METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR CARTRIDGE IDENTIFICATION

• US 20180055090A1
• Filed: 08/31/2016
• Published: 03/01/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/2016
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Altria Client Services LLC (Altria Group, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Altria Client Services LLC (Altria Group, Inc.)
• Inventors: TUCKER, Christopher S., SMITH, Barry S., SUNDBERG, Sean, COBLER, Patrick J.
• Application Number:
  US15/252,965
• Publication Number:
  US 20180055090A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: A24F 40/10 Devices using liquid inhalable precursors
• CPC Class Codes: A24F 40/53 Monitoring, e.g. fault detection
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 1/0244 Heating of fluids H05B1/0247 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 6/686 Circuits comprising a signal generator and power amplifier, e.g. using solid state oscillators
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 6/705 using microwave tuning

Abstract

A cartridge configured to house a pre-vapor formulation for an e-vaping device, the cartridge including a connector having an anode and a cathode, and a nonpermanent conductive structure connecting the anode and the cathode, wherein the nonpermanent conductive structure is configured to break upon operation of the e-vaping device. A method of controlling usage of a cartridge in an e-vaping device, the e-vaping device including a battery connected to the cartridge, the method including providing a nonpermanent conductive structure between an anode of the cartridge and a cathode of the cartridge, the nonpermanent conductive structure being configured to break upon operation of the e-vaping device, detecting a resistance of the nonpermanent structure prior to operation of the e-vaping device, when the detected resistance is higher than a threshold resistance, preventing operation of the e-vaping device.

Claims

1. A cartridge of an e-vaping device, the cartridge comprising:

a connector configured to connect an anode and a cathode of the cartridge with a power source; and

a nonpermanent conductive structure connecting the anode and the cathode together;

wherein the nonpermanent conductive structure is configured to rupture upon operation of the e-vaping device.

2. The cartridge of claim 1, wherein the nonpermanent conductive structure comprises a conducting wire.

3. The cartridge of claim 1, wherein the nonpermanent conductive structure has a resistance of about 3 Ω

.

4. The cartridge of claim 1, wherein the cartridge is connected to the power source via the connector, and the anode and the cathode are respectively connected to an anode and a cathode of the power source.

5. The cartridge of claim 4, wherein the power source is configured to emit a pulse to detect a resistance between the anode and the cathode of the cartridge.

6. The cartridge of claim 5, wherein the nonpermanent conductive structure is configured to break upon a first operation of the e-vaping device.

7. The cartridge of claim 5, wherein when the nonpermanent conductive structure is ruptured, the detected resistance is substantially higher than a threshold resistance, and when the nonpermanent conductive structure is not ruptured, the detected resistance is equal to or lower than the threshold resistance.

8. The cartridge of claim 7, wherein the threshold resistance is equal to the resistance of the nonpermanent conductive structure.

9. A method of controlling usage of a cartridge in an e-vaping device, the e-vaping device including a power source connected to the cartridge, the method comprising:

providing a nonpermanent conductive structure between an anode of the cartridge and a cathode of the cartridge, the nonpermanent structure being configured to break upon operation of the e-vaping device;

detecting a resistance of the nonpermanent conductive structure; and

controlling usage of the cartridge based on the detected resistance of the nonpermanent conductive structure.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein when the detected resistance of the nonpermanent conductive structure is higher than a threshold resistance, controlling the usage of the cartridge comprises preventing operation of the e-vaping device.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein when the detected resistance of the nonpermanent conductive structure is equal to or lower than the threshold resistance, controlling the usage of the cartridge comprises allowing the operation of the e-vaping device.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein detecting the resistance of the nonpermanent conductive structure comprises generating a pulse from the battery.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein providing the nonpermanent conductive structure comprises providing a conducting wire between the anode and the cathode of the cartridge.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the threshold resistance is about equal to the resistance of the nonpermanent conductive structure.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein preventing operation of the e-vaping device comprises:

determining that the detected resistance of the nonpermanent conductive structure is higher than the threshold resistance; and

preventing the power source from providing power to the cartridge via a processor included in the e-vaping device.