Inhaler

Abstract

An inhaler according to one embodiment includes a housing having one side, another side opposite the one side, and a plurality of side surfaces connecting the one side and the other side; a canister replaceably mounted inside the housing and containing an inhalable composition; a reservoir connected to the canister and storing the inhalable composition from the canister; a relief valve mounted on the reservoir and operable to open and close the reservoir to the outside; and a cover having one side rotatably connected to the housing and the other side detachably connected to a position corresponding to a bottom surface of the canister; the cover can be opened so that the canister can be removed from the housing after the relief valve is opened.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The inhaler is disclosed. [Background technology]

[0002] In general, an inhaler is a device used to inhale a composition such as a drug in a liquid or gaseous state through the oral or nasal cavity during the inhalation process. Such an inhaler includes a container that contains an inhalable composition, and the composition is ejected from the container through a thin tube and finally into the oral or nasal cavity through an inhalation port to be inhaled by the user.

[0003] The above-mentioned background art is owned or acquired by the inventors in the process of deriving the contents of the disclosure of this application, and cannot necessarily be said to be publicly known art that was disclosed to the general public prior to the filing of this application. [Prior art document] [Patent documents] [Patent Document 1] Republic of Korea Patent Publication No. 10-2021229 (Announced on September 11, 2019) Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] An object of one embodiment is to provide an inhaler having a structure that uses a double locking device to eliminate the problem of the canister cover being easily opened and the canister installed inside being thrown out, and that operates a relief valve when replacing the canister to discharge residual medium inside the reservoir.

[0005] The problems to be solved in the embodiments are not limited to those mentioned above, and other problems not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] To achieve the above object, one embodiment of an inhaler includes a housing having one side, another side opposite the one side, and a plurality of side surfaces connecting the one side and the other side; a canister replaceably mounted inside the housing and containing an inhalable composition; a reservoir connected to the canister and storing the inhalable composition from the canister; a relief valve mounted on the reservoir and operable to open and close the reservoir to the outside; and a cover having one side rotatably connected to the housing and the other side detachably connected to a position corresponding to a bottom surface of the canister; the cover can be opened so that the canister can be removed from the housing after the relief valve is opened.

[0007] According to one aspect, the cover may further include a cover lock disposed adjacent to one side of the cover, the cover lock being slidable between a first position that restricts rotation of the cover and a second position that allows rotation of the cover.

[0008] According to one aspect, the valve may further include a relief bar having one end coupled to the relief valve and the other end extending toward the cover lock, the relief bar being positioned between the cover and the cover lock.

[0009] According to one aspect, the cover lock may include a first locking member slidably movable on the other side of the housing; and a second locking member extending from the first locking member toward the one side of the housing; and when the first locking member moves to a second position, the relief bar may be moved toward the one side of the housing.

[0010] According to one aspect, the second locking member may include a sloped surface that decreases in height toward the other end of the relief bar, and when the first locking member moves to the second position, the sloped surface may move the other end of the relief bar toward one side of the housing.

[0011] The relief bar may open the relief valve when moved towards one side of the housing and close the relief valve when returned to its original position. Effect of the Invention

[0012] According to one embodiment of the inhaler, a double locking device is applied to eliminate the problem of the canister cover being easily opened and the canister installed inside being thrown out, and when replacing the canister, a relief valve is operated to discharge the remaining medium inside the reservoir.

[0013] The effects of the inhaler according to one embodiment are not limited to those mentioned above, and other effects not mentioned will be clearly understood by those of ordinary skill in the art from the following description. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0014] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an inhaler according to one embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an inhaler according to one embodiment. [Diagram 3] 1 illustrates a cover and cover lock for an inhaler according to one embodiment. [Figure 4] 1 illustrates an inhaler according to one embodiment with the cover lock in a first position. [Diagram 5] 1 illustrates an inhaler according to an embodiment with the cover lock in the second position. The following drawings attached to this specification are illustrative of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and serve to further understand the technical concept of the present invention together with the detailed description of the invention, so the present invention should not be interpreted as being limited to only the matters shown in such drawings. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0015] Hereinafter, the embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. When referring to components in each drawing, it should be noted that the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals as much as possible even if they are displayed in different drawings. In addition, in the description of the embodiments, if a detailed description of related known configurations or functions is deemed to hinder understanding of the embodiments, the detailed description will be omitted.

[0016] In addition, in describing components of the embodiments, terms such as first, second, A, B, (a), (b), etc. may be used. Such terms are merely intended to distinguish the components from other components, and do not limit the essence, procedure, or order of the components. When a component is described as being "coupled," "coupled," or "connected" to another component, it should be understood that the component may be directly coupled or connected to the other component, but that there may also be another component "coupled," "coupled," or "connected" between each component.

