CN118077962A

CN118077962A - Aerosol generating device and control method thereof

Info

Publication number: CN118077962A
Application number: CN202211488324.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 操广平; 杨承确; 徐中立; 李永海
Original assignee: Shenzhen FirstUnion Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Shenzhen FirstUnion Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2022-11-25
Filing date: 2022-11-25
Publication date: 2024-05-28
Also published as: WO2024109694A1

Abstract

The application provides an aerosol generating device and a control method thereof, comprising entering a plurality of time phases after receiving a heating starting instruction, correspondingly controlling the power source to supply energy to the heater for a plurality of times; the application can reduce or even not depend on the real-time temperature of the heater in the temperature control process, but control the aerosol forming substrate from the heat required by the aerosol forming substrate in different stages, and can meet the aerosol quantity during suction, thereby improving the suction experience of a user.

Description

Aerosol generating device and control method thereof

Technical Field

The application relates to the technical field of aerosol generation, in particular to an aerosol generating device and a control method thereof.

Background

Articles such as cigarettes, cigars, etc. burn tobacco during use to produce tobacco smoke. Attempts have been made to provide alternatives to these tobacco-burning articles by creating products that release compounds without burning. Examples of such products are so-called heated non-combustible products, also called tobacco heating products or tobacco heating devices, which release compounds by heating the material without burning the material. The material may be, for example, tobacco or other non-tobacco products or combinations, such as a blended mixture that may or may not include nicotine.

The existing aerosol generating device needs to preset a temperature curve, and in the heating process, the temperature sensor of the heater monitors the temperature of the heater in real time, and the power output of the heater is controlled according to the real-time temperature, so that the temperature of the heater accords with the preset temperature curve.

Disclosure of Invention

In one aspect, the application provides a method of controlling an aerosol-generating device comprising a heater for heating an aerosol-forming substrate to generate an aerosol and a power source for providing energy to the heater; the method comprises the following steps:

Correspondingly controlling the power source to supply energy to the heater for a plurality of times in a plurality of time periods after receiving a heating starting command;

In one of the time phases, controlling the power source to supply energy to the heater for the current time phase comprises:

controlling the power source to start energy supply of the current time period to the heater;

determining the supplied energy for the current time period;

and if the supplied energy reaches the set energy corresponding to the current time stage, controlling the power source to stop the energy supply of the current time stage.

Another aspect of the present application provides an aerosol-generating device comprising:

a heater for heating an aerosol-forming substrate to produce an aerosol;

a power source for providing energy to the heater;

A controller configured to correspondingly control the power source to supply the heater with energy a plurality of times in a plurality of time periods after receiving a start-up heating instruction; in one of the time phases, controlling the power source to supply energy to the heater for the current time phase comprises: controlling the power source to start energy supply of the current time period to the heater; determining the supplied energy for the current time period; and if the supplied energy reaches the set energy corresponding to the current time stage, controlling the power source to stop the energy supply of the current time stage.

a heater for heating an aerosol-forming substrate to produce an aerosol;

a power source for providing energy to the heater;

And the controller is configured to enter a plurality of time phases after receiving a heating starting instruction, correspondingly control the power source to supply energy to the heater for a plurality of times, in one of the time phases, control the power source to start the energy supply of the current time phase to the heater, determine the supplied energy of the current time phase, and control the power source to stop the energy supply of the current time phase if the supplied energy of the power source reaches the set energy corresponding to the current time phase.

a heater for heating an aerosol-forming substrate to produce an aerosol;

a power source for providing energy to the heater;

And a controller configured to control the power source to supply energy to the heater in accordance with the set energy and the natural cooling time in each time period, respectively, in a plurality of time periods after receiving the start-up heating command.

In yet another aspect, the present application provides an aerosol-generating device comprising:

a heater for heating an aerosol-forming substrate to produce an aerosol;

a power source for providing energy to the heater;

a controller configured to control the power source to supply energy to the heater in accordance with the set energy and the natural cooling time in each of a plurality of time phases of the pumping operation phase, respectively;

Wherein the set energy and the natural cooling time of at least two of the time phases are the same.

The aerosol generating device and the control method thereof provided by the application are divided into a plurality of time phases to respectively supply energy to the heater after receiving a start heating instruction, take the control of one time phase as an example, control the power source to start energy supply to the heater, monitor whether the supplied energy reaches the set energy of the current time phase, and if so, control the power source to stop energy supply, and realize the power output to the heater by the control mode, reduce or even not depend on the real-time temperature of the heater, but really start based on the required energy of the heater and/or aerosol forming substrate. Compared with the conventional mode of controlling the temperature in real time by depending on a heater, the control mode starts from the bottom layer requirement of the energy actually required by the aerosol-forming substrate in each time period to control the energy supply of the heater, so that the taste of the aerosol-forming substrate is improved for sucking, and the sucking experience of a user is improved; secondly, the problem of insufficient heat absorption of the aerosol-forming substrate caused by inaccurate real-time temperature of the heater is avoided.

Drawings

One or more embodiments are illustrated by way of example and not limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which like references indicate similar elements, and in which the figures of the drawings are not to be taken in a limiting sense, unless otherwise indicated.

