Aerosol-generating device with progress indication

Abstract

An aerosol-generating device for generating an aerosol from an aerosol-forming substrate is provided, the aerosol-generating device being configured to indicate progress of an event during use of the aerosol-generating device, the aerosol-generating device including: an indicator configured to indicate progress of the event as a sequence of 1st to nth different indication states, n being a number equal to or greater than 7; and a controller configured to monitor progress of the event and to control the indicator to indicate in an indication state representative of the progress of the event, the indicator being a visual indicator including a predetermined number (i) of discrete light emitting units, each light emitting unit being controllable to emit light in a predetermined number (j) of different intensities, i being a number between 4 and 24, and j being a number between 2 and 5.

1 .- 15 . (canceled) 
     
     
         16 . An aerosol-generating device for generating an aerosol from an aerosol-forming substrate, the aerosol-generating device being configured to indicate progress of an event during use of the aerosol-generating device, the aerosol-generating device comprising:
 an indicator configured to indicate progress of the event as a sequence of 1st to nth different indication states, n being a number equal to or greater than 7; and   a controller configured to monitor progress of the event and to control the indicator to indicate in an indication state representative of the progress of the event,   wherein the indicator is a visual indicator comprising a predetermined number (i) of discrete light emitting units, each light emitting unit being controllable to emit light in a predetermined number (j) of different intensities, i being a number between 4 and 24, and j being a number between 2 and 5.   
     
     
         17 . The aerosol-generating device according to  claim 16 , wherein the aerosol-generating device is configured to monitor a parameter relating to the progress of the event. 
     
     
         18 . The aerosol-generating device according to  claim 17 , wherein the parameter is selected from a list consisting of time, number of user puffs, cumulative number of user puffs taken during the event, volume of aerosol delivered, cumulative volume of aerosol delivered during the event, energy consumed, cumulative volume of energy consumed during the event, current consumed, cumulative amount of current consumed during the event, temperature, temperature of heating element, temperature of susceptor, resistance of heating element, and user interaction. 
     
     
         19 . The aerosol-generating device according to  claim 16 , wherein the event is an operational phase of the aerosol-generating device. 
     
     
         20 . The aerosol-generating device according to  claim 19 , wherein the event is an event selected from a list consisting of a usage session, a heating period, a calibration period, a charging period, and a pause period. 
     
     
         21 . The aerosol-generating device according to  claim 16 ,
 wherein the event comprises at least 7 sequential phases, and   wherein the controller is further configured to control the indicator to indicate a different one of the sequence of 1st to nth different indication states during each of the at least 7 sequential phases.   
     
     
         22 . The aerosol-generating device according to  claim 16 , wherein each of the predetermined number j of indication states represents a light intensity level of between 0% and 100% of possible emission intensity. 
     
     
         23 . The aerosol-generating device according to  claim 16 , wherein each of the discrete light emitting units is controlled to emit light in two different intensities. 
     
     
         24 . The aerosol-generating device according to  claim 23 , wherein the two different intensities are intensities of about 50% of possible emission intensity and about 100% of possible emission intensity. 
     
     
         25 . The aerosol-generating device according to  claim 16 , wherein each of the discrete light emitting units is controlled to emit light in three different intensities. 
     
     
         26 . The aerosol-generating device according to  claim 25 , wherein the three different intensities are intensities of about 33% of possible emission intensity, about 66% of possible emission intensity, and about 100% of possible emission intensity. 
     
     
         27 . The aerosol-generating device according to  claim 16 , wherein each of the discrete light emitting units is controlled to emit light in 4 different intensities, for example intensities of about 25% of possible emission intensity, about 50% of possible emission intensity, about 75% of possible emission intensity, and about 100% of possible emission intensity. 
     
     
         28 . The aerosol-generating device according to  claim 16 ,
 wherein the discrete light emitting units are configured as a linear matrix on or extending through a housing of the device, or   wherein the discrete light emitting units are configured as an annular matrix on or extending through the housing of the device.   
     
     
         29 . The aerosol-generating device according to  claim 16 , wherein the indicator is a visual indicator comprising a LCD display screen or an OLED display screen. 
     
     
         30 . The aerosol-generating device according to  claim 16 ,
 wherein the progress of the event is determined and displayed by a visual indicator, and   wherein progression through the 1st to nth indication states involves a corresponding increase in intensity or luminance of light displayed by the visual indicator, or involves a corresponding decrease in intensity or luminance of light displayed by the visual indicator.   
     
     
         31 . The aerosol-generating device according to  claim 16 ,
 wherein the event is a first event,   the aerosol-generating device further being further configured to monitor progress of and display progress in relation to a second event, the second event being different from the first event.   
     
     
         32 . The aerosol-generating device according to  claim 16 , further comprising:
 control electronics; and   at least one visual indicator comprising a plurality of light emitting units,   wherein the control electronics are configured to independently control each one of the plurality of light emitting units in at least:
 i) an off state in which the light emitting unit does not emit light, 
 ii) a first lighting state in which the light emitting unit emits light at a first static luminance level, and 
 iii) a second lighting state in which the light emitting unit emits light at a second static luminance level that is different from the first static luminance level, 
   wherein the control electronics are further configured to control each one of the light emitting units to be in one of the off state, first lighting state, and the second lighting state so as to indicate progression of the event to a user as the sequence of 1st to nth different visual indication states.   
     
     
         33 . The aerosol-generating device according to  claim 32 , wherein the at least one visual indicator is a lighting array.