Abstract: An inhaler for administering medicament by inhalation, comprising: an inhalation channel (24); a rotatable dosing unit (16) which includes at least one dosing element (18) for providing a dose of medicament to the inhalation channel (24); and a dose counting unit (42) which comprises an electronic display (57), an electrical circuit for counting each dose of medicament provided to the inhalation channel (24) and driving the display (57) so as to provide an indication as to the usage of the inhaler, the electrical circuit including at least one switch which comprises a contact element which is one of opened or closed when a dose of medicament is provided to the inhalation channel (24), and a rotatable member (45) connected to the dosing unit (16) so as to be rotatable therewith, the rotatable member (45) including at least one cam surface (51, 52) which includes at least one cam (51a, 52a), each cam (51a, 52a) on each cam surface (51, 52) being configured, on rotation of the dosing unit (16) to provide a dose

Abstract: A device including a display for displaying indicia, comprising: control means 900 for controlling the display 57, the control means having a memory 810 for storing control data, wherein said control means is configured so as to be responsive to said stored control data to provide indicia on said display; a voltage source 64 for providing a voltage to the device; sensing means 1300 configured to disable the display in response to variation of the voltage provided to the device beyond a threshold value; and means 1200 configured so as to be responsive to a control signal 1203 and prevent the disabling of the display by the control means, wherein said control signal 1203 is applied externally to the device.

Abstract: A switching circuit, comprising: a first node for receiving a first voltage; a second node 502 for providing an output; a third node for receiving a second voltage; a capacitance 506 coupled between the second node 502 and the third node; means for intermittently charging the capacitance 506 to provide a first output voltage from the second node 502; and a switch 501 connected between the first node and the second node 502 for isolating the second node 502 from the first node when open and for discharging the capacitance 506 to provide a second output voltage when closed.

Abstract: A counting device, comprising: an input 105, 107 for receiving an input signal having at least three distinct input states; memory means 810 for storing a count; and means 620 responsive to a predetermined sequence of input states of said input signal to vary said count, wherein said predetermined sequence includes the at least three input states.