Patent Publication Number: US-2015075546-A1

Title: Controller With Network Access and Unique ID for Personal Electronic Devices

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/845,437, filed Jul. 12, 2013. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention related generally to the field of personal electronic devices and, in particular, to the enhancement of the performance and enjoyment of such devices through the inclusion of a networking capability that allows remote data gathering regarding the use of the device and the control of certain aspects of the operation of the device. In particular, the invention is related to the field of electronic cigarettes, also sometimes referred to as atomizers or vaporizers. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Electronic cigarettes are becoming increasingly popular and today have reached a point where they can include powerful computerized micro-controllers to provide voltage regulation, text-based user displays, and other features such as buttons to adjust voltage. Most of these devices are currently manufactured overseas and improvements are based on small, incremental changes to existing power-controller centered designs with minimalist user interfaces. 
     As a result, electronic cigarettes currently on the market do not take full advantage of the potential networking and sensing capabilities that could be used for monitoring the operation of the devices and user control of the functioning of the devices. 
     Thus, it would be advantageous and desirable to incorporate sensors and networking capabilities into these devices to allow the advantages that could be realized thereby. 
     SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
     This invention presents improvements to prior art personal electronic devices, such as electronic cigarettes or vaporizers, and operates to computerize the capture, management, control and transmission to and from these devices of data generated for and by the use and operation of the devices. 
     We disclose improvements to the current designs of personal electronic devices in the form of a computerized controller which will allow smart phones and remote computers to perform dynamic adjustments on the operation of these devices through networked connections in real time, and to use the display of these remotely connected devices to act as the display for the user interface of the device. 
     In the case or an electronic cigarette or vaporizer, the computerized controller is able to perform functions that will allow the user to treat the device much as they would an extension to a modern smart phone and to reap the advantages of the kind of connectivity, social function and computing power smart phones offer. 
     The invention is embodied by embedding an electronic communication system in the device that includes a unique identifier. This allows remote computers to identify, communicate with and track specific information about specific devices. Further, a smart phone or computer, using this technology, can act as a sophisticated display for data generated by the device, or an interactive display allowing changes on the smart phone screen to dynamically change the parameters of the operation of the device. 
    
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  shows a generalized representation of the configuration of the computer-based control unit or the primary embodiment of the invention. In particular, the Unique ID of the controller is part of the electronic network interface or the controller. 
         FIG. 2  shows a remote computing device connected to the personal electronic device and receiving and displaying data therefrom, in this case a “hit count”. 
         FIG. 3  shows a remote computing device connected to the personal electronic device, and transmitting data to control the operation of the device, in this case the parameter being controlled is the temperature of the vaporization cycle. 
         FIG. 4  shows the computer-based control unit can receiving data as named sets. 
         FIG. 5  depicts the processes of a remote computer or cellphone “discovering” a device and connecting to it via a network. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention as described herein may be associated with any type of personal electronic device, but, for purposes of explanation, embodiments for an electronic cigarette or vaporizer will be used as an example. These will be referred to herein as the “device”. The invention provides a means to associate a unique network IP address or other unique electronic identifier with a device to provide communication capabilities which will allow the exchange of operational and control data between the device and other, remotely-connected devices. For purposes of this application, such remotely-connected devices can include, for example, smart phones or devices, computers, dedicated appliances or an application running in a cloud environment. These will be referred to collectively herein as “remote computing devices”. 
     The additional components comprising the invention, as shown in  FIG. 1 , consist of a processor  60 , computer-readable memory  70  and a communication system  80 , with software stored in memory  70  and executed by processor  60  to enable the functions described below. The functions provided as part of the invention will include the exchange of data with a remote computing device to (1) control certain parameters of the device&#39;s operation and (2) record various aspects of the device&#39;s operation. 
     A “vaporization cycle” is typically started when the initiation sensor  10  is actuated by a user. In an alternative embodiment, additional user controls could be used to distinguish between actuating one or both of the vaporization cycle and the network communications capability. 
