TODAY’S PATENT – ELECTRICALLY OPERATED SMOKING DEVICE INCLUDING A SYSTEM FOR IDENTIFYING SMOKING ARTICLES IN THE DEVICE

This smoking device is jointly invented by the inventors Christiane Gimkiewicz, Rolf Eckert, Edoardo Franzi, David Hasler, Ross Stanley and bears the Patent no. US20210307403A1 is currently assigned to Philip Morris Products SA but the status of the same is pending. The invention was published on 07-10-2021.

  The described invention is a compact handheld smoking device that uses a mirror to achieve a wide field of view in a small space, improving optical efficiency. The device includes a cylindrical cavity with an open end to receive a smoking article. At the base of the cavity, there are a lens, an image detector, and a light source, which emits light at an oblique angle to enhance illumination in the centre of the field of view. The light source can consist of multiple LEDs and may be positioned on a single circuit board with an opaque shield to prevent direct light from reaching the image detector.

The device can also have an aerosol-generating element, like a heater, to interact with the smoking article and produce aerosol. The image detector is connected to control circuitry, including microcontrollers and non-volatile memory, to compare image data with stored data and control the aerosol-generating element accordingly. The smoking system includes the smoking device and a smoking article, which can have various markings on its surface. The smoking article may contain an aerosol-forming substrate, either solid or liquid, which is heated to release aerosol for inhalation.