Aerosol-forming device compatible with solid and liquid substrates
Patent Information
- Application Number
- PCT/EP2026/058691
- Authority / Receiving Office
- WO · WO
- Patent Type
- Applications
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Priority Date
- 2025-03-28
- Filing Date
- 2026-03-26
- Publication Date
- 2026-10-01
Smart Images
Figure EP2026058691_01102026_PF_FP_ABST
Abstract
Description
[0001] FTR4071
[0002] P17558WO 1 / 52
[0003] AEROSOL-FORMING ARTICLE AND DEVICE WITH FLEXIBLE HEATING
[0004] The present disclosure relates to an aerosol forming device, a cartridge comprising a vaporizable liquid, a heat-not-burn aerosol forming article, an aerosol-generating system including the aerosol-forming device and the cartridge or the heat-not-burn aerosol forming article, an electronic device, a method for operating the aerosol forming device, the aerosol-generating system or the electronic device, a computer program and a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing the computer program.
[0005] Aerosol-forming or aerosol-generating devices are typically designed as handheld, portable, and battery-powered devices that can be used by a user for consuming or experiencing, for instance in one or more usage sessions, inhalations, or puffs, aerosol generated from an aerosol-forming substrate or an aerosol-forming article, for example by heating.
[0006] Generally speaking, one can distinguish between two types of aerosol-generating devices, The first type includes so-called e-vapor or electronic cigarette products, also referred to as vaporizers, atomizers, vapes, vape pen, e-cigs, where a liquid aerosol-forming substrate, for example an e-liquid, can be vaporized and aerosolized by heating, in a puff-on-demand scheme, where the heater is only activated during the puff or inhalation by a user. Accordingly, the heater may be activated according to a response to draw. The heating may also be set manually, e.g. via respective input from a user via a user interface, such as a button activation. This category could also include other types of puff-on-demand inhalers, dispensers, or atomizers, for example inhalers, dispensers, or atomizers for medical applications. A second type includes the heated tobacco products (HTP) or heat-not-burn products (HnB) products, where a usually an aerosolforming article, sometimes in the form of stick or rod, including a solid aerosol-forming substrate with tobacco or tobacco substitute is heated in a heating chamber of the product during a usage session, during which a user can take one or more puffs or inhalations.
[0007] Typical aerosol-forming or generating systems can be designed as one-part systems or devices including an aerosol-forming device that can be operated by a user to generate aerosol. Alternatively, aerosol-forming systems can be designed as two-part systems or devices comprising an aerosol-forming device and a companion device for storing and / or charging the aerosol-forming device. In either design or configuration, the aerosol-forming system or device can be used by a user for consuming or inhaling, for instance in one or more usage sessions, aerosol generated based on heating an aerosol-forming article or substrate couplable to the aerosol-forming system. In the context of the present disclosure, an aerosol-forming device can refer to both a one-part device and a two-part device, unless explicitly specified otherwise.
[0008] As used herein, for the second type products, a usage session may, generally, refer to a period of time, during which a user may use the aerosol-forming device to generate, consume,FTR4071
[0009] P17558WO 2 / 52
[0010] experience or inhale aerosol. In a single usage session, an aerosol-forming article may be consumed by the user completely or partly. The usage session may require a pre-heating time and a maintenance heating time, during which the user can take puffs or inhalations. Alternatively, a plurality of aerosol-forming articles may be consumed by the user in a single usage session. Further, the user may take one or more puffs or user inhalations during the maintenance heating time of usage session. Generally, a usage session may be finite in time. In other words, a usage session may have a start, an end and a duration.
[0011] In the first type of product, exemplary aerosol-forming substrates can comprise, liquid substrate material, containing one or more active ingredients and one or more aerosol formers. The substrate material can, for example, be assembled, often with other elements or components, to form a substantially pod-shaped aerosol-forming article. Such aerosol-forming article can be configured in shape and size to be inserted at least partially into a receiving space of the aerosolforming device. The aerosol-forming device may comprise a heating element or heater device for heating the substrate of the aerosol-forming article to cause vaporization. The heating element or heater device may be part of the aerosol-forming article and / or the aerosol-forming device. Alternatively or additionally, aerosol-forming substrates can comprise one or more liquids and / or solids, which can, for example, be supplied to the aerosol-forming device in the form of a cartridge or container. Corresponding exemplary aerosol-forming articles can, for example, comprise a cartridge containing or fillable with the liquid, which can be vaporized during aerosol consumption by the user based on heating the liquid. Usually, such cartridge or container can be coupled to, attached to or at least partially inserted into the aerosol-forming device. Alternatively, the cartridge may be fixedly mounted to the aerosol-forming device and refilled by inserting liquid and / or solid into the cartridge.
[0012] In the second type of product, exemplary aerosol-forming substrates can comprise a solid substrate material, such as tobacco material or tobacco cast leaves (TCL) material, or a solid tobacco-substitute material. The solid substrate material may be accordingly heated to a temperature suitable for generating an aerosol by the solid substrate material. The second type of product may be stick-like shaped for being receivable by the aerosol-forming device.
[0013] Generally, the aerosol generated from the aerosol-forming substrate, be it solid or liquid, or article may comprise or include one or more of nicotine, aroma, sugar, moisturising agent, botanicals, preservative, flavouring, for example cocoa, liquorice, menthol and lactic acid or other additives. The aerosol generated from the aerosol-forming substrate or article may additionally or alternatively comprise one or more pharmaceutical agents or drugs and may include one or more adjuvants. In addition, the aerosol-forming substrate can further include one or more aerosol formers, for example but not limited to propylene glycol (PG), vegetable glycerin (VG), polyethylene glycol (PEG), glycerol esters, triacetin, or other.FTR4071
[0014] P17558WO 3 / 52
[0015] For generating the aerosol during use or consumption, heat can be supplied by a dielectric heating arrangement, heater device or heat source to heat at least a portion or part of the aerosolforming substrate. The heating element, heater device or heat source can be arranged in the handheld device or a handheld part of the aerosol-forming device. Alternatively or additionally, at least a part of or the entire heating element or heater device or heat source can be fixedly associated with or arranged within an aerosol-forming article, which can be attached to and / or powered by the handheld device or handheld part of the aerosol-forming device.
[0016] Conventionally, resistive heating may be used to heat the aerosol-forming substrate. However, the present disclosure relates to dielectric heating achieved through an alternating electrical field using electrical energy supplied via, drawn from or stored in an energy storage or battery of the aerosol-forming device. As used herein, a battery of the aerosol-forming device can generally refer to an energy storage of the aerosol-forming device configured to store electrical energy. Accordingly, the term energy storage can include one or more batteries, one or more capacitors, one or more accumulators or other types of energy storage. Also, any reference to a battery herein can include a plurality of batteries. Typically, aerosol-forming devices comprise an energy storage, for example a battery, providing the electrical energy needed to operate the aerosol-forming device and especially for heating the aerosol-forming substrate and / or article, for example to generate aerosol in one or more usage sessions using one or more aerosol-forming articles. The battery may, for example, be a lithium-ion battery.
[0017] Typical aerosol-forming systems are often designed to be used only with a single type of aerosol-forming article and are therefore either the first type or the second type of products. Thus, typical aerosol-forming systems are for instance designed for a use with either a liquid aerosol forming substrate of the first type of product, which may also be referred to as vaporizable liquid, or a solid aerosol forming substrate of the second type of product. For example, aerosol-forming systems for the second type of products usually have a heating chamber that can be heated by resistive or inductive means to warm up the solid aerosol-forming substrate, while the aerosolforming systems for the first type of products have a receiving space to removably or fixedly receive a cartridge, the cartridge itself having a coil and wick or mesh and wick type heating element for instantaneously vaporizing a liquid. That is, the aerosol-forming systems are accordingly constrained to the use of only one of a solid aerosol forming substrate or a vaporizable liquid aerosol forming substrate, requiring two different devices, e.g. stick holder or cartridge holders. Hybrid aerosol-forming systems comprising multiple reception means and heating arrangements for each type of aerosol forming substrate exist. However, such hybrid systems are often bulky and complex, and not all users would like to inhale a mix of aerosol from both solid and liquid aerosol forming substrate.FTR4071
[0018] P17558WO 4 / 52
[0019] It may therefore be desirable to provide for an improved aerosol-forming device and / or article in which both, a vaporizable liquid and a solid aerosol forming substrate can be dielectrically heated in a simple and flexible manner.
[0020] These advantages may be achieved by the features described herein.
[0021] Aspects of the present disclosure relate to an aerosol forming device, a cartridge comprising a vaporizable liquid, a heat-not-burn aerosol forming article, an aerosol-generating system including the aerosol-forming device and the cartridge or the heat-not-burn aerosol forming article, an electronic device, a method for operating the aerosol forming device, the aerosol-generating system or the electronic device, a computer program and a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing the computer programSuch devices are sometimes referred to as universal aerosol-forming devices. It is noted that any disclosure presented herein with reference to an or one aspect of the present disclosure, equally applies to any other aspect of the present disclosure, unless explicitly stated otherwise.
[0022] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an aerosol forming device comprising a receiving space for at least partially and removably receiving either a cartridge having a vaporizable liquid or a heat-not-burn aerosol forming article having a solid aerosol forming substrate; a dielectric heater arrangement configured to either dielectrically heat the vaporizable liquid or the solid aerosol-forming substrate when the cartridge or the heat-not-burn aerosol forming article are received in the receiving space, respectively; a controller operatively connected to the dielectric heater arrangement and configured to control a heating performed by the dielectric heater arrangement according to one of a plurality of different heating modes, a puff triggering mechanism in operative connection with the controller and configured to detect a puff, wherein the plurality of different heating modes includes a first heating mode for vaporizing the vaporizable liquid of the cartridge when the puff is triggered at a first volumetric dielectric heating power density and a second heating mode for heating the solid aerosol forming substrate of the heat-not-burn aerosol forming article at a second volumetric dielectric heating power density, the first volumetric dielectric heating power density being higher than the second volumetric dielectric heating power density.
[0023] Thus, a distinct heating of either the cartridge having the vaporizable liquid or the heat-not-burn aerosol forming article having the solid aerosol forming substrate may be achieved by the same device in a simple and flexible manner. In the first heating mode, the dielectric heating arrangement can be configured to increase a volumetric dielectric heating power density as compared to the second heating mode. A volumetric dielectric heating power density is understood as the power density per volume generated during dielectric heating. Further, in the first heating mode, the dielectric heating arrangement can be configured to perform a single puff heating upon triggering or detecting of a puff. The second heating mode can include a sessionFTR4071
[0024] P17558WO 5 / 52
[0025] heating scheme, wherein the session heating scheme can include a session warm-up phase at which the dielectric heater arrangement is adapted to heat the solid aerosol forming substrate up to a predefined session temperature. In some examples, the device can further comprise a session detection mechanism in operative connection with the controller configured to detect a session performed by a user. The session warm-up phase can be performed during a first duration of 2 to 60 seconds, preferably of 5 to 45 seconds, and more preferably of 7 to 35 seconds and a heating power provided by the session warm-up phase can be 5 W or more. Also, the session heating scheme can include a maintenance heating phase during which a heating profile is applied to the solid aerosol forming substrate during which a user can take one or more puffs. The maintenance heating phase can be performed during a second duration of 60 to 900 seconds, more preferably 120 to 600 seconds and a heating power provided by the maintenance heating phase can be between 1 W and 5 W. The predefined session temperature can be in a range of 150 to 350°C. In the first heating mode, the dielectric heating arrangement can be configured to apply an alternating electric field to the vaporizable liquid to generate volumetric heating power densities in a range of 50 W / cm3to 2.5kW / cm3. In particular, the volumetric heating power densities can be applied to a volume of the vaporizable liquid. This heating power can be applied to a heating zone of the cartridge, which can be at the location wherein the liquid transfer element, which is described further below in detail, of the cartridge is arranged.
[0026] The second heating mode can include a puff-on-demand heating scheme, which can include a single puff heating phase triggered upon detection of a puff at which the dielectric heater arrangement is controlled to heat the solid aerosol forming substrate up to a predefined temperature. Also the first heating mode can include a puff-on-demand heating scheme. In this case, the puff-on-demand heating scheme can include a single puff heating phase triggered upon detection of a puff at which the dielectric heater arrangement is controlled to heat-up to a predefined puff-on-demand vaporization temperature for vaporizing the vaporizable liquid. In one example, the puff-on-demand heating scheme can include at least one stand-by phase at which the dielectric heater arrangement can be controlled to be in a stand-by mode. The puff-on-demand heating scheme can accordingly include switching from the stand-by phase to a single puff heating phase, wherein the single puff heating phase can be triggered upon detection of a puff. The single puff heating phase can be performed during a first duration in a range of 0.05 seconds to 5 seconds. The single puff heating phase may be set in correspondence to the time of a pull of a user and may, in some instances, be set to a maximum of 5 seconds for preventing a potential overheating. Further, the single puff heating phase can heat the vaporizable liquid up to a temperature in a range of 150-230°C. Generally, any suitable temperature to cause vaporization of vaporizable liquid, which may be for example polypropene glycol or vegetable glycerine, may be used. In the second heating mode, the dielectric heating arrangement can be configured toFTR4071
[0027] P17558WO Q / 52
[0028] apply an alternating electric field to the solid aerosol forming substrate to generate volumetric heating power densities in a range of 1 W / cm3to25 W / cm3. In particular, the volumetric heating power densities can be applied to a volume of the solid aerosol forming substrate.
[0029] Advantageously only the vaporizable liquid or the solid aerosol-forming substrate should be heated while the rest of the cartridge or the heat-not-burn aerosol-forming article should not be dielectrically heated, or heating should be minimized.
[0030] In some examples, the controller can be further configured to control the dielectric heater arrangement to receive an indication signal that is indicative if the cartridge or the solid aerosolforming article is received in the receiving space. When the indication signal indicates that the cartridge is received by the receiving space, the controller can be configured to control the dielectric heater arrangement according to the first heating mode. Likewise, when the indication signal indicates that the heat-not-burn aerosol forming article is received by the receiving space, the controller can be configured to control the dielectric heater arrangement according to the second heating mode.
[0031] In some examples, the aerosol forming device may be a hand-held device, a battery powered device, a portable device or a cigarette replacement device.
[0032] In some examples, the indication signal can include a dielectric response or measurement signal of the cartridge or the solid aerosol-forming article. The controller can be accordingly configured to control the dielectric heater arrangement according to the first heating mode or the second heating mode according to the dielectric response signal.
