US2436878A - Inhaler - Google Patents

Description

Marh 2, 1948. l J.VB.I B1EDERMAN INHALER Filed March 2, 1945 INVENTOR. 4Jasmf B /nsrm/M/ I Attavpgy Patented Mar. 2, 1948 .insaputa-meenemen, cincinnanfohm zApplcatl'nn March. 2, 194521Seri'al No. 580,629.`

This invention relatesto.-improvements-man i'nhaler andparticularly .to the easing. or con--- tainerfor medicines. o

Itis; the princi-palobject of thisl-nyention-to provide anv i-nhalerwhich. does not require-- an extraneousmember -forclosing., lsaine when not. in

use..

Another object., of this. iriventiondsthe provi.-V sion. of anlnfhaler. which. embodiesmeans for varying. the opening; to.V the. inhaler whereby the flow .through theinhaler maybe varied. to qnantity, .thereby varying the. amount oi.-.m.edicineeladen air withdrawn .iromwtheirnhalen Another. object..- of.,.the. invention is the provisien ofan inhaleriormed the. mainof a plastic withwhichy metal Vparts;-.cooperate toI avoid` the inherent difliculty otroperation of the.l parts due to the medicine attacking-,the same when. all are madeof plastic.

It=is alsoan object ofthisinventionto prollde an .inhaler which is attractive andfpleasing., yet economical to manufacture and produce; whereby the inhaler is economical to pur-chase..

Other` objects and.- advantages ot. the. present invention should. be *readily apparent by reference tothe following specificationconsideredfilzg conjunction-with the accompanying draw'i-ngsfform.- ing a. part thereof,- and it .is tobe understood-.that any .modications maybe kmade; in` the; .exact structural details there shown and described, Withinthe scope of. the. appended cl-aims, without departingfromv or .exceeding the. spirit ci the invention..

In the-drawings: Y o y o lig.v L isy an externaL ele-mtonal` View.. ci., an inhalerin its inoperativeposition.l

Fie.. 2 is. a .view similar to iwith. the parts position for use.

Eig; 3 isa top plan-V view of the inhalerA as-iseen 1 and'2..

Eig. 4, is; a bottom plan vievv of the. inhaler ot Figs. 1 81111112...

Fig. 5; isy a.--v.ertica1,. sectional view .takenwon line 5-5 on Eig, 1.

Eig. 6.: .isy a vertical'. sectional view. taken .on line Eig.. 7: is. an englargedtransverse.sectionaiview taken on line 1-1 on Fig. 5. A

Fig. 8; is. any enlargedtransnerse, sectional view taken `ori-.line 8.-3on- Figi 6.

Fig. 9v is a. perspective viewV ei. a. member-.opern able for Opening. and. kclosingthe.. inhaler.

Throughoutthe several. views of the drawings similar. reference characters. areemployedto de. notetnesameorsimi-lar parts.. o Y

G'Claims. (Cl. 12S-.198)

. 21 'l2he.:,lnhaler container or casing otthis invention: comprises a -body member |=ll preferably, though; notV necessarily; formed; of plastic` mate.- ralfhavingits upperqend tapered as; at H, terminating-in a comparatively` small top I2, which, in. us'.is adapted to.l be inserted within the nostrilt..y The lower. end. ofthe lood-3gl l0; isv open. asat lfpthereby resulting; inV a; body member hav-ingv its majo-h portion cylindrical in; forni and; hollow. Upwardlyfol? tlfieopenend` 13; the body: member prowi'ded, preferably at.. diametrically opposite pointsl with an Qpeningffor aperture and 1.5. Projectingiromone oi the openings, |51v for eX- ample, downwardly .to-the' end thereof, isf a slit. t6, The-atop .l2 v`is'provided substantiallycentrally thereof; with an openingen aperture.1 -I l.. o

Disposed Withinfthe body -I 0 isa medicine wick carrier and-,closure member t8. formed; of a length of.v a. metal-.strip .transversely arced to relatively closely ftthe. inner surface. of. the body member lll. The. rriexnher xls; is of liess height; than the body lll-,.andfis. provided at. its upper end with a top-portion I9' from-which extend. arms. 2li Aand 2 1.vr .-.Theupperends ofeach` arm 2.0 andi 21 vare i inwardly.- tapered as at' 22v and :23` to approximate the taper ift-ofthe body lll.V The lower endsoi the. arms Z-ll; andv 2l are respectivelyA bent normal to.` their. arms inwardly toqoverlapone another as at #Lanci25.` Upward-ly ofthe ends .2-.4and 25. thearmsmand 2l are; respectively Provided with an. aperturef2i and 2,1 which are of an area subs.tanti-allyA Yequal to: theopenings or apertures M and l5 .off thefbodytland, with which thersaid aperttlresl. and 2l respectively cooperate.. asv will later-bemande clear.. .Securedfto and projecting from one.: of; the. arms, 2i; ferexample, at a point below-'its petto-.re 2'!A s'arlgl.' piece 28-.-ha.ving a reducecll neck portion 29ffbetween, itself andthe arm. The finger piece 28 maytake.- any suitable or. .desirable form. suchy foi; example. as illustrated in Fig.8, simulating themen-known ypaper fas.- tener,.havi.ng. legs 3l). and 3 l Ywhich.s'imultaneously pa'ssfthrough.. a; suitable aperture 32` in the arm 2 iand. arethelii'y bent. and secured tothe inner surface. ofthe arm; ,2L Projecting from. thev top i9. offthe..men;1be.r Hijs. aboss or'knOh-whose func.-

tion. is.. to, elosethef alertilre. .Il Whenthe inhaler is notinuse.

noted above.. thehiember Iltis adaptedto carry the, medicinewick and this is illustrated in phantomlines. at. 3A in Figs., and 6.. 'The manner of vplacing.'the. wick injthemember i8 may be any desirable one .,itl being found that the. Wick hav-ine a certain amount of resilience it will. of .its accord tightly engage. the. inner surfaces.

oi the arms 2U and 2 I, and thereby be retained in position.

