Title: Asthma drug inhaler with whistle
Abstract: An asthma drug inhaler is provided with a whistle. The whistle may be attached to a small opening for air intake. The air intake may be part of a mouthpiece located on an inhalation passage of finely powdered drug. The whistle makes a sound when the inhalation is properly done.
Patent Number: 6,990,976 Issued on 01/31/2006 to Miyamoto
| Inventors:
|
Miyamoto; Akihiko (229-1, Furushiro, Makabemachi, Makabegun 300-4407, Ibaraki, JP)
|
| Appl. No.:
|
658744 |
| Filed:
|
September 10, 2003 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
| Oct 22, 2002[JP] | 2002-306451 |
| Apr 25, 2003[JP] | 2003-121760 |
| Current U.S. Class: |
128/200.23; 128/203.15; 128/205.23 |
| Current Intern'l Class: |
A61M 11/00 (20060101); A61M 15/00 (20060101); A62B 9/00 (20060101) |
| Field of Search: |
128/20312,203.15,203.21,203.22,203.23,205.23,200.23,200.24,202.22
604/58
116/137.R
|
References Cited [Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
| 4291688 | Sep., 1981 | Kistler.
| |
| 4484577 | Nov., 1984 | Sackner et al.
| |
| 5522380 | Jun., 1996 | Dwork.
| |
| 5758638 | Jun., 1998 | Kreamer.
| |
| 5957125 | Sep., 1999 | Sagstetter et al.
| |
| 6039042 | Mar., 2000 | Sladek.
| |
| 6427688 | Aug., 2002 | Ligotke et al.
| |
| 6523536 | Feb., 2003 | Fugelsang et al.
| |
| 6578571 | Jun., 2003 | Watt.
| |
| 6644305 | Nov., 2003 | MacRae et al.
| |
| 6698422 | Mar., 2004 | Fugelsang et al.
| |
| 6715486 | Apr., 2004 | Gieschen et al.
| |
| 2005/0051161 | Mar., 2005 | Anandampillai et al.
| |
Other References
McGavin, C.R. "A Modified Aerosol Inhaler for Teaching Technique." The Lancet,
vol. 2, No. 7997, pp. 1227. Dec. 4, 1976.
|
Primary Examiner: Mitchell; Teena
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Westerman, Hattori, Daniels & Adrian, LLP
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. An asthma drug inhaler with a whistle, comprising; a mouthpiece with a mouthpiece
opening and at least one air intake opening, and a whistle attached to said at
least one air intake opening provided at a part of the mouthpiece located on an
inhalation passage of a finely powdered drug,
wherein the whistle comprises a partition wall, an air vent, a hollow resonant
chamber, and a protrusion, and
wherein the whistle makes a sound when the inhalation is properly done.
2. An asthma drug inhaler according to claim 1, wherein said whistle is removable,
such that a whistle sound is not made when the whistle is removed.
3. An asthma drug inhaler according to claim 1 further comprising a drag delivery
opening for introducing air to take up a finely powdered drug into a delivery passage,
wherein said at least one air intake opening provides air to correct the difference
between the lung capacity in the inhalation and the air flow rate in the delivery
passage of the finely powdered drug as to prevent breathing difficulty.
4. An asthma drag inhaler according to claim 1, wherein said mouthpiece has two
air intake openings.
5. An asthma drug inhaler according to claim 4, wherein said whistle may be removed
from or placed in either of said two air intake openings in said mouthpiece.
6. An asthma drug inhaler with a whistle, comprising:
a drug delivery opening for introducing air to take up a finely powdered drug
into a delivery passage, a mouthpiece opening, and an air intake opening to provide
air to correct the difference between the lung capacity in the inhalation and the
air flow rate in the delivery passage of the finely powdered drug as to prevent
breathing difficulty,
wherein the whistle comprises a partition wall, an air vent, a hollow resonant
chamber, and a protrusion,
wherein said whistle is attached to said air intake opening, and
wherein the whistle makes a sound when the inhalation is properly done.
7. An asthma drug inhaler according to claim 6, wherein said whistle is removable,
such that a whistle sound is not made when the whistle is removed.
8. An asthma drug inhaler according to claim 7 having four air intake openings
to provide air to correct the difference between the lung capacity in the inhalation
and the air flow rate in the delivery passage of the finely powdered drug as to
prevent breathing difficulty.
