Method for controlling electric power of heater of aerosol-generating apparatus with signal of certain frequency or less and aerosol-generating apparatus using same
According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, an aerosol generating apparatus includes a heater for generating an aerosol by heating an aerosol generating material; and a controller for controlling electric power supplied to the heater. The controller controls a frequency of an electric power signal to be changed over time within a certain range when the frequency of the electric power signal supplied to the heater is lower than or equal to a preset frequency.
1. An aerosol generating apparatus comprising:
a heater configured to generate an aerosol by heating an aerosol generating material; and
a controller configured to:
determine whether or not a frequency of an electric power signal supplied to the heater is lower than or equal to a preset frequency, wherein the preset frequency is 20 kHz, which is a maximum value of audible frequency range;
control electric power supplied to the heater to be changed over time within a preset range only when the frequency of an electric power signal is lower than or equal to the preset frequency;
control a unit of time for changing the frequency of the electric power signal to be increased or decreased according to a preset time pattern in which the unit of time for changing the frequency is on an order of one second, two seconds, and three seconds, over a time period of six seconds; and
based on the frequency being increased from a predetermined lower limit to a predetermined upper limit using the preset time pattern, control the frequency to be decreased to the predetermined lower limit using a same time pattern as the preset time pattern.
2. The aerosol generating apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the electric power signal is a pulse width modulation signal.
3. The aerosol generating apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the preset range is −10% to +10% of the frequency of the electric power signal.
4. The aerosol generating apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the preset range is −5% to +5% of the frequency of the electric power signal.
5. The aerosol generating apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to control the frequency of the electric power signal to reach a lowest frequency and a highest frequency periodically according to a fixed cycle.
6. A method of controlling electric power supplied to a heater of an aerosol generating apparatus with a signal having a frequency less than or equal to a preset frequency, the method comprising:
determining whether or not a frequency of an electric power signal supplied to the heater is lower than or equal to a preset frequency, wherein the preset frequency is 20 kHz, which is a maximum value of audible frequency range;
controlling the frequency of the electric power signal to be changed over time within a preset range only when the frequency of an electric power signal is lower than or equal to the preset frequency;
controlling a unit of time for changing the frequency of the electric power signal to be increased or decreased according to a preset time pattern in which the unit of time for changing the frequency is on an order of one second, two seconds, and three seconds, over a time period of six seconds; and
based on the frequency being increased to from a predetermined lower limit to a predetermined upper limit using the preset time pattern, controlling the frequency to be decreased to the predetermined lower limit using a same time pattern as the preset time pattern.
7. The method of controlling the electric power supplied to the heater of the aerosol generating apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the electric power signal is a pulse width modulation signal.
8. The method of controlling the electric power supplied to the heater of the aerosol generating apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the preset range is −10% to +10% of the frequency of the electric power signal.
9. The method of controlling the electric power supplied to the heater of the aerosol generating apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the preset range is −5% to +5% of the frequency of the electric power signal.
10. The method of controlling the electric power supplied to the heater of the aerosol generating apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the controlling comprises controlling the frequency of the electric power signal to reach a lowest frequency and a highest frequency periodically according to a fixed cycle.
11. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium having stored thereon a program for executing the method according to claim 6 .