Heat-not-burn (hnb) aerosol-generating devices with capsule authentication

Abstract

A non-combustible aerosol-generating device includes a capsule, a memory and a controller. The capsule includes an aerosol-forming substrate and a heater configured to heat the aerosol-forming substrate. The controller is configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in the memory to cause the non-combustible aerosol-generating device to: apply power to the heater during a preheat interval, record one or more heating characteristic waveforms resulting from application of the power to the heater during at least a portion of the preheat interval, and determine whether the capsule is valid based on one or more of the heating characteristic waveforms.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A non-combustible aerosol-generating device comprising:
 a capsule including an aerosol-forming substrate and a heater configured to heat the aerosol-forming substrate;   a memory storing computer-readable instructions; and   a controller configured to execute the computer-readable instructions to cause the non-combustible aerosol-generating device to
 apply power to the heater during a preheat interval, 
 record, during at least a portion of the preheat interval, one or more heating characteristic waveforms resulting from application of the power to the heater during the preheat interval, and 
 determine whether the capsule is valid based on one or more of the heating characteristic waveforms. 
   
     
     
         2 . The non-combustible aerosol-generating device of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to execute the computer-readable instructions to cause the non-combustible aerosol-generating device to terminate application of power to the heater in response to determining that the capsule is not valid. 
     
     
         3 . The non-combustible aerosol-generating device of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to execute the computer-readable instructions to cause the non-combustible aerosol-generating device to enable aerosol generation in response to determining that the capsule is valid. 
     
     
         4 . The non-combustible aerosol-generating device of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more heating characteristic waveforms include one or more of a resistance characteristic waveform, an applied power waveform, or a temperature characteristic waveform. 
     
     
         5 . The non-combustible aerosol-generating device of  claim 4 , wherein
 the resistance characteristic waveform indicates changes in resistance of the heater over time,   the applied power waveform indicates a level of power applied to the heater over time, and   the temperature characteristic waveform indicates a temperature of the heater over time.   
     
     
         6 . The non-combustible aerosol-generating device of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to execute the computer-readable instructions to cause the non-combustible aerosol-generating device to determine whether the capsule is valid based on the one or more of the heating characteristic waveforms and one or more corresponding expected heating characteristic envelopes. 
     
     
         7 . The non-combustible aerosol-generating device of  claim 6 , wherein the controller is configured to execute the computer-readable instructions to cause the non-combustible aerosol-generating device to
 determine that a first heating characteristic waveform, among the one or more of the heating characteristic waveforms, is outside the bounds of a corresponding first expected heating characteristic envelope, among the one or more corresponding expected heating characteristic envelopes, and   determine that the capsule is not valid in response to the first heating characteristic waveform being outside the bounds of the corresponding first expected heating characteristic envelope.   
     
     
         8 . The non-combustible aerosol-generating device of  claim 6 , wherein
 the one or more heating characteristic waveforms include a resistance characteristic waveform, and   the controller is configured to execute the computer-readable instructions to cause the non-combustible aerosol-generating device to
 determine whether a sharp gradient is present in the resistance characteristic waveform, and 
 determine whether the capsule is valid based on whether the sharp gradient is present in the resistance characteristic waveform. 
   
     
     
         9 . The non-combustible aerosol-generating device of  claim 8 , wherein the controller is configured to execute the computer-readable instructions to cause the non-combustible aerosol-generating device to determine whether the sharp gradient is present in the resistance characteristic waveform based on a change in resistance of the heater during a gradient threshold time interval. 
     
     
         10 . The non-combustible aerosol-generating device of  claim 9 , wherein the controller is configured to execute the computer-readable instructions to cause the non-combustible aerosol-generating device to determine whether the sharp gradient is present in the resistance characteristic waveform by
 computing a percentage change in resistance of the heater during the gradient threshold time interval, and   determining whether the sharp gradient is present in the resistance characteristic waveform based on a comparison between the percentage change in resistance and a percentage change threshold value.   
     
     
         11 . The non-combustible aerosol-generating device of  claim 10 , wherein the controller is configured to execute the computer-readable instructions to cause the non-combustible aerosol-generating device to determine that the sharp gradient is present in the resistance characteristic waveform in response to the percentage change in resistance being greater than the percentage change threshold value. 
     
     
         12 . The non-combustible aerosol-generating device of  claim 8 , wherein the controller is configured to execute the computer-readable instructions to cause the non-combustible aerosol-generating device to determine that the capsule is not valid in response to determining that the sharp gradient is present in the resistance characteristic waveform. 
     
     
         13 . The non-combustible aerosol-generating device of  claim 1 , wherein
 the one or more heating characteristic waveforms include a resistance characteristic waveform, and   the controller is configured to execute the computer-readable instructions to cause the non-combustible aerosol-generating device to
 determine whether a sharp gradient is present in the resistance characteristic waveform, and 
 determine whether the capsule is valid based on whether the sharp gradient is present in the resistance characteristic waveform. 
   
     
     
         14 . The non-combustible aerosol-generating device of  claim 13 , wherein the controller is configured to execute the computer-readable instructions to cause the non-combustible aerosol-generating device to determine whether the sharp gradient is present in the resistance characteristic waveform based on a change in resistance of the heater during a gradient threshold time period. 
     
