Aerosol generating device and control method thereof

Abstract

The invention discloses an aerosol generating device and a control method thereof. The aerosol generating device comprises a heater, a battery cell, a charging circuit and a controller, wherein the heater is used for heating an aerosol forming substrate to generate aerosol; the battery cell is used for providing power for the heater; the control method comprises the following steps: in a constant voltage charging stage, stopping charging the battery cell; determining the duration of stopping charging; if the duration reaches a first preset time threshold, acquiring the current voltage of the battery cell; and according to the current voltage, determining that the battery cell is in a full charge state. According to the aerosol generation device and the control method thereof provided by the invention, when the charging of the battery cell is stopped in the constant voltage charging stage, the battery cell is determined to be in the full charge state according to the current voltage of the battery cell after a period of time; the battery cell can be effectively ensured to be fully charged, and the endurance of the battery cell is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of electronic atomization, and in particular to an aerosol generating device and a control method thereof. Background Art

[0002] Existing aerosol generating devices generally have rechargeable batteries, which can be charged by the external power source after being electrically connected to the external power source through the charging interface. Figure 1 As shown, the charging process of a general battery cell can be divided into four stages: a pre-charging stage, a constant current charging stage, a constant voltage charging stage, and a charging termination stage.

[0003] The existing technology cannot accurately determine whether the battery cell is fully charged, which reduces the battery life. Summary of the invention

[0004] The embodiments of the present application aim to provide an aerosol generating device and a control method thereof, so as to solve the problem in the prior art that it is impossible to accurately determine whether a battery cell is full, thereby reducing the battery life.

[0005] To solve the above technical problems, the present application provides the following technical solutions:

[0006] According to one aspect of the present application, a control method of an aerosol generating device is provided, wherein the aerosol generating device comprises a heater for heating an aerosol-forming substrate to generate an aerosol, a battery cell for providing power to the heater, a charging circuit for charging the battery cell, and a controller; the control method comprises:

[0007] In the constant voltage charging stage, stopping charging of the battery cell;

[0008] Determine the duration of the charging stop;

[0009] If the duration reaches a first preset time threshold, obtaining the current voltage of the battery cell;

[0010] According to the current voltage, it is determined that the battery cell is in a fully charged state.

[0011] According to another aspect of the present application, there is provided an aerosol generating device, comprising:

[0012] a heater for heating the aerosol-forming substrate to generate an aerosol;

[0013] A battery cell, used to provide power to the heater;

[0014] A charging circuit, used for charging the battery cell;

[0015] The controller is configured to control the charging circuit to stop charging the battery cell in a constant voltage charging stage, determine the duration of stopping charging of the battery cell, determine the current voltage of the battery cell when the duration reaches a first preset time threshold, and determine whether the battery cell is fully charged based on the current voltage.

[0016] The aerosol generating device and control method provided in the embodiment of the present application, when charging of the battery cell is stopped in the constant voltage charging stage, determines whether the battery cell is fully charged according to the current voltage of the battery cell after a period of time; it can effectively ensure that the battery cell is fully charged and improve the battery life. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] One or more embodiments are exemplarily described by pictures in the corresponding drawings, and these exemplified descriptions do not constitute limitations on the embodiments. Elements with the same reference numerals in the drawings represent similar elements, and unless otherwise stated, the figures in the drawings do not constitute proportional limitations.

[0018] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the charging process of the battery provided by the present application;

[0019] Figure 2 is a schematic structural diagram of an aerosol generating device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0020] Figure 3 is a schematic structural diagram of another aerosol generating device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0021] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of a detection circuit provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0022] Figure 5 is a flow chart of a control method of an aerosol generating device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0023] Figure 6 It is a schematic diagram of the control process of the aerosol generating device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0024] In order to make the purpose, technical scheme and advantages of the embodiments of the present application clearer, the technical scheme in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are part of the embodiments of the present application, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0025] The technical features involved in each embodiment of the present application described below can be combined with each other as long as they do not conflict with each other.

