Abstract: A dry powder inhalator for delivering a precise dose of a medicament contains a mesh disc impregnated with a series of spaced, medicament doses about the disc periphery. The inhalator is armed by manually retracting a finger pull extending downwardly from the bottom of the inhalator housing or rotating the bottom of the housing. The user inserts a mouthpiece on the housing into the mouth and inhales. This causes a chamber in the housing under a diaphragm to evacuate, thereby pulling the diaphragm down onto a knock out lever. The pivoting of the lever enables release of a piston into a cylinder which first compresses, and then dispenses a reduced volume of air at high pressure in a burst up through the medicament disc. When the burst of air hits the impregnated disc, the dose is forced out of the mesh's interstices, producing a cloud of the drug in its powdered form, which is inhaled by the user.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
October 26, 1993
Date of Patent:
February 14, 1995
Assignee:
Tenax Corporation (a Connecticut Corp.)
Inventors:
Paul Mulhauser, Jeffrey Karg, Thomas Foxen, Christopher J. Brooks