WO2024038094A1 - Genuine consumable smoking article - Google Patents

Genuine consumable smoking article Download PDF

Info

Publication number
WO2024038094A1
WO2024038094A1 PCT/EP2023/072580 EP2023072580W WO2024038094A1 WO 2024038094 A1 WO2024038094 A1 WO 2024038094A1 EP 2023072580 W EP2023072580 W EP 2023072580W WO 2024038094 A1 WO2024038094 A1 WO 2024038094A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
aerosol generating
generating substrate
aerosol
consumable
conductive material
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/EP2023/072580
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Alec WRIGHT
Grzegorz Aleksander PILATOWICZ
Original Assignee
Jt International Sa
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Jt International Sa filed Critical Jt International Sa
Publication of WO2024038094A1 publication Critical patent/WO2024038094A1/en

Links

Classifications

    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A24—TOBACCO; CIGARS; CIGARETTES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES; SMOKERS' REQUISITES
    • A24F—SMOKERS' REQUISITES; MATCH BOXES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES
    • A24F40/00—Electrically operated smoking devices; Component parts thereof; Manufacture thereof; Maintenance or testing thereof; Charging means specially adapted therefor
    • A24F40/40—Constructional details, e.g. connection of cartridges and battery parts
    • A24F40/46—Shape or structure of electric heating means
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A24—TOBACCO; CIGARS; CIGARETTES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES; SMOKERS' REQUISITES
    • A24F—SMOKERS' REQUISITES; MATCH BOXES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES
    • A24F40/00—Electrically operated smoking devices; Component parts thereof; Manufacture thereof; Maintenance or testing thereof; Charging means specially adapted therefor
    • A24F40/50—Control or monitoring
    • A24F40/53—Monitoring, e.g. fault detection
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A24—TOBACCO; CIGARS; CIGARETTES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES; SMOKERS' REQUISITES
    • A24F—SMOKERS' REQUISITES; MATCH BOXES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES
    • A24F40/00—Electrically operated smoking devices; Component parts thereof; Manufacture thereof; Maintenance or testing thereof; Charging means specially adapted therefor
    • A24F40/10—Devices using liquid inhalable precursors
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A24—TOBACCO; CIGARS; CIGARETTES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES; SMOKERS' REQUISITES
    • A24F—SMOKERS' REQUISITES; MATCH BOXES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES
    • A24F40/00—Electrically operated smoking devices; Component parts thereof; Manufacture thereof; Maintenance or testing thereof; Charging means specially adapted therefor
    • A24F40/20—Devices using solid inhalable precursors
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A24—TOBACCO; CIGARS; CIGARETTES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES; SMOKERS' REQUISITES
    • A24F—SMOKERS' REQUISITES; MATCH BOXES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES
    • A24F40/00—Electrically operated smoking devices; Component parts thereof; Manufacture thereof; Maintenance or testing thereof; Charging means specially adapted therefor
    • A24F40/40—Constructional details, e.g. connection of cartridges and battery parts
    • A24F40/44—Wicks
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A24—TOBACCO; CIGARS; CIGARETTES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES; SMOKERS' REQUISITES
    • A24F—SMOKERS' REQUISITES; MATCH BOXES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES
    • A24F40/00—Electrically operated smoking devices; Component parts thereof; Manufacture thereof; Maintenance or testing thereof; Charging means specially adapted therefor
    • A24F40/50—Control or monitoring
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A24—TOBACCO; CIGARS; CIGARETTES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES; SMOKERS' REQUISITES
    • A24F—SMOKERS' REQUISITES; MATCH BOXES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES
    • A24F40/00—Electrically operated smoking devices; Component parts thereof; Manufacture thereof; Maintenance or testing thereof; Charging means specially adapted therefor
    • A24F40/50—Control or monitoring
    • A24F40/57—Temperature control

