TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a consumable article and an aerosol generation device for use with the consumable article. In particular, the invention relates to a consumable article for use with an aerosol generation device, the consumable article comprising one or more magnetic element forming a pattern representing coded information, and an aerosol generation device for reading the code. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Aerosol generation devices commonly available on the market are used with detachable and exchangeable consumable articles. These consumable articles exhibit different shapes and sizes, and in particular may contain a wide range of aerosol generation substrates. The aerosol generation substrates exhibit a wide range of characteristics. For example, certain substrates may only be used with a specific type of aerosol generation device or method, or only be used within specific aerosol generation parameters. Ensuring that the correct consumable article is used with the designated aerosol generation device or operated within designated ranges is important for ensuring the safe use of the aerosol generation device and the consumable article. However, the characteristics of the consumable article and the requirements associated with the characteristics may not be known to a user, not identifiable from the consumable article or aerosol generation device for a user, or the user may willingly ignore the characteristics and associated requirements. Therefore, in many regards, the authentication and identification of a consumable article and its characteristics are highly important features.

Current authentication means employed for aerosol generation devices using a transmitter on the consumable article such as an RFID tag and a receiver on the aerosol generation device such as an RFID tag reader or similar arrangements are incapable of determining the spatial orientation of a consumable article in relation to the aerosol generation device. Furthermore, since the transmission and reception ranges of the wireless means are typically at least in the meter range and therefore large in relation to the size of an aerosol generation device, any information transfer between the consumable article and the aerosol generation device is susceptible to misfunctioning or malfunctioning when several consumable articles or aerosol generation devices are in the detection range of each other. Such wireless means typically also require an active power supply. On the other hand, wired mechanical connections via electrical connectors may degrade or become damaged over time due to repeated or incorrect use of the consumable article with the device. Optical means such as cameras or barcode scanners maybe unreliable and have a limited detection resolution within the space limitations of commonly available aerosol generation devices. Therefore, there is a need for an authentication and identification means and method that afford reliable and safe authentication and identification of consumable articles to be used with aerosol generation devices.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The above objective is solved by the invention as defined by the features of the independent claims. Preferred embodiments of the invention are defined by the sub features of the dependent claims.

A first aspect of the invention is a consumable article for use with an aerosol generation device, the consumable article comprising an aerosol generating substrate arranged in a wrapper and a plurality of magnetic elements which form a pattern representing coded information. Information relevant to the consumable article may be coded onto the consumable article and be wirelessly detected by the aerosol generation device capable of detecting the magnetic elements and the formed pattern, thus eliminating the need a wired connection. Furthermore, since magnetic field lines are short-ranged in contrast to wireless electronic signals such as RFID or similar signals, the risk of undesired or unauthorized third parties intercepting any coded information is reduced. Additionally, available magnetic sensors exhibit higher detection resolutions than optical means within the limited spatial constraints of an aerosol generation device and consumable article, thus affording a higher information density than possible with optical means.

In the context of the present invention, According to an embodiment of the invention, the magnetic elements include ferromagnetic and/or ferrimagnetic elements. The magnetic material or materials used for the magnetic elements may comprise ferromagnetic and ferrimagnetic materials which may be permanent or non-permanent magnetic materials.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the plurality of magnetic elements is disposed at an exterior wall of the consumable article. Alternatively, the plurality of magnetic elements may be provided at an interior wall of the wrapper, about an exterior surface of the aerosol generating substrate and/ or within the aerosol generating material itself This improves the detectability of the magnetic elements by a magnetic sensor as in this case, the magnetic field caused by the plurality of magnetic elements extends farther away from the consumable article. According to another embodiment of the invention, the plurality of magnetic elements comprise a plurality of magnetic rings. The is advantageous because the magnetic elements can be detected by the magnetic sensor independent of the rotational orientation of the consumable article during insertion or removal of the consumable article. According to a further embodiment of the invention, the plurality of magnetic elements form a magnetic spiral and the number of windings of the spiral preferably corresponds to the number of magnetic elements in the plurality of magnetic elements. Such a spiral can be easily manufactured. Again, information can be coded and consequently detected independent of the rotational orientation with respect to the central axis of the consumable article.