[0033] In some examples, the dielectric heater arrangement can include an oscillator circuit comprising a resonant feedback loop. The resonant feedback loop can comprise at least one load capacitor having at least two electrodes with the receiving space arranged adjacent to the at least two electrodes, for at least partially receiving the cartridge or the heat-not-burn aerosol-forming article and exposing at least a part of the cartridge or the heat-not-burn aerosol-forming article to an alternating electric field. The electrodes can be accordingly configured to dielectrically heat the vaporizable liquid of the cartridge or the solid aerosol-forming substrate of the heat-not-burn aerosol forming article. The two electrodes can be arranged such that an alternating electric field caused between the two electrodes is exposed to an inner volume of the cartridge holding the vaporizable liquid and / or the solid aerosol forming substrate of the heat-not-burn aerosol forming article. An arrangement of the cartridge or the heat-not-burn aerosol-forming article adjacent to the electrodes may accordingly include an at least partial arrangement of the solid aerosol-forming substrate or the vaporizable liquid between the electrodes. The resonant feedback loop can comprise at least one first inductor connected in series with one of the at least two electrodes. Further, the resonant feedback loop can comprise at least one second inductor connected to another one of the at least two electrodes, wherein the at least two electrodes are connected inFTR4071
[0034] P17558WO 7 / 52
[0035] series between the first inductor and the second inductor. The controller can be configured to control a resonant feedback loop frequency of the resonant feedback loop. In particular, the resonant feedback loop frequency can be controlled so as to assume different resonant feedback loop frequency values in the first heating mode and the second heating mode. The controller can also be configured to set different resonant feedback loop frequency values by changing an inductance value of the first inductor and / or the second inductor of the resonant feedback loop. In particular, the controller can be configured to increase the resonant feedback loop frequency value by reducing the inductance value by short circuiting one of the first inductor or second inductor for removing the inductive coupling between the first inductor and second inductor. In some examples, the aerosol forming device can comprise a plurality of capacitors. The aerosol forming device can comprise a load capacitor with a first electrode and a second electrode, which are arranged opposite to each other and are spaced-apart from each other in a direction orthogonal or transverse to an insertion direction or axis for inserting the aerosol forming article. Additionally, one or more variable further capacitors can be provided, e.g. in parallel to the load capacitor. The controller can be configured to set different resonant feedback loop frequency values by changing a capacitance value of one or more of the plurality capacitors, in particular the further capacitors noted above. Hence, the aerosol forming device can include at least one additional capacitor connected in parallel with the load capacitor. The controller can be accordingly configured to set different resonant feedback loop frequency values by enabling or disabling the additional capacitor. In some examples, instead of the resonant feedback loop, a forced oscillation circuit may be provided with an oscillator signal source and an amplifier amplifying a selectable frequency to generate a radiofrequency voltage over a load capacitor for heating. Optionally an impedance matching circuit including the load capacitor may be provided. In another example, the configuration of a delay line may be changed.
[0036] In some examples, the controller can be configured to perform a test mode using the dielectric arrangement. The test mode can include an activation of the oscillator circuit to expose the cartridge or the solid aerosol-forming article to an alternating electric field. The oscillator may accordingly one or more oscillation periods. Further, the test mode further can include an analysis of a test response indicating whether the cartridge or the solid aerosol-forming article is received by the receiving space. In other words, an analysis of the oscillation frequency that has been caused by the oscillation circuit can be performed to evaluate if the cartridge or the solid aerosolforming article has been received. The test mode can be performed based on one or more of a user input, and / or a motion detector input, presence detector input, proximity detector input, thermal detection input, and / or at regular intervals. The aerosol forming device may be put into the test mode by several different ways, for instance by a detection of the movement of the user picking up the aerosol forming device, a manual activation, a detection of a presence of the handFTR4071
[0037] P17558WO 8 / 52
[0038] of the user, a detection of a user’s hand temperature etc. Also the presence detection of an aerosol forming article that has been inserted by a user may be used to put the aerosol forming device into the test mode. In some examples the aerosol forming device can comprise a data processor and a data memory accessible by the data processor. The test mode can accordingly include the steps of powering-up the oscillator circuit, recording a frequency evolution of the oscillator circuit by measuring detection data including one or more of an oscillation frequency and a power consumption of the oscillator circuit, and storing resulting detection data in the memory. The data processor can be accordingly configured to analyze a frequency response for determining one or more of a presence of the cartridge and / or the heat-not-burn aerosol forming article, a type of the cartridge and / or the heat-not-burn aerosol forming article, or one or more parameters of the cartridge and / or the heat-not-burn aerosol forming article.
[0039] In some examples, the aerosol forming device can comprise a determination unit in operative connection with the controller for determining a reception of the cartridge or the aerosolforming article. Upon determination that the cartridge is received, the controller can be configured to control the dielectric heater arrangement according to the first heating mode. Further, upon determination that the solid aerosol-forming substrate is received, the controller can be configured to control the dielectric heater arrangement according to the second heating mode. The determination unit can be further configured to identify one or more parameters of the cartridge or the heat-not-burn aerosol forming article. For instance, the determination unit can be configured for reading an identifier of the cartridge or the heat-not-burn aerosol forming article comprising information about the one or more parameters of the cartridge or the heat-not-burn aerosol forming article. The identifier can be for example one or more of an optically readable marker or code, such as for instance an RFID, an optical code etc. Hence, properties from the aerosol forming article may be determined either by the dielectric heater via the capacitive response and / or by a separate device in form of a determination unit provided to read information from the aerosol forming article.
[0040] In some examples the aerosol forming device can comprise a user interface for receiving a user input. Accordingly, one of the plurality of different heating modes can be selectable by the user via the user interface. The user interface can be configured for allowing a manual triggering of a puff by a user. Further, the puff triggering mechanism can be adapted to detect the puff manually triggered by the user.
[0041] In some examples, the puff triggering mechanism can comprise a puff detection sensor. For instance, the puff detection sensor can be a pressure sensor configured to detect a puff based on a pressure detection, which may include the detection of a change of the pressure in the airflow channel, for example the upstream airflow channel. In another example, the puff detection sensor can be a temperature sensor adapted to detect a puff based on a temperature detection, whichFTR4071
[0042] P17558WO 9 / 52
[0043] may include the detection of a change in temperature, e.g. due to cooling. In yet another example, the puff triggering mechanism can be adapted to detect a puff performed by a user by determining a power consumption of the dielectric heater arrangement, which may include the detection of a change in the power consumption in particular of the heating arrangement, which may be configured for temperature control. However, the puff triggering mechanism is not delimited to the employment of only one of the above noted methods but also a combination of one or more of a pressure detection, a temperature detection and / or a power consumption of the dielectric heater arrangement could be employed to detect a puff. Of course, also other suitable methods may be employed and possibly combined with one or more of the anode or differently the above noted approaches, if desired. In one example, the puff triggering mechanism can be accordingly adapted to detect a puff performed by a user by a combination of two or more, preferably all, of the pressure detection, the temperature detection and / or the power consumption determination.
[0044] In some examples, the aerosol forming device can comprise a DC power supply configured for powering the oscillator circuit. The first heating mode can accordingly include increasing a DC voltage supplied by the DC power supply to the oscillator circuit relative to a voltage required for the second heating mode, to increase a heating power density from the second heating mode. Further, upon determination that the session heating scheme is performed, the controller can instruct a session configuration of the dielectric heating arrangement, which can include increasing a DC voltage supplied to the oscillator circuit from a session base DC voltage level to a session increased DC voltage level.
[0045] In some examples, the controller can be configured to control a duty cycle ratio of the oscillator circuit defining the ratio of an on-time at which the oscillator provides the RF voltage to the at least two electrodes are powered to dielectrically heat the vaporizable liquid or the solid aerosol-forming substrate to an off-time at which the at least two electrodes are not powered. In some example, the controller can be configured to perform the first heating mode or the second heating mode by selectively applying an RF voltage to a plurality of electrode pairs. For instance, adjacent electrode pairs could be powered to have opposite polarities. In another configuration, two adjacent electrodes could be grouped together to have the same polarity. The second configuration could accordingly reduce a heating power density applied to the aerosol forming article. In some examples, the controller can be configured to perform the first heating mode or the second heating mode by controlling a distance between the electrodes of the resonant feedback loop. In some examples the dielectric heater arrangement can include a first oscillator circuit and a second oscillator circuit. The first oscillator circuit and the second oscillator circuit can be accordingly connected to the same electrodes. In this configuration, the first oscillator circuit can be configured to dielectrically heat the vaporizable liquid by the same electrodes according to the first heating mode, and / or the second oscillator circuit can be configured toFTR4071
[0046] P17558WO 10 / 52
[0047] dielectrically heat the solid aerosol-forming substrate by the same electrodes according to the second heating mode. In some examples, the dielectric heater arrangement can include a resonant cavity, a transmission line, and / or an antenna, configured for heating the cartridge and / or the heat-not-burn aerosol forming article.
[0048] In some examples, the receiving space can be configured to receive a cylindrical heat-not-burn aerosol forming article or cartridge. For instance, at least one cylindrically formed inner wall can define the receiving space, wherein the cylindrically formed inner wall can be configured to receive at least partially a cylindrically formed insertion portion of the cylindrical heat-not-burn aerosol forming article or cartridge. In some examples, the receiving space can be configured to receive a cuboid-shaped heat-not-burn aerosol forming article or cartridge. For instance, at least one cuboid-shaped inner wall can define the receiving space, wherein the cuboid-shaped inner wall can be configured to receive at least partially a cuboid-shaped insertion portion of the cuboidshaped heat-not-burn aerosol forming article or cartridge.
[0049] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a cartridge comprising a vaporizable liquid, wherein the cartridge is receivable by an aerosol forming device according to the present disclosure, and wherein the vaporizable liquid is heatable by the dielectric heater arrangement according to the first heating mode at the first volumetric dielectric heating power density being higher than the second volumetric dielectric heating power density. In some examples, the cartridge can further comprise an identifier comprising information about one or more parameters of the cartridge, wherein the identifier is readable by the aerosol forming device for inducing and / or controlling the first heating mode.
[0050] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a heat-not-burn aerosol forming article comprising a solid aerosol forming substrate, wherein the heat-not-burn aerosol forming article is receivable by an aerosol forming device according to the present disclosure, and wherein the solid aerosol forming substrate is heatable by the dielectric heater arrangement according to the second heating mode at the second volumetric dielectric heating power density being lower than the first volumetric dielectric heating power density. In some examples, the heat-not-burn aerosol forming article can comprise an identifier comprising information about one or more parameters of the heat-not-burn aerosol forming article, wherein the identifier is readable by the aerosol forming device for inducing and / or controlling the second heating mode.
[0051] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an aerosolgenerating system comprising the aerosol forming device according to the present disclosure and a cartridge or a heat-not-burn aerosol forming article.
[0052] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an electronic device including an aerosol forming device according to the present disclosure or an aerosol-generatingFTR4071
[0053] P17558WO 11 / 52
[0054] system according to the present disclosure and a companion device configured to charge the aerosol forming device or the aerosol-generating system with electrical energy.
[0055] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method for operating the aerosol forming device according to the present disclosure, the aerosol-generating system according to the present disclosure or the electronic device according to the present disclosure, the method comprising the step of removably receiving, in a receiving space of the aerosol forming device, at least partially a cartridge comprising a vaporizable liquid or receiving a heat-not-burn aerosol forming article comprising a solid aerosol-forming substrate. The method further comprises the step of detecting a puff by a puff triggering mechanism or detecting a session start signal. The method further comprises the step of dielectrically heating, by a dielectric heater arrangement of the aerosol forming device, the vaporizable liquid or the solid aerosolforming substrate according to one of a plurality of different heating modes, wherein the vaporizable liquid of the cartridge is heated according to a first heating mode when the puff is triggered, and wherein the solid aerosol forming substrate of the heat-not-burn aerosol forming article is heated according to a second heating mode when a session start signal is detected.
[0056] In some examples, the method can further comprise the steps of performing, by a controller of the aerosol forming device, a test mode including the steps of activating an oscillator circuit of the aerosol forming device to expose the cartridge or the solid aerosol-forming article to an alternating electric field, and analyzing a test response indicating whether the cartridge or the solid aerosol-forming article is received by the receiving space. In some examples, the method can further comprise the step of analyzing a frequency response for determining one or more of a presence of the cartridge and / or the heat-not-burn aerosol forming article, a type of the cartridge and / or the heat-not-burn aerosol forming article, or one or more parameters of the cartridge and / or the heat-not-burn aerosol forming article. In some examples, the method further can comprise the steps of receiving an indication signal that is indicative of whether the cartridge or the solid aerosol-forming article is received in the receiving space, and performing the first heating mode or the second heating mode according to the received indication signal. In some examples, the method can further comprise the steps of powering-up the oscillator circuit, recording a frequency evolution by measuring detection data including one or more of an oscillation frequency and a power consumption of the oscillator circuit, and storing resulting detection data in the memory. In some examples, the method can further comprise the steps of determining, by a determination unit of the aerosol forming device, a reception of the cartridge or the aerosol-forming article, and performing the first heating mode or the second heating mode according to the resulting determination. In some examples, the method can further comprise the step of identifying one or more parameters of the cartridge or the heat-not-burn aerosol forming article. In some examples, the first heating mode and the second heating mode may be controlled by adapting one or moreFTR4071
[0057] P17558WO 12 / 52
[0058] of a DC voltage of a DC power supply of the aerosol forming device, an AC peak voltage applied over electrodes of the aerosol forming device, an electric field strength between the electrodes, a duty cycle ratio of the oscillator circuit, an oscillation frequency of a resonant feedback loop of the aerosol forming device, a selective control of an application of an alternating voltage to different electrodes configurations, a distance between at least two electrodes.
[0059] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer program, which, when executed by processing circuitry of an aerosol forming device or a companion device configured to charge an aerosol forming device with electrical energy, causes the aerosol forming device or the companion device to perform the steps of the method according to the present disclosure.
[0060] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a computer program according to the present disclosure.
[0061] In the context of the present disclosure, the aerosol-forming device and / or the aerosolforming system may be a portable device and / or system. It may be battery powered. Particularly, the aerosol-forming device and / or the aerosol-forming system may be pocket-size, hand-held, suitable for one-hand use and / or may weigh less than 300 g, preferably less than 200 g. It may be shaped and / or sized to fit snugly into a user’s hand. It may be carried in jacket and / or trouser pockets. Particularly, the aerosol-forming device and / or the aerosol-forming system may be configured to provide aerosol for human inhalation and / or human consumption, particularly inhalation and / or consumption through the mouth.
