Multi-level capacitance coding cartridge, cigarette rod, electronic cigarette system

Abstract

The utility model relates to a kind of multi-base capacitor coding cartridge, cigarette rod, electronic cigarette system, including cartridge and cigarette rod.The outer wall of cartridge body is provided with at least two coding areas, and dielectric material is provided in each coding area, and the relative permittivity of dielectric material, at least one of the preset distance or relative area with corresponding electrode is different from each other, and it jointly constitutes the unique multi-base coding sequence of the cartridge.Cigarette rod includes warehouse body, capacitive detection module, capacitor digital conversion circuit and processing module;Capacitive detection module includes electrode unit corresponding to the position of coding area one by one, for detecting the capacitance change caused by coding area dielectric material;Processing module identifies coding sequence and carries out authentication according to capacitor signal.The utility model utilizes capacitance induction principle, realizes a large number of unique identity coding in limited space by multi-base coding, and has the advantages of simple structure, low cost, strong anti-fake and high reliability.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model relates to the field of electronic cigarette technology, and in particular to a multi-level capacitor-coded cartridge, cigarette holder, and electronic cigarette system. Background Technology

[0002] Electronic cigarettes, as an alternative to traditional tobacco, typically consist of a reusable device and replaceable cartridges. As consumable components, the authenticity of the cartridges directly affects the user's health, safety, and experience. Currently, the market is flooded with counterfeit cartridges, severely damaging consumer rights and the brand reputation of legitimate manufacturers.

[0003] In anti-counterfeiting technology, assigning a unique identification number to each product and marking that number as invalid immediately after use is an effective way to combat counterfeiting. Since counterfeiting is essentially copying and reproduction, the generated numbers inevitably violate the principle of "uniqueness" and cannot pass verification by the genuine product system. This strategy, based on a "one-time number" mechanism, has been widely applied in the market and its anti-counterfeiting effect has been verified, demonstrating high reliability and practicality.

[0004] In the field of e-cigarette anti-counterfeiting, the mainstream solution currently adopts chip-based authentication technology, which involves embedding an authentication chip in the e-cigarette cartridge and using a reading module within the device for digital encryption and identity verification. Related technologies have been disclosed in several patents, such as CN119655508A and US20250152876A1. While this type of chip authentication solution is effective in preventing counterfeiting, its significant drawback is its high cost: the introduction of the authentication chip significantly increases the unit cost of the e-cigarette cartridge as a consumable component, a cost issue that is particularly prominent given the huge annual sales volume of e-cigarette cartridges.

[0005] In a broader technical field, there are low-cost solutions using patterned electrodes for coded recognition, such as those disclosed in patents JP1995200761A and US5949060A. However, these solutions can only represent two states per bit, resulting in low information density. Furthermore, the surface area on the cartridge for arranging dielectric material is very limited, and the sales volume of cartridges is enormous. To effectively assign a unique coding sequence to each cartridge for identification, an estimated 1 billion codes are needed, requiring 30 bits (2^35) in binary format. 30 The length is above 1000. To achieve a sufficient length of encoding on the limited area of ​​a cigarette cartridge surface, a large number of dielectric material patterns need to be arranged, resulting in an excessively small unit area of ​​the corresponding detection electrodes and excessively close electrode spacing, causing the following problems:

[0006] (1) The electrode unit area is too small, resulting in weak capacitance signal, which is difficult to detect effectively in environmental noise;

[0007] (2) Insufficient space causes the distance between adjacent electrodes to be too close, which leads to capacitance crosstalk and affects the accuracy of code recognition.

[0008] Therefore, there is an urgent need for a low-cost anti-counterfeiting solution that can achieve both high-capacity encoding and effective detection of capacitance signals in order to address the increasingly serious counterfeiting problem in the e-cigarette market. Utility Model Content

[0009] The present invention aims to solve at least one or more technical problems existing in the prior art, especially the problems of weak capacitance signals and insufficient arrangement space when implementing long sequence encoding in a limited encoding area.

