EP-4734782-A1 - IMPROVED YOUTH ACCESS PREVENTION FOR AEROSOL-GENERATING DEVICES

EP4734782A1EP 4734782 A1EP4734782 A1EP 4734782A1EP-4734782-A1

Abstract

An aerosol-generating device, comprising: control circuitry comprising a controller configured to operate the aerosol-generating device in either one of a locked state, in which generation of aerosol by the aerosol-generating device is prohibited, and an unlocked state, in which generation of aerosol by the aerosol-generating device is allowed, and a motion sensor operably coupled to the controller, wherein the motion sensor is configured to receive a series of vibration signals, and wherein the controller is configured to transition the aerosol-generating device from the locked state into the unlocked state based on the series of vibration signals.

Inventors

BAUMGARTNER, KARL
MCLAUCHLAN, Andrew James

Assignees

Philip Morris Products S.A.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260506
Application Date: 20240611

Claims (15)

1. An aerosol-generating device, comprising: control circuitry comprising a controller configured to operate the aerosol-generating device in either one of a locked state, in which generation of aerosol by the aerosol-generating device is prohibited, and an unlocked state, in which generation of aerosol by the aerosolgenerating device is allowed, and a motion sensor operably coupled to the controller, wherein the motion sensor is configured to receive a series of vibration signals, and wherein the controller is configured to transition the aerosol-generating device from the locked state into the unlocked state based on the series of vibration signals.
2. The aerosol-generating device according to claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to translate the series of vibration signals into an unlock code, preferably wherein the controller is configured to transition the aerosol-generating device from the locked state into the unlocked state upon determining that the unlock code is associated with a device identifier of the aerosolgenerating device.
3. The aerosol-generating device according to any of the previous claims, wherein the controller is configured to transition the aerosol-generating device from the unlocked state into the locked state upon determining that a predetermined period of time has elapsed or that a predetermined number of uses of the aerosol-generating device has been reached or that a specific control signal is received, preferably wherein the controller is configured to transition the aerosol-generating device from the locked state into the unlocked state only if an unlock code that is associated with or is correct for or matches a device identifier, and preferably differs from the previous unlock code, is received.
4. The aerosol-generating device according to any of the previous claims, further comprising an aerosol-generating article or substrate.
5. A companion device configured to charge an aerosol-generating device with electrical energy, comprising: control circuitry comprising a controller, a motion sensor, and a communications arrangement, wherein the motion sensor is configured to receive a series of vibration signals, and wherein the controller is configured to provide an unlocking instruction to the aerosolgenerating device via the communications arrangement.
6. The device according to any of the previous claims, wherein the motion sensor is configured to differentiate between periods of time in which the device rests and periods of time in which the device moves or vibrates, preferably wherein the motion sensor is configured to exclusively produce two different signals, wherein a first signal is produced when a motion or vibration of the device is detected by the motion sensor and a second signal is produced when no motion or vibration of the device is detected by the motion sensor.
7. The device according to any of the previous claims, wherein the motion sensor is configured to detect a vibration of the device with a frequency of between 20 Hz and 200 Hz, preferably between 120 Hz and 180 Hz.
8. The device according to any of the previous claims, wherein the motion sensor is an accelerometer.
9. A computing device configured to provide an unlocking instruction to one of an aerosolgenerating device and a companion device configured to charge an aerosol-generating device with electrical energy, comprising: a vibration exciter, and a data connection to a server device, wherein the computing device is configured to receive unlocking data from the server device, wherein the computing device is configured to provide the unlocking instruction by providing the unlocking data as a series of vibration signals via the vibration exciter.
10. The computing device according to the previous claim, wherein the series of vibration signals is derived from an unlock code.
11. A server device configured to provide unlocking data for one of an aerosol-generating device and a companion device configured to charge an aerosol-generating device with electrical energy to a computing device, wherein the server device is configured to: perform an age verification test on a user of the aerosol-generating device through the computing device, provide the unlocking data to the computing device upon determining the age verification test has been passed, and provide the unlocking data as instructions for the computing device to provide a series of vibration signals.
12. The device according to any of the previous claims, wherein the series of vibration signals is provided as a series of vibrations of different frequencies and/or durations, preferably wherein each frequency and/or duration of vibration represents a bit value encoded in the series of vibration signals.
13. A system for youth access prevention for an aerosol-generating device, the system comprising a server device according to any one of claims 11-12, a computing device according to any one of claims 9, 10, and 12, and at least one of an aerosol-generating device according to any one of claims 1-4, 6-8, and 12 and a companion device according to any one of claims 5-8 and 12.
14. A computer implemented method for youth access prevention for an aerosol-generating device, preferably an aerosol-generating device according to any one of claims 1-4, 6-8, and 12, the method comprising: performing, on a server device, an age verification test, retrieving, upon determining that the age verification test is passed, unlocking data, transferring the unlocking data to the aerosol-generating device or a companion device configured to charge the aerosol-generating device with electrical energy by providing, on a computing device, a series of vibration signals encoding the unlocking data, receiving the series of vibration signals by a motion sensor on the aerosol-generating device or the companion device, and unlocking the aerosol-generating device based on the received series of vibration signals.
15. Use of a motion sensor comprised by an aerosol-generating device or a companion device configured to charge an aerosol-generating device with electrical energy to receive an unlock code for unlocking the aerosol-generating device and allowing aerosol generation.

