WO2025126338A1 - Aerosol generation device - Google Patents

Abstract

This aerosol generation device comprises: a heating unit that heats an aerosol source; a contact sensor that detects an operation on a predetermined part of a housing surface; a function for controlling heating of the aerosol source by the heating unit; and a processor whereby a function for controlling operations that can be received by the contact sensor is executed in accordance with the operation mode.

Description

Aerosol Generator

This disclosure relates to an aerosol generating device.

Some aerosol generating devices, which are portable electronic devices, are equipped with push buttons or slide switches. These controls are displaced by the user's operation, making it easy to get a sense of operation.

International Publication No. 2022/123796

It is expected that future aerosol generators will adopt contact sensors, which will make it possible to suggest new ways of using the aerosol generator to users.
On the other hand, since contact sensors are devices that do not involve mechanical displacement when inputting operations, a mechanism is required to prevent unintended operations from being performed without the user realizing it.

In consideration of the above problems, the present disclosure provides a technology for preventing unintended operation of an aerosol generating device that employs a contact sensor.

As one embodiment of the present disclosure, an aerosol generating device is provided that has a heating unit that heats an aerosol source, a contact sensor that detects an operation on a specific portion of the surface of a housing, a function to control the heating of the aerosol source by the heating unit, and a processor that executes a function to control the operation that can be accepted by the contact sensor depending on the operating mode.

The processor may control the operation so that a first input operation can be accepted when the operating mode is a heating mode of the aerosol source, and may control the operation so that a second input operation different from the first input operation can be accepted when the operating mode is a non-heating mode of the aerosol source.

The processor here may limit the acceptance of input operations to operations on specific parts when the operating mode is the aerosol source heating mode.

The particular portion may be at least one surface of the housing.

The first input operation may be an operation related to at least one of stopping heating of the aerosol source and confirming the physical quantity.

The physical quantity here may be at least one of the remaining charge of the battery which is the power source, the number of aerosol sources that can be inhaled with the remaining charge, the remaining charge of the aerosol source in use, the remaining number of inhalations or the remaining inhalation time that can be performed with the aerosol source in use, and the cumulative number of inhalations to date.

The second input operation may be an operation to change the control sequence used to heat the aerosol source.

The second input operation here is a first directional operation that increases the maximum temperature from the current control sequence, and a second directional operation that decreases the maximum temperature from the current control sequence, and the operation directions of the first directional operation and the second directional operation may be different.

When the operating mode is the heating mode, the processor here may allow the acceptance of an operation via the contact sensor on condition that a specified operation is detected by the acceleration sensor.

In addition, when the operating mode is the non-heating mode, the processor may allow the acceptance of an operation via the contact sensor on condition that a specific operation is detected by the acceleration sensor.

The processor may also permit the acceptance of operations via the contact sensor only for a predetermined period of time after the acceleration sensor detects a predetermined operation.

The non-heating mode may be at least one of an active mode, a sleep mode, a charging mode, and a pairing mode.

The number of types of first input operations may be fewer than the number of types of second input operations.

The processor may include a first processor that controls the heating of the aerosol source by the heating unit, and a second processor that controls operations that can be accepted by the contact sensor depending on the operating mode.

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, unintended operation of an aerosol generating device that employs a contact sensor can be prevented.

1 is a diagram showing the front side of the aerosol generation device assumed in embodiment 1, observed obliquely from above. 13 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the opening is exposed by sliding the slide cover. FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a schematic internal configuration of a main body portion. 4A to 4C are diagrams illustrating the positional relationship between a touch sensor and a vibration motor in the first embodiment. 4A and 4B are diagrams illustrating the relationship between the mounting positions of a touch sensor and a vibration motor. A diagram explaining the operation modes provided in the aerosol generating device used in embodiment 1 and the transitions between the operation modes. 11 is a diagram illustrating a first example of a combination of an input operation and a haptic feedback. 13 is a diagram illustrating a second example of a combination of an input operation and a haptic feedback. 13 is a diagram illustrating a third example of a combination of an input operation and a haptic feedback. 13 is a diagram illustrating a fourth example of a combination of an input operation and a haptic feedback. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating other feedback. 11A and 11B are diagrams illustrating the difference in the positions where input can be made between a heating mode and a non-heating mode. 11 is a diagram illustrating another relationship between an input operation and haptic feedback. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a process of accepting an input operation assumed in the fourth embodiment. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a process of accepting an input operation assumed in the fifth embodiment. 23 is a diagram illustrating the positional relationship between nine touch sensors and a vibration motor in embodiment 6. FIG. 23A to 23C are diagrams illustrating the relationship between the arrangement of touch sensors and input operations in a sixth embodiment. 11A and 11B are diagrams illustrating areas where input operations are valid and invalid in a sleep mode. 11A and 11B are diagrams illustrating the difference in the positions where input can be made between a heating mode and a non-heating mode. 13 is a diagram illustrating the positional relationship between a touch sensor and a vibration motor in embodiment 7. FIG. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a downward swipe operation. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of an upward swipe operation. 13 is a table for explaining an example of a combination of an input operation and a haptic feedback in the seventh embodiment. 13A to 13C are diagrams illustrating other positional relationships between the touch sensor and the vibration motor in the seventh embodiment. 13 is a diagram showing the aerosol generating device assumed in embodiment 8, observed from diagonally above. 13A to 13C are diagrams illustrating other positional relationships between the touch sensor and the vibration motor in the eighth embodiment. This is a diagram of the aerosol generation device 1 assumed in embodiment 9, observed from diagonally above. 23A to 23C are diagrams illustrating the relationship between the mounting positions of a touch sensor and a vibration motor in embodiment 10. 1 is a diagram illustrating differences in input operations of an aerosol generating device depending on the type of aerosol source and the heating temperature.

Below, an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. In each drawing, the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals.

<Terminology>
The aerosol generation device according to each embodiment is a form of electronic cigarette.
In the following description, the substance generated by the aerosol generating device is called an aerosol. An aerosol is a mixture of air or other gas and minute liquid or solid particles suspended in gas.
In each embodiment, an aerosol generating device that generates an aerosol without combustion will be described.

Inhalation of the aerosol generated by the aerosol generating device is also called a "puff."
In each embodiment, an aerosol generating device to which a solid aerosol source can be attached will be described. The container for storing the solid aerosol source is called a "capsule" or a "stick-type substrate" depending on the product form. Capsules and stick-type substrates are consumables. For this reason, a replacement guideline is set for the capsule and stick-type substrate.

<First embodiment>
In the first embodiment, an aerosol generating device that heats a stick-shaped substrate that contains a solid aerosol source at a high temperature (for example, 200° C. or higher) will be described.

<Appearance example>
First, an example of the appearance of the aerosol generating device used in the first embodiment will be described.
FIG. 1 is a diagram of the front side of an aerosol generation device 1 according to the first embodiment, observed obliquely from above.
The aerosol generation device 1 used in this embodiment has a size that allows a user to hold it in one hand. The aerosol generation device 1 has a main body 10 and a slide cover 20.
The main body 10 is a substantially hexahedron. Specifically, each face of the main body 10 is connected to the adjacent faces by curved surfaces. An opening 10A (see FIG. 2), not shown, is provided on the top face of the main body 10 to which a cylindrical stick-shaped substrate 30 (see FIG. 3) can be attached and detached.

The outer appearance of the main body 10 is determined by the surface of the housing. The housing divides the main body 10 into an inner space and an outer space.
In the present embodiment, the entire surface of the main body 10 is also referred to as the "casing surface." Also, a portion of the surface of the main body 10 is also referred to as the "casing surface."
The slide cover 20 is a component that can slide along the upper surface of the main body 10. In the case of Fig. 1, the opening 10A is covered by the slide cover 20. As shown in Fig. 1, the state in which the opening 10A is covered by the slide cover 20 is referred to as a "closed state." Moreover, the slide position of the slide cover 20 in this state is referred to as a "closed position."

Fig. 2 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the opening 10A is exposed by sliding the sliding cover 20. In Fig. 2, the same reference numerals are used to indicate parts corresponding to those in Fig. 1. As shown in Fig. 2, the state in which the opening 10A is exposed is called the "open state." Moreover, the sliding position of the sliding cover 20 in this state is called the "open position."
The opening 10A forms the open end of a generally cylindrical holding portion 109 (see FIG. 3) that holds the stick-shaped substrate 30. For this reason, the opening 10A is generally circular. The slide cover 20 shown in FIG. 2 slides along a guide groove (not shown) formed on the upper surface or the back side of the main body 10.
In the following description, the surface on which the thumb is positioned when the user holds the main body 10 with the right hand with the slide cover 20 in the upper position is referred to as the front surface. In other words, the surface facing the user when the opening 10A is located on the left side of the main body 10 as viewed from the user is referred to as the front surface.

<Internal structure>
Fig. 3 is a diagram showing a schematic internal configuration of the main body 10. A stick-shaped substrate 30 is attached to an opening 10A of the main body 10 shown in Fig. 3.
3 is intended to explain the components and their positional relationships provided in the main body 10. For this reason, the appearance of the components and the like shown in FIG. 3 does not necessarily match the appearance diagram described above.

The main body 10 is composed of a power supply unit 101 , a sensor unit 102 , a notification unit 103 , a memory unit 104 , a communication unit 105 , a control unit 106 , a heating unit 107 , a heat insulating unit 108 , and a holding unit 109 .
3 is held by a holding part 109. A user inhales the aerosol with the stick-shaped substrate 30 attached to the holding part 109.

The power supply unit 101 is a unit that supplies power to each component. The power supply unit 101 uses a secondary battery to store the power required by the main body unit 10. For example, a lithium ion secondary battery is used as the secondary battery. The secondary battery can be charged from an external power source. In the case of the first embodiment, the external power source is connected via a USB connector (not shown). The USB connector is provided, for example, on the bottom surface of the main body unit 10.

The sensor unit 102 is an electronic component that detects various types of information related to the main body unit 10 .
The sensor unit 102 includes, for example, a magnetic sensor used to detect the sliding position of the sliding cover 20 (see FIG. 1). The magnetic sensor is disposed within the movable range of the sliding cover 20, and detects the strength of a magnetic field corresponding to the sliding position of the sliding cover 20. The magnetic field to be detected is generated by a magnet attached to the sliding cover 20. The control unit 106 detects whether the sliding position of the sliding cover 20 is in the open position or the closed position based on the information on the magnetic field strength notified from the magnetic field sensor.

The sensor unit 102 includes, for example, a pressure sensor such as a microphone capacitor, and a flow sensor. The flow sensor notifies the control unit 106 of information indicating, for example, a change in air pressure or an air flow caused by inhalation.
The sensor unit 102 includes, for example, a contact sensor that detects a user's operation input. In this embodiment, a touch sensor 102A (see FIG. 4) is used as the contact sensor. The touch sensor 102A is provided at a predetermined portion of the surface of the housing used for operation input. In this embodiment, the touch sensor 102A is a sensor that detects the contact of a user's hand, finger, etc. as a change in capacitance, and is disposed on the rear side of the housing corresponding to the predetermined portion. The control unit 106 detects the operation input by the user based on information on the change in capacitance notified from the touch sensor 102A. The information on the change in capacitance includes not only the coordinate position where the contact was detected, but also the transition (or the trajectory of the movement), the movement speed, the contact time, etc.

In addition, the sensor unit 102 includes, for example, a temperature sensor that detects the temperature of the heating unit 107. The temperature sensor detects the temperature of the heating unit 107 based on, for example, changes in the electrical resistance value of the conductive track of the heating unit 107. A voltage corresponding to the current electrical resistance value is output from the temperature sensor. The control unit 106 calculates the temperature of the heating unit 107 from the output voltage of the temperature sensor. This temperature sensor is used for the purpose of changing the temperature of the heating unit 107 in accordance with a heating profile. Other temperature sensors include a temperature sensor that detects the ambient temperature of the heating unit 107, and a temperature sensor that detects the temperature near the surface of the main body unit 10. These two temperature sensors are used from the perspective of detecting unexpected temperature increases. In other words, the temperature sensor here is provided from the perspective of safety.

