Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A24—TOBACCO; CIGARS; CIGARETTES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES; SMOKERS' REQUISITES
  • A24F—SMOKERS' REQUISITES; MATCH BOXES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES
  • A24F40/00—Electrically operated smoking devices; Component parts thereof; Manufacture thereof; Maintenance or testing thereof; Charging means specially adapted therefor
  • A24F40/50—Control or monitoring
  • A24F40/53—Monitoring, e.g. fault detection
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A24—TOBACCO; CIGARS; CIGARETTES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES; SMOKERS' REQUISITES
  • A24F—SMOKERS' REQUISITES; MATCH BOXES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES
  • A24F40/00—Electrically operated smoking devices; Component parts thereof; Manufacture thereof; Maintenance or testing thereof; Charging means specially adapted therefor
  • A24F40/10—Devices using liquid inhalable precursors

Definitions

• the present disclosure relates to an aerosol provision system configured to estimate an amount of liquid in a reservoir of the aerosol provision system, via one or more features of the air flow through the aerosol provision system, and a method for estimating a liquid amount in an aerosol provision system.
• an aerosol provision system comprising: a reservoir holding liquid to be vaporised, the liquid being of a first liquid type; a vaporiser for vaporising liquid from the reservoir; the vaporiser located in an air flow path; and a controller configured to: determine a mass of aerosol generated by the vaporiser during a puff taken by a user, from a power level value indicating a level of power supplied to the vaporiser during the puff and a puff duration value indicating a duration of the puff, and using an equation relating power level and puff duration to mass of aerosol for an aerosol provision system with a vaporiser located in a specified configuration of air flow path and with liquid of a specified liquid type different from the first liquid type; and estimate an amount of liquid in the reservoir after the puff by using the determined mass of aerosol and a known amount of liquid in the reservoir prior to the puff; wherein the air flow path is modified compared to the specified configuration in order to provide a different air flow past the vaporiser
• the present disclosure relates to electronic aerosol or vapour provision systems, such as e-cigarettes.
• e-cigarette and “electronic cigarette” may sometimes be used; however, it will be appreciated these terms may be used interchangeably with aerosol (vapour) provision system or device.
• the systems are intended to generate an inhalable aerosol by vaporisation of an aerosol-forming substrate in the form of a liquid or gel which may or may not contain nicotine.
• hybrid systems may comprise a liquid or gel substrate plus a solid substrate which is also heated.
• the solid substrate may be for example tobacco or other non-tobacco products, which may or may not contain nicotine.
• aerosol may be used interchangeably with "vapour”.
• the term "component” is used to refer to a part, section, unit, module, assembly or similar of an electronic cigarette or similar device that incorporates several smaller parts or elements, possibly within an exterior housing or wall.
• An electronic cigarette may be formed or built from one or more such components, and the components may be removably or separably connectable to one another, or may be permanently joined together during manufacture to define the whole electronic cigarette.
• a system may comprise (at least) two components separably connectable to one another and configured, for example, as an aerosolisable substrate material carrying component holding liquid or another aerosolisable substrate material (a cartridge, cartomiser or consumable, or simply "pod"), and a control unit or device (“device”) component having a controller for controlling operation of the aerosol provision system, and a battery for providing electrical power to operate an element for generating vapour from the substrate material.
• an aerosolisable substrate material carrying component holding liquid or another aerosolisable substrate material a cartridge, cartomiser or consumable, or simply "pod
• a control unit or device (“device”) component having a controller for controlling operation of the aerosol provision system, and a battery for providing electrical power to operate an element for generating vapour from the substrate material.
• the cartridge component 30 includes a reservoir 3 containing a source liquid or other aerosolisable substrate material comprising a formulation such as liquid or gel from which an aerosol is to be generated, for example containing nicotine.
• the source liquid may comprise around 1 to 3% nicotine and 50% glycerol, with the remainder comprising roughly equal measures of water and propylene glycol, and possibly also comprising other components, such as flavourings. Nicotine-free source liquid may also be used, such as to deliver flavouring.
• a solid substrate (not illustrated), such as a portion of tobacco or other flavour element through which vapour generated from the liquid is passed, may also be included.
• the reservoir 3 has the form of a storage tank, being a container or receptacle in which source liquid can be stored such that the liquid is free to move and flow within the confines of the tank.