[0017] Components having functions common to those included in any of the embodiments will be described using the same names in the other embodiments. Unless otherwise specified, the description of any of the embodiments is applicable to the other embodiments, and detailed description will be omitted to the extent that they overlap.

[0018] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an inhaler 10 according to one embodiment.

[0019] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of an inhaler 10 according to one embodiment.

[0020] FIG. 3 illustrates a cover 500 and cover lock 600 of an inhaler 10 according to one embodiment.

[0021] FIG. 4 illustrates the inhaler 10 according to one embodiment with the cover lock 600 in a first position.

[0022] FIG. 5 illustrates the inhaler 10 according to one embodiment with the cover lock 600 in a second position.

[0023] With reference to FIG. 1, an inhaler 10 according to one embodiment includes a housing 101 , a mouthpiece 102 , a reservoir 103 , a canister 200 , and a lever 300 .

[0024] The housing 101 includes a first surface formed on one side, a second surface opposite to the first surface, and a plurality of side surfaces connecting the first surface and the second surface. The first surface of the housing 101 is, for example, a surface located at the top of the housing 101, and the second surface is, for example, a bottom surface of the housing 101.

[0025] The mouthpiece 102 may be disposed on a first surface of the housing 101. A user can inhale the inhalable composition contained in the inhaler 10 through the mouthpiece 102. At this time, the user can inhale the composition, for example, in an aerosol state, or in the form of a powder or the like. Hereinafter, an inhaler 10 according to one embodiment will be described taking as an example an inhaler 10 that sprays the inhalable composition in an aerosol state.

[0026] 1 and 2, the reservoir 103 may be disposed inside the housing 101. One side of the canister 200 is connected to the reservoir 103, and the inhalable composition contained in the canister 200 can be moved to the reservoir 103 and stored therein. In addition, the inhalable composition stored in the reservoir 103 is discharged in an aerosol state through the mouthpiece 102 when the user applies an inhalation force through the mouthpiece 102, so that the inhalable composition stored in the reservoir 103 is gradually consumed.

[0027] The canister 200 may be attached inside the housing 101. In this case, the canister 200 may be replaceably attached inside the housing 101. The canister 200 may contain an inhalable composition therein. The composition of the canister 200 may be filled in a certain amount inside the reservoir 103.

[0028] The inhaler 10 according to one embodiment may also be provided with a cover 500 and a cover lock 600 that prevent the canister 200 attached to the housing 101 from becoming detached.

[0029] The cover 500 and cover lock 600 are described in more detail below with reference to Figures 3 to 5.

[0030] 1 and 2, lever 300 may be pressed by a user to fill the composition contained in canister 200 into reservoir 103. Lever 300 may form one side of housing 101 or may be located adjacent to the second side. When a user presses lever 300, lever 300 pushes up the bottom surface of canister 200, and nozzle 220 of canister 200 is connected to reservoir 103, and the composition can move from canister 200 to reservoir 103 through nozzle 220.

[0031] In the following, the direction from one side surface of the housing 101 where the lever 300 is located toward the canister 200 is defined as a first direction, and the direction from the second surface of the housing 101 toward the first surface is defined as a second direction.

[0032] Meanwhile, the reservoir 103 is provided with a relief valve 700, and a relief vent hole 400 is provided on a first surface of the housing 101. The relief valve 700 is linked to the lever 300 via the relief bar 800 and the relief bar moving protrusion 320, etc., and operates to open first before the lever 300 pushes up the canister 200, thereby discharging residual gas in the reservoir 103 in advance before filling the reservoir 103 with the inhalable composition.

[0033] Furthermore, the inhaler 10 according to one embodiment allows the user to visually check the remaining amount of the composition stored in the reservoir 103 through a display window (not shown) provided in the housing 101. The inhaler 10 according to one embodiment may also be provided with a counter (not shown) that counts the number of refills in conjunction with the up and down movement of the canister 200 when the reservoir 103 is refilled, and a display window (not shown) that displays the remaining amount of the composition in the canister 200. The composition stored in the reservoir 103 is sprayed in an aerosol state when the user applies an inhalation force to the mouthpiece 102, and at this time, the inhale interlocking valve 105 that opens and closes the reservoir 103 is operated by the inhalation force, and the opening and closing operation of the inhale interlocking valve 105 may be controlled by a piston 106.

[0034] As described above, the inhaler 10 according to one embodiment has a replaceable canister 200 attached thereto, and when the inhalable composition in the canister 200 is used up, the user can replace the existing canister 200 with a new canister 200. To do this, the cover 500 of the canister 200 needs to be opened, and if the cover 500 is opened while the inhalable composition remains in the reservoir 103, the composition may be sprayed from the nozzle 220 of the canister 200, pushing the canister 200 out with a strong force. In this case, problems may occur such as the canister 200 popping out and the composition getting the user's hands wet. To solve these problems, the inhaler 10 according to one embodiment is applied with a cover lock 600 as a double locking device.