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a method and a system for providing an inhalable aerosol to a user when a consumable is heated in an aerosol generating device.
  • An aerosol generating device or E-cigarette, is now a mainstream product to simulate a traditional tobacco cigarette.
  • E-cigarette An aerosol generating device, or E-cigarette, is now a mainstream product to simulate a traditional tobacco cigarette.
  • aerosol generating devices There are many types of aerosol generating devices, one of them having an operation method which is to heat but not burn tobacco product to generate an aerosol. This type of aerosol generating type is also referred to as a heat- not-burn device.
  • the heat-not-burn devices are usually arranged with a heating assembly, such as a resistive heating element, in contact with a consumable comprising a tobacco product, configured to heat up the tobacco product until an aerosol is formed from the tobacco.
  • a heating assembly such as a resistive heating element
  • the heating assembly usually forms a cavity into which the tobacco product is inserted and is configured to provide heat to the product inside the cavity. Since the heating assembly is provided in an area between the outside surface of the device and the tobacco product, in some devices the outside surface of the device is heated up by the heating assembly. To counteract this, traditional devices often add insulating members to the heating assembly which occupy large amounts of the volume provided by the heat-not-burn device.
  • a 1st embodiment of the invention is directed to a consumable for providing an inhalable aerosol to a user when heated in an aerosol generating device, the consumable comprising a section comprising a substantially solid aerosol generating substrate including an electrically conductive material within the aerosol generating substrate, the conductive material being configured such that it can conduct a current within the section comprising the aerosol generating substrate and thereby heat up the aerosol generating substrate to such a degree that the inhalable aerosol is generated.
  • the aerosol generating substrate By providing the aerosol generating substrate with the electrically conductive material, a current may be directly provided to the aerosol generating substrate and thereby heat the aerosol generating substrate to generate the aerosol.
  • a current may be directly provided to the aerosol generating substrate and thereby heat the aerosol generating substrate to generate the aerosol.
  • the above arrangement allows to generate the aerosol without the need of a separate heating element.
  • the insulator is no longer needed. This reduces spatial requirements in the aerosol generating device, enables lighter and smaller device designs and reduces the overall cost of the device.
  • the electrically conductive material is a porous material and/or a hygroscopic material, preferably charcoal or graphite.
  • a porous or a hygroscopic of electrically conductive material makes it easier to evenly distribute and mix the electrically conductive material in the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate. Especially, a porous material or a hygroscopic material can be easily handled.
  • the electrically conductive material has an electrical conductivity of at least too S/m, preferably at least 500 S/m, more preferably at least 1000 S/m, most preferably at least 1500 S/m.
  • the aerosol generating substrate comprises at least 5 wt.%, preferably at least 10 wt.%, more preferably at least 15 wt.% and/or at most 35, preferably at most 30 wt.% more preferably at most 25 wt.% of the electrically conductive material, on dry weight basis.
  • the electrically conductive material is in the form of powder or granulate.
  • the electrically conductive material has an average particle size similar to the distance between a first electrode and a second electrode, preferably within a tolerance of at most too pm, preferably at most 200 pm, more preferably at most 500 pm and most preferably at most 1000 pm.
  • Using a powder or granulate of electrically conductive material makes it easier to evenly distribute and mix the electrically conductive material in the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate.
  • the even distribution of the electrically conductive material in turn is beneficial, as it allows to heat the electrically conductive material more evenly.
  • a 7th embodiment of the invention is directed to a method of delivering an inhalable aerosol from an aerosol generating substrate included in a consumable according to any one of the preceding embodiments comprising the steps of applying a current to the aerosol generating substrate such that the current is conducted within the section comprising the aerosol generating substrate and thereby heats up the aerosol generating substrate to such a degree that the inhalable aerosol is generated, preferably without burning the aerosol generating substrate.
  • An 8th embodiment of the invention is directed to a method of delivering an inhalable aerosol from an aerosol generating substrate included in a consumable according to any one of embodiments 1 to 6, comprising the steps of performing a first measurement of the electrical resistance of the aerosol generating substrate and one or more subsequent measurements of the electrical resistance of the aerosol generating substrate, the one or more subsequent measurements of the electrical resistance of the aerosol generating substrate are performed after the aerosol generating substrate is heated, determining a characteristic based on the measurements, and determining whether the first characteristic fulfills a predetermined condition, wherein, if it is determined that the first characteristic fulfills the predetermined condition, the aerosol generating substrate is heated to such a degree that the aerosol is formed, and/or if it is determined that the characteristic does not fulfill the predetermined condition, it is signaled to a user that the aerosol generating device will not be heated to such a degree.
  • the aerosol generating device is safe. For example, from the above measurements it can be deduced whether the consumable is properly inserted into the device and/or whether the consumable was properly manufactured and/or whether the remaining amount of the electrically conductive material and the aerosol generating substrate is enough. By heating the consumable only if the predetermined condition is met, the user is effectively protected, or providing a current even if no consumable is inserted is prevented.
  • the predetermined condition is satisfied if the characteristic is indicative of one or more of an electrical resistance value above a first predetermined electrical resistance threshold value, an electrical resistance value below a second predetermined electrical resistance threshold value, one or more predetermined electrical resistance values and/or one or more predetermined electrical resistance values over a predetermined period of time.
  • the electrically conductive material is hygroscopic, and the predetermined condition is satisfied when the characteristic is indicative of a relatively high electrical resistance value at the time of the first measurement followed by a relatively low electrical resistance value at the time of the subsequent measurements, or the predetermined condition is satisfied when the characteristic is indicative that a magnitude of difference between a resistance value at the time of the first measurement and a resistance value at the time of the subsequent measurements is larger than a predetermined threshold.
  • the characteristic change in electrical resistance after the heating has proven to be a particularly reliable indicator for the proper manufacture of the consumable.
  • the characteristic change also shows the consumable is unused.
  • any one of the preceding embodiments further comprising the steps of performing one or more measurements of an electrical resistance of the aerosol generating substrate in one or more subsections of the section comprising the aerosol generating substrate, and based on the one or more measurements of the electrical resistance of the aerosol generating substrate in the one or more subsections of the section comprising the aerosol generating substrate, determining a status of insertion based on the characteristic, the status of insertion representing whether the aerosol generating substrate is fully inserted into the aerosol generating device or not.
  • determining the status of insertion it can be prevented that current is provided if the consumable is not yet fully inserted. This improves the safety of the device, in particular if a user carries the device in their pocket and has forgotten to turn off the device, or if a child gets hold of the device.
  • a 12th embodiment in the preceding embodiment, further comprising the step of determining an amount of unused aerosol generating substrate in the consumable based on the characteristic.
  • a 13th embodiment of the invention is directed to an aerosol generating device for heating an aerosol generating substrate of a consumable according to any of embodiments 1 to 6, comprising electrodes configured to provide a current to the aerosol generating substrate and configured to perform the methods of any of embodiments 7 to 12, wherein the electrodes are in direct contact with the section comprising the aerosol generating substrate when the consumable is inserted into the aerosol generating device.
  • the one or more electrodes are configured to contact an outer surface of the section comprising the aerosol generating substrate or are inserted into the section comprising the aerosol generating substrate.
  • the device comprising a plurality of subsections, wherein each of the subsections of the aerosol generating device comprise a subset of the electrodes, and wherein each of the subsections of the aerosol generating device is adjacent to a respective subsection of the one or more predetermined subsections of the section comprising the aerosol generating substrate when the consumable is inserted into the aerosol generating device, and/or wherein subsections of the aerosol generating device are located adjacent a cavity into which the consumable is inserted for generating the aerosol, wherein the subsections are located at an end of the cavity in a direction of insertion of the consumable into the cavity.
  • a 16th embodiment of the invention is directed to an aerosol generating system comprising an aerosol generating device according to any of embodiments 13 to 15 and a consumable according to any of embodiments 1 to 6 configured to perform any of the methods of any one of embodiments 7 to 12.
  • Figure 1 is a cross-sectional view of an aerosol generating device and a consumable in an exemplary embodiment
  • Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of the aerosol generating device and the consumable of Fig. 1, when the consumable is inserted into the device;
  • Figure 3 is a flow diagram showing a method of delivering an aerosol to a user
  • Figure 4 is a graph showing measurements of the electrical resistance of the aerosol generating substrate at a first electrical power
  • Figure 5 is a graph showing measurements of the electrical resistance of the aerosol generating substrate at a second electrical power
  • Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view of the aerosol generating device with multiple highlighted subsections and the consumable of Fig. 1, when the consumable is inserted into the device.
  • Figure 1 shows an aerosol generating device 200 with electrodes 210 and a consumable too for generating an aerosol, when heated in the aerosol generating device 200, according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention.
  • the consumable too comprises a section comprising a substantially solid aerosol generating substrate 110.
  • the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate 110 includes an electrically conductive material configured such that it can conduct a current.
  • the material is configured such that it can conduct a current within the section comprising the aerosol generating substrate 110 and thereby heat up the aerosol generating substrate 110 to such a degree that the inhalable aerosol is generated.
  • the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate no comprises a material configured to generate an aerosol when heated.
  • the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate no may comprise a tobacco material or a cellulose material.