The notification unit 103 is an electronic component that notifies the user of various information related to the main body 10. The notification unit 103 includes, for example, a vibration device that vibrates the main body 10. The vibration device includes, for example, a vibration motor 103A (see FIG. 4). In this embodiment, an LRA (=Linear Resonant Actuator) is used as the vibration motor 103A. The LRA is a linear resonance type actuator. The LRA generates vibrations that can be perceived by the user by driving a voice coil at the resonant frequency of a spring. This vibration is perceived by the user through the skin. In this respect, the vibration motor 103A is an example of a haptic device.
The other notification units 103 include, for example, an LED or other light emitting device, a display device that displays characters, images, and other information, and a sound output device that outputs sound.

A light-emitting device expresses information by, for example, turning on and off one or more light-emitting sources individually, the amount of light (i.e., brightness), a lighting pattern or blinking pattern, and a combination of light emission colors.
The display device is, for example, a liquid crystal display or an organic EL (Electro Luminescence) display, and displays characters and images on the display surface. The display device notifies, for example, the remaining charge of the aerosol source, the remaining charge of the battery, the operating mode, a charging error, an operating abnormality, an abnormal temperature, and other information.
The sound output device is composed of, for example, a speaker and an amplifier, and notifies information by, for example, voice, volume, sound frequency, and output pattern (i.e., melody).

Fig. 4 is a diagram for explaining the positional relationship between the touch sensor 102A and the vibration motor 103A in the embodiment 1. The touch sensor 102A and the vibration motor 103A are both provided in the internal space of the housing of the main body 10. For this reason, the attachment positions of the touch sensor 102A and the vibration motor 103A are indicated by dashed lines in Fig. 4.
4, the touch sensor 102A has a substantially square shape. The touch sensor 102A shown in FIG.

The touch sensor 102A is disposed within a range where tapping or swiping with the thumb is possible when the main body 10 is held in the right hand. For this reason, the touch sensor 102A shown in Fig. 4 is disposed closer to the upper surface than the center in the height direction of the main body 10. However, fingers other than the thumb may be used for input operations.
The dimensions of the touch sensor 102A are set according to the thumb movement assumed for the operation input. For example, the dimensions of the touch sensor 102A required when only a tap operation is assumed can be smaller than the dimensions of the touch sensor 102A required when a swipe operation is assumed.

In addition, when a swipe operation in the left-right direction (X direction in FIG. 4) is assumed as the operation input, the dimension in the X direction may be longer than the dimension in the Z direction, and when a swipe operation in the up-down direction (Z direction in FIG. 4) is assumed, the dimension in the Z direction may be longer than the dimension in the X direction. In this embodiment, in addition to a tap operation, a swipe operation in the horizontal direction and the up-down direction is also assumed. For this reason, a roughly square touch sensor 102A is adopted.
In the present embodiment, the vibration motor 103A is disposed near the touch sensor 102A. Incidentally, Fig. 4 shows a state in which the vibration motor 103A is disposed near the center of the touch sensor 102A.

However, since it is not possible to physically place the touch sensor 102A and the vibration motor 103A in the same space, the vibration motor 103A is actually placed behind the touch sensor 102A when viewed from the front of the main body 10.
5 is a diagram for explaining the relationship between the mounting positions of the touch sensor 102A and the vibration motor 103A. In FIG. 5, the positional relationship is shown when the inside of the main body 10 is seen through from the right side surface side.

5, the vibration motor 103A is located on the rear side of the touch sensor 102A. In other words, the vibration motor 103A is located on the rear side of the touch sensor 102A.
In this embodiment, the difference in vibration strength is easily conveyed to the user by shortening the distance between the vibration motor 103A and the touch sensor 102A.

The storage unit 104 is an electronic component that stores various information related to the operation of the main body unit 10. The storage unit 104 is configured by a non-volatile semiconductor storage medium such as a flash memory.
The information stored in the storage unit 104 includes, for example, an OS (Operating System), FW (FirmWare), and other programs.
The information stored in the storage unit 104 includes, for example, information related to the control of electronic components. The information related to the control includes information related to suction by the user, such as the number of suctions, the time of suction, and the cumulative suction time. This information is also called an operation log.

The communication unit 105 is a communication interface for realizing communication between the main body 10 and other devices. The communication unit 105 communicates with other devices in a manner conforming to any wired or wireless communication standard. Examples of communication standards include wireless LAN (Local Area Network), USB, Wi-Fi (registered trademark), and Bluetooth (registered trademark).
For example, the communication unit 105 transmits information regarding inhalation by the user to the smartphone. The communication unit 105 also downloads, from the server, update programs and a heating profile that defines a temperature change of the heating unit 107 in the heating mode.

The control unit 106 functions as an arithmetic processing unit or a control device, and controls the operation of each part constituting the main body unit 10 in accordance with various programs.
The control signal is transmitted through a signal line different from the power line. For example, the communication within the main body 10 uses a serial communication method such as an I2C (Inter-Integrated Circuit) communication method, an SPI (Serial Peripheral Interface) communication method, or a UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter) communication method.

The control unit 106 is realized by electronic circuits such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), an MCU (Micro Controller Unit), an MPU (Micro Processing Unit), a GPU (Graphical Processing Unit), an ASIC (application specific integrated circuit), an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), a DSP (Digital Signal Processor), etc. The control unit 106 is an example of a processor.
The control unit 106 may include a ROM (Read Only Memory) that stores programs, calculation parameters, etc., and a RAM (Random Access Memory) that temporarily stores parameters that change as appropriate.

The control unit 106 executes various processes and controls through the execution of programs.
The processing and control here include, for example, power supply by power supply unit 101, charging of power supply unit 101, detection of information by sensor unit 102, notification of information using notification unit 103, writing of information to memory unit 104 or reading of information from memory unit 104, and sending and receiving of information using communication unit 105.
In addition, the control unit 106 also controls the input of information to the electronic components, and processing based on information output from the electronic components.

The holding part 109 is a generally cylindrical container. In this embodiment, the space inside the holding part 109 defined by the inner wall and the bottom surface is referred to as the internal space 109A. The internal space 109A is generally columnar. The open end of the holding part 109 corresponds to the opening 10A that is exposed by sliding the slide cover 20. The stick-shaped substrate 30 is inserted into the internal space 109A from the opening 10A. The stick-shaped substrate 30 can be inserted until its tip hits the bottom 109B.
Only a portion of the stick-shaped substrate 30 is accommodated in the internal space 109A. When the stick-shaped substrate 30 is accommodated in the internal space 109A, the stick-shaped substrate 30 is said to be held in the internal space 109A.

The inner diameter of the roughly cylindrical holding part 109 is roughly the same as the outer diameter of the stick-shaped substrate 30. However, the inner diameter of the holding part 109 is formed to be smaller than the outer diameter of the stick-shaped substrate 30 in at least a portion of its axial direction.
At this position, the outer peripheral surface of the stick-shaped substrate 30 is pressed by the inner wall of the holding part 109. Due to this pressure, the stick-shaped substrate 30 is deformed and is held in the internal space 109A.
The holder 109 also has the function of defining an air flow path that passes through the stick-shaped substrate 30. An air inlet hole, which is an air inlet to the flow path, is disposed, for example, in the bottom 109B. The opening 10A corresponds to an air outlet hole, which is an air outlet.

In the present embodiment, only a portion of stick-shaped substrate 30 is held in internal space 109A, and the remainder protrudes from the housing. Hereinafter, the portion of stick-shaped substrate 30 held in internal space 109A is referred to as substrate portion 30A, and the portion protruding from the housing is referred to as suction mouth portion 30B.
At least the base portion 30A contains an aerosol source. The aerosol source is a substance that is atomized by heating to generate an aerosol.
Aerosol sources include tobacco cuts, processed products made from tobacco raw materials in the form of granules, sheets, or powder, and other tobacco-derived substances.

Additionally, the aerosol source may include non-tobacco derived substances made from plants other than tobacco, such as mints, herbs, etc. For example, the aerosol source may include flavoring ingredients such as menthol.
When the main body 10 is a medical inhaler, the aerosol source may contain a medicine for the patient to inhale. Note that the aerosol source is not limited to a solid, and may be, for example, a polyhydric alcohol such as glycerin or propylene glycol, or a liquid such as water.

At least a portion of the suction mouth portion 30B is held in the user's mouth when inhaling.
When a user holds the suction mouth portion 30B in his/her mouth and inhales, air flows into the internal space 109A through the air inlet hole. The air that flows in passes through the internal space 109A and the base portion 30A and reaches the user's mouth. The air that reaches the user's mouth contains aerosol generated in the base portion 30A.

The heating unit 107 is composed of a heater or other heat generating element. The heating unit 107 is composed of any material such as metal, polyimide, etc. The heating unit 107 is, for example, in the form of a film, and is attached to the inner wall surface of the holding unit 109 that defines the internal space 109A.
The aerosol source contained in the stick-shaped substrate 30 is heated and atomized by the heat generated by the heating unit 107. The atomized aerosol source is mixed with air or the like to generate an aerosol.
In the case of FIG. 3, the vicinity of the periphery of the stick-shaped substrate 30 is heated first, and the heated range gradually moves toward the center.

Therefore, atomization of the aerosol source begins near the periphery of the stick-shaped substrate 30 and gradually moves toward the center.
The heating unit 107 generates heat when power is supplied from the power supply unit 101. For example, when a predetermined operation by the user is detected by the sensor unit 102, power supply to the heating unit 107 is permitted. The predetermined operation by the user here includes an operation of opening and closing the slide cover 20 (see FIG. 1 ) and an operation on a contact sensor (e.g., touch sensor 102A).

When the temperature of the stick-shaped substrate 30 heated by the heating unit 107 reaches a predetermined temperature, the user can inhale the aerosol. The change in the target temperature over time from the start of heating to the end of heating is stored in the storage unit 104 as a heating profile. The heating profile is an example of a control sequence. The inhalation of the aerosol by the user is detected by a flow rate sensor or the like of the sensor unit 102 and stored in the storage unit 104.
When a predetermined time has elapsed since the start of heating, or when a predetermined operation by the user is detected, power supply to the heating unit 107 is stopped. The predetermined operation is, for example, removal of the stick-shaped substrate 30.

In the example of FIG. 3 , the heating unit 107 is disposed on the outer periphery of the stick-shaped substrate 30 , but the heating unit 107 may be a blade-shaped metal piece that is inserted into the stick-shaped substrate 30 .
In addition, for example, an induction heating method may be used to atomize the aerosol source. In the case of this type of heating method, the heating unit 107 has at least an electromagnetic induction source such as a coil that generates a magnetic field. At this time, a susceptor is placed at a position where it overlaps with the magnetic field generated by the electromagnetic induction source. The susceptor generates heat with the generation of the magnetic field and heats the aerosol source. The susceptor may be a metal piece built into the stick-shaped substrate 30. When a metal piece acting as the heating unit 107 is built into the stick-shaped substrate 30, a coil that inductively heats the metal piece is placed around the holding unit 109. Also, a susceptor may be placed on the outer periphery of the stick-shaped substrate 30 in the main body 10, and a coil that is an electromagnetic induction source may be wound around the outer periphery.

The heat insulating section 108 is a member that reduces the propagation of heat generated in the heating section 107 to the surroundings. For this reason, the heat insulating section 108 is disposed so as to cover at least the outer circumferential surface of the heating section 107.
The heat insulating section 108 is composed of, for example, a vacuum heat insulating material, an aerogel heat insulating material, etc. The vacuum heat insulating material is a heat insulating material in which, for example, glass wool and silica (silicon powder) are wrapped in a resin film and placed in a high vacuum state, thereby reducing the thermal conduction of gas to as close to zero as possible.

<Operation mode>
FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the operation modes prepared in the aerosol generation device 1 (see FIG. 1) used in the first embodiment and the transition between the operation modes.
The aerosol generation device 1 used in the first embodiment has nine operation modes: a charging mode M1, a sleep mode M2, error modes M3 and M4, a pairing mode M5, an active mode M6, an initialization mode M7, a heating mode M8, and a heating end mode M9.
The charging mode M1, the sleep mode M2, the error modes M3 and M4, the pairing mode M5, and the active mode M6 are examples of the non-heating mode, while the initialization mode M7, the heating mode M8, and the heating end mode M9 are examples of the heating mode.

Each operation mode will be explained in turn below.
・Charging mode M1
The charging mode M1 is a mode in which the secondary battery is charged using a USB cable. In the charging mode M1, deep discharge and over-discharge of the secondary battery are also detected.

