Aerosol Generation Device, Associated Assembly and Controlling Method

Abstract

An aerosol generation device includes a vaporizable material storage portion; a tobacco article socket; a flow channel extending between flow inlet and outlet and defining a vaporizable material channel part passing through said storage portion and a socket channel part passing through said socket; and a heating system for heating a vaporizable material and a tobacco article to form mixed aerosol, including a vaporizable material heater and a tobacco article heater surrounding a tobacco article-receiving hole and being integrated into a delimiting wall delimiting said hole or adjacent to said wall. The tobacco article heater includes heating sections arranged along said hole. The aerosol generation device includes a control unit for controlling the activation of the heating sections according to a predefined heating profile during a vaping session.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention concerns an aerosol generation device.

The present invention also relates to an aerosol generation assembly comprising such a device and a controlling method for controlling such a device.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Different types of aerosol generation devices are already known in the art. Generally, such devices comprise a storage portion for storing a vaporizable material, which can comprise for example a liquid or a solid. A heating system is formed of one or more electrically activated resistive heating elements arranged to heat said vaporizable material to generate the aerosol. The aerosol is released into a flow path extending between an inlet and outlet of the device. The outlet may be arranged as a mouthpiece, through which a user inhales for delivery of the aerosol.

Some aerosol generation devices further comprise a part suitable for receiving a tobacco article such as a cigarette for example. In this case, these devices are generally adapted to heat the tobacco article without burning it and thus, are usually called “heat-not-burn” devices. Some of these devices may comprise an additional heater for heating the tobacco article. This makes it possible to heat the tobacco article separately from the vaporizable material. The aerosol formed by the vaporizable material may be released into the flow path passing through the tobacco article where it is mixed with aerosol formed by the tobacco article to form mixed aerosol at the outlet of the device.

However, it was observed that the way of heating both vaporizable material and tobacco article impacts strongly the taste of the obtained mixed aerosol. In the existing devices such heating is not optimal so as the taste of the mixed aerosol can be still improved.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One aim of the invention is to provide an aerosol generation device having a heating system adapted to heat a tobacco article without burning it in an optimal way so as to deliver mixed aerosol having a better taste.

For this purpose, the invention relates to an aerosol generation device comprising:

• • a vaporizable material storage portion for storing a vaporizable material;
  • a tobacco article socket configured to receive a tobacco;
  • a flow channel extending between a flow inlet and a flow outlet, the flow channel defining a vaporizable material channel part passing through the vaporizable material storage portion and a socket channel part passing through the tobacco article); and
  • a heating system configured to heat the vaporizable material and the tobacco article to form mixed aerosol in the flow channel, the heating system comprising a vaporizable material heater for heating the vaporizable material and a tobacco article heater for heating the tobacco article the tobacco article heater surrounding a tobacco article-receiving hole and being integrated into a delimiting wall delimiting the article-receiving hole (or adjacent to the delimiting wall;
  • wherein the tobacco article heater further comprises a succession of heating sections arranged along the tobacco article-receiving hole;
  • wherein the aerosol generation device comprises a control unit configured to control the activation of the heating sections according to a predefined heating profile during a vaping session.

Using a succession of heating sections and a control unit configured to control the activation of the heating sections according to the predefined profile during a vaping session makes it possible to heat different parts of the tobacco article at different moments during the vaping session. Thus, amount of tobacco article aerosol can be generated progressively from the tobacco article during the vaping session. It results to a progressive generation of the tobacco article aerosol during the vaping session so as to obtain mixed aerosol having a better taste. Using said predefined heating profile, it is possible for example to cause homogenous extraction of at least some components from the tobacco article during all vaping session or on the contrary, extract some components in an inhomogeneous way to provide a special taste changing during the vaping session. It is also possible to provide different heating profiles which can be chosen by the user to vary the taste of the obtained aerosol.

According to some embodiments, the predefined heating profile comprises, for each heating section, an activation time interval, each time interval comprising a start moment and a stop moment, for at least two heating sections, the start moments being different and/or the stop moments being different and/or the duration of the time intervals being different.

According to some embodiments, the aerosol generation device extends along a device axis, the vaporizable material storage portion and the tobacco article socket being successively arranged along the device axis or the vaporizable material storage portion and the tobacco article socket being successively arranged along an axis perpendicular to the device axis.

According to some embodiments, the flow channel extends from the flow inlet to the flow outlet according to a channel direction, the vaporizable material channel part and the tobacco article channel part being arranged successively following the channel direction.

