JP7851418B2 - Aerosol generator - Google Patents

Description

This invention relates to an aerosol generating apparatus.

Electronic cigarettes and nebulizers, which generate aerosols for users to inhale, are widely used. These devices generate aerosols by heating an aerosol source. As a result, users can enjoy the flavor of the aerosol by inhaling it.

In recent years, suction devices that generate aerosols with more complex flavors by combining multiple flavor sources have been investigated. For example, Patent Document 1 below discloses a steam supply system that generates steam from two liquid flavor sources and mixes the generated steams in a predetermined ratio to impart desired flavor characteristics to the steam.

Special Publication No. 2020-507311

On the other hand, when flavoring an aerosol using multiple flavor sources, the control of generating flavor from multiple flavor sources becomes more complex, potentially reducing the usability of the aerosol generator.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and the object of the present invention is to achieve higher usability in an aerosol generating device that uses multiple flavor sources.

To solve the above problems, according to one aspect of the present invention, an aerosol generating device is provided comprising: a plurality of flavor sources including at least one flavor source capable of generating an aerosol to be inhaled by a user; a plurality of atomizing units that generate the aerosol to which the flavor has been imparted from the plurality of flavor sources; a storage unit that stores composition ratio information relating to the composition ratio of flavors imparted to the generated aerosol; and a control unit that controls the atomizing units based on the composition ratio information, wherein if the plurality of flavor sources include a plurality of flavor sources of the same type, the control unit generates the flavor from only one of the flavor sources of the same type.

The flavor source used for flavor generation may be the flavor source with the smallest remaining amount of aerosol that can be generated among the same type of flavor sources.

The aforementioned multiple flavor sources may include liquid aerosol sources.

The aforementioned multiple flavor sources may further include solid flavor sources.

The solid flavor source may be a flavor source capable of generating aerosols.

The control unit may determine whether or not multiple identical flavor sources are included for each liquid aerosol source or each solid flavor source.

The plurality of atomizing units include a plurality of heating units that are uniquely corresponding to the plurality of atomizing units, and the plurality of heating units may each heat the plurality of flavor sources with a heating profile corresponding to the flavor source to be heated.

The aforementioned multiple flavor sources may be interchangeable.

As described above, the present invention makes it possible to achieve higher usability in an aerosol generating device that uses multiple flavor sources.

This is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of a suction device according to one embodiment of the present invention. This is a flowchart illustrating the operation flow of a suction device.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the attached drawings. In this specification and the drawings, components having substantially the same functional configuration are denoted by the same reference numerals, thus omitting redundant explanations.

<1. Configuration of the suction device>
First, with reference to Figure 1, the configuration of a suction device according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described. Figure 1 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the suction device according to this embodiment. In the following description, the substance generated by the suction device 100 will be described as an aerosol, but the substance generated by the suction device 100 may be a gas.

As shown in Figure 1, the suction device 100 comprises a plurality of flavor sources 130, a power supply unit 111, a sensor unit 112, a notification unit 113, a storage unit 114, a communication unit 115, and a control unit 116.

The power supply unit 111 stores power and supplies power to the components of the suction device 100 based on control by the control unit 116. The power supply unit 111 may be composed of a rechargeable battery, such as a lithium-ion secondary battery. The power supply unit 111 may be charged by connecting to an external power source via a USB (Universal Serial Bus) cable or the like, or it may be charged wirelessly using power transmission technology while not connected to a power-transmitting device. Furthermore, the power supply unit 111 may be detachably provided from the suction device 100, or it may be provided in a way that allows it to be replaced with a new power supply unit 111.

The sensor unit 112 acquires various information related to the suction device 100 and outputs the acquired information to the control unit 116. For example, the sensor unit 112 may be composed of a pressure sensor such as a condenser microphone, a flow sensor, or a temperature sensor, and may acquire information regarding the amount of change associated with suction by the user. Another example is that the sensor unit 112 may be composed of an input device such as a button or switch, and may acquire information indicating that input from the user has been received.