・Sleep mode M2
The sleep mode M2 is a mode in which most functions are stopped, in other words, the sleep mode M2 is a mode in which power consumption is lower than the other modes.
However, it is possible to detect the closed state of the slide cover 20 (see FIG. 1), monitor the state of the secondary battery, and detect transition to another operation mode.
Incidentally, a dedicated processor (hereinafter referred to as a "fuel gauge IC") is used to monitor the state of the secondary battery. The fuel gauge IC is a processor separate from the MCU.

The transition from the charging mode M1 to the sleep mode M2 is executed, for example, when the USB cable is removed during charging. However, if a function is provided to warn the user by vibration or sound when the USB cable is removed during charging, it is also possible to operate in such a way that the switching to the sleep mode M2 is not executed immediately.
The transition from active mode M6 to sleep mode M2 is performed, for example, when the slide cover 20 moves from the open position to the closed position, when a specified operation is detected via the touch sensor 102A (see Figure 4), or when a state of no operation continues for more than a specified time.
The transition from the sleep mode M2 to the active mode M6 is executed, for example, when the slide cover 20 moves from the closed position to the open position or when a startup operation is detected via the touch sensor 102A.
The sleep mode M2 is switched to the charging mode M1 when, for example, a USB cable is connected.

・Error mode M3
The error mode M3 is a mode that appears temporarily when a recoverable error such as a temperature abnormality occurs.
When the device enters the error mode M3, an error notification is output, and the device returns to the sleep mode M2 after a certain time has elapsed or after a certain condition for canceling the error is satisfied. The error notification is, for example, a vibration of a certain strength.
There is also a possibility of transitioning to the error mode M3 from the charging mode M1, the active mode M6, the initialization mode M7, and the heating mode M8.

・Error mode M4
The error mode M4 is a mode which appears when an irrecoverable error occurs, such as deep discharge, end of life of the secondary battery, short circuit, etc. Transition from the error mode M4 to other modes is prohibited.
・Pairing mode M5
The pairing mode M5 is a mode for executing pairing with an external device, for example, using Bluetooth.
The transition from the sleep mode M2 to the pairing mode M5 is executed when a pairing operation is detected via the touch sensor 102A, for example.

・Active mode M6
In the active mode M6, most of the functions except for heating can be used. For example, it is possible to transmit a heating profile to an external device, receive a heating profile from an external device, change the heating profile used to heat the stick-shaped substrate 30 (change the heating temperature), change the brand of the stick-shaped substrate 30 to be heated, and check various information.
The transition from the sleep mode M2 to the active mode M6 is executed, for example, when the slide cover 20 moves from the closed position to the open position or when a startup operation is detected via the touch sensor 102A.

The transition from active mode M6 to sleep mode M2 is executed when the slide cover 20 moves from the open position to the closed position, when a specified operation is detected via the touch sensor 102A (see FIG. 4), or when no operation is performed in active mode M6 for a specified period of time or more.
The transition from the active mode M6 to the initialization mode M7 is executed when an operation to instruct the start of heating is detected via the touch sensor 102A with the slide cover 20 in the open position.
In addition, it is also possible to transition from active mode M6 to charging mode M1 or pairing mode M5.

・Initialization mode M7
The initialization mode M7 is a mode that is executed before heating of the stick-shaped substrate 30 starts.
In the initialization mode M7, initial settings, preheating, etc. are performed. In the initial settings, for example, a heating profile used for heating the stick-shaped substrate 30 is loaded. Preheating refers to heating the stick-shaped substrate 30 in advance in order to generate a certain amount of aerosol immediately after the start of the heating mode M8.
If an error occurs during the initialization, the mode transitions from the initialization mode M7 to the error mode M3. Examples of errors during the initialization include failure to read the heating profile and removal of the stick-shaped substrate 30.

・Heating mode M8
The heating mode M8 is a mode in which the stick-shaped substrate 30 is heated to generate an aerosol.
The stick-shaped substrate 30 is heated based on a heating profile. The heating profile defines the relationship between the elapsed time from the start of heating and the target temperature at each time point. The control unit 106 controls the heating unit 107 to turn on and off so that the measured temperature at each elapsed time coincides with the target temperature. When the heating unit 107 is controlled to turn on (when electricity is applied to the heater), heat is generated, and when the heating unit 107 is controlled to turn off (when electricity is stopped being applied to the heater), heat generation stops.
The transition from the initialization mode M7 to the heating mode M8 is performed when the initial settings are completed. If an error occurs during heating, the mode transitions from the heating mode M8 to the error mode M3. Examples of errors during heating include the detection of an abnormal temperature exceeding the target temperature and the removal of the stick-shaped substrate 30.

・Heating end mode M9
The heating end mode M9 is a mode in which the heating end process is executed.
The heating termination process includes, for example, updating of management data, such as the current number of suctions, the cumulative number of suctions, and the cumulative number of stick-shaped substrates 30.
The transition from the heating mode M8 to the heating end mode M9 is executed, for example, when a predetermined time defined in the heating profile has elapsed or when a heating end operation is performed via the touch sensor 102A.
The transition from the heating end mode M9 to the active mode M6 is executed when the end process is completed.

<Combination of input operation and haptic feedback>
Below, we will explain examples of combinations of input operations on the touch sensor 102A (see FIG. 4) and haptic feedback from the vibration motor 103A (see FIG. 4). Below, we will explain four combination examples according to the type of input operation. Needless to say, each combination example is merely an example, and is not intended to exclude other combination examples.
However, in one operation mode, only one instruction can be assigned to one input operation, so when multiple instruction contents are illustrated for one input operation in one operation mode, it is merely a reference example, and when implemented in an actual device, only one of the multiple instruction contents is adopted.

<Combination example 1: tap and swipe operations>
FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a first example of a combination of an input operation and a haptic feedback.
In the first combination example, a tap operation and a swipe operation are assumed as input operations.
In the case of the combination example 1, a linear movement is assumed as the swipe operation. For example, a finger movement is assumed up, down, left, and right. However, it is also possible to combine a diagonally upward movement or a diagonally downward movement.

When assuming finger movements up, down, left, and right as a swipe operation, only four types of instructions can be assigned to one operation mode. However, by combining diagonally upward and downward movements, it becomes possible to assign eight types of instructions to one operation mode.
For haptic feedback, different vibration patterns are used. In a broad sense, vibration patterns include different vibration frequencies with a single vibration intensity (including different timings for outputting vibrations) and different vibration intensities with a single vibration frequency. The difference in vibration patterns allows the user to perceive the acceptance of his/her operation.

The vibration pattern fed back also allows the user to predict the content of the control executed by the control unit 106 (see FIG. 3). In addition, the vibration intensity fed back also allows the user to confirm the content of the control executed by the control unit 106 (see FIG. 3) and the content of the response by the control unit 106.
The above is for cases where the user intentionally performs an input operation, but vibration feedback also has the effect of making the user aware that an unconscious finger movement was accepted as an input operation, allowing the user to cancel the execution of an unintended action.

<Upward swipe action>
The first line L1 from the top of the chart shows two examples of instruction contents and vibration patterns associated with an "upward swipe operation."
Example 1 (L1-A)
For example, when an "upward swipe operation" is performed during the sleep mode M2, the control unit 106 (see FIG. 3) changes from the sleep state to the active state. That is, the operation mode is shifted from the sleep mode M2 to the active mode M6.
In this case, the strength of the vibration fed back increases as the finger moves upward. The response speed of the LRA used as the vibration motor 103A is fast, about 20 ms to 30 ms. Therefore, the vibration strength gradually increases in proportion to the finger movement distance, making it easier for the user to realize that their operation is being accepted.

・Example 2 (L1-B)
For example, when an "upward swipe operation" is performed during active mode M6, "transmission of heating profile" is executed. This operation is possible only when the aerosol generation device 1 (see FIG. 1) supports a function for transmitting a heating profile to an external device. In this case, too, the strength of the vibration fed back increases as the distance of the finger moving upward increases.
In addition, if an upward swipe operation is performed on an aerosol generating device 1 that does not support the heating profile transmission function, the swipe operation is treated as invalid, the operating mode is switched to error mode M3, an error vibration (e.g., high-intensity continuous vibration, a special vibration pattern) is fed back, or an error sound is fed back.
7, the upward swipe gesture is used in both the sleep mode M2 and the active mode M6, however, the actions performed through the upward swipe gesture are different since the operating modes are different.

<Downward swipe action>
The second line L2 from the top of the chart shows two examples of instruction contents and vibration patterns associated with a "downward swipe operation."
Example 1 (L2-A)
For example, when a "downward swipe operation" is performed during active mode M6, the control unit 106 goes from the active state to the sleep state. That is, the operation mode is shifted from active mode M6 to sleep mode M2. In this case, the strength of the vibration fed back decreases as the distance of the finger moving downward increases.

・Example 2 (L2-B)
For example, when a "downward swipe operation" is performed during active mode M6, "receive heating profile" is executed. This operation is possible only when the aerosol generation device 1 supports changing or adding a heating profile. In this case, too, the strength of the vibration fed back decreases as the distance of the finger moving downward increases.
In addition, if a downward swipe operation is performed on an aerosol generating device 1 that does not support the heating profile receiving function, the swipe operation is treated as invalid, the operating mode is switched to error mode M3, an error vibration is fed back, or an error sound is fed back.

<Swipe left and right>
In the third row L3 from the top of the chart, two instruction contents and vibration patterns associated with a "swipe operation in both the left and right directions" are illustrated.
Example 1 (L3-A)
For example, if a "right swipe operation" or a "left swipe operation" is performed during active mode M6, a "change in heating temperature" is executed.
In the case of FIG. 7, a right swipe operation is accepted as an operation to increase the heating temperature from the current temperature.
On the other hand, a swipe to the left is accepted as an operation to lower the heating temperature from the current level.
The heating temperature is changed at predetermined intervals every time a swipe operation is detected.

In this embodiment, the change in the heating temperature means a change in the maximum temperature defined in the heating profile. Incidentally, the higher the maximum temperature, the greater the maximum amount of aerosol generated in general.
7, the changed temperature and the strength of the vibration are associated with each other. Therefore, the higher the changed temperature is, the higher the strength of the vibration that is fed back is, and the lower the changed temperature is, the lower the strength of the vibration that is fed back is.

In the example of FIG. 7, an example is described in which only the maximum temperature of the heating profile is changed, but a left/right swipe operation may be associated with switching of the heating profile.
For example, if the control unit 106 supports five types of heating profiles and each heating profile is assigned a management number from "1" to "5", the management number may be updated depending on the direction of the swipe operation. For example, a single swipe operation to the right may increase the management number by one. For example, if the management number before the swipe operation is "3", a single swipe operation to the right changes the management number to "4". Also, a single swipe operation to the left may decrease the management number by one. For example, if the management number before the swipe operation is "3", a single swipe operation to the left changes the management number to "2".

Incidentally, when the management number is at its maximum value and a swipe operation to the right is performed, the management number may be changed to its minimum value or the current management number may be maintained.Similarly, when the management number is at its minimum value and a swipe operation to the left is performed, the management number may be changed to its maximum value or the current management number may be maintained.
In addition, if a left or right swipe operation is performed on an aerosol generating device 1 that does not support the temperature change function, the swipe operation is treated as invalid, the operating mode is switched to error mode M3, an error vibration is fed back, or an error sound is fed back.

・Example 2 (L3-B)
For example, when a "rightward or leftward swipe operation" is performed during active mode M6, "brand selection" of the stick-type substrate 30 is executed. In the case of Fig. 7, the brands of the stick-type substrate 30 that the control unit 106 supports are three types: "brand A,""brandB," and "brand C."
For example, a rightward swipe operation may be associated with a "change from stock A to stock B" or a "change from stock B to stock C," and a leftward swipe operation may be associated with a "change from stock C to stock B" or a "change from stock B to stock A."

This brand changing function may be limited to the case where a heating profile corresponding to the brand of the stick-shaped substrate 30 is prepared.
In FIG. 7, if the changed stock is "Stock A", vibration of a specific intensity is fed back once, if the changed stock is "Stock B", vibration of a specific intensity is fed back twice, and if the changed stock is "Stock C", vibration of a specific intensity is fed back three times.
Since the number of vibrations fed back varies depending on the brand, the user can confirm not only that the brand change has been accepted, but also the new brand.
In addition, if a left or right swipe operation is performed on an aerosol generating device 1 that does not support the brand change function, the swipe operation is treated as invalid, the operating mode is switched to error mode M3, an error vibration is fed back, or an error sound is fed back.

