Inhalant medicator
A blister pack for an inhalant medicator has a plurality of medical powder storage chambers spaced apart from each other in a circumferential direction. The inhalant medicator includes a pricking tool with a pair of parallel pins that prick inflow and outflow holes in one of the medical powder storage chambers during a preliminary operation of inhalant medication. The inflow and outflow holes are spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance in a direction parallel to a lid panel of the blister pack to produce turbulent airflow within the medical powder storage chamber during inhalation during which the medical powder is inhaled by a patient's breathing. The medical powder storage chambers are dimensioned and designed to properly regulate or control properties of the airflow passing through the medical storage chamber, to ensure the airflow is suitable for the medical powder stored in the storage chamber.
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The present invention relates to an inhalant medicator suitable to prescribe granular or powdered medicines toward within lungs of a patient by way of breathing action of the patient, and particularly to a blister pack suitable for the inhalant medicator.
BACKGROUND ARTGenerally, there are two medications of prescribing medical powder toward within lungs of an asthmatic patient, that is, one being a medication that a medicine is inhaled by way of a liquid aerosol atomizer, and the other being an inhalation treatment by way of which granular or powdered medicines (which will be hereinafter referred to as “medical powder”) encapsulated in a capsule or stored in a medical powder storage chamber are inhaled.
Of these medications for an asthmatic patient, an inhalant medicator used for an inhalation treatment where a dose of medical powder is inhaled, is generally constructed by a medicator body including a capsule housing chamber (or a medical powder storage chamber) at one axial end and equipped at the other axial end with an inhalant port through which the medical powder is inhaled, an air passageway communicating the inhalant port with the atmosphere via the capsule housing chamber, and a pricking tool which provided for pricking holes in the capsule accommodated in the capsule housing chamber.
In recent years, there have been proposed and developed various inhalant medicators utilizing a blister pack having a set of blisters (a plurality of blistered medical powder storage chambers) spaced apart from each other in the circumferential direction, for inhalant medication. Such inhalant medicators have been disclosed in Japanese Patent Provisional Publication Nos. 59-88158 and 62-41668. The inhalant medicator as disclosed in the Japanese Patent Provisional Publication Nos. 59-88158 and 62-41668, includes a blister pack holder which holds a blister pack having a plurality of blisters circumferentially spaced apart from each other. The blister pack holder is rotatably mounted to a medicator body. Also, the blister pack installed on the holder consists of a base panel formed with a large number of blistered portions, a lid panel affixed onto the principal surface of the base panel and defining a plurality of medical powder storage chambers by hermetically covering the blistered portions of the base panel. A dose of medical powder is stored in each of the medical powder storage chambers. In order to prescribe or administer the medical powder toward within lungs of a patient by way of breathing action, first, the blister pack is installed on the pack holder of the inhalant medicator. Second, holes needed to intercommunicate the atmospheric side and the inhalant port via the internal space of the medical powder storage chamber are pricked by means of a single plunger having a needle-shaped pricking tip. Under these conditions, when the patient draws his or her breath while taking the inhalant port in his or her mouse, air flow directed from the pricked holes through the medical powder storage chamber into the inhalant port enables medical powder stored in the medical powder storage chamber to be carried into the inhalant port. In this manner, medical powder stored in the storage chamber can be inhaled through the inhalant port into lungs of the patient. In order to continuously perform inhalant medication, the blister pack is rotated by a predetermined angle together with the blister pack holder, and then the next medical powder storage chamber of the same blister pack is set at the pricking position. Thereafter, in the same manner described previously, a series of inhalant medication procedures are made. Thus, it is possible to consecutively dose a patient with a specified amount of medical powder by rotation of the blister pack holder without exchanging a capsule.
