FIELD

This invention relates generally to devices and methods to help people stop smoking. BACKGROUND

It can be extremely difficult for an individual to quit smoking. When attempting to quit, many smokers continue to smoke as many, if not more, cigarettes than usual. It can be hard for individuals to limit themselves to a certain number of cigarettes when the cigarettes are so readily accessible. Some individuals may forget how many cigarettes allotted themselves for the day and may neglect to keep track of how many they have already smoked in a given day. A more efficient method and device is needed to assist smokers.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

In one implementation, the present disclosure is directed to a mobile device and method (also referred to by the inventors as the Smoke No More device) which is an electronic device to assist smokers in weaning themselves off of cigarettes. The device is designed to afford the smoker access to a predetermined number of cigarettes per day. Each day the device reduces the amount of times it opens; effectively decreasing the number of cigarettes the individual has access to until they have been completely weaned. Digital photographs and recorded messages of loved ones may be included as part of the device to motivate individuals to stay on course. This product is ideal for use by smokers who would like to quit for the first time, or for individuals who have tried numerous times to quit smoking and have been unsuccessful.

In one implementation, the present disclosure is directed to a device that stores cigarettes and only releases a single cigarette at a time, preventing another cigarette from being released while the lid of the device is open. After a cigarette is taken out, and the lid is closed properly, the lid locks automatically. Only then, is the slot free for another cigarette to slide into the waiting channel to be released when the lid is reopened. Audio/ visual messages, are activated simultaneously with the opening of the single-cigarette lid.

In another implementation, the present disclosure is directed to a computer- implemented method for reducing cigarette consumption including: (A) providing a processor and a memory connected to the processor; (B) recording the total number of cigarettes consumed by a smoker in a day prior to reduction and storing the original number of cigarettes in the memory; (C) recording the number of hours the smoker is awake in a day and storing the number of hours awake in the memory; (D) recording the time of day the smoker awakes and storing the wakeup time of day in the memory; (E) with the processor, (a) calculating the time interval between cigarettes by dividing the recorded number of original cigarettes by the recorded number of hours awake; (b) generating and storing in the memory a schedule of times for cigarette consumption for the first day by: (i) adding the time interval between cigarettes to the wakeup time to determine the time of the first cigarette consumption, (ii) adding the time interval between cigarettes to the time of the first cigarette consumption to determine the time of the subsequent cigarette consumptions; (iii) repeating step (E)(b)(ii) to determine time of subsequent cigarette consumptions until the number of cigarette consumptions equals the original number of cigarettes; (c) generating and storing in the memory a schedule of times for cigarette consumptions for a subsequent day by calculating an increased time interval between cigarettes by adding a predetermined time period to the time interval between cigarettes and repeating steps (b)(i) to (iii) using the increased time interval between cigarettes; (d) repeating step (c) until the number of scheduled cigarette consumptions for a given day equals one; and (e) calculating times when the smoker's cigarette supply needs to be replenished for each day of the reduction period by: (i) recording the starting number of cigarettes in the smoker's supply for a first day; (ii) subtracting the number of scheduled cigarette consumptions for the first day from the starting number to determine the number of cigarettes remaining; (iii) comparing the number of cigarettes remaining to the scheduled cigarette consumptions for a subsequent day; (F) providing a signalling means and using the signalling means to signal to a smoker when a cigarette is scheduled to be consumed; (G) providing audio and visual means and generating a motivational element with each signalling, the motivational element selected from the group consisting of a recorded audio message, a digital image and digital video; and (H) using the signalling means, signalling to the smoker to replenish the supply of cigarettes when the number of cigarettes remaining is less than the number of cigarette consumptions for a subsequent day.

