Aerosol generation device

Abstract

An aerosol generation device 1 comprises: a heating unit for heating an aerosol source; a contact sensor 100 for detecting an operation performed with respect to a prescribed portion on a surface of a housing; and a control unit for controlling a prescribed operation in accordance with the operation detected by the contact sensor 100. The operation detected by the contact sensor 100 includes an operation in which, with regard to the contact sensor 100, there is movement in a direction parallel to the surface of the housing. The prescribed operation includes heating by the heating unit.

Description

Aerosol Generator

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an aerosol generating device.

[0002] For example, in the aerosol inhaler described in Patent Document 1, the control device detects a request for aerosol generation based on the operation of an operation unit consisting of a button switch. For example, when a user performs a predetermined operation on the operation unit to start inhaling aerosol, the operation unit outputs a signal indicating a request for aerosol generation to the control device.

[0003] International Publication No. 2022 / 123796

[0004] If a button-type switch provided on the housing of the aerosol generator (a power supply unit case in Patent Document 1) is not provided with a waterproof structure, water droplets may enter the housing through a gap between the switch and the housing, causing a malfunction. The present disclosure aims to provide an aerosol generator that is less susceptible to water droplets entering the housing.

[0005] The present disclosure, which has been completed with respect to this object, provides an aerosol generating device comprising: a heating unit for heating an aerosol source; a contact sensor for detecting an operation on a predetermined portion on the surface of a housing; and a control unit for controlling a predetermined operation in response to the operation detected by the contact sensor, wherein the operation detected by the contact sensor includes an operation of moving in a direction parallel to the surface of the housing by the contact sensor, and the predetermined operation includes heating by the heating unit. Here, the contact sensor may be provided on each of at least two or more surfaces of the housing. The control unit may also use at least one of the contact sensors provided on each of the two or more surfaces to detect an input operation. The device may further comprise an orientation sensor for detecting the orientation of the housing, and the control unit may determine which of the multiple contact sensors to use for receiving an input operation in response to the orientation of the housing detected by the orientation sensor. The control unit may also use one or more of the multiple contact sensors designated by a user to receive an input operation. The contact sensors may be provided on a first surface and a second surface facing each other across the heating unit. The control unit may accept a common input operation from at least two of the contact sensors provided on each of the two or more surfaces. The control unit may determine the content of the input operation to be accepted for each of the contact sensors provided on each of the two or more surfaces. The control unit may control heating by the heating unit in response to detection by the contact sensors of an operation moving in a direction parallel to the surface of the housing. An input start position may be defined for each of the contact sensors, and the control unit may accept the input operation based on the input start position. An LED may be provided at the input start position. The control unit may set the position where an input operation on the contact sensor is first detected as the input start position, and accept the input operation based on the input start position. The control unit may determine the content of the input operation based on a pattern of operation on the contact sensor.The pattern may be an arc-shaped movement or a series of linear movements in different directions. The contact sensors may be scattered or continuous.

[0006] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to provide an aerosol generating device in which water droplets are less likely to flow into the housing.

[0007] 1 is an example of a view of the aerosol generation device as seen from diagonally above the front. FIG. 2 is an example of a view of the aerosol generation device as seen from diagonally above the rear. FIG. 3 is an example of a view of the main body with the cover removed as seen from the front. FIG. 4 is an example of a view schematically showing an example of a configuration of an aerosol generation device. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a swipe operation performed by a user. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a swipe operation performed by a user. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a swipe operation performed by a user. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a relationship between a swipe operation on the contact sensor and a transition of the state of the generation device. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a relationship between a first modified example of a swipe operation on the contact sensor and a transition of the state of the generation device. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a relationship between a first modified example of a swipe operation on the contact sensor and a transition of the state of the generation device. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a relationship between a swipe operation on the contact sensor and a transition of the state of the generation device. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a swipe operation performed by a user. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a generation device according to a fifth embodiment. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a swipe operation performed by a user on a shoulder contact sensor. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of the relationship between a swipe operation on a contact sensor and a transition of the state of the generation device. FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a generation device according to a sixth embodiment. FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a generation device according to a seventh embodiment.

[0008] FIG. 1 is an example of a view of the aerosol generation device 1 as seen from diagonally above the front. FIG. 2 is an example of a view of the aerosol generation device 1 as seen from diagonally above the rear. FIG. 3 is an example of a view of the main body 10 as seen from the front with the cover 9 removed. FIG. 4 is an example of a diagram schematically showing an example of the configuration of the aerosol generation device 1. The aerosol generation device (hereinafter sometimes simply referred to as the "generation device") 1 has a main body 10 having a heating unit 80 that heats a substrate 1000 including an aerosol source, and a cover 9 that is detachable from the main body 10.

[0009] (Main body 10) The main body 10 has a housing 11 that forms a substantially rectangular parallelepiped internal space that houses the heating unit 80 and other components. The cover 9 covers one surface of the housing 11. Hereinafter, of the six surfaces of the housing 11, the surface to which the cover 9 is attached will be referred to as the front surface 12, the left side surface as viewed from the front surface 12 will be referred to as the left side surface 13, the right side surface as viewed from the front surface 12 will be referred to as the right side surface 14, the upper surface as the top surface 15, and the lower surface as the bottom surface 16. Furthermore, of the six surfaces of the housing 11, the surface that is connected to the left side surface 13, the right side surface 14, the top surface 15, and the bottom surface 16 and is different from the front surface 12 will be referred to as the rear surface 17. The cover 9 covers the front surface 12 of the housing 11, and the left side surface 13, the right side surface 14, the top surface 15, the bottom surface 16, and the rear surface 17 are exposed to the outside when the cover 9 is attached.

[0010] An opening 92, which will be described later, is formed in a portion of the top surface 15 on the left side surface 13 side. Furthermore, the housing 11 has a curved surface between each pair of surfaces in the front surface 12, left side surface 13, right side surface 14, top surface 15, bottom surface 16, and rear surface 17. For example, an upper-left curved surface 18 is provided between the left side surface 13 and the top surface 15. Furthermore, an upper-right curved surface 19 is provided between the right side surface 14 and the top surface 15.

[0011] With the above-described configuration, the opening 92 is provided on the left side surface 13, which is an example of one end side of the top surface 15, and the upper-left curved surface 18 is provided on the left side surface 13 side of the opening 92. The upper-right curved surface 19 is provided on the right side surface 14, which is an example of the other end side of the top surface 15. As shown in Fig. 3 , when viewed from the front surface 12 side, the curvature of the upper-right curved surface 19 is smaller than the curvature of the upper-left curved surface 18. In other words, the radius of curvature of the upper-right curved surface 19 is larger than the radius of curvature of the upper-left curved surface 18, and the upper-right curved surface 19 changes more gradually than the upper-left curved surface 18.

[0012] As shown in Fig. 4, the main body 10 includes a power supply unit 20, a sensor unit 30, a notification unit 40, a memory unit 50, a communication unit 60, a control unit 70, a heating unit 80, a heat insulating unit 85, and a holding unit 90. The power supply unit 20, the sensor unit 30, the notification unit 40, the memory unit 50, the communication unit 60, the control unit 70, the heating unit 80, and the heat insulating unit 85 are housed in a housing 11. The main body 10 also has a shutter 94 (see Fig. 1) that is disposed on an upper surface 15 and can be moved along the upper surface 15. Each component will be described below in order.

[0013] ((Power Supply Unit 20)) The power supply unit 20 has a battery that stores power. The battery can be, for example, a rechargeable battery such as a lithium-ion secondary battery. The battery may be charged by connecting to an external power source via a cable connected to a USB (Universal Serial Bus) terminal (not shown). The battery may also be charged using wireless power transmission technology without being connected to a power transmitting device. Alternatively, the battery may be removable from the main unit 10 and may be replaceable with a new battery.

[0014] (Sensor unit 30) The sensor unit 30 detects various types of information related to the main body 10. The sensor unit 30 then outputs the detected information to the control unit 70. As an example, the sensor unit 30 is configured with a pressure sensor such as a microphone capacitor, a flow rate sensor, or a temperature sensor. When the sensor unit 30 detects a value associated with inhalation by the user, it outputs information indicating that inhalation by the user has been performed to the control unit 70. The sensor unit 30 also detects the temperature of the heating unit 80 and outputs the detected temperature to the control unit 70.

[0015] The sensor unit 30 also has a contact sensor 100 that detects when the user is touching the main body 10. The contact sensor 100 functions as an input device that accepts information input from the user. The contact sensor 100 then outputs the information input by the user to the control unit 70. The contact sensor 100 will be described in detail later.

[0016] (Notification unit 40) The notification unit 40 notifies the user of information. As an example, the notification unit 40 is configured with a light-emitting device such as an LED (Light Emitting Diode). In this case, the notification unit 40 emits light in different light-emitting patterns when the battery of the power supply unit 20 needs to be charged, when the battery is being charged, when an abnormality has occurred in the main body 10, etc. The light-emitting pattern here is a concept that includes color, timing of turning on / off, etc. The notification unit 40 may be configured with a display device that displays images, a sound output device that outputs sound, a vibration device that vibrates, etc., together with or instead of the light-emitting device.

