Smoking article for identifying an attribute of an aerosol-generating element for adaptive power output and an associated method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10575562-B2
Application number	US-201715639634-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 30, 2017
Priority date	Jun 30, 2017
Publication date	Mar 3, 2020
Grant date	Mar 3, 2020

Abstract

Smoking articles and a method for making a smoking article are provided. The smoking articles include an aerosol-generating element configured to produce an aerosol in response to heat, a housing defining a cavity configured to receive the aerosol-generating element therein, a heating element engaged with the housing and configured to provide heat to the aerosol-generating element, a power source in electrical communication with the heating element and configured to provide electrical energy thereto, the heating element producing heat in response to the electrical energy, an aerosol-generating element identification device configured to identify an attribute of an aerosol-generating element and a control device in communication with the aerosol-generating element identification device and configured to modulate electrical energy provided to a heating element of the smoking article to direct the heating element to heat the aerosol-generating element to an aerosolization temperature associated with the identified attribute of the aerosol-generating element.

First claim

That which is claimed:

1. A smoking article comprising:
an aerosol-generating element configured to produce an aerosol in response to heat;
a housing defining a cavity configured to receive the aerosol-generating element therein;
a heating element operably engaged with the housing and configured to provide heat to the aerosol-generating element;
a power source in electrical communication with the heating element and configured to provide electrical energy thereto, the heating element producing heat in response to the electrical energy;
an aerosol-generating element identification device engaged with the housing and configured to identify, upon actuation thereof, an attribute of the aerosol-generating element; and
a control device in communication with the aerosol-generating element identification device and configured to modulate the electrical energy provided to the heating element by the power source so as to direct the heating element to heat the aerosol-generating element to an aerosolization temperature associated with the identified attribute of the aerosol-generating element.

2. The article of claim 1 , wherein the housing comprises an outer wall defining a cylindrical cavity.

3. The article of claim 2 , wherein the heating element comprises a first portion configured to extend about the outer wall and a second portion configured to extend within the cylindrical cavity.

4. The article of claim 3 , wherein the control device is configured to modulate the electrical energy provided to the first portion separately and discretely from the electrical energy provided to the second portion of the heating element so as to provide for individual control of the first and second portions.

5. The article of claim 1 , wherein the aerosol-generating element identification device comprises an attribute identification detector configured to detect an attribute identifier identifying the attribute of the aerosol-generating element.

6. The article of claim 5 , wherein the attribute identifier comprises a Universal Product Code (UPC) barcode, a QR-Code, or a radio-frequency identification (RFID) device identifying the attribute of the aerosol-generating element.

7. The article of claim 5 , wherein the attribute identification detector comprises a camera, a wireless transceiver, or a scanner configured to detect, upon actuation thereof, the attribute identifier, to identify the attribute of the aerosol-generating element associated therewith, and to communicate the identification of the attribute to the control device.

8. The article of claim 5 , wherein the attribute identifier is provided on a packaging of the aerosol-generating element.

9. The article of claim 1 , wherein the attribute of the aerosol-generating element is selected from the group consisting of a flavor, a heating profile of each constituent component of the aerosol-generating element, a maximum aerosolization temperature between the constituent components of the aerosol-generating element, a wattage for controlling the power source relative to the maximum aerosolization temperature of the constituent components of the aerosol-generating element, and combinations thereof.

10. The article of claim 1 , wherein the aerosol-generating element identification device comprises a processor configured to execute an algorithm to identify, upon actuation thereof, the attribute of the aerosol-generating element.

11. The article of claim 10 , wherein the aerosol-generating element identification device is configured to analyze the aerosol-generating element to determine constituent components thereof, determine a maximum aerosolization temperature between the constituent components, and to communicate the determined maximum aerosolization temperature to the control device, the control device modulating the electrical energy provided to the heating element by the power source in response to the determined maximum aerosolization temperature.

12. The article of claim 10 , wherein the aerosol-generating element identification device is configured to receive user input regarding a maximum aerosolization temperature between constituent components of the aerosol-generating element, the control device modulating the electrical energy provided to the heating element by the power source in response to the user input maximum aerosolization temperature.

13. The article of claim 1 , wherein the aerosol-generating element comprises an annular tobacco plug configured to be removably received within the cavity of the housing.

14. The article of claim 1 , wherein the aerosol-generating element comprises an aerosol-generating liquid received in a cartridge, the cartridge being removably engaged with the housing.

15. A method for making a smoking article comprising:
operably engaging a heating element with a housing defining a cavity configured to receive an aerosol-generating element therein, the heating element being configured to provide heat to the aerosol-generating element for the aerosol-generating element to produce an aerosol in response thereto;
engaging a power source in electrical communication with the heating element, the power source being configured to provide electrical energy to the heating element, and the heating element producing heat in response to the electrical energy;
engaging an aerosol-generating element identification device with the housing, the aerosol-generating element identification device being configured to identify, upon actuation thereof, an attribute of the aerosol-generating element; and
engaging a control device with the aerosol-generating element identification device, the control device being configured to modulate the electrical energy provided to the heating element by the power source so as to direct the heating element to heat the aerosol-generating element to an aerosolization temperature associated with the identified attribute of the aerosol-generating element.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein operably engaging the heating element with the housing comprises operably engaging the heating element with a tubular housing comprising an outer wall defining a cylindrical cavity.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein operably engaging the heating element with the tubular housing comprises operably engaging a first portion of the heating element to extend about the outer wall and a second portion of the heating element to extend within the cylindrical cavity.

18. The method of claim 17 , comprising modulating, by the control device, the electrical energy provided to the first portion separately and discretely from the electrical energy provided to the second portion of the heating element so as to provide for individual control of the first and second portions of the heating element.

19. The method of claim 15 , comprising detecting an attribute identifier identifying the attribute of the aerosol-generating element using an attribute identification detector of the aerosol-generating element identification device.

20. The method of claim 19 , comprising identifying the attribute of the aerosol-generating element using a Universal Product Code (UPC) barcode, a QR-Code, or a radio-frequency identification (RFID) device of the attribute identifier.

21. The method of claim 19 , comprising detecting the attribute identifier to identify the attribute of the aerosol-generating element associated therewith and to communicate the identification of the attribute to the control device using, upon actuation thereof, a camera, a wireless transceiver,

Assignees

• Rai Strategic Holdings Inc

Inventors

• Bless Alfred Charles
• Sur Rajesh
• Sears Stephen Benson
• Williams Tim

Classifications

• A24F40/57

  Temperature control · CPC title

• A24F40/46 Primary

  Shape or structure of electric heating means · CPC title

• A24F40/40

  Constructional details, e.g. connection of cartridges and battery parts · CPC title

• G06K7/1413

  1D bar codes · CPC title

• H05B1/0227

  Applications · CPC title