However, in the inhalant medicators as disclosed in the Japanese Patent Provisional Publication Nos. 59-88158 and 62-41668, in order to prick holes in the medical powder storage chamber of the blister pack, a single needle-shaped plunger is used as the pricking tool. Thus, two holes, penetrating the medical powder storage chamber aligned to each other in a direction perpendicular to upper and lower surfaces of the blister pack, are pricked or pierced in one blistered portion of the blister pack. Air introduced into the medical powder storage chamber (the blistered portion) flows straight through the medical powder storage chamber from one (the inflow side) of the two pricked holes to the other (the outflow side). Actually, various sorts of medical powder having different characteristics or properties, such as a condensation property, a particle size (fine powder, granule, or the like) are used.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONIn the previously-described inhalant medicator with a single needle-shaped plunger, it is impossible to adequately diffuse medical powder in a medical powder storage chamber of a blister pack by way of such straight air flow (directed from one pricked hole to the other) in which there is less turbulence and thus the air stream direction is almost same, and which has a substantially constant flow velocity. Thus, some medical powder may be undesirably left in the medical powder storage chamber after prescribing the medical powder toward within lungs of a patient by breathing action. As a result of this, the patient cannot inhale a specified amount of medical powder into the lungs, thus lowering medical benefits of powdered or granular medicines.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide an inhalant medicator, which avoids the aforementioned disadvantages.
It is another object of the invention to provide an inhalant medicator, which is capable of prescribing a specified amount of medical powder toward within lungs of a patient, while satisfactorily diffusing the medical powder stored in a medical powder storage chamber of a blister pack.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide a blister pack suitable for an inhalant medicator, which enhances a medication efficiency, effectively diffusing medical powder stored in a medical powder storage chamber of the blister pack depending on characteristics or properties of the medical powder, such as a strong condensation property, and a particle size.
In order to accomplish the aforementioned and other objects of the present invention, an inhalant medicator comprises a medicator body including a holder mounting portion at one axial end and an inhalant port at the other axial end for inhalation of medical powder, a holder detachably rotatably mounted to the holder mounting portion and holding thereon a blister pack having a plurality of medical powder storage chambers spaced apart from each other in a circumferential direction thereof, the medicator body having a portion defining an inflow air passage to supply atmosphere toward one of the plurality of medical powder storage chambers of the blister pack held on the holder which is mounted to the holder mounting portion, the medicator body having a portion defining an outflow air passage to flow out the medical powder stored in the one medical powder storage chamber of the blister pack held on the holder toward the inhalant port, and a pricking tool attached to the medicator body to prick an inflow hole and an outflow hole in the one medical powder storage chamber of the blister pack, so that the inflow hole is fluidly communicated with the inflow air passageway and the outflow hole is fluidly communicated with the outflow air passageway. The inflow and outflow holes are spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance between a downstream end of the inflow air passageway and an upstream end of the outflow air passageway. It is preferable that the medicator body may comprise upper and lower medicator-body portions and a joining portion through which the upper and lower medicator-body portions are formed integral with each other, the upper and lower medicator-body portions defining therebetween a holder mounting groove which opens to three directions, and the holder comprising a disc-shaped holder so that the disc-shaped holder is inserted into and removed from within the holder mounting groove. More preferably, the medicator body has a protruded portion formed on the lower medicator-body portion which is a center of rotation of the holder, and the holder has a plurality of recessed fit portions each of which is formed on an upside of the holder and is fitted to one of the plurality of medical powder storage chambers of the blister pack, and the holder has a portion defining a guide groove which is formed on an underside of the holder to guide the protruded portion to the center of rotation of the holder. It is preferable that the inhalant medicator may further comprise a positioning mechanism provided between the holder mounting portion of the medicator body and the holder, for positioning the one medical powder storage chamber of the blister pack held on the holder at a predetermined pricking position of the pricking tool. More preferably, the positioning mechanism comprises a spring-loaded ball housed in a bore formed in the medicator body and closed at one end, and a spring operably disposed in the bore so as to bias the ball in a direction that causes a part of a spherical surface of the ball to be protruded through an opening end of the bore into the holder mounting groove.
