WO2023112218A1

WO2023112218A1 - Control device, inhalation device, and control method

Info

Publication number: WO2023112218A1
Application number: PCT/JP2021/046331
Authority: WO
Inventors: 有里菜嶋田; 正人加藤
Original assignee: 日本たばこ産業株式会社
Priority date: 2021-12-15
Filing date: 2021-12-15
Publication date: 2023-06-22
Also published as: KR20240090235A; CN118251147A; US20240306731A1; JPWO2023112218A1; EP4427614A1

Abstract

[Problem] To provide a mechanism capable of further improving the quality of a user's inhalation experience. [Solution] This control device is equipped with a control part that selects a heating setting to be used by an inhalation device for generating an aerosol to be inhaled by a user by heating an aerosol source according to said heating setting, on the basis of inhalation-related information which is information pertaining the state of the user and/or the environment in which the user inhales the aerosol.

Description

Control device, suction device, and control method

The present invention relates to a control device, a suction device, and a control method.

Inhalation devices, such as electronic cigarettes and nebulizers, that produce substances that are inhaled by the user are widespread. For example, the suction device uses a base material including an aerosol source for generating an aerosol and a flavor source for imparting a flavor component to the generated aerosol to generate an aerosol imparted with a flavor component. A user can enjoy the flavor by inhaling the flavor component-applied aerosol generated by the suction device. The action of the user inhaling the aerosol is hereinafter also referred to as puffing or puffing action.

In recent years, various technologies related to suction devices have been developed in order to enrich the user's suction experience. For example, Patent Literature 1 below discloses a technology that allows a user to select the temperature at which a suction device heats a substrate.

WO2019/061906

However, with the technology disclosed in Patent Document 1, the user is required to select the temperature at which the suction device heats the base material.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a mechanism capable of further improving the quality of the user's sucking experience.

In order to solve the above problems, according to one aspect of the present invention, the heating setting used by an aspiration device that generates an aerosol to be inhaled by a user by heating an aerosol source based on the heating setting is set by the user. and/or the environment in which the user inhales the aerosol.

The control unit may select the heating setting associated with a predetermined condition satisfied by the suction-related information.

The control unit may select the heating setting based on the number of predetermined conditions that the suction-related information satisfies, among a plurality of predetermined conditions.

The control unit may select the heating setting based on a total value of scores set for the predetermined conditions satisfied by the suction-related information, among a plurality of predetermined conditions.

The control unit may select, based on an instruction from the user, which of the plurality of predetermined conditions to use for selecting the heating settings.

The control unit may select which of the plurality of predetermined conditions to use for selecting the heating settings based on the suction-related information.

The control unit may select the heating setting based on the suction-related information obtained periodically.

The control unit may select the heating setting based on the suction-related information acquired by triggering the suction device to perform heating based on the heating setting.

The control unit may switch the heating setting used by the suction device during a period in which the suction device does not perform heating based on the heating setting.

The control unit may switch the heating setting used by the suction device while the suction device is performing heating based on the heating setting.

The suction-related information about the state of the user is biological information of the user, information indicating an action performed by the user, information indicating an action performed by the user, or information indicating an action scheduled to be performed by the user. , at least one of

The suction-related information regarding the environment in which the user inhales the aerosol includes information regarding date and time, information regarding location, information regarding weather, information regarding the usage state of the suction device, or other suction devices existing around the user. may include at least any one of information relating to

The suction device uses a substrate containing the aerosol source to generate the aerosol, and the controller selects the heating settings based on the type of substrate used by the suction device. good too.

The control unit may select the heating setting from a plurality of heating settings that differ in at least one of a parameter related to the temperature for heating the aerosol source and a parameter related to the time to heat the aerosol source.

In order to solve the above problems, according to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an aspiration device that generates aerosol to be inhaled by a user by heating an aerosol source based on a heating setting, comprising: A control that selects the heating setting based on inhalation-related information, which is information about at least one of a state and/or environment in which the user inhales the aerosol, and controls heating of the aerosol source based on the selected heating setting. A suction device is provided comprising:

In order to solve the above problems, according to another aspect of the present invention, the heating setting used by an aspiration device that generates an aerosol to be inhaled by a user by heating an aerosol source based on the heating setting is set to: and selecting based on inhalation-related information, which is information relating to at least one of the user's condition and/or the environment in which the user inhales the aerosol.

As described above, according to the present invention, a mechanism is provided that can further improve the quality of the user's sucking experience.

It is a schematic diagram which shows typically the 1st structural example of a suction device. It is a schematic diagram which shows typically the 2nd structural example of a suction device. It is a figure showing an example of composition of a system concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the display screen displayed on the terminal device which concerns on this embodiment. It is a sequence diagram showing an example of the flow of processing executed by the system according to the present embodiment.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the present specification and drawings, constituent elements having substantially the same functional configuration are denoted by the same reference numerals, thereby omitting redundant description.

<1. Configuration example>
<1.1. Configuration example of suction device>
A suction device is a device that produces a substance that is suctioned by a user. In the following description, it is assumed that the substance produced by the suction device is an aerosol. Alternatively, the substance produced by the suction device may be a gas.

(1) First Configuration Example FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram schematically showing a first configuration example of the suction device. As shown in FIG. 1, the suction device 100A according to this configuration example includes a power supply unit 110, a cartridge 120, and a flavoring cartridge . The power supply unit 110 includes a power supply section 111A, a sensor section 112A, a notification section 113A, a storage section 114A, a communication section 115A, and a control section 116A. The cartridge 120 includes a heating section 121A, a liquid guide section 122, and a liquid storage section 123. As shown in FIG. Flavoring cartridge 130 includes flavor source 131 and mouthpiece 124 . An air flow path 180 is formed in the cartridge 120 and the flavor imparting cartridge 130 .

