Power control for an aerosol delivery device

Abstract

The present invention relates to aerosol delivery devices, such as smoking articles, that generate aerosols. The aerosol delivery device includes a power source, an aerosol generating component, a sensor for generating a measurement of atmospheric pressure in an airflow path through at least one housing, and a switch coupled to and between the power source and the aerosol generating component. The aerosol delivery device also includes a processing circuit that determines a difference between the measured atmospheric pressure and a reference atmospheric pressure. Only when the difference is at least a threshold difference does the processing circuit output a signal to cause the switch to switchably connect and disconnect an output voltage from the power source to the aerosol generating component to adjust the power provided to the aerosol generating component to a power target that is variable according to a predetermined relationship between the difference and the power target.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] This application claims priority to and the benefit of U.S. Patent Application No. 16 / 669,031, entitled "Power Control for an Aerosol Delivery Device," filed October 30, 2019; U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 911,727, entitled "Power Control for an Aerosol Delivery Device," filed October 7, 2019; and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 769,296, entitled "Management System for Control Functions in a Vaporization System," filed November 19, 2018, all of which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0002] The present disclosure relates to aerosol delivery devices, such as smoking articles, that generate aerosols. The smoking articles may be configured to heat or otherwise dispense or otherwise generate aerosols from aerosol precursors, which may incorporate materials that may be produced from or extracted from tobacco, or may otherwise incorporate tobacco, and the precursors are capable of forming an inhalable substance for human consumption. [Background technology]

[0003] Many smoking articles have been proposed over the years as an improvement or replacement for smoking products that rely on burning tobacco for use. Some exemplary alternatives include devices in which a solid or liquid fuel is burned to transfer heat to the tobacco, or a chemical reaction is used to provide such a heat source. An additional exemplary alternative uses electrical energy to heat tobacco and / or other aerosol-generating substrate materials, as described in U.S. Patent No. 9,078,473 to Worm et al., incorporated herein by reference.

[0004] The point of improvement or replacement for smoking article is typically to provide the sensation associated with cigarette, cigar or pipe smoking without delivering a significant amount of incomplete combustion products and pyrolysis products.For this purpose, many smoking products, flavor generators and medicinal inhalers have been proposed, which utilize electrical energy to vaporize or heat volatile substances, or attempt to provide the sensation of cigarette, cigar or pipe smoking without burning tobacco to a significant degree.See, for example, U.S. Patent No. 7,726,320 to Robinson et al.; U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013 / 0255702 to Griffith Jr. et al.; and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014 / 0096781 to Sears et al., in the background art, for various alternative smoking articles, aerosol delivery devices and heat sources, which are described in the background art, and these patents are incorporated herein by reference. See also, for example, the various types of smoking articles, aerosol delivery devices, and electrically powered heating sources referenced by trade name and commercial source in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015 / 0220232 to Bless et al., which is incorporated herein by reference. Additional types of smoking articles, aerosol delivery devices, and electrically powered heating sources referenced by trade name and commercial source are listed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015 / 0245659 to DePiano et al., which is also incorporated herein by reference.Other representative cigarettes or smoking articles that have been described, and in some instances are commercially available, include U.S. Pat. No. 4,735,217 to Gerth et al.; U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,922,901, 4,947,874, and 4,947,875 to Brooks et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,060,671 to Counts et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,249,586 to Morgan et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,388,594 to Counts et al. No. 5,666,977 to Higgins et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,053,176 to Adams et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,164,287 to White; U.S. Pat. No. 6,196,218 to Voges; U.S. Pat. No. 6,810,883 to Felter et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,854,461 to Nichols; U.S. Pat. No. 7,832,410 to Hon; U.S. Pat. No. 6,832,410 to Kobayashi No. 7,513,253 to Robinson et al.; U.S. Patent No. 7,726,320 to Robinson et al.; U.S. Patent No. 7,896,006 to Hamano; U.S. Patent No. 6,772,756 to Shayan; U.S. Patent Publication No. 2009 / 0095311 to Hon; U.S. Patent Publication Nos. 2006 / 0196518, 2009 / 0126745, and 2009 / 0188490 to Hon; U.S. Patent Publication No. 2009 / 0196518 to Hon; U.S. Patent Publication Nos. 2009 / 0126745, and 2009 / 0188490 to Thorens et al. U.S. Patent Publication No. 2009 / 0272379; U.S. Patent Publication Nos. 2009 / 0260641 and 2009 / 0260642 to Monsees et al.; U.S. Patent Publication Nos. 2008 / 0149118 and 2010 / 0024834 to Oglesby et al.; U.S. Patent Publication No. 2010 / 0307518 to Wang; and WO2010 / 091593 to Hon, which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0005] Representative products that resemble many attributes of traditional cigarettes, cigars or pipes include ACCORD® by Philip Morris Incorporated; ALPHA™, JOYE 510™ and M 4™ by InnoVapor LLC; CIRRUS™ and FLING™ by White Cloud Cigarette; BLU™ by Fontem Ventures BV; COHITA™, COLIBRI™, ELITE CLASSIC™, MAGNUM™, PHANTOM™ and SENSE™ by EPUFFER® International Inc.; DUOPRO™, STORM™ and VAPORKING® by Electronic Cigarettes, Inc.; EGAR™ by Egar Australia; eGo-C™ and eGo-T™ by Joyetech; ELUSION™ by Elusion UK Ltd; EONSMOKE® by Eonsmoke LLC; and FIN Branding. FIN(TM) by Group, LLC; SMOKE(R) by Green Smoke Inc.; HALLIGAN(TM), HENDU(TM), JET(TM), MAXXQ(TM), PINK(TM) and PITBULL(TM) by GREENARETTE(TM), SMOKE STIK(R) by Greenarette LLC; HEATBAR(TM) by Philip Morris International, Inc.; HYDRO IMPERIAL(TM) and LXE(TM) from Crown7; LOGIC(TM) and CUBAN(TM) by LOGIC Technology; LUCI(R) by Luciano Smokes Inc.; METRO(R) by Nicotek, LLC; NJOY(R) and ONEJOY(TM) by Sottera, Inc.; NO. by SS Choice LLC.7(TM); PREMIUM ELECTRONIC CIGARETTE(TM) by PremiumEstore LLC; RAPP E-MYSTICK(TM) by Ruyan America, Inc.; RED DRAGON(TM) by Red Dragon Products, LLC; RUYAN(R) by Ruyan Group(Holdings) Ltd.; SF(R) by Smoker Friendly International, LLC; GREEN SMART SMOKER(R) by The Smart Smoking Electronic Cigarette Company Ltd.; SMOKE ASSIST(R) by Coastline Products LLC; SMOKING EVERYWHERE(R) by Smoking Everywhere Inc.; V2CIGS(TM) by VMR Products LLC; VAPOR NINE(TM) by VaporNine LLC; VAPOR4LIFE(R) by VAPOR 4 LIFE, Inc.; VEPPO(TM) by E-CigaretteDirect, LLC; VUSE(R) by RJ Reynolds Vapor Company; MISTIC by Mistic Ecigs These devices are marketed under the trade names COOLER VISIONS™; DIRECT E-CIG™; DRAGONFLY™; EMIST™; EVERSMOKE™; GAMUCCI®; HYBRID FLAME™; KNIGHT STICKS™; ROYAL BLUES™; SMOKETIP®; and SOUTH BEACH SMOKE™. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] U.S. Patent No. 9,078,473 [Patent Document 2] U.S. Patent No. 7,726,320 [Patent Document 3] US Patent Application Publication No. 2013 / 0255702 [Patent Document 4] US Patent Application Publication No. 2014 / 0096781 [Patent Document 5] US Patent Application Publication No. 2015 / 0220232 [Patent Document 6] US Patent Application Publication No. 2015 / 0245659 [Patent Document 7] U.S. Patent No. 4,735,217 [Patent Document 8] U.S. Patent No. 4,922,901 [Patent Document 9] U.S. Patent No. 4,947,874 [Patent Document 10] U.S. Patent No. 4,947,875 [Patent Document 11] U.S. Patent No. 5,060,671 [Patent Document 12] U.S. Patent No. 5,249,586 [Patent Document 13] U.S. Patent No. 5,388,594 [Patent Document 14] U.S. Patent No. 5,666,977 [Patent Document 15] U.S. Patent No. 6,053,176 [Patent Document 16] U.S. Patent No. 6,164,287 [Patent Document 17] U.S. Patent No. 6,196,218 [Patent Document 18] U.S. Patent No. 6,810,883 [Patent Document 19] U.S. Patent No. 6,854,461 [Patent Document 20] U.S. Patent No. 7,832,410 [Patent Document 21] U.S. Patent No. 7,513,253 [Patent Document 22] U.S. Patent No. 7,896,006 [Patent Document 23] U.S. Patent No. 6,772,756 [Patent Document 24] US Patent Application Publication No. 2009 / 0095311 [Patent Document 25] US Patent Application Publication No. 2006 / 0196518 [Patent Document 26] US Patent Application Publication No. 2009 / 0126745 [Patent Document 27] US Patent Application Publication No. 2009 / 0188490 [Patent Document 28] US Patent Application Publication No. 2009 / 0272379 [Patent Document 29] US Patent Application Publication No. 2009 / 0260641 [Patent Document 30] US Patent Application Publication No. 2009 / 0260642 [Patent Document 31] US Patent Application Publication No. 2008 / 0149118 [Patent Document 32] US Patent Application Publication No. 2010 / 0024834 [Patent Document 33] US Patent Application Publication No. 2010 / 0307518 [Patent Document 34] International Publication No. 2010 / 091593 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] However, it may be desirable to provide aerosol delivery devices with improved electronics that may extend the usefulness of the devices. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] The present disclosure relates to aerosol delivery devices configured to generate aerosols, which in some implementations may be referred to as electronic cigarettes, non-combustion heated tobacco products (or devices), or non-heated non-combustion devices. The present disclosure includes, without limitation, the following illustrative implementation examples.

[0009] Some exemplary implementations provide an aerosol delivery device comprising: at least one housing; a power source configured to provide an output voltage within the at least one housing; an aerosol generation component capable of supplying power to generate an aerosol from an aerosol precursor composition; a sensor configured to generate a measurement of atmospheric pressure within an air flow path through the at least one housing; a switch coupled to the power source and the aerosol generation component and located between the power source and the aerosol generation component; and a processing circuit coupled to the sensor and the switch, the processing circuit configured to at least: determine a difference between the atmospheric pressure measurement from the sensor and a reference atmospheric pressure; and output a signal to cause the switch to switchably connect and disconnect an output voltage to the aerosol generation component to supply power to the aerosol generation component over an aerosol generation period only when the difference is at least one threshold difference, the switch being adapted to switchably connect and disconnect the output voltage to adjust the power provided to the aerosol generation component to a power target that is variable according to a predetermined relationship between the difference and the power target.

[0010] In some exemplary implementations of the aerosol delivery device of any of the aforementioned exemplary implementations, or any combination of any of the aforementioned exemplary implementations, outside of the aerosol generation period when no signal is present and the output voltage to the aerosol generation component is disconnected, the sensor is configured to generate a measurement of the ambient atmospheric pressure to which the sensor is exposed, and the processing circuit is configured to set a reference atmospheric pressure based on the measurement of the ambient atmospheric pressure.

[0011] In some exemplary implementations of the aerosol delivery device of any of the aforementioned exemplary implementations, or of any combination of any of the aforementioned exemplary implementations, the processing circuitry configured to set the reference atmospheric pressure includes processing circuitry further configured to determine an average of the measurements of the ambient atmospheric pressure and set the reference atmospheric pressure to the average.

[0012] In some exemplary implementations of the aerosol delivery device of any of the aforementioned exemplary implementations, or any combination of any of the aforementioned exemplary implementations, the threshold difference is set to reflect the minimum deviation from the reference atmospheric pressure caused by a user's puffing action using the aerosol delivery device.

[0013] In some exemplary implementations of the aerosol delivery device of any of the aforementioned exemplary implementations, or any combination of any of the aforementioned exemplary implementations, the processing circuitry configured to determine the difference and output a signal includes processing circuitry configured to: determine a difference between the most recent measured value and a reference atmospheric pressure and determine whether the difference is at least a threshold difference; determine a rate of change of the atmospheric pressure from at least some of the measured atmospheric pressures and, based on the rate of change, determine whether the difference is caused by a puffing action; and output a signal only when the difference is at least a threshold difference and is caused by a puffing action.

[0014] In some exemplary implementations of the aerosol delivery device of any of the aforementioned exemplary implementations, or of any combination of any of the aforementioned exemplary implementations, the processing circuitry configured to output a signal includes processing circuitry configured to output a signal to power the aerosol generation component for an aerosol generation period coextensive with the puffing action.

[0015] In some exemplary implementations of the aerosol delivery device of any of the aforementioned exemplary implementations, or of any combination of any of the aforementioned exemplary implementations, the predetermined relationship is described by a step function, a linear function, a nonlinear function, or a combination thereof.

[0016] In some exemplary implementations of the aerosol delivery device of any of the aforementioned exemplary implementations, or of any combination of any of the aforementioned exemplary implementations, the predetermined relationship is described by a combination of a step function and a linear function.

[0017] In some exemplary implementations of the aerosol delivery device of any of the aforementioned exemplary implementations, or of any combination of any of the aforementioned exemplary implementations, the aerosol precursor composition is liquid, solid, or semi-solid.

[0018] In some exemplary implementations of the aerosol delivery device of any of the aforementioned exemplary implementations, or of any combination of any of the aforementioned exemplary implementations, the processing circuit configured to output the signal includes a processing circuit configured to output a pulse-width modulated (PWM) signal, wherein the duty cycle of the PWM signal is adjustable, thereby adjusting the power provided to the aerosol generation component.

[0019] In some exemplary implementations of the aerosol delivery device of any of the aforementioned exemplary implementations, or any combination of any of the aforementioned exemplary implementations, at a periodic rate during the aerosol generation period, the processing circuit is further configured to: determine a sample window of measurements of instantaneous actual power provided to the aerosol generation component, each measurement in the sample window of measurements being determined as the product of the voltage at the aerosol generation component and the current through the aerosol generation component; calculate a running average power provided to the aerosol generation component based on the sample window of measurements of instantaneous actual power; compare the running average power with a power target; and output a signal to cause the switch to respectively disconnect and connect the output voltage at each time the running average power exceeds or falls below the power target, respectively.

[0020] Some exemplary implementations provide a control body for an aerosol delivery device, the control body comprising: a power source configured to provide an output voltage; an aerosol generation component, or terminals configured to connect the aerosol generation component to the control body, the aerosol generation component being capable of supplying power to generate an aerosol from an aerosol precursor composition; a sensor configured to generate a measurement of atmospheric pressure in an air flow path through at least one housing; a switch coupled to the power source and the aerosol generation component and located between the power source and the aerosol generation component; and a processing circuit coupled to the sensor and the switch and configured to at least: determine a difference between the atmospheric pressure measurement from the sensor and a reference atmospheric pressure, and output a signal to cause the switch to switchably connect and disconnect an output voltage to the aerosol generation component to supply power to the aerosol generation component over an aerosol generation period only when the difference is at least one threshold difference, the switch being configured to switchably connect and disconnect the output voltage to adjust the power provided to the aerosol generation component to a power target that is variable according to a predetermined relationship between the difference and the power target.