The notification unit 113 notifies the user of information. The notification unit 113 may be composed of a light-emitting device such as an LED (Light Emitting Diode). For example, the notification unit 113 may emit light in different colors or lighting timing patterns when the power supply unit 111 is in a charging state, when the power supply unit 111 is charging, or when an abnormality occurs in the suction device 100. In addition to or instead of the light-emitting device, the notification unit 113 may be composed of a display device that displays an image, a sound output device that outputs sound, or a vibration device that vibrates. Furthermore, the notification unit 113 may be composed of multiple light-emitting devices (such as LEDs). In such a case, the multiple light-emitting devices constituting the notification unit 113 may be uniquely associated with each of the multiple flavor sources 130. According to this, the suction device 100 can notify the user of a flavor source 130 that has reached its replacement time by, for example, lighting up or flashing the light-emitting device corresponding to that flavor source 130 that has reached its replacement time.

The storage unit 114 stores various information for the operation of the suction device 100. The storage unit 114 may be composed of a non-volatile storage medium such as flash memory. The storage unit 114 may also further include a volatile storage medium for temporarily storing commands transmitted to the suction device 10. For example, the storage unit 114 may store information related to the OS (Operating System) of the suction device 100. The storage unit 114 may also store information related to suction by the user, such as the number of suctions, the time of suction, or the cumulative suction time.

The communication unit 115 is a communication interface capable of performing communication in accordance with any wired or wireless communication standard. The communication unit 115 may be a communication interface compliant with, for example, a wireless LAN (Local Area Network), wired LAN, Wi-Fi®, or Bluetooth®. The communication unit 115 may transmit information related to suction by the user to the user's smartphone, and may receive information related to OS updates for the suction device 100 from a server.

The control unit 116 functions as an arithmetic processing unit and control device, and controls the overall operation of the suction device 100 according to various programs. The control unit 116 is implemented by an electronic circuit such as a CPU (central processing unit) or a microprocessor. The control unit 116 may also include a ROM (Read Only Memory) for storing programs and calculation parameters used by the CPU, and a RAM (Random Access Memory) for temporarily storing parameters that change as needed. For example, the control unit 116 may control power supply from the power supply unit 111 to other components, charging of the power supply unit 111, detection of information by the sensor unit 112, notification of information by the notification unit 113, storage or reading of information by the storage unit 114, and transmission and reception of information by the communication unit 115.

The multiple flavor sources 130 include at least one flavor source capable of generating aerosols, and are components capable of generating aerosols with multiple flavors. The multiple flavor sources 130 can generate aerosols with desired flavors by controlling the generation ratio of aerosols or flavors by the control unit 116. Alternatively, the multiple flavor sources 130 can generate aerosols with desired flavors by controlling the mixing ratio of aerosols or flavors by controlling the flow path by the control unit 116. The aerosols with desired flavors can be inhaled by the user of the inhalation device 100, providing the user with a more complex inhalation experience. The multiple flavor sources 130 are each held by a holding part (not shown) provided by the inhalation device 100. That is, the inhalation device 100 may be equipped with multiple holding parts (not shown) corresponding to the multiple flavor sources 130.

As an example, the flavor source capable of generating aerosols may be a liquid storage unit that stores a liquid aerosol source. The liquid aerosol source is, for example, a polyhydric alcohol such as glycerin or propylene glycol, or a liquid such as water. The liquid aerosol source may further contain flavor components derived from tobacco or non-tobacco, and if the inhalation device 100 is a medical inhaler such as a nebulizer, it may further contain a drug.

The liquid storage unit can generate aerosols by heating a liquid aerosol source in a heating unit (not shown). Specifically, the liquid storage unit can generate aerosols by heating the liquid aerosol source stored in the liquid storage unit with a heating unit that generates heat through power supply from the power supply unit 111, thereby atomizing the liquid aerosol source. Note that the means for generating aerosols are not limited to heating the liquid aerosol source with the heating unit. For example, aerosols may be generated by atomizing the liquid aerosol source through vibration atomization.