<Tap operation (long press)>
In the fourth row L4 from the top of the chart, two instruction contents and vibration patterns associated with a "tap operation (long press)" are illustrated. In this embodiment, a case where the detection time of the tap exceeds a threshold is considered to be a "long press operation," and a case where the detection time of the tap does not exceed the threshold is considered to be a "short press operation."
Note that a "tap operation" refers to an operation in which the position of the finger detected by touch sensor 102A remains stationary or changes very little, and a "swipe operation" refers to an operation in which the position of the finger detected by touch sensor 102A moves or changes.
Incidentally, a double tap operation or the like may be used instead of a tap operation (long press).

Example 1 (L4-A)
For example, if a "tap operation (long press)" is performed during active mode M6, the control unit 106 accepts it as a "start heating" operation. In this case, the control unit 106 transitions from active mode M6 to initialization mode M7. The control unit 106 continues vibration of a certain intensity for a certain period of time. Here, the completion of acceptance of the operation is notified by feedback.
It should be noted that the feedback vibration continues for a certain period of time, but the output of the vibration starts after at least a threshold time has elapsed since the completion of acceptance of the tap operation, or starts after the tap operation has ended.

Example 2 (L4-B)
For example, if there is a "tap operation (long press)" during the heating mode M8, the control unit 106 accepts it as an operation to "stop heating." In this case, the control unit 106 transitions from the heating mode M8 to the heating end mode M9. In this case, the control unit 106 also continues vibration of a certain intensity for a certain period of time. Here, the completion of acceptance of the operation is notified by feedback.
7, the tap operation (long press) is used not only in the heating mode M8 but also in the active mode M6, which is one of the non-heating modes. However, since the operation modes are different, the operations performed through the tap operation (long press) are different.

<Tap operation (short press)>
In the fifth row L5 from the top of the chart, examples of instruction contents and vibration patterns associated with a "tap operation (short press)" are shown.
Example 1 (L5-A)
For example, when a "tap operation (short press)" is performed during active mode M6, the control unit 106 accepts it as an operation to "check the remaining battery level." In this case, the control unit 106 feeds back a vibration pattern according to the remaining battery level obtained from the battery level gauge IC. In this vibration pattern, the vibration strength remains constant and only the number of vibrations is different.

For example, if the battery level is below 10%, vibration feedback will not be provided.
For example, when the remaining battery level is more than 10% and less than 60%, one vibration is fed back.
For example, when the battery level is more than 60% and less than 90%, two vibrations are fed back.
For example, if the battery level is over 90%, three vibrations are given as feedback.
The remaining battery level may be fed back by a difference in vibration intensity instead of the number of vibrations. For example, when the remaining battery level is 10% or less, feedback by vibration is not performed. For example, when the remaining battery level is more than 10% and less than 60%, a vibration of a first intensity may be fed back, when the remaining battery level is more than 60% and less than 90%, a vibration of a second intensity (>first intensity) may be fed back, and when the remaining battery level is more than 90%, a vibration of a third intensity (>second intensity) may be fed back.

In the case of Fig. 7, when the operation mode is the sleep mode M2, only an upward swipe operation is controlled to be acceptable. Therefore, even if a downward swipe operation, a left/right swipe operation, or a tap operation is detected during the sleep mode M2, the control unit 106 (see Fig. 3) invalidates these input operations. In other words, unless the user intentionally inputs an input operation acceptable in the sleep mode M2, an unintended operation by the user is prevented.
Furthermore, when the operation mode is the heating mode M8, only a tap operation (long press) can be accepted. Therefore, even if an input operation other than a tap operation (long press) is detected during the heating mode M8, the control unit 106 does not treat it as a valid input operation. As a result, unless a tap operation (long press) is detected, the heating mode M8 is not forcibly stopped.

When the operation mode is the active mode M6, an upward swipe operation, a downward swipe operation, a left/right swipe operation, and a tap operation are assigned.
As described above, the active mode M6 is a mode in which most functions except heating are available. Therefore, various instructions are assigned to three types of swipe operations and two types of tap operations. However, only one instruction can be assigned to one input operation. Therefore, for a "downward swipe operation", only one of the two examples shown in FIG. 7 is assigned. For example, only sleep is assigned to a "downward swipe operation" in the active mode M6.
The same applies to the left and right swipe operation. For example, only the change of the heating temperature is assigned to the "left and right swipe operation" in the active mode M6.

<Combination example 2: Rotation swipe operation>
FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a second example of a combination of an input operation and haptic feedback.
Unlike the case of the combination example 1, in the combination example 2, only a swipe operation is assumed as an input operation. However, the swipe operation in the combination example 2 is not a linear movement but a roughly circular movement. For example, it is assumed that a finger is moved in a clockwise or counterclockwise circular motion from the first tap position (starting point).
In the case of FIG. 8, when an arc-shaped movement of approximately half a circle (180°) or more and a rotation direction are detected, it is regarded as a rotational swipe operation.

Note that the rotational swipe operation requires an arc-shaped movement, and therefore is less likely to be performed unconsciously than the swipe operation and tap operation described in the first combination example.
As a result, the combination of the operation mode and the rotational swipe operation reduces the possibility that an unintended operation by the user will be performed on the aerosol generation device 1 (see Figure 1) compared to combination example 1.
Incidentally, although not illustrated in FIG. 8, a tap operation can also be included in the input operation.

<Clockwise swipe operation>
In the first line L1 from the top of the chart, two instruction contents and vibration patterns associated with a "clockwise swipe operation" are illustrated.
Example 1 (L1-A)
For example, when a "clockwise swipe operation" is performed during the sleep mode M2, the control unit 106 (see FIG. 3) goes from the sleep state to the active state. That is, the operation mode is shifted from the sleep mode M2 to the active mode M6. In this case, the strength of the vibration fed back increases as the finger moves clockwise.

・Example 2 (L1-B)
For example, if a "clockwise swipe operation" is performed during active mode M6, the control unit 106 accepts it as a "start heating" operation. In this case, the control unit 106 transitions from active mode M6 to initialization mode M7. In this case, too, the strength of the vibration fed back increases as the finger moves clockwise.

<Counterclockwise swipe>
The second line L2 from the top of the chart illustrates two instruction contents and vibration patterns associated with a "counterclockwise swipe operation."
Example 1 (L2-A)
For example, when a "counterclockwise swipe operation" is performed during active mode M6, the control unit 106 goes from the active state to the sleep state. That is, the operation mode is shifted from active mode M6 to sleep mode M2. In this case, the strength of the vibration fed back decreases as the distance of the finger moving counterclockwise increases.

・Example 2 (L2-B)
For example, if a "counterclockwise swipe operation" is performed during the heating mode M8, the control unit 106 accepts it as a "stop heating" operation. In this case, the control unit 106 transitions from the heating mode M8 to the heating end mode M9. In this case, too, the strength of the vibration fed back decreases as the distance of the finger moving counterclockwise increases.
8, the "counterclockwise swipe operation" is used not only in the heating mode M8 but also in the active mode M6, which is one of the non-heating modes. However, since the operation modes are different, the operations performed through the counterclockwise swipe operation are different.

<Clockwise or counterclockwise swipe>
The third line L3 from the top of the chart illustrates examples of instruction contents and vibration patterns associated with a "clockwise swipe operation" and a "counterclockwise swipe operation." This swipe operation corresponds to the "both left and right swipe operations" in FIG. 7.

Example 1 (L3-A)
For example, if a "right swipe operation" or a "left swipe operation" is performed during active mode M6, a "change in heating temperature" is executed.
In the case of FIG. 8, a clockwise swipe operation is accepted as an operation to increase the heating temperature from the current temperature.
On the other hand, a counterclockwise swipe is accepted as an operation to lower the heating temperature from the current level.
The heating temperature is changed at predetermined intervals every time a swipe operation is detected.

However, the swipe operation in both rotation directions alone cannot be distinguished from the "swipe operation to the right" or "swipe operation to the left" described above. Therefore, if the swipe operation in both rotation directions is adopted, the activation and sleep modes described above cannot be adopted.
In this case as well, the higher the changed temperature, the greater the strength of the vibration that is fed back, and the lower the changed temperature, the smaller the strength of the vibration that is fed back.

<Combination example 3: Arc swipe operation>
FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a third example of a combination of an input operation and a haptic feedback.
In combination example 3, only a swipe operation is assumed as an input operation. However, the swipe operation in combination example 3 is not a linear or approximately circular movement, but an approximately arc movement. For example, it is assumed that the finger is moved clockwise or counterclockwise approximately half a circle or approximately a quarter circle from the first tap position (starting point).

In the case of FIG. 9, when an arc-shaped movement and rotation direction of less than approximately half a circle (180°) is detected, it is regarded as an arc swipe operation.
This arc swipe operation also requires an arc-shaped movement, and is therefore less likely to be performed unconsciously than the swipe operation and tap operation described in the first combination example.
As a result, the combination of the operation mode and the arc swipe operation reduces the possibility that an unintended operation by the user will be performed on the aerosol generation device 1 (see Figure 1) compared to combination example 1.
Incidentally, although not illustrated in FIG. 9, a tap operation may be included in the input operation.

<Bottom semicircular swipe operation>
The first line L1 from the top of the chart shows two examples of instruction contents and vibration patterns associated with a "lower semicircular swipe operation." A lower semicircular swipe operation refers to a movement that draws an approximate semicircle counterclockwise from the initial tap position (starting point). In this case, the position where the swipe operation ends (ending point) is approximately the same height as the starting point.

Example 1 (L1-A)
For example, when a "lower semicircular swipe operation" is performed during sleep mode M2, the control unit 106 (see FIG. 3) goes from a sleep state to an active state. That is, the operation mode is shifted from sleep mode M2 to active mode M6. In this case, the strength of the vibration fed back increases as the distance of the finger moving counterclockwise increases.

・Example 2 (L1-B)
For example, if a "lower semicircular swipe operation" is performed during active mode M6, the control unit 106 accepts it as a "start heating" operation. In this case, the control unit 106 transitions from active mode M6 to initialization mode M7. In this case, too, the strength of the vibration fed back increases as the distance of the finger moving counterclockwise increases.
In both examples 1 and 2, the lower semicircle is drawn counterclockwise, but the lower semicircle may be drawn clockwise.

<Upper semicircular swipe operation>
The second line L2 from the top of the chart shows two examples of instruction contents and vibration patterns associated with an "upper semicircular swipe operation." An upper semicircular swipe operation refers to a movement that draws an approximate semicircle clockwise from the first tap position (starting point). In this case, the position where the swipe operation ends (ending point) is approximately the same height as the starting point.

Example 1 (L2-A)
For example, when an "upper semicircular swipe operation" is performed during active mode M6, the control unit 106 goes from the active state to the sleep state. That is, the operation mode is shifted from active mode M6 to sleep mode M2. In this case, the strength of the vibration fed back decreases as the distance of the finger moving clockwise increases.

・Example 2 (L2-B)
For example, if an "upper semicircular swipe operation" is performed during heating mode M8, the control unit 106 accepts it as an operation to "stop heating." In this case, the control unit 106 transitions from heating mode M8 to heating end mode M9. In this case, too, the strength of the vibration fed back decreases as the finger moves clockwise.
In both examples 1 and 2, the upper semicircle is drawn clockwise, but the upper semicircle may be drawn counterclockwise.

<Clockwise or counterclockwise quarter-circle swipe>
The third line L3 from the top of the chart illustrates examples of instruction contents and vibration patterns associated with a "clockwise quarter-circle swipe operation" and a "counterclockwise quarter-circle swipe operation." This swipe operation also corresponds to the "both left and right swipe operations" in Fig. 7. Note that the arc in Fig. 9 is a part of the lower semicircle.

Example 1 (L3-A)
For example, if a "counterclockwise quarter-circle swipe operation" or a "clockwise quarter-circle swipe operation" is performed during active mode M6, a "change in heating temperature" is executed.
In the case of FIG. 9, a swipe operation that draws a quarter-circle arc counterclockwise is accepted as an operation to increase the heating temperature from the current temperature.
On the other hand, a swipe action that draws a quarter-circle arc clockwise is accepted as an action to lower the heating temperature from the current temperature.
In this case as well, the higher the changed temperature, the greater the strength of the vibration that is fed back, and the lower the changed temperature, the smaller the strength of the vibration that is fed back.