[0021] In some exemplary implementations of the control body of any of the aforementioned exemplary implementations, or any combination of any of the aforementioned exemplary implementations, outside of the aerosol generation period when no signal is present and the output voltage to the aerosol generation component is disconnected, the sensor is configured to generate a measurement of the ambient atmospheric pressure to which the sensor is exposed, and the processing circuit is configured to set a reference atmospheric pressure based on the measurement of the ambient atmospheric pressure.

[0022] In some example implementations of the control body of any of the aforementioned example implementations, or of any combination of any of the aforementioned example implementations, the processing circuitry configured to set the reference atmospheric pressure includes processing circuitry further configured to determine an average of the measurements of the ambient atmospheric pressure and set the reference atmospheric pressure to the average.

[0023] In some exemplary implementations of the control body of any of the aforementioned exemplary implementations, or any combination of any of the aforementioned exemplary implementations, the threshold difference is set to reflect the minimum deviation from the reference atmospheric pressure caused by the puffing action of the user using the aerosol delivery device.

[0024] In some exemplary implementations of the control body of any of the aforementioned exemplary implementations, or any combination of any of the aforementioned exemplary implementations, the processing circuitry configured to determine the difference and output a signal includes processing circuitry configured to: determine a difference between the most recent measured value and a reference atmospheric pressure and determine if the difference is at least a threshold difference; determine a rate of change of the atmospheric pressure from at least some of the measured atmospheric pressures and determine, based on the rate of change, whether the difference is caused by a puffing action; and output a signal only if the difference is at least a threshold difference and is caused by a puffing action.

[0025] In some exemplary implementations of the control body of any of the aforementioned exemplary implementations, or of any combination of any of the aforementioned exemplary implementations, the processing circuitry configured to output a signal includes processing circuitry configured to output a signal to power the aerosol generation component for an aerosol generation period coextensive with the puffing action.

[0026] In some example implementations of the control body of any of the aforementioned example implementations, or of any combination of any of the aforementioned example implementations, the predetermined relationship is described by a step function, a linear function, a non-linear function, or a combination thereof.

[0027] In some example implementations of the control body of any of the aforementioned example implementations, or of any combination of any of the aforementioned example implementations, the predetermined relationship is described by a combination of a step function and a linear function.

[0028] In some exemplary implementations of the control body of any of the aforementioned exemplary implementations, or any combination of any of the aforementioned exemplary implementations, the aerosol precursor composition is liquid, solid, or semi-solid.

[0029] In some exemplary implementations of the control body of any of the aforementioned exemplary implementations, or any combination of any of the aforementioned exemplary implementations, the processing circuit configured to output a signal includes a processing circuit configured to output a pulse width modulated (PWM) signal, wherein the duty cycle of the PWM signal is adjustable, thereby adjusting the power provided to the aerosol generation component.

[0030] In some exemplary implementations of the control body of any of the aforementioned exemplary implementations, or any combination of any of the aforementioned exemplary implementations, at a periodic rate during the heating period, the processing circuit is further configured to: determine a sample window of measurements of instantaneous actual power provided to the aerosol generation component, each measurement in the sample window of measurements being determined as the product of the voltage at the aerosol generation component and the current through the aerosol generation component; calculate a running average power provided to the aerosol generation component based on the sample window of measurements of instantaneous actual power; compare the running average power with a power target; and output a signal to cause the switch to respectively disconnect and connect the output voltage at each time the running average power exceeds or falls below the power target, respectively.

[0031] These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present disclosure will become apparent from a reading of the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which are briefly described below. The present disclosure includes any combination of two, three, four, or more features or elements described in the present disclosure, regardless of whether such features or elements are explicitly combined in a specific exemplary implementation described herein or whether they are otherwise recited. The present disclosure is intended to be read as a whole such that any separable features or elements of the disclosure are considered combinable in any of its aspects and exemplary implementations, unless the context of the disclosure clearly dictates otherwise.

[0032] It should be understood, therefore, that this brief summary is provided solely for the purpose of summarizing some exemplary implementations to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that the above exemplary implementations are merely examples, and should not be construed in any way as narrowing the scope or spirit of the present disclosure. Other exemplary implementations, aspects, and advantages will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of some described exemplary implementations.

[0033] Having thus described aspects of the present disclosure in general terms above, reference is now made to the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0034] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an aerosol delivery device including a cartridge and a control body coupled together according to an exemplary implementation of the present disclosure. [Figure 2] 2 is a partial cutaway view of the aerosol delivery device of FIG. 1, with the cartridge and control body separated from each other, according to an exemplary implementation. [Figure 3]FIG. 10 is a perspective view of an aerosol delivery device including a control body and an aerosol source member coupled to each other according to another exemplary implementation of the present disclosure. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a perspective view of an aerosol delivery device including a control body and an aerosol source member separated from each other according to another exemplary implementation of the present disclosure. [Figure 5] FIG. 5 is a front view of the aerosol delivery device of FIGS. 3 and 4 according to an exemplary implementation. [Figure 6] 5 is a cross-sectional view of the aerosol delivery device of FIGS. 3 and 4 according to an exemplary implementation. FIG. [Figure 7] FIG. 1 is a side view of an aerosol delivery device including a cartridge coupled to a control body, according to an exemplary implementation. [Figure 8] FIG. 1 is a partial cutaway view of an aerosol delivery device including a cartridge coupled to a control body, according to an exemplary implementation. [Figure 9] FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of an aerosol delivery device according to various exemplary implementations of the present disclosure. [Figure 10] FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of components of an aerosol delivery device according to an exemplary implementation of the present disclosure. [Figure 11] FIG. 10 illustrates a flowchart of a power control method for an aerosol delivery device according to an exemplary implementation of the present disclosure. [Figure 12A] FIG. 1 illustrates functional relationships for preheating an aerosol delivery device according to an exemplary implementation of the present disclosure. [Figure 12B] FIG. 1 illustrates functional relationships for preheating an aerosol delivery device according to an exemplary implementation of the present disclosure. [Figure 13] FIG. 10 shows a flowchart of another method of power control for an aerosol delivery device according to an exemplary implementation of the present disclosure. [Figure 14A] FIG. 1 illustrates the functional relationship of power control for an aerosol delivery device according to an exemplary implementation of the present disclosure. [Figure 14B]FIG. 1 illustrates the functional relationship of power control for an aerosol delivery device according to an exemplary implementation of the present disclosure. [Figure 14C] FIG. 1 illustrates the functional relationship of power control for an aerosol delivery device according to an exemplary implementation of the present disclosure. [Figure 14D] FIG. 1 illustrates the functional relationship of power control for an aerosol delivery device according to an exemplary implementation of the present disclosure. [Figure 14E] FIG. 1 illustrates the functional relationship of power control for an aerosol delivery device according to an exemplary implementation of the present disclosure. [Figure 14F] FIG. 1 illustrates the functional relationship of power control for an aerosol delivery device according to an exemplary implementation of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0035] The present disclosure will be described more fully below with reference to exemplary implementations thereof. These exemplary implementations are described so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the disclosure to those skilled in the art. Indeed, the present disclosure may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the implementations set forth herein; rather, these implementations are provided so that this disclosure will satisfy applicable legal requirements. As used in the specification and the appended claims, the singular forms "a," "an," "the," etc. include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Also, while reference may be made herein to quantitative measures, values, geometric relationships, and the like, unless expressly stated otherwise, any one or more, if not all, of these may be absolute or approximate to account for acceptable variations that may occur due to technical tolerances, etc.

[0036] As described below, the present disclosure relates to an aerosol delivery device. The aerosol delivery device may be configured to generate an aerosol (inhalable substance) from an aerosol precursor composition (sometimes referred to as an inhalable substance medium). The aerosol precursor composition may include one or more of a solid tobacco material, a semi-solid tobacco material, or a liquid aerosol precursor composition. In some implementations, the aerosol delivery device may be configured to heat a fluid aerosol precursor composition (e.g., a liquid aerosol precursor composition) and generate an aerosol therefrom. Such an aerosol delivery device may include a so-called electronic cigarette. In other implementations, the aerosol delivery device may include a non-combustion heating device. In still other implementations, the aerosol delivery device may include a non-heating, non-combustion device.

[0037] Liquid aerosol precursor compositions, also known as vapor precursor compositions or "e-liquids," are particularly useful for electronic cigarettes and other heat-and-burn devices. Liquid aerosol precursor compositions can include a variety of ingredients, including, by way of example, a polyhydric alcohol (e.g., glycerin, propylene glycol, or a mixture thereof), nicotine, tobacco, tobacco extract, and / or flavorings. In some examples, the aerosol precursor composition includes glycerin and nicotine.

[0038] Some liquid aerosol precursor components that may be used in combination with various implementations may include one or more acids such as levulinic acid, succinic acid, lactic acid, pyruvic acid, benzoic acid, fumaric acid, combinations thereof, etc. Including an acid(s) in a liquid aerosol precursor that includes nicotine can provide a protonated liquid aerosol precursor composition that includes nicotine in salt form. Representative types of liquid aerosol precursor compositions and formulations are described and characterized in U.S. Pat. No. 7,726,320 to Robinson et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 9,254,002 to Chong et al.; and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013 / 0008457 to Zheng et al.; U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015 / 0020823 to Lipowicz et al., and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015 / 0020830 to Koller; and International Patent Application Publication No. WO 2014 / 182736 to Bowen et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 8,881,737 to Collett et al., the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. Other aerosol precursors that can be used include the aerosol precursors incorporated into any of the representative products identified above. Also desirable are so-called "smoke juices" for e-cigarettes, available from Johnson Creek Enterprises LLC. Further example aerosol precursor compositions are sold under the brand names BLACK NOTE, COSMIC FOG, THE MILKMAN E-LIQUID, FIVE PAWNS, THE VAPOR CHEF, VAPE WILD, BOOSTED, THE STEAM FACTORY, MECH SAUCE, CASEY JONES MAINLINE RESERVE, MITTEN VAPORS, DR. CRIMMY'S V-LIQUID, SMILEY E LIQUID, BEANTOWN VAPOR, CUTTWOOD, CYCLOPS VAPOR, SICBOY, GOOD LIFE VAPOR, TELEOS, PINUP VAPORS, SPACE JAM, MT. BAKER VAPOR, and JIMMY THE JUICE MAN.Foamable material implementations can be used with aerosol precursors, such as those described in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2012 / 0055494 to Hunt et al., which is incorporated herein by reference. Further, the use of foamable materials is described in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,639,368 to Niazi et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,178,878 to Wehling et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,223,264 to Wehling et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,974,590 to Pather et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 7,381,667 to Bergquist et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 8,424,541 to Crawford et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 8,627,828 to Strickland et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 9,307,787 to Sun et al.; and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010 / 0018539 to Brinkley et al.; and WO 97 / 06786 to Johnson et al., all of which patents are incorporated herein by reference.

[0039] The aerosol precursor composition may additionally or alternatively contain, but is not limited to, botanicals (e.g., lavender, peppermint, chamomile, basil, rosemary, thyme, eucalyptus, ginger, cannabis, ginseng, maca, and tisanes), stimulants (e.g., caffeine and guarana), amino acids (e.g., taurine, theanine, phenylalanine, tyrosine, and tryptophan), and / or pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, and medicinal ingredients (e.g., vitamins such as B6, B12, and C, and cannabinoids such as tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD)). The composition may also contain other active ingredients, including: The specific proportions and selection of ingredients will vary depending on the flavor, texture, and other properties desired. Examples of active ingredients would include any ingredient known to affect one or more biological functions in the body, such as an ingredient that provides pharmacological activity or other direct effect in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease, or an ingredient that affects the structure or function of the human or other animal body (e.g., providing a stimulating effect on the central nervous system, having an energizing effect, an antipyretic or analgesic effect, or other beneficial effect on the body).

[0040] Representative types of substrates, reservoirs, or other components for supporting aerosol precursors are described in U.S. Patent No. 8,528,569 to Newton; U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014 / 0261487 to Chapman et al.; U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015 / 0059780 to Davis et al.; and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015 / 0216232 to Bless et al., all of which are incorporated herein by reference. Additionally, various wicking materials, as well as the configuration and operation of those wicking materials within certain types of electronic cigarettes, are described in U.S. Patent No. 8,910,640 to Sears et al., which is incorporated herein by reference.

[0041] In other implementations, the aerosol delivery device may comprise a non-combustion heating device configured to heat a solid aerosol precursor composition (e.g., an extruded tobacco rod) or a semi-solid aerosol precursor composition (e.g., a glycerin-loaded tobacco paste). The aerosol precursor composition may include tobacco-containing beads, tobacco shreds, tobacco pieces, reconstituted tobacco material, or combinations thereof, and / or a mixture of finely ground tobacco, tobacco extract, spray-dried tobacco extract, or other tobacco forms mixed with optional inorganic materials (such as calcium carbonate), optional flavorings, and aerosol-forming materials to form a substantially solid or moldable (e.g., extrudable) substrate. Representative types of solid and semi-solid aerosol precursor compositions and formulations are disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 8,424,538 to Thomas et al.; U.S. Patent No. 8,464,726 to Sebastian et al.; U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015 / 0083150 to Conner et al.; U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015 / 0157052 to Ademe et al.; and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2017 / 0000188 to Nordskog et al., all of which are incorporated herein by reference. Further representative types of solid and semi-solid aerosol precursor compositions and configurations include those found in the NEOSTIKS™ consumable aerosol source member of the GLO™ product by British American Tobacco and the HEETS™ consumable aerosol source member of the IQOS™ product by Philip Morris International, Inc.

[0042] In various implementations, the inhalable substance may specifically be a tobacco component or a tobacco-derived material (i.e., a material naturally found in tobacco that can be isolated directly from tobacco or synthetically prepared). For example, the aerosol precursor composition may include a tobacco extract or a fraction thereof combined with an inert substrate. The aerosol precursor composition may further include unburned tobacco or a composition containing unburned tobacco that releases an inhalable substance when heated to a temperature below its combustion temperature. In some implementations, the aerosol precursor composition may include tobacco condensate or a fraction thereof (i.e., the condensed component of smoke produced by the combustion of tobacco, leaving behind flavor and possibly nicotine).

[0043] Tobacco materials useful in the present disclosure can vary and may include, for example, flue-cured tobacco, burley tobacco, Oriental or Maryland tobacco, dark tobacco, dark-fired tobacco, and rustica tobacco, as well as other rare or specialty tobaccos, or blends thereof. Tobacco materials can also include so-called "blend" forms and processed forms, such as processed tobacco stems (e.g., cut roll or cut puff stems), volume-expanded tobacco (preferably in the form of cut filler, e.g., expanded tobacco such as dry ice expanded tobacco (DIET)), reconstituted tobacco (e.g., reconstituted tobacco produced using a papermaking-type or cast sheet-type process), and the like. Various representative tobacco types, processed tobacco types, and tobacco blend types are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,836,224 to Lawson et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,924,888 to Perfetti et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,056,537 to Brown et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,159,942 to Brinkley et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,220,930 to Gentry, U.S. Pat. No. 5,360,023 to Blakley et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,701,017 to Shafer ... No. 936 to Li et al., U.S. Patent No. 7,011,096 to Li et al., U.S. Patent No. 7,017,585 to Li et al., and U.S. Patent No. 7,025,066 to Lawson et al.; U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2004 / 0255965 to Perfetti et al.; and International Patent Application Publication No. WO 02 / 37990 to Bereman; and Bombick et al., Fund. Appl. Toxicol., 39, pp. 11-17 (1997), which are incorporated herein by reference. Further exemplary tobacco compositions that may be useful in smoking devices, including those according to the present disclosure, are disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 7,726,320 to Robinson et al., which is incorporated herein by reference.

