Aerosol Delivery System

Abstract

An aerosol delivery system configured to heat a consumable portion to generate an aerosol, the aerosol delivery system comprising a controller configured to: initiate heating of the consumable portion; monitor a parameter related to an amount of user inhalation on the consumable portion over multiple puffs during heating of the consumable portion; and stop heating the consumable portion based on the parameter related to the amount of user inhalation.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an aerosol delivery system. [Background technology]

[0002] The aerosol supply / delivery system generally includes an aerosol-generating material, such as a portion of a solid, liquid or gel, or a reservoir of a feedstock liquid, and / or the aerosol-generating material may include an active substance and / or flavor, from which an aerosol or vapor is generated, for example by thermal vaporization, for inhalation by a user. Thus, an aerosol supply / electric smoking system typically includes an aerosol generator, such as a heating chamber or an aerosol-generating chamber, including a heating element, configured to vaporize or aerosolize a portion of an aerosolizable material (e.g., a solid material such as tobacco) to generate a vapor or aerosol in the aerosol-generating chamber. When a user inhales on the device and power is supplied to the heating element, air is drawn into the device through an inlet hole and along an inlet air channel that leads to the aerosol-generating chamber, where the air mixes with the vaporized precursor material to generate a condensed aerosol. The outlet air channel leads from the aerosol generating chamber to an outlet in the mouthpiece, and when a user inhales into the mouthpiece, air drawn into the aerosol generating chamber travels along the outlet flow path to the outlet of the mouthpiece, carrying with it an aerosol for inhalation by the user. Some aerosol delivery systems may also include a flavoring element in the air flow path through the device to impart additional flavor. Such devices may be referred to as hybrid devices, and the flavoring element may include a portion of a solid aerosol generating material and / or flavoring material, such as tobacco, disposed in the air flow path between the aerosol generating chamber and the mouthpiece, such that the aerosol / condensation aerosol drawn through the device passes through a portion of the solid material before exiting the mouthpiece for user inhalation. In some aerosol delivery systems, the aerosol generating material includes a feedstock liquid contained in a cartridge or pod that also includes a heating element and an aerosol generating chamber, the cartridge being mechanically and electrically coupled to a control unit for use. The control unit includes a battery and control circuitry that collectively provide power to the heating element by the cartridge.

[0003] In some contexts, the energy delivery for aerosolizing the aerosol-generating material in the aerosol supply / delivery system is configured according to a target heating time for the aerosol-generating material in the aerosol delivery device. For example, the heating time may be predefined during manufacture or may be set by a user. When heating of the article containing the aerosol-generating material is initiated, a timer included in a control circuit of the aerosol delivery device counts the elapsed heating time, and the control circuit is configured to stop heating the aerosol-generating material when the predefined heating time has elapsed.

[0004] The inventors have recognised that it may be preferable to control the time for heating of an article containing an aerosol-forming material. Summary of the Invention

[0005] According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an aerosol delivery system configured to heat a consumable portion to generate an aerosol, the aerosol delivery system comprising a controller configured to initiate heating of the consumable portion, monitor a parameter related to an amount of user inhalation on the consumable portion over multiple puffs during heating of the consumable portion, and stop heating the consumable portion based on the parameter related to the amount of user inhalation.

[0006] According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an aerosol delivery device configured to heat a consumable portion to generate an aerosol, the aerosol delivery device comprising a controller configured to initiate heating of the consumable portion, monitor a parameter related to an amount of user inhalation on the consumable portion over multiple puffs during heating of the consumable portion, and stop heating the consumable portion based on the parameter related to the amount of user inhalation.

[0007] According to a third aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method for controlling an aerosol delivery system comprising a controller to heat a consumable portion to generate an aerosol, the method comprising operating the controller to initiate heating of the consumable portion, monitor a parameter related to an amount of user inhalation on the consumable portion over multiple puffs during heating of the consumable portion, and stop heating the consumable portion when the parameter reaches a threshold value.

[0008] According to a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions which, when executed by a processor, perform the method according to the third aspect.

[0009] It will be appreciated that the features and aspects of the invention described above in relation to the first and other aspects of the invention are equally applicable to and may be combined with embodiments of the invention according to other aspects of the invention, as appropriate, and not just in the specific combinations described above.

[0010] Embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: [Brief description of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic diagram of an aerosol delivery device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Diagram 2] 1 is a flow chart illustrating aspects of the operation of an aerosol delivery system according to the present disclosure. [Diagram 3] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing airflow monitoring for multiple puffs. [Figure 4] FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing an approach for establishing heating duration based on integrating airflow over multiple puffs. [Diagram 5] FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing heater or consumable temperature monitoring for multiple puffs. [Figure 6]FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing an approach for establishing heating duration based on integrating heater or consumable temperature over multiple puffs. [Figure 7] FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing an approach for varying a predefined heating duration based on user inhalation parameters. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0012] Aspects and features of certain examples and embodiments are discussed / explained herein. Some aspects and features of certain examples and embodiments may be implemented in a conventional manner, and they are not discussed / explained in detail for the sake of brevity. Thus, it will be understood that aspects and features of the apparatus and methods discussed herein that are not described in detail may be implemented according to any conventional technique for implementing such aspects and features.

[0013] The present disclosure relates to an aerosol supply / delivery system / device (sometimes referred to as a vapor delivery system / device). Throughout the following description, the terms "electrical smoking system", "non-combustion heating" system, or "tobacco heating product" may be used, but it will be understood that these terms may be used interchangeably with aerosol supply / delivery system / device and electronic aerosol supply / delivery system / device. Furthermore, as is common in the art, the terms "aerosol" and "vapor" and related terms such as "vaporize", "volatilize" and "aerosolize" may generally be used interchangeably.

[0014] Aerosol delivery systems often, but not always, comprise modular assemblies that include both a reusable "device" part and a replaceable "consumable" part. Typically, the replaceable consumable part includes an aerosol-generating material that is heated to generate an aerosol, and the reusable part includes a power source (e.g., a rechargeable power source), control circuitry, and a heater configured to heat the aerosol-generating material in the consumable part when coupled to the reusable part. In such embodiments, typically, heat is transferred from a heater in the reusable device part to a portion of the consumable part to aerosolize / vaporize the aerosol-generating material in the heated portion of the consumable part, or electrical power or a magnetic field is transferred to the consumable part to cause an aerosol generator in the consumable part to generate an aerosol from the aerosol-generating material. Thus, the consumable part, in some cases, includes elements associated with heating the aerosol-generating material in the consumable part. For example, the consumable part may comprise a susceptor that may be inductively heated by a magnetic field generator / drive coil arrangement in the reusable device part to aerosolize the aerosol-generating material in the consumable part, and / or the consumable part may comprise a heating element that receives power from the reusable device part via an electrical interface between the reusable device part and the consumable part when the consumable part and the reusable device part are coupled together for use. The consumable part may be configured to be partially or fully inserted into the reusable device part for use by inserting the consumable part into a chamber / receiving recess in the reusable device part, which may comprise, for example, an aerosol-generating or heating chamber located in the housing of the reusable device part. Such a chamber may be accessed via an aperture / opening provided in the outer casing of the reusable device part. When the aerosol-generating material in a given consumable part is depleted or a user desires to switch to a different consumable part having a different aerosol-generating material, the consumable part may be removed from the reusable device part by retracting the consumable part from the chamber via the aperture, and a replacement consumable part can be coupled to the reusable device part in its place.Devices conforming to this type of two-part modular configuration may be commonly referred to as "two-part" devices.

[0015] Aerosol delivery systems / devices (as well as reusable device portions and consumable portions that comprise the reusable device portions) typically have a generally elongated shape. To provide a concrete example, certain embodiments of the disclosure described herein are construed to comprise such a generally elongated two-part device employing a reusable device portion that includes a heater, and a consumable that includes an aerosol-generating material. However, it will be appreciated that the underlying principles described herein may be equally employed in different aerosol delivery system configurations, such as single part devices, or modular devices comprising three or more parts, refillable devices and single-use disposable devices, as well as other generally shaped conforming devices, such as so-called "box-mod" smart devices, which typically have a more box-like shape, and so-called "pod-mod" devices, which generally comprise a cartridge containing a heater and a source of aerosol generating material, often in liquid form, which is partially inserted into a chamber in the reusable device portion such that, when the cartridge is received within the chamber, an electrical connection is established between the cartridge and the control circuitry of the reusable device portion via abutment of electrical contacts on the cartridge and electrical contacts provided within the chamber of the reusable device portion. More generally, it will be appreciated that certain embodiments of the present disclosure are based on aerosol delivery systems operatively configured to provide functionality according to the principles described herein, and that the structural aspects of an aerosol delivery system configured to provide functionality according to certain embodiments of the present disclosure are not of primary importance.

[0016] 1 is a cross-sectional view of an exemplary aerosol delivery system / non-combustion heating device 1 according to certain embodiments of the present disclosure. The aerosol delivery system 1 comprises two main components: a reusable device portion 2 and a replaceable consumable / cartridge / cartomizer portion comprising aerosol-generating material 43, an air inlet 42, an air outlet (e.g., provided at mouthpiece 41), and optionally a filter / cooling element 44.

