The present invention relates to an electronic cigarette device and, more particularly, to an electronic cigarette device capable of identifying a cigarette cartridge. The present invention relates also to a cigarette cartridge used for such an electronic cigarette device.
Recently, in place of a conventional cigarette involving burning of dried tobacco leaves, there is developed an electronic cigarette device of a type in which tobacco leaves are not burnt but merely heated to generate vapor to be breathed (see Patent Documents 1 to 3). In particular, the electronic cigarette device described in Patent Document 3 is configured to identify a cigarette cartridge by detecting a change in electrostatic capacity generated when the cigarette cartridge is attached to the body thereof.
[Patent Document]
[Patent Document 1] JP 2009-509521
[Patent Document 2] JP 2016-534730
[Patent Document 3] JP 2017-510270
However, the electronic cigarette device described in Patent Document 3 identifies a cigarette cartridge by utilizing a change in electrostatic capacity generated when the cigarette cartridge is attached to the body thereof, so that not only acquired information amount is small, but also identification reliability is low since the electrostatic capacity significantly changes depending on the positional relationship between the electronic cigarette body and cigarette cartridge.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an electronic cigarette device capable of reliably acquiring more information concerning the cigarette cartridge and a cigarette cartridge used therefor.
A cigarette cartridge according to the present invention is a cigarette cartridge allowing a user to smoke when being attached to an electronic cigarette device body and includes at least one of a magnetism generation part that generates a magnetic field indicating predetermined information and a magnetic sensor that detects the magnetic field.
According to the present invention, information is acquired by a combination of the magnetism generation part and magnetic sensor, so that as compared to the case where a change in electrostatic capacity is utilized, more information concerning the cigarette cartridge can reliably be acquired.
The cigarette cartridge according to the present invention may include a magnetism generation part constituted by a plurality of magnetic patterns. With this configuration, much information can be embedded only by printing the magnetic patterns in the cigarette cartridge by using magnetic ink or the like, making it possible to suppress increase in manufacturing cost.
In the cigarette cartridge according to the present invention, when the attachment direction of the cigarette cartridge to the electronic cigarette device body is the axial direction, a plurality of axially extending magnetic patterns may be peripherally arranged. Alternatively, when the attachment direction of the cigarette cartridge to the electronic cigarette device body is the axial direction, a plurality of magnetic patterns extending in radial direction may be radially arranged. Thus, when the magnetic patterns and magnetic sensor are relatively rotated, information embedded in the cigarette cartridge can be scanned. Accordingly, when the cigarette cartridge can be threadably engaged to the electronic cigarette device body having the magnetic sensor by peripherally rotating the cigarette cartridge, information can be read in conjunction with the attachment operation.
In the cigarette cartridge according to the present invention, when the attachment direction of the cigarette cartridge to the electronic cigarette device body is the axial direction, a plurality of peripherally extending magnetic patterns may be axially arranged. With this configuration, it is possible to scan information embedded in the cigarette cartridge by relatively axially moving the magnetic patterns and magnetic sensor, regardless of the peripheral position of the magnetic sensor. Accordingly, when the cigarette cartridge can be attached to the electronic cigarette device body having the magnetic sensor by axially inserting the cigarette cartridge, information can be read in conjunction with the attachment operation.
In the cigarette cartridge according to the present invention, when the attachment direction of the cigarette cartridge to the electronic cigarette device body is the axial direction, a plurality of dot-like magnetic patterns may be peripherally and axially arranged. With this configuration, more information can be embedded in the cigarette cartridge.
The cigarette cartridge according to the present invention may have a magnetism generation part constituted by a coil. This allows generation of an arbitrary magnetic field according to a current pattern to be made to flow in the coil.
An electronic cigarette device according to the present invention includes an electronic cigarette device body and a cigarette cartridge allowing a user to smoke when being attached to the electronic cigarette device body. The electronic cigarette device has a magnetism generation part that generates a magnetic field indicating predetermined information, a magnetic sensor that detects the magnetic field, and a control circuit that analyzes an output signal from the magnetic sensor. The control circuit is provided in the electronic cigarette device body, and at least one of the magnetism generation part and magnetic sensor is provided in the cigarette cartridge. When the cigarette cartridge is attached to the electronic cigarette device body, the magnetic field generated by the magnetism generation part can be detected by the magnetic sensor.