[0044] Additionally, the aerosol precursor composition may include an inert substrate having an inhalable substance or its precursor incorporated therein or otherwise deposited thereon. For example, a liquid containing the inhalable substance may be coated onto, absorbed into, or adsorbed onto an inert substrate such that upon application of heat, the inhalable substance is released in a form that can be drawn from the inventive article through application of positive or negative pressure. In some embodiments, the aerosol precursor composition may include a flavorful, aromatic tobacco blend in cut filler form. In another embodiment, the aerosol precursor composition may include reconstituted tobacco material as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,807,809 to Pryor et al.; 4,889,143 to Pryor et al.; and 5,025,814 to Raker, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. For more information regarding suitable aerosol precursor compositions, see U.S. Patent Application No. 15 / 916,834 to Sur et al., filed March 9, 2018, which is incorporated herein by reference.

[0045] Regardless of the type of aerosol precursor composition, the aerosol delivery device may include an aerosol-generating component configured to generate an aerosol from the aerosol precursor composition. For example, in the case of an electronic cigarette or a non-combustion heated device, the aerosol-generating component may be or include a heating element. In the case of a non-heated non-combustion device, in some examples, the aerosol-generating component may be or include a vibrable piezoelectric or piezomagnetic mesh.

[0046] One example of a suitable heating element is an induction heater. Such heaters often include an induction transmitter and an induction receiver. The induction transmitter may include a coil configured to generate an oscillating magnetic field (e.g., a magnetic field that changes periodically with time) when an alternating current is conducted therethrough. The induction receiver may be at least partially disposed within or received within the induction transmitter and may include a conductive material (e.g., a ferromagnetic material or an aluminum-coated material). By passing an alternating current through the induction transmitter, eddy currents may be generated within the induction receiver via induction. The eddy currents flowing through the resistance of the material defining the induction receiver may heat the induction receiver by Joule heating (i.e., by the Joule effect). The induction receiver may define an atomizer, which may be wirelessly heated to form an aerosol from an aerosol precursor composition positioned proximate to the induction receiver. Various implementations of induction heated aerosol delivery devices are described in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2017 / 0127722 to Davis et al.; U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2017 / 0202266 to Sur et al.; U.S. Patent Application No. 15 / 352,153 to Sur et al., filed November 15, 2016; U.S. Patent Application No. 15 / 799,365 to Sebastian et al., filed October 31, 2017; and U.S. Patent Application No. 15 / 836,086 to Sur, all of which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0047] In other implementations, including those more specifically described herein, the heating element is a conductive heater, such as an electrical resistance heater. These heaters may be configured to generate heat when an electric current is conducted therethrough. In various implementations, the conductive heater may be provided in various forms, such as in the form of a foil, foam, disk, spiral, fiber, wire, film, thread, strip, ribbon, or cylinder. Such heaters often include a metallic material and are configured to generate heat as a result of the electrical resistance associated with passing an electric current therethrough. Such a resistive heater can be positioned in proximity to the aerosol precursor composition to heat the aerosol precursor composition and generate an aerosol. Various conductive substrates that may be usable with the present disclosure are described in the aforementioned U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013 / 0255702 to Griffith et al.

[0048] It will be understood that the exemplary implementations described herein can be applied mutatis mutandis to devices utilizing aerosol generating components other than a heating element (e.g., an atomizer), e.g., in the case of non-heating, non-combustion devices. For example, in implementations including a vibratable piezoelectric or piezomagnetic mesh, power driving the mesh may be controlled by processing circuitry configured to selectively drive the mesh to vibrate and cause ejection of components of the aerosol precursor composition through the mesh. That is, the processing circuitry may be configured to control power from a power source to selectively drive the vibratable piezoelectric / piezomagnetic mesh.

[0049] In some implementations, the aerosol delivery device may include a control body and a cartridge in the case of so-called electronic cigarettes or non-heated, non-combustion devices, or a control body and an aerosol source member in the case of non-combustion heated devices. In either the case of electronic cigarettes or non-combustion heated devices, the control body may be reusable, while the cartridge / aerosol source member may be configured for a limited number of uses and / or may be configured to be disposable. Various mechanisms may connect the cartridge / aerosol source member to the control body, resulting in a threaded engagement, a press-fit engagement, an interference fit, a slip fit, a magnetic engagement, etc.

[0050] The control body and cartridge / aerosol source member may include separate respective housings or outer bodies, which may be formed from any of several different materials. The housings may be formed from any suitable structurally sound material. In some examples, the housings may be formed from metals or alloys, such as stainless steel, aluminum, etc. Other suitable materials include various plastics (e.g., polycarbonate), metal plating over plastic, ceramics, etc.

[0051] The cartridge / aerosol source member may contain an aerosol precursor composition. To generate an aerosol from the aerosol precursor composition, an aerosol generation component (e.g., a heating element, a piezoelectric / piezomagnetic mesh) may be positioned in contact with or in proximity to the aerosol precursor composition, for example, across the control body and cartridge, or within the control body in which the aerosol source member may be positioned. The control body may include a power source, which may be rechargeable or replaceable, so that the control body may be reused with multiple cartridges / aerosol source members.

[0052] The control body may also include means for activating the aerosol delivery device, such as a push button for manually controlling the device, a touch-sensitive surface, etc. Additionally or alternatively, the control body may include a flow sensor for detecting when a user draws on the cartridge / aerosol source member, thereby activating the aerosol delivery device.

[0053] In various implementations, the aerosol delivery device according to the present disclosure may have various overall shapes, including, but not limited to, those that can be defined as substantially rod-shaped, substantially tubular, or substantially cylindrical. In the implementations shown in and described with reference to the accompanying figures, the aerosol delivery device has a substantially circular cross-section; however, other cross-sectional shapes (e.g., oval, square, rectangular, triangular, etc.) are also encompassed by the present disclosure. Such language describing the physical shape of an article may also apply to its individual components, including the control body and cartridge / aerosol source member. In other implementations, the control body may take on another handheld shape, such as a small box shape.

[0054] In more specific implementations, one or both of the control body and the cartridge / aerosol source member may be referred to as disposable or reusable. For example, the control body may have a power source such as a replaceable or rechargeable battery, an SSB, a thin-film SSB, a rechargeable supercapacitor, a lithium-ion or hybrid lithium-ion supercapacitor, etc. One example of a power source is the TKI-1550 rechargeable lithium-ion battery manufactured by Tadiran Batteries GmbH in Germany. In another implementation, a useful power source may be the N50-AAA CADNICA nickel-cadmium battery manufactured by Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. in Japan. In other implementations, multiple such batteries, each providing, for example, 1.2 volts, may be connected in series. In some implementations, the power source is configured to provide an output voltage. The power source can power an aerosol generating component capable of providing power to generate an aerosol from the aerosol precursor composition.

[0055] In some examples, the power source may then be connected to, and thereby combined with, any type of recharging technology. Examples of suitable chargers include chargers that simply provide constant current or pulsed direct current (DC) power to the power source, fast chargers that add control circuitry, three-stage chargers, inductively powered chargers, smart chargers, kinetically powered chargers, pulse chargers, solar chargers, USB-based chargers, etc. In some examples, the charger includes a power adapter and any suitable charging circuitry. In other examples, the charger includes a power adapter and the control unit is equipped with the charging circuitry. In these other examples, the charger is sometimes simply referred to as a power adapter.

[0056] The control body may include any of several different terminals, electrical connectors, etc., for connecting to an appropriate charger and, in some examples, for connecting to other peripheral devices for communication. More specifically suitable examples include cylindrical connectors, cigarette lighter connectors, and direct current (DC) connectors such as USB 1.x (e.g., Type A, Type B), USB 2.0, and its updates and additions (e.g., Mini A, Mini B, Mini AB, Micro A, Micro B, Micro AB) and USB 3.x (e.g., Type A, Type B, Micro B, Micro AB, Type C), proprietary connectors such as Apple's Lightning connector, etc. The control body may connect directly to the charger or other peripheral device, or the two may connect via an appropriate cable, also having the appropriate connector. In examples where the two are connected by a cable, the control body and charger or other peripheral device may have the same or different types of connectors, and the cable may have one or both types of connectors.

[0057] In examples involving inductively powered charging, the aerosol delivery device may be equipped with inductive wireless charging technology and may include an inductive transmitter and an inductive receiver for connecting to a wireless charger, charging pad, or the like that uses inductive wireless charging (e.g., including wireless charging according to the Qi wireless charging standard from the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC)). Alternatively, the power source may be recharged from a wireless radio frequency (RF)-based charger. An example of an inductive wireless charging system is described in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2017 / 0112196 to Sur et al., which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Additionally, in some exemplary implementations for e-cigarettes, the cartridge may include a single-use cartridge as disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 8,910,639 to Chang et al., which is incorporated herein by reference.

[0058] One or more connections may be used to connect the power source to the recharging technology, some of which may involve a charging case, cradle, dock, sleeve, etc. More specifically, for example, the control body may be configured to mate with a cradle that includes a USB connector for connecting to a power source. Or, in another example, the control body may be configured to fit within and mate with a sleeve that includes a USB connector for connecting to a power source. In these and similar examples, the USB connector may connect directly to the power source, or the USB connector may connect to the power source via an appropriate power adapter.

[0059] Examples of power supplies are described in U.S. Patent No. 9,484,155 to Peckerar et al. and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2017 / 0112191 to Sur et al., filed October 21, 2015, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. Other examples of suitable power supplies are provided in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014 / 0283855 to Hawes et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014 / 0014125 to Fernando et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013 / 0243410 to Nichols et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010 / 0313901 to Fernando et al., and U.S. Patent No. 9,439,454 to Fernando et al., all of which are incorporated herein by reference. With respect to flow sensors, representative current regulating components, and other current control components including various microcontrollers, sensors, and switches for aerosol delivery devices, are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,735,217 to Gerth et al.; U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,922,901, 4,947,874, and 4,947,875, all to Brooks et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,372,148 to McCafferty et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,040,040 to Fleischhauer et al. No. 560 to Nguyen et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 7,040,314 to Nguyen et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 8,205,622 to Pan; U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 8,881,737 to Collet et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 9,423,152 to Ampolini et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 9,439,454 to Fernando et al.; and U.S. Patent Application No. 2015 / 0257445 to Henry et al., all of which patents are incorporated herein by reference.

[0060] An input device may be included with the aerosol delivery device (and may replace or supplement the flow sensor). The input may be included to allow a user to control the device's functions and / or to output information to the user. Any component or combination of components may be utilized as an input for controlling the device's functions. Suitable input devices include push buttons, touch switches, or other touch-sensitive surfaces. For example, one or more push buttons may be used, as described in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2015 / 0245658 to Worm et al., which is incorporated herein by reference. Similarly, a touch screen may be used, as described in U.S. Patent Application No. 14 / 643,626 to Sears et al., filed March 10, 2015, which is incorporated herein by reference.

[0061] As a further example, a component adapted for gesture recognition based on specific movements of the aerosol delivery device may be used as an input device. See U.S. Patent Publication No. 2016 / 0158782 to Henry et al., which is incorporated herein by reference. As yet another example, a capacitance sensor may be implemented in the aerosol delivery device to allow a user to provide input, such as by touching a surface of the device on which the capacitance sensor is implemented. In another example, a sensor capable of detecting movement associated with the device (e.g., an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a photoelectric proximity sensor, etc.) may be implemented in the aerosol delivery device to allow a user to provide input. Examples of suitable sensors are described in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2018 / 0132528 to Sur et al.; and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2016 / 0158782 to Henry et al., the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0062] As indicated above, the aerosol delivery device may include various electronics, such as at least one control component. A suitable control component may include several electronic components and, in some examples, may be formed on a circuit board such as a printed circuit board (PCB). In some examples, the electronic component includes a processing circuit configured to perform data processing, application execution, or other processing, control, or management services according to one or more exemplary implementations. The processing circuit may include a processor embodied in various forms, such as at least one processor core, a microprocessor, a coprocessor, a controller, a microcontroller, or various other computing or processing devices including one or more integrated circuits, such as, for example, an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit), an FPGA (field-programmable gate array), or some combination thereof. In some examples, the processing circuit may include memory coupled to or integrated with the processor, and the memory may store data, computer program instructions executable by the processor, some combination thereof, etc.

[0063] In some examples, the control component may include one or more input / output peripherals that may be coupled to or integrated with the processing circuit. More specifically, the control component may include a communication interface for enabling wireless communication with one or more networks, computing devices, or other appropriately enabled devices. An example of a suitable communication interface is disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2016 / 0261020 to Marion et al., the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Another example of a suitable communication interface is the CC3200 single-chip wireless microcontroller unit (MCU) manufactured by Texas Instruments. Examples of suitable ways in which an aerosol delivery device may be configured to communicate wirelessly are disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2016 / 0007651 to Ampolini et al.; and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2016 / 0219933 to Henry, Jr. et al., each of which is incorporated herein by reference.

[0064] Still other components can be utilized in the aerosol delivery devices of the present disclosure. One example of a suitable component is an indicator, such as a light-emitting diode (LED), quantum dot-based LED, or the like, that can be illuminated using the aerosol delivery device. Examples of suitable LED components, as well as their construction and use, are described in U.S. Patent No. 5,154,192 to Sprinkel et al.; U.S. Patent No. 8,499,766 to Newton; U.S. Patent No. 8,539,959 to Scatterday; and U.S. Patent No. 9,451,791 to Sears et al., all of which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0065] Other indicators of operation are also encompassed by the present disclosure. For example, visual indicators of operation include changes in light color or light intensity to indicate the progress of the smoking experience. Tactile (haptic) indicators of operation, such as a vibration motor, and audible (audio) indicators of operation, such as a speaker, are also encompassed by the present disclosure. Furthermore, combinations of such indicators of operation are suitable for use in a single smoking article. According to another aspect, the aerosol delivery device may include one or more indicators or indicators, such as, for example, a display, configured to provide information corresponding to the operation of the smoking article, such as, for example, the amount of power remaining in a power source, the progress of the smoking experience, an indication corresponding to activating an aerosol-generating component, and / or the like.

