US-12618671-B2 - Aerosol-generating system with pairs of electrodes

US12618671B2US 12618671 B2US12618671 B2US 12618671B2US-12618671-B2

Abstract

An aerosol-generating system includes a liquid storage for holding a liquid aerosol-forming substrate, a first pair of electrodes, a second pair of electrodes and a control system. The liquid storage includes a first portion in fluid communication with a second portion. The first pair of electrodes is adjacent to or in the first portion of the liquid storage. The second pair of electrodes is adjacent to or in the second portion of the liquid storage portion. The control system is configured to measure an electrical quantity between the first pair of electrodes, measure an electrical quantity between the second pair of electrodes, and determine the orientation of the liquid storage portion based on the electrical quantity between the first pair of electrodes and the electrical quantity between the second pair of electrodes.

Inventors

Michel BESSANT
Robert Emmett
Jacques Robert
Tony Reevell

Assignees

ALTRIA CLIENT SERVICES LLC

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20210317
Priority Date: 20161222

Claims (20)

1 . An aerosol-generating system comprising: a liquid storage configured to hold a liquid aerosol-forming substrate, the liquid storage including a first portion in fluid communication with a second portion; a first pair of electrodes adjacent to or in the first portion of the liquid storage; a second pair of electrodes adjacent to or in the second portion of the liquid storage; and a control system configured to, determine an orientation of the liquid storage without a tilt sensor based on a first electrical quantity between the first pair of electrodes and a second electrical quantity between the second pair of electrodes.
2 . The aerosol-generating system of claim 1 , wherein the control system is configured to determine the orientation of the liquid storage based on a comparison between the first electrical quantity between the first pair of electrodes and the second electrical quantity between the second pair of electrodes.
3 . The aerosol-generating system of claim 1 , wherein the control system is further configured to determine an amount of the liquid aerosol-forming substrate held in the liquid storage based on the first electrical quantity between the first pair of electrodes, the second electrical quantity between the second pair of electrodes, and the determined orientation of the liquid storage.
4 . The aerosol-generating system of claim 1 , wherein the control system is configured to: compare the determined orientation of the liquid storage to one or more reference orientation values; and in response to the determined orientation of the liquid storage matching a reference orientation value, determine an amount of the liquid aerosol-forming substrate held in the liquid storage based on measurements of the first electrical quantity between the first pair of electrodes and measurements of the second electrical quantity between the second pair of electrodes.
5 . The aerosol-generating system of claim 1 , wherein the control system is configured to determine whether the liquid storage is at a horizontal orientation.
6 . The aerosol-generating system according to of claim 1 , wherein: the first portion of the liquid storage has a length and the first pair of electrodes extends the length of the first portion of the liquid storage; and the second portion of the liquid storage has a length and the second pair of electrodes extends the length of the second portion of the liquid storage.
7 . The aerosol-generating system of claim 6 , wherein: the first portion of the liquid storage has a uniform cross-section along the length of the first portion; and the second portion of the liquid storage has a uniform cross-section along the length of the second portion.
8 . The aerosol-generating system of claim 1 , wherein the first portion of the liquid storage comprises a first half of the liquid storage and the second portion of the liquid storage comprises a second half of the liquid storage.
9 . The aerosol-generating system of claim 1 , wherein at least one of: the first pair of electrodes are arranged such that at least a part of the first portion of the liquid storage is between the first pair of electrodes; and the second pair of electrodes are arranged such that at least a part of the second portion of the liquid storage is between the second pair of electrodes.
10 . The aerosol-generating system of claim 1 , wherein at least one of: the first pair of electrodes are interdigitated electrodes; and the second pair of electrodes are interdigitated electrodes.
11 . The aerosol-generating system of claim 1 , further comprising: a cartridge, the liquid storage in the cartridge; and a main unit comprising the control system and a cavity configured to receive the cartridge, wherein the first pair of electrodes and the second pair of electrodes are in the cartridge or in the cavity of the main unit.
12 . The aerosol-generating system of claim 1 , further comprising: a main unit, wherein the main unit includes, the control system, and a cavity configured to receive a cartridge, the liquid storage in the cartridge, wherein the first pair of electrodes are at a first portion of the cavity such that the first portion of the liquid storage is adjacent to the first pair of electrodes when the cartridge is in the cavity, and the second pair of electrodes are at a second portion of the cavity such that the second portion of the liquid storage of the cartridge is adjacent to the second pair of electrodes when the cartridge is in the cavity.
13 . The aerosol-generating system of claim 1 , further comprising: a cartridge, wherein the cartridge includes, the liquid storage in the cartridge, the liquid storage having the first and second portions, the first pair of electrodes adjacent to or in the first portion of the liquid storage, and the second pair of electrodes adjacent to or in the second portion of the liquid storage.
14 . The aerosol-generating system of claim 1 , further comprising: one or more heating wires encircling a portion of one or more capillary wicks, the one or more heating wires configured to heat the liquid aerosol-forming substrate.
15 . The aerosol-generating system of claim 1 , wherein the control system is configured to measure the first electrical quantity between the first pair of electrodes by measuring an electrical resistance between a driving interdigitated electrode of the first pair of electrodes and a sensing interdigitated electrode of the first pair of electrodes, and the control system is configured to measure the second electrical quantity between the second pair of electrodes by measuring an electrical resistance between a driving interdigitated electrode of the second pair of electrodes and a sensing interdigitated electrode of the second pair of electrodes.
