Nicotine electronic vaping devices having nicotine pre-vapor formulation level detection and auto shutdown

Abstract

A device assembly includes a controller, which is configured to control the nicotine electronic vaping device to output an indication of a current level of the nicotine pre-vapor formulation in the nicotine reservoir of a nicotine pod assembly in response to determining that an aggregate amount of nicotine pre-vapor formulation drawn from the nicotine reservoir or an aggregate amount of vaporized nicotine pre-vapor formulation is greater than or equal to the at least one nicotine pre-vapor formulation level threshold.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A nicotine electronic vaping device comprising:
 a nicotine pod assembly including
 a nicotine reservoir to hold nicotine pre-vapor formulation, 
 a heater configured to vaporize nicotine pre-vapor formulation drawn from the nicotine reservoir, and 
 a memory storing a nicotine pre-vapor formulation vaporization parameter and an aggregate amount of nicotine pre-vapor formulation drawn from the nicotine reservoir; and 
   a device assembly configured to engage with the nicotine pod assembly, the device assembly including a controller configured to
 estimate an amount of nicotine pre-vapor formulation drawn from the nicotine reservoir during a puff event based on the nicotine pre-vapor formulation vaporization parameter and an aggregate amount of power applied to the heater during the puff event, 
 determine an updated aggregate amount of nicotine pre-vapor formulation drawn from the nicotine reservoir based on the aggregate amount of nicotine pre-vapor formulation drawn from the nicotine reservoir stored in the memory and the amount of nicotine pre-vapor formulation drawn from the nicotine reservoir during the puff event, 
 determine that the updated aggregate amount of nicotine pre-vapor formulation drawn from the nicotine reservoir is greater than or equal to at least one nicotine pre-vapor formulation level threshold, and 
 control the nicotine electronic vaping device to output an indication of a current level of the nicotine pre-vapor formulation in the nicotine reservoir in response to determining that the updated aggregate amount of nicotine pre-vapor formulation drawn from the nicotine reservoir is greater than or equal to the at least one nicotine pre-vapor formulation level threshold. 
   
     
     
         2 . The nicotine electronic vaping device of  claim 1 , wherein
 the at least one nicotine pre-vapor formulation level threshold includes a nicotine pre-vapor formulation empty threshold; and   the controller is configured to control the nicotine electronic vaping device to output an indication that the nicotine pre-vapor formulation in the nicotine reservoir is depleted in response to determining that the updated aggregate amount of nicotine pre-vapor formulation drawn from the nicotine reservoir is greater than or equal to the nicotine pre-vapor formulation empty threshold.   
     
     
         3 . The nicotine electronic vaping device of  claim 2 , wherein the controller is configured to set an empty flag in the memory in response to determining that the updated aggregate amount of nicotine pre-vapor formulation drawn from the nicotine reservoir is greater than or equal to the nicotine pre-vapor formulation empty threshold. 
     
     
         4 . The nicotine electronic vaping device of  claim 3 , wherein setting the empty flag prevents any further updates to the updated aggregate amount of nicotine pre-vapor formulation drawn from the nicotine reservoir. 
     
     
         5 . The nicotine electronic vaping device of  claim 2 , wherein the controller is configured to disable vaping at the nicotine electronic vaping device in response to determining that the updated aggregate amount of nicotine pre-vapor formulation drawn from the nicotine reservoir is greater than or equal to the nicotine pre-vapor formulation empty threshold. 
     
     
         6 . The nicotine electronic vaping device of  claim 1 , wherein
 the memory stores an empty flag indicating whether the nicotine reservoir is depleted; and   the controller is further configured to
 obtain the empty flag from the memory, 
 determine that the nicotine reservoir is depleted based on a value of the empty flag, and 
 disable vaping at the nicotine electronic vaping device in response to determining that the nicotine reservoir is depleted. 
   