• the reservoir 3 may be sealed after filling during manufacture so as to be disposable after the source liquid is consumed, otherwise, it may have an inlet port or other opening through which new source liquid can be added by the user.
• the cartridge component 30 also comprises an electrically powered heating element or heater 4 located externally of the reservoir tank 3 for generating the aerosol by vaporisation of the source liquid by heating.
• source liquid may be generated by an alternative powered means such as a vibrating mesh.
• the powered means that vaporise the liquid may be referred to as a vapour generating element or vaporiser.
• a liquid transfer or delivery arrangement such as a wick or other porous element 6 may be provided to deliver source liquid from the reservoir 3 to the heater 4 or other vapour generator.
• a wick 6 may have one or more parts located inside the reservoir 3, or otherwise be in fluid communication with the liquid in the reservoir 3, so as to be able to absorb source liquid and transfer it by wicking or capillary action to other parts of the wick 6 that are adjacent or in contact with the heater 4. This liquid is thereby heated and vaporised, to be replaced by new source liquid from the reservoir for transfer to the heater 4 by the wick 6.
• the wick may be thought of as a bridge, path or conduit between the reservoir 3 and the heater 4 that delivers or transfers liquid from the reservoir to the heater.
• Terms including conduit, liquid conduit, liquid transfer path, liquid delivery path, liquid transfer mechanism or element, and liquid delivery mechanism or element may all be used interchangeably herein to refer to a wick or corresponding component or structure.
• a heater and wick (or similar) combination is sometimes referred to as an atomiser or atomiser assembly 7, and the reservoir 3 with its source liquid plus the atomiser 7 may be collectively referred to as an aerosol source.
• Other terminology may include a liquid delivery assembly or a liquid transfer assembly, where in the present context these terms may be used interchangeably to refer to a vapour-generating element (vapour generator) plus a wicking or similar component or structure (liquid transport element) that delivers or transfers liquid obtained from a reservoir to the vapour generator for vapour / aerosol generation.
• vapour generator vapour generator
• wicking or similar component or structure liquid transport element
• the wick 6 may be an entirely separate element from the heater 4, or the heater 4 may be configured to be porous and able to perform at least part of the wicking function directly (a conductive mesh, such as a metallic mesh, for example).
• the vapour generating element may be an electrical heating element that operates by ohmic/resistive (Joule) heating or by inductive heating.
• an atomiser can be considered as one or more elements that implement the functionality of a vapour-generating or vaporising element able to generate vapour from source liquid delivered to it, and a liquid transport or delivery element able to deliver or transport liquid from a reservoir or similar liquid store to the vapour generator by a wicking action / capillary force.
• An atomiser is typically housed in a cartridge component of an aerosol generating system.
• liquid may be dispensed from a reservoir directly onto a vapour generator with no need for a distinct wicking or capillary element.
• the cartridge component 30 also includes a mouthpiece or mouthpiece portion 35 having an opening or aerosol outlet through which a user may inhale the aerosol generated by the atomiser 7.
• a mouthpiece may be provided as a separate component which may be permanently or separably connectable to the cartridge component 30.
• the power component or control unit or, simply, device or device component 20 includes a cell or battery 5 (referred to hereinafter as a battery, and which may be rechargeable) to provide power for electrical components of the e-cigarette 10, in particular to operate the vaporiser such as the heater 4. Additionally, there is a controller 28 such as a printed circuit board and/or other electronics or circuitry for generally controlling the e-cigarette.
• the control electronics/circuitry 28 operates the heater 4 using power from the battery 5 when vapour is required, for example in response to a signal from an air pressure sensor or air flow sensor (“puff sensor", not shown) that detects an inhalation on the system 10 during which air enters through one or more air inlets 26 in the wall of the device component 20.
• the heater 4 When the heater 4 is operated, the heater 4 vaporises source liquid delivered from the reservoir 3 by the liquid delivery element 6 to generate the aerosol, and this is then inhaled by a user through the opening in the mouthpiece 35.
• the aerosol is carried from the aerosol source to the mouthpiece 35 along one or more air flow channels (not shown in Figure 1 ) that connect the air inlet(s) 26 to the aerosol source to the aerosol outlet when a user inhales on the mouthpiece 35.
• the cartridge component 30 Since in this example the air inlets 26 to the system are located in the device component 20, the cartridge component 30 has its own air inlet(s) in air flow communication with the device component 20 so that air drawn in through the device component air inlet(s) 26 can reach the interior of the cartridge component 30, and the atomiser 7.
