Spray dispenser with easily actuable mouthpiece

A spray dispenser for dispensing a spray of a liquid material has a cylindrical container with a nozzle adjacent one end thereof directed generally at a right angle to the longitudinal axis of the container. A mouthpiece of resilient material is pivotally mounted on the one end of the container so that in the storage position it has the axis aligned with the longitudinal axis of the container and it is easily pivoted to the dispensing position at right angles to the axis of the container and around the nozzle by simple pressure on the non-dispensing end thereof and is easily pivoted back to the storage position by pressure on the dispensing end.

This invention relates to a spray dispenser for dispensing medication, and 
more particularly to such a dispenser which has a snap-down mouthpiece 
thereon. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION AND PRIOR ART 
In recent years, medications have increasingly been packaged in aerosol 
form for dispensing as inhalents. They have been particularly effective in 
dispensing inhalents in a finely divided spray which is inhaled directly 
and drawn into the lungs for direct action on the lung tissues. Many 
medications requiring prompt administration at the onset of a condition, 
such as asthma, can best be administered in this fashion, because the 
medication acts directly on the affected tissues. Further, many 
medications which are required to be fast acting can best be administered 
in this fashion because the rate of absorption from the lungs is much 
faster than when the drug is administered orally, and in many instances is 
as rapid as when the drug is injected. 
The medications are usually packaged in containers with a valve and nozzle 
arrangement through which the spray of medication is dispensed by pressing 
on a valve actuator on the top or bottom of the container to open the 
valve, and pressure within the container, either by virtue of a propellant 
within the container or by air pressure developed by the actuation of the 
valve actuator, causes dispensing of the material in a finely divided 
spray. 
In order to direct the medication into the oral cavity for inhalation, a 
funnel-like mouthpiece of some type is required. This must be positioned 
over the nozzle through which the medication is dispensed from the 
dispenser, and to project outwardly from the container. Because the 
containers must be able to be held either upright or upside down, 
depending upon their design, to operate properly, the dispensing nozzle is 
usually directed at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the 
container. The dispensers and the mouthpieces are generally made of 
plastic. A protective cover is usually required to keep the inside of the 
mouthpiece and the nozzle clean. 
A disadvantage common to all of the currently available dispensers is that 
the patient must normally remove the protective cover from the mouthpiece, 
then remove the mouthpiece from a position in which it covers the top of 
the container, and replace it on the container in the operative position. 
Dispensers have been developed which have mouthpieces pivoted to the 
container, but these are all rather cumbersome, and usually require 
several manipulative actions to bring the mouthpiece from the storage 
position in which the axis of the mouthpiece is aligned with the axis of 
the container, to the dispensing position in which the axis of the 
mouthpiece is substantially perpendicular to the axis of the container. In 
the case of a patient undergoing an asthmatic attack, or an attack of 
angina, or a patient who is acutely ill or may have tremors, this action 
may be a difficult procedure to carry out. 
It would be a distinct advance in the art to have a container construction 
incorporating a mouthpiece in which the mouthpiece could be quickly and 
easily snapped from the conventional storage position where it protects 
the nozzle and its interior, into the dispensing position, and when the 
use of the dispenser is ended, can be just as easily and quickly snapped 
back into the storage position. It would be a further advantage if this 
could be accomplished without the necessity of removing a part from the 
dispenser. 
OBJECTS AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
It is the object of the present invention to provide a dispenser for 
dispensing a spray of medication from a container and which has a 
mouthpiece incorporated therewith, which, in the storage position, has the 
longitudinal axis thereof aligned with the longitudinal axis of the 
container for the medication, and which in the dispensing condition has 
the axis thereof perpendicular to the axis of the container, and which 
mouthpiece can be simply and easily snapped from the storage position to 
the dispensing position, and can just as easily be snapped from the 
dispensing position back to the storage position, and which mouthpiece is 
not removed from the dispenser during movement from the storage to the 
dispensing position and back. 
This object is achieved according to the present invention by the 
combination of a dispenser for dispensing a spray of a liquid material and 
having a cylindrical container with a nozzle adjacent one end thereof 
directed generally at a right angle to the longitudinal axis of the 
container, and an actuator on the container for actuating the dispenser 
for dispensing the spray through the nozzle, and a mouthpiece of a 
resilient material and having a cylindrical portion having an inner 
cross-section shape the same as the external cross-sectional shape of the 
container and having a slit therein parallel to the longitudinal axis 
thereof and a loop across one end thereof extending transversely to a 
diametral line from the slit to the other side of said cylindrical 
portion, pivot means connected between the point on said cylindrical 
portion of said mouthpiece at the opposite end of said diametral line and 
the end structure of the container at the end adjacent which said nozzle 
is located and on a line parallel to the longitudinal axis of the 
container through said nozzle, the nozzle being located inwardly along the 
container from the position of said pivot means a distance substantially 
half the diameter of the cylindrical portion.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
The dispenser according to the present invention comprises a conventional 
medication holding container 10, either of the aerosol type or of the type 
which can be pressurized with air by the pressing down of a valve actuator 
11. The details of the interior of the container are not shown, since they 
are conventional and can be found in the aerosol dispenser art. It is 
sufficient for an understanding of the present invention to point out that 
the medication is dispensed in a spray from a nozzle 17 directed laterally 
of the container 10 at a right angle to the longitudinal axis X--X 
thereof. The exterior shape of container 10 is here shown as that of a 
right circular cylinder, but for purposes of this invention the term 
"cylindrical" when used to describe the shape of the container is intended 
to include other cylindrical shapes, such as those with an oval, 
cross-section and the like. 
