Visual user interface for aerosol-generating devices

Abstract

A user interface, such as a visual user interface, is configured to display a static or motion image around an aerosol-generating device (10). The aerosol-generating device includes a housing having a curved outer surface surrounding a longitudinal axis and a flexible display (20) having a curved viewing surface at least partially surrounding the longitudinal axis disposed adjacent to the curved outer surface. A control circuit (54) is operatively coupled to the flexible display and includes a memory to store a motion image (30). The control circuit is configured to display the motion image on the curved viewing surface in response to activation of the aerosolizer, which may be executed according to a method, which may be stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium. A remote user device may be used with the aerosol-generating device.

Claims

1. An aerosol-generating device providing a visual user interface, the device comprising: a housing comprising a curved outer surface surrounding a longitudinal axis; a flexible display comprising a curved viewing surface at least partially surrounding the longitudinal axis disposed adjacent to the curved outer surface; an aerosolizer to generate aerosol from an aerosol-generating substrate; and a control circuit operatively coupled to the flexible display and comprising a memory to store a motion image, the control circuit configured to display the motion image on the curved viewing surface in response to activation of the aerosolizer, the control circuit configured to modulate the displayed motion image in response to a puff profile of a user puff used to activate the aerosolizer, wherein the user puff is an inhalation by the user on the aerosol-generating device, and the puff profile describes a magnitude or intensity of the inhalation by the user.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the flexible display is an AMOLED display.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein the flexible display is touch sensitive, and wherein the flexible display is configured to display one or more selectable elements.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein the flexible display extends around the longitudinal axis 90 degrees or more.

5. The device of claim 1, wherein the flexible display is in the shape of a partial cylinder.

6. The device of claim 1, wherein the flexible display is disposed distal to a mouth portion, an actuator, or both, the actuator configured to activate the aerosolizer in response to being pressed by the user.

7. The device of claim 1, wherein the motion image comprises a colour change of at least one portion of the curved viewing surface.

8. The device of claim 1, wherein the control circuit is further configured to display a static or motion image when a user is not puffing on a mouth portion of the device.

9. The device according to claim 1, wherein the memory is configured to store the motion image using at least 500 kilobytes.

10. The device according to claim 1, wherein the memory is configured to store a plurality of images including the motion image.

11. The device according to claim 1, wherein the control circuit comprises a communication interface configured to download one or more images from a remote user device.

12. A method for use with the aerosol-generating device, the method comprising: detecting activation of the aerosolizer of the aerosol-generating device of claim 1; and displaying the motion image on the curved viewing surface of the flexible display.

13. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium including a stored computer program that, when run on programmable electric circuitry, causes the programmable electric circuitry to execute the method according to claim 12.

Description

(1) The visual user interface for the aerosol-generating device may be understood with reference to one or more drawings. The schematic drawings are not necessarily to scale and are presented for purposes of illustration and not limitation. The drawings depict one or more aspects described in this disclosure. However, it will be understood that other aspects not depicted in the drawing fall within the scope of this disclosure.

(2) FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration showing an aerosol-generating device 10 providing a visual user interface 12 for a user. The device 10 may include a housing 14 with an outer surface 16, which may be curved to surround a longitudinal axis 18. Generally, the aerosol-generating device 10 may be elongate and extend along the axis 18.

(3) The device 10 may also include a flexible display 20 with a viewing surface 22, which may be curved to at least partially surround the axis 18. The display 20 may extend around the axis 18 about 90 degrees or more.

(4) The outer surface 16 may include a cylindrical shape. The display 20 may be disposed adjacent to the outer surface 16. The display 20 may be in the shape of a partial cylinder. In particular, the display 20 may be flush to the outer surface 16.

(5) Any suitable display 20 may be used, such as an AMOLED display. The display 20 may be touch sensitive. For example, a transparent touchscreen may cover the viewing surface 22.

