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Powder delivery device

  • US 7,455,248 B2
  • Filed: 03/17/2005
  • Issued: 11/25/2008
  • Est. Priority Date: 03/17/2004
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. A powder delivery device, comprising:

  • a powdered material reservoir defining an internal volume adapted to receive and store a quantity of powdered material, said reservoir including an elongate body, said body having a reservoir longitudinal axis, a closed outer end and an open inner end; and

    a substantially pistol-shaped housing, said housing including a handle portion, a barrel portion and a connecting portion between said handle portion and said barrel portion;

    said handle portion defining a hollow cavity, a first inlet selectively connecting said hollow cavity to the surrounding atmosphere and a first outlet connecting said hollow cavity to said connecting portion, wherein at least part of said handle portion is formed of a resilient material such that said hollow cavity may be selectively collapsed by an inwardly directed force applied by a user'"'"'s hand grasping said handle portion so as to expel a content of said cavity through said first outlet, and wherein after collapse, said resilient material part is selectively restored to its non-collapsed configuration upon the release of said inwardly applied force by the resilience of said resilient material in combination with a content input into said cavity selectively received through said first inlet;

    said barrel portion defining an open ended, elongate, hollow shaft centered on a barrel longitudinal axis, said shaft opening to the atmosphere at said open end thereof and opening into said connecting portion at the other end thereof; and

    said connecting portion defining a receptacle adapted to securely, sealingly and removably receive said open end of said reservoir and to hold said reservoir with its reservoir longitudinal axis disposed at a rearwardly extending upward angle relative to said barrel longitudinal axis of said barrel portion opposite to said handle portion;

    including internal conduit means joining said first outlet of said handle portion to a second inlet located in said receptacle; and

    including an elongate, hollow element extending through a second outlet located in said receptacle so as to open at one end into an end of a passageway in said connecting portion that opens at its other end into said shaft of said barrel portion, and also extending outwardly from said second outlet at substantially the same angle to said barrel longitudinal axis as said reservoir longitudinal axis when said reservoir is mounted in said receptacle to an open end, said outwardly extending portion of said elongate, hollow member further defining a plurality of opposed openings located at spaced intervals along its length;

    whereby, when said internal volume of said reservoir contains a quantity of powdered material and said reservoir is mounted in said receptacle, a collapse of said hollow cavity causes a content of said hollow cavity to be forced into said internal volume of said reservoir in the form of a pulse so as to aerosolize a portion said powdered material stored in said reservoir and to cause at least some of said aerosolized powdered material to be discharged from said open end of said barrel portion via said open end and said openings in said elongate, hollow member, said internal passageway of said connecting portion and said shaft of said barrel portion.

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