In this further embodiment, the pitch between neighboring windings of the spiral corresponds to the distance between the neighboring elements of the plurality of magnetic elements.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the plurality of magnetic elements are formed by one or more magnetic wires. This reduces manufacturing costs as well as manufacturing complexities since many magnetic raw materials are readily and commercially available in the form of wires. For example, magnetic rings and spirals can be easily formed by wrapping one or more magnetic wires around the consumable article. According to another embodiment, the coded information is based on at least one of: the distance between elements of the plurality of magnetic elements, in particular between neighboring elements, the size of elements of the plurality of magnetic elements, in particular the length, width, height, and/ or thickness of the elements, and the number of magnetic elements. This allows for several types of different information coding. Spacing magnetic elements of the plurality of magnetic elements apart by a predetermined distance allows the distances to be used for encoding information. For example, the distance between magnetic in elements, in particular the distance between neighboring magnetic elements, as well as the regularity of the spacing or lack of a regularity of the spacing can be used to encode information. Additionally, providing magnetic elements of the plurality of magnetic elements with the same and/ or different sizes allows the sizes of magnetic elements to be used for encoding information. For example, the size of the magnetic elements, the relation between sizes magnetic elements with different sizes and/ or the spatial distribution of magnetic elements with different sizes, specific relation to sizes of other magnetic elements and/or same sizes can be used for encoding information. This allows a wide range of information to be coded within the limited spatial constraints of the consumable article.

In that embodiment, the plurality of magnetic elements, in particular neighboring elements, are equidistantly, symmetrically, asymmetrically or irregularly spaced apart from each other.

According to yet another embodiment, the plurality of magnetic elements are disposed along a direction of the consumable article which corresponds to the insertion or removal direction of the consumable article into or from the aerosol generation device and/or along a circumference of the consumable article. By disposing the magnetic elements in a direction corresponding to an insertion or removal from direction of the consumable article into or from an aerosol generation device, information may be read along the insertion or removal direction of the consumable article. By disposing the magnetic elements in a direction corresponding to a circumference of the consumable article, the information may be read when the consumable article is rotated within the aerosol generation device.

In a further embodiment, the coded information comprises at least one of information on a characteristic of the consumable article, information on a characteristic of the aerosol generating substrate, information on an orientation of the consumable article, information on an operation parameter of the consumable article, and information which can be used to identify and/or authenticate the consumable article. By encoding these types of information onto the consumable article allows the coded information to be obtained by an aerosol generation device configured for detecting the plurality of magnetic elements and the pattern they form. Depending on the information obtained or not obtained, for example, the consumable article can be authenticated for use with the aerosol generation device or be used at predetermined operation conditions.

A second aspect of the invention is an aerosol generation device comprising a cavity for at least partially receiving a consumable article as previously presented, a heating element configured for applying heat to the cavity, a magnetic sensor, preferably a hall effect sensor, wherein the magnetic sensor is configured to detect a plurality of signals caused by a plurality of magnetic elements comprised by the consumable article passing the magnetic sensor. According to an embodiment, the aerosol generation device is preferably capable of detecting a signal for each magnetic element passing the sensor during insertion or removal or rotation of the consumable article and thus is capable of detecting the signals corresponding the pattern represented by the plurality of magnetic elements on the consumable article. According to an embodiment, the aerosol generation device is configured for controlling operation of the aerosol generation device based on at least one of the detected number, the detected magnitude, the detected shape, the detected temporal distance and the temporal distribution of the plurality of signals during insertion or removal of the consumable article. Preferably, in the aerosol generation device, controlling the operation of the aerosol generation device comprises turning the device on/off, turning power supply to the heating element on/off, adjusting the power level and/or duration supplied to the heating element. Since the aerosol generation device is capable of detecting a pattern of signals corresponding to the pattern of the plurality of magnetic elements on the consumable article, information coded by the pattern can be used to control the operation of the aerosol generation device. This allows for safe operation of the consumable article, or the use of unauthorized or unidentifiable consumable articles can be prevented, thus increasing the safety for a user.