According to another aspect of the invention, an inhalant medicator comprises a medicator body including a holder mounting portion at one axial end and an inhalant port at the other axial end for inhalation of medical powder, a holder detachably rotatably mounted to the holder mounting portion and holding thereon a blister pack having a plurality of blistered portions spaced apart from each other in a circumferential direction thereof, the medicator body having a portion defining a pair of inflow air passages to supply atmosphere toward one of the plurality of blistered portions of the blister pack held on the holder which is mounted to the holder mounting portion, the medicator body having a portion defining a pair of outflow air passages to flow out the medical powder stored in the one blistered portion of the blister pack held on the holder toward the inhalant port, a pricking tool attached to the medicator body and having a pair of pins to prick upper and lower inflow holes and upper and lower outflow holes in the one blistered portion of the blister pack, so that the upper inflow hole is fluidly communicated with a first one of the inflow air passageways, the lower inflow hole is fluidly communicated with the second inflow air passageway, the upper outflow hole is fluidly communicated with a first one of the outflow air passageways, the lower outflow hole is fluidly communicated with the second outflow air passageway, the upper inflow and outflow holes being spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance between a downstream end of the first inflow air passage/way and an upstream end of the first outflow air passageway, and the lower inflow and outflow holes being spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance between a downstream end of the second inflow air passageway and an upstream end of the second outflow air passageway.
According to a further aspect of the invention, an inhalant medicator comprises a medicator body including a holder mounting portion at one axial end and an inhalant port at the other axial end for inhalation of medical powder, a holder detachably rotatably mounted to the holder mounting portion and holding thereon a blister pack having a plurality of medical powder storage chambers spaced apart from each other in a circumferential direction thereof, the medicator body having a portion defining an inflow air passage to supply atmosphere toward one of the plurality of medical powder storage chambers of the blister pack held on the holder which is mounted to the holder mounting portion, the medicator body having a portion defining an outflow air passage to flow out the medical powder stored in the one medical powder storage chamber of the blister pack held on the holder toward the inhalant port, a pricking means attached to the medicator body for pricking an inflow hole and an outflow hole in the one medical powder storage chamber of the blister pack during a preliminary operation of inhalant medication, so that the inflow hole is fluidly communicated with the inflow air passageway and the outflow hole is fluidly communicated with the outflow air passageway, and the pricking means comprising a pair of parallel pins spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance smaller than a longitudinal length of each of the medical powder storage chambers of the blister pack, and the inflow and outflow holes are spaced apart from each other by the predetermined distance to produce turbulent air flow within the one medical powder storage chambers of the blister pack during the inhalant medication in which the medical powder is inhaled.
According to a still further aspect of the invention, a blister pack for an inhalant medicator comprises a base panel having a blistered portion, a lid panel affixed onto an obverse of the base panel to define a medical powder storage chamber by hermetically covering the blistered portion of the base panel, the blistered portion comprising a pair of substantially hemispherical convex portions in which inflow and outflow holes are pricked during a preliminary operation of inhalant medication, and a flow-constriction portion formed between the substantially hemispherical convex portions to define a flow-constriction orifice passage. It is preferable that the blister pack may further comprise a flap valve disposed in the flow-constriction orifice passage.
According to another aspect of the invention, a blister pack for an inhalant medicator comprises a base panel having a blistered portion, a lid panel affixed onto an obverse of the base panel to define a medical powder storage chamber by hermetically covering the blistered portion of the base panel, the blistered portion comprising a pair of shallow pricked portions in which inflow and outflow holes are pricked during a preliminary operation of inhalant medication; and a medical powder collecting portion deeply recessed between the shallow pricked portions to pre-store medical powder therein.
