Surgery – Respiratory method or device – Means for mixing treating agent with respiratory gas
Patent
1990-08-22
1991-12-10
Burr, Edgar S.
Surgery
Respiratory method or device
Means for mixing treating agent with respiratory gas
12820312, A61M 1500, A61M 1600, B05D 714, B65M 8306
Patent
active
050708708
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention relates to dispensers for powdered medication.
Medication in powder form for inhalation by the patient, for example, drugs for treatment of asthma, are supplied in capsules containing individual doses. Dispensers for such medication usually consist of a chamber which can receive a capsule and from which the powder can be inhaled through a mouthpiece, after the capsule has been broken or pierced.
This invention is concerned in particular with dispensers of the kind having means for piercing a capsule and a chamber shaped so that a pierced capsule in the chamber is rotated by the airflow through the chamber in use, so that powder is shaken from the capsule into the chamber.
There are a number of dispensers currently available, which have various disadvantages. In particular, there is a risk of the capsule becoming jammed in the chamber so that it does not rotate freely: this can be a problem particularly for asthmatics, who cannot generate the increased suction pressure necessary to start the capsule turning. Some of the dispensers have relatively complicated mechanisms for piercing the capsule and for ejecting empty capsules, which make the dispenser expensive to manufacture.
It is an object of this invention to provide a dispenser which is effective in operation but which can be manufactured relatively cheaply.
The present invention provides a dispenser for powdered medication comprising static means for piercing a capsule containing powdered medication, a chamber adapted to receive a pierced capsule and in which the capsule can rotate freely to release the powdered medication, and a mouthpiece through which the powdered medication can be drawn from the chamber, in which the dispenser comprises a body formed from the two parts hinged together for movement between a closed position and an open position characterised in that co-operating elements of the two parts form the chamber, the elements consisting of flanges which form part or all of the cylindrical walls of the chamber, the chamber having at least three inlets comprising passages which extend tangentially from the cylindrical walls, and in which the elements on one of the parts form an open receptacle in which a capsule can be deposited.
Preferably, the means for piercing the capsule comprise a piercing element located in the receptacle formed by the said elements. Suitably, the elements consist of flanges which, in the closed position, form part or all of the curved walls of the chamber, and which project from a flat surface forming one side wall of the chamber. The means for piercing the capsule may be fixed in a depression in the flat surface within the volume of the chamber.
The cooperating elements on the other part of the body may be correspondingly shaped flanges projecting from one wall of the body. The mouthpiece is preferably, a tubular element projecting from the wall on the opposite side to the flanges, the wall being pierced to provide communication between the chamber and the mouthpiece.
The two parts of the body may be formed from plastics, with an integral hinge.
Preferably, the two parts of the body define, in the closed position, a closed volume outside the chamber, which can be used to hold one or more capsules. The cooperating elements are preferably shaped to form a chamber having three inlets, the chamber having a cylindrical wall. The inlets preferably consist of inlet passages extending to openings in three faces of the body, which may be generally in the shape of a rectangular box.
Preferably the inlets are regularly spaced around the chamber. The inlets preferably comprise passages extending tangentially from the wall of the chamber.
A cover may be provided for the mouthpiece. In one form of the invention, the cover is hinged to one part of the body.
The invention will now be described by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a dispenser for powdered medication in accordance with the invention,
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the dispenser in
REFERENCES:
patent: 2517482 (1950-08-01), Hall
patent: 3870046 (1975-03-01), Elliott
patent: 4069819 (1978-01-01), Valentini et al.
patent: 4860740 (1989-08-01), Kirk et al.
Burr Edgar S.
Malvaso Lisa E.
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