9. An asthma drug inhaler according to claim 8, further comprising a main body
and a mouthpiece, wherein said four air intake openings are oblong in shape and
are located in a main body of the inhaler, upstream of said mouthpiece.
10. An asthma drug inhaler according to claim 9, wherein said whistle can be
inserted into and removed from any of said four air intake openings.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
(i) Field of the Invention
The present invention is an asthma drug inhaler with a whistle, which makes a
sound so as to allow a patient to check whether or not the drug inhalation can
be appropriately accomplished without fault when the patient of the bronchial asthma
inhales the finely powdered drug for asthma medication.
(ii) Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, as the antiasthmatic drug, the internal medicine
had been mainly used. However, the asthma drug inhaler of the aerosol type was
developed thereafter, with which the liquid medicine is misted by the use of a
small tank charged with chlorofluorocarbon, and the patient inhales the misted medicine.
As is well known, the chlorofluorocarbon is the cause of the environmental destruction,
and also, there is the concern over the effect on the human body. Therefore, the
drug used in such a manner that the patient him/herself inhales the finely powdered
drug has been increasingly brought into the mainstream. FIGS. 7 to 9 are the diagrams
illustrating an example of the inhaler used in the manner that the drug is taken
by the inhalation of the patient him/herself.
FIG. 7 is a front view of the conventional inhaler, FIG. 8 is a right side view
of the conventional inhaler, and FIG. 9 is a plan view of the conventional inhaler.
As shown in FIGS. 7 to 9, an asthma drug inhaler
9 is composed of a main
body
9a, a disk cover
9b, a mouthpiece
10, a
rotadisk
11 in which the finely powdered drug is individually packaged,
and a small chamber
12.
As shown in FIGS. 7 to 9, small openings
10a and
10a
are
provided on both sides of the mouthpiece
10. The small openings
10a
and
10a are used for taking air at the time of the inhalation.
More specifically, the small openings
10a are formed to correct
the difference between the lung capacity in the inhalation and the air flow rate
in the delivery passage of the finely powdered drug so as to prevent the breathing
difficulty when taking air. If the small openings
10a are not provided,
the patient will have the feeling of smothering when taking air.
The disk cover
9b is attached to the surface of the main body
9a,
and a needle portion
9c is provided on the center of the upper part
of the disk cover
9b. The needle portion
9c is used
to open a hole
11a for the inhalation in the rotadisk
11 in
which the drug is individually packaged. The reference numeral
9d denotes
a semicircular protrusion.
When inhaling the drug with using the inhaler
9, by lifting the disk
cover
9b immediately before its use, the needle portion
9c
is stuck into a corresponding position of the rotadisk
11, in which
the finely powdered drug is individually packaged. In this manner, the hole
11a
is opened.
When the patient inhales the air through the mouthpiece
10 after opening
the hole
11a, the drug flows into the small chamber
12 from
the inside of the rotadisk
11 together with the air. The drug flown into
the small chamber
12 and once dispersed therein is further dispersed after
passing through a lattice
13 and delivered into the oral cavity through
the mouthpiece
10.
In addition to the asthma drug inhaler
9 shown in FIGS. 7 to 9, there
are
several types of the inhaler having the structure that the finely powdered drug
is inhaled by the patient him/herself. However, almost all of them have in common
that the small openings for air intake are provided in the mouthpiece.
FIGS. 15 and 16 illustrate another conventionally used asthma drug inhaler
20, which is different from the asthma drug inhaler
9 shown in FIGS.
7 to 9. The asthma drug inhaler
20 of this example is formed of a cylindrical
main body
21 and a mouthpiece
20a attached thereto.
In the asthma drug inhaler
20, four air-intake apertures
21c
are provided in the upper part of the outer peripheral surface of a tube body
21a of the cylindrical main body
21, and an air hole
21e
is provided in an engaging portion
21f attached to the lower
part of the tube body
21a. An inhaled drug tube
21b,
a scale
21d, and a drug reservoir tube
21g are provided
inside the tube body
21a, and a partition lid
21h is
attached to the upper part of the tube body
21a. The mouthpiece
20a
is attached to the partition lid
21h.
In the case where the patient inhales the asthma drug by the use of the asthma
drug inhaler
20 by him/herself, when the patient inhales the air after holding
an upper part
20b of the mouthpiece
20a in the mouth,
the air flown in through the air hole
21e winds up the drug in the
inhaled drug tube
21b and flows into the mouthpiece
20a
through a drug inlet
20d of the mouthpiece
20a to
generate the spiral flow in a spiral-shaped groove
20c, by which
the finely powdered drug is dispersed and delivered into the oral cavity.
