ELECTRONIC VAPORIZER HAVING TEMPERATURE SENSING AND LIMIT

• US 20150359263A1
• Filed: 06/12/2015
• Published: 12/17/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/14/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Evolv Incorporated (Cornerstone Ondemand Incorporated), Lcc Evolv
• Original Assignee: Evolv Incorporated (Cornerstone Ondemand Incorporated)
• Inventors: BELLINGER, John
• Granted Patent: US 11,825,565 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A24F 40/10 Devices using liquid inhalable precursors
• CPC Class Codes: A24F 40/51 Arrangement of sensors
• CPC Class Codes: A24F 40/53 Monitoring, e.g. fault detection
• CPC Class Codes: A24F 40/57 Temperature control
• CPC Class Codes: A24F 40/60 Devices with integrated user interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 1/0244 Heating of fluids H05B1/0247 takes precedence

Abstract

An electronic vaporizer including a heating element for heating a fluid to produce a vapor; a power source to provide electrical power to the heating element for heating the fluid; and a power control circuit configured to regulate a supply of electrical power from the power source to the heating element based at least in part on an operating temperature of the heating element and a temperature setting to prevent the operating temperature of the heating element from exceeding the temperature setting.

Claims

1. An electronic vaporizer, comprising:

a heating element for heating a fluid to produce a vapor;

a power source to provide electrical power to the heating element for heating the fluid; and

a power control circuit configured to regulate a supply of electrical power from the power source to the heating element based at least in part on an operating temperature of the heating element and a temperature setting to prevent the operating temperature of the heating element from exceeding the temperature setting.

2. The electronic vaporizer of claim 1, wherein the power control circuit is further configured to:

determine the operating temperature of the heating element;

compare the operating temperature to the temperature setting; and

reduce the electrical power output to the heating element when the operating temperature exceeds the temperature setting.

3. The electronic vaporizer of claim 1, wherein the power control circuit is further configured determine the operating temperature of the heating element based on a measured resistance and a reference resistance based on known temperature coefficient of resistance characteristics associated with the heating element, the reference resistance indicates a resistance of the heating element at a predetermined temperature.

4. The electronic vaporizer of claim 3, wherein the power control circuit includes a current sense to measure a current output to the heating element and a voltage sense to measure a voltage output to the heating element, and

the power control circuit is further configured to:

determine a resistance of the heating element based on the current output and the voltage output, and

determine the operating temperature based on the resistance.

5. The electronic vaporizer of claim 3, wherein the power control circuit is configured to determine the reference resistance based on a predetermined boiling point of the fluid.

6. The electronic vaporizer of claim 5, wherein the power control circuit is configured to measure the resistance of heating element, detect a leveling of a rate of change of the resistance, and associate a resistance of the heating element at which the leveling occurs with the boiling point to establish the reference resistance.

7. The electronic vaporizer of claim 3, further comprising a temperature sensor operably coupled with the power control circuit,

wherein the power control circuit is configured to determine the reference resistance based on an ambient temperature measured by the temperature sensor.

8. The electronic vaporizer of claim 7, wherein the power control circuit is configured to:

apply a pulse of electrical power to the heating element;

measure the resistance of the heating element when the pulse is applied; and

associate the resistance measured during the pulse to the ambient temperature to establish the reference resistance.

9. The electronic vaporizer of claim 8, wherein the power control circuit is further configured to apply two or more pulses to the heating element, measure the resistance of the heating element during each pulse, determine a change in resistance of the heating element as a result of each pulse, and extrapolate a resistance of the heating element prior to application of the pulses based at least in part on the change in resistance.

10. The electronic vaporizer of claim 1, further comprising a machine-readable indicia associated with the heating element configured to convey reference information to the power control circuit.

11. The electronic vaporizer of claim 10, wherein the machine-readable indicia includes at least one of a computer-readable storage medium, an RFID tag, or a barcode.

12. The electronic vaporizer of claim 10, wherein the reference information specifies at least one of a resistance of the heating element at a predetermine temperature, a boiling point of the fluid, a temperature coefficient of resistance curve for the heating element, or the temperature setting.

13. The electronic vaporizer of claim 1, further comprising a user interface including a display to output at least one of the temperature setting or the operating temperature, and means for inputting the temperature setting.

14. The electronic vaporizer of claim 1, wherein the power control circuit is further configured to supply a maximum power to the heating element until the operating temperature reaches a set point, and to subsequently regulate the supply of power in accordance with at least one of a power setting or the temperature setting.

15. The electronic vaporizer of claim 1, wherein the power control circuit is further configured to regulate the supply of power to the heating element to maintain the operating temperature of the heating element at a set point, and to increase the supply of power to the heating element to trigger vapor production in response during user inhalation.

16. The electronic vaporizer of claim 15, wherein the power control circuit is further configured to monitor an amount of power supplied to the heating element to maintain the operating temperature at the set point, to detect a change in the amount of power signaling user inhalation, to regulate the supply of power to the heating element in accordance with the temperature setting during user inhalation.

17. A power control circuit for an electronic vaporizer having a power source and a heating element, comprising:

a current sense configured to measure a current provided to the heating element;

a voltage sense configured to measure a voltage applied to the heating element; and

a processor-based controller configured to determine an operating temperature of the heating element based at least in part on the current and voltage, and to regulate a supply of electrical power from the power source to prevent the operating temperature of the heating element from exceeding a temperature setting.

18. The power control circuit of claim 17, wherein the processor-based controller includes a processor and a computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon executable instructions that, when executed, configure the processor to:

determine a resistance of the heating element based on the current and the voltage;

determine the operating temperature of the heating element based on the resistance and a reference resistance;

compare the operating temperature to the temperature setting; and

output a signal to reduce power supplied to the heating element when the operating temperature exceeds the temperature setting.

19. The power control circuit of claim 17, wherein the temperature setting is at least one a temperature safety limit, a user-configurable temperature preference, or a pre-heat temperature.

20. A method for controlling temperature of a heating element in an electronic vaporizer, comprising:

determining an operating temperature of the heating element based at least in part on a measured resistance of the heating element and calibration information established with respect to the heating element;

comparing the operating temperature to a temperature setting; and

regulating a power supplied to the heating element from a power source to maintain the operating temperature at or below the temperature setting.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein calibration information includes at least a reference resistance indicating a resistance of the heating element at a predetermined temperature and a temperature coefficient of resistance curve for the heating element.

22. The method of claim 20 further comprises:

preheating the heating element to an active temperature that is less than a boiling point;

detecting user inhalation based on an amount of power required to maintain the operating temperature at the active temperature; and

regulating the power supplied to the heating element from the power source to prevent the operating temperature from exceeding the temperature setting during user inhalation; and

reducing the power supplied to the heating element after user inhalation to return the operating temperature to the active temperature.

23. The method of claim 20, wherein regulating the power supplied to the heating element comprises supplying additional power until the operating temperature reaches the temperature setting.