According to another aspect of the invention, a blister pack for an inhalant medicator comprises a base panel having a blistered portion in which inflow and outflow holes are pricked during a preliminary operation of inhalant medication, a lid panel affixed onto an obverse of the base panel to define a medical powder storage chamber by hermetically covering the blistered portion of the base panel, and the blistered portion comprising a sloped surface which defines a shallow portion at a side of the inflow hole and defines a deep portion at a side of the outflow hole.
According to another aspect of the invention, a blister pack for an inhalant medicator comprises a base panel having a blistered portion in which inflow and outflow holes are pricked during a preliminary operation of inhalant medication, a lid panel affixed onto an obverse of the base panel to define a medical powder storage chamber by hermetically covering the blistered portion of the base panel, and the blistered portion comprising a sloped surface which defines a shallow portion at a side of the outflow hole and defines a deep portion at a side of the inflow hole.
The other objects and features of this invention will become understood from the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Referring now to the drawings, particularly to
Referring now to
The inhalant medicator of the first embodiment is constructed as previously discussed. Hereinbelow described in detail in reference to
First of all, blister pack holder 8 is removed from the holder mounting groove 6 of medicator body 2. During removal of the holder 8, the guide groove 8E, formed in the underside of the holder and radially outwardly extending from the center of the holder, must be axially aligned with respect to the axis of the medicator body 2 under a condition in which the outermost end of guide groove 8E faces the inhalant port 7. Then, the holder 8 can be removed from the medicator body 2 by pulling the holder 8 against the bias produced by the two spring-loaded balls 9B of the positioning mechanism 9. Then, blister pack 16 is fitted to and installed on the upside of holder 8, such that eight blistered portions 16B of the blister pack are fitted to respective recessed fit portions 8A of the holder 8. At this time, by fitting the blistered portions 16B (the medical powder storage chambers 16D) to the respective recessed fit portions 8A, the blister pack 16 can be integrally connected to and reliably positioned with respect to the holder 8, and thus the blister pack 16 is rotatable together with the holder 8. After the blister pack 16 has been installed on the holder 8, the holder 8 is mounted into the holder mounting groove 6. In this case, the guide groove 8E must be aligned with the axis of the medicator body 2 so that the outermost end of the guide groove 8E is directed toward the inhalant port 7, and also the protruded portion 6D must be engaged with the guide groove 8E. In this manner, after the holder 8 has been completely pushed into the holder mounting groove 6 until the innermost end of the guide groove 8E engages with the protruded portion 6D, two balls (9B, 9B) of the positioning mechanism 9 are engaged with the two diametrically-opposed, small recessed fit portions 8D of the holder 8 by rotating the holder 8 in an arbitrary direction. By way of a series of preliminary setting operations as discussed above, as shown in
Hereunder described in detail is the actual operation of inhalant medication made by virtue of breathing action of a patient. First of all, in order to prick holes in the blister pack 16 held at the predetermined pricking position, the support portion 13 of pricking tool 12 is pushed or depressed. As shown in
As set forth above, according to the inhalant medicator of the first embodiment, the inflow holes (H1, H1) communicating the inflow air passageway 10 and the outflow holes (H2, H2) communicating the outflow air passageway can be formed or pricked in the blister pack by means of two pins (14, 14) fixedly connected to the pricking tool 12, so that the inflow holes (H1, H1) and the outflow holes (H2, H2) are spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance corresponding to a distance between the axes of two pins (14, 14). As a result of this, air flowing via the inflow holes (H1, H1) toward the outflow holes (H2, H2) is not directed straight, but brought into collision with the inner wall of the medical powder storage chamber. Turbulent air flow is thus produced within the medical powder storage chamber by the air flow directed from two inflow holes (H1, H1) via the internal space of the medical powder storage chamber to two outflow holes (H2, H2). Therefore, it is possible to effectively diffuse or micronize medical powder stored in the medical powder storage chamber by virtue of the turbulent air flow occurring in the medical powder storage chamber owing to the two inflow holes and two outflow holes pricked in both the base panel and lid panel of the blister pack by the two parallel pins during inhalation treatment of air/medical powder mixture. As a result of this, it is possible to efficiently reliably prescribe a specified amount of medical powder pre-stored in one of storage chambers 16D into lungs of a patient by way of breathing action. This enhances medical benefits of the medical powder, thereby