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural view of an aerosol-generating article according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 2 is a schematic structural view of an aerosol generating device according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a control method of an aerosol generating device according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a control method of an aerosol generating device according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a voltage regulating circuit of an aerosol generating device according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of a control method of an aerosol generating device according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 7 is a flow chart of a control method of an aerosol generating device according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 8A is a schematic diagram of the supply voltage during a preheating operation phase according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 8B is a schematic diagram of the supply voltage during the preheating operation according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 8C is a schematic diagram of the supply voltage during a preheating operation phase according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 8D is a schematic diagram of the supply voltage during the warm-up phase according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 9A is a schematic diagram of the supply voltage during pumping phases provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 9B is a schematic diagram of the supply voltage during the pumping phase provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 9C is a schematic diagram of the supply voltage during the pumping phase provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 10A is a schematic diagram of a real-time temperature profile of a heater according to one embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 10B is a schematic diagram of a real-time temperature profile of a heater according to one embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of a real-time temperature profile and output power of a heater according to an embodiment of the application.

Detailed Description

In order that the application may be readily understood, a more particular description thereof will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments that are illustrated in the appended drawings. It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being "fixed" to another element, it can be directly on the other element or one or more intervening elements may be present therebetween. When an element is referred to as being "connected" to another element, it can be directly connected to the other element or one or more intervening elements may be present therebetween. The terms "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "inner", "outer" and the like are used in this specification for illustrative purposes only.

Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this application belongs. The terminology used in the description of the application herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the application. The term "and/or" as used in this specification includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

Only elements related to the present embodiment may be shown in the drawings. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that other general elements besides those shown in the figures may also be included in the figures.

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural view of an aerosol-generating article provided by an embodiment of the present application.

As shown in fig. 1, the aerosol-generating article 20 comprises a filter segment 21 and a substrate segment 22.

The substrate segment 22 includes an aerosol-forming substrate. The aerosol-forming substrate is a substrate capable of releasing volatile compounds that may form an aerosol, which may be released by heating the aerosol-forming substrate.

The aerosol-forming substrate may be a solid aerosol-forming substrate. Alternatively, the aerosol-forming substrate may comprise both solid and liquid components. The aerosol-forming substrate may comprise a tobacco-containing material comprising volatile tobacco flavour compounds that are released from the aerosol-forming substrate upon heating. Alternatively, the aerosol-forming substrate may comprise a non-tobacco material. The aerosol-forming substrate may further comprise an aerosol former. Examples of suitable aerosol formers are glycerol and propylene glycol.

The aerosol generated by the heating of the substrate segment 22 is delivered to the user through the filter segment 21, and the filter segment 21 may be a cellulose acetate filter. The filter segments 21 may be sprayed with a flavoring liquid to provide flavor, or separate fibers coated with a flavoring liquid may be inserted into the filter segments 21 to improve the durability of the flavor delivered to the user. The filter segments 21 may also have spherical or cylindrical shaped capsules which may contain the contents of a flavouring substance.

The aerosol-generating article 20 may further comprise a cooling section 23 arranged between the substrate section 22 and the filter section 21 for cooling the aerosol generated by the heating of the substrate section 22 so that a user may inhale the aerosol cooled to a suitable temperature.

Fig. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of an aerosol generating device according to an embodiment of the present application.

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, the aerosol-generating device 10 includes a battery cell 101, a controller 102, and a heater 103. Furthermore, the aerosol-generating device 10 has an interior space defined by the housing, into which the aerosol-generating article 20 may be inserted.

The electrical core 101, i.e. the power source, is used to provide electrical power for operating the aerosol-generating device 10. For example, the electrical cell 101 may provide electrical power to heat the heater 103 and may provide electrical power required to operate the controller 102. Further, the battery cell 101 may provide power required to operate a display device, a sensor, a motor, and the like provided in the aerosol-generating device 10.

The cell 101 may be, but is not limited to, a lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO 4) battery. For example, the cell 101 may also be a lithium cobalt oxide (LiCoO 2) battery or a lithium titanate battery. The cell 101 may also be a rechargeable battery or a disposable battery.

When the aerosol-generating article 20 is inserted inside the aerosol-generating device 10, the aerosol-generating device 10 may heat the heater 103 by means of the power provided by the electrical core 101. The heater 103 increases the temperature of the aerosol-forming substrate in the aerosol-generating article 20 to generate an aerosol. The generated aerosol is delivered to the user for inhalation through the filter segment 21 of the aerosol-generating article 20.

The heater 103 and aerosol-forming substrate may take a variety of heating configurations. For example, a heater of a center heating type is used, and the heater is in the form of a pin, a sheet, a pin, or the like, and is inserted into the aerosol-forming substrate so that the outer periphery of the heater is in contact with or in close contact with (as close as possible to) the aerosol-forming substrate, thereby achieving heat transfer. With a peripheral heating type heater, the heater is generally hollow cylindrical, and the aerosol-forming substrate is disposed inside the hollow cylindrical of the heater, so that the inner wall of the heater is in contact with or in close contact with (as close as possible to) the outer periphery of the aerosol-forming substrate, thereby achieving heat transfer.

The heater 103 may employ various heating methods. For example, the aerosol-forming substrate may be heated by one or more of resistive heat conduction, electromagnetic induction, chemical reaction, infrared action, resonance, photoelectric conversion, photothermal conversion, air heating.