[0017] A display window 98 is formed on the front surface 12 of the housing 11 to transmit light emitted by a light-emitting device such as an LED, which is an example of the notification unit 40, and the light-emitting device is provided behind the display window 98.

[0018] ((Storage Unit 50)) The storage unit 50 stores various types of information for the operation of the generation device 1. The storage unit 50 is configured, for example, with a non-volatile storage medium such as a flash memory. One example of the information stored in the storage unit 50 is information about the OS (Operating System) of the generation device 1, such as the control details of the various components controlled by the control unit 70. Another example of the information stored in the storage unit 50 is information about suction by the user, such as the number of suctions, the suction time, and the cumulative suction time. Another example of the information stored in the storage unit 50 is information about a control sequence that defines the change over time in the target temperature of the heating unit 80 when the heating unit 80 is heated. The storage unit 50 may store information about multiple types of control sequences that vary in the change over time in the target temperature of the heating unit 80.

[0019] ((Communication Unit 60)) The communication unit 60 is a communication interface for transmitting and receiving information between the generation device 1 and other devices. The communication unit 60 performs communication in accordance with any wired or wireless communication standard. Such communication standards may include, for example, a wireless local area network (LAN), a wired LAN, Wi-Fi (registered trademark), or Bluetooth (registered trademark). For example, the communication unit 60 receives new OS information from a server in order to update the OS information stored in the storage unit 50.

[0020] (Control Unit 70) The control unit 70 functions as an arithmetic processing unit and a control device, and controls the overall operation of the generation device 1 in accordance with various programs. The control unit 70 is realized by electronic circuits such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and a microprocessor. The control unit 70 may also include a ROM (Read Only Memory) that stores the programs to be used, calculation parameters, etc., and a RAM (Random Access Memory) that temporarily stores parameters that change as appropriate. The generation device 1 executes various processes under the control of the control unit 70. Examples of processes controlled by the control unit 70 include power supply from the power supply unit 20 to the other components, charging of the power supply unit 20, detection by the sensor unit 30, notification of information by the notification unit 40, storage and reading of information by the memory unit 50, and transmission and reception of information by the communication unit 60. Other processes executed by the generation device 1, such as input of information to each component and processing based on information output from each component, are also controlled by the control unit 70.

[0021] (Heating unit 80) The heating unit 80 generates an aerosol by heating the aerosol source and atomizing the aerosol source. The heating unit 80 is made of any material, such as metal or polyimide. For example, the heating unit 80 is configured in a film shape and is arranged to cover the outer periphery of the holding unit 90. When the heating unit 80 generates heat, the aerosol source contained in the substrate 1000 is heated from the outer periphery of the substrate 1000 and atomized, thereby generating an aerosol. When power is supplied from the power supply unit 20, the heating unit 80 generates heat and heats the substrate 1000. When the temperature of the substrate 1000 heated by the heating unit 80 reaches a predetermined temperature, the user can inhale the aerosol. Thereafter, when the sensor unit 30 detects that a predetermined user input has been made, the power supply may be stopped.

[0022] ((Thermal insulation section 85)) The thermal insulation section 85 prevents heat transfer from the heating section 80 to other components of the generating device 1. The thermal insulation section 85 is arranged so as to cover at least the outer periphery of the heating section 80. For example, the thermal insulation section 85 is made of a vacuum insulation material, an aerogel insulation material, or the like. Note that a vacuum insulation material is an insulation material in which, for example, glass wool and silica (silicon powder) are wrapped in a resin film to create a high vacuum state, thereby reducing the thermal conduction of gases to as close to zero as possible.

[0023] ((Holding unit 90)) The holding unit 90 has a columnar internal space 91 provided inside the housing 11 and an opening 92 formed on the upper surface 15 of the housing 11 to connect the internal space 91 to the outside. The internal space 91 is a columnar body having a bottom 93 as its bottom surface. The holding unit 90 is configured so that the inner diameter is smaller than the outer diameter of the substrate 1000 in at least a portion of the height direction of the columnar body, and can hold the substrate 1000 by compressing the substrate 1000 inserted into the internal space 91 from the opening 92 from the outer periphery. The holding unit 90 also has the function of defining an air flow path through the substrate 1000. An air inlet, which is an entrance for air into this flow path, is located, for example, in the bottom 93. On the other hand, an air outlet, which is an exit for air from this flow path, is the opening 92. The opening 92 is exposed by sliding a shutter 94 to an open position and is concealed by sliding the shutter 94 to a closed position.

[0024] (Shutter 94) The shutter 94 has a magnet on its back surface. Meanwhile, a magnetic sensor (not shown) of the sensor unit 30 is attached to the top surface 15 of the housing 11 within the movable range of the shutter 94. The magnetic sensor is a Hall IC composed of a Hall element and an operational amplifier, etc., and outputs a voltage according to the strength of the magnetic field that crosses the Hall element. In this embodiment, the control unit 70 detects whether the shutter 94 is open or closed from a change in the voltage output from the magnetic sensor as the shutter 94 slides.

[0025] ((Example of Appearance of Main Body 10)) As shown in FIG. 3 , the main body 10 is exposed from the front surface 12 of the housing 11 and has two magnets, an upper magnet 95 and a lower magnet 96, which are used to connect to the cover 9. The upper magnet 95 and the lower magnet 96 are cylindrical and have a circular shape when viewed from the front. The centers of the circles of the upper magnet 95 and the lower magnet 96 are aligned in the vertical direction, with the upper magnet 95 located at the top of the main body 10 and the lower magnet 96 located at the bottom of the main body 10.

[0026] The main body 10 has a display window 98 between the upper magnet 95 and the lower magnet 96 that allows light from the multiple LEDs to pass through to a display window 9a (described later) of the cover 9. The display window 98 is a window provided at a position corresponding to the positions of the multiple LEDs arranged inside the housing 11 of the main body 10, and allows light from the multiple LEDs to pass through to the display window 9a of the cover 9. This allows the user to see the light from the outer surface of the cover 9.

[0027] (Cover 9) The cover 9 is formed into a plate shape using a light-transmitting material, covers the front surface 12 of the housing 11 of the main body 10, and is formed so as not to create any steps with the left side surface 13, right side surface 14, top surface 15, and bottom surface 16 of the housing 11. As a result, the cover 9 forms an appearance that is integrated with the left side surface 13, right side surface 14, top surface 15, and bottom surface 16 of the housing 11, and functions as decoration. The cover 9 also functions to suppress the propagation of heat emitted from the main body 10. The cover 9 has a display window 9a that transmits light from multiple LEDs provided on the main body 10.

[0028] (Substrate 1000) The substrate 1000 is a stick-shaped member. The substrate 1000 includes a substrate portion 1001 and a mouthpiece portion 1002. The substrate portion 1001 includes an aerosol source. The aerosol source is atomized by heating, generating an aerosol. The aerosol source may be tobacco-derived, such as a processed product obtained by molding cut tobacco or tobacco raw materials into granules, sheets, or powder. The aerosol source may also include non-tobacco-derived aerosol sources made from plants other than tobacco (e.g., mint and herbs). As an example, the aerosol source may contain a flavoring component such as menthol. When the generator 1 is a medical inhaler, the aerosol source may contain a medication to be inhaled by the patient. The aerosol source is not limited to a solid, but may also be a liquid such as a polyhydric alcohol such as glycerin and propylene glycol, or water. At least a portion of the substrate part 1001 is accommodated in the internal space 91 of the holder 90 when the substrate 1000 is held by the holder 90 .

[0029] The suction mouthpiece 1002 is a member that is held in the user's mouth when inhaling. At least a portion of the suction mouthpiece 1002 protrudes from the opening 92 when the substrate 1000 is held in the holding portion 90. When the user holds the suction mouthpiece 1002 protruding from the opening 92 in their mouth and inhales, air flows into the holding portion 90 through an air inlet hole (not shown). The inflowing air passes through the internal space 91 of the holding portion 90, i.e., passes through the substrate portion 1001, and reaches the user's mouth together with the aerosol generated from the substrate portion 1001.

[0030] {Contact Sensor 100} The contact sensor 100 will be described in detail below. The contact sensor 100 detects the position where the user's finger F touches the rear surface 17. Examples of the detection method of the contact sensor 100 include a capacitance method, a resistive film method, a surface acoustic wave method, an infrared method, an electromagnetic induction method, and a load detection method. For example, if the contact sensor 100 uses a capacitance method, the contact sensor 100 has a matrix of multiple electrodes running in the vertical and horizontal directions in FIG. 3 , and its surface is always covered with a small amount of static electricity. When the finger F touches the rear surface 17, the finger F absorbs the static electricity covering the surface of the contact sensor 100. The contact sensor 100 identifies the location where the static electricity has been absorbed, thereby determining the coordinates of the position where the finger F is touching, and transmits the coordinates to the control unit 70 via the internal bus.

