Vaporizer device with progressive display of amount of delivered vaporized substance

Abstract

An inhalation device for inhaling a vaporized substance that includes metering capabilities to inform a user when a particular amount of substance has been consumed. The inhalation device can include a sensor that senses the vaporized substance and a processor that utilizes data from the sensor to meter the amount consumed. The inhalation device can also define a session, which is a time in which a user can consume a particular amount. During the session, a user can start and stop inhaling and resume inhaling. When the user stops inhaling the inhalation device will halt vapor production and will resume production when the user resumes inhaling.

1 . An inhalation display device for providing metering information regarding vaporized substance inhalation by a user to the user, the inhalation display device comprising:
 a progressive display;   a main body comprising a channel through which the vaporized substance can flow; and   a processor or circuit configured to:
 each time a user inhales using the inhalation device:
 start a heating element to begin vaporizing the substance; 
 determine, based on information received from a sensor regarding intensity of light emitted from a light signal device, an amount of vaporized substance that has been produced for each predetermined amount of time; and 
 
   totaling an amount of vaporized substance that has been produced by sequentially summing up the amounts for each said predetermined amount of time and causing the progressive display to display a then totaled amount.   
     
     
         2 . An inhalation display device as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein said processor or circuit further signals an indication that a preset threshold amount of the vaporized substance has been consumed. 
     
     
         3 . The inhalation display device of  claim 1 , wherein the progressive display is a part of a meter that indicates progressive inhalation of the vaporized substance. 
     
     
         4 . The inhalation display device of  claim 3 , wherein the displayed indication is a part of a meter that indicates a progressive inhalation of the substance in discrete quantities. 
     
     
         5 . The inhalation display device of  claim 1 , wherein the progressive display includes at least one of: a sequence of LEDs, a meter, a mechanical indicator, a dial, a screen, a display, and a sound sequence. 
     
     
         6 . The inhalation display device of  claim 3 , wherein the meter includes a sequence of two or more light emitting diodes (LED) on the main body that each indicate a different graduated amount of the vaporized amount that has been inhaled. 
     
     
         7 . The inhalation display device of  claim 7 , wherein when the threshold amount has been inhaled, the lights are programmed to indicate to the user that the threshold amount has been reached by flashing.