<Combination example 4: Other swipe operations>
FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a fourth example of a combination of an input operation and a haptic feedback.
In combination example 4, only a swipe operation is assumed as an input operation. However, the swipe operation in combination example 4 is assumed to be a linear movement and to draw characters, figures, or other patterns in a single stroke.
Although not illustrated in FIG. 10, a tap operation may be included in the input operation.

<Z-shaped swipe action>
The first line L1 from the top of the chart illustrates two instruction contents and vibration patterns associated with a "Z-shaped swipe operation." The Z-shaped swipe operation is effective in ensuring a finger movement distance within a limited dimension. Other characters that can be used include "C,""J,""L,""M,""N,""S,""U,""V,""W,""2,""3,""6,""7,""8,""9," and the like.
These patterns are less likely to be drawn unconsciously than linear movements or tapping actions.

Example 1 (L1-A)
For example, when a "Z-shaped swipe operation" is performed during the sleep mode M2, the control unit 106 (see FIG. 3) goes from the sleep state to the active state. That is, the operation mode is shifted from the sleep mode M2 to the active mode M6. In this case, the strength of the vibration fed back increases as the moving distance of the finger drawing the Z shape increases.

・Example 2 (L1-B)
For example, if a "Z-shaped swipe operation" is performed during active mode M6, the control unit 106 accepts it as a "start heating" operation. In this case, the control unit 106 transitions from active mode M6 to initialization mode M7. In this case, too, the strength of the vibration fed back increases as the moving distance of the finger drawing the Z shape increases.

<Downward swipe action>
The second line L2 from the top of the chart shows two examples of instruction contents and vibration patterns associated with a "downward swipe operation."
Example 1 (L2-A)
For example, when a "downward swipe operation" is performed during active mode M6, the control unit 106 goes from the active state to the sleep state. That is, the operation mode is shifted from active mode M6 to sleep mode M2. In this case, the strength of the vibration fed back decreases as the distance of the finger moving downward increases.

・Example 2 (L2-B)
For example, if a "downward swipe operation" is performed during the heating mode M8, the control unit 106 accepts it as an operation to "stop heating." In this case, the control unit 106 transitions from the heating mode M8 to the heating end mode M9. In this case, too, the strength of the vibration fed back decreases as the distance of the downward movement of the finger increases.
10, the downward swipe action is used in both the active mode M6 and the heating mode M8, however, the actions performed through the downward swipe action are different since the operating modes are different.

<Diagonal swipe operation>
In the third row L3 from the top of the chart, two instruction contents and vibration patterns associated with a "diagonal upper right swipe operation" and a "diagonal lower left swipe operation" are illustrated.
Example 1 (L3-A)
For example, if a "diagonal upper right swipe operation" or a "diagonal lower left swipe operation" is performed during active mode M6, a "change in heating temperature" is executed.
In the case of FIG. 10, a swipe operation diagonally to the upper right is accepted as an operation to increase the heating temperature from the current temperature.
On the other hand, a swipe operation diagonally downward to the left is accepted as an operation to lower the heating temperature from the current temperature.
10, the changed temperature and the strength of the vibration are associated with each other. Therefore, the higher the changed temperature is, the higher the strength of the vibration that is fed back is, and the lower the changed temperature is, the lower the strength of the vibration that is fed back is.

<Other feedback>
The above-described operation examples assume feedback during an input operation or feedback for the operation result, but here, feedback for other purposes will be described.
FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating other feedback.
FIG. 11 shows two types of notifications.
The first notification is a notification of "detection of the start of an operation." The first notification is effective when there is a time lag between the timing of an operation input and the output of the corresponding vibration feedback, such as "changing the heating temperature,""selecting a brand," or "checking the remaining battery level."

When the position of the touch sensor 102A is unclear, the user may feel unsure as to whether his or her operation has been detected.
However, if vibration feedback is provided at the time when the start of an operation is detected by, for example, touching a specific position with a finger, the user can continue inputting the operation with peace of mind.
This vibration feedback is also generated when the user's finger accidentally touches the touch sensor 102 A. This feedback allows the user to realize that an unconscious finger movement has been detected as the start of an operation, and can prevent the user from performing an unintended operation, such as removing the finger from the touch sensor 102 A.

The vibration strength used for the notification of "detection of the start of an operation" is ST1. Since the purpose of this vibration strength ST1 is only to notify the detection, it may be smaller than the vibration strength used for other feedback. However, since the vibration motor 103A, which is the vibration source, is close to the fingertip, vibration feedback can be transmitted to the user even if the vibration strength is small.
Incidentally, the first notification may be combined with another operation input described above.
The second notification is a notification that "operation acceptance has been completed."
In the above description, it is assumed that the user's finger movement and operation time are correctly recognized as the exemplified input operation, but in reality, the user's finger movement and operation time may not be recognized as the above-mentioned input operation, for example, when the finger movement distance is extremely short, when the tap time is extremely short, or when the finger movement cannot be distinguished from other operation inputs.
In these cases, a discrepancy between the user's perception and the actual operation may occur, for example, heating may not start, heating may not stop, or the heating temperature may not change.

Therefore, a function is provided to provide feedback of "operation acceptance completion" by vibration as a second notification. The vibration strength used for this notification is ST2. As shown in FIG. 11, this vibration strength ST2 is set to be greater than the vibration strength ST1, so that it can be distinguished from the vibration strength ST1.
The feedback based on the vibration intensity ST2 is output when the acceptance of the operation is completed. Therefore, the user who senses the vibration intensity ST2 can know that his/her operation has been accepted as a specific input operation even if the user has not finished the operation.
As a result, the user can stop the input operation without hesitation. Without this notification, the user would have to continue inputting operations without being sure.
In addition, by adopting the second notification, if you notice that your unconscious finger movement has been accepted as the start of an input operation due to the first notification, the absence of the second notification makes it possible to confirm that an unintended action will not be performed.

＜Effects＞
In the aerosol generating device 1 according to the present embodiment (see FIG. 1), the input operations that can be accepted for each operation mode are determined in advance. Therefore, unless the user intentionally performs a specific input operation corresponding to the current operation mode, the user's operation is not accepted as a valid input operation. As a result, it is possible to prevent unintended operation of the aerosol generating device 1.
In addition, in the case of an upward swipe operation or a downward swipe operation in Fig. 7, vibration linked to the movement of the finger is fed back. Therefore, in the case of an intentional input operation, the user can realize that his/her operation is accepted as a valid input operation.
On the other hand, when an unconscious finger movement is accepted as an input operation, the vibration feedback can make the user aware that the unconscious finger movement is accepted as an input operation. As a result, it is possible to prevent unintended operation of the aerosol generation device 1.

In addition, in the case of a left/right swipe operation in Fig. 7, the result of the accepted instruction is fed back by vibration. Therefore, in the case of an intentional input operation, the user can realize that his/her operation is accepted as a valid input operation.
On the other hand, if an unconscious finger movement is accepted as an input operation, the vibration feedback can make the user aware of the fact that the unconscious finger movement was accepted as an input operation. As a result, it becomes possible to take measures such as canceling the unintentionally performed action or returning to the state before the action was performed.

In addition, the aerosol generating device 1 according to the present embodiment is provided with a function of feeding back detection of the start of an operation by vibration. Therefore, in the case of an intentional input operation, the user can feel that the current finger movement has been detected as the start of an operation.
On the other hand, when an unconscious finger movement is accepted as an input operation, the detection of the start of the operation is fed back by vibration, so that the user can be made aware that the unconscious finger movement has been detected as the start of the operation. As a result, it is possible to prevent unintended operation of the aerosol generation device 1.

In addition, the aerosol generating device 1 according to the present embodiment is provided with a function of feeding back the completion of the operation reception by vibration. Therefore, in the case of an intentional input operation, the user can be notified of the completion of the current input operation at the time when the completion is detected. As a result, the user does not need to continue an unnecessary operation without noticing the completion of the input operation.
On the other hand, even if an unconscious finger movement is detected as the start of an operation, the user can be made aware that an unintended operation will not be executed before the completion of the operation acceptance is fed back by vibration. Also, when the completion of the operation acceptance is fed back by vibration, the execution of an unintended operation can be prevented through an operation to cancel the executed operation, etc.

<Embodiment 2>
In the present embodiment, a case will be described in which the parts of the touch sensor 102A that accept input operations are limited depending on the operation mode.
In this embodiment, in the heating mode, the areas where input operations can be performed are limited.
Fig. 12 is a diagram illustrating the difference between the input-enabled areas in the heating mode and the non-heating mode. In Fig. 12, the areas of the touch sensor 102A that can receive input operations (i.e., valid areas) are shown in white, and the areas that cannot be used to receive input operations (i.e., invalid areas) are shown in shaded areas.

In FIG. 12, the tap operation (long press) shown in FIG. 7 is assumed as an input operation that can be accepted in the heating mode.
For this reason, in the heating mode shown in FIG. 12, only the approximate center area of the touch sensor 102A is set as an area capable of receiving an input operation.
12, the area (white area) that can accept an input operation in the heating mode is substantially square. The substantially square area here is an example of a specific area.

However, if it is a part of the touch sensor 102A, the part where the input operation is valid may be the upper left corner, the upper right corner, the lower right corner, or the lower left corner of the touch sensor 102A. In this case, by setting the part where the input operation is valid to a part that is difficult for the thumb to reach when the main body 10 is held in the hand, the possibility that an erroneous operation will be accepted as an input operation can be reduced. For example, when the main body 10 is held in the right hand, the part where the input operation is valid may be provided on the left side of the touch sensor 102A, which is difficult for the thumb to reach unconsciously.
Furthermore, the shape of the portion capable of accepting an input operation is not limited to a square, but may be a rectangle or a roughly circular shape.

A tap operation is an operation that is more likely to be performed unconsciously than a swipe operation, etc., but it is possible to avoid unintended stopping of heating by limiting the area that can be accepted as a valid input operation to a part of the touch sensor 102A. In other words, unless the user intentionally operates a specific area, it is possible to prevent unintended operation (stopping of heating in this example) from being performed.
On the other hand, in the case of the present embodiment, in the non-heating mode, there is no restriction on the area that accepts input operations, that is, the entire touch sensor 102A is used as an area that can accept input operations.

However, even in the non-heating mode, a portion capable of receiving an input operation may be determined separately. For example, the outer edge or outer periphery of the touch sensor 102A may be excluded from the portion capable of receiving an input operation, or conversely, only the outer edge or outer periphery of the touch sensor 102A may be set as the portion capable of receiving an input operation.
The user may set the area where the input operation is valid by himself/herself. For example, the user may set the area where the input operation is valid while looking at the operation screen of a smartphone paired with the device via Bluetooth.

In addition, in the above explanation, the area capable of accepting input operations is made approximately square in shape, taking into account the tap operation (long press) assumed in the heating mode, but if the assumed input operation is a swipe operation, the shape of the area used to accept the input operation may be determined depending on the direction of the swipe operation.
For example, for an operation mode assuming an upward swipe operation or a downward swipe operation, a portion capable of accepting an input operation may be set to a rectangular portion that is longer vertically than horizontally.
Similarly, for an operation mode assuming a left swipe operation or a right swipe operation, a rectangular area that is longer horizontally than vertically may be set as an area capable of accepting input operations.

＜Effects＞
In the aerosol generating device 1 according to the present embodiment (see FIG. 1), the area for accepting input operations in the heating mode is limited to a part of the touch sensor 102A. Therefore, compared to when the entire touch sensor 102A is used for accepting input operations, it is difficult for an operation unintended by the user to be performed. For example, in the case of FIG. 12, even if a user unintentionally taps (holds down) the outer periphery of the touch sensor 102A, the operation is not treated as a valid input operation. Therefore, an unintended operation (stopping heating in this case) is not performed.
Incidentally, even when a tap operation (long press) is performed near the outer periphery of the touch sensor 102A, vibration feedback notifying the detection of the start of the operation as illustrated in FIG. 11 is not executed.

<Third embodiment>
In this embodiment, another example of an input operation that can be accepted in the heating mode and the non-heating mode will be described.
13 is a diagram illustrating another relationship between input operations and haptic feedback. In FIG. 13, parts corresponding to those in FIG. 7 are denoted by the same reference numerals.
In the case of FIG. 13, the instruction to "start heating" is changed from a tap operation (long press) to an upward swipe operation in active mode M6.
In addition, a "change heating profile" has been added to the left and right swipe operations in active mode M6. Note that changing the heating profile corresponds to changing the heating temperature.