(6) The device 10 may include a mouth portion 24 and a controller portion 28. The controller portion 28 may be distal to the mouth portion 24 along the axis 18. An actuator 26 may be disposed on the mouth portion 24 or the controller portion 28. The actuator 26 may be used to activate an aerosolizer of the device 10 in response to the actuator being pressed by the user. The display 20 may be disposed on the mouth portion 24 or the controller portion 28. The display 20 may be disposed distal to the mouth portion 24, the actuator 26, or both.

(7) FIG. 2A, FIG. 2B, and FIG. 2C are schematic illustrations showing a progression over time of a motion image 30 displayed on the aerosol-generating device 10. In particular, various snapshots 31, 32, 33 of the motion image 30 are shown on the viewing surface 22 of the display 20. Although only three snapshots are shown, the motion image 30 may be an animation that includes a plurality of images sufficient to provide a continuous motion experience for the user. As can be seen, the motion image 30 may grow from snapshot 31, which covers about one-third of the viewing surface 22 at an early point in the animation, to snapshot 32, which covers about one-half of the viewing surface at a middle point in the animation. The motion image 30 may then grow to snapshot 32, which covers all or almost all of the viewing surface 22 at a late point in the animation. Although the size of the motion image 30 changes in this illustration, the motion image 30 may change in a various number of ways over time. For example, the motion image 30 may include a change in one or more of colour, brightness, contrast, colour or colour tone, speed of animation, size, and visual quality. The change may be shown on at least one portion of the viewing surface 22.

(8) Change in the motion image 30 may be modulated in response to a puff profile of a user puff, which may also activate an aerosolizer of the device 10. The viewing surface 22 may also be used to display a static image, for example, when a user is not puffing on the mouth portion of the device.

(9) FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration showing an aerosol-generating device 100 in a cross-sectional view, which may be one example of the aerosol-generating device 10 (FIG. 1). The device 100 may include a housing 14, a mouth portion 24, and a controller portion 28. A power source 60, such as a battery, may be operatively coupled to one or more components to provide power. An actuator 26 and a display 20 may be disposed on the controller portion 28. The mouth portion 24 may include an aerosolizer 35 in the form of a heating blade. An aerosol-generating substrate 37 in the form of a heat stick may be inserted into the mouth portion 24 and onto the aerosolizer. A container of the aerosol-generating substrate 37 may include or may be coupled to a mouthpiece 40 and an identifier 42. The user may inhale on the mouthpiece 40 to register a user puff. The identifier 42 may contain an identifier related to the type of aerosol-generating substrate 37 or other related characteristics.

(10) A thermal brake 62 may be disposed between at least a portion of the aerosolizer 35 and a control circuit 54. The aerosolizer 35 may extend through the thermal brake 62. The control circuit 54 may include components to enable various functionality of the device 100, which may be sensitive to heat produced by the aerosolizer 35.

(11) The control circuit 54 may include a controller 50, which may be a microcontroller or microprocessor, and a communications interface 52. The controller 50 may be operatively coupled to the aerosolizer 35 and the communications interface 52. The communications interface 52 may be integrated into the controller 50. The communications interface 52 may be capable of communicating using a Bluetooth protocol, such as BLE. The communications interface 52 may be used to download one or more images from a remote user device. A puff sensor 51 may be operatively coupled to the control circuit 54 and positioned to detect an inhalation of the user on the mouth portion 24.

(12) The control circuit 54 may include a memory 56 operatively coupled to the controller 50. The memory 56 may be used to store data, such as one or more images, user selections, and device configurations. The control circuit 54 may include a display driver 58 operatively coupled to the controller 50. Although not shown, the display driver 58 may be integrated into the controller 50.

(13) The display 20, which may wrap at least partially around the housing 14, may be operatively coupled to the control circuit 54, such as the display driver 58 or the controller 50. An image may be fetched from the memory 56 and provided to the display driver 58 to show on the display 20. One or more motion images may be stored in the memory 56 using at least about 500 kilobytes. The memory 56 may be used to store a plurality of images including one or more motion images.