[0017] In normal use, the reusable part 2 and the consumable part are removably coupled / attached to each other by partially or fully inserting the consumable part into a chamber 50 of the reusable device part 2, which comprises a heater chamber area / heating area 53. The chamber 50 may be considered a heating / heater chamber in the sense that the consumable part is configured to be heated by the reusable device part 2 while at least partially received in the chamber, e.g., by a heater provided in the reusable part 2 heating the consumable part, or by the reusable part 2 supplying energy (i.e., electrical energy) to the consumable part causing heating of a heater provided in the consumable part (e.g., by induction heating). Figure 1 shows a schematic of the reusable device part 2 with the consumable part partially received in the chamber 50. The chamber 50 comprises a cylindrical tube extending from an outer housing surface of the reusable device part 2 into the reusable device part. In this example, the chamber extends into the device from the exterior of the mouth end of the reusable device part, defined as the top of the reusable device part 2 when the user holds it in his / her hand for use, and the chamber 50 extends parallel to the long axis of the reusable device part 2. An aperture 51 communicates the chamber 50 with the exterior of the device. However, this configuration for receiving the consumable part is exemplary and other configurations known to those skilled in the art may be used (e.g., the heater chamber may include an "oven" accessed through a door or by separating two parts of the reusable device part 2, into which the consumable part, or loose aerosol-generating material, may be introduced). More generally, the consumable may take other forms known to those skilled in the art, including configurations in which the aerosol-generating material comprises a liquid or gel, as described further herein.

[0018] Generally, the reusable device part 2 is typically configured to generate an aerosol that is inhaled by a user by directly heating one or more aerosol-generating materials within the consumable part via one or more heating elements associated with the heating region 53 of the chamber 50, or by transmitting electrical energy or a magnetic field to the consumable part to activate an aerosol generator, such as an inductively heated heating element in or on the consumable part. In use, a user inserts the consumable part into the chamber 50 of the reusable device part via the aperture 51 and then activates the reusable device part 2, for example using a user input interface comprising the button 14, to cause the reusable device part 2 to provide power from the power source / battery 26 to the aerosol-generating element 48 to aerosolize the aerosol-generating material contained in the consumable part for inhalation by the user. The user then draws on the mouthpiece 41 of the consumable part extending from the aperture 51 at the mouthpiece end of the reusable device part 2 to inhale the aerosol generated in the consumable part. In the example of Figure 1, when a user draws on the mouthpiece 41 of the consumable part, air is drawn into the air inlet 24 on the exterior surface of the reusable part 2 and flows through the air inlet channel 25 to the heated region 53 of the chamber 50 where it enters at least one air inlet 42 of the consumable part and entrains vapor / aerosol generated by aerosolization / heating of a portion of the aerosol-forming material 43 contained in the consumable part. In other embodiments, the air enters the air inlet 42 of the consumable part directly without passing through the reusable device part 2. For illustrative purposes, Figure 1 shows diagrammatically heating elements 48 disposed about the heated region 53 of the chamber 50, as described further herein, that transfer heat to the portion of the consumable part that contains the aerosol-forming material 43. The entrained vapor / aerosol travels through the consumable portion toward the mouth end of the reusable device part 2 (from which the consumable portion mouthpiece 41 extends) where the aerosol droplets condense or further condense from the vapor / aerosol in the cooling region 44 to produce condensed aerosol that exits the consumable portion mouthpiece 41 for inhalation by the user.

[0019] The reusable portion 2 comprises an outer housing having an opening defining an air inlet 24, a power source 26 (e.g., a battery) for providing operating power to the aerosol delivery system, a control circuit 22 for controlling and monitoring operation of the aerosol delivery system, optional user input buttons 14, an optional display 16, and an optional visual display / indicator 28. The outer housing of the reusable device portion 2 may be formed, for example, from a plastic or metal material, or any other material known to one of skill in the art. To provide a concrete example, the reusable device portion 2 may be about 80 mm in length in some embodiments, and the consumable portion, when inserted into the chamber 50, extends from the mouth end of the reusable device portion by about 10-30 mm, such that the overall length of the aerosol delivery system 1 when the consumable portion and the reusable device portion are coupled together is about 90-110 mm. The consumable portion may be about 80 mm in diameter. However, as previously mentioned, it will be understood that the overall shape and scale of an aerosol delivery system implementing an embodiment of the present disclosure is not critical to the principles described herein.

[0020] The power source 26 in this example is rechargeable and may be conventional, e.g., of the type typically used in aerosol delivery systems, such as non-combustion heating devices, tobacco heating devices, e-cigarettes, and other applications requiring the delivery of relatively high currents for relatively short periods of time (e.g., lithium ion batteries). The power source 26 may be charged via a charging connector (not shown) in the housing of the reusable portion, e.g., comprising a micro USB or USB-C connector, which may also provide an interface for data transfer between the controller 22 and an external processing device, such as a smartphone or personal computer.

[0021] A user input button 14 may be optionally provided, which in this example is a conventional mechanical button with a spring-mounted component that may be pressed by a user, for example, to establish electrical contact. In this regard, the input button 14 may be considered an input device for detecting user input, although the specific manner in which the button is implemented is not important (e.g., it may comprise a capacitive touch sensor and / or a touch-sensitive display element). Multiple such buttons may be provided, with one or more buttons assigned to functions such as turning the aerosol delivery system 1 on and off, and adjusting user settings such as the power provided from the power source 26 to the aerosol generator 48, the heating period for the consumable parts, and / or the selection of one or more device modes. However, the inclusion of a user input button is optional, and in some embodiments, such a button may not be included.

[0022] In some examples, an optional display unit 16 may be provided on an exterior surface of the housing of the reusable device portion 2. If included, the display unit 16 may comprise a pixelated or non-pixelated display unit (e.g., including a single LED, an array of LEDs, a liquid crystal display (LCD), a light emitting diode (LED) display, an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display, an active matrix organic light emitting diode (AMOLED) display, an electroluminescent display (ELD), a plasma display panel (PDP), an electronic ink display) connected to the controller 22. One skilled in the art may implement such a display according to any technique known in the art. Such a display may be used to display usage information to a user regarding the use of the aerosol delivery system 1. Exemplary forms of usage information that may be displayed to a user by the optional display unit 16 are further described herein. The display may comprise an integrated user input function (e.g., the display may comprise a touch screen display unit), and in such an embodiment, the separate user input button 14 may be omitted.

[0023] At least one visual indicator / visual feedback indicator 28 may be provided, which may be a visual indicator including a display area visible on the exterior surface of the housing of the reusable device portion 2 in addition to or instead of the display 16, the visual indicator 28 configured to provide visual feedback to the user regarding one or more aspects of the operation or status of the device. Such visual feedback may include, for example, information regarding whether the system is on or off, the selected operating mode, how much charge or aerosol generating material is remaining in the system, the temperature of the heating element, or information regarding the strength with which the user is inhaling on the device (e.g., derived from an airflow sensor as described further herein), or information regarding the duration of heating of the consumable portion, such as the remaining heating time, or a change to an existing remaining heating time. Such information may be shown before, during, and / or after a puff or session with the aerosol delivery device. The visual indicator used to display such information may comprise a display panel including a plurality of pixels, including, for example, an LCD, LED, OLED, AMOLED, ELD, PDP, e-ink display, or any other form of pixelated display panel known to those skilled in the art. Additionally or alternatively, visual indicator 28 may comprise one or more non-pixelated display elements, such as one or more LEDs. If visual indicator 28 comprises one or more LEDs, the color of each LED may be selected from among a set of LED colors known to those skilled in the art, and / or LEDs configured to exhibit more than one color may be used (e.g., one or more RGB LEDs may be used).

[0024] The controller 22 is suitably configured / programmed to control the operation of the aerosol delivery system to provide functions according to the embodiments of the present disclosure described further herein, as well as to provide conventional operational functions of the aerosol delivery system in line with established techniques for controlling such devices. The controller (processor circuit) 22 may be considered to logically comprise various subunits / circuit elements associated with different aspects of the operation of the aerosol delivery system 1. In this example, the controller 22 comprises a power supply control circuit for controlling the supply of power from the power supply 26 to the aerosol generator 48 in response to user input, a user programming circuit for establishing configuration settings (e.g., user-defined power settings) in response to user input, and other functional unit / circuit related functions according to the principles described herein and conventional operational aspects of the aerosol delivery system, such as a display driver circuit and a user input detection circuit. It will be understood that the functions of the controller 22 may be provided in a variety of different ways, for example, using one or more suitably programmed programmable computers and / or one or more suitably configured application specific integrated circuits / circuits / chips / chipsets configured to provide the desired functions. Controller 22 may comprise a wireless transceiver and associated control circuitry to enable transfer of data between reusable device portion 2 and an external computing device (not shown), such as a smartphone or personal computer, via a wireless transfer protocol, such as Bluetooth®, Near Field Communication (NFC), or Zigbee®. Controller 22 also comprises one or more data storage elements (e.g., memory elements such as ROM or RAM elements) that can be used to store data associated with use of the aerosol delivery system, according to established techniques for data storage and transfer.Throughout this disclosure, when reference is made to operations in which (i) user inputs, such as selection of parameters and device modes, are provided to a user input interface of the reusable device portion 2, (ii) information is displayed to a user on a display of the reusable device portion 2, and (iii) information (e.g., relating to determining heating times for consumables) is processed by the controller 22, it will be understood that one or more of these functions may be performed by an external electronic device (e.g., a smartphone, a refill / charging dock or case, a personal computer (PC), a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch), or a server) to which the aerosol delivery system is configured to connect via a wired or wireless communication protocol using a wired or wireless data interface between the aerosol delivery system 1 and the external electronic device. Thus, the wireless transceiver incorporated in the controller 22 may comprise a Bluetooth, ZigBee, WiFi, Wifi Direct, GSM, 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G, LTE, NFC or RFID module, or any other wireless communication module known to those skilled in the art, and / or a wired interface, such as a USB-C, micro USB, Thunderbolt or other wired interface. Thus, user input provided on an external electronic device (e.g., a smartphone) may be transmitted to the controller 22 of the aerosol delivery device to control any aspect of the operation of the aerosol delivery device 1 described herein. Processing of information / data may occur via a processor / controller of the external electronic device (e.g., a smartphone) based on information transmitted by the controller 22 to the external electronic device, and the processed information / data, or control parameters based on such processing, are transmitted back to the controller 22 to enable the controller 22 to modify the operation of the aerosol delivery system based on the data / parameters.Providing visual, audio, or tactile notifications / instructions regarding operation of the aerosol delivery system described herein may be performed by an external electronic device (e.g., a smartphone) based on instruction-related information / data transmitted to the external electronic device by controller 22. Thus, in general, any functionality described herein related to user input, data processing, and providing instructions to a user may be "offloaded" to an external electronic device via a wired or wireless data connection in a manner similar to how devices / computing nodes distributed on a wired or wireless computing network may transmit data between devices / nodes to distribute the functionality of the system among the different devices / nodes.