The controller 102 may control the operation of the main components in the aerosol-generating device 10. In detail, the controller 102 may control the operation of the battery cell 101 and the heater 103, and may also control the operation of other components in the aerosol-generating device 10.

The controller 102 is further configured to perform a control method of the aerosol-generating device 10.

The controller 102 includes at least one processor. The controller may comprise an array of logic gates, or may comprise a combination of a general purpose microprocessor and a memory storing programs executable in the microprocessor.

For example, the controller 102 controls the operation of the heater 103. The controller 102 may control the amount of power provided to the heater 103, the time for which power is continuously provided to the heater 103, and stop providing power to the heater 103. In addition, the controller 102 may also monitor the state of the battery cell 101 (e.g., the remaining power of the battery cell 101), and/or may monitor the operating state of the heater 103 (e.g., the resistance change of the heater 103), and may generate a notification signal to prompt the user if necessary.

In addition to the electrical core 101, the controller 102, and the heater 103, the aerosol-generating device 10 may also include other general-purpose components. For example, the aerosol generating device 10 may include a display device for outputting visual information, which may be a visual display element such as a display screen, a touch screen, a light assembly, or the like. The controller 102 may transmit information about the state of the aerosol-generating device 10 (e.g., whether the aerosol-generating device 10 can be used), information about the heater 103 (e.g., start of warm-up, warm-up being performed, or warm-up completion), information about the battery cell 101 (e.g., the remaining power of the battery cell 101, whether the battery cell 101 can be used), information about the reset of the aerosol-generating device 10 (e.g., reset time, reset being performed, or reset completion), information about the cleaning of the aerosol-generating device 10 (e.g., cleaning time, cleaning being performed, or cleaning completion), information about the charging of the aerosol-generating device 10 (e.g., charging being performed, or charging completion), information about the suction (e.g., the number of times of suction, suction end notification), or information about safety (e.g., use time) to the user. For example, the aerosol generating device 10 may further include a vibration motor for outputting haptic feedback information, and the controller 102 may generate a vibration feedback signal by using the vibration motor and may transmit the above information to a user. For example, the aerosol generating device 10 further comprises an airflow sensor that detects whether the user is inhaling and/or the intensity of the inhalation. For example, the aerosol-generating device 10 may comprise at least one input device to control the function of the aerosol-generating device 10. Specifically, the input device may include a key, or a touch screen, etc.; the user may perform various functions by using the input device. For example, adjusting the number of times the user presses the input device (e.g., one or two times), or the time the user continues to press the input device (e.g., 0.1s or 0.2 s) to perform a desired function among the plurality of functions of the aerosol-generating device 10; the user may also perform a function of heating the heater 103, a function of adjusting the temperature of the heater 103, a function of cleaning a space in which the aerosol-generating article is inserted, a function of checking whether the aerosol-generating device 10 can be operated, a function of displaying the remaining amount of electricity (usable power) of the battery cell 101, and a function of resetting the aerosol-generating device 10 through the input device. However, the function of the aerosol-generating device 10 is not limited thereto.

Fig. 3 is a flowchart of a control method of an aerosol generating device according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 3, the controller 102 is configured to perform a control method of the aerosol-generating device 10, the method comprising:

step S11, correspondingly controlling the power source to supply energy to the heater for a plurality of times in a plurality of time periods after receiving the heating starting command.

After receiving the start-up heating command, the controller 102 may control the heater 103 to start heating, and the heating process of the heater 103 may include a plurality of time periods, which may be distributed in the whole operation phase of the preheating operation phase and the suction operation phase of the aerosol generating device 10, may be distributed in only the preheating operation phase, or may be distributed in only the suction operation phase.

The preheating operation phase refers to an operation phase in which the temperature of the aerosol-forming substrate is increased to a temperature sufficient to produce a satisfactory amount of aerosol. Aerosols may be generated at this stage but are generally less likely to be drawn out of the aerosol-generating device 10 by the user. For example, at the end of the pre-heating stage, the aerosol-forming substrate may have reached a temperature at which volatile components contained in the tobacco are released.

The suction operation phase refers to an operation phase in which the aerosol can be generated by the aerosol-generating device 10 at a satisfactory rate and inhaled by the user.

The end time of the preheating operation corresponds to the start time of the suction operation, and the aerosol generating device 10 may alert the user that the aerosol generating device 10 enters the suction operation and may perform the suction operation by means of a vibration motor or a visual display unit.

The activation heating command may be a signal generated by the user operating the input element, or may be a signal obtained by a detection signal of a sensor, for example, a signal for triggering the insertion of the aerosol-generating article 20 into the aerosol-generating device 10 by a pressure sensor, an electrical parameter sensor, or the like, or a signal for detecting activation by suction of the user by an airflow sensor, or the like.

The controller 102 controls the power source 101 to supply power to the heater 103 a plurality of times, each of which is strictly based on a preset power supply (also called a preset power) for each time period. The supply energy corresponding to these multiple time periods may be pre-stored in a memory internal to the aerosol-generating device 10 for retrieval by the controller 102. The supply energy corresponding to these multiple time periods may also be stored in an external device connected to the aerosol-generating device 10, such as a cloud server, a charging cartridge memory, or a memory internal to the aerosol-generating device 10 connected thereto, from which the controller 102 may retrieve and reference during operation.