     As seen in  FIG. 1 , the device begins operation when initiation sensor  10  detects the user has initiated a vaporization cycle. Data stored in computer memory  70  related to the vaporization cycle and the heating of the vaporizer or atomizer  50  is used to control the operation of heating controller  40  in accordance with stored instructions execute by processor  60 , which may be provided by default (i.e., permanently stored in memory  70 ) or which may be downloaded from a remote computing device as described below. 
     During the vaporization cycle, data regarding operational parameters and operation of the device is retrieved by processor  60  from memory  70  and used by processor  60  to control the operation of the device. An example of operational parameters read from memory might be dynamic temperature adjustments of heating controller  40 . 
     With reference to  FIG. 1 , processor  60  will collect data regarding the operation of the device and either transmit it in real time to a remote computing device for display, storage or analysis, or store it locally in memory  70  for later transmission or use. Data collected regarding the operation of the device would be stored in memory and for transmission to a remote computing device either at a time after the vaporization cycle completes or dynamically as it is collected in real-time, providing, of course, the network connection is active. 
     While the vaporization occurs, processor  60  is also gathering data from other sensors (not shown) about the state of the vaporizer and storing this data in memory  70 . At some point after this data is gathered, the user may initiate a networking connection with the vaporizer to a remote computing device. This connection will cause processor  60  to scan memory  70  for data that is to be transmitted to the remote device. After such data is located, communication system  80  sends the data, along with the unique identifier of the device, to a remote computing device. 
     In the case of wherein communications system  80  is a WiFi, USB, BlueTooth or wired ethernet connection, the unique identifier for the communications port may serve as this identifier, for example, the MAC address in the case of ethernet. In situations where communications system  80  has no such unique address, the vaporizer will be configured with a generated identifier during its manufacture via some hardware or software means. This generated identifier will be transmitted along with the data such that the remote computing device can identify the source of the data. 
     Some forms of networking which the device could utilize does not provide a direct means to pair the vaporizer with the remote computing device. For example, BlueTooth networking provides a specific means to pair a device (e.g., a mouse) with a computer. WiFi or ethernet, on the other hand, does not. It is anticipated that in some embodiments of the invention the device and the remote computing device will need a commonly accessible third computer, visible on the network to both, through which a common link can be created. 
     For example, a device may obtain an IP address via its network interface from a local router to which a remote computing device is also connected. The user, wishing to use the remote computing device to control or read data from the device, needs a means to identify the IP address of the device. 
     The invention provides the following means to accomplish this: The device, on start-up and before it is initially configured, or when it is actively looking for a network in an environment with which it has no recorded memory of, would blindly transmit its IP address along with its unique ID to a third party computer or website at a known address, e.g., www.elementvapors.com. An application running on the website would consult this same website looking for devices unpaired with a remote computing device at this same web address.  FIG. 5  shows a device connecting to a remote computing device via a local Wi-Fi connection. 
     The user of the device may wish to transmit data to a remote computing device for purposes of monitoring the status of the device. Examples of data which may be collected might include readings from one or more sensors, that can, for example, determine the volume of breath the user is applying to the device, determine the number of vaporization cycles that have occurred since the last time such data was monitored or determine the number of “hits” that the user has taken from the device, as shown in  FIG. 2 . 
     Additionally, data regarding the current status of the device may be collected, for example, the current state of the battery charge or the current state (i.e., quantity) of the contents of the vaporization chamber. Specifically, the invention allows for the collection of data about the state or quantity of the liquid or other material to be vaporized. This data can be transmitted to the remote computing device for viewing by a user. 
     To effect this data transfer, the user would cause the vaporizer to enter a state where the networking function would be enabled. In a preferred embodiment, this may be accomplished by utilizing a remote computing device, for example, a smart phone, to initiate a connection to the device via a wireless means, such as Wi-Fi or BlueTooth. Once this connection is established the device is able to transmit its data to the remote computing device. 
     In the preferred embodiment, the remote computing device receiving data from the vaporizer would provide an application to store and view the data that is generated. 
     Similarly, during a vaporization cycle and thereafter, parameters set by the user can be used by processor  60  to alter the behavior of the device. Operation of the device&#39;s atomizer or vaporizer, under the control of such data, would allow the user to apply different configurations to the operation of the device. 