  • an aerosol generating agent configured to enhance the amount of aerosol provided from the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate no, a flavor of the aerosol and/or or a nicotine amount in the aerosol is provided in the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate no.
  • Exemplaiy aerosol generating agents are propylene glycol (PG), vegetable glycerol (VG), nicotine and/or flavoring agents.
  • the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate no further comprises an electrically conductive material configured to conduct a current, wherein the electrically conductive material has an electrical conductivity of at least 100 S/m, preferably at least 500 S/m, more preferably at least 1,000 S/m, most preferably at least 1,500 S/m.
  • the electrically conductive material is configured to conduct a current inside the section comprising the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate 110 and thereby heat up the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate 110.
  • the aerosol is generated, preferably without burning.
  • the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate 110 is configured to form the aerosol in a range from i8o°C to 400°C, more preferably from 19O°C to 37O°C and most preferably from 200°C to 35O°C.
  • the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate 110 may comprise at least 5 wt.%, preferably at least 10 wt.%, more preferably at least 15 wt.% and/or at most 35, preferably at most 30 wt.% more preferably at most 25 wt.% of the electrically conductive material, on dry weight basis.
  • the electrically conductive material is preferably a porous and/or hygroscopic material such as charcoal or graphite/graphene.
  • the electrically conductive material is preferably in the form of powder or granulate.
  • the electrically conductive material has an average particle size similar to the distance between the electrodes, preferably within a tolerance at most too pm, more preferably of at most 200 jim, even more preferably of at most 500 pm and most preferably of at most 1000 pm.
  • the electrically conductive material has an average particle size of 1:1 relative to the distance between the electrodes, preferably of 1:5 relative to the distance between the electrodes, more preferably of 1:50 relative to the distance between the electrodes, more preferably of 1:100 relative to the distance between the electrodes and most preferable of 1:500 relative to the distance between the electrodes.
  • the consumable 100 or the aerosol generating device 200 may further comprise a mouthpiece 120.
  • the mouthpiece 120 preferably comprises an aerosol filter configured to remove undesired substances and/or particles from the aerosol. If the mouthpiece 120 is part of the aerosol generating device 200, the mouthpiece 120 may comprise the aerosol filter, and/or the consumable 100 may comprise the aerosol filter.
  • the mouthpiece 120 as part of the aerosol generating device 200 can be configured as a detachable part.
  • the aerosol generating device 200 may further form a cavity 220 configured to receive the consumable 100 inside the aerosol generating device 200.
  • the cavity 220 according to the embodiment shown in Fig. 1 has an opening at a proximal end of the aerosol generating device 200 through which the consumable too may be received.
  • the consumable too may also be inserted into an opening on a side of the aerosol generating device 200 or by means of a mechanism for creating an opening of the cavity 220.
  • the aerosol generating device 200 may consist of two main portions: a distal end portion and a proximal end portion comprising the mouthpiece 120, wherein the distal end portion and the proximal end portion are removably connectable to form the aerosol generating device 200.
  • the cavity 220 is formed in either or both of the distal end portion and/or the proximal end portion of the aerosol generating device 200.
  • the user may disassemble the aerosol generating device 200 by separating the distal end portion from the proximal end portion and insert the consumable too into the cavity 220.
  • the user may then reassemble the aerosol generating device 200 by reattaching the distal end portion to the proximal end portion to obtain the aerosol generating device 200.
  • the electrodes 210 are configured to be arranged in close proximity to the cavity 220 such that an electrical field (i.e., a difference of electrical potentials) is generated inside the cavity 220.
  • the electrical field may be generated by applying an electrical power to the electrodes 210.
  • the electrodes 210 may also provide a current directly to a sidewall of the cavity 220.
  • the electrodes 210 may be in in contact with or configured to be brought in contact with a power source, such as a battery.
  • the power source is preferably part of the aerosol generating device 200 or the consumable 100. Even though the electrodes 210 are shown as part of the aerosol generating device 200, the electrodes 210 may also be part of the consumable 100.
  • combinations of applying/inducing a voltage/ current do not relate to individual embodiments, but are different terms for the same principle, i.e., that the electrical power is applied directly to the aerosol generating substrate 110.
  • the aerosol generating device 200 and/ or the consumable too may further comprise one or more sensors configured to measure an electrical resistance of the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate 110.
  • the one or more sensors may be one or more of a voltmeter, an ammeter and/or a wattmeter.
  • voltmeter can be formed by a voltage divider circuit
  • ammeter can be formed by a combination of a shunt resistor and an operational amplifier.
  • Such outputs can be inputted into input terminal connected with an internal A/D converter, of a controller (not shown in Fig. 1).
  • the one or more sensors may be positioned in or on a surface of the cavity 220, in close proximity to the surface of the cavity 220, and/ or be part of the electrodes 210. Based on the measured resistance, the heating of the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate 110 may be controlled. A detailed description of the heating process will be described with reference to Figures 3 to 5, below.
  • Figure 2 shows the aerosol generating device 200 and the consumable too, wherein the consumable is inserted into the device 200, preferably into the cavity 220 of the aerosol generating device 200.
  • the electrodes 210 of the aerosol generating device 200 are arranged in contact with the consumable too.
  • the consumable too is configured such that a user may consume the aerosol by drawing on the consumable too, when the consumable too is inserted into the aerosol generating device 200, preferably by drawing on the mouthpiece 120.
  • the mouthpiece 120 may be part of the consumable too or the aerosol generating device 200.
  • the electrodes 210 are configured to generate an electrical field inside the cavity 220 of the aerosol generating device 200.
  • the electrical field is generated inside the section comprising the aerosol generating substrate 110. Due to the electrically conductive nature of the electrically conductive material inside the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate 110, a current is induced inside the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate 110. Thereby, the electrically conductive material heats up and in turn heats up the surrounding substantially solid aerosol generating substrate 110.
  • the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate 110 When the induced current is high enough, the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate 110 is heated up to the point where the aerosol is formed from the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate 110.
  • the electrodes 210 may be in contact with the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate 110 comprising the electrically conductive material and directly provide a current to the substrate 110 to measure the resistance and/or heat up the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate 110.
  • a user triggers the heating of the aerosol generating substrate 110 for example by pressing a button. If the user forgets to deactivate the device, or the device is activated without the user noticing, un-welcomed situations may arise.
  • Figure 3 shows a block diagram of a method for delivering the aerosol from the consumable too, according to an exemplary embodiment.
  • the consumable too and/or the aerosol generating device 200 may comprise one or more sensors for measuring the electrical resistance of the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate 110.
  • the method for delivering the aerosol from the consumable too comprises a first step (S100) of performing a first measurement of the electrical resistance of the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate, preferably by means of the one or more sensors configured to measure an electrical resistance.
  • the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate 110 is heated by applying a relatively low electrical power to the aerosol generating substrate.
  • Applying a relatively low electrical power to the aerosol generating substrate no will be considered a low power mode.
  • the electrical power applied in the low power mode is lower than the electrical power required for heating up the aerosol generating substrate no such that the aerosol is formed. Nonetheless, the electrical power is high enough such that electrically conductive material heats up and evaporates liquid attached to the electrically conductive material or comprised by the electrically conductive material.
  • the electrically conductive material when the electrically conductive material is porous and/or hygroscopic, the electrically conductive material draws moisture from the surrounding atmosphere when no electrical power is applied to the cartridge too, and releases moisture when electrical power is applied to the cartridge too.
  • the electrical power applied in the low power mode can be generated by PWM control of power transistor, or a dedicated converting circuit (e.g., LDO or DC/DC converter).
  • one or more subsequent measurements of the electrical resistance of the aerosol generating substrate no are performed in step S300.
  • the same one or more sensors may be used that already performed the first measurement.
  • the one or more subsequent measurements maybe performed for a predetermined time span and/or for a predetermined number of measurements, preferably whenever a user uses or intends to use the device.
  • the determination that a user may intend to use the device may be made by means of a gyro sensor comprised by the device and/or the cartridge 200 and/or by detecting the depression of a button. For example, when it is detected that the device 200 and/or the cartridge too is moved by means of the gyro sensor, this could be considered an “intent to use”, and the one or more subsequent measurements may be performed.
  • a characteristic is determined in step S400.
  • the characteristic represents the measurement results and comprises information on the first measurement and the one or more subsequent measurements.
  • the characteristic may represent one or more of certain resistance values, an average of the one or more measurement results, one or more changes in the electrical resistance, a degree of change in the electrical resistance, whether a resistance value is maintained or changed over a certain period of time, etc.
  • Figure 4 shows exemplary resistivity measurement results obtained by current measurements in the low power mode, from which the characteristic may be determined.
  • Figure 4 shows two iterations (cycles) of performing the steps S100 to S 300 (i.e., two cycles of a first measurement of the electrical resistance followed by heating the substrate and performing one or more subsequent measurements after/ during the heating).
  • a first cycle of the steps S100 to S300 is performed in the interval from 9 s to 20 s, and a second cycle of the respective steps is performed in the interval from 30 s to 40 s (the exact times shown in the figures may vary due to measurement accuracies of the measurement setup).
  • the first cycle maybe associated with a first use of the device and the second cycle may be associated with a subsequent use of the device.
  • the first cycle and the second cycle of Fig. 4 may be considered as part of one cycle, wherein the second cycle is considered as part of the one or more subsequent measurements of the first cycle.
  • the first measured resistance is relatively high when compared to the one or more subsequent measurements performed thereafter.
