Vaporizer, Consumable Container Therefore, Vaporizer System Thereof and Method of Obtaining Information About a Consumable Container

Abstract

The present invention relates to a vaporizer configured to be connected to a consumable container for vaporizing a consumable contained in the consumable container, a vaporizer connecting surface of the vaporizer being connected to a consumable container connecting surface of the consumable container when the vaporizer is connected to the consumable container, wherein the vaporizer comprises one or more detecting units comprising a resilient member on the vaporizer connecting surface, on which the resilient member can take a projected or retracted position, configured to detect one or more aspects of the shape of the consumable container connecting surface encoding information about the consumable container by detecting whether or not or to which extent the resilient member is in a projected or retracted position when the vaporizer is connected to the consumable container.

1 . A vaporizer configured to be connected to a consumable container for vaporizing a consumable contained in the consumable container, the vaporizer including a vaporizer connecting surface configured to be connected to a consumable container connecting surface of the consumable container when the vaporizer is connected to the consumable container, wherein the vaporizer comprises one or more detecting units comprising a resilient member on the vaporizer connecting surface, the resilient member having a projected and retracted position, the one or more detecting units being configured to detect one or more aspects of a shape of the consumable container connecting surface encoding information about the consumable container by detecting whether or not or to which extent the resilient member is in the projected or the retracted position when the vaporizer is connected to the consumable container. 
     
     
         2 . The vaporizer according to  claim 1 , wherein the resilient member is configured to detect indentations and/or protrusions arranged on a predetermined area of the consumable container connecting surface. 
     
     
         3 . The vaporizer according to  claim 2 , wherein the detecting units are arranged on a main level and/or in a recess underneath the main level of the vaporizer connecting surface. 
     
     
         4 . The vaporizer according to the  claim 3 , wherein the resilient member is configured to detect different depth and/or height levels of the indentations and/or protrusions. 
     
     
         5 . The vaporizer according to  claim 1 , wherein the vaporizer further comprises a decoding unit configured to decode the information encoded by the one or more aspects of the shape of the consumable container connecting surface. 
     
     
         6 . The vaporizer according to  claim 1 , wherein the resilient member is a pogo pin. 
     
     
         7 . The vaporizer according to  claim 6 , wherein the information is determined at least by detecting if the pogo pin is electronically connected with a conductive surface of the consumable container. 
     
     
         8 . The vaporizer according to  claim 1 , wherein the vaporizer further comprises an operation unit, which is configured to check a table stored in the vaporizer against data obtained by detecting the one or more aspects of the shape of the consumable container connecting surface. 
     
     
         9 . A consumable container configured to be connected to the vaporizer according to  claim 1 , and containing a consumable for being vaporized in the vaporizer, the consumable container comprising the consumable container connecting surface configured to be connected to the vaporizer connecting surface of the vaporizer when the consumable container is connected to the vaporizer, the shape of the consumable container connecting surface having one or more aspects which encode information about the consumable container. 
     
     
         10 . The consumable container according to  claim 9 , wherein at least parts of the consumable container connecting surface are made of a conductible material. 
     
     
         11 . The consumable container according to  claim 9 , wherein the one or more aspects of the shape of the consumable container connecting surface comprises indentations and/or protrusions at a predetermined area of the consumable container connecting surface. 
     
     
         12 . The consumable container according to  claim 11 , wherein the information is encoded by the presence or absence of indentations and/or protrusions on the consumable container connecting surface, and/or the depth and/or height levels of the different indentations and/or protrusions. 
     
     
         13 . (canceled) 
     
     
         14 . A method of obtaining information about a consumable container according to  claim 9 , comprising the step of:
 detecting which ones of the resilient members of the vaporizer are pressed down and/or how far the resilient members is pressed down when the vaporizer is connected to the consumable container,   decoding the information on a basis of the detection,   wherein the information is decoded by checking a table stored in the vaporizer against data obtained by the detection.   
     
     
         15 . The method according to  claim 14 , further comprising the step of indicating at least some of the obtained information to the user.