronic cigarette; determining a charge level to be provided to the electronic cigarette based on the obtained data; and a controller configured to charge the electronic cigarette when the cigarette is electrically connected.

The charger device may further include a biometric sensor configured to receive biometric user data.

An exemplary charger device for charging an electronic cigarette and methods performed by the charger device are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 shows a schematic diagram of an exemplary charger device, an exemplary electronic cigarette and an exemplary computing device; FIG. 4 shows a flow chart of an exemplary method performed by an exemplary charger device; 4 illustrates an exemplary user usage profile; Fig. 4 shows a flow chart of a second exemplary method performed by an exemplary charger device; Figure 3 shows a flowchart of a third exemplary method performed by an exemplary charger device; 4 illustrates a fourth exemplary method performed by an exemplary charger device;

As outlined above, the embodiments described herein provide a charger device that controls the level of charge applied to an electronic cigarette when the electronic cigarette is in electrical communication with the charger device. is trying to provide. Various examples of such charger devices are disclosed below, along with corresponding electronic cigarettes and details of methods used by the charger devices.

A charger device according to an embodiment is generally illustrated at 10 in FIG. It includes charging unit 12 and controller 14 . In this example, the charger device also includes memory 16 and biometric sensor 18 . Memory and biometric sensors may not be present in other embodiments.

Charger device 10 is powered by an external power source (not shown) or by a battery (not shown) located within the device itself. Whatever the means used to power the charger device, the power source provides power to the various components of the charger device.

FIG. 1 also shows an electronic cigarette 20. FIG. In this embodiment, the electronic cigarette comprises a rechargeable power source 21, a heatable substance 23, a controller 24 and a heater 26. The electronic cigarette also has memory 28 in this embodiment, which may not be present in other embodiments. The power source is typically a battery.

Electronic cigarettes 20, also called e-cigarettes, are typically portable devices (ie, may be held and supported by a user with only one or both hands). The e-cigarette contains a heatable substance 23 that, when heated, produces a vapor or aerosol that can be inhaled from the e-cigarette into a user's mouth due to the structural arrangement of the e-cigarette. Heatable substances can be liquids or solids, each of which vaporizes or forms an aerosol when heated, or contains a component that vaporizes or forms an aerosol when heated. For ease of reference, the entire substance is also referred to herein as the vaporizable substance.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, charger device 10 is also connected to computing device 30 . This connection is provided by connection 32 . This connection can be a wired connection or a wireless connection. Regardless of the connection, the connection may be a direct connection (i.e., a connection only between the charger device and the computing device, with no intermediate device connected) or an indirect connection (i.e., a network connection between the charger device and the computing device, with other devices connected in between, such as within. In various embodiments, computing devices are provided by one or more servers and/or mobile phones.

Of course, the connection of charging device 10 to computing device 30, such as a mobile phone or server, can be either temporary or permanent. Moreover, the connection to the computing device is independent of the charging device connected to the electronic cigarette 20, and the connection of the charging device and the electronic cigarette is also independent of the connection to the computing device.

In various embodiments, charger device 10 may be a module of computing device 30, such as a mobile phone, thereby having a directional connection between the charger device and the computing device. This means that software on the computing device, such as in a user application (also called an "app"), emulates or otherwise supersedes the hardware of the charger device, allowing the computing device's various This can be achieved by using components to provide the components of the charger device.

If there is a wireless connection between charger device 10 and a further device (such as electronic cigarette 20 and/or computing device 30), this connection may be provided by a wireless transceiver (not shown). Such wireless transceiver may provide Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, wireless communication, 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G communication or any other form of wireless communication such as Near Field Communication (NFC) or LTE communication. is possible. Of course, the wireless transceiver is intended to be compatible with an e-cigarette wireless transceiver (not shown) and/or a wireless transceiver (not shown) capable of providing connection to a computing device. Such wireless transceivers are commonly used by charger devices to transmit data. Where wireless charging is provided by the charger device, this may be achieved using a different type of transmitter (although the same antenna and/or the same transceiver or transmitter may be used).

The charging unit 12 of the charger device 10 is arranged to charge the electronic cigarette 20 during use when a suitable connection is provided between the charger device and the electronic cigarette. This can be achieved by a wired or wireless connection between the charging device and the e-cigarette. If charging is provided wirelessly, this can be accomplished using wireless communication pairing. In embodiments in which the charger device is capable of establishing wireless communication pairings, the charger device has a wireless transceiver (not shown). In addition, wireless charging would, of course, require that the e-cigarette have wireless charging capability as well.