The set energy may be an experimental value obtained by a large number of experiments performed by the present inventors, or may be an empirical value, in combination with a specific aerosol-forming substrate material or the like after the completion of the installation design of the aerosol-generating device 10. It will be appreciated that the set energy may be adjusted based on the thermal insulation properties of the heating module, may be adjusted based on the rate of heat transfer between the aerosol-forming substrate and the heater, etc.

In some embodiments, the set energy for at least two time periods is different. For example, in the early stages of the pre-heat operation (also known as the first time period, the warm-up period), the heating requirement is to quickly reach the maximum temperature of the heater to increase the heat transfer rate between the heater and the aerosol-forming substrate; in the middle and later stages of the preheating operation (also referred to as the second time period, the incubation period), the heating requirement is to maintain heat transfer between the aerosol-forming substrate and the heater so that the aerosol-forming substrate can continue to absorb heat from the heater, and thus the energy set in the first time period is significantly greater than the energy set in the second time period, even up to 8:2 or 9:1. For example, in the suction working phase, in order to increase the output of smoke in the early stage of suction, the set energy of at least one time phase in the early stage of suction may be greater than the set energy of at least one time phase in the late stage of suction.

In some embodiments, the set energies corresponding to at least two time phases are the same. For example, during the pumping phase (also known as the thermostatic phase), the heating requirement is to supplement the heat loss of the aerosol-forming substrate to ensure that the aerosol is generated at a certain rate. Since the heat loss of the aerosol-forming substrate due to the pumping action is very small, the same set energy can be provided during the multiple time phases of the pumping operation phase to supplement the other fixed heat loss of the aerosol-forming substrate. For example, in the latter part of the preheating phase (second time phase, incubation phase), the heating requirement is to maintain heat transfer between the aerosol-forming substrate and the heater, so that the aerosol-forming substrate can continue to absorb heat from the heater, so that the same set energy can be supplied during the incubation phase, and the fixed thermal energy loss of the heater due to other reasons can be replenished for a while, so that the heat transfer between the aerosol-forming substrate and the heater can be maintained without a significant drop in the temperature of the heater.

The following describes in detail, taking one of the time periods as an example, with reference to fig. 4, a process of controlling the power source 101 to supply energy to the heater 103 for the current time period (step S12), and specifically includes:

Step S121, controlling the power source to start the energy supply to the heater in the current time period.

The controller 102 invokes a set energy for the current time period, and in accordance with the set energy, the controller 102 controls the battery cell 101 to supply power to supply the set energy to the heater 103.

The power provided by the controller 102 may be the maximum real-time power that the battery cell 101 can provide; in this case, as the capacity of the battery cells decays, the duration of the power supplied by the battery cells 101 to the heater 103 also increases.

The power provided by the controller 102 may also be a stable power output by the battery cell 101 after passing through the voltage regulating circuit. The particular aerosol-generating device 10 further comprises a voltage regulating circuit coupled between the heater 103 and the electrical core 101; the voltage regulating circuit comprises a voltage boosting circuit and/or a voltage reducing circuit. For example: a BUCK-BOOST conversion circuit as shown in fig. 5. It is understood that the voltage regulating circuit is not limited to the BUCK-BOOST converting circuit, but may be at least one of a BOOST converting circuit, a BUCK converting circuit, a CUK converting circuit, a ZETA converting circuit, and a SEPIC converting circuit.

Wherein the process of providing power by the controller 102 may be uninterrupted and continuous, which may better supplement the heat loss of the heater 103 and the aerosol-forming substrate. Taking a time period as an example, the time during which the controller 102 continues to output power is only a fraction of the current time period, which is referred to herein as the energy delivery time. In some embodiments, the energy delivery time is varied, and the controller 102 controls the energy delivery according to the set energy for the current time period and the real-time output power, without defining the energy delivery time. In some embodiments, the energy delivery time may be preset in the event that the output power of the power source 102 is stable. Accordingly, the controller 102 may determine the output power according to the set energy of the current time period and the preset energy supply time. In some embodiments, for example

In general, the temperature of the heater 103 starts to rise during the power supply time, and the rate of the temperature rise is determined by the set power, the actual power output, and the like.

In the pumping operation phase, when the current time phase and the pumping action of the user synchronously occur, due to the frequency setting of the multiple time phases of the pumping operation phase, at least one time phase of energy supply exists in the time (about 5 s) of one pumping action, the heat taken by the pumping action is extremely small, and only the heat of the heater 103 and the aerosol-forming substrate can be timely supplemented under the condition that some jitter occurs in the process of changing the temperature of the heater 103, so that the temperature of the heater 103 can still be kept to fluctuate within a temperature range without generating great temperature drop.

It should be emphasized that the provision of multiple time phases of energy in the present solution is to meet the heat requirements of the aerosol-forming substrate in each phase, and only requires low frequency energy supply. Thus, the energy supply time per time period is more than or equal to 500ms (milliseconds), preferably more than 1s or less than or equal to 2Hz; whereas conventional PWM control is usually designed to output accurate power, its output frequency is about 100Hz, which is a high frequency output, unlike the present scheme.

