Smoking Article Identification Optics for Compact Heated Devices
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electrically operated smoking devices struggle to reliably identify suitable smoking articles without increasing system size, power consumption, or cost, while minimizing false rejections of correct articles, especially due to the curved surface of smoking articles and the difficulty in imaging small indicia.
Innovation Solution
A compact sensing system with a light source, mirror, and imaging lens positioned on the cavity's periphery, utilizing a mirror for wide field imaging and efficient optical design, along with a control circuitry to verify the smoking article's authenticity and control power, which includes a reflective coating on the cavity's periphery, and comprising a light source, a mirror, an imaging lens, and an image detector, with a mirror positioned on an internal surface of the cavity adjacent to the light source and imaging lens.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a sensing system is added to identify smoking articles, then the ability to recognize smoking articles is improved, but the device size and power consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the light source, mirror, imaging lens, and image detector into a single integrated sensing system positioned on the periphery of the cavity. This merging of components allows the system to achieve reliable smoking article recognition while minimizing the increase in device size and power consumption by sharing structural space and optical paths.
Solution Approach 2:
The mirror acts as an intermediary optical element that redirects light from the light source onto the smoking article and reflects the image onto the imaging lens. This intermediary component enables the sensing system to achieve a wide field of view and proper illumination without requiring additional space, thereby resolving the contradiction between recognition reliability and device compactness.
2Reliability
If a sensing system is added to identify smoking articles, then the ability to recognize smoking articles is improved, but the power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The sensing system employs periodic illumination where the light source is activated in cycles rather than continuously. This periodic action allows the system to achieve reliable smoking article recognition through multiple sampling attempts while significantly reducing overall power consumption by keeping the light source off between measurements.
Solution Approach 2:
By merging the light source, mirror, imaging lens, and image detector into a single integrated peripheral system, the patent minimizes the total power consumption of the sensing system. The shared optical path and coordinated operation of components allow for more efficient energy utilization compared to separate systems.
3Measurement precision
If indicia are imaged on the curved surface of smoking articles, then the recognition capability is improved, but the imaging difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
The mirror serves as an intermediary optical element that captures light reflected from the curved smoking article surface and redirects it to the imaging lens. This intermediary approach enables the system to accurately image indicia on curved surfaces by compensating for the curvature through optical reflection, thereby resolving the contradiction between recognition precision and imaging difficulty.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from attempting to directly image the curved surface to using a mirror to create a virtual image that can be captured by the lens. This dimensional transformation through optical reflection converts the difficult curved surface imaging problem into a more manageable planar imaging problem, improving recognition precision while reducing imaging difficulty.
4Device complexity
If the sensing system uses a compact design, then the device size is reduced, but the resolving power to recognize small indicia may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The mirror enables the imaging system to access the smoking article surface from a different optical dimension, allowing the compact peripheral positioning to achieve adequate resolving power. By using reflection to redirect light paths, the system can maintain small indicia recognition capability within a compact device footprint.
Solution Approach 2:
The integration of the light source, mirror, imaging lens, and image detector into a single compact peripheral system allows the design to achieve both small device size and adequate resolving power. The shared optical path and coordinated components enable efficient use of space while maintaining the optical performance needed for small indicia recognition.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The proposed solution effectively identifies suitable smoking articles, ensuring reliable recognition with minimal power consumption and avoiding false rejections, maintaining device compactness and efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
a mirror positioned on an internal surface of the cavity adjacent to the light source and the imaging lens
Data Source
AI summary
An electrically operated smoking device configured to receive a smoking article is provided, the electrically operated smoking device including: a heater; a housing defining a cavity configured to at least partially receive the smoking article; a microcontroller; and a sensing system configured to detect indicia on the smoking article, the sensing system including an image detector and being connected to the microcontroller, the microcontroller being configured to correlate image data from the image detector with stored image data relating to one or more types of acceptable smoking articles, and the microcontroller being further configured to control power to the heater so that the heater follows a particular temperature profile or power profile, depending on which stored image data most strongly correlates to captured image data. A smoking system including the electrically operated smoking device and a smoking article is also provided.