U.S. patent number 3,635,219 [Application Number 04/830,355] was granted by the patent office on 1972-01-18 for inhalation device.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Fisons Pharmaceuticals Limited. Invention is credited to Roger Edward Collingwood Altounyan, Harry Castle Howell, Martyn Omar Rowlands.
United States Patent |
3,635,219 |
Altounyan , et al. |
January 18, 1972 |
INHALATION DEVICE
Abstract
A dispensing device for dispensing finely divided medicament
from a capsulelike container. A hollow elongated housing has at
both ends thereof at least one passageway to permit passage of air,
and one end is adapted for insertion into the mouth. A
propellerlike member is rotatably mounted in the housing and has on
the part thereof farthest from the end of the housing adapted for
insertion into the mouth a mounting means adapted to receive the
capsulelike container. Also included is a means for perforating the
container.
Inventors: |
Altounyan; Roger Edward
Collingwood (Wilmslow, EN), Howell; Harry Castle
(Connington, EN), Rowlands; Martyn Omar (Epping,
EN) |
Assignee: |
Fisons Pharmaceuticals Limited
(Loughborough, EN)
|
Family
ID: |
10255943 |
Appl.
No.: |
04/830,355 |
Filed: |
June 4, 1969 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
|
|
|
|
|
Jun 7, 1968 [GB] |
|
|
27209/68 |
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
128/203.15 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A61M
15/0028 (20130101); A61M 15/0033 (20140204); A61M
2202/064 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A61M
15/00 (20060101); A61m 015/06 () |
Field of
Search: |
;128/265,266,208,272
;222/30,31,32,81,83.5,85,86 ;30/358,366,367 ;239/309 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Schnall; Jerome
Assistant Examiner: Dyer; R. P.
Claims
We claim:
1. A dispensing device comprising a hollow elongated housing having
at both ends thereof at least one passageway to permit the passage
of air and having one end thereof adapted for insertion into the
mouth, a propellerlike member rotatably mounted in the housing and
having, on the part thereof furthest from that end of the housing
adapted for insertion into the mouth, mounting means adapted to
receive a container for a finely divided medicament, and means
mounted externally upon the device for perforating a container for
a finely divided medicament, said externally mounted means having
therein a recess opening outwardly of the externally mounted means
which recess has a size and shape for receiving substantially the
entire medicament container and holding the container firmly with
only a small portion of the container projecting from the recess,
and further having container piercing means movably mounted
relative to said externally mounted means for movement a distance
at least equal to the distance across said recess, and a single
piercing member on said piercing means closely adjacent the recess
opening and movable completely across said recess during movement
of said piercing means for perforating both sides of the container,
whereby the medicament container is held tightly during piercing
and the piercing member moves across the recess opening close to
the top surface of said externally mounted means to carry out
precise piercing of the medicament container to reduce the danger
of shattering the medicament container.
2. A device as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a housing on
the device, and said piercing means comprises a spring-loaded
member mounted in the housing.
3. A device according to claim 1 wherein the perforating means has
a lateral sidearm provided on the elongated housing and extending
radially from the elongated housing, said piercing means being
mounted on said sidearm and said sidearm having said recess
therein.
4. A device according to claim 1 wherein the piercing member has a
sharpened end with a plane face at an acute angle to the axis
thereof.
Description
The present invention relates to a device for use in the
application of medicaments in finely divided form by oral
inhalation.
In order to dispense its contents a container of the finely
powdered medicament must be perforated and the present invention
relates to the provision of such perforating means integral with a
dispensing device of the type which comprises a hollow elongated
housing, suitably a tubular housing, having at both ends thereof
one or more passageways to permit the passage of air and having one
end thereof adapted for insertion into the mouth; and a
propellerlike member rotatably mounted in the housing and having,
on the part thereof furthest from that end of the housing adapted
for insertion into the mouth, mounting means adapted to receive a
container for the finely divided medicament, such as a gelatine or
like capsule. (By the term "propellerlike member" is meant a member
having two or more blades or vanes disposed about a central axis or
hub, such that impingement of an airstream on the said vanes or
blades tends to cause rotation of the member about said axis or
hub).
