CN103068427A - Dry-powder inhaler - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a dry-powder inhaler (100), comprising a body (110) containing a dispersion chamber (111), a lid (130) pivotably mounted on said body between a closed position and an open position, said lid comprising a dispensing opening (131) through which said user inhales, the inhaler further comprising a loading opening (121) receiving a capsule (10) containing a dose of dry powder to be inhaled, the inhaler comprising a sliding member (140) interlocking with said lid (130), the movement of said lid from the open position thereof to the closed position thereof translatably moving said sliding member sideways so as to open the capsule arranged in said loading opening (121).

Description

dry powder inhaler

technical field

The present invention relates to a dry powder inhaler.

Background technique

Inhalers are well known in the art. There are different kinds of inhalers. A first type of inhaler comprises a container containing a number of doses of powder, said inhaler being provided with a metered-dose unit which detaches a dose of this powder from the container on each actuation to bring the dose of powder to an exit duct in for distribution to users. Another type of inhaler consists in arranging doses of powder in individual pre-dose containers and then opening one of these containers each time the inhaler is actuated. This implementation ensures a better tightness of the powder, since each dose is only opened at the moment it is expelled. To realize these individual containers, various variants have been proposed, such as an elongated strip of blisters or several blisters arranged on a rotating disc. Any type of inhaler described above and existing has advantages and disadvantages related to their structure as well as to their operation. Therefore, for some inhalers, the problem is the accuracy and reproducibility of dosing with each actuation. Likewise, the availability of dispensing, that is to say the portion of the dose that effectively enters the user's lungs to obtain a beneficial therapeutic effect, is also an issue with a number of inhalers. With regard to the opening of individual containers, it has been proposed to peel off or peel off the closure layer. This has the disadvantage that it is difficult to control the force to be applied to ensure a complete opening without the risk of opening the next container, especially if the opening device is to be actuated by suction. Another problem with inhalers equipped with blister strips has to do with movement of the strip and storage of used portions of the strip. Thus, depending on the length of the strip and/or the thickness of the blister, a large space may prove necessary and any jamming of the blister strip may prevent a good functioning of the inhaler. In addition, problems can arise with actuation, especially due to the progressive increase in diameter of the coiled used tape, when the advance device of the tape simultaneously pulls the front end of the tape to avoid poor coiling. Thus, multidose inhalers and inhalers containing blister strips are generally complex devices consisting of a large number of parts and are therefore expensive to manufacture and assemble. In order to achieve a less complex and thus less costly device, inhalers have been proposed having a single container, eg a capsule, which is loaded into the inhaler just before its use. An advantage of this type of device is that it is not necessary to store the entire dose inside the device, so that the size of the device can be reduced. On the contrary, use is more complicated because the user must load a capsule into the inhaler before each use. In addition, other disadvantages specific to capsule inhalers of this type appear. Therefore, such devices usually consist of two parts, one of which is equipped with the oral tip. When operating such devices, to open the capsule and release the powder, or to expel an empty capsule after inhalation, the user's fingers often come into contact with the mouthpiece, which can present a risk of infection. Also, in order to expel an empty capsule, the device typically needs to be disassembled, which exposes the interior of the device to any external contamination which may subsequently be passed on to the user when next inhaled.

Contents of the invention

The object of the present invention is to propose a dry powder inhaler which no longer presents the above-mentioned disadvantages.

In particular, the object of the present invention is to propose an inhaler which is inexpensive and simple to manufacture and assemble, which is easy to use and which limits the risk of infection and/or contamination as much as possible.

Therefore, the object of the present invention is a dry powder inhaler having: a body housing a dispersion chamber; a cover pivotally mounted on said body between a closed position and an open position, said cover having a dispensing aperture , the user inhales through the dispensing hole, the inhaler also has a loading port for receiving a capsule, the capsule contains a dose of dry powder to be inhaled, the inhaler has a sliding member engaged with the cover, the cover from Movement from its open position to its closed position translates the slide member laterally for opening a bladder placed in the load port.

Advantageously, said bladder has an upper part and a lower part detachable from said upper part, said sliding member cooperating with said lower part when said cover is returned to its closed position, to enable said The lower part is separated from the upper part.

Advantageously, said sliding member has at least one toothing cooperating with at least one toothed part rotationally fixed to said cover.

Advantageously, said sliding member is arranged below said loading opening in a right position of the inhaler, said sliding member having a first opening arranged so that when said cover is in the open position facing the load port; and a second opening arranged to face the load port when the cover is in the closed position.

