CONTROL FOR AN ELECTRONIC SMOKING DEVICE
The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for controlling disabling of an electronic smoking device. An electronic smoking device includes a body through which a flow path at least partially extends, an air inlet in the body that is fluidly connected to the flow path, a liquid compartment for storing a liquid within the body, a vaporizer positioned in the body and configured to receive liquid from the liquid compartment and air from the flow path to generate vaporized liquid, an outlet in the body configured to receive vaporized liquid from the vaporizer, and circuitry connected to the vaporizer. In one embodiment, the circuitry is configured to shut off the electronic smoking device based on activation time of the vaporizer. In another embodiment, the circuitry is configured to shut off the electronic smoking device after a determined amount of usage has occurred.
1 . An electronic smoking device comprising:
a first housing containing a battery, sensor, a controller and an LED;
a second housing connectable to the first housing, the second housing containing a vaporization chamber, a heater located inside the chamber, and a liquid supply;
wherein the controller measures a resistance of the heater and adjusts a parameter of the heater.
2 . The device of claim 1 wherein the parameter is input current level, heating duration, and/or voltage level.
3 . The device of claim 1 wherein the controller further comprises a microcontroller, microprocessor, a custom analog circuit, an application-specific circuit (ASIC), or a programmable logic device (PLD).
4 . The electronic smoking device of claim 1 wherein the controller adjusts a parameter of the heater on a real-time basis to maintain a heating temperature at a substantially constant level.
5 . The device of claim 4 wherein the controller monitors heater temperature and function.
6 . The device of claim 5 wherein the controller disables the heater when the heating temperature exceeds a predetermined threshold.
7 . The device of claim 5 wherein the controller disables the heater when the heater malfunctions.
8 . The device of claim 5 wherein the controller disables the heater when a component in the device malfunctions.
9 . The device of claim 4 wherein the parameter is input current level, heating duration, and/or voltage level.
10 . The device of claim 4 wherein the controller further comprises a microcontroller, microprocessor, a custom analog circuit, an application-specific circuit (ASIC), or a programmable logic device (PLD),
11 . An electronic smoking device comprising:
a first housing containing a battery, a first sensor for detecting a user's action for smoking on the device, a second sensor for detecting an internal voltage or an internal current of a heater, a controller and an LED,
a second housing connectable to the first housing, the second housing containing a vaporization chamber, the heater located inside the chamber, and a liquid supply,
wherein the controller adjusts a heating operation of the heater based on the internal voltage or the internal current.
12 . The device of claim 11 wherein the first sensor is an airflow sensor, a pressure sensor, an acoustic sensor, a touch sensor, a capacitive sensor, an optical sensor, a hall sensor, or an electromagnetic filed sensor.
13 . An electronic smoking device comprising:
a first housing containing a battery, sensor, a controller, and an LED,
a second housing connectable to the first housing, the second housing containing a vaporization chamber, a heater located inside the chamber, and a liquid supply,
wherein the controller limits the amount of liquid vaped based upon predetermined period of time.
14 . The device of claim 13 wherein the controller disables the device when the accumulated period of time the heater has been turned on is reached.
15 . The device of claim 13 further including a second sensor to detect internal voltage of the heater and a third sensor to detect internal current of the heater.
16 . An electronic smoking device comprising:
a first housing containing a battery, sensor, an LED and a signal generator connected to the battery,
a second housing connectable to the first housing, the second housing containing a vaporization chamber, a heater located inside the chamber, and a liquid supply,
wherein the signal generator generates a power control signal to control power supplied to the heater.
17 . The device of claim 16 wherein the power control signal is a current level signal, a voltage level signal, or a pulse-width modulation signal.
18 . The electronic smoking device of claim 16 further comprising a controller electrically connected to the battery, sensor, LED and the signal generator.
19 . The device of claim 16 wherein the power control signal is a current level signal, a voltage level signal, or a pulse-width modulation signal.