In another implementation, the present disclosure is directed to a device for reducing cigarette consumption comprising: a processor for controlling operations of the device; a memory associated with the processor; input means for inputting data to the processor and the memory; a case body dimensioned to contain cigarettes; a first lid on the body which removably engages with the case body and which moves from a first closed position to a second opened position for permitting cigarettes to be loaded into the device, first locking means for locking and unlocking the first lid; a dispensing means which engages with the case body and which moves from a first closed position to a second opened position for permitting only a single cigarette to be removed from the case body, the dispensing means comprising a window to enable viewing of a cigarette when in the dispensing means; second locking means for locking and unlocking the dispensing means signalling means for signalling a user when a cigarette can be dispensed from the dispensing means; display means for displaying a visual message; and audio means for broadcasting an audio message.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For the purpose of illustrating the invention, the drawings show aspects of one or more implementations of the invention. However, it should be understood that the present invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown in the drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a device according to one implementation of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a right side view of the device of FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a section taken along B-B of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a side view of the locking drive assembly of the device of FIG. 1 in a position corresponding to the cigarette dispenser in a fully closed position;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the device of FIG. 1 with the cigarette dispenser in a dispensing position;

FIG. 6 is a section taken along C-C of FIG. 2 when the device of FIG. 1 is in the dispensing position as shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a side view of the locking drive assembly of FIG. 4 in a position corresponding to the cigarette dispenser in the dispensing position of FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the device of FIG. 1 with the cigarette dispenser in a partially open position;

FIG. 9 is a section taken along D-D of FIG. 2when the cigarette dispenser of the device of FIG. 1 is in the partially open position as shown in FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the device of FIG. 1 with the cigarette dispenser in a loading position;

FIG. 11 is a section taken along E-E FIG. 2 when the cigarette dispenser of the device of FIG. 1 is in the loading position as shown in FIG. 10; FIG. 12 is a side view of the locking drive assembly of FIG. 4 in a position corresponding to the cigarette dispenser in the loading position of FIG. 10;

FIG. 13 is a top view of the device of FIG. V,

FIG. 14 is a front view of the device of FIG. V,

FIG. 15 is a section view taken along A-A of FIG. 14;

FIG. 16 is a top perspective view of the LCD screen and locking drive assembly of the device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 17 is an exploded view of the LCD screen and locking drive assembly of FIG. 16; FIG. 18 is a perspective view of a portion of the locking drive assembly of FIG. 4; FIG. 19 is an exploded view of the locking drive assembly of FIG. 18; FIG. 20 is an exploded view of the device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 21 is a top view of the device of FIG. 1 with a "WELCOME" screen message according to one implementation of the present disclosure;

FIG. 22 is a top view of the device of FIG. 1 with a "SET TIME" screen message according to one implementation of the present disclosure;

FIG. 23 is a top view of the device of FIG. 1 with a "# SMOKED" (SMOKE EVERY DAY) screen message according to one implementation of the present disclosure;

FIG. 24 is a top view of the device of FIG. 1 with a "# HRS AW" (HOURS AWAKE EVERY DAY) screen message according to one implementation of the present disclosure;

FIG. 25 is a top view of the device of FIG. 1 with a "SMK 90" screen message according to one implementation of the present disclosure; FIG. 26 is a top view of the device of FIG. 1 with a "DAILY RE" (DAILY RELOAD TIME?) screen message according to one implementation of the present disclosure;

FIG. 27 is a top view of the device of FIG. 1 with a "REVIEW S" (REVIEW SETTINGS) screen message according to one implementation of the present disclosure;

FIG. 28 is a top view of the device of FIG. 1 with a ""# SMOKED" (#SMOKED EVERY DAY) screen message according to one implementation of the present disclosure;

FIG. 29 is a top view of the device of FIG. 1 with a "HOURS AW" (HOURS AWAKE EVERY DAY) screen message according to one implementation of the present disclosure;

FIG. 30 is a top view of the device of FIG. 1 with a "SMOKE IN" (SMOKE INTERVAL) screen message according to one implementation of the present disclosure;

FIG. 31 is a top view of the device of FIG. 1 with a "RELOAD T" (RELOAD TIME) screen message according to one implementation of the present disclosure;