     In preferred embodiment, a remote computing device, such as a smartphone, could be used by the user to configure parameters for the vaporizer. Once the parameters are configured, for example, by utilizing an application running on the remote computing device, these parameters will be transmitted to the device via communication system  80 . An example of parameters that may be set for a vaporizer-type device would be the setting of parameters to control the temperature over time of vapor heating element  50 . 
     Given this capability, it will be possible for a user of a device equipped with the components of the invention to create a number of different operational configurations or profiles which the user may wish to recall at different times. For example, a “hotter” vaporization temperature setting for use in the morning and a “cooler” vaporization temperature setting for use in the evening. The invention allows the user to save a series of settings as a profile with a given alphanumeric name using the application running on the remote computing device, or to save the settings on the device itself by entering a series of button clicks on the device.  FIG. 4  shows the naming and downloading of several named operational profiles from the remote computing device to the device. The invention also allows the user to utilize the electronic communication means to provide for more descriptive naming via a connected remote computing device, which can also be used to store the profiles and transmit the profiles to the device for recall during use. 
     As example of such settings would allow for specific control over the heating cycle used by the device. This can be accomplished by utilizing a series of timed temperature settings or a continuous temperature function. When the vaporization cycle is initiated, the specific heat of the vaporizer at a given time after the initiation of the cycle is controlled by consulting a table or function. As an example, various liquids placed in the vaporization chamber may have varying vaporization temperatures, and as such, the temperature may be varied accordingly. It may also be possible to have one or more liquids having different vaporization temperatures mixed in the vaporization chamber and to time the vaporization of each individual liquid by varying the temperature of the vaporizer accordingly. 
     Other examples of parameters of the device that could be set by the user are temperature-related characteristics. Users of vaporizers have preferred characteristics for their use. For example, “throat hit” is the way in which the vapor initially feels in the user&#39;s throat when they begin inhaling the vapor. Each user has a preferred specific value or values for these characteristics. The invention allows the user to control temperature-related characteristics by providing an application on a remote computing device that allows the user to “draw out” the characteristics via a graphics user interface, in the preferred embodiment some type of interactive graphing application, and to transmit the data represented by the graph to the device for testing or saving as a “named” setting.  FIG. 3  shows a graph on a remote computing device being converted into an operational profile and being downloaded to the device. 
     In one embodiment, the vaporizer could remain connected to the remote computing device while the user continues to operate the vaporizer. In such a case, controller  80  could transmit real-time data directly to the remote computing device about the process. When the user has finished using the device, the network connection could be disabled to save battery power. 
     Alternatively, the device could collect data regarding its operation and store it in memory  70  for a one-time transmission to the remote computing device at a later time. This embodiment may be useful when the vaporizer is out of range of a means for connecting to a remote computing device, or is conserving power. 
     Some types of vaporizers provide the ability to utilize interchangeable components or parts, for example, different batteries with different characteristics, vaporizers or atomizers with different ohm ratings, etc. Many of these components have specific requirements that, if mismatched with other interchangeable components, would cause damage to the component or to another component, for example, a lithium ion battery. The invention specifically allows for the gathering and storing of information about the configuration of the device, either manually or via sensors located in the device itself, or in a remote computer and comparing that configuration with an idealized template or model configuration. The comparison would indicate to the user if there are any incompatibilities between the actual configuration and the template. 
     Other embodiments of the invention allow users to personalize the devices in a variety of ways. The invention allows the attachment of a sound-generating module that would allow the creation of sounds as part of the vaporization cycle. The sounds could be stored in named configurations and transmitted to and from the remote computing device for storage for further storage or manipulation. 
     Some secondary functions, such as playing sounds or exchanging data with the remote computing device may require processor  60  to operate beyond the end of the vaporization cycle. For example, a sound may play for five seconds but the user only triggers a three second vaporization cycle. In such a case processor  60  may continue to operation beyond the vaporization cycle to complete the action. The invention provides a means for processor  60  to affect its own power supply such that it can control how long it continues to be powered after the cycle completes. 
     It will be understood that the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed by way of example and that other modifications and alterations may occur to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the disclosure herein.