     
         15 . The non-combustible aerosol-generating device of  claim 14 , wherein the controller is configured to execute the computer-readable instructions to cause the non-combustible aerosol-generating device to determine whether the sharp gradient is present in the resistance characteristic waveform by
 computing a percentage change in resistance of the heater during the gradient threshold time period, and   determining whether the sharp gradient is present in the resistance characteristic waveform based on a comparison between the percentage change in resistance and a percentage change threshold value.   
     
     
         16 . The non-combustible aerosol-generating device of  claim 15 , wherein the controller is configured to execute the computer-readable instructions to cause the non-combustible aerosol-generating device to determine that the sharp gradient is present in the resistance characteristic waveform in response to the percentage change in resistance being greater than the percentage change threshold value. 
     
     
         17 . The non-combustible aerosol-generating device of  claim 13 , wherein the controller is configured to execute the computer-readable instructions to cause the non-combustible aerosol-generating device to determine that the capsule is not valid in response to determining that the sharp gradient is present in the resistance characteristic waveform. 
     
     
         18 . The non-combustible aerosol-generating device of  claim 1 , wherein a valid capsule is at least one of an authentic capsule, a capsule that has not been damaged prior to insertion into the non-combustible aerosol-generating device, or a capsule including aerosol-forming substrate that is not depleted. 
     
     
         19 . The non-combustible aerosol-generating device of  claim 1 , wherein
 the one or more heating characteristic waveforms include at least a resistance characteristic waveform for the heater; and   the controller is configured to execute the computer-readable instructions to cause the non-combustible aerosol-generating device to determine whether the capsule is valid based on (i) whether the one or more of the heating characteristic waveforms are within the bounds of corresponding one or more expected heating characteristic envelopes, and (ii) whether a sharp gradient is present in the resistance characteristic waveform.   
     
     
         20 . The non-combustible aerosol-generating device of  claim 19 , wherein the controller is configured to execute the computer-readable instructions to cause the non-combustible aerosol-generating device to determine that the capsule is not valid in response to (i) at least one of the one or more heating characteristic waveforms being outside the bounds of the corresponding one or more expected heating characteristic envelopes or (ii) the sharp gradient being present in the resistance characteristic waveform. 
     
     
         21 . The non-combustible aerosol-generating device of  claim 1 , wherein
 the one or more heating characteristic waveforms include an applied power waveform, the applied power waveform indicative of a length of time a maximum available power is applied to the heater; and   the controller is configured to execute the computer-readable instructions to cause the non-combustible aerosol-generating device to determine that a fault has occurred within the non-combustible aerosol-generating device based on whether the length of time falls within a threshold range.   
     
     
         22 . The non-combustible aerosol-generating device of  claim 1 , wherein
 the one or more heating characteristic waveforms include an applied power waveform, the applied power waveform indicative of a length of time a maximum available power is applied to the heater; and   the controller is configured to execute the computer-readable instructions to cause the non-combustible aerosol-generating device to
 determine that the power applied to the heater has fallen below a maximum available power based on the applied power waveform, 
 determine whether the length of time falls within a threshold range in response to determining that the power applied to the heater has fallen below the maximum available power, 
 determine that the preheat interval has ended in response to determining that the length of time falls within the threshold range, and 
   
       determine whether the capsule is valid in response to determining that the preheat interval has ended. 
     
     
         23 . The non-combustible aerosol-generating device of  claim 1 , wherein
 the one or more heating characteristic waveforms include a resistance characteristic waveform, an applied power waveform, and a temperature characteristic waveform; and   the controller is configured to execute the computer-readable instructions to cause the non-combustible aerosol-generating device to
 determine that the power applied to the heater has fallen below a maximum available power based on the applied power waveform, 
 determine that the preheat interval has ended in response to determining that the power applied to the heater has fallen below the maximum available power, and 
 determine whether the capsule is valid in response to determining that the preheat interval has ended. 
   
     
     
         24 . The non-combustible aerosol-generating device of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to execute the computer-readable instructions to cause the non-combustible aerosol-generating device to
 record an airflow waveform during at least the portion of the preheat interval,   correct the one or more heating characteristic waveforms based on the recorded airflow waveform, and   determine whether the capsule is valid based on the corrected one or more heating characteristic waveforms.   
     
     
         25 . The non-combustible aerosol-generating device of  claim 24 , wherein the controller is configured to execute the computer-readable instructions to cause the non-combustible aerosol-generating device to correct the one or more heating characteristic waveforms by at least one of masking or computational correction. 
     
     
         26 . A method of controlling a non-combustible aerosol-generating device having a capsule inserted therein, the capsule including an aerosol-forming substrate and a heater configured to heat the aerosol-forming substrate, the method comprising:
 applying power to the heater during a preheat interval for preheating the heater;   recording, during at least a portion of the preheat interval, one or more heating characteristic waveforms resulting from application of the power to the heater during the preheat interval; and   determining whether the capsule is valid based on one or more of the heating characteristic waveforms.   
     
     
         27 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer-readable instructions that, when executed by a controller at a non-combustible aerosol-generating device, cause the controller to perform a method of controlling the non-combustible aerosol-generating device, wherein the non-combustible aerosol-generating device has a capsule inserted therein, the capsule including an aerosol-forming substrate and a heater configured to heat the aerosol-forming substrate, and wherein the method comprises:
 applying power to the heater during a preheat interval for preheating the heater;   recording, during at least a portion of the preheat interval, one or more heating characteristic waveforms resulting from application of the power to the heater during the preheat interval; and   determining whether the capsule is valid based on one or more of the heating characteristic waveforms.