FIG. 32 is a top view of the device of FIG. 1 with a "READY TO" (READY TO BEGIN) screen message according to one implementation of the present disclosure;

FIG. 33 is a top view of the device of FIG. 1 with a "OPEN TO LOAD" screen message according to one implementation of the present disclosure;

FIG. 34 is a top view of the device of FIG. 1 with a "LOAD SMOKES" screen message according to one implementation of the present disclosure;

FIG. 35 is a top view of the device of FIG. 1 with a "# OF SMO" (# OF SMOKES ADDED) screen message according to one implementation of the present disclosure;

FIG. 36 is a top view of the device of FIG. 1 with a "NEXT SMO" (NEXT SMOKE) screen message according to one implementation of the present disclosure; FIG. 37 is a top view of the device of FIG. 1 with a "SMOKE RE" (SMOKE READY) screen message according to one implementation of the present disclosure;

FIG. 38 is a top view of the device of FIG. 1 with a "SMOKES L" (SMOKES LEFT) screen message according to one implementation of the present disclosure;

FIG. 39 is a top view of the device of FIG. 1 with a "NEXT SMO" (NEXT SMOKE) screen message according to one implementation of the present disclosure;

FIG. 40 is a top view of the device of FIG. 1 with a "SMOKES L" (SMOKE LEFT) screen message according to one implementation of the present disclosure;

FIG. 41; is a top view of the device of FIG. 1 with a "OPEN TO LOAD" screen message according to one implementation of the present disclosure;

FIG. 42 is a front perspective view of a device according to another implementation of the present disclosure;

FIG. 43 is a rear perspective view of the device of FIG. 42; and

FIG. 44 is an electrical diagram illustrating components of the device of FIG. 42.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

It will be appreciated that numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the exemplary embodiments described herein. However, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments described herein may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures and components have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the embodiments described herein. Furthermore, this description is not to be considered as limiting the scope of the embodiments described herein in any way, but rather as merely describing the implementation of the various embodiments described herein. In one embodiment, a method according to the present invention may be contained entirely within the memory of a device that implements the method. In one embodiment, a device to implement the method of the present invention is a device with memory and display means enclosing a supply of cigarettes, such that when a cigarette is removed from the device a cigarette is counted as consumed. A device appropriate for implementing the method of the present invention is any programmable device capable of receiving input from the smoker and communicating information to the smoker.

In one embodiment, a device according to the invention is generally indicated at 2. The device 2 is designed to provide smokers with an effective device to stop smoking and may implement a method according to the invention. The device 2 is made of a generally rectangular cigarette case 4 with a hinged lid 6 both made from a suitable material such as, but not limited to, durable plastic or stainless steel, that holds up to 25 cigarettes (also referred to herein as "smokes"). The lid 6 is shown in the closed position in FIG. 42 and in the open position in FIG. 43. A latch is provided which when locked prevents a user from accessing the main cigarette storage compartment indicated generally at 7 of the case 4 and when unlocked, allows a user to move the lid 6 from a closed position as depicted in FIG. 42 to an open position, as depicted in FIG. 43, to gain access to the storage compartment 5 of the cigarette case 4.

It is to be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the cigarette case 4 may be sized to hold more than 25 cigarettes. It is further understood herein that while the term "cigarette" is used, devices and methods of the present invention can be used for other tobacco products and habit forming substances. The device 2 also includes a power button 8, a digital timer (programmed within the memory of the device) (actuated by timer button 10), an alarm (programmed within the memory of the device), a counter (programmed within the memory of the device), a pause button 12, a number pad indicated generally at 14, a digital display screen 16 (which may display photographs of loved ones for example), and an audio system to play recorded messages via speaker 18. The digital photographs and recorded messages may be motivational messages from loved ones, audio and/ or visual message on the negative impacts of smoking or combinations of these.