The power supply unit 111A accumulates power. The power supply unit 111A supplies electric power to each component of the suction device 100A under the control of the control unit 116A. The power supply unit 111A may be composed of, for example, a rechargeable battery such as a lithium ion secondary battery.

The sensor unit 112A acquires various information regarding the suction device 100A. As an example, the sensor unit 112A is configured by a pressure sensor such as a condenser microphone, a flow rate sensor, a temperature sensor, or the like, and acquires a value associated with suction by the user. As another example, the sensor unit 112A is configured by an input device, such as a button or switch, that receives information input from the user.

The notification unit 113A notifies the user of information. The notification unit 113A is configured by, for example, a light emitting device that emits light, a display device that displays an image, a sound output device that outputs sound, or a vibration device that vibrates.

The storage unit 114A stores various information for the operation of the suction device 100A. The storage unit 114A is configured by, for example, a non-volatile storage medium such as flash memory.

The communication unit 115A is a communication interface capable of performing communication conforming to any wired or wireless communication standard. As such a communication standard, for example, a standard using Wi-Fi (registered trademark), Bluetooth (registered trademark), NFC (Near Field Communication), or LPWA (Low Power Wide Area) can be adopted.

The control unit 116A functions as an arithmetic processing device and a control device, and controls the general operations within the suction device 100A according to various programs. The control unit 116A is realized by an electronic circuit such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or a microprocessor.

The liquid storage unit 123 stores an aerosol source. An aerosol is generated by atomizing the aerosol source. Aerosol sources are, for example, polyhydric alcohols such as glycerin and propylene glycol, or liquids such as water. The aerosol source may contain tobacco-derived or non-tobacco-derived flavoring ingredients. If the inhalation device 100A is a medical inhaler such as a nebulizer, the aerosol source may contain a medicament.

The liquid guide section 122 guides the aerosol source, which is the liquid stored in the liquid storage section 123, from the liquid storage section 123 and holds it. The liquid guiding part 122 is a wick formed by twisting a fibrous material such as glass fiber or a porous material such as porous ceramic. In that case, the aerosol source stored in liquid reservoir 123 is guided by the capillary effect of the wick.

The heating unit 121A heats the aerosol source to atomize the aerosol source and generate an aerosol. In the example shown in FIG. 1 , the heating section 121A is configured as a coil and wound around the liquid guide section 122 . When the heating part 121A generates heat, the aerosol source held in the liquid guide part 122 is heated and atomized to generate an aerosol. The heating unit 121A generates heat when supplied with power from the power supply unit 111A. As an example, power may be supplied when the sensor unit 112A detects that the user has started sucking and/or that predetermined information has been input. Then, the power supply may be stopped when the sensor unit 112A detects that the user has finished sucking and/or that predetermined information has been input.

The flavor source 131 is a component for imparting flavor components to the aerosol. The flavor source 131 may contain tobacco-derived or non-tobacco-derived flavor components.

The air flow path 180 is a flow path of air sucked by the user. The air flow path 180 has a tubular structure having an air inlet hole 181 as an air entrance into the air flow path 180 and an air outflow hole 182 as an air outlet from the air flow path 180 at both ends. In the middle of the air flow path 180, the liquid guide portion 122 is arranged on the upstream side (closer to the air inlet hole 181), and the flavor source 131 is arranged on the downstream side (closer to the air outlet hole 182). The air that flows in through the air inflow hole 181 as the user inhales is mixed with the aerosol generated by the heating unit 121A, passes through the flavor source 131, and is transported to the air outflow hole 182 as indicated by the arrow 190. When the mixed fluid of the aerosol and air passes through the flavor source 131, the flavor component contained in the flavor source 131 is imparted to the aerosol.

The mouthpiece 124 is a member held by the user when inhaling. An air outlet hole 182 is arranged in the mouthpiece 124 . The user can take the mixed fluid of aerosol and air into the oral cavity by holding the mouthpiece 124 and sucking.

The configuration example of the suction device 100A has been described above. Of course, the configuration of the suction device 100A is not limited to the above, and various configurations exemplified below can be adopted.

As an example, the suction device 100A may not include the flavor imparting cartridge 130. In that case, the cartridge 120 is provided with a mouthpiece 124 .

As another example, the suction device 100A may include multiple types of aerosol sources. Further types of aerosols may be generated by mixing multiple types of aerosols generated from multiple types of aerosol sources in the air flow path 180 and causing chemical reactions.

Also, the means for atomizing the aerosol source is not limited to heating by the heating unit 121A. For example, the means of atomizing the aerosol source may be vibrational atomization or induction heating.

(2) Second Configuration Example FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram schematically showing a second configuration example of the suction device. As shown in FIG. 2, the suction device 100B according to this configuration example includes a power supply unit 111B, a sensor unit 112B, a notification unit 113B, a storage unit 114B, a communication unit 115B, a control unit 116B, a heating unit 121B, a holding unit 140, and A heat insulating portion 144 is included.

Each of the power supply unit 111B, the sensor unit 112B, the notification unit 113B, the storage unit 114B, the communication unit 115B, and the control unit 116B is substantially the same as the corresponding components included in the suction device 100A according to the first configuration example. is.

The holding part 140 has an internal space 141 and holds the stick-shaped base material 150 while accommodating a part of the stick-shaped base material 150 in the internal space 141 . The holding part 140 has an opening 142 that communicates the internal space 141 with the outside, and holds the stick-shaped substrate 150 inserted into the internal space 141 through the opening 142 . For example, the holding portion 140 is a cylindrical body having an opening 142 and a bottom portion 143 as a bottom surface, and defines a columnar internal space 141 . An air flow path for supplying air to the internal space 141 is connected to the holding portion 140 . An air inlet hole, which is an inlet of air to the air flow path, is arranged on the side surface of the suction device 100, for example. Air outflow holes, which are outlets for air from the air flow path to the internal space 141 , are arranged, for example, in the bottom portion 143 .