Still preferably, the aerosol generation device is configured for detecting whether the consumable article is inserted or removed based on at least one of the detected number, the detected magnitude, the detected shape, the detected temporal distance and the temporal distribution of the plurality of signals during insertion or removal of the consumable article. According to a further embodiment, the aerosol generation device is configured for detecting the orientation of the consumable article based on at least one of the detected number, the detected magnitude, the detected shape, the detected temporal distance and the temporal distribution of the plurality of signals during insertion or removal of the consumable article. Detecting the orientation and the insertion direction ensures safe and correct operation of the consumable article with the aerosol generation device.

According to yet a further embodiment, the aerosol generation device comprises an outer housing, and the magnetic sensor is provided substantially at an opening of the outer housing through which the consumable article is inserted into or removed from the cavity. In this manner, the magnetic sensor can detect, during insertion or removal of the consumable article, substantially all the magnetic elements that are within the cavity after insertion of before removal, thus allowing a higher information density to be on the consumable article and detected by the aerosol generation device. Furthermore, the closer the magnetic sensor is placed to consumable article, the more sensitive the magnetic sensor is towards detecting magnetic elements passing the sensor.

In the preceding embodiment, the magnetic sensor is provided, in a direction parallel and/or a direction perpendicular to the direction of insertion or removal of the consumable article into or from the aerosol generation device, within 15 mm, preferably within 10 mm, more preferably within 8 mm, even more preferably within 6 mm, even more preferably within 4 mm from the opening of the housing through which the consumable article is inserted or removed into and from the cavity.

Preferably, the magnetic sensor is configured to detect the plurality of signals caused by a plurality of magnetic elements comprised by the consumable article passing the magnetic sensor during insertion or removal of the consumable article into or from the cavity and/ or during rotation of the consumable article in the cavity.

A third aspect of the invention is an aerosol generation system comprising an aerosol generation device according to any one of the twelfth to nineteenth aspects and a consumable article according to any one of the first to eleventh aspects. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Fig. l shows a schematic illustration of an aerosol generation device and a consumable article according to preferred embodiments of the invention;

Fig. 2 shows a schematic illustrated perspective view of a consumable article according to preferred embodiments of the invention;

Fig. 3A shows a schematic illustration of a consumable article and corresponding signals detected by the aerosol generation device according to embodiments of the invention;

Fig. 3B shows a schematic illustration of a consumable article and corresponding signals detected by the aerosol generation device according of embodiments the invention, as variations of embodiments shown in Fig. 3A;

Fig. 3C shows a schematic illustration of a consumable article and corresponding signals detected by the aerosol generation device according to embodiments of the invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Preferred embodiments of the present invention are described hereinafter and in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

As illustrated in Fig. 1, an aerosol generation system comprises a consumable article 100 for use with an aerosol generation device 200. The consumable article 100 may be inserted into the cavity 230 of the aerosol generation device 100 in a direction parallel to the central axis insertion vector Z, that is a vector pointing in the insertion direction of the consumable article 100 into the cavity 230 of the aerosol generation device 200 and that extends through the central axis of the consumable article too, which in the current example is its longitudinal axis. The consumable article too and/or the cavity 230 may be sized such that only a portion of the consumable article too may be received in the cavity. In this case, a plurality of magnetic elements 110 of the consumable article may be disposed about a surface of the consumable article too, either an inner or outer surface thereof, such that all magnetic elements of the plurality of magnetic elements 110 are positioned in the cavity 230 when the consumable article is inserted into the cavity. Alternatively, only a portion of the plurality of magnetic elements 110 of the consumable article may be positioned in the cavity when the consumable article is inserted into the cavity while the remaining portion is outside of the cavity 230.

The aerosol generation device 200 comprises a cavity 230 with a heating element 240 for heating the cavity and at least part of the consumable article 100 when the latter is at least partially received in the cavity 230. The consumable article 100 may in the represented example be rod-shaped and formed of a heat-not-burn consumable article 100 comprising at least a first consumable part comprising an aerosol generating substrate wrapped in a wrapper 120, such as a paper wrapper. A mouthpiece maybe connected to the first consumable part for a user to inhale an aerosol generated from the first consumable part upon insertion and heating thereof in the cavity 230 of the aerosol generation device 200. For example, the first consumable part may comprise a heatable substrate comprising tobacco material and an aerosol former such as propylene glycol, glycerin and/or 1,3 propanediol, such that upon heating of the heatable substrate, volatile compounds are extracted in a vapour formed from the aerosol former components to form an inhalable aerosol.

