Electrically heated smoking system
An electrically heated smoking system for receiving an aerosol-forming substrate. includes at least one heating element for heating the substrate to form an aerosol, a power supply for supplying power to the heating element, electrical hardware connected to the power supply and the heating element, and an interface for establishing a communications link with a host. The communications link may be a USB link and the host may be a personal computer.
1. An electrically heated smoking system for receiving an aerosol-forming substrate, the system comprising:
a substrate;
at least one heating element for heating the substrate to form an aerosol;
a power supply connected to the at least one heating element and operable to supply power thereto;
programmable electrical hardware connected to the power supply and the at least one heating element; and
an interface connected with the electrical hardware and operable to establish a communications link with a remote host, as well as to download software from the host or download information from the host to the system.
2. The electrically heated smoking system according to claim 1 , wherein the aerosol-forming substrate is a solid substrate.
3. The electrically heated smoking system according to claim 1 , wherein the aerosol-forming substrate is a liquid substrate.
4. The electrically heated smoking system according to claim 1 , wherein the power supply comprises a power cell contained in the electrically heated smoking system.
5. The electrically heated smoking system according to claim 1 , wherein the power supply comprises circuitry chargeable by an external charging portion.
6. The electrically heated smoking system according to claim 1 , wherein the power supply includes an interface for connection to an external power source.
7. The electrically heated smoking system according to claim 1 , wherein the communications link is capable of providing electrical power from the host to the electrically heated smoking system.
8. The electrically heated smoking system according to claim 1 , wherein the communications link is a wireless communications link.
9. The electrically heated smoking system according to claim 1 , wherein the communications link is a wired communications link.
10. The electrically heated smoking system according to claim 9 , wherein the communications link is a Universal Serial Bus link.
11. The electrically heated smoking system according to claim 1 , wherein the host is Internet-enabled.
12. The electrically heated smoking system according to claim 1 , wherein the electrical hardware is programmable by software.
13. The electrically heated smoking system according to claim 1 , wherein the electrical hardware includes a sensor to detect air flow indicative of a user taking a puff.
14. The electrically heated smoking system according to claim 1 , further comprising a puff indicator for indicating when the at least one heating element is activated.
15. The electrically heated smoking system of claim 1 further including a housing for receiving the aerosol-forming substrate and designed to be grasped by a user, the housing comprising a shell and a replaceable mouthpiece.
16. The electrically heated smoking system of claim 1 , wherein the interface is operable to register the system with the host.