The device 2 may also include a transparent slider 20 on the left side of the device 2 (when viewing the front of the device 2, the front being the side with the screen 16) to enable a user to see the next cigarette to be dispensed before sliding it out. The device 2 is powered by batteries (not shown) housed in battery housing 22 and may include a battery charger (not shown) similar to a cellular phone battery charger.

The device 2 may also include means for tracking and monitoring progress. The device 2 may further be connected to a network by communication means and may send progress information to a remote location, such as to a doctor or family member, in real time.

The device 2 may also include means to tell the user how many cigarettes they have smoked per day, and to date, for a particular smoking cessation program, as well as how many cigarettes they would normally have smoked without following a smoking schedule set out by the device 2.

In one embodiment, the device measures approximately 9.5 cm x 7cm x 3cm. The timer system allows the user to set the device to open once every so often so that they may take a cigarette. It may be set to open once every 60 minutes, once every 65 minutes, once every 70 minutes, etc. Each day the individual can increase the time between each cigarette. Eventually, the user should have weaned themselves off of cigarettes completely by smoking less and less each day if they follow the smoking schedule provided by the device.

FIG. 44 is an exemplary electrical diagram illustrating components of the device 2. A multi-media processor 30 is used to control the colour LCD screen 16, speaker 18, vibrator motor 30, a first solenoid driver 32 which controls the dispenser locking mechanism 34 which controls the locking and unlocking of the lid 23, a second solenoid driver 36 which controls the loading door locking mechanism 38 which controls the locking and unlocking of the lid 23, button inputs 40 (which include power button 8, timer button 10, pause button 12 and, number pad 14), debug port 42, DRAM memory 44, flash memory 46, and SD/MMC Card 48. An external 5V power supply 50, rechargeable battery 52, battery charger 54 and system power supplies 56 are connectable to the processor 30. Computer programs implementing methods according to the present invention can be stored in memory 46 and memory 44 and executed by the processor 30.

A method for ceasing smoking according to one embodiment of the present invention is described in the following example. If a smoker smokes approximately 25 cigarettes a day and is usually awake for 16 hours per day (the time in which the smoker can consume cigarettes), this means he/she is smoking approximately 1 cigarette every 45 minutes (the interval between cigarettes). To begin, the user sets the timer of the device 2 for 45 minutes (the user only needs to set the timer once), and fills the device 2 completely at the start of his/her day (at approximately the same time of day every time thereafter when needed); by day 30, the user will be down to smoking 6 scheduled cigarettes per day and will only need to fill the device once every four days. The device 2 indicates when the storage compartment 6 needs to be refilled. It is not recommended to set or fill the device while smoking a cigarette, these two actions together may cause a pleasurable association which can cause a setback with your goal to quit smoking.

Once the device 2 is set through an initial set-up, throughout the day, an alarm, (which may be set on vibrate very much like an alarm on a cell phone or which may be an audible or visual alarm or cue) will go off every 45 minutes, unlocking the mechanism that dispenses one cigarette 21. The device 2 only releases one cigarette 21 at a time. The mechanism for dispensing a single cigarette can be one such as a dispensing solenoid. If the smoker does not need the cigarette 21 at that moment, or is not in a designated smoking area when the alarm goes off, the device 2 remains unlocked, allowing the smoker to take out the cigarette at a later time when it is convenient. The timer restarts itself once the cigarette 21 is released and the dispensing 23 lid is properly closed. If the device was set to open once every 45 minutes, after a cigarette has been taken out and the lid 23 is closed and locked, it resets itself to open 45 minutes after the lid 23 is locked.

On day two following the initial set-up, the device is automatically set to increase the time interval between dispensing cigarettes by 5 minutes. Therefore, instead of the lid 23 opening once every 45 minutes, the lid 23 will now open once every 50 minutes for that day. On day three following the initial set-up, the lid 23 will automatically open once every 55 minutes for that day and so on. The device will automatically increase the time interval between dispensing cigarettes by 5 minutes every day until the smoker is down to being dispensed one cigarette per day, and at that point, needs to make that crucial decision to quit completely. By then, his/her body should no longer need the nicotine anymore, and the decision should be very easy to make.