[0010] To address the aforementioned technical problems, the first aspect of this utility model provides a multi-level capacitively encoded tobacco cartridge. At least two encoding areas are provided on the outer wall of the cartridge body, each encoding area corresponding to one encoded data bit. Some or all of the encoding areas are provided with dielectric material for forming a close-range coupling area with the corresponding electrode on the tobacco stick after the cartridge is installed. The close-range coupling area is a spatial region formed between the dielectric material in the encoding area and the corresponding electrode on the tobacco stick after the cartridge is installed, capable of generating an effective capacitance signal higher than noise. The relative permittivity of the dielectric materials in at least two encoding areas is different, and / or, the preset distance between the dielectric material in at least two encoding areas and the corresponding electrode on the tobacco stick after the cartridge is installed is different, and / or, the relative area of ​​the dielectric material in at least two encoding areas is different. The arrangement of each encoding area and its dielectric material constitutes a unique ternary or more-level encoding sequence for the tobacco cartridge. The dielectric material is made of a high-dielectric-constant material, and its coupling efficiency with the electrode unit of the tobacco stick is higher than that of the cartridge's outer wall substrate material.

[0011] The cartridge of this invention, by employing a high dielectric constant material in conjunction with a close-range coupling region, enables the generation of sufficiently large and distinguishable capacitance signal changes even when the area of ​​a single electrode unit is limited, ensuring effective signal recognition. Simultaneously, by setting differences in multiple dimensions (dielectric constant material, distance, and / or area) to form a multi-level code, the number of bits required for the same information capacity is less than that of binary code, reducing the demand for physical space, alleviating the shortage of available space, and thus improving the capacitance crosstalk problem due to the relatively increased available area and spacing of a single electrode.

[0012] As a further improvement to the cartridge, a dielectric material is disposed on the surface of the outer wall of the cartridge body.

[0013] As a further improvement to the cartridge, dielectric material is formed on the outer wall of the cartridge body through spraying, printing, laser engraving or bonding.

[0014] As a further improvement to the cartridge, the dielectric material is made to match the color of the cartridge's outer wall substrate material.

[0015] As a further improvement to the cartridge, the dielectric constant of each dielectric material is more than three times that of the dielectric constant of the cartridge's outer wall matrix material.

[0016] A second aspect of this invention provides a cigarette holder for identifying the aforementioned multi-level capacitively encoded cigarette cartridges. The cigarette holder includes a capacitive-to-digital conversion circuit, a processing module, a housing for holding the cigarette cartridge, and a capacitive detection module disposed in the housing for detecting the encoding on the cigarette cartridge. The capacitive detection module includes at least two electrode units, the positions of which correspond one-to-one with the positions of at least two preset coding areas on the outer wall of the cartridge. The electrodes of the electrode units are used to form a close-range coupling area with the dielectric material of the corresponding coding area after the cartridge is installed. The close-range coupling area is the spatial region formed between the dielectric material in the coding area after the cartridge is installed and the corresponding electrode on the cigarette holder, which can generate an effective capacitance signal higher than noise. The capacitance-to-digital conversion circuit is coupled to each electrode unit to measure the capacitance signal corresponding to the electrode unit. The processing module is coupled to the capacitance-to-digital conversion circuit and is configured to identify the code value in the coding area based on the capacitance signal for matching and authentication. The change in capacitance signal is related to the fact that the relative permittivity of the dielectric material set in the at least two coding areas is different and / or the preset distance between the dielectric material in the at least two coding areas and the corresponding electrode on the cigarette holder after the cartridge is installed is different and / or the relative area of ​​the dielectric material set in the at least two coding areas is different.

[0017] The present invention, through the cooperation of its electrode unit and the dielectric material encoding area on the cartridge, can effectively capture the changes in capacitance signal generated by multi-level encoding, and use the processing module for decoding and authentication, thus solving the problem of effectively identifying weak capacitance signals by an electrode array arranged in a limited space.

