AEROSOL-GENERATING ARTICLE COMPRISING THREE DIMENSIONAL CODE

Abstract

The aerosol-generating article for use with an aerosol-generating device, the aerosol-generating article comprises an aerosol-forming substrate, and a surface area comprising a three dimensional code. The invention also relates to an aerosol-generating system comprising an aerosol-generating device and an aerosol-generating article.

Claims

1. An aerosol-generating article for use with an electrically operated aerosol-generating device, the aerosol-generating article comprising: an aerosol-forming substrate, and a surface area comprising a three dimensional code, wherein the aerosol-generating article is disc shaped and is rotatably mountable in the aerosol-generating device.

2. An aerosol-generating article according to claim 1, wherein the three dimensional code comprises pits and lands.

3. An aerosol-generating article according to claim 1, wherein the three dimensional code is optically readable or mechanically readable.

4. An aerosol-generating article according to claim 1, wherein the three dimensional code is provided on or in a reflective surface.

5. An electrically operated aerosol-generating device comprising: a cavity for at least partially receiving the aerosol-generating article according to claim 1; a detector capable of reading the three dimensional code of the aerosol-generating article, wherein the cavity for receiving the aerosol-generating article comprises means for rotatably mounting the aerosol-generating article.

6. An electrically operated aerosol-generating device according to claim 5, wherein the detector for reading the three dimensional code comprises optical means for reading the three dimensional code.

7. An electrically operated aerosol-generating article according to claim 6, wherein the optical means for reading the three dimensional code comprises a radiation source.

8. An electrically operated aerosol-generating device according to claim 7, wherein the optical means for reading the three dimensional code further comprises at least one mirror and an optical receiver, and wherein the at least one mirror is configured to direct the radiation onto the three dimensional code, and wherein the optical receiver is configured to receive radiation reflected from the three dimensional code.

9. An electrically operated aerosol-generating device according to claim 5, wherein the detector for reading the three dimensional code comprises mechanical means for reading the three dimensional code.

10. An electrically operated aerosol-generating device according to claim 9, wherein the mechanical means for reading the three dimensional code comprises means for performing surface topology scanning.

11. An electrically operated aerosol-generating device according to claim 10, wherein the mechanical means comprise means for performing atomic force microscopy techniques, wherein the atomic force microscopy techniques comprise a cantilever which is deflectable in response to the surface topography of the surface area comprising the three dimensional code, and wherein the detector further comprises a radiation source for detecting the deflection of the cantilever.

12. An electrically operated aerosol-generating device according to claim 7, wherein the radiation source is also configured for heating the aerosol-forming substrate of the aerosol-generating article.

13. An aerosol-generating system comprising an aerosol-generating article according to claim 1 and an electrically operated aerosol-generating device comprising: a cavity for at least partially receiving the aerosol-generating article; a detector capable of reading the three dimensional code of the aerosol-generating article; wherein the aerosol-generating article is rotatably mounted in the cavity.

14. An aerosol-generating article according to claim 1, wherein the three dimensional code is provided on or in a reflective surface, and is covered by transparent, protective material.

15. An electrically operated aerosol-generating article according to claim 6, wherein the optical means for reading the three dimensional code comprises a laser radiation source.

16. An electrically operated aerosol-generating article according to claim 6, wherein the optical means for reading the three dimensional code comprises a UV or IR radiation source.

17. An electrically operated aerosol-generating device according to claim 9, wherein the mechanical means for reading the three dimensional code comprises means for performing surface topology scanning, wherein the mechanical means comprises means for performing atomic force microscopy techniques.

Description

[0077] FIG. 1 shows an aerosol-generating article according to the present invention. The aerosol-generating article 10 is a replaceable article for use with and for insertion into an aerosol-generating device. The aerosol-generating article 10 depicted in FIG. 1 is disc-shaped and comprises two layers 12a, 12b of aerosol-forming substrate 12 that are affixed together. A sticker 14 comprising a three dimensional code 16 is attached to the upper layer 12a of aerosol-generating substrate 12.

[0078] The sticker 14 comprises a reflective aluminium foil onto which the three dimensional code 16 is engraved. The three dimensional code 16 comprises pits and lands and may have a similar construction as the pits and lands used in CD-ROM or DVD technology. In order to protect the three dimensional code 16 from detrimental external influence, the code structure is protected by a transparent layer made from polyethylene (not shown).

[0079] In use, the aerosol-generating article 10 is rotatably mounted in an aerosol-generating device. The aerosol-generating device comprises a detector 20 configured for reading out the three dimensional code 16 on the aerosol-generating article 10. In the embodiment in FIG. 1 the detector 20 is an optical system comprising a laser diode 22, a receiver 24 and a number of mirrors 25, 26, 27 and beam splitters 28, 29.