The aerosol generation device 200 comprises a magnetic sensor 210 which is preferably positioned at an opening of the outer housing through which the consumable article is inserted into or removed from the cavity, in particular at or near the circumference 231 of the opening of the cavity 230. In particular, the magnetic sensor may be arranged, in a direction parallel to and/ or a direction perpendicular to the central axis insertion vector Z, within 15 mm, preferably within 10 mm, even more preferably within 5 mm„ even more preferably within 2 mm, from the circumference 231 of the opening of the cavity 230 and/or the opening of the outer housing through which the consumable article is inserted into or removed from the cavity. The magnetic sensor may be any sensor capable of detecting a change in the magnetic field caused by the presence of magnetic elements within the detection range of the sensor. The magnetic sensor may be a Hall-Effect-sensor and may additionally comprise a permanent magnet for detecting magnetic elements 110 made of non-permanent ferromagnetic or ferrimagnetic materials such as iron, steel or similar materials. Additionally, the Hall- Effect-sensor may be a sensor based on MEMS-technology.

As illustrated in Fig. 2 the consumable article 100 may have a circular base shape, or may have any suitable base shape such as a polygonal shape or a base shape without a radial symmetry. The consumable article 100 may be a consumable article for use with an aerosol generation device 200 as described above in the context of Fig. 1. The consumable article 100 may comprise a plurality of magnetic elements no which are disposed in the direction parallel to central axis insertion vector Z and which may be disposed along the entire length or only a portion of the length of the consumable article 100. The magnetic elements comprise magnetic materials comprising ferromagnetic and ferrimagnetic materials which may be permanent or non-permanent magnetic materials. The plurality of magnetic elements maybe disposed at the housing or wrapper 120 of the consumable article. The magnetic elements maybe disposed on the exterior surface of the housing or wrapper 120 or may additionally or alternatively be disposed on the interior surface of the housing or wrapper 120. Additionally, or alternatively, magnetic elements of the plurality of magnetic elements may be disposed about and / or inside the consumable article. While magnetic elements of the plurality of magnetic elementsno are shown in Fig. 2 to be in the shape of magnetic rings perpendicular to the central axis insertion vector Z, additionally or alternatively, the rings may be non-perpendicular to the central axis insertion vector Z. The magnetic elements may be of any appropriate shape and size and extend along the entire length of the circumference or only a portion of the length of the circumference of the consumable article 100. Alternatively, the plurality of magnetic elements 110 may form a spiral. The plurality of magnetic elements 110 maybe disposed on the consumable article 100 via any appropriate mechanical, physical or chemical means and/or method. Magnetic elements of the plurality of magnetic elements 110 may be printed onto the consumable article. Alternatively, the magnetic elements may be formed by one or more magnetic wires disposed at the consumable article housing or wrapper 120.

In the context of the present invention, the housing or wrapper 120 shall be formed of a substantially flexible material, in particular a cellulose-based sheet material such as paper, board or carton or a recyclable polymer material in sheet form, such a bioplastic material, in particular polylactic acid (PLA).