[0035] 3, a cover lock 600 of an inhaler 10 according to one embodiment may be located on a second surface of the housing 101. The cover lock 600 is slidably provided and may be moved by a user to the position shown in FIG. 3(a) or FIG. 3(b).

[0036] For example, Figure 3(a) shows the cover lock 600 in a first position where the cover lock 600 may restrict rotation of the cover 500 so that the cover 500 cannot be opened. Figure 3(b) shows the cover lock 600 moved to a second position where the cover lock 600 may allow rotation of the cover 500 so that the cover 500 may be opened. Once the cover 500 is opened, a user may remove the canister 200 from the housing 101 of the inhaler 10.

[0037] 4 and 5, one side of the cover 500 may be rotatably coupled to the housing 101, and the other side may be detachably coupled to the housing 101 at a position corresponding to the bottom surface of the canister 200. Such a cover 500 may be capable of being released from the housing 101 at the other side and rotating at one side to expose the bottom surface of the canister 200 to the outside. The rotation of one side of the cover 500 may be controlled by the cover lock 600 as described above.

[0038] Additionally, the cover lock 600 may open the relief valve 700 first before allowing the cover 500 to rotate.

[0039] 4 and 5, the relief valve 700 of the inhaler 10 according to one embodiment may be disposed in the reservoir 103, spaced apart from one side of the canister 200. The relief valve 700 operates to open or close so that the reservoir 103 is connected to or isolated from the outside.

[0040] For example, the relief valve 700 may be opened by a relief bar 800 that rises when the cover lock 600 is in the second position.

[0041] Specifically, the inhaler 10 according to an embodiment may further include a relief bar 800 having one end coupled to the relief valve 700 and the other end extending toward the cover lock 600. The relief bar 800 may be located between the cover 500 and the cover lock 600.

[0042] Such a relief bar 800 may open the relief valve 700 while moving in the second direction and close the relief valve 700 while returning to its original position.

[0043] The movement of the relief bar 800 may be controlled by the cover lock 600 .

[0044] As shown in Fig. 4, when the cover lock 600 is in the first position, the relief bar 800 does not rise and the relief valve 700 maintains a closed state, whereas as shown in Fig. 5, when the cover lock 600 is in the second position, the relief bar 800 is raised by the cover lock 600 and the relief valve 700 opens.

[0045] According to one embodiment, the cover lock 600 of the inhaler 10 may include a first locking member 610 and a second locking member 620.

[0046] The first locking member 610 may slide on the second surface of the housing 101 .

[0047] The second locking member 620 may extend from the first locking member 610 toward the first surface of the housing 101. The second locking member 620 may push the other end of the relief bar 800 up toward the first surface of the housing 101 when the first locking member 610 moves from the first position to the second position.

[0048] Specifically, one end of the second locking member 620 is fixed to the first locking member 610, and the other end of the second locking member 620 extends toward the first surface of the housing 101. The other end of the second locking member 620 may be formed with an inclined surface 6201 whose height decreases toward the relief bar 800.

[0049] When the first locking member 610 moves from the first position to the second position, the inclined surface 6201 gradually moves the other end of the relief bar 800 toward the first surface of the housing 101. When the relief bar 800 rises toward the first surface of the housing 101 in this manner, the relief valve 700 is opened. When the first locking member 610 moves from the second position to the first position, the second locking member 620 including the inclined surface 6201 returns to its original position, and the relief bar 800 descends toward the second surface of the housing 101, and the relief valve 700 is closed.

[0050] Eventually, when the first locking member 610 moves from the first position to the second position, the relief valve 700 is opened to drain the remainder of the composition in the reservoir 103, and the canister 200 is removed from the housing 101. When the first locking member 610 moves back to the first position, the relief valve 700 is closed.

[0051] On the other hand, when the first locking member 610 is in the first position, the second locking member 620 does not restrict the operation of the lever 300, but when the first locking member 610 is in the second position, the second locking member 620 restricts the operation of the lever 300.

[0052] The lever 300 may include a support member 310 and a protruding member 320 .

[0053] The support member 310 may be extended towards the canister 200 .

[0054] The protrusion member 320 may be rotatably coupled to the support member 310 around a rotation axis provided on the support member 310. The protrusion member 320 may have an end portion protruding in a radial direction from the rotation axis on one side. The end portion of the protrusion member 320 may be disposed in an upright state toward the first surface of the housing 101.

[0055] The other end of the relief bar 800 may be located between the protruding member 320 and the second surface of the housing 101. In addition, the protruding member 320 may have an end inclined in a direction away from the canister 200 with the rotation axis as the center.