[0031] The contact sensor 100 is disposed on the front side of the rear wall 171 of the housing 11 that forms the rear surface 17 (in other words, inside the housing 11). When viewed in the front-to-rear direction, the contact sensor 100 is rectangular and disposed so that its surface is parallel to the rear surface 17. Because the contact sensor 100 employs the detection method described above, it is possible to dispose the contact sensor 100 inside the housing 11. The contact sensor 100 enables a user to perform an input operation by touching the rear surface 17 with a finger F. In addition, in the generation device 1, the shape of the rear surface 17 is the same in areas where the contact sensor 100 is disposed inside and areas where it is not disposed inside. In other words, the rear surface 17 is formed so that the areas where the contact sensor 100 is disposed inside and the areas where it is not disposed inside are indistinguishable from each other visually and tactilely.

[0032] The control unit 70 determines what kind of operation has been performed on the contact sensor 100 based on the information transmitted from the contact sensor 100. The control unit 70 determines that a swipe operation has been performed when it is detected that the contact position of the finger F has moved a predetermined distance or more on the rear surface 17 (in other words, moved along the rear surface 17). The control unit 70 also determines that a tap operation has been performed when the finger F is brought into contact with the rear surface 17 and then removed from the rear surface 17 within a reference time (e.g., 2 seconds) without performing a swipe operation.

[0033] The swipe operation will be described in detail below. Figures 5, 6, and 7 are diagrams showing an example of a swipe operation performed by a user. In Figures 5, 6, and 7, the position of the finger F before movement due to an input operation (in other words, the area where the finger F is in contact with the rear surface 17) is shown by a dashed line, and the position of the finger F after movement is shown by a solid line. In Figures 5, 6, and 7, the contact sensor 100 is also shown by a solid line.

[0034] FIG. 5 shows an example of a swipe operation in four directions. More specifically, when information indicating that the finger F has been moved upward is transmitted from the contact sensor 100 as shown in FIG. 5( a), the control unit 70 determines that an upward swipe operation (an example of an input operation) has been performed. When information indicating that the finger F has been moved downward is transmitted from the contact sensor 100 as shown in FIG. 5( b), the control unit 70 determines that a downward swipe operation has been performed. When information indicating that the finger F has been moved leftward is transmitted from the contact sensor 100 as shown in FIG. 5( c), the control unit 70 determines that a leftward swipe operation has been performed. When information indicating that the finger F has been moved rightward is transmitted from the contact sensor 100 as shown in FIG. 5( d), the control unit 70 determines that a rightward swipe operation has been performed.

[0035] As shown in Fig. 6(a), when information indicating that the finger F has been moved diagonally upward to the right is transmitted from the contact sensor 100, the control unit 70 determines that a right-upward swipe operation has been performed. As shown in Fig. 6(b), when information indicating that the finger F has been moved diagonally downward to the left is transmitted from the contact sensor 100, the control unit 70 determines that a left-downward swipe operation has been performed. As shown in Fig. 6(c), when information indicating that the finger F has been moved diagonally upward to the left is transmitted from the contact sensor 100, the control unit 70 determines that a left-upward swipe operation has been performed. As shown in Fig. 6(d), when information indicating that the finger F has been moved diagonally downward to the right is transmitted from the contact sensor 100, the control unit 70 determines that a right-downward swipe operation has been performed.

[0036] Here, the control unit 70 determines that the swipe operation of the finger F is a movement in one of the four directions, up, down, left, and right, even if the movement direction of the finger F is slightly diagonal to that direction. For example, if the movement direction of the finger F is within a predetermined angle (e.g., 15°) with respect to each of the four directions, up, down, left, and right, the control unit 70 determines that the swipe operation is a movement in that direction. On the other hand, if the movement direction of the finger F exceeds a predetermined angle (e.g., 15°) with respect to the four directions, the control unit 70 determines that the swipe operation is a movement in a diagonal direction. More specifically, an example of upward movement will be described. Even if the movement direction of the finger F is not exactly upward (the direction of FIG. 5( a)), the control unit 70 determines that the swipe operation is an upward movement if the directional deviation is within a predetermined angle, for example. On the other hand, if the movement direction of the finger F exceeds a predetermined angle to the right with respect to the upward direction, the control unit 70 determines that a right-upward swipe operation has been performed, and if the movement direction exceeds a predetermined angle to the left with respect to the upward direction, the control unit 70 determines that a left-upward swipe operation has been performed.

[0037] 7(a) and 7(b), when information that the finger F has been moved in a clockwise arc is transmitted from the contact sensor 100, the control unit 70 determines that a clockwise swipe operation has been performed. Furthermore, when the central angle of the clockwise arc is 90° or less as shown in FIG. 7(a), the control unit 70 determines that a half-clockwise swipe operation has been performed, and when the central angle of the clockwise arc is greater than 90° as shown in FIG. 7(b), the control unit 70 determines that a full-clockwise swipe operation has been performed.

[0038] 7(c) and 7(d), when information indicating that the finger F has been moved counterclockwise in an arc is transmitted from the contact sensor 100, the control unit 70 determines that a counterclockwise swipe operation has been performed. Furthermore, when the central angle of the counterclockwise arc is 90° or less as shown in FIG. 7(c), the control unit 70 determines that a half-counterclockwise swipe operation has been performed, and when the central angle of the counterclockwise arc is greater than 90° as shown in FIG. 7(d), the control unit 70 determines that a full-counterclockwise swipe operation has been performed.

[0039] FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of the relationship between a swipe operation on the contact sensor 100 and a transition in the state of the generation device 1. The control unit 70 controls the operation of the generation device 1 based on the operation on the contact sensor 100. For example, when the generation device 1 is in sleep mode, if the control unit 70 determines that a swipe operation moving all the way to the right has been performed, the generation device 1 is started up and transitions to active mode. Also, when the generation device 1 is in active mode, if the control unit 70 determines that a swipe operation moving all the way to the left has been performed, the generation device 1 transitions to sleep mode. Note that when the generation device 1 is in sleep mode, it can be exemplified that most of the functions of the generation device 1 are unavailable, except for the function of determining the operation on the contact sensor 100. Also, when the generation device 1 is in active mode, it can be exemplified that most of the functions are available, except for the heating function of the heating unit 80.

[0040] The control unit 70 may wake up the generation device 1 from the sleep mode when it determines that a swipe operation of a half-clockwise movement has been performed. The control unit 70 may transition the generation device 1 from the active mode to the sleep mode when it determines that a swipe operation of a half-clockwise movement has been performed.

[0041] The control unit 70 controls the operation of the heating unit 80 based on a swipe operation on the contact sensor 100. For example, when the generation device 1 is in active mode, if the control unit 70 determines that a swipe operation in a half-clockwise direction has been performed, the control unit 70 starts heating the heating unit 80. The control unit 70 then heats the heating unit 80 in accordance with a control sequence that specifies the temporal change in the target temperature of the heating unit 80 when heating the heating unit 80, and then stops heating. Furthermore, when the heating unit 80 is heating, if the control unit 70 determines that a swipe operation in a half-clockwise direction has been performed, the control unit 70 stops heating the heating unit 80.

[0042] The control unit 70 may start heating the heating unit 80 when it determines that a swipe operation moving completely to the right has been performed. The control unit 70 may also start heating the heating unit 80 on the condition that the cover 9 is attached to the main body 10. The control unit 70 may also stop heating the heating unit 80 when it determines that a swipe operation moving completely to the left has been performed.

[0043] When the control unit 70 determines that an upward swipe operation has been performed while the heating unit 80 is heating, the control unit 70 increases the heating temperature. On the other hand, when the control unit 70 determines that a downward swipe operation has been performed while the heating unit 80 is heating, the control unit 70 decreases the heating temperature. Note that the control unit 70 may increase the heating temperature when the control unit 80 determines that a rightward swipe operation has been performed while the heating unit 80 is heating, and decrease the heating temperature when the control unit 70 determines that a leftward swipe operation has been performed while the heating unit 80 is heating. Alternatively, the control unit 70 may increase the heating temperature when the control unit 80 determines that an upper right swipe operation has been performed while the heating unit 80 is heating, and decrease the heating temperature when the control unit 70 determines that a lower left swipe operation has been performed while the heating unit 80 is heating.

[0044] Furthermore, when multiple control sequences are stored in the storage unit 50, if the generation device 1 is in the active mode and it is determined that a rightward swipe operation has been performed, the control unit 70 may change the setting from the currently set control sequence to a control sequence with a higher target temperature for the heating unit 80. Furthermore, if the generation device 1 is in the active mode and it is determined that a leftward swipe operation has been performed, the control unit 70 may change the setting from the currently set control sequence to a control sequence with a lower target temperature for the heating unit 80.

[0045] Furthermore, when the control unit 70 receives an instruction based on a swipe operation for controlling a mode transition of the generation device 1 or the operation of the heating unit 80, the control unit 70 may notify the user of the reception of the instruction via the notification unit 40. For example, when the control unit 70 determines that a half-clockwise swipe operation has been performed while the generation device 1 is in the active mode, the control unit 70 may start heating the heating unit 80 and vibrate the vibration device. Alternatively, the control unit 70 may output sound from the sound output device or cause the light-emitting device to emit light, in addition to or instead of vibrating the vibration device.

