1. A method of operating an electrical smoking system including a lighter having an electrical heating element, a system for electrically actuating said heating element, said heating element having at least a portion that is magnetized and an electromagnet being arranged in proximity to said magnetized portion of said heating element, said method comprising:
inserting a cigarette into said lighter to a position wherein said heating element at least partially superposes a portion of the cigarette,
detecting the position of the cigarette,
generating a signal based upon the detection of the cigarette position,
actuating said electromagnet to generate an electromagnetic repulsive force against said magnetized portion of said heating element in response to said signal,
monitoring the number of puffs taken on the cigarette after actuation of said electromagnet, and
deactivating said electromagnet to remove said repulsive force after a predetermined number of puffs have been monitored, and wherein said repulsive force pushes said heating element into close contact with said portion of the cigarette.
2. The method according to claim 1, further including:
detecting a puff taken on the cigarette, and
deactivating said electromagnet to remove said repulsive force after said puff is no longer detected.
3. A method of operating an electrical smoking system including a lighter having an electrical heating element, a system for electrically actuating said heating element, said heating element having at least a portion that is magnetized and an electromagnet being arranged in proximity to said magnetized portion of said heating element, said method comprising:
inserting a cigarette into said lighter to a position wherein said heating element at least partially superposes a portion of the cigarette,
detecting a puff taken on said cigarette,
generating a signal based upon the puff detection, and
actuating said electromagnet to generate an electromagnetic repulsive force against said magnetized portion of said heating element in response to said signal, wherein said repulsive force pushes said heating element into close contact with said portion of said cigarette.
4. The method according to claim 3, wherein a plurality of said heating elements are arranged in circumferentially spaced relation around said portion of said cigarette and said electromagnet extends around the entire circumference of said cigarette such that said repulsive force pushes all of said heating elements into close contact with said portion of said cigarette.
5. The method according to claim 3, wherein said heating element is pre-biased to a position wherein said heating element is positioned out of the path of said cigarette being inserted into said lighter.
6. The method according to claim 4, wherein said heating elements are pre-biased to positions wherein said heating elements are positioned out of the path of said cigarette being inserted into said lighter.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. An integrated torque assembly for use with a guide tube of an optical coherence tomography (OCT) system that utilizes a rotating optical probe, comprising:
a flexible guide tube having an inside surface that defines a guide tube inner diameter and a guide tube interior, with at least a portion of the guide tube being transparent to light at an OCT imaging wavelength;
an optical fiber cable having an optical fiber surrounded by a jacket and having a length, the optical fiber cable having a proximal end and a distal end, wherein the jacket has a plurality of outwardly extending protrusions;
an optical probe operably connected to the distal end of the optical fiber cable; and
wherein the optical fiber cable and optical probe are operably disposed within the guide-tube interior in a close-fit configuration wherein the optical fiber cable can rotate and be axially translated within the interior of the flexible guide tube while the optical fiber cable only contacts the inner surface of the guide tube at the protrusions of the jacket.
2. The integrated torque assembly according to claim 1, wherein the optical fiber cable has a diameter DC, the guide tube has an inner diameter DG, and wherein the optical fiber cable and guide tube define a clearance CL=(DG\u2212DC) in the range from 100 \u03bcm to 150 \u03bcm.
3. The integrated torque assembly according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the jacket of the optical-fiber cable and the inner surface of the guide tube include a low-friction coating.
4. The integrated torque assembly according to claim 3, wherein the low-friction coating has a static coefficient of friction \u03bcS\u22660.1.
5. The integrated torque assembly according to claim 4, wherein the low-friction coating includes a material selected from the group of materials comprising:
polytetrafluorotethylenes, TEFLON AF, polyimides, polyamides, polyethylenes, polysilicones, fluorosilanes, fluoroether silanes, and silicones.
6. The integrated torque assembly according to claim 1, wherein the optical-fiber cable is tightly buffered.
7. The integrated torque assembly according to claim 1, wherein the jacket includes a number N of the protrusions, wherein 3\u2266N\u226610.
8. The integrated torque assembly according to claim 1, wherein each of the protrusions includes a partial circular cross-section.
9. An optical coherence tomography (OCT) assembly, comprising:
the integrated torque assembly of claim 1; and
a rotary and axial translation actuator operably attached to the proximal end of the optical fiber cable.
10. An integrated torque assembly for use with a guide tube of an optical coherence tomography (OCT) system that utilizes a rotating optical probe, comprising:
a flexible and transparent guide tube having an inside surface that defines a guide-tube inner diameter and a guide-tube interior;
an optical fiber cable having an optical fiber having a proximal end and a distal end, and having a jacket that includes a main body and a plurality of protrusions that outwardly extend from the main body, with the protrusions and the inner surface of the guide tube defining a contact-area ratio RC 50%;
an optical probe operably connected to the distal end of the optical fiber cable; and
wherein the optical fiber cable and optical probe are operably disposed within the guide-tube interior in a close-fit configuration such that the optical fiber cable can rotate and be axially translated within the interior of the flexible guide tube.
11. The integrated torque assembly according to claim 10, wherein the contact-area ratio RC\u226610%.
12. The integrated torque assembly according to claim 10, wherein the contact-area ratio RC\u22661%.
13. The integrated torque assembly according to claim 10, wherein the optical fiber cable has a diameter DC, the guide tube has an inner diameter DG, and wherein the optical fiber cable and guide tube define a clearance CL=(DG\u2212DC) in the range from 100 \u03bcm to 150 \u03bcm.
14. An optical coherence tomography (OCT) assembly, comprising:
the integrated torque assembly of claim 10; and
a rotary and axial translation actuator operably attached to the proximal end of the optical-fiber cable.
15. A method of rotating and axially translating an optical probe in an optical coherence tomography (OCT) system, comprising:
operably connecting an optical probe to a distal end of an optical fiber cable having a proximal end and an outer jacket with a main body and a plurality of outwardly extending protrusions each having an outermost portion;
inserting the optical fiber cable and probe into an interior of a flexible guide tube having an inner surface to define a close-fit configuration between the optical fiber cable and the guide tube; and
causing a rotation and an axial translation of the optical fiber cable at the proximal end so that the optical fiber cable and optical probe rotate and axially translate within the interior of the flexible guide tube while the optical fiber cable only contacts the inner surface of the guide tube at the outermost portions of the protrusions of the jacket.
16. The method according to claim 15, wherein the close-fit configuration is defined by a clearance between the outermost portions of the protrusions and an inner surface of the flexible guide tube of between 100 \u03bcm and 150 \u03bcm.
17. The method according to claim 16, wherein the causing of the rotation and axial translation of the optical-fiber cable at its proximal end includes operably connecting the proximal end of the optical-fiber cable to a rotary and axial-translation actuator and activating the rotary and axial-translation actuator.
18. The method according to claim 15, wherein at least one of an inner surface of the guide tube and the outermost portions of the protrusions includes a low-friction coating having a coefficient of static friction \u03bcS\u22660.1.
19. The method according to claim 18, wherein the low-friction coating includes at least one of a low-friction additive and low-friction beads.
20. The method according to claim 15, wherein the optical fiber cable has a maximum lateral dimension in the range from 500 \u03bcm to 1,500 \u03bcm.