BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings, in which
FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an inhaler device with a counter according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 shows a schematic display arrangement for an inhaler device counter according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a schematic cross sectional view of the display arrangement of FIG. 2
FIG. 4 is a schematic cross sectional view of a mould for moulding a top piece for an inhaler device counter according to the present invention.
FIG. 5 shows a label to be used in a “mould in label” process according to the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a schematic cross sectional view an alternative shape of a top piece for an inhaler device counter according to the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
In order to combine the advantages of relative and exact indication of the remaining number of doses in an inhaler device counter, it has been found that indication using a display arrangement of pointer-gauge type gives an excellent combination of intuitive relative and exact reading of the number of remaining doses in an inhaler device. Moreover, it has been found that the design of the counter display arrangement can be enhanced by integrating the static part of the display arrangement in a transparent part of the counter housing. In one embodiment, the static part is integrated in the transparent part of the housing, utilizing an in mould label (IML) technique.
FIG. 1 shows a schematic example of an inhaler device 10 comprising a counter 20 according to the present invention. The inhaler device comprises an actuator body 30 with a mouth piece 40, through which medicine is delivered to the user, and a container-counter assembly. In this embodiment the counter 20 is attached to the end of an inhaler container (not shown) arranged in the actuator housing 30. The inhaler device 10 is actuated by depressing the container-counter assembly with respect to the actuator housing 30. The counter 20 is arranged to count each actuation of the inhaler device 10, and display the actual condition, via a display arrangement 60. The counter 20 could further be arranged as a part of, or being detachably attached to the actuator housing 30, e.g. on the front or back side thereof.
The counter 20 is basically comprised of a counter housing 70, a counter mechanism (not shown nor further described herein) and a display arrangement 60. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 the display arrangement 60 is provided in a top surface 80 of the counter housing 70. In the disclosed embodiment, the top surface 80 of the housing 70 is provided as a transparent moulded part 150 (below referred to as display containing part 150) that closes the housing 70. In the disclosed embodiment, the counter top surface 80 further is utilized as an actuating surface for actuation of the inhaler device 10, i.e. for depressing the container-counter assembly. Because the counter top surface 80 is used as actuating surface, it has to be rigid and wear resistant, as it will be subjected to compressive force and wear during the actuation of the inhaler device 10.
FIG. 2 shows a schematic top view of the counter 20 with an example of the display arrangement 60 according to the present invention. The display arrangement 60 comprises a static display section 90 and a moveable display section 100. In the disclosed embodiment, the static display section 90 surrounds the moveable section 100, which is provided as a rotatable element with a pointer 110. The static display section 90 is an annular graduation area with indices for the number of doses remaining in the container, and the angular position of the pointer 110 thus gives the actual count. With this arrangement it is possible to achieve the advantages with both relative and exact value indication of the remaining number of doses.
FIG. 3 shows the essential parts of the display arrangement 60 of the counter 20 of FIG. 2 in cross section. The moveable display section 100 is provided as a rotatable element 120, whose rotation is controlled by the counting mechanism (not shown). The rotatable element 120 comprises a display portion 130 with the pointer 110, and a counter mechanism engaging portion 140, such as a toothed wheel. In order to achieve a rigid and wear resistant outer surface of the display arrangement, the static display section 90 is provided as an integrated part of the transparent moulded part 150, hereafter referred to as the display containing part 150, of the counter housing 70, i.e. the display containing part 150 and the static display section 90 are provided as an unitary structure. The display containing part 150 of the counter housing 70 preferably is molded of transparent plastic material such as clear polypropylene.
In order to integrate the static display section 90 in the display containing part 150, in a reliable and efficient manner, an in-mould label technique (IML) is employed. The IML technique is widely used in the packaging industry, but it has not been used for labeling of inhaler devices, even though there are some major advantages of the technique. IML labels are extremely durable, as they basically are present as an integrated part of the molded piece. Moreover, the printing is protected by the transparent plastic layer, onto which the label is printed, whereby a user of an inhaler device 10 will not get in direct contact with the ink.
Further, the IML technique is well suited for mass production of molded articles, at low cost. The IML technique further allows use of complex multicolor labels, as the labels are printed on a large plastic sheet using a suitable high capacity printing technique before they are cut out from the sheet and integrated into the molded piece.
From surveys it has been found that the provision of a colored warning zone, to indicate that there are just a few numbers of doses left, in addition to the numbered scale is desirable. Due to the IML benefits technique, such colored and or complex images are relatively simple to provide.
The present invention also provides a method of providing an inhaler device counter display arrangement 60 for displaying the number of remaining doses in an inhaler device 10, comprising the steps:
- providing the transparent display containing part 150 of the counter housing 70, in which a static display section 90 is provided as an integrated part, the static display section 90 being a section of a display arrangement 60 of pointer-gauge type and
- providing the moveable display section 100 arranged to be incrementally moved by the counter mechanism.
In one embodiment the static display section 90 is provided as an integrated part of the display containing part 150 by use of an IML technique.
The IML process used to produce the display containing part 150 of the counter housing 70 according to the present invention will now be described with reference to FIG. 4. FIG. 4 shows a schematic cross sectional view of a mold 160 for producing the display containing part 150 of the counter housing 70 with a static display section label 95 placed in the mold 160. The IML process comprises the following steps:
- providing a mold 160, defining a display containing part 150 of the counter housing 70, the mold 160 comprising a mold section 170 defining an outer surface of the display containing part 150 and at least one additional mold section 180,
- providing a static display section label 95 printed on a transparent plastic sheet,
- placing the static display section label 95 at a predetermined position on a surface 190 of the mold section 170 defining the outer surface of the display containing part 150 with the printed surface directed away from the mold surface 190,
- closing the mold 160,
- injecting a transparent plastic material through an injection port 195,
- hardening (or cooling) the plastic material,
- opening the mold 160 and removing the molded display containing part 150.
The static display section label 95 is so to say printed on the reverse side of thin sheet of plastic material. As the label is to be viewed through the thin sheet from the non reverse side, the printed label is a mirror image of the desired label. The plastic sheet is preferably of the same material as it will be integrated with.
In order to hold the label in position during the step of injecting plastic material, the mold can be provided with vacuum suction means as is indicated by 200 in FIG. 4.
FIG. 5 shows the static display section label 95 for the display arrangement 60 of FIG. 2, wherein the dashed section 210 denotes a non-printed transparent section, intended to act as window for the pointer 110 shown in FIG. 2.
The above disclosed embodiment of the display containing part is in all aspects a schematic illustration. FIG. 6 shows a cross sectional view of a more detailed example of a display containing part 300. As is shown, the outer surface 310 of the display containing part 300 can be made curved while still using the IML technique, which might be advantageous when it is used as actuation surface as is the case in FIG. 1. From FIG. 6, it can be seen that the inner surface 320 of the display containing part 300 may have a complex shape, defining functional structures, e.g. of the counter mechanism. In FIG. 6 the inside protrusions 330 are designed to function as a hub for the counter mechanism member carrying the rotatable display section. The tip 340 in the middle of the hub, represents the injection point for the plastic material. In order to achieve an appealing appearance of the display arrangement 60, the printed sections on the label 95 can be arranged to cover underlying structures that are not supposed to form a part of the display arrangement 60. In other words, only the section intended to act as window 210 for the pointer is left as a non printed transparent section.
From FIG. 6 it is clear that it is not possible to print the static display section 90 onto the inside of the display containing part. Even if such a printing process was possible, it would be more expensive than the IML process, as it would require a single item printing technique, whereas the IML process preferably uses a cost effective continuous printing process.
Patent Application
20080066742