Step S122, determining the supplied energy of the current time period.

The controller 102 synchronously counts the supplied energy that has been output at the time of the output power.

In some embodiments, the detection circuit may detect the voltage, current, and/or resistance of the heater 103, and the duration of the supply (energy supply time), and then calculate the supplied energy of the heater according to the formula of energy q=p=u≡2/r+=i≡2×r=u×i×t.

In some embodiments, the supplied energy may be indirectly characterized by monitoring only a portion of the electrical parameter or the duration of the supply, during heating of the heater 103, where a portion of the electrical parameter remains constant, such as in the case of a constant voltage supply to the heater 103, or a constant current supply, or the resistance of the heater 103 remains constant, or the like.

Step 123, determining whether the supplied energy of the current time period reaches the set energy corresponding to the current time period.

The controller 102 compares whether the supplied energy reaches the set energy, and if not, continues the energy supply, and if so, proceeds to step S124.

And step S124, if the supplied energy reaches the set energy corresponding to the current time stage, controlling the power source to stop the energy supply of the current time stage.

The controller 102 stops the power supply to the heater 103 for a period of time, which will be referred to herein as a natural cooling time. In some embodiments, the natural cooling time is predetermined, which is related to factors such as the thermal insulation performance of the heating module, or the heat transfer requirements between the heater and the aerosol-forming substrate. Accordingly, the controller 102 stops the power supply to the heater 103 for a preset natural cooling time after completing the power supply for the current time period, and determines whether the natural cooling time reaches the off time by timing. In some embodiments, the free cooling time may also be determined without direct setting, such as by detecting the real-time temperature of the heater 103, to determine whether to end the free cooling time, where the free cooling time may vary between time periods.

During the natural cooling time, the temperature of the heater 103 naturally starts to drop due to the lack of energy supply to the heater 103, which is partly due to the heat loss of the heater 103 and the external/aerosol-forming substrate, and possibly also by the superimposed pumping action during the pumping phase.

With the end of the natural cooling time, the current time phase is formally ended. At this time, the total operation time of the aerosol generating device 10 (or the preset number of suction ports is satisfied) has reached the preset threshold, or the controller 102 receives an instruction to end heating, and the operation of the aerosol generating device is ended, and the next time period is not entered. In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 4, after the end of the current time period, it is necessary to jump to the next time period (step S12'), and the above-described steps S121-S124 are repeatedly performed.

Fig. 6 and 7 show in particular the jump procedure between the current time phase and the next time phase.

In some embodiments, as in fig. 6, the controller 102 enters the natural cooling time of the current time phase after ending the energy supply of the current time phase, and counts the time, and when the natural cooling time reaches a preset cutoff time, ends the current time phase and enters the next time phase. In this case, the controller 102 may directly supply and skip energy for a plurality of time periods according to the set energy and the natural cooling time for each time period, and the method does not need to pay attention to the real-time temperature of the heater 103 no matter the start or stop of the energy supply for the current time period, and only needs to execute the method strictly according to the set energy and the natural cooling time for each time period, so that the method can eliminate the bad interference of the temperature of the heater and control the method from the heat absorbed by the aerosol forming substrate.

In another embodiment, as shown in fig. 7, the aerosol generating device 10 further includes a temperature sensor for detecting the real-time temperature of the heater, and the controller 102 enters the natural cooling time of the current time period after ending the energy supply of the current time period, and synchronously detects the real-time temperature of the heater 103 during the natural cooling time, and when the real-time temperature satisfies a preset low temperature threshold (e.g., fig. 10A-10b, t 3), the current time period is ended, and the energy supply of the next time period is entered and started. In this way, only when a time period is started to supply energy to the heater 103, the real-time temperature of the heater 103 needs to be referred to, and the energy supply in a time period, for example, when the energy supply in a time period is stopped, is still performed strictly according to the set energy of each time period. The effect of the difference in the real-time temperature of the heater on the temperature control can likewise be excluded, but rather from the amount of heat that needs to be absorbed by the aerosol-forming substrate to generate an aerosol.

Fig. 8A-8D show supply voltage diagrams for various configurations of the preheat phase. The preheating working phase t0 to t2 includes a plurality of time phases (t 0 to t 12), (t 12 to t 14), and (t 14 to t 16).

After the controller 102 receives the start-up heating command, formally enters the preheating working stage, starts the energy supply of the first time stage (t 0-t 12), provides the maximum output voltage U0 to the heater 103 at the moment, lasts for a certain time (energy supply time, t0-t 11), synchronously calculates the supplied energy, when the supplied energy reaches the set value Q1 of the first time stage, the controller 102 controls the power source 101 to stop outputting power, lasts for a certain time (natural cooling time, t11-t 12), and when the natural cooling time t11-t12 reaches the set duration of the first time stage, ends the first time stage, enters the second time stage (t 12-t 14) and starts the power output.

In some embodiments, the input voltage to the heater 103 during the first time period may remain unchanged. Preferably, the natural cooling time of the first time period at this time does not exceed 3s.

