Personal carrying case for electronic vaping device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2017258136-A1
Application number	US-201615067395-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Mar 11, 2016
Priority date	Mar 11, 2016
Publication date	Sep 14, 2017
Grant date	—

Abstract

A personal carrying case for holding an e-vaping device includes communication interfaces configured to establish communication links with the e-vaping device and a remotely-located computer device. Control circuitry included in the case may control an element of the e-vaping device according to a control command received from the computer device. The control circuitry may control the e-vaping device element via an e-vaping device communication link, and the control circuitry may receive the control command via a computer device communication link. The computer device communication link may be an ad hoc wireless network communication link. The control circuitry may process information received from the e-vaping device to communicate status information and signals to the computer device. Separate e-vaping device elements may be identified and associated with separate accounts, and e-vaping device usage may be tracked in association with said accounts based on the separate identities of elements used during vaping.

First claim

We claim:

1 . A personal carrying case (PCC) for holding an e-vaping device (EVD), the PCC comprising:
a first communication interface configured to establish a first communication link with the EVD; a second communication interface configured to establish a second communication link with a remotely-located computer device; and a control device configured to control at least one element of the EVD according to a control command received from the computer device, the control command being received via the second communication link, the control device controlling the at least one element of the EVD via the first communication link.

2 . The PCC of claim 1 , wherein
the second communication link is an ad hoc wireless network communication link; and the control device is configured to command the second communication interface to establish the second communication link based on the first communication interface establishing the first communication link with the EVD.

3 . The PCC of claim 1 , wherein the control device is configured to control the at least one element to selectively disable the EVD from generating a dispersion.

4 . The PCC of claim 1 , wherein the control device is configured to control the at least one element to selectively adjust at least one parameter of light emitted by an activation light of the EVD during vaping.

5 . The PCC of claim 1 , wherein
the control device is configured to receive information from at least one element of the EVD via the first communication link, the information being associated with at least one element of the EVD; the control device is further configured to determine a status associated with the EVD based on the information; and the control device is further configured to communicate the status to the computer device via the second communication link.

6 . The PCC of claim 5 , wherein the EVD includes a cartridge and a power supply section, the cartridge being configured to generate a dispersion based on receiving electrical power, the power supply section including an EVD power supply and control circuitry, the EVD power supply being configured to supply the electrical power to the cartridge, the EVD control circuitry being configured to selectively control the supply of electrical power from the EVD power supply to the cartridge.

7 . The PCC of claim 6 , wherein the information includes cartridge information associated with the cartridge of the EVD.

8 . The PCC of claim 7 , wherein the cartridge information includes at least one of:
identification information identifying the cartridge; flavorant information indicating a flavor of formulation, the formulation being held in a reservoir of the cartridge; and formulation reservoir level information indicating an amount of a formulation held in a reservoir of the cartridge.

9 . The PCC of claim 7 , wherein
the control device is configured to associate the cartridge with a cartridge account based on the cartridge information; the control device is further configured to generate EVD usage history information based on monitoring EVD information received from the EVD over time, the EVD usage history information being associated with usage of the EVD to generate a dispersion during vaping; and the control device is further configured to associate the EVD usage history information with the cartridge account based on correlating cartridge information included in the monitored EVD information with the cartridge associated with the cartridge account.

10 . The PCC of claim 7 , wherein the control device is configured to receive the cartridge information from a cartridge storage device via the first communication link, the cartridge storage device being included in the cartridge.

11 . The PCC of claim 6 , wherein
the information includes EVD power supply information indicating a charge level of the EVD power supply; and the control device is configured to receive the EVD power supply information from the power supply section via the first communication link.

12 . The PCC of claim 5 , wherein the control device is configured to generate a notification based on the information, the notification indicating that at least one operating parameter of the EVD at least meets an alert threshold value.

13 . A method, comprising:
establishing a first communication link with an e-vaping device (EVD) held in a personal carrying case (PCC); establishing a second communication link with a remotely-located computer device; and controlling at least one element of the EVD via the first communication link according to a control command communicated from the computer device to the PCC, the control command being communicated via the second communication link.

14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the second communication link is an ad hoc wireless network communication link.

15 . The method of claim 13 , wherein controlling the at least one element includes at least one of,
selectively disabling the EVD from generating a dispersion; selectively adjusting at least one parameter of light emitted by an activation light of the EVD during vaping; and selectively disabling the activation light of the EVD.

16 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
receiving information from at least one element of the EVD via the first communication link, the information being associated with at least one element of the EVD; determining a status associated with the EVD based on the information; and communicating the status to the computer device via the second communication link.

17 . A non-transitory computer readable medium storing program code, the program code, when executed by a computer processing device, causes the computer processing device to:
establish a first communication link with an e-vaping device (EVD) held in a personal carrying case (PCC); establish a second communication link with a remotely-located computer device; and control at least one element of the EVD via the first communication link according to a control command communicated from the computer device to the PCC, the control command being communicated via the second communication link.

18 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the second communication link is an ad hoc wireless network communication link.

19 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17 , wherein controlling the at least one element includes at least one of,
selectively disabling the EVD from generating a dispersion; selectively adjusting at least one parameter of light emitted by an activation light of the EVD during vaping; and selectively disabling the activation light of the EVD.

20 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17 , the program code, when executed by a computer processing device, further causes the computer processing device to:
receive information from at least one element of the EVD via the first communication link, the information being associated with at least one element of the EVD; determine a status associated with the EVD based on the EVD information; and communicate the status to the computer device via the second communication link.

21 . A method, comprising:
establishing a communication link with a control device of a remotely-located personal carrying case (PCC), the PCC being coupled with an e-vaping device (EVD); receiving EVD status information associated with at least one element of the coupled EVD via the communication link; and di

Assignees

• Altria Client Services Llc

Inventors

• Hawes Eric
• Bache Terry

Classifications

• H04W76/10

  Connection setup · CPC title

• H04W84/18

  Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks · CPC title

• G08C17/02 Primary

  using a radio link · CPC title

• A24F40/95

  structurally associated with cases · CPC title

• A24F40/53

  Monitoring, e.g. fault detection · CPC title