enhancing the reliability of the inhalant medicator. Furthermore, the holder 8 is formed on its underside with the recessed fit portions 8D, and additionally the positioning mechanism 9 is provided in the holder mounting groove 6 for positioning the medical powder storage chamber 16D of blister pack 16 at the predetermined pricking position (the set position for inhalant medication) by fitting the spring-loaded balls (9B, 9B) to the recessed fit portions (8D, 8D). Thus, it is possible to easily accurately position the medical powder storage chamber 16D of blister pack 16 at the predetermined pricking position. In other words, it is possible to accurately prick holes (H1, H1, H2, H2) in the blistered portion of base panel 16A of blister pack 16 and in the lid panel 16C, thus ensuring easy handling of the inhalant medicator. Moreover, in the inhalant medicator assembly 1 of the first embodiment, the medicator body 2 is constructed by not only upper and lower medicator-body portions 4 and 5, but also joining portion 3 interconnecting the upper and lower medicator-body portions 4 and 5, and also the holder mounting groove 6 is simply defined between the upper and lower medicator-body portions. Such a holder mounting groove structure is so simple. The inhalant medicator of the embodiment is designed to be easily assembled by mounting the disc-shaped blister pack holder 8 into the holder mounting groove 6 being simple in structure, thus reducing the number of parts of the inhalant medicator assembly. This ensures ease of assembly, and also reduces total production costs of the inhalant medicator. Additionally, the disc-shaped holder 8 is formed on its upside with circumferentially equally spaced, radially-elongated eight recessed fit portions 8A (eight substantially semi-cylindrical cavities). Thus, it is possible to accurately easily position the blister pack 16 on the holder 8 by fitting the blistered portions 16B to the respective recessed fit portions 8A, thus allowing the blister pack 16 to integrally rotate together with the holder 8. This ensures ease of handling. In addition to the above, the holder 8 is formed on its underside with the guide groove 8E which is engageable with the protruded portion 6D of holder mounting groove 6. The guide groove 8E permits the protruded portion 6D to be reliably easily guided to the rotation center of the holder 8 (the innermost end of the guide groove 8E). This ensures accurate and easy mounting of the holder 8 on the desired position of the medicator body 2, thus ensuring ease of handling.
Referring now to
As best seen in
In the same manner as the inhalant medicator of the first embodiment, when inhalant medication is initiated using the inhalant medicator of the second embodiment, first, the preliminary operation of inhalant medication is made. Inflow holes (H1, H1) and outflow holes (H2, H2) are pricked in the blistered portion 23 of base panel 22 and in the lid panel 24 of blister pack 21 held at the predetermined pricking position, after a series of preliminary setting operations have been completed. Under these conditions, when the patient draws his or her breath while taking the inhalant port 7 in his or her mouse, air flows through the inflow air passage 10 and the inflow holes (H1, H1) into the storage chamber 25. At this time, air flow directed from the inflow holes (H1, H1) to the outflow holes (H2, H2) passes through the flow-constriction orifice passage 26. By means of the orifice passage 26, the flow velocity of air flow passing through the orifice passage 26 is increased, and thus causing properly strengthened turbulent flow (see
As discussed above, according to the inhalant medicator of the second embodiment, the flow-constriction orifice passage 26 is defined within the medical powder storage chamber 25 of blister pack 21 by the flow-constriction portion 23C of blistered portion 23 so that the flow-constriction orifice passage 26 is located between the inflow holes (H1, H1) and the outflow holes (H2, H2). The flow-constriction orifice passage 26 acts to properly regulate or control the air flow passing through the medical powder storage chamber 25 depending on the properties or characteristics peculiar to medical powder stored in the storage chamber 25. Therefore, it is possible to produce turbulent air flow suitable for medical powder stored in the storage chamber 25 by properly determining or setting an orifice size of the flow-constriction orifice passage 26 in due consideration of characteristics or properties of the medical powder, such as a particle size (fine powder or granule), a condensation property (strong condensation or weak condensation), an amount of a dose of medical powder, or the like. Therefore, it is possible to reliably effectively prescribe a specified amount of medical powder toward within lungs of the patient. This enhances medical benefits of the medical powder, and also enhances the reliability of the inhalant medicator. Additionally, the blister pack 21, storing medical powder, has its own flow-constriction orifice passage 26 in each of the blistered portions (or in each of the medical powder storage chambers). Thus, it is possible to easily form a flow-constriction orifice passage suitable for every kind of medical powder, and thereby an efficiency of inhalant medication can be remarkably enhanced.