[0066] Still other components are contemplated. For example, U.S. Patent No. 5,154,192 to Sprinkel et al. discloses a smoking article indicator; U.S. Patent No. 5,261,424 to Sprinkel, Jr. discloses a piezoelectric sensor that can be associated with the mouth-end of a device to detect a user's lip activity associated with taking a puff and then trigger heating of the heating device; U.S. Patent No. 5,372,148 to McCafferty et al. discloses a puff sensor for controlling the flow of energy to a heat load array in response to a pressure drop across the mouthpiece; U.S. Patent No. 5,967,148 to Harris et al. discloses a receptacle in a smoking device that includes an identifier that detects non-uniformity in infrared transmittance of an inserted component and a controller that executes a detection routine when a component is inserted into the receptacle; U.S. Patent No. 6,040,560 to Fleischhauer et al. describes a defined, executable power cycle with multiple distinct phases ... No. 5,934,289 discloses photonic-optronic components; U.S. Pat. No. 5,954,979 to Counts et al. discloses means for varying the resistance of draw through a smoking device; U.S. Pat. No. 6,803,545 to Blake et al. discloses particular battery configurations for use in smoking devices; U.S. Pat. No. 7,293,565 to Griffen et al. discloses various charging systems for use with smoking devices; U.S. Pat. No. 8,402,976 to Fernando et al. discloses computer interfacing means for smoking devices to facilitate charging and enable computer control of the device; U.S. Pat. No. 8,689,804 to Fernando et al. discloses an identification system for smoking devices; and International Publication No. WO 2010 / 003480 to Flick discloses a fluid flow sensing system that indicates puffs in an aerosol generation system; all of the foregoing disclosures are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

[0067] Further exemplary components relating to electronic aerosol delivery articles and disclosing materials or components that may be used herein are U.S. Pat. No. 4,735,217 to Gerth et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,249,586 to Morgan et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,666,977 to Higgins et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,053,176 to Adams et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,164,287 to White; U.S. Pat. No. 6,196,218 to Voges; U.S. Pat. No. 6,810,883 to Felter et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,854,461 to Nichols; U.S. Pat. No. 7,832,410 to Hon; U.S. Pat. No. 7,513,253 to Kobayashi; U.S. Pat. No. 7,896,006 to Hamano; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,772,756 to Shayan. U.S. Patent Nos. 8,156,944 and 8,375,957 to Hon; U.S. Patent No. 8,794,231 to Thorens et al.; U.S. Patent No. 8,851,083 to Oglesby et al.; U.S. Patent Nos. 8,915,254 and 8,925,555 to Monsees et al.; U.S. Patent No. 9,220,302 to DePiano et al.; U.S. Patent No. Patent Publication Nos. 2006 / 0196518 and 2009 / 0188490; U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010 / 0024834 to Oglesby et al.; U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010 / 0307518 to Wang; International Publication No. 2010 / 091593 to Hon; and International Publication No. 2013 / 089551 to Foo, each of which is incorporated herein by reference. Additionally, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2017 / 0099877 to Worm et al. discloses a capsule that can be included in an aerosol delivery device and a fob-shaped configuration of an aerosol delivery device, and this patent is incorporated herein by reference. The various materials disclosed by the aforementioned documents can be incorporated into the device in various implementations, and all of the aforementioned disclosures are incorporated herein by reference.

[0068] Still other features, controls, or components that may be incorporated into the aerosol delivery devices of the present disclosure include those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,967,148 to Harris et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,934,289 to Watkins et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,954,979 to Counts et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,040,560 to Fleischhauer et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 8,365,742 to Hon; U.S. Pat. No. 8,402,976 to Fernando et al.; U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005 / 0016550 to Katase; Fernando et al.; No. 8,689,804 to Tucker et al.; U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013 / 0192623 to Tucker et al.; U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 9,427,022 to Leven et al.; U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013 / 0180553 to Kim et al.; U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014 / 0000638 to Sebastian et al.; U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014 / 0261495 to Novak et al.; and U.S. Patent No. 9,220,302 to DePiano et al., all of which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0069] 1 and 2 illustrate implementations of an aerosol delivery device including a control body and a cartridge, in the case of an electronic cigarette. In this regard, FIGS. 1 and 2 show an aerosol delivery device 100 according to an exemplary implementation of the present disclosure. As shown, the aerosol delivery device may include a control body 102 and a cartridge 104. The control body and cartridge may be permanently or removably aligned in a functional relationship. In this regard, FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of the aerosol delivery device in a coupled configuration, while FIG. 2 shows a partial cutaway side view of the aerosol delivery device in a detached configuration. In some exemplary implementations, the aerosol delivery device may be, for example, substantially rod-shaped, substantially tubular-shaped, or substantially cylindrical-shaped when the control body and cartridge are in an assembled configuration.

[0070] The control body 102 and the cartridge 104 can be configured to engage with each other via various connections, such as a press-fit (or interference fit) connection, a threaded connection, a magnetic connection, etc. Thus, the control body can include a first engaging element (e.g., a coupler) adapted to engage with a second engaging element (e.g., a connector) on the cartridge. The first engaging element and the second engaging element can be reversible. As an example, either the first engaging element or the second engaging element can be male threaded, and the other can be female threaded. As a further example, either the first engaging element or the second engaging element can be a magnet, and the other can be a metal or mating magnet. In certain implementations, the engaging elements can be directly defined by existing components of the control body and cartridge. For example, the housing of the control body can define a cavity at its end, configured to receive at least a portion of the cartridge (e.g., a reservoir tank or other shell-forming element of the cartridge). In particular, the reservoir of the cartridge may be at least partially received within the cavity of the control body, while the mouthpiece of the cartridge remains exposed outside the cavity of the control body. The cartridge may be retained within the cavity formed by the control body housing by, for example, an interference fit (e.g., through the use of detents and / or other features that create an interference engagement between the outer surface of the cartridge and the inner surface of the wall forming the cavity of the control body), magnetic engagement (e.g., through the use of magnets and / or magnetic metals positioned within the cavity of the control body and positioned on the cartridge), or other suitable technique.

[0071] As seen in the cutaway view shown in FIG. 2 , the control body 102 and cartridge 104 each include several respective components. The components shown in FIG. 2 are representative of components that may be present in the control body and cartridge and are not intended to limit the scope of components encompassed by the present disclosure. As shown, for example, the control body can be formed with a housing 206 (sometimes referred to as a control body shell) that can include a control component 208 (e.g., a processing circuit, etc.), a flow sensor 210, a power source 212 (e.g., a battery, a supercapacitor), and an indicator 214 (e.g., an LED, a quantum dot-based LED), and such components can be variably aligned. The power source can be rechargeable, and the control component can include a switch and a processing circuit coupled to the flow sensor and the switch. The processing circuit can be configured to determine the difference between an atmospheric pressure measurement from the flow sensor and a reference atmospheric pressure. In some implementations, the flow sensor is an absolute pressure sensor.

[0072] The cartridge 104 can be formed with a housing 216 (sometimes referred to as a cartridge shell) that encloses a reservoir 218 configured to hold an aerosol precursor composition and includes a heating element 220 (aerosol-generating component). In various configurations, such a structure can also be referred to as a tank; thus, the terms "cartridge," "tank," and the like may be used interchangeably to refer to a shell or other housing that encloses a reservoir for the aerosol precursor composition and, in some implementations, includes a heating element or other aerosol-generating component.

[0073] As shown, in some examples, reservoir 218 may be in fluid communication with a liquid transport element 222 adapted to wick or otherwise transport the aerosol precursor composition stored within the reservoir housing to heating element 220. In some examples, a valve may be positioned between the reservoir and the heating element and may be configured to control the amount of aerosol precursor composition that is passed or delivered from the reservoir to the heating element.

[0074] Various exemplary materials configured to generate heat upon application of an electric current may be used to form the heating element 220. The heating element in these examples may be a resistive heating element such as a wire coil, a microheater, etc. Examples of materials from which the heating element can be formed include Kanthal (FeCrAl), nichrome, nickel, stainless steel, indium tin oxide, tungsten, molybdenum disilicide (MoSi), molybdenum silicide (MoSi), aluminum-doped molybdenum disilicide (Mo(Si,Al)), titanium, platinum, silver, palladium, alloys of silver and palladium, graphite and graphite-based materials (e.g., carbon-based foams and yarns), conductive inks, boron-doped silica, and ceramics (e.g., ceramics with positive or negative temperature coefficients). The heating element may be a resistive heating element or a heating element configured to generate heat through induction. The heating element may be coated with a thermally conductive ceramic such as aluminum nitride, silicon carbide, beryllium oxide, alumina, silicon nitride, or composites thereof. Exemplary implementations of heating elements useful in aerosol delivery devices according to the present disclosure are further described below and can be incorporated into devices as described herein.

[0075] An opening 224 may be present in the housing 216 (eg, at the mouth end) to allow for the evacuation of the formed aerosol from the cartridge 104 .

[0076] The cartridge 104 may also include one or more electronic components 226, which may include integrated circuits, memory components (e.g., EEPROM, flash memory), sensors, etc. The electronic components may be adapted to communicate with the control component 208 and / or external devices by wired or wireless means. The electronic components may be positioned anywhere within the cartridge or its base 228.

[0077] While the control component 208 and the flow sensor 210 are shown separately, it is understood that various electronic components, including the control component and the flow sensor, may be combined on a circuit board (e.g., PCB) that supports and electrically connects the electronic components. Furthermore, the circuit board may be positioned horizontally relative to the view of FIG. 1 in that it may be longitudinally parallel to the central axis of the control body. In some examples, the airflow sensor may include its own circuit board or other base element to which it may be mounted. In some examples, a flexible circuit board may be utilized. The flexible circuit board may be configured in various shapes, including a substantially tubular shape. In some examples, the flexible circuit board may be combined with, layered on, or form part or all of the heater substrate.

[0078] The control body 102 and cartridge 104 may include components adapted to facilitate fluid engagement therebetween. As shown in FIG. 2 , the control body may include a coupler 230 having a cavity 232 therein. The cartridge base 228 may be adapted to engage with the coupler and may include a protrusion 234 adapted to fit within the cavity. Such engagement may facilitate a stable connection between the control body and the cartridge and establish an electrical connection between the power source 212 and control component 208 in the control body and the heating element 220 in the cartridge. Additionally, the housing 206 may include an air intake 236, which may be a notch in the housing that connects to the coupler and allows ambient air to pass around the coupler and into the housing, then through the coupler cavity 232 and protrusion 234 into the cartridge.

[0079] Couplers and bases useful in accordance with the present disclosure are described in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014 / 0261495 to Novak et al., which is incorporated herein by reference. For example, a coupler 230, as seen in FIG. 2 , may define an outer periphery 238 configured to mate with an inner periphery 240 of a base 228. In one example, the inner periphery of the base may define a radius substantially equal to or slightly greater than the radius of the outer periphery of the coupler. Additionally, the coupler may define one or more protrusions 242 on its outer periphery configured to engage with one or more recesses 244 defined in the inner periphery of the base. However, various other examples of structures, shapes, and components may be used to couple the base to the coupler. In some examples, the connection between the base of the cartridge 104 and the coupler of the control body 102 may be substantially permanent, while in other examples, the connection therebetween may be releasable, for example, so that the control body is reusable with one or more additional cartridges, which may be disposable and / or refillable.

[0080] The reservoir 218 shown in FIG. 2 may be a container, as currently described, or may be a fibrous reservoir. For example, in this example, the reservoir may include one or more layers of nonwoven fibers formed substantially in a tubular shape surrounding the interior of the housing 216. An aerosol precursor composition may be held within the reservoir. For example, a liquid component may be sorptively held by the reservoir. The reservoir may be in fluid communication with a liquid transport element 222. The liquid transport element may transport the aerosol precursor composition stored in the reservoir via capillary action or via a micropump to a heating element 220, which in this example is in the form of a metal wire coil. The heating element is thus in a heating configuration with the liquid transport element.

[0081] In some examples, a microfluidic chip may be embedded in the reservoir 218, and the amount and / or mass of the aerosol precursor composition delivered from the reservoir may be controlled by a micropump, such as one based on microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology. Exemplary implementations of reservoirs and transport elements useful in aerosol delivery devices according to the present disclosure are further described herein, and such reservoirs and / or transport elements may be incorporated into devices such as those described herein. In particular, certain combinations of heating elements and transport elements, as further described herein, may be incorporated into devices such as those described herein.

[0082] In use, when a user inhales on the aerosol delivery device 100, airflow is detected by the flow sensor 210 and the heating element 220 is activated to vaporize the components of the aerosol precursor composition. Inhaling at the mouth end of the aerosol delivery device causes ambient air to enter the air intake 236 and pass through the cavity 232 of the coupler 230 and the central opening of the protrusion 234 of the base 228. Within the cartridge 104, the inhaled air combines with the formed vapor to form an aerosol. The aerosol is drawn, aspirated, or otherwise drawn away from the heating element and out through the opening 224 at the mouth end of the aerosol delivery device.

[0083] For further details regarding the implementation of an aerosol delivery device including a control body and a cartridge in the case of an electronic cigarette, see the above-mentioned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15 / 836,086 to Sur; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15 / 916,834 to Sur et al.; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15 / 916,696 to Sur, filed March 9, 2018, which are also incorporated by reference herein.

[0084] 3-6 illustrate implementations of aerosol delivery devices including a control body and an aerosol source member for non-combustion-heated devices. More specifically, FIG. 3 illustrates an aerosol delivery device 300 according to an exemplary implementation of the present disclosure. The aerosol delivery device may include a control body 302 and an aerosol source member 304. In various implementations, the aerosol source member and the control body can be permanently or removably aligned in a functional relationship. In this regard, FIG. 3 illustrates the aerosol delivery device in a coupled configuration, while FIG. 4 illustrates the aerosol delivery device in a decoupled configuration.

[0085] 4, in various implementations of the present disclosure, the aerosol source member 304 may include a heated end 406 configured to be inserted into the control body 302 and a mouth end 408 that a user inhales on to create the aerosol. In various implementations, at least a portion of the heated end may include an aerosol precursor composition 410.

[0086] In various implementations, the aerosol source member 304, or a portion thereof, may be wrapped with an outer overwrap material 412, which may be formed of any material useful for providing additional structure and / or support to the aerosol source member. In various implementations, the outer overwrap material may include a material that resists heat transfer, which may include paper or other fibrous materials, such as cellulose materials. The outer overwrap material may also include at least one filler material embedded within or dispersed within the fibrous material. In various implementations, the filler material may have the form of water-insoluble particles. Additionally, the filler material may incorporate inorganic components. In various implementations, the outer overwrap may be formed of multiple layers, such as an underlying bulk layer and an overlying layer, such as a typical cigarette wrapper. Such materials may include, for example, lightweight "waste fibers" such as flax, hemp, sisal, rice straw, and / or esparto. The outer overwrap may also include materials commonly used in conventional cigarette filter elements, such as cellulose acetate. Additionally, the excess length of overlap at the mouth end 408 of the aerosol source member may function simply to separate the aerosol precursor composition 410 from the consumer's mouth, or may function to provide space for positioning a filter material as described below, or may function to affect draw on the article or to affect the flow characteristics of the vapor or aerosol exiting the device during draw. Further discussion regarding configurations of overlap materials that can be used in the present disclosure can be found in the above-mentioned U.S. Patent No. 9,078,473 to Worm et al.