     
     
         7 . The nicotine electronic vaping device of  claim 1 , wherein
 the at least one nicotine pre-vapor formulation level threshold includes a nicotine pre-vapor formulation low threshold; and   the controller is configured to control the nicotine electronic vaping device to output an indication that the nicotine pre-vapor formulation in the nicotine reservoir is low in response to determining that the updated aggregate amount of nicotine pre-vapor formulation drawn from the nicotine reservoir is greater than or equal to the nicotine pre-vapor formulation low threshold.   
     
     
         8 . A nicotine electronic vaping device comprising:
 a controller configured to
 obtain an empty flag from a memory in a nicotine pod assembly inserted into the electronic vaping device, the empty flag indicating that nicotine pre-vapor formulation in the nicotine pod assembly is depleted, and 
 disable vaping at the nicotine electronic vaping device based on the empty flag obtained from the memory. 
   
     
     
         9 . The nicotine electronic vaping device of  claim 8 , wherein the controller is configured to enable vaping at the nicotine electronic vaping device in response to detecting removal of the nicotine pod assembly from the nicotine electronic vaping device within a removal threshold time interval after disabling vaping. 
     
     
         10 . The nicotine electronic vaping device of  claim 9 , wherein the controller is configured to
 determine that a new nicotine pod assembly has not been inserted into the nicotine electronic vaping device prior to expiration of an insert threshold time interval after the removal of the nicotine pod assembly; and   shut down power to the nicotine electronic vaping device in response to determining that the new nicotine pod assembly has not been inserted prior to expiration of the insert threshold time interval.   
     
     
         11 . The nicotine electronic vaping device of  claim 8  wherein the controller is configured to
 determine that the nicotine pod assembly has not been removed from the nicotine electronic vaping device prior to expiration of a removal threshold time interval; and 
 shut down power to the nicotine electronic vaping device in response to determining that the nicotine pod assembly has not been removed from the nicotine electronic vaping device prior to expiration of the removal threshold time interval. 
 
     
     
         12 . The nicotine electronic vaping device of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 the nicotine pod assembly, wherein the nicotine pod assembly includes
 a nicotine reservoir to hold the nicotine pre-vapor formulation in the nicotine pod assembly, 
 a heater configured to vaporize nicotine pre-vapor formulation drawn from the nicotine reservoir, and 
 the memory, wherein the memory stores a nicotine pre-vapor formulation vaporization parameter and an aggregate amount of nicotine pre-vapor formulation drawn from the nicotine reservoir; and 
   a device assembly configured to engage with the nicotine pod assembly, the device assembly including the controller,   wherein the controller is configured to
 estimate an amount of nicotine pre-vapor formulation drawn from the nicotine reservoir during a puff event based on the nicotine pre-vapor formulation vaporization parameter and an aggregate amount of power applied to the heater during the puff event, 
 determine an updated aggregate amount of nicotine pre-vapor formulation drawn from the nicotine reservoir based on the aggregate amount of nicotine pre-vapor formulation drawn from the nicotine reservoir stored in the memory and the amount of nicotine pre-vapor formulation drawn from the nicotine reservoir during the puff event, 
 determine that the updated aggregate amount of nicotine pre-vapor formulation drawn from the nicotine reservoir is greater than or equal to a nicotine pre-vapor formulation empty threshold, and 
 set the empty flag in the memory in response to determining that the updated aggregate amount of nicotine pre-vapor formulation drawn from the nicotine reservoir is greater than or equal to the nicotine pre-vapor formulation empty threshold. 
   
     
     
         13 . The nicotine electronic vaping device of  claim 12 , wherein the controller is configured to control the nicotine electronic vaping device to output an indication that the nicotine pre-vapor formulation in the nicotine reservoir is depleted in response to the empty flag. 
     