Description

IMPROVED YOUTH ACCESS PREVENTION FOR AEROSOL-GENERATING DEVICES The present disclosure relates to an aerosol-generating device, a companion device configured to charge an aerosol-generating device with electrical energy, a computing device configured to provide an unlocking instruction to one of an aerosol-generating device and a companion device and a server device configured to provide unlocking data for one of an aerosolgenerating device and a companion device. The present disclosure also relates to a system for youth access prevention for an aerosol-generating device, a computer implemented method for youth access prevention for an aerosol-generating device and a use of a motion sensor comprised by an aerosol-generating device or a companion device. Aerosol-generating devices are typically designed as handheld devices that can be used by a user for consuming or experiencing, for instance in one or more usage sessions, aerosol generated from an aerosol-generating substrate or an aerosol-generating article, for example by heating. The aerosol-generating devices the present disclosure pertains to are commonly referred to as heated tobacco products (HTP), heat-not-burn devices, electronic cigarettes and/or vaporisers. Exemplary aerosol-generating substrates can comprise solid substrate material, such as tobacco material or tobacco cast leaves (TCL) material. The substrate material can, for example, be assembled, often with other elements or components, to form a substantially stick-shaped aerosol-generating article. Such a stick or aerosol-generating article can be configured in shape and size to be inserted at least partially into the aerosol-generating device. The aerosolgenerating device may comprise a heating element or heater device for heating the aerosolgenerating article and/or the aerosol-generating substrate. The heating element or heater device may be part of the aerosol-generating article and/or the aerosol-generating device. Alternatively or additionally, aerosol-generating substrates can comprise one or more liquids and/or solids, which can, for example, be supplied to the aerosol-generating device in the form of a cartridge or container. Corresponding exemplary aerosol-generating articles can, for example, comprise a cartridge containing or fillable with the liquid and/or solid substrate, which can be vaporized during aerosol consumption by the user based on heating the substrate and/or liquid. Usually, such cartridge or container can be coupled to, attached to or at least partially inserted into the aerosolgenerating device. Alternatively, the cartridge may be fixedly mounted to the aerosol-generating device and refilled by inserting liquid and/or solid into the cartridge. The aerosol generated from the aerosol-generating substrate or article may comprise or include one or more of nicotine, aroma, sugar, moisturising agent, preservative, flavouring, for example cocoa, liquorice, menthol and lactic acid or other additives. The aerosol generated from the aerosol-generating substrate or article may additionally or alternatively comprise one or more pharmaceutical agents or drugs and may include one or more adjuvants. For generating the aerosol during use or consumption, heat can be supplied by a heating element, heater device or heat source to heat at least a portion or part of the aerosol-generating substrate. The heating element, heater device or heat source can be arranged in the handheld device or a handheld part of the aerosol-generating device. Alternatively or additionally, at least a part of or the entire heating element or heater device or heat source can be fixedly associated with or arranged within an aerosol-generating article, for instance in the form of a stick or cartridge, which can be attached to and/or powered by the handheld device or handheld part of the aerosolgenerating device. Exemplary heating elements or heater devices can be based on one or more of resistive heating, inductive heating and microwave heating using electrical energy supplied via, drawn from or stored in battery of the aerosol-generating device. As used herein, a battery of the aerosolgenerating device can generally refer to an energy storage of the aerosol-generating device configured to store electrical energy. Accordingly, the term energy storage can include one or more batteries, one or more capacitors, one or more accumulators or other types of energy storage. Also, any reference to a battery herein can include a plurality of batteries. Typically, aerosol-generating devices comprise an energy storage, for example a battery, providing the electrical energy needed to operate the aerosol-generating device and especially for heating the aerosol-generating substrate and/or article, for example to generate aerosol in one or more usage sessions using one or more aerosol-generating articles. The battery may, for example, be a lithium-ion battery. As used herein, a usage session may refer to a period of tim