  • This peak resembles a high initial electrical resistance due to moisture attracted by/ attached to/contained in the electrically conductive material.
  • the decrease in electrical resistance is attributed to heating the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate 110 comprising the preferably electrically conductive material. That is, when the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate 110 is heated, liquid attracted by/attached to the electrically conductive material evaporates. Since liquids, such as water, have a relatively high electrical resistance, when compared to the electrically conductive material, the resistance decreases once the liquid evaporates.
  • the first characteristic may be the characteristic which is to be determined in step S400. However, the first characteristic may also be only a part of the characteristic which is to be determined in step S400 and the characteristic which is determined in step S400 may also require a second and/or a third characteristic, such as a certain resistance value and/or a specific amount of change in the electric resistance.
  • the second section of the graph of Fig. 4 shows the second measurement cycle.
  • This cycle also comprises a first measurement and one or more subsequent measurements.
  • the measurement results of the second cycle show a similar behavior as the measurement results the first cycle. That is, after an initial high resistance measured in the first measurement (prior to the heating) one or more subsequent relatively low resistances are measured (after the heating). However, when compared to the initial resistance of the first cycle, the initial resistance of the second cycle is lower (by about 50%). Such the initial resistance of the second cycle can be explained by that the liquid in the atmosphere is captured by the aerosol generating substrate no.
  • the first characteristic and the second characteristic may form the characteristic that is to be determined in step S400 or may be regarded as individual characteristics of respective individual applications of the method for heating the consumable 100 as shown in Fig. 3.
  • the characteristic After obtaining the characteristic, it is determined whether the characteristic fulfills a predetermined condition in step S500.
  • the predetermined condition may be satisfied if the characteristic is indicative of one or more of an electrical resistance value above a first predetermined electrical resistance threshold value, an electrical resistance value below a second predetermined electrical resistance threshold value, one or more predetermined electrical resistance values and/or one or more predetermined electrical resistance values over a predetermined period of time.
  • the predetermined condition may be satisfied when the characteristic is indicative of a relatively high electrical resistance value at the time of the first measurement followed by a relatively low electrical resistance value at the time of the subsequent measurements, or the predetermined condition is satisfied when the characteristic indicates that the difference between a resistance value at the time of the first measurement and a resistance value at the time of the subsequent measurements is larger than a predetermined threshold.
  • each of the cycles has a relatively large initial resistance value followed by a series of relatively constant, low electrical resistances.
  • the subsequent series of relatively constant, low electrical resistances may also be an additional or alternative characteristic that may satisfy the predetermined condition.
  • the predetermined condition may also require that the initial resistances of subsequent cycles after the first cycle also have an initial resistance of at least a certain value, relative to the initial resistance of the first (or of a previous) cycle. For example, if the predetermined condition requires that the initial resistance of the second cycle is at least 70% of the initial resistance of the first cycle, then the predetermined condition would not be considered fulfilled in the example shown in Fig. 4, where the initial resistance of the second cycle is about 50% of the first initial resistance.
  • a correlation between the initial electrical resistance value of the second cycle relative to the initial electrical resistance value of the first cycle may be time dependent.
  • the electrically conductive material is hygroscopic, it draws moisture from the surrounding atmosphere and the more time passes, the more moisture is drawn by the electrically conductive material and the more the initial resistance increases.
  • a period of time between the first cycle and the second cycle is about 9s. That is, 9 seconds have passed between the end of the first cycle and the beginning of the second cycle. After these 9 seconds, the initial resistance of the first measurement in the second cycle shows a 50% drop, with regards to the initial resistance of the first cycle.
  • the initial resistance of the second cycle increases and vice versa. For example, if the period of time between the two measurements is as low as a few milliseconds, the initial resistance of the second cycle may be as low as 30% of the initial resistance of the first cycle. On the other side, if the period of time between the first cycle and the second cycle contains a few minutes, the initial resistance of the second cycle may be above 90% of the initial resistance of the first cycle.
  • the relative amounts of the initial resistances can be used as an indication of the remaining unused substantially solid aerosol generating substrate 110 in the consumable too. That is, for determining how much of the aerosol generating substrate too has been dried up through heating, because the more unused, moister aerosol generating substrate 110 is present in the consumable too, the higher is the initial resistance of the measurements.
  • the amount of the initial resistance of one or more subsequent cycles can be characteristic of the material in the consumable too. That is, the resistance of the initial measurement may be higher and increase faster in the period of time, if the electrically conductive material is more hygroscopic. Moreover, the high initial resistance followed by a large reduction in the resistance is a possible indicator for an electrically conductive material having strong hygroscopic properties. This is because the more hygroscopic a material is, the more moisture is drawn by the electrically conductive material from its surrounding and released after heating. This allows to determine the material composition of the substrate, which can be used as a quality measure that prevents consuming products that are improperly manufactured, for example by impurities in the substrate.
  • the consumable too is heated such that the aerosol is formed in step S6oo. Subsequently, the user may receive an indication from the device 200 and/or the cartridge too that the consumable too is heated in step S700.
  • the consumable too is not heated in step S700 and no aerosol is formed. This may occur if an incorrect consumable, a fully used consumable, and/ or no consumable is inserted into the aerosol generating device 200. Subsequently, the user may receive an indication that the consumable too is not heated in step S710.
  • the above measurements are preferably performed in the low-power mode.
  • the first and the one or more subsequent measurements may also be performed in a high-power mode where the aerosol is formed from the aerosol generating substrate 110.
  • the measurements in the high-power mode maybe used to determine defects of the consumable too and/or that the aerosol generating substrate 110 from the consumable too is starting to be fully used, which could lead to an unpleasant taste for the user.
  • Figure 5 shows measurements in the high-power mode according to another embodiment of the invention.
  • the horizontal lines in figures 3 and 4 represent the same power values, i.e., the first horizontal line in figures 3 and 4 represents a value n, the second horizonal line represents a value of 2n, the third horizontal line represents a value of 3n, the fourth horizontal line represents a value of 4n, and so on.
  • the target applied power was in the range of 2 to 2.5 times the target power in the low power mode. This is sufficient to heat up the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate 110 such that the aerosol is formed.
  • the electrical power applied in the high-power mode can be generated by a dedicated converting circuit (e.g., DC/DC converter).
  • measurements can also be performed in this mode to confirm the propriety of the consumable 100.
  • the example shown in Fig. 5 relates to a proper product. That is, even though the electrical resistance range is relatively broad compared to the example shown in Fig. 4, the power range is relatively constant in the range of 15 to 20 Watts. This could for example be defined as the predetermined condition.
  • An improper product could have power levels of above 30, 40 or even 50 Watts, or power levels below 10 or even 5 Watts. In this case, the heating of the device would be stopped, and unpleasant experience of the user would be prevented, for example, if an aerosol generating substrate 110 having a manufacturing error is inserted.
  • Figure 6 shows another embodiment according to which the above method may also be used to determine whether the consumable 100 is properly inserted into the cavity 220 of the device.
  • the measurements of the electrical resistance are taken in one or more subsections of the section comprising the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate 311. Based on the one or more measurements of the electrical resistance of the aerosol generating substrate 110 in the one or more subsections 311, a status of insertion is determined, which represents whether the consumable 100 is fully inserted, partially inserted or not inserted into the aerosol generating device 200.
  • the aerosol generating device 200 may also comprise a plurality of subsections 310.
  • Each of the subsections of the aerosol generating device may comprise a subset of the electrodes.
  • each of the subsections of the aerosol generating device 310 is adjacent to a respective subsection of the one or more subsections of the section comprising the aerosol generating substrate 311 when the consumable 100 is inserted into the aerosol generating device 200.
  • the subsections of the section comprising the aerosol generating substrate 311 are predetermined.
  • the subsections of the aerosol generating device 310 may be located adjacent to the cavity 220 into which the consumable 100 is inserted, wherein the subsections 310 are at least located at an end of the cavity 220 in a direction of insertion of the consumable 100 into the cavity 220.
  • This may be a characteristic, part of a characteristic, a predetermined condition or part of a predetermined condition.
  • the cartridge too may also be configured such that it can be used with aerosol generating devices 200 having traditional heating elements, in particular inductive or resistive heating elements that heat the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate no by means of conduction heating. Even though the heating by means of the electrically conductive material might not be used in these cases, the electrically conductive materials are often good thermal conductors, which provides the beneficial effect of distributing the heat from the heating elements more thoroughly/ uniform.
  • a device comprising heating elements comprises sensors configured to measure an electrical resistance
  • the method for delivering the aerosol to the user as described with reference to Figures 3 to 5 can be used to improve the safety of the device.
  • the low power measurements before the generation of the aerosol may be together with high power measurements during generation of the aerosol. If the low power measurement before the generation of the aerosol is omitted, the initial high resistance also can be observed in the high-power mode. Similarly, determination of the state of insertion and determination of the remaining unused aerosol generating substrate 110 may be performed as well as determining a certain electrical resistance range and/or a change in a resistance after the initial heating.
  • the aerosol generating device 200 and the consumable 100 may also be used in an aerosol generating system configured to provide an aerosol to the user.
  • any of the above-described methods/embodiments may also be implemented as a computer program executed by a processor.

