Aerosol Generation Device

Abstract

An aerosol generation device includes a receptacle for receiving a consumable including an aerosol substrate; a heating arrangement for heating the aerosol substrate; and a controller. The controller includes a monitoring unit for monitoring an observable indicative of a moisture content of the aerosol substrate during a heating of the aerosol substrate; a detection unit for detecting, based on the monitored observable, an indication that the moisture content is different from a predetermined moisture content; and a signaling unit for generating, based on the detected indication, a control signal for interrupting an operation of the device. A method for controlling an aerosol generation device and a computer program are also provided.

1 . An aerosol generation device comprising:
 a receptacle for receiving a consumable comprising an aerosol substrate;   a heating arrangement for heating the aerosol substrate; and   a controller comprising:
 a monitoring unit for monitoring an observable indicative of a moisture content of the aerosol substrate during a heating of the aerosol substrate; 
 a detection unit for detecting, based on the monitored observable, an indication that the moisture content is different from a predetermined moisture content; and 
 a signaling unit for generating, based on the detected indication, a control signal for interrupting an operation of the device. 
   
     
     
         2 . The aerosol generation device according to  claim 1 , wherein the monitoring unit is arranged for monitoring the observable by obtaining values of the observable at each of a plurality of time instants during the heating of the aerosol substrate. 
     
     
         3 . The aerosol generation device according to  claim 1 , further comprising a temperature sensor for measuring a temperature of the heating arrangement,
 wherein the monitoring unit is arranged for obtaining from the temperature sensor a signal indicative of a temperature of the heating arrangement.   
     
     
         4 . The aerosol generation device according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the detection unit is arranged for detecting the indication based on a deviation of the observable from a corresponding predetermined profile; and   the observable comprises at least one of a thermal profile of the device, a moisture profile related to the aerosol substrate, or an electrical energy profile of the device, corresponding to a predetermined thermal profile, a predetermined moisture profile, and a predetermined electrical energy profile, respectively.   
     
     
         5 . The aerosol generation device according to  claim 4 , wherein
 the observable comprises the thermal profile of the device,   the predetermined thermal profile includes information regarding a temperature change for the heating of the aerosol substrate, from a first predetermined value to a second predetermined value over a first predetermined length of time; and   the detection unit is arranged for detecting the indication when at least one of:
 the monitored thermal profile differs from the predetermined thermal profile by a predetermined thermal threshold or more; or 
 the monitored thermal profile changes from the first predetermined value to the second predetermined value in less than a reference length of time, the reference length of time being less than or equal to the first predetermined length of time. 
   
     
     
         6 . The aerosol generation device according to  claim 5 , wherein
 the first predetermined value is one of an ambient temperature, an initial temperature of the aerosol substrate, or an initial temperature of the heating arrangement; and   the second predetermined value is a temperature of the device at which an aerosol or vapor is generated from the aerosol substrate.   
     
     
         7 . The aerosol generation device according to  claim 5 , wherein
 the monitoring unit is arranged for monitoring the thermal profile by obtaining temperature values that are indicative of a temperature associated with one of the device or the aerosol substrate at each of a plurality of time instants during the heating of the aerosol substrate, and   the detection unit is arranged for detecting the indication when at least one of the temperature values differs from a corresponding one of reference values by the predetermined thermal threshold or more, the reference values being determined based on the information of the temperature change.   
     
     
         8 . The aerosol generation device according to  claim 7 , wherein
 the monitoring unit is arranged for obtaining, for each temperature value, an associated measure of time between a time at which the heating of the aerosol substrate is initiated and a time at which the temperature indicated by the temperature value is reached; and   the detection unit is arranged for determining, for each temperature value, a point in the first predetermined length of time based on the associated measure of time, and determining the reference value as the temperature specified by the information regarding the temperature change at the determined point.   
     
     
         9 . The aerosol generation device according to  claim 4 , wherein:
 the monitoring unit is arranged for:
 measuring a value indicative of an electrical power in the device during the heating of the aerosol substrate, and 
 monitoring the electrical energy profile by accumulating the value indicative of the electrical power during the heating of the aerosol substrate; 
   the predetermined electrical energy profile includes information indicative of a predetermined accumulated power value; and   the detection unit is arranged for detecting the indication when the accumulated value indicative of the electrical power differs from the predetermined accumulated power value, by a predetermined electrical energy threshold or more.   
     
     
         10 . The aerosol generation device according to  claim 9 , wherein:
 the monitoring unit is arranged for measuring the value indicative of the electrical power based on at least one of a current output from a battery coupled to or in the device, or a current provided to the heating arrangement.   
     
     
         11 . The aerosol generation device according to  claim 4 , wherein:
 the aerosol generation device is arranged for controlling a temperature of the heating arrangement by controlling at least one switching element using a pulse width modulation, and   the monitoring unit is arranged for monitoring the electrical energy profile by calculating an amount of electrical energy used for the heating of the aerosol substrate based on lengths of time during which the pulse width modulation cause the at least one switching element to be on.   
     
     
         12 . The aerosol generation device according to  claim 11 , wherein the monitoring unit is arranged for calculating a cumulative length of time during which the at least one switching element is on, and to calculate the amount of electrical energy based on the cumulative length of time. 
     
     
         13 . A method for controlling an aerosol generation device comprising a receptacle for receiving a consumable comprising an aerosol substrate and a heating arrangement for heating the aerosol substrate, the method comprising:
 monitoring an observable indicative of a moisture content of the aerosol substrate during a heating of the aerosol substrate;   detecting, based on the monitored observable, an indication that the moisture content is different from a predetermined moisture content;   generating, based on the detected indication, a control signal for interrupting an operation of the device.   
     
     
         14 . A computer program comprising instructions stored in a non-transitory machine-readable medium which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the method according to  claim 13 .