The time interval between cigarettes is calculated by dividing the number of hours the smoker is a wake by the number of cigarettes smoked per day (prior to following the smoking schedule provided by the device). There is no need for a smoker's smoking pattern to be tracked by a device prior to setting-up the device 2 for a smoking cessation program.

Table 1 sets out the time intervals between cigarettes and the smoking times for a smoker who is awake before 8 am, smokes approximately 16 cigarettes per day and is awake for approximately 16 hours per day and therefore smokes a cigarette on average every hour. The time of day at which a cigarette is dispensed from the device is calculated by taking the time the smoker usually wakes up in the morning (8 am in this example) and adding the calculated time interval between cigarettes (1 hour the first day in this example). It is to be understood that a device according to the invention can be programmed to increase the time interval between cigarettes by more or less than 5 minutes. In Table 1, a "1" represents a cigarette which would normally have been smoked but which are not dispensed by the device during the reduced smoking period.

Table 1

Referring to FIGs 1 to 20, a cigarette dispenser according to one embodiment of the invention includes a generally rectangular housing indicated generally at 100 having a back housing 102, front housing 104, top housing 106 and bottom housing 108, and a dispensing door 110. The corners 112 of the dispenser are curved for aesthetic reasons. The top housing 106 has a window 114 for an LCD screen 116 and openings for menu buttons 118 (which operate switches) and a dispensing button 120. One corner of the top has an arcuate cut-out 122. The panel 124 of the front housing 104 has an opening 126 fitted with a plastic pane 128 to provide a window to allow a user to view the cigarette storage compartment 130 and in particular to see whether there are cigarettes 132 in the compartment 130.

The interior of the dispenser is divided into two main compartments by a transverse wall 134 in the back housing 102 which divides the interior into a storage compartment 130 and an electronics and motorized lock compartment 136. The storage compartment 130 is shaped and sized to hold up to 25 standard size cigarettes. It is understood that the storage compartment 130 can be sized to hold a more or less than 25 cigarettes. The sidewall 138 on the left side of the dispenser has a rectangular slot 140 sized to permit a standard sized cigarette to pass through it into or out of the storage compartment 130.

The electronics and motorized lock compartment 136 houses the menu buttons 118, the dispensing button 120, the LCD screen 116 and an electronics and motorized lock assembly 142. The LCD screen 116 is a 2x8 character backlit LCD screen housed in an LCD frame 144. Below the LCD frame 144 is the electronics and motorized lock assembly 146 which includes an SNM printed circuit board ("PCB") board 148, and below the board, a locking drive assembly 150, a battery frame 152 and a lithium battery 154.

The locking drive assembly 150 has a gear motor 156 housed on a motor bracket 158. The gear motor 156 is connected to and drives a threaded shaft 159 which is connected to a drive link. Arms hold a locking pin 160 with a spring 162. A light interrupter flag unit 164 is attached to the drive link 166 on the side opposite the side of the pin 160. Two photo detectors are located on the PCB board 148 adjacent the light interrupter flag unit 164. The position of the pin 160 is determined by which photo detectors are triggered by the movement of the locking drive assembly 150.

The pin 160, driven by drive link 166 moves towards and away from the motor 156. When the pin 160 engages the deepest step 168 of a ratchet 170 on the door 110, the door 110 is fully locked. When the pin 160 moves back toward the motor 156 such that it engages step 172 of ratchet 170, the door 110 can be moved to the partially open position as shown in FIG. 8 and FIG. 9. When the pin 160 moves back toward the motor 156 and is clear of the ratchet 170, the door 110 can be opened to the dispensing position to dispense a cigarette 132 as shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6.

