Improved Means for Inhaling and Applying Medicinal Substances.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 7th Jan., 1856-Accepted, 7th Mar., 1896
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Means for Inhaling and Applying Medicinal Substances.
We, THEODORE BALDWIN WILCOX and HENRY WILCOX both of Newark in
the County of Essex, State of New Jersey, United States of America, Manufacturers,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention, and in what manner the same is to
he performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
Our present inhaler is usable both for the purpose of inhaling some selected
aromatic or medicinal salt or substance without exposing the said substance to the
view, and also for the purpose of applying the said substance directly to the
forehead or to any other part of the body, the said substance being, in this case,
exposed and brought into a suitable position for making the desired application.
The substance described herein is the camphor known as menthol, but it will be
understood that any other chosen aromatic or medicinal substance can be used and
applied in the same way. We first take the menthol and make it into a cake,
stick, or candle, or what is known as "menthol ice," and secure it in this hard
form within a casing which, however, has a suitable vent or air passage all the
way through it so that the odours of the inclosed salt can he readily inhaled
without opening the casing. The latter is made in two parts connected together
by a hinge, or other flexible joint, and ordinarily inclosing the menthol stick and
keeping it from being exposed to the air except through the vents. If, however,
the person using the inhaler desires to apply the menthol to some part of his body
he has only to turn the two parts with respect to each other upon the flexible joint,
whereupon the menthol will be exposed in a suitable position: and this without
removing any part of the casing, such as a cap or other detachable piece.
We are aware that menthol candles have been inclosed in tubes provided with
caps to cover the portions which project beyond the tubes: but this arrangement
is unsatisfactory, both because the cap is liable to get lost and because the packing
which holds the candle in the tube is liable to become loosened and let the candle
fall out.
Our invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which
Figure 1 is an elevation of our improved inhaler seen from the rear;
Figure 2 is an elevation of the same seen from the front;
Figure 3 is a side elevation of our improved inhaler as it appears when opened.
Figure 4 is a detail, shewing in elevation the part which holds our stick or cake
of menthol, and
Figure 5 illustrates the vent on an enlarged scale.
In the drawings we represent one part of the casing of our improved inhaler,
the two parts 1, 2 being practically identical in shape and appearance and being
joined together by a hinge 3 at the back. The parts are held together at the
front when the casing is closed by a little spring catch which appears in dotted
lines in Figure 2. The shape illustrated in the drawing may be greatly varied
without departing from the principle of our invention.
The two parts of the casing are narrowed down at their opposite ends and
brought into circular shape and supplied with caps 44 which are riveted to the
ends of the parts 1 and 2 and adapted to be turned upon the rivets by applying the
thumb and finger to the rims of the said caps. The caps are cut away on opposite
sides to correspond to the ends of the parts 1 and 2, which are similarly cut
through. The rotary movement of the caps upon the ends of the parts 1 and 2 is

page_text: limited in either direction by little stops, 5, 5, upon the said ends. The arrangement
is such that when the caps are turned to the limit of their movement in one direction
the holes in said caps register with holes in the ends of the parts 1 and 2; but
when they are turned to the limit of their movement in the opposite direction, the
holes in the caps are in line with the solid portions of the said ends. In the
former case, there is a free air passage through the entire inhaler and in the latter
case there is no such passage. It will be understood that the caps may be operated
independently, so that there may be an air inlet at one end of the inhaler and not
at the other.
The menthol or other salt, having been formed into a cake or stick, is attached in
any suitable manner to a plate or button 7, from which an arm 8 extends, the said
arm being perforated and permitting the axis 9 of the hinge 3 to pass through.
Outside the hiuge 3 the arni 8 is provided with an extension 10, which is adapted
to be held between the parts 1 and 2 when the inhaler is opeu, and illustrated iu
Figure 3. In this way the extension 10 serves to steady the button 7 and enables
the user of the inhaler, by grasping the parts 1 and 2 (as they appear in Figure 3)
and holding them together, to apply the menthol on the button 7 to any part of
the body and to employ as much rubbing or friction as may be necessary or
desirable. Instead of employing the extension 10 in an elongated form, we may
simply make the outer end of the arm 8 square to serve the same purpose. The plate
or button 7 is secured upon the inner end of the arm 8 by a screw connection or in
any other convenient way. In securing the menthol upon the button, the latter
is commonly removed from the arm 8 and is replaced after the attachment of the
menthol.
By turning one or both of the caps the inhalation may be made as free or
otherwise as may be desired. Manifestly the inhaler can be applied in this way
either to the mouth or the nostrils.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. An inhaler for use with camphors and other solid substances, constructed
substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore described and as illustrated by
the accompanying drawings.
2. In an inhaler, the combination and arrangement of two similar parts connected
by a hinge or flexible joint, a perforated cap or nozzle on each part capable of
being opened and closed, and a plate or button upon which the camphor or the like
is secured, constructed substantially as herein before described and as illustrated
by the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 6th day of January A.D. 1896.
W. E. HEYS & SON,
Agents for the Applicants.