Thanks to these features, the aerosol generated from the vaporizable material is able to pass through the tobacco article to form mixed aerosol.

According to some embodiments, the flow channel comprises a bypass section connecting the flow inlet directly to the socket channel part.

Thanks to these features, more air can be injected into the socket channel part.

According to some embodiments, the dimensions of the tobacco article-receiving hole are adapted to retain the tobacco article inside said hole, the length of the tobacco article-receiving hole being preferably smaller than the length of the tobacco article such that a mouth portion of the tobacco article protrudes from the tobacco article socket when the tobacco article is inserted into the tobacco article-receiving hole.

Thanks to these features, utilization of the aerosol generation device is thus convenient for a user.

According to some embodiments, the tobacco article heater is configured to heat the tobacco article at a first temperature and the vaporizable material heater is configured to heat the vaporizable material at a second temperature, the first temperature and the second temperature being distinct, the first temperature being preferably inferior to 400° C. and preferably comprised between 200° C. and 399° C.

A first temperature inferior to 400° C. enables to avoid burning the tobacco article.

According to some embodiments, each heating section is configured to be activated independently from each other.

Thanks to these features, the heating sections can follow the predefined heating profile.

According to some embodiments, the predefined heating profile defines, for each heating section, an activation time interval within the vaping session during which said heating section is to be activated.

According to some embodiments, according to the heating profile, the heating sections are configured to be activated successively from a first heating section.

Thanks to these feature, activating successively the heating sections from the first heating section enables to provide a gradual and regular heating of the tobacco article. It is thus possible to have enough tobacco article aerosol generated from the tobacco article in the mixed aerosol generated throughout the vaping session.

According to some embodiments, the activation time intervals of two successive heating sections are in part superposed within the vaping session on a superposed interval.

Thanks to these features, a continuous heating of the tobacco article is provided during the vaping session.

According to some embodiments, the duration of the or each superposed interval is comprised between 5% and 50% of the duration of the activation time interval of each heating section of the two successive heating sections, preferably the duration of the or each superposed interval is comprised between 25% and 40% of the duration of the activation time interval of each heating section of the two successive heating sections and, advantageously, the duration of the or each superposed interval is equal to ⅓ of the duration of the activation time interval of each heating section of the two successive heating sections.

Thanks to these features, the aerosol generation device does not overheat the tobacco article during the vaping session. Moreover, thanks to these features savings in battery consumption are achieved.

According to some embodiment, the succession of heating sections comprises at least a first heating section, a second heating section and a third heating section arranged successively in this order, the activation time interval of the first heating section and the activation time interval of the second heating section being in part superposed on a first superposed interval, and, the activation time interval of the second heating section and the activation time interval of the third heating section being in part superposed on a second superposed interval, the first superposed interval and the second superposed interval being disjoint.

Thanks to these features, the aerosol generation device does not overheat the tobacco article during the vaping session.

According to some embodiments, each activation time interval has a duration comprised between 80 and 100 seconds.

Such interval of 80 to 100 seconds enables to ensure the extraction of an optimal quantity of aerosol from a tobacco article part.

The invention also relates to an aerosol generation assembly comprising the aerosol generation device as previously described, a vaporizable material and a tobacco article.

According to some embodiments, the tobacco article is a stick or a capsule comprising tobacco or a ready-made cigarette.

The invention also relates to a controlling method for controlling an aerosol generation device as described above, comprising a step of activating the succession of heating sections according to the predefined heating profile.

According to some embodiments, the predefined heating profile defines, for each heating section, an activation time interval within the vaping session during which said heating section is to be activated, and, according to the heating profile, the heating sections are configured to be activated successively from a first heating section;

• • wherein the activation the succession of heating sections comprises successively activating the succession of heating sections from the first heating section according to the predefined heating profile.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention and its advantages will be better understood upon reading the following description, which is given solely by way of non-limiting example and which is made with reference to the appended drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an aerosol generation assembly according to a first embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 shows an example of a heating profile used the aerosol generation assembly of FIG. 1 to heat a tobacco article; and

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an aerosol generation assembly according to a second embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Before describing the invention, it is to be understood that it is not limited to the details of construction set forth in the following description. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of the present disclosure that the invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or being carried out in various ways.

