Inhaler for powdered medications with gear-teeth counter assembly
First Claim
1. A counter for a powdered medication inhaler which is actuated for dose delivery by a reciprocating partial relative rotation of its components, said counter comprising:
- a continuous counter ring having counting indicia thereon and having gear teeth therearound;
an intermittent counter ring adjacent to said continuous counter ring, said intermittent counter ring having counting indicia thereon and having gear teeth therearound;
display means through which one of said counting indicia from said continuous counter ring and one of said counting indicia from said intermittent counter ring are displayed to indicate a count corresponding to a number of doses of powdered material that have been dispensed or remain to be dispensed;
actuating means including pawl means engaging with said gear teeth of said continuous counter ring, and said intermittent counter ring, for rotating said continuous counter ring one increment each time that a dose of the powdered material is dispensed to display another one of said counting indicia of said continuous counter ring through said display means, and for rotating said intermittent counter ring one increment every predetermined number of rotational increments of said continuous counter ring to display another one of said counting indicia of said intermittent counter ring through said display means; and
spring means for biasing said pawl means into engagement with said gear teeth of said continuous counter ring and said intermittent counter ring.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A powder dispenser includes a powder housing for holding a supply of powdered material to be dispensed, the powder housing including an inhalation conduit provided displaced relation to the powdered material supply; a metering plate including a metered dose hole for holding a metered amount of the powdered material, and positioned below the powdered material supply, the metering plate and the powder housing being relatively rotatable with respect to each other about a common central axis; a counter providing a visual count of the number of doses of the powdered material that have been dispensed or remain to be dispensed in response to the relative rotation, the counter including counter rings providing the visual count, the counter rings being rotatable about the common central axis and having indicia thereon which display the visual count, and an actuating mechanism rotatable about the central axis for incrementally rotating the counter rings in response to the relative rotation; a nozzle for breaking up agglomerates of powdered material from the inhalation conduit to form micronized powdered material, the nozzle including a cavity for changing the direction of flow of the powder from the direction of the inhalation conduit to a second different direction, and a curved wall for substantially continuously changing the direction of flow of the powder in a spiral manner in the second direction in the cavity; and a closure cap covering the powder housing and priming the powder dispenser for use automatically upon removal thereof.
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Citations
14 Claims
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1. A counter for a powdered medication inhaler which is actuated for dose delivery by a reciprocating partial relative rotation of its components, said counter comprising:
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a continuous counter ring having counting indicia thereon and having gear teeth therearound; an intermittent counter ring adjacent to said continuous counter ring, said intermittent counter ring having counting indicia thereon and having gear teeth therearound; display means through which one of said counting indicia from said continuous counter ring and one of said counting indicia from said intermittent counter ring are displayed to indicate a count corresponding to a number of doses of powdered material that have been dispensed or remain to be dispensed; actuating means including pawl means engaging with said gear teeth of said continuous counter ring, and said intermittent counter ring, for rotating said continuous counter ring one increment each time that a dose of the powdered material is dispensed to display another one of said counting indicia of said continuous counter ring through said display means, and for rotating said intermittent counter ring one increment every predetermined number of rotational increments of said continuous counter ring to display another one of said counting indicia of said intermittent counter ring through said display means; and spring means for biasing said pawl means into engagement with said gear teeth of said continuous counter ring and said intermittent counter ring. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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Specification