Incidentally, the rightward swipe operation in Fig. 13 is an example of a first-directional operation for increasing the maximum heating temperature from the current temperature, whereas the leftward swipe operation in Fig. 13 is an example of a second-directional operation for decreasing the maximum heating temperature from the current temperature.
Additionally, the upward swipe operation, the downward swipe operation, and the left/right swipe operation are examples of a second input operation associated with the non-heating mode.
Furthermore, in the case of FIG. 13, a tap operation (long press) and a tap operation (short press) are assigned to the heating mode.
The tap operation (long press) and the tap operation (short press) here are examples of a first input operation assigned to the heating mode M8.
In the case of this embodiment, the input operation assigned to the heating mode M8 and the input operation assigned to the non-heating mode are different from each other.

FIG. 13 differs from FIG. 7 in that a tap operation (short press) is set as the operation for "checking remaining battery level" during the heating mode.
The remaining battery level here is an example of a physical quantity. Physical quantities to be checked include, in addition to the remaining battery level, the number of stick-type substrates 30 (i.e., aerosol sources) that can be inhaled with the current remaining battery level, the remaining level of the aerosol source in use (when the consumption or remaining level of the aerosol source can be calculated based on the time elapsed since the start of heating or the number of inhalations), the remaining number of inhalations that can be performed by the aerosol source in use (when the number of inhalations that can be performed for one stick-type substrate 30 is specified), the remaining inhalation time (e.g., 30 seconds), and the cumulative number of inhalations to date.
In this embodiment, only checking the remaining battery level is assigned to the tap operation (short press), but the above-mentioned physical quantity may be associated with other input operations (e.g., double tap, flick direction, etc.). Of course, one physical quantity is assigned to one input operation.

＜Effects＞
In the aerosol generation device 1 according to this embodiment (see FIG. 1), in addition to stopping heating in the heating mode M8, it is possible to check physical quantities such as the remaining battery charge.
This allows the user to instantly check the physical quantity that concerns them, even while inhaling the aerosol.
Furthermore, in the non-heating mode (specifically, the active mode M6), the heating profile and the maximum heating temperature used to heat the stick-shaped substrate 30 can be changed.

<Fourth embodiment>
In the present embodiment, a case will be described in which detection of a predetermined operation by an acceleration sensor is requested on the premise that an input operation to the touch sensor 102A, which is a contact sensor, is valid.
Fig. 14 is a flowchart for explaining an input operation acceptance process assumed in the fourth embodiment. The symbol S in the figure indicates a step. The processing operation shown in Fig. 14 is executed by the control unit 106 (see Fig. 3).

First, the control unit 106 determines whether the current operation mode is the heating mode (step 1). If the current operation mode is the non-heating mode, a negative result is obtained in step 1. In this case, the control unit 106 determines whether the touch sensor 102A detects an input operation (step 2). The input operation here means an input operation assigned to the current operation mode.
If an input operation has not been detected, a negative result is obtained in step 2. In this case, the control unit 106 repeats the determination in step 2.
On the other hand, if an input operation is detected, a positive result is obtained in step 2. In this case, the control unit 106 executes control according to the input operation assigned to the current operation mode in the non-heating mode (step 3). In the case of FIG. 14, after executing the control, the control unit 106 ends the process and returns to the determination in step 1.

On the other hand, if the current operation mode is the heating mode, a positive result is obtained in step 1. In this case, the control unit 106 determines whether or not the acceleration sensor detects a predetermined operation (step 4). The predetermined operation includes, for example, an operation of shaking the main body unit 10 (see FIG. 1) vertically, an operation of shaking the main body unit 10 horizontally, and an operation of double-tapping a part of the main body unit 10 other than the touch sensor 102A (for example, the back surface).
If the predetermined operation is not detected, a negative result is obtained in step 4. In this case, the control unit 106 repeats the determination in step 4.

On the other hand, if a predetermined operation is detected, the control unit 106 permits the touch sensor 102A to accept an operation only within a predetermined time (for example, 5 seconds) after the detection of the predetermined operation by the acceleration sensor (step 5).
The predetermined time here is an example. If the predetermined time is set too short, the input operation will not be completed within the predetermined time. As a result, it will be difficult to accept the input operation. On the other hand, if the predetermined time is set too long, there is a possibility that an unconscious operation will be mistaken for an input operation.
The predetermined time may be adjustable by the user, for example, on the operation screen of a smartphone paired with the device via Bluetooth.

After executing step 5, the control unit 106 determines whether the current time is within a predetermined time period (step 6).
If the current time is not within the predetermined time, a negative result is obtained in step 6. In this case, the control unit 106 ends the process.
On the other hand, if the current time is within the predetermined time, a positive result is obtained in step 6. In this case, the control unit 106 determines whether or not the touch sensor 102A has detected an input operation (step 7). The input operation here means an input operation assigned to the heating mode.

If no input operation is detected, a negative result is obtained in step 7. In this case, the control unit 106 returns to step 6 and repeats the above-mentioned processing.
If an input operation is detected, a positive result is obtained in step 7. In this case, the control unit 106 executes control in response to the input operation during the heating mode (step 8). For example, the control unit 106 notifies the user of the stopping of heating or the physical quantity to be checked by vibration. In the case of FIG. 14, after executing the control, the control unit 106 ends the process and returns to the judgment in step 1.

＜Effects＞
In the aerosol generating device 1 according to the present embodiment (see FIG. 1), the detection of a predetermined operation by the acceleration sensor is required on the premise of the input operation assumed in the heating mode. That is, during the heating mode, the input operation by the touch sensor 102A is accepted only when an intentional predetermined operation accompanied by a change in acceleration is detected. This makes it more difficult to execute an unintended operation compared to a case where the detection of a predetermined operation by the acceleration sensor is not a prerequisite. In other words, it is possible to eliminate any input operation other than the intentional input operation combined with the detection by the acceleration sensor.
Furthermore, by limiting the acceptance of an input operation by the touch sensor 102A to within a predetermined time from the detection of a predetermined operation by the acceleration sensor, it is possible to make it difficult to execute an unintended operation.

<Fifth embodiment>
In the present embodiment, another example will be described in which detection of a predetermined operation by an acceleration sensor is requested as a precondition for validating an input operation on the touch sensor 102A which is a contact sensor.
Fig. 15 is a flowchart for explaining an input operation reception process assumed in the embodiment 5. In Fig. 15, parts corresponding to those in Fig. 14 are denoted by the same reference numerals.
First, the control unit 106 determines whether the current operation mode is the non-heating mode (step 11). This is a difference from the fourth embodiment.

In the case of the heating mode, a negative result is obtained in step 11. In this case, the control unit 106 determines whether or not the touch sensor 102A detects an input operation (step 2). Note that the input operation here means an input operation assigned to the heating mode.
If an input operation has not been detected, a negative result is obtained in step 2. In this case, the control unit 106 repeats the determination in step 2.
On the other hand, if an input operation is detected, a positive result is obtained in step 2. In this case, the control unit 106 executes control according to the input operation during the heating mode (step 12). In the case of Fig. 15, after executing the control, the control unit 106 ends the process and returns to the determination in step 11.

On the other hand, if the current operation mode is the non-heating mode, a positive result is obtained in step 11. In this case, the control unit 106 determines whether or not the acceleration sensor has detected a predetermined operation (step 4).
If the predetermined operation is not detected, a negative result is obtained in step 4. In this case, the control unit 106 repeats the determination in step 4.

On the other hand, if a predetermined operation is detected, the control unit 106 permits the touch sensor 102A to accept an operation only within a predetermined time (for example, 5 seconds) after the detection of the predetermined operation by the acceleration sensor (step 5).
After executing step 5, the control unit 106 determines whether the current time is within a predetermined time period (step 6).
If the current time is not within the predetermined time, a negative result is obtained in step 6. In this case, the control unit 106 ends the process.
On the other hand, if the current time is within the predetermined time, a positive result is obtained in step 6. In this case, the control unit 106 determines whether or not the touch sensor 102A detects an input operation (step 7). The input operation here means an input operation assigned to the current operation mode, which is the non-heating mode.

If no input operation is detected, a negative result is obtained in step 7. In this case, the control unit 106 returns to step 6 and repeats the above-mentioned processing.

If an input operation is detected, a positive result is obtained in step 7. In this case, the control unit 106 executes control according to the input operation assigned to the current operation mode in the non-heating mode (step 13). For example, if the current operation mode is the sleep mode M2, switching to the active mode M6 is executed. Also, if the current operation mode is the active mode, the remaining battery level is notified.
In the case of FIG. 15, after executing the control, the control unit 106 ends the process and returns to the determination in step 1.

＜Effects＞
In the aerosol generating device 1 according to the present embodiment (see FIG. 1), the detection of a predetermined operation by the acceleration sensor is required on the premise of accepting an input operation assumed in the non-heating mode. That is, in the non-heating mode, the touch sensor 102A is allowed to accept an input operation only when an intentional predetermined operation accompanied by a change in acceleration is detected. This makes it more difficult to execute an unintended operation compared to a case where the detection of a predetermined operation by the acceleration sensor is not a prerequisite. In other words, it is possible to eliminate any input operation other than the intentional input operation combined with the detection by the acceleration sensor.
Furthermore, by limiting the acceptance of an input operation by the touch sensor 102A to within a predetermined time from the detection of a predetermined operation by the acceleration sensor, it is possible to make it difficult to execute an unintended operation.

<Sixth embodiment>
In this embodiment, another example of the contact sensor will be described. Therefore, except for the parts related to the contact sensor, the external appearance and other configurations and functions are the same as those of the first embodiment.
In the present embodiment, the contact sensor is made up of nine touch sensors 102A.

Fig. 16 is a diagram for explaining the positional relationship between nine touch sensors 102A and a vibration motor 103A in the embodiment 6. In Fig. 16, the same reference numerals are used to denote parts corresponding to those in Fig. 4.
The present embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that nine roughly circular touch sensors 102A are arranged in 3 rows and 3 columns. Incidentally, the arrangement of the vibration motors 103A is roughly the same as in the first embodiment.

The nine touch sensors 102A are disposed on the rear side of the front housing, and the vibration motor 103A is disposed further back than the nine touch sensors 102A.
In the present embodiment, each of the nine touch sensors 102A detects a finger contact. Therefore, even if a finger touches a gap between the nine touch sensors 102A, the finger contact is not detected. Therefore, in the present embodiment, a tap operation is executed by detecting a contact with any one of the nine touch sensors 102A. In addition, a pattern input operation is detected as a pattern formed by sequentially connecting the coordinate positions of the touch sensors 102A that detect a finger contact.

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating the relationship between the arrangement of the touch sensor 102A and input operations in the sixth embodiment.
In Figure 17, the position of the touch sensor 102A located in the first row from the top is represented by P1n (n = 1, 2, 3), the position of the touch sensor 102A located in the second row from the top is represented by P2n (n = 1, 2, 3), and the position of the touch sensor 102A located in the third row from the top is represented by P3n (n = 1, 2, 3).
Note that n=1 means the left end, n=2 means the center, and n=3 means the right end.

For example, when finger contact is detected in the order of P31 → P21 → P11, an upward swipe operation is detected. The same applies when finger contact is detected in the order of P32 → P22 → P12 or when finger contact is detected in the order of P33 → P23 → P13.
On the other hand, when finger contact is detected in the order of P11 → P21 → P31, a downward swipe operation is detected. The same applies when finger contact is detected in the order of P12 → P22 → P32 or when finger contact is detected in the order of P13 → P23 → P33.
In other words, when three touch sensors 102A located on the same row detect a touch by a finger in the arranged order, it is determined that the touch is an upward swipe operation or a downward swipe operation.

Similarly, when three touch sensors 102A located on the same row detect a touch by a finger in the arranged order, it is determined that the touch is a rightward swipe operation or a leftward swipe operation.
Incidentally, when finger contact is detected in the order of P31 → P22 → P13 or when finger contact is detected in the order of P33 → P22 → P11, it is detected as a diagonal upward swipe operation.
Furthermore, when finger contact is detected in the order of P11 → P22 → P33 or when finger contact is detected in the order of P13 → P22 → P31, it is detected as a diagonally downward swipe operation.