[0026] According to one embodiment of the present application, an aerosol generating device is provided. Figure 2 As shown, the aerosol generating device comprises:

[0027] Chamber A, in which an aerosol-generating article 40 is removably received. The aerosol-generating article 40 comprises a solid aerosol-forming substrate that can be heated to generate an inhalable aerosol.

[0028] The heater 10 is configured to heat the solid aerosol-forming substrate in the aerosol-generating article 40 to generate an aerosol when the aerosol-generating article 40 is received in the chamber A. In the example shown in the figure, the heater 10 is inserted into the aerosol-generating article 40 for heating, which is generally referred to as central heating or internal heating. In other examples, the heater 10 may heat around at least a portion of the aerosol-generating article 40, which is generally referred to as circumferential heating or peripheral heating.

[0029] The battery cell 20 is used to provide power to the heater 10 and other components of the aerosol generating device.

[0030] The circuit 30 is arranged between the battery cell 20 and the heater 10. The circuit 30 includes a charging circuit and a controller. The charging circuit is used to charge the battery cell 20; the controller adopts an MCU (Micro Controller Unit) or a dedicated integrated chip, etc., to control the aerosol generating device.

[0031] Figure 3 Another aerosol generating device provided according to an embodiment of the present application includes an aerosol generating device 50 and a power supply assembly 60, and the aerosol generating device 50 is detachably connected to the power supply assembly 60. In other examples, the aerosol generating device 50 and the power supply assembly 60 are non-detachably connected, that is, integrally formed.

[0032] The atomizer 50 includes a liquid storage chamber for storing a liquid aerosol-forming substrate and a heater 51. The heater 51 heats the liquid aerosol-forming substrate to form an inhalable aerosol under the action of power provided by the power supply assembly 60. In this example, the heater 51 includes a resistive material. The resistive material includes, but is not limited to, semiconductors, carbon, graphite, metals, metal alloys, and composite materials made of ceramic materials and metal materials.

[0033] The aerosol generating device may further include a liquid transfer unit, which may be made of cotton fiber, metal fiber, ceramic fiber, glass fiber, porous ceramic, etc., and may transfer the liquid aerosol-forming matrix stored in the liquid storage chamber to the heater 51 through capillary action.

[0034] The power supply assembly 60 includes a battery cell 61 and a circuit 62 .

[0035] The battery cell 61 provides power for operating the electronic atomization device 100. The battery cell 61 may be a rechargeable battery cell or a disposable battery cell.

[0036] The circuit 62 includes a charging circuit and a controller, and can control the overall operation of the electronic atomization device 100. The circuit 62 controls not only the operation of the battery cell 61 and the heater 51, but also the operation of other components in the electronic atomization device 100.

[0037] Figure 4 Schematic diagram of the detection circuit provided in the embodiment of the present application. Figure 4 As shown, the detection circuit is used to detect the voltage of the battery cell. Specifically, the detection circuit includes a voltage divider circuit formed by connecting a resistor R20 and a resistor R24 ​​in series. One end of the voltage divider circuit (shown as OUT+ in the figure) is electrically connected to the battery cell, the other end of the voltage divider circuit is grounded, and the output end of the voltage divider circuit (the connection point of the resistor R20 and the resistor R24) is connected to a port of the controller, such as an ADC sampling port. In a further implementation, the detection circuit also includes a filtering circuit for filtering the voltage divider signal of the voltage divider circuit. The filtering circuit includes a filter capacitor C11.

[0038] Based on the above-mentioned aerosol generating device, in one example, the controller is configured to control the charging circuit to stop charging the battery cell in the constant voltage charging stage, determine the duration of stopping charging of the battery cell, determine the current voltage of the battery cell when the duration reaches a first preset time threshold, and determine whether the battery cell is fully charged based on the current voltage.