The stick-type base material 150 includes a base material portion 151 and a mouthpiece portion 152 . Substrate portion 151 includes an aerosol source. In addition, in this configuration example, the aerosol source is not limited to liquid, and may be solid. When the stick-shaped base material 150 is held by the holding part 140 , at least part of the base material part 151 is accommodated in the internal space 141 and at least part of the mouthpiece part 152 protrudes from the opening 142 . When the user sucks the mouthpiece 152 protruding from the opening 142, air flows into the internal space 141 through an air flow path (not shown) and reaches the user's mouth together with the aerosol generated from the base material 151. do.

In the example shown in FIG. 2, the heating section 121B is configured in a film shape and arranged so as to cover the outer periphery of the holding section 140. In the example shown in FIG. Then, when the heating part 121B generates heat, the base material part 151 of the stick-shaped base material 150 is heated from the outer periphery, and an aerosol is generated.

The heat insulation part 144 prevents heat transfer from the heating part 121B to other components. For example, the heat insulating part 144 is made of a vacuum heat insulating material, an airgel heat insulating material, or the like.

The configuration example of the suction device 100B has been described above. Of course, the configuration of the suction device 100B is not limited to the above, and various configurations exemplified below can be adopted.

As an example, the heating part 121B may be configured in a blade shape and arranged to protrude from the bottom part 143 of the holding part 140 into the internal space 141 . In this case, the blade-shaped heating part 121B is inserted into the base material part 151 of the stick-shaped base material 150 and heats the base material part 151 of the stick-shaped base material 150 from the inside. As another example, the heating portion 121B may be arranged to cover the bottom portion 143 of the holding portion 140 . Further, the heating part 121B is a combination of two or more of the first heating part covering the outer periphery of the holding part 140, the blade-shaped second heating part, and the third heating part covering the bottom part 143 of the holding part 140. may be configured as

As another example, the holding part 140 may include an opening/closing mechanism such as a hinge that opens/closes a portion of the outer shell that forms the internal space 141 . The holding part 140 may hold the stick-shaped base material 150 inserted into the internal space 141 by opening and closing the outer shell. In that case, the heating part 121B may be provided at the holding part 140 at the holding part 140 and heat the stick-shaped base material 150 while pressing it.

Also, the means for atomizing the aerosol source is not limited to heating by the heating unit 121B. For example, the means of atomizing the aerosol source may be induction heating. In that case, the suction device 100B has at least an electromagnetic induction source such as a coil that generates a magnetic field instead of the heating unit 121B. A susceptor that generates heat by induction heating may be provided in the suction device 100B, or may be included in the stick-shaped base material 150 .

Further, the suction device 100B may further include a heating portion 121A, a liquid guiding portion 122, a liquid storing portion 123, and an air flow path 180 according to the first configuration example. Air may be supplied. In this case, the mixed fluid of the aerosol and air generated by the heating unit 121A flows into the internal space 141, is further mixed with the aerosol generated by the heating unit 121B, and reaches the oral cavity of the user.

(3) Supplement In the first configuration example, the power supply unit 110, the cartridge 120, and the flavor imparting cartridge 130 work together to generate an aerosol that is inhaled by the user. As such, the combination of power supply unit 110, cartridge 120, and flavoring cartridge 130 may be viewed as an aerosol generating system. Similarly, the suction device 100B according to the second configuration example cooperates with the stick-shaped base material 150 to generate an aerosol to be sucked by the user. Therefore, the combination of suction device 100B and stick-type substrate 150 may be regarded as an aerosol generating system.

When there is no particular need to distinguish between the suction device 100A and the suction device 100B, the letters at the end of the reference numerals are omitted, and they are also collectively referred to as the suction device 100. Similarly, when there is no particular need to distinguish between the constituent elements of the suction device 100A and the constituent elements of the suction device 100B, alphabetic letters at the end of the reference numerals are omitted. Moreover, when there is no particular need to distinguish between the cartridge 120, the flavor imparting cartridge 130, and the stick-type base material 150, these are also collectively referred to as base materials.

<1.2. System configuration example>
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the system 1 according to one embodiment of the invention. As shown in FIG. 3 , system 1 includes suction device 100 and terminal device 200 . The configuration of the suction device 100 is as described above.

The terminal device 200 is a device used by the user of the suction device 100. For example, the terminal device 200 is configured by any information processing device such as a smart phone, tablet terminal, or wearable device. Alternatively, the terminal device 200 may be a charger that houses the suction device 100 and charges the housed suction device 100 . As shown in FIG. 3, the terminal device 200 includes an input unit 210, an output unit 220, a detection unit 230, a communication unit 240, a storage unit 250, and a control unit 260.

The input unit 210 has a function of receiving input of various information. The input unit 210 may include an input device that receives input of information from the user. Input devices include, for example, buttons, keyboards, touch panels, and microphones. In addition, the input unit 210 may include various sensors such as an image sensor.

The output unit 220 has a function of outputting information. The output unit 220 may include an output device that outputs information to the user. Examples of the output device include a display device that displays information, a light emitting device that emits light, a vibration device that vibrates, and a sound output device that outputs sound. An example of a display device is a display. An example of a light emitting device is an LED (Light Emitting Diode). An example of a vibration device is an eccentric motor. An example of a sound output device is a speaker. The output unit 220 notifies the user of the information input from the control unit 260 by outputting the information.

