Dosage device

In a device for releasing a dosage of a particulate medication that includes:

• a dosage dispensing unit having a face with a plurality of recesses therein adapted to receive and meter a reproducible amount of said medication,
• a storage chamber adapted to contain the medication and having a face thereon and an outlet opening on said face which is mounted in slidable, abutting relation to the face of said dispensing unit, and
• a dispensing tube having a first open end through which medication can be discharged and a second open end mounted in slidable abutting relation to the face of said dispensing unit, the improvement wherein
• (1) said dispensing unit is mounted for rotation around an axis, and said recesses, the outlet opening of said storage chamber and the second end of said dispensing tube are all disposed in relation to said axis, such that, upon rotation of said dispensing unit, said recesses are rotated successively between operative engagement with the outlet opening of said storage chamber for reception of medication and operative engagement with the second end of said dispensing tube for discharge of medication,
• (2) there is a resilient scraper located in the outlet opening of the storage chamber in sliding, resilient contact with the face of said dispensing unit and configured and disposed relative to the axis of rotation such that it first pushes medication into the recess and then removes excess medication from above said recesses during rotation of said dispensing unit and insure that each recess contains a reproducible amount of medication,
• (3) said dispensing unit has ratchet means thereon arranged around the axis on which said unit rotates,
• (4) said device has ratchet engaging means mounted for rotation around the axis on which said dispensing unit rotates, said ratchet engaging means being in slidable spring-loaded contact with said ratchet means,
• (5) said ratchet means and ratchet engaging means are adapted to cooperate with each other such that rotation of said engaging means in one rotational direction will cause said dispensing unit to rotate in the same direction to a plurality of stations wherein at each station at least one of the recesses in said dispensing unit is in mating relation to the outlet opening in said storage chamber and another of said recesses is in mating relation to the second end of said dispensing tube and such that said engaging means will release from said ratchet means as the ratchet engaging means is rotated in the opposite rotational direction, and
• (6) the device has stop means coacting between the ratchet engaging means and the storage chamber for stoping the dispensing unit at each station and preventing it from advancing to the next station until the ratchet means has been released, the ratchet engaging means has been rotated in said opposite rotational direction, and the ratchet means corresponding to the next station has been engaged.