[0018] As a further improvement to the cigarette holder, each electrode unit is constructed using at least one electrode that constitutes self-capacitance, or each electrode unit is constructed using at least two electrode pairs that constitute mutual capacitance. Alternatively, the capacitive detection module includes multiple point electrodes arranged in an array; the multiple point electrodes are divided into several intersecting rows and columns, with electrodes in the same row coupled to each other as row electrodes, and electrodes in the same column coupled to each other as column electrodes, wherein the intersection points constitute electrode units; the capacitance-to-digital conversion circuit is coupled to each row electrode and column electrode respectively through a switch array, and is configured to measure the capacitance signal at each intersection point by scanning rows and columns. The point electrodes are rhomboid electrodes.

[0019] The third aspect of this utility model provides an electronic cigarette system, including the aforementioned multi-level capacitor-coded cartridge and the aforementioned cigarette holder.

[0020] The structure of this invention enables the creation of a long-sequence, high-capacity, and unique identification code on the limited surface area of ​​the cartridge, while ensuring that the e-cigarette device can reliably identify the valid capacitance signal for authentication. This effectively improves the reliability and security of e-cigarette anti-counterfeiting measures, and is also cost-effective. Attached Figure Description

[0021] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of an electronic cigarette system is provided.

[0022] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of a smoke cartridge with dielectric material disposed thereon is given.

[0023] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of a self-capacitive electrode unit is given.

[0024] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of the mutual capacitance electrode unit is given.

[0025] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of mutual capacitance detection using row and column electrode arrays is provided. Detailed Implementation

[0026] The technical solutions of the present utility model will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings of the embodiments. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present utility model, and not all embodiments. All other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the present utility model without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present utility model.

[0027] like Figure 1 As shown, as an exemplary embodiment, an electronic cigarette anti-counterfeiting authentication system based on capacitive non-contact detection is provided. This system uses a physical code composed of the dielectric constant sprayed on the cartridge 200, which works in conjunction with a dedicated capacitive detection module inside the cigarette rod 100 to solve the problems of weak capacitance signals and insufficient space when implementing long sequence encoding in a limited encoding area.

[0028] 1.1 Multi-level capacitor-coded cartridges

[0029] like Figure 2 As shown, this embodiment provides a multi-level capacitor-coded cartridge 200, including a cartridge body. The outer wall of the cartridge body is a one-time injection-molded base structure 20. The base material is a conventional plastic, such as ABS or PC, with a low dielectric constant, typically between 2 and 4.

[0030] K coding areas are pre-arranged on the outer wall of the substrate structure 210, each corresponding to a ternary or higher-level coding data bit. Due to the extremely large sales volume of e-cigarette cartridges, the total amount of coding required to achieve unique identification for each cartridge reaches approximately 1 billion. Although multi-level coding helps reduce the total number of code bits, K still needs to be set to a sufficiently large value to meet the coding capacity requirements.

[0031] Dielectric material 220 is provided in part or all of the coding area. Dielectric material 220 includes, but is not limited to, materials such as strontium titanate, barium titanate, barium strontium titanate, copper oxide perovskite, and lead zirconate titanate. It is formed on the outer wall of the cartridge body by means of spraying, printing, laser engraving, or bonding (adhesive). The surface of the cartridge body can simplify the process, and spraying, printing, or laser engraving can reduce manufacturing costs.

[0032] To ensure the generation of a significant and distinguishable capacitance signal, the selected dielectric material 220 is made of a high dielectric constant material, whose coupling efficiency with the electrodes of the electrode unit of the cigarette holder 100 is higher than that of the outer wall substrate material of the cartridge 200. Specifically, the dielectric constant of the dielectric material 220 is much higher than that of the outer wall substrate material of the cartridge 200, at least three times higher, forming a high dielectric constant. Furthermore, the relative dielectric constants of the dielectric materials 220 in at least two coding areas are different, and / or, the preset distances between the dielectric materials 220 and the corresponding electrodes on the cigarette holder 100 after the cartridge 200 is installed in at least two coding areas are different, and / or, the relative areas of the dielectric materials 220 in at least two coding areas are different.

