Dry powder inhaler delivery system

The invention relates to a delivery device for dry powder inhaler and devices for storing medicines in powder form.

Various devices are known, which contain medicines in the form of dry powder mixture, which can be inhaled directly into the lungs, mouth or nose. Inhalation from these devices allows the drug to bypass the digestive system and may eliminate the need to apply other drug administration techniques such as hypodermic injections. Direct inhalation allows, in some cases, the use of lower doses of a drug and leading to the same desired results as the same orally administered drug . In other cases, inhalation may help to avoid unwanted side effects. For the direct inhalation of a powdered drug, various dry powder inhalers are known and used. These dry powder inhalers are so constructed that they can deliver dry powder, directly from a general tank, capsule or bubble system, for inhalation by the patient. In order to isolate the powdered drug from the environment, to reduce agglutination, contamination, etc., individual sealed containers, in the form of bubbles, can be used. However, although different powders such as powders and delivery devices have been used, there are some disadvantages that remain, so the bubble must be fairly isolated from the environment, but at the same time it must also be able to safely release the powdered drug when used by the patient. In addition, to better provide the prescribed doses, in principle, the powdered drug should be released from the bubble into the inhalation device without allowing the bubble or container material to mix with / or flow with the powdered drug. Since inhalation drugs, such as asthma medicines, can be used very frequently, storage and delivery materials and devices should be advantageously compact, low-cost, easy to manufacture and use.

The device according to the invention solves the problem of storing and delivering a dry powder, provided in a disc.

The delivery device according to the invention solves the above problem, in that a device for storing and delivering the dry powder preferably includes a disc having bubbles, in a metal foil, radially arranged and containing a powdered drug. The bubbles are securely sealed on a shear layer of metal foil, located underneath. In a preferred embodiment, the shear layer may be attached to a carrier disc. The shear points are preferably linked to the shear layer under each bubble, with a gap separating the disk tips. In this type of use, an actuator presses on the tip, shearing or breaking the bubble shear layer, releasing the dry powder content of the bubble. The bubble may also preferably be formed from a brittle material with a generally central cut so that the bubble will explode when touched by an actuator to release the powdered drug content of the bubble.

Further examples of delivery device delivery are given in connection with FIG. 1 -? 16 which represents:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a dry powder inhaler;

FIG. 1a, a perspective view of the feed button of the inhaler in fig. 1;

FIG. 1b is a plan view of the inhaler of FIG. 1;

FIG. 1c, partial section view, through the inhaler of fig. 1;

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- Fig. 2, perspective view of a disc carrying the drug, with outer tips;

- Fig. 3, perspective view of an alternative carrier disc, having the ends of the inner disc;

- Fig. 4, perspective view of a carrier disk, having the tips contained in the disk; 50

- Fig. 5, edging of the partial section according to a plane 5-5 through the carrier disc of Fig. 2;

- Fig. 5A, top view of a bubble on the disk of Fig. 2;

- Fig. 5B, partial section according to a plane 5B-5B through the disk of Fig. 5A;

- Fig. 5C, bottom view of the bubble on the disk of Fig. 5A;

-fig.6, side vertical view of the disc, just before the bubble opens; 55

FIG. 7 is a vertical side view of the disc, even after the bubble has been opened by shearing;

FIG. 8 is a longitudinal section view of the carrier disc of FIG. 2, mounted in a first embodiment of a dry powder inhaler;

- Fig. 9, side view of the carrier disc of Fig. 2, installed, in a second 60 embodiment of a dry powder inhaler;

FIG. 10, perspective view of an alternative carrier disc, having the bubble rings arranged ring on some angular plates;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of an alternative carrier disc, having radially bubble bursting plates on flat plates; 65

FIG. 11a, perspective view of the underside of the bearing disc in fig., 11;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the carrier disc, having burst bubbles ringed on flat plates;

FIG. 13, partial section according to a plan 13-13 through the disk in fig. 10;

FIG. 14 is a vertical side view of the bubble in FIG. 13, just before the opening moment of 70;

FIG. 15 is a vertical side view of the bubble of FIG. 13, just after opening;

FIG. 16, perspective view of a straight-band carrier.

The dry powder delivery device according to the invention, as shown in FIG. 1 is attached to a dry powder inhaler 20, which has a muzzle 22 which, 75 for protection, is covered with a lid 24 when not in use. A button 26 mounted above the inhaler 20 may be used to advance individual doses of the drug for delivery through the mouthpiece 22. Referring to Figs. 1, 1b and 1c, a bubble opening mechanism 38 includes a central button 28, positioned above a spring 44 on a tilting arm 40. The tilting arm 40 has a lever end 42 8 o to push a tip 32, inside on a bearing disc 34, to shear or open, by breaking, a bubble 36. The disc 34 carrier and the ball 36 are illustrated below, and in FIG. 2-5. FIG. 2 shows another carrier disk 46 having outer tips 48 extending from bubbles 36 radially located on a carrier disk 60. In FIG. 3, it is better illustrated, the carrier disc 34 shown in FIG. fig. 1 c, which has the inner tips 85 32. Fig. 4 shows another alternative carrier disc variant, having the tips contained in the profile of a disc 50. The holes for some shear pins 52 are located on the disc 50, and when used, the pins of an inhalation device extend through the respective holes, to push a tip contained in the disc 50, to shear the bubbles 36. The carrier discs 34, 46 and 50 may include an indexing / guiding groove 72. 90