Referring now to
Referring now to
Referring now to Figs.
Referring now to
In the first and second embodiments and all of the modified blister packs (31; 41; 51; 61) shown and described herein, although the inhalant medicator is exemplified in the blister pack having eight blistered portions (or eight medical powder storage chambers), the invention is not limited to the particular embodiments shown and described herein. In lieu thereof, a blister pack having two or more and seven or less blistered portions, or a blister pack having nine or more blistered portions may be used in the inhalant medication. In this case, the number of the recessed fit portions (8A; 80A) of holder (8; 80), the number of the pin insertion hole pairs (8B, 8C), and the number of small recessed fit portions 8D must be set to be identical to the number of the blistered portions.
Referring now to
The entire contents of Japanese Patent Application Nos. P11-352280 (filed Dec. 10, 1999) and P11-352281 (filed Dec. 10, 1999) are incorporated herein by reference.
While the foregoing is a description of the preferred embodiments carried out the invention, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the particular embodiments shown and described herein, but that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope or spirit of this invention as defined by the following claims.
Claims
1. An inhalant medicator comprising:
- a medicator body including a holder mounting portion at one axial end and an inhalant port at the other axial end for inhalation of medical powder;
- a holder detachably rotatably mounted to the holder mounting portion and holding thereon a blister pack having a plurality of medical powder storage chambers spaced apart from each other in a circumferential direction thereof;
- the medicator body having a portion defining an inflow air passage to supply atmosphere toward one of the plurality of medical powder storage chambers of the blister pack held on the holder which is mounted to the holder mounting portion;
- the medicator body having a portion defining an outflow air passage to flow out the medical powder stored in the one medical powder storage chamber of the blister pack held on the holder toward the inhalant port; and
- a pricking tool attached to the medicator body to prick an inflow hole and an outflow hole in the one medical powder storage chamber of the blister pack, so that the inflow hole is fluidly communicated with the inflow air passageway and the outflow hole is fluidly communicated with the outflow air passageway.
2. The inhalant medicator as claimed in claim 1, wherein the inflow and outflow holes are spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance between a downstream end of the inflow air passageway and an upstream end of the outflow air passageway.
3. The inhalant medicator as claimed in claim 2, wherein the medicator body comprises upper and lower medicator-body portions and a joining portion through which the upper and lower medicator-body portions are formed integral with each other, and the upper and lower medicator-body portions define therebetween a holder mounting groove which opens to three directions, and the holder comprises a disc-shaped holder so that the disc-shaped holder is inserted into and removed from within the holder mounting groove.
4. The inhalant medicator as claimed in claim 3, wherein the medicator body has a protruded portion formed on the lower medicator-body portion which is a center of rotation of the holder, and the holder has a plurality of recessed fit portions each of which is formed on an upside of the holder and is fitted to one of the plurality of medical powder storage chambers of the blister pack, and the holder has a portion defining a guide groove which is formed on an underside of the holder to guide the protruded portion to the center of rotation of the holder.