• air inlets may be located in the outer wall of the cartridge component 30 so that air enters directly into the cartridge component 30 instead of arriving there via the device component 20.
• the device component (control unit) 20 and the cartridge component (cartomiser, consumable) 30 are, in this example, separate connectable parts detachable from and re-attachable to one another by movement in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis, as indicated by the double-headed arrows in Figure 1 .
• Each component 20, 30 has a connecting portion 21, 31 at an end facing towards the corresponding end of the other component, and the components 20, 30 are joined together when the aerosol provision system 10 is ready for use or in use by cooperating engagement elements at the connecting portions 21, 31 (for example, a screw or bayonet fitting, or a push-fit, snap-fit or magnetic connection) which provide mechanical and in the present case electrical connectivity between the device component 20 and the cartridge component 30.
• Electrical connectivity is required if the heater 4 operates by ohmic heating, or where a vibrating mesh vapour generator or other electrically powered vaporiser is used, so that current can be passed through the heater 4 or otherwise supplied to the vaporiser, and/or to any other electrically powered parts in the cartridge component 30, when these parts in the cartridge component 30 are connected to the battery 5 in the device component 20.
• electrical connectivity for vapour generation can be omitted if no vapour generating parts requiring electrical power are located in the cartridge component 30, although electrical power may still need to be supplied to other electrical parts in the cartridge component.
• an inductive work coil can be housed in the device component 20 and supplied with power from the battery 5, and the cartridge component 30 and the device component 20 shaped so that when they are connected, there is an appropriate exposure of the heater 4 to flux generated by the coil for the purpose of generating current flow in the material of the heater 4.
• the connecting portions 21, 31 include electrical contacts to complete electrical circuits between the powered parts and the battery 5 when the cartridge component 30 and the device component 20 are connected together.
• apertures for air flow from the device component 20 to the cartridge component 30 are included at the connecting portions 21, 31 of the two components 20, 30 in designs having one or more air inlets 26 in the outer wall(s) of the device component 20.
• the aerosol provision system 10 may be unitary, in that the parts of the device component 20 and the cartridge component 30 are comprised in a single housing and cannot be separated. Embodiments and examples of the present disclosure are applicable to any of these configurations and other configurations of which the skilled person will be aware.
• the generated aerosol is delivered internally to the user via inhalation, it is not feasible to directly measure the amount of aerosol in an actual real life puff when the user uses the aerosol provision system.
• the amount of aerosol which is generated during a puff depends on characteristics of the aerosol provision system which are known or can be determined, and operating parameters of the aerosol provision system which can be measured. For example, more aerosol is generated in a longer puff than in a shorter puff, so aerosol amount depends on puff duration.
• a higher amount of power delivered to the vaporiser during the puff can also increase the amount of aerosol, for example by heating a heating element of the vaporiser to a higher temperature, so aerosol amount depends on vaporiser operating power level.
• Factors such as these can be readily measured during operation of an aerosol provision system, and the controller may be configured to use measured or otherwise ascertained values for these factors to determine an amount of aerosol in a puff using a predetermined relationship between these factors and aerosol amount. From this, a corresponding decrease in the amount of liquid in the reservoir can be determined, allowing a remaining amount of liquid to be estimated. This can then be reported or indicated to the user. The user can then be aware of their liquid consumption, and prepare for replacement or refilling of the reservoir as it approaches an empty state.
• any technique for determining aerosol amount in a manner that allows the amount of generated aerosol to be subtracted from the amount of liquid in the reservoir in a meaningful way may be used.
• mass is a useful metric for this purpose. If mass is used, an approach proposed herein for determination of the mass of aerosol generated in a puff is to use a metric designated as aerosol collected mass (ACM).
• ACM aerosol collected mass
• the ACM may characteristically refer to a mass of aerosol collected, in laboratory or test conditions, externally from the aerosol provision system during one or more puffs of the device.
• the ACM may be determined for a given aerosol provision system under certain operating conditions by collecting aerosol in a laboratory aerosol analyser / puff analyser during one or more puffs carried out under controlled conditions of airflow (for example, of airflow duration and airflow rate profile) by the aerosol analyser.
• the aerosol for a known number of one or more puffs is collected, for example on a fibrous pad, or otherwise condensed out of the aerosol / vapour phase for analysis, and then weighed to determine its mass.