[0033] For schemes that use two or more dielectric materials to form a multi-level system, the difference in relative permittivity between the different materials must be at least twice.

[0034] After the dielectric material 220 is set in the coding area, when the tobacco cartridge 200 is inserted into the tobacco rod 100 and installed in place, the dielectric material 220 in each coding area is directly opposite to the corresponding electrode unit set on the side wall of the tobacco rod chamber. The distance from the outer surface of the dielectric constant 220 to the electrode is less than 1mm, forming a close-range coupling area. The close-range coupling area can ensure the generation of an effective capacitance signal that is much higher than the ambient noise.

[0035] In this embodiment, by employing a high dielectric constant material in conjunction with a close-range coupling region, a sufficiently large and distinguishable capacitance signal change can be generated even when the area of ​​a single electrode unit is limited, ensuring effective signal identification. By setting differences in multiple dimensions (dielectric constant material, distance, and / or area) to form a multi-level code (e.g., three states: "high," "medium," and "none," corresponding to code values ​​2, 1, and 0), K N-ary code bits (N≥3) can provide N... KA unique coding combination. Due to the use of multi-base coding, fewer coding areas are required to provide the same information capacity than binary coding. This allows each coding area and the corresponding electrode unit on the cigarette holder to obtain a larger physical area for placement, thereby improving the capacitance crosstalk problem due to the relatively increased placement area and spacing of individual electrodes.

[0036] Furthermore, a checksum (such as CRC or parity bit) is embedded in the encoded sequence, and the processing module of the cigarette stick 100 verifies the integrity of the data after decoding.

[0037] In this embodiment, since there are enough codes and a verification algorithm, the colors of the dielectric material 220 and the substrate material of the cartridge outer wall can be different. Preferably, the dielectric material 220 and the substrate material of the cartridge outer wall are further set to the same color, so that the codes are not visible in appearance, enhancing anti-counterfeiting concealment.

[0038] 1.2 Smoking rod

[0039] like Figure 1 As shown, this embodiment provides a smoking device 100 for use with the aforementioned smoking cartridge.

[0040] The e-cigarette device 100 includes a housing, a capacitive detection module 110, a capacitance-to-digital converter (CDC), and a processing module (such as an MCU). The capacitive detection module 110 is located on the side wall of the housing and includes at least K electrode units that correspond one-to-one with the K coding areas on the cartridge 200.

[0041] The electrode 120 of the electrode unit is used to form a close-range coupling area with the dielectric material 220 of the corresponding coding area after the cartridge 200 is installed in place. The close-range coupling area is the spatial region formed between the dielectric material in the coding area of ​​the cartridge 200 and the corresponding electrode 120 on the cigarette rod 100 after the cartridge 200 is installed in place, which can generate an effective capacitance signal higher than the noise.

[0042] Each electrode unit can be an independent electrode that constitutes a self-capacitance, such as... Figure 3 As shown, the CDC outputs an excitation signal to electrode 120, which is then received by the electrode itself, forming a self-capacitance electrode 120. Self-capacitance detection has a large distance but slightly poor anti-interference capability. Therefore, preferably, the electrode unit can also be a pair of mutually capacitive electrodes composed of two electrodes 120, such as... Figure 4 As shown, the CDC outputs an excitation signal to one of the electrodes 120 and receives input from the other electrode 120. The electrode pair forms mutual capacitance, and better discrimination accuracy is achieved based on the mutual capacitance characteristics.

[0043] The capacitance-to-digital converter (CDC) uses Δ-Σ modulation to directly convert the measured capacitance value into a digital value by repeatedly charging and discharging the capacitor under test and comparing it with a reference capacitance (see US Patent Number: 5,134,401), thereby improving the measurement sensitivity to the 1ff level. During connection, each electrode unit is coupled separately through a switch array to measure the capacitance value (self-capacitance or mutual capacitance) corresponding to each electrode unit.

