Aerosol generating apparatus and method and program for actuating the same

Abstract

An aerosol generating apparatus includes a load that generates heat upon receipt of electric power from a power supply and atomizes an aerosol source, an element that is used to acquire a value related to a temperature of the load, a retention unit that retains an aerosol source supplied from a storage to allow the retained aerosol source to be in a feasible state of being heated by the load, and a control unit configured to perform a control to increase a retaining quantity of the retained aerosol source or a control to improve the possibility of increasing the retaining quantity, at at least one of a time of starting a supply of the electric power from to the load and a time of completing the supply of the electric power to the load, upon detection of a dry state or a sign of the dry state

1 . An aerosol generating apparatus, comprising:
 a power supply;   a load configured to generate heat upon receipt of electric power from the power supply and atomize an aerosol source;   an element configured to acquire a value related to a temperature of the load;   a circuit configured to electrically connect the power supply and the load;   a container configured to store the aerosol source;   a fibrous or porous material configured to retain the aerosol source supplied from the container to allow the retained aerosol source to be in a feasible state of being heated by the load; and   a controller configured to, upon detection of a dry state in which the temperature of the load exceeds a boiling point of the aerosol source due to a condition where the container is capable of supplying the aerosol source while the aerosol source retained by the fibrous or porous material is insufficient in quantity, or upon detection of a sign of the dry state, perform a control to increase a retaining quantity of the aerosol source retained by the fibrous or porous material or a control to improve a possibility of increasing the retaining quantity, at at least one of a time of starting a supply of the electric power from the power supply to the load and a time of completing the supply of the electric power from the power supply to the load.   
     
     
         2 . The aerosol generating apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a user interface configured to output a notification to a user, wherein   the controller is configured to cause the user interface to function upon detection of the dry state or the sign of the dry state.   
     
     
         3 . The aerosol generating apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein
 the controller is configured to perform control to make an interval from a completion of generation of an aerosol to a start of subsequent generation of an aerosol, longer than a previous interval, upon detection of the dry state or the sign of the dry state.   
     
     
         4 . The aerosol generating apparatus of  claim 3 , further comprising:
 a user interface configured to output a notification to a user, wherein   the controller is configured to
 cause the user interface to function upon detection of the dry state or the sign of the dry state; and 
 perform a control to make a next interval longer than the previous interval upon further detection of the dry state or the sign of the dry state after causing the user interface to function one or more times. 
   
     
     
         5 . The aerosol generating apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein
 the controller is configured to correct a length of the interval based on at least one of a viscosity of the aerosol source, a residual quantity of the aerosol source, an electric resistance value of the load, and a temperature of the power supply.   
     
     
         6 . The aerosol generating apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to:
 adjust at least one of a quantity and rate of the aerosol source to be supplied from the container to the fibrous or porous material; and   upon detection of the dry state or the sign of the dry state, perform control to increase at least one of the quantity and rate of the aerosol source to be supplied from the container to the fibrous or porous material.   
     
     
         7 . The aerosol generating apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein
 the controller is configured to control the circuit to reduce a quantity of a generated aerosol upon detection of the dry state or the sign of the dry state.   
     
     
         8 . The aerosol generating apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein
 the controller is configured to perform control to adjust a temperature of the aerosol source upon detection of the dry state or the sign of the dry state.   
     
     
         9 . The aerosol generating apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein
 the controller is configured to perform control to heat the aerosol source during a time that aerosol is not generated by the load.   
     
     
         10 . The aerosol generating apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein
 the controller is configured to use the load to adjust the temperature of the aerosol source.   
     
     
         11 . The aerosol generating apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein
 the controller is configured to perform control to change an air-flow resistance in the aerosol generating apparatus to increase the air-flow resistance upon detection of the dry state or the sign of the dry state.   
     
     
         12 . The aerosol generating apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 at least one of a button and a pressure sensor configured to output a request for generation of an aerosol, wherein   the controller is configured to control the circuit in accordance with a correlation in which as the request becomes larger, a quantity of a generated aerosol is increased, and, upon detection of the dry state or the sign of the dry state, correct the correlation to reduce a quantity of a generated aerosol corresponding to a magnitude of the request.   
     
     
         13 . The aerosol generating apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to:
 perform control according to a first mode of operation to make an interval from a completion of generation of an aerosol to a start of subsequent generation of an aerosol, longer than a previous interval;   perform control according to a second mode of operation to increase the retaining quantity of the aerosol source or a control to improve the possibility of increasing the retaining quantity without performing a control of the interval, at at least one of a time of starting a supply of the electric power from the power supply to the load, and a time of completing the supply of the electric power from the power supply to the load; and   perform control according to the second mode of operation in preference to the first mode upon detection of the dry state or the sign of the dry state.   
     
     
         14 . The aerosol generating apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein
 the controller is configured to perform control according to the first mode of operation upon further detection of the dry state or the sign of the dry state after performing control according to the second mode of operation.   
     
     
         15 . The aerosol generating apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein
 the controller is configured to detect the dry state based on a change in the temperature of the load after causing the circuit to function.   
     
     
         16 . The aerosol generating apparatus of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 at least one of a button and a pressure sensor configured to output a request for generation of an aerosol, wherein   the controller is configured to detect the sign of the dry state based on a time series change of the request.   
     
     
         17 . An aerosol generating apparatus, comprising:
 a power supply;   a load configured to generate heat upon receipt of electric power from the power supply and atomize an aerosol source;   an element that is used to acquire a value related to a temperature of the load;   a circuit configured to electrically connect the power supply and the load;   a container configured to store the aerosol source;   a fibrous or porous material configured to retain the aerosol source supplied from the container to allow the retained aerosol source to be in a state of being heated by the load; and   a controller configured to perform control to suppress generation of an aerosol or control to improve a possibility of suppressing generation of an aerosol, in an interval corresponding to a time period until when the aerosol source with a quantity greater than or equal to a quantity used for generation of an aerosol is supplied from the container to the fibrous or porous material after a completion of generation of the aerosol.   
     
     
         18 . The aerosol generating apparatus of  claim 17 , further comprising:
 a user interface configured to provide a notification to a user, wherein   the controller is configured to
 control the user interface in a first mode during time that aerosol is generated; and 
 control the user interface in a second mode different from the first mode, during the interval. 
   
     
     
         19 . The aerosol generating apparatus of  claim 17 , wherein
 the controller is configured to control the circuit to inhibit generation of an aerosol during the interval.   
     
     
         20 . An aerosol generating apparatus, comprising:
 a power supply;   a load configured to generate heat upon receipt of electric power from the power supply and atomize an aerosol source;   an element that is used to acquire a value related to a temperature of the load;   a circuit configured to electrically connect the power supply and the load;   a container configured to store the aerosol source;   a fibrous or porous material configured to retain the aerosol source supplied from the container to allow the retained aerosol source to be in a state of being heated by the load; and   a controller configured to, when the container is capable of supplying the aerosol source while the aerosol source retained by the fibrous or porous material is insufficient in quantity, perform control to increase a retaining quantity of the aerosol source retained by the fibrous or porous material or a control to improve a possibility of increasing the retaining quantity, at at least one of a time of starting a supply of the electric power from the power supply to the load and a time of completing the supply of the electric power from the power supply to the load.