In embodiments where charging is provided by a wired connection, this may be accomplished using a cable connected between the charger device 10 and the e-cigarette 20, or via a port on the e-cigarette and charging device. It can be achieved by socket placement.

Charger device 10 in this embodiment applies charge and performs all other functions due to the operation of controller 14 . This also generally applies to electronic cigarettes 20 and corresponding controllers 24 . The charger device and/or e-cigarette controller in this embodiment is a processor. It can receive and issue commands and carry out instructions in the form of executing code.

An example charger device, such as charger device 10 shown in FIG. etc.) to control the level of charge to be applied. To accomplish this, a method is applied, such as the exemplary method disclosed in the flow chart of FIG. Initially, at step 100, a wireless communication pairing is established between the charger device and the computing device. Once the wireless community pairing is established, at step 102, data associated with the electronic cigarette user is obtained from the computing device. At step 104, based on the acquired data, the charge level to be applied to the electronic cigarette is determined (ie, a process is performed to ascertain the appropriate charge level). Once the charge level has been determined and the charger device and the e-cigarette are electrically connected to each other (which may already be the case, or alternatively this may occur at a later time), in step 106: The e-cigarette is charged based on the determined charge level.

In various embodiments, computing device 30 typically maintains data associated with the user of electronic cigarette 20 . This may be because the computing device maintains a database of data regarding users of particular makes or models of electronic cigarettes. Alternatively or additionally, the computing device may be provided by the user at the time of purchase, setup, or as desired, and/or based on the user's use of an associated product, such as an electronic cigarette or heatable substance unit. A repository of data related to electronic cigarette users, compiled for or associated with electronic cigarettes or provided by electronic cigarette suppliers to manage electronic cigarette components, connectivity and/or use , a computer program such as a mobile phone app.

A communication pairing is similarly established between the charger device 10 and the electronic cigarette 20 . This is shown in step 108 of FIG. This communication pairing may be established sequentially with the communication pairing with computing device 30, or may be established in parallel. At this stage, the process may return to step 102 with the data regarding the e-cigarette user obtained. However, instead of obtaining data only from the computing device, data about the user is obtained from the electronic cigarette as well.

In other examples, instead of only obtaining data about the e-cigarette user, data about the e-cigarette 20 may be obtained. This is shown in step 110 of FIG.

In practice, in some implementations, usage data is collected by electronic cigarette 20 and stored in memory 28 on the electronic cigarette. The electronic cigarette can be connected to the computing device 30, thereby allowing usage data to be transferred from the electronic cigarette to the computing device. The transferred data can then be deleted from the electronic cigarette as desired (such as replacing older data with other data once transferred). In this way, the e-cigarette keeps up-to-date usage data. This data will have been collected since the last connection to the computing device.

Obtained data about a user of e-cigarette 20 may include one or more of the user's age, gender, employment status and type, working hours, health statistics, e-cigarette use behavior and/or desired e-cigarette use behavior. . If the computing device 30 is a mobile phone, the data may include the location of the mobile phone or the user based on the mobile phone location.

Acquired data about the electronic cigarette 20 may include the make, model, age of the electronic cigarette, charge frequency (i.e., the time between charges or how often the charge is applied), charge time (on average, last charge, or given amount of time charged over the number of previous charges), battery charge level, battery health, length of use (length of last use by user, length of average use and/or predetermined number of times by user) and/or type, model, age and/or type of vaporizable substance 23, amount of electronic cigarette usage over a predetermined period of time and/or predetermined It may include one or more of the data associated with the electronic cigarette user over time. The predetermined time period may be one or more days, weeks, months or years from manufacture of the electronic cigarette to first use of the electronic cigarette by the user.

If the acquired data includes battery health, this may be monitored by the electronic cigarette 20 and stored in the electronic cigarette's memory 28 . In addition to battery health, or as an alternative to battery health, any other data obtained from the electronic cigarette may be stored in the electronic cigarette's memory as well.

When battery health is used, the determined charge level may be higher when battery health deteriorates. This may take into account that batteries discharge faster during use than batteries with better battery health.

Acquired data may also include user usage profiles. This may be a usage profile automatically edited by the e-cigarette 20 or computing device 30, or it may be a manually set user profile (which may be set on the e-cigarette). It could be, but would typically be set up on a computing device, such as on a phone or via a server where user data is stored for apps with which the user interacts with an associated graphical user interface).