The dispensing portion of the device of the invention may take a
variety of forms and may, as described later, also be provided with
a cover enclosing the device. However, in the dispensing portion of
the device, it has been found that where the propellerlike member
is rotatably mounted by means of a cylindrical shaft journaled in a
tapered bearing tube, the bearing tube and shaft should have
certain dimensional characteristics in order to optimize operation
of the device. Thus, the bearing takes the form of an elongate
cavity of circular cross section and the shaft is of substantially
uniform circular cross section. The internal diameter of the
bearing at its inner end (i.e., the end housing the free end of the
shaft) is desirably from 1.5 to 6 percent preferably 2.5 to 5
percent, e.g., 3.75 percent greater than the diameter of the shaft
and the internal diameter of the bearing at its outer end is equal
to the diameter of the shaft plus from 1.3 to 3.5 percent e.g.,
about 2.5 percent of the internal length of the bearing, which may
be, for example, from four to 10, preferably about seven, times the
diameter of the shaft. The inner end wall of the bearing is
preferably flat and the end of the shaft which engages with it is
suitably of frustoconical shape, preferably terminating in a
hemispherical tip portion, e.g., of a radius of about half that of
the shaft. It will be appreciated that the movement of the
propellerlike member in the housing should not be erratic and we
therefore prefer that in this form of device the shaft and bearing
tube be in rolling contact during the operation of the device.
The shaft and bearing should be rigidly mounted since we have found
that undue flexibility of the shaft and bearing mountings may cause
malfunctioning of the device. It is also preferred to constrict the
airflow past the powder container in order to increase its velocity
at this part of the device. This may be achieved by providing the
tubular housing with a venturi. For ease of construction and use,
it may be desired to form the hollow elongate housing in two
separable parts, one having the mouthpiece, the rotatable
propellerlike member and its mounting; the other having the air
inlet and, where provided, the constricted or venturi portion of
the housing. The provision of a separable housing facilitates
insertion and removal of powder containers from their mounting on
the propellerlike device.
It will be appreciated that while the shaft may be rigidly mounted
and the bearing be rotatable, the shaft and bearing may be
transposed and the bearing rigidly in the housing while the shaft,
which carries the propellerlike member, is rotatably journaled
therein. The term "dispensing device of the type described" is used
herein, where the context permits, to denote both forms of bearing
and shaft assembly.
Heretofore piercing means or perforating means has been provided
adjacent the propellerlike member, but because the powder container
is not held rigidly in position, the piercing means often does not
pierce accurately and the containers have a tendency to
shatter.
It is an object of the present invention to provide means for
holding and piercing the containers which is integral with the
dispensing device. Accordingly, there is provided a dispensing
device of the type described above provided with means, mounted
externally upon the device, for perforating a container for a
finely divided medicament.
The term perforating means as used herein is intended to denote any
apparatus which may be caused to perforate a container which is
subsequently to be mounted within the dispensing portion of the
device. For example the perforating means may merely comprise a
sheathed pin or like projection which may be unsheathed by the user
and used to pierce the powder container. However, it is preferred
to provide the perforating means with a cup or like receptacle into
which the powder container to be perforated is placed and to use
some form of retractable perforating means which may be actuated to
perforate the powder container in the receptacle.
Suitably, the container perforating means may take the form of one
or more spring-loaded piercing members mounted in a housing on the
device so that they are normally urged, by the springs, into an
inoperative position, i.e., away from the container, but which may
be pressed inwards to perforate the container by the action of
pushbuttons acting on the piercing members. The piercing means may
also comprise a pair of opposed sharpened piercing members
connected by a bent resilient bridging member and means for urging
the piercing members together to pierce a container located between
them. In this case the piercing members will generally be formed in
one piece with the bridging members of a resilient material such as
spring steel, carbon steel or stainless steel. If the piercing
members are formed of a corrodible material, such as spring steel
or carbon steel, they may be plated, e.g., with nickel or chromium,
to inhibit corrosion. In order to facilitate the piercing operation
the piercing members are advantageously provided with stops which
prevent too deep a penetration of one member into the capsule
before the other member comes into operation, hence ensuring equal
penetration by both members. The resilient bridging member may take
the form of a simply bent strip or rod of material or may be
provided with one or more turns to give better resistance to
fatigue. The piercing members may be urged together by pushbuttons
or, preferably, by sliding cams.
