NO862098L - MEDICAL SPRAY DEVICE. - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an aerosol device.

Most forms of aerosol device comprise a metal container and an outlet valve through which the fluid in the container can be dispensed via a nozzle. The outlet valve can provide a continuous spray when activated or it can provide a metered amount. In each of the cases, it is never clear to the user how much of the fluid is left in the container.

In many cases this will not represent any real problems, but may be unsatisfactory when the aerosol device is used for dispensing doses of a drug. A particular type of such an aerosol device is in the form of a medical mouth or throat spray device, which includes a holder for an aerosol container designed to deliver a specific dose of a drug each time the device is operated, the holder having a spray or atomizing nozzle through which doses are delivered. The aerosol container is provided with a depressible dosing valve with an outlet tube and is or can be arranged in the holder with this outlet tube occupied in the recess connected to the atomizing nozzle. The container is introduced and held in an externally open guide part in the holder, so that the container is pressed downwards in the guide part, e.g. by pressing the thumb against the bottom of the container so that the outlet nozzle is pressed against the interior of the container and thereby delivers the spray dose.

Devices of this type are used e.g. for metered delivery to the airways of patients with asthma or other respiratory diseases and they are used and operated by the patients themselves. For the patients, it is often of the utmost importance that they always have an operational spray device at hand, i.e. they should know when a new device is to be provided, or at least a new pressure container, before an existing container is used up. These containers are usually made of metal to withstand the pressure and are thus not transparent, so that the patient cannot directly see how much medicine is left in the container. Theoretically, this can be determined by weighing the container or using a buoyancy test, whereby the container will float at a high level when it is close to empty, but only relatively few patients can perform such tests, e.g. decide whether a holiday period or even a weekend can be started without first providing a new container.

According to US-A-3,505,870 it has already been proposed to provide an aerosol container with a transparent window which enables the user to determine the remaining volume of liquid in the container, but this requires a very undesirable modification of the container itself.

The invention relates more particularly to an aerosol device comprising or consisting of a non-transparent aerosol container of the type that can be operated to produce a specific dose at each activation, and it is the purpose of the invention to provide an aerosol device of this type that will enable the user can easily determine when the container is almost empty.

The invention is based on the realization that this purpose can be achieved by automatically counting the successive activations, provided that it is known in advance how many doses the aerosol container can produce. Therefore, the invention lies mainly in the combination of selecting an aerosol container containing a known number of doses and providing an automatic count of the activations of the dose discharge valve, so that the user is somehow notified, in accordance with the way in which the count is made, when there are only a small number of doses left in the container.

In practice, however, the invention is greatly aided by an already established practice according to which the aerosol containers of the relevant type are normally marked to contain a guaranteed number of doses, e.g. 200 or 400, and the capacity for a given aerosol container will therefore easily be related to an automatic count of the appropriate dispensed doses without the user having to know the exact number of doses that are actually present in the individual container. The user can simply rely on the guaranteed number and observe the counter that has counted up to or down to or from this number corresponding to a small number of the numbered guaranteed doses.

Based on this general concept, the invention is characterized by the features stated in the characteristic in claim 1.

It is acknowledged that it is well known in the art to automatically count the doses dispensed through dosing valve devices on various containers and bottles, mainly bottles of liquid, but it will be understood that this is done for positive counting of the dispensed doses and not at all for to tell the user when the bottle is about to run out. Such dose counters have existed for many years without prompting any solution to the problem in question here.

The invention, which particularly concerns non-transparent aerosol containers and notification of when such a container is "almost empty", could thus well make use of a known dose counting system, e.g. included in a direct operative connection between an actuating grip device for an outlet valve and a counter unit, but the invention is even more particularly based on the realization that such a direct operative connection provided for each individual aerosol container can be avoided due to the fact that the normal way for activation of the outlet valve is to cause a displacement of the entire aerosol container relative to its outlet tube held in said recess in a tube socket in the associated holder.

In a very preferred embodiment of the invention, the counter unit is therefore arranged so that it is activated by the displacement of the aerosol container itself or - also preferably - by the force applied to the container to cause the activating displacement thereof, whereby the individual containers should not be provided with any special grip - or handle device for activating the associated outlet valves. Thus, according to claim 2, the counter unit can be arranged in connection with either the holder unit or the container to thereby be operable by displacement of the container or by the activating pressure force on the container at each activation thereof, without the outlet pipe of the container having any kind of direct connection with the counter or with some special activator-handle- or

-grip device.

The counter unit may therefore optionally be arranged in connection with the holder to thereby count each axial displacement of the container or each activation pressure thereon as represented by the pressure of the outlet pipe against said pipe socket.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, however, the counting is effected based on the fact that the device is normally activated by a finger pressure against the exposed bottom part of the container, whereby the counter unit can comprise an activation element arranged on the outside of the bottom part of the container in order to thereby be able to operate for the effective transmission of an applied activation pressure to the bottom part and thereby precisely operate the counter unit.