The magnetic wires may be disposed such that each magnetic wire forms one of the plurality of magnetic elements, or may be combined adjacent and next to or above each other to form a magnetic element 110. By combining one or more magnetic wires, magnetic elements with different sizes, in particular with different lengths and/or widths and / or heights may be achieved. Additionally, the plurality of magnetic elements 110 may be equidistantly, symmetrically, asymmetrically or irregularly distanced from each other. In case of magnetic elements forming a spiral, the pitch between neighboring windings corresponds to the distance between neighboring magnetic elements of the plurality of magnetic elements 110. Information may be coded based on the pattern formed by the plurality of magnetic elements no of the consumable article 100. Information maybe coded based on the distance between elements of the plurality of magnetic elements, in particular between neighboring elements, and/or the size of elements of the plurality of magnetic elements, in particular the length, width, height, or thickness of the elements, and/ or the number of magnetic elements. For example, by gradually increasing the distance between neighboring magnetic elements no in one direction, a directional orientation of the consumable article with regard to the central axis insertion vector Z can be coded. A similar effect may be achieved by gradually increasing the size of the plurality of magnetic elements in one direction. Additionally, or alternatively, the plurality of magnetic elements no may be provided in two distinct sizes and/or with two distinct distances between neighboring magnetic elements to provide a binary code. Also, the number of magnetic elements of the plurality of magnetic elements may be used to encode information. Additionally, or alternatively, one or more magnetic elements of the plurality of magnetic elements 110 may be provided with a distinct size at a distinct position on the consumable article to code a certain significance to a position on the consumable article, such as a position near a terminal end of the consumable article. In case only a portion of the consumable article too, in particular the first consumable part thereof, comprising the heatable substrate, is received in the cavity 230 of an aerosol generation device 200 as described in the context of Fig. 1, magnetic elements of the plurality of magnetic elements 110 that are in the cavity 230 when the consumable article too is inserted in the aerosol generation device 200 maybe provided differently that magnetic elements of the plurality of magnetic elements 110 that are not in the cavity when the consumable article too is inserted in the aerosol generation device 200. By providing the magnetic elements that are not in the cavity 230 differently from the magnetic elements that are in the cavity 230, for example, information regarding a correct insertion direction and/ or orientation of the consumable article may be coded.

The skilled person appreciates that information may be coded using any suitable combination of the coding examples above. Additionally, encoding examples or combinations thereof may be provided only on portions of the consumable article too, and several of the above examples or combinations thereof may be provided on different portions of the consumable article too.

The information that is coded on the consumable article may comprise at least one of information on a characteristic of the consumable article, information on a characteristic of the aerosol generating substrate, information on an orientation of the consumable article information on an operation parameter of the consumable article, and information which can be used to identify and/ or authenticate the consumable article. In general, any information pertaining to relevant characteristics of the consumable article and/ or the safe and/ or correct operation of the consumable article with a respective aerosol generation device may be coded. Such information may comprise the manufacture and/ or the manufacturing date of the consumable article loo, the type and/or amount of an aerosol generating substrate contained in the consumable article 100, an optimal heating temperature or heating duration range of the consumable article.

Figs. 3A to 3C illustrate consumable articles 100 and signals 300 detected a by magnetic sensor of an aerosol generation device for use with the consumable article 100 for different configurations of magnetic elements 110 provided on the consumable article. The aerosol generation device may be an aerosol generation device 200 as described in the context of Fig. 1. During an insertion process of the consumable article 100 into the aerosol generation device 200, each magnetic element of the consumable article 100 may pass the magnetic sensor 210 of the aerosol generation device, generating a detection signal 300 in the process of passing the magnetic sensor 210.

The shape, in particular the temporal length and the magnitude of a respective detected signal 300, corresponds to the size, in particular the length, width, height and/or thickness of a respective magnetic element of the plurality of magnetic elements. The temporal distance between respective detected signals 300 corresponds to the spatial distance between respective magnetic elements of the plurality of magnetic elements.

