This application is entitled to the benefit of and incorporates by reference essential subject matter disclosed in International Patent Application No. PCT/IB2007/050317 filed on Jan. 31, 2007.
The invention is related a metering device for dispensing a dose of pressurized fluid.
Metering devices for dispensing a dose of pressurized fluid are generally known as metered dose valves by which pressurized fluids are dispensed from containers under pressure. Normally the liquid formulations administered by the metering valve include a liquefied gas propellant and are delivered to a patient in an aerosol spray. The dose of the administered formulation should be sufficient to produce the desired physiological response. The proper amount of the formulation must be dispensed to the patient in each successive dose. Thus, any dispensing system must be able to dispense doses of the liquid formulation accurately and reliably to assure the safety and efficacy of the treatment.
Such a metered dose valve is e.g. known from WO-A-2004/0022143 that includes a valve stem which is spring biased towards the valve opening. An interior chamber is defined by a spring cage having one or more inlets from an aerosol container. The upper end of the valve stem includes a metering gasket which is sealing a metering chamber if in the activated position. In the activated position transverse side holes in a longitudinal discharge passageway of the valve stem are discharging in the metering chamber, so that the metered dose of the formulation can be dispensed.
The volume of liquid dispensed by such metered dose valves is typically in the range of 70 to 140 microliters for each actuation. However, for certain applications, like applying a liquid spray to the back of the throat in order to prevent snoring, a larger quantity of the formulation is needed, e.g. around 1.5 ml for each actuation. Such large quantities cannot be dispensed by the known metered dose valves.
Further, the above mentioned metered dose valves are developed for aerosol containers. Since the environmental regulations require that the use of aerosols should be largely reduced, or even should be completely prevented, it is an object of the present invention to provide a metering device which can be used without an environmental problematic aerosol as propellant for the fluid formulation to be administered to a patient.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a metering device system which is capable of delivering a larger volume of liquid spray for each actuation, compared to currently available metered dose valves or manually operated pump spray systems.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention a metering device for dispensing a dose of pressurized fluid from a pressurized container is provided, which comprises a valve body to be mounted in a fluid-tight manner to the lid of a pressurized container, wherein the valve body has upper and lower openings, and captures a gasket between the lid and the upper opening of the valve body. A delivery tube penetrates through the gasket and supports a valve element, which contacts the gasket to close the delivery tube, and which is movable by the delivery tube away from the gasket to open the delivery tube. The inventive metering device further includes a cylindrical chamber having a cup-like form that is defined by an inner tube that houses at least a lower portion of the valve body, an upper roof extending radially outward from said inner tube, and an outer wall extending downward from said upper roof to a rim that defines a lower opening of the cylindrical chamber, wherein the outer wall is larger than the inner tube, such that said cylindrical chamber includes an annular volume between said inner tube and said outer wall, and a cylindrical volume below said inner tube, the lower opening of the valve body being in fluid communication with said cylindrical chamber via said inner tube. A piston is reciprocable within the cylindrical volume between an upper position and a lower position which upper and lower positions define the dispensing dose. At its upper position the piston seals the lower opening of the valve body from the cylindrical chamber, and at any of its positions the piston partitions the cylindrical volume from the lower opening of the cylindrical chamber. A fluid passage is provided from the container to the cylindrical chamber, such that, independent from the position of the piston within the cylindrical chamber, pressurized fluid can flow into the cylindrical chamber based on a pressure difference between the container and the cylindrical chamber.
In a further embodiment of the present invention the liquid passage is provided by a clearance between the piston and the inner wall of the chamber. The liquid passage can also be provided by a hole in the piston.
The metering device according to the present invention has the advantage, that with a small amount of different pieces an accurate and efficient metering of a relatively large dose of a liquid formulation, e.g. for snore preventing, is obtained. Further advantages are described in the dependent claims and in the description below.
The invention will now be described in greater detail, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
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In
On the outer edge 26 of the container 5, viz on the rim part of the lid 4, a cap shroud 27 is mounted by means of a snap-fit connection, which consists of a lower mounting piece 28 and an upper actuator piece 29 which pieces include a mouth piece or beak 30 with a plate-shaped stop element 31. As can be readily seen in
The function of the metering device 1 is as follows:
In
Instead of the little clearance between the piston 17 and the inner wall 23 of the chamber 13, a small hole 60 in the piston 17 can be provided which is provided in axial direction, as shown in
All components of the metering device are made of a hard plastic material, preferably in PET or PP.
In
Instead of the additional piston as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 of WO-A-2005/082744 a dip-tube as shown in FIG. 7 of WO-A-2005/082744 can be provided which enters into the chamber 13 of the metering device 1 and ends at the bottom of the container 5 above the pressure control device. In such a case no liquid passage is provided by the piston 17 of the metering device 1.
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It will be appreciated to the skilled person that mounting of the dispensing valve 2 to the container 5 can also be made by welding, snapping or screwing. Further, the design of the piston 17 may be changed in that the seal by the bulge 25 is instead provided by an outside ring partly encompassing the inner tube 14.
Various modifications and alterations to this invention will become apparent to the skilled person without departing from the scope and the spirit of the invention.
While the present invention has been illustrated and described with respect to a particular embodiment thereof, it should be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that various modifications to this invention may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/IB2007/050317 | 1/31/2007 | WO | 00 | 9/25/2009 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
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WO2008/093172 | 8/7/2008 | WO | A |
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Number | Date | Country |
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1524293 | Sep 1978 | GB |
WO2004022143 | Mar 2004 | WO |
WO2005082744 | Sep 2005 | WO |
Entry |
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International Search Report for International Application No. PCT/IB2007/050317 filed Jan. 31, 2007 (3 pages). |
Written Opinion of the International Searching Authority for International Application No. PCT/IB2007/050317 filed Jan. 31, 2007 (5 pages). |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20100006601 A1 | Jan 2010 | US |