Claims
- 1. A medicament inhaler comprising:
a mouthpiece for patient inhalation; a delivery passageway for directing an inhalation induced air flow through the mouthpiece; a channel extending from the delivery passageway; a reservoir for containing medicament, the reservoir having a dispensing port connected to the channel; a cup received in the channel and movable between the dispensing port and the delivery passageway; a cup spring biasing the cup towards one of the dispensing port and the passageway; and a yoke movable between at least two positions and including a ratchet engaging the cup and preventing movement of the cup when the yoke is in one of the positions and allowing movement of the cup when the yoke is in another of the positions.
- 2. An inhaler according to claim 1, wherein the cup spring biases the cup towards the delivery passageway.
- 3. An inhaler according to claim 2, wherein the yoke further includes a push bar adapted to return the cup to the dispensing port of the reservoir upon movement of the yoke to one of the positions.
- 4. An inhaler according to claim 3, further comprising:
at least one movable cam including at least two successive cam surfaces; and a spring biasing the yoke against the cam such that movement of the cam causes the yoke to successively engage the cam surfaces and move the yoke between the at least two positions of the yoke.
- 5. An inhaler according to claim 4, wherein the cam includes three successive cam surfaces for moving the yoke between three positions, wherein the ratchet is adapted to prevent movement of the cup to the passageway when the yoke is in two of the three positions and allow movement of the cup when the yoke is in a third of the three positions, and the push bar is adapted to return the cup to the dispensing port of the reservoir upon movement of the yoke to a first of the positions.
- 6. An inhaler according to claim 5, further comprising a cover movable to open and close the mouthpiece, wherein the at least one cam is secured to the cover for movement therewith, whereby opening and closing the mouthpiece causes the yoke to move between the three positions of the yoke.
- 7. An inhaler according to claim 4, wherein the cam is movable by rotation.
- 8. An inhaler according to claim 1, wherein the reservoir includes a volume of dry powdered medicament.
- 9. An inhaler according to claim 1, further comprising a de-agglomerator between the delivery passageway and the mouthpiece.
- 10. An inhaler according to claim 1, further comprising:
a pawl extending from the yoke; a dose counter including,
a bobbin, a rotatable spool, a rolled ribbon received on the bobbin and rotatable about an axis of the bobbin, the ribbon having indicia thereon successively extending between a first end of the ribbon secured to the spool and a second end of the ribbon positioned on the bobbin, and teeth extending radially outwardly from the spool into a predetermined path of the pawl during movement of the yoke between the at least two positions, so that the spool is rotated by the pawl and the ribbon is advanced onto the spool during movement of the cup.
- 11. An inhaler according to claim 1, wherein:
the channel includes a pressure relief port; a conduit provides fluid communication between an interior of the reservoir and the pressure relief port; and the cup includes,
a recess adapted to receive medicament when aligned with the dispensing port of the reservoir, a first sealing surface adapted to seal the dispensing port when the recess is unaligned with the dispensing port, and a second sealing surface adapted to seal the pressure relief port of the channel when the recess is aligned with the dispensing port and unseal the pressure relief port when the recess is unaligned with the dispensing port.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present application claims priority to co-pending provisional U.S. patent application Serial No. 60/213,668, filed Jun. 23, 2000 (entitled “Breath-Actuated Dry Powder Inhaler”), and co-pending provisional U.S. patent application Serial No. 60/213,382, filed Jun. 23, 2000 (entitled “De-Agglomerator for Breath-Actuated Dry Powder Inhaler”). Each of these co-pending applications is assigned to the assignee of the present disclosure and incorporated herein by reference.
Provisional Applications (2)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60213668 |
Jun 2000 |
US |
|
60213382 |
Jun 2000 |
US |