Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US6679436?dq=patent:3079728
Timestamp: 2017-11-23 14:03:31
Document Index: 370753119

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 30', 'art 30', 'art 30', 'art 27', 'art 30', 'art 30', 'art 30', 'art 27', 'art 30', 'art 30', 'art 30', 'art) 1', 'art 10', 'art 10', 'art 10', 'art 30']

Patent US6679436 - Sprayer - Google Patents
A spray sprays a liquid medicine from a spray part 30. When a liquid sensing electrode 55, 56 arranged on the spray part 30 senses the quantity of the liquid stored in a storage part 30 a and determines that the quantity of the liquid decreases, a pin part 27 is driven by a solenoid 26 for feeding the...http://www.google.com/patents/US6679436?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US6679436 - Sprayer
Publication number US6679436 B1
Application number US 09/868,185
PCT number PCT/JP1999/006665
Also published as CN1330563A, EP1142600A1, EP1142600A4, WO2000037132A1
Publication number 09868185, 868185, PCT/1999/6665, PCT/JP/1999/006665, PCT/JP/1999/06665, PCT/JP/99/006665, PCT/JP/99/06665, PCT/JP1999/006665, PCT/JP1999/06665, PCT/JP1999006665, PCT/JP199906665, PCT/JP99/006665, PCT/JP99/06665, PCT/JP99006665, PCT/JP9906665, US 6679436 B1, US 6679436B1, US-B1-6679436, US6679436 B1, US6679436B1
Inventors Yoshihide Onishi, Shinya Tanaka, Masashi Osuga, Takao Terada
Patent Citations (14), Referenced by (35), Classifications (14), Legal Events (5)
US 6679436 B1
A spray sprays a liquid medicine from a spray part 30. When a liquid sensing electrode 55, 56 arranged on the spray part 30 senses the quantity of the liquid stored in a storage part 30 a and determines that the quantity of the liquid decreases, a pin part 27 is driven by a solenoid 26 for feeding the liquid medicine from a liquid medicine bottle 20 to the storage part 30 a of the spray part 30 through a feed pipe 25, and the feeding interval is obtained when the liquid medicine is intermittently fed for adjusting power supplied to a piezoelectric element 50 of the spray part 30 so that the feeding interval is constant. Consequently, a spray capable of automatically adjusting the quantity of spraying per unit time to a constant level for spray liquids having various properties can be provided.
1. A spray comprising a first storage part and a second storage part for storing a spray liquid, a spray part spraying the spray liquid stored in said second storage part, a feeding part feeding a constant quantity of spray liquid from said first storage part to said second storage part, a liquid sensing part detecting presence/absence or increase/decrease of the spray liquid in said second storage part and a feeding determination part for determining whether or not said second storage part requires feeding on the basis of an output from said liquid sensing part, for automatically adjusting the quantity of spraying by adjusting power supplied to the spray part so that the spray liquid is fed to said second storage part at a prescribed interval.
The present invention relates to a spray of an inhaler.
In general, sprays of inhalers or the like include a spray feeding a liquid medicine from a storage part such as a liquid medicine tank to a spray part formed by the vibrating surface of an oscillator and atomizing the liquid medicine. This type of spray is provided with a function enabling the user to manually adjust the quantity of spraying, or the quantity of spraying is adjusted in response to the application of the spray when the spray is shipped from a factory, thereby implementing the optimum quantity of spraying.
The spray according to the present invention comprises a first storage part and a second storage part for storing a spray liquid, a spray part spraying the spray liquid stored in the second storage part, a feeding part feeding a constant quantity of spray liquid from the first storage part to the second storage part, a liquid sensing part detecting presence/absence or increase/decrease of the spray liquid in the second storage part and a feeding determination part for determining whether or not the second storage part requires feeding of the liquid, and adjusts power supplied to the spray part so that the spray liquid is fed to the second storage part at a prescribed interval.
FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a medical inhaler according to an embodiment of the present invention.
An embodiment of the present invention is now described in detail with reference to the drawings. Referring to FIGS. 1 to 6B showing a medical inhaler (spray) according to the embodiment, the spray comprises a prismatic body case (body part) 1 and a cover 2 detachably mounted on the body case 1. The body case 1 has a backwardly protruding projection 1 a provided on the back surface of the upper portion of the body case 1 and an operation switch 9 for turning on/off a power source provided on the front surface of the upper portion corresponding to the projection 1 a.
When the cover 2 is detached from the body case 1, a body cover part 10 appears on the upper portion of the body case 1, and the body cover part 10 is attachable to/detachable from the body case 1, while a piezoelectric element 50 described later, a mesh member 40, storage parts and a feeding part are arranged on the body cover part 10.
Under the mesh member 40 obliquely positioned with respect to the horizontal plane, the piezoelectric element 50 described later is similarly obliquely located in proximity thereto. Opposing surfaces of the mesh member 40 and the piezoelectric element 50 acutely intersect with each other, so that the liquid medicine received from the feed pipe 25 is fed through openings of the mesh member 40 and the piezoelectric element 50. The space between the mesh member 40 and the piezoelectric element 50 defines a second storage part 30 a.
A liquid quantity sensing part for sensing the quantity of the liquid medicine is provided on the piezoelectric element 50, for controlling the operation for pressing the diaphragm 24 on the basis of an output from this liquid quantity sensing part. This feature is described later in detail.
While the material for the piezoelectric element 50 is not particularly restricted, lithium niobate is preferably employed as the material with a 41 ±15° rotation Y-cut plane and a propagation direction of Y-axis projection since the spray utilizes the bulk wave as the oscillatory wave as described later.
θ=sin(Vb/P·f)
where Vb represents the phase velocity of the bulk wave, P represents the pitch of the interdigital electrodes 51 and 52, and f represents the frequency.
(quantity of spraying per unit time)=(quantity of feeding per dose)/(feeding interval)
Thus, it is understood possible to adjust the quantity of spraying per unit time to a constant level by feeding the liquid at a constant interval. In the inhaler according to this embodiment, processing of a flow chart shown in FIG. 9 is performed for automatically adjusting the quantity of spraying per unit time to a constant level.
In the spray according to the present invention, as hereinabove described, the power supplied to the spray part is so adjusted that the spray liquid is fed to the storage part of the spray part, holding the liquid medicine immediately before the liquid medicine is sprayed, at a prescribed interval, whereby a spray capable of automatically adjusting the quantity of spraying per dose to a constant level can be provided.
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U.S. Classification 239/101, 239/63, 239/67, 239/102.1, 239/102.2
International Classification A61M11/00, B05B17/06, A61M15/00
Cooperative Classification B05B17/0676, B05B17/0638, A61M11/005
European Classification B05B17/06B7F, A61M11/00F, B05B17/06B5
Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:ONISHI, YOSHIHIDE;TANAKA, SHINYA;OSUGA, MASASHI;AND OTHERS;REEL/FRAME:012003/0169