At this time, air is taken through the air-intake apertures
21c to
correct the difference between the lung capacity in the inhalation and the air
flow rate in the delivery passage of the finely powdered drug so as to prevent
the breathing difficulty when taking air.
As described above, the conventionally used asthma drug inhalers can be largely
classified into the two types as follows, that is, the type as shown in FIGS. 7
and 9, in which air is taken through the small openings provided in the mouthpiece,
more specifically, air is taken from the lower stream of the air passage, and the
type as shown in FIGS. 15 and 16, in which air is taken from the lower part and
the upper part of the main body located below the mouthpiece, more specifically,
air is taken from the upper stream of the air passage.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
However, not only in the inhaler 9 shown in FIGS. 7 to 9 and the
inhaler 20 shown in FIGS. 15 and 16 but also in the inhaler with a structure
that the finely powdered drug is inhaled by the patient him/herself, the amount
of the finely powdered drug is extremely small. Therefore, such inhalers have the
disadvantages that the patient cannot check whether or not the drug inhalation
can be appropriately accomplished.
In addition, the actual situation is that the patients are in many cases the
children
and the elderly who cannot handle the inhaler and blow the mouthpiece by mistake
and thus the drug does not effect properly on the patients.
In such a circumstance, an object of the present invention is to provide an asthma
drug inhaler capable of checking whether or not the inhalation is properly done
in each use both objectively and by the user him/herself, while making the best
use of the advantages of the above-mentioned medical device.
For the solution of the problem mentioned above, the asthma drug inhaler with
a whistle according to the present invention comprises a whistle attached to the
small opening for air intake provided at a part of a mouthpiece located on the
inhalation passage of the finely powdered drug, wherein the whistle makes a sound
when the inhalation is properly done, and also, the asthma drug inhaler with a
whistle according to the present invention comprises a whistle attached to an air
intake provided on the upper stream of the passage of the air for winding up the
finely powdered drug, wherein the whistle makes a sound when the inhalation is
properly done.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a front view of an asthma drug inhaler with a whistle according to
the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a right side view of the asthma drug inhaler of FIG. 1 with a whistle
according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a plan view of the asthma drug inhaler of FIG. 1 with a whistle according
to the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the state where the drug is inhaled by the use of
the asthma drug inhaler of FIG. 1 with a whistle according to the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a partially enlarged sectional view showing the state where the drug
is inhaled by the use of the asthma drug inhaler of FIG. 1 with a whistle according
to the present invention.
FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view of the whistle portion of FIG. 1.
FIG. 7 is a front view of a conventional inhaler.
FIG. 8 is a right side view of the conventional inhaler of FIG. 7.
FIG. 9 is a plan view of the conventional inhaler of FIG. 7.
FIG. 10 is a front view of an asthma drug inhaler with a whistle according to
another embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 11 is an exploded front view of the asthma drug inhaler of FIG. 10 with
a whistle according to another embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 12 is an exploded plan view of the asthma drug inhaler of FIG. 10 with
a whistle according to another embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the state where the drug is inhaled by the use
of the asthma drug inhaler of FIG. 10 with a whistle according to another embodiment
of the present invention.
FIG. 14 is a diagram showing the flow inside the inhaler of FIG. 13.
FIG. 15 is an exploded front view of a conventional inhaler.
FIG. 16 is an exploded plan view of the conventional inhaler of FIG. 15.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Hereinafter, the asthma drug inhaler with a whistle according to the
present invention will be described in detail based on the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a front view of the asthma drug inhaler with a whistle according to
the present invention, FIG. 2 is a right side view of the asthma drug inhaler with
a whistle according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a plan view of the
asthma drug inhaler with a whistle according to the present invention.
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the asthma drug inhaler with a whistle
1 according
to the present invention is composed of a main body
1a, a disk cover
1b, a rotadisk
4 in which the finely powdered drug is individually
packaged, a small chamber
5, a mouthpiece
2 and a whistle
3
attached to the mouthpiece.
The rotadisk
4 in which the finely powdered drug is individually packaged
is set in the main body
1a of the asthma drug inhaler with a whistle
1, the disk cover
1b is provided to the surface of the main
body
1a so as to cover the rotadisk
4, and a needle portion
1c is provided at the center of the upper part of the disk cover
1b.