16 . The aerosol-generating system of claim 15 , wherein a band gap between the driving interdigitaded electrode of the first pair of electrodes and the sensing interdigitaded electrode of the first pair of electrodes is between 0.5 mm and 15 mm.
17 . The aerosol-generating system of claim 1 , wherein the first pair of electrodes are arranged as a first pair of adjacent combs, and the second pair of electrodes are arranged as a second pair of adjacent combs.
18 . The aerosol-generating system of claim 1 , wherein the control system is configured to determine the orientation of the liquid storage without an accelerometer.
19 . An aerosol-generating system comprising: two or more first pairs of electrodes adjacent to or in a first portion of a liquid storage; and two or more second pairs of electrodes adjacent to or in a second portion of the liquid storage; and a control system configured to determine an orientation of the liquid storage based on electrical quantities between the first pairs of electrodes and electrical quantities between the second pairs of electrodes without using a tilt sensor.
20 . A method of determining an orientation of a liquid storage of an aerosol-generating system comprising: measuring a first electrical quantity between a first pair of electrodes adjacent to or in a first portion of the liquid storage; measuring a second electrical quantity between a second pair of electrodes adjacent to or in a second portion of the liquid storage, the first portion of the liquid storage being in fluid communication with the second portion of the liquid storage; and determining the orientation of the liquid storage based on the first electrical quantity, the second electrical quantity and not based on a tilt sensor.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 15/850,278, filed on Dec. 21, 2017, which is a continuation of International Patent Application No. PCT/EP2017/083386, filed Dec. 18, 2017, and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to European Patent Application No. 16206381.2, filed on Dec. 22, 2016, the entire contents of each of which are incorporated herein by reference. BACKGROUND Field Example embodiments relate to electrically operated aerosol-generating systems and cartridges for electrically operated aerosol-generating systems. Description of Related Art Electrically operated aerosol-generating systems may typically comprise a liquid aerosol-forming substrate, which is atomised to form an aerosol. Electrically operated aerosol-generating systems often comprise a power supply, a liquid-storage portion for holding a supply of liquid aerosol-forming substrate and an atomiser. A type of atomiser used in such systems comprises a coil of heater wire wound around an elongate wick soaked in liquid aerosol-forming substrate. Another type of atomiser used in such systems comprises a heating mesh. SUMMARY According to an example embodiment, there is provided an aerosol-generating system comprising a liquid storage configured to hold a liquid aerosol-forming substrate, the liquid storage including a first portion in fluid communication with a second portion, a first pair of electrodes adjacent to, or in the first portion of, the liquid storage, a second pair of electrodes adjacent to, or in the second portion of, the liquid storage, and a control system. The control system is configured to measure an electrical quantity between the first pair of electrodes, measure an electrical quantity between the second pair of electrodes, and determine an orientation of the liquid storage based on the measurements of the electrical quantity between the first pair of electrodes and the electrical quantity between the second pair of electrodes. The control system may be configured to determine the orientation of the liquid storage based on a comparison between the electrical quantity between the first pair of electrodes and the electrical quantity between the second pair of electrodes. The control system may be configured to determine an amount of the liquid aerosol-forming substrate held in the liquid storage based on the electrical quantity between the first pair of electrodes, the electrical quantity between the second pair of electrodes, and the determined orientation of the liquid storage. The control system may be configured to compare the determined orientation of the liquid storage to one or more reference orientation values, and in response to the determined orientation of the liquid storage matching a reference orientation value, determine an amount of the liquid aerosol-forming substrate held in the liquid storage based on measurements of the electrical quantity between the first pair of electrodes and measurements of the electrical quantity between the second pair of electrodes. The control system may be configured to control system is configured to determine whether the liquid storage is at a horizontal orientation. The first portion of the liquid storage may have a length and the first pair of electrodes extends substantially the length of the first portion of the liquid storage, and the second portion of the liquid storage may have a length and the second pair of electrodes extends substantially the length of the second portion of the liquid storage. The first portion of the liquid storage may have a uniform cross-section along the length of the first portion, and the second portion of the liquid storage may have a uniform cross-section along the length of the second portion. The first portion of the liquid storage may comprise a first half of the liquid storage and the second portion of the liquid storage may comprise a second half of the liquid storage. At least one of the first pair of electrodes may be arranged such that at least a part of the first portion of the liquid storage is arranged between the first pair of electrodes, and the second pair of electrodes are arranged such that at least a part of the second portion of the liquid storage is arranged between the second pair of electrodes. At least one of the first pair of electrodes are interdigitated electrodes, and the second pair of electrodes are interdigitated electrodes. The first pair of electrodes may be configured to form a first capacitor and the electrical quantity to be measured between the first pair of electrodes is a first capacitance, and the second pair of electrodes may be configured to form a second capacitor and the electrical quantity to be measured between the second pair of electrodes is a second capacitance. According to an example embodiment, there is provided an aerosol-generating system comprising two or more first pairs of electrodes arranged to or in a first portion of a