[0025] The reusable device portion includes a means for inferring the rate of aerosolization of the aerosol-generating material (which may be considered to be the rate of exhaustion of the aerosol-generating material 44 when the aerosol generating system 1 is used) by monitoring a parameter related to the amount of user inhalation at the consumable portion over a session including multiple puffs. This may be accomplished, for example, by monitoring measurements of airflow through the consumable portion, the temperature of the consumable portion, the level of power supplied to heat the consumable portion, and / or the time of heating of the consumable portion, as described further herein. Thus, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the reusable device portion 2 may include an airflow sensor 30, such as a pressure sensor (e.g., a MEMS pressure sensor) or a flow sensor (e.g., a microphone or hot wire anemometer), electrically connected to the controller 22 and in fluid communication with a portion of the air flow path between the air inlet 24 and the mouthpiece 41. The airflow sensor 30 may be provided, for example, in a wall of the air inlet channel 25 or chamber 50 and / or may extend at least partially into or across a portion of the airflow path defined by the air inlet channel 25 or chamber 50. In some embodiments, a combined airflow and temperature sensor is used that allows the temperature of the airflow in a portion of the airflow path in the device to be determined. In some embodiments, the airflow sensor comprises a so-called "puff sensor" in that a signal from the airflow sensor 30 is used by the controller 22 to detect when the user is inhaling on the device and, optionally, the strength of the puff as indicated by pressure and / or airflow velocity. In some embodiments, detection of a user puff (e.g., by the controller 22 determining that a signal from the airflow sensor 30 indicating the pressure and / or flow rate in the airflow path between the air inlet 24 and the mouthpiece 41 exceeds a predefined threshold) is used by the controller 22 to initiate heating by controlling the supply of power to the aerosol generator / heater 48. In other words, the heater / device may be considered to be "puff-operated".Thus, the controller 22 may distribute power from the power source 26 to the aerosol generator 48 in response to at least a signal received by the controller 22 from the airflow sensor 30. In other embodiments, the supply of power to the aerosol generator 48 is initiated by other means (e.g., by detecting a user input on the button 14 or touch screen display 16, or by detecting receipt of the consumable portion within the chamber, e.g., via a suitable sensor, including a mechanical switch or a capacitive sensor associated with the chamber 50). It will be understood that the inclusion of an airflow sensor is optional, and in some embodiments an airflow sensor is not included, and information regarding the rate of aerosol generation is provided to the controller 22 in another manner, as described further herein. 24. The controller 22 is configured to initiate heating of the consumable based on receiving a signal associated with a user interaction with the device, which may include at least one of a signal from a user input interface (e.g., button 14) indicating that a user has provided a control input, a signal from an airflow sensor 30 included in the aerosol delivery system indicating a change in airflow rate through the aerosol delivery system, or a signal from a consumable sensor (not shown) included in the aerosol delivery system indicating that a consumable has been coupled to the device.

[0026] In addition to or instead of using an airflow sensor to provide information to the controller 22 regarding the rate of aerosolization of the aerosol-generating material 44 (e.g., a parameter related to the amount of user inhalation at the consumable portion), such information may be provided by sensing / measuring / monitoring the temperature of the consumable portion or inferring the temperature of the consumable portion based on monitoring the temperature of the heater 48 while the consumable portion is being heated. Thus, when the aerosol generator 48 is configured to heat the consumable portion, the temperature of the aerosol generator 48 and / or the heated region 53 of the chamber 50, or a portion of the consumable portion, or any portion of the reusable device portion 2, may be detected by the controller 22 using one or more temperature sensors (not shown), which may be separate from or integrated into the heater 48. In other embodiments, the heater 48 is configured to enable the heater 48 to be used to sense temperature. For example, a heating element included in the aerosol generator 48 may include a material having a temperature coefficient of resistance characteristic such that its resistance varies with temperature. The controller 22 may determine the resistance of the heating element 48 by known techniques (e.g., by using a reference resistor circuit to determine the voltage across the heater at a known current, determined by measuring the voltage across a current-sensing resistor) and look up the heater resistance in an experimentally or modeling-derived look-up table that links the heating element resistance to temperature to estimate the temperature of the aerosol generator 48 based on the measured resistance. Alternatively or additionally, one or more temperature-sensing elements, such as a thermistor, may be positioned near the heated region 53 (e.g., attached to or embedded within a tube that includes the heated region 53 of the chamber 50), said thermistor connected to the controller 22 to enable the controller to monitor the temperature of the consumable part and / or the heated region 53 or directly monitor the temperature of the heater 48. The temperature of the air in the air inlet channel 25 may also be monitored by one or more temperature sensors (e.g., a combined temperature-pressure sensor or a thermistor) in a similar manner.In some embodiments, an integrated pressure and temperature sensor is provided that can monitor a parameter related to the amount of user inhalation at the consumable portion, including both direct airflow and temperature measurements. In some embodiments, the parameter related to the amount of user inhalation at the consumable portion is a function calculated by the controller 22 of measurements of both temperature and airflow provided by separate or integrated pressure and temperature sensors. For example, the calculated parameter may include the sum or product of measurements of parameters representing temperature and airflow, respectively, which may be scaled by appropriate coefficients established by those skilled in the art based on experimentation and modeling. Experiments may be performed to monitor temperature and airflow using temperature and airflow sensors during heating of the consumable portion over multiple puffs while separately measuring the rate of aerosol generation from the device with an aerosol analyzer. Functions of temperature and airflow can be fitted to the aerosol generation rate profile to obtain a fitted function that describes the aerosol generation rate in terms of temperature and airflow (or any one of these parameters). It will be appreciated that the parameter may be a discrete parameter / variable (e.g., the cumulative number of puffs in a session / since heating of the consumable portion began, etc.) or a parameter representing a continuous parameter / variable (e.g., a parameter relating to the instantaneous or integrated airflow through the aerosol delivery system, or the temperature of the consumable portion / heating element, or the level of power delivered to the heating element, etc., as described further herein). In some embodiments, the parameter is a continuous parameter representing the cumulative inhalation time, determined based on detecting airflow through the aerosol delivery system / consumable portion (using airflow detection / measurement techniques as described further herein). In some embodiments, the parameter related to the amount of user inhalation at the consumable portion over multiple puffs comprises a discrete number of puffs, including multiple puffs, made since heating of the consumable portion began.

[0027] In some embodiments, the aperture 51 of the reusable part 2 through which the consumable part is inserted into the chamber 50 may be opened and closed by a door (not shown) that, when in the open position, is movable between a closed position and an open position to allow the consumable part to be inserted into the reusable device part 2. The door may be flush with the mouth end face of the reusable device part and is configured to slide along an axis between the open and closed positions or rotate between the open and closed positions. A spring or magnet may bias the door to the open and closed positions to hold the door in either position when a user slides or rotates the door into either the open or closed position.

[0028] As described further herein, the reusable part 2 typically includes an aerosol generator 48 located near the heated region 53 of the consumable chamber 50. As described in embodiments of the present disclosure, the aerosol generator is an element or device configured to generate an aerosol from an aerosol-generating material in the consumable part, for example, by heating. Thus, in some embodiments, the aerosol generator 48 includes a heater configured to subject the aerosol-generating material in the consumable part to thermal energy to release one or more volatile substances from the aerosol-generating material to produce an aerosol. In some embodiments, the aerosol generator is configured to generate an aerosol from the aerosol-generating material without heating. For example, the aerosol generator 48 may be configured to subject the aerosol-generating material in the consumable part to one or more of vibration, increased pressure, or electrostatic energy to volatilize the aerosol-generating material. It will be appreciated that in a two-part device such as that shown in FIG. 1, the aerosol generator 48 portion may be in either the reusable device part 2 and / or the consumable part. It will be further appreciated that in some examples, the consumable portion may include a cartridge including an electrically powered aerosol generator (e.g., a heater), and in addition to or instead of the aerosol generator 48 in the reusable device portion 2, the reusable device portion 2 may include an electrical interface including electrical contacts provided in the chamber 50 that electrically connect the aerosol generator in the consumable portion with the power source 26 and controller 22 in the reusable device portion when the consumable portion is fully or partially received within the chamber 50.