[0062] The invention is defined in the claims. However, below there is provided a non-exhaustive list of non-limiting examples. Any one or more of the features of these examples may be combined with any one or more features of another example, embodiment, or aspect described herein.
[0063] Example 1. An aerosol forming device comprising:
[0064] a receiving space for at least partially and removably receiving either a cartridge having a vaporizable liquid or a heat-not-burn aerosol forming article having a solid aerosol forming substrate;
[0065] a dielectric heater arrangement configured to either dielectrically heat the vaporizable liquid or the solid aerosol-forming substrate when the cartridge or the heat-not-burn aerosol forming article are received in the receiving space, respectively;
[0066] a controller operatively connected to the dielectric heater arrangement and configured to control a heating performed by the dielectric heater arrangement according to one of a plurality of different heating modes,
[0067] a puff triggering mechanism in operative connection with the controller and configured to detect a puff,FTR4071
[0068] P17558WO 13 / 52
[0069] wherein the plurality of different heating modes includes a first heating mode for vaporizing the vaporizable liquid of the cartridge when the puff is triggered and a second heating mode for heating the solid aerosol forming substrate of the heat-not-burn aerosol forming article.
[0070] Example 2. The aerosol forming device according to the preceding Example, wherein in the first heating mode, the dielectric heating arrangement is configured to increase a volumetric dielectric heating power density as compared to the second heating mode.
[0071] Example 3. The aerosol forming device according to one of the preceding Examples, wherein in the first heating mode, the dielectric heating arrangement is configured to perform a single puff heating upon triggering of a puff.
[0072] Example 4. The aerosol forming device according to one of the preceding Examples, wherein the second heating mode includes a session heating scheme,
[0073] wherein the session heating scheme includes a session warm-up phase at which the dielectric heater arrangement is adapted to heat the solid aerosol forming substrate up to a predefined session temperature, and a maintenance heating phase during which a heating profile is applied to the solid aerosol forming substrate during which a user can take one or more puffs.
[0074] Example 5. The aerosol forming device according to the preceding Example, wherein the session warm-up phase is performed during a first duration of 2 to 60 seconds, preferably of 5 to 45 seconds, and more preferably of 7 to 35 seconds, and
[0075] wherein the maintenance heating phase is performed during a second duration of 60 to 900 seconds, more preferably 120 to 600 seconds.
[0076] Example 6. The aerosol forming device according to one of the preceding Examples 4 or 5,
[0077] wherein the predefined session temperature is in a range of 150 to 350°C.
[0078] Example 7. The aerosol forming device according to one of the preceding Examples 4 to 6,
[0079] wherein a heating power provided by the session warm-up phase is 5 W or more.
[0080] Example 8. The aerosol forming device according to one of the preceding Examples 4 to 7,FTR4071
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[0082] wherein a heating power provided by the maintenance heating phase is between 1 W and 5 W.
[0083] Example 9. The aerosol forming device according to one of the preceding Examples, wherein the second heating mode includes a puff-on-demand heating scheme, wherein the puff-on-demand heating scheme includes a single puff heating phase triggered upon detection of a puff at which the dielectric heater arrangement is controlled to heat the solid aerosol forming substrate up to a predefined temperature.
[0084] Example 10. The aerosol forming device according to one of the preceding Examples, wherein the first heating mode includes a puff-on-demand heating scheme,
[0085] wherein the puff-on-demand heating scheme includes a single puff heating phase triggered upon detection of a puff at which the dielectric heater arrangement is controlled to heat-up to a predefined puff-on-demand vaporization temperature for vaporizing the vaporizable liquid.
[0086] Example 11. The aerosol forming device according to one of the preceding Examples 9 or 10,
[0087] wherein the puff-on-demand heating scheme includes at least one stand-by phase at which the dielectric heater arrangement is controlled to be in a stand-by mode,
[0088] wherein, the puff-on-demand heating scheme includes switching from the stand-by phase to a single puff heating phase, wherein the single puff heating phase is triggered upon detection of a puff.
[0089] Example 12. The aerosol forming device according to one of the preceding Examples 9 to 11,
[0090] wherein the single puff heating phase is performed during a first duration in a range of 0.05 seconds to 5 seconds.
[0091] Example 13. The aerosol forming device according to one of the preceding Examples 10 to 12,
[0092] wherein the single puff heating phase heats the vaporizable liquid up to a temperature in a range of 150-230°C.
[0093] Example 14. The aerosol forming device according to one of the preceding Examples,FTR4071
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[0095] wherein the controller is further configured to control the dielectric heater arrangement to receive an indication signal that is indicative if the cartridge or the solid aerosol-forming article is received in the receiving space.
[0096] Example 15. The aerosol forming device according to the preceding Example, wherein, when the indication signal indicates that the cartridge is received by the receiving space, the controller is configured to control the dielectric heater arrangement according to the first heating mode.
[0097] Example 16. The aerosol forming device according to one of the preceding Examples 14 or 15,
[0098] wherein, when the indication signal indicates that the heat-not-burn aerosol forming article is received by the receiving space, the controller is configured to control the dielectric heater arrangement according to the second heating mode.
[0099] Example 17. The aerosol forming device according to one of the preceding Examples 14 to 16,
[0100] wherein the indication signal includes a dielectric response or measurement signal of the cartridge or the solid aerosol-forming article, and
[0101] wherein the controller is configured to control the dielectric heater arrangement according to the first heating mode or the second heating mode according to the dielectric response signal.
[0102] Example 18. The aerosol forming device according to one of the preceding Examples, wherein the dielectric heater arrangement includes an oscillator circuit comprising a resonant feedback loop,
[0103] wherein the resonant feedback loop comprises at least one load capacitor having at least two electrodes with the receiving space arranged adjacent to the at least two electrodes, for at least partially receiving the cartridge or the heat-not-burn aerosol-forming article and exposing at least a part of the cartridge or the heat-not-burn aerosol-forming article to an alternating electric field, and
[0104] wherein the electrodes are configured to dielectrically heat the vaporizable liquid of the cartridge or the solid aerosol-forming substrate of the heat-not-burn aerosol forming article.
[0105] Example 19. The aerosol forming device according to the preceding Example,FTR4071
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[0107] wherein the two electrodes are arranged such that an alternating electric field caused between the two electrodes is exposed to an inner volume of the cartridge holding the vaporizable liquid and / or the solid aerosol forming substrate of the heat-not-burn aerosol forming article.
[0108] Example 20. The aerosol forming device according to one of the preceding Examples 18 or 19,
[0109] wherein the controller is configured to perform a test mode using the dielectric arrangement, wherein the test mode includes an activation of the oscillator circuit to expose the cartridge or the solid aerosol-forming article to an alternating electric field, and
[0110] wherein the test mode further includes an analysis of a test response indicating whether the cartridge or the solid aerosol-forming article is received by the receiving space.
[0111] Example 21. The aerosol forming device according to the preceding Example, wherein the test mode is performed based on one or more of a user input, and / or a motion detector input, presence detector input, proximity detector input, thermal detection input, and / or regular intervals.
[0112] Example 22. The aerosol forming device according to one of the preceding Examples 20 or 21,
[0113] further comprising a data processor and a data memory accessible by the data processor, wherein the test mode further includes the steps of:
[0114] i) powering-up the oscillator circuit,
[0115] ii) recording a frequency evolution of the oscillator circuit by measuring detection data including one or more of an oscillation frequency and a power consumption of the oscillator circuit, and
[0116] iii) storing resulting detection data in the memory.
[0117] Example 23. The aerosol forming device according to the preceding Example, wherein the data processor is configured to analyze a frequency response for determining one or more of:
[0118] i)a presence of the cartridge and / or the heat-not-burn aerosol forming article,
[0119] ii) a type of the cartridge and / or the heat-not-burn aerosol forming article, or iii) one or more parameters of the cartridge and / or the heat-not-burn aerosol forming article.
[0120] Example 24. The aerosol forming device according to one of the preceding Examples,FTR4071
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[0122] further comprising a determination unit in operative connection with the controller for determining a reception of the cartridge or the aerosol-forming article.
[0123] Example 25. The aerosol forming device according to the preceding Example, wherein, upon determination that the cartridge is received, the controller is configured to control the dielectric heater arrangement according to the first heating mode.
[0124] Example 26. The aerosol forming device according to one of the preceding Examples 24 or 25,
[0125] wherein, upon determination that the solid aerosol-forming substrate is received, the controller is configured to control the dielectric heater arrangement according to the second heating mode.
[0126] Example 27. The aerosol forming device according to one of the preceding Examples 24 to 26,
[0127] wherein the determination unit is further configured to identify one or more parameters of the cartridge or the heat-not-burn aerosol forming article.
[0128] Example 28. The aerosol forming device according to the preceding Example, wherein the determination unit is configured for reading an identifier of the cartridge or the heat-not-burn aerosol forming article comprising information about the one or more parameters of the cartridge or the heat-not-burn aerosol forming article.
[0129] Example 29. The aerosol forming device according to the preceding Example, wherein the identifier is one or more of an optically readable marker or code.
[0130] Example 30. The aerosol forming device according to one of the preceding Examples, wherein the aerosol forming device comprises a user interface for receiving a user input, and wherein one of the plurality of different heating modes is selectable by the user via the user interface.
[0131] Example 31. The aerosol forming device according to the preceding Example, wherein the user interface is configured for allowing a manual triggering of a puff by a user, and
[0132] wherein the puff triggering mechanism is adapted to detect the puff manually triggered by the user.FTR4071
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[0134] Example 32. The aerosol forming device according to the preceding Example, wherein the puff triggering mechanism comprises a puff detection sensor.
[0135] Example 33. The aerosol forming device according to the preceding Example, wherein the puff detection sensor is a pressure sensor configured to detect a puff based on a pressure detection.
[0136] Example 34. The aerosol forming device according to Example 32,
[0137] wherein the puff detection sensor is a temperature sensor adapted to detect a puff based on a temperature detection.
[0138] Example 35. The aerosol forming device according to one of the preceding Examples, wherein the puff triggering mechanism is adapted to detect a puff performed by a user by determining a power consumption of the dielectric heater arrangement.
[0139] Example 36. The aerosol forming device according to the preceding Example in combination with one or more of the preceding Examples 33 or 34,
[0140] wherein the puff triggering mechanism is adapted to detect a puff performed by a user by a combination of two or more, preferably all, of the pressure detection, the temperature detection and / or the power consumption determination.
[0141] Example 37. The aerosol forming device according to one of the preceding Examples, wherein, in the first heating mode, the dielectric heating arrangement is configured to apply an alternating electric field to the vaporizable liquid to generate volumetric heating power densities in a range of 50 W / cm3 to 2.5k W / cm3.
[0142] Example 38. The aerosol forming device according to the preceding Example, wherein the volumetric heating power densities are applied to a volume of the vaporizable liquid.
[0143] Example 39. The aerosol forming device according to one of the preceding Examples, wherein the device further comprises a session detection mechanism in operative connection with the controller configured to detect a session performed by a user.
[0144] Example 40. The aerosol forming device according to one of the preceding Examples,FTR4071
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[0146] wherein in the second heating mode, the dielectric heating arrangement is configured to apply an alternating electric field to the solid aerosol forming substrate to generate volumetric heating power densities in a range of 1 W / cm3 to 25 W / cm3.
[0147] Example 41. The aerosol forming device according to the preceding Example, wherein the volumetric heating power densities are applied to a volume of the solid aerosol forming substrate.
[0148] Example 42. The aerosol forming device according to one of the preceding Examples in combination with Example 18,
[0149] wherein the aerosol forming device comprises a DC power supply configured for powering the oscillator circuit.
[0150] Example 43. The aerosol forming device according to the preceding Example, wherein the first heating mode includes increasing a DC voltage supplied by the DC power supply to the oscillator circuit relative to a voltage required for the second heating mode, to increase a heating power density from the second heating mode.
[0151] Example 44. The aerosol forming device according to one of the preceding Examples 42 or 43 in combination with Example 4,
[0152] wherein upon determination that the session heating scheme is performed, the controller instructs a session configuration of the dielectric heating arrangement,
[0153] wherein the session configuration includes increasing a DC voltage supplied to the oscillator circuit from a session base DC voltage level to a session increased DC voltage level.
[0154] Example 45. The aerosol forming device according to one of the preceding Examples in combination with Example 18,
[0155] wherein the controller is configured to control a duty cycle ratio of the oscillator circuit defining the ratio of an on-time at which the oscillator provides the RF voltage to the at least two electrodes are powered to dielectrically heat the vaporizable liquid or the solid aerosol-forming substrate to an off-time at which the at least two electrodes are not powered.
[0156] Example 46. The aerosol forming device according to one of the preceding Examples in combination with Example 18,
[0157] wherein the resonant feedback loop comprises at least one first inductor connected in series with one of the at least two electrodes.FTR4071
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[0159] Example 47. The aerosol forming device according to the preceding Example, wherein the resonant feedback loop further comprises at least one second inductor connected to another one of the at least two electrodes,
[0160] wherein the at least two electrodes are connected in series between the first inductor and the second inductor.
[0161] Example 48. The aerosol forming device according to one of the preceding Examples in combination with Example 18,
[0162] wherein the controller is configured to control a resonant feedback loop frequency of the resonant feedback loop, wherein the resonant feedback loop frequency is controlled so as to assume different resonant feedback loop frequency values in the first heating mode and the second heating mode.
[0163] Example 49. The aerosol forming device according to the preceding Example in combination with one or more of Examples 46 or 47,
[0164] wherein the controller is configured to set different resonant feedback loop frequency values by changing an inductance value of the first inductor and / or the second inductor of the resonant feedback loop.
[0165] Example 50. The aerosol forming device according to the preceding Example, wherein the controller is configured to increase the resonant feedback loop frequency value by reducing the inductance value by short circuiting one of the first inductor or second inductor for removing the inductive coupling between the first inductor and second inductor.
[0166] Example 51. The aerosol forming device according to one of the preceding Examples, further comprising a plurality of capacitors.
[0167] Example 52. The aerosol forming device according to the preceding Example in combination with Example 48,
[0168] wherein the controller is configured to set different resonant feedback loop frequency values by changing a capacitance value of one or more of the plurality capacitors.
[0169] Example 53. The aerosol forming device according to one of the preceding Examples in combination with Example 18,FTR4071
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[0171] wherein the aerosol forming device includes at least one additional capacitor connected in parallel with the load capacitor, and
[0172] wherein the controller is configured to set different resonant feedback loop frequency values by enabling or disabling the additional capacitor.