Based on this feature, the activation element is preferably arranged in one with the counter unit which, as a cap element, is arranged on the bottom part of the aerosol container. The counter unit, which is thereby completely separate from the holder, will thus, upon receiving an activation pressure, both count the activation and be displaced together with the container in relation to the holder.

It will be understood that a container provided with such a counter-end cap element can constitute a refill unit for placement in the holder when emptying the preceding container. The invention therefore also includes such a refill container unit which can be used without any kind of adaptation for the present purpose. The container unit's counter unit may be set in accordance with the guaranteed number of doses on the specific container.

The counter unit or element placed on the bottom of the container may well be separated from the container or sold as a separate unit, e.g. also for use as a replaceable end cap element on several successively used standard containers, and the invention therefore also includes such a separate counter unit.

The counter unit may generally operate in accordance with any suitable principle, e.g. so that it only causes a visible signal to be produced when the container is about to be emptied. However, the counter should preferably be a normal digital counter that constantly displays its respective counter steps, whereby the counter will make it possible for the patient to follow and regulate his treatment insofar as the counter will make it possible to record the number of doses that the patient inhales during a certain period of time.

In order for the invention to be more easily understood, the following description is given, as an example only, referring to the accompanying drawings where:

Figure 1 is a side view of an embodiment of an aerosol device according to the invention; Figure 2 is an enlarged, partially unfolded view of the device in Figure 1, with parts removed and shown in section; Figure 3 is an expanded side view of the device in Figures 1 and 2 with the activation device shown in section; Figure 4 is a view similar to the upper part of Figure 3, with activation device ning in position; Figure 5 is an expanded, enlarged perspective view of the counter and activation the element; Figure 6 is a view similar to that of Figure 4, showing the activation cap

the actuating element in the depressed state; and

Figure 7 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the aerosol device

according to the invention.

Referring first to Figures 1, 2 and 5, the illustrated medical spray device includes a conventional holder 2 and a conventional aerosol container 4 therein. The holder 2 comprises a cylindrical main part 6 in which the container 4 is received by simply inserting it in an upside down position, whereby a dosing outlet valve which has an outlet pipe 8 is occupied in a depression or recess 10. This is designed in a raised part of a bottom wall 12 in the main part 6. Connected to the recess 10 is an outlet spray can 14 which is surrounded by a laterally projecting spout 16. The neck of the container 4 includes the dosing outlet valve which can be activated to deliver a regulated, determined amount of fluid from the aerosol container 4 when the container is pressed downwards to cause the outlet pipe 8 to move towards the interior of the container. The outlet tube is spring-loaded so that all that is necessary is to press the container 4 down into the main part 6 with finger pressure on the bottom of the container, whereby the released drug dose is dispensed via the recess 10 through the nozzle 14 and the spout 16. Only one dose will be produced regardless of how long the user holds the container down. When the finger pressure is released, the container will return to its initial position under the influence of the spring force of the outlet tube 8, without providing any further delivery of drug.

Adjacent to the base of the container 4, which is directed upwards, there is arranged a counter 20, including a holding part 22 having a lower skirt 24, which engages with the circumference of the base part of the container 4, and an upper activation cap 26 formed of transparent material . Inside the counter 20 is arranged a counting mechanism which is visible through a lenticular top 28 in the activation cap 26. The spray device can be operated by applying finger pressure to the lenticular top 28 of the counter, instead of directly on the exposed surface of the container. During each activation, the counter 20 will transmit the necessary pressure to the container and at the same time effect a count of the activation thereby showing through the lenticular top 28 the number of operations or dosages that have been carried out since the container 4 and its associated counter were used for the first time. Alternatively, and preferably, the counter unit, when associated with the container or the entire spray device initially, can be constructed and adjusted so that it counts down the number of activations from the known number of doses in the original container.

The counter 20 may be constructed according to any known counting principle, but need not necessarily be a digital display counter as long as it achieves the desired result with a physical indication regarding the state of the container. This can be marked, e.g. by means of a red marker coming up in the lenticular top 28 when there is a certain small number of doses left in the container.

In a preferred construction of the counter, however, an ordinary mechanical step counter with the required number of digit wheels is provided. This makes it possible for the counter to be used for therapeutic control during the entire lifetime of the container.

The construction of the counter shown in Figures 3 to 6 comprises the holding part 22 and the activation cap 26, the latter being shaped as a short cylinder with its top end forming the lenticular top 28 and its lower end being provided with an outwardly projecting chamfered flange 30. Inside the activation cap 26 is arranged a main shaft 32 fixed between opposing wall parts in the activation cap, and a three-wheel digital wheel counter 34. On another shaft 36 are arranged, but not shown, two transfer wheels which form part of a counter of a well-known type. The counter wheels are mounted between two end plates 38,40 which along their relative edges rest against the inside of the activation cap.

The end plate 40 is extended downwards and is adapted for vertical back and forth travel by being provided with a vertical slot 42 through which the shaft 32 projects. At its lower left side (figure 5) the end plate has a pawl 50 which is bent towards the first counter wheel for cooperation with step knobs 52 thereon. The first counter wheel will thus count a step in response to each upward impact of the end plate 40.

