Inhaler counter

Abstract

An inhaler for delivery of a medicament by inhalation is disclosed. The inhaler comprises a dispensing mechanism, the dispensing mechanism being configured to dispense a dose of medicament on actuation. The inhaler further comprises a dose counting mechanism comprising a counter and a translating member. The translating member comprises a pawl. The counter comprises a first count wheel, a second count wheel and an intermediate wheel engaged with the second count wheel and in selective engagement with the first count wheel. When the inhaler is fired to dispense a dose of medicament, the dispensing mechanism moves the translating member in a substantially linear direction. The pawl thus rotates the first count wheel, and as the first count wheel rotates, the intermediate wheel is selectively engaged thereby selectively rotating the second count wheel to count the doses of the inhaler.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD[0001]The present invention relates to an inhaler for delivery of a medicament by inhalation and in particular to the mechanisms of the inhaler for dispensing of a dose of medicament and counting the dispensed dose.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]Inhalers are commonly used for delivery of a wide range of medicaments. In a dry powder inhaler (DPI) a dose of powdered substance is entrained in an air stream to deliver a dose of medicament through a mouthpiece to a user. In a pressurised metered dose inhaler (pMDI) a canister containing medicament in the inhaler is actuated, e.g. by compression, to deliver a metered dose of the medicament through a mouthpiece to a user. The inhaler may be configured to deliver a dose of medicament automatically. For example the inhaler may comprise an actuation mechanism to actuate the canister or to deliver the powdered substance when triggered. The actuation mechanism may be breath actuated, i.e. triggered by inhalation of a user throu...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The invention is an improved inhaler that can reliably and accurately count the number of medicament doses dispensed to a patient. It achieves this by moving a counting mechanism that is connected to the dispensing mechanism, so that each time the medicament is dispensed, the counting mechanism is also moved. This ensures that the dispensing mechanism and the counting mechanism are always fully reset after each dose is dispensed, and prevents any possibility of uncounted doses being dispensed. The invention also includes a prevention mechanism that engages to prevent the dispensing force from dispensing a further dose until the mechanism is fully reset. This mechanism is more reliable and resilient than previous designs, as it utilizes a compressive force to engage and disengage with repeated use over a long period of time.

Problems solved by technology

For patient safety, the inhaler must not dispense a dose of medicament without counting the dispensed dose, as this may lead to the patient erroneously believing that there are remaining doses in an empty inhaler.

The inhaler must also not decrement the count of the dose counter if a dose is not dispensed, since the patient may erroneously believe that no doses remain in the inhaler and a significant number of doses may be wasted when the inhaler is disposed of prematurely.

For example, if the dose counter displays the number of doses remaining in the inhaler, if there is any ambiguity or lack of clarity with the displayed digits, the patient may believe that there are more doses remaining than is actually the case, which is dangerous for the patient, or may believe that there are fewer doses than actually remain, and may dispose of the inhaler too soon, wasting medicament.

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