The detection unit 230 has a function of detecting information about the terminal device 200 . The detection unit 230 may detect location information of the terminal device 200 . For example, the detection unit 230 receives GNSS signals from GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) satellites (for example, GPS signals from GPS (Global Positioning System) satellites) and obtains position information consisting of the latitude, longitude and altitude of the device. To detect. The detection unit 230 may detect motion of the terminal device 200 . For example, the detection unit 230 includes a gyro sensor and an acceleration sensor, and detects angular velocity and acceleration.

The communication unit 240 is a communication interface for transmitting and receiving information between the terminal device 200 and other devices. The communication unit 240 performs communication conforming to any wired or wireless communication standard. As such communication standards, for example, standards using USB (Universal Serial Bus), Wi-Fi (registered trademark), Bluetooth (registered trademark), NFC (Near Field Communication), or LPWA (Low Power Wide Area) are adopted. can be For example, the communication section 240 communicates with the suction device 100 .

The storage unit 250 stores various information. The storage unit 250 is configured by, for example, a non-volatile storage medium such as flash memory.

The control unit 260 functions as an arithmetic processing device or a control device, and controls overall operations within the terminal device 200 according to various programs. The control unit 260 is realized by an electronic circuit such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or a microprocessor. In addition, the control unit 260 may include a ROM (Read Only Memory) for storing programs to be used, calculation parameters, etc., and a RAM (Random Access Memory) for temporarily storing parameters that change as appropriate. The terminal device 200 executes various processes under the control of the control section 260 . Processing of information input by the input unit 210, output of information by the output unit 220, detection of information by the detection unit 230, transmission and reception of information by the communication unit 240, and storage and reading of information by the storage unit 250 are performed by the control unit 260. It is an example of processing controlled by. Other processes executed by the terminal device 200 such as information input to each component and processing based on information output from each component are also controlled by the control unit 260 .

Note that the functions of the control unit 260 may be realized using an application. The application may be pre-installed or downloaded. Also, the functions of the control unit 260 may be realized by PWA (Progressive Web Apps).

<2. Technical features>
(1) Heating Setting The suction device 100 heats the aerosol source based on the heating setting to generate an aerosol to be inhaled by the user. A heating setting is information that defines a control sequence of the heating unit 121 . A heating setting may include parameters relating to the temperature at which to heat the aerosol source. The heating settings may also include parameters relating to the time to heat the aerosol source. An example of a parameter related to the temperature for heating the aerosol source is the target value of the temperature of the heating unit 121 (hereinafter also referred to as the target temperature). The heating settings are typically designed to optimize the flavor experienced by the user when the user inhales the aerosol produced from the substrate. Thus, by generating an aerosol based on heating settings, the flavor experienced by the user can be optimized.

The heating settings used by the suction device 100A may include information defining the target temperature and the length of time to maintain the target temperature. In this case, the suction device 100A can maintain the temperature of the heating unit 121A at the target temperature for the length of time specified in the heating setting when the user's operation to instruct the start of heating is detected.

On the other hand, the heating settings used by the suction device 100B may include information that defines the time series transition of the target temperature. In this case, the suction device 100B starts heating when a user operation instructing the start of heating is detected, and changes the temperature of the heating unit 121B in the same manner as the time-series transition of the target temperature specified in the heating setting. obtain.

An example of a user operation for instructing the start of heating is an operation on the suction device 100 such as operating a switch or the like provided on the suction device 100 . An example of a user operation for instructing the start of heating is a puff. Another example of the user's operation for instructing the start of heating is inserting the stick-shaped substrate 150 into the suction device 100B. The insertion of the stick-type substrate 150 into the suction device 100B is performed by a capacitance-type proximity sensor that detects the capacitance of the space near the opening 142, or a pressure sensor that detects the pressure in the internal space 141. , can be detected.

The control unit 116 can control the temperature of the heating unit 121 based on the difference between the current temperature of the heating unit 121 (hereinafter also referred to as the actual temperature) and the target temperature. Temperature control of the heating unit 121 can be realized by, for example, known feedback control. Feedback control may be, for example, PID control (Proportional-Integral-Differential Controller). The control unit 116 can cause power from the power supply unit 111 to be supplied to the heating unit 121 in the form of pulses by pulse width modulation (PWM) or pulse frequency modulation (PFM). In that case, the control unit 116 can control the temperature of the heating unit 121 by adjusting the duty ratio or frequency of the power pulse in feedback control. Alternatively, control unit 116 may perform simple on/off control in feedback control. For example, the control unit 116 performs heating by the heating unit 121 until the actual temperature reaches the target temperature, and stops heating by the heating unit 121 when the actual temperature reaches the target temperature. When the temperature becomes low, heating by the heating unit 121 may be performed again. In addition, control section 116 may adjust the voltage in feedback control.

The temperature of the heating unit 121 can be quantified by, for example, measuring or estimating the electrical resistance of the heating unit 121 (more precisely, the heating resistor that constitutes the heating unit 121). This is because the electrical resistance value of the heating resistor changes according to the temperature. The electrical resistance value of the heating resistor can be estimated, for example, by measuring the amount of voltage drop in the heating resistor. The amount of voltage drop across the heating resistor can be measured by a voltage sensor that measures the potential difference applied to the heating resistor. In another example, the temperature of heating unit 121 can be measured by a temperature sensor such as a thermistor installed near heating unit 121 .

It should be noted that the parameter defining the temperature for heating the aerosol source included in the heating settings may be the target value of the electrical resistance value of the heating unit 121 other than the target temperature.

