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EP-4736686-A2 - A SMOKING ARTICLE FOR IDENTIFYING AN ATTRIBUTE OF AN AEROSOL-GENERATING ELEMENT FOR ADAPTIVE POWER OUTPUT AND AN ASSOCIATED METHOD

EP4736686A2EP 4736686 A2EP4736686 A2EP 4736686A2EP-4736686-A2

Abstract

A smoking article and a method for making a smoking article are provided. The smoking article includes 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 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 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.

Inventors

  • BLESS, Alfred Charles
  • SUR, Rajesh
  • SEARS, STEPHEN BENSON
  • WILLIAMS, TIM

Assignees

  • RAI Strategic Holdings, Inc.

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20180628

Claims (15)

  1. A smoking article comprising: a housing defining a cavity configured to receive an aerosol-generating element therein, the aerosol-generating element including constituent components having different aerosolization temperatures and configured to produce aerosol in response to heat; and an aerosol-generating element identification device engaged with the housing or a power source and configured to detect an attribute identifier of the aerosol-generating element to identify, upon actuation of the aerosol-generating element identification device, an attribute of the aerosol-generating element, the attribute being at least a maximum of the different aerosolization temperatures of the constituent components.
  2. The smoking article of claim 1, wherein a second attribute identifier is provided on a packaging of the aerosol-generating element.
  3. The smoking article of claim 1, further comprising: a heating element operably engaged with the housing and configured to provide heat to the aerosol-generating element, the power source, wherein the power source is in electrical communication with the heating element and is configured to provide electrical energy thereto, the heating element producing heat in response to the electrical energy; 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, the aerosolization temperature being at least a maximum of the different aerosolization temperatures of the constituent components of the aerosol-generating element, wherein the aerosol-generating element identification device is configured to identify the attribute through analysis of the constituent components of the aerosol-generating element, or through user input to the aerosol-generating element identification device regarding the maximum of the different aerosolization temperatures of the constituent components of the aerosol-generating element.
  4. The smoking article of claim 3, wherein the housing comprises an outer wall defining the cavity such that the cavity is a cylindrical cavity.
  5. The smoking article of claim 4, 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, optionally 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, and optionally wherein the aerosol-generating element comprises an annular tobacco plug configured to be removably received within the cavity of the housing.
  6. The smoking article of claim 5, wherein an inner surface of the annular tobacco plug extends about the second portion of the heating element and such that the first portion of the heating element extends about an outer surface of the annular tobacco plug within the cylindrical cavity, optionally wherein the housing comprises a removal mechanism configured to remove the annular tobacco plug from within the cavity of the housing, optionally wherein the heating element comprises a resistive coil, and optionally wherein the housing is removable from a component housing that includes the power source.
  7. The smoking article of claim 3, wherein the aerosol-generating element identification device comprises an attribute identification detector configured to detect the attribute identifier identifying the attribute of the aerosol-generating element.
  8. The smoking article of claim 7, 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.
  9. The smoking article of claim 7, wherein the attribute identification detector comprises a camera, a wireless transceiver, or a scanner configured to detect, upon actuation thereof, the attribute identifier, and to identify the attribute of the aerosol-generating element associated therewith, and to communicate the identification of the attribute to the control device.
  10. The smoking article of claim 3, wherein the attribute of the aerosol-generating element further includes a flavor, a heating profile of the constituent components of the aerosol-generating element, a wattage for controlling the power source relative to the maximum of the different aerosolization temperatures of the constituent components of the aerosol-generating element, or combinations thereof.
  11. The smoking article of claim 3, wherein the aerosol-generating element identification device comprises a processor configured to execute an algorithm to identify the attribute of the aerosol-generating element associated therewith, and to communicate the identification of the attribute to the control device.
  12. The smoking article of claim 11, wherein the aerosol-generating element identification device is configured to analyze the aerosol-generating element to determine the constituent components thereof, determine the maximum of the different aerosolization temperatures of the constituent components, and to communicate the determined maximum of the different aerosolization temperatures to the control device, and wherein the control device is configured to modulate the electrical energy provided to the heating element by the power source in response to the determined maximum of the different aerosolization temperatures.
  13. The smoking article of claim 11, wherein the aerosol-generating element identification device is configured to receive user input regarding the maximum of the different aerosolization temperatures of the constituent components of the aerosol-generating element and to communicate the user input regarding the maximum of the different aerosolization temperatures to the control device, and wherein the control device is configured to modulate the electrical energy provided to the heating element by the power source in response to the user input regarding the maximum of the different aerosolization temperatures.
  14. The smoking 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. The smoking article of claim 1, 3 or 7, further comprising the aerosol-generating element including constituent components having different aerosolization temperatures and configured to produce aerosol in response to heat, wherein the attribute identifier is provided on a packaging of the aerosol-generating element.