As used herein, the term “aerosol generation device” or “device” may include a vaping device to deliver mixed aerosol to a user generated from a vaporizable material and a tobacco article received into the device. The device may be portable. “Portable” may refer to the device being for use when held by a user. The device may be adapted to generate a variable amount of mixed aerosol, e.g. by activating a heating system for a variable amount of time (as opposed to a metered dose of aerosol) using a trigger. The trigger may be user activated, such as a vaping button and/or inhalation sensor. The inhalation sensor may be sensitive to the strength of inhalation as well as the duration of inhalation to enable a variable amount of vapor to be provided (so as to mimic the effect of smoking a conventional combustible smoking article such as a cigarette, cigar or pipe, etc.).

As used herein, the term “control unit” refers to a component of the aerosol generation device and may control the operation of the heating system. The control unit may include a temperature regulation control to drive the temperature of the heating system and/or the heating of the vaporizable material and/or the heating of the tobacco article to a specified target temperature and thereafter to maintain the temperature at the target temperature that enables efficient generation of mixed aerosol.

As used herein, the term “mobile device” may refer to a device, which is able to establish a data connection with the aerosol generation device. Advantageously, the mobile device is also able to establish a connection with a distant server via for example a global computer network as Internet. In some cases, the mobile device can upload data to the associated aerosol generation device. The mobile device includes human-computer interaction means such a touch screen or a screen associated with control means, to allow a user to communicate with the distant server and with the aerosol generation device. Thus, the mobile device may be a smartphone, a laptop, a personal computer, a tablet, a smartwatch or all other connected device.

As used herein, the term “vaporizable material” or “precursor” or “aerosol forming substance” or “substance” is used to designate any material that is vaporizable in air to form aerosol. Vaporization is generally obtained by a temperature increase up to the boiling point of the vaporizable material, such as at a temperature less than 400° C., preferably up to 350° C. The vaporizable material may, for example, comprise or consist of an aerosol-generating liquid, gel, wax, foam or the like, an aerosol-generating solid that may be in the form of a rod, which contains processed tobacco material, a crimped sheet or oriented strips of reconstituted tobacco (RTB), or any combination of these. The vaporizable material may comprise one or more of: nicotine, caffeine or other active components. The active component may be carried with a carrier, which may be a liquid. The carrier may include propylene glycol or glycerin. A flavoring may also be present. The flavoring may include Ethylvanillin (vanilla), menthol, Isoamyl acetate (banana oil) or similar.

As used herein, the term “tobacco article” may refer to a consumable article and may be a capsule, a stick or a ready-made cigarette containing components such as nicotine and/or other substances. The tobacco article may me solid. Such tobacco article has a target moisture of about 12% more or less 0.5%. Preferably, such tobacco article does not contain any vegetal glycerin.

As used herein, the term “ready-made cigarette” may refer to a cylinder element comprising components such as nicotine and/or other substances that are rolled into a thin paper. The ready-made cigarette may comprises a filter. The ready-made cigarette may have a length comprised between 69 mm and 100 mm and may have a diameter comprised between 5 mm and 8 mm.

As used herein, the term “aerosol” may include a suspension of precursor as one or more of: solid particles; liquid droplets; gas. Said suspension may be in a gas including air. Aerosol herein may generally refer to/include a vapor. Aerosol may be formed by the vaporizable material or the tobacco article and may comprise one or several components of it.

As used herein, the term “mixed aerosol” may refer to aerosol composed of at least two components. The first component corresponds to aerosol formed from the vaporizable material and denoted in the following “vaporizable material aerosol”. The second component corresponds to aerosol formed from the tobacco article and denoted in the following “tobacco article aerosol”. In other words, the mixed aerosol is a mix of aerosol formed from the vaporizable material and the tobacco article.

As used herein, the term “vaping session” may refer to a using period of the aerosol generated device starting from the activation of the trigger defined above to the moment in which the aerosol generation device is disabled.

First Embodiment of the Invention

An aerosol generation assembly 8 according to a first embodiment of the invention is shown on FIG. 1. In the example of this FIG. 1, the aerosol generation assembly 8 comprises an aerosol generation device 10, a vaporizable material arranged in a replaceable cartridge 12 also referred as “cartridge 12” and a tobacco article 14.

The aerosol generation device 10 extends along an axis X called hereinafter “device axis X”. In the following description, the term “length” refers to a dimension of an element of the aerosol generation assembly 8 measured along the device axis X. The aerosol generation device 10 comprises an outside casing 16 and internal components arranged in the outside casing 16.

The outside casing 16 delimits an internal volume 18 and comprises a side surface 20 extending along the device axis X. The side surface 20 may be made of a single piece, from for example a metallic material. The side surface 20 may made in a smooth material.