[0044] The processing module (MCU) is coupled to the CDC and receives the capacitance signal measured by it. The processing module is configured to identify the code value in each encoding region based on the received capacitance signal. Since the change in capacitance signal is related to the characteristics of the dielectric material 220 in the corresponding encoding region, specifically, different relative permittivity of the dielectric material 220 in the encoding region will lead to different capacitance changes; different preset distances (determined by the degree of protrusion of the dielectric material 220) between the dielectric material 220 and the electrode 120 in the encoding region will also lead to different capacitance changes; different relative areas of the dielectric material 220 in the encoding region will also lead to different capacitance changes. The processing module can calculate the code value (e.g., 0, 1, 2) represented by the dielectric material 220 in each encoding region by threshold comparison.

[0045] The unique authentication code for each cartridge is obtained by combining the code values ​​of all coded areas in sequence. This authentication code is then matched for authentication. If a match is successful, authentication is passed, and the device is allowed to function normally. Otherwise, it is determined to be a counterfeit cartridge, and restrictions are imposed. After successful authentication, the usage status of the cartridge is recorded, and the cartridge's authentication code is automatically invalidated after its use is completed (e.g., monitoring the number of puffs reaching the maximum).

[0046] In this embodiment, the cigarette holder effectively captures the capacitance signal changes generated by multi-level encoding through the cooperation of the electrode unit and the dielectric material encoding area on the cartridge, and uses the processing module to perform decoding authentication, thus solving the problem of effectively identifying weak capacitance signals by an electrode array arranged in a limited space.

[0047] As a more preferred arrangement of electrode units, such as Figure 5 As shown, the capacitive detection module 110 includes multiple point electrodes 120 arranged in an array to form row and column mutual capacitance. The point electrodes 120 are preferably rhomboid electrodes to achieve maximum area.

[0048] Multiple dot electrodes 120 are divided into several intersecting rows (emitting electrodes a1, a2, a3…) and columns (receiving electrodes b1, b2, b3…). Emitting electrodes in the same row are electrically connected to each other, and receiving electrodes in the same column are electrically connected to each other. Each intersection between the row and column electrodes constitutes a mutual capacitance detection electrode unit, corresponding to a coding area on the cartridge, used to detect the coating area. The coating area is divided into an uncoated area (c1) and a coated area (c2, c3, c4…). Corresponding to different dielectric materials, the coated area includes a low dielectric constant coating area (c2), a medium dielectric constant coating area (c3), and a high dielectric constant coating area (c4), which can output 4… K There are several distributions. Similarly, the higher the base, the more diverse the cipher distributions, and the better the anti-counterfeiting effect.

[0049] The capacitance-to-digital converter circuit couples each row of transmitting electrodes and each column of receiving electrodes through a switch array, and is configured to measure the mutual capacitance value at each intersection by scanning rows and columns. This matrix scanning structure greatly reduces the number of required CDC channels and physical leads, meeting the needs of scenarios with a large number of coding areas.

[0050] 1.3 Electronic Cigarette System

[0051] This embodiment provides an electronic cigarette system, including the multi-level capacitor-coded cartridge 200 and the cigarette holder 100 as described above.

[0052] When a genuine e-cigarette cartridge 200 is inserted into the e-cigarette device 100, the processing module inside the device 100 can quickly and accurately identify the multi-level coding sequence composed of dielectric material 220 on the cartridge 200 and perform authentication. The entire system does not require expensive chips and utilizes the principle of capacitance detection to achieve a low-cost, highly reliable, and highly anti-counterfeiting authentication function.

[0053] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of this utility model, and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of this utility model. Although this utility model has been described in detail with reference to preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that modifications or equivalent substitutions can be made to the technical solutions of this utility model without departing from the essence and scope of the technical solutions of this utility model.