[0039] In one example, the controller is configured to determine a charging time for charging the battery cell at a constant voltage during a constant voltage charging stage; if the charging time reaches a second preset time threshold, the charging of the battery cell is stopped.

[0040] Specifically, when the battery cell starts to be charged, the controller may obtain the initial voltage of the battery cell through a detection circuit.

[0041] If the initial voltage of the battery cell reaches the final adjustment voltage, the charging circuit is controlled to charge the battery cell at a constant voltage.

[0042] If the initial voltage of the battery cell does not reach the final adjustment voltage, the charging circuit is controlled to charge the battery cell with a pre-charge current or a constant current. Specifically, if the initial voltage is less than the pre-charge voltage threshold of the battery cell, the charging circuit is controlled to first charge the battery cell with a pre-charge current, and then charge the battery cell with a constant current; if the initial voltage is greater than or equal to the pre-charge voltage threshold of the battery cell, the charging circuit is controlled to charge the battery cell with a constant current. Until the voltage of the battery cell reaches the final adjustment voltage, the battery cell is charged with a constant voltage.

[0043] Among them, the battery cell is charged with a pre-charge current, that is, Figure 1 In the pre-charging stage, the battery cell is charged with a constant current, i.e. Figure 1 Medium constant current charging stage.

[0044] When controlling the charging circuit to charge the battery cell at a constant voltage, a second preset time threshold may be set to fully charge the battery cell as much as possible. The second preset time threshold is an empirical value or a test value, generally between 4 and 16 minutes.

[0045] When the charging circuit is controlled to charge the battery cell at a constant voltage, the first timer can be controlled to count, so as to determine the charging time of the battery cell according to the timing time of the first timer; if the charging time of the battery cell reaches a second preset time threshold, the charging of the battery cell is stopped; otherwise, the charging of the battery cell continues. The first timer can be a timer integrated in the controller or a timer independent of the controller.

[0046] During the charging process of the battery cell, the battery cell voltage detected by the detection circuit is falsely high, that is, the battery cell voltage during charging is greater than the battery cell voltage after charging stops. The reason for this phenomenon is that when the charging current flows through the internal resistance of the battery cell, the internal resistance of the battery cell will generate additional voltage, so the battery cell voltage during charging is higher than the battery cell voltage after charging stops.

[0047] In order to accurately determine whether the battery cell is fully charged, a first preset time threshold can be set, so that when the duration of stopping charging the battery cell reaches the first preset time threshold, the battery cell is determined to be fully charged according to the current voltage of the battery cell. The first preset time threshold is also an empirical value or a test value, and the second preset time threshold is greater than the first preset time threshold. Generally, the first preset time threshold is between 100ms and 500ms, or between 100ms and 400ms, or between 100ms and 300ms; in a specific example, it can be 200ms.

[0048] When the battery cell is stopped from being charged, the second timer can be controlled to count, so as to determine the duration of stopping charging of the battery cell according to the timing time of the second timer. The second timer can be a timer integrated in the controller or a timer independent of the controller.

[0049] When the duration of stopping charging the battery cell reaches a first preset time threshold, the current voltage of the battery cell can be obtained through the detection circuit; if the current voltage of the battery cell is greater than or equal to the full-charge voltage, it is determined that the battery cell is in a fully-charged state, that is, the battery cell has been fully charged, and the charging of the battery cell can be terminated at this time. If the current voltage of the battery cell is less than the full-charge voltage, it is determined that the battery cell is not in a fully-charged state, that is, the battery cell has not been fully charged. At this time, the charging circuit can be controlled to continue charging the battery cell at a constant voltage.

[0050] It should be noted that the above example is to control the charging circuit to stop charging the battery cell when the charging circuit is controlled to charge the battery cell at a constant voltage. In other examples, for example, when the charging circuit charges the battery cell at a pre-charging current or a constant current, if the controller controls the charging circuit to stop charging the battery cell, it is also possible to determine that the battery cell is fully charged according to the current voltage of the battery cell when the duration of stopping charging the battery cell reaches a first preset time threshold.