Advantageously, said lower portion of the bladder passes through said first opening of said slide member when the bladder is inserted in said loading port.

Advantageously, a panel part is fixed to said body, said panel part having said loading opening and guide means for guiding the translational movement of said sliding member.

Advantageously, said guide part has a track cooperating with a protrusion of said sliding member.

Description of drawings

These and other features and advantages of the invention will appear more clearly from the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings given as non-limiting examples, in which:

- Figure 1 is a schematic exploded perspective view of a dispensing device according to an advantageous embodiment of the invention,

- Figure 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the device of Figure 1 in the closed position before first use,

- Figure 3 is a view similar to that of Figure 2, but in the open position, with a bladder inserted into the loading port,

- figures 4 and 5 are views similar to that of figure 2, but during closure of the cover and opening of the bladder,

- Figure 6 is a view similar to that of Figure 2, but in the closed position before suction,

- Figure 7 is a view similar to that of Figure 6, but in the closed position during inhalation,

- Figure 8 is a view similar to that of Figure 3, but in the open position,

- Figures 9 and 10 are schematic perspective views of the device of Figure 1, in closed and open positions respectively, and

- Figures 11 and 12 are schematic cutaway perspective views, respectively in closed and open positions.

Detailed ways

The drawing describes an advantageous embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment, the inhaler 100 has a body 110 which is hollow and has upper and lower openings. The upper opening is at least partially closed by a panel portion 120 fixed to the body, while the lower opening is closed by a closing member, such as a shutter 150 , pivotally mounted on the body 110 . A sliding member 140 having a gear train is interposed below the plate portion 120 . Advantageously, the panel portion 120 has guide means, such as rails 129, cooperating with protrusions 149 of the sliding member 140 for guiding the translational movement of said sliding member. A pivoting cover 130 is assembled over the panel portion 120 . The cap 130 has a dispensing aperture 131 preferably formed at the mouthpiece around which the user will surround his mouth for inhalation. Thus, as can be seen especially on FIG. 1 , the device according to this embodiment is composed of five main parts, namely a body 110 , a plate part 120 , a sliding member 140 , a cover 130 and a shutter 150 . All these parts are assembled one on top of the other by means of a shaft 160 which passes through the side opening 115 provided in the body 110 , through the suitable side opening 135 of the cover 130 and through the hollow arranged in the part of the shutter 150 Column 155 passes through. At least one toothed part 161 , 162 is mounted on said shaft 160 to cooperate with at least one tooth train 145 provided on the sliding member 140 . In the example shown there are two toothed parts 161 and 162 mounted on a shaft 160, so that the sliding member 140 also has two tooth trains 145 and 146, the operation of which will be described below. Suitable fixing means 163 may be provided to fix the shaft 160 to the body 110 in a non-detachable manner by assembling the different components to each other. As can be seen in FIG. 1 , the shaft 160 preferably has a particular cross-section, for example substantially square, and the toothed part has a similar cross-section, so that the toothed part is rotationally fixed to the shaft 160 . Likewise, the cover 130 also has a similarly shaped opening 135 so that the cover, the toothed part and said shaft 160 are rotationally fixed. The panel part 120 has a loading opening 121 which is advantageously provided with at least one, preferably three positioning ribs 125 which are advantageously distributed regularly around said loading opening 121 . These ribs allow positioning and holding the capsule 10 in the desired position in a clamping manner. In particular, the bladder 10 has an upper part 11 and a lower part 12 detachable from said upper part, said ribs 125 serving to retain said upper part 11 before and during detachment of said lower part 12 . In addition, this panel part 120 also advantageously has a housing area 122 formed by an area provided with a plurality of holes 123 for housing one or more storage bladders. This allows the user to always have multiple bladders at hand, eg when traveling. In this assumption, the user only needs to load the next capsule in the loading port 121 with the capsule within the container after each use of the device. Of course, such a capsule container is not essential to the operation of the device.