The internal components comprises a battery 22 for powering the device 10, a vaporizable material storage portion 24, a tobacco article socket 26, a flow channel 28, a heating system and a control unit 32. In the specific example of the first embodiment, the vaporizable material storage portion 24 and the tobacco article socket 26 are arranged successively along the device axis X. The aerosol generation device 10 may further comprise other components performing different functionalities of the device 10. These other components are known per se and will be not explained in further detail below.

The battery 22 is for example a known battery designed to be charged using the power supply furnished by an external charger and to provide a direct current of a predetermined voltage.

The vaporizable material storage portion 24 is a part of the internal volume 18 designed to store the vaporizable material. Particularly, based on the nature of the vaporizable material, the vaporizable material storage portion 24 can be designed to store the vaporizable material in a liquid and/or solid form. The vaporizable material storage portion 24 can form a vaporizable storage tank adapted to directly receive the vaporizable material or adapted to receive a replaceable cartridge which can be removable from this portion 24 through, for example, an opening formed in the side surface 20. In the first case, the vaporizable material storage portion 24 can be refilled with the vaporizable material. In the second case, the vaporizable material storage portion 24 can accommodate a replaceable cartridge (e.g., a pod or capsule containing e-liquid) that can be removed and replaced by another one when the vaporizable material is no longer available. In some embodiments, the replaceable cartridge can also be refilled with the vaporizable material.

More specifically, the cartridge comprises a vaporizable material compartment able to store the vaporizable material and at least a heater able to heat the vaporizable material to generate the vaporizable material aerosol of the mixed aerosol. The heater of the cartridge may be electrically connected to the battery 22 of the device 10 through a pair of contacts arranged in both cartridge and heating system of the device 10. The cartridge may further define a flow passage referred hereinafter as “cartridge passage”. In the example shown on FIG. 1, the replaceable cartridge 12 received in the vaporizable material storage portion 24 defines a vaporizable material compartment 34 and a cartridge passage 36, and comprises a pair of contacts 38 referred as cartridge contacts 38. According to other embodiments of the invention, the heater of the cartridge may be formed by a plate, for example by a metal plate, which is intended to be in contact with a corresponding plate of the device 10. In this case, the vaporizable material is heated by heat transfer between said plates.

The tobacco article socket 26 is configured to receive the tobacco article 14. The tobacco article socket 26 comprises a delimiting wall 40 delimiting a tobacco article-receiving hole 42. The tobacco article-receiving hole 42 opens at the exterior of the aerosol generation device 10 by an opening 44 defining an extremity of the aerosol generation device 10 opposed to the battery 22 along the device 10 axis X. The tobacco article-receiving hole 42 is adapted to retain the tobacco article 14 inside such hole 42. In particular, the internal diameter of the tobacco-article receiving hole 42 has a dimension adapted to retain the tobacco article 14 inside this hole 42. Moreover, the length of the tobacco article-receiving hole 42 is smaller than the length of the tobacco article 14 such that a mouth portion 14A of the tobacco article 14 protrudes from the tobacco article-receiving hole 42 when the tobacco article 14 is inserted into the tobacco article as shown in FIG. 1. In a variant, the tobacco article 14 is received entirely into the tobacco article-receiving hole 42. In this case, the device 10 can further comprise a separate mouthpiece intended to cover the corresponding end of the tobacco article when it is received in the hole 42. In the particular example shown on FIG. 1, the tobacco article 14 is a stick having the shape of a cylinder. The stick may have a length comprised between 69 mm and 100 mm and a diameter comprised between 5 mm and 8 mm. As a variant, the tobacco article 14 may have a different shape.

The flow channel 28 extends between at least one flow inlet 28A and at least one flow outlet 28B and is able to conduct air and/or vaporizable material aerosol and/or tobacco article aerosol and/or mixed aerosol. The flow inlet 28A is arranged for example on the side surface 20 of the outside casing 16. The flow inlet 28A may form a through hole opening inside the internal volume 18 between the tobacco article socket 26 and the vaporizable material storage portion 24. In the particular example of FIG. 1, the aerosol generation device 10 comprises two flow inlets 28A that may face each other along an axis perpendicular to the device axis X. The flow outlet 28B is delimited by the tobacco article-receiving hole 42 and in particular by said opening 44 of the tobacco article-receiving hole. The flow channel 28 further defines a vaporizable material channel part 28C passing through the vaporizable material storage portion 24 and a socket channel part 28D passing through the tobacco article socket 26. The flow channel 28 has also a channel direction defined, in this order, from the flow inlet 28A, the vaporizable material channel part 28C, the socket channel part 28D and to the flow outlet 28B. The channel direction is represented on FIG. 1 by arrows. The vaporizable material channel part 28C comprises a path parallel to the device axis X and is directed towards the socket channel part 28D. The socket channel part 28D comprises a path parallel to the device axis X and is directed towards the flow outlet 28B.

