Aerosol generating device and method of operating the same

Abstract

An aerosol generating device and a method of operating the same are provided. The aerosol generating device includes: a heater to heat an aerosol generating substance; a puff sensor to provide output corresponding to a puff by a user; an input device to receive a user input; and a controller to identify that the user input corresponds to first data, determine, after identifying that the user input corresponds to the first data, an inhalation pattern associated with inhalation by the user, based on the output provided by the puff sensor, determine, a heating profile corresponding to the inhalation pattern, based on the determined inhalation pattern; and control power supplied to the heater according to the heating profile.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An aerosol generating device comprising:
 a heater configured to heat an aerosol generating substance;   a puff sensor configured to provide output corresponding to a puff by a user;   an input device configured to receive a user input; and   a controller configured to:   identify that the user input corresponds to first data;   determine, after identifying that the user input corresponds to the first data, an inhalation pattern associated with inhalation by the user, based on the output provided by the puff sensor;   determine a heating profile corresponding to the inhalation pattern, based on the determined inhalation pattern; and   control power supplied to the heater according to the heating profile.   
     
     
         2 . The aerosol generating device of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
 determine, after identifying that the user input corresponds to the first data, the inhalation pattern associated with the inhalation by the user based on a defined number of puffs.   
     
     
         3 . The aerosol generating device of  claim 2 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
 determine an ending time of a puff series; and   determine the inhalation pattern associated with the inhalation by the user based on puffs occurring after the receiving of the user input and before the ending time of the puff series.   
     
     
         4 . The aerosol generating device of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 an insertion portion shaped to define an elongated space; and   a stick detection sensor to output a signal corresponding to a stick inserted into the insertion portion,   wherein the controller is further configured to:   determine that the stick has been removed from the insertion portion, based on an indication of the stick detection sensor; and   determine the inhalation pattern associated with the inhalation by the user based on puffs occurring after the receiving of the user input and until the determining that the stick has been removed from the insertion portion.   
     
     
         5 . The aerosol generating device of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
 calculate at least one of an inhalation intensity, an inhalation amount, an inhalation interval, and an inhalation time period, based on the output received from the puff sensor; and   determine the inhalation pattern based on at least one of the calculated inhalation intensity, the inhalation amount, the inhalation interval, and the inhalation time period.   
     
     
         6 . The aerosol generating device of  claim 1 , further comprising a memory configured to store a plurality of heating profiles,
 wherein the controller is further configured to determine the heating profile, from among the plurality of heating profiles, based on the determined inhalation pattern.   
     
     
         7 . The aerosol generating device of  claim 6 , wherein the heating profile includes at least one of a length of time of a heating section, an amount of power supplied to the heater during the heating section, and a target temperature of the heater during the heating section. 
     
     
         8 . The aerosol generating device of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
 identify that the user input corresponds to second data; and   initialize the heating profile according to a default heating profile, based on the user input corresponding to the second data; and   control the power supplied to the heater based on the default heating profile.   
     
     
         9 . The aerosol generating device of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a cartridge configured to contain an aerosol generating substance; and   a cartridge detection sensor to detect coupling and removal of the cartridge relative to the aerosol generating device,   wherein the controller is further configured to:   detect, through the cartridge detection sensor, the coupling or the removal of the cartridge; and   initialize the heating profile according to a default heating profile, based on the detection of the removal of the cartridge from the aerosol generating device or the detection of the coupling of the cartridge to the aerosol regenerating device after the removal; and   control the power supplied to the heater based on the default heating profile.   
     
     
         10 . The aerosol generating device of  claim 1 , wherein the user input includes at least one of an input to a button or a touch input. 
     
     
         11 . The aerosol generating device of  claim 1 , further comprising a motion sensor configured to provide output in response to movement of the aerosol generating device,
 wherein the controller is further configured to:   determine the inhalation pattern associated with the inhalation by the user, based on the output provided by the motion sensor corresponds to the first data.   
     
     
         12 . The aerosol generating device of  claim 1 , further comprising an output device,
 wherein the controller is further configured to:   control the output device to output information corresponding to a start of a determination of the inhalation pattern, in response to the user input corresponding to the first data; and   after the determination of the inhalation pattern, control the output device to output information corresponding to an end of the determination of the inhalation pattern.   
     
     
         13 . A method for operating an aerosol generating device having an input device, the method comprising:
 identifying that a user input received from the input device corresponds to first data;   determining, after the identifying that the user input corresponds to the first data, an inhalation pattern associated with inhalation by the user, based on an output provided by a puff sensor;   determining a heating profile corresponding to the inhalation pattern, based on the determined inhalation pattern; and   controlling power supplied to a heater of the aerosol generating device according to the heating profile.