[0173] Example 54. The aerosol forming device according to one of the preceding Examples, wherein the controller is configured to perform the first heating mode or the second heating mode by selectively applying an RF voltage to a plurality of electrode pairs.
[0174] Example 55. The aerosol forming device according to one of the preceding Examples in combination with Example 18,
[0175] wherein the controller is configured to perform the first heating mode or the second heating mode by controlling a distance between the electrodes of the resonant feedback loop.
[0176] Example 56. The aerosol forming device according to one of the preceding Examples in combination with Example 18,
[0177] wherein the dielectric heater arrangement includes a first oscillator circuit and a second oscillator circuit,
[0178] wherein the first oscillator circuit and the second oscillator circuit are connected to the same electrodes,
[0179] wherein the first oscillator circuit is configured to dielectrically heat the vaporizable liquid by the same electrodes according to the first heating mode, and / or
[0180] wherein the second oscillator circuit is configured to dielectrically heat the solid aerosolforming substrate by the same electrodes according to the second heating mode.
[0181] Example 57. The aerosol forming device according to one of the preceding Examples, wherein the dielectric heater arrangement includes a resonant cavity, a transmission line, and / or an antenna, configured for heating the cartridge and / or the heat-not-burn aerosol forming article.
[0182] Example 58. The aerosol forming device according to one of the preceding Examples, wherein the receiving space is configured to receive a cylindrical heat-not-burn aerosol forming article or cartridge.
[0183] Example 59. The aerosol forming device according to the preceding Example, wherein at least one cylindrically formed inner wall defines the receiving space,FTR4071
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[0185] wherein the cylindrically formed inner wall is configured to receive at least partially a cylindrically formed insertion portion of the cylindrical heat-not-burn aerosol forming article or cartridge.
[0186] Example 60. The aerosol forming device according to one of the preceding Examples, wherein the receiving space is configured to receive a cuboid-shaped heat-not-burn aerosol forming article or cartridge.
[0187] Example 61. The aerosol forming device according to the preceding Example, wherein at least one cuboid-shaped inner wall defines the receiving space,
[0188] wherein the cuboid-shaped inner wall is configured to receive at least partially a cuboidshaped insertion portion of the cuboid-shaped heat-not-burn aerosol forming article or cartridge.
[0189] Example 62. A cartridge comprising a vaporizable liquid,
[0190] wherein the cartridge is receivable by an aerosol forming device according to one of the preceding Examples 1 to 61, and
[0191] wherein the vaporizable liquid is heatable by the dielectric heater arrangement according to the first heating mode.
[0192] Example 63. The cartridge according to the preceding Example,
[0193] further comprising an identifier comprising information about one or more parameters of the cartridge,
[0194] wherein the identifier is readable by the aerosol forming device for inducing and / or controlling the first heating mode.
[0195] Example 64. A heat-not-burn aerosol forming article comprising a solid aerosol forming substrate,
[0196] wherein the heat-not-burn aerosol forming article is receivable by an aerosol forming device according to one of the preceding Examples 1 to 61, and
[0197] wherein the solid aerosol forming substrate is heatable by the dielectric heater arrangement according to the second heating mode.
[0198] Example 65. The heat-not-burn aerosol forming article according to the preceding Example,
[0199] further comprising an identifier comprising information about one or more parameters of the heat-not-burn aerosol forming article,FTR4071
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[0201] wherein the identifier is readable by the aerosol forming device for inducing and / or controlling the second heating mode.
[0202] Example 66. An aerosol-generating system comprising the aerosol forming device according to one of the preceding examples 1 to 61 and one of a cartridge or a heat-not-burn aerosol forming article.
[0203] Example 67. An electronic device including an aerosol-generating system according to one of the preceding Examples 1 to 61 an aerosol-generating system according to example 66 and / or a companion device configured to charge the aerosol forming device or the aerosolgenerating system with electrical energy.
[0204] Example 68. A method for operating the aerosol forming device according to one of the preceding Examples 1 to 61, the aerosol-generating system according to the preceding example 66 or the electronic device according to one of the preceding Examples 66 or 67 comprising the steps of:
[0205] - removably receiving, in a receiving space of the aerosol forming device, at least partially a cartridge comprising a vaporizable liquid or receiving a heat-not-burn aerosol forming article comprising a solid aerosol-forming substrate;
[0206] - detecting a puff by a puff triggering mechanism or detecting a session start signal;
[0207] - dielectrically heating, by a dielectric heater arrangement of the aerosol forming device, the vaporizable liquid or the solid aerosol-forming substrate according to one of a plurality of different heating modes,
[0208] - wherein the vaporizable liquid of the cartridge is heated according to a first heating mode when the puff is triggered, and wherein the solid aerosol forming substrate of the heat-not-burn aerosol forming article is heated according to a second heating mode when a session start signal is detected.
[0209] Example 69. The method according to the preceding Example,
[0210] wherein the method further comprises the steps of:
[0211] - performing, by a controller of the aerosol forming device, a test mode including the steps of:
[0212] - activating an oscillator circuit of the aerosol forming device to expose the cartridge or the solid aerosol-forming article to an alternating electric field, and
[0213] - analyzing a test response indicating whether the cartridge or the solid aerosol-forming article is received by the receiving space.FTR4071
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[0215] Example 70. The method according to one of the preceding Examples 68 or 69, wherein the method further comprises the step of analyzing a frequency response for determining one or more of:
[0216] - a presence of the cartridge and / or the heat-not-burn aerosol forming article,
[0217] - a type of the cartridge and / or the heat-not-burn aerosol forming article, or
[0218] - one or more parameters of the cartridge and / or the heat-not-burn aerosol forming article.
[0219] Example 71. The method according to one of the preceding Examples 68 to 70, wherein the method further comprises the steps of:
[0220] - receiving an indication signal that is indicative of whether the cartridge or the solid aerosolforming article is received in the receiving space, and
[0221] - performing the first heating mode or the second heating mode according to the received indication signal.
[0222] Example 72. The method according to one of the preceding Examples 68 to 71, wherein the method further comprises the steps of:
[0223] i) powering-up the oscillator circuit,
[0224] ii) recording a frequency evolution by measuring detection data including one or more of an oscillation frequency and a power consumption of the oscillator circuit, and
[0225] iii) storing resulting detection data in the memory.
[0226] Example 73. The method according to one of the preceding Examples 68 o 72, wherein the method further comprises the steps of:
[0227] - determining, by a determination unit of the aerosol forming device, a reception of the cartridge or the aerosol-forming article, and
[0228] - performing the first heating mode or the second heating mode according to the resulting determination.
[0229] Example 74. The method according to one of the preceding Examples 68 to 73, wherein the method further comprises the step of:
[0230] - identifying one or more parameters of the cartridge or the heat-not-burn aerosol forming article.
[0231] Example 75. The method according to one of the preceding Examples 68 to 74,FTR4071
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[0233] wherein the first heating mode and the second heating mode are controlled by adapting one or more of:
[0234] - a DC voltage of a DC power supply of the aerosol forming device,
[0235] - an AC peak voltage applied over electrodes of the aerosol forming device,
[0236] - an electric field strength between the electrodes,
[0237] - a duty cycle ratio of the oscillator circuit,
[0238] - an oscillation frequency of a resonant feedback loop of the aerosol forming device, - a selective control of an application of an alternating voltage to different electrodes configurations,
[0239] - a distance between at least two electrodes.
[0240] Example 76. A computer program, which, when executed by processing circuitry of an aerosol forming device or a companion device configured to charge an aerosol forming device with electrical energy, causes the aerosol forming device or the companion device to perform the steps of the method according to one of the preceding Examples.
[0241] Example 77. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a computer program according to the preceding Examples.
[0242] Examples will now be further described with reference to the figures in which:
[0243] Figure 1 shows an exemplary electronic device;
[0244] Figure 2 shows a schematic illustration of an exemplary oscillation circuit for use in an aerosol-generating system;
[0245] Figure 3A shows a schematic illustration of an exemplary oscillation circuit;
[0246] Figure 3B shows a schematic illustration of another exemplary oscillation circuit;
[0247] Figure 4 shows an exemplary oscillation circuit diagram;
[0248] Figure 5A schematically shows a longitudinal cross-sectional view of an exemplary aerosolforming system;
[0249] Figure 5B schematically shows a transverse cross-sectional view of an exemplary aerosolforming system;
[0250] Figure 6A-6C schematically show multiple longitudinal cross-sectional views of an exemplary cartridge,
[0251] Figure 7 schematically shows a transverse cross-sectional view of an exemplary cartridge; Figure 8 schematically shows a transverse cross-sectional view of an exemplary cartridge; Figure 9 schematically shows a longitudinal cross-sectional view of an exemplary embodiment of a heat-not-burn aerosol-forming article;FTR4071
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[0253] Figure 10 schematically shows a flowchart of an exemplary method according to the present invention.
[0254] The figures are schematic only and not to scale.
[0255] Figure 1 shows an electronic device 500 for forming or generating aerosol, for example for consumption or inhalation by a user. The electronic device 500 comprises an aerosol-generating or aerosol-forming system 450, comprising an aerosol forming device 100, and optionally a companion device 300 for accommodating the aerosol forming device 100. The companion device 300 may be a charging device or charger case for charging the aerosol forming device 100 and / or an energy source 190 or power supply 190 thereof.
[0256] The aerosol forming device 100 may comprise a receiving space 101 for at least partially or completely receiving an aerosol forming article 200, which may be in form of a cartridge 200-1, container 200-1, capsule 200-1, or pod 200-1 having a vaporizable liquid 210-1. The vaporizable liquid 210-1 can be vaporized or aerosolized for inhalation, as shown in greater detail in Figures 5A and 5B. The aerosol forming article 200 may also be in form of a heat-not-burn aerosol-forming article 200-2 having a solid aerosol-forming substrate 210-2, such as a tobacco material. The aerosol forming article 200 may be stick-like shaped, shaped, as rectangular parallelepiped, or shaped differently. The receiving space 101 may be suitably shaped to removably receive either the cartridge 210-1 or the heat-not-burn aerosol-forming article 210-2 by some attachment mechanism, for example a press-fit, interference fit, magnetic attachment, mechanical lock such as snap-fit, bayonet lock, thread, attachment clips or other.
[0257] The vaporizable liquid 210-1 and the solid aerosol-forming substrate 210-2 may also be referred under the term aerosol-forming substrate 210. Generally, the aerosol-forming substrate 210 may comprise tobacco-based or non-tobacco based materials having an aerosol forming material therein and optionally one or more active agents or ingredients, such as nicotine, pharmaceutical, botanicals, flavorants, liquid substrates with one or more active agents or ingredients, or a combination thereof.
[0258] The cartridge 200 includes an aerosol outlet 215 (see FIG. 5A), or optionally, the aerosol forming device 100 can comprise a separate mouthpiece (not shown) that can be fluidically interconnected to the cartridge 200-1, through which a user may inhale aerosol provided from outlet 215 to the aerosol forming device 100 for consumption. The aerosol may be provided from an aerosol forming article 200 or substrate 210 provided inside or contained within the aerosol forming device 100.
[0259] The exemplary aerosol-forming device 100 of Figure 1 further includes a dielectric heater arrangement 110 configured to either dielectrically heat the vaporizable liquid 210-1 or the solid aerosol-forming substrate 210-2 when the cartridge 200-1 or the heat-not-burn aerosol-formingFTR4071
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[0261] article 200-2 are received in the receiving space 101. For instance, the receiving space 101 can be configured to receive a cylindrical heat-not-burn aerosol-forming article 200-2 or cartridge 200-1. In the variant shown, the cartridge 200-1 has a cylindrical shape, and a cylindrically formed inner wall 103 can define the receiving space 101, wherein the cylindrically formed inner wall 103 is configured to receive at least partially a cylindrically formed insertion portion of a cylindrical heat-not-burn aerosol-forming article 200-2 or cartridge 200-1. The receiving space 101 may for instance have an opening width in a range of about 4 to 8 mm. In another example, the receiving space 101 can be configured to receive a cuboid-shaped, oval-shaped, oblong-shaped, or any other shape heat-not-burn aerosol-forming article 200-2 or cartridge 200-1. In the configuration of the cuboid-shaped receiving space 101, at least one cuboid-shaped inner wall 103 can define the receiving space 101 such that the cuboid-shaped inner wall 103 is configured to receive at least partially a cuboid-shaped insertion portion of the cuboid-shaped heat-not-burn aerosolforming article 200-2 or cartridge 200-1 (cf. Fig. 8).
[0262] In the example of Figure 1, the dielectric heater arrangement 110 comprises a load capacitor 126 with a first electrode 114 and a second electrode 116, which are arranged adjacent, for instance arranged opposite or not opposite to each other and are spaced-apart from each other in a direction orthogonal or transverse to an insertion direction or axis 30 for inserting the aerosol forming article 200. The insertion direction or axis 30 may define or be parallel to a longitudinal direction or axis of the device 100. The two opposing and spaced-apart electrodes 114, 116 form or define a heating or receiving chamber 165 configured to at least partly receive the aerosol forming article 200 or substrate 210 therebetween.
[0263] The heating chamber 165 and the aerosol forming article 200 can be sized such that the aerosol forming substrate 210 is, e.g. when a heat-not-burn aerosol-forming article 200-1 is received, in contact or, when e.g. a cartridge 200-1 is received, in close proximity to both the first electrode 114 and the second electrode 116 of the load capacitor 126 when received within the heating chamber 165. Moreover, the load capacitor 126 with the first electrode 114 and the second electrode 116 can form part of a feedback loop 133 (see Figure 2) of an oscillator circuit 130, also referred herein to as oscillation circuit 130 or oscillation circuitry 130, for example via a first and second electrical contact 161, 163. It should be noted that the load capacitor 126 can comprise more than one electrode pair, in particular, the load capacitor 126 can comprise two, three, four, or even more pairs of oppositely-polarized electrodes 114, 116. Also, it should be noted that the embodiment with load capacitor 126 is exemplary only. Alternatively, the dielectric heater arrangement 110 may comprise a resonant cavity, a transmission line, or both, configured to receive the substrate 210 for dielectric heating thereof. A controller 140, which may also be referred to as control circuitry 140 can be configured to control a duty cycle ratio of the oscillator circuit 130 defining the ratio of an on-time at which the oscillator 130 provides the RF voltage toFTR4071
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[0265] the at least two electrodes 114, 116 are powered to dielectrically heat the vaporizable liquid 210-1 or the solid aerosol-forming substrate 210-2 to an off-time at which the at least two electrodes 114, 116 are not powered. The controller 140 can be for instance configured to perform the first heating mode or the second heating mode by selectively applying an RF voltage to a plurality of electrode pairs. In some examples, the controller 140 can be configured to perform the first heating mode or the second heating mode by controlling a distance between the electrodes 114, 116 of the resonant feedback loop 133 to change a dielectric heating power density.
