Re-charging pack for an e-cigarette

1. A pack for holding and re-charging an e-cigarette, the pack comprising:

a pack battery;

a body portion including a tube for receiving an e-cigarette;

a re-charging mechanism for re-charging the e-cigarette received into the tube using the pack battery, wherein the e-cigarette can be re-charged in the tube without disassembly of the e-cigarette; and

a dual activation mechanism comprising two separate triggers for causing the re-charging mechanism to begin re-charging the e-cigarette received into the tube using the pack battery, wherein the re-charging begins only in response to direct activation by a user of both of the two separate triggers.

2. The pack of claim 1 , wherein one of the two separate triggers comprises connecting the pack to an external power source or a user-activated switch on an exterior of the pack.

3. The pack of claim 1 , wherein a first one of the two separate triggers is for a user to insert an e-cigarette into the tube.

4. The pack of claim 3 , wherein activation of a second one of the two separate triggers causes a detection that the e-cigarette has been received into the tube.

5. The pack of claim 3 , wherein the pack includes a wired connector at a base of the tube, and wherein the first one of the two separate triggers detects when the wired connector makes electrical contact with a corresponding connector at one end of the e-cigarette received into the tube.

6. The pack of claim 1 , wherein the tube has an open end for inserting the e-cigarette for re-charging and a base end, wherein the base end acts to support an e-cigarette in the tube and includes electrical contacts for re-charging the e-cigarette within the tube.

7. The pack of claim 6 , wherein the electrical contacts are configured to re-charge the e-cigarette via a tip end of the e-cigarette.

8. The pack of claim 7 , wherein the pack includes a lid, and the lid when closed is configured to exert a pressure on the e-cigarette in a direction towards the base end of the tube, thereby helping to provide a more reliable electrical contact between the tip end of the e-cigarette and the electrical contacts at the base end of the tube.

9. The pack of claim 1 , wherein the re-charging of the e-cigarette is performed by induction re-charging of the e-cigarette.

10. The pack of claim 1 , wherein the pack further comprises a lid, which when open allows access to the tube for receiving or removing an e-cigarette, and when closed holds the e-cigarette in the pack, and wherein the second one of the two separate triggers comprises closing the lid.

11. The pack of claim 10 , wherein the pack is further provided with a switch which is mechanically activated by closing the lid.

12. The pack of claim 2 , wherein a second one of the two separate triggers comprises connecting the pack to an external power source.

13. The pack of claim 2 , wherein a second one of the two separate triggers comprises a user-activated switch on the exterior of the pack.

14. The pack of claim 1 , wherein the dual activation mechanism supports more than two triggers and is configured to activate in response to predetermined combinations of two triggers being received.

15. The pack of claim 1 , wherein the pack includes one or more lights for indicating whether the re-charging of the e-cigarette has been activated.

16. The pack of claim 1 , wherein the re-charging begins only in response to the direct activation by a user of both of the two separate triggers and on condition that the pack battery has more than a certain level of charge.

17. A method of operating a pack for holding and re-charging an e-cigarette, the pack comprising a pack battery, a body portion including a tube for receiving an e-cigarette, a re-charging mechanism for re-charging the e-cigarette received into the tube using the pack battery, wherein the e-cigarette can be re-charged in the tube without disassembly of the e-cigarette, and a dual activation mechanism comprising two separate triggers for causing the re-charging mechanism to begin re-charging the e-cigarette received into the tube using the pack battery, the method comprising:

detecting activation by a user of a first one of the two separate triggers;

detecting activation by a user of a second one of the two separate triggers; and

beginning re-charging of the e-cigarette in response to the detected activation of both of the two separate triggers.