Metering method for particulate material
AssigneeGlaxo Group Limited
InventorsStanley George Bonney, Howard Peter Duffield
Life of this patent
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Abstract
There is provided a method for metering a quantity of a particulate material onto the surface of a porous retainer comprising the steps of: exposing a first surface of a porous retainer to a pool of particulate material; applying a vacuum to a second surface of the porous retainer to meter material on the first surface; and adjusting the level of the vacuum to regulate the quantity of material metered on the retainer.
Claims20
A method for loading a medicament container with discrete metered quantities of a particulate material comprising a medicament, the medicament container comprising a porous retainer having first and second surfaces and at least one seal, said method comprising:
- providing the porous retainer;
- exposing the first surface of said porous retainer to a source of said particulate material;
- controllably applying a vacuum to the second surface of the porous retainer to meter a quantity of the particulate material from the source onto said first surface at discrete sites thereon;
- and
- applying the at least one seal to said porous retainer to seal the metered quantities at the discrete sites on the porous retainer and so load said medicament container.
A method for loading a medicament container with discrete metered quantities of a particulate material comprising a medicament, the medicament container comprising:
- a porous retainer having a porous body which has first and second surfaces, the first surface forming a second outer surface of the retainer, and a perforated mask having first and second surfaces and plurality of perforations extending therebetween, the first surface of the mask overlying the second surface of the porous body and the second surface of the mask forming a first outer surface of the porous retainer, and
- at least one seal,
- said method comprising:
- providing the porous retainer;
- exposing the first outer surface of said porous retainer to a source of said particulate material;
- controllably applying a vacuum to the second outer surface of the porous retainer to meter a quantity of the particulate material in said source into said perforations;
- and
- applying the at least one seal to the porous retainer to seal the metered quantities in the perforations and so load said medicament container.
A method for loading a medicament container with discrete metered quantities of a particulate material comprising a medicament, said medicament container comprising a porous retainer having first and second surfaces and at least one seal, said method comprising:
- providing the porous retainer;
- exposing the first surface of said porous retainer to a source of particulate material, wherein said source of particulate material is present in aerosolized or fluidized form;
- controllably applying a vacuum to the second surface of the porous retainer to meter a quantity of the particulate material from the source onto said first surface at discrete sites thereon;
- and
- applying at least one seal to said porous retainer to seal the metered quantities at the discrete sites on the porous retainer and so load said medicament container.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.