[0051] In one example, the controller is configured to set a preset power level mark to a full-charge mark and terminate charging of the battery cell when determining that the battery cell is fully charged.

[0052] The preset power level mark can be represented by binary data, for example, 1 represents a full charge mark, that is, the battery cell has been fully charged; 0 represents a non-full charge mark, that is, the battery cell has not been fully charged.

[0053] Based on the preset power mark, before the battery cell starts to be charged, the power mark is obtained, and if the power mark is a full-charge mark, charging of the battery cell is stopped.

[0054] In one example, when the acquired power level mark is a full-charge mark, the controller can generate a prompt message to control the prompt component in the aerosol generating device to prompt that the battery cell is fully charged. The prompting method of the prompt component includes but is not limited to light display, sound, vibration, etc.

[0055] In a further implementation, the controller is also configured to obtain the power mark after the aerosol generating device is turned on. If the power mark is a full-charge mark, a third timer is started. When the timing duration of the third timer reaches a preset discharge duration, the power mark is set to a non-full-charge mark.

[0056] According to another embodiment of the present application, a control method of an aerosol generating device is provided, such as Figure 5 , which is a flow chart of a control method of an aerosol generating device provided in Embodiment 2 of the present application, wherein the aerosol generating device comprises a heater configured to heat an aerosol-forming substrate to generate an aerosol; a battery cell for providing power to the heater; and a charging circuit for charging the battery cell. The method comprises:

[0057] Step S11, during the constant voltage charging stage, stopping charging of the battery cell;

[0058] Step S12, determining the duration of stopping charging;

[0059] Step S13, if the duration reaches a first preset time threshold, obtaining the current voltage of the battery cell;

[0060] Step S14: determining whether the battery cell is fully charged according to the current voltage.

[0061] In one example, determining that the battery cell is fully charged according to the current voltage includes:

[0062] If the current voltage is greater than or equal to the full-charge voltage, then the battery cell is determined to be in a fully-charged state. In one example, after determining that the battery cell is in a fully-charged state, the method further includes:

[0063] The preset power mark is set to a full-charge mark, and the charging of the battery cell is terminated.

[0064] In one example, it also includes:

[0065] If it is determined according to the current voltage that the battery cell is not in a fully charged state, the charging of the battery cell is continued.

[0066] In one example, stopping charging of the battery cell during the constant voltage charging stage includes:

[0067] In the constant voltage charging stage, determining a charging time for charging the battery cell at a constant voltage;

[0068] If the charging time reaches a second preset time threshold, charging of the battery cell is stopped.

[0069] Figure 6 Schematic diagram of the control process of the aerosol generating device provided in the embodiment of the present application. Figure 6 As shown, including:

[0070] Step S21, before the battery cell starts to charge, obtain the power mark and determine whether the power mark is a full-charge mark; if the power mark is a full-charge mark, end; otherwise, execute step S22.

[0071] Step S22: obtaining the initial voltage of the battery cell through a detection circuit.

[0072] Step S23, according to the initial voltage of the battery cell, control the charging circuit to charge the battery cell; if the initial voltage is less than the pre-charge voltage threshold of the battery cell, control the charging circuit to first charge the battery cell with a pre-charge current, and then charge the battery cell with a constant current; if the initial voltage is greater than or equal to the pre-charge voltage threshold of the battery cell, control the charging circuit to charge the battery cell with a constant current; if the initial voltage of the battery cell is greater than or equal to the final adjusted voltage, control the charging circuit to charge the battery cell with a constant voltage.

[0073] Step S24, determining whether to enter the constant voltage charging stage; that is, determining whether the charging circuit charges the battery cell at a constant voltage.

[0074] Step S25, timer 1 starts timing.

[0075] Step S26, determine whether the timing time t1 of the timer 1 is greater than or equal to the second preset time threshold T1; if it is greater than or equal to the second preset time threshold T1, execute step S27; otherwise, continue timing.

