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JP-7855699-B2 - Suction device, control method, and program

JP7855699B2JP 7855699 B2JP7855699 B2JP 7855699B2JP-7855699-B2

Inventors

  • 手塚 寛

Assignees

  • 日本たばこ産業株式会社

Dates

Publication Date
20260508
Application Date
20220817

Claims (15)

  1. A suction device that generates an aerosol from a substrate having an aerosol source, The suction device includes a control unit that controls the operation of the suction device, The control unit, The altitude information indicating the height at which the suction device is located is acquired. Based on the aforementioned altitude information, it is determined whether the height is less than a threshold. If it is determined that the height is less than the threshold, the predetermined operation of the suction device is restricted . If it is determined that the height is equal to or greater than the threshold, the predetermined operation of the suction device is not restricted. The threshold is a height that a child, who is the target of the restriction of the predetermined action, cannot reach, and is lower than the average height of an adult user . Suction device.
  2. A suction device according to claim 1, The suction device further comprises a heating unit that heats the substrate to generate the aerosol, The control unit, in response to a user request for aerosol generation, controls the temperature of the heating unit based on a heating profile that defines the time-series transition of the target temperature, which is a target value for the heating unit, thereby causing the suction device to generate the aerosol. The predetermined operation includes generating the aerosol in response to the aerosol generation request, Suction device.
  3. A suction device according to claim 1, The suction device further comprises a heating unit that generates the aerosol by heating the substrate when power is supplied, The control unit, in response to a user request for aerosol generation, supplies a predetermined amount of power to the heating unit, thereby causing the suction device to generate the aerosol. The predetermined operation includes generating the aerosol in response to the aerosol generation request, Suction device.
  4. A suction device according to claim 2, The control unit determines that the height is equal to or greater than the threshold, and if a request for aerosol generation is made after a predetermined operation has been performed, it causes the aerosol to be generated in accordance with the aerosol generation request. Suction device.
  5. A suction device according to claim 1, The suction device further comprises a notification unit capable of notifying the user of predetermined information, The control unit further notifies the user of the height information based on the altitude information via the notification unit. Suction device.
  6. A suction device according to claim 5, The notification unit includes a light-emitting unit that emits light, The control unit notifies the user of information regarding the height by changing the light emission pattern of the light-emitting unit according to the height. Suction device.
  7. A suction device according to claim 6, The light-emitting unit is configured to emit light in multiple colors, The control unit causes the light-emitting color of the light-emitting section to vary according to the height. Suction device.
  8. A suction device according to claim 6, The light-emitting section is composed of a plurality of light-emitting elements, The control unit varies the number of light-emitting elements or the number of light-emitting elements to be made to emit light from among the plurality of light-emitting elements, according to the height. Suction device.
  9. A suction device according to claim 5, The notification unit includes a display unit that displays an image, The control unit notifies the user of information regarding the height by changing the display mode of the display unit according to the height. Suction device.
  10. A suction device according to claim 1, The control unit acquires the altitude information when an operation that triggers the acquisition of the altitude information occurs. Suction device.
  11. A suction device according to claim 10, The control unit starts acquiring the advanced information when a predetermined period of time has elapsed since the operation that triggers the acquisition of the advanced information was performed. Suction device.
  12. A suction device according to claim 1, When the control unit receives input of predetermined release information, it disables the restriction on the predetermined operation for a certain period of time from the time it receives input of said release information. Suction device.
  13. A suction device according to any one of claims 1 to 12, When the predetermined operation is performed, the control unit disables the restriction on the predetermined operation for a certain period of time from the time the predetermined operation is completed. Suction device.
  14. A computer that controls the operation of a suction device that generates aerosols from a substrate containing an aerosol source, The altitude information indicating the height at which the suction device is located is acquired. Based on the aforementioned altitude information, it is determined whether the height is less than a threshold. If it is determined that the height is less than the threshold, the predetermined operation of the suction device is restricted . If it is determined that the height is equal to or greater than the threshold, the predetermined operation of the suction device is not restricted . Execute the process , The threshold is a height that a child, who is the target of the restriction of the predetermined action, cannot reach, and is lower than the average height of an adult user . Control method.
  15. A computer that controls the operation of a suction device that generates aerosols from a substrate having an aerosol source, The altitude information indicating the height at which the suction device is located is acquired. Based on the aforementioned altitude information, it is determined whether the height is less than a threshold. If it is determined that the height is less than the threshold, the predetermined operation of the suction device is restricted . If it is determined that the height is equal to or greater than the threshold, the predetermined operation of the suction device is not restricted . Execute the process , The threshold is a height that a child, who is the target of the restriction of the predetermined action, cannot reach, and is lower than the average height of an adult user . program.