When the cartridge 12 and the tobacco article 14 are received into the aerosol generation device 10, the flow channel 28 is in communication with the cartridge passage 36 and the inside part of the tobacco article 14. It results that the flow channel 28 extends at least partially in this order through the cartridge 12 and the tobacco article 14. In particular, the vaporizable material channel part 28C extends inside the cartridge passage 36 and the socket channel part 28D extends inside the tobacco article 14.

According to a specific example, the flow channel 28 comprises a bypass section 28E connecting the flow inlet 28A directly to the socket channel part 28D. The bypass section 28E directly connects the flow inlet 28A the socket channel part 28D. According to an example, the bypass section 28E may have flow orientation perpendicular to the device axis. In the particular example of FIG. 1, the flow channel 28 comprises two bypass sections 28E, each directly connecting one flow inlet 28A to the socket channel part 28D.

According to the specific example of FIG. 1, the flow channel 28 also comprises two connection sections 28F, 28G extending from the flow inlet 28A to the vaporizable material channel part 28C according to the channel direction. The two connection sections 28F, 28G on the one hand and the vaporizable material channel part 28C on the other hand have opposite flow orientations.

The heating system is configured to heat the vaporizable material and the tobacco article 14 to form mixed aerosol in the flow channel 28. The heating system comprises a vaporizable material heater 46 for heating the vaporizable material and a tobacco article heater 48 for heating the tobacco article 14. The heating system is powered by the battery 22.

The vaporizable material heater 46 may be in contact with the vaporizable material storage portion 24, integrated at least partially into said portion 24 or integrated at least partially into removable cartridge as explained above. The vaporizable material heater 46 is able to heat the vaporizable material received in the vaporizable material compartment 34. As shown on FIG. 1, the vaporizable material heater 46 may comprise electric contacts 50 adapted to be coupled to the corresponding cartridge electric contacts 38. According to another example, the vaporizable material heater 46 may comprise a heating element, as a heating plate explained above, arranged in the device 10.

As also shown on FIG. 1, the tobacco article heater 48 surrounds the tobacco article-receiving hole 42 and may be integrated into said delimiting wall 40. As a variant, the tobacco article heater 48 may be adjacent to the delimiting wall 40. The tobacco article heater 48 comprises a succession of heating sections arranged along the tobacco article-receiving hole 42, i.e. along the device axis X. The succession of heating sections are configured to be controlled by the control unit 32 according to a predefined heating profile during a vaping session, as it will be explained below. The succession of heating sections defines a first heating section and a last heating section relative to the channel direction of the flow channel 28. In particular, each heating section is arranged around a corresponding part of the tobacco article 14 when the tobacco article 14 is received in the tobacco article socket 26 and configured to heat this part. Each heating section may have an annular shape. Moreover, in a cross section plane perpendicular to the device axis X, each heating section may have a shape adapted to the shape of the delimiting wall 40. As an example, said shape of each heating section is circular. Each heating section may be made of a metal or any other material suitable for heat transfer. In the example of FIG. 1, the tobacco article heater 48 comprise five heating sections, called respectfully “first heating section 51”, “second heating section 52”, “third heating section 53”, “fourth heating section 54” and “fifth heating section 55”. In this particular example, the first heating section 51 is the first heating section and the fifth heating section 55 is the last heating section. The other heating section 52 to 54 are arranged successively between the first heating section 51 and the fifth heating section 55.

The tobacco article heater 48 is adapted to heat the tobacco article 14 at a first temperature and the vaporizable material heater 46 is configured to heat the vaporizable material at a second temperature distinct from the first temperature. The first temperature is preferably inferior to 400° C. and preferably comprised to 200° C. and 390° C. Advantageously, the first temperature is substantially equal to 350° C. The first temperature is chosen to not burn the tobacco article 14. For example, the second temperature is above to 400° C. The second temperature is chosen to generate aerosol from the vaporizable material.