The holding part 22 has a cylindrical main body 54 whose top end has an inwardly projecting bevelled flange 56, while at its lower end the body 54 has an annular flange 58 just above the skirt 24. In the angle between the flange

58 and the skirt 24, a stepped part 60 is formed.

Between the activation cap 26 and the holding part 22, an annular wavy spring 62 is arranged which acts between the top side of the annular flange 58 and the annular bottom surface of the activation cap 26.

The parts 22, 26 and 62 are assembled by simply being pressed together so that the lower outwardly projecting bevelled flange 30 on the activation cap 26 will snap under the inwardly projecting bevelled flange 56 of the holding part 22, thereby preventing later separation of these parts. When they are fully compressed, the spring 62 will be compressed and the end plate 40 will be displaced upwards by contact between its lower tabs 46 and the top side of the annular flange 58. However, the end plate 40 will be moved towards the top part of the activation cap 26 to thereby be pressed down during the last phase of the compression of the parts. Due to the shape and position of the tabs 46, which tabs are provided with downwardly directed converging outer edges 48, these tabs will as a result be pressed under the annular flange 58 and will snap out under the flange so that the edge portion of the flange will be received in the notch 44, after which the end plates 40 will be vertically locked to the flange 58. When the activation cap is released, the spring 62 will push the activation cap upwards until it engages with the flange 56, but the end plate 40 does not participate in this, i.e. it will now be moved to thereby prepare the counter for activation by subsequent pressure on the active ring cap.

The assembled counter is placed on the base of the container 4, whereby the annular shoulder 60 will provide a free space that occupies the tabs 46 between the end surface of the container base and the underside of the flange 58. The tabs 46 are thus not clamped and it will therefore be possible to turn the activation cap on the holding part 22, whereby the user can select any appropriate rotational position for the digital counter.

The spring 62 is somewhat weaker than or as strong as the spring which is provided to act on the outlet nozzle 8 of the container 4.

The operation of the counter will be clear from the above. When the activation cap 26 is pressed down to such an extent that the container delivers a dose (Figure 6), the activation cap will have been displaced relative to the end plate 40, whereby the counter is activated and the subsequent release of the button (Figure 5) will cause the counter to be readied for a subsequent activation.

Figure 7 shows a modified spray device where the device, designated here 64, is provided with a counter unit comprising a counter wheel 66. In a manner (not shown) which is easily understood by a person skilled in the art, the counter may have an internal activation means which in engagement with the neck part of the container 4 so that pressing it down will cause the counter wheel to turn one step.

Claims (8)

1. Aerosol device including or consisting of a non-transparent aerosol container which has a dose outlet valve adapted to dispense a regulated amount of fluid from the container each time it is activated, characterized in that the aerosol container is of the type containing a specified minimum number of doses and that the device comprises a counter arranged as follows that it is activated by each activation of the outlet valve, the counter being able to give a visual indication of when it is just before the container has dispensed the specified minimum number of doses. 2. Aerosol device according to claim 1 and including a holder for the aerosol container, the holder having a recess for receiving a spring-loaded outlet tube for the dose outlet valve of the container and a spray or atomizing nozzle connected to said recess, whereby, when the container is pushed to be displaced inwards the holder, the outlet tube is pressed down against the inside of the container to thereby activate the dose outlet valve, characterized in that the counter is arranged so that it is activated with each operative displacement of the container or by the pushing force applied to the container to cause each operative displacement. 3. Aerosol device according to claim 2, characterized in that the counter comprises an activation element arranged on the outside of the container's end part opposite said outlet pipe, the activation element being able to transmit an applied activation pressure to the container end part and thereby also being able to activate the counter. 4. Aerosol device according to claim 3, characterized in that the counter is a counter unit which is directly connected to said activation element and placed between said end part of the container and said activation element. 5. Aerosol container for use in an aerosol device according to claim 4, provided at one end with a resilient, press-down outlet tube connected to a dose outlet valve for or in the container, characterized in that at the opposite end of the container is arranged a counter unit including an outermost activation element for receiving a activation pressure against the container, the counter unit being constructed so that it counts and displays a fine count for each successive effectuation of an activation pressure against the container. 6. Aerosol container according to claim 5, characterized in that the counter is a conventional digital multi-wheel counter and that the activation element includes a transparent lens part to enlarge the counter's display. 7. Auxiliary unit for use on an end part of an aerosol container according to claim 5, characterized in that it consists of a counter unit comprising a holding part adapted to be attachable to the base end part of the container and an activation cap which can operatively receive an activation pressure against said container base end part to thereby transfer the activation pressure to the container and further count the associated successive activations of the dose outlet valve of the container. 8. Auxiliary unit according to claim 7, characterized in that the counter is a conventional digital multi-wheel counter located in a housing made up of said holding part and said activation cap part, these parts being mutually displaceable to enable activation of the counter.