(2) Selection of Heating Setting The terminal device 200 selects the heating setting to be used by the suction device 100 based on the suction-related information. The inhalation-related information is information about at least one of the user's state and the environment in which the user inhales the aerosol (hereinafter also referred to as inhalation environment). Among other things, the terminal device 200 automatically selects the heating settings to be used by the suction device 100 based on suction-related information, i.e. without selection by the user. According to such a configuration, the heating setting is automatically selected according to the user's condition or the user's suction environment. Therefore, it is possible to provide the user with a comfortable inhalation experience, such as being able to enjoy an appropriate aerosol without the trouble of selecting a heating setting.

An example of suction-related information is described below.

The suction-related information regarding the user's condition may include the user's biological information. The biometric information may include information detected by so-called biosensors, such as pulse rate, blood pressure, body temperature, blood oxygen saturation, and respiratory rate. These pieces of information may be detected by a biosensor mounted on a wearable device such as the suction device 100, the terminal device 200, or a smart watch worn by the user. In addition, the biometric information may include information obtained by processing information detected by biosensors, such as the stress level and relaxation level estimated from the pulse and the number of breaths.

The suction-related information regarding the user's state may include information indicating an action taken by the user, an action the user is performing, or an action scheduled to be taken by the user. User actions include moving, standing still, exercising, sleeping, or waking up. The behavior of the user can be estimated based on the position information, acceleration, and angular velocity of the terminal device 200, biometric information of the user, or the like.

The suction-related information regarding the user's suction environment may include information regarding date and time. The information about the date and time may include information indicating features of the date and time, such as weekday/holiday, day of the week, time zone, or morning/noon/evening. The information on date and time may include information on the user's schedule, such as during work/private, during/before/after an event such as a meeting. Information about the user's schedule can be obtained by referring to information registered in the schedule application installed in the terminal device 200 .

The suction-related information about the user's suction environment may include information about the location. The location information may include the user's location information. User location information can be detected by the terminal device 200 . The location information may also include information indicating the location type of the user, such as indoor/outdoor, car/outdoor, or home/office/shop. The information indicating the type of location of the user may be obtained by combining the location information of the user with other information such as map information or moving speed of the user.

The suction-related information about the user's suction environment may include information about weather. Information about the weather may include temperature, weather such as sunny/rainy/cloudy, humidity, or wind speed. Information about the weather may be detected by a sensor mounted on the suction device 100 or the terminal device 200 . Alternatively, weather information may be obtained from a server or the like on the Internet.

The suction-related information regarding the user's suction environment may include information regarding the state of use of the suction device 100 . Information related to the usage state of the suction device 100 includes the remaining battery level, frequency of use, puff interval, and suction amount of the suction device 100 . The frequency of use of the suction device 100 is the number of stick-type substrates 150 used, the number of puffs, or the like in the most recent predetermined time period (for example, 10 minutes, or from when the power of the suction device 100 was turned on to the present). may The amount of suction may be the amount of suction per puff, or may be the total amount of suction in the most recent predetermined time period. Information about the usage state of the suction device 100 can be stored in the storage unit 114 each time the suction device 100 is used, and reported to the terminal device 200 as appropriate.

The suction-related information about the user's suction environment may include information about other suction devices 100 that exist around the user. Information about other suction devices 100 around the user may include the number, distance or density of other suction devices 100 around the user. Information about other suction devices 100 around the user may be acquired by short-range wireless communication between the suction devices 100 or may be acquired from a server that manages position information of the suction devices 100 .

An example of suction-related information has been explained above.

The terminal device 200 selects a heating setting from a plurality of heating settings that differ in at least one of a parameter related to the temperature for heating the aerosol source and a parameter related to the time to heat the aerosol source. Higher target temperatures increase the amount of aerosol and flavoring delivered to the user per puff. Also, the longer the time length for maintaining the target temperature, the longer the time for the user to enjoy the flavor. In this respect, according to this configuration, it is possible to provide a suction experience according to the user's condition or the user's suction environment. Heating settings include, for example, three heating settings: a high heating mode with a high heating temperature (that is, a target temperature), a normal mode with a medium heating temperature, and a low heating mode with a low heating temperature.

The terminal device 200 selects a heating setting based on the suction-related information and predetermined conditions (hereinafter also referred to as selection conditions).

As an example, the terminal device 200 may select a heating setting associated with a selection condition satisfied by the suction-related information. In this case, the selection condition is associated with a heating setting to be selected when the selection condition is satisfied. As an example, the high heating mode may be associated with the first selection condition, the normal mode may be associated with the second selection condition, and the low heating mode may be associated with the third selection condition. In that case, the terminal device 200 selects the high heating mode when the first selection condition is satisfied, selects the normal mode when the second selection condition is satisfied, and selects the normal mode when the third selection condition is satisfied. Select low heat mode if prompted.

The terminal device 200 may select which of the plurality of selection conditions to use for selecting the heating setting based on an instruction from the user. For example, each of the multiple selection conditions is enabled or disabled by the user. The activated selection conditions are then used to select the heating settings. A user instruction can be obtained via a display screen displayed on the terminal device 200 . An example of the display screen will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen displayed on the terminal device 200 according to this embodiment. The display screen 10 shown in FIG. 4 displays selection conditions 11A to 11C associated with the high heating mode and switches 12A to 12C for selecting activation (ON)/inactivation (OFF) of the selection conditions 11A to 11C. It is The user can activate/deactivate the selection conditions 11A-11C by selecting the switches 12A-12C on the display screen 10. FIG. In the example shown in FIG. 4,

selection conditions

11A and 11B are enabled and selection condition 11C is disabled.