To automatically compile a user usage profile, this can be obtained by examining the user's usage history. There are already various known techniques for investigating a user's e-cigarette behavior by uploading the user's usage and event data to a mobile phone or other computing device for analysis. Examples can be found, for example, in EP 19206355.0. In various examples of this case, based on the usage statistics 600 (such as those shown in FIG. 3), the charger determines the charge level of the e-cigarette 20 for a particular day 604 and at a particular hour 602 of the day. It is possible to To accomplish this, charger device 10 may further include an internal timer 19 (as shown in FIG. 1).

The acquired data (regardless of what it contains) is processed when performing the charge level determination. The process predicts the charge level required to allow the user to use the electronic cigarette 20 as they wish until the next charge. This prediction models the expected usage by users. For example, a user may typically work between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm, so usage during these times may be low. This can be factored into the charge level to be applied prior to the user's working day. Of course, instead, or in addition to expected usage by the user, previous predictions may also be used to predict the required charge level.

In another embodiment, additionally or alternatively, the user usage profile is downloaded from an application maintained on a mobile phone, server or other computing device where the user's e-cigarette usage is automatically or manually recorded. and the charge level can be determined based on this.

If the user is trying to reduce the use of their e-cigarette 20, such as the user wants to reduce the use to 5 heatable substance units per day, then with a fully charged battery (i.e. 100%) The charge level can be determined to be about 25%-30%, for example, as it allows 20 heatable substance units to be used before reaching a minimum level (such as 0%). This includes electronic cigarette devices known as T-vapor devices (devices that typically use a solid or solid-based heatable substance) and E-vapor devices (devices that typically use a liquid or liquid-based heatable substance). applicable to If an E-vapor device is used, the determination may be made based on the number of puffs (ie individual puffs by the user) on the electronic cigarette. There are some T-vapor devices where it would be appropriate to base the decision on the number of puffs as well.

To consider the level of usage that the user would like to have, in various embodiments, the user provides the desired level of usage to the charger device 10, the electronic cigarette 20 and/or the computing device 30 by providing the desired level of usage. can be set. This may be the length of time available for use, the maximum or minimum number of heatable substance units to be used, and/or the number of puffs over a period of time such as one or more days, weeks, months or years. It can be from a point of view. The time period may be set automatically or selected by the user. This information then forms part of the acquired data about the user.

In a further example, the charge level determined is a typical charge level during use of the electronic cigarette 20 since longer use will use more power and thus require more charging. Consider the length of use and/or the current charge level of the battery, as a low charge level (such as 10%) can only support short-term use of the e-cigarette.

In some embodiments, the electronic cigarette 20, when electrically connected to the charging device 10, is charged only when the user's biometric data matches the biometric data stored in the charger device's memory 16. It may be authorized (eg, authorized). A process for performing this evaluation is disclosed in FIG. At step 112, biometric user data is stored. In this embodiment, biometric user data is stored in memory 16 of the charger device. This is accomplished by scanning the biometric user data using the charger device's biometric sensor 18, which in this example is a fingerprint sensor. This step may be performed when the charger device is first set up, or at some later time based on selections made by the user.

At step 114 , biometric data is obtained from the current user of electronic cigarette 20 . This can be accomplished by the current user providing biometric data at the biometric sensor 18 of the charger device 10 or at a biometric sensor (not shown) on the e-cigarette, which then: sent to the charger device.

The acquired biometric data and the stored biometric user data are compared at step 116 . If the comparison then determines that the acquired biometric data and the stored user biometric data match, charging the electronic cigarette 20 to the charge level determined as disclosed above is authorized. This may mean that the process of determining the charge level is only performed once charging has been authorized, or it may simply mean that all steps other than charging have been performed and authorization has been received. It may mean that the charge can be applied at a point in time.

In embodiments where a mobile phone is used, when fingerprints or other biometric data are to be provided, the biometric data may be provided at the mobile phone instead of the charger device. This can be accomplished by the mobile phone issuing a notification to the user that biometric data is requested. This may be in response to charger device 10 providing the mobile phone with a request for biometric data entry. When the user provides biometric data, this can be checked against either biometric data stored in the mobile phone or biometric data stored in the charging device. This input may be required, for example, when a charger device requests authorization to charge. This process will be applicable to other computing devices as well. The step of a user providing biometric data on a mobile phone or other computing device can be replaced by the user being required to enter a PIN code or press a button, thereby providing biometric data. Removes the need.

Charger device 10 may similarly request authorization to charge electronic cigarette 20 from computing device 30 . In such embodiments, in addition to the data that can be included in the acquired data, the computing device also includes information maintained on the computing device, such as user details, which can be compared with, for example, registered owners of respective electronic cigarettes. can provide a response based on The computing device may then respond to the charging device with a confirmation as to whether charging should be applied based on the charge level determined based on the information held on the computing device. For example, charging based on the determined charge level may only be authorized when the electronic cigarette user is the registered owner of the electronic cigarette.