The mouthpiece 12 according to the present invention has a cylindrical 
portion 13 which has an inner cross-sectional shape substantially the same 
as the external cross-sectional shape of the container 10, and which in 
the storage position of the mouthpiece is tightly positioned around the 
upper end of the storage container 10 with the longitudinal axis thereof 
aligned with the axis of the container. In the rear of the cylindrical 
portion 13 of the mouthpiece with respect to the position of the nozzle 
17, and as seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, is a slit 14. The non-dispensing end of 
the cylindrical portion 13 of the mouthpiece has a loop 15 extending 
thereacross, which, when the mouthpiece is in the storage position, as 
shown in FIGS. 1-5 and 7, projects upwardly above the pushbutton actuator 
11. 
The mouthpiece 12 is made of a resilient plastic material, such as 
polyethylene or polypropylene. 
On the container 10 at the rear of the cylindrical portion 13 is a 
projection 18, the purpose of which is described hereinafter. 
At the front of the cylindrical portion 13, diametrally opposite the slit 
14 when it is in the storage position, as seen in FIGS. 1-5 and 7, is a 
hinge member 16 which hinges the periphery of the cylindrical portion of 
the mouthpiece 12 to the surface of the pushbutton actuator 11. This hinge 
is attached to the pushbutton actuator 11 at a position directly above the 
dispensing nozzle 17 along a line parallel to the longitudinal axis of the 
container 10 and passing through the nozzle 17. The nozzle 17 is 
positioned below the hinge 16 a distance about half the diameter of the 
cylindrical portion of the mouthpiece. The loop 15 extends transversely to 
the diametral line between the hinge 16 and the slit 14. 
With the mouthpiece 12 in the storage position as shown in FIGS. 1-5 and 7, 
because the cylindrical portion 13 fits tightly around the upper part of 
the dispensing container 10, it protects the nozzle and the inside of the 
mouthpiece and it does not make the container appreciably larger than the 
container would be if no mouthpiece were mounted thereon. The loop 15 
projects only a short distance above the top of the pushbutton actuator 
11, and since, in the embodiment shown, it is narrower than the diameter 
of the mouthpiece 12, it does not unduly increase the length or bulk of 
the overall dispenser. The projection 18 is accommodated in the slit 14. 
In order to swing the mouthpiece 12 from the storage position shown in 
FIGS. 7 and 8 to the dispensing position as shown in FIG. 6 and in which 
the longitudinal axis thereof is at a right angle to the longitudinal axis 
of the container 10, a force F is exerted on the top of the loop 15, for 
example by the thumb or the forefinger of the user. It will be seen that 
this force exerts a moment at the end of a moment arm M extending between 
the position of the hinge 16 and the longitudinal axis of the container 10 
which tends to swing the mouthpiece 12 about the hinge 16 as a pivot. 
Since the mouthpiece is made of a resilient plastic material, the parts of 
the mouthpiece on the opposite sides of the slit 14 will be forced away 
from each other and the edges of the mouthpiece on the opposite sides of 
the slit 14 will move along the wall of the container 10 until the edges 
have passed the largest diameter portion of the container 10 in the 
direction of movement of the slit 14. Thereafter, the resilient force 
tending to return the thus distorted mouthpiece to its normal shape will 
force the edges of the slit against the wall of the container and further 
swing the mouthpiece around the hinge 16 until the loop 15 snaps over 
projection 18 and lies against the side of the container 10 diametrally 
opposite the position of the nozzle 17, at which time the mouthpiece will 
be in the position shown in FIG. 6. At this point, the axis of the 
mouthpiece is substantially aligned with the nozzle 15, and is transverse 
to the longitudinal axis of the container 10. The mouthpiece is now ready 
for dispensing of the spray of medication therethrough by pressure exerted 
on the actuator 11, which is now exposed at the top of the container 10. 
Projection 18 bearing against loop 15 holds the mouthpiece firmly in this 
position. 
In order to draw the medication deeply into the lungs, the user inhales 
while operating the dispenser. The slit 14 provides an opening to allow 
this air to enter the mouthpiece. 
When dispensing of the medication has ended, simple finger pressure P on 
the dispensing end of the mouthpiece, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 9 will again 
pivot the mouthpiece, this time in the opposite direction from the 
above-described pivoting movement, around the hinge 16, again spreading 
the portions of the mouthpiece on opposite sides of the slit 14 until the 
largest diameter portion of the container is reached, after which the 
resiliency of the mouthpiece will again tend to swing the mouthpiece 
further toward the storage position, until the mouthpiece finally snaps 
tightly around the container 10, having returned to the position shown in 
FIGS. 1-5 and 7. 
It will thus be seen that by a simple structure of plastic material, the 
various parts of which are easily molded and attached to a conventional 
dispenser, a dispenser with an easily positionable mouthpiece has been 
provided, which dispenser, when the mouthpiece is in the storage position, 
is as substantially compact as when it has no mouthpiece thereon, and yet 
which can be actuated to move the mouthpiece to the dispensing position by 
simple finger pressure on the loop on the non-dispensing end of the 
mouthpiece. Further, this invention has provided such a mouthpiece which 
is also easily returned to the storage position by simple pressure on the 
dispensing end of the mouthpiece. 
While the mouthpiece has been shown as being hinged to the valve actuator 
11, it will be appreciated that this is because the nozzle 17 is adjacent 
the same end of the container 10 at which the actuator is located. If the 
nozzle is at the other end, the mouthpiece can be hinged directly to the 
container.