"Wake-up puff" shown in selection condition 11A is satisfied when the suction-related information indicates that the user has just woken up. That is, when the selection condition 11A is activated, the high heating mode is selected immediately after waking up. The “high stress puff” shown in the selection condition 11B is satisfied when the suction-related information indicates that the stress level is high. That is, when the selection condition 11B is activated, the high heating mode is selected if the stress level is equal to or higher than the predetermined value. The “first puff after returning home” shown in the selection condition 11C is satisfied when the suction-related information indicates that the user will use the suction device 100 for the first time after returning home. That is, when the selection condition 11C is activated, the high heating mode is selected when the user uses the suction device 100 for the first time after returning home. The selection conditions 11A to 11C may be OR conditions for selecting the high heating mode. In this case, the high heating mode is selected if one or more of the activated selection conditions are met, and the normal mode is selected if none are met. The user can enjoy a comfortable sucking experience by enabling/disabling these selection conditions 11A to 11C as desired.

Of course, the correspondence between selection conditions and heating settings is not limited to the example described above. Another example is shown in Table 1 below.

Table 1 above shows an example of selection conditions associated with each of the high heating mode and the normal mode. According to the example shown in Table 1, the high heating mode can be selected during the morning or daytime hours, and the normal mode can be selected during the evening or night. Also, the high heating mode may be selected when there are many other suction devices 100 around the suction device 100, and the normal mode may be selected when there are few. In Table 1 above, an example in which one selection condition is associated with one heating setting has been described, but a plurality of selection conditions may be associated with one heating setting. For example, the selection condition regarding the time period and the selection condition regarding the temperature may be combined, and the high heating mode may be selected in the morning time period and when the temperature is less than 25°C. On the other hand, the low heating mode may be selected during the evening or night hours, or when the temperature is above 20°C.

The terminal device 200 may select a heating setting based on the periodically acquired suction-related information. For example, the suction-related information may be acquired at predetermined time intervals. According to such a configuration, the terminal device 200 can select the heating setting while constantly tracking the user's condition or the user's suction environment. That is, the terminal device 200 may select the heating setting based on the time-series transition of the suction-related information. This makes it possible to select a heating setting suitable for changes in the user's condition or the user's suction environment.

It should be noted that the acquisition surroundings may be different for each piece of information that constitutes the suction-related information, such as the pulse and blood pressure being acquired at different cycles. Further, the acquisition cycle may be different for the information acquired by the suction device 100, the information acquired by the terminal device 200, and the information acquired from outside such as a server on the Internet.

The terminal device 200 causes the suction device 100 to use the selected heating setting. For example, the terminal device 200 transmits information indicating the selected heating settings to the suction device 100 . The suction device 100 stores the heating settings indicated by the received information and subsequently heats the aerosol source based on the stored heating settings.

The terminal device 200 may switch the heating setting used by the suction device 100 during a period in which the suction device 100 does not perform heating based on the heating setting. For example, the terminal device 200 may transmit information indicating the selected heating setting to the suction device 100 while the suction device 100 is not performing heating based on the heating setting. Then, the suction device 100 may store the heating setting indicated by the received information, and heat the aerosol source based on the new heating setting from the next time. According to such a configuration, the processing load of the suction device 100 can be reduced compared to the case where the heating setting used by the suction device 100 is switched while the suction device 100 is performing heating based on the heating setting. .

(3) Flow of Processing FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the flow of processing executed by the system 1 according to this embodiment. The suction device 100 and the terminal device 200 are involved in this sequence.

As shown in FIG. 5, the suction device 100 first acquires suction-related information (step S102). For example, the suction device 100 detects biological information from the finger of the user holding the suction device 100 and reads information about the usage history of the suction device 100 from the storage unit 114 .

Next, the suction device 100 transmits the suction-related information acquired in step S102 to the terminal device 200 (step S104).

Next, the terminal device 200 acquires suction-related information (step S106). For example, the terminal device 200 acquires information on date and time by referring to information registered in the schedule application, acquires information on location based on position information, and acquires information on weather from a server on the Internet. or

Next, the terminal device 200 selects a heating setting based on the selection condition satisfied by the suction-related information received in step S104 or acquired in step S106 (step S108). For example, the terminal device 200 selects the high heating mode when the selection condition associated with the high heating mode is satisfied, and otherwise selects the normal mode.

Next, the terminal device 200 transmits information indicating the selected heating settings (step S110).

Then, the suction device 100 heats the aerosol source based on the received heating settings (step S112). For example, the suction device 100 stores the heating settings indicated by the information received in step S110. Then, the suction device 100 heats the aerosol source based on the stored heating settings when a user operation to instruct the start of heating is performed.

<3. Variation>
(1) First Modification The terminal device 200 may select a heating setting based on the number of selection conditions satisfied by the suction-related information among a plurality of selection conditions. For example, the terminal device 200 selects a heating setting according to the number of selection conditions satisfied by the suction-related information among the selection conditions associated with the high heating mode shown in Table 1 above. Table 2 below shows an example of the correspondence relationship between the number of selection conditions satisfied by the suction-related information and the heating settings.

According to the example shown in Table 2, the terminal device 200, among the selection conditions associated with the high heating mode shown in Table 1 above, if the number of selection conditions satisfied by the suction-related information is 6 or more. If the number is 2 to 5, the normal mode is selected, and if the number is 1 or less, the low heating mode is selected. Note that the relationship between the number of selection conditions satisfied by the suction-related information and the heating settings, an example of which is shown in Table 2, may be set by the user.

(2) Second Modification The terminal device 200 may select the heating setting based on the total value of the scores set for the selection conditions satisfied by the suction-related information among the plurality of selection conditions. An example of scores set as selection conditions is shown in Table 3 below. Table 4 shows an example of heating settings corresponding to the total score.