The lower end of the body I is closed by a cup-like bottom member which comprises a bottom 35 with a. ange 36 extending upwardly from its perimeter. Flange 36 is adapted to receive the lower open end I3 of the body IIJ.

In order to retain the said bottom member on the body I0, the said body member Ill is provided with apertures 31 and 38, preferably at diametrical points, and receive therein lugs or projections 39 and 4I) extending inwardly of the bottom member flange 36.

It is believed that the operation of the inhaler is evident from the foregoing description and the attached drawing. It is, however, as follows:

The member I9 is formed as illustrated in Fig. 9 preferably of non-corrosive metal, aluminum for example. The bottoms 24 and 25 are not secured to one another, wherefore the inherent spring in the metal causes the arms 20 and ZI to tend to spring away from one another. A wick 34 is inserted between the arms 20 and 2| as illustrated in Figs. and 6. The member I8 with its wick is then inserted as a unit within the body Ill,p1ac ing the neck 29 of the iinger piece 18 within the slit I3 of the body I0. The member I8 may then be inserted completely within the body I0. The parts are so arranged that just before or at the time the finger piece 28 reaches the upper portion of the body aperture I5 the boss or knob 33 oi the member I8 engages the aperture I1 and acts as a valve for completely closing this aperture. Again the parts are so designed that with the bottom member on the body member and a withdrawal or downward movement of the member I 8 to cause the lower ends 24 and 25 thereof to engage said bottom member, the aperture I1 is open and the apertures I4 and I5 of the body member are in complete registry with apertures 26 and 21 of the member I8. From this it will be seen that with the parts as in Fig. 6, an inhalation through the nostril will draw a maximum amount of air into the lower end of the inhaler, and a maximum amount of medicine-laden air out of the inhaler top opening I1. Adjustment of the member I8 at any point between the two extremes of Figs. 5 and 6 correspondingly varies the amount of air that may be drawn into the lower end of the inhaler and through and out of the inhaler.

As was noted above, by forming the member I8 as well as the bottom member of non-corrosive material, there will be no reaction between the medicine in the wick 34 and' said metallic parts to cause diliculty in the operation of the parts.

From the foregoing it is believed now evident that there has been provided an inhaler which accomplishes the objects initially set forth.

What is claimed is:

1. AIn a device of the classV described the combination of a, body member having an exit opening in its top and an entrance opening near its bottom, said body member being hollow, a combined medicine stick carrier and closure member within the body member comprising a pair of opposed arms and a top conforming to the interior of the body member and reciprocable relative thereto and having portions adapted to cover the exit and entrance openings when at one end of its reciprocation and uncover said openings when at the other end of its reciprocation` and a nger piece projecting from the closure member for actuating the said closure member.

2. In a device of the class described the combination of a cylindrical body member having a tapered upper end with a top, said top having an exit opening, said body member having an open bottom, entrance openings in said body member near its open end, a slit in said body member from one of said entrance openings to the bottom, a combined medicine stick carrier and closure member within said body member comprising a pair -of opposed arms and a top conforming to the interior of the body member and having portions adapted to close the exit and entrance openings, a nger piece carried by the closure member projecting through the slit for operating same to effect the closing of said openings, and a bottom member on the body member for closing its open bottom.

3. In a device of the class described the combination of a cylindrical body member having a tapered upper end with a top, said top having an exit opening, said body member having an open bottom, entrance openings in said body member near its open end, a slit in said body member from one yof said entrance openings to the bottom, a combined medicine stick carrier and closure member within said body member comprising a pair of opposed arms and a top formed of material relatively narrow, but wide enough to cover the exit and entrance openings of the body member and transversely formed to conform to the interior of the body member, said closure member being reciprocable from a closing to an opening position, a finger piece carried by the closure member projecting through the slit for reciprocating the clo-sure member, and a bottom member on the body member for closing its open bottom.

4. In a device of the class described the combination of a cylindrical body member having a tapered upper end with a top, said top having an exit opening, said body member having an open bottom, entrance openings in said body member near its open end, a slit in said body member from one of said entrance openings to the bottom, a combined medicine stick carrier and closure member within said body member comprising a pair of opposed arms and a top formed of material relatively narrow, but wide enough to cover the exit and entrance openings of the body member and transversely formedy to conform to the interior of the body member, said closure member being reciprocable from a closing to an opening position, a valve like protuberance on the closure member for closing the exit opening when said closure is at one end of its reciprocation and openings in said closure member for registry with the body member entrance openings when the closure member is at its other end of reciproca tion, a finger piece carried by the closure member projecting through the slit for eiecting the reciprocation of the closure member, and a bottom on the body member for closing its open bottom.

5. A combined medicine stick carrier and closure member formed of a single length of material folded intermediate its endslto provide a top and arms depending from opposite sides of said top with the lower ends of said arms bent toward one another to form a bottom, said arms being transversely curved vand provided with apertures, and an operating iinger piece projecting from one of said arms.

6. A combined medicine stick carrier and closure member formed of a single length of material folded intermediate its ends to provide a top and arms depending from opposite sides of said top with the lower ends of said arms bent toward one another to form a bottom, said arms being transversely curved and provided with apertures,

a. protuberance from the top to act as a, closure 6 UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Cushman May 31, 1892 Winton Mar. 20. 1900 Coles May 18, 1926 Thometz Dec. 18. 1934 Apfelbaum Nov. 12. 1946 Baron Nov. 18. 1941

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