According to the present invention, attachment of the cigarette cartridge to the electronic cigarette device body allows detection of the magnetic field, so that as compared to the case where a change in electrostatic capacity is utilized, more information concerning the cigarette cartridge can be reliably acquired.
In the present invention, the magnetism generation part may be constituted by a plurality of magnetic patterns formed in the cigarette cartridge, and the magnetic sensor may be provided in the electronic cigarette device body. With this configuration, information can be embedded only by printing the magnetic patterns in the cigarette cartridge by using magnetic ink or the like, thus making it possible to suppress increase in manufacturing cost.
In the present invention, when the attachment direction of the cigarette cartridge to the electronic cigarette device body is the axial direction, a plurality of axially extending magnetic patterns may be peripherally arranged in the cigarette cartridge. Alternatively, when the attachment direction of the cigarette cartridge to the electronic cigarette device body is the axial direction, a plurality of magnetic patterns extending in radial direction may be radially arranged in the cigarette cartridge. Thus, when the electronic cigarette device body and cigarette cartridge are relatively rotated, information embedded in the cigarette cartridge can be scanned.
In the present invention, when the attachment direction of the cigarette cartridge to the electronic cigarette device body is the axial direction, a plurality of peripherally extending magnetic patterns may be axially arranged in the cigarette cartridge. With this configuration, it is possible to scan information embedded in the cigarette cartridge by inserting the cigarette cartridge into the electronic cigarette device body, regardless of the peripheral position of the magnetic sensor.
In the present invention, when the attachment direction of the cigarette cartridge to the electronic cigarette device body is the axial direction, a plurality of dot-like magnetic patterns may be peripherally and axially arranged in the cigarette cartridge. With this configuration, more information can be embedded in the cigarette cartridge.
In the present invention, the magnetic sensor may detect the magnetic field in conjunction with an attachment operation of attaching the cigarette cartridge to the electronic cigarette device body. This allows information embedded in the cigarette cartridge to be read without an additional operation by a user. In this case, when the attachment direction of the cigarette cartridge to the electronic cigarette device body is the axial direction, the attachment operation may be a rotation operation with the axial direction set as the rotating axis or may be an axial insertion operation. The rotation operation is suitable when the cigarette cartridge is threadably engaged with the electronic cigarette device body, and the insertion operation is suitable when the cigarette cartridge is inserted into the electronic cigarette device body.
In the present invention, the magnetism generation part may be constituted by a coil, and the control circuit may make current flow in the coil in a state where the cigarette cartridge is attached to the electronic cigarette device body. This allows generation of an arbitrary magnetic field according to a current pattern to be made to flow in the coil.
As described above, according to the present invention, there can be provided an electronic cigarette device capable of reliably acquiring more information concerning the cigarette cartridge and a cigarette cartridge used therefor.
Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
As illustrated in
The cigarette cartridge 120 has a cylindrical metal case and, as illustrated in
The cigarette cartridge 120 includes a filament F for heating the tobacco component T. When the cigarette cartridge 120 is attached to the electronic cigarette device body 110, current flows from a battery B included in the electronic cigarette device body 110 to the filament F to heat the tobacco component T. When the tobacco component T is heated, it is vaporized to become vapor to be breathed by a user. Power supply to the filament F may be started in response to an operation of a user, such as pressing of a not-shown switch provided on the electronic cigarette device body 110.
As illustrated in
On the other hand, the cigarette cartridge 120 has a magnetic pattern P serving as a magnetism generation part. The magnetic pattern P only needs to be a member that can generate a magnetic field, but is preferably a pattern printed using magnetic ink, considering cost of adding the magnetic pattern P to the cigarette cartridge 120 and the amount of information embedded in the magnetic pattern P.
The information to be embedded in the magnetic pattern P can be the type of the cigarette cartridge 120, the serial number thereof, the manufacturing date thereof, the manufacturing location thereof, the password, and other various items of information concerning the cigarette cartridge 120. Analyzing the information embedded in the magnetic pattern P using the control circuit L allows the electronic cigarette device body 110 to perform a predetermined operation according to a result of the analysis. For example, when the attached cigarette cartridge 120 is determined not to be a genuine product, power supply to the filament F is prohibited, thereby preventing unexpected accident or failure. Further, it is possible to change the heating pattern of the filament F according to the type of the cigarette cartridge 120 and to record a smoking history in a not-shown memory.
