Inhaler

• US 20040079362A1
• Filed: 06/24/2003
• Published: 04/29/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 09/24/1998
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Astrazeneca AB (Astrazeneca PLC)
• Original Assignee: Astrazeneca AB (Astrazeneca PLC)
• Inventors: Geert-Jensen, Anders, Schmidt, Hugo Dines, Jorgensen, Mikael, Rasmussen, Jorgen, Christrup, Soren
• Granted Patent: US 6,860,262 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 128/200.23
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 15/0068 Indicating or counting the number of dispensed doses or of remaining doses
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 15/009 using medicine packages with incorporated spraying means, e.g. aerosol cans pocket atomiser of the injector type A61M11/08
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 15/0091 mechanically breath-triggered
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 15/0096 Hindering inhalation before activation of the dispenser
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/582 by tactile feedback
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/6045 having complementary physical shapes for indexing or registration purposes

Abstract

An inhaler for delivering medicament by inhalation, comprising a housing for holding a canister of medicament having a body and a valve stem compressible together to actuate the canister to deliver a dose of medicament from the valve stem, an actuation mechanism for compressing the canister, a cannister re-set mechanism comprising a locking element for locking the canister in a compressed state and a release member resiliently biassed by the actuation mechanism on compression of the canister to release the locking mechanism to allow reset of the canister. By provision of the locking element for locking the canister in a compressed state, it is possible to ensure re-set does not occur immediately. The release member subsequently releases the locking mechanism to allow re-set of the canister after a proper dose has been delivered. The cannister reset mechanism further comprises a damping element for damping movement of the release member to delay the action of the resilient biassing to release the locking element a predetermined period of time after actuation of the canister.

Claims

1. An inhaler for delivering medicament by inhalation, comprising:

a housing for holding a canister of medicament having a body and a valve stem compressible together to actuate the canister to deliver a dose of medicament from the valve stem;

an actuation mechanism for compressing the canister;

a cannister re-set mechanism comprising a locking element for locking the canister in a compressed state and a release member resiliently biassed by the actuation mechanism on compression of the canister to release the locking mechanism to allow reset of the canister.

2. An inhaler according to claim 1, wherein the cannister reset mechanism further comprises a damping element for damping movement of the release member to delay the action of the resilient biassing to release the locking element a predetermined period of time after action of the canister.

3. An inhaler according to claim 2, wherein the damping element comprises a rotor disposed in a viscous fluid and driven by movement of the release member.

4. An inhaler according to claim 2 or 3, wherein said predetermined period of time is between 100 and 5000 ms.

5. An inhaler according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the locking element is a knee joint having a locked position for holding the canister in a compressed state and the release member engages the knee joint to break the knee joint into a broken position for releasing the canister.

6. An inhaler according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the actuation mechanism comprises:

a pre-loading mechanism for loading a resilient loading element with an actuation force using a loading member coupled to the resilient loading member and movable from a first position where the resilient loading element is relaxed to a second position where the resilient loading element is loaded, the resilient loading element being arranged when loaded to bias compression of the canister; and

a triggering mechanism arranged to hold the resilient loading element against compression of the canister and to release the resilient loading element to allow compression of the canister.

7. An inhaler according to claim 6, wherein the locking element is arranged to lock the loading member in its second position for locking the canister in its compressed state after release of the triggering mechanism.

8. An inhaler according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the pre-loading mechanism further comprises a canister engagement member biassed by the resilient loading element when loaded to compress the canister, the triggering mechanism engaging the cannister engagement member to hold and release the stored actuation force, wherein the release member is resiliently biassed by a resilient biassing element acting between the canister engagement member and the release member.

9. An inhaler according to claim 8, wherein the cannister engagement member is a pivotable lever biassed by the resilient loading element at a position further away from the pivot of the lever than the portion of the lever engaging the cannister.