[0076] Step S27, stop charging the battery cell.

[0077] Step S28, timer 2 starts timing.

[0078] Step S29, determine whether the timing time t2 of the timer 2 is greater than or equal to the first preset time threshold T2; if it is greater than or equal to the first preset time threshold T2, execute step S30; otherwise, continue timing.

[0079] Step S30, determine whether the current voltage of the battery cell is greater than or equal to the full-charge voltage; if it is greater than or equal to the full-charge voltage, execute step S31; otherwise, execute step S23. It should be noted that after continuing to execute step S23, both timer 1 and timer 2 are reset.

[0080] Step S31, determine whether the battery cell is fully charged, and set the power level flag to a fully charged flag.

[0081] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present application, rather than to limit them. Under the concept of the present application, the technical features in the above embodiments or different embodiments can also be combined, the steps can be implemented in any order, and there are many other changes in different aspects of the present application as described above, which are not provided in detail for the sake of simplicity. Although the present application has been described in detail with reference to the aforementioned embodiments, a person of ordinary skill in the art should understand that the technical solutions described in the aforementioned embodiments can still be modified, or some of the technical features can be replaced by equivalents. These modifications or replacements do not deviate the essence of the corresponding technical solutions from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application.

Claims

1. A control method for an aerosol generating device, the aerosol generating device comprising a heater for heating an aerosol-forming substrate to generate an aerosol, a battery cell for providing power to the heater, a charging circuit for charging the battery cell, and a controller; characterized in that: The control method comprises: In the constant voltage charging stage, stopping charging of the battery cell; Determine the duration of the charging stop; If the duration reaches a first preset time threshold, obtaining the current voltage of the battery cell; According to the current voltage, it is determined that the battery cell is in a fully charged state.

2. The control method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The step of determining, according to the current voltage, that the battery cell is in a fully charged state comprises: If the current voltage is greater than or equal to the full-charge voltage, it is determined that the battery cell is in a fully-charged state.

3. The control method according to claim 1, characterized in that: After determining that the battery cell is fully charged, the method further includes: The preset power mark is set to a full-charge mark, and the charging of the battery cell is terminated.

4. The control method according to claim 1, characterized in that: Also includes: If it is determined according to the current voltage that the battery cell is not in a fully charged state, the charging of the battery cell is continued.

5. The control method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The step of stopping charging the battery cell during the constant voltage charging stage includes: In the constant voltage charging stage, determining a charging time for charging the battery cell at a constant voltage; If the charging time reaches a second preset time threshold, charging of the battery cell is stopped.

6. The control method according to claim 5, characterized in that: The second preset time threshold is greater than the first preset time threshold.

7. An aerosol generating device, characterized in that: include: a heater for heating the aerosol-forming substrate to generate an aerosol; A battery cell, used to provide power to the heater; A charging circuit, used for charging the battery cell; The controller is configured to control the charging circuit to stop charging the battery cell in a constant voltage charging stage, determine the duration of stopping charging of the battery cell, determine the current voltage of the battery cell when the duration reaches a first preset time threshold, and determine whether the battery cell is fully charged based on the current voltage.

8. The aerosol generating device according to claim 7, characterized in that: It also includes a detection circuit for detecting the voltage of the battery cell; the detection circuit includes a voltage divider circuit.

9. The aerosol generating device according to claim 7, characterized in that: The controller is also configured to stop charging the battery cell when the charging time reaches a second preset time threshold; the controller includes a first timer and a second timer; The first timer is configured to time when the charging circuit charges the battery cell at a constant voltage to determine the charging time of the battery cell; The second timer is configured to count when charging of the battery cell is stopped, so as to determine a duration of stopping charging of the battery cell.

10. The aerosol generating device according to claim 7, characterized in that: It also includes an indication component. The controller is configured to generate a full-charge mark when determining that the battery cell is in a fully-charged state, and control the indication component to prompt that the battery cell is in a fully-charged state.

Images