The control unit 32 is adapted to control the operation of the heating system, namely the operation of the vaporizable material and tobacco article heaters 46, 48. The control unit 32 is in particular configured to control activation of the heating sections according to a predefined heating profile P during the vaping session. The control unit 32 may comprises a memory 32A. The memory 32A may be configured to store at least one predefined heating profile. As an example, the memory 32A may be configured to store a plurality of different predefined profiles. The or each predefined profile may be determined at a service center of the aerosol generation device 10 or may be created by the user of the aerosol generation device 10.

As for the tobacco article heater 48, the control unit 32 is configured to control the operation of activation the heating sections independently one from the other. When the memory 32A stores a plurality of predefined profiles, the control unit 32 is configured to control operation of the heating sections according to a selected predefined heating profile P among the plurality of heating profiles. The duration of the vaping session may be, for example, of 330 seconds.

According to some embodiments, the aerosol generation device 10 is configured to be connected to a mobile device as defined above. In particular, the mobile device may be adapted to upload the or each predefined heating profile in the memory 32A of the control unit 32.

Particularly, the predefined heating profile P defines, for each heating section, an activation time interval within the vaping session during which said heating section is to be activated. Each time interval comprises a start moment and a stop moment. In the predefined heating profile, for at least two heating sections, the stating moments are different and the stop moments are different. Advantageously, all start moments are different and all stop moments are different. According to an example, in the predefined heating profile, the succession of heating sections is configured to be activated successively from the first heating section. For example, for successive heating sections from the first heating section, the start moments are increasing and the stop moments are also increasing during the vaping session. Each time interval may have the same duration or a duration different from the other intervals. The activation time interval of at least two successive heating sections may in part superposed on at least one superposed interval.

According to a specific embodiment, the activation time intervals of each pair of two successive heating sections are in part superposed on at least one superposed interval.

According to a specific embodiment, the tobacco article heater comprises at least three heating sections, the or each group of three heating sections comprises a first heating section, a second heating section and a third heating section arranged successively in this order. For the or each group of three heating sections, the activation time interval of the first heating section and the activation time interval of the second heating section are in part superposed on a first superposed interval, and, the activation time interval of the second heating section and the activation time interval of the third heating section are in part superposed on a second superposed interval. The first superposed interval and the second superposed interval are disjoint.

In order words, at each instant of the vaping session, at most two activation time interval are superposed.

According to other embodiments, said predefined heating profile may be different. In such a profile, the heating sections may be activated successively in another order from the one defined from the first heating section to the last heating section. As a particular example, in said heating profile, the heating sections may be activated successively from the last heating profile to the first heating section and denoted in the following “reverse predefined profile”.

According to the specific example of predefined profile P shown on FIG. 2, each activation time interval has a duration comprised between 80 seconds and 100 seconds. Moreover, according to the heating profile P, the heating sections are configured to be activated successively from the first heating section 51 to the last heating section 55. In particular, the vaping profile P comprises, in abscissa, the duration of a vaping session in seconds and in ordinate, the identification of the heating sections. According to this example, the vaping profile P comprises five activation time intervals, each activation time interval being associated to the corresponding heating section 51 to 55 explained in reference to FIG. 1. The five activation time intervals are denoted in the following “first activation time interval 61”, “second activation time interval 62”, “third activation time interval 63”, “fourth activation time interval 64” and “fifth activation time interval 65” and are associated, respectively, to the first 51, second 52, third 53, fourth 54 and fifth 55 heating sections. The first activation time interval from 0 second to 90 seconds corresponds to the duration of activation of the first heating section 51, also referred above as the first heating section 51. The second activation time 62 interval from 60 seconds to 150 seconds is in part superposed to the first activation time interval 61 and the third activation time interval 63 and corresponds to the duration of activation of the second heating section 52. The third activation time interval 63 from 120 seconds to 210 seconds is in part superposed to the second activation time interval 62 and the fourth activation time interval 64 and corresponds to the duration of activation of the third heating section 53. The fourth activation time interval 64 from 180 seconds to 270 seconds is in part superposed to the third activation time interval 63 and the fifth activation time interval 65 and corresponds to the duration of activation of the fourth heating section 54. The fifth activation time interval 65 from 240 seconds to 330 seconds is in part superposed to the fourth activation time interval 64 and corresponds to the duration of activation of the fifth heating section 55, also referred above as the last heating section 55.

Each superposed interval may have a duration comprised between 20 seconds and 40 seconds and preferably equal to 30 seconds.