• the mass of aerosol generated in a puff by a known aerosol generating system operating with known values of operational parameters of the aerosol generating system is thereby determined.
• the aerosol mass for a puff under various operating conditions can be ascertained from one particular example of the aerosol generating system.
• users in the future will be using other aerosol generating systems, which may not function identically to the tested aerosol generating system even if all the systems are of the same design.
• system-to-system variation that affects aerosol generation, arising from factors including manufacturing variation and user puff techniques, so that no two systems, even when of intended exactly identical design, will perform exactly identically and generate exactly the same amount of aerosol in a puff under identical operating conditions.
• ACM data which can employed for the purpose proposed herein of estimating liquid amount in a reservoir
• the use of data from a population allows an averaging effect across system-to-system variations, and it has been found that the resulting relationship provides a result which is accurate enough to enable reservoir liquid amount estimation at an accuracy level which is useful to users.
• the accuracy of the determined relationship between aerosol mass generated and values of the aerosol provision system operating parameters which is ascertained from ACM data obtained empirically as described above can be improved by increasing the size of the population of aerosol provision systems of the same type from which the data is collected.
• it is suggested that as large a population as possible is used, within limits set by factors such as time, cost, and the number of vaporisers and/or systems which are available for the purpose.
• a population comprising about 20 or about 50 or about 100 individual vaporisers or aerosol provision systems (where individual vaporisers may for example be included within individual cartridges which are used in turn with the same device or a smaller number of devices to make complete aerosol provision systems) of the same type may be used to obtain a body of ACM data. Larger or smaller populations are not excluded, however.
• the power supply (battery) delivers only a fixed power level to the vaporiser, so that a single power level value can be provided to the controller of the aerosol provision system for use in liquid amount estimation.
• More sophisticated aerosol provision systems allow the user to set the power level, perhaps by selection of one power level from a quantity of available power levels, or by adjustment within an available continuous power level range.
• the selected power regime may correspond to a constant power level over a puff or to a profile of varying power level over a puff.
• the controller is configured to control the battery to supply the selected power level to the vaporiser, so that the controller has access to the value of the power level which is used for any given puff.
• some aerosol provision systems are "puff activated" and include a so-called puff detector or puff sensor, which is a sensor configured to detect when a user inhales on the system. Such sensors detect changes in air flow or air pressure, and are typically used to activate the aerosol provision system for operation.
• the sensor sends a signal to the controller, which responds by controlling the supply of power to the vaporiser so that vapour is generated, and stops the supply of power at the end of the puff, when the sensor detects that inhalation has ceased.
• the controller may be provided with a clock configured to time the length of the puff, so that the controller can thereby obtain a value of the duration of the puff.
• aerosol provision systems are activated by a user operated control element on the aerosol provision system, such as a switch or a button, by which the user indicates that aerosol generation is required, in response to which the controller controls the power to be supplied to the vaporiser.
• a user operated control element on the aerosol provision system such as a switch or a button
• the user may press a button at the same time as inhaling on the aerosol provision system, so that the vaporiser is powered for the duration of the button press.
• a puff sensor may be provided for the sole purpose of allowing puff duration to be measured, as described above, rather than for activating aerosol generation.
• the operation of the user control element may be used as a proxy for puff duration, if it is assumed that the user will operate the user control element to obtain aerosol for approximately the duration of their puff.
• Figure 2 shows a graph of empirical data obtained in this way from a population of aerosol provision systems of the same type, in that a population of pods or cartridges of the same design, each having an electrically powered vaporiser in the form of an electrical heating element and a reservoir of aerosolisable liquid, were used together with one or more different devices to form the population of aerosol provision systems.
• the graph indicates puff duration in seconds on the x-axis, and ACM per puff in milligrams on the y-axis.
• Each data point represents an amount of aerosol, as the ACM, per puff averaged over 25 puffs, measured in laboratory conditions.
• a selection of different power level values were used for each puff duration value, as indicated.
• Figure 3 shows the graph of Figure 2 , with best fit linear functions also shown, for each power level value.
• a group of best fit lines is obtained, each relating ACM to puff duration value, for each power level value.
• the functions describing these lines can be then be combined in order to obtain an equation that relates both power level value and puff duration value to ACM.
• M A ⁇ Bt ⁇ CP + DtP
• A, B, C and D are constants
• t is the puff duration value in seconds
• P is the power level value in watts.
