Apparatus for inhaler testing
First Claim
1. An inhaler testing apparatus, comprising:
- a conduit having at least one flow regulation valve located within the conduit and dividing the conduit into inlet and outlet sides of the valve, the inlet side being arranged for connection to an inhaler and the outlet side for connection to a vacuum source,an electric motor for variable adjustment of a flow opening through the valve;
at least one sensor for sensing pressure or flow rate in the inlet side; and
,a controller for automatically adjusting the flow opening through the valve in response to readings from the at least one sensor.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
There is disclosed inhaler testing apparatus, in which at least one flow regulation valve, such as a needle valve, is located within a conduit. The flow regulation valve divides the conduit into inlet and outlet sides of the valve. The inlet side is arranged for connection to an inhaler and the outlet side for connection to a vacuum source. An electric motor provides variable adjustment of a flow opening through the valve. At least one sensor senses pressure or flow rate in the inlet side and a controller automatically adjusts the flow opening through the valve in response to readings from the at least one sensor. The apparatus may also comprise a shut off valve, such as a solenoid valve.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. An inhaler testing apparatus, comprising:
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a conduit having at least one flow regulation valve located within the conduit and dividing the conduit into inlet and outlet sides of the valve, the inlet side being arranged for connection to an inhaler and the outlet side for connection to a vacuum source, an electric motor for variable adjustment of a flow opening through the valve; at least one sensor for sensing pressure or flow rate in the inlet side; and
,a controller for automatically adjusting the flow opening through the valve in response to readings from the at least one sensor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A data carrier comprising machine readable instructions for the operation of one or more processors of an inhaler testing apparatus controller to:
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i. receive a desired pressure or flow rate condition for an inlet side of a flow regulation valve of a flow conduit of the inhaler testing apparatus ii. receive sensor readings from a pressure or flow rate sensor in the inlet side of the flow conduit whilst a vacuum is being applied to an outlet side of the flow conduit downstream of the flow regulation valve by a pump; iii. compare the desired condition with the received sensor readings, determine an adjustment to the flow regulation valve and implement the adjustment to the flow regulation valve by outputting control instructions to an electric motor drivingly connected to said flow regulation valve; iv. iteratively repeat said steps ii and iii in order to converge on the desired condition; and v. control cessation of the electric motor once the desired condition is achieved. - View Dependent Claims (25)
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Specification