According to a specific embodiment, the duration of the or each superposed interval is comprised between 5% and 50% of the duration of the activation time interval 61, 62, 63, 64, 65 of each heating section 51, 52, 53, 54, 55 of the two successive heating sections, preferably the duration of the or each superposed interval is comprised between 25% and 40% of the duration of the activation time interval 61, 62, 63, 64, 65 of each heating section 51, 52, 53, 54, 55 of the two successive heating sections and, advantageously, the duration of the or each superposed interval is equal to ⅓ of the duration of the activation time interval 61, 62, 63, 64, 65 of each heating section 51, 52, 53, 54, 55 of the two successive heating sections.

A controlling method for controlling an aerosol generation device 10 of the aerosol generation assembly 8 according to the first embodiment of the invention will now be explained.

Initially, the aerosol generation device 10 is activated by the user using the trigger such as a vaping button to begin the vaping session.

Then, the vaporizable material heater 46 and the tobacco article heater 48 are activated by the control unit 32. Activation of the vaporizable material heater 46 generates the vaporizable material aerosol of the mixed aerosol and activation of the tobacco article heater 48 generates the tobacco article aerosol of the mixed aerosol. In particular, further to the activation of the tobacco article heater 48, the succession of heating sections 51 to 55 are controlled according to the predefined heating profile P. The activation of the succession of heating sections 51 to 55 comprises successively activating the succession of heating sections 51 to 55 from the first heating section 51 according to the heating profile P. Specifically, when the user inhales the tobacco article 14 using the mouth portion 14A of the tobacco rod 14, air enters by the flow inlet 28A, passes through the cartridge passage 36 arranged in the vaporizable material channel part 28C and drives the vaporizable material aerosol generated through the heated tobacco article 14. When passing through the heated tobacco article 14, the vaporizable material aerosol is charging with the tobacco article aerosol to generate mixed aerosol.

According to some embodiments, when the memory 32A of the control unit 32 stores a plurality of different predefined heating profiles, before activation of the heating system (i.e. activation of the vaporizable material heater 46 and the tobacco article heater 48), the method may comprise selection of a predefined heating profile among said plurality of predefined heating profiles. Then, the vaporizable material heater 46 and the tobacco article heater 48 are activated by the control unit 32. In particular, the heating sections 51 to 55 of the tobacco article heater 48 are activated according to the selected predefined profile.

According to some embodiments, at the end of the vaping session, a new vaping session may automatically begin. The new session may comprise controlling activation of the heating sections according to the predefined heating profile P, according to the reverse predefined profile or according to another predefined heating profile among the plurality of heating profiles when they are stored in the memory 32A of the control unit 32.

According to some embodiments, when the operation of the heating system is stopped during the vaping session (i.e. for example, when the user deactivates the aerosol generation device 10), the control unit 32 memorizes a reference stopping time which corresponds to the stopping time of the aerosol generation device 10 during the vaping session. Then, when the user activates again the aerosol generation device 10, the vaping session may restart from the reference stopping time of the predefined profile until the end of the vaping session. In particular, the heating sections of the tobacco article heater 48 are activated from the reference stopping time according to the remaining predefined heating profile. Before activation of the heating sections according to the remaining predefined heating profile, the method may comprises pre-heating the vaporizable material heater 46 and the tobacco article heater 48.

Second Embodiment of the Invention

An aerosol generation assembly according to a second embodiment will be explained in the following. The aerosol generation assembly according to the second embodiment is denoted by reference 108 and will be explained in more detail with reference to FIG. 3.

Particularly, as it is showed on FIG. 3, the aerosol generation assembly 108 comprises an aerosol generation device 110, a cartridge 112 and a tobacco article 114. The cartridge 112 and the tobacco article 114 are similar to the cartridge 12 and the tobacco article 14 described above.

The aerosol generation device 110 according to the second embodiment comprise a vaporizable material storage portion 124 similar to the vaporizable material storage portion explained above and a tobacco article socket 126 similar to the tobacco article socket 26 explained above. According to the second embodiment of the invention, the vaporizable material storage portion 124 and the tobacco article socket 126 are successively arranged along an axis perpendicular to the device axis X.

The aerosol generation device 110 has a flow channel 128 which is different from the flow channel 28 of the aerosol generation device 10 according to the first embodiment and has for example a unique flow inlet 128A arranged in the part of the side surface 120 of the casing arranged in front of the vaporizable material storage portion 124. Advantageously, the flow inlet 128A opens into an internal volume 118 below the vaporizable material storage portion 124. A vaporizable material channel part 128C comprises two paths 128C₁ and 128C₂ having opposite orientations. Thus, when the cartridge 112 is received into the vaporizable material storage portion 124, the cartridge passage 136 comprises said two paths 128C₁ and 128C₂ having opposite orientations.