• the skilled person will understand that different values for the constants, and indeed a different form for the equation, may be determined from other empirical data and other mathematical techniques.
• linear fitting to empirical data is straightforward to achieve, and may provide a relatively simple equation that can be efficiently computed to calculate aerosol mass during use of an aerosol provision system
• more complex fitting may be applied to the empirical data in some other examples, by fitting a nonlinear function to the data. This can improve accuracy of the determined aerosol mass.
• Any nonlinear mathematical function may be chosen to best fit a curve to the empirical data; the skilled person will understand how to achieve this with reference to the nature of the data obtained from the laboratory measurements. Examples of suitable functions include, but are not limited to, a quadratic or cubic polynomial function, or a polynomial function of higher order, a spline function, or a piece-wise linear function.
• Figure 4 again shows the graph of Figure 2 , and differs from Figure 3 in that best fit nonlinear functions are shown fitted to the data for each power level value.
• the functions describing the best fit lines can be then be combined in order to obtain a single equation that relates both power level value and puff duration value to ACM. Again, this equation can be used to calculate aerosol mass in a puff from the power level value and duration of the puff.
• a comparison of Figure 4 with Figure 3 shows that the systematic error is reduced compared to the linear fitting, and is much closer to zero since the predicted value, indicated by the line, is much closer to the mean of the measured data. The unpredictable pod-to-pod variation remains, but on average the overall error should be lower than when linear fitting is used.
• an equation that relates aerosol mass of a puff to the power level value at the vaporiser used to generate the aerosol in the puff, and the value of the duration of the puff can be obtained from empirical data measured in laboratory conditions.
• This equation can be provided to the controller of an aerosol provision system, and stored in memory of the controller (or memory accessible by the controller).
• the controller is configured to obtain a value of the power level and a value of the puff duration during puffs taken on the aerosol provision system, as described above.
• the controller obtains the power level value and the puff duration value, and uses these values, with the equation, to determine a mass of the aerosol contained in the puff that has been taken.
• the controller is further configured to use the determined mass of aerosol to estimate an amount of liquid in the reservoir of the aerosol provision system.
• the estimation is achieved using the determined mass of aerosol in the puff and a known amount of liquid in the reservoir prior to the puff.
• the controller obtains or is provided with a value for the total capacity of the reservoir, being the initial amount or volume of liquid contained in the reservoir when it is full (or otherwise filled or provided with liquid in advance of first use), before any puffs have been taken.
• the pod or reservoir may not be replaceable, and the controller is provided during manufacture with a value for the total capacity of the reservoir. This may or may not be a mass; it could alternatively be a volume, which the controller is configured to convert to a mass, for example.
• the pod or reservoir can be replaced, it may be that only reservoirs of a single capacity or single initial liquid fill amount or level are provided by the manufacturer, so that the value of this capacity is provided to the controller during manufacture, and the controller is configured to recognise when a new pod or reservoir is fitted, so that the amount of liquid in the reservoir at that time can be assumed to be equal to the pre-provided value for the total or initial capacity.
• the controller may be configured to obtain an expected amount of liquid in the reservoir when the reservoir or pod is newly fitted to the aerosol provision system, or newly filled, that is, a value for the total liquid capacity of reservoir when it is full. It is known to provide reservoirs and/or pods/cartridges with identifying elements which can be read by a controller when the reservoir or pod is coupled to the device of the aerosol provision system in order to obtain identification information about the reservoir/pod. In the current context, this information may include or otherwise indicate a value of the reservoir's total liquid capacity.
• the identification information may include items of data or information about the pod or reservoir, or may give a simple identification of the pod/reservoir from which the controller is able to ascertain the data or information, for example from a store of such data or information for different pods/reservoirs held in the controller or accessible by the controller from elsewhere.
• identifying elements include resistors, capacitors, chips or other electrical or electronic components in circuitry in the pod that can be electrically detected or interrogated by the controller, bar codes, QR codes or other indicia that can be optically read or otherwise sensed by a sensor or detector operated by the controller, and shaped features that engage with complementary features in or on the device, where the controller can sense the engagement. Other examples are not excluded.
• a refilling action may be detected, and reported to the controller, which can assume that after refilling the reservoir contains a liquid amount matching its total liquid capacity.
• the controller may store the new, reduced amount of liquid, and deduct the aerosol amount in the next puff from that amount, and so on.