It has been found that, in order to obtain optimum perforation of a
gelatine capsule, the perforating end of the piercing member should
not be sharpened to a conventional conical point but should be
sharpened with a plane face at an acute angle to the axis thereof.
Further it is desirable that the piercing member should be so
orientated that the capsule pierced therewith may be mounted in the
dispensing portion of the device with the lip of the perforation
which has been cut with the angled plane face removed from the
propellerlike member.
As stated above, the perforating means is mounted externally upon
the housing of the dispensing portion of the device. The position
upon which it is mounted is, within reason, immaterial. However,
for convenience it is preferred to mount the perforating means
approximately half way along the tubular body of the dispensing
portion of the device and to form the housing for the perforating
means in the form of a lateral arm extending radially from the
tubular housing. The arm may be provided with a receptacle into
which a powder container is placed for piercing. In is preferred
that the arm be moulded integrally with the tubular housing, the
whole being made from, for example, a plastic such as a nylon,
polystyrene or a rigid polyethylene.
Suitably the powder container used in the device is a capsule, for
example a gelatine or plastic capsule, and conveniently the capsule
perforating means is so arranged to provide two or more holes,
suitably of about 0.6-0.65 mm. in diameter, desirably in the part
of the capsule which will be furthest from the propellerlike member
when in position, advantageously in the shoulders of the capsule.
Where the perforating means is so arranged as to provide two or
more holes in the container, these are conveniently positioned
symmetrically around the container.
In a preferred version of the device of the invention, the
dispenser and the perforating means are housed within a split shell
cover which may be removed to permit the loading and piercing of a
powder container in the piercing means and subsequent transfer of
the pierced container to its mounting means on the propellerlike
member. The cover acts to protect the device from damage due to
dust and grit. Where the device is provided with such a cover it is
convenient to use the housing for the perforating means as a
support for an annular collar lying in a plane which is
approximately at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the
tubular housing of the dispenser. The collar may also be supported
by struts mounted on the tubular housing. The collar is adapted to
receive each half of the split shell cover in, for example, a snap
fit which permits secure mounting of the cover yet enables ready
removal of each half of the cover to expose the two ends of the
tubular housing. As indicated above, the elongate housing of the
device may be formed in two separable halves. Since that portion
having the air inlet and the constricted or venturi portion will
usually hinder access to the powder container mounting means, it is
generally necessary to remove that portion of the housing during
the loading or unloading of powder containers. It is, therefore,
convenient to attach that part of the split shell cover enclosing
the portion of the housing hindering free access to the container
mounting means to that portion of the housing. By this means,
removal of the shell cover also removes the housing. The attachment
of the housing and cover may be by means of struts or the like.
The device according to the invention is suitable for the
administration of medicaments for the alleviation of ailments of
the respiratory tract and of the lungs. The device may also be used
for the administration of medicaments having systemic action, for
example, it may be used for the administration of antidotes to
poisonous substances such as nerve gases as it provides a very
simple method of carrying medicaments which have to be used rapidly
or in emergency. If desired, the device of the insertion may be
provided with clips, cuplike receptacles or the like on the lateral
arm carrying the piercer or within the split shell covers, whereby
a number of powder containers may be stored within the device for
future use. By this means a user is provided with a device whereby
a drug may be administered speedily and easily and with a ready
supply of capsules for his immediate needs, for example a day's
supply of four to six capsules.
By way of example a device according to the invention will be
described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which FIG.
1 is a vertical section through the device and FIG. 2 is a view of
the device from above with the upper cover and constricted portion
of the housing removed. Like numerals denote like parts.
