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EP-4736917-A2 - AEROSOL GENERATING DEVICE

EP4736917A2EP 4736917 A2EP4736917 A2EP 4736917A2EP-4736917-A2

Abstract

An aerosol generating device for receiving an aerosol generating article comprising a conductive material. The aerosol generating device comprises an electrical circuit comprising: a controller configured to detect a change in capacitance of the circuit; a conductive surface for interacting electromagnetically with the conductive material when arranged in proximity; and conductive elements connecting the controller to the conductive surface. The change in capacitance is caused by the user inserting the aerosol generating article in the aerosol provision device. The conductive surface is configured to, when the aerosol generating article is fully received in use, have a first capacitance value with the conductive material.

Inventors

  • MOLONEY, Patrick
  • CHAN, Justin Han Yang

Assignees

  • Nicoventures Trading Limited

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20190327

Claims (15)

  1. An aerosol generating device for receiving an aerosol generating article comprising a conductive material, wherein the aerosol generating device comprises an electrical circuit comprising: a controller configured to detect a change in capacitance of the circuit; a conductive surface for interacting electromagnetically with the conductive material when arranged in proximity; and conductive elements connecting the controller to the conductive surface, wherein the change in capacitance is caused by the user inserting the aerosol generating article in the aerosol provision device, and wherein the conductive surface is configured to, when the aerosol generating article is fully received in use, have a first capacitance value with the conductive material.
  2. An aerosol generating device according to claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to enable the aerosol generating device for use when the change in capacitance is detected.
  3. An aerosol generating device according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the controller is configured to quantify the detected change in capacitance and associate it to a change in capacitance indicative of the aerosol generating article comprising a given aerosolisable material.
  4. An aerosol generating device according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the controller is configured to enable the aerosol generating device to take different actions based on the magnitude of the detected change in capacitance.
  5. An aerosol generating device according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the controller is configured to evaluate the detected change in capacitance to provide an indication of whether the aerosol generating article received in the aerosol generating device is of a predetermined type.
  6. An aerosol generating device according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the controller is configured to detect a further change in capacitance of the circuit, and wherein the further change in capacitance is caused by a user interaction with the aerosol generating article received, in use, in the aerosol provision device.
  7. An aerosol generating device according to claim 6, wherein the detected further change in capacitance is indicative of the insertion of the article generating device having been completed.
  8. An aerosol generating device according to claim 6 or claim 7, wherein the further change in capacitance is a change of the capacitance at the conductive surface and conductive material to a second capacitance value.
  9. An aerosol generating device according to any of claims 6 to 8, wherein the user interaction is at least one of: (i) the user contacting, and thereby electrically grounding, the conductive material; (ii) the user deforming the conducting material; and (iii) a capacitive coupling effect between the user and the conductive material.
  10. An aerosol generating device according to any of the preceding claims, further comprising a chamber configured to receive the aerosol generating article, the conductive surface being arranged in the chamber to be, upon full insertion of the aerosol generating article into the device in use, in proximity to the aerosol generating article.
  11. A system comprising the aerosol generating device according to any of claims 1 to 10 and an aerosol generating article for insertion into the aerosol generating device, wherein the article comprises a conductive material for electromagnetically interacting with the aerosol generating device, wherein the conductive material has a first capacitance value with the conductive surface when the aerosol generating article is fully received in the aerosol provision device.
  12. A system according to claim 11, wherein the conductive material has a second capacitance value with the conductive surface when a user interacts with the aerosol generating article received in the aerosol provision device.
  13. A system according to claim 11 or claim 12, wherein the conductive material is configured to extend along a portion of a length of the article, optionally wherein the conductive material is configured to extend along only a minority of the length of the article.
  14. A method of detecting a change in capacitance of the circuit of the aerosol provision device according to any of claims 1 to 10, wherein the method comprises detecting a change in capacitance indicative of an aerosol generating article being inserted in the aerosol provision device.
  15. A method according to claim 14, wherein the method further comprises detecting a further change in capacitance indicative of a user interacting with the aerosol provision article.

Description

Technical Field The present invention relates to an aerosol generating device; a system comprising the aerosol provision device and an article for use with the aerosol generating device; and a method relating to the use of the aerosol generating device. Background Smoking articles such as cigarettes, cigars and the like burn tobacco during use to create tobacco smoke. Attempts have been made to provide alternatives to these tobacco-burning articles which release compounds from a material without burning. Examples of such products are so-called heat-not-burn products which release compounds by heating, but not burning, the material. The material may be, for example, tobacco or may be a non-tobacco material, which may or may not contain nicotine. Summary According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided aerosol generating device as recited in claim 1. According to an example of the disclosure, there may be provided an aerosol generating device for receiving an aerosol generating article, wherein the device comprises an electrical circuit comprising a controller for determining a change in an electrical property of the circuit, and wherein the change is caused by the user interacting with an aerosol generating article received by the device. The change in the property of the circuit may be caused by the user contacting the aerosol generating article. The article may comprise a conductive material and the change in the circuit may be caused by the user interacting with the conductive material. The change may be caused by the user contacting and thereby electrically grounding the conductive material. The change may be a change in the capacitance of the circuit and the controller may be configured to detect the change in capacitance by detecting a change in the time constant of the circuit. The device may be configured to evaluate a detected change in the property of the circuit to provide an indication of whether the article received in the device is of a predetermined type. The controller may be configured to prevent use of the device when the detected change in property of the circuit indicates that the article received in the device is not an approved article. According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system as recited in claim 11. According to an example of the disclosure, there may be provided an aerosol generating article for an aerosol generating device according to the first aspect of the invention, wherein the article comprises a conductive material and the conductive material comprises a first portion for interacting with a user when the user is in contact with the article and a second portion for electromagnetically interacting with the aerosol generating device. The conductive material may be at least partially arranged at an external surface of the article such that it may be directly contacted by a user. The conductive material may be arranged so that no part of the material is directly contactable by the user. According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method as recited in claim 14. According to an example of the disclosure, there may be provided a method of detecting user interaction with an article inserted into a device according to the first aspect of the invention, wherein the method comprises detecting a change in a property of the electrical circuit when a user interacts with the article. The method may comprise detecting a change in capacitance of the circuit when the user interacts with a conductive material in the article. The method may comprise comparing the change to the property of the circuit to a list of at least one value and enabling the device for use when the change to the property of the circuit corresponds with the at least one value. Further features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments of the invention, given by way of example only, which is made with reference to the accompanying drawings. Brief Description of the Drawings Figure 1 shows a longitudinal cross-sectional view of an aerosol generating device and an aerosol generating article.Figure 2 shows a partial cross-sectional side view of a first example aerosol generating article.Figure 3 shows a partial cross-sectional side view of a second example aerosol generating article.Figure 4 shows a partial cross-sectional side view of a third example aerosol generating article.Figure 5 shows a partial cross-sectional side view of a fourth example aerosol generating article.Figure 6 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of an example aerosol provision device with an aerosol generating article inserted.Figure 7 shows a schematic representation of an example circuit for use in an aerosol provision device according to the present invention. Detailed Description Referring to Figure 1 there is shown a longitudinal cross-sectional view of an aerosol generating device 100. The