As another example, the flavor source capable of generating aerosols may be a solid flavor source. For example, the flavor source capable of generating aerosols may be a stick-type substrate containing a solid aerosol source. The stick-type substrate includes a substrate portion containing the solid aerosol source and a mouthpiece portion. While held in the suction device 100, the solid aerosol source can be atomized and an aerosol generated by heating the substrate portion in a heating unit (not shown). The generated aerosol is then drawn into the user's mouthpiece.

For example, a stick-type substrate may be heated from the outside by a heating element configured in the form of a film that covers the outer circumference of the substrate, thereby atomizing the solid aerosol source contained in the substrate and generating an aerosol. Alternatively, a stick-type substrate may be heated from the inside by a heating element configured in the form of a blade that is inserted into the interior of the substrate, thereby atomizing the solid aerosol source contained in the substrate and generating an aerosol. Furthermore, a stick-type substrate may be heated from the bottom by a heating element positioned to cover the bottom of the substrate, thereby atomizing the solid aerosol source contained in the substrate and generating an aerosol. The heating method of the heating element may be either resistance heating or induction heating. For example, the heating element may heat the stick-type substrate by resistance heating, or it may heat a stick-type substrate containing a susceptor by induction heating.

Furthermore, the multiple flavor sources 130 may include solid flavor sources that do not generate aerosols. Such flavor sources are, for example, capsule-type flavor sources in which a drug, fragrance, or tobacco-derived or non-tobacco-derived solid material is sealed in a container such as a capsule. For example, a capsule-type flavor source may be a capsule containing a tobacco-derived solid material formed from shredded tobacco or tobacco raw materials into granules, sheets, or powder, or a non-tobacco-derived solid material made from plants other than tobacco (e.g., mint or herbs). The capsule-type flavor source can impart a desired flavor to an aerosol by passing an aerosol generated from a liquid aerosol source through the capsule.

Furthermore, since preheating is not required for liquid aerosol sources or solid flavor sources that do not generate aerosols, it is possible to miniaturize the heating unit for heating these flavor sources 130. Therefore, the suction device 100 may control the generation of aerosols or flavors from multiple flavor sources 130 by heating each of the multiple flavor sources 130 with separate heating units and heating profiles. The heating profile is a control sequence used when the control unit 116 controls the heating unit. Specifically, the heating profile is a control sequence that includes control by the control unit 116 to bring the temperature of the heating unit to a target temperature. The heating profile may also be information that defines the time-series change of the target temperature of the heating unit.

On the other hand, solid flavor sources capable of generating aerosols (i.e., stick-type substrates) require preheating. Therefore, the suction device 100 may control the generation of aerosols or flavors from multiple flavor sources 130 by heating the entire group of multiple flavor sources 130 with a single heating profile.

The suction device 100 generates an aerosol with a flavor for one inhalation by combining the flavors or aerosols produced from the multiple flavor sources 130 described above, thereby allowing the user to inhale an aerosol with a more complex flavor.

Examples of combinations of multiple flavor sources 130 used in the suction device 100 include combinations of multiple solid flavor sources, combinations of multiple liquid aerosol sources, combinations of at least one solid flavor source and at least one liquid aerosol source, combinations of one capsule-type flavor source and multiple liquid aerosol sources, or combinations of multiple capsule-type flavor sources and at least one liquid aerosol source.

<2. Technical Features of the Invention>
Next, the technical features of the suction device 100 according to this embodiment will be described in more detail.

In the suction device 100 that uses multiple flavor sources 130, the multiple flavor sources 130 are provided in a detachable manner. This allows the user to swap each of the multiple flavor sources 130 based on their own preferences.

In the suction device 100 according to this embodiment, when multiple identical flavor sources 130 are installed, one of the multiple identical flavor sources 130 is set as the flavor source 130 currently in use, and the other flavor sources 130 are set as spare flavor sources 130 that are not in use. In other words, when multiple identical flavor sources 130 are installed in the suction device 100, the flavor generation is controlled so that flavor is not generated from any of the flavor sources 130 other than one of the identical flavor sources 130.