[0029] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the aerosol generator 48 comprising at least one heating element is formed as a cylindrical tube having a hollow internal heating chamber configured to, in use, provide thermal energy to a heating region 53 of a chamber / receiving recess 50 into which a consumable portion comprising the aerosol-generating material 43 is inserted for heating. As described further herein, the heating element may directly form part of the tube comprising the chamber 50 or may be provided around or near the heating region 53 of the tube comprising the chamber 50. Various configurations for the aerosol generator / heater 48 are possible. In some embodiments, the heater 48 may comprise a single heating element (e.g., a resistive trace, track and / or winding) or may be formed from multiple heating elements aligned longitudinally or transversely (e.g., radially) relative to the longitudinal axis of the chamber 50. Each of the one or more heating elements comprised in the heater 48 may be annular or tubular, or at least partially annular or partially tubular, about its circumference. The heating element(s) may comprise one or more thin film heaters comprising one or more resistive tracks on a heat-resistant substrate comprising, for example, a polyimide film. The heating element(s) may comprise a ceramic material comprising, for example, an aluminum nitride or silicon nitride ceramic, which may be laminated with one or more heat-generating layers and sintered to form a heater according to techniques known in the art. Other heater configurations are possible, including, for example, induction heating elements, infrared heating elements that heat by emitting infrared radiation, or resistive heating elements formed, for example, by resistive electrical windings. In the latter case, the resistive windings may be provided around or embedded within a ceramic, metal or heat-resistant polymer tube that includes or is disposed around the heating region 53 of the chamber 50 to radiate heat into a cavity within the heating region 53.The battery 26 is electrically coupled to the heating element to provide power as needed to heat the aerosolizable material within the consumable under the control of the control circuitry 22 (to volatilize the aerosolizable material without burning the aerosolizable material, as described further herein).

[0030] In some embodiments, at least one heating element included in the aerosol generator 48 is supported by and surrounds a heat transfer tube, for example formed of stainless steel, that includes a portion of the wall of the chamber 50 that receives at least a portion of the consumable portion. At least a portion of the tube proximate the heating element may be considered to include the heating region 53 of the chamber 50. The inner diameter of the tube that includes the chamber 50 is sized relative to the diameter of the consumable portion that is inserted into the tube. The tube may taper slightly (not shown) from a wider diameter at the aperture 51 to a narrower diameter at the base of the chamber distal to the aperture 51 such that as the consumable portion is slid into the chamber 50, the end distal to the mouthpiece 41 is slightly radially compressed as the consumable portion reaches the end of its travel into the chamber 50, softly retaining the consumable portion within the chamber 50. This configuration may prevent the consumable from accidentally slipping out of the reusable device portion, for example, if the reusable device portion is inverted during use. Chamber 50 may also be slightly flared or chamfered at the aperture end to allow the consumable portion to be easily guided into chamber 50. Chamber 50 may thus function as an elongated support for supporting the consumable portion containing the aerosol generating material during use. The diameter of chamber 50 within heating region 53 is generally selected to closely match the diameter of the consumable portion, which ensures contact between the exterior surface of the consumable portion and a substantial portion of the interior surface of heating region 53 of chamber 50, thereby allowing efficient thermal transfer of heat from one or more heating elements included in aerosol generator 48 to the consumable portion.

[0031] In embodiments in which the aerosol generator 48 comprises a heater, the tube comprising the heated region 53 of the chamber 50 comprises a material that transfers heat from the heater 48 to the consumable portion, and typically comprises a metal or metal alloy, such as one or more materials selected from the group consisting of aluminum, gold, iron, nickel, cobalt, conductive carbon, graphite, steel, flat carbon steel, mild steel, ferritic stainless steel, molybdenum, copper, and bronze. In other embodiments, the section of the tube comprising the heated region 53 of the chamber 50 may be made of a different material, so long as it is thermally conductive. In other embodiments, other heating elements 48 may be used. For example, the heating element 48 may comprise a susceptor (e.g., a portion of the tube comprising the chamber 50) that is heated by induction when exposed to a magnetic field generated by one or more magnetic field generators, such as a drive coil (not shown) provided in the reusable portion 2.

[0032] Typically, when the aerosol generator 48 comprises one or more heating elements, the aerosol generator 48 is dimensioned relative to the distribution of aerosol-generating material within the consumable portion such that when the consumable is inserted into the reusable device portion 2, substantially all of the aerosol-generating material within the consumable portion can be heated in use (e.g., the longitudinal extent of the heating region 53 along the axis of the chamber 50 may match the longitudinal extent of the distribution of aerosol-generating material 43 within the consumable portion when the consumable portion is received within the chamber 50 for use). In some embodiments, the one or more heating elements comprised in the aerosol generator 48 may be configured such that selected zones / regions of the aerosol-generating material within the consumable portion can be independently heated, e.g., sequentially (over time) or together (simultaneously), as desired (e.g., by distributing independently controllable heating elements along the length of the chamber 50, including the heating region 53).

[0033] As described further herein, in some embodiments, the aerosol generator 48 is in the form of a hollow cylindrical tube that includes, is embedded in, or surrounds the heated region 53 of the chamber 50. The chamber formed by the interior of the tube, including the heated region 53, is typically in fluid communication with an aperture 51 at the mouth end of the reusable device portion 2 via a non-heated region 52 of the chamber 50 (sometimes referred to as an expansion region / chamber). In such embodiments, the non-heated region 52 comprises a tubular body having a first open end adjacent to or including the aperture 51 and a second open end adjacent to the heated chamber region 53 of the chamber 50. In this manner, the non-heated region 52 and the heated region 53 may be considered tubular portions of the chamber 50 configured end-to-end. Generally, the diameters of the expansion region 52 and the heated region 53 match at the interface between the expansion region and the heated region to ensure smooth passage of the non-mouth end of the consumable portion through the non-heated region 52 and into the heated region 53. The unheated / expanded region 52 and heated region 53 of the tube containing chamber 50 may be formed separately and connected by a mechanical joining process, or may be formed integrally. In some embodiments, unheated region 52 comprises a flared section (not shown) that widens as it opens to aperture 51, and a section of substantially constant inner diameter proximate its interface with heated region 53.

[0034] In some embodiments, the consumable portion is in the form of a cylindrical rod having or including aerosol-generating material 43 at an end distal to the mouthpiece 41 in a section of the consumable portion that is within the heated region 53 of the chamber 50 when the consumable portion is inserted into the reusable device portion 2. To provide a concrete example, in one embodiment, the consumable portion is about 8 mm in diameter and about 84 mm in length. The depth of the chamber 50 of the reusable device portion is sized relative to the length of the consumable portion such that the mouthpiece end 41 of the consumable portion typically extends from the aperture (e.g., 10 mm, 20 mm, 30 mm, or more than 30 mm) when the consumable portion is inserted into the chamber 50 for use. Thus, the mouthpiece end of the consumable portion typically extends out of the aperture 51 from the reusable device portion 2. The consumable portion may include a filter / cooling element 44 for filtering / cooling the aerosol disposed between the mouthpiece 41 and the region of the aerosol-generating material 43. The consumable portion is typically circumferentially wrapped in a wrapping / outer layer (not shown) that may include a paper material, and / or a metal foil, and / or a polymeric film such as Natureflex™. The outer layer of the consumable portion may be permeable to allow some heated volatile components from the aerosol-generating material 43 to escape the consumable portion 2 before reaching the mouthpiece 41. In some embodiments, the wrapping may include a metallic material in proximity to the aerosol-generating material 43 configured to function as a susceptor, which is heated by induction via one or more magnetic field generators / drive coils (not shown) in the reusable device portion 2 to heat the aerosol-generating material 43 by induction heating. For example, in such an embodiment, the aerosol generator 48 may include one or more magnetic field generators / drive coils configured to induce inductive heating of the metallic wrapping of the consumable to induce heating of the aerosol-generating material 43 in the consumable portion, and / or one or more susceptor elements embedded in the aerosol-generating material 43 in the consumable portion. It will be appreciated that the consumable portion configurations described above are exemplary and that those skilled in the art may vary the overall structure of the consumable portion according to techniques known in the art.

[0035] In some embodiments, aerosol generator 48 comprises at least one heating element configured to transfer heat to the consumable portion (according to techniques for heating described further herein) and at least one magnetic field generator / drive coil configured to inductively heat at least one susceptor element comprised in the consumable part (according to techniques described further herein). In such embodiments, aerosol-generating material 43 may include multiple aerosol-generating materials, where at least a first aerosol-generating material is heated by heat transferred from aerosol generator 48 to the consumable portion and at least a second aerosol-generating material is heated by one or more susceptors comprised in or on the consumable part.

[0036] Typically, the primary flow path for heated volatiles produced by heating of the aerosol-generating material 43 by the heater 48 is axially through the consumable portion, through the filter / cooling element 44 (if included), and through the open end of the mouthpiece 41 toward the user's mouth. However, some of the volatiles may escape from the consumable portion through its permeable outer wrapping and into the space surrounding the consumable portion in the unheated chamber region 52 (e.g., the space formed by an optional gap (not shown) between the outer surface of the consumable and the inner surface of the chamber 50 in the flared portion of the unheated / expanded chamber region 53).