[0087] In various implementations, other components may be present between the aerosol precursor composition 410 and the mouth-end 408 of the aerosol source member 304, in which case the mouth-end may include a filter 414, which may be made from, for example, a cellulose acetate or polypropylene material. The filter may additionally or alternatively include strands of tobacco-containing material, such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,025,814 to Raker et al., which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. In various implementations, the filter can increase the structural integrity of the mouth-end of the aerosol source member and / or provide filtering capabilities as needed and / or resistance to drawing. In some implementations, one or any combination of the following may be positioned between the aerosol precursor composition and the mouth-end: an air gap; a phase change material for cooling air; a flavor-releasing medium; ion-exchange fibers capable of selective chemical adsorption; aerogel particles as a filter medium; and other suitable materials.

[0088] Various implementations of the present disclosure use one or more conductive heating elements to heat the aerosol precursor composition 410 of the aerosol source member 304. In various implementations, the heating elements may be provided in various forms, such as in the form of a foil, foam, mesh, hollow ball, half-ball, disk, spiral, fiber, wire, film, thread, strip, ribbon, or cylinder. Such heating elements often comprise a metallic material and are configured to generate heat as a result of electrical resistance associated with passing an electric current therethrough. Such resistive heating elements may be positioned in direct contact with or in close proximity to the aerosol source member, particularly the aerosol precursor composition of the aerosol source member. The heating elements may be disposed within the control body and / or the aerosol source member. In various implementations, the aerosol precursor composition may include components embedded in or otherwise part of a substrate portion that may function as or facilitate the function of the heating assembly (i.e., heat-conducting components). Some examples of various heating members and elements are described in U.S. Pat. No. 9,078,473 to Worm et al.

[0089] Some non-limiting examples of various heating element configurations include configurations in which the heating element is positioned near the aerosol source member 304. For example, in some examples, at least a portion of the heating element may surround at least a portion of the aerosol source member. In other examples, one or more heating elements may be positioned adjacent to the exterior of the aerosol source member when inserted into the control body 302. In other examples, at least a portion of the heating element may penetrate at least a portion of the aerosol source member when the aerosol source member is inserted into the control body (e.g., one or more prongs and / or spikes may penetrate the aerosol source member). In some examples, the aerosol precursor composition may include a structure in contact with the aerosol precursor composition, or a plurality of beads or particles embedded in or otherwise part of the aerosol precursor composition, that can function as or facilitate the function of the heating element.

[0090] FIG. 5 shows a front view of an aerosol delivery device 300 according to an exemplary implementation of the present disclosure, and FIG. 6 shows a cross-sectional view through the aerosol delivery device of FIG. 5. In particular, the control body 302 of the illustrated implementation may include a housing 516 including an opening 518 defined at its engagement end, an end cap including a flow sensor 520 (e.g., a puff sensor or pressure switch), a control component 522 (e.g., a processing circuit, etc.), a power source 524 (e.g., a battery, a supercapacitor), and an indicator 526 (e.g., an LED). The power source may be rechargeable, and the control component may include a switch and a processing circuit coupled to the flow sensor and the switch. The processing circuit may be configured to determine a difference between the atmospheric pressure measurement from the flow sensor and a reference atmospheric pressure.

[0091] In one implementation, indicator 526 may include one or more LEDs, quantum dot-based LEDs, etc. The indicator is in communication with control component 522 and, for example, when coupled to control body 302, may be illuminated when a user draws on aerosol source member 304, as detected by flow sensor 520.

[0092] The control body 302 of the illustrated implementation includes one or more heating assemblies 528 (individually or collectively referred to as heating assemblies) configured to heat the aerosol precursor composition 410 of the aerosol source member 304. While the heating assemblies of various implementations of the present disclosure can take various forms, in the particular implementation shown in Figures 5 and 6, the heating assembly includes a sheath 530 and a heating element 532 (aerosol generating component), which in this implementation comprises a plurality of heater prongs (in various configurations the heating assembly, or more specifically the heater prongs, may be referred to as heaters) extending from a receiving base 534. In the illustrated implementation, the sheath comprises a double-walled vacuum tube constructed of stainless steel to maintain heat generated by the heater prongs within the sheath, and more specifically, to maintain heat generated by the heater prongs within the aerosol precursor composition. In various implementations, the heater prongs may be constructed from one or more electrically conductive materials, including, but not limited to, copper, aluminum, platinum, gold, silver, iron, steel, brass, bronze, graphite, or any combination thereof.

[0093] As shown, the heating assembly 528 may extend near the engagement end of the housing 516 and may be configured to substantially surround a portion of the heated end 406 of the aerosol source member 304 containing the aerosol precursor composition 410. In such a manner, the heating assembly may define a generally tubular configuration. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 , the heating element 532 (e.g., multiple heater prongs) is surrounded by the outer casing 530 to create a receiving chamber 536. In such a manner, in various implementations, the outer casing may include a non-conductive insulating material and / or a non-conductive insulating structure, including, but not limited to, an insulating polymer (e.g., plastic or cellulose), glass, rubber, ceramic, porcelain, a double-walled vacuum structure, or any combination thereof.

[0094] In some implementations, one or more portions or components of the heating assembly 528 may be combined with, packaged with, and / or integrated with (e.g., embedded within) the aerosol precursor composition 410. For example, in some implementations, the aerosol precursor composition may be formed from materials such as those described above and may include one or more electrically conductive materials mixed therein. In some of these implementations, contacts may be directly connected to the aerosol precursor composition such that when the aerosol source member is inserted into the receiving chamber of the control body, the contacts form an electrical connection with the electrical energy source. Alternatively, the contacts may be integral with the electrical energy source and extend into the receiving chamber such that when the aerosol source member is inserted into the receiving chamber of the control body, the contacts form an electrical connection with the aerosol precursor composition. Due to the presence of electrically conductive materials in the aerosol precursor composition, applying power from an electrical energy source to the aerosol precursor composition allows electrical current to flow, thereby generating heat from the electrically conductive material. Thus, in some implementations, the heating element may be described as integral with the aerosol precursor composition. As a non-limiting example, graphite or other suitable conductive material may be mixed with, embedded in, or otherwise present directly on or within the material forming the aerosol precursor composition, creating a heating element that is integral with the medium.

[0095] As noted above, in the illustrated implementation, the sheath 530 may also function to facilitate proper positioning of the aerosol source member 304 when the aerosol source member is inserted into the housing 516. In various implementations, the sheath of the heating assembly 528 may engage an inner surface of the housing to align the heating assembly relative to the housing. As a result of the fixed connection between the heating assemblies, the longitudinal axis of the heating assembly may thereby extend substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the housing. In particular, a support cylinder may extend from the housing opening 518 to the receiving base 534 to create a receiving chamber 536.

[0096] The heated end 406 of the aerosol source member 304 is sized and shaped for insertion into the control body 302. In various implementations, the receiving chamber 536 of the control body may be characterized as defined by a wall having an inner surface and an outer surface, the inner surface defining the interior volume of the receiving chamber. For example, in the illustrated implementation, the outer barrel 530 defines an inner surface that defines the interior volume of the receiving chamber. In the illustrated implementation, the inner diameter of the outer barrel may be slightly larger than or approximately equal to the outer diameter of the corresponding aerosol source member (e.g., to create a snug fit) so that the outer barrel is configured to guide the aerosol source member into an appropriate position (e.g., a lateral position) relative to the control body. Thus, the maximum outer diameter (or other dimension depending on the particular cross-sectional shape of this implementation) of the aerosol source member may be sized to be smaller than the inner diameter (or other dimension) of the inner surface of the wall of the open end of the receiving chamber of the control body. In some implementations, the difference in their respective diameters may be small enough so that the aerosol source member fits snugly into the receiving chamber and frictional forces prevent the aerosol source member from moving without an applied force, while the difference may be sufficient to allow the aerosol source member to slide into and out of the receiving chamber without the need for excessive force.

[0097] In the illustrated implementation, the control body 302 is configured such that, when the aerosol source member 304 is inserted into the control body, the heating element 532 (e.g., heater prongs) are positioned approximately radially centered on at least a portion of the aerosol precursor composition 410 at the heated end 406 of the aerosol source member. In such a manner, when used in conjunction with a solid or semi-solid aerosol precursor composition, the heater prongs may be in direct contact with the aerosol precursor composition. In other implementations, such as when used in conjunction with an extruded aerosol precursor composition defining a tubular structure, the heater prongs may be positioned inside a cavity defined by the inner surface of the extruded tubular structure, without contacting the inner surface of the extruded tubular structure.

[0098] During use, a consumer initiates heating of the heating assembly 528, particularly the heating element 532 adjacent to the aerosol precursor composition 410 (or a particular layer thereof). Heating the aerosol precursor composition releases the inhalable substance into the aerosol source member 304 to produce an inhalable substance. When the consumer inhales into the mouth end 408 of the aerosol source member, air is drawn into the aerosol source member through an air intake 538, such as an opening or aperture in the control body 302. As the inhaled substance exits the mouth end of the aerosol source member, the combination of the drawn-in air and the released inhalable substance is inhaled by the consumer. In some implementations, to initiate heating, the consumer can manually activate a push button or similar component that causes the heating element of the heating assembly to receive electrical energy from a battery or other energy source. The electrical energy may be supplied for a predetermined time or may be manually controlled.

[0099] In some implementations, the flow of electrical energy does not proceed substantially between puffs in the device 300 (although energy flow may proceed to maintain a baseline temperature above ambient temperature—e.g., a temperature that facilitates rapid heating to the active heating temperature). However, in the illustrated implementation, heating is initiated by the consumer's act of taking a puff through the use of one or more sensors, such as flow sensor 520. When puffs cease, heating is stopped or reduced. When the consumer has taken a sufficient number of puffs to release a sufficient amount of inhalable substance (e.g., an amount sufficient to equate to a typical smoking experience), the aerosol source member 304 may be detached from the control body 302 and discarded. In some implementations, additional sensing elements, such as capacitive sensing elements and other sensors, may be used as discussed in U.S. Patent Application No. 15 / 707,461 to Phillips et al., which is incorporated herein by reference.

[0100] In various implementations, the aerosol source member 304 may be formed of any material suitable for forming and maintaining a suitable conformation, such as a tubular shape, and for retaining the aerosol precursor composition 410 therein. In some implementations, the aerosol source member may be formed of a single wall, or in other implementations, multiple walls, and may be formed of a material (natural or synthetic) that is heat-resistant so as to maintain its structural integrity—e.g., not deteriorate—at temperatures at least those provided by an electric heating element, as discussed further herein. In some implementations, a heat-resistant polymer may be used, while in other implementations, the aerosol source member may be formed from paper, such as a substantially straw-shaped paper. As discussed further herein, the aerosol source member may have one or more layers associated therewith that function to substantially prevent the movement of vapor therethrough. In one exemplary implementation, an aluminum foil layer may be laminated to one surface of the aerosol source member. Ceramic materials may also be used. In further implementations, insulating materials may be used to avoid unnecessarily conducting heat away from the aerosol precursor composition. Further exemplary types of components and materials that may be used to provide the above functions or that may be used in place of the above materials and components may be of the type described in U.S. Patent Application Publication Nos. 2010 / 00186757 to Crooks et al., 2010 / 00186757 to Crooks et al., and 2011 / 0041861 to Sebastian et al., which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0101] In the illustrated implementation, the control body 302 includes a control component 522 that controls various functions of the aerosol delivery device 300, including providing power to the electric heating element 532. For example, the control component may include a processing circuit (which may be connected to additional components as further described herein) connected by conductive wires (not shown) to the power source 524. In various implementations, the processing circuit may control when and how the heating assembly 528, particularly the heater prongs, receive electrical energy to heat the aerosol precursor composition 410 for release of an inhalable substance for inhalation by the consumer. In some implementations, such control may be activated by a flow sensor 520, as described in more detail above.

[0102] 5 and 6 , the heating assembly 528 of the illustrated implementation includes a barrel 530 and a heating element 532 (e.g., multiple heater prongs) extending from a receiving base 534. In some implementations, such as those in which the aerosol precursor composition 410 includes a tubular structure, the heater prongs may be configured to extend into a cavity defined by the interior surface of the aerosol precursor composition. In other implementations, such as the illustrated implementation in which the aerosol precursor composition includes a solid or semi-solid, the multiple heater prongs are configured to penetrate the aerosol precursor composition contained in the heated end 406 of the aerosol source member 304 when the aerosol source member is inserted into the control body 302. In such implementations, one or more components of the heating assembly, including the heater prongs and / or the receiving base, may be constructed of a non-stick or stick-resistant material, such as certain aluminum, copper, stainless steel, carbon steel, and ceramic materials. In other implementations, one or more of the components of the heating assembly, including the heater prongs and / or the receiving base, may include a non-stick coating, including, for example, a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) coating such as Teflon®, or a stick-resistant enamel coating, or a ceramic coating such as Greblon® or Thermolon™, or other coatings such as a ceramic coating such as Greblon® or Thermolon™.

[0103] Additionally, while in the illustrated implementation, there are multiple heater prongs 532 distributed substantially evenly around the receiving base 534, it should be noted that in other implementations, any number of heater prongs, including as few as one, may be used in any other suitable spatial configuration. Furthermore, in various implementations, the length of the heater prongs may vary. For example, in some implementations, the heater prongs may comprise small protrusions, while in other implementations, the heater prongs may extend any portion of the length of the receiving chamber 536, including up to about 25%, up to about 50%, up to about 75%, and even up to nearly the entire length of the receiving chamber. In still other implementations, the heating assembly 528 may have other configurations. Examples of other heater configurations that may be adapted for use in the present disclosure in accordance with the discussion provided above include U.S. Pat. No. 5,060,671 to Counts et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,093,894 to Deevi et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,224,498 to Deevi et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,224,498 to Sprinkel et al. No. 5,228,460 to Jr. et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,322,075 to Deevi et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,353,813 to Deevi et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,468,936 to Deevi et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,498,850 to Das, U.S. Pat. No. 5,659,656 to Das, U.S. Pat. No. 5,498,855 to Deevi et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,530,225 to Hajaligol, U.S. Pat. No. 5,665,262 to Hajaligol, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,573,692 to Das et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,591,368 to Fleischhauer et al., which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0104] In various implementations, the control body 302 may include an air intake 538 (e.g., one or more openings or apertures) therein to allow ambient air to enter the interior of the receiving chamber 536. In such a manner, in some implementations, the receiving base 534 may also include an air intake. Thus, in some implementations, when a consumer inhales on the mouth-end of the aerosol source member 304, air can be drawn into the receiving chamber through the air intakes of the control body and the receiving base, into the aerosol source member, and through the aerosol precursor composition 410 of the aerosol source member for inhalation by the consumer. In some implementations, the drawn air carries the inhalable substance through the optional filter 414 and out the opening in the mouth-end 408 of the aerosol source member. With the heating element 532 positioned within the aerosol precursor composition, the heater prongs can be activated to heat the aerosol precursor composition and cause the release of the inhalable substance through the aerosol source member.

[0105] As described above, particularly with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6 , various implementations of the present disclosure use an electrically conductive heater to heat the aerosol precursor composition 410. Also as noted above, various other implementations use an induction heater to heat the aerosol precursor composition. In some of these implementations, the heating assembly 528 may be configured as an induction heater including a transformer with an induction transmitter and an induction receiver. In implementations in which the heating assembly is configured as an induction heater, the outer casing 530 may be configured as an induction transmitter, and the heating element 532 (e.g., multiple heater prongs) extending from the receiving base 534 may be configured as an induction receiver. In various implementations, one or both of the induction transmitter and the induction receiver may be disposed within the control body 302 and / or the aerosol source member 304.