     
         14 . The nicotine electronic vaping device of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 the nicotine pod assembly, wherein the nicotine pod assembly includes
 a nicotine reservoir to hold the nicotine pre-vapor formulation in the nicotine pod assembly, 
 a heater configured to vaporize nicotine pre-vapor formulation drawn from the nicotine reservoir, and 
 the memory, wherein the memory stores a nicotine pre-vapor formulation vaporization parameter and an aggregate amount of vaporized nicotine pre-vapor formulation; and 
   a device assembly configured to engage with the nicotine pod assembly, the device assembly including the controller,   wherein the controller is configured to
 estimate an amount of nicotine pre-vapor formulation vaporized during a puff event based on the nicotine pre-vapor formulation vaporization parameter obtained from the memory and an aggregate amount of power applied to the heater during the puff event, 
 determine an updated aggregate amount of vaporized nicotine pre-vapor formulation based on the aggregate amount of vaporized nicotine pre-vapor formulation stored in the memory and the amount of nicotine pre-vapor formulation vaporized during the puff event, 
 determine that the updated aggregate amount of vaporized nicotine pre-vapor formulation is greater than or equal to at least one nicotine pre-vapor formulation level threshold, and 
 set the empty flag in the memory in response to determining that the updated aggregate amount of vaporized nicotine pre-vapor formulation is greater than or equal to the nicotine pre-vapor formulation empty threshold. 
   
     
     
         15 . The nicotine electronic vaping device of  claim 14 , wherein the controller is configured to control the nicotine electronic vaping device to output an indication that the nicotine pre-vapor formulation in the nicotine reservoir is depleted in response to the empty flag. 
     
     
         16 . A method of controlling a nicotine electronic vaping device including a nicotine reservoir to hold nicotine pre-vapor formulation and a heater configured to vaporize nicotine pre-vapor formulation drawn from the nicotine reservoir, the method comprising:
 estimating an amount of nicotine pre-vapor formulation vaporized by the heater during a puff event based on a nicotine pre-vapor formulation vaporization parameter and an aggregate amount of power applied to the heater during the puff event;   determining an updated aggregate amount of vaporized nicotine pre-vapor formulation based on an aggregate amount of vaporized nicotine pre-vapor formulation stored in a memory and the amount of nicotine pre-vapor formulation vaporized during the puff event;   determining that the updated aggregate amount of vaporized nicotine pre-vapor formulation is greater than or equal to at least one nicotine pre-vapor formulation level threshold; and   outputting an indication of a current level of the nicotine pre-vapor formulation in the nicotine reservoir in response to determining that the updated aggregate amount of vaporized nicotine pre-vapor formulation is greater than or equal to the at least one nicotine pre-vapor formulation level threshold.   
     
     
         17 . A method of controlling a nicotine electronic vaping device including a nicotine reservoir to hold nicotine pre-vapor formulation and a heater configured to vaporize nicotine pre-vapor formulation drawn from the nicotine reservoir, the method comprising:
 estimating an amount of nicotine pre-vapor formulation drawn from the nicotine reservoir during a puff event based on a nicotine pre-vapor formulation vaporization parameter and an aggregate amount of power applied to the heater during the puff event;   determining an updated aggregate amount of nicotine pre-vapor formulation drawn from the nicotine reservoir based on an aggregate amount of nicotine pre-vapor formulation drawn from the nicotine reservoir stored in a memory and the amount of nicotine pre-vapor formulation drawn from the nicotine reservoir during the puff event;   determining that the updated aggregate amount of nicotine pre-vapor formulation drawn from the nicotine reservoir is greater than or equal to at least one nicotine pre-vapor formulation level threshold; and   outputting an indication of a current level of the nicotine pre-vapor formulation in the nicotine reservoir in response to determining that the updated aggregate amount of nicotine pre-vapor formulation drawn from the nicotine reservoir is greater than or equal to the at least one nicotine pre-vapor formulation level threshold.   
     
     
         18 . A method of controlling a nicotine electronic vaping device including a nicotine pod assembly and a device assembly, the method comprising:
 obtaining an empty flag from a memory in the nicotine pod assembly inserted into the device assembly, the empty flag indicating that nicotine pre-vapor formulation in the nicotine pod assembly is depleted; and   disabling vaping at the nicotine electronic vaping device based on the empty flag obtained from the memory.