• the controller keeps track of the amount of aerosol in the reservoir as it depletes after each puff, and subtracts the aerosol amount of the each puff from the reservoir aerosol amount immediately prior to the puff.
• the controller may accumulate the total amount of aerosol generated by adding the aerosol amount in each puff to the amount in the previous puffs, and subtract the total aerosol amount from the original reservoir total liquid capacity when an estimate of the remaining liquid amount in the reservoir is required.
• the estimate of the liquid amount in the reservoir may be stored by the controller and used internally by processes of the aerosol provision system, and/or it may be indicated or reported to the user.
• An example of a process may be automatic ordering of a replacement pod when the reservoir approaches depletion, if the aerosol provision system is configured for communication with a remote server or with a personal electronic device of the user such as a mobile phone. Indicating to the user may be done regularly or periodically, or on demand when the user operates a user control of the aerosol provision system to request an indication, or only when the reservoir is approaching an empty state (the remaining liquid amount falls below a predetermined threshold, for example) in order to warn the user that the supply of liquid is about to run out.
• the controller may be configured to store the equation, and directly use the equation to determine the mass of aerosol in a puff by utilising the obtained values of power level and puff duration in the equation.
• This approach requires computation by the processor for each puff, but has a low storage requirement since only the equation needs storing. It can also give a relatively accurate determination of the aerosol amount for each puff, since the equation returns a value for the aerosol amount for any value of puff duration and power level; the equation performs an extrapolation between the selected discrete values of puff duration and power level for which the empirical data was collected, which may not correspond to the puff duration value and/or of the power level value for an actual puff.
• the controller may store a look-up table that stores, for multiple combinations of puff duration value and power level value, a corresponding value for the mass of aerosol in a puff with that combination of puff duration and power level.
• the controller is configured, when a puff takes places, to retrieve, from the look-up table, an aerosol mass value corresponding to the values of power level and puff duration that the controller has obtained for that puff.
• the look-up table therefore maps values of power level and values of puff duration to values of aerosol mass. The provision of a look-up table reduces computation by the controller, since there is no need to calculate a value for the equation for each puff, but has an increased storage requirement since a look-up table will be larger than the equation.
• the look-up table can comprise only a limited selection of possible values for the puff duration and the power level.
• the puff duration, and possibly also the power level may take any value which may not correspond directly to a value in the look-up table.
• the controller therefore may therefore allocate an obtained value to the nearest value recorded in the look-up table, or it may always round up or round down the obtained value to the next recorded value.
• the look-up table may be configured to contain ranges of values of puff duration and/or power level, where the ranges map onto single values for aerosol mass.
• the look-up table may be populated using the equation to determine values for aerosol mass per puff for a selection of different power levels and puff durations, which may or may not correspond to the values for power level and puff duration used to collect the original empirical data.
• FIG. 5 shows a highly simplified schematic representation of an example of an aerosol provision system configured to implement remaining liquid amount estimation as described herein.
• the aerosol provision system 10 is similar to the example shown in Figure 1 , and comprises a device component 20 and a cartridge or pod component 30.
• the system 10 may be unitary, or the pod component 30 may be replaceable.
• the pod component 30 comprises a reservoir 3 for storing aerosolisable liquid, and having a total liquid capacity when full of liquid.
• the pod component 30 may be supplied with (or filled to) an initial amount or volume of liquid equal to or less than the total capacity of the reservoir 3.
• the pod component 30 also comprises a vaporiser 4 for vaporising liquid from the reservoir in order to generate aerosol for delivery to the user during a puff.
• the device component comprises a battery 5 for supplying electrical power to the vaporiser 4, and a controller 28 for controlling the supply of power from the battery 5 to the vaporiser 4.
• the controller 28 comprises a processor 22 for performing operations and actions such as controlling the supply of power, and estimating remaining liquid amount in the reservoir 3 as described herein.
• the controller 28 has a memory 23, in which is stored an equation for determining the aerosol amount in a puff, or a look-up table derived from the equation, as described above.
• the controller 28 also has a clock 24 for timing puff duration, either via a puff detector 32 or via detection of user operation of a button or other user operable control 27 to activate the vaporiser, again as described above.
• the pod component 30 may include an identifying element from which the controller may obtain a value for the reservoir's initial volume of liquid, before puffing commences, again as described above.