Abstract

The invention relates to a method of delivering an inhalable aerosol from an aerosol generating substrate included in a consumable comprising a section comprising a substantially solid aerosol generating substrate including an electrically conductive material within the aerosol generating substrate, the conductive material being configured such that it can conduct a current within the section comprising the aerosol generating substrate and thereby heat up the aerosol generating substrate to such a degree that the inhalable aerosol is generated. The method comprising the steps of: performing a first measurement of the electrical resistance of the aerosol generating substrate and one or more subsequent measurements of the electrical resistance of the aerosol generating substrate, wherein the one or more subsequent measurements of the electrical resistance of the aerosol generating substrate are performed after the aerosol generating substrate is heated, determining a characteristic based on the measurements, and determining whether the characteristic fulfills a predetermined condition, wherein, if it is determined that the characteristic fulfills the predetermined condition, the aerosol generating substrate is heated to such a degree that the aerosol is formed, and/or if it is determined that the characteristic does not fulfill the predetermined condition, it is signaled to a user that the aerosol generating substrate will not be heated to such a degree. The invention also relates to a system configured to perform the above steps.

Description

GENUINE CONSUMABLE SMOKING ARTICLE
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a method and a system for providing an inhalable aerosol to a user when a consumable is heated in an aerosol generating device.
BACKGROUND
An aerosol generating device, or E-cigarette, is now a mainstream product to simulate a traditional tobacco cigarette. There are many types of aerosol generating devices, one of them having an operation method which is to heat but not burn tobacco product to generate an aerosol. This type of aerosol generating type is also referred to as a heat- not-burn device.
The heat-not-burn devices are usually arranged with a heating assembly, such as a resistive heating element, in contact with a consumable comprising a tobacco product, configured to heat up the tobacco product until an aerosol is formed from the tobacco. In traditional heat-not-burn devices, the heating assembly usually forms a cavity into which the tobacco product is inserted and is configured to provide heat to the product inside the cavity. Since the heating assembly is provided in an area between the outside surface of the device and the tobacco product, in some devices the outside surface of the device is heated up by the heating assembly. To counteract this, traditional devices often add insulating members to the heating assembly which occupy large amounts of the volume provided by the heat-not-burn device.
It is desired to provide a device and a method for delivering an aerosol to a user where the user is protected while excessive spatial requirements and cost of the device are reduced.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a device and a method which solves some of or all of the above problems. A 1st embodiment of the invention is directed to a consumable for providing an inhalable aerosol to a user when heated in an aerosol generating device, the consumable comprising a section comprising a substantially solid aerosol generating substrate including an electrically conductive material within the aerosol generating substrate, the conductive material being configured such that it can conduct a current within the section comprising the aerosol generating substrate and thereby heat up the aerosol generating substrate to such a degree that the inhalable aerosol is generated.
By providing the aerosol generating substrate with the electrically conductive material, a current may be directly provided to the aerosol generating substrate and thereby heat the aerosol generating substrate to generate the aerosol. Thus, the above arrangement allows to generate the aerosol without the need of a separate heating element. Above- mentioned the insulator is no longer needed. This reduces spatial requirements in the aerosol generating device, enables lighter and smaller device designs and reduces the overall cost of the device.
According to a 2nd embodiment, in the 1st embodiment, the electrically conductive material is a porous material and/or a hygroscopic material, preferably charcoal or graphite.
Using a porous or a hygroscopic of electrically conductive material makes it easier to evenly distribute and mix the electrically conductive material in the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate. Especially, a porous material or a hygroscopic material can be easily handled.
According to a 3rd embodiment, in any one of the preceding embodiments, the electrically conductive material has an electrical conductivity of at least too S/m, preferably at least 500 S/m, more preferably at least 1000 S/m, most preferably at least 1500 S/m.
According to a 4th embodiment, in any one of the preceding embodiments, the aerosol generating substrate comprises at least 5 wt.%, preferably at least 10 wt.%, more preferably at least 15 wt.% and/or at most 35, preferably at most 30 wt.% more preferably at most 25 wt.% of the electrically conductive material, on dry weight basis.
According to a 5th embodiment, in any one of the preceding embodiments, the electrically conductive material is in the form of powder or granulate. According to a 6th embodiment, in the preceding embodiment, the electrically conductive material has an average particle size similar to the distance between a first electrode and a second electrode, preferably within a tolerance of at most too pm, preferably at most 200 pm, more preferably at most 500 pm and most preferably at most 1000 pm.
Using a powder or granulate of electrically conductive material makes it easier to evenly distribute and mix the electrically conductive material in the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate. The even distribution of the electrically conductive material in turn is beneficial, as it allows to heat the electrically conductive material more evenly.
A 7th embodiment of the invention is directed to a method of delivering an inhalable aerosol from an aerosol generating substrate included in a consumable according to any one of the preceding embodiments comprising the steps of applying a current to the aerosol generating substrate such that the current is conducted within the section comprising the aerosol generating substrate and thereby heats up the aerosol generating substrate to such a degree that the inhalable aerosol is generated, preferably without burning the aerosol generating substrate.
An 8th embodiment of the invention is directed to a method of delivering an inhalable aerosol from an aerosol generating substrate included in a consumable according to any one of embodiments 1 to 6, comprising the steps of performing a first measurement of the electrical resistance of the aerosol generating substrate and one or more subsequent measurements of the electrical resistance of the aerosol generating substrate, the one or more subsequent measurements of the electrical resistance of the aerosol generating substrate are performed after the aerosol generating substrate is heated, determining a characteristic based on the measurements, and determining whether the first characteristic fulfills a predetermined condition, wherein, if it is determined that the first characteristic fulfills the predetermined condition, the aerosol generating substrate is heated to such a degree that the aerosol is formed, and/or if it is determined that the characteristic does not fulfill the predetermined condition, it is signaled to a user that the aerosol generating device will not be heated to such a degree.
With the above, it is possible ensure that the use of the aerosol generating device is safe. For example, from the above measurements it can be deduced whether the consumable is properly inserted into the device and/or whether the consumable was properly manufactured and/or whether the remaining amount of the electrically conductive material and the aerosol generating substrate is enough. By heating the consumable only if the predetermined condition is met, the user is effectively protected, or providing a current even if no consumable is inserted is prevented.
According to a 9th embodiment, in any one of the preceding embodiments, the predetermined condition is satisfied if the characteristic is indicative of one or more of an electrical resistance value above a first predetermined electrical resistance threshold value, an electrical resistance value below a second predetermined electrical resistance threshold value, one or more predetermined electrical resistance values and/or one or more predetermined electrical resistance values over a predetermined period of time.
According to a 10th embodiment, in any one of the preceding embodiments, the electrically conductive material is hygroscopic, and the predetermined condition is satisfied when the characteristic is indicative of a relatively high electrical resistance value at the time of the first measurement followed by a relatively low electrical resistance value at the time of the subsequent measurements, or the predetermined condition is satisfied when the characteristic is indicative that a magnitude of difference between a resistance value at the time of the first measurement and a resistance value at the time of the subsequent measurements is larger than a predetermined threshold.
Having a variety of possible predetermined conditions allows to tailor the predetermined condition in accordance with the respective mixture of the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate. In particular, if a hygroscopic electrically conductive material is used, the characteristic change in electrical resistance after the heating has proven to be a particularly reliable indicator for the proper manufacture of the consumable. The characteristic change also shows the consumable is unused.
According to an 11th embodiment, in any one of the preceding embodiments, further comprising the steps of performing one or more measurements of an electrical resistance of the aerosol generating substrate in one or more subsections of the section comprising the aerosol generating substrate, and based on the one or more measurements of the electrical resistance of the aerosol generating substrate in the one or more subsections of the section comprising the aerosol generating substrate, determining a status of insertion based on the characteristic, the status of insertion representing whether the aerosol generating substrate is fully inserted into the aerosol generating device or not. By determining the status of insertion, it can be prevented that current is provided if the consumable is not yet fully inserted. This improves the safety of the device, in particular if a user carries the device in their pocket and has forgotten to turn off the device, or if a child gets hold of the device.
According to a 12th embodiment, in the preceding embodiment, further comprising the step of determining an amount of unused aerosol generating substrate in the consumable based on the characteristic.
With the above, it is possible to prevent that a user performs a puff with a fully used consumable. This makes sure that the user does not have an unpleasant experience when using the device.
A 13th embodiment of the invention is directed to an aerosol generating device for heating an aerosol generating substrate of a consumable according to any of embodiments 1 to 6, comprising electrodes configured to provide a current to the aerosol generating substrate and configured to perform the methods of any of embodiments 7 to 12, wherein the electrodes are in direct contact with the section comprising the aerosol generating substrate when the consumable is inserted into the aerosol generating device.
According to a 14th embodiment, in any one of the preceding embodiments, the one or more electrodes are configured to contact an outer surface of the section comprising the aerosol generating substrate or are inserted into the section comprising the aerosol generating substrate.
According to a 15th embodiment, in any one of the preceding embodiments, the device comprising a plurality of subsections, wherein each of the subsections of the aerosol generating device comprise a subset of the electrodes, and wherein each of the subsections of the aerosol generating device is adjacent to a respective subsection of the one or more predetermined subsections of the section comprising the aerosol generating substrate when the consumable is inserted into the aerosol generating device, and/or wherein subsections of the aerosol generating device are located adjacent a cavity into which the consumable is inserted for generating the aerosol, wherein the subsections are located at an end of the cavity in a direction of insertion of the consumable into the cavity.
A 16th embodiment of the invention is directed to an aerosol generating system comprising an aerosol generating device according to any of embodiments 13 to 15 and a consumable according to any of embodiments 1 to 6 configured to perform any of the methods of any one of embodiments 7 to 12.
Preferred embodiments are now described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1: is a cross-sectional view of an aerosol generating device and a consumable in an exemplary embodiment;
Figure 2: is a cross-sectional view of the aerosol generating device and the consumable of Fig. 1, when the consumable is inserted into the device;
Figure 3: is a flow diagram showing a method of delivering an aerosol to a user;
Figure 4: is a graph showing measurements of the electrical resistance of the aerosol generating substrate at a first electrical power;
Figure 5: is a graph showing measurements of the electrical resistance of the aerosol generating substrate at a second electrical power;
Figure 6: is a cross-sectional view of the aerosol generating device with multiple highlighted subsections and the consumable of Fig. 1, when the consumable is inserted into the device.
DETAILED DSCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Preferred embodiments of the present invention are described hereinafter with reference to the drawings.
