Analog flow control

An apparatus comprising:

• a fluid supply source for supplying the fluid;
• a firing chamber for carrying the fluid supplied by the fluid supply source;
• a nozzle in fluid communication with the firing chamber;
• a firing mechanism in fluid communication with the firing chamber, the firing mechanism configured to eject fluid out of the firing chamber through the nozzle during a firing sequence, the firing sequence comprising at least a firing step where the firing mechanism is activated and fluid is ejected from the firing chamber as a result of the firing mechanism activating followed by a wait step where the firing mechanism is deactivated for providing a time delay between subsequent firing steps;
• a power circuit in electric communication with the firing mechanism for activating and deactivating the firing mechanism in response to a control signal;
• a logic circuit in electric communication with the power circuit for sending the control signal to cause the power circuit to activate and deactivate the firing mechanism, the logic circuit being configured to activate the firing mechanism for a period of time that is dependent on a predetermined fixed frequency signal and deactivating the firing mechanism for a period of time that is dependent on at least a variable frequency signal for controlling the wait step;
• a first oscillator in electric communication with the logic circuit for sending a predetermined fixed frequency signal to the logic circuit, the fixed frequency signal comprising a series of timing pulses wherein each pulse is separated by a fixed time interval;
• a second oscillator in electric communication with the logic circuit for sending a variable frequency signal to the logic circuit, the variable frequency signal comprising a series of timing pulses wherein each pulse is separated by a variable time interval;
• a first input for providing a variable input signal to the second oscillator, wherein the second oscillator is configured to vary the interval of time separating each pulse of the series of timing pulses of the variable frequency signal according to the variable input signal from the first input and wherein the logic circuit is configured to vary the control signal according to the frequency of the variable frequency signal from the second oscillator to vary the length of the wait step;
• a thermal injector chip, wherein the firing chamber, nozzle, firing mechanism, logic circuit, power circuit, first oscillator and second oscillator are a part of the thermal ejector chip,
• an e-cigarette having an air passageway,
• the thermal ejector chip being mounted within the e-cigarette and connected to receive a fluid from the fluid supply source;
• a sensor disposed in the e-cigarette for detecting when a user is inhaling through the e-cigarette and for producing an analog signal corresponding to the inhalation, the analog signal being connected to the first input to provide the control signal to the voltage controlled oscillator, and
• a heater disposed in the e-cigarette and positioned adjacent the ejector chip to receive and vaporize fluid ejected from the ejector chip.

A programmable microfluidic pump for a fluid comprising:

• a fluid supply source for supplying the fluid;
• a firing chamber for carrying the fluid supplied by the fluid supply source;
• a nozzle in fluid communication with the firing chamber;
• a firing mechanism in fluid communication with the firing chamber, the firing mechanism configured to eject fluid out of the firing chamber through the nozzle during a firing sequence, the firing sequence comprising, in sequential order, a pre-fire step where the firing mechanism is activated without causes fluid to be ejected from the firing chamber, a dead step where the firing mechanism is deactivated, a firing step where the firing mechanism is activated and fluid is ejected from the firing chamber, and a wait step where the firing mechanism is deactivated for providing a time delay before the next firing sequence begins;
• a power circuit in electric communication with the firing mechanism for activating and deactivating the firing mechanism in response to a control signal;
• a logic circuit in electric communication with the power circuit for sending the control signal to cause the power circuit to activate and deactivate the firing mechanism, the control signal being dependent on a predetermined fixed frequency signal for controlling the pre-fire, dead, and firing steps and being dependent on a variable frequency signal for controlling the wait step;
• a first oscillator in electric communication with the logic circuit for sending the predetermined fixed frequency signal to the logic circuit, the fixed frequency signal comprising a series of timing pulses wherein each pulse is separated by a fixed time interval;
• a second oscillator in electric communication with the logic circuit for sending the variable frequency signal to the logic circuit, the variable frequency signal comprising a series of timing pulses wherein each pulse is separated by a variable time interval;
• a first input for providing a variable input signal to the second oscillator, wherein the second oscillator is configured to vary the interval of time separating each pulse of the series of timing pulses of the variable frequency signal according to the variable input signal from the first input and wherein the logic circuit is configured to vary the control signal according to the frequency of the variable frequency signal from the second oscillator to vary the length of the wait step;
• a memory for storing a separate control variable associated with each of the firing sequence steps, wherein the pre-fire step is sustained until a count of the timing pulses of the fixed frequency signal is equal to the control variable associated with the pre-fire step, the dead step is sustained until a count of the timing pulses of the predetermined fixed frequency signal is equal to the control variable associated with the dead steps, the fire step is sustained until a count of the timing pulses of the predetermined fixed frequency signal is equal to the control variable associated with the fire step, and the wait step is sustained until a count of the timing pulses of the variable frequency signal is equal to the control variable associated with the wait step;
• and
• a second input for inputting the control variables into the memory.