In some embodiments, the power (output voltage) provided by the controller 102 to the heater 103 is reduced at least once in the later stages of the first time period, such that the high power continuous energy supply provided to the heater 103 during the first time period further maintains the heat transfer between the aerosol-forming substrate 20 and the heater 103 through the low power output without causing a temperature overshoot of the heater 103, thereby enhancing the user's pumping experience. At this time, as shown in fig. 10A to 10B, the temperature of the heater 103 rises rapidly from the initial temperature to the highest temperature, and falls slightly in the form of a parabola.

The power adjustment after the first time period can be implemented in various manners. For example, as shown in fig. 8A, the input voltage of the heater 103 is stepped down multiple times with time, wherein the duration/magnitude of the decrease of each stepped voltage can be adjusted according to actual requirements. As shown in fig. 8B, the input voltage of the heater 103 is stepwise decreased once with time. As shown in fig. 8C, the input voltage of the heater 103 is linearly decreased with time, wherein it may be linearly decreased with a constant slope or linearly decreased with a varying slope. As shown in fig. 8D, the input voltage of the heater 103 changes with time in a wave form, or the input voltage of the heater 103 rises and falls.

Wherein the duration (t 1-t 11) of the power decrease after the first time period is between 2 and 3 seconds.

In the second time period (t 12-t 14), the controller 102 outputs the voltage U1 (U1 < U0) to the heater 103 for a certain time (energy supply time, t12-t 13), and the temperature of the heater 103 is increased slightly; when the output supplied energy reaches the set value Q2 (Q2 < Q1) of the second time period, the controller 102 stops outputting power and continues for a certain period of time (natural cooling time, t13-t 14), at which time the temperature of the heater 103 falls back by a small margin. As shown in fig. 10A to 10B, at the second time period (t 12 to t 2), the temperature of the heater 103 fluctuates.

Wherein the operating steps of the second time stage may be repeated a number of times, for example 3-5 times. The setting of the energy or the natural cooling time between the second time phases may be the same or different. At this time, if the set energies of the plurality of second time periods and the natural cooling time settings thereof are the same, the temperature of the heater 103 assumes a behavior of fluctuating up and down within a certain temperature range.

Wherein the total duration of the plurality of second time periods is between 5 and 8 seconds, and the aerosol-forming substrate is capable of utilizing the time period to sufficiently absorb heat without causing excessive aerosol generation.

In the preheating phase, the set energy for the first time period is more than 80% of the sum of the set energies for the entire preheating phase, which facilitates the aerosol-forming substrate to produce sufficient and desirable aerosol rapidly.

When the second time period ends, the preheating operation period (t 0-t 2) is also formally ended. At this time, the pumping phase (t 2-t 3) is entered, and the controller 102 sends a reminder to the user that the pumping phase is started.

Fig. 9A-9B show supply voltage diagrams for various aspects of the pumping phase of operation.

In the suction working phase, there are likewise a plurality of time phases (referred to herein as third time phases) t21, …, t2n, … …, t2k, where k is between 6 and 20. The control steps of the third time phase are identical to the control steps of the second time phase, but the setting of the setting energy and the natural cooling time may be different. Wherein the total duration of the third time period is at least 2s (seconds), or is between 2.5 and 5s (seconds), or is between 3 and 4s (seconds), and is determined according to the heating characteristics and the heat preservation characteristics of different heating modules.

9A-9C, the pumping phase (t 2-t 3) starts, the first third time phase (t 21) is started, the controller 102 outputs the voltage U21 to the heater 103 and continues to supply for the energy supply time (t 21-1), the controller 102 synchronously calculates the supplied energy, and when the supplied energy meets the set energy Q21, the controller 102 stops outputting power and continues the natural cooling time (t 21-2); when the duration of stopping the output power satisfies a predetermined natural cooling time or when the real-time temperature of the heater reaches a temperature threshold T3 at this time, the third time period (T21) ends, and the energy supply of the second third time period (T22) is entered and started.

Wherein in the first third time period, the temperature of the heater 103 starts to rise slightly until the temperature threshold T2 is reached, and in the natural cooling time, the temperature of the heater 103 falls back slightly until the temperature threshold T3 is reached.

In some embodiments, the energy supply is started by using the real-time temperature of the heater, if there is a pumping action, the temperature of the heater 103 still rises during the energy supply time of the third time period, but the temperature rise rate may be slightly slower due to the influence of the pumping action; during the natural cooling time of the third time period, the temperature of the heater 103 still decreases, but may be affected by the pumping action to increase the rate of temperature decrease. However, at this time, upon recognizing that the real-time temperature of the heater reaches the temperature threshold T3, the power supply for the next third time period is started immediately, and the temperature of the heater 103 is raised immediately. In this case, the natural cooling time is ended in advance, and the power supply between the plurality of third time periods is more compact, and the influence of the pumping action can be solved by increasing the number of third time periods, while the temperature of the heater 103 is still kept fluctuating between the temperature ranges (T2-T3).

In some embodiments, if there is pumping action, the temperature of the heater 103 is still rising at the energy supply time of the third time period without relying on the real-time temperature of the heater at all, but the temperature rising rate may be slightly slower due to the influence of pumping action; during the natural cooling time of the third time period, the temperature of the heater 103 still decreases, but may be affected by the pumping action to increase the rate of temperature decrease. Since there is at least one third time period of energy supply for the duration of a pumping action, the energy loss carried away by the pumping action is less than the total energy supply for the at least one third time period, and thus the temperature of the heater 103 is not greatly reduced, the temperature of the heater 103 can still be kept fluctuating within a small temperature range (T2-T3). Wherein the amplitude of the fluctuation of the heater 103 may not be uniform.