According to this, if a user attaches multiple identical flavor sources 130 to the suction device 100, the suction device 100 can prevent multiple identical flavor sources 130 from being consumed simultaneously by ensuring that they are consumed sequentially. Therefore, the suction device 100 can prevent the multiple attached identical flavor sources 130 from being depleted in succession, thus preventing the need to replace multiple identical flavor sources 130 at short intervals, and thus reducing the hassle of replacing the flavor sources 130.

The suction device 100 may, for example, determine whether multiple identical flavor sources 130 are included for each liquid aerosol source or for each solid flavor source. This is because, even if the included flavor sources are of the same type, the flavors produced may differ between a liquid aerosol source and a solid flavor source (which includes both flavor sources capable of generating aerosols and flavor sources that do not generate aerosols).

In relation to the above, the suction device 100 may control the proportion of flavor generated for each liquid aerosol source or each solid flavor source. Specifically, the suction device 100 may control the proportion of flavor added to the aerosol so that the proportion of flavor generated for each liquid aerosol source or each solid flavor source becomes 100%.

<3. Operation of the suction device>
Next, with reference to Figure 2, the operation flow of the suction device 100 according to this embodiment will be described. Figure 2 is a flowchart illustrating the operation flow of the suction device 100. Each of the operations of the suction device 100 described below is controlled by the control unit 116.

As shown in Figure 2, first, the suction device 100 receives an instruction from the user to start generating flavor (S101). The instruction from the user to start generating flavor may be given, for example, by the user suctioning the suction device 100, or by the user inputting into an input device such as a button or switch. Next, the suction device 100 obtains the composition ratio of the flavor to be generated from the storage unit 114 or the like (S103). The composition ratio of the flavor stored in the storage unit 114 may be the composition ratio of the flavor transmitted from an external device (for example, a mobile phone, personal computer, or server) connected to the suction device 100 by wired or wireless connection via the communication unit 115.

The flavor source 130 attached to the suction device 100 may be identified, for example, by reading a predetermined part of the flavor source 130 with the imaging device included in the sensor unit 112, or by reading information written on a tag attached to the flavor source 130. The suction device 100 can identify the attached flavor source 130 and control the generation of flavor from each of the flavor sources 130 to generate flavors in a desired proportion.

Here, the suction device 100 determines whether there are multiple flavor sources 130 of the same type as the flavor source 130 included in the composition ratio of the flavor to be generated (S105). If there are multiple flavor sources 130 of the same type (S105/Yes), the suction device 100 controls the flavor generation so that flavor is generated from only one of the multiple flavor sources 130 of the same type (S107). As a result, the suction device 100 can generate flavor (S109).

For example, if there are multiple flavor sources 130 of the same type, and the remaining amounts of these flavor sources 130 differ, the suction device 100 may use the flavor source 130 with the smallest remaining amount as the flavor source that generates the flavor, and use the other flavor sources 130 with larger remaining amounts as spare flavor sources. This allows the suction device 100 to replace the flavor sources 130 earlier, making it easier to synchronize the replacement timing with the other flavor sources 130.

Furthermore, even if there are multiple flavor sources 130 of the same type (S105/Yes), for flavor sources 130 whose flavor composition ratio is set to 0%, the composition ratio of all of the multiple flavor sources 130 may be set to 0%.

On the other hand, if no similar flavor source 130 exists (S105/No), the suction device 100 can generate the desired flavor by atomizing the flavor source 130 included in the composition ratio of the flavor to be generated according to that composition ratio (S109). As a method for generating the desired flavor according to the composition ratio, for example, a valve can be provided in the flow path (not shown) through which the aerosol passes, and the control unit 116 can control the valve to control the mixing ratio of the flavored aerosol. Another method is to control the amount of aerosol generated by the heating unit to control the mixing ratio of the flavored aerosol.