Description

This invention relates to a suction device, a control method, and a program. Conventionally, inhalers have been known that generate aerosols, for example, those imparted with flavoring components, and allow the user to inhale the generated aerosols. Such inhalers typically deliver the generated aerosol to the user by heating a substrate containing an aerosol source using a heating element (also called a "heating component") which is an electrical resistance or induction heating type heater. Furthermore, some such inhalers have a so-called "child-resistant function" to prevent accidents resulting from misuse by children (e.g., infants and toddlers). For example, Patent Document 1 below discloses that a child-resistant function requires a combination of two or more different actions, such as rotating and compressing the cap, in order to restrict access to the contents of the container. Furthermore, Patent Document 2 discloses that a mouthpiece, which moves relative to the main body between a first position and a second position, is biased to the first position by a spring or the like to switch the device between a stopped state and an operating state, thereby maintaining the device in the stopped state against a predetermined biasing force. It is also disclosed that the predetermined biasing force can be selected to exceed the normal force (expected hand strength) of an infant in order to make the switching of the device to the operating state child-resistant. Japan Special Table No. 2020-506121Japan Special Table No. 2019-505190 Figure 1A is a schematic diagram illustrating a first example configuration of a suction device.Figure 1B is a schematic diagram illustrating a second example configuration of the suction device.Figure 2 is an overall perspective view of the suction device 100B.Figure 3 is a top view of the suction device 100B.Figure 4 shows the suction device 100B with panel 10 removed.Figure 5 shows an example of a threshold value that limits the operation of the suction device 100.Figure 6 shows an example of the relationship between the height at which the suction device 100 is located and the color of the light emitted by the light-emitting device 23a.Figure 7 shows a modified example of the light-emitting device 23a.Figure 8 shows an example of the relationship between the height at which the suction device 100 is located and the number of light-emitting elements that are to be emitted.Figure 9 shows an example of the display device 23b.Figure 10 shows an example of the relationship between the height at which the suction device 100 is located and the display mode of the indicator I on the display device 23b.Figure 11 is a flowchart (part 1) showing an example of a process executed by the control unit 116.Figure 12 is a flowchart (part 2) showing an example of a process executed by the control unit 116. Hereinafter, a suction device, control method, and program according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following, identical or similar elements will be denoted by the same or similar reference numerals, and their descriptions may be omitted or simplified as appropriate. <<1. Example of Suction Device Configuration>> The suction device of this embodiment is a device that generates a substance to be aspirated by the user. In the following description, the substance generated by the suction device will be described as an aerosol. Alternatively, the substance generated by the suction device may be a gas. (1) First Configuration Example Figure 1A is a schematic diagram illustrating a first configuration example of a suction device. As shown in Figure 1A, the suction device 100A according to this configuration example includes a power supply unit 110, a cartridge 120, and a flavoring cartridge 130. The power supply unit 110 includes a power supply unit 111A, a sensor unit 112A, a notification unit 113A, a storage unit 114A, a communication unit 115A, and a control unit 116A. The cartridge 120 includes a heating unit 121A, a liquid induction unit 122, and a liquid storage unit 123. The flavoring cartridge 130 includes a flavor source 131 and a mouthpiece 124. Air passages 180 are formed in the cartridge 120 and the flavoring cartridge 130. The power supply unit 111A stores power. Based on the control by the control unit 116A, the power supply unit 111A supplies power to each component of the suction device 100A. The power supply unit 111A may be composed of, for example, a rechargeable battery such as a lithium-ion secondary battery. The sensor unit 112A acquires various information related to the suction device 100A. For example, the sensor unit 112A is composed of a pressure sensor such as a condenser microphone, a flow sensor, or a temperature sensor, and acquires values associated with suction by the user. Another example is that the sensor unit 112A is composed of an input device that receives information from the user, such as an o