[0266] In other examples, the first electrode 114 and the second electrode 116 may form part of the aerosol forming article 200 comprising the aerosol forming substrate 210. In such embodiments, the heating chamber 165 or a corresponding receiving space between the first and second electrical contacts 161, 163 can be sized such that, when the aerosol forming article 200 is placed or located within the heating chamber 165, an electrical connection is established between the first electrode 114 and the first electrical contact 161 , and the second electrode 116 and the second electrical contact 163.
[0267] The aerosol-forming device 100 further comprises a power supply 190, power source 190 or energy source 190, and a controller 140 electrically, communicatively and / or operatively coupled to the dielectric heater arrangement 110 and / or an oscillator circuit 130. In this embodiment, the power supply 190 can be a rechargeable lithium-ion battery, for example with one or more lithium-ion battery cells. Hence, the aerosol-forming device 100 can be portable, battery-powered and handheld.
[0268] The controller 140 can be configured to control the energy source 190 and / or the dielectric heater arrangement 110. In particular, the controller 140 can be configured to control a supply of electrical power from the energy source 190 to the dielectric heater arrangement 110 for example via a controllable DC-DC converter, voltage regulator, or on / off switching device, thereby controlling the heating, a heating operation, activation and / or deactivation of the dielectric heater arrangement 110 according to one of a plurality of different puff or heating modes. The controller 140 can further include one or more microcontrollers or processors 142 for data processing.
[0269] The energy source 190 may be charged based on connecting terminals of the device 100 with a main power supply, e.g., a USB charger. Alternatively, the energy storage 190 may be charged based on mechanically coupling the aerosol-forming device 100 with the companion device 300. In Figure 1, both the aerosol-forming device 100 and the companion device 300 comprise an energy storage 190, 310. In an example, energy storage 190 of the aerosol-forming device may be charged based on coupling the device 100 to the companion device, for example based on at least partly inserting the device 100 into a compartment or recess of the companion device 300. Upon mechanically coupling the device 100, 300, an electrical connection between terminals or electrical connections of the aerosol-forming device 100 and the companion deviceFTR4071
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[0271] 300 can be established to charge the energy storage 190 of the aerosol-forming device 100 via the energy storage 310 of the companion device 300. The energy storage 310 of the companion device 300 can, for example, be re-charged via connection to a main power supply, e.g., a USB charger. Alternatively, or additionally, one or both the energy storage 190 of the aerosol-forming device 100 and the energy storage 310 of the companion device 300 may be removable and / or replaceable. In other words, energy storages 190, 310 may be replaceable energy storages or batteries.
[0272] The aerosol-forming device 100 may further comprise a communications arrangement 150 or interface 150 for communicatively coupling the aerosol-forming device 100 with the companion device 300 or other devices, such as a smart phone or server, for example, via an Internet connection, a wireless LAN connection, a WiFi connection, a Bluetooth connection, a mobile phone network, a mobile data connection for example but not limited to a 3G / 4G / 5G connection, an edge connection, an LTE connection, a BUS connection, a wireless connection, a wired connection, an optical data connection such as but not limited to IrDa, a radio connection, a near field connection, and / or an loT connection.
[0273] The aerosol-forming device 100 may further comprise a data storage 152 or memory for storing information, program code or data. Data storage 152 may also store collected values of sensors and / or one or more mathematical functions or formulas, software and / or computer instructions that can be executed by the controller 140 and / or processor 142.
[0274] One or more sensors 154 may be arranged on, at or in the aerosol-forming device 100 to collect data. One or more of the sensors 154 may for example be a motion sensor, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, an image sensor, a pyrometer, a presence sensor, a touch sensor, a temperature sensor, a strain sensor, a pressure sensor, a flow sensor or any other suitable sensor. The controller 140 can be configured to control the dielectric heater arrangement 110 to receive an indication signal that is indicative if the cartridge 200-1 or the solid aerosol-forming article 200-2 is received in the receiving space 101. When the indication signal indicates that the cartridge 200-1 is received by the receiving space 101, the controller 140 can control the dielectric heater arrangement 110 according to a first heating mode and when the indication signal indicates that the heat-not-burn aerosol-forming article 200-2 is received by the receiving space 101, the controller can control the dielectric heater arrangement 100 according to a second heating mode. The indication signal can also include a dielectric response or measurement signal of the cartridge 200-1 or the solid aerosol-forming article 200-2. In this case the controller 140 can be configured to control the dielectric heater arrangement 110 according to the first heating mode or the second heating mode according to the dielectric response signal. Exemplarily, the puff or heating modes may include for instance an idle or ready-mode with pre-heating for puff detection purposes or for pre-heating to achieve a viscosity change of a vaporizable liquid 210-1.FTR4071
[0275] P17558WO 30 / 52
[0276] The aerosol-forming device 100 may further comprise a puff triggering mechanism 157 in operative connection with the controller 140 and configured to detect a puff. For instance, the puff triggering mechanism 157 may be adapted to detect the puff manually triggered by the user. In another embodiment, the puff triggering mechanism 157 may comprise a puff detection sensor 158. In one example, the puff detection sensor 158 is a pressure sensor or flow sensor configured to detect a puff based on a pressure or air flow detection. In one example, the puff triggering mechanism 157 is adapted to detect a puff performed by a user by determining a power consumption of the dielectric heater arrangement 110, as is also described further below.
[0277] The aerosol-forming device 100 may further comprise a user interface 156 including one or more components, for example comprising an input and / or output element, for example in the form of a pushbutton, a capacitive button, a touch display, one or more LEDs, an acoustic interface or the like. The user interface 156 may be used or function as a power button to activate or deactivate the dielectric heater arrangement 110 thereby to activate or deactivate the aerosolforming device 100.
[0278] In use, power or electrical energy can be provide from the energy storage 190 to the dielectric heater arrangement 110, for example when a user activates the aerosol-forming 100. For example, the aerosol-forming 100 can be activated by one or more of a sensor signal of at least one sensor 154 of the aerosol-forming device 100, insertion of an aerosol-forming article 200 at least partly into the aerosol-forming device 100, coupling of an aerosol-forming article 200 to the aerosol-forming device 100, mechanical decoupling of the aerosol-forming device 100 from the companion device 300, and a signal from the user interface 156 triggered by the user of the aerosol-forming device 100.
[0279] Further, the controller 140 can be configured to perform a test mode using the dielectric arrangement 110, wherein the oscillator circuit 130 can be activated to expose the cartridge 200-1 or the solid aerosol-forming article 200-2 to an alternating electric field. The test mode can then include an analysis of a test response indicating whether the cartridge 200-1 or the solid aerosolforming article 200-2 is received by the receiving space 101. In some examples the test mode can be performed based on one or more of a user input, and / or a motion detector input, presence detector input, proximity detector input, thermal detection input, and / or regular intervals. The test mode can include the steps of: i) powering-up the oscillator circuit 130, ii) recording a frequency evolution of the oscillator circuit 130 by measuring detection data including one or more of an oscillation frequency and a power consumption of the oscillator circuit 130, and iii) storing resulting detection data in the memory 152.
[0280] Upon activation of the aerosol-forming device 100, the dielectric heater arrangement 110 may be activated and heat may be applied to at least a part of the aerosol-forming article 200 or substrate 210, such that aerosol can be generated for consumption or inhalation by the user. TheFTR4071
[0281] P17558WO 31 / 52
[0282] user interface 156 may be accordingly configured for receiving a user input. For instance, one of the plurality of different heating modes may be selectable by the user via the user interface 156. The user interface 156 can be configured for allowing a manual triggering of a puff by a user and the puff triggering mechanism 157 can be adapted to detect the puff manually triggered by the user. The user interface 156 can be arranged on an outer surface of the aerosol-forming device 100 or can be integrated in a housing of the aerosol-forming device 100. In an example, the plurality of different heating modes can include a first heating mode for vaporizing the vaporizable liquid 210-1 of the cartridge 200-1 when a puff is triggered or detected and a second heating mode for heating the solid aerosol-forming substrate 210-2 of the heat-not-burn aerosol-forming article 200-2. In the first heating mode, the dielectric heating arrangement 110 can be configured to increase a volumetric dielectric heating power density as compared to the second heating mode. For instance, in the first heating mode, the dielectric heating arrangement 110 may be configured to perform a single puff heating upon triggering of a puff. In some examples, the second heating mode includes a session heating scheme, which can include a session warm-up phase at which the dielectric heater arrangement 110 is adapted to heat the solid aerosol-forming substrate 210-2 up to a predefined session temperature, and a maintenance heating phase during which a heating profile is applied to the solid aerosol-forming substrate 210-2 during which a user can take one or more puffs.
[0283] The first heating mode can include a puff-on-demand heating scheme, including a single puff heating phase triggered upon detection of a puff at which the dielectric heater arrangement 110 is controlled to heat-up to a predefined puff-on-demand vaporization temperature for vaporizing the vaporizable liquid 210-1. However, in some examples, also second heating mode can include a puff-on-demand heating scheme, including a single puff heating phase triggered upon detection of a puff at which the dielectric heater arrangement 110 is controlled to heat the solid aerosol-forming substrate 210-2 up to a predefined temperature. The puff-on-demand heating scheme can include a stand-by phase at which the dielectric heater arrangement is controlled to be in a stand-by mode. Hence, upon detection of a puff from, the single puff heating phase can be triggered, and the heating can be switched the stand-by phase to a single puff heating phase. When a user initiates a user inhalation or puff, air at ambient temperature can be drawn from an external environment of the device 100 via an air channel or airflow path 180 towards the dielectric heater arrangement 110. In some examples, the aerosol-forming device can include a session detection mechanism 171 in operative connection with the controller 140 configured to detect a session performed by a user.
[0284] The aerosol-forming device 100 can further include a determination unit 159 in operative connection with the controller 140 for determining a reception of the cartridge 200-1 or the aerosol-forming article 200-2. Upon determination that the cartridge 200-1 is received, theFTR4071
[0285] P17558WO 32 / 52
[0286] controller 140 can be accordingly configured to control the dielectric heater arrangement 110 according to the first heating mode upon determination that the solid aerosol-forming substrate 200-2 is received, the controller 110 can be accordingly configured to control the dielectric heater arrangement 110 according to the second heating mode. The determination unit 159 can be further configured to identify one or more parameters of the cartridge 200-1 or the heat-not-burn aerosol-forming article 200-2. The determination unit 159 can also be configured for reading an identifier of the cartridge 200-1, i.e. a cartridge identifier 201-1, or an identifier of the aerosolforming article 200-2, i.e. heat-not-burn aerosol-forming article identifier 201-1 comprising information about the one or more parameters of the cartridge 200-1 or the heat-not-burn aerosolforming article 200-2. In some examples, the respective identifier 201-1, 201-2 may be one or more of an optically readable marker or code.
[0287] Further, the aerosol-forming device 100 can include processing circuitry 400, which can execute a computer program 420 to cause the aerosol-forming device 100 to perform the steps of the method of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the companion device 300 may include the processing circuitry 400 to perform the respective method steps. The computer program can be for instance stored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium 410.
[0288] Figure 2 is a schematic illustration of an oscillator or oscillation circuit 130 for use in a dielectric heating aerosol-forming system 450 or aerosol-forming device 100. The oscillation circuit 130 may comprise a switching unit 135 interconnected with a resonant feedback loop 133 to provide for a self-oscillating signal to the switching unit 135. The switching unit 135 may comprise a single transistor, such as a bipolar junction transistor (BJT) or a field effect transistor (FET).
[0289] The oscillation circuit 130 may further comprise a choke 137 that acts on an input to the feedback loop 133 to provide for a stimulation signal, for example a stimulation voltage. The oscillation circuit 130 may also comprise a biasing unit 139 acting on the feedback loop 133 for providing a variable or controllable biasing signal, for example a biasing voltage for setting the operating conditions. In the variant shown, the feedback signal can be described as a voltage. The output voltage UOUT of the switching unit 135 may be coupled to the feedback loop 133 providing a feedback switching signal in the form of a voltage U|Nto the switching unit 135. The configuration of the feedback loop 133 may be such that the output signal, e.g. the voltage UOUT of the switching unit 135, can undergo a phase change and arrives inverted at the input U|Nof the switching unit 135 for resonant oscillation. In other configurations, a current could be used as the feedback signal with a switching unit 135 comprising a BJT.
[0290] The feedback loop 133 may be configured to be self-oscillating and may oscillate at or close to a given resonance frequency determined by the values of the passive components of the feedback loop 133. Feedback loop 133 may be configured to provide a 180° phase shift from theFTR4071
[0291] P17558WO 33 / 52
[0292] output UQUT to input U|Nof switching unit 135 for oscillation, and, in addition, a transistor T (Figure 4) may be configured for inverting operation.
[0293] As shown in Figure 3A and Figure 3B, feedback loop 133 may include a resonant circuit 134 comprising a load capacitor 126 providing for a first 90 degrees phase shift or quarter wave shift to the feedback signal. The dielectric heating zone 222 according to the present disclosure may be arranged or may be provided inside the load capacitor 126. Feedback loop 133 may further include a capacitive element 136 providing for a second 90 degrees phase shift or quarter wave shift to the feedback signal, such that the feedback signal reaching the input of the switching unit 135 may be inverted and phase-shifted by 180 degrees. Switching unit 135 may itself be configured for inverted switching operation to provide a 180 degree phase shift between the input U|Nand the output UOUT of the switching unit 135.
[0294] Resonant circuit 134 may comprise first and second electrodes 114, 116, together forming a load capacitor 126 (see Figure 4). When an aerosol-forming substrate 210 is situated between the first and second electrodes 114, 116, it may form part of the load capacitor 126. Importantly, the load capacitor 126 may be formed in the feedback loop 133, and not at a separate output or part of a separate circuitry that is connected to the switching unit 116. This may enable a high-frequency oscillating voltage to be created across the electrodes 114, 116 of load capacitor 126, which is needed for sufficient and efficient dielectric heating of the aerosol-forming substrate 210, without having an additional output or circuit to the already resonating feedback loop 133. This may avoid unnecessary losses and circuit complexity. The resonant circuit 134 may comprise a series resonator circuit or a parallel resonator circuit.