The door 110 moves among a closed position as seen in FIG.l, an open dispensing position as seen in FIG. 5, a partially closed position as seen in FIG. 8 and a fully open loading position as seen in FIG. 10.

A device 100 includes user cycles with a number of modes, as well as a number of controls and functionality which are described in more detail below

Startup Mode

To get to startup mode, hold the SEL button while pressing RESET. Sleep Mode

Pressing RESET without SEL will put the device to sleep to conserve battery power. The display will read "SLEEPING" and the backlight will be OFF. The firmware puts the processor into deep sleep (Power Down). With the processor sleeping, the main power draw is from the LCD, and total board power was measured at 0.98mA.

One can cycle through Load, and Dispense, and "DOOR POS" modes Pressing SEL here will jump the user to a screen where the user can scroll up or down through the choices of LOCKED, DISP, LOAD. Selecting one of these will move the motor to the selected position. Once in the DOOR POS screen, the user can only exit by pressing

RESET.

Timebase

Everything happens at multiples of 0.25 seconds. This is done in a software timer. Backlight Control

Backlight turns on anytime when a new screen appears; and anytime when a button is pushed. The backlight turns off after about 30 seconds of inactivity.

The backlight is controlled by calling the "BACKLIGHT_CONTROL" subroutine every 0.25 seconds. There is a register "BACKLIGHT_ON_TIME" that is initialized to a count of 30x4=120 ticks , then decremented every call (every 0.25 seconds). Upon reaching zero backlight it turned off, and the count held at 0. If the count is greater than zero, then the backlight is turned ON. Whenever a button is pressed, the code monitoring the button press must set the BACKLIGHT_ON_TIME register to 120.

Screen Control

Every new display screen is preceded by a Clear Screen command.

The first line on the LCD screen is always a fixed text string. These strings are stored in a 1024-byte table at the top of the 8192 bytes of FLASH, organized into 64 blocks of 16- bytes each. The block number (0 to 63) of the line being displayed is stored in a register ^// Ll_String_No". The first line on the LCD will be loaded by a call to a LOAD_LINE_l subroutine, that will clear the display, write the string to the display, store the string length in a register Ll_Length", and set the register Ll_POS" equal to -4.

This 64x16=1024 byte table will be placed available in the ATtiny261, starting at word address OxOEOO. Table is filled using the .db assembler directive. This directive wants even numbers of bytes to fill the 16-bit FLASH words. The first byte is used as the length byte, so strings with an even number of characters need to have a blank character appended to pad the .db data out to an even number of bytes. The length byte should remain as-is. Strings longer that 15 bytes are stored spread over two blocks. When reading bytes from FLASH, the byte address (2 times the word address) is pointed to by the Z register, and the byte is read with the LPM instruction.

When the string length is longer than the display length (8 characters) the first 8 characters will be displayed for 1 second, then scroll at one character every 0.25 seconds. Scrolling will be done by calling a "SCROLL_LINE_l" subroutine every 0.25 seconds. Each call of this subroutine will increment "Ll_POS". If POS > Ll_Length, then jump to LOAD_LINE_l. If POS>0 then write line 1 shifted left by POS. (Shifting the entire screen using the ENTRY_MODE_SET command did not work.) Strings that need to scroll are stored in FLASH with 4 trailing blanks (that do not affect the string length byte).

If it is required to flash line 1, this is done by alternating between displaying the text, and calls to a CLEAR_L1 subroutine every 0.5 seconds. It is not required to flash a string that is longer than 8 characters, so it is not required to scroll and flash at the same time.

The second line of the LCD screen may be a fixed text string, a varying field, or a fixed text string followed by a varying field. Fixed Strings for Line 2 are stored in FLASH in the same string table as used for Line 1, with the block number of the line being displayed is stored in a register L2_String_No". Fixed text on Line 2 will be loaded to the display by a call to a LOAD_LINE_2 subroutine. Since all Line 2 text strings are no more than 8 characters long, no scrolling is required, and there is no need to store the string length or position.