As shown in Fig. 3A, the consumable article too is provided with a magnetic ring at the terminal end of the consumable article too that is to be inserted into the aerosol generation device 200 for correct operation of the consumable article too. The magnetic ring is larger in size than the remaining magnetic rings. Consequently, the signal 300 detected by the aerosol generation device at t ₀ has a larger amplitude and/ or temporal duration than the signals 300 detected for the remaining magnetic rings during the insertion process of the consumable article too. Therefore, the signal 300 detected at initial time t ₀ may have an amplitude above a certain threshold amplitude such that when a signal above the threshold amplitude is detected, the aerosol generation 200 device may detect the beginning of an insertion process of the consumable article 100. As can further be seen, the remaining magnetic rings of the plurality of magnetic rings 110 are arranged with the space between neighboring rings increasing in the direction opposing the insertion direction. The increasing distance between neighboring magnetic rings may be detected by the aerosol generation device as an increasing temporal distance between detected signals 300. The information coded by such a pattern on the consumable article 100 and detectable by the aerosol generation device 200 maybe information as described in the context of Fig. 1 and Fig. 2. To account for the influence of the speed of insertion of the consumable article, the aerosol generation 200 device may detect the end time t _n of the last magnetic ring passing the magnetic sensor 210. The aerosol generation device 200 may subsequently divide all detected times t _0, t ...t _n-i , t _n by the time difference between initial time t ₀ and end time t _n to obtain a normalized temporal spectrum of detected signals 300 accounting for variations in the insertion speed of the consumable article too by a user or different users. It should be noted that while the plurality of magnetic elements 110 is shown as a plurality of magnetic rings, the plurality of magnetic elements 110 may be provided as described in the context of Fig. 1 and Fig. 2. In particular, a portion of the plurality of magnetic elements 110 may be provided as magnetic rings, and the magnetic rings may be provided with magnetic wires and/ or a combination of magnetic wires as described in the context of Fig. 2.

As shown in Fig. 3B, as a variation of the embodiment shown in Fig. 3A, the consumable article too is provided with a magnetic ring at the terminal end that is to be inserted into the aerosol generation device 200 for correct operation of the consumable article too. The consumable article too as shown in Fig. 3B is further provided with a magnetic spiral instead of magnetic rings. As described in the context of Fig. 2, a pitch between the windings of the spiral corresponds to a distance between magnetic elements of the plurality of magnetic elements 110. Therefore, temporal distances between respective signals 300 corresponding to respective windings of the spiral correspond to pitches between the respective windings. While the pitch between neighboring windings is shown as being the same, the pitch may be different for a portion of the windings or all windings of the spiral. The use of a spiral further allows information about the rotational orientation of the consumable article around the central axis as indicated by the central axis insertion vector Z to be coded. This is due to the fact that the time difference between time t ₀ corresponding to the detection of the magnetic ring as shown and the time h corresponding to the first winding of the spiral changes, because the spatial distance between the magnetic ring and the part of first spiral of the winding directly facing the magnetic sensor changes. As shown in Fig. 3C, the consumable article 100 is provided with a magnetic spiral 110 as the plurality of magnetic elements 110. The magnetic spiral 110 comprises a first portion with a first pitch located towards the terminal end of the consumable article 100 that is to be inserted into an aerosol generation device that may be an aerosol generation device 200 as described in the context of Fig.i and Fig. 2. The magnetic spiral 110 further comprises a second portion near the middle of consumable article

100 with a pitch that is larger than the pitch of the first portion. The magnetic spiral 110 further comprises a third portion with a pitch that is the same as the pitch of the first portion near the terminal end opposite the terminal end that is to be inserted into the aerosol generation device 200. Alternatively, the pitch of the third portion maybe different from the pitch of both the first and second portion. Alternatively, the magnetic spiral 110 may comprise three separate and shorter magnetic spirals corresponding to the three portions. While the magnetic spiral 110 is shown to comprise three portions, the magnetic spiral 110 may comprise any number of portions and/or any number of separate and shorter magnetic spirals. Information may be coded in the magnetic spiral 110 or in the portions of the magnetic spiral as described in the context of Fig. 2. One or more types of information may be coded in one or more portions, and the one or more types of information coded in one portion of the spiral may be different from the one or more types of information coded in different portions. Additionally, the magnetic spiral maybe provided as described in the context of Fig. 2, in particular as one or more magnetic wires and/ or a combination of one or more magnetic wires.

While this disclosure has described certain embodiments and generally associated methods, alterations and permutations of these embodiments and methods will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the above description of example embodiments does not define or constrain this disclosure. Other changes, substitutions, and alterations are also possible without departing from the scope of this disclosure, as defined by the independent and dependent claims. LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS USED IN THE DRAWINGS loo: consumable article no: magnetic elements

120: consumable article housing or wrapper 200: aerosol generation device

2io: magnetic sensor

220: device housing

230: cavity

231: circumference of opening of cavity 300: detected signal

Z: central axis insertion vector t _x : time of detected signal