Method of Operating an Aerosol Generating Device

Abstract

A method of operating an aerosol-generating device includes detecting puffs taken by a user; counting user puffs in succession and disabling aerosol generation when the number of puffs reaches a predetermined value; enabling the aerosol generation and resetting the count of user puffs when a reset condition is satisfied, wherein the reset condition is satisfied when a current orientation of the aerosol-generating device is different to the orientation of the aerosol-generating device at the last user puff based on a rotation of the aerosol-generating device about a main longitudinal axis of the aerosol-generating device.

1 . A method of operating an aerosol-generating device comprising:
 detecting puffs taken by a user;   counting user puffs in succession and disabling aerosol generation when the number of puffs reaches a predetermined value; and   enabling the aerosol generation and resetting the count of user puffs when a reset condition is satisfied, wherein the reset condition is satisfied when a current orientation of the aerosol-generating device is different from an orientation of the aerosol-generating device at the last user puff based on a rotation of the aerosol-generating device about a main longitudinal axis of the aerosol-generating device.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising the step of storing an orientation of the aerosol-generating device at the last user puff. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the rotation is at least 140 degrees. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the aerosol-generating device is also configured to provide a first alert signal when the number of puffs reaches the predetermined value and aerosol generation is disabled. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , comprising the step of providing a second alert signal when the count of user puffs has been reset and aerosol generation is enabled. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the reset condition includes an elapse of a predetermined time period since the last user puff. 
     
     
         7 . An aerosol-generating device comprising:
 a body having a main longitudinal axis, an inlet and an outlet with an air channel defined between the inlet and the outlet;   an orientation sensor configured to determine rotational orientation around the main longitudinal axis;   a puff detector configured to detect puffs taken by a user; and   a controller configured to:   start a counter to count the puffs in succession and disable aerosol generation when the number of puffs reaches a predetermined value; and   enable aerosol generation and reset the counter when a reset condition is satisfied, wherein the reset condition is satisfied when a current orientation of the aerosol-generating device is determined to be different to an orientation of the aerosol-generating device at the last user puff, based on a rotation of the aerosol-generating device about the main longitudinal axis.   
     
     
         8 . The device of  claim 7 , further comprising:
 a data storage unit configured to store information regarding the orientation of the device at the last user puff, as determined by the orientation sensor.   
     
     
         9 . The device of  claim 7 , wherein the controller is also configured to provide a first alert signal when the predetermined value is reached and aerosol generation is disabled. 
     
     
         10 . A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon executable instructions which when executed by a processor in an aerosol-generating device cause the processor to perform the steps of  claim 1 . 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the rotation is at least 160 degrees. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the rotation is at least 180 degrees.