According to the above operation, when multiple identical flavor sources 130 are included among the multiple flavor sources 130 installed in the suction device 100, one of the multiple identical flavor sources 130 can be set as the flavor source 130 currently in use. Furthermore, the suction device 100 can set one of the other identical flavor sources 130 as a spare flavor source 130 that is not being used. Therefore, even if one of the multiple identical flavor sources 130 installed in the suction device 100 is used up, the timing of replacing the used-up flavor source 130 can be delayed. Consequently, the suction device 100 can replace multiple identical flavor sources 130 at the same time, thereby improving usability.

Although preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above with reference to the attached drawings, the present invention is not limited to these examples. It is clear to any person with ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention belongs that various modifications or alterations can be conceived within the scope of the technical idea described in the claims, and these will naturally also be understood to fall within the technical scope of the present invention.

For example, the processes described using flowcharts in this specification do not necessarily have to be executed in the order shown. Some processing steps may be executed in parallel. Additional processing steps may be adopted, and some processing steps may be omitted.

Furthermore, the following configurations also fall within the technical scope of the present invention.
(1)
Multiple flavor sources, each containing at least one flavor source capable of generating an aerosol that is inhaled by the user,
Multiple atomizing units that generate the aerosol to which the flavor has been imparted from the multiple flavor sources,
A storage unit that stores information on the proportion of flavors imparted to the generated aerosol,
A control unit that controls the atomizing unit based on the aforementioned composition ratio information,
Equipped with,
The control unit is an aerosol generating device that, when multiple flavor sources of the same type are included among the multiple flavor sources, generates flavor from only one of the flavor sources of the same type.
(2)
The aerosol generating apparatus according to (1), wherein the flavor source used for generating flavor is the flavor source with the smallest remaining amount of aerosol that can be generated among the flavor sources of the same type.
(3)
The aerosol generating apparatus according to (1) or (2) above, wherein the plurality of flavor sources include a liquid aerosol source.
(4)
The aerosol generating apparatus according to (3), wherein the plurality of flavor sources further comprises a solid flavor source.
(5)
The aerosol generating apparatus according to (4), wherein the solid flavor source is a flavor source capable of generating an aerosol.
(6)
The aerosol generating apparatus according to (4), wherein the control unit determines whether or not multiple of the same flavor sources are included for each liquid aerosol source or each solid flavor source.
(7)
The plurality of atomizing units include a plurality of heating units that are uniquely corresponding to the plurality of atomizing units.
The aerosol generating apparatus according to any one of (1) to (6), wherein the plurality of heating units heat each of the plurality of flavor sources with a heating profile corresponding to the flavor source to be heated.
(8)
The aerosol generating apparatus according to any one of the above (1) to (7), wherein the plurality of flavor sources are interchangeable.

100 Suction device 111 Power supply unit 112 Sensor unit 113 Notification unit 114 Storage unit 115 Communication unit 116 Control unit 130 Flavoring source

Claims (8)

Multiple flavor sources, each containing at least one flavor source capable of generating an aerosol that is inhaled by the user,
Multiple atomizing units that generate the aerosol to which the flavor has been imparted from the multiple flavor sources,
A storage unit that stores information on the proportion of flavors imparted to the generated aerosol,
A control unit that controls the atomizing unit based on the aforementioned composition ratio information,
Equipped with,
The control unit is an aerosol generating device that, when multiple flavor sources of the same type are included among the multiple flavor sources, generates flavor from only one of the flavor sources of the same type. The aerosol generating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the flavor source used for flavor generation is the flavor source with the smallest remaining amount of aerosol that can be generated among the same type of flavor sources. The aerosol generating apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of flavor sources include a liquid aerosol source. The aerosol generating apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the plurality of flavor sources further include solid flavor sources. The aerosol generating apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the solid flavor source is a flavor source capable of generating aerosols. The aerosol generating apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the control unit determines whether or not multiple identical flavor sources are included for each liquid aerosol source or each solid flavor source. The plurality of atomizing units include a plurality of heating units that are uniquely corresponding to the plurality of atomizing units.
The aerosol generating apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the plurality of heating units heat each of the plurality of flavor sources with a heating profile corresponding to the flavor source to be heated. The aerosol generating apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6 , wherein the plurality of flavor sources are replaceable.