5. The inhalant medicator as claimed in claim 4, which further comprises a positioning mechanism provided between the holder mounting portion of the medicator body and the holder, for positioning the one medical powder storage chamber of the blister pack held on the holder at a predetermined pricking position of the pricking tool.
6. The inhalant medicator as claimed in claim 5, wherein the positioning mechanism comprises a spring-loaded ball housed in a bore formed in the medicator body and closed at one end, and a spring operably disposed in the bore so as to bias the ball in a direction that causes a part of a spherical surface of the ball to be protruded through an opening end of the bore into the holder mounting groove.
7. An inhalant medicator comprising:
- a medicator body including a holder mounting portion at one axial end and an inhalant port at the other axial end for inhalation of medical powder;
- a holder detachably rotatably mounted to the holder mounting portion and holding thereon a blister pack having a plurality of blistered portions spaced apart from each other in a circumferential direction thereof;
- the medicator body having a portion defining a pair of inflow air passages to supply atmosphere toward one of the plurality of blistered portions of the blister pack held on the holder which is mounted to the holder mounting portion;
- the medicator body having a portion defining a pair of outflow air passages to flow out the medical powder stored in the one blistered portion of the blister pack held on the holder toward the inhalant port;
- a pricking tool attached to the medicator body and having a pair of pins to prick upper and lower inflow holes and upper and lower outflow holes in the one blistered portion of the blister pack, so that the upper inflow hole is fluidly communicated with a first one of the inflow air passageways, the lower inflow hole is fluidly communicated with the second inflow air passageway, the upper outflow hole is fluidly communicated with a first one of the outflow air passageways, the lower outflow hole is fluidly communicated with the second outflow air passageway;
- the upper inflow and outflow holes being spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance between a downstream end of the first inflow air passageway and an upstream end of the first outflow air passageway; and
- the lower inflow and outflow holes being spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance between a downstream end of the second inflow air passageway and an upstream end of the second outflow air passageway.
8. The inhalant medicator as claimed in claim 7, wherein the medicator body is substantially cylindrical in shape and comprises upper and lower medicator-body portions and a joining portion through which the upper and lower medicator-body portions are formed integral with each other, and the upper and lower medicator-body portions define therebetween a holder mounting groove which opens to leftward and rightward directions and to one axial direction of the medicator body, and the holder comprises a disc-shaped holder so that the disc-shaped holder is inserted into and removed from within the holder mounting groove.
9. The inhalant medicator as claimed in claim 8, wherein the medicator body has a protruded portion formed on the lower medicator-body portion which is a center of rotation of the holder, and the holder has a plurality of recessed fit portions each of which is formed on an upside of the holder and is fitted to one of the plurality of blistered portions of the blister pack, and the holder has a portion defining a guide groove which is formed on an underside of the holder to guide the protruded portion to the center of rotation of the holder.
10. The inhalant medicator as claimed in claim 9, which further comprises a positioning mechanism provided between the holder mounting portion of the medicator body and the holder, for positioning the one blistered portion of the blister pack held on the holder at a predetermined pricking position of the pricking tool.
11. The inhalant medicator as claimed in claim 10, wherein the positioning mechanism comprises a pair of spring-loaded balls each of which is housed in one of a pair of bores each closed at one end and formed in the lower medicator-body portion, and a pair of springs each of which is operably disposed in one of the bores so as to bias the balls in a direction that causes a part of a spherical surface of each of the balls to be protruded through an opening end of each of the balls into the holder mounting groove.
12. The inhalant medicator as claimed in claim 11, wherein the holder has a plurality of recessed fit portions which are formed on the underside of the holder for engagement with the spring-loaded balls of the positioning mechanism.