2 to 8 show the operating cycles of the device according to this embodiment. Referring to FIG. 2 , which shows the device in the closed position before the first use, it can be seen that the main body 110 internally defines a dispersion chamber 111 which will receive the powder after the capsule 10 is opened. Figure 3 shows the device after the cover 130 has been opened. It can be seen that opening of the cover 130 causes rotation of the shaft 160 due to the approximately square shape of the shaft 160 cooperating with the correspondingly shaped hole 135 of said cover 130 . This rotation of the shaft 160 thus also causes a rotation of the toothed parts 161 and 162 , which rotate together with said shaft 160 . Rotation of these toothed parts 161 and 162 causes lateral displacement of the sliding member 140 . In fact, as shown in particular on FIG. 2 , the teeth 165 of the toothed part 161 engage in the tooth train 145 of the sliding member 140 . Thus between Figures 2 and 3 it can be seen that rotation of the teeth 165 of the toothed part will cause the slide member 140 to slide to the right in the figure. Of course, the same sliding is also performed on the other side of the device by means of the second toothed part 162, which is not visible in the cutaway view. Of course, only one toothed part may be sufficient to cause movement of the sliding member. When the cover 130 is opened, the shutter 150 does not rotate with the shaft 160 . On the contrary, at the end of the opening of the cover 130, the cover cooperates with said shutter 150, and in particular with the curved part 151, which connects the hollow cylinder 155 mounted on the shaft 160 and closes the bottom of the main body 110 in the closed position of the shutter. part of the valve. This cooperation between the cover 130 and the shutter 150 flips the shutter about said axis 160 towards the open position shown in FIG. 3 . Thus, in this position where the cover 130 is fully open, the shutter 150 is opened and the contents of the dispersion chamber 111 can be discharged out of the device. FIG. 3 also shows the bladder 10 in place within the load port 121 . It can be seen that the upper part 11 of the bladder is held in a clamping manner in ribs 125 provided in said loading opening 121 . Furthermore, the lower part 12 of the bladder passes through a first opening 141 , which is implemented in said sliding member 140 and which, in the open position of the cover 130 , faces said loading opening 121 .

4 to 6 show the closing phase of the cover 130 after the bladder 10 has been loaded. Therefore, as can be seen in FIG. 4, when the user closes the cover 130 again, the shutter 150 will also close again, and through the cooperation between the toothed parts 161 and 162 and the tooth train of the sliding member 140, the sliding member 140 will be brought to the left on the diagram. However, as shown in FIG. 4 , the lower portion 12 of the capsule 10 passes through the first opening 141 of the sliding member 140, and lateral movement of the sliding member will break the lower portion 12 of the capsule 10 and/or out of shape. The upper part 11 of the bladder 10 is of course still held in the loading port 121 in a clamped manner, in particular by the ribs 125 . Instead, the lower part 12 will separate from the upper part 11 and drop into the dispersion chamber 111, since the first opening 141 of the sliding member 140 has a larger diameter than the outer diameter of the lower part 12 of the capsule. Thus, not only the powder will be poured inside the dispersion chamber 111, but also the lower part 12 containing said powder will drop onto the bottom of said dispersion chamber 111 so that the lower part is emptied. In the position of FIG. 5 , the cover 130 can be seen just before its closed position. In this position, the lugs 135 provided in the part of the cover 130 will cooperate with the upper part 11 of the bladder 10 left in the loading port 121 . Thus, as clearly shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 , when the cover 130 is fully closed, the lugs 135 will cause the upper portion 11 of the capsule to be expelled from the loading port 121 towards the interior of the dispersion chamber 111 . Therefore, in this position of FIG. 6, when the device is fully closed again, the capsule 10 is broken into two parts, the upper and lower parts 11 and 12 of the capsule 10 resting against the ( Formed by the shutter 150) and the powder is at least partially expelled beyond said portion of the bladder. The device is then ready for inhalation.

Figure 7 shows the inhalation phase. To inhale, the user surrounds the dispensing hole 131 of the cap 130 with his mouth and inhales in the direction of the arrow B shown on FIG. 7 . In doing so, an air flow is created within the dispersion chamber 111 which will cause the two parts 11 and 12 of the capsule to undergo a swirling motion within said dispersion chamber 111 . This vortex movement, shown by arrow C on FIG. 7 , will allow complete emptying of said portion of the capsule, but also good dispersion of the powder and, in particular, non-agglomeration of powder piles that may form. When necessary, a supplementary air inlet can be provided in the dispersion chamber to facilitate the vortex motion of the suction flow. The swirling powder will thus be sucked out of the dispersion chamber 111 through the second opening 142 provided in the sliding member 140, in this suction position, the second opening faces the dispersion chamber 111 on one side and the dispersion chamber on the other side. Opposite loading port 121. As can be seen more clearly in FIG. 11 , the cover 130 advantageously has a grid 137 through which the powder will be able to be expelled in the direction of the dispensing orifice 131 . The grid prevents in particular also parts 11 , 12 of the capsule from being discharged outside the dispersion chamber. In this way, the user inhales a dose of powder initially contained within the capsule 10 . Advantageously, said dispersion chamber may have a frusto-conical shape that tapers towards the dispensing hole 131 , in particular to accelerate the suction flow towards said hole.