[0037] As used herein, the term "aerosol-generating material" 43 typically includes materials that upon heating provide volatile components, typically in the form of a vapor or an aerosol. An "aerosol-generating material" may be a non-tobacco-containing material or a tobacco-containing material. An "aerosol-generating material" may include, for example, one or more of tobacco itself, tobacco derivatives, expanded tobacco, reconstituted tobacco, tobacco extracts, homogenized tobacco, or tobacco substitutes. An aerosol-generating material may be in the form of shredded tobacco, cut rag tobacco, extruded tobacco, reconstituted tobacco, reconstituted aerosol-generating material, liquid, gel, amorphous solid, gel sheet, powder, or aggregate, etc. An "aerosol-generating material" may also include other non-tobacco products, which may or may not contain nicotine depending on the product. An "aerosol-generating material" may include one or more humectants, such as glycerol, propylene glycol, triacetin, or diethylene glycol.

[0038] As noted above, the aerosol-generating material 43 may include an "amorphous solid," which may alternatively be referred to as a "monolithic solid" (i.e., non-fibrous) or a "dry gel." An amorphous solid is a solid material that may retain some fluid, such as a liquid, within the amorphous solid. In some cases, the aerosol-generating material includes from about 50%, 60%, or 70% amorphous solid by weight, to about 90%, 95%, or 100% amorphous solid by weight. In some cases, the aerosol-generating material consists of an amorphous solid.

[0039] In some embodiments, the aerosol-forming material is a non-liquid aerosol-forming material and the reusable device portion is for heating the non-liquid aerosol-forming material to volatilize at least one component of the aerosol-forming material.

[0040] The one or more active ingredients / substances contained in the consumable portion may include one or more physiologically and / or olfactorily active ingredients contained in the aerosolizable material to achieve a physiological and / or olfactory response in the user. In some embodiments, the active ingredient is a physiologically active ingredient and may be selected from nicotine, nicotine salts (e.g., nicotine ditartrate / nicotine bitartrate), nicotine-free tobacco substitutes, other alkaloids such as caffeine, cannabinoids, or mixtures thereof. Cannabinoids are a class of natural or synthetic chemical compounds that act on cannabinoid receptors (i.e., CB1 and CB2) in cells that inhibit the release of neurotransmitters in the brain. Two of the most important cannabinoids are tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD). Cannabinoids can occur naturally from plants such as cannabis (phytocannabinoids), from animals (endocannabinoids), or are artificially produced (synthetic cannabinoids). Cannabinoids are cyclic molecules that exhibit certain properties, such as the ability to easily cross the blood-brain barrier, low toxicity, and few side effects. Cannabis species express at least 85 different phytocannabinoids, including cannabigerol, cannabichromene, cannabidiol, tetrahydrocannabinol, cannabinol and cannabinodiol, as well as cannabigerol (CBG), cannabichromene (CBC), cannabidiol (CBD), tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabinol (CBN) and cannabinodiol (CBDL), cannabicyclol (CBL), cannabivarin (CBV), tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV), cannabidivarin (CBDV), cannabichromevarin (CBCV), cannabigerovarin (CBGV), cannabigerol monomethyl ether (CBGM), cannabinerolic acid, cannabidiolic acid (CBDA), cannabinol propyl variant (CBNV), cannabiditriol (CBO), tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (THCA), and tetrahydrocannabivarinic acid (THCV). A) is a subclass that includes other cannabinoids.

[0041] Once all or substantially all of the volatile components of the aerosol-generating material in the consumable portion are depleted, the user may detach the consumable portion from the reusable device portion 2 and discard the consumable portion. The user may then reuse the reusable device portion 2 with another consumable portion. However, in other respective embodiments, the consumable portion and the reusable device portion 2 may be discarded together after the volatile components of the aerosol-generating material are consumed. The consumable portion may be comprised of an aliquot amount of aerosol-generating material 43 configured to be heated and depleted over a single heating cycle (e.g., 210 second actuation duration) or may be comprised of an aliquot amount of aerosol-generating material 43 configured to be depleted over multiple heating cycles. In the latter case, the consumable portion may be considered to be a reusable consumable portion.

[0042] In some embodiments, the consumable part may be sold, supplied, or otherwise provided separately from the reusable device part 2 with which it can be used. However, in some embodiments, the reusable device part 2 and one or more of the consumable parts may be provided together as a system, such as a kit or assembly, possibly with additional components such as a cleaning implement.

[0043] The inventors have recognized that it may be preferable to be able to adjust the target time for heating the consumable portion containing the aerosol-generating material based on information regarding the rate of aerosolization of the aerosol-generating material and / or the rate of consumption of the aerosol-generating material. In conventional smoking articles, such as cigarettes, which generate aerosol by the gradual combustion of an aerosol-generating material, such as tobacco, the rate at which the aerosol is generated and the rate at which the aerosol-generating material is consumed / consumed by combustion depend on the rate of combustion. Increasing the rate of combustion increases aerosol generation while at the same time reducing the time it takes to consume the aerosol-generating material. The rate of combustion is a function of the air flow rate through the smoking article, among other factors. Thus, a user of a conventional combustible smoking article who takes longer and deeper puffs may generally consume an individual smoking article faster than a user who takes shorter and shallower puffs. The inventors have recognized that it may be desirable to control an electronic aerosol delivery device to provide a similar user experience in terms of the relationship between the duration of the heating cycle for the consumable and the way the user puffs on the device. This can make the experience of using an electronic aerosol delivery device feel more similar to using a traditional smoking article, to support users who are transitioning from traditional smoking articles to electronic aerosol delivery devices.

[0044] Thus, an aerosol delivery system configured to heat a consumable portion to generate an aerosol is provided, the aerosol delivery system comprising a controller configured to initiate heating of the consumable portion, monitor a parameter related to an amount of user inhalation on the consumable portion over multiple puffs during heating of the consumable portion, and stop heating the consumable portion based on the parameter related to the amount of user inhalation.

[0045] 2 shows a flow chart outlining a methodology for operation of an aerosol delivery system according to the present disclosure, according to which in a first step S1 heating of the consumable portion is initiated. In a second step S2 a parameter related to the amount of user inhalation at the consumable portion is monitored during heating of the consumable portion over multiple puffs. In a third step S3 heating of the consumable portion is stopped when the parameter reaches a threshold value. In an embodiment of the present disclosure the threshold value is predefined.

[0046] Thus, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, upon detecting a user input indicating that the user desires to initiate generation of aerosol from the consumable portion in accordance with the techniques described further herein (e.g., by puff detection, by detecting a user input on a button or other user input interface, or by detecting that the consumable portion is coupled to the reusable device portion for use), the controller 22 initiates heating of the consumable portion or a region thereof to generate aerosol from the aerosol-generating material contained in the consumable portion. The controller is further configured to stop supplying power to the heater to heat the consumable portion when a heating termination condition is met, the heating termination condition being based on a parameter related to the amount of user inhalation on the consumable portion.

[0047] While the controller 22 supplies power to the heater to generate aerosol from the consumable portion, a parameter related to the amount of user inhalation at the consumable portion is monitored by the controller. As described further herein, the parameter may be the temperature of the heater (determined by a dedicated temperature sensor or using the temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) characteristics of the heater to infer the heater temperature based on the heater resistance) or the temperature of the consumable (determined by a temperature sensor). The parameter may be the level of power supplied to the heater, e.g., a target temperature or set point temperature (T set) may be the level of power required to maintain the device / consumable portion. The parameters including temperature measurements are associated with user inhalation on the basis that the rate of cooling of the heater and / or consumable portion is a function of airflow through the device / consumable portion. Thus, if the airflow rate is higher, the rate of cooling of the consumable / heater may generally be higher. The parameter related to the amount of user inhalation at the consumable portion may be the airflow rate, as determined by an airflow sensor, such as a pressure sensor, microphone, or hot wire anemometer, as described further herein.

[0048] Without wishing to be bound by any particular theory, the inventors have recognized that the rate of user inhalation on a consumable portion that includes an aerosol-generating material may generally be related to the rate of depletion of the aerosol-generating material within the consumable portion. Thus, if a user inhales more strongly and / or for longer puffs during a use session of the consumable portion that includes multiple puffs, the consumable portion may generally be depleted (e.g., in terms of the supply of aerosol-generating material being depleted) more quickly than if the user inhales less strongly and / or for shorter puffs during a use session of the consumable. Thus, by taking into account a parameter related to the amount of user inhalation on the consumable portion during a session, the heating duration may be dynamically adjusted to take into account the rate of depletion of the consumable portion during a session, as inferred based on the parameter related to the amount of user inhalation on the consumable.

[0049] Thus, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the controller is configured to integrate a parameter related to the amount of user inhalation at the consumable portion over time after the start of heating of the consumable portion, and to stop heating the consumable portion when the integral of the parameter reaches a predefined threshold. The parameter may be integrated according to any suitable technique known to those skilled in the art. For example, when the controller 22 operates at a given clock speed, the value of the parameter related to the amount of user inhalation may be measured every clock cycle (or every jth clock cycle, where j is an integer number of clock cycles), and the integral of the parameter over time is calculated as a function of the difference of the parameter between subsequent measurements and the elapsed time between said measurements, for example using a trapezoidal rule for estimating a definite integral. In these embodiments, during each clock cycle (or every jth clock cycle), the controller 22 compares the integral of the parameter related to the amount of user inhalation over the elapsed heating duration (i.e., by summing the integrals calculated every clock cycle since heating was started) with a predefined threshold, and if the integral exceeds the predefined threshold, the controller 22 stops supplying power to the heater to heat the consumable portion.

