Dry powder delivery system apparatus

• US 6,415,790 B1
• Filed: 12/07/1999
• Issued: 07/09/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 09/18/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Delsys Pharmaceutical Corporation (Perrigo Company PLC)
• Original Assignee: Delsys Pharmaceutical Corporation (Perrigo Company PLC)
• Inventors: White, Allan Eugene, Leedom, Marvin Allan
• Primary Examiner(s): Lewis, Aaron J.
• Application Number:
  US09/456,002
• Time in Patent Office: 945 Days
• Field of Search: 128/203.15, 128/203.21, 128/203.12, 604/58
• US Class Current: 128/203.15
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 15/0045 using multiple prepacked dosages on a same carrier, e.g. blisters
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 15/0048 the dosages being arranged in a plane, e.g. on diskettes
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 15/0051 the dosages being arranged on a tape, e.g. strips
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 15/02 with activated or ionised fluids, e.g. electrohydrodynamic [EHD] or electrostatic devices; Ozone-inhalators with radioactive tagged particles
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2202/064 Powder
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/0266 Shape memory materials
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2206/16 Rotating swirling helical flow, e.g. by tangential inflows

Abstract

Provided is a powder delivery system which uses mechanical or electrical means to individually release covers that cover powder at a variety of powder aliquot locations on a rigid substrate.

Claims

1. A powder delivery system comprising:

a body having an internal cavity and an outlet port for delivering a powder into an aerosol form;

a substrate with one or more aliquots of powder, each aliquot at an aliquot location on the substrate, the aliquot locations being arrayed in an arc, each aliquot sealed under an individually releasable cover; and

a release element for releasing each releasable cover including means for causing the closed cover to assume a cover open position from the sealed condition for each releasable cover in response to an applied cover release force on the cover;

the means for causing including means for rotating the substrate including a device to sequentially align each of the aliquot locations with an aliquot release position and for causing the device to apply the cover release force at the release position.

2. The powder delivery system of claim 1, wherein the aliquots are deposited in depression cavities in the substrate over which the releasable covers are sealed.

3. The powder delivery system of claim 2, wherein the means for causing includes means for agitating the deposited powder.

4. The powder delivery system of claim 1, wherein the device includes at least one prong arranged for tracking the arc and for opening the cover.

5. The powder delivery system of claim 3, wherein the aliquots are located on a spiral arc on said substrate, said means for causing including means such that the at least one prong tracks the spiral arc.

6. The powder delivery system of claim 1, wherein the arc lies in a plane.

7. The powder delivery system of claim 1, wherein the releasable covers are formed of a material having mechanical memory and are conditioned to favor a memory configuration, wherein, when secured to the rigid substrate the covers are bent out of the memory configuration.

8. The powder delivery system of claim 7, wherein the material having mechanical memory is a shape memory material that adopts its memory configuration when heated to a memory temperature.

9. The powder delivery system of claim 1, wherein the cover has a cover open state, at least one substrate-traversing hole passing through the substrate, the means for causing including a mechanism for inserting a prong into the at least one substrate traversing hole, wherein the insertion of the prong into the at least one substrate-traversing hole deflects the cover at an aliquot location, thereby uncovering an aliquot of powder to the open state.

10. The powder delivery system of claim 9, wherein the releasable covers are each formed of a material having mechanical memory which is conditioned to favor a memory configuration, which memory configuration uncovers the aliquot, and wherein insertion of the prong into the at least one substrate-traversing hole deflects the cover and causes it to adopt the memory configuration.

11. The powder delivery system of claim 1, wherein the device tracks the arc as the substrate is rotated to each aliquot release position and (b) orients a release probe to the aliquot location aligned with the release position and for activating the release of the cover at the release position.

12. The powder delivery system of claim 11, wherein the substrate is a disk having substrate traversing through holes and the delivery system further comprises:

a prong wheel axle arrayed along a radial axis of the disk for rotation about the axis; and

a prong wheel mounted on the axle including a plurality of spaced cover release prongs wherein the prong wheel is slidably engaged with the axle along the axis and wherein the disk rotates about the disk in response to a rotation of the axle;

and wherein the engagement of the prongs with substrate-traversing through holes aligns the prong wheel with the arc such that rotation of the axle causes the prong wheel to sequentially engage substrate-traversing holes for each aliquot location along the arc.

13. The powder delivery system of claim 12, further comprising:

a stepper mechanism which rotates the axle and thereby the prong wheel such that the aliquots are sequentially released.

14. A powder delivery apparatus comprising:

(a) a substrate having a surface on which each of multiple aliquots of powder are at a corresponding aliquot location, each aliquot being covered by a separate discrete releasable cover having a predetermined open memory configuration; and

(b) a mechanism for displacing the substrate at each of the aliquot locations to an aliquot dispensing location;

wherein the displacement mechanism comprises at least one prong that engages an aperture in the substrate for displacing the substrate and for engaging and causing the cover to assume the open cover configuration at an aliquot location.

15. A powder delivery system comprising:

a body having an internal cavity and an outlet port for delivering a powder into an aerosol form;

a substrate in the cavity with at least one aliquot of powder at a corresponding aliquot location on the substrate, the at least one aliquot being sealed under an individually releasable cover in a cover closed position;

an aliquot cover having an aliquot closed position and ) open position; and

a device including an element which both advances the substrate to align the at least one aliquot to a release-position and engages the cover to displace the cover to the open position.