The needle portion
1c is used to open a hole
4a for
the inhalation of the drug in the rotadisk
4 in which the drug is individually
packaged. The needle portion
1c is stuck into a corresponding position
of the rotadisk
4 by lifting the disk cover
1b, thereby opening
the hole
4a.
As shown in FIG. 1, a left small opening
2a and a right small opening
2b are provided on both sides of the mouthpiece
2. The left
and right small openings
2a and
2b are used for taking
air at the time of the inhalation. More specifically, the left and right small
openings
2a and
2b are formed to correct the difference
between the lung capacity in the inhalation and the air flow rate in the delivery
passage of the finely powdered drug so as to prevent the breathing difficulty when
taking air.
If the left and right small openings
2a and
2b are
not provided or the left and right small openings are blocked, since the patient
will have the feeling of smothering when taking air, such an inhaler is inappropriate.
In the asthma drug inhaler with a whistle
1 according to the present invention,
of the left and right small openings
2a and
2b provided
in the mouthpiece, the whistle
3 is attached to the small opening
2b
on the right side.
The whistle
3 is designed to make a sound when air flows through the whistle
3 at the time of inhalation. More specifically, the whistle
3 makes
a sound when the inhalation can be done appropriately without blowing the mouthpiece
by mistake. Note that the whistle
3 can be attached to either of the left
small opening
2a or the right small opening
2b provided
in the mouthpiece.
As shown in FIG. 3, a lattice
6 is provided on the border between the
mouthpiece
2a and the small chamber
5. The finely powdered drug from
the rotadisk
4 flown into the small chamber
5 together with the air
and dispersed therein at the time of inhalation is further dispersed after passing
through the lattice
6 and delivered into the oral cavity.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the state where the drug is inhaled by the use of
the asthma drug inhaler with a whistle according to the present invention, FIG.
5 is a partially enlarged sectional view showing the state where the drug is inhaled
by the use of the asthma drug inhaler with a whistle according to the present invention,
and FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view of the whistle portion.
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, when a patient
7 inhales the drug with using
the asthma drug inhaler with a whistle
1, it is necessary to open a front
surface hole
4a and a bottom surface hole
4b by lifting
the disk cover
1b to strike the tip of the needle portion
1c
into a corresponding position of the rotadisk
4 immediately before its use.
After opening the hole
4a, the patient
7 holds the mouthpiece
2 of the asthma drug inhaler with a whistle
1 in his/her mouth and
inhales the air
7a. Then, the air
8 flows in through the front
surface hole
4a provided in the rotadisk
4, and the finely
powdered drug
4c together with the air
8 flows into the small
chamber
5 of the asthma drug inhaler with a whistle
1 through the
bottom surface hole
4b provided at the bottom of the rotadisk
4.
When the patient
7 inhales the air
7a, at the same time
with the inflow of the air
8 through the hole
4a, the air
8a and
8b are also taken through the left small opening
2a and the right small opening
2b provided in the mouthpiece
2 to correct the difference between the lung capacity in the inhalation
and the air flow rate in the delivery passage or the air.
At this time, since the whistle
3 is attached to the right small opening
2b, the air
8a passes through the whistle
3
when the air
8a is taken in the mouthpiece
2, and the whistle
3 makes a sound.
As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, an air inlet
3a is formed in the upper
portion of the bottomed whistle
3 with a cylindrical shape, a partition
wall
3f is formed inside it, and an air vent
3b is
provided in the partition wall
3f. A hollow resonant chamber
3c
is formed below the partition wall
3f. In addition, a protrusion
3d having a sharp, tapered top and slightly bent toward the resonant
chamber
3c is formed below the air vent
3b. It is also
possible to form the whistle
3 by a bottomed square tube or a bottomed polygonal tube.
The air
8a flown in the whistle
3 through the air inlet
3a swiftly passes through the narrow air vent
3b and
hits the protrusion
3d provided in the air outlet
3e,
and the vibration of the air generated at this moment is resonated in the resonant
chamber
3c. In this manner, a sound
8d like "beep"
is emitted from the air outlet
3e together with the air
8a.
As described above, the air
8a flows in the whistle
3 through
the air inlet
3a and flows out from the whistle
3 through
the air outlet
3e. Therefore, the air
8a is taken in
without interfering the function of the small opening
2b for air
intake provided in the mouthpiece
2.