Charger device 10 may provide information to computing device 30 . In some embodiments, this information may include an ID tag of the electronic cigarette 20 in wireless connection pairing with the charging device along with means for identifying the charging device. This allows registration of which e-cigarette is being used with which charger device.

Further exemplary processes that can be performed by charger device 10 are shown in FIGS. FIG. 5 illustrates a process for authorizing connections to additional devices, such as additional computing devices 30 or additional electronic cigarettes 20 . In this process, steps 112 to 112 disclosed above of storing biometric user data, obtaining biometric data of the current user, and establishing a match between the stored biometric data and the obtained biometric data. 116 is performed. Based on the match (either a positive or negative match, but usually only when there is a positive match), connection to further devices is granted in step 120 .

FIG. 6 illustrates a process for authorizing acquisition of additional data. This can be used when user authorization is required to access additional data. In this process, steps 112 to 112 disclosed above of storing biometric user data, obtaining biometric data of the current user, and establishing a match between the stored biometric data and the obtained biometric data. 116 is performed. Based on the match (either positive or negative match, but usually only when there is a positive match), permission is provided in step 122 to obtain more data.

There is an opportunity that an electronic cigarette and/or charger device may change ownership. As such, the ID tag stored on either the charger device 10 and/or the electronic cigarette 20 can be updated, either by replacement or addition. Additionally or alternatively, user biometric data stored on either the charger device and/or the e-cigarette may be updated, either by replacement or addition.

Of course, the charger device 10 may be connected to one or more electronic cigarettes 20 and/or computing devices 30 at any given time. Additionally, any electronic cigarette and/or computing device may be connected to one or more charging devices at any given time. This may be for charging and/or control purposes, or to establish wireless connection pairings to control the use of each e-cigarette.

Claims (13)

A method performed by a charger device for an electronic cigarette, comprising:
establishing a communication pairing between the charger device and a computing device;
establishing a communication pairing between the charger device and the electronic cigarette;
obtaining data about the electronic cigarette user from the computing device and from the electronic cigarette;
determining a charge level to be provided to the electronic cigarette based on the acquired data;
charging the electronic cigarette to the determined charge level when the charger device and the electronic cigarette are electrically connected;
A method, including 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the acquired data from the electronic cigarette includes battery health of the electronic cigarette. 3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the determination of charge level is further based on configurable rules regarding a desired maximum usage level of the electronic cigarette. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the acquired data comprises data related to the amount of use of the electronic cigarette over a predetermined period of time and/or the user of the electronic cigarette over a predetermined period of time. 5. The method of claim 1, wherein said determination of charge level is further based on a predicted usage of said electronic cigarette predicted based on obtained data and/or previous predicted usage. Method. The charging based on the determined charge level provides charging according to a charging scheme, the method comprising:
storing biometric user data on the charger device;
obtaining biometric data from a user attempting to charge the electronic cigarette;
determining whether the acquired biometric data matches the stored biometric data;
authorizing charging of the electronic cigarette according to the charging scheme based on the determined match;
The method of any one of claims 1-5, further comprising storing biometric user data on the charger device;
obtaining biometric data from a user attempting to charge the electronic cigarette;
determining whether the acquired biometric data matches the stored biometric data;
authenticating the charger device for connection to a further device based on the determined match;
The method of any one of claims 1-6, further comprising storing biometric user data on the charger device;
obtaining biometric data from a user attempting to charge the electronic cigarette;
determining whether the acquired biometric data matches the stored biometric data;
authorizing the retrieval of data about the electronic cigarette user by the charger device based on the determined match;
The method of any one of claims 1-7, further comprising A method according to any one of claims 6 to 8, wherein said biometric data comprises fingerprints. The method of any one of claims 6-9, further comprising updating the stored biometric user data when ownership of the electronic cigarette and/or charger device is changed. The method of any one of claims 6-10, further comprising receiving an ID tag associated with the electronic cigarette at the charger device. an interface configured to establish a communication pairing between the charger device and a computing device, and configured to establish a communication pairing between the charger device and an electronic cigarette;
obtaining data about a user of the electronic cigarette from the computing device and the electronic cigarette; determining a charge level to be provided to the electronic cigarette based on the obtained data; a controller configured to charge the electronic cigarette when the device and the electronic cigarette are electrically connected;
A charger device, comprising: 13. The charger device of Claim 12, further comprising a biometric sensor configured to receive biometric user data.

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