In the example of
As described above, the plurality of magnetic patterns P are peripherally arranged in the inner wall 122 of the cigarette cartridge 120, so that it is possible to read the information embedded in the magnetic patterns P without a special operation by a user in conjunction with the attachment operation of the cigarette cartridge 120 to the electronic cigarette device body 110. In addition, the configuration in which the magnetic patterns P are peripherally scanned with the rotation operation allows more information to be embedded in the magnetic patterns P. The magnetic patterns P may be formed over the entire periphery of the inner wall 122 of the cigarette cartridge 120, or may be formed only in a predetermined angle range.
In the example of
In the example of
As described above, in the electronic cigarette device 100 according to the present embodiment, the magnetic patterns P are formed in the cigarette cartridge 120, so that when the cigarette cartridge 120 is attached to the electronic cigarette device body 110, information concerning the cigarette cartridge 120 can be read. In addition, using the magnetic patterns P not only allows sufficient information amount (the number of bits) to be embedded, but also makes reading errors due to positional displacement less likely to occur, thus making it possible to assure accurate reading of the patterns P. Further, when magnetic ink is used to form the magnetic pattern P, cost increase of the cigarette cartridge 120 can be minimized.
As illustrated in
As in the first embodiment, the electronic cigarette device body 210 has the battery B, control circuit L and magnetic sensor S. The control circuit L and magnetic sensor S are connected to each other through a wire 212. Further, as in the first embodiment, the cigarette cartridge 220 has the tobacco component T, filament F and magnetic pattern P. In the present embodiment, the magnetic pattern P is formed in an axial end surface of the cigarette cartridge 220. The magnetic sensor S is provided at a portion that faces the magnetic pattern P once the cigarette cartridge 220 is attached to the electronic cigarette device body 210.
In the example of
As described above, the plurality of magnetic patterns P are radially arranged, so that it is possible to read the information embedded in the magnetic patterns P without a special operation by a user in conjunction with the attachment operation of the cigarette cartridge 220 to the electronic cigarette device body 210. The magnetic patterns P may be formed over the entire periphery of the bottom surface of the protrusion of the cigarette cartridge 220 or may be formed only in a predetermined angle range.
In addition to the effects of the first embodiment, the electronic cigarette device 200 according to the present embodiment has an advantage in that the magnetic sensor S is hardly broken since it does not protrude from the electronic cigarette device body 210.
As illustrated in
As in the first embodiment, the electronic cigarette device body 310 has the battery B, control circuit L and magnetic sensor S. The control circuit L and magnetic sensor S are connected to each other through a wire 312. Further, as in the first embodiment, the cigarette cartridge 320 has the tobacco component T, filament F and magnetic pattern P. In the present embodiment, the magnetic pattern P is formed on an inner wall 321 of the cylindrical case. The magnetic sensor S is provided at a portion that faces the magnetic pattern P once the cigarette cartridge 320 is attached to the electronic cigarette device body 310.
In the example of
As described above, the plurality of ring-like magnetic patterns P are axially arranged, so that it is possible to read the information embedded in the magnetic patterns P without a special operation by a user in conjunction with the attachment operation of the cigarette cartridge 320 to the electronic cigarette device body 310. In addition, the configuration in which the magnetic patterns P are axially scanned with the insertion operation allows more information to be embedded in the magnetic patterns P. The magnetic patterns P may be formed over the entire periphery of the inner wall 321 of the cigarette cartridge 320, or may be formed only in a predetermined angle range.
In addition to the above-cited effects of the first embodiment, the electronic cigarette device 300 according to the present embodiment has an advantage in that the cigarette cartridge 320 can be attached to the electronic cigarette device body 310 more easily since there is no need to perform the rotation operation at the time of attachment.
In the example of
In the example of
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
Alternatively, a configuration may be possible, in which the magnetic patterns P are printed on a backing sheet different from the wrapping paper 421, and the backing sheet is attached to the outer or inner surface of the wrapping paper 421.