After inhalation, the user opens the cover 130 again, which, as before, causes the flap 150 to overturn at the end of opening. This inversion of the shutter 150 shown on FIG. 8 will allow the two empty capsule parts 11 and 12 of the dispersion chamber 111 to be expelled. In this position of Fig. 8, the device is thus ready for the next use. Of course, if the next use is not immediate, the user can turn off the device and wait for the next need to turn on the device again. As a variant, the user does not have to expel the empty capsule portion after each inhalation, but he can of course only expel the empty capsule portion the next time he opens the device and wants to load a new capsule.

Advantageously, as shown in particular on FIG. 1 , the shutter 150 may have one or more retaining lugs 156 which snap lightly into the bottom of the body 110 in the closed position to secure the shutter 150 in the closed position. Safe and reliable closure. Figures 11 and 12 show the openings 116 arranged in the bottom of the body 110 through which the said catch pins 156 of the shutter will pass. Of course, the buckle is not very strong so as not to restrict the opening of the shutter when the user opens the cover 130 .

Figures 9 and 10 show perspective views of the device in a closed position and an open position, while Figures 11 and 12 are views similar to Figures 9 and 10, but partially cut away, showing the interior of the device in these two positions structure.

The device according to the invention is therefore particularly simple and compact. It consists of a small number of parts and is therefore inexpensive to manufacture and assemble. In addition, the presence of the dispersing chamber and the empty capsule part in swirling motion keeps the powder from agglomerating and thus ensures a better distribution of the powder to the user upon inhalation. Finally, the expulsion of the empty bladder portion does not require disassembly of the device, which limits the risk of contamination of the device. The absence of disassembly of the device also avoids the risk of not being able to reassemble the device, or of temporarily forgetting to disassemble parts, especially for children or the elderly. Also, the operation of the device, ie the opening and closing of the cover 130, does not have to manipulate the portion of the mouthpiece formed around the dispensing aperture 131 . If required, a special grip for handling the cover can be considered. The risk of infection at the dispensing opening 131 is thus also limited. The method of use of the device is thus simple, the user only having to move the cap between its two end positions to fully actuate the device. So he first opens the cap, then inserts the bladder, closes the cap and inhales.

Various modifications are also possible for a person skilled in the art, without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. In particular, the various features and functions of the devices described with reference to the accompanying drawings may be combined in any suitable manner.

Claims (7)

1. a dry powder inhaler (100), it has: hold the main body (110) of disperseing chamber (111); At the housing (130) that is pivoted between closed position and the open position on the described main body, described housing has dispensing orifice (131), user sucks by described dispensing orifice, dry powder inhaler also has the load port (121) of admitting a bladder (10), described bladder accommodates dosage dry powder to be sucked, it is characterized in that, dry powder inhaler has the sliding component (140) that engages with described housing (130), the movement of described housing from its open position to its closed position moved the laterally translation of described sliding component, in order to open the bladder that is placed in the described load port (121).

2. dry powder inhaler according to claim 1, it is characterized in that, described bladder (10) have upper part (11) and with the separable lower part of described upper part (12), when described housing (130) is got back to its closed position, described sliding component (140) cooperates with described lower part (12), uses so that described lower part is separated with described upper part (11).

3. dry powder inhaler according to claim 1 and 2, it is characterized in that, described sliding component (140) has at least one dentition (145,146), described dentition with cooperate at least one tooth parts that is connected with described housing (130) aspect the rotation (161,162).

4. according to each described dry powder inhaler in the claims, it is characterized in that, described sliding component (140) is disposed in the location right of Diskus below the described load port (121), described sliding component (140) has: the first opening (141), described the first opening be arranged to when described housing (130) during at open position in the face of described load port (121); And second opening (142), described the second opening be arranged to when described housing (130) during in the closed position in the face of described load port (121).

5. dry powder inhaler according to claim 4 is characterized in that, when bladder (10) was inserted in the described load port (121), the described lower part (12) of bladder was passed described first opening (141) of described sliding component (140).

6. according to each described dry powder inhaler in the claims, it is characterized in that, plate segment (120) is fixed on the described main body, and described plate segment (120) comprises described load port (121) and is used for the guide member (129) guide described sliding component (140) translation to move.

7. dry powder inhaler according to claim 6 is characterized in that, described guide member has the track (129) that cooperates with the projection (149) of described sliding component (140).

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