In relation to FIG. 5, this illustrates a carrier disc with outer tip, a bubble wrap 54 which is positioned above a shear layer 56. The perimeter of the bubble wrap 54 is advantageously thermally attached to a layer. 56 shears, according to the rices 58 of figs 5 and 5a. The powdered drug 62 is contained between the bubble wrap 54 and the shear layer 56. A peak 48 is below the shear layer 56 and under the bubble wrap 54. The tip 48 is separated from the bearing disc 60, by a slot 64, everywhere except for a single hinge point 68. The hinge point 68 may optionally also be a toothed surface. A pressure factor 70 may similarly be included as an option by providing a point or tooth on the carrier disc 60, in the place closest to the slot 64, even where the bubble shell and shear layer are joined. . The pressure factor can help initiate the shearing / breaking action of the shear layer. The bubble wrap 54 and the shear layer 56 are preferably metal and can be made, for example, of aluminum foil. The carrier disc 60 and the tip 48 are preferably plastic molded by injection or molding. The shear layer 56 is glued to the carrier disc 60 and the tip 48 with an adhesive 49 and extends along a slot 64, as can be seen in Figs. 5B and 5C. Fig. 6 and 7 illustrate the operation of the carrier disc 60 in an inhaler. As shown in Fig. 6, the disc 60 rests on a support 84 positioned just inside the slot 64. The ball 36 is positioned above another guide wall 86. As shown in Figs. 6 and 7, an actuating element 80 pushes the tip 48, which, acting as a lever, produces the shearing and breaking of the shell 54 of the bubble, from the shearing layer 56, which forms the lower surface of the bubble 36, thus opening the bubble. The powder 62 contained in the bubble 36 falls free from the bubble 36 and the disc 60 slides directly into the inhaler. Peak 48 further pivots around a joint 68. While the pivoting takes place, the thermal seal 58 remains intact with the opening of the bubble 36 made by breaking the shear layer 56. in FIG. 8, a dry powder inhaler 100 is presented, which has a housing 102, a muzzle 104 and a rotor 108 mounted in a mixing chamber 106. An engine 110, powered by batteries 112, rotates the rotor 108. When the bubble 36 is opened by shearing, as can be seen in Figs. 6 and 7, the powder in bubble 36 falls into the mixing chamber 106, is mixed with air, and can be removed and inhaled by the patient. In Fig. 9, another example of an alternative inhaler is shown, having the centrally located muzzle 104. Fig. 10-16 illustrates bubbles 36 that are opened suddenly, or rather than opened, broken or sheared. As shown in FIG. 10, a disk 130 carrying bubbles that explodes has mounted on it a lot of bubbles 132 that explode, attached on some plates 136 angular. The plates 136 have an annular arrangement 134. Fig. 12 shows another variant of similar embodiment, but with the flat plates even in the plane of the disk, rather than angular. Fig. 11 shows another possible alternative embodiment, having the flat plates 144, with a radial cut 142 on the plates 140 and bubbles. Fig. 11a illustrates even better the bubbles 148 radially cut on the plates 144 cut flat and these radially. The section with the cut or the weakened section of the plates 144 and the bubbles 142 is preferably centrally located on each bubble 148. As shown in FIG. 13, a blister-carrying disc 130 has a fragile bubble shell 132, attached by a thermal solder 58 on the perimeter of the bubble shell, to a cover 150. Cover 150

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135 it is, in turn, connected to a plate 136. the envelope 132 of the bubble has a cut or a weak spot 134 in its center. Correspondingly, the plate 136 also has a cut aligned with a cut 134 on the casing 132 of the bubble. the casing 132 of the bubble is advantageously constructed of a plastic or metallic material. The lid 150 is preferably made of metal, for example an aluminum foil, while the plate 136 is preferably injection molded or molded plastic, as is the central section of the carrier disc. During use, as can be seen in FIG. 14 and 15, a plunger 160 or actuator, having a wide flat blade shape with a sharp tip 166, is oriented downwards in the cut 134 on the plate 136 which is supported on the edges by the supports 164, an integral part of the inhaler. When the plunger 160 or actuator is oriented toward the bubble, the bubble bursts or explodes, as shown in FIG. 15, releasing powder 62. The bubbles shown in Figures 5 and 13 can also be delivered and made as a tape, rather than as a disc, as seen in Figs. 16. In the description, some examples and embodiments have been presented, but it should be appreciated that many other modifications can be made, without departing from the spirit and the problem that is sought to be solved by the present invention.