Claims

1. A multi-level capacitor-coded cartridge, comprising a cartridge body, characterized in that: The outer wall of the cartridge body is provided with at least two coding areas, each coding area corresponding to a coding data bit; The coding area contains dielectric material for forming a close-range coupling zone with the corresponding electrode on the cigarette holder after the cartridge is installed. The close-range coupling zone is a spatial region formed between the dielectric material in the coding area and the corresponding electrode on the cigarette holder after the cartridge is installed, which can generate an effective capacitance signal higher than the noise. In this case, the relative permittivity of the dielectric material in at least two coding areas is different, and / or the preset distance between the dielectric material in at least two coding areas and the corresponding electrode on the cigarette holder after the cartridge is installed is different, and / or the relative area of ​​the dielectric material in at least two coding areas is different. The arrangement of each coding area and its dielectric material constitutes a unique ternary or more base coding sequence for the cartridge; The dielectric material is made of a high dielectric constant material, and its coupling efficiency with the electrodes of the electrode unit of the cigarette stick is higher than that of the outer wall matrix material of the cigarette cartridge.

2. The multi-level capacitor-coded cartridge according to claim 1, characterized in that: The dielectric material is disposed on the surface of the outer wall of the cartridge body.

3. The multi-level capacitor-coded cartridge according to claim 2, characterized in that: Dielectric material is formed on the outer wall of the cartridge body by spraying, printing, laser engraving or bonding.

4. The multi-level capacitor-coded cartridge according to claim 2, characterized in that: The dielectric material is the same color as the substrate material of the outer wall of the cartridge.

5. The multi-level capacitor-coded cartridge according to claim 1, characterized in that: The dielectric constant of the dielectric material is more than three times that of the dielectric constant of the outer wall matrix material of the cigarette cartridge.

6. A cigarette holder, characterized in that: It includes a capacitor-to-digital converter circuit, a processing module, a housing for holding a cartridge, and a capacitive detection module disposed in the housing for detecting the code on the cartridge; The capacitive detection module includes at least two electrode units, the positions of which correspond one-to-one with the positions of at least two pre-set coding areas on the outer wall of the cartridge. The electrodes of the electrode units are used to form a close-range coupling area with the dielectric material of the corresponding coding area after the cartridge is installed. The close-range coupling area is a spatial region formed between the dielectric material in the coding area after the cartridge is installed and the corresponding electrode on the cigarette holder, which can generate an effective capacitance signal higher than the noise. The capacitance-to-digital conversion circuit is coupled to each electrode unit to measure the capacitance signal corresponding to the electrode unit. The processing module is coupled to a capacitor-to-digital converter circuit. The processing module is configured to perform matching authentication based on the code value identified in the encoding area according to the capacitor signal. The change of the capacitor signal is related to the fact that the relative permittivity of the dielectric materials set in at least two encoding areas is different and / or the preset distance between the dielectric materials in at least two encoding areas and the corresponding electrodes on the cigarette rod after the cartridge is installed is different and / or the relative area of ​​the dielectric materials set in at least two encoding areas is different.

7. The cigarette holder according to claim 6, characterized in that: Each electrode unit is composed of at least one electrode that constitutes a self-capacitance.

8. The cigarette holder according to claim 6, characterized in that: Each electrode unit is composed of at least two electrode pairs that form mutual capacitance.

9. The cigarette holder according to claim 6, characterized in that: The capacitive detection module includes multiple point electrodes arranged in an array; The plurality of point electrodes are divided into several intersecting rows and columns, with electrodes in the same row coupled to each other to form row electrodes, and electrodes in the same column coupled to each other to form column electrodes, wherein the intersection points constitute the electrode unit. The capacitance-to-digital conversion circuit is coupled to each row electrode and column electrode via a switch array and is configured to measure the capacitance signal at each intersection by scanning rows and columns.

10. The cigarette holder according to claim 9, characterized in that: The point electrode is a rhomboid electrode.

11. An electronic cigarette system, characterized in that, include: The multi-level capacitor-coded cartridge as described in claim 1; And the smoking rod according to any one of claims 6-10.

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