[0050] FIG. 3 shows a schematic sequence of n puffs over time, including a session of n puffs. The Y-axis shows a parameter related to the amount of user inhalation at the consumable portion over multiple puffs, the parameter in this example including the airflow rate through the consumable portion / aerosol delivery system, which is established based on the controller monitoring the output of the airflow sensor during the session. In this example, it is assumed that heating of the consumable portion begins at T=0 (i.e., at the intersection of the X-axis and the Y-axis). During each puff, the airflow rate rises and falls, with the airflow rate between puffs being 0. FIG. 4 is recognized from FIG. 3 and shows a schematic of the same session of n puffs, with the integral of the airflow rate over the heating duration indicated by the shaded area under the airflow rate profile. T=T threshAt a time corresponding to T, the controller determines that the integral of a parameter related to the amount of user inhalation (i.e., the integral of the airflow rate over time) has reached / exceeded a predefined threshold and stops providing power to the heater to generate aerosol from the consumable portion. In the example shown in FIG. 4, thresh falls during a user puff. In some embodiments, the controller may adjust T (e.g., as determined by the output of an airflow sensor falling below a threshold) to avoid a harmful experience for the user. thresh The device is configured to stop supplying power to heat the consumable portion only after the downward puff is completed, thereby ceasing aerosol generation while the user is taking a puff.

[0051] The controller 22 may establish the predefined threshold value of the integrated user inhalation parameter in a number of different ways. For example, the reusable device portion 2 of the aerosol delivery system may include circuitry configured to receive an identifier from the consumable portion when the consumable portion is received within the reusable device portion, the identifier directly encoding a value for the threshold value or including an identifier that the controller 22 can cross-reference with a table (e.g., a look-up table) or other data structure to identify an appropriate value for the threshold value. The identifier may include an optically readable identifier (e.g., a QR code or barcode) printed on an outer surface of the consumable device portion that is read by an optical sensor coupled to the controller 22 and positioned such that the identifier is in proximity to the optical sensor when the consumable portion is received within the reusable device portion. The optical sensor may include a light source that illuminates the identifier to capture an image of the identifier. Alternatively, the consumable part may include a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag or a near field communication (NFC) tag included in or on the consumable part, and an RFID or NFC reader module is disposed in the reusable device part and connected to the controller to read data including the identifier from the RFID or NFC tag when the consumable part is received in the reusable device part. In other examples, a user may enter the threshold value or select one of a predefined set of threshold values ​​using a user input interface of the aerosol delivery device or associated electronic device (e.g., by selecting the threshold value via an application (APP) running on a smart phone having a data connection link to the controller 22 of the aerosol delivery system). In other examples, the predefined threshold value represents a default value established for the controller 22 during manufacture and used regardless of the consumable part received in and heated by the aerosol delivery system.

[0052] The predefined threshold (or multiple predefined thresholds, which may be selected based on an identifier associated with a given consumable portion or selected via user input) may be established based on experimentation or modeling, or by analysis of prior use of the aerosol delivery system by a user. For example, the threshold to be used for a given consumable portion may be established based on a characteristic value of an integral of a parameter related to the amount of user inhalation required to use up the same type of consumable portion received in the device. Thus, in a laboratory, different consumable portions of a first type may be heated by an aerosol delivery system according to the present disclosure using a standard power delivery profile (e.g., constant power delivered to the heater, or a predefined time-varying heating profile delivered to the heater), and the different sample consumable portions of the first type are subjected to different total values ​​of integrated airflow through the consumable portion during the heating profile before being analyzed to determine how much aerosol-generating material remains in the consumable portion for aerosolization. An appropriate predefined threshold of integrated airflow to use may be determined, for example, based on an amount of integrated airflow established to correspond to a specific exhaustion of at least 50%, at least 60%, at least 70%, at least 80%, at least 90%, at least 95%, or at least 99% of the aerosol-generating material in the consumable portion (e.g., determined by quantifying the amount of aerosol generated over time by the consumable portion while being heated, such that 100% exhaustion of the aerosol-generating material is assumed to occur when aerosol is no longer generated or when the rate of aerosol generation falls below the threshold, or when it is determined that undesirable by-products of heating above the threshold have been generated).

[0053] In other contexts, the controller 22 may "learn" an appropriate threshold of integrated airflow to use by receiving user input from the user (e.g., via a button). For example, the user may train the controller 22 to use an appropriate threshold by using one or more "training" heating cycles, where the supply of power to the heater is initiated to generate aerosol from the consumable portion, and the user provides user input (e.g., a button press) to indicate to the controller when the consumable is depleted and should no longer be heated (e.g., due to a decrease in the quantity and / or quality of the aerosol). The controller may integrate the airflow (or other parameter related to the amount of user inhalation described herein) over the duration of heating after the start of heating until the user provides user input to indicate that the consumable has been depleted. The integral of the airflow at the time the user provides this input may be stored by the controller 22 and subsequently used as a predefined threshold for ceasing the supply of power to the heater in subsequent heating periods / sessions.

[0054] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the controller may apply a scheme in which two conditions are available to the controller 22 to stop heating, one condition based on an integrated parameter related to the amount of user inhalation on the consumable as described further herein, and the other based on the time elapsed since the start of heating. Thus, in some embodiments, a threshold of elapsed heating time may be imposed by the controller after the start of heating such that if that threshold is met, the controller stops providing power to the heater even if the integral of the parameter related to the amount of user inhalation on the consumable has not reached a predefined threshold. The threshold of elapsed heating time may be determined based on experiments, and in some examples may correspond to the amount of time it takes to exhaust the consumable portion using a given power delivery profile used to heat the consumable portion by the aerosol delivery system, whereby the time is the time it takes to exhaust the consumable portion in the absence of airflow through the system (where exhausting / using up the consumable portion is defined as described herein).

[0055] In other embodiments of the present disclosure, the parameter related to the amount of user inhalation on the consumable portion includes a temperature associated with the consumable portion or heater, determined based on the controller 22 monitoring the output of a temperature sensor during heating of the consumable, as described further herein. When temperature is used as the parameter related to the amount of user inhalation on the consumable portion, controlling the heating duration based on the parameter related to the amount of user inhalation on the consumable portion may be done in the same manner as described for the embodiment in which the parameter related to the amount of user inhalation on the consumable portion is based on the output of an airflow sensor, with the following optional modifications.

[0056] FIG. 5 illustrates a time series of puffs recognized from FIGS. 3 and 4 and having the same timing as the puffs in FIGS. 3 and 4. However, in the example of FIG. 5, the parameter related to the amount of user inhalation at the consumable portion includes a temperature associated with the consumable portion or a heater used to heat the consumable portion. In this example, a fixed level of power is supplied to the heater, raising the temperature of the heater / consumable to a predefined steady state heating temperature Temp, as shown by the increasing temperature profile to the left of the first puff, "Puff 1." set to a steady state (however the particular heating profile is not critical). Because the level of power supplied to the heater is constant, the temperature of the heater in this example varies with the amount of user inhalation (e.g. air flow rate). Thus the difference between the actual temperature of the heater / consumable during heating indicates the amount of user inhalation. This is shown diagrammatically in FIG. 5, where during each of the n puffs the temperature of the heater / consumable rises to its steady state value in the absence of airflow (e.g. Temp set ) to a reduced value, where the drop in temperature is proportional to the rate of cooling (i.e., air flow rate through / over the consumable part). FIG. 6 can be recognized from FIG. 5 and shows the integral of the steady state value of the heater / consumable temperature in the absence of air flow (i.e., Temp set 3 and 4 , the difference between the integral of the actual heater / consumable temperature (integral of the heater / consumable temperature) and the integral of the actual heater / consumable temperature as determined by measuring the heater and / or consumable temperature using the techniques described herein. thresh In the example, the controller 22 calculates the integral of a parameter related to the amount of user inhalation in the wasted portion (which in this example includes a temperature parameter, and the integral is calculated based on the actual temperature and the steady state temperature Temp set The aerosol delivery system determines that the aerosol concentration (T), which is the difference between the integrals of T, has reached a predefined threshold and determines to stop supplying power to the heater of the aerosol delivery system. As described further herein, the supply of power is thresh The puff may be stopped during the descending puff, and the puff may be stopped until the heater temperature reaches Temp. set may be allowed to terminate (as determined based on returning to

[0057] Values ​​suitable to use for the predefined thresholds may be established as previously described with respect to the embodiment in which the parameter related to the amount of user inhalation on the consumable portion is air flow rate, and thus may be established in a controlled laboratory environment based on the known exhaustion characteristics of the consumable portion, or by a user training the controller 22 of the aerosol delivery system as further described herein (e.g., a user providing an input for when the consumable portion is determined to be exhausted, with the actual heater / consumable temperature and Temp at the time the user input is provided as the predefined threshold for future heating cycles). set (by using the corresponding difference of the integrals of Temp set The value of Temp may be constant or may vary with time and represents the temperature of the heater / consumable part under the heater control characteristics (e.g., fixed power or time-varying power) used by the controller under conditions of no airflow through the consumable part / aerosol delivery system (e.g., steady state temperature in the absence of air cooling due to mass flow of air through the consumable). set can be established by one of skill in the art based on experimentation or modeling, and can vary over time.