According to the examples shown in Tables 3 and 4, the terminal device 200 selects the high heating mode if the total value of the scores set in the selection conditions that the suction-related information satisfies is 30 or more. If so, the normal mode is selected, and if it is 9 or less, the low heating mode is selected. Note that the score set as the selection condition, an example of which is shown in Table 3, may be set by the user. Also, the heating setting corresponding to the total score value, an example of which is shown in Table 4, may be set by the user.

(3) Third Modification The terminal device 200 may select the heating setting based on the suction-related information acquired by triggering the suction device 100 to perform heating based on the heating setting. For example, the suction-related information may be acquired with the user's operation instructing the start of heating being performed as a trigger. Here, the suction-related information may be acquired after the user's operation instructing the start of heating is performed until the heating is actually started. Then, the suction device 100 may start heating using the heating settings selected based on the acquired suction-related information. According to such a configuration, it is possible to select a heating setting suitable for the user's state immediately before the start of heating or the user's suction environment.

(4) Fourth Modification The terminal device 200 may switch the heating setting used by the suction device 100 while the suction device 100 is performing heating based on the heating setting. For example, the terminal device 200 may transmit information indicating the selected heating setting to the suction device 100 while the suction device 100 is performing heating based on the heating setting. Then, the suction device 100 may store the heating setting indicated by the received information, and switch to a new heating setting during heating. According to such a configuration, it is possible to immediately apply heating settings suitable for the user even during heating.

(5) Fifth Modification The terminal device 200 may select heating settings further based on the type of substrate used by the suction device 100 . The type of substrate used by the suction device 100A according to the first configuration example is the brand of the cartridge 120 and the flavor imparting cartridge 130 attached to the power supply unit 110 . The type of substrate used by the suction device 100B according to the second configuration example is the brand of the stick-shaped substrate 150 inserted into the suction device 100B. The type of substrate can be identified by image recognition of the appearance of the substrate, such as the color of the substrate or a two-dimensional code such as a bar code attached to the substrate. As an example, the terminal device 200 may switch the selection conditions used to select the heating settings based on the type of substrate used by the suction device 100 . As another example, when the high heating mode is selected, the terminal device 200 selects a heating setting according to the type of substrate used by the suction device 100 from a plurality of heating settings belonging to the high heating mode. good too. While it is believed that appropriate heating settings may differ for each type of substrate, such a configuration can further improve the quality of the user's sucking experience.

(6) Sixth Modification The terminal device 200 may select which of the plurality of selection conditions to use for selecting the heating setting based on the suction-related information. As an example, the selection conditions used to select the heating settings during the morning or daytime hours may differ from the selection conditions used to select the heating settings during the evening or nighttime hours. According to such a configuration, it is possible to reduce the user's trouble as compared with the case where the user selects which of the plurality of selection conditions to use for the selection of the heating setting by himself/herself.

<4. Supplement>
Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above with reference to the accompanying drawings, the present invention is not limited to such examples. It is obvious that a person having ordinary knowledge in the technical field to which the present invention belongs can conceive of various modifications or modifications within the scope of the technical idea described in the claims. It is understood that these also belong to the technical scope of the present invention.

For example, in the above embodiment, an example was described in which the terminal device 200 functions as a control device that selects heating settings, but the present invention is not limited to such an example. As an example, the suction device 100 may function as a controller for selecting heating settings. In this case, the suction device 100 can select heating settings based on suction-related information acquired by the suction device 100 itself. Of course, the suction device 100 may select heating settings based on suction-related information received from the terminal device 200 together with or instead of suction-related information acquired by the suction device 100 itself. Further, the suction device 100 may receive suction-related information acquired by a server on the Internet directly from the server or indirectly via the terminal device 200 . As another example, an external device such as a server on the Internet may function as the control device that selects the heating settings.

A series of processes by each device described in this specification may be implemented using software, hardware, or a combination of software and hardware. A program that constitutes software is stored in advance in a recording medium (more specifically, a non-temporary computer-readable storage medium) provided inside or outside each device, for example. Each program, for example, is read into a RAM when executed by a computer that controls each device described in this specification, and is executed by a processing circuit such as a CPU. The recording medium is, for example, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a flash memory, or the like. Also, the above computer program may be distributed, for example, via a network without using a recording medium. Also, the computer may be an application-specific integrated circuit such as an ASIC, a general-purpose processor that performs functions by loading a software program, or a computer on a server used for cloud computing. Also, a series of processes by each device described in this specification may be distributed and processed by a plurality of computers.

Also, the processes described using the flowcharts and sequence diagrams in this specification do not necessarily have to be executed in the illustrated order. Some processing steps may be performed in parallel. Also, additional processing steps may be employed, and some processing steps may be omitted.