<Other Example 1>
In the above description, all nine touch sensors 102A are always in operation, but in the sleep mode M2, only the three touch sensors 102A located in the second row may be in operation. That is, only the second row may be enabled as an input area, and the first and third rows may be disabled areas. In this case, only three touch sensors 102A are in operation, so power saving is achieved.
Fig. 18 is a diagram for explaining areas where input operations are valid and invalid in the sleep mode M2. In Fig. 18, parts corresponding to those in Fig. 16 are denoted by the same reference numerals.

In FIG. 18, the touch sensors 102A in the first and third rows that correspond to the disabled areas are indicated by shading.
Incidentally, since only the three touch sensors 102A located in the second row are valid, for example, a tap operation, a right swipe operation, or a left swipe operation is assigned as the input operation for activation.

<Other Example 2>
FIG. 18 describes a case in which only a portion of the nine touch sensors 102A are activated as an input area in the sleep mode M2, which is a non-heating mode. However, as illustrated in FIG. 12, during the heating mode, only a portion of the nine touch sensors 102A may be the active area.
Fig. 19 is a diagram for explaining the difference between the input-enabled parts in the heating mode and the non-heating mode, in which the same reference numerals are used to denote parts corresponding to those in Fig. 17 .

In the case of FIG. 19, in the non-heating mode, all nine touch sensors 102A are controlled as valid areas, but in the heating mode, only the touch sensor 102A located at P22 is in the valid area, and the other eight touch sensors 102A are controlled as invalid areas. For this reason, a tap operation in the heating mode is not accepted as a valid input operation unless it is performed on the touch sensor 102A located at P22.

<Other Example 3>
In the above description, it is considered that an input operation has occurred when three linearly arranged touch sensors 102A are successively detected as touching by a finger, but it may also be considered that an input operation has occurred when two linearly arranged touch sensors 102A are successively detected as touching by a finger. For example, it may be considered that an upward swipe operation has occurred when finger contact has been detected in the order of P31→P21 or when finger contact has been detected in the order of P21→P11. The same applies to other input operations.

<Other Example 4>
In the above description, it is considered that an input operation has occurred when three linearly arranged touch sensors 102A are sequentially detected as touching by a finger, but it may be considered that an input operation has occurred when three touch sensors 102A across three rows are sequentially detected as touching by a finger. For example, even if finger contact is detected in the order of P31→P21→P12, it may be considered that an upward swipe operation has been performed. The same applies to other input operations.

<Other Example 5>
In the above explanation, nine touch sensors 102A are arranged in three rows and three columns, but the arrangement of the touch sensors 102A may be changed in number and arrangement, such as two rows and two columns, four rows and four columns, two rows and three columns, or three rows and four columns, etc.

<Seventh embodiment>
In this embodiment, another example of the arrangement of the contact sensor will be described. Therefore, except for the part related to the arrangement of the contact sensor, the appearance and other configurations and functions are the same as those of the first embodiment.
In the present embodiment, the contact sensor is provided in a region spanning from the top surface to the side surface of the main body 10 (see FIG. 1).
Fig. 20 is a diagram for explaining the positional relationship between the touch sensor 102A and the vibration motor 103A in the seventh embodiment. In Fig. 20, the same reference numerals are used to denote parts corresponding to those in Fig. 1.

20, the touch sensor 102A is disposed so as to straddle the right side surface from the right side of the top surface toward the front surface of the main body 10. This arrangement assumes that the surface opposite the front surface of the main body 10 (i.e., the back surface) is grasped with the right hand and operated with the right thumb.
However, the two surfaces that the touch sensor 102A spans are not limited to the top and right sides, but may be any surface such as the top and left sides, the top and front sides, or the top and back sides.
In the present embodiment, two types of swipe operations and one type of tap operation on the touch sensor 102A are assumed.
Fig. 21 is a diagram illustrating an example of a downward swipe operation. In Fig. 21, parts corresponding to those in Fig. 20 are denoted by the same reference numerals.
The arrow in the figure indicates a downward swipe operation. In the case of Fig. 21, the downward swipe operation is assumed to be a swipe operation spanning from the top surface to the right surface.

Fig. 22 is a diagram illustrating an example of an upward swipe operation. In Fig. 22, parts corresponding to those in Fig. 20 are denoted by the same reference numerals.
The arrow in the figure indicates an upward swipe operation. In the case of Fig. 22, the upward swipe operation is assumed to be a swipe operation from the right side to the top side.
FIG. 23 is a table illustrating an example of a combination of an input operation and a haptic feedback according to the seventh embodiment.
As described above, in this embodiment, the input operations are assumed to be a downward swipe operation, an upward swipe operation, a tap operation (short press), and a tap operation (long press).

<Downward swipe action>
The first line L1 from the top of the chart illustrates two instruction contents and vibration patterns associated with a "downward swipe operation."
Example 1 (L1-A)
For example, when a "downward swipe operation" is performed during the sleep mode M2, the control unit 106 (see FIG. 3) goes from the sleep state to the active state. That is, the operation mode is shifted from the sleep mode M2 to the active mode M6. In this case, the strength of the vibration fed back increases as the distance of the finger moving downward increases.

・Example 2 (L1-B)
For example, if a "downward swipe operation" is performed during active mode M6, the control unit 106 accepts it as a "start heating" operation. In this case, the control unit 106 transitions from active mode M6 to initialization mode M7. In this case as well, the strength of the vibration fed back increases as the distance of the finger moving downward increases.

<Upward swipe action>
The second line L2 from the top of the chart illustrates one instruction content and vibration pattern associated with an "upward swipe operation."
Example 1 (L2-A)
For example, when an "upward swipe operation" is performed during active mode M6, the control unit 106 goes from the active state to the sleep state. That is, the operation mode is shifted from active mode M6 to sleep mode M2. In this case, the strength of the vibration fed back decreases as the distance of the finger moving in the upward direction increases.
The downward swipe operation and the upward swipe operation are examples of a second input operation.

<Tap operation (long press)>.
In the third row L3 from the top of the chart, examples of instruction contents and vibration patterns associated with a "tap operation (long press)" are shown.
Example 1 (L3-A)
For example, when a "tap operation (long press)" is performed during the heating mode M8, the control unit 106 accepts it as an operation to "stop heating." In this case, the control unit 106 transitions from the heating mode M8 to the heating end mode M9.

<Tap operation (short press)>
In the fourth row L4 from the top of the chart, examples of instruction contents and vibration patterns associated with a "tap operation (short press)" are shown.
Example 1 (L4-A)
For example, when a "tap operation (short press)" is performed during the heating mode M8, the control unit 106 accepts it as an operation for "checking the remaining battery level." In this case, the control unit 106 feeds back a vibration pattern according to the remaining battery level obtained from the battery level gauge IC.
Note that a tap operation (long press) and a tap operation (short press) are examples of a first input operation.

<Other configurations>
Fig. 24 is a diagram for explaining another positional relationship between the touch sensor 102A and the vibration motor 103A in the seventh embodiment. In Fig. 24, the same reference numerals are used to denote parts corresponding to those in Fig. 20.
In the case of the aerosol generation device 1 shown in Fig. 24, the touch sensor 102A is provided on the upper part of the right side surface when viewed from the front. In the case of this arrangement, it is assumed that the touch sensor 102A is operated by the thumb of the right hand holding the main body 10. In addition, in the case of the aerosol generation device 1 shown in Fig. 24 ...

<Embodiment 8>
In this embodiment, another example of the appearance of the aerosol generation device 1 will be described.
However, except for the arrangement of the contact sensors and tactile devices related to the difference in appearance, the other configurations and functions are the same as those of the first embodiment.
Fig. 25 is a view of the aerosol generation device 1 assumed in the eighth embodiment, observed from obliquely above. In Fig. 25, parts corresponding to those in Fig. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals.
The aerosol generating device 1 assumed in this embodiment has a roughly cylindrical appearance, and has an opening 10A on the upper surface into which a stick-shaped substrate 30 (see FIG. 3) is inserted. In the case of FIG. 25, the slide cover 20 (see FIG. 1) for opening and closing the opening 10A is not provided.

In the case of FIG. 25, the touch sensor 102A is arranged around the entire periphery on the rear side of the housing on the upper side of the main body 10. In the case of this embodiment, the user can hold the main body 10 without worrying about the orientation and perform input operations with their thumb. Incidentally, the heating unit 107 (see FIG. 3) and the heat insulating unit 108 (see FIG. 3), not shown, are arranged on the outer periphery of the internal space 109A, and the touch sensor 102A is located outside of them.

25, the vibration motor 103A is disposed near the center of the main body 10. This is because there is a space restriction for disposing the vibration motor 103A on the upper side of the main body 10. The location of the vibration motor 103A is arbitrary as long as the user can perceive the difference in vibration intensity.
25, input operations can be performed by swiping up, down, left, and right or tapping, as in the case of embodiment 1. Note that a swipe operation diagonally upward or downward may also be used as an input operation.

<Other configurations>
Fig. 26 is a diagram for explaining another positional relationship between the touch sensor 102A and the vibration motor 103A in the embodiment 8. In Fig. 26, the same reference numerals are used to denote parts corresponding to those in Fig. 25.
In the case of the aerosol generation device 1 shown in FIG. 26, the touch sensor 102A is provided so as to span from the top surface to the side surface of the main body 10. Note that the touch sensor 102A is limited to a part of an arc section, not the entire circumference of the main body 10. In the case of this arrangement, operation with the thumb of the right hand holding the main body 10 is assumed. In addition, in the case of the aerosol generation device 1 shown in FIG. 26, up-down swipe operation and tap operation are also assumed.

<Ninth embodiment>
Fig. 27 is a view of the aerosol generation device 1 assumed in the ninth embodiment, observed from obliquely above. In Fig. 27, parts corresponding to those in Figs. 1 and 20 are denoted by the same reference numerals.
As shown in FIG. 27, the aerosol generation device 1 assumed in the ninth embodiment has two touch sensors 102A1 and 102A2 arranged therein.
27, the touch sensor 102A1 is provided on the front surface of the main body 10, and the touch sensor 102A2 is provided across from the top surface to the right side surface of the main body 10. This arrangement corresponds to a combination of the first and seventh embodiments.

When two touch sensors 102A1 and 102A2 are provided in this manner, one instruction may be assigned to both of the two touch sensors 102A, or one instruction may be assigned to only one of the touch sensors 102A.
For example, activation and sleep modes may be assigned to a touch sensor 102A2 arranged across the top and right side surfaces of the main body 10, and transmission and reception of heating profiles may be assigned to a touch sensor 102A1 arranged on the front surface of the main body 10.

The vibration motor 103A is disposed, for example, near the middle between the two touch sensors 102A1 and 102A2. In the case of Fig. 27, the vibration motor 103A is disposed near the front right corner of the main body 10. Therefore, regardless of whether the touch sensor 102A1 or the touch sensor 102A2 is used for an input operation, vibration feedback during the operation can be easily transmitted to the user.
In the present embodiment, the touch sensor 102A1 is dedicated to inputting the non-heating mode, and the touch sensor 102A2 is dedicated to inputting the heating mode M8. As a result, the user needs to intentionally use different input areas. As a result, it is possible to prevent a situation in which an operation unintended by the user is executed.

<Tenth embodiment>
Fig. 28 is a diagram for explaining the relationship between the mounting positions of the touch sensors 102A1 and 102A2 and the vibration motor 103A in embodiment 10. In Fig. 28, parts corresponding to those in Fig. 5 are denoted by the same reference numerals.
28 also transparently illustrates the inside of the main body 10 from the right side surface side, similar to the case of Fig. 5. That is, Fig. 28 transparently illustrates the positional relationship between the touch sensors 102A1 and 102A2 and the vibration motor 103A arranged on the main body 10.
28 , two touch sensors 102A1 and 102A2 are arranged in the aerosol generation device 1 assumed in the embodiment 10. One touch sensor 102A1 is provided on the front side of the main body 10, and the other touch sensor 102A2 is provided on the back side of the main body 10.

In the present embodiment, the touch sensors 102A1 and 102A2 are both approximately square shaped.
When touch sensor 102A1 and touch sensor 102A2 are arranged on both sides of main body 10, control unit 106 may disable input from the surface with a large contact area with the fingers or palm, and control the opposite surface (i.e., the surface in contact with the thumb) to be the input surface.
In this case, the user can start an input operation each time without changing the way of holding the device, whether the back surface is in contact with the thumb of the right hand or the thumb of the left hand.
28, the touch sensor 102A1 may be dedicated to inputting the non-heating mode, and the touch sensor 102A2 may be dedicated to inputting the heating mode M8. As a result, the user needs to intentionally use different input areas. As a result, it is possible to prevent a situation in which an operation unintended by the user is executed.