Figure 1 shows an aerosol generating device 200 with electrodes 210 and a consumable too for generating an aerosol, when heated in the aerosol generating device 200, according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention. The consumable too comprises a section comprising a substantially solid aerosol generating substrate 110. The substantially solid aerosol generating substrate 110 includes an electrically conductive material configured such that it can conduct a current. In particular, the material is configured such that it can conduct a current within the section comprising the aerosol generating substrate 110 and thereby heat up the aerosol generating substrate 110 to such a degree that the inhalable aerosol is generated. The substantially solid aerosol generating substrate no comprises a material configured to generate an aerosol when heated. For example, the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate no may comprise a tobacco material or a cellulose material. In some embodiments, an aerosol generating agent configured to enhance the amount of aerosol provided from the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate no, a flavor of the aerosol and/or or a nicotine amount in the aerosol is provided in the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate no. Exemplaiy aerosol generating agents are propylene glycol (PG), vegetable glycerol (VG), nicotine and/or flavoring agents.
The substantially solid aerosol generating substrate no further comprises an electrically conductive material configured to conduct a current, wherein the electrically conductive material has an electrical conductivity of at least 100 S/m, preferably at least 500 S/m, more preferably at least 1,000 S/m, most preferably at least 1,500 S/m.
When a voltage is applied to the section comprising the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate 110, the electrically conductive material is configured to conduct a current inside the section comprising the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate 110 and thereby heat up the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate 110. When the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate 110 is heated up to a certain point, the aerosol is generated, preferably without burning. The substantially solid aerosol generating substrate 110 is configured to form the aerosol in a range from i8o°C to 400°C, more preferably from 19O°C to 37O°C and most preferably from 200°C to 35O°C. To obtain a homogenous and thorough heating of the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate 110 it is preferred to distribute/arrange the electrically conductive material homogenously in the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate 110, wherein the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate 110 may comprise at least 5 wt.%, preferably at least 10 wt.%, more preferably at least 15 wt.% and/or at most 35, preferably at most 30 wt.% more preferably at most 25 wt.% of the electrically conductive material, on dry weight basis. The electrically conductive material is preferably a porous and/or hygroscopic material such as charcoal or graphite/graphene. To evenly distribute/arrange the electrically conductive material in the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate no, the electrically conductive material is preferably in the form of powder or granulate. Preferably, the electrically conductive material has an average particle size similar to the distance between the electrodes, preferably within a tolerance at most too pm, more preferably of at most 200 jim, even more preferably of at most 500 pm and most preferably of at most 1000 pm. In another embodiment, the electrically conductive material has an average particle size of 1:1 relative to the distance between the electrodes, preferably of 1:5 relative to the distance between the electrodes, more preferably of 1:50 relative to the distance between the electrodes, more preferably of 1:100 relative to the distance between the electrodes and most preferable of 1:500 relative to the distance between the electrodes.
The consumable 100 or the aerosol generating device 200 may further comprise a mouthpiece 120. The mouthpiece 120 preferably comprises an aerosol filter configured to remove undesired substances and/or particles from the aerosol. If the mouthpiece 120 is part of the aerosol generating device 200, the mouthpiece 120 may comprise the aerosol filter, and/or the consumable 100 may comprise the aerosol filter. The mouthpiece 120 as part of the aerosol generating device 200 can be configured as a detachable part.
The aerosol generating device 200 may further form a cavity 220 configured to receive the consumable 100 inside the aerosol generating device 200. The cavity 220 according to the embodiment shown in Fig. 1 has an opening at a proximal end of the aerosol generating device 200 through which the consumable too may be received. However, the consumable too may also be inserted into an opening on a side of the aerosol generating device 200 or by means of a mechanism for creating an opening of the cavity 220. For example, the aerosol generating device 200 may consist of two main portions: a distal end portion and a proximal end portion comprising the mouthpiece 120, wherein the distal end portion and the proximal end portion are removably connectable to form the aerosol generating device 200. In this example, the cavity 220 is formed in either or both of the distal end portion and/or the proximal end portion of the aerosol generating device 200. To insert the consumable too into the aerosol generating device 200, the user may disassemble the aerosol generating device 200 by separating the distal end portion from the proximal end portion and insert the consumable too into the cavity 220. When the consumable too is inserted, the user may then reassemble the aerosol generating device 200 by reattaching the distal end portion to the proximal end portion to obtain the aerosol generating device 200.
As shown in Fig. 1, the electrodes 210 are configured to be arranged in close proximity to the cavity 220 such that an electrical field (i.e., a difference of electrical potentials) is generated inside the cavity 220. The electrical field may be generated by applying an electrical power to the electrodes 210. The electrodes 210 may also provide a current directly to a sidewall of the cavity 220. The electrodes 210 may be in in contact with or configured to be brought in contact with a power source, such as a battery. The power source is preferably part of the aerosol generating device 200 or the consumable 100. Even though the electrodes 210 are shown as part of the aerosol generating device 200, the electrodes 210 may also be part of the consumable 100.
In the following, combinations of applying/inducing a voltage/ current do not relate to individual embodiments, but are different terms for the same principle, i.e., that the electrical power is applied directly to the aerosol generating substrate 110.
The aerosol generating device 200 and/ or the consumable too may further comprise one or more sensors configured to measure an electrical resistance of the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate 110. The one or more sensors may be one or more of a voltmeter, an ammeter and/or a wattmeter. For example, such voltmeter can be formed by a voltage divider circuit, and such ammeter can be formed by a combination of a shunt resistor and an operational amplifier. Such outputs can be inputted into input terminal connected with an internal A/D converter, of a controller (not shown in Fig. 1). The one or more sensors may be positioned in or on a surface of the cavity 220, in close proximity to the surface of the cavity 220, and/ or be part of the electrodes 210. Based on the measured resistance, the heating of the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate 110 may be controlled. A detailed description of the heating process will be described with reference to Figures 3 to 5, below.
Figure 2 shows the aerosol generating device 200 and the consumable too, wherein the consumable is inserted into the device 200, preferably into the cavity 220 of the aerosol generating device 200. In the preferred embodiment, the electrodes 210 of the aerosol generating device 200 are arranged in contact with the consumable too.
The consumable too is configured such that a user may consume the aerosol by drawing on the consumable too, when the consumable too is inserted into the aerosol generating device 200, preferably by drawing on the mouthpiece 120. As described with reference to Fig. 1 above, the mouthpiece 120 may be part of the consumable too or the aerosol generating device 200.
As described wit reference to Fig. 1 above, the electrodes 210 are configured to generate an electrical field inside the cavity 220 of the aerosol generating device 200. When the consumable too is inserted into the cavity 220 of the aerosol generating device 200 and IO the electrodes 210 are brought into relative proximity of the section comprising the aerosol generating substrate 110, the electrical field is generated inside the section comprising the aerosol generating substrate 110. Due to the electrically conductive nature of the electrically conductive material inside the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate 110, a current is induced inside the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate 110. Thereby, the electrically conductive material heats up and in turn heats up the surrounding substantially solid aerosol generating substrate 110. When the induced current is high enough, the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate 110 is heated up to the point where the aerosol is formed from the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate 110. In another embodiment, the electrodes 210 may be in contact with the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate 110 comprising the electrically conductive material and directly provide a current to the substrate 110 to measure the resistance and/or heat up the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate 110.
In typical aerosol generating devices, a user triggers the heating of the aerosol generating substrate 110 for example by pressing a button. If the user forgets to deactivate the device, or the device is activated without the user noticing, un-welcomed situations may arise.
A method for delivering the aerosol from the consumable too that overcomes this issue, according to exemplary embodiments, is described with reference to Figures 3 to 5 below.
Figure 3 shows a block diagram of a method for delivering the aerosol from the consumable too, according to an exemplary embodiment. As described above, the consumable too and/or the aerosol generating device 200 may comprise one or more sensors for measuring the electrical resistance of the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate 110.
In the exemplary method shown in Fig. 3, the method for delivering the aerosol from the consumable too comprises a first step (S100) of performing a first measurement of the electrical resistance of the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate, preferably by means of the one or more sensors configured to measure an electrical resistance.
In a second step (S200), the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate 110 is heated by applying a relatively low electrical power to the aerosol generating substrate. Applying a relatively low electrical power to the aerosol generating substrate no will be considered a low power mode. The electrical power applied in the low power mode is lower than the electrical power required for heating up the aerosol generating substrate no such that the aerosol is formed. Nonetheless, the electrical power is high enough such that electrically conductive material heats up and evaporates liquid attached to the electrically conductive material or comprised by the electrically conductive material. Preferably, when the electrically conductive material is porous and/or hygroscopic, the electrically conductive material draws moisture from the surrounding atmosphere when no electrical power is applied to the cartridge too, and releases moisture when electrical power is applied to the cartridge too. The electrical power applied in the low power mode can be generated by PWM control of power transistor, or a dedicated converting circuit (e.g., LDO or DC/DC converter).
After heating the aerosol generating substrate no by applying the low electrical power to the cartridge too in step S200, one or more subsequent measurements of the electrical resistance of the aerosol generating substrate no are performed in step S300. For the one or more subsequent measurements, the same one or more sensors may be used that already performed the first measurement. The one or more subsequent measurements maybe performed for a predetermined time span and/or for a predetermined number of measurements, preferably whenever a user uses or intends to use the device. The determination that a user may intend to use the device may be made by means of a gyro sensor comprised by the device and/or the cartridge 200 and/or by detecting the depression of a button. For example, when it is detected that the device 200 and/or the cartridge too is moved by means of the gyro sensor, this could be considered an “intent to use”, and the one or more subsequent measurements may be performed.
Based on the measurement results obtained in steps S100 and S300, a characteristic is determined in step S400. The characteristic represents the measurement results and comprises information on the first measurement and the one or more subsequent measurements. For example, the characteristic may represent one or more of certain resistance values, an average of the one or more measurement results, one or more changes in the electrical resistance, a degree of change in the electrical resistance, whether a resistance value is maintained or changed over a certain period of time, etc.
Figure 4 shows exemplary resistivity measurement results obtained by current measurements in the low power mode, from which the characteristic may be determined. Figure 4 shows two iterations (cycles) of performing the steps S100 to S 300 (i.e., two cycles of a first measurement of the electrical resistance followed by heating the substrate and performing one or more subsequent measurements after/ during the heating).
According to the example of Fig. 4, a first cycle of the steps S100 to S300 is performed in the interval from 9 s to 20 s, and a second cycle of the respective steps is performed in the interval from 30 s to 40 s (the exact times shown in the figures may vary due to measurement accuracies of the measurement setup). The first cycle maybe associated with a first use of the device and the second cycle may be associated with a subsequent use of the device. In other examples, the first cycle and the second cycle of Fig. 4 may be considered as part of one cycle, wherein the second cycle is considered as part of the one or more subsequent measurements of the first cycle.