[0056] When the lever 300 is pressed in the first direction, the support member 310 may limit the rotation of the protruding member 320. In other words, the protruding member 320 may be restricted from rotating in a direction away from the canister 200 with its end portion standing up toward the first surface of the housing 101.

[0057] Therefore, when the lever 300 is pressed, the protrusion member 320 also moves in the first direction to reach the first position, but in this case, the protrusion member 320 does not rotate while in contact with the relief bar 800, and can push the relief bar 800 up in the second direction.

[0058] As mentioned above, the opening or closing action of the relief valve 700 may be controlled by the lever 300. For example, when the lever 300 is pressurized by a user, the lever 300 can be controlled such that the relief valve 700 is first opened and then the canister 200 is opened.

[0059] In this manner, the inhaler 10 according to one embodiment is provided with a relief valve 700 linked to the lever 300, which allows residual gas in the reservoir 103 to be discharged and allows the inhalable composition to be smoothly filled from the canister 200 into the reservoir 103.

[0060] However, such action of the lever 300 on the relief valve 700 is permitted when the first locking member 610 of the cover lock 600 is in the first position, as described above.

[0061] 5, when the first locking member 610 of the cover lock 600 is in the second position, the second locking member 620 can obstruct the path along which the lever 300 moves in the first direction. For example, when the first locking member 610 is in the second position, the second locking member 620 can move adjacent to the protruding member 320 to block the path along which the protruding member 320 moves. At the same time, the second locking member 620 lifts the relief bar 800, and after the lever 300 lifts the relief bar 800 to open the relief valve 700, the cover lock 600 can open only the relief valve 700 to discharge the residual material in the reservoir 103 without the operation of lifting the canister 200 to open the injection port 220.

[0062] As described above, the inhaler 10 according to one embodiment applies the cover lock 600 as a double locking device to eliminate problems such as the canister 200 attached thereto spilling out or the composition wetting the user's hands when the canister cover 500 is easily opened. In addition, the inhaler 10 according to one embodiment can operate the relief valve 700 to discharge residual medium from the reservoir 103 when replacing the canister 200.

[0063] In addition, in the inhaler 10 according to one embodiment, when the cover lock 600 is in the first position, the cover 500 is not opened and the filling lever 300 operates normally, and when the cover lock 600 is in the second position, only the cover 500 is opened and the filling lever 300 does not operate as it is caught by the second locking member 620. In addition, when the first locking member 610 is moved to the second position, the inclined surface 6201 extended from the second locking member 620 pushes up the relief bar 800 to open the relief valve 700 and discharge the residual contents in the reservoir.

[0064] As described above, the embodiments of the present invention have been described with specific details such as specific components, limited examples, and drawings, but these are merely provided for a more general understanding of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications and variations can be made from such descriptions. For example, the described technology may be performed in a different procedure than described, and / or the described structures, devices, and other components may be combined or combined in a different manner than described, and replaced or substituted with other components or equivalents, while still achieving the appropriate results. Therefore, the concept of the present invention is not limited to the described embodiments, and all modifications equivalent to the claims, as well as those within the scope of the following claims, are deemed to belong to the concept of the present invention.

Claims

1. a housing having one surface, another surface opposite to the one surface, and a plurality of side surfaces connecting the one surface and the other surface; a canister replaceably mounted within said housing and containing an inhalable composition; a reservoir connected to the canister for storing the inhalable composition from the canister; A relief valve installed in the reservoir and operable to open and close the reservoir to the outside; and a cover having one side rotatably coupled to the housing and the other side detachably coupled to a position corresponding to a bottom surface of the canister; Including, an inhaler, wherein the cover is opened so that the canister can be removed from the housing after the relief valve is opened;

2. a cover lock disposed adjacent to one side of the cover, 2. The inhaler of claim 1, wherein the cover lock is slidable between a first position that restricts rotation of the cover and a second position that allows rotation of the cover.

3. a relief bar having one end connected to the relief valve and the other end extending toward the cover lock; The inhaler of claim 2 , wherein the relief bar is located between the cover and the cover lock.

4. The cover lock is a first locking member slidably movable on the other surface of the housing; and a second locking member extending from the first locking member toward one surface of the housing; Including, 4. The inhaler of claim 3, wherein the relief bar is moved toward one side of the housing when the first locking member is moved to the second position.

5. the second locking member includes a sloped surface that decreases in height toward the other end of the relief bar; 5. The inhaler of claim 4, wherein the ramp surface causes the other end of the relief bar to move toward one side of the housing when the first locking member moves to the second position.

6. 6. The inhaler of claim 3, wherein the relief bar opens the relief valve when moved toward one side of the housing and closes the relief valve when returned to its original position.

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