[0295] Figure 4 illustrates an oscillation circuit 130 according to a non-limiting, exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. Oscillation circuit 130 may comprise a switching unit 116 in the form of a transistor T having an intrinsic capacitance Ci. Moreover, transistor T may be configured for inverting operation, for example as an inverting common source FET, MOSFET, more specifically a LDMOS, or a common emitter BJT. The source terminal of transistor T may be coupled to a DC power supply 190 via a choke 137. Between the gate and source terminals of transistor T a feedback loop 133 may extend. The feedback loop 133 may comprise a resonant circuit 134 including a load capacitor 126 having a first and second electrode 114, 116 separated by an aerosol-forming substrate 210 supplied from the aerosol-forming article 200. In the variant shown, the resonant circuit 134 may also be connected to ground via a delay line DL and a capacitor 124 connected in series to the delay line DL. The circuit 130 may further comprise a biasing unit 139 coupled to the gate terminal of the transistor T via the delay line DL. As shown in Figure 4, the biasing unit 139 may be electrically connected between the delay line DL and the capacitor 124, so that the biasing unit 139 may be somewhat isolated from the high oscillation frequency of the feedback loop 133.FTR4071
[0296] P17558WO 34 / 52
[0297] The delay line DL may be a time delay element, for example an element that has inductive behavior, for slowing down the arriving voltage wave from the feedback loop 133 during a period of the oscillation. This may allow to tune the resonant circuit 134 to a desired switching and oscillation frequency, to move the oscillation frequency away from the natural resonant frequency given by the resonant circuit 134. This may ensure that oscillation circuit 130 remains in a predefined frequency operating range to provide for the requisite inverted or 90° phase shifted feedback and also to make sure that the feedback loop has a low impedance to provide for a high gain.
[0298] The oscillation circuit 130 is shown with electrical contacts 161, 163 that may be arranged on each side of the load capacitor 126. The first and second electrodes 114, 116 are part of the removable aerosol-forming article 200 and are therefore removable from the rest of the oscillation circuit 130. Electrical contacts 161, 163 provide a removable electrical connection between the first and second electrode 114, 116 and the feedback loop 133. As exemplarily shown in the Figure 4, electrical contacts 161 , 163 may be arranged at different positions in the oscillator circuit 130, resulting in different components being arranged on the aerosol-forming article 200 side or the aerosol-forming device 100 side. For example, electrical contacts 161, 163 may be arranged between the load capacitor 126, i.e. the electrodes 114, 116, and the inductors 118 and 120. In this case, only the electrodes 114, 116 may be arranged on and removable with the aerosolforming article 200. As another example, the electrical contacts 161, 163 may be arranged between the inductors 118 and 120 and the load capacitor 126, i.e. the electrodes 114, 116, on the one hand, and the rest of the oscillation circuit 130 on the other. In this case, the electrodes 114, 116 and the inductors 118 and 120 may be arranged on and removable with the aerosolforming article 200.
[0299] In embodiments where the load capacitor 126 is fixed within the feedback loop 133, for example electrical contacts 161, 163 provide electrical connections from the first and second electrodes 114, 116 to the next components in the feedback loop 133, e.g. inductors 118 and 120 or other components. Hence, the resonant feedback loop 133 can comprise at least one first inductor 118 connected in series with one of the at least two electrodes 114, 116 and at least one second inductor 120 connected to another one of the at least two electrodes 114, 116, wherein the at least two electrodes 114, 116 may be connected in series between the first inductor 118 and the second inductor 120.
[0300] With respect to the power supply voltage, a DC power supply voltage is provided, that is preferably in a range that is suitable for battery operation with one or more standard battery cells.
[0301] The DC power supply 190 may be accordingly configured for powering the oscillator circuit 130. For instance, the first heating mode can include increasing a DC voltage supplied by the DC power supply 190 to the oscillator circuit 130 relative to a voltage required for the second heatingFTR4071
[0302] P17558WO 35 / 52
[0303] mode, to increase a heating power density from the second heating mode. Upon determination that the session heating scheme is performed, the controller 140 can instruct a session configuration of the dielectric heating arrangement 110, wherein the session configuration includes increasing a DC voltage supplied to the oscillator circuit 130 from a session base DC voltage level to a session increased DC voltage level.
[0304] Preferably, the DC power supply voltage is below 14V. For example, it is possible to operate the oscillation circuit 130 on a single battery cell, for example an 18650 battery cell (Li-Ion), or a similar battery cell, that provides for 3.2V to 3.9V. However, more preferably, a voltage of one battery cell of an exemplary 3.5V to 7V for power supply can be boosted, for example by a DC-DC converter (e.g. a boost circuit), or a voltage doubler. Alternatively or in addition, two or more battery cells can be used in series, or other configurations or arrangements that allow to increase a voltage from one or more battery cell can be used. It is also possible to have a controllable output voltage (e.g. DC-DC converter, voltage regulator), to control the temperature of heating by a change to the DC supply voltage, or to boost the voltage (for example to 10-12V) for maximum power at the preheating stage, to speed up the preheating stage with the goal to reach the aerosolization temperature quickly. Control of the DC supply voltage is one way that makes it possible to rapidly change heating power despite the oscillation circuit 130 freely oscillating.
[0305] A first capacitor 122 may be arranged in parallel to the transistor T and therefore in parallel with the intrinsic capacitor of the transistor T (e.g. a field effect transistor). This may facilitate a less voltage-dependent oscillation and frequency, stabilize the oscillation, and also improve the overall dielectric heating efficiency. Capacitance of the first capacitor 122 may be chosen to be larger than the maximal intrinsic capacitor Ci of transistor T at the operating conditions, so that the variation of the intrinsic transistor based on frequency, temperature, etc. has much less or negligible influence on the feedback loop 133. For example, in a non-limiting embodiment, the value may be in a range between 2pF to 100pF, more preferably in a range between 5pF and 50pF.
[0306] Capacitive element 136 may comprise a second capacitor 124 arranged at the output or end of the resonant circuit 134. In one embodiment, capacitive element 136 may comprise more than one capacitor. As described above, capacitive element 136 may have the function of providing a 90° phase shift to the feedback voltage of feedback loop 133 with minimized losses or other undesired effects, and it therefore needs to have a high-quality factor or Q factor, preferably above 1000 at 100MHz. The capacitance value for capacitor the second 124 of the capacitive element 136 may be relatively high as compared to the first capacitor 122, for example in a range between 500pF to 100nF, more preferably between 1nF and 50nF, which may lead to a low impedance of capacitive element 136. In one embodiment, the capacitive element 136 may be implemented as an RC network to provide for the 90° phase shift, for example using two single-FTR4071
[0307] P17558WO 3Q / 52
[0308] resistor-capacitor networks, having two capacitors in the feedback loop, each capacitor connected to ground via a resistor.
[0309] Resonant circuit 134, together with capacitive element 136, may provide for a 180° phase shift and a voltage gain from the output UOUT to the input U|N, and transistor T (for example a FET) may be configured for inverting operation, thereby also providing for another 180° phase shift. This may result in a resonant or close-to resonant oscillation and an amplified voltage across the electrodes 114 and 116 of the load capacitor 126, as compared to the DC supply voltage. When operating close to resonance, the resonant circuit 134 circuit may behave inductively, having a high Q factor. Furthermore, the feedback loop 133 may be impedance-matched with the transistor T, to provide for a high gain, leading to an increased voltage across the load capacitor 126.
[0310] The combination of capacitor 122, the feedback loop 133 with resonant circuit 134 and capacitive element 136 may also be described as a bandpass filter or Pi or TT network that generates a 180° phase shift. In the illustrated embodiment, the resonant circuit 134 of the feedback loop 133 may not be connected to ground, but may be suspended with ends at each capacitor 122 and 124, thereby not having a direct ground connection at either end of resonant circuit 134, reducing stray elements and ground influences for more predictable operation.
[0311] At the operating frequency, the resonant circuit 134 including load capacitor 126 may act as an inductive load providing a first 90° phase shift, also referred to as a quarter-wave phase shift, and capacitive element 136, which may exemplarily include a high quality factor capacitor 124 connected to ground, may provide for the second 90° phase shift or quarter-wave phase shift.
[0312] In some embodiments, oscillation circuit 130 may be based on other resonant feedback loop oscillation circuit configurations, for example, but not limited to, the use of a Colpitts or Hartley type oscillator, using an inverting transistor T. The oscillation circuit 130 described herein is exemplary only, and other types of oscillation circuits can be used, for example other types of resonant oscillator circuits where the load capacitor 126 for causing the dielectric heating is part of the resonant feedback loop 133, or signal oscillators that are connected to an amplifier and an impedance matching circuit to apply an RF voltage to the electrodes 114, 116 for causing the alternating electric field for dielectric heating. Forced oscillators or forced oscillation circuits may also be used. The given embodiments of the oscillation circuit 130 are therefore merely exemplary and not intended to limit the invention
[0313] The controller 140 can be configured to control a resonant feedback loop frequency of the resonant feedback loop 133, wherein the resonant feedback loop frequency may be controlled so as to assume different resonant feedback loop frequency values in the first heating mode and the second heating mode. Further, the controller 140 may be accordingly configured to set different resonant feedback loop frequency values by changing an inductance value of the first inductor 118 and / or the second inductor 120 of the resonant feedback loop 133. For instance, the controllerFTR4071
[0314] P17558WO 37 / 52
[0315] 140 can be configured to increase the resonant feedback loop frequency value by reducing the inductance value by short circuiting one of the first inductor 118 or second inductor 120 for removing the inductive coupling between the first inductor 118 and second inductor 120.
[0316] In some examples, the controller 140 can also be configured to set different resonant feedback loop frequency values by changing a capacitance value of one or more of the plurality capacitors 122, 124. This may include providing at least one additional capacitor connected in parallel with the load capacitor 126, wherein the controller 140 can be configured to set different resonant feedback loop frequency values by enabling or disabling the additional capacitor.
[0317] Figures 5A and 5B each show a cross-sectional view of an aerosol-forming system 450. Figure 5A shows a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the aerosol-forming system 450 including an aerosol-forming device 100, and Figure 5B shows a transverse cross-sectional view as indicated by plane 20 shown in Figure 5A.
[0318] Unless stated otherwise, the aerosol-forming system 450 and the aerosol-forming device 100 of Figures 5A and 5B comprises the same features, functions and elements as the aerosolforming device 100 and system 450 described with reference to each of Figures 1 to 4. The exemplary system 450 of Figures 5A and 5B is specifically designed for vaporizing vaporizable liquid 210-1.
[0319] The aerosol-forming article 200 of the aerosol-forming device 100 is formed as cartridge 200-1, container 200-1 or pod 200-1, or liquid-reservoir 200 that can be inserted along a longitudinal axis 30 of the device 100 into a body 170 of the device 100. It is understood that the cartridge 200-1 presented herein is merely exemplarily to facilitate the understanding of the underlying technical principles of the present invention. However, of course also any other similarly suitable type of cartridge 200-1 may be employed with the aerosol-forming device 100 according to the present disclosure and is accordingly encompassed by the present disclosure. The cartridge 200-1 can include a respective housing 173, which may be made of a low dielectric material to reduce parasitic heating, and that could fit into the receiving space 103 of the aerosolforming device 100. The cartridge housing 173 can have an outer wall, which may be for instance formed in a cylindrical, oval, or tubular manner, or any other shape. The outer wall of the cartridge housing 173 may include a thin wall portion 179 for separating the liquid transfer element 220 from the electrodes 114, 116. The thickness of the thin wall portion 179 may be at most 0.8 mm or at most 0.7 mm or at most 0.6 mm or at most 0.5 mm or at most 0.4 mm or at most 0.3 mm or at most 0.2 mm or at most 0.1 mm or at most 0.05 mm. In the Figure, the thin wall portion 179 the thin wall portion 179 is highlighted by the dashed line. To avoid structural weaking of the cartridge 200-1 , the one or more walls adjacent to the liquid transfer element 220 may be preferably formed thinner than the rest of the cylinder or tubular structure of the cartridge housing 173. The outer wall of the cartridge housing 173 and in particular the thin wall portion 179 may be preferablyFTR4071
[0320] P17558WO 38 / 52
[0321] sufficient thin so that the distance of the liquid transfer element 220 to the electrodes 114, 116 could be minimized to avoid a large power drop due to an increased distance. The outer wall of the cartridge housing 173 may be preferably made of a low dielectric material. For instance, the portion of the outer wall of the cartridge housing 173 that is in close range to electrodes 114, 116 to be subjected to a high dielectric field strength may be made of a material that has a lower relative permittivity than the remaining parts. For instance, one or more of the inner and outer walls of the cartridge 200-1 can include one or more of a Quartz glass material or other low-dielectric glass material, a PEEK material, a PEI material, a hard plastic material used for microwaveable food containers such as TritanTM (BPA-free copolyester), BPA-free polycarbonates, high-density polyethylene (HDPE), siloxane, polysiloxane, polypropylene, Polyethylene, Terephthalate (PET, PETE).
[0322] The cartridge 200-1 includes a reservoir 205 that is at least partly filled with the vaporizable liquid 210-1, which may also be referred as liquid substrate 210-1, e-liquid 210-1, or e-juice 210. In particular, a bottom part 212 or end 212 of the cartridge 200-1 may be inserted into a heating chamber 165 of the aerosol-forming device 100. At an opposite end 214 of the aerosol-forming article 200, an aerosol outlet 215 can be formed, via which the user can draw air and inhalable aerosol.
[0323] The heating chamber 165 is defined by two semi-circular, half cylindrical, or arc-like shaped electrodes 114, 116 of a dielectric heater arrangement 110 of the device 100. Also more than two electrodes 114, 116 or electrode pairs may be utilized. For example, a plurality of two, three or more electrode pairs of interdigitated electrodes may be arranged around at least a part of a circumference or perimeter of the cartridge 200-1.
[0324] The at least two electrodes 114, 116 are part of a load capacitor 126 of the dielectric heater arrangement 110 configured to dielectrically heat the liquid substrate 210-1. The length of the electrodes 114, 116, measured parallel to an insertion direction of the cartridge 200-1 or longitudinal axis of the device 100, defines a dielectric heating zone 222, in which substrate material can be dielectrically heated and vaporized.