In the first section of the graph shown in Fig. 4, which relates to the first cycle, the first measured resistance is relatively high when compared to the one or more subsequent measurements performed thereafter. This peak resembles a high initial electrical resistance due to moisture attracted by/ attached to/contained in the electrically conductive material. The decrease in electrical resistance is attributed to heating the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate 110 comprising the preferably electrically conductive material. That is, when the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate 110 is heated, liquid attracted by/attached to the electrically conductive material evaporates. Since liquids, such as water, have a relatively high electrical resistance, when compared to the electrically conductive material, the resistance decreases once the liquid evaporates. Once the liquid attracted by/attached to the electrically conductive material is fully evaporated, the electrical resistance is substantially constant. This behavior may be considered as a first characteristic. The first characteristic may be the characteristic which is to be determined in step S400. However, the first characteristic may also be only a part of the characteristic which is to be determined in step S400 and the characteristic which is determined in step S400 may also require a second and/or a third characteristic, such as a certain resistance value and/or a specific amount of change in the electric resistance.
The second section of the graph of Fig. 4 shows the second measurement cycle. This cycle also comprises a first measurement and one or more subsequent measurements. The measurement results of the second cycle show a similar behavior as the measurement results the first cycle. That is, after an initial high resistance measured in the first measurement (prior to the heating) one or more subsequent relatively low resistances are measured (after the heating). However, when compared to the initial resistance of the first cycle, the initial resistance of the second cycle is lower (by about 50%). Such the initial resistance of the second cycle can be explained by that the liquid in the atmosphere is captured by the aerosol generating substrate no.
The first characteristic and the second characteristic may form the characteristic that is to be determined in step S400 or may be regarded as individual characteristics of respective individual applications of the method for heating the consumable 100 as shown in Fig. 3.
After obtaining the characteristic, it is determined whether the characteristic fulfills a predetermined condition in step S500. For example, the predetermined condition may be satisfied if the characteristic is indicative of one or more of an electrical resistance value above a first predetermined electrical resistance threshold value, an electrical resistance value below a second predetermined electrical resistance threshold value, one or more predetermined electrical resistance values and/or one or more predetermined electrical resistance values over a predetermined period of time.
In another example, preferably when the electrically conductive material is hygroscopic, the predetermined condition may be satisfied when the characteristic is indicative of a relatively high electrical resistance value at the time of the first measurement followed by a relatively low electrical resistance value at the time of the subsequent measurements, or the predetermined condition is satisfied when the characteristic indicates that the difference between a resistance value at the time of the first measurement and a resistance value at the time of the subsequent measurements is larger than a predetermined threshold.
This predetermined condition would be considered fulfilled by the first cycle and by the second cycle shown in Fig. 4. It can be seen that each of the cycles has a relatively large initial resistance value followed by a series of relatively constant, low electrical resistances. In fact, the subsequent series of relatively constant, low electrical resistances may also be an additional or alternative characteristic that may satisfy the predetermined condition.
An addition, or alternatively, the predetermined condition may also require that the initial resistances of subsequent cycles after the first cycle also have an initial resistance of at least a certain value, relative to the initial resistance of the first (or of a previous) cycle. For example, if the predetermined condition requires that the initial resistance of the second cycle is at least 70% of the initial resistance of the first cycle, then the predetermined condition would not be considered fulfilled in the example shown in Fig. 4, where the initial resistance of the second cycle is about 50% of the first initial resistance.
In fact, a correlation between the initial electrical resistance value of the second cycle relative to the initial electrical resistance value of the first cycle may be time dependent. In this embodiment, since the electrically conductive material is hygroscopic, it draws moisture from the surrounding atmosphere and the more time passes, the more moisture is drawn by the electrically conductive material and the more the initial resistance increases. In the example shown in Figure 4, a period of time between the first cycle and the second cycle is about 9s. That is, 9 seconds have passed between the end of the first cycle and the beginning of the second cycle. After these 9 seconds, the initial resistance of the first measurement in the second cycle shows a 50% drop, with regards to the initial resistance of the first cycle. If the period of time between the first measurement cycle and the second measurement cycle increase, the initial resistance of the second cycle increases and vice versa. For example, if the period of time between the two measurements is as low as a few milliseconds, the initial resistance of the second cycle may be as low as 30% of the initial resistance of the first cycle. On the other side, if the period of time between the first cycle and the second cycle contains a few minutes, the initial resistance of the second cycle may be above 90% of the initial resistance of the first cycle.
The relative amounts of the initial resistances can be used as an indication of the remaining unused substantially solid aerosol generating substrate 110 in the consumable too. That is, for determining how much of the aerosol generating substrate too has been dried up through heating, because the more unused, moister aerosol generating substrate 110 is present in the consumable too, the higher is the initial resistance of the measurements.
Moreover, the amount of the initial resistance of one or more subsequent cycles can be characteristic of the material in the consumable too. That is, the resistance of the initial measurement may be higher and increase faster in the period of time, if the electrically conductive material is more hygroscopic. Moreover, the high initial resistance followed by a large reduction in the resistance is a possible indicator for an electrically conductive material having strong hygroscopic properties. This is because the more hygroscopic a material is, the more moisture is drawn by the electrically conductive material from its surrounding and released after heating. This allows to determine the material composition of the substrate, which can be used as a quality measure that prevents consuming products that are improperly manufactured, for example by impurities in the substrate.
If the predetermined condition is fulfilled, for example a relatively high electrical resistance value at the time of the first measurement is followed by a relatively low electrical resistance value at the time of the subsequent measurements, the consumable too is heated such that the aerosol is formed in step S6oo. Subsequently, the user may receive an indication from the device 200 and/or the cartridge too that the consumable too is heated in step S700.
If it is determined that the predetermined condition is not fulfilled, for example, a relatively high electrical resistance value at the time of the first measurement is not followed by a relatively low electrical resistance value at the time of the subsequent measurements, the consumable too is not heated in step S700 and no aerosol is formed. This may occur if an incorrect consumable, a fully used consumable, and/ or no consumable is inserted into the aerosol generating device 200. Subsequently, the user may receive an indication that the consumable too is not heated in step S710.
The above measurements are preferably performed in the low-power mode. However, the first and the one or more subsequent measurements may also be performed in a high-power mode where the aerosol is formed from the aerosol generating substrate 110. The measurements in the high-power mode maybe used to determine defects of the consumable too and/or that the aerosol generating substrate 110 from the consumable too is starting to be fully used, which could lead to an unpleasant taste for the user.
Figure 5 shows measurements in the high-power mode according to another embodiment of the invention. It is to be noted, that the horizontal lines in figures 3 and 4 represent the same power values, i.e., the first horizontal line in figures 3 and 4 represents a value n, the second horizonal line represents a value of 2n, the third horizontal line represents a value of 3n, the fourth horizontal line represents a value of 4n, and so on. In this embodiment, the target applied power was in the range of 2 to 2.5 times the target power in the low power mode. This is sufficient to heat up the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate 110 such that the aerosol is formed. The electrical power applied in the high-power mode can be generated by a dedicated converting circuit (e.g., DC/DC converter). As stated above, measurements can also be performed in this mode to confirm the propriety of the consumable 100. The example shown in Fig. 5 relates to a proper product. That is, even though the electrical resistance range is relatively broad compared to the example shown in Fig. 4, the power range is relatively constant in the range of 15 to 20 Watts. This could for example be defined as the predetermined condition. An improper product could have power levels of above 30, 40 or even 50 Watts, or power levels below 10 or even 5 Watts. In this case, the heating of the device would be stopped, and unpleasant experience of the user would be prevented, for example, if an aerosol generating substrate 110 having a manufacturing error is inserted.
Figure 6 shows another embodiment according to which the above method may also be used to determine whether the consumable 100 is properly inserted into the cavity 220 of the device. In this case, the measurements of the electrical resistance are taken in one or more subsections of the section comprising the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate 311. Based on the one or more measurements of the electrical resistance of the aerosol generating substrate 110 in the one or more subsections 311, a status of insertion is determined, which represents whether the consumable 100 is fully inserted, partially inserted or not inserted into the aerosol generating device 200.
In order to be able to perform multiple measurements in multiple subsections of the section comprising the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate simultaneously, the aerosol generating device 200 may also comprise a plurality of subsections 310. Each of the subsections of the aerosol generating device may comprise a subset of the electrodes. To perform measurements in each of the subsections of the section comprising the aerosol generating substrate 110, each of the subsections of the aerosol generating device 310 is adjacent to a respective subsection of the one or more subsections of the section comprising the aerosol generating substrate 311 when the consumable 100 is inserted into the aerosol generating device 200. Preferably, the subsections of the section comprising the aerosol generating substrate 311 are predetermined. Additionally, or alternatively, the subsections of the aerosol generating device 310 may be located adjacent to the cavity 220 into which the consumable 100 is inserted, wherein the subsections 310 are at least located at an end of the cavity 220 in a direction of insertion of the consumable 100 into the cavity 220. A measurement of an electrical resistance in a subsection 310 located at the end of the cavity 220 that indicates that a subsection of the section comprising the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate 311 is present. Thus, it is determined that the consumable 100 is properly inserted. This may be a characteristic, part of a characteristic, a predetermined condition or part of a predetermined condition.
Even though the above embodiments were described with reference to heating the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate by means of applying an electrical power directly to the aerosol generating substrate no, the cartridge too may also be configured such that it can be used with aerosol generating devices 200 having traditional heating elements, in particular inductive or resistive heating elements that heat the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate no by means of conduction heating. Even though the heating by means of the electrically conductive material might not be used in these cases, the electrically conductive materials are often good thermal conductors, which provides the beneficial effect of distributing the heat from the heating elements more thoroughly/ uniform. In addition, if a device comprising heating elements comprises sensors configured to measure an electrical resistance, the method for delivering the aerosol to the user as described with reference to Figures 3 to 5 can be used to improve the safety of the device.
Any of the above embodiments may be used independently or in combination with each other. For example, in one embodiment the low power measurements before the generation of the aerosol may be together with high power measurements during generation of the aerosol. If the low power measurement before the generation of the aerosol is omitted, the initial high resistance also can be observed in the high-power mode. Similarly, determination of the state of insertion and determination of the remaining unused aerosol generating substrate 110 may be performed as well as determining a certain electrical resistance range and/or a change in a resistance after the initial heating.
The aerosol generating device 200 and the consumable 100 according to any of the above embodiments and examples may also be used in an aerosol generating system configured to provide an aerosol to the user. Naturally, any of the above-described methods/embodiments may also be implemented as a computer program executed by a processor.
LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS USED
100 consumable
110 substantially solid aerosol generating substrate 120 mouthpiece
200 aerosol generating device
210 electrodes
220 cavity 310 subsection of the aerosol generating device
3ii section of the substantially solid aerosol generating substrate