13. The inhalant medicator as claimed in claim 7, wherein the blister pack comprises a base panel having a blistered portion, and a lid panel affixed onto an obverse of the base panel to define a medical powder storage chamber by hermetically covering the blistered portion of the base panel, the blistered portion comprising a pair of substantially hemispherical convex portions in which inflow and outflow holes are pricked during a preliminary operation of inhalant medication, and a flow-constriction portion formed between the substantially hemispherical convex portions to define a flow-constriction orifice passage.
14. The inhalant medicator as claimed in claim 13, which further comprises a flap valve disposed in the flow-constriction orifice passage.
15. The inhalant medicator as claimed in claim 13, wherein the blistered portion is formed as an elliptical convex portion having the flow-constriction portion narrowed in a direction perpendicular to a flat surface of the lid panel.
16. The inhalant medicator as claimed in claim 13, wherein the blistered portion is formed as a gourd-shaped convex portion having a narrow part narrowed at its center in a transverse direction.
17. The inhalant medicator as claimed in claim 7, wherein the blister pack comprises a base panel having a blistered portion, and a lid panel affixed onto an obverse of the base panel to define a medical powder storage chamber by hermetically covering the blistered portion of the base panel, the blistered portion comprising a pair of shallow pricked portions in which inflow and outflow holes are pricked during a preliminary operation of inhalant medication, and a medical powder collecting portion deeply recessed between the shallow pricked portions to pre-store medical powder therein.
18. The inhalant medicator as claimed in claim 7, wherein the blister pack comprises a base panel having a blistered portion in which inflow and outflow holes are pricked during a preliminary operation of inhalant medication, and a lid panel affixed onto an obverse of the base panel to define a medical powder storage chamber by hermetically covering the blistered portion of the base panel, the blistered portion comprising a sloped surface which defines a shallow portion at a side of the inflow hole and defines a deep portion at a side of the outflow hole.
19. The inhalant medicator as claimed in claim 7, wherein the blister pack comprises a base panel having a blistered portion in which inflow and outflow holes are pricked during a preliminary operation of inhalant medication, and a lid panel affixed onto an obverse of the base panel to define a medical powder storage chamber by hermetically covering the blistered portion of the base panel, the blistered portion comprising a sloped surface which defines a shallow portion at a side of the outflow hole and defines a deep portion at a side of the inflow hole.
20. An inhalant medicator comprising:
- a medicator body including a holder mounting portion at one axial end and an inhalant port at the other axial end for inhalation of medical powder;
- a holder detachably rotatably mounted to the holder mounting portion and holding thereon a blister pack having a plurality of medical powder storage chambers spaced apart from each other in a circumferential direction thereof;
- the medicator body having a portion defining an inflow air passage to supply atmosphere toward one of the plurality of medical powder storage chambers of the blister pack held on the holder which is mounted to the holder mounting portion;
- the medicator body having a portion defining an outflow air passage to flow out the medical powder stored in the one medical powder storage chamber of the blister pack held on the holder toward the inhalant port;
- a pricking means attached to the medicator body for pricking an inflow hole and an outflow hole in the one medical powder storage chamber of the blister pack during a preliminary operation of inhalant medication, so that the inflow hole is fluidly communicated with the inflow air passageway and the outflow hole is fluidly communicated with the outflow air passageway; and
- the pricking means comprising a pair of parallel pins spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance smaller than a longitudinal length of each of the medical powder storage chambers of the blister pack; and
- the inflow and outflow holes are spaced apart from each other by the predetermined distance to produce turbulent air flow within the one medical powder storage chambers of the blister pack during the inhalant medication in which the medical powder is inhaled.
Type: Application
Filed: Oct 8, 2004
Publication Date: Mar 3, 2005
Applicants: ,
Inventors: Hisatomo Ohki (Gunma), Shigemi Nakamura (Gunma), Kazunori Ishizeki (Gunma), Yoshiyuki Yazawa (Gunma), Akira Yanagawa (Yokohama)
Application Number: 10/960,575