[0106] In various implementations, the outer casing 530 and the heating element 532 as the inductive transmitter and receiver may be constructed from one or more conductive materials, and in further implementations, the inductive receiver may be constructed from a ferromagnetic material, including, but not limited to, cobalt, iron, nickel, and combinations thereof. In one exemplary implementation, the foil material is constructed from a conductive material and the heater prongs are constructed from a ferromagnetic material. In various implementations, the receiving base may be constructed from a non-conductive and / or insulating material.

[0107] The outer cylinder 530 as an induction transmitter may include a laminate with a foil material surrounding a support cylinder. In some implementations, the foil material may include electrical traces printed thereon, such as one or more electrical traces that may form a helical coil pattern when the foil material is positioned around the heating element 532 as an induction receiver. The foil material and the support cylinder may each define a tubular configuration. The support cylinder may be configured to support the foil material so that it does not move into contact with the heater prongs and thereby short-circuit with the heater prongs. In such a manner, the support cylinder may include a non-conductive material that may be substantially transparent to the oscillating magnetic field generated by the foil material. In various implementations, the foil material may be embedded in or otherwise coupled to the support cylinder. In the illustrated implementation, the foil material is engaged with the outer surface of the support cylinder; however, in other implementations, the foil material may be positioned on the inner surface of the support cylinder or may be completely embedded in the support cylinder.

[0108] The foil material of the outer casing 530 may be configured to create an oscillating magnetic field (e.g., a magnetic field that changes periodically with time) when an alternating current is directed therethrough. The heater prongs of the heating element 532 are at least partially disposed within or received within the outer casing and may comprise an electrically conductive material. By directing an alternating current through the foil material, eddy currents may be generated within the heater prongs via induction. The eddy currents flowing through the resistance of the material defining the heater prongs may heat the heater prongs by Joule heating (i.e., through the Joule effect). The heater prongs may be wirelessly heated to form an aerosol from an aerosol precursor composition 410 positioned near the heater prongs.

[0109] Other implementations of aerosol delivery devices, control bodies, and aerosol source members are described in the above-mentioned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15 / 916,834 to Sur et al.; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15 / 916,696 to Sur; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15 / 836,086 to Sur.

[0110] 7 and 8 illustrate implementations of an aerosol delivery device including a control body and a cartridge for a non-heat, non-combustion device. In this regard, FIG. 7 shows a side view of an aerosol delivery device 700 including a control body 702 and a cartridge 704, according to various exemplary implementations of the present disclosure. In particular, FIG. 7 shows the control body and cartridge coupled to one another. The control body and cartridge may be removably aligned in a functional relationship.

[0111] FIG. 8 illustrates an aerosol delivery device 700 in more detail, according to some exemplary implementations. As seen in the cutaway view shown therein, the aerosol delivery device can again include a control body 702 and a cartridge 704, each containing several respective components. The components shown in FIG. 8 are representative of components that may be present within the control body and cartridge and are not intended to limit the scope of components encompassed by the present disclosure. As shown, for example, the control body can be formed from a control body housing or shell 806 that can include control components 808 (e.g., processing circuitry, etc.), input devices 810, a power source 812, and indicators 814 (e.g., LEDs, quantum dot-based LEDs), and such components can be variably aligned. Here, a specific example of a suitable control component includes the Microchip Technology Inc. PIC16(L)F1713 / 6 microcontroller, as described in Microchip Technology, Inc., AN2265, Vibrating Mesh Nebulizer Reference Design (2016), which is incorporated by reference.

[0112] The cartridge 704 can be formed from a housing—sometimes referred to as a cartridge shell 816—enclosing a reservoir 818 configured to hold an aerosol precursor composition and including a nozzle 820 with a piezoelectric / piezomagnetic mesh (the aerosol-generating component). As above, in various configurations, this structure can be referred to as a tank.

[0113] 8 may be a container, as currently described, or may be a fibrous reservoir. The reservoir may be in fluid communication with a nozzle 820 for transport of an aerosol precursor composition stored in the reservoir housing to the nozzle. An opening 822 may be present in the cartridge shell 816 (e.g., at the mouthpiece) to allow for the evacuation of the formed aerosol from the cartridge 704.

[0114] In some examples, a transport element may be positioned between reservoir 818 and nozzle 820 and configured to control the amount of aerosol precursor composition passed or delivered from the reservoir to the nozzle. In some examples, a microfluidic chip may be embedded in cartridge 704, and the amount and / or mass of aerosol precursor composition delivered from the reservoir may be controlled by one or more microfluidic components. One example of a microfluidic component is a micropump 824, such as one based on microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology. Examples of suitable micropumps include the model MDP2205 micropump and others from thinXXS Microtechnology AG, the mp5 and mp6 model micropumps and others from Bartels Mikrotechnik GmbH, and piezoelectric micropumps from Takasago Fluidic Systems.

[0115] Also shown, in some examples, a microfilter 826 may be positioned between the micropump 824 and the nozzle 820 to filter the aerosol precursor composition delivered to the nozzle. Like the micropump, the microfilter is a microfluidic component. Examples of suitable microfilters include flow-through microfilters fabricated using lab-on-a-chip (LOC) technology.

[0116] In use, when the input device 810 detects a user input to activate the aerosol delivery device, the piezoelectric / piezomagnetic mesh is activated to vibrate, thereby drawing the aerosol precursor composition through the mesh. This forms droplets of the aerosol precursor composition that combine with air to form the aerosol. The aerosol is then dislodged, aspirated, or otherwise drawn through the mesh and out through an opening 822 in the mouthpiece of the aerosol delivery device.

[0117] The aerosol delivery device 700 can incorporate an input device 810, such as a switch, sensor, or detector, for controlling the supply of power to the piezoelectric / piezomagnetic mesh of the nozzle 820 when aerosol generation is desired (e.g., during inhalation during use). Thus, for example, a way or method is provided to turn off power to the mesh when the aerosol delivery device is not being inhaled during use, and turn the power on during inhalation to activate or trigger the generation and dispensing of aerosol from the nozzle. Additional exemplary types of sensing or detection mechanisms, their structure and configuration, their components, and their general methods of operation are described above and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,261,424 to Sprinkel, Jr., U.S. Pat. No. 5,372,148 to McCafferty et al., and WO 2010 / 003480 to Flick, all of which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0118] For more information regarding these and other implementations of aerosol delivery devices for non-heat, non-combustion devices, see U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 15 / 651,548 to Sur, filed July 17, 2017, which is incorporated herein by reference.

[0119] As described above, the aerosol delivery device of example implementations may include various electronic components in the context of an e-cigarette, a non-heated combustion device, or a non-heated combustion device, or even in a device that further includes the functionality of one or more of an e-cigarette, a non-heated combustion device, or a non-heated combustion device. Figure 9 illustrates a circuit diagram of an aerosol delivery device 900, which may be or incorporate the functionality of any one or more of aerosol delivery devices 100, 300, 700, according to various example implementations of the present disclosure.

[0120] 9, aerosol delivery device 900 includes a control body 902 having a power source 904 and a control component 906 that may correspond to or include the functionality of control body 102, 302, 702, power source 212, 524, 812, and control component 208, 522, 808, respectively. The aerosol delivery device also includes an aerosol generation component 914 that may correspond to or include the functionality of heating element 220, 532 or the piezoelectric / piezomagnetic mesh of nozzle 820. Control body 902 may include terminals 916 configured to connect aerosol generation component 914 or the aerosol generation component to the control body.

[0121] In some implementations, the control body 902 includes a sensor 908 configured to generate a measurement of atmospheric pressure within the airflow path through the housing 918. The sensor 908 can correspond to or include functionality of the flow sensor 210, 520 or the input device 810, and the housing 918 can correspond to or include functionality of the housing 206, 516, 806. In these implementations, the control component 906 is coupled to the power source 904 and the aerosol generation component 914 and includes a switch 910 between the power source and the aerosol generation component. The control component also includes a processing circuit 912 coupled to the sensor and the switch. In some further examples, the control body can include a second sensor configured to generate a measurement of atmospheric pressure within the airflow path through the housing, the second sensor acting as an additional reference for atmospheric pressure.

[0122] In other implementations, the sensor 908 may be another type of pressure sensor. In one implementation, the sensor may be a pressure sensor including a moving membrane, a printed circuit board (PCB), and an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC). The ASIC may include an analog output signal indicating whether airflow is present. The pressure sensor may also detect the amount of airflow. For example, the sensor may include a capacitance sensor connectable to or within the processing circuit 912 to determine the amount of airflow. The airflow may move the membrane, and the capacitance sensor may detect the change in capacitance and provide a signal to the processing circuit, which measures the capacitance from the signal. The measured capacitance may be proportional to the airflow, such that the signal output from the sensor can correspond to the amount of airflow.

[0123] In another implementation, the sensor 908 may be an airflow sensor using a thermopile. In one example, this type of sensor may include two thermopiles and an aerosol generating component 914. The detected airflow may cause a temperature difference. The processing circuit 912 may drive the aerosol generating component, read the analog temperature difference from the thermopile, and output an indication (e.g., a digital number) corresponding to the detected airflow. In a second example, the sensor may use a thermopile to measure airflow using heat transfer principles. In this second example, the sensor may include a heat flow sensor die that uses a thermocouple for temperature sensing instead of a resistor. In another example, a sensor using a thermopile may measure airflow using calorimetry principles. In this example, the sensor may use a thermopile as a temperature sensor instead of a thermistor. A solid thermal insulation layer may be coated with various ceramic films to protect the thermopile. In a further example, the sensor may include two clusters of thermocouples (e.g., 20 thermocouples) symmetrically positioned upstream and downstream of the aerosol-generating component. In this further example, the upstream thermocouple may be cooled by the airflow, and the downstream thermocouple may be heated by heat transfer from the aerosol-generating component in the flow direction. Thus, the output signal of the sensor may be the differential voltage of the upstream and downstream thermocouples. An example of an airflow sensor using a thermopile is described in U.S. Pat. No. 9,635,886 to Tu, which is incorporated herein by reference.

[0124] The heat flow sensor die described in the above paragraph may, in some examples, be integrated with the processing circuitry 912. The heat flow sensor die may output an analog voltage proportional to the user's puff. An operational amplifier and an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) in the processing circuitry may convert the analog format into a digital format, such as a digital number representing the detected airflow or user's puff. To integrate the heat flow sensor die with the processing circuitry, in one example, the sensor 908 may be a microphone-based pressure sensor. The signal lines of the microphone-based pressure sensor are connected to the processing circuitry. The ADC in the processing circuitry may convert the analog signal from the microphone-based pressure sensor into a digital signal (e.g., as a digital number representing the detected airflow or user's puff).

[0125] In another implementation, the sensor 908 may be a waterproof pressure sensor. In one example, the sensor may be a microphone-based pressure sensor similar to the example above. The waterproof level of the sensor may be IPX7, so that the sensor can withstand immersion in up to 1 meter of water for up to 30 minutes.

[0126] In another implementation, the sensor 908 may be a MEMS-based pressure sensor connectable to the processing circuitry 912. In one example, the sensor may use an autozero function to set an autozero by loading the current ambient pressure as a zero reference. In this example, the autozero function may be used to filter atmospheric pressure. In another example, the sensor output may be interrupted after a pressure threshold is reached. An example of a MEMS-based pressure sensor is described in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2016 / 0128389 to Lamb et al., which is incorporated herein by reference. An example of another suitable pressure sensor is described in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2018 / 0140009 to Sur et al., which is incorporated herein by reference.

[0127] In some implementations, the processing circuit 912 is configured to determine the difference between the atmospheric pressure measurement from the sensor 908 and a reference atmospheric pressure. In these implementations, only when the difference is at least a threshold difference, the processing circuit is configured to output a signal (indicated by arrow 920) to cause the switch 910 to switchably connect and disconnect an output voltage from the power supply 904 to the aerosol generation component 914 to power the aerosol generation component for an aerosol generation period. In some implementations, the switch is adapted to switchably connect and disconnect the output voltage to adjust the power provided to the aerosol generation component to a power target (e.g., a power setpoint) that is variable according to a predetermined relationship between the difference and the power target. In these implementations, the predetermined relationship is described by a step function, a linear function, a nonlinear function, or a combination thereof.

[0128] In some implementations, the processing circuit 912 is configured to output a pulse-width modulated (PWM) signal whose duty cycle is adjustable to thereby regulate the power provided to the aerosol generation components.

[0129] In some implementations, the threshold difference is set to reflect the minimum deviation from the reference atmospheric pressure caused by a puffing action by a user using the aerosol delivery device 900. In these implementations, the processing circuit 912 is configured to output a signal to power the aerosol generation component 914 for an aerosol generation period coextensive with the puffing action.

[0130] Outside of the aerosol generation period, in some implementations, there is no signal output from the processing circuit 912 and the output voltage from the power supply 904 to the aerosol generation component 914 is disconnected. In these implementations, the sensor 908 is configured to generate a measurement of the ambient atmospheric pressure to which the sensor is exposed. The processing circuit is configured to set a reference atmospheric pressure based on the measurement of the ambient atmospheric pressure.

[0131] To set the reference atmospheric pressure outside of aerosol-generation periods, in some implementations, the sensor 908 may periodically generate measurements of the ambient atmospheric pressure to which the sensor is exposed. The processing circuitry 912 of some such implementations can periodically set the reference atmospheric pressure based on the measurements of the ambient atmospheric pressure. In another example, the processing circuitry can be configured to periodically send a signal to the sensor to periodically read the measurements of the ambient atmospheric pressure generated by the sensor.

[0132] In some implementations, the processing circuit 912 can be configured to set the reference atmospheric pressure when triggered by an event. For example, the event may be the insertion of a cartridge into the control body 902. In another example, the event may be movement of the aerosol delivery device 900, which may be detected by an accelerometer, gyroscope, and / or other sensor capable of sensing and / or quantifying the movement of the aerosol delivery device. The movement of the aerosol delivery device may indicate future use of the aerosol delivery device. In these implementations, when an event is detected, the processing circuit can set the reference atmospheric pressure. When no event is detected, the sensor 908 can be in a quiescent current mode to conserve power. In a further example, when a cartridge is not inserted into the control body, the processing circuit may not output a signal to cause the switch 910 to switchably connect and disconnect the output voltage to provide power to the aerosol generation component 914.

[0133] In some implementations, the processing circuitry 912 may be configured to detect a situational context of the aerosol delivery device 900 based on the detected reference atmospheric pressure and / or based on a change in a series of two or more determined reference atmospheric pressures, and to activate a control mode protocol corresponding to the detected situational context. The processing circuitry of some such implementations may be configured to determine that the aerosol delivery device is on an airplane and to activate an airplane mode control protocol.