[0046] As described above, the generator 1 includes a heating unit 80 that heats the aerosol source, a contact sensor 100 that detects an operation on a predetermined portion on the rear surface 17, which is an example of a surface of the housing 11, and a control unit 70 that controls heating by the heating unit 80 in response to detection by the contact sensor 100 of a swipe operation, which is an example of an operation of moving in a direction parallel to the rear surface 17 of the housing 11. According to the generator 1 configured as described above, the contact sensor 100 can be disposed inside the housing 11, and therefore, compared to a configuration in which there is a gap between, for example, a button-type switch and the housing, it is possible to prevent water droplets from flowing into the housing 11.

[0047] In the generation device 1, the control unit 70 determines the content of the input operation based on the pattern of the operation on the contact sensor 100. For example, when the generation device 1 is in the active mode and the control unit 70 determines that a swipe operation of a half-clockwise movement (an example of an arc-shaped movement), which is an example of a pattern, has been performed, the control unit 70 determines that the content of the input operation is to start heating the heating unit 80, and starts heating the heating unit 80.

[0048] Furthermore, the generation device 1 does not have a display capable of displaying images on the front side of the contact sensor 100 (in other words, inside the housing 11). In other words, the generation device 1 does not have a touch panel. Therefore, the generation device 1 can be made less expensive than a configuration that includes a touch panel. Furthermore, since the generation device 1 does not have a display, there is no need to make the rear wall 171 transparent. Therefore, the rear wall 171 can be molded using an opaque resin.

[0049] Furthermore, in the generating device 1, the contact sensor 100 is disposed on the rear surface 17, which is an example of a housing surface, excluding the front surface 12, which is an example of a portion where the detachable cover 9 is attached to the main body 10 (an example of a device main body). This allows the generating device 1 to dispose the contact sensor 100 so that the user can perform input operations on the rear surface 17, which is easy for the user to perform input operations, while allowing the cover 9 to have a decorative function and a function of suppressing the propagation of heat emitted from the main body 10.

[0050] (First Variant of Swipe Operation) FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of the relationship between a first variant of a swipe operation on the contact sensor 100 and a transition in the state of the generation device 1. When a swipe operation according to the first variant described below is performed on the contact sensor 100, the control unit 70 controls the transition of modes of the generation device 1 and the operation of the heating unit 80. When the control unit 70 determines that an upward swipe operation has been performed while the generation device 1 is in the sleep mode, it transitions the generation device 1 to the active mode. Furthermore, when the control unit 70 determines that a downward swipe operation has been performed while the generation device 1 is in the active mode, it transitions the generation device 1 to the sleep mode.

[0051] Furthermore, when the control unit 70 determines that an upward swipe operation has been performed while the generation device 1 is in the active mode, it starts heating the heating unit 80. Furthermore, when the control unit 70 determines that a downward swipe operation has been performed while the heating unit 80 is heating, it stops heating the heating unit 80.

[0052] Furthermore, when the control unit 70 determines that a rightward swipe operation has been performed while the heating unit 80 is heating, the control unit 70 increases the heating temperature. On the other hand, when the control unit 70 determines that a leftward swipe operation has been performed while the heating unit 80 is heating, the control unit 70 decreases the heating temperature. Note that, when the control unit 70 determines that an upper-right swipe operation has been performed while the heating unit 80 is heating, the control unit 70 may increase the heating temperature, and when the control unit 70 determines that a lower-left swipe operation has been performed, the control unit 70 may decrease the heating temperature.

[0053] Furthermore, when determining that the above-described swipe operations of upward movement, downward movement, left movement, right movement, upper right movement, lower left movement, upper left movement, and lower right movement have been performed, the control unit 70 may set the position where an input operation on the contact sensor 100 is first detected as the input start position and use the input start position as a reference. For example, when the generation device 1 is in sleep mode, if the user first touches the center of the contact sensor 100 on the rear surface 17, for example, a portion opposite the intersection of two diagonal lines, and then activates the device by moving upward, the control unit 70 sets the portion opposite the center on the rear surface 17 as the input start position. Then, when the generation device 1 is in active mode, if the control unit 70 determines that the user touched the portion opposite the center on the rear surface 17 and then performed an upward swipe operation, the control unit 70 may start heating the heating unit 80. This makes it possible to prevent mode transitions and control of the operation of the heating unit 80 from being caused by erroneous user operations.

[0054] (Second Variant of Swipe Operation) FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of the relationship between a second variant of a swipe operation on the contact sensor 100 and a transition in the state of the generation device 1. When a swipe operation according to the second variant described below is performed on the contact sensor 100, the control unit 70 may control the transition of modes of the generation device 1 and the operation of the heating unit 80. When the generation device 1 is in sleep mode, the control unit 70 may transition to active mode if it determines that at least two of the above-described swipe operations of up, down, left, right, right-up, down-left, up-left, and down-right have been performed consecutively. For example, as shown in FIG. 10 , when the generation device 1 is in sleep mode, the control unit 70 may transition to active mode if it determines that swipe operations of right, down-left, and right have been performed consecutively (in other words, when it determines that a swipe operation forming the letter "Z" has been performed). This prevents the device from transitioning from the sleep mode to the active mode due to an erroneous operation by the user.

[0055] Furthermore, when the generation device 1 is in the active mode, the control unit 70 may start heating the heating unit 80 if it determines that at least two swipe operations of the above-described upward, downward, left, right, upper right, lower left, upper left, and lower right have been performed consecutively. For example, when the generation device 1 is in the active mode, the control unit 70 may start heating the heating unit 80 if it determines that swipe operations of rightward, lower left, and rightward have been performed consecutively (in other words, if it determines that a swipe operation drawing the letter "Z" has been performed). This makes it possible to prevent the heating unit 80 from starting heating due to an erroneous operation by the user.

[0056] As described above, the control unit 70 determines the content of the input operation based on the pattern of operation on the contact sensor 100. For example, when the generation device 1 is in active mode and the control unit 70 determines that a swipe operation has been performed that is a series of linear movements in different directions (e.g., a series of rightward, downward, and rightward movements), as an example of a pattern, the control unit 70 determines that the content of the input operation is to start heating the heating unit 80 and starts heating the heating unit 80. This makes it possible to prevent the heating unit 80 from starting heating due to an erroneous operation by the user, thereby improving safety.

[0057] Second Embodiment Fig. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a generation device 2 according to a second embodiment. Fig. 11 is an example of a view of the generation device 2 as seen from the rear side. The generation device 2 according to the second embodiment differs from the generation device 1 according to the first embodiment in that it has a housing 211 corresponding to the housing 11 and a control unit 270 corresponding to the control unit 70. Components having the same functions in the first and second embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed descriptions thereof will be omitted.

[0058] The housing 211 differs from the housing 11 in that it has a rear surface 217 corresponding to the rear surface 17. The rear surface 217 has a mark 220 attached to the center of the contact sensor 100, for example, at a location opposite the intersection of two diagonal lines. The mark 220 can be, for example, a recess recessed from the rear surface 217 or a protrusion protruding from the rear surface 217 in a rear wall 271 of the housing 211 that forms the rear surface 217. The recess or protrusion can be, for example, in the shape of a cone, a cylinder, or a square prism. The mark 220 can also be a sticker attached to the rear surface 217.

[0059] 12 and 13 are diagrams showing an example of a swipe operation performed by a user. In FIGS. 12 and 13 , the position of the finger F before movement due to an input operation (in other words, the area where the finger F is in contact with the rear surface 217) is shown by a dashed line, and the position of the finger F after movement is shown by a solid line. Also, in FIGS. 12 and 13 , the contact sensor 100 is shown by a solid line. The control unit 270 determines a swipe operation on the contact sensor 100 based on a mark 220 attached to the rear surface 217. When information indicating that the finger F has been moved clockwise in an arc above the mark 220 is transmitted from the contact sensor 100 as shown in FIGS. 12( a) and 12(b), the control unit 270 determines that an upward clockwise swipe operation has been performed. In addition, the control unit 270 determines that an upward half-right swipe operation has been performed if the central angle of the arc of the upward right-turn movement is 90° or less, as shown in Figure 12(a), and determines that an upward full-right swipe operation has been performed if the central angle of the arc of the upward right-turn movement is greater than 90°, as shown in Figure 12(b).

[0060] 12(c) and 12(d), the control unit 270 determines that an upward counterclockwise swipe operation has been performed when information is transmitted from the contact sensor 100 that the finger F has been moved counterclockwise in an arc above the mark 220. Furthermore, the control unit 270 determines that an upward half-clockwise swipe operation has been performed when the central angle of the upward counterclockwise arc is 90° or less as shown in FIG. 12(c), and determines that an upward full-clockwise swipe operation has been performed when the central angle of the upward counterclockwise arc is greater than 90° as shown in FIG. 12(d).

[0061] 13(a) and 13(b), the control unit 270 determines that a downward clockwise swipe operation has been performed when information indicating that the finger F has been moved clockwise in an arc below the mark 220 is transmitted from the contact sensor 100. Furthermore, the control unit 270 determines that a downward half-clockwise swipe operation has been performed when the central angle of the downward clockwise arc is 90° or less as shown in FIG. 13(a), and determines that a downward full-clockwise swipe operation has been performed when the central angle of the downward clockwise arc is greater than 90° as shown in FIG. 13(b).