The following configuration also belongs to the technical scope of the present invention.
(1)
The heating settings used by an inhalation device that generates an aerosol that is inhaled by a user by heating an aerosol source based on the heating settings are related to at least one of the user's condition and/or the environment in which the user inhales the aerosol. a control unit that selects based on suction-related information that is information;
A control device comprising:
(2)
The control unit selects the heating setting associated with a predetermined condition satisfied by the suction-related information.
The control device according to (1) above.
(3)
The control unit selects the heating setting based on the number of predetermined conditions that the suction-related information satisfies, from among a plurality of predetermined conditions.
The control device according to (1) above.
(4)
The control unit selects the heating setting based on a total value of scores set for the predetermined conditions satisfied by the suction-related information, from among a plurality of predetermined conditions.
The control device according to (1) above.
(5)
The control unit selects which of the plurality of predetermined conditions to use for selecting the heating setting based on an instruction from the user.
The control device according to any one of (2) to (4) above.
(6)
The control unit selects which of the plurality of predetermined conditions to use for selecting the heating setting based on the suction-related information.
The control device according to any one of (2) to (4) above.
(7)
The control unit selects the heating setting based on the suction-related information obtained periodically.
The control device according to any one of (1) to (6) above.
(8)
The control unit selects the heating setting based on the suction-related information acquired by triggering the suction device to perform heating based on the heating setting.
The control device according to any one of (1) to (6) above.
(9)
The control unit switches the heating setting used by the suction device to a period in which the suction device does not perform heating based on the heating setting.
The control device according to any one of (1) to (8) above.
(10)
The control unit switches the heating setting used by the suction device while the suction device is performing heating based on the heating setting.
The control device according to any one of (1) to (8) above.
(11)
The suction-related information about the state of the user is biological information of the user, information indicating an action performed by the user, information indicating an action performed by the user, or information indicating an action scheduled to be performed by the user. , including at least one of
The control device according to any one of (1) to (10) above.
(12)
The suction-related information regarding the environment in which the user inhales the aerosol includes information regarding date and time, information regarding location, information regarding weather, information regarding the history of use of the suction device, or other suction devices existing around the user. including at least one of information about
The control device according to any one of (1) to (11) above.
(13)
the suction device generates the aerosol using a substrate containing the aerosol source;
The control unit selects the heating setting based on the type of the substrate used by the suction device.
The control device according to any one of (1) to (12) above.
(14)
The control unit selects the heating setting from a plurality of heating settings that differ in at least one of a parameter relating to the temperature for heating the aerosol source and a parameter relating to the time to heat the aerosol source.
The control device according to any one of (1) to (13) above.
(15)
An aspiration device that generates an aerosol to be inhaled by a user by heating an aerosol source based on a heating setting,
selecting the heating setting based on inhalation-related information that is information about the user's condition and/or the environment in which the user inhales the aerosol; and heating the aerosol source based on the selected heating setting. a control unit to control,
suction device.
(16)
The heating settings used by an inhalation device that generates an aerosol that is inhaled by a user by heating an aerosol source based on the heating settings is related to at least one of the user's condition and/or the environment in which the user inhales the aerosol. making a selection based on informational suction-related information;
Control method including.

1 system 100 suction device 110 power supply unit 111 power supply unit 112 sensor unit 113 notification unit 114 storage unit 115 communication unit 116 control unit 120 cartridge 121 heating unit 122 liquid guide unit 123 liquid storage unit 124 mouthpiece 130 flavor imparting cartridge 131 flavor source 140 Holding part 141 Internal space 142 Opening 143 Bottom part 144 Heat insulating part 150 Stick-shaped base material 151 Base material part 152 Mouthpiece part 180 Air channel 181 Air inflow hole 182 Air outflow hole 200 Terminal device 210 Input part 220 Output part 230 Detection part 240 Communication Part 250 Storage Part 260 Control Part

Claims

The heating settings used by an inhalation device that generates an aerosol that is inhaled by a user by heating an aerosol source based on the heating settings are related to at least one of the user's condition and/or the environment in which the user inhales the aerosol. a control unit that selects based on suction-related information that is information;
A control device comprising:
The control unit selects the heating setting associated with a predetermined condition satisfied by the suction-related information.
A control device according to claim 1 .
The control unit selects the heating setting based on the number of predetermined conditions that the suction-related information satisfies, from among a plurality of predetermined conditions.
A control device according to claim 1 .
The control unit selects the heating setting based on a total value of scores set for the predetermined conditions satisfied by the suction-related information, from among a plurality of predetermined conditions.
A control device according to claim 1 .
The control unit selects which of the plurality of predetermined conditions to use for selecting the heating setting based on an instruction from the user.
The control device according to any one of claims 2-4.
The control unit selects which of the plurality of predetermined conditions to use for selecting the heating setting based on the suction-related information.
The control device according to any one of claims 2-4.
The control unit selects the heating setting based on the suction-related information obtained periodically.
A control device according to any one of claims 1 to 6.
The control unit selects the heating setting based on the suction-related information acquired by triggering the suction device to perform heating based on the heating setting.
A control device according to any one of claims 1 to 6.
The control unit switches the heating setting used by the suction device to a period in which the suction device does not perform heating based on the heating setting.
A control device according to any one of claims 1 to 8.
The control unit switches the heating setting used by the suction device while the suction device is performing heating based on the heating setting.
A control device according to any one of claims 1 to 8.
The suction-related information about the state of the user is biological information of the user, information indicating an action performed by the user, information indicating an action performed by the user, or information indicating an action scheduled to be performed by the user. , including at least one of
A control device according to any one of claims 1 to 10.
The suction-related information regarding the environment in which the user inhales the aerosol includes information regarding date and time, information regarding location, information regarding weather, information regarding the usage state of the suction device, or other suction devices existing around the user. including at least one of information about
A control device according to any one of claims 1 to 11.
the suction device generates the aerosol using a substrate containing the aerosol source;
The control unit selects the heating setting based on the type of the substrate used by the suction device.
Control device according to any one of claims 1 to 12.
The control unit selects the heating setting from a plurality of heating settings that differ in at least one of a parameter relating to the temperature for heating the aerosol source and a parameter relating to the time to heat the aerosol source.
Control device according to any one of claims 1 to 13.
An aspiration device that generates an aerosol to be inhaled by a user by heating an aerosol source based on a heating setting,
selecting the heating setting based on inhalation-related information that is information about the user's condition and/or the environment in which the user inhales the aerosol; and heating the aerosol source based on the selected heating setting. a control unit to control,
suction device.
The heating settings used by an inhalation device that generates an aerosol that is inhaled by a user by heating an aerosol source based on the heating settings are related to at least one of the user's condition and/or the environment in which the user inhales the aerosol. making a selection based on informational suction-related information;
Control method including.