NZ539381A

NZ539381A - Inhaler

Info

Publication number: NZ539381A
Application number: NZ539381A
Authority: NZ
Inventors: Shane Andrew Dudley
Original assignee: Shane Andrew Dudley
Priority date: 2005-04-12
Filing date: 2005-04-12
Publication date: 2007-07-27

Abstract

An inhaler (1) for supplying medicaments to a user through the mouth is disclosed. The inhaler is in the form of a conduit with a mouthpiece (5) at one end, a gas permeable medicament retaining member (6) associated with the conduit, and a removable cover (10) that allows passage of gas. The medicament, which may be in the form of a gel or wax for example, is placed on the retaining member and the cover placed on the end. The user places the inhaler in their mouth and breathes normally while vapours from the medicament are inhaled. A flange 4 may be used to prevent the inhaler passing into the user's mouth.

Description

<div class="application article clearfix" id="description"> COMPLETE SPECIFICATION New Zealand Patent Act 1953 Title: INHALER IP number: 539381 Current Owner: DUDLEY, Shane Andrew Your reference: T/CW/170309NZ Nationality: A New Zealand citizen Address: 1 Langton Rd, Stanmore Bay, Whangaparaoa 1463, New Zealand. I, DUDLEY, Shane Andrew, do declare this invention to be described in the following statement: intellectual property office of n.z. " 8 MAR 2006 RECEIVED -2- This invention relates to a medicament carrier and has been devised particularly though not necessarily solely for use of persons needing to take medicaments through the mouth at night. When persons have a cough, which may involve an inflamed throat, or have an inflamed throat for other reasons the cough or inflamed throat often seems worse at night particularly when one is trying to get to sleep or return to sleep. There are two main options used. Firstly there is the use of cough lozenges. These may be dangerous particularly when used by a child when trying to get to sleep as the user may choke on the lozenge if they fall to sleep prior to the lozenge completely dissolving. Secondly persons use cough syrup. Whilst this does not present the choking danger it can be inconvenient in that one may need to get out of bed on a very frequent basis, turn on the light, and pour yourself or child a measure of a cough syrup before returning to bed. Also, much of the syrup simply passes straight to the stomach which achieves little in alleviating the condition. There are other alternatives of course but these are the main ones used. 15 As can be' seen from the above there is a need for a method of applying medicament particularly though not solely at night in a way that is simple but substantially safe for the user. It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide a medicament carrier which will obviate or minimise the foregoing disadvantages in a simple yet effective manner or at which will at least provide the public with a useful choice. Accordingly in one aspect the invention may broadly be said to consist in a medicament carrier comprising a member forming a conduit, one end of the conduit being shaped and sized so as positionable in the mouth of the user, a gas permeable medicament retaining member or plate associated with the conduit and positioned in use such that a user will draw 25 some medicament in to the users throat while the user is breathing in through the mouth, and a removable cover over the other end of the conduit, the removable cover allowing the passage of gas therethrough. Preferably the cover has a child proof connection with the conduit. A 20 -3- Preferably the conduit has a stop thereon, the stop being sized to substantially prevent the passage of the stop into the users mouth. Preferably the stop comprises a flange on the outer surface of the conduit. Preferably the medicament retaining membrane or plate comprises an apertured member. 5 Preferably the cover is associated with a further aperture member. To those skilled in the art to which the invention relates, many changes in construction and widely differing embodiments and applications of the invention will suggest themselves without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. The disclosures and the description herein are purely illustrative and are not intended to be in any 10 sense limiting. One preferred form of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which, Figure 1 is a partially exploded prospective view of a medicament carrier according to one preferred form of the invention, 15 Figure 2 is a view as in Figure 1 of an alternative carrier, Figure 3 is a view in the direction of arrow "A" in Figure 2, Figure 4 is a diagrammatic cross-sectional view of a medicament carrier according to one preferred form of the invention, and Figure 5 is a perspective view of medicament carrier according to a preferred form of 20 the invention. The term medicament in this specification is intended to mean anything able to be sucked into the throat including