<Other embodiments>
(1) Although the embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above, the technical scope of the present disclosure is not limited to the scope described in the above-mentioned embodiments. It is clear from the claims that the technical scope of the present disclosure also includes various modifications or improvements to the above-mentioned embodiments.

(2) In the above embodiment, an LRA was used as an example of a vibration motor, but an ERM (Eccentric Rotating Mass) may also be used. An ERM has a structure in which a weight with an uneven shape is attached to the rotating shaft of a motor, and is also called an eccentric motor. In the case of an ERM, the greater the mass of the weight, the greater the vibration that can be generated compared to when the mass of the weight is small. Also, in the case of an ERM, the higher the rotational speed of the rotating shaft, the greater the vibration that can be generated compared to when the rotational speed is low.

(3) In the above embodiment, a vibration motor was used as an example of a haptic device, but a piezoelectric element may also be used. A piezoelectric element can freely control vibration at 50 to 500 Hz, at which haptic changes are perceived. In addition, the response time of a piezoelectric element is approximately 1 ms, which is shorter than that of an LRA.

(4) In the above embodiment, vibration was given as an example of tactile feedback, but electrostatic tactile feedback using electrostatic force may also be used. Electrostatic tactile feedback includes, for example, electrical stimulation and electrostatic adhesion. Electrical stimulation can be presented by a tactile device composed of an electrode to which a high voltage is applied and an electrode connected to GND. Electrostatic adhesion can be presented by a tactile device composed of an electrode charged by application of a voltage, an electrode connected to GND, and an insulator placed between these two electrodes.

(5) In the above-described embodiment, tactile feedback is used to provide feedback on the reception of input operations to the contact sensor. However, visual feedback using an LCD display or other display device, LEDs or other light-emitting devices, or auditory feedback using a buzzer or other sound output device may also be used.

(6) In the above-described embodiment, tactile feedback is used to provide feedback on the reception of an input operation to a contact sensor, but an aerosol generating device that does not provide feedback on an input operation is also possible.

(7) In the above-described embodiment, a single control unit 106 controls two functions: heating of the stick-shaped substrate 30 (see FIG. 3) by the heating unit 107 and haptic feedback. However, a dedicated processor for controlling the heating of the stick-shaped substrate 30 (see FIG. 3) by the heating unit 107 and a dedicated processor for controlling the output of the haptic device may be provided. The dedicated processor for controlling heating here is an example of a first processor, and the dedicated processor for controlling the output of the haptic device is an example of a second processor.

(8) In the above embodiment, tapping and swiping operations are given as examples of input operations, but some of these operations may be replaced with flicking operations, or these operations may be combined with flicking operations.

(9) In the above embodiment, the aerosol source is described as being solid, but the aerosol source may be liquid. In the case where the aerosol source is liquid, a method is adopted in which the aerosol source is guided to a thin tube called a wick by capillary action, and the aerosol source is evaporated by heating a coil wound around the wick.
When the aerosol source is a liquid, the aerosol source is heated in conjunction with the user's inhalation. A container that contains a liquid aerosol source is also called a cartridge.

(10) In the above embodiment, an aerosol generating device that generates an aerosol by heating a solid aerosol source has been described. However, an aerosol generating device that generates an aerosol by separately heating a solid aerosol source and a liquid aerosol source may also be used. This type of aerosol generating device is also called a hybrid aerosol generating device.

(11) The input operations include input operations specific to an aerosol generating device 1 that heats a solid aerosol source at a high temperature (e.g., 200°C or higher), input operations specific to an aerosol generating device 1 that heats a solid aerosol source at a low temperature (e.g., less than 200°C) or an aerosol generating device 1 that heats a liquid aerosol source, and input operations common to both types.
FIG. 29 is a chart explaining the difference in input operations of the aerosol generation device 1 depending on the type of aerosol source and the heating temperature.

In FIG. 29, the input operations are classified into combinations of four types of input operations, two types of aerosol sources, and three types of heating methods.
The four types of input operations are "basic operation system", "switching system", "communication system", and "confirmation system".
The two types of aerosol sources are solid aerosol sources and liquid aerosol sources, and the solid aerosol sources can be classified into high-temperature heating aerosol sources and low-temperature heating aerosol sources.

The three types of heating methods are a method of heating a solid aerosol source at a high temperature, a method of heating a solid aerosol source at a low temperature, and a method of heating a liquid aerosol source.
The input operations shown in Fig. 29 are associated with the above-mentioned tap operations, swipe operations, etc., and different vibration patterns are associated with each input operation. For example, in the case of switching or confirmation input operations, vibration patterns (e.g., number of vibrations, vibration intensity, vibration timing) representing information to be notified (e.g., brand, heating profile, heating temperature, suction detection sensitivity, display mode, charging status), amount (e.g., remaining battery level (life), remaining suction time, remaining amount of liquid, remaining amount of capsule), or number (e.g., number of puffs, remaining number of puffs, remaining number of puffs, cumulative number of puffs) are assigned.
This makes it possible to realize an aerosol generating device 1 that employs a contact device and tactile feedback as a user interface.

<Summary>
The present disclosure includes the following configurations.
(1) An aerosol generating device having a heating unit that heats an aerosol source, a contact sensor that detects operations performed on a specific portion of the surface of a housing, a function to control heating of the aerosol source by the heating unit, and a processor that executes a function to control operations that can be accepted by the contact sensor depending on the operating mode.
According to this aerosol generation device, unintended operation of an aerosol generation device employing a contact sensor can be prevented.
(2) The processor controls the aerosol generating device described in (1) so that a first input operation can be accepted when the operating mode is in an aerosol source heating mode, and controls the aerosol generating device so that a second input operation different from the first input operation can be accepted when the operating mode is in an aerosol source non-heating mode.
According to this aerosol generating device, it is possible to request the user to use different input operations depending on the operation mode.
(3) An aerosol generating device described in (1) or (2), in which the processor limits the acceptance of input operations to operations on a specific part when the operating mode is an aerosol source heating mode.
According to this aerosol generating device, when in the heating mode, the user can be requested to operate a specific part.
(4) The aerosol generating device described in (3), wherein the specific portion is at least one surface of the housing.
According to this aerosol generating device, the surface of the housing can be used as an input section.
(5) An aerosol generating device described in (2), in which the first input operation is an operation related to at least one of stopping heating of the aerosol source and confirming a physical quantity.
With this aerosol generating device, physical quantities can be confirmed even in the heating mode.
(6) The aerosol generating device described in (5), wherein the physical quantity is at least one of the remaining charge of the battery which is the power source, the number of aerosol sources which can be inhaled with the remaining charge, the remaining charge of the aerosol source in use, the remaining number of inhalations or the remaining inhalation time which can be inhaled by the aerosol source in use, and the cumulative number of inhalations to date.
With this aerosol generating device, physical quantities can be confirmed even in the heating mode.
(7) An aerosol generating device described in (2), wherein the second input operation is an operation for changing the control sequence used to heat the aerosol source.
According to this aerosol generating device, it is possible to accept an operation to change the control sequence in the non-heating mode.
(8) The second input operation is a first directional operation that increases the maximum temperature compared to the current control sequence and a second directional operation that decreases the maximum temperature compared to the current control sequence, and the operation directions of the first directional operation and the second directional operation are different.
According to this aerosol generating device, the user can be requested to perform different operations depending on whether the maximum temperature is to be increased or decreased.
(9) An aerosol generating device described in any one of (1) to (8), in which the processor, when the operating mode is a heating mode, allows acceptance of an operation via a contact sensor on the condition that a specified operation is detected by an acceleration sensor.
According to this aerosol generating device, in the heating mode, an intentional operation accompanied by a change in acceleration can be required in order to accept an input operation.
(10) An aerosol generating device described in any one of (1) to (8), in which the processor allows acceptance of an operation via a contact sensor when a specified operation is detected by an acceleration sensor when the operating mode is a non-heating mode.
According to this aerosol generating device, in the non-heating mode, an intentional operation accompanied by a change in acceleration can be required to accept an input operation.
(11) An aerosol generating device described in (9) or (10), in which the processor allows acceptance of an operation via the contact sensor only for a predetermined time period after detection of a predetermined operation by the acceleration sensor.
According to this aerosol generating device, only intentional operations by the user can be accepted.
(12) An aerosol generating device described in (2), wherein the non-heating mode is at least one of an active mode, a sleep mode, a charging mode, and a pairing mode.
According to this aerosol generating device, it is possible to request the user to perform an input operation specific to the non-heating mode.
(13) An aerosol generating device described in (2), in which the types of first input operations are fewer than the types of second input operations.
According to this aerosol generating device, the types of input operations that can be accepted during the heating mode can be limited.
(14) An aerosol generating device described in any one of (1) to (13), wherein the processor has a first processor that controls heating of the aerosol source by the heating unit, and a second processor that controls operations that can be accepted by the tactile sensor depending on the operating mode.
According to this aerosol generating device, there is no need to newly develop a processor capable of controlling both the heating unit and the tactile sensor.

1...aerosol generating device, 10...main body, 10A...opening, 20...slide cover, 30...stick-shaped substrate, 30A...substrate, 30B...suction port, 101...power supply, 102...sensor, 102A...touch sensor, 103...notification, 103A...vibration motor, 104...storage, 105...communication, 106...control, 107...heating, 108...insulation, 109...holding, 109A...internal space, 109B...bottom

Claims (14)

A heating unit that heats the aerosol source;
A contact sensor that detects an operation on a predetermined portion of a surface of the housing;
A processor that executes a function of controlling heating of the aerosol source by the heating unit and a function of controlling an operation that can be accepted by the contact sensor depending on an operation mode;
An aerosol generating device having the above structure. The processor,
When the operation mode is a heating mode of the aerosol source, control is performed to be able to accept a first input operation;
When the operation mode is a non-heating mode of the aerosol source, control is performed to be able to accept a second input operation different from the first input operation.
The aerosol generating device according to claim 1 . The processor,
When the operation mode is a heating mode of the aerosol source, acceptance of an input operation is limited to an operation on a specific portion.
The aerosol generating device according to claim 1 or 2. The specific portion is at least one housing surface.
The aerosol generating device according to claim 3 . The first input operation is an operation related to at least one of stopping heating of the aerosol source and confirming a physical quantity.
The aerosol generating device according to claim 2 . The physical quantity is at least one of the remaining charge of a battery which is a power source, the number of the aerosol sources which can be inhaled with the remaining charge, the remaining charge of the aerosol source in use, the remaining number of inhalations which can be inhaled or the remaining inhalation time by the aerosol source in use, and the cumulative number of inhalations up to the present time.
The aerosol generating device according to claim 5 . The second input operation is an operation for changing a control sequence used to heat the aerosol source.
The aerosol generating device according to claim 2 . the second input operation is a first directional operation for increasing the maximum temperature to a level higher than that of a current control sequence, and a second directional operation for decreasing the maximum temperature to a level lower than that of a current control sequence, and the first directional operation and the second directional operation have different operation directions.
The aerosol generating device according to claim 7. The processor,
when the operation mode is a heating mode, accepting an operation by the contact sensor is permitted on condition that a predetermined operation is detected by an acceleration sensor;
The aerosol generating device according to any one of claims 1 to 8. The processor,
when the operation mode is a non-heating mode, accepting an operation by the contact sensor is permitted on condition that a predetermined operation is detected by an acceleration sensor;
The aerosol generating device according to any one of claims 1 to 8. The processor,
acceptance of an operation by the contact sensor only for a predetermined time period from the detection of the predetermined operation by the acceleration sensor;
The aerosol generating device according to claim 9 or 10. The non-heating mode is at least one of an active mode, a sleep mode, a charging mode, and a pairing mode.
The aerosol generating device according to claim 2 . The number of types of the first input operation is smaller than the number of types of the second input operation.
The aerosol generating device according to claim 2 . The processor,
a first processor for controlling heating of the aerosol source by the heating unit;
A second processor that controls an operation that can be accepted by the contact sensor;
The aerosol generating device according to any one of claims 1 to 13, comprising:

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