US 11,998,058 B2
Aerosol-generating device comprising a cover element sensor
Miguel Borges, Neuchatel (CH); Jean-Luc Fringeli, Singapore (SG); Ilario Melzi, Cernusco sul Naviglio (IT); Stefano Pietro Pozzi, Renate (IT); and Alberto Silvano, Milan (IT)
Assigned to Philip Morris Products S.A., Neuchatel (CH)
Appl. No. 16/971,168
Filed by Philip Morris Products S.A., Neuchatel (CH)
PCT Filed Mar. 8, 2019, PCT No. PCT/EP2019/055925
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Aug. 19, 2020,
PCT Pub. No. WO2019/170897, PCT Pub. Date Sep. 12, 2019.
Claims priority of application No. 18161075 (EP), filed on Mar. 9, 2018; and application No. 18182777 (EP), filed on Jul. 10, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2021/0100288 A1, Apr. 8, 2021
Int. Cl. A24F 40/46 (2020.01); A24F 40/20 (2020.01); A24F 40/40 (2020.01); A24F 40/51 (2020.01); A24F 40/53 (2020.01)
CPC A24F 40/53 (2020.01) [A24F 40/40 (2020.01); A24F 40/46 (2020.01); A24F 40/51 (2020.01); A24F 40/20 (2020.01)] 16 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An aerosol-generating device, comprising:
a housing;
a cavity configured to receive an aerosol-generating article;
an aperture at least partially defined by the housing, wherein the aperture is disposed at an end of the cavity and configured for insertion of the aerosol-generating article into the cavity through the aperture;
a cover element configured to move, with respect to the housing, between a closed position in which the cover element at least partially covers the aperture and an open position in which the aperture is at least partially uncovered;
a sensor configured to provide an electrical signal indicative of a position of the cover element with respect to the aperture; and
an indicator element configured to move, with respect to the sensor, when the cover element is moved between the closed position and the open position, wherein the electrical signal provided by the sensor is determined by a position of the indicator element relative to the sensor, the indicator element comprising an optical surface,
wherein the sensor comprises an optical sensor comprising a light transmitter and a light receiver, and
wherein the optical surface is configured to rotationally move, with respect to the optical sensor, when the cover element moves between the closed position and the open position.