[0058] In another embodiment, the heater power is adjusted to the temperature set point (T set) and supplying various levels of power to the heater to attempt to maintain the set point during the duration of heating of the consumable portion (e.g., using pulse width modulation techniques known to those skilled in the art). In such an example, the temperature may not vary with airflow (although it may decrease slightly before the heater temperature increases to compensate for cooling effects), but the power delivered to the heater to maintain the temperature set point increases as the rate of cooling of the heater / consumable increases due to increased user inhalation on the consumable. Thus, the amount of power delivered to the heater to maintain the temperature set point may be used in such an embodiment as a parameter related to the amount of user inhalation on the consumable portion and may be integrated to determine when to stop heating based on comparing the integrated power to a predefined threshold, as described further herein. An appropriate value for the predefined threshold may be established in a controlled laboratory environment based on the known exhaustion characteristics of the consumable portion as further described herein, or by a user training the controller 22 of the aerosol delivery system as further described herein (e.g., by the user providing an input when the consumable portion is determined to be exhausted), and using the integrated power delivered to the heater at the time the user input is provided as the predefined threshold value.

[0059] Thus, an embodiment has been described in which the value of the total heating duration for the consumable portion is not fixed or otherwise defined before heating begins, and is a function of the integral of a parameter related to the amount of user inhalation.

[0060] In other embodiments of the present disclosure, controller 22 ceases heating the consumable portion based on determining the duration of time that has elapsed since the initiation of heating of the consumable portion, which may be varied during heating based on monitoring a parameter related to the amount of user inhalation and, optionally, comparing that parameter to a control parameter.

[0061] Thus, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the controller is configured to establish an initially defined value of a heating duration for the consumable portion prior to initiating heating of the consumable portion, adjust the heating duration from the initially defined value during heating of the consumable portion based on a parameter related to an amount of user inhalation on the consumable portion, and stop heating the consumable portion after the adjusted heating duration has elapsed since initiating heating of the consumable portion.

[0062] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the controller is configured to: determine, during heating of the consumable portion, a remaining heating duration for the consumable portion based on an initially defined value of the heating duration and the time elapsed since starting heating of the consumable portion; compare a parameter related to the amount of user inhalation with a control parameter described herein, and shorten the remaining heating duration for the consumable portion if the value of the parameter related to the amount of user inhalation on the consumable is greater than the value of the control parameter, or increase the remaining heating duration for the consumable portion if the value of the parameter related to the amount of user inhalation on the consumable is less than the value of the control parameter, to obtain an adjusted remaining heating duration; and stop supplying power to the heater when the adjusted remaining heating duration has elapsed.

[0063] An initially defined (i.e. predefined) value of the heating duration may be established for the consumable portion based on a characteristic time period it takes to exhaust / use up a given type of consumable portion based on a heating profile used by the aerosol delivery system to provide heat to the consumable portion during a session including multiple puffs. The characteristic time period may be established based on the time it takes to exhaust the consumable portion based on average user puff frequency, duration, and suck strength. This may be based on empirical data collected for multiple users, or based on the unique session behavior (in terms of average user puff frequency, duration, and suck strength) of a particular user of the aerosol delivery system. Thus, the consumable portions provided for use with the aerosol delivery system according to the present disclosure may each be associated with a predefined / initial defined heating duration. This duration may be set in the controller 22 at the time of manufacture (e.g., where the aerosol delivery system is configured to use a single type of consumable part), or the initially defined heating duration may be set individually for different consumable parts, for example, by encoding the initially defined heating duration in a consumable part identifier (e.g., a QR code, RFID or NFC tag) as described herein, and receiving the initially defined heating duration in the controller 22 when the consumable part is coupled to the aerosol delivery system for use (or looking up the initially defined heating duration in a table or other data structure using a unique identifier associated with the consumable part). Thus, the controller 22 may establish an appropriate initially defined heating duration to use for the consumable part in a manner similar to that described for establishing an appropriate predefined threshold in other embodiments herein. In other examples, the initially defined heating duration may be determined by the controller 22 based on previous usage information, for example, based on an average heating duration of multiple previous sessions, or may be manually entered by a user via a user input interface.

[0064] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, a control parameter may be determined, which may include an average value of a parameter related to the amount of user inhalation at the depleted portion over a heating duration, possibly determined based on experiments or analysis of previous use of the aerosol delivery device by the user. In some embodiments, this heating duration used to determine the control parameter corresponds to an initially defined heating duration, as further described herein. In some embodiments, the heating duration is a characteristic heating duration for the depleted portion to be consumed / used up, determined according to a technique for determining depleting / using up the depleted portion, as further described herein. Thus, the control parameter may represent an average value (e.g., average airflow, average temperature, or average power) of a parameter related to the amount of user inhalation at the depleted portion over multiple puffs over a characteristic time it takes to consume the depleted portion given the amount of user inhalation over the multiple puffs, and may include an average taken over many sessions over many depleted portions.

[0065] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the controller is configured to compare the integral of the parameter related to the amount of user inhalation at the consumable with the integral of the control parameter over an integral time shorter than an initially defined value of the heating duration, and to shorten the heating duration from the initially defined value (or from a previously modified heating duration calculated based on a decision made at an earlier integral time) if the integral of the parameter related to the amount of user inhalation at the consumable is greater than the integral of the control parameter, or to increase the heating duration from the initially defined value (or from a previously modified heating duration calculated based on a decision made at an earlier integral time) if the integral of the parameter related to the amount of user inhalation at the consumable is less than the integral of the control parameter. In general, the controller in such an embodiment is configured to increase or decrease the remaining heating duration such that the integral of the control parameter over the increased or decreased remaining duration is increased or decreased by an amount proportional to the difference between the integral of the parameter related to the amount of user inhalation at the consumable over the integral time and the integral of the control parameter over the integral time.

[0066] FIG. 7 shows a schematic diagram of an example of the above-described scheme, in which an initially defined heating duration value, set before starting heating, is changed from T=0 to an initially defined end time “T end,1 " The heating of the consumable portion begins at T=0 (e.g., at the intersection of the X-axis and the Y-axis), the controller starts counting the elapsed time from the start of heating, and the condition for stopping the heating is when the elapsed time reaches a predefined end time T end,1 Over the integration time (shown diagrammatically in FIG. 7 ), the controller determines (i) the value of a parameter related to the amount of user inhalation on the consumable (in this example, air flow rate, but which can be any parameter related to the amount of user inhalation on the consumable as described herein), and (ii) a control parameter as described further herein (here, A control) and calculate the difference between these two integrals. This difference is shown diagrammatically as the shaded area of ​​the airflow profile over the integration time. In this example, the integral of the actual airflow is higher than the integral of the control parameter for airflow, and therefore the remaining duration of heating (i.e., the time until the controller stops supplying power to the heater) is longer than the original end time T end,1 is the new end time T end,2 It has been shortened to be updated to T end,2 is the period T end,2 and T end,1 A controlis selected such that the integral of is equal to the difference between the integral of the parameter related to the amount of user inhalation on the consumable and the integral of the control parameter over the integral time. This procedure can be followed every clock cycle of the controller, or every jth clock cycle, and thus the remaining duration of heating is dynamically adjusted during heating. In some embodiments, the heating duration can be extended if the integral of the parameter related to the amount of user inhalation on the consumable is lower than the integral of the control parameter. Such a scheme, which takes into account a first defined heating duration and then allows it to be adjusted based on the characteristics of the user inhalation during heating, can be considered preferred, since it allows previously determined information on the characteristic heating duration until exhaustion of a given type of consumable part to be used to determine how to heat this type of consumable part (e.g., a consumable part may characteristically have a heating duration of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 minutes, or any other suitable duration depending on the characteristics of the consumable part), but then allows this time to be adjusted if the user inhalation characteristics deviate from the characteristic / estimated pattern of user inhalation on which the predefined duration is based (i.e., deviate from the "average" usage pattern). The amount by which the predefined duration may be increased or decreased in accordance with the techniques described herein may be limited by the controller to a certain percentage of the predefined duration above and / or below the predefined duration (e.g., 1%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 30%, 40%, or 50% of the predefined duration) (i.e., it may only be possible to extend the duration during heating, or it may only be possible to decrease it, or it may be possible to either increase or decrease the duration). Once an adjustment limit above or below the predefined duration is reached, the controller may not allow further adjustment beyond that limit, regardless of airflow through the consumable portion.

[0067] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, information regarding the characteristic / average pattern of the user's use of the consumable portion may be presented to the user. As described further herein, information regarding the characteristic number of puffs available to a user from a given type of consumable portion may be predefined at the time of manufacture or may be derived from monitoring the use of the aerosol delivery system (e.g., in terms of puff frequency, puff duration, suck strength, and number of puffs characteristically obtained from a given type of consumable portion before the consumable portion is used up). Such monitoring may be performed for a single user of a particular aerosol delivery system, or for multiple users by collecting information from multiple aerosol delivery systems. Data obtained from monitoring the usage behavior of one or more users may be used to determine one or more instructions to provide to the user (e.g., by a display on the aerosol delivery system, by an app on a computing device (e.g., a smartphone) having a data connection to the aerosol delivery system, or by tactile or audible instructions provided by either the aerosol delivery system or the connected computing device). For example, where usage monitoring provides information regarding the average number of puffs available to a user from a given type of consumable (e.g., determined as the average number of puffs available for each individual consumable part, calculated across multiple consumable parts by one or more users), this information may be indicated to the user by visual, tactile, or audible indication. This information may be queried by the user or provided automatically in response to a trigger, such as, for example, the insertion of an unused consumable part into the aerosol delivery system.