Wherein the operating steps of the third time phases may be repeated a plurality of times during the suction working phase, and jumps between the plurality of third time phases may be referred to as jumps between t21 and t 22.

Fig. 9A-9C illustrate various situations of energy supply and natural cooling time between a plurality of third time periods.

As shown in fig. 9A, by setting the set energies among the plurality of third time periods to be the same, the energy supply times to be different, and the natural cooling times to be the same, the temperature fluctuation of the heater 103 in the temperature interval (T2-T3) is an expression of a variable frequency. Wherein, natural cooling time is related to the heat preservation performance of the heating module.

As shown in fig. 9B, by setting the set energies among the plurality of third time periods to be the same, the energy supply times to be the same, and the natural cooling times to be the same, the temperature fluctuation of the heater 103 in the temperature section (T2-T3) is at a constant frequency. Wherein, natural cooling time is related to the heat preservation performance of the heating module.

As shown in fig. 9C, by setting the setting energies among the plurality of third time periods to be different, for example, the previous setting energy is large, the next setting energy is relatively small, the energy supply time is set to be the same, and the natural cooling time is also the same, at this time, the temperature fluctuation of the heating 103 in the temperature range (T2-T3) is in the form of a variable frequency, and is small and large, so that it is possible to generate sufficient aerosol in the early stage of the pumping stage. Wherein, natural cooling time is related to the heat preservation performance of the heating module.

In some embodiments, taking a circumferential heater with resistance thick film heating as an example, because the resistance thick film heater has the characteristics of fast temperature rise and weak heat preservation, after receiving a heating starting instruction, the controller 102 enters a preheating working stage, firstly, according to the set energy in the first time stage, the output power can be about 25W in the first time stage, the energy supply time is about 15s, and at this time, the temperature of the heater is raised from the initial temperature to 380 ℃; then after stopping the energy to go through the natural cooling time (about 3 s) of the first time stage, starting 3-5 second time stages in turn, wherein the output power of each second time stage is about 6W, the energy supply time is about 1s (which can be changed according to the real-time power), and the natural cooling time is about 3s; after a plurality of second time periods of energy supply, the heater is at a temperature of about 230 ℃; the pumping phase is then entered and the third time phases are repeated for 6-20 times, each of which has an output power of about 5W, an energy supply time of about 1-2s (which may vary according to real-time power), and a natural cooling time of about 3s, so that the temperature of the heater fluctuates in a wave-like manner up and down to 230 ℃ until the pumping phase is completed.

In some embodiments, taking an infrared heating circumferential heater as an example, because the infrared heater has the characteristics of slow temperature rise and good heat preservation, after receiving a heating starting instruction, the controller 102 enters a preheating working stage, firstly, according to the set energy in a first time stage, the output power can be about 35W in the first time stage, the energy supply time is about 20s, and at the moment, the temperature of the heater is increased from the initial temperature to 280 ℃; then after stopping the energy to go through the natural cooling time (about 3 s) of the first time stage, starting 3-5 second time stages in turn, wherein the output power of each second time stage is about 6W, the energy supply time is about 1s (which can be changed according to the real-time power), and the natural cooling time is about 4-8 s; after a plurality of second time periods of energy supply, the temperature of the heater is above about 240 ℃; then the pumping phase is entered and the third time phases are started 6-20 times, the output power of each third time phase is about 5W, the energy supply time is about 5s (which can be changed according to the real-time power), and the natural cooling time is about 4s, so that the temperature of the heater fluctuates in a wave shape at 240 ℃ until the pumping phase is finished.

In some embodiments, a controller is provided, comprising a memory storing a computer program and a processor implementing the steps of the method of controlling an aerosol-generating device in any of the method embodiments described above when the computer program is executed by the processor.

In some embodiments, a computer readable storage medium is provided, on which a computer program is stored, where the computer program, when executed by a processor, implements all or part of the flow of the method for controlling an aerosol generating device in the above embodiments, and may be implemented by instructing related hardware through the computer program, where the computer program may be stored in a non-volatile computer readable storage medium, and the computer program may include the flow of the method embodiment described above when executed. Any reference to memory, storage, database, or other medium used in embodiments provided herein may include at least one of non-volatile and volatile memory. The nonvolatile Memory may include Read-Only Memory (ROM), magnetic tape, floppy disk, flash Memory, optical Memory, or the like. Volatile memory can include random access memory (Random Access Memory, RAM) or external cache memory. By way of illustration, and not limitation, RAM can be in various forms such as static random access memory (Static Random Access Memory, SRAM) or dynamic random access memory (Dynamic Random Access Memory, DRAM), etc.