(14) FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration showing an aerosol-generating device 200 in a cross-sectional view, which may be one example of the aerosol-generating device 10 (FIG. 1). Many of the parts and components depicted in FIG. 3 are the same or similar to those depicted in, and described with regard to, FIG. 2. Reference is made to the discussion above regarding FIG. 2 for numbered elements depicted in, but not specifically discussed with regard to, FIG. 3.

(15) The device 200 may differ from the device 100 in that the aerosolizer 36 may be in the form of a heater, which may include a heating element, and the aerosol-generating substrate 38 may contain a liquid. The mouthpiece 40 may be disposed on the mouth portion 24. The device 200 may not include a thermal brake 62 (FIG. 3).

(16) FIG. 5 is a schematic illustration showing the aerosol-generating device 10, which may be in operative communication to transfer data with a remote user device 70. The remote user device 70 and the device 10 may each include a respective communication interface to enable operative communication between the devices, for example, using a Bluetooth protocol. The remote user device 70 may include a user input and output components, such as a display 72 having a touchscreen. An application 74 may be shown on the display 72 when opened by the user. The application 74 may show one or more elements on the display 72, such as a viewable element 76 or a selectable element 78 (for example, a button).

(17) FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a method 300 for using a remote user device, such as remote user device 70 (FIG. 5). The method 300 may related to customizing an aerosol-generating device. However, the remote user device 70 may be used for other functionality, such as downloading visual artistic effects onto the aerosol-generating device.

(18) The method 300 may begin with process 302, in which a main menu is displayed when an application is opened by a user that relates to interacting with the aerosol-generating device. The method 300 may continue to process 304, in which the remote user device determines whether the user has selected to configure the aerosol-generating device. If so, the method 300 may continue to process 306. If not, the method 300 may keep checking to determine whether the user has made a selection.

(19) In process 306, a submenu may be displayed allowing the user to select one or more functions to customize on the aerosol-generating device, such as customizing a visual artistic effect configuration, a video manual configuration, or a video message configuration. In process 308, the remote user device may determine whether the user has selected to proceed with configuring the one or more selected options. If so, the method 300 may proceed to one or more processes 310, 312, 314. If not, the method 300 may keep checking to determine whether the user has made a selection.

(20) The process may proceed onto one or more of processes 310, 312, 314, which may display one or more submenus on the remote user device concurrently, sequentially, or a combination of both. For example, in process 310, a submenu may be displayed showing a selection to enable a default visual artistic effect or to enable an automatic visual artistic effect. In process 312, a submenu may be displayed showing a selection to start a video manual on power-on or to start a video manual on detecting user pattern. In process 314, a submenu may be displayed to show two or more choices for the video message to be displayed to the user.

(21) Once one or more of processes 310, 312, 314 are completed, the user may choose to download or register the selected configurations onto the aerosol-generating device in process 316. If the remote user device detects that the user has selected to register the configurations, the method 300 may continue to process 318. If not, the method 300 may keep checking to determine whether the user has made a selection. In process 318, the remote user device may download the selected configurations using the respective communication interfaces of the remote user device and the aerosol-generating device. The aerosol-generating device may then store the configurations into memory.

(22) The specific embodiments described above are intended to illustrate the invention. However, other embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the claims, and it is to be understood that the specific embodiments described above are not intended to be limiting.

(23) As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” encompass embodiments having plural referents, unless the content clearly dictates otherwise.

(24) As used herein, “or” is generally employed in its sense including “and/or” unless the content clearly dictates otherwise. The term “and/or” means one or all of the listed elements or a combination of any two or more of the listed elements.

(25) As used herein, “have,” “having,” “include,” “including,” “comprise,” “comprising” or the like are used in their open-ended sense, and generally mean “including, but not limited to.” It will be understood that “consisting essentially of,” “consisting of,” and the like are subsumed in “comprising,” and the like.

(26) The words “preferred” and “preferably” refer to embodiments of the invention that may afford certain benefits, under certain circumstances. However, other embodiments may also be preferred, under the same or other circumstances. Furthermore, the recitation of one or more preferred embodiments does not imply that other embodiments are not useful, and is not intended to exclude other embodiments from the scope of the disclosure, including the claims.