Description

BACKGROUND Field of the Disclosure The present disclosure relates to aerosol delivery devices and systems, such as smoking articles; and more particularly, to aerosol delivery devices and systems that utilize electrically-generated heat for the production of aerosol (e.g., smoking articles for purposes of yielding components of tobacco and other materials in an inhalable form, commonly referred to as electronic cigarettes). Highly preferred components of such articles are made or derived from tobacco, or those articles can be characterized as otherwise incorporating tobacco for human consumption, and which are capable of vaporizing components of tobacco and/or other tobacco related materials to form an inhalable aerosol for human consumption. Description of Related Art Many smoking devices have been proposed through the years as improvements upon, or alternatives to, smoking products that require combusting tobacco for use. Many of those devices purportedly have been designed to provide the sensations associated with cigarette, cigar, or pipe smoking, but without delivering considerable quantities of incomplete combustion and pyrolysis products that result from the burning of tobacco. To this end, there have been proposed numerous smoking products, flavor generators, and medicinal inhalers that utilize electrical energy to vaporize or heat a volatile material, or attempt to provide the sensations of cigarette, cigar, or pipe smoking without burning tobacco to a significant degree. See, for example, the various alternative smoking articles, aerosol delivery devices and heat generating sources set forth in the background art described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,726,320 to Robinson et al.; and U.S. Pat. App. Pub. Nos. 2013/0255702 to Griffith, Jr. et al.; and 2014/0096781 to Sears et al., which are incorporated herein by reference. See also, for example, the various types of smoking articles, aerosol delivery devices and electrically powered heat generating sources referenced by brand name and commercial source in U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2015/0220232 to Bless et al., which is incorporated herein by reference. Additional types of smoking articles, aerosol delivery devices and electrically powered heat generating sources referenced by brand name and commercial source are listed in U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2015/0245659 to DePiano et al., which is also incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Certain tobacco products that have employed electrical energy to produce heat for aerosol formation, and in particular, certain products that have been referred to as electronic cigarette products, have been commercially available throughout the world. Representative products that resemble many of the attributes of traditional types of cigarettes, cigars or pipes have been marketed as ACCORD® by Philip Morris Incorporated; ALPHA™, JOYE 510™ and M4™ by InnoVapor LLC; CIRRUS™ and FLING™ by White Cloud Cigarettes; BLU™ by Lorillard Technologies, Inc.; COHITA™, COLIBRI™, ELITE CLASSIC™, MAGNUM™, PHANTOM™ and SENSE™ by EPUFFER® International Inc.; DUOPRO™, STORM™ and VAPORKING® by Electronic Cigarettes, Inc.; EGAR™ by Egar Australia; eGo-C™ and eGo-T™ by Joyetech; ELUSION™ by Elusion UK Ltd; EONSMOKE® by Eonsmoke LLC; FIN™ by FIN Branding Group, LLC; SMOKE® by Green Smoke Inc. USA; GREENARETTE™ by Greenarette LLC; HALLIGAN™, HENDU™, JET™, MAXXQ™, PINK™ and PITBULL™ by SMOKE STIK®; HEATBAR™ by Philip Morris International, Inc.; HYDRO IMPERIAL™ and LXE™ from Crown7; LOGIC™ and THE CUBAN™ by LOGIC Technology; LUCI® by Luciano Smokes Inc.; METRO® by Nicotek, LLC; NJOY® and ONEJOY™ by Sottera, Inc.; NO. 7™ by SS Choice LLC; PREMIUM ELECTRONIC CIGARETTE™ by PremiumEstore LLC; RAPP E-MYSTICK™ by Ruyan America, Inc.; RED DRAGON™ by Red Dragon Products, LLC; RUYAN® by Ruyan Group (Holdings) Ltd.; SF® by Smoker Friendly International, LLC; GREEN SMART SMOKER® by The Smart Smoking Electronic Cigarette Company Ltd.; SMOKE ASSIST® by Coastline Products LLC; SMOKING EVERYWHERE® by Smoking Everywhere, Inc.; V2CIGS™ by VMR Products LLC; VAPOR NINE™ by VaporNine LLC; VAPOR4LIFE® by Vapor 4 Life, Inc.; VEPPO™ by E-CigaretteDirect, LLC; VUSE® by R. J. Reynolds Vapor Company; Mistic Menthol product by Mistic Ecigs; and the Vype product by CN Creative Ltd. Yet other electrically powered aerosol delivery devices, and in particular those devices that have been characterized as so-called electronic cigarettes, have been marketed under the tradenames COOLER VISIONS™; DIRECT E-CIG™; DRAGONFLY™; EMIST™; EVERSMOKE™; GAMUCCI®; HYBRID FLAME™; KNIGHT STICKS™; ROYAL BLUES™; SMOKETIP®; SOUTH BEACH SMOKE™. In some instances, the heat or heating profile, produced by the electrical energy for heating the aerosol-generating element to form an aerosol, is essentially the same regardless of the nature of the aerosol-generating element. Accordingly, there may be some limitations of such an arrangement, including, for example, decreased battery life, heat-related damage