[0080] The laser diode 22 is configured to generate a light beam 23 having a wavelength of 405 nanometers. This light beam 23 is directed by the two beam splitters 28, 29 and mirror 25 onto the sticker 14 having the three dimensional code 16. The beam is reflected from the surface of the sticker 14. The reflected beam is received by an optical receiver 24 and evaluated by the controller of the aerosol-generating device. For reading the three dimensional code 16, the aerosol-generating article 10 is rotated in the aerosol-generating device. The rotation of the aerosol-generating article 10 is indicated by the arrow 17 in FIG. 1, and is configured such that the three dimensional code 16 is carried through the laser beam 23. The reflected laser beam is received by the receiver 24 and decoded by a controller.

[0081] The controller is configured to confirm authenticity of the aerosol-generating article 10 based on the information provided in the three dimensional code 16. The controller compares the decoded three dimensional code to one or more expected pieces of information or to an expected decoded three dimensional code to determine authenticity of the aerosol-generating article 10. The three dimensional code 16 may comprise further information on the type of aerosol-forming substrate 12 provided in the aerosol-generating article 10. Based on this information the controller may adjust one or more operating parameters of the aerosol-generating device.

[0082] In FIGS. 2a and 2b two further embodiments of an aerosol-generating article 10 are depicted. In FIG. 2a the aerosol-generating article 10 is also disc-shaped and has a ring shaped outer wall 30 made from aluminium forming the housing of the aerosol-generating article 10. The aerosol-forming substrate 12 is provided in the central area within the ring shaped outer wall 30. The three dimensional code 16 is directly engraved to the outer sidewall 32 of the housing. The three dimensional code 16 is provided at plural locations, such that the code 16 can still be read if one of the areas comprising the code 16 is damaged, for example, during transport or handling of the aerosol-generating article 10.

[0083] The aerosol-forming substrate 12 is provided in four different sections 34 within the aerosol-generating article 10. These sections 34 may each comprise different kinds of aerosol-forming substrate 12. The aerosol-generating device may be configured to heat each of these sections 34 independently from each other. The three dimensional code 16 provides information about the aerosol-forming substrate 12 provided in each section 34 such that the controller can operate the aerosol-generating device according to a desired predefined profile.

[0084] The aerosol-generating article 10 depicted in FIG. 2b is not rotational-symmetric, but is square shaped. The aerosol-forming substrate 12 is again provided in the central area of the aerosol-generating article 10. The three dimensional code 16 is provided on stickers 14 that are attached to each corner of the aerosol-generating article 10.

[0085] The three dimensional code 16 of non-rotational-symmetric aerosol-generating articles 10 may advantageously be read out by a detector that does not require relatively fast rotation of the aerosol-generating article 10. In such embodiments the three dimensional code 16 of the aerosol-generating article 10 of FIG. 2b may be read out using one or more surface scanning techniques, such as atomic force microscopy (AFM).

[0086] FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate the two main working principles of an AFM. In FIG. 3 the so-called contact modus is schematically depicted, in which a bendable cantilever 40 carrying a fine tip 42 is guided across a sample surface 44. The tip 42 of the cantilever 40 follows the surface topography which leads to changes in the bend angle of the cantilever 40. The bend angle of the cantilever 40 is monitored by an optical device including a laser diode 46 and a segmented photodiode 48. The laser diode 46 generates a laser beam 23 that is directed to the backside of the cantilever 40 and is reflected onto the segmented photo diode 48. Slight changes of the bending angle of the cantilever 40 lead to movement of the laser spot across a sensitive area of the photodiode 48, which can be converted by control electronics 49 into a height profile of the scanned sample surface 44.

[0087] Another working principle of an AFM, the so-called non-contact modus is depicted in FIG. 4. Again a bendable cantilever 40 carrying a fine tip 42 is provided. This cantilever 40 is however not brought into direct contact with the surface 44, but is excited by piezo element 43 to oscillate at its eigenfrequency at a certain distance d above the surface 44. When the tip 42 comes close to the surface 44, attractive forces between the surface 44 and the tip 42 slightly influence the oscillation frequency of the cantilever 40. The oscillation of the cantilever 40 is again detected by a laser beam 23 that is reflected from the backside of the cantilever 40 onto a segmented photo diode (not shown in FIG. 4).

[0088] The change of the oscillation frequency is a direct measure for the attractive forces between tip 42 and surface 44. Since these forces strongly depend on the distance between tip 42 and sample surface 44, the change of the oscillation frequency is also directly related to the distance between the tip 42 and the sample surface 44. The distance of the tip 42 to the surface 44 can be adjusted by piezoelectric positioning elements 50. In order to generate a topographic image of the surface 44 in non-contact AFM mode, the cantilever 40 is scanned over the surface 44, and the oscillation frequency is kept constant by adjusting the distance between tip 42 and surface 44 according to the surface topography. Thus, by recording the vertical adjustment movement of the cantilever 40 during scanning of a surface area 44 a topographic image of the surface 44 is obtained.