[0134] As an example, in some implementations, the detected reference atmospheric pressure may be compared to a threshold atmospheric pressure that indicates the aerosol delivery device is at a particular flight altitude (e.g., an altitude of 28,000 feet or greater). If the detected reference atmospheric pressure is below the threshold indicative of the flight altitude, the processing circuitry may determine that the aerosol delivery device is on an aircraft and activate an airplane mode control protocol. As another example, the processing circuitry of some implementations may compare a series of two or more determined reference atmospheric pressures taken over a series of times and determine that the aerosol delivery device is on an aircraft and activate an airplane mode control protocol based on one or more of the magnitude of change between the series of reference atmospheric pressures or the rate of change of the series of reference atmospheric pressures (e.g., based on a drop in the reference atmospheric pressure observed as the altitude of the aerosol delivery device increases during aircraft takeoff).

[0135] The aircraft mode control protocol may include, for example, processing circuitry that performs one or more of the following actions to prevent activation of the aerosol generating component 914 while the aerosol delivery device is on an aircraft in flight: (1) causing switch 910 to switchably connect and disconnect the output voltage so as not to output a signal to power the aerosol generating component, even if the detected difference between the detected air pressure and the reference atmospheric pressure exceeds a threshold that indicates a puff in the aerosol delivery device; (2) placing sensor 908 in a sleep mode in which it does not measure air pressure for the purpose of detecting a puff.

[0136] The processing circuitry may be configured to disable the aircraft mode control protocol, for example, in response to a subsequent measured reference atmospheric pressure falling below a threshold indicating the aerosol delivery device is at a certain flight altitude, and / or based on a magnitude of change between a series of reference atmospheric pressures or a rate of change between a series of reference atmospheric pressures signaling a pressure increase indicating the aircraft has landed (e.g., based on an observed magnitude or rate of increase in the reference atmospheric pressure). It will be appreciated that in various implementations, additional or alternative contexts may be detected based on changes in the measured and / or observed reference atmospheric pressures, and other corresponding context-specific control protocols may be activated. For example, in some implementations, the processing circuitry may be configured to detect that the aerosol delivery device is in a submerged environment, such as a submarine, based on a change in the reference atmospheric pressure after the submarine is submerged.

[0137] The aerosol generation component 914 may be controlled in several different ways, including via the power provided to the aerosol generation component during the aerosol generation period. In some implementations, at a periodic rate during the aerosol generation period, the processing circuit 912 is configured to determine a sample window of measurements of the instantaneous actual power provided to the aerosol generation component. Each measurement in the sample window of measurements may be determined as the product of the voltage at the aerosol generation component and the current through the aerosol generation component. The processing circuit in such implementations may be further configured to calculate a running average power provided to the aerosol generation component based on the sample window of measurements of the instantaneous actual power. In such implementations, the processing circuit may be further configured to compare the running average power to a power target and output a signal to cause a switch to disconnect and connect the output voltage, respectively, each time the running average power exceeds or falls below the power target.

[0138] In one example, the processing circuit 912 can determine the actual voltage (V) and current (I) through the aerosol generation component 914. The processing circuit can read the determined voltage and current values ​​from an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) input of the processing circuit and determine the instantaneous "actual" power (I*V) directed to the aerosol generation component. In some cases, such an "instantaneous" power measurement can be added to a sample or moving window of values ​​(i.e., other instantaneous power measurements), and then the moving average power over the sample window can be calculated, for example, using the formula P avg =P sample +P avg -1 / WindowSize. In some aspects, for example, the window size may be between about 20 and about 256 samples.

[0139] In some examples, the processing circuit 912 can then compare the calculated running average power to a power target, which can be a selected power target associated with the power source 904 (e.g., a power level or current output from the power source regulated by the processing circuit 912 or other regulating component associated therewith and placed in electrical communication between the power source and the aerosol generation component 914).

[0140] In some instances, (1)P ave( If the actual power (as determined by the aerosol generation component 914) is below the selected power target (average power), then the switch 910 is turned on to allow current flow from the power supply 904 to the aerosol generation component; (2) P aveexceeds the selected power target, the switch is turned off to prevent current flow from the power source to the aerosol generation component; and (3) steps 1 and 2 are repeated until the aerosol generation period expires or is stopped. More specifically, to ensure a more stable and accurate average power directed to and delivered at the aerosol generation component during the aerosol generation period, the determination and calculation of the actual power at the aerosol generation component, the comparison of the actual power with the preselected power target, and the on / off decision to the switch to adjust the preselected power target may be performed by the processing circuit 912 substantially continuously, for example, at a periodic rate of between about 20 and 50 times per second. The actual power (P) determined at the aerosol generation component may be calculated based on the actual power (P) and the preselected power target. ave Various examples of controlling switches based on a .DELTA. ) are described in U.S. Pat. No. 9,423,152 to Ampolini et al., which is incorporated herein by reference.

[0141] FIG. 10 illustrates a circuit diagram of components of an aerosol delivery device, including a power supply 904, a sensor 908, a switch 910, a processing circuit 1000, and an aerosol generating component 1006, according to an exemplary implementation of the present disclosure. The processing circuit 1000 and the aerosol generating component 1006 may correspond to the processing circuit 912 and the aerosol generating component 914, respectively. As shown, in some implementations, the sensor is configured to generate a measurement of atmospheric pressure in the airflow path through the housing 918. In these implementations, a protection circuit 1010 can be coupled to the power supply to provide overcurrent protection for the power supply. The sensor may be connected to the processing circuit 1000 via a digital serial communication link, for example, using an Inter-Integrated Circuit (I2C) protocol. In one example, the data provided by the sensor may be absolute atmospheric pressure. In another example, the sensor may include detection circuitry that can interrupt the processing circuit from a low-power state when there is a significant change in atmospheric pressure, or the processing circuit continuously polls the sensor for air pressure information on a periodic basis. An example of a suitable sensor is the BMP388 pressure sensor from Bosch Sensortec GmbH.

[0142] In some implementations, the processing circuit 1000 can determine the difference between the atmospheric pressure measurement from the sensor 908 and a reference atmospheric pressure. Only when the difference is at least a threshold difference can the processing circuit output a signal to cause the switch 910 to switchably connect and disconnect the output voltage to the aerosol generating component 1006 to power the aerosol generating component for an aerosol generation period. The switch can be a metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) switch. In one example, the signal can be a PWM signal, as indicated by arrow 1008. The duty cycle of the PWM signal can be adjustable, thereby adjusting the power provided to the aerosol generating component.

[0143] In some implementations, a reference atmospheric pressure may be established to prevent false puff detections when device 900 may experience changes in atmospheric pressure, such as a car window rolling down while driving, a door closing in an enclosed room, a change in altitude, or any other means by which the device's atmospheric pressure may experience a change. Changes in altitude may include riding an elevator, flying in an airplane, climbing stairs, escalators, and traveling over various terrain. Various methods that may be utilized to address such changes include: establishing atmospheric pressure using a separate sensing line; using a secondary sensor to read atmospheric pressure; and / or sampling sensor 908 between puffs to determine a reference point.

[0144] In some examples, the algorithm may use a rolling buffer of measurements from the sensor 908 to account for changes in atmospheric pressure. In some of these examples, the processing circuit 912 may use the rolling buffer of measurements to determine an average of the measurements and set the reference atmospheric pressure to the average. In this regard, the average of the measurements is the atmospheric pressure taken as representative of the atmospheric pressure at the measurements from the sensor. In some examples, the average may be the arithmetic mean of the sample measurements. In other examples, the average may be the geometric mean, harmonic mean, median, mode, or mid-range of the measurements.

[0145] In some examples, processing circuit 1000 can determine a difference between the most recent measurements from sensor 908 and a reference atmospheric pressure and determine whether the difference is at least a threshold difference. The processing circuit can also determine a rate of change of atmospheric pressure from at least some of the measured atmospheric pressures and, based on the rate of change, determine whether the difference was caused by a puffing action. The processing circuit can then output a signal to cause switch 910 to switchably connect and disconnect the output voltage to aerosol generating component 1006 only when the difference is at least a threshold difference and is caused by a puffing action. This can be used to prevent false puff detections, as well as allow a user to experience the device under normal operating conditions during transitions in atmospheric pressure.

[0146] In some implementations, the processing circuit 1000 can include two ADC components 1002 and 1004. In these implementations, the ADC component 1002 measures the current I flowing in the aerosol generation component (APC) 914. APC , and the ADC component 1004 measures the voltage V of the aerosol generating component. APC Based on the measurements, the processing circuitry can determine the power provided by the power supply 904 to the aerosol generation component and can output a signal to control the switch 910 to adjust the power provided to the aerosol generation component, as described above.

[0147] FIG. 11 illustrates a flowchart of a method 1100 of power control for an aerosol delivery device 900 according to an exemplary implementation of the present disclosure. In some implementations, as shown, in block 1102, the processing circuit 912 can set a reference atmospheric pressure. In one example, during non-puffing idle operation, the processing circuit can periodically read the measured atmospheric pressure from the sensor 908 to set the reference atmospheric pressure. This process can be performed periodically to ensure that the reference atmospheric pressure is updated due to changes in atmospheric pressure. For example, atmospheric pressure can change when the altitude of the aerosol delivery device changes. In block 1104, the processing circuit 912 can determine whether an activation event for power control has occurred. In one example, each new pressure reading is compared to the reference atmospheric pressure to determine whether an activation event has occurred. In some implementations, time and pressure discrimination can be used to avoid inadvertent activation or false triggering. For example, small or short-duration pressure changes may occur due to events such as closing a car door or while the aerosol delivery device is moving up or down in an elevator. The event may need to meet certain time and pressure thresholds to determine whether power control of the aerosol delivery device is activated or whether a new pressure reading is used to update the baseline atmospheric pressure to reflect changing atmospheric conditions. If an activation event is detected at block 1104, method 1100 may proceed from block 1104 to block 1106. Otherwise, method 1100 may proceed from block 1104 to block 1102 and update the baseline atmospheric pressure.

[0148] In block 1106, the processing circuit 912 may perform a system check. In some implementations, the processing circuit may perform a system check to determine whether power should be delivered to the aerosol generation component 914. For example, the system check may include, but is not limited to: a check of accumulated energy deposits in the aerosol generation component, battery health, and the tolerance of the aerosol generation component. In one example, if the system check detects an error, the processing circuit 912 may enter an error state. In this example, the method 1100 may proceed from block 1106 to block 1116.

[0149] If the system check does not detect an error, method 1100 can proceed from block 1106 to block 1108. In some implementations in which the aerosol-generating component 914 corresponds to or includes the functionality of a heating element 220, 532, in block 1108, the aerosol-generating component can be preheated to a predetermined level by delivering constant power from the power supply 904 to the aerosol-generating component for a certain period of time. It will be appreciated that preheating the aerosol-generating component can also be performed by heating for a predetermined period of time at a variable power level based on the temperature of the aerosol-generating component at the start of a puff. For example, preheating can involve targeting a set temperature, but the power level and / or preheat time can be reduced if the aerosol-generating component is already hot, such as if the puff is closely spaced from a previous puff. Method 1100 can proceed from block 1108 to block 1110. In one example, if the processing circuit 912 detects an excessive temperature increase of the aerosol generating component during preheating, e.g., if end of life (EOL) is detected, the processing circuit may enter an error state in block 1110. In this example, method 1100 may proceed from block 1110 to block 1116. On the other hand, if EOL is not detected, method 1100 may proceed from block 1110 to block 1112.

[0150] In another example, preheating involves sending a variable power level to the aerosol-generating component 914 upon detection of a puff. The variable power level may be a fractional-sized signal pulse in both duration and signal strength. The processing circuit 912 can calculate the starting temperature of the aerosol-generating component, and using this starting temperature, the processing circuit can calculate the amount of energy needed to effectively quickly bring the aerosol-generating component to a set temperature to begin generating aerosol. When the aerosol-generating component is at the starting temperature, preheating may be considered to be at a maximum power level and a maximum time for preheating. As the aerosol-generating component approaches the set temperature, preheating may be considered to be at a power level that generates the desired amount of aerosol and a minimum time for preheating.

[0151] In some implementations, the predetermined relationship between preheating energy (e.g., in Joules) and aerosol-generation component temperature can be described by a linear function. In one example shown in FIG. 12A , at point A, the preheating energy is at a maximum and the aerosol-generation component temperature is at a minimum. From point A to point B, the preheating energy may vary linearly with the aerosol-generation component temperature. At point B, the temperature of the aerosol-generation component reaches a temperature at which aerosol begins to be generated, and preheating may cease. From point B to point C, the temperature of the aerosol-generation component may continue to increase due to control of the aerosol-generation component to continue generating aerosol as part of the operation of the aerosol delivery device 900 other than preheating. At point C, the temperature of the aerosol-generation component reaches a maximum.

[0152] In some implementations, the predetermined relationship can be described as a nonlinear function. In one example shown in Figure 12B, points A, B, and C are substantially similar to the example in Figure 12A. However, in Figure 12B, the energy for preheating can vary nonlinearly with the aerosol-generating component temperature from point A to point B.

[0153] The temperature of the aerosol-generating component 914 (e.g., heating element 220, 532) may be measured, determined, or calculated in any of several different ways. In various examples, the temperature may be measured, determined, or calculated using a resistance temperature detector (RTD), a thermistor, a thermocouple, an infrared (IR) temperature sensor, etc. Additionally or alternatively, the processing circuit 912 can estimate the temperature based on the temperature of the aerosol-generating component after a previous puff and the known rate at which heat is removed from the aerosol-generating component by natural convection.

[0154] In some examples where the aerosol delivery device 900 includes an RTD for measuring temperature, the RTD may be separate from or integrated with the aerosol-generating component. The RTD has a resistance that is variable and proportional to the temperature of the aerosol-generating component and a temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) that is invariant with temperature. In these examples, the processing circuit 912 can calculate the resistance, such as from measurements of the voltage across and current through the aerosol-generating component (R=V / I), and calculate the temperature of the aerosol-generating component from the resistance and TCR. For more information regarding examples of suitable resistance temperature detection, see U.S. Patent Publication No. 2018 / 0132526 to Davis et al., which is incorporated herein by reference. For more information regarding examples of suitable IR temperature detection, see U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 16 / 593,454 to Sur, filed October 4, 2019, which is incorporated herein by reference.

[0155] 11 , in some implementations, at block 1112, the processing circuit 912 can compare the current atmospheric pressure measured by the sensor 908 to a reference atmospheric pressure, as described above, and adjust the power provided to the aerosol generating component 914 accordingly. The method 1100 can proceed from block 1112 to block 1114. In one example, at block 1114, the sensor reading can return to the reference atmospheric pressure if the maximum puff length is reached or the puffing activity is terminated. In another example, at block 1114, the processing circuit 912 can detect that the energy deposition limit of the aerosol generating component 914 has been exceeded.

[0156] In this example, processing circuit 912 can enter an error state, and method 1100 can proceed from block 1114 to block 1116. On the other hand, if the maximum puff length has not been reached, the puffing action has not ended, or an energy deposition error is not detected, method 1100 can proceed from block 1114 to block 1112 and continue adjusting the power provided to the aerosol generation components. In one example, the power adjustments may be repeated periodically to provide appropriate power levels to the aerosol generation components. In one example, once an appropriate power level is set for the aerosol generation components, this power level may be maintained when aerosol delivery device 900 operates under normal conditions.