If Line 2 needs to flash a fixed text string, it is only ever displaying a fixed text string with no varying field. If it is required to flash a fixed text sting in line 2, this is done by alternating between displaying the text, and calls to a CLEAR_L2 subroutine every 0.5 seconds.

Variable Text on Line 2 is either a right-justified 2-digit number, a centered 2-digit number, or a time in hh:mm format (with or without an AM/PM suffix). These will be displayed by calls to " DISPLA Y_NUM_RIGHT", " DISPLA Y_NUM_CENTER" and "DISPLAY_TIME" subroutines. The number to be displayed will be stored in BCD format in a register "Number". The time to be displayed will be stored in BCD in "Hours", "Minutes", and "AM_PM" registers. The AM_PM value is coded as 1=AM, 2=PM,0=Blank.

If it is required to flash variable text, this is done by alternating between displaying the field and calls to "CLEAR_NUM_RIGHT" or "CLEAR_L2. The latter is used for time fields, since the time field fills the whole line. It is not required to flash center-aligned number fields.

Data Entry

Different items entered have different rules for data entry. Each has its own scrolling routine. The scrolling routines work on the "Number", "Hour" /'Minute", and "AM_PM" registers used by the Display Line 2 routines. When SEL is pressed, the routine that is reading the SEL switch must transfer the data from these registers to the appropriate storage. Data Entry Routines are:

• Time_Up

• Time_Down

• No_Smoked_Up

• No_Smoked_Down

• Hrs_Awake_Up

• Hrs_Awake_Down

• Smk_Int_Up • Smk_Int_Down

• Reload_Time_Up

• Reload_Time_Down

Smoke Interval Calculation

To calculate the Smoke Interval (time interval between cigarettes being dispensed), one needs to divide HRS_AWAKE by the number smoked every day. This calculation has to be done on an 8-bit microprocessor, without hardware multiply or divide. Convert hours to minutes, divide to find the interval in minutes, then convert from minute to hours: minutes. Since there are 24 x 60 = 1440 > 255 minutes in a day, this calculation needs to be 16-bit wide. Multiply by 60 through repetitive addition of 60 using the ADIW instruction operating on the Z register. Divide by No_Smoked_Every_Day using repetitive subtraction (SUB and SBCI), using the Y register as the loop counter. Convert to hours and minutes by dividing by 60 (SBWI) and keep the remainder as minutes.

Program flow

FIGS 21-41 depict screen states that the firmware in device 100 progresses through according to an embodiment of the present invention. Text depicted in in FIGs 21- 41 can be scrolled/ changed by using the up and down arrows to cycle through the available options. SEL accepts the flashing value and goes to next screen. FIGs 21-26 depict a set-up cycle for first use. FIGs 27-32 depict a cycle to alter device settings. FIGs 33-35 depict a load cycle. FIGs 36-39 depict a dispense cycle. FIGs 40-41 depicts a no cigarette left during the day cycle. The next interval only starts when a cigarette is removed, so it can be sitting idle, blinking green light every 2s for an hour until the cigarette is removed, door closed and the 6s cycle starts). If the user picks a cigarette immediately, they get the load sequence. If they pick dispense right away, the unit does not know the number of cigarettes loaded, so the dispense sequence goes assuming there are 2 smokes in the cigarette storage compartment until empty, then goes to load. What has been described above includes examples of the disclosed architecture. It is, of course, not possible to describe every conceivable combination of components and/ or methodologies, but one of ordinary skill in the art may recognize that many further combinations and permutations are possible. Accordingly, the novel architecture is intended to embrace all such alterations, modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Furthermore, to the extent that the term "includes" is used in either the detailed description or the claims, such term is intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term "comprising" as "comprising" is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in a claim.

The foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments of the present invention have been presented for purposes of illustration and description. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the present invention to the precise forms disclosed, and obviously many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. The exemplary embodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the present invention and its practical application, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the present invention and various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.