[0325] In order to vaporize the liquid substrate 210-1 in a controlled manner, the cartridge 200-1 comprises liquid transfer element 220, for example a wicking element 220, which can include a porous material that can be soaked with the liquid substrate 210-1, for example via capillary forces, diffusion, gravity or osmotic forces, or combinations thereof. The liquid transfer element 220 can be configured to draw the liquid substrate 210-1 from the reservoir 205 to at least a part of the dielectric heater arrangement 110, in particular towards the electrodes 114, 116. Common materials used for the wicking element 220 can include organic cotton, silica, or ceramic.
[0326] In the example shown in Figures 5A and 5B, the cartridge 200-1 includes two liquid transfer elements 220 arranged opposite to each other. Specifically, the two electrodes 114, 116 areFTR4071
[0327] P17558WO 39 / 52
[0328] spaced apart from each other along the circumferential direction of the device 100 or cartridge 200-1, such that two gaps 115, 117 are formed in circumferential direction of the device 100 or cartridge 200-1. In each gap 115, 117, one of the liquid transfer elements 220 is arranged, as can best be seen in FIG. 5B. Also, each of the gaps 115, 117 forms or defines a load capacitor 126, which functions similar or analogue to the load capacitor 126 of Figures 1 , 3B and 4.
[0329] As also mentioned above, the electrodes 114, 116 can be part of the cartridge 200-1 and contacted to respective electrical contacts of the device 100. Alternatively, the electrodes 114, 116 can be part of the device 100.
[0330] To ensure a homogenous supply of the liquid substrate 210-1 from the reservoir 205 to the liquid transfer elements 220, the cartridge 200-1 comprises a feeding structure 230, which can for example, be a hollow cylindrical structure in the centre of the cartridge 200-1 at the bottom end 212, which is placed inside the heating chamber 165 or heating zone 222. There can also be individual liquid feeding structures 230 for each liquid transfer element 220. Further, an empty or hollow space 105 is provided in the central region of the cartridge 200-1. While the hollow space 105 could be used as additional liquid storage space for the reservoir, it can serve to reduce the material volume close to the dielectric heating zone 222, to reduce parasitic heating of the cartridge 200-1 in areas where it is not desired. It can also have a cooling function to allow for air cooling of the heating zone of the cartridge 200-1.
[0331] A surface 240 of each of the liquid transfer elements 220 that faces the feeding structure 230 acts as liquid ingress area or surface (LIS), via which liquid substrate 210-1 is drawn by the liquid transfer elements 220. As the liquid transfer elements 220 are arranged in the gaps 115, 117 formed between the electrodes 114, 116 in circumferential direction, an electrical field strength between the electrodes 114, 116 can be very high at or near the liquid transfer elements 220, such that the liquid substrate 210-1 can be vaporized within the liquid transfer elements 220. Vaporized substrate material can then exit or leave the liquid transfer elements 220 via so-called vapor egress areas or surfaces (VES) 242 of the wicking elements 220, which are arranged opposite to the liquid ingress surfaces 240 in radial direction of the device 100 or cartridge 200-1.
[0332] As can best be seen in Figure 5B, the liquid transfer elements 220 can be dome-like shaped, cylindrical segment shape, or have a trapezoidal cross-section, or be curved towards the inside of the cartridge 200-1 , such that the respective vapor egress surface 242 is larger than the liquid ingress surface 240 of each liquid transfer element 220. This is advantageous given the expansion of the liquid substrate 210-1 upon vaporization.
[0333] In the depicted embodiment, a non-porous portion 224 of the liquid transfer element 220 could be provided to reduce volumetric heating. For example, a section at the cartridge housing 173 can be formed to increase a distance of the soaked part of the liquid transfer element 220 toFTR4071
[0334] P17558WO 40 / 52
[0335] the location with the highest dielectric field strength. For instance, the non-porous portion 222 can be a solid ceramic body or core to avoid soaking, while the remaining parts of the liquid transfer element 220 are porous. Accordingly, an undesired volumetric heating of certain un-soaked portions of the liquid transfer element 220 may be selectively prevented. In some examples, the cartridge housing 173 may be formed to cut out a section of liquid transfer element 220, and separated by a barrier wall or membrane to prevent leakage towards inner areas of the cartridge 200-1, which allows to reduce the effective relative permittivity and thereby reduce heating of the portion 224.
[0336] In a variant, non-porous portion 224 can also be made of a material having a high relative permittivity, for example higher that the relative permittivity of the material chosen of the cartridge housing 173 and the relative permittivity of the rest of the liquid transfer element 220, even higher than the liquid aerosol-forming substrate 210 soaked in the liquid transfer element 220. This way, non-porous portion 224 could act as a dielectric susceptor element to be dielectrically heated and thereafter generate radiative heat in addition to the direct dielectric heating of the liquid aerosolforming substrate 210 at the dielectric heating zone 222.
[0337] In another variant, non-porous portion 224 can be a void or a cavity to create a change in relative permittivity, to hereby cause an intensification of the amplitude of the alternating dielectric field due to the discontinuity of the relative permittivity relative to the rest of the liquid transfer element 220.
[0338] Between the cartridge 200-1 and the body 170 of the aerosol-forming device 100, an air channel 180 or airflow path 180 is formed. The airflow path 180 can have multiple sections that may be fluidly coupled or connected. In particular, an air inlet 181 can be formed as a gap between the cartridge 200-1 and the body 170, for example at or close to the end 214 of the cartridge 200-1 where the aerosol outlet 215 is formed. The gap or air inlet 181 may span the entire or only a part of the circumference of the device 100. Accordingly, the gap or air inlet 181 can be ringlike or annular formed. In a variant, air inlets 181 and airflow path 180 can traverse the side wall of the aerosol-forming device 100 to reach the receiving space 101.
[0339] The air inlet 181 connects to lateral sections 182 of the airflow path 180, which lateral sections 182 extend in longitudinal direction of the device 100 between the electrodes 114, 116 and the liquid transfer elements 220 on two opposite sides of the heating chamber 165 along each of the vapor egress surfaces 242 towards the end 212 of the cartridge 200-1. The lateral sections 182 can also be formed as tubular or cylindrical sections that surround at least a part of the heating chamber 165 and dielectric heater arrangement 110 along its circumference.
[0340] Near or close to the bottom part or end 212 of the cartridge 200-1, the airflow path 180, respectively, the lateral sections 181 thereof are connected via inlets or openings 184 at the bottom of the heating chamber 165 to an interior volume 260 or interior channel 260 of theFTR4071
[0341] P17558WO 41 / 52
[0342] cartridge 200-1 that is in fluid communication with the aerosol outlet 215, such that air can be drawn via the openings 184 towards the aerosol outlet 215 of the cartridge 200-1 through the interior volume 260 and the aerosol channel 186. The interior channel or volume 260 of the cartridge 200-1 may also serve as aerosolization chamber, as indicated by the circular arrow in Figure 5A. It should be noted that various designs and configurations of the airflow path 180 are possible. For example, on two opposing sides of the vapor egress surface 242 of each liquid transfer element 220, a lateral airflow channel may be formed.
[0343] Similar to the functionality of the device 100 of Figure 1, upon activation of the device 100 of Figures 5A and 5B, the control circuitry 140 may power the dielectric heater arrangement 110 to a first power level to heat up the at least a part of the dielectric heater arrangement 110 and / or liquid substrate 210-1 in the heating zone 222 to a pre-heating temperature above ambient temperature and below a volatilization or vaporization temperature sufficient to release aerosol from the liquid substrate 210-1. When heated to the pre-heating temperature, the device 100 or control circuitry 140 can monitor or determine one or more operational parameters of the dielectric heater arrangement 110 and / or the power consumption of the dielectric heater arrangement 110, to determine when a user inhalation takes place. Detecting a respective puff of a user may be accordingly accomplished by a puff triggering mechanism which is in operative connection with the controller 140 operatively connected to the dielectric heater arrangement 110 of the aerosolforming device 100. The controller 140 may be configured to control a heating performed by the dielectric heater arrangement 110 according to one of a plurality of different heating modes, wherein the plurality of different heating modes includes the first heating mode for vaporizing the vaporizable liquid 210-1 of the cartridge 200-1 when the puff is triggered.
[0344] As an example, the puff triggering mechanism 157 includes the detection if a user initiates a user inhalation or puff. In this case air at ambient temperature can be drawn from an external environment of the device 100 via the air inlets 181 of the airflow path into the lateral sections 182. The lateral sections 182 of the airflow path 180 pass by the vapor egress surfaces 242 of the liquid transfer elements 220 and pass by the electrodes 114, 116, as shown by the arrows in Figure 5A, such that the drawn air cools the dielectric heater arrangement 110 and / or liquid substrate 210-1 in the heating zone 222. This leads to a decrease in temperature and hence to an increase in relative permittivity of the liquid substate 210-1 and the cartridge wall elements around the liquid transfer element 220. As a consequence, the capacitance of load capacitors 126 defined or formed by the gaps 115, 117 arranged between the electrodes 114, 117 in circumferential direction increases, and an oscillation frequency of the oscillator circuitry 130 decreases due to the increasing capacitances, and hence increasing LC constant of the oscillator circuitry 130. In addition, the power consumption of the dielectric heater arrangement 110 increases due to increased losses. One or more of these effects, respectively one or more ofFTR4071
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[0346] these changes in the capacitance of the load capacitors 126, the oscillation frequency of the oscillator circuitry 130 and the power consumption can be determined or monitored by the control circuitry 140 in order to detect the onset, start and / or occurrence of the user inhalation.
[0347] Upon detecting the user inhalation, control circuitry 140 can increase the power provided to the dielectric heater arrangement 110 and power it at the second power level, where the dielectric heater arrangement 110 and / or liquid substrate 210-1 can be heated to the volatilization or vaporization temperature to generate inhalable aerosol. Air drawn through the inlets 181 and lateral sections 182 of the airflow path 180 flows past the vapor egress surfaces 242 of the liquid transfer elements 220, where vapor is released into the airflow. The airflow, enriched with vapor, then flows towards the central interior volume or interior channel 260 of the cartridge 200-1 via the openings 184, where aerosol can be formed, for example in an aerosolization chamber. The air, enriched with aerosol, can then be drawn into the user’s mouth via the aerosol outlet 215 of the cartridge 200-1.
[0348] As described with reference to Figure 1 , as soon as the user stops inhaling, the temperature of the dielectric heater arrangement 110 and liquid substrate 210-1 increases, which leads to a decrease in the relative permittivity of the substrate liquid 210-1. As a consequence, the capacitances of the load capacitors 126 decrease, the oscillation frequency of the oscillator circuitry 130 increases, and the power consumption of the dielectric heater arrangement 110 decreases. One or more of these changes can be determined or detected by the control circuitry 140, thereby detecting termination of the user inhalation.
[0349] Upon detecting termination of the user inhalation, the control circuitry 140 may cut the power supply to the dielectric heater arrangement 110, and the next or subsequent user inhalation can be determined or detected, as the dielectric heater arrangement 110 and liquid substrate 210-1 may still have a temperature well above room or ambient temperature. Optionally, however, the control circuitry 140 may power the dielectric heater arrangement 110 at the first power level to ensure that the dielectric heater arrangement 110 and liquid substrate 210-1 have at least the pre-heating temperature, to allow for cooling by air drawn by the user in the subsequent user inhalation, which can then be detected again by the control circuitry 140.
[0350] The dielectric heating arrangement 110 can be accordingly configured to perform a single puff heating upon triggering of a puff. In particular, the first heating mode can include a puff-on-demand heating scheme, which includes a single puff heating phase triggered upon detection of a puff at which the dielectric heater arrangement 110 is controlled to heat-up to a predefined puff-on-demand vaporization temperature for vaporizing the vaporizable liquid 210-1. Furthermore, the puff-on-demand heating scheme can include a stand-by phase at which the dielectric heater arrangement 110 is controlled to be in a stand-by mode. Herein, the puff-on-demand heating scheme can include switching from the stand-by phase to a single puff heating phase, whereinFTR4071
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[0352] the single puff heating phase is triggered upon detection of a puff. The stand by phase may accordingly include to heat up the at least a part of the dielectric heater arrangement 110 and / or liquid substrate 210-1 in the heating zone 222 to a pre-heating temperature above ambient temperature and below a volatilization or vaporization temperature sufficient to release aerosol from the liquid substrate 210-1.
[0353] Figures 6A to 6C each show a cross-sectional view of another embodiment of a cartridge 200-1 at different longitudinal cross-sectional views CS1, CS2 and CS3 shown in Figure 6A, 6B and 6C, respectively, and Figure 7 shows corresponding a transverse cross-sectional view perpendicular the longitudinal direction, wherein the respective planes of the longitudinal crosssections CS1, CS2, and CS3 are indicated. This embodiment essentially corresponds to the embodiment already presented with respect to Figs. 5A and 5B and the same reference signs indicate the same or similar elements, and it is accordingly referred to the above explanations of these features. Hence, in the following only some of the differences to the embodiment of Fig. 5A and 5B are highlighted. In particular, the air inlets 181 are arranged at a bottom portion of the cartridge 200-1 so that air can flow from the bottom portion to the top portion of the cartridge 200-1 along respective air channels 180 which are arranged next to the liquid transfer elements 220. Furthermore, the feeding structure 230 is circumferentially arranged in a transverse cross-sectional view perpendicular to the longitudinal direction (cf. Fig. 7), at least in the area of the dielectric heating zone 222.
[0354] Figure 8 schematically shows parts of an exemplary aerosol-generating system 450 in a transverse cross-sectional view. As depicted, the aerosol-generating system 450 comprises a cartridge 200-1 which has a cuboid or rectangular parallelepiped shape having two opposing long sides and two opposing short sides. The cartridge 200-1 includes a plurality of liquid transfer elements 220 arranged oppositely on the long sides of the cartridge 200-1. Furthermore, a plurality of first electrodes 114 and second electrodes 116 are arranged oppositely on the long sides of the cartridge 200 extending along a transverse axis perpendicular to the insertion direction. In the depicted embodiment, the electrodes 114, 116 are part of the aerosol forming device 100 (now shown). For the sake of representability only on the upper long side the first and second electrodes 114, 116 and liquid transfer elements 220 are labeled. However, it is clear that the corresponding first and second electrodes 114, 116 and liquid transfer elements 220 are similarly provided at the lower long side. The cartridge 200-1 includes a feeding structure 230, which is configured to supply vaporizable liquid 210-1 stored in the cartridge 200-1 to the liquid transfer elements 220, the liquid feeding structure 230 centrally arranged inside the cartridge 200-1 to be away from the heating zone. In particular, each liquid transfer element 220 includes a liquid ingress surface 240 facing the vaporizable liquid 210-1 and two liquid egress surfaces 242 facing respective airflow channels 180. Again, this configuration is labeled only for the lower leftFTR4071
[0355] P17558WO 44 / 52
[0356] liquid transfer element 220 for representability reasons, but is of course likewise provided at each liquid transfer element 220 of the depicted cartridge 200-1. Thus, the vaporizable liquid 210-1 may be accordingly dielectrically heated and vaporized by the first and second electrodes 114, 116, and the generated vapor may be accordingly taken up by air streaming through the airflow channels 180 adjacent to the vapor egress surfaces 242 for inhalation.