[0068] In the embodiments described herein, reference has been made to providing power to a heater to generate aerosol from the consumable portion. It will be appreciated that in embodiments of the present disclosure, the consumable portion may include multiple different regions that can be selectively heated by multiple heaters or by different heating regions of a single heater to generate aerosol. In such embodiments, the control schemes described herein, in which heating is initiated and stopped after an elapsed duration from initiation, the duration being dependent on a parameter related to the amount of user inhalation at the consumable, may be applied separately, either sequentially or in parallel, with respect to each of the multiple regions of the consumable, e.g., the first and second selectively heatable regions. Thus, in some embodiments, the controller may be configured to: start heating a first region of the consumable portion; while heating the first region of the consumable portion, monitor a parameter related to an amount of user inhalation at the consumable portion over multiple puffs; stop heating the first region of the consumable portion based on the parameter related to the amount of user inhalation; start heating a second region of the consumable portion; while heating the second region of the consumable portion, monitor a parameter related to an amount of user inhalation at the consumable portion over multiple puffs; and stop heating the second region of the consumable portion based on the parameter related to the amount of user inhalation.

[0069] Thus, an aerosol delivery system configured to heat a consumable portion to generate an aerosol is described, the aerosol delivery system comprising a controller configured to initiate heating of the consumable portion, monitor a parameter related to an amount of user inhalation on the consumable portion over multiple puffs during heating of the consumable portion, and stop heating the consumable portion based on the parameter related to the amount of user inhalation.

[0070] The various embodiments described herein are presented only to aid in the understanding and teaching of the claimed features. These embodiments are provided only as a representative sample of embodiments and are not exhaustive and / or exclusive. The advantages, embodiments, examples, functions, features, structures, and / or other aspects described herein should not be considered as limitations on the scope of the invention as defined by the claims or limitations on the equivalents of the claims, and it is understood that other embodiments may be utilized and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the claimed invention. Various embodiments of the present invention may suitably comprise, consist of, or consist essentially of any suitable combination of the disclosed elements, components, features, parts, steps, means, etc., other than those specifically described herein. Furthermore, the present disclosure may include other inventions that are not currently claimed but may be claimed in the future.

Claims

1. 1. An aerosol delivery system configured to heat a consumable portion to generate an aerosol, the aerosol delivery system comprising: commencing heating of the consumable portion; monitoring a parameter related to an amount of user inhalation on the consumable portion over multiple puffs while the consumable portion is being heated; ceasing to heat the consumable portion based on the parameter related to the amount of user inhalation; 16. An aerosol delivery system comprising: a controller configured to:

2. The aerosol delivery system of claim 1 , wherein the monitored parameter comprises a continuous parameter.

3. The aerosol delivery system of claim 2 , wherein the monitored parameter comprises a temperature associated with heating of the consumable portion.

4. The aerosol delivery system of claim 3 , wherein the aerosol delivery system comprises a heater, and the temperature comprises a temperature of the heater.

5. The aerosol delivery system of claim 4 , wherein the temperature of the heater is established based on measuring a resistance of the heater.

6. The aerosol delivery system of claim 1 or 2, wherein the parameter comprises a level of power used to heat the consumable portion.

7. 4. The aerosol delivery system of claim 3, wherein the aerosol delivery system comprises a temperature sensor configured to measure a temperature of the consumable portion, and the parameter comprises a temperature of the consumable portion measured by the sensor.

8. 3. The aerosol delivery system of claim 2, wherein the device comprises an airflow sensor configured to measure airflow through the consumable portion, and the parameter comprises an airflow rate through the consumable portion measured by the airflow sensor.

9. 3. The aerosol delivery system of claim 2, wherein the device comprises an airflow sensor configured to detect airflow through the consumable portion, and the parameter comprises a cumulative duration of airflow through the consumable portion measured by the airflow sensor from the start of heating of the consumable portion.

10. 10. The aerosol delivery system of claim 8 or 9, wherein the airflow sensor comprises a microphone, a pressure sensor, or a hot wire anemometer.

11. The aerosol delivery system of any one of claims 8 to 10, wherein the airflow sensor comprises an integrated temperature and pressure sensor.

12. the controller comparing the parameter related to the amount of user inhalation with a control parameter; shortening the remaining heating duration for the consumable portion if the value of the parameter related to the amount of user inhalation on the consumable portion is greater than the value of the control parameter; and wherein the controller is configured to stop heating the consumable portion when the remaining heating duration has elapsed.

13. the controller comparing the parameter related to the amount of user inhalation with a control parameter; increasing a remaining heating duration for the consumable portion if the value of the parameter related to the amount of user inhalation on the consumable portion is less than the value of the control parameter; and wherein the controller is configured to stop heating the consumable portion when the remaining heating duration has elapsed.

14. 12. The aerosol delivery system of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to integrate the parameter over time and stop heating the consumable portion when the integral of the parameter reaches a predefined threshold.

15. 15. The aerosol delivery system of any one of claims 12 to 14, wherein the predefined threshold or control parameter value is established for a given consumable part based on identification information associated with the consumable part.

16. The aerosol delivery system of any one of claims 12 to 14, wherein the predefined threshold or control parameter value is established based on user input to a user input interface associated with the aerosol delivery system.

17. 17. The aerosol delivery system of claim 14, wherein the threshold is established based on a characteristic value of the integral of the parameter related to the amount of user inhalation required to use up the consumable portion.

18. The controller: stopping heating the consumable portion after a heating duration has elapsed since starting heating the consumable portion; establishing an initially defined value of said heating duration prior to commencing heating of said consumable portion; adjusting the heating duration from the initially defined value during heating of the consumable portion based on the parameter related to the amount of user inhalation on the consumable portion; 12. The aerosol delivery system of claim 1, configured to:

19. 20. The aerosol delivery system of claim 18, wherein the initially defined value of the heating duration is established based on a characteristic period of time it takes to deplete a consumable portion based on a predefined heating profile.

20. 20. The aerosol delivery system of claim 18 or 19, wherein the initially defined value of the heating duration is established for a given consumable part based on identification information associated with the consumable part.

21. 20. The aerosol delivery system of claim 18 or 19, wherein the initially defined value of the heating duration is established based on user input to a user input interface associated with the aerosol delivery system.

22. the controller is configured to compare the integral of the parameter related to the amount of user inhalation on the consumable portion with an integral of a control parameter over an integral time period shorter than the initially defined value of the heating duration; and reducing the heating duration if the integral of the parameter related to the amount of user inhalation on the consumable portion is greater than the integral of the control parameter; or increasing the heating duration if the integral of the parameter related to the amount of user inhalation on the consumable portion is less than the integral of the control parameter.

22. The aerosol delivery system of any one of claims 18 to 21, configured to:

23. 23. The aerosol delivery system of claim 22, wherein the controller is configured to increase or shorten the heating duration such that the integral of the control parameter over the total increased heating duration differs from the integral of the control parameter over a previously determined heating duration by an amount proportional to the difference between the integral of the parameter related to the amount of user inhalation at the wasted portion over the integral time and the integral of the control parameter over the integral time.

24. 24. The aerosol delivery system of claim 22 or 23, wherein the integration time comprises a clock cycle duration associated with the controller.

25. 24. The aerosol delivery system of claim 12, 13, 15, 16, 22 or 23, wherein the control parameter comprises an average value of the parameter related to the amount of user inhalation on the consumable portion over a characteristic heating duration during which the component portion is depleted.

26. 26. The aerosol delivery system of claim 25, wherein the average value of the parameter related to the amount of user inhalation at the consumable portion over the characteristic heating duration over which the component is depleted is established based on experiments or modeling using the same type of consumable portion.

27. 27. The aerosol delivery system of claim 1, wherein the device is configured to initiate heating of the consumable portion based on receiving a signal associated with a user interaction with the device.

28. a controller configured to selectively heat a plurality of different regions of the consumable portion; commencing heating of a first region of the consumable portion; monitoring a parameter related to an amount of user inhalation on the consumable portion over multiple puffs during heating of the first region of the consumable portion; ceasing to heat the first area of ​​the consumable portion based on the parameter related to an amount of user inhalation; commencing heating of a second region of the consumable portion; monitoring a parameter related to an amount of user inhalation on the consumable portion over multiple puffs during heating of the second region of the consumable portion; ceasing to heat the second region of the consumable portion based on the parameter related to an amount of user inhalation; and 28. The aerosol delivery system of any one of claims 1 to 27, configured to:

29. 28. The aerosol delivery system of claim 27, wherein the signals include at least one of a signal from a user input interface indicating that a user has provided a control input, a signal from an airflow sensor included in the aerosol delivery system indicating a change in airflow through the aerosol delivery system, and a signal from a consumable sensor included in the aerosol delivery system indicating that a consumable part has been coupled to the device.

30. 1. An aerosol delivery device configured to heat a consumable portion to generate an aerosol, the aerosol delivery device comprising: commencing heating of the consumable portion; monitoring a parameter related to an amount of user inhalation on the consumable portion over multiple puffs while the consumable portion is being heated; ceasing to heat the consumable portion based on the parameter related to the amount of user inhalation; 16. An aerosol delivery device comprising: a controller configured to:

31. 1. A method of controlling an aerosol delivery system comprising a controller to heat a consumable portion to generate an aerosol, the method comprising: commencing heating of the consumable portion; monitoring a parameter related to the amount of user inhalation of the consumable portion over multiple puffs while the consumable portion is being heated; ceasing to heat the consumable portion when the parameter reaches a threshold value; and operating the controller to:

32. 32. A computer readable storage medium comprising instructions which, when executed by a processor, perform the method of claim 31.

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