[0062] 13(c) and 13(d), the control unit 270 determines that a downward counterclockwise swipe operation has been performed when information is transmitted from the contact sensor 100 that the finger F has been moved counterclockwise in an arc below the mark 220. Furthermore, the control unit 270 determines that a downward half-clockwise swipe operation has been performed when the central angle of the downward counterclockwise arc is 90° or less as shown in FIG. 13(c), and determines that a downward full-clockwise swipe operation has been performed when the central angle of the downward counterclockwise arc is greater than 90° as shown in FIG. 13(d).

[0063] 14 is a diagram showing an example of the relationship between a swipe operation on the contact sensor 100 and a transition of the state of the generation device 2. The control unit 270 controls the transition of modes of the generation device 2 and the operation of the heating unit 80 based on a swipe operation on the contact sensor 100. When the control unit 270 determines that a swipe operation of moving all the way down and left has been performed while the generation device 2 is in the sleep mode, it transitions the generation device 2 to the active mode. Furthermore, when the control unit 270 determines that a swipe operation of moving all the way up and right has been performed while the generation device 2 is in the active mode, it transitions the generation device 2 to the sleep mode.

[0064] Furthermore, when the generating device 2 is in the active mode, if the control unit 270 determines that a swipe operation of moving all the way down and left has been performed, the control unit 270 starts heating the heating unit 80. Furthermore, when the control unit 270 is heating and determines that a swipe operation of moving all the way up and right has been performed, the control unit 270 stops heating the heating unit 80.

[0065] Furthermore, when the control unit 270 determines that a swipe operation of a downward half-turn to the left has been performed while the heating unit 80 is heating, the control unit 270 increases the heating temperature. On the other hand, when the control unit 270 determines that a swipe operation of a downward half-turn to the right has been performed while the heating unit 80 is heating, the control unit 270 decreases the heating temperature.

[0066] The control unit 270 may control the transition of modes of the generation device 2 and the operation of the heating unit 80 based on a swipe operation that is upside down from the example described above. That is, when the control unit 270 determines that a swipe operation of moving all the way up and to the right has been performed while the generation device 2 is in the sleep mode, it may transition the generation device 2 to the active mode, and when the control unit 270 determines that a swipe operation of moving all the way down and to the left has been performed while the generation device 2 is in the active mode, it may transition the generation device 2 to the sleep mode.

[0067] Furthermore, when the generation device 2 is in the active mode, the control unit 270 may start heating the heating unit 80 if the control unit 270 determines that a swipe operation moving all the way up and to the right has been performed, and may stop heating the heating unit 80 if the control unit 270 determines that a swipe operation moving all the way down and to the left has been performed while the heating unit 80 is heating. Furthermore, when the control unit 270 determines that a swipe operation moving halfway up and to the left has been performed while the heating unit 80 is heating, the control unit 270 may increase the heating temperature, and when the control unit 270 determines that a swipe operation moving halfway up and to the right has been performed while the heating unit 80 is heating, the control unit 270 may decrease the heating temperature.

[0068] In addition, the control unit 270 may control the transition of modes of the generation device 2 and the operation of the heating unit 80 based on a swipe operation that is the opposite of the left and right swipe operation in the above example.

[0069] Furthermore, the generation device 2 may include an LED as an example of the notification unit 40 in front of the contact sensor 100 (in other words, inside the housing 11) at a position corresponding to the mark 220 in the front-to-rear direction, and the contact sensor 100 and the rear wall 271 may be configured to transmit light emitted by the LED. When the control unit 270 receives an instruction based on a swipe operation for controlling the mode transition of the generation device 2 or the operation of the heating unit 80, the control unit 270 may notify the user of the reception by illuminating the LED.

[0070] <Third embodiment> A generation device (not shown) according to a third embodiment differs from the generation device 2 according to the second embodiment in the processing of the control unit 270. In the second and third embodiments, components having the same functions are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed descriptions thereof will be omitted.

[0071] 15 and 16 are diagrams illustrating an example of a swipe operation performed by a user. In FIGS. 15 and 16 , the position of the finger F before the movement due to the input operation (in other words, the area where the finger F is in contact with the rear surface 217) is indicated by a dashed line, and the position of the finger F after the movement is indicated by a solid line. Also, in FIGS. 15 and 16 , the contact sensor 100 is indicated by a dashed line. The control unit 270 according to the third embodiment determines that an upward swipe operation has been performed when the contact sensor 100 transmits information indicating that the finger F has moved upward from the mark 220 attached to the rear surface 217 as shown in FIG. 15( a) (e.g., information indicating that after static electricity has been removed from the area corresponding to the mark 220, static electricity has been removed from an area above the area corresponding to the mark 220). Furthermore, the control unit 270 determines that a downward swipe operation has been performed when information indicating that the finger F has been moved downward from the mark 220 is transmitted from the contact sensor 100 as shown in Fig. 15(b). Furthermore, the control unit 270 determines that a leftward swipe operation has been performed when information indicating that the finger F has been moved leftward from the mark 220 is transmitted from the contact sensor 100 as shown in Fig. 15(c). Furthermore, the control unit 270 determines that a rightward swipe operation has been performed when information indicating that the finger F has been moved rightward from the mark 220 is transmitted from the contact sensor 100 as shown in Fig. 15(d).

[0072] Furthermore, the control unit 270 determines that an upper-right swipe operation has been performed when information indicating that the finger F has moved diagonally upward and to the right from the mark 220 is transmitted from the contact sensor 100 as shown in FIG. 16( a). Furthermore, the control unit 270 determines that a lower-left swipe operation has been performed when information indicating that the finger F has moved diagonally downward and to the left from the mark 220 is transmitted from the contact sensor 100 as shown in FIG. 16( b). Furthermore, the control unit 270 determines that an upper-left swipe operation has been performed when information indicating that the finger F has moved diagonally upward and to the left from the mark 220 is transmitted from the contact sensor 100 as shown in FIG. 16( c). Furthermore, the control unit 270 determines that a lower-right swipe operation has been performed when information indicating that the finger F has moved diagonally downward and to the right from the mark 220 is transmitted from the contact sensor 100 as shown in FIG. 16( d).

[0073] Then, as shown in FIG. 9, when the control unit 270 determines that an upward swipe operation has been performed while the generating device according to the third embodiment is in sleep mode, it transitions the generating device according to the third embodiment to active mode, and when the control unit 270 determines that a downward swipe operation has been performed while the generating device according to the third embodiment is in active mode, it transitions the generating device according to the third embodiment to sleep mode.

[0074] Furthermore, when the control unit 270 determines that an upward swipe operation has been performed while the generating device according to the third embodiment is in active mode, it starts heating the heating unit 80, and when it determines that a downward swipe operation has been performed while the heating unit 80 is heating, it stops heating the heating unit 80. Furthermore, when the control unit 270 determines that a rightward swipe operation has been performed while the heating unit 80 is heating, it increases the heating temperature, and when it determines that a leftward swipe operation has been performed while the heating unit 80 is heating, it decreases the heating temperature.

[0075] In addition, when the heating unit 80 is heating, if the control unit 270 determines that a swipe operation to move to the upper right has been performed, the control unit 270 may increase the heating temperature, and if it determines that a swipe operation to move to the lower left has been performed, the control unit 270 may decrease the heating temperature.

[0076] As described above, in the generation device according to the third embodiment, an input start position (a portion corresponding to the mark 220) is defined for the contact sensor 100, and the control unit 270 accepts input operations based on the input start position. This makes it possible to prevent mode transitions and operation control of the heating unit 80 from being performed due to the user's finger F unintentionally touching the rear surface 217.

[0077] 17 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a generation device 4 according to a fourth embodiment. The generation device 4 according to the fourth embodiment differs from the generation device according to the third embodiment in that it has a contact sensor 400 corresponding to the contact sensor 100 and a control unit 470 corresponding to the control unit 270. Components having the same functions in the third and fourth embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0078] The contact sensor 400 has a round surface and includes multiple touch switches 410 that detect when the user's finger F touches the rear surface 217. In the example shown in FIG. 17 , the contact sensor 400 includes nine touch switches 410, three in each of the vertical and horizontal directions. The nine touch switches 410 are arranged in front of the rear wall 271 of the housing 11 that forms the rear surface 217 (i.e., inside the housing 211), and are scattered as shown in FIG. 17 . In other words, when viewed from the rear, the contact sensor 100 according to the third embodiment has a matrix of numerous electrodes arranged continuously in each of the vertical and horizontal directions within the rectangular area shown in FIG. 5 , for example, and is capable of detecting all positions within the rectangular area, whereas the nine touch switches 410 are scattered within the area in which the contact sensor 100 is arranged. Examples of detection methods for the touch switches 410 include a capacitance type, a resistive film type, a surface acoustic wave type, an infrared type, an electromagnetic induction type, and a load detection type. For example, if the touch switch 410 is capacitive, its surface is always covered with a small amount of static electricity. When a finger F touches the rear surface 217 at a location facing the touch switch 410, the finger F absorbs the static electricity that covers the surface of the touch switch 410, and the touch of the finger F at the location facing the touch switch 410 on the rear surface 217 is detected and transmitted to the control unit 470 via the internal bus.