Claims

Claims
1. A method of delivering an inhalable aerosol from an aerosol generating substrate no included in a consumable comprising a section comprising a substantially solid aerosol generating substrate no including an electrically conductive material within the aerosol generating substrate no, the conductive material being configured such that it can conduct a current within the section comprising the aerosol generating substrate no and thereby heat up the aerosol generating substrate no to such a degree that the inhalable aerosol is generated, the method comprising the steps of: performing a first measurement of the electrical resistance of the aerosol generating substrate no and one or more subsequent measurements of the electrical resistance of the aerosol generating substrate no, wherein the one or more subsequent measurements of the electrical resistance of the aerosol generating substrate no are performed after the aerosol generating substrate no is heated; determining a characteristic based on the measurements; and determining whether the characteristic fulfills a predetermined condition; wherein, if it is determined that the characteristic fulfills the predetermined condition, the aerosol generating substrate no is heated to such a degree that the aerosol is formed, and/ or if it is determined that the characteristic does not fulfill the predetermined condition, it is signaled to a user that the aerosol generating substrate no will not be heated to such a degree.
2. The method according to the preceding claim, wherein the predetermined condition is satisfied if the characteristic is indicative of one or more of an electrical resistance value above a first predetermined electrical resistance threshold value, an electrical resistance value below a second predetermined electrical resistance threshold value, one or more predetermined electrical resistance values and/or one or more predetermined electrical resistance values over a predetermined period of time.
3- The method according to any one of claims 1 or 2, wherein the electrically conductive material is hygroscopic; and the predetermined condition is satisfied when the characteristic is indicative of a relatively high electrical resistance value at the time of the first measurement followed by a relatively low electrical resistance value at the time of the subsequent measurements, or the predetermined condition is satisfied when the characteristic is indicative that a magnitude of difference between a resistance value at the time of the first measurement and a resistance value at the time of the subsequent measurements is larger than a predetermined threshold.
4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3 further comprising the step of: performing one or more measurements of an electrical resistance of the aerosol generating substrate 110 in one or more subsections of the section comprising the aerosol generating substrate 110; and based on the one or more measurements of the electrical resistance of the aerosol generating substrate 110 in the one or more subsections of the section comprising the aerosol generating substrate 110, determining a status of insertion based on the characteristic, the status of insertion representing whether the aerosol generating substrate 110 is fully inserted into the aerosol generating device or not.
5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4 further comprising the step of: determining an amount of unused aerosol generating substrate 110 in the consumable based on the characteristic.
6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the electrically conductive material is a porous material and/or a hygroscopic material, preferably charcoal or graphite.
7. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the electrically conductive material has an electrical conductivity of at least 100 S/m, preferably at least 500 S/m, more preferably at least 1000 S/m, most preferably at least 1500 S/m.
8. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the aerosol generating substrate 110 comprises at least 5 wt.%, preferably at least 10 wt.%, more preferably at least 15 wt.% and/or at most 35, preferably at most 30 wt.% more preferably at most 25 wt.% of the electrically conductive material, on dry weight basis.
9. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the electrically conductive material is in the form of powder or granulate.
10. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the electrically conductive material has an average particle size similar to the distance between a first electrode and a second electrode, preferably within a tolerance of at most 100 pm, preferably at most 200 pm, more preferably at most 500 pm and most preferably at most 1000 pm.
11. An aerosol generating device for heating an aerosol generating substrate 110 of a consumable 100 comprising a section comprising a substantially solid aerosol generating substrate 110 including an electrically conductive material within the aerosol generating substrate 110, the conductive material being configured such that it can conduct a current within the section comprising the aerosol generating substrate 110 and thereby heat up the aerosol generating substrate 110 to such a degree that the inhalable aerosol is generated, the aerosol generating device comprising electrodes 210 configured to provide a current to the aerosol generating substrate 110 and configured to perform the methods of any of claims 1 to 10; wherein the electrodes 210 are in contact with the section comprising the aerosol generating substrate 110 when the consumable too is inserted into the aerosol generating device 200.
12. The aerosol generating device according to the preceding claim, wherein the one or more electrodes are configured to contact an outer surface of the section comprising the aerosol generating substrate 110 or are inserted into the section comprising the aerosol generating substrate 110.
13. The aerosol generating device according to any one of claims 11 or 12, comprising a plurality of subsections 310, wherein each of the subsections of the aerosol generating device 310 comprise a subset of the electrodes, and wherein each of the subsections of the aerosol generating device 310 is adjacent to a respective subsection 311 of the one or more predetermined subsections of the section comprising the aerosol generating substrate 311 when the consumable too is inserted into the aerosol generating device 200, and/ or wherein subsections of the aerosol generating device 310 are located adjacent a cavity into which the consumable too is inserted for generating the aerosol, wherein the subsections 310 are located at an end of the cavity in a direction of insertion of the consumable too into the cavity.
14. An aerosol generating system comprising an aerosol generating device 200 according to any of claims 11 to 13 and a consumable too comprising a section comprising a substantially solid aerosol generating substrate 110 including an electrically conductive material within the aerosol generating substrate 110, the conductive material being configured such that it can conduct a current within the section comprising the aerosol generating substrate 110 and thereby heat up the aerosol generating substrate 110 to such a degree that the inhalable aerosol is generated, the aerosol generating system being configured to perform any of the methods of any one of claims 1 to 10.
PCT/EP2023/072580 2022-08-16 2023-08-16 Genuine consumable smoking article WO2024038094A1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP22190604.3 2022-08-16
EP22190604 2022-08-16

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO2024038094A1 true WO2024038094A1 (en) 2024-02-22

Family

ID=82939999

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/EP2023/072580 WO2024038094A1 (en) 2022-08-16 2023-08-16 Genuine consumable smoking article

Country Status (1)

Country Link
WO (1) WO2024038094A1 (en)

Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20170064996A1 (en) * 2014-05-21 2017-03-09 Philip Morris Products S.A. Aerosol-forming substrate and aerosol-delivery system
US20210195948A1 (en) * 2018-05-30 2021-07-01 Philip Morris Products S.A. Methods for detecting heater conditions in an aerosol-generating system
CN113951573A (en) * 2021-11-30 2022-01-21 海南摩尔兄弟科技有限公司 Atomizing substrate, aerosol raw product, electronic atomizer and atomizing system
EP3973793A1 (en) * 2020-08-04 2022-03-30 KT & G Corporation Aerosol-generating article comprising thermally conductive material

Patent Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20170064996A1 (en) * 2014-05-21 2017-03-09 Philip Morris Products S.A. Aerosol-forming substrate and aerosol-delivery system
US20210195948A1 (en) * 2018-05-30 2021-07-01 Philip Morris Products S.A. Methods for detecting heater conditions in an aerosol-generating system
EP3973793A1 (en) * 2020-08-04 2022-03-30 KT & G Corporation Aerosol-generating article comprising thermally conductive material
CN113951573A (en) * 2021-11-30 2022-01-21 海南摩尔兄弟科技有限公司 Atomizing substrate, aerosol raw product, electronic atomizer and atomizing system

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
JP6808639B2 (en) Devices and methods for controlling electric heaters to limit temperature according to the desired temperature profile over time
US11547151B2 (en) Electrically operated aerosol-generating device with continuous power regulation
JP6854940B2 (en) Heating control configurations for electronic smoking articles, as well as related systems and methods
US11602175B2 (en) Smoking article incorporating a conductive substrate
WO2019192226A1 (en) Aerosol generating device and control method therefor
JP6062457B2 (en) Aerosol generator with airflow detection
KR101793802B1 (en) Heated aerosol-generating device and method for generating aerosol with consistent properties
KR102066847B1 (en) Detection of aerosol-forming substrate in an aerosol generating device
JP2020028290A (en) Electronic cigarette instrument and its control method, heat generation module, electronic device and storage medium
KR20200090214A (en) Aerosol-provided devices
US20220312854A1 (en) Aerosol provision systems
WO2024038094A1 (en) Genuine consumable smoking article
US20220192273A1 (en) Electric heating smoking system and release control method for volatile compound
CN111351985B (en) Resistance detection system and method
CN114468380A (en) Aerosol generating device
TW201332462A (en) Detection of aerosol-forming substrate in an aerosol generating device
JP7390483B2 (en) Aerosol generation device including electrodes
JP2023513703A (en) Aerosol generator and method of controlling same
RU2794614C2 (en) System and method for control of electric heater to limit temperature according to required temperature profile in time
CN117426569A (en) Electronic atomizing device, heating control method thereof, control device and storage medium
WO2023117949A1 (en) Aerosol provision device
CN117413979A (en) Electronic atomizing device, heating control method thereof, control device and storage medium
WO2023084196A1 (en) Aerosol provision device with a moisture sensor
KR20220118495A (en) Heater for an aerosol-forming substrate comprising a positive temperature coefficient thermistor
CN116649648A (en) Aerosol generating device and control method thereof

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
121 Ep: the epo has been informed by wipo that ep was designated in this application

Ref document number: 23757611

Country of ref document: EP

Kind code of ref document: A1