Patent ID: 8037880

Claim:
A dry powder inhaler for dispensing powder medicament, comprising: a) a housing and mounting means for mounting a blister pack in an interior of said housing, said blister pack including a holding plate and a plurality of powder pockets substantially filled with a powder comprising a pre-selected amount of powder medicament, each said powder pocket comprising a hole formed between one side of said holding plate and an opposing side of said holding plate, said housing including a first gas flow inlet passageway and an outlet flow passageway, wherein said blister pack includes first porous support means affixed to a bottom surface of said holding plate with the first porous support means having a porosity such that air flows through said first porous support means but the powder medicament does not flow through the first porous support means; and b) positioning means for positioning said blister pack to bring each powder pocket into flow communication with said outlet flow passageway and said first gas flow inlet passageway, said first gas flow inlet passageway having an inlet in flow communication with a source of gas and an exit located in said housing on one side of said holding plate, said outlet flow passageway having an inlet located in said housing on the other side of said holding plate which is positioned in flow communication with said outlet flow passageway and an outlet on an exterior of said housing, wherein when gas from the source of gas is flowed into said first gas flow inlet passageway it flows into one side of said powder pocket and through the powder pocket to mobilize, fluidize and deagglomerate the powder medicament such that a mixture of powder medicament and gas flows out through the other side of said powder pocket and into said outlet flow passageway and out of said outlet.