[0079] As shown in Fig. 17 , the contact sensor 400 has, as part of the nine touch switches 410, a first touch switch 411 arranged in the top row and left column, a second touch switch 412 arranged in the top row and center column, and a third touch switch 413 arranged in the top row and right column. Furthermore, as shown in Fig. 17 , the contact sensor 400 also has a fourth touch switch 414, a fifth touch switch 415, and a sixth touch switch 416 arranged in the center row and left column, respectively. Furthermore, as shown in Fig. 17 , the contact sensor 400 also has a seventh touch switch 417, an eighth touch switch 418, and a ninth touch switch 419 arranged in the bottom row and left column, respectively. A mark 220 is provided on the rear surface 217 of the contact sensor 400 at a location facing the fifth touch switch 415 arranged in the center row and center column.

[0080] 18 and 19 are diagrams illustrating an example of a swipe operation performed by a user. In FIGS. 18 and 19 , the position of the finger F before the movement due to the input operation (in other words, the area where the finger F is in contact with the rear surface 217) is indicated by a dashed line, and the position of the finger F after the movement is indicated by a solid line. Also, in FIGS. 18 and 19 , the contact sensor 400 is indicated by a dashed line. The control unit 470 determines that an upward swipe operation has been performed when information is transmitted from the contact sensor 400 indicating that the finger F has moved upward from the mark 220 on the rear surface 217 as shown in FIG. 18( a) . For example, the control unit 470 determines that an upward swipe operation has been performed when, after the fifth touch switch 415 detects contact of the finger F, information is transmitted within a predetermined reference time (e.g., 2 seconds) indicating that the second touch switch 412 has detected contact of the finger F.

[0081] 18(b), when information is transmitted that the finger F has been moved downward from the mark 220 (in other words, information that the eighth touch switch 418 has detected the contact of the finger F within a reference time after the fifth touch switch 415 has detected the contact of the finger F), the control unit 470 determines that a downward swipe operation has been performed. Also, when information is transmitted that the finger F has been moved leftward from the mark 220 (in other words, information that the fourth touch switch 414 has detected the contact of the finger F within a reference time after the fifth touch switch 415 has detected the contact of the finger F), the control unit 470 determines that a leftward swipe operation has been performed. In addition, the control unit 470 determines that a rightward swipe operation has been performed when information is transmitted that the finger F has been moved to the right from the mark 220 as shown in Figure 18 (d) (in other words, information that the sixth touch switch 416 detected the contact of the finger F within a reference time after the fifth touch switch 415 detected the contact of the finger F).

[0082] 19(a) , when information is transmitted that the finger F has been moved diagonally upward to the right from the mark 220 (in other words, information that the third touch switch 413 has detected the contact of the finger F within a reference time after the fifth touch switch 415 has detected the contact of the finger F), the control unit 470 determines that a swipe operation moving upward to the right has been performed. Also, when information is transmitted that the finger F has been moved diagonally downward to the left from the mark 220 (in other words, information that the seventh touch switch 417 has detected the contact of the finger F within a reference time after the fifth touch switch 415 has detected the contact of the finger F), the control unit 470 determines that a swipe operation moving downward to the left has been performed. 19(c), the control unit 470 determines that an upper-left swipe operation has been performed when information is transmitted that indicates that the finger F has been moved diagonally upward and to the left from the mark 220 (in other words, information that the first touch switch 411 has detected the contact of the finger F within a reference time after the fifth touch switch 415 has detected the contact of the finger F). Also, the control unit 470 determines that a lower-right swipe operation has been performed when information is transmitted that indicates that the finger F has been moved diagonally downward and to the right from the mark 220 (in other words, information that the ninth touch switch 419 has detected the contact of the finger F within a reference time after the fifth touch switch 415 has detected the contact of the finger F) as shown in FIG.

[0083] Then, as shown in FIG. 9, when the control unit 470 determines that an upward swipe operation has been performed while the generation device 4 is in sleep mode, it transitions the generation device 4 to active mode, and when the control unit 470 determines that a downward swipe operation has been performed while the generation device 4 is in active mode, it transitions the generation device 4 to sleep mode.

[0084] Furthermore, when the control unit 470 determines that an upward swipe operation has been performed while the generation device 4 is in the active mode, it starts heating the heating unit 80, and when it determines that a downward swipe operation has been performed while the heating unit 80 is heating, it stops heating the heating unit 80. Furthermore, when the control unit 470 determines that a rightward swipe operation has been performed while the heating unit 80 is heating, it increases the heating temperature, and when it determines that a leftward swipe operation has been performed while the heating unit 80 is heating, it decreases the heating temperature.

[0085] As described above, in the generation device 4, an input start position (a portion corresponding to the mark 220) is defined for the contact sensor 400, and the control unit 470 accepts input operations based on the input start position. This makes it possible to prevent mode transitions and operation control of the heating unit 80 from being performed due to the user's finger F unintentionally touching the rear surface 217.

[0086] Note that control unit 470 may increase the heating temperature when it determines that a swipe operation to move up and to the right has been performed while heating unit 80 is heating, and may decrease the heating temperature when it determines that a swipe operation to move down and to the left has been performed. Alternatively, control unit 470 may increase the heating temperature when it determines that a swipe operation to move up and to the left has been performed while heating unit 80 is heating, and may decrease the heating temperature when it determines that a swipe operation to move down and to the right has been performed.

[0087] Furthermore, the control unit 470 does not necessarily have to determine that the mark 220 arranged in the center of the contact sensor 400 is the operation start position. The control unit 470 may determine that a right-up swipe operation has been performed, for example, when information indicating that the third touch switch 413 has detected contact with the finger F is transmitted within a reference time after the seventh touch switch 417 has detected contact with the finger F. The control unit 470 may also determine that a left-down swipe operation has been performed, for example, when information indicating that the seventh touch switch 417 has detected contact with the finger F is transmitted within a reference time after the third touch switch 413 has detected contact with the finger F. The control unit 470 may also determine that a left-up swipe operation has been performed, for example, when information indicating that the first touch switch 411 has detected contact with the finger F is transmitted within a reference time after the ninth touch switch 419 has detected contact with the finger F. In addition, the control unit 470 may determine that a swipe operation moving downward and to the right has been performed, for example, when, after the first touch switch 411 detects contact with a finger F, information is transmitted within a reference time that the ninth touch switch 419 has detected contact with a finger F.

[0088] 20 is a diagram showing an example of the schematic configuration of a generation device 5 according to a fifth embodiment. The generation device 5 according to the fifth embodiment differs from the generation device 1 according to the first embodiment in that it includes a shoulder contact sensor 500 that detects when a finger F touches the upper right curved surface 19, and in that it includes a control unit 570 that corresponds to the control unit 70. Components having the same functions in the first and fifth embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed descriptions thereof will be omitted.

[0089] The shoulder contact sensor 500 is disposed below the upper right wall 191 of the housing 11, which forms the upper right curved surface 19 (i.e., inside the housing 11). When viewed in a direction perpendicular to the upper right curved surface 19, the shoulder contact sensor 500 is rectangular and disposed so that its surface is parallel to the upper right curved surface 19. The shoulder contact sensor 500 detects the position where the user's finger F touches the upper right curved surface 19. Examples of detection methods for the shoulder contact sensor 500 include capacitance, resistive film, surface acoustic wave, infrared, electromagnetic induction, and load detection. For example, if the shoulder contact sensor 500 uses capacitance detection, the shoulder contact sensor 500 has a matrix of multiple electrodes running from the top surface 15 toward the right side 14 and in both the front-to-rear direction, and its surface is always covered with a small amount of static electricity. When the finger F touches the upper right curved surface 19, the finger F absorbs the static electricity covering the surface of the contact sensor 100. The shoulder contact sensor 500 determines the coordinates of the position where the finger F is touching by identifying the location where the static electricity has been absorbed, and transmits the coordinates to the control unit 570 via the internal bus.

[0090] 21 is a diagram showing an example of a swipe operation performed by a user on the shoulder contact sensor 500. When the shoulder contact sensor 500 transmits information indicating that the finger F has moved in a direction from the top surface 15 toward the right side surface 14 (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as the "first direction") as shown in FIG. 21( a), the control unit 570 determines that a swipe operation of a first movement has been performed. When the shoulder contact sensor 500 transmits information indicating that the finger F has moved in a direction from the right side surface 14 toward the top surface 15 (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as the "second direction") as shown in FIG. 21( b), the control unit 570 determines that a swipe operation of a second movement has been performed.

[0091] 22 is a diagram showing an example of the relationship between a swipe operation on the shoulder contact sensor 500 and a transition in the state of the generation device 5. The control unit 570 controls the operation of the generation device 5 based on the operation on the shoulder contact sensor 500. For example, when the generation device 5 is in sleep mode and the control unit 570 determines that a swipe operation for a first movement has been performed, the control unit 570 transitions the generation device 5 to active mode. Furthermore, when the generation device 5 is in active mode and the control unit 570 determines that a swipe operation for a second movement has been performed, the control unit 570 transitions the generation device 5 to sleep mode.

