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US 12,539,376 B2Granted
Inhaler
Assignee1000739373 Ontario Ltd.
InventorsMitch Thompson, Patrick Lehoux, Dominic Coballe, Jason Rainville, Dave Rodney
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An inhaler including a housing having a chamber to receive a valved canister and a stem block, and a mouthpiece in fluid communication with a passage of the stem block; and an actuation mechanism including configured to engage an outer surface of the stem block at a predefined angle relative to the longitudinal axis of the stem block to cause the downward movement of the stem block to activate the valve and release the aerosolizable liquid as the dose of the aerosolized spray out of the mouthpiece of the mechanical inhaler.
Claims26
A stem block to receive a hollow valve stem of a valve assembly fitted in a canister containing an aerosolizable liquid, the stem block comprising:
- a body having an upper end and a lower end, the body defining an elongated passage on an inner portion of the body, the elongated passage configured to receive the hollow valve stem of the canister through a lower end of the elongated passage;
- the body further defining a dispensing passage on the inner portion of the body, the dispensing passage being axially aligned with the elongated passage, a lower end of the dispensing passage being connected to an upper end of the elongated passage,
- wherein the lower end of the dispensing passage has a width narrower than a width of the upper end of the elongated passage, thereby providing a ledge portion at an intersection of the dispensing passage and the elongated passage, the ledge portion being configured to contact an upper end of the hollow valve stem to prevent upward axial movement of the stem valve into the dispensing passage, the elongated passage and the dispensing passage together forming an inner passage through the stem block between the lower end of the body and the upper end of the body;
- and
- wherein the upper end of the body is narrower than the lower end of the body, the stem block has an outer surface extending between a peripheral portion of the lower end of the body and a peripheral portion of the upper end of the body, the outer surface having at least one planar surface forming an acute angle with respect to an axis of the stem block, the acute angle being of a size such that application of an external lateral force on the at least one planar surface causes a downward axial movement of the stem block to force the hollow valve stem into the canister.
2 more elements
An apparatus for delivering a dose of an aerosolized spray, the apparatus comprising:
- a) a canister fitted with a valve assembly having a hollow valve stem and containing an aerosolizable liquid;
- b) a stem block in fluid communication with the hollow valve stem, the stem block comprising:
- a body having an upper end and a lower end, the body defining an elongated passage on an inner portion of the body, the elongated passage configured to receive the hollow valve stem of the canister through a lower end of the elongated passage;
- the body further defining a dispensing passage on the inner portion of the body, the dispensing passage being axially aligned with the elongated passage, a lower end of the dispensing passage being connected to an upper end of the elongated passage,
- wherein the lower end of the dispensing passage has a width narrower than a width of the upper end of the elongated passage, thereby providing a ledge portion at an intersection of the dispensing passage and the elongated passage, the ledge portion being configured to contact an upper end of the hollow valve stem to prevent upward axial movement of the stem valve into the dispensing passage, the elongated passage and the dispensing passage together forming an inner passage through the stem block between the lower end of the body and the upper end of the body, and
- wherein the stem block has an outer surface having a predefined angle relative to the longitudinal axis of the elongated passage, the outer surface having at least one planar region configured to receive an external force to move the stem block axially to force the hollow valve stem into the canister;
- and
- c) a housing having a chamber configured to receive the canister and the stem block therein, the housing having:
- a mouthpiece in fluid communication with the dispensing passage of the stem block, and
- an actuation mechanism configured to engage the outer surface of the stem block, the actuation mechanism comprising two block engagement elements disposed on opposite sides of the housing and two actuation buttons, each said actuation button connected with a respective stem block engagement element, wherein application of an external lateral force on one or both of the actuation buttons causes the respective stem block engagement element to engage the outer surface of the stem block to cause the downwards movement of the stem block to activate the valve and release the dose of the aerosolizable liquid as the aerosolized spray.
7 more elements
An inhaler for dispensing a dose of an aerosolizable liquid from a canister fitted with a valve assembly having a hollow valve, the inhaler comprising:
- a stem block defining an inner passage configured to receive the hollow valve stem of the canister and having an outer surface having a predefined angle relative to the longitudinal axis of an elongated passage, the outer surface having at least one planar region;
- a housing having a chamber configured to receive the canister and the stem block therein, and a mouthpiece configured to be in fluid communication with the inner passage of the stem block;
- an actuation mechanism comprising at least one stem block engagement element configured to move between a resting position and an activated position, wherein in the activated position, the at least one stem block engagement element is configured to engage the planar region of the stem block to cause downward movement of the stem block to activate the valve and release the dose of the aerosolizable liquid;
- wherein the actuation mechanism comprises an actuation button associated with the at least one stem block engagement element, wherein pressing the actuation button causes the at least one stem block engagement element to engage the outer surface of the stem block to cause the downward movement of the stem block to actuate the hollow valve and release the dose of the aerosolizable liquid;
- and
- wherein the actuation mechanism comprises a resilience member coupled to the housing to bias the at least one stem block engagement element in the rest position.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.