Non-burning-type flavor inhaler and computer-readable medium

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10869503-B2
Application number	US-201615340152-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 1, 2016
Priority date	May 2, 2014
Publication date	Dec 22, 2020
Grant date	Dec 22, 2020

Abstract

A non-burning type flavor inhaler comprises: a first unit; a second unit including an aerosol source or a flavor source; and a control unit. The control unit integrates a first cumulative amount of electric power which is a cumulative value of the amount of electric power supplied to the heat source in the one-time puff action series, and the control unit notifies an end of the one-time puff action series when the first cumulative amount of electric power reaches the required amount of electric power.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A non-burning type flavor inhaler having a shape extending along a predetermined direction from a non-mouthpiece end toward a mouthpiece end, comprising:
a first unit having the non-mouthpiece end;
a second unit attachable to the first unit;
a control circuit configured to control the non-burning type flavor inhaler; and
a sensor connected to the control circuit for detecting a wind pressure generated by an inhale action of the user in order for the control circuit to detect a puffing state, wherein
the second unit includes at least one of an aerosol source generating aerosol and a flavor source,
the non-burning type flavor inhaler includes an electric heat source configured to heat the aerosol source or the flavor source without burning, and a power source configured to supply electric power to the electric heat source,
the control circuit is configured to permit the electric power to be supplied up to a permissible amount of electric power that is larger than a required amount of electric power, wherein the permissible amount of electric power is defined by a cumulative value of an amount of electric power that is permitted to be supplied to the electric heat source after attaching the second unit to the first unit, and the required amount of electric power is a preset value of an amount of electric power to be supplied to the electric heat source in a one-time puff action series which is a series of actions in which a puff action is repeated a predetermined number of times, and
the control circuit includes a clock which is configured to count a first time interval such that the control circuit is configured to integrate, using the first time interval, a first cumulative amount of electric power which is a cumulative value of the amount of electric power supplied to the electric heat source in the one-time puff action series during a use of the non-burning type flavor inhaler, and to notify an end of the one-time puff action series when the first cumulative amount of electric power is determined by the control circuit during the use of the non-burning type flavor inhaler to reach the required amount of electric power.

2. The non-burning type flavor inhaler according to claim 1 , wherein
the permissible amount of electric power is greater than two times of the required amount of electric power.

3. The non-burning type flavor inhaler according to claim 1 , wherein
the control circuit is configured to notify the end of the one-time puff action series by stopping a supply of electric power to the electric heat source.

4. The non-burning type flavor inhaler according to claim 1 , wherein
the control circuit is configured to notify the end of the one-time puff action series by a light-emitting mode of a light-emitting element.

5. The non-burning type flavor inhaler according to claim 3 , wherein
the control circuit is configured to integrate a second cumulative amount of electric power which is a cumulative value of the amount of electric power supplied to the electric heat source after attaching the second unit to the first unit during the use of the non-burning type flavor inhaler, and when the second cumulative amount of electric power reaches the permissible amount of electric power, but the first cumulative amount of electric power does not reach the required amount of electric power, the control circuit does not cut off the electric power source, and continues the supply of electric power to the electric heat source until the first cumulative amount of electric power reaches the required amount of electric power.

6. The non-burning type flavor inhaler according to claim 5 , wherein
when the second cumulative amount of electric power reaches the permissible amount of electric power, the control circuit is configured to notify that the second unit must be replaced, by a light-emitting mode of a light-emitting element.

7. The non-burning type flavor inhaler according to claim 5 , wherein
when the second cumulative amount of electric power reaches the permissible amount of electric power, and when the first cumulative amount of electric power reaches the required amount of electric power, the control circuit is configured to notify that the second unit must be replaced, by a light-emitting mode of a light-emitting element.

8. The non-burning type flavor inhaler according to claim 5 , wherein
the control circuit is configured to reset the first cumulative amount of electric power by a first operation, and resets the second cumulative amount of electric power by a second operation that is different from the first operation.

9. The non-burning type flavor inhaler according to claim 1 , wherein
the permissible amount of electric power is determined in accordance with a life of the flavor source in a case where the second unit has the flavor source.

10. The non-burning type flavor inhaler according to claim 1 , wherein
the permissible amount of electric power is determined in accordance with a life of the aerosol source in a case where the second unit has the aerosol source.

11. The non-burning type flavor inhaler according to claim 1 , wherein
the permissible amount of electric power is determined in accordance with a shorter life of a life of the flavor source and a life of the aerosol source in a case where the second unit has the flavor source and the aerosol source.

12. A computer-readable medium recorded a program used in a non-burning type flavor inhaler having a shape extending along a predetermined direction from a non-mouthpiece end toward a mouthpiece end, wherein
the non-burning type flavor inhaler includes a first unit having the non-mouthpiece end, a second unit attached to the first unit, and a sensor configured for detecting a wind pressure generated by an inhale action of the user in order to detect a puffing state,
the second unit includes an aerosol source generating aerosol or a flavor source,
the non-burning type flavor inhaler includes an electric heat source configured to heat the aerosol source or the flavor source without burning, and a power source configured to supply electric power to the electric heat source,
the program causes a computer to execute a control of the non-burning type flavor inhaler including:
permitting the electric power to be supplied up to a permissible amount of electric power that is larger than a required amount of electric power, wherein the permissible amount of electric power is defined by a cumulative value of an amount of electric power that is permitted to be supplied to the electric heat source after attaching the second unit to the first unit, and the required amount of electric power is a preset value of an amount of electric power to be supplied to the electric heat source in a one-time puff action series which is a series of actions in which a puff action is repeated a predetermined number of times, and
integrating using a first time interval, counted by a clock, a first cumulative amount of electric power which is a cumulative value of the amount of electric power supplied to the electric heat source in the one-time puff action series during a use of the non-burning type flavor inhaler, and to notify an end of the one-time puff action series when the first cumulative amount of electric power is determined by the computer during the use of the non-burning type flavor inhaler to reach the required amount of electric power.

Assignees

• Japan Tobacco Inc

Inventors

• Yamada Manabu
• Takeuchi Manabu
• Matsumoto Hirofumi
• Tarora Masafumi

Classifications

• A61M2205/587

  Lighting arrangements · CPC title

• H05B2203/021

  Heaters specially adapted for heating liquids · CPC title

• H05B1/0244

  Heating of fluids (H05B1/0247 takes precedence) · CPC title

• A61M2205/8206

  battery-operated · CPC title

• A61M2205/50

  with microprocessors or computers · CPC title