[0092] Furthermore, when the control unit 570 determines that a swipe operation for the first movement has been performed while the generation device 5 is in the active mode, it starts heating the heating unit 80. Furthermore, when the control unit 570 determines that a swipe operation for the second movement has been performed while the heating unit 80 is heating, it stops heating the heating unit 80.

[0093] Similarly to the control unit 70, the control unit 570 also controls the mode transition of the generation device 5 and the operation of the heating unit 80 when a swipe operation is performed on the contact sensor 100. That is, the control unit 570 controls the mode transition of the generation device 5 and the operation of the heating unit 80 in response to a swipe operation on the shoulder contact sensor 500 or a swipe operation on the contact sensor 100. For example, when the generation device 5 is in the sleep mode, the control unit 570 transitions the generation device 5 to the active mode when it determines that a swipe operation of a first movement has been performed on the shoulder contact sensor 500 or a swipe operation of a full rightward movement has been performed on the contact sensor 100. In addition, when the generation device 5 is in active mode, if the control unit 570 determines that a second movement swipe operation has been performed on the shoulder contact sensor 500, or if it determines that a full left movement swipe operation has been performed on the contact sensor 100, the control unit 570 transitions the generation device 5 to sleep mode.

[0094] Furthermore, when the generation device 5 is in the active mode, the control unit 570 starts heating the heating unit 80 if it determines that a swipe operation of a first movement has been performed on the shoulder contact sensor 500, or if it determines that a swipe operation of a half-clockwise movement has been performed on the contact sensor 100. Furthermore, when the generation device 5 is in the active mode, the control unit 570 stops heating the heating unit 80 if it determines that a swipe operation of a second movement has been performed on the shoulder contact sensor 500, or if it determines that a swipe operation of a half-clockwise movement has been performed on the contact sensor 100.

[0095] Furthermore, when the heating unit 80 is heating and the control unit 570 determines that an upward swipe operation has been performed on the contact sensor 100, the control unit 570 increases the heating temperature. On the other hand, when the heating unit 80 is heating and the control unit 570 determines that a downward swipe operation has been performed on the contact sensor 100, the control unit 570 decreases the heating temperature. However, the control unit 570 may not accept an operation on the contact sensor 100 when the heating unit 80 is heating. Even if the control unit 570 does not generally accept an operation on the contact sensor 100, the control unit 570 may accept an operation on the contact sensor 100 when a predetermined event is detected. Furthermore, even if the control unit 570 accepts an operation on the contact sensor 100 when it detects a predetermined event, the control unit 570 may only accept an operation on the contact sensor 100 within a predetermined time (e.g., 5 seconds) after detecting the predetermined event. Note that an example of the predetermined event is a double tap operation on the contact sensor 100.

[0096] Furthermore, the control unit 570 may determine the content of the swipe operation to be accepted for each of the contact sensor 100 and the shoulder contact sensor 500. For example, the control unit 570 may accept only swipe operations on the shoulder contact sensor 500 for mode transitions between the sleep mode and the active mode and for starting and stopping heating by the heating unit 80, and may accept only swipe operations on the contact sensor 100 for other changes such as changing the heating temperature or changing the control sequence settings. In other words, when the generation device 5 is in the sleep mode, the control unit 570 may transition the generation device 5 to the active mode if it determines that a first movement swipe operation has been performed on the shoulder contact sensor 500, but may not transition the generation device 5 to the active mode regardless of what operation has been determined to have been performed on the contact sensor 100. Also, when the generating device 5 is in active mode, if the control unit 570 determines that a first movement swipe operation has been performed on the shoulder contact sensor 500, it may start heating the heating unit 80, and may not start heating the heating unit 80 regardless of what operation it determines has been performed on the contact sensor 100.

[0097] Alternatively, the control unit 570 may accept only a swipe operation on the shoulder contact sensor 500 to start and stop heating by the heating unit 80, and may accept only a swipe operation on the contact sensor 100 to transition between sleep mode and active mode, change the heating temperature, or change the control sequence settings. That is, when the generation device 5 is in sleep mode, if the control unit 570 determines that a swipe operation, for example, a full clockwise movement has been performed on the contact sensor 100, the control unit 570 may transition the generation device 5 to active mode and not activate the generation device 5 even if it determines that a swipe operation for a first movement has been performed on the shoulder contact sensor 500. Furthermore, when the generation device 5 is activated, if the control unit 570 determines that a swipe operation for a first movement has been performed on the shoulder contact sensor 500, the control unit 570 may start heating the heating unit 80, but may not activate the heating unit 80 regardless of any operation determined to have been performed on the contact sensor 100.

[0098] The shoulder contact sensor 500 may be applied to the generating device 2 according to the second embodiment to the generating device 4 according to the fourth embodiment.

[0099] Sixth Embodiment Fig. 23 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a generation device 6 according to a sixth embodiment. Fig. 23(a) is an example of a view of the generation device 6 as seen from diagonally above the front, and Fig. 23(b) is an example of a view of the generation device 6 as seen from diagonally above the rear. The generation device 6 according to the sixth embodiment differs from the generation device 1 according to the first embodiment in that it does not have a cover 9, that it has a second contact sensor 600 in addition to the contact sensor 100, and that it has a control unit 670 equivalent to the control unit 70. Components having the same functions in the first and sixth embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0100] The generator 6 has a housing 611 that corresponds to the housing 11 according to the first embodiment. The housing 611 has a front surface 612 that corresponds to the front surface 12 according to the first embodiment. Because the generator 6 does not have a cover 9, the front surface 612 is exposed to the outside even when the generator 6 is in use, for example, when the heating unit 80 is heating.

[0101] The second contact sensor 600 is disposed behind a front wall 617 of the housing 611 that forms the front surface 612 (in other words, inside the housing 611). The second contact sensor 600 can be exemplified as having the same structure and function as the contact sensor 100. The second contact sensor 600 is disposed so that its surface is parallel to the front surface 612. The second contact sensor 600 detects the position at which the user's finger F touches the front surface 612.

[0102] Furthermore, when a swipe operation is performed on second contact sensor 600, control unit 670 controls the mode transition of generation device 6 and the operation of heating unit 80 in the same way as when a swipe operation is performed on contact sensor 100. In other words, control unit 670 accepts a common input operation for contact sensor 100 and second contact sensor 600. Therefore, control unit 670 controls the mode transition of generation device 6 and the operation of heating unit 80 in response to a swipe operation on contact sensor 100 or a swipe operation on second contact sensor 600.

[0103] For example, when the generating device 6 is in the sleep mode, the control unit 670 transitions the generating device 6 to the active mode if it determines that a swipe operation to move all the way around to the right has been performed on the contact sensor 100, or if it determines that a swipe operation to move all the way around to the right has been performed on the second contact sensor 600. Furthermore, when the generating device 6 is in the active mode, the control unit 670 transitions the generating device 6 to the sleep mode if it determines that a swipe operation to move all the way around to the left has been performed on the contact sensor 100, or if it determines that a swipe operation to move all the way around to the left has been performed on the second contact sensor 600.

[0104] As described above, in the generation device 6, the contact sensor 100 is provided to correspond to the rear surface 17 (an example of a first surface), and the second contact sensor 600 is provided to correspond to the front surface 612 (an example of a second surface), and are provided so as to face each other across the heating unit 80. As a result, when the user holds the generation device 6 in his / her hand with the front surface 612 facing forward, the user can perform an input operation on the second contact sensor 600, and when the user holds the generation device 6 in his / her hand with the rear surface 17 facing forward, the user can perform an input operation on the contact sensor 100.

[0105] In other words, in the generation device 6, contact sensors (contact sensor 100, second contact sensor 600) are provided on at least two or more of the multiple surfaces of the housing 11 (e.g., the front surface 612, the left side surface 13, the right side surface 14, the top surface 15, the bottom surface 16, and the rear surface 17). The control unit 670 uses at least one of the multiple contact sensors (contact sensor 100, second contact sensor 600) provided on the two or more surfaces to detect an input operation. This allows the user to perform input operations from multiple directions, making the generation device 6 highly convenient.

[0106] In addition, the configuration of the generating device 6 according to the sixth embodiment that is different from that of the generating device 1 according to the first embodiment (for example, the second contact sensor 600) may be applied to the generating device 2 according to the second embodiment to the generating device 5 according to the fifth embodiment.

[0107] 24 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a generating device 7 according to a seventh embodiment. The generating device 7 according to the seventh embodiment differs from the generating device 6 according to the sixth embodiment in that it has a control unit 770 that corresponds to the control unit 670. Components having the same functions in the first and seventh embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed descriptions thereof will be omitted.

[0108] The control unit 770 determines, for the control unit 670 according to the sixth embodiment, which of the contact sensor 100 and the second contact sensor 600 that are provided facing each other across the heating unit 80, to use for receiving an input operation. Then, when a swipe operation is performed on the contact sensor (contact sensor 100 or second contact sensor 600) that has been determined to be used for receiving an input operation, the control unit 770 controls the transition of modes of the generation device 7 and the operation of the heating unit 80.