[0089] In order to read the three dimensional code 16 of the aerosol-generating article 10 of FIG. 2b, when the aerosol-generating article 10 is received by the aerosol-generating device, a compact AFM device provided in the aerosol-generating device may be arranged on or close to one of the stickers 14 provided on either of the four corners of the aerosol-generating article 10. The AFM may automatically read out the three dimensional code 16 of one of the stickers 14. Again the control unit is configured to evaluate the AFM image and to decode the information provided in the three dimensional code 16.

[0090] In FIG. 5 a code as used in CD ROMs is depicted. The code consists of pits 62 and lands 64 provided in a reflective surface 60. Each single pit 62 has a width 66 and a length 68 and a depth. In some embodiments, each pit has identical dimensions, and it is simply the distribution of the pits over a surface area which provide the three dimensional code. In some embodiments, one or more pits has a different one or more dimension but an ordered distribution of the pits. In some embodiments, all of the distribution or the pits and one or more of the dimensions of the pits may differ to provide the three dimensional code. In the illustrated embodiment shown in FIG. 5, each pit 62 has a width 66 of about 600 nanometers and a length 68 of about 800 nanometers and is about 200 nanometers deep. The pitch 70 between rows amounts to 1.6 micrometers. For the three dimensional code 16 of the present invention a single row of pits 62 and lands 64 might be sufficient, in some embodiments, to comprise the desired information. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, a laser diode generating a laser beam 23 with a wavelength 72 of about 780 nanometers may be used. The spot size 74 of the laser beam on the surface is typically slightly larger than the width of the pits and may amount to about 1.5 micrometers. The depth of the pits 62 amounts to about ¼ of the wavelength of the laser beam 23.

[0091] FIG. 6 shows a topographic image of a CD-ROM as taken by a contact-mode atomic force microscope. The pits 62 and lands 64 are aligned along rows having a pitch 60 of about 1.6 micrometers. The pits 62 appear as dark depressions between the bright lands 64.

[0092] CD devices typically use the so-called eight-to-fourteen-modulation (EFM) for a binary code in which a change from pit 62 to land 64 and vice-versa corresponds to a “1” bit, and in which no change corresponds to a “0” bit. A similar encoding may be used for embodiments in which the aerosol-generating article 10 of the invention is rotatably mounted and in which the code is optically detected during rotation of the aerosol-generating article 10. For embodiments in which surface scanning techniques are used to detect the three dimensional code 16 a different encoding may be applied. For example the pits 62 may correspond to a binary “0” and the lands 64 may correspond to a binary “1”.

[0093] In the embodiment of FIG. 1 beam splitters 28, 29 and mirror 25 are used to direct a part of the laser beam 23 towards the sticker 14 of the aerosol-generating article 10 and in order to read out the information provided in the three dimensional code 16. The other portion of the laser beam 23 is directed directly towards the aerosol-forming substrate 12 and is used to heat, or at least to assist in heating, the aerosol-forming substrate 12. To this end, additional mirrors 26, 27 are provided. The beam splitters 28, 29 and mirrors 25, 26, 27 may be movably mounted within the aerosol-generating device (indicated to the bidirectional arrows in FIG. 1), and may be adjusted to direct the laser beam 23 to specific desired sections of the aerosol-forming substrate 12. This may particularly be useful with aerosol-generating articles 10 as depicted in FIG. 2a comprising a plurality of different sections 34 comprising different kinds of aerosol-forming substrates 12. Depending on the information provided in the three dimensional code 16, the controller may adjust the optical system such that the laser light is directed towards the desired aerosol-forming substrate 12.

[0094] FIG. 7 shows an exploded view of an aerosol-generating system 80 comprising an aerosol-generating device 81 and an aerosol-generating article 10. The aerosol-generating device 81 comprises a main housing part 82 and a mouthpiece part 84. The main housing part 82 comprises a power source 86, a controller 88, a detector 20 and a rotatable mounting plate 90. The mouthpiece part 84 is configured to be detachable form the main housing part 82. For insertion of an aerosol-generating article 10, the mouthpiece part 84, is temporarily removed such that the aerosol-generating article 10 can be inserted onto to the rotatable plate 90. After insertion of the aerosol-generating article 10 the mouthpiece part 84 is re-attached to the main housing part 82, and the aerosol-generating system 80 is ready for use.

[0095] The aerosol-generating article is mounted to the mounting plate 90. The detector 20 is an optical system as depicted in FIG. 1 comprising a laser diode, a receiver and a number of mirrors and beam splitters (not show in detail in FIG. 7). The light beam generated by the laser diode is directed to the rotatably mounted aerosol-generating article 10 for reading the three dimensional code.