It should be noted that while the present application has been illustrated in the drawings and described in connection with the preferred embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the application may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein, but are to be construed as providing a full breadth of the disclosure. The above-described features are further combined with each other to form various embodiments not listed above, and are considered to be the scope of the present application described in the specification; further, modifications and variations of the present application may be apparent to those skilled in the art in light of the foregoing teachings, and all such modifications and variations are intended to be included within the scope of this application as defined in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method of controlling an aerosol-generating device comprising a heater for heating an aerosol-forming substrate to generate an aerosol, and a power source for providing energy to the heater; characterized in that the method comprises:

determining the supplied energy for the current time period;

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein controlling the power source to stop the supply of energy for the current time period if the supplied energy reaches the set energy corresponding to the current time period comprises:

determining a duration of time that the power source ceases energy delivery for a current time period;

And if the duration meets the natural cooling time of the preset current time stage, ending the current time stage and entering the next time stage.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein controlling the power source to stop the supply of energy for the current time period if the supplied energy reaches the set energy corresponding to the current time period comprises:

Detecting a real-time temperature of the heater;

and if the real-time temperature is reduced to the preset low-temperature threshold value, ending the current time stage and entering the next time stage.

4. A method according to claim 2 or 3, wherein said entering a next time phase comprises:

controlling the power source to start energy supply to the heater for the next time period;

Determining the supplied energy for the next time period;

And if the supplied energy reaches the set energy corresponding to the next time period, controlling the power source to stop energy supply of the next time period.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the controlling the power source to energize the heater a plurality of times during a plurality of time periods after receiving an activate heating command comprises:

after receiving the heating starting instruction, entering a preheating working stage;

A first time stage and a second time stage are arranged in the preheating working stage, and the power source is correspondingly controlled to supply energy to the heater respectively;

Wherein the first time period is for enabling the heater to quickly reach a temperature at which the aerosol is generated, the second time period is for enabling the heater to maintain heat transfer with the aerosol-forming substrate, and the first time period has a set energy greater than the set energy of the second time period.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the set energy for the first time period is greater than 80% of the sum of the set energies for the warm-up phase.

7. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that a plurality of second time phases are provided in the preheating working phase;

Wherein the set energy of at least two of said second time periods is the same.

8. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that at least three of the second time phases are provided in the preheating working phase; or alternatively

The total duration of the plurality of second time periods is 4-8s.

9. The method according to claim 5, comprising:

in the first time period, controlling the power source to supply energy to the heater for a current time period, comprising:

Controlling the power source to output voltage to the heater to start energy supply of a current time period, wherein the output power of a first time period is reduced at least once;

determining the supplied energy for the current time period;

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the output power of the first time period is reduced at least once, comprising:

controlling the voltage provided by the power source to the heater to be at least one of:

The change with time is reduced stepwise;

Linearly decreasing with time;

the change with time is wave change.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the controlling the power source to energize the heater a plurality of times during a plurality of time periods after receiving an activate heating command comprises:

after receiving the start heating instruction, entering a suction working stage;

a plurality of third time periods are provided in the suction working phase, and the power source is correspondingly controlled to supply energy to the heater for a plurality of times.

12. Method according to claim 11, characterized in that the set energy of at least two of the third time phases in the suction working phases is the same.

13. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that the set energy of at least one of the third time phases in the early part of the suction working phase is larger than the set energy of at least one of the third time phases in the later part of the suction working phase.

14. Method according to claim 11, characterized in that the natural cooling time of at least two of the third time phases in the pumping work phase is the same.

15. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that the natural cooling time of all the third time phases in the pumping work phase is the same.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein the natural cooling time of the third time period that occurs with a pumping action is less than the natural cooling time of the third time period that does not occur with the pumping action.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein said controlling the power source to initiate the supply of energy to the heater for a current time period comprises:

the power source is controlled to start the energy supply of the current time period to the heater, and the energy supply is continuously carried out.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the duration of the continuously supplying energy is an energy supply time, the energy supply time being greater than or equal to 500ms.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the power source is correspondingly controlled to energize the heater a plurality of times during a plurality of time periods after receiving an initiate heating command; comprising the following steps:

After receiving the heating starting instruction, the device enters a preheating working stage and a sucking working stage successively;

Controlling the power source to supply energy to the heater respectively in a plurality of time phases in the preheating working phase and the pumping working phase correspondingly;

wherein the ratio of the sum of the set energies at the plurality of time phases of the warm-up phase to the sum of the set energies at the plurality of time phases of the suction phase is about 1:1; or about 3:5.

20. An aerosol-generating device, comprising:

a heater for heating an aerosol-forming substrate to produce an aerosol;

a power source for providing energy to the heater;

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the controller is further configured to stop the supply of energy to the heater during the current time period without having to rely on a real-time temperature of the heater.

22. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the controller is further configured to initiate the supply of energy to the heater for a next time period by determining a natural cooling time for which a duration of stopping the supply of energy for the current time period reaches the current time period.

23. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the controller is further configured to initiate the supply of energy to the heater for a next time period during the current time period without being dependent on a real-time temperature of the heater.

24. An aerosol-generating device, comprising:

a heater for heating an aerosol-forming substrate to produce an aerosol;

a power source for providing energy to the heater;

25. An aerosol-generating device, comprising:

a heater for heating an aerosol-forming substrate to produce an aerosol;

a power source for providing energy to the heater;

26. The apparatus of claim 25, further comprising a temperature sensor for detecting a real-time temperature of the heater;

Wherein, during the pumping phase, the real-time temperature assumes a representation of a fluctuating change.