Referring now to FIG. 1 of the drawings, the device comprises a
cigar-shaped tubular housing of approximately circular cross
section comprising two engaging members 1 and 2, member 2 being
provided with a mouthpiece 3 for insertion into the mouth of the
user. Mounted rigidly in and coaxially with member 2 is a shaft 4
upon which is loosely and rotatably mounted propellerlike member 5
having blades 6 and an elongated tapered bearing tube. The internal
diameter at the inner end of the bearing tube is about 3.75 percent
greater than the diameter of shaft 4 and the internal diameter at
the outer end of the bearing tube is equal to the diameter of shaft
4 plus about 2.5 percent of the internal length of the bearing,
which is about seven times the diameter of shaft 4.
The tip of shaft 4 is conical in shape, having a cone angle of
about 30.degree., and terminates in a substantially hemispherical
portion having a diameter of about half the diameter of shaft
4.
The relative dimensions of the device, notably of the shaft,
bearing tube and propellerlike member, may be varied over
considerable ranges to produce a number of permutations which will
give rise to satisfactory operation of the device. We have found
that where the shaft 4 is a cold drawn stainless steel wire of
diameter about 2.03 mm., and the bearing tube is a hard nylon
having an internal diameter at its inner end of about 2.08 mm., and
of about 2.44 mm., at its outer end and a length of about 12.7 mm.,
satisfactory operation of the device is achieved for a capsule of
internal diameter about 6.3 mm., mounted on the propellerlike
member with the base of its parallel walled portion about 5.1 mm.
from the top of the bearing tube.
The propellerlike member 5 has a cup-shaped member 7 adapted to
receive and hold a capsule or container or finely powdered
medicament (shown in dotted outline).
The member 1 has a constriction 8 which acts as a venturi and
increases the velocity of the airstream past the capsule when a
user inhales air through the mouthpiece 3. Mounted externally upon
the waist of the housing 2 is a radial sidearm which carries a
cup-shaped receptacle 9 for a powder container and a needle piercer
10 mounted in a carrier 11 which carrier is adapted to slide
forward against a return spring 12, housed within the sidearm and
which bears against the carrier slide. The forward movement of
carrier 11 carries the needle 10 across the mouth of the receptacle
9.
The receptacle 9 is provided with slots 13 through which the needle
10 may pass when it is moved forward.
The free end of the sidearm also acts as a support for a collar 14
which encircles the waist of the cigar-shaped tubular housing and
the sidearm The member 2 also carries support struts 15 (of which
only one is visible) for the collar 14. The collar is provided with
an upper and a lower rim which are adapted to accept an upper and
lower cover 16 and 17 in a snap fit. The two covers form the halves
of a split shell which encases the whole of the device. While the
overall configuration of the collar 14 and covers 16 and 17 is of
minor significance, it is essential that, in this form of the
device, the collar 14 should be spaced from the walls of the
members 1 and 2 and from the sidearm to provide air passages 18
across the plane of the collar. The air passages 18 are more
readily visible in FIG. 2 which is a top view of the device with
the top cover 16 and member 1 removed.
It will of course be appreciated that the elongated bearing tube
may be mounted rigidly and substantially coaxially with member 2
and the shaft 4 may be mounted on the propellerlike member 5.
In use, the top cover 16 and the attached member 1 are removed, a
powder container is inserted in the receptacle 9 and pierced by
forward movement of the needle 10 and carrier 11 such that the
needle 10 passes through the powder container. The needle is
withdrawn by the action of the return spring 12 and the container
then inserted in the cup 7 of the propeller 5. It will be
appreciated that the container is mounted so that powder may issue
from the perforations, in this case with the pierced end directed
away from the mouthpiece 3. The upper cover 16 and member 1 are
then replaced and the lower cover 17 removed, exposing the
mouthpiece 3. The user sucks through the mouthpiece drawing a
stream of air through the tubular housing via the air passages 18.
The stream of air causes the propeller 5 to rotate and vibrate. The
powder in the container is dispensed into the airstream and is
inhaled by the user.
* * * * *