herbal items. Referring to the drawings a medicament carrier 1 is provided which has a conduit 2, one end 3 of which is shaped so that it is a comfortable fit into the mouth of a user. A range of sizes 25 could be provided so as to be suitable for adults and children. The conduit may be manufactured from any suitable material, such as a plastic material, which is safe to insert into the mouth of a user. 170309NZ Ps 20050406 1545 AE.doc/«fi author»/AE -4- The outer surface of the conduit 2 includes a stop to prevent or at least substantially prevent the conduit 2 from passing to far in to the mouth of a user and in the preferred form the stop is a flange 4 for example of the type often seen on a baby's dummy or pacifier. This flange 4 may be shaped so as to be a comfortable fit around the mouth of the user when the mouth is 5 resting on the conduit 2 adjacently to conduit 3. The conduit 3 may have a rib or bulbous portion 5 at its extreme end. A gas permeable medicament retaining membrane or plate is associated with the conduit and in particular is provided within the length of the conduit. Thus a plate 6 may be provided which has a plurality of apertures 7. This is desirably permanently fixed within the conduit or alternatively could rest for example on a rebate within the conduit. In the embodiment of Figure 2 a member 8 is provided in the form of a grid or grill. Alternatively a gas permeable pad impregnated with the medicament may be used. A cover 10 is provided which preferably engages with the other surface of the conduit 2 by means of a child proof locking arrangement. Any suitable type of known childproof lock can 15 be used. Associated with the cover 10 is a further apertured plate 14 or grill or grid 15 which is spaced apart from the plate 6, or grill or grid 8 and this may be able to be positioned between the end 16 of the conduit 2 and the cover 10 or formed as part of the cover 10. The purpose of this is to substantially prevent parts of the body such as a child's fingers from engaging the medicament in use. In use the cover is removed and a medicament such as, for example, an inhaler material retained in a wax able to soothe a throat or reduce coughing, is applied to the plate 6 or grid 8. Some of the apertures must be left uncovered, therefore the medicament is desirably placed around the edge of the plate or grid or intermittently thereover. The cover 10 is then reapplied and the user places the end 3 of the conduit into their mouth and breathes through the mouth. The passage of gas, usually air, will pick up vapours form the medicament which then pass to the throat and other passages of the user. The conduit is prevented from passing to far into the mouth by means of the flange 4. Particularly at night should the user fall asleep the device will simply drop from the mouth where it can be retrieved at a later time. • "> 170309NZ Ps 20050406 1545 AE.doc/«fi author»/AE -5- A user can breath in through the mouth and out either through the mouth or through the nose or both. Thus it can be seen that a medicament carrier is provided which allows a medicament to be inhaled by a user at anytime but particularly at night in a safe yet effective manner. It is a 5 particular advantage of the invention that the medicament carrier may be easily cleaned after use and in particular is safe as ingestion of the device beyond a predetermined point in to the (5) mouth is substantially prevented. 170309NZ Ps 20050406 1545 AE.docAtfi author»/AE </div>

Claims

<div class="application article clearfix printTableText" id="claims"> -6- WHATI CLAIM IS:

1. A medicament carrier comprising a member forming a conduit, one end of the conduit being shaped and sized so as positionable in the mouth of the user, a gas permeable medicament retaining member or plate associated with the conduit and 5 positioned in use such that a user will draw some medicament in to the users throat while the user is breathing in through the mouth, and a removable cover over the other end of the conduit, the removable cover allowing the passage of gas therethrough.

2. A medicament carrier as claimed in claim 1 wherein the cover has a child proof 10 connection with the conduit.

3. A medicament carrier as claimed in either one of claims 1 and 2 wherein the conduit has a stop thereon, the stop being sized to substantially prevent the passage of the stop into the users mouth.

4. A medicament carrier as claimed in claim 3 wherein the stop comprises a flange on 15 the outer surface of the conduit.

5. A medicament carrier as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the medicament retaining membrane or plate comprises an apertured member.

6. A medicament carrier as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the cover is associated with a further aperture member. 20

7. A medicament carrier substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings. END OF CLAIMS I70309NZ Ps 20050406 1545 AE.doc/«fi authore/AE </div>