US 12,075,840 B2
Method and apparatus for controlling the temperature of an evaporator for an inhaler, in particular an electronic cigarette product
Sonali Rath, Heilsbronn (DE); Muhannad Ghanam, Freiburg (DE); Jan Jaklin, Fellbach (DE); Uwe Pelz, Schallstadt (DE); Peter Woias, Freiburg (DE); and Frank Goldschmidtboeing, Ortenberg (DE)
Assigned to KÖRBER TECHNOLOGIES GMBH, Hamburg (DE)
Appl. No. 17/297,832
Filed by KÖRBER TECHNOLOGIES GMBH, Hamburg (DE)
PCT Filed Nov. 25, 2019, PCT No. PCT/EP2019/082469
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date May 27, 2021,
PCT Pub. No. WO2020/109253, PCT Pub. Date Jun. 4, 2020.
Claims priority of application No. 102018130105.7 (DE), filed on Nov. 28, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2022/0030954 A1, Feb. 3, 2022
Int. Cl. A24F 40/57 (2020.01); A24F 40/10 (2020.01); A24F 40/53 (2020.01); G05D 23/24 (2006.01)
CPC A24F 40/57 (2020.01) [A24F 40/10 (2020.01); A24F 40/53 (2020.01); G05D 23/2401 (2013.01)] 14 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method for temperature control of a vaporizer for an inhaler, the method comprising:
providing a vaporizer for an inhaler,
wherein the vaporizer comprises:
a heating element,
wherein the heating element is an electric resistance heating element; and
an electronically controlled switching element,
wherein a current flow through the heating element can be switched on and off with the switching element;
measuring a voltage applied to the heating element;
measuring the current flow through the heating element;
determining a resistance of the heating element from the measured voltage and the measured current; and
controlling a temperature of the heating element by controlled switching off of the switching element so that the current flow through the heating element is interrupted when the determined resistance:
exceeds a first critical threshold R_co; or
falls below the first critical threshold R_co,
wherein the resistance of the heating element is determined in a time-resolved manner R(t),
wherein a time derivative dR(t)/dt of the resistance of the heating element is determined, and
wherein, if the heating rate dR(t)/dt of the resistance of the heating element is greater than a predetermined value, a presence of a large vapor bubble covering significant portions of a heater surface is concluded.