[0109] The control unit 770 determines whether the contact sensor 100 or the second contact sensor 600 should be used to receive an input operation depending on the attitude of the generation device 7, in other words, depending on the attitude of the housing 611. For example, the control unit 770 determines that the contact sensor (contact sensor 100 or second contact sensor 600) corresponding to the surface of the front surface 612 or the rear surface 17 that is closer to the user should be used to receive an input operation.

[0110] The control unit 770 determines whether the front surface 612 or the rear surface 17 is closer to the user, based on the output of the orientation sensor 31 that detects the orientation of the generation device 7 and that is included in the sensor unit 30. The orientation sensor 31 can be, for example, an acceleration sensor or a gyro sensor. For example, when the generation device 7 is held in the hand and the top surface 15 is positioned upward and the bottom surface 16 is positioned downward, if the front surface 612 is positioned above the rear surface 17, the control unit 770 determines that the front surface 612 is closer to the user.

[0111] Alternatively, the control unit 770 determines that one or more contact sensors (contact sensor 100, second contact sensor 600) designated by the user are to be used to accept the input operation. For example, when the generation device 7 is in sleep mode, the control unit 770 determines that the contact sensor (contact sensor 100 or second contact sensor 600) that first accepted the input operation is to be used to accept the input operation. In other words, when the generation device 7 is in sleep mode, the control unit 770 determines that the contact sensor that first detected contact by the finger F, out of the contact sensor 100 and the second contact sensor 600, is to be used to accept the input operation. When the contact sensor 100 and the second contact sensor 600 simultaneously detect contact by the finger F, the control unit 770 determines that the contact sensor 100 and the second contact sensor 600 are to be used to accept the input operation. Note that the input operation that the control unit 770 first accepts may be a swipe operation or a tap operation. When the control unit 770 receives a tap operation, it is preferable that the control unit 770 controls the mode transition of the generation device 7 and the operation of the heating unit 80 based on the subsequent swipe operation.

[0112] The configurations of the heating unit 80 and the aerosol source in the generator 1 according to the first embodiment to the generator 7 according to the seventh embodiment described above are not particularly limited. For example, the heating unit may be configured as a metal coil wound around a liquid guide that guides and holds a liquid aerosol source from a liquid storage unit, and the heating unit may generate heat to heat and atomize the aerosol source held in the liquid guide, thereby generating an aerosol. Alternatively, the generator may generate aerosol by heating and atomizing the aerosol source held in the liquid guide by electromagnetically inducing a susceptor formed of a metal conductor wound around the liquid guide. In the case of an aerosol generator that generates aerosol by heating and atomizing the aerosol source held in the liquid guide, a delivery port through which the generated aerosol is delivered may be formed on the top surface (e.g., housing 11) of the device's housing (e.g., housing 11). A mouthpiece may be attached to the delivery port. The heating unit 80 and the aerosol source may be configured as an aerosol generator that generates aerosol by heating the liquid aerosol source and heating a substrate containing the aerosol source. Alternatively, the device may be configured to hold a stick-shaped substrate including a susceptor in a holder, and generate a magnetic field from an electromagnetic induction source formed of a coiled conductor wound around the outer periphery of the holder. The Joule heat generated in the susceptor heats and atomizes the aerosol source contained in the stick-shaped substrate, thereby generating an aerosol. The heating unit 80 and the aerosol source may be configured to heat a polyhydric alcohol such as glycerin or propylene glycol, and a liquid such as water, generate steam, and pass the steam through a capsule containing an aerosol source such as tobacco granules, thereby delivering the steam from which the flavor and aroma have been extracted to the delivery port. The configuration and outer shape of the main body 10 and cover 9 in the generators 1 to 7 according to the first embodiment described above are not particularly limited. For example, the generators 1 to 7 according to the first embodiment described above may not include a shutter 94 or a cover 9. Moreover, instead of covering the front surface 12 of the housing 11 , the cover 9 may cover, for example, the top surface 15 in which an opening 92 for inserting the substrate 1000 into the internal space 91 is formed.

[0113] <Summary> The present disclosure includes the following configurations. (1) An aerosol generation device including a heating unit that heats an aerosol source, a contact sensor that detects an operation on a predetermined portion on the surface of a housing, and a control unit that controls a predetermined operation in response to the operation detected by the contact sensor, wherein the operation detected by the contact sensor includes an operation of moving in a direction parallel to the surface of the housing by the contact sensor, and the predetermined operation includes heating by the heating unit. (2) The aerosol generation device described in (1), wherein the contact sensor is provided on at least two or more of the multiple surfaces of the housing. (3) The aerosol generation device described in (2), wherein the control unit uses at least one of the multiple contact sensors provided on the two or more surfaces to detect an input operation. (4) The aerosol generation device described in (3), further including an attitude sensor that detects an attitude of the housing, wherein the control unit determines which of the multiple contact sensors to use to accept an input operation in response to the attitude of the housing detected by the attitude sensor. (5) The aerosol generation device according to (3), wherein the control unit uses one or more of the contact sensors designated by a user among the plurality of contact sensors to accept an input operation. (6) The aerosol generation device according to (2), wherein the contact sensors are provided on a first surface and a second surface facing each other across the heating unit. (7) The aerosol generation device according to (2), wherein the control unit accepts a common input operation for at least two of the plurality of contact sensors provided on each of the two or more surfaces. (8) The aerosol generation device according to (2), wherein the control unit determines the content of the input operation to be accepted for each of the plurality of contact sensors provided on each of the two or more surfaces. (9) The aerosol generation device according to any one of (1) to (8), wherein the control unit controls heating by the heating unit in response to detection by the contact sensors of an operation of moving in a direction parallel to the surface of the housing. (10) An aerosol generating device as described in (1), in which an input start position is defined for the contact sensor, and the control unit accepts input operations based on the input start position.(11) The aerosol generation device according to (10), wherein an LED is provided at the input start position. (12) The aerosol generation device according to (1), wherein the control unit sets the position where an input operation on the contact sensor is first detected as the input start position and accepts the input operation based on the input start position. (13) The aerosol generation device according to (1), wherein the control unit determines the content of the input operation based on the pattern of the operation on the contact sensor. (14) The aerosol generation device according to (13), wherein the pattern is an arc-shaped movement or a movement consisting of multiple consecutive linear movements in different directions. (15) The aerosol generation device according to (1), wherein the contact sensors are scattered or continuous.

[0114] 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7... aerosol generating device, 9... cover, 10... main body, 11... housing, 12, 612... front surface, 17... rear surface, 19... upper right curved surface, 30... sensor unit, 31... attitude sensor, 70, 270, 470, 570, 670, 770... control unit, 80... heating unit, 100... contact sensor, 220... mark, 500... shoulder contact sensor, 600... second contact sensor

Claims

1. A heating unit that heats an aerosol source, a contact sensor that detects an operation on a predetermined part of the surface of the housing, and a control unit that controls a predetermined operation according to the operation detected by the contact sensor, wherein the operation detected by the contact sensor includes an operation of moving in a direction parallel to the surface of the housing by the contact sensor, and the predetermined operation includes heating by the heating unit, an aerosol generating device.

2. The aerosol generating device according to claim 1, wherein the contact sensor is provided on at least two or more of the plurality of surfaces of the housing.

3. The aerosol generating device according to claim 2, wherein the control unit uses at least one of the plurality of contact sensors provided on the two or more surfaces for detecting an input operation.

4. Further comprising an attitude sensor that detects the attitude of the housing, and the control unit determines, according to the attitude of the housing detected by the attitude sensor, which of the plurality of contact sensors to use for receiving an input operation. The aerosol generating device according to claim 3.

5. The aerosol generating device according to claim 3, wherein the control unit uses one or more of the plurality of contact sensors designated by the user for receiving an input operation.

6. The aerosol generating device according to claim 2, wherein the contact sensor is provided on a first surface and a second surface that face each other with the heating unit therebetween.

7. The aerosol generating device according to claim 2, wherein the control unit receives a common input operation at at least two of the plurality of contact sensors provided on the two or more surfaces.

8. The aerosol generating device according to claim 2, wherein the control unit determines the content of the input operation to be received for each of the plurality of contact sensors provided on the two or more surfaces.

9. The aerosol generating device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the control unit controls the heating by the heating unit according to the detection of an operation of moving in a direction parallel to the surface of the housing by the contact sensor.

10. An input start position is defined for the contact sensor, and the control unit receives an input operation with reference to the input start position. The aerosol generating device according to claim 1.

11. An LED is provided at the input start position. The aerosol generating device according to claim 10.

12. The control unit sets, as the input start position, the position at which an input operation on the contact sensor is first detected, and receives an input operation with reference to the input start position. The aerosol generating device according to claim 1.

13. The control unit determines the content of the input operation according to the pattern of the operation on the contact sensor. The aerosol generating device according to claim 1.

14. The pattern is an arc-shaped movement or a movement in which a plurality of linear movements with different directions are continuous. The aerosol generating device according to claim 13.

15. The contact sensors are discrete or continuous. The aerosol generating device according to claim 1.

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