• the aerosol provision system 10 may be provided with an indicator 29 such as a visual display on or in an outer housing or wall of the aerosol provision system 10, and operable by the controller 28 to display an indication of an estimated remaining liquid amount in the reservoir 3 (such as a numerical or graphical indication, which may be an indication of the proportion of the remaining liquid amount compared to the initial amount, or an absolute indication).
• an indicator 29 such as a visual display on or in an outer housing or wall of the aerosol provision system 10
• an indication of an estimated remaining liquid amount in the reservoir 3 such as a numerical or graphical indication, which may be an indication of the proportion of the remaining liquid amount compared to the initial amount, or an absolute indication.
• some parts of the aerosol provision system may be located differently from the Figure 5 example, for example within the other of the pod component and the device component.
• vaporiser power level and puff duration as variable operating parameters that are taken into account to determine the amount of aerosol in a puff.
• a variety of factors can affect the amount of aerosol in a puff, some of which can be considered as more or less difficult to account for or considered as more or less significant in their effect. It has been found that a factor which merits attention is the type or composition of the liquid in the reservoir, from which the aerosol is generated. It has been determined that liquid type can have a relatively significant effect on the amount of aerosol generated in a puff.
• liquid type is intended to acknowledge that liquid aerosol forming substrate that is vaporised to generate aerosol for delivery by an aerosol provision system is available in many different compositions, which may show differences in vaporisation behaviour under otherwise same or similar conditions.
• Liquids of different nicotine strength and different flavour are readily available, for example, and may be composed of different ingredients and differing proportions of ingredients, which may affect the rate and temperature at which the liquid vaporises.
• puffs at equal power and of equal duration carried out on the same aerosol provision system using different liquids may tend to contain different masses of aerosol. Accordingly, the use of a single equation to determine aerosol mass per puff without regard to the liquid type may produce varying accuracy of estimation of the remaining liquid amount.
• the equation for determining aerosol mass in a puff is obtained for liquid of a specified type vaporised in a specified aerosol provision system (in that the configuration of the aerosol provision system is known and specified), and used by the controller of an aerosol provision system in use by a user to estimate liquid amount in the reservoir, as described above, and that a feature of the aerosol provision system itself is modified compared to the specified aerosol provision system in order to compensate for the difference in vaporisation behaviour of the liquid type in the aerosol provision system compared to the specified liquid type for which the equation is obtained.
• Figure 7B shows a simplified schematic longitudinal cross-sectional view of an example air flow channel and vaporisation chamber modified compared to the specified configuration of Figure 7A .
• the upstream part 52 of the air flow channel has a width W1 at or near the chamber inlet 53 which is larger than the specified width Ws, so that the chamber inlet 53 has a larger cross-sectional area than in the specified air flow channel.
• the vaporisation chamber 54 has substantially the same dimensions as the vaporisation chamber in the specified configuration.
• Figure 7C shows an example in which the upstream part of the air flow channel has a width W2 at or near the chamber inlet 53 which is larger than the specified width Ws, so that the chamber inlet 53 has a smaller cross-sectional area than in the specified air flow channel.
• This produces a faster air flow velocity v2 for air entering the vaporisation chamber 54, which is higher than vs, so that the air flow velocity over the vaporiser 7 is increased compared to the air flow velocity past the vaporiser in the specified configuration.
• v2 for air entering the vaporisation chamber 54
• the width of the upstream part of the air flow channel can be modified (increased or reduced) compared to the specified design over the whole length of the upstream part, or for a portion immediately upstream of the chamber inlet, or at the chamber inlet only.
• a cross-sectional area modification might be implemented within the vaporisation chamber itself. Any modification which produces a change in the air flow velocity past the vaporiser can be used.
• This modification will depend to some extent on the dispersion of the vapour from the vaporiser 7 since the ability of flowing air to collect vapour may reduce with distance from the vaporiser 7; hence there may be a maximum width of the vaporisation chamber beyond which further increase does not improve vapour collection. Note also that the change in width of the air flow channel caused by the larger vaporisation chamber may alter the air flow velocity so this may need to be also taken into account.
• the vaporiser itself might be shaped so as to provide a greater or lesser amount of turbulence in the air flowing over it.
• the planar element might be formed in a corrugated shape so as to provide a bumpy surface over which the air will pass.
• the size and or number of corrugations could be chosen to select a suitable level of disruption to the air flow.

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  • 2024-02-08 EP EP24156621.5A patent/EP4599721A1/de active Pending

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