The controlling method for controlling the aerosol generation device 110 is similar to the method described in the first embodiment.

Claims

1. An aerosol generation device comprising:

a vaporizable material storage portion for storing a vaporizable material;

a tobacco article socket configured to receive a tobacco article;

a flow channel extending between a flow inlet and a flow outlet, the flow channel defining a vaporizable material channel part passing through the vaporizable material storage portion and a socket channel part passing through the tobacco article socket; and

a heating system configured to heat the vaporizable material and the tobacco article to form mixed aerosol in the flow channel, the heating system comprising a vaporizable material heater for heating the vaporizable material and a tobacco article heater for heating the tobacco article, the tobacco article heater surrounding a tobacco article-receiving hole and integrated into a delimiting wall delimiting the article-receiving hole or adjacent to the delimiting wall;

wherein the tobacco article heater further comprises a succession of heating sections arranged along the tobacco article-receiving hole; and

wherein the aerosol generation device comprises a control unit configured to control the activation of the heating sections according to a predefined heating profile (P) during a vaping session.

2. The aerosol generation device according to claim 1, extending along a device axis (X), the vaporizable material storage portion and the tobacco article socket successively arranged along the device axis (X) or the vaporizable material storage portion and the tobacco article socket successively arranged along an axis perpendicular to the device axis (X).

3. The aerosol generation device according to claim 1, wherein the flow channel extends from the flow inlet to the flow outlet according to a channel direction, the vaporizable material channel part and the tobacco article channel part arranged successively following the channel direction, the flow channel comprising a bypass section connecting the flow inlet directly to the socket channel part.

4. The aerosol generation device according to claim 1, wherein the tobacco article heater is configured to heat the tobacco article at a first temperature and the vaporizable material heater is configured to heat the vaporizable material at a second temperature, the first temperature and the second temperature being distinct, the first temperature being less than 400° C.

5. The aerosol generation device according to claim 1, wherein each heating section is configured to be activated independently from each other.

6. The aerosol generation device according to claim 1, wherein the predefined heating profile (P) defines, for each heating section, an activation time interval within the vaping session during which said heating section is to be activated.

7. The aerosol generation device according to claim 1, wherein according to the predefined heating profile (P), the heating sections are configured to be activated successively from a first heating section.

8. The aerosol generation device according to claim 1,

wherein the predefined heating profile (P) defines, for each heating section, an activation time interval within the vaping session during which said heating section is to be activated, and

wherein the activation time intervals of two successive heating sections are in part superposed within the vaping session on a superposed interval.

9. The aerosol generation device according to claim 8, wherein the duration of the or each superposed interval is between 5% and 50% of the duration of the activation time interval of each heating section of the two successive heating sections.

10. The aerosol generation device according to claim 8, wherein the succession of heating sections comprises at least three heating sections, the or each group of three heating sections comprises a first heating section, a second heating section and a third heating section arranged successively,

wherein, for the or each group of three heating sections, the activation time interval of the first heating section and the activation time interval of the second heating section being in part superposed on a first superposed interval, and, the activation time interval of the second heating section and the activation time interval of the third heating section being in part superposed on a second superposed interval, the first superposed interval and the second superposed interval being disjoint.

11. The aerosol generation device according to claim 1,

wherein the predefined heating profile (P) defines, for each heating section, an activation time interval within the vaping session during which said heating section is to be activated, and

wherein each activation time interval has a duration between 80 and 100 seconds.

12. An aerosol generation assembly comprising the aerosol generation device according to claim 1, a vaporizable material and a tobacco article.

13. The assembly according to claim 12, wherein the tobacco article is a stick or a capsule comprising tobacco or a ready-made cigarette.

14. A controlling method for controlling an aerosol generation device according to claim 1, comprising a step of activating the succession of heating sections according to the predefined heating profile (P).

15. The controlling method for controlling according to claim 14, wherein the predefined heating profile (P) defines, for each heating section, an activation time interval within the vaping session during which said heating section is to be activated, and, according to the predefined heating profile (P), the heating sections are configured to be activated successively from a first heating section; and

wherein the activation the succession of heating sections comprises successively activating the succession of heating sections from the first heating section according to the predefined heating profile (P).

16. The aerosol generation device according to claim 4, wherein the first temperature is between 200° C. and 399° C.