When the thus configured cigarette cartridge 420 is inserted into the cylindrical space 411 provided in the electronic cigarette device body 410, the plurality of magnetic patterns P can be axially scanned by the magnetic sensor S in conjunction with the attachment operation (i.e., insertion operation), as illustrated in
As exemplified in the present embodiment, a heating means such as the filament F may not necessarily be provided in the cigarette cartridge 420 itself, but it may be provided on the electronic cigarette device body 410 side in the present invention. In this configuration, the cigarette cartridge 420 is inevitably configured to be disposable and can therefore be used only once, so that there occurs a necessity of suppressing cost increase of the cigarette cartridge 420. In this regard, in the present embodiment, the cigarette cartridge 420 can be realized by simply printing the magnetic patterns P using, e.g., magnetic ink on the wrapping paper 421 constituting the cigarette cartridge 420, thus making it possible to minimize cost increase of the cigarette cartridge 420.
In the example of
In the example of
As illustrated in
As in the first embodiment, the electronic cigarette device body 510 has the battery B, control circuit L and magnetic sensor S. The control circuit L and magnetic sensor S are connected to each other through a wire 512. Further, as in the first embodiment, the cigarette cartridge 520 has the tobacco component T and filament F. In the present embodiment, a substrate 522 is provided in the cigarette cartridge 520, and a coil C serving as a magnetism generation part is mounted on the substrate 522.
As illustrated in
A current pattern to be made to flow in the coil C is programmed in advance in the control circuit L. Thus, the control circuit L can determine, based on an output signal from the magnetic sensor S, whether or not a magnetic field corresponding to the programmed current pattern is properly generated, and the electronic cigarette device body 510 can perform a predetermined operation according to a determination result output from the control circuit L. For example, when it is determined that a magnetic field corresponding to the programmed current pattern is not generated, it is conceivable that the attached cigarette cartridge 520 is not a genuine product or that the cigarette cartridge 520 (even if it is a genuine one) is not properly attached to the electronic cigarette device body 510. Thus, in this case, it is possible to prevent unexpected accident or failure by prohibiting power supply to the filament F.
As exemplified in the present embodiment, the magnetism generation part added to the cigarette cartridge 520 may not necessarily be the magnetic pattern P formed by magnetic ink but may be the coil C. According to the present embodiment, it is more difficult to imitate the cigarette cartridge 520 than when the magnetic pattern P is used, so that it can be expected that imitations can be eliminated more reliably.
As illustrated in
The electronic cigarette device body 610 has the battery B, control circuit L and a substrate 612, and the coil C is mounted on the substrate 612. The coil C is supplied with current through a wire 613. Further, as in the first embodiment, the cigarette cartridge 620 has the tobacco component T and filament F. In the present embodiment, a substrate 622 is provided in the cigarette cartridge 620, and the magnetic sensor S is mounted on the substrate 622.
As illustrated in
A current pattern to be made to flow in the coil C is programmed in advance in the control circuit L. Thus, as in the fifth embodiment, the control circuit L can determine, based on an output signal from the magnetic sensor S, whether or not a magnetic field corresponding to the programmed current pattern is properly generated, whereby the same effect as that in the fifth embodiment can be obtained.
As exemplified in the present embodiment, in the present invention, the magnetism generation part such as the coil C may not necessarily be provided in the cigarette cartridge 620, but the magnetic sensor S may be provided therein in place of the coil C.
As illustrated in
The electronic cigarette device body 710 has the battery B and control circuit L. Further, as in the first embodiment, the cigarette cartridge 720 has the tobacco component T and filament F. In the present embodiment, a substrate 722 is provided in the cigarette cartridge 720, and the coil C and magnetic sensor S are mounted on the substrate 722.
As illustrated in
A current pattern to be made to flow in the coil C is programmed in advance in the control circuit L. Thus, as in the fifth embodiment, the control circuit L can determine, based on an output signal from the magnetic sensor S, whether or not a magnetic field corresponding to the programmed current pattern is properly generated, whereby the same effect as that in the fifth embodiment can be obtained.
As exemplified in the present embodiment, in the present invention, both the magnetism generation part such as the coil C and magnetic sensor S may be provided in the cigarette cartridge 720.
While the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications may be made without departing from the gist of the present invention, and all such modifications are included in the present invention.
For example, although both the electronic cigarette device body and cigarette cartridge have the columnar outer shape in the above embodiments, the outer shapes thereof are not limited to this.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2017-128177 | Jun 2017 | JP | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/JP2018/024274 | 6/27/2018 | WO | 00 |