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Inhalation device

Inhalation device description/claims

This is a continuation of Ser. No. 11/052,154 filed Feb. 7, 2005, pending, which is a continuation of Ser. No. 10/890,700 filed Jul. 14, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,225,808 issued Jun. 5, 2007, which is a continuation of Ser. No. 10/022,072, filed Dec. 13, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,792,945, issued Sep. 21, 2004, which is a division of application Ser. No. 09/456,201, filed Dec. 7, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,378,519 issued Apr. 30, 2002, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/166,557, filed Oct. 5, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,032,666 issued Mar. 7, 2000, which is a continuation of Ser. No. 08/979,217, filed Nov. 26, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,860,419, issued Jan. 19, 1999; which is a divisional of Ser. No. 08/467,469, filed Jun. 6, 1995, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,873,360, issued Feb. 23, 1999; which is a continuation of Ser. No. 08/175,174, filed Dec. 28, 1993, now abandoned; which is a continuation of Ser. No. 07/663,145, filed Mar. 1, 1991, now abandoned. Each of these prior applications is hereby incorporated herein by reference, in its entirety.

This invention relates to an inhalation device by means of which a user can inhale medicament in the form of a powder.

Inhalation devices are known for use with blister packs in which the medicament is held in powder form in the blisters thereof. Such devices include a puncturing member which punctures each blister in turn, thus enabling the medicament to be inhaled therefrom. It is an object of the present invention to provide an inhalation device the design of which has the potential, if desired, to handle a medicament pack having a large number of discrete unit doses, without the device becoming unacceptably large.

According to the present invention there is provided an inhalation device for use with a medicament pack in which at least one container for medicament in powder form is defined between two members peelably secured to one another, the device comprising means defining an opening station for the said at least one container; means for peeling the members apart at the opening station to open the container; and an outlet, communicating with the opened container, through which a user can inhale medicament in powder form from the opened container.

Preferably the medicament pack is formed from two elongate sheets which define a plurality of medicament containers spaced along the length thereof, means being provided for indexing each container in turn to the opening station.

The invention also provides a medicament pack for use in an inhalation device, the pack comprising an elongate strip formed from a base sheet having a plurality of recesses spaced along its length and a lid sheet hermetically but peelably sealed thereto to define a plurality of containers, each container having therein inhalable medicament in powder form. The strip is preferably sufficiently flexible to be wound into a roll.

FIG. 1 is a rear view of a first embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is an axonometric exploded view of the components of the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3a, 3b and 3c are an axonometric view, a longitudinal section and an end view (partly broken away) showing a clutch used in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIGS. 4a and 4b are an axial section and cross-section respectively, on a larger scale than FIGS. 1 and 2, of a mouthpiece which may be used in the first embodiment (or in some other embodiment);

FIG. 5 is a front view of a second embodiment, with a cover thereof removed to show the interior;

FIG. 6 is a rear view of the second embodiment, but showing the interior thereof

FIG. 7 is an axonometric front view of the second embodiment;

FIG. 8 is an axonometric rear view of the second embodiment;

• Provisional Patent
• Utility Patent

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