[0157] FIG. 13 illustrates a flowchart of a method 1300 of power control for an aerosol delivery device 900 according to an exemplary implementation of the present disclosure. In some implementations, as shown in block 1302, the sensor 908 is inactive until the cartridge / aerosol source member is attached to the control body and ready for use to conserve power consumption. After attachment of the cartridge / aerosol source member is detected, measurements from the sensor can be placed in a buffer, such as a first-in, first-out (FIFO) buffer, and a reference atmospheric pressure (or baseline) can be set to the average of the measurements, as shown in block 1304. Next, periodic sampling of the sensor can be performed, as shown in block 1306, and the rate of change and the difference between the sensor sample and the baseline can be used to determine whether a puff is coming (e.g., activation is detected), as shown in block 1308. If a puff is not coming, a sample can be added to the buffer, a new average taken, and the baseline re-established, as shown in block 1310. In some examples, the cartridge may include the aerosol generating component 914. Alternatively, the control body may include the aerosol generating component.

[0158] At block 1312, a system check may be performed to determine errors, which may include: not enough energy in the power supply 904 for the puff, excessive heating, drying of the cartridge / aerosol source member, and / or too high energy deposition. As shown in block 1314, various measurements may be taken, including: measuring the voltage of the aerosol generating component 914, measuring the current of the aerosol generating component, reading the temperature of the aerosol generating component, calculating the temperature of the aerosol generating component, sampling the pressure of the sensor 908 for changes in the user's draw rate, and / or adjusting the power based on changes in the user's draw rate from the sensor.

[0159] The method 1300 may then proceed to block 1316 to determine whether the puff has ended, either from user cessation or from the maximum time allowed for the puff to be reached. As shown in block 1318, error handling may be based on the flagged error. In some cases, an error may occur simply to prevent a puff from occurring, in which case the device may resume sampling the sensor 908.

[0160] As mentioned above, in some implementations, the processing circuit 912 can determine the difference between the atmospheric pressure measurement from the sensor 908 and a reference atmospheric pressure. In these implementations, the processing circuit can control the switch 910 to adjust the power provided to the aerosol generation component 914 to a power target that is variable according to a predetermined relationship between the difference and the power target. Figures 14A, 14B, 14C, 14D, 14E, and 14F illustrate different predetermined relationships between the difference and the power target according to example implementations of the present disclosure.

[0161] In some implementations, the predetermined relationship can be described by a linear function. In one example shown in FIG. 14A , in region A, the difference between the measured atmospheric pressure from sensor 908 and the reference atmospheric pressure is not large enough to indicate that a puff has occurred. The power provided to aerosol-generating component 914 can remain at 0 watts. At point B, the difference reaches a threshold difference (shown as “minimum pressure” in FIG. 14A ), which can indicate that a puff has occurred. In one example, at point B, a constant power can be provided to preheat the aerosol-generating component (shown as “minimum power” in FIG. 14A ). In another example, the constant power may be different from the “minimum power” shown in FIG. 14A . From point B to point C, the power provided to the aerosol-generating component from power supply 904 can vary linearly with the pressure change (the difference between the measured atmospheric pressure and the reference atmospheric pressure). A larger pressure change can result in higher power being provided to the aerosol generation component, up to a point (shown as "high pressure" in FIG. 14A) where the power provided is limited to a certain value (shown as "maximum power" in FIG. 14A).

[0162] In some implementations, the predetermined relationship can be described by a nonlinear function. In one example shown in FIG. 14B , in region A, the difference between the atmospheric pressure measurement from sensor 908 and the reference atmospheric pressure is not large enough to indicate that a puff has occurred. The power provided to aerosol-generating component 914 can remain at 0 watts. At point B, the difference reaches a threshold difference (shown as “minimum pressure” in FIG. 14B ), which can indicate that a puff has occurred. In one example, at point B, a constant power (shown as “minimum power” in FIG. 14B ) can be provided to preheat the aerosol-generating component. In another example, the constant power can be different from the “minimum power” shown in FIG. 14B . From point B to point C, the power provided from power supply 904 to the aerosol-generating component can change nonlinearly with pressure changes. A larger pressure change can result in higher power being provided to the aerosol generation component, up to a point (shown as "High Pressure" in FIG. 14B) where the power provided is limited to a value (shown as "Maximum Power" in FIG. 14B).

[0163] In some implementations, the predetermined relationship can be described by a step function. In one example shown in FIG. 14C , in region A, the difference between the atmospheric pressure measurement from sensor 908 and the reference atmospheric pressure is not large enough to indicate that a puff has occurred. The power provided to the aerosol-generating component 914 can remain at 0 watts. At point B, the difference reaches a threshold difference (shown as “minimum pressure” in FIG. 14C ), which can indicate that a puff has occurred. In one example, at point B, a constant power (shown as “minimum power” in FIG. 14C ) can be provided to preheat the aerosol-generating component. In another example, the constant power can be different from the “minimum power” shown in FIG. 14C . From point B to region C, the power provided from power supply 904 to the aerosol-generating component can change in power steps accompanied by discontinuous pressure changes. A higher pressure change can result in higher power being provided to the aerosol generation component, up to a point (shown as "High Pressure" in FIG. 14C ) where the power provided is limited to a certain value (shown as "Max Power" in FIG. 14C ). In one example, the step size of the power step and the pressure level correlation in terms of pressure to output power may be determined by the manufacturer of the aerosol delivery device 900 or by the processing circuitry 912. In another example, a user can specify the step size of the power step, such as by providing user input to the processing circuitry.

[0164] In some implementations, the predetermined relationship can be described by a combination of two or more of a linear function, a nonlinear function, and a step function. In one example shown in FIG. 14D , the predetermined relationship can be described by a step-linear function, i.e., a combination of a step function and a linear function. As shown, in region A, the difference between the atmospheric pressure measurement from sensor 908 and the reference atmospheric pressure is not large enough to indicate that a puff has occurred. The power provided to the aerosol-generating component 914 can remain at 0 watts. At point B, the difference reaches a threshold difference (shown as “minimum pressure” in FIG. 14D ), which can indicate that a puff has occurred. In one example, at point B, a constant power (shown as “minimum power” in FIG. 14D ) can be provided to preheat the aerosol-generating component. In another example, the constant power can be different from the “minimum power” shown in FIG. 14D . From point B to point C, the power provided from power supply 904 to the aerosol-generating component can remain constant until the pressure change reaches a certain level (shown as “medium pressure” in FIG. 14D ). From point C to point D, the power provided to the aerosol-generating component may vary linearly with the pressure change. Larger pressure changes may result in higher power being provided to the aerosol-generating component, up to a point (shown in FIG. 14D as "High Pressure") where the power provided is limited to a value (shown in FIG. 14D as "Max Power").

[0165] In another example, as shown in FIG. 14E , the predetermined relationship can be described by another combination of a step function and a linear function. As shown, region A, point B, and point C are similar to the example in FIG. 14D . From point C to point D, the power provided to the aerosol-generating component may vary linearly with pressure change. Then, from point D to point E, the power provided from power supply 904 to the aerosol-generating component may remain constant at a higher power level than from point B to point C. From point E to point F, the power provided to the aerosol-generating component may again vary linearly with pressure change until a point (shown as “High Pressure” in FIG. 14E ) where the power provided is limited to a certain value (shown as “Max Power” in FIG. 14E ).

[0166] In yet another example, the predetermined relationship can be described by a combination of a step function and a nonlinear function, as shown in Figure 14F. The difference in the example of Figure 14F compared to Figure 14E is that in Figure 14F, the power provided to the aerosol generation component can vary nonlinearly with the pressure change from point C to point D and from point E to point F.

[0167] 14A-14F show only a few implementations of the predetermined relationship. In other implementations, the predetermined relationship can be described by a different linear function, a different nonlinear function, a different step function, or a different combination thereof.

[0168] The foregoing description of the use of the smoking article(s) can be applied to the various exemplary implementations described herein through minor modifications that may be apparent to those skilled in the art in light of the further disclosure provided herein. However, the above description of use is not intended to limit the use of the article, but is provided to fulfill all necessary requirements of the disclosure of the present disclosure. Some of the elements shown in the smoking article(s) illustrated in Figures 1 through 12 or otherwise described above may be included in an aerosol delivery device according to the present disclosure.

[0169] Many modifications and other implementations of the present disclosure will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which this disclosure pertains having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings. It is therefore to be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the particular implementations disclosed herein and that modifications and other implementations are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.

Claims

1. At least one housing; and within the at least one housing: a power supply configured to provide an output voltage; an aerosol generating component capable of providing power to generate an aerosol from the aerosol precursor composition; a sensor configured to generate a measurement of atmospheric pressure within an air flow path through the at least one housing; a switch coupled to the power source and the aerosol generation component, the switch being between the power source and the aerosol generation component; a processing circuit coupled to the sensor and the switch, the processing circuit comprising at least: determining a difference between the measured atmospheric pressure from the sensor and a reference atmospheric pressure, and only if the difference is at least one threshold difference; a processing circuit configured to output a signal to cause the switch to switchably connect and disconnect an output voltage to the aerosol generation component to power the aerosol generation component over an aerosol generation period, the switch being adapted to switchably connect and disconnect the output voltage to adjust the power provided to the aerosol generation component to a power target that is variable according to a predetermined relationship between the difference and the power target; 1. An aerosol delivery device comprising:

2. The aerosol delivery device of claim 1, wherein outside of the aerosol generation period when no signal is present and the output voltage to the aerosol generation component is disconnected, the sensor is configured to generate a measurement of the ambient atmospheric pressure to which the sensor is exposed, and the processing circuit is configured to set a reference atmospheric pressure based on the measurement of the ambient atmospheric pressure.

3. 3. The aerosol delivery device of claim 2, wherein the processing circuit configured to set the reference atmospheric pressure comprises processing circuitry further configured to determine an average of measurements of ambient atmospheric pressure and set the reference atmospheric pressure to the average.

4. 10. The aerosol delivery device of claim 1, wherein the threshold difference is set to reflect a minimum deviation from the reference atmospheric pressure caused by a user puffing with the aerosol delivery device.

5. a processing circuit configured to determine the difference and output a signal; determining a difference between the most recent measurement and a reference atmospheric pressure and determining if the difference is at least a threshold difference; determining a rate of change of atmospheric pressure from at least some of the measured atmospheric pressures, and determining whether the difference is caused by a puffing action based on the rate of change; Only output a signal if the difference is at least the threshold difference and is caused by a puffing action 5. The aerosol delivery device of claim 4, comprising a processing circuit configured to:

6. 5. The aerosol delivery device of claim 4, wherein the processing circuit configured to output a signal includes a processing circuit configured to output a signal to power an aerosol generation component for an aerosol generation period coextensive with the puffing action.

7. 10. The aerosol delivery device of claim 1, wherein the predetermined relationship is described by a step function, a linear function, a non-linear function, or a combination thereof.

8. 10. The aerosol delivery device of claim 1, wherein the predetermined relationship is described by a combination of a step function and a linear function.

9. 10. The aerosol delivery device of claim 1, wherein the aerosol precursor composition is liquid, solid, or semi-solid.

10. 2. The aerosol delivery device of claim 1, wherein the processing circuit configured to output a signal includes a processing circuit configured to output a pulse-width modulated (PWM) signal, the duty cycle of the PWM signal being adjustable, thereby adjusting the power provided to the aerosol generation component.

11. At a periodic rate during the aerosol generation period, the processing circuitry determining a sample window of measurements of instantaneous actual power provided to the aerosol generation component, each measurement in the sample window of measurements being determined as the product of the voltage at the aerosol generation component and the current through the aerosol generation component; calculating a running average power provided to the aerosol generating component based on a sample window of instantaneous actual power measurements; Comparing the moving average power to the power target; Each time the moving average power exceeds or falls below the power target, a signal is output to cause the switch to disconnect and connect the output voltage, respectively. The aerosol delivery device of claim 1 , further configured to:

12. 1. A control body for an aerosol delivery device, comprising: a power supply configured to provide an output voltage; an aerosol generating component or terminals configured to connect the aerosol generating component to a control body, the aerosol generating component or terminals being capable of supplying power to generate an aerosol from the aerosol precursor composition; a sensor configured to generate a measurement of atmospheric pressure within an air flow path through the at least one housing; a switch coupled to the power source and the aerosol generation component, the switch being between the power source and the aerosol generation component; a processing circuit coupled to the sensor and the switch, the processing circuit comprising at least: determining a difference between the measured atmospheric pressure from the sensor and a reference atmospheric pressure, and only if the difference is at least one threshold difference; a processing circuit configured to output a signal to cause the switch to switchably connect and disconnect an output voltage to the aerosol generation component to power the aerosol generation component over an aerosol generation period, the switch being adapted to switchably connect and disconnect the output voltage to adjust the power provided to the aerosol generation component to a power target that is variable according to a predetermined relationship between the difference and the power target; A control body comprising:

13. The control body of claim 12, wherein outside of the aerosol generation period when no signal is present and the output voltage to the aerosol generation component is disconnected, the sensor is configured to generate a measurement of the ambient atmospheric pressure to which the sensor is exposed, and the processing circuit is configured to set a reference atmospheric pressure based on the measurement of the ambient atmospheric pressure.

14. 14. The control body of claim 13, wherein the processing circuitry configured to set the reference atmospheric pressure comprises processing circuitry further configured to determine an average of measurements of ambient atmospheric pressure and set the reference atmospheric pressure to the average.

15. 13. The control body of claim 12, wherein the threshold difference is set to reflect a minimum deviation from the reference atmospheric pressure caused by a user puffing with the aerosol delivery device.

16. a processing circuit configured to determine the difference and output a signal; determining a difference between the most recent measurement and a reference atmospheric pressure and determining if the difference is at least a threshold difference; determining a rate of change of atmospheric pressure from at least some of the measured atmospheric pressures, and determining whether the difference is caused by a puffing action based on the rate of change; Only output a signal if the difference is at least the threshold difference and is caused by a puffing action 16. The control body of claim 15, comprising a processing circuit configured to:

17. The control body of claim 15, wherein the processing circuit configured to output a signal includes a processing circuit configured to output a signal to power an aerosol generation component for an aerosol generation period coextensive with the puffing action.

18. 13. The control body of claim 12, wherein the predetermined relationship is described by a step function, a linear function, a non-linear function, or a combination thereof.

19. 13. The control body of claim 12, wherein the predetermined relationship is described by a combination of a step function and a linear function.

20. The control body of claim 12 , wherein the aerosol precursor composition is a liquid, solid, or semi-solid.

21. The control body of claim 12, wherein the processing circuit configured to output a signal includes a processing circuit configured to output a pulse-width modulated (PWM) signal, the duty cycle of the PWM signal being adjustable, thereby adjusting the power provided to the aerosol generation component.

22. At a periodic rate during the heating period, the processing circuitry determining a sample window of measurements of instantaneous actual power provided to the aerosol generation component, each measurement in the sample window of measurements being determined as the product of the voltage at the aerosol generation component and the current through the aerosol generation component; calculating a running average power provided to the aerosol generating component based on a sample window of instantaneous actual power measurements; Comparing the moving average power to the power target; Each time the moving average power exceeds or falls below the power target, a signal is output to cause the switch to disconnect and connect the output voltage, respectively. The control body of claim 12 further configured to:

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