[0357] Figure 9 shows an exemplary embodiment of a heat-not-burn aerosol-forming article 200-2. It is understood that the heat-not-burn aerosol-forming article 200-2 presented herein is merely exemplarily to facilitate the understanding of the underlying technical principles of the present invention. However, of course also any other similarly suitable type of heat-not-burn aerosolforming article 200-2 may be employed with the aerosol-forming device 100 according to the present disclosure and is accordingly encompassed by the present disclosure. In the depicted embodiment, the heat-not-burn aerosol-forming article 200-2 includes a filter 301 at a top portion of the heat-not-burn aerosol-forming article 200-2. A user may accordingly inhale the aerosol formed via the filter 301. The heat-not-burn aerosol-forming article 200-2 includes a solid aerosolforming substrate 210-2, which is surrounded by a cylinder 302 which can include a low dielectric material or be even hollow for aerosol-formation, for example a hollow acetate tube (HAT), and a front plug 304. The cylinder or hollow element may have perforations that can serve as ventilation holes. The heat-not-burn aerosol-forming article 200-2 can be accordingly partially received by the receiving space 101 of the aerosol-forming device 100 such that the solid aerosol-forming substrate 210-2 is arranged at the dielectric heating zone 222 to dielectrically heat the solid aerosol-forming substrate 210-2 for generating the aerosol can be accordingly drawn by user inhalation towards the filter 301. The cylinder 302 may allow for spacing the solid aerosol-forming substrate 210-2 from the electrodes 114, 116 of the solid aerosol-forming device 100 to prevent an overheating. When the heat-not-burn aerosol-forming article 200-2 is received in the receiving space 101 of the aerosol-forming device 100, the heating performed by the dielectric heater arrangement 110 may be accordingly controlled according to the second heating mode for heating the solid aerosol-forming substrate 210-2 of the heat-not-burn aerosol-forming article 200-2.
[0358] Figure 10 shows a flowchart of a method 40 for operating the aerosol-forming device 100 or the electronic device 500 according to the present disclosure. The method 40 may include the step S1 of removably receiving, in the receiving space 101 of the aerosol-forming device 100, at least partially the cartridge 200-1 comprising the vaporizable liquid 210-1 or receiving the heat-not-burn aerosol-forming article 200-2 comprising a solid aerosol-forming substrate 210-2. The method 40 may further include the step S6-1 of detecting a puff by a puff triggering mechanism 157 or the step S6-2 of detecting a session start signal. The session start signal can be exemplarily triggered and accordingly detected for instance by an insertion of a heat-not-burn aerosol-forming article 200-2 or via a user input e.g. pressing respective buttons for starting aFTR4071
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[0360] session, or by other means. The method 40 may include the step S7 of dielectrically heating, by the dielectric heater arrangement 110 of the aerosol-forming device 100, the vaporizable liquid 210-1 or the solid aerosol-forming substrate 210-2 according to one of a plurality of different heating modes. Accordingly, in case a cartridge 200-1 is used, the vaporizable liquid 210-1 of the cartridge 200-1 can be heated according to a first heating mode in step S7-1 after the puff is triggered. Likewise, in case a heat-not-burn aerosol-forming article 200-2 is used, the solid aerosol-forming substrate 210-2 of the heat-not-burn aerosol-forming article 200-2 can be heated according to a second heating mode in step S7-2 when a session start signal is detected. In other words, different heating modes may be initiated and conducted by the aerosol forming device dependent on whether a puff is triggered, or a session start signal is detected. The step S6-1 of detecting a puff may include the detection of an end of the puff, wherein the heating could be accordingly terminated once the puff has ended. The heating could then be repeated as is indicated by the dotted arrow, e.g. if a new puff is triggered.
[0361] Optionally, a puff detection (cf. step S11) may also be performed during the second heating mode. Generally, the puff detection in step S11 may be conducted by the same means and methods as described herein with respect to the puff detection conducted for the first heating mode (cf. Step S6-1). Hence, a puff count and / or puff volume may be determined also during the second heating mode. This may exemplarily serve to determine a depletion or usage level of the heat-not-burn aerosol-forming article 200-2, and data can be used for puff characterization. . In some examples, data on the puff detection during heating may allow to determine and adjust a session length. However, in step SH the heating of the heat-not-burn aerosol-forming article 201-2 may or may not be necessarily controlled. Still, it may be allowed to perform adjustments in the control of the dielectric heating arrangement based on the puff detection, e.g. to make adjustments to the heating power and / or temperature profile. The method can further include the step S10 of terminating the session and accordingly stop the session and accordingly the second heating mode, e.g. when the heat-not-burn aerosol-forming article 200-2 is removed from the aerosol-forming device 100 or via user input e.g. pressing respective buttons for ending a session, or after a certain number of puffs have been taken, or the pre-set usage session duration has revolved.
[0362] The method 40 can further include the step S2 of performing, by the controller 140 of the aerosol-forming device 100, a test mode. The test mode can include the step S3 of activating the oscillator circuit 130 of the aerosol-forming device 100 to expose the cartridge 200-1 or the solid aerosol-forming article 200-2 to an alternating electric field, and the step S4 of analyzing a test response indicating whether the cartridge 200-1 or the solid aerosol-forming article 200-2 is received by the receiving space 101. The method 40 can further comprise the step S4-1 of analyzing a frequency response for determining one or more of a presence of the cartridge 200-FTR4071
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[0364] 1 and / or the heat-not-burn aerosol-forming article 200-2, a type of the cartridge 200-1 and / or the heat-not-burn aerosol-forming article 200-2, or one or more parameters of the cartridge 200-1 and / or the heat-not-burn aerosol-forming article 200-2. The method can further comprise the step S5 of receiving an indication signal that is indicative of whether the cartridge 200-1 or the solid aerosol-forming article 200-2 is received in the receiving space 101, and the step S7 of performing the first heating mode or the second heating mode according to the received indication signal. The method 40 can further comprise the step S3-1 of powering-up the oscillator circuit, the step S4-2 of recording a frequency evolution by measuring detection data including one or more of an oscillation frequency and a power consumption of the oscillator circuit 130, and the step S4-3 of storing resulting detection data in the memory 152. The method 40 can further comprise the step The method can further comprise the step S8 of determining, by the determination unit 159 of the aerosol-forming device 100, a reception of the cartridge 200-1 or the aerosol-forming article 200-2. For example, this could be done by an optical reader of the device 100. The method 40 can further comprise the step S9 of identifying one or more parameters of the cartridge 200-1 or the heat-not-burn aerosol-forming article 200-2. As is depicted by the dotted line, the method 40 may include in some examples also a combination of both, the determination step S8 and the test mode step S2. The method 40 can further comprise the step S7 of performing the first heating mode or the second heating mode according to the resulting determination. Generally, the first heating mode and the second heating mode may be controlled by adapting one or more of the DC voltage of an DC power supply 190 of the aerosol-forming device 100, an AC peak voltage applied over electrodes 114, 116 of the aerosol-forming device 100, an electric field strength between the electrodes 114, 116, a duty cycle ratio of the oscillator circuit 130, an oscillation frequency of the resonant feedback loop 133 of the aerosol-forming device 100, a selective control of an application of an alternating voltage to different electrodes configurations and / or a distance between at least two electrodes 114, 116.
[0365] For the purpose of the present description and of the appended claims, except where otherwise indicated, all numbers expressing amounts, quantities, percentages, and so forth, are to be understood as being modified in all instances by the term "about". Also, all ranges include the maximum and minimum points disclosed and include any intermediate ranges therein, which may or may not be specifically enumerated herein. In this context, therefore, a number A is understood as A ± 10% of A. Within this context, a number A may be considered to include numerical values that are within general standard error for the measurement of the property that the number A modifies. The number A, in some instances as used in the appended claims, may deviate by the percentages enumerated above provided that the amount by which A deviates does not materially affect the basic and novel characteristic(s) of the claimed invention. Also, allFTR4071
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[0367] ranges include the maximum and minimum points disclosed and include any intermediate ranges therein, which may or may not be specifically enumerated herein.
[0368] While the invention has been illustrated and described in detail in the drawings and foregoing description, such illustration and description are to be considered illustrative or exemplary and not restrictive; the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. Other variations to the disclosed embodiments can be understood and effected by those skilled in the art and practicing the claimed invention, from a study of the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims.
[0369] In the claims, the word “comprising” does not exclude other elements or steps, and the indefinite article “a” or “an” does not exclude a plurality. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage. Any reference signs in the claims should not be construed as limiting the scope.
Claims
FTR4071P17558WO 48 / 52CLAIMS1. An aerosol forming device comprising:a receiving space for at least partially and removably receiving either a cartridge having a vaporizable liquid or a heat-not-burn aerosol forming article having a solid aerosol forming substrate;a dielectric heater arrangement configured to either dielectrically heat the vaporizable liquid or the solid aerosol-forming substrate when the cartridge or the heat-not-burn aerosol forming article are received in the receiving space, respectively;a controller operatively connected to the dielectric heater arrangement and configured to control a heating performed by the dielectric heater arrangement according to one of a plurality of different heating modes,a puff triggering mechanism in operative connection with the controller and configured to detect a puff,wherein the plurality of different heating modes includes a first heating mode for vaporizing the vaporizable liquid of the cartridge when the puff is triggered at a first volumetric dielectric heating power density and a second heating mode for heating the solid aerosol forming substrate of the heat-not-burn aerosol forming article at a second volumetric dielectric heating power density, the first volumetric dielectric heating power density being higher than the second volumetric dielectric heating power density.
2. The aerosol forming device according to one of the preceding claims,wherein the second heating mode includes a session heating scheme,wherein the session heating scheme includes a session warm-up phase at which the dielectric heater arrangement is adapted to heat the solid aerosol forming substrate up to a predefined session temperature, and a maintenance heating phase during which a heating profile is applied to the solid aerosol forming substrate during which a user can take one or more puffs.
3. The aerosol forming device according to one of the preceding claims,wherein the first heating mode includes a puff-on-demand heating scheme, wherein the puff-on-demand heating scheme includes a single puff heating phase triggered upon detection of a puff at which the dielectric heater arrangement is controlled toFTR4071P17558WO 49 / 52heat-up to a predefined puff-on-demand vaporization temperature for vaporizing the vaporizable liquid.
4. The aerosol forming device according to one of the preceding claims,wherein the controller is further configured to control the dielectric heater arrangement to receive an indication signal that is indicative if the cartridge or the solid aerosol-forming article is received in the receiving space.
5. The aerosol forming device according to the preceding claim,wherein the indication signal includes a dielectric response or measurement signal of the cartridge or the solid aerosol-forming article, andwherein the controller is configured to control the dielectric heater arrangement according to the first heating mode or the second heating mode according to the dielectric response signal.
6. The aerosol forming device according to one of the preceding claims,wherein the controller is configured to perform a test mode using the dielectric arrangement,wherein the test mode includes an activation of an oscillator circuit of the dielectric heater arrangement to expose the cartridge or the solid aerosol-forming article to an alternating electric field, andwherein the test mode further includes an analysis of a test response indicating whether the cartridge or the solid aerosol-forming article is received by the receiving space.
7. The aerosol forming device according to one of the preceding claims,further comprising a determination unit in operative connection with the controller for determining a reception of the cartridge or the aerosol-forming article.
8. The aerosol forming device according to the preceding claim,wherein, upon determination that the cartridge is received, the controller is configured to control the dielectric heater arrangement according to the first heating mode, and / or wherein, upon determination that the solid aerosol-forming substrate is received, the controller is configured to control the dielectric heater arrangement according to the second heating mode.FTR4071P17558WO 50 / 529. A cartridge comprising a vaporizable liquid,wherein the cartridge is receivable by an aerosol forming device according to one of the preceding claims 1 to 8, andwherein the vaporizable liquid is heatable by the dielectric heater arrangement according to the first heating mode at the first volumetric dielectric heating power density being higher than the second volumetric dielectric heating power density.
10. A heat-not-burn aerosol forming article comprising a solid aerosol forming substrate, wherein the heat-not-burn aerosol forming article is receivable by an aerosol forming device according to one of the preceding claims 1 to 8, andwherein the solid aerosol forming substrate is heatable by the dielectric heater arrangement according to the second heating mode at the second volumetric dielectric heating power density being lower than the first volumetric dielectric heating power density.
11. An aerosol-generating system comprising the aerosol forming device according to one of the preceding claims 1 to 8 and one of a cartridge or a heat-not-burn aerosol forming article.
12. An electronic device including an aerosol forming device according to one of the preceding claims 1 to 8 or an aerosol-generating system according to claim 11, and a companion device configured to charge the aerosol forming device or the aerosol-generating system with electrical energy.
13. A method for operating the aerosol forming device according to one of the preceding claims 1 to 8, the aerosol-generating system according to claim 11 or the electronic device according to claim 12 comprising the steps of:removably receiving, in a receiving space of the aerosol forming device, at least partially a cartridge comprising a vaporizable liquid or receiving a heat-not-burn aerosol forming article comprising a solid aerosol-forming substrate;detecting a puff by a puff triggering mechanism or detecting a session start signal; dielectrically heating, by a dielectric heater arrangement of the aerosol forming device, the vaporizable liquid or the solid aerosol-forming substrate according to one of a plurality of different heating modes,- wherein the vaporizable liquid of the cartridge is heated according to a first heating mode when the puff is triggered, and wherein the solid aerosol forming substrate of the heat-not-burn aerosol forming article is heated according to a second heating mode when a session start signal is detected.FTR4071P17558WO 51 / 5214. A computer program, which, when executed by processing circuitry of an aerosol forming device or a companion device configured to charge an aerosol forming device with electrical energy, causes the aerosol forming device or the companion device to perform the steps of the method according to the preceding claim.
15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a computer program according to the preceding claim.