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EP-4301170-B1 - AEROSOL-GENERATING DEVICE

EP4301170B1EP 4301170 B1EP4301170 B1EP 4301170B1EP-4301170-B1

Inventors

  • LIM, Hunil
  • KIM, TAEHUN

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20220302

Claims (11)

  1. An aerosol-generating device (100) comprising: a cartridge (40) comprising a chamber (C1) configured to store a liquid, a wick (44) configured to receive the liquid from the chamber (C1), and a heater (45) configured to heat the wick (44); a case (110) configured to allow the cartridge (40) to be detachably coupled thereto, the case (110) having an insertion space (112) formed to accommodate insertion of a stick (200) therein; a first circuit (45c) including the heater (45); and a second circuit (46c) configured to sense a temperature of the heater (45), wherein the second circuit (46c) includes: a first resistor (46) disposed to be in contact with or adjacent to the heater (45) to receive heat from the heater, wherein a resistance value of the first resistor (46) is variable based on changes in temperature thereof; a second resistor (47) connected to the first resistor (46); and a sensor (51) configured to acquire a value of current applied to the second resistor (47), characterized in that the first resistor (46) is separated from the second resistor (47) when the cartridge (40) is separated from the case (110), and the first resistor (46) and the second resistor (47) are connected to each other when the cartridge (40) is coupled to the case (110).
  2. The aerosol-generating device (100) according to claim 1, wherein the first circuit (45c) and the second circuit (46c) are electrically isolated from each other.
  3. The aerosol-generating device (100) according to claim 1, wherein the first resistor (46) is disposed inside the cartridge (40), and wherein the second resistor (47) and the sensor (51) are disposed inside the case (110).
  4. The aerosol-generating device (100) according to claim 3, wherein: the wick (44) extends in a first longitudinal direction, the heater (45) is wound around the wick multiple times along the first longitudinal direction of the wick and has two opposite ends extending from the wick (44) in a second direction intersecting the first longitudinal direction of the wick (44), and the first resistor (46) is disposed between the two opposite ends (451) of the heater (45) and is disposed so as to be in contact with or adjacent to a wound portion of the heater (45).
  5. The aerosol-generating device (100) according to claim 1, wherein the heater (45) has a temperature coefficient of resistance, TCR, lower than a TCR of the first resistor (46).
  6. The aerosol-generating device (100) according to claim 5, wherein the TCR of the heater (45) is 400 ppm/°C or less.
  7. The aerosol-generating device (100) according to claim 5, wherein the TCR of the first resistor (46) is 3850 ppm/°C or greater.
  8. The aerosol-generating device (100) according to claim 1, wherein the resistance value of the first resistor (46) increases as a temperature of the heater (45) increases.
  9. The aerosol-generating device (100) according to claim 1, wherein the second circuit (46c) includes a second switch (465) configured to open or close the second circuit (46c), and wherein the aerosol-generating device (100) further comprises: a controller (20) configured to control operation of the second switch (465).
  10. The aerosol-generating device (100) according to claim 9, wherein the controller (20) is configured to close the second switch (465) to turn on the second circuit (46c) when a first time elapses after a start time of generation of heat by the heater (45).
  11. The aerosol-generating device (100) according to claim 10, wherein the controller (20) is configured to control a temperature of the heater (45) based on the value of current applied to the second resistor (465) as acquired by the sensor (51).

Description

[Technical Field] The present disclosure relates to an aerosol-generating device. [Background Art] An aerosol-generating device is a device that extracts certain components from a medium or a substance by forming an aerosol. The medium may contain a multicomponent substance. The substance contained in the medium may be a multicomponent flavoring substance. For example, the substance contained in the medium may include a nicotine component, an herbal component, and/or a coffee component. Recently, various research on aerosol-generating devices has been conducted. For instance, KR 2020 0098679 A relates to an aerosol generating device having a heater load, the electric resistance value of which changes in response to a temperature, such as a positive temperature coefficient heater or a negative temperature coefficient heater. A shunt resistor is connected in series with the heater and has a known electric resistance value. The electric resistance value of the shunt resistor may be substantially invariant to temperature. A circuit is used to obtain a value of the voltage applied to the heater, a value related to a resistance value of the heater, and a value of a voltage applied to the shunt resistor, in order to determine the temperature of the heater. CA 3 130 556 A1 relates to an aerosol delivery device including a heating element that is powerable to vaporise components and has a resistance that is variable and proportional to a temperature of the heating element. A processing circuit can measure the input heater voltage at the heating element using a sensor, such as an analogue voltage sensor. A low-side current-sensing circuit can be coupled to and between the heating element and the processing circuit to produce an output voltage that is equal to or proportional to an output heater voltage at the heating element. The processing circuit determines the resistance of the heating element from the input heater voltage and the output voltage and further determines the temperature of the heating element from the resistance. The low-side current-sensing circuit can include a shunt resistor coupled to and between an output of the heating element and ground. [Disclosure] [Technical Problem] It is an object of the present invention to provide an aerosol-generating device that determines the temperature of a heater in a more accurate manner. It is another object of the present invention to provide an aerosol-generating device designed such that variation in the resistance of a heater depending on changes in the temperature thereof is relatively small. It is still another object of the present invention to maintain the amount of heat that is generated by the heater and to restrict a reduction in the amount of aerosol that is generated during use of the aerosol-generating device. It is still another object of the present invention to more accurately sense the temperature of the heater. [Technical Solution] The above and other objects are solved by the present invention as defined in the independent claim. Preferred embodiments are derivable from the dependent claims. [Advantageous Effects] According to at least one of embodiments of the present invention, it is possible to design an aerosol-generating device in which variation in the resistance of a heater depending on changes in the temperature thereof is relatively small. According to at least one of embodiments of the present invention, it is possible to maintain the amount of heat that is generated by the heater and to restrict a reduction in the amount of aerosol that is generated during use of the aerosol-generating device. According to at least one of embodiments of the present invention, it is possible to more accurately sense the temperature of the heater. Additional applications of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description. [Description of Drawings] The above and other objects, features, and other advantages of the present disclosure will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: FIGS. 1 to 12 are views showing examples of an aerosol-generating device according to embodiments of the present invention. [Best Mode] Hereinafter, the embodiments disclosed in the present specification will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, and the same or similar elements are denoted by the same reference numerals even though they are depicted in different drawings, and redundant descriptions thereof will be omitted. In the following description, with respect to constituent elements used in the following description, the suffixes "module" and "unit" are used only in consideration of facilitation of description, and do not have mutually distinguished meanings or functions. In addition, in the following description of the embodiments disclosed in the present specification, a detailed description of known functions and con