At this time, if the patient blows the mouthpiece by mistake or the inhalation
of the air is insufficient, the sufficient amount of air is not taken in the whistle
3. Therefore, the sound
8d is not emitted from the whistle
3. The sound
8d is emitted from the whistle
3 only
when the sufficient amount of air can be taken. In this manner, the patient
7
him/herself who has inhaled the drug and the persons close to the patient can check
whether or not the drug is appropriately inhaled.
The whistle
3 is designed to be detachable. Therefore, when the patient
7 begins the medication by the use of the inhaler, the patient
7
can use the asthma drug inhaler with a whistle
1 with the whistle
3
being attached, and the patient
7 can use the inhaler without attaching
the whistle
3 after the patient
7 gets accustomed to handling the inhaler.
Furthermore, since the whistle
3 is designed to be detachable
as described above, the asthma drug inhaler with a whistle
1 shown in FIGS.
1 to 6 is realized by attaching the whistle
3 to the conventional asthma
drug inhaler
9 shown in FIGS. 7 to 9.
However, not only the asthma drug inhaler
9 but also the other inhalers
can be used to provide the asthma drug inhaler with a whistle by attaching a whistle
to a small opening for air intake if the inhalers have a structure in which a small
opening for air intake is provided on a delivery passage of the drug such as a
mouthpiece and the finely powdered drug is inhaled by the patient him/herself,
more specifically, if the inhaler has a structure in which the air is taken in
from the spiral flow portion of the air passage.
FIGS. 10 to 14 are diagrams showing an asthma drug inhaler with a whistle according
to another embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIGS. 10 to 14, the
asthma drug inhaler with a whistle according to this embodiment is realized by
attaching a whistle to the conventional asthma drug inhaler shown in FIGS. 15 and 16.
FIG. 10 is a front view of the asthma drug inhaler with a whistle according
to another embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 11 is an exploded front view
of the asthma drug inhaler with a whistle according to another embodiment of the
present invention, and FIG. 12 is an exploded plan view of the asthma drug inhaler
with a whistle according to another embodiment of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 10, the asthma drug inhaler with a whistle
14 according
to this embodiment of the present invention is composed of a mouthpiece
14a,
a main body
15, a whistle
16, and a support
17. Also, as shown
in FIG. 11, the mouthpiece
14a is designed to be detachable from
the main body
15 of the asthma drug inhaler with a whistle
14.
Hereinafter, the structure of the asthma drug inhaler with a whistle
14 will be described based on FIGS. 11 and 12 each showing the front view
and the plan view of the asthma drug inhaler with a whistle
14 in a state
where the mouthpiece
14a is detached from the main body
15.
As shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, the mouthpiece
14a of the asthma drug
inhaler with a whistle
14 according to this embodiment has a front surface
and a rear surface tapered toward an upper portion
14b to be held
in the mouth.
As shown in the plan view, the upper portion
14b has an approximately
rectangular shape. In the upper portion
14b with an approximately
rectangular shape, a spiral-shaped groove
14c for generating a spiral
flow is formed and a drug inlet
14 penetrating through it is formed at the
center of the groove
14c. In the asthma drug inhaler with a whistle
14 according to this embodiment, the cylindrical main body
15 is
supported by the support
17.
In the cylindrical main body
15, four air-intake apertures
15c
for taking air with an oblong shape are provided in the upper part of the outer
peripheral surface of a tube body
15a, and an air hole
15e
is provided in an engaging portion
15f attached to the lower
part of the tube body
15a. Although not shown, the engaging portion
15f is a part with which a cover is engaged when setting a cover
for covering the main body
15.
A partition lid
15h is attached to the upper part of the tube body
15a, and the upper end of the cylindrical inhaled drug tube
15b
provided inside the tube body
15a is protruded from the top of
the partition lid
15h. In addition, the upper end of a drug reservoir
tube
15g similarly provided inside the tube body
15a is
protruded from the top of the partition lid
15h, and a cap is fitted
to the upper end of the drug reservoir tube
15g so as to prevent
the leakage of the drug.
The whistle
16 is attached to one of the four air-intake apertures
15c
provided in the upper part of the outer peripheral surface of the main body
15. The whistle
16 is designed to be detachable, and it is possible
to attach the whistle
16 to any one of the four air-intake apertures
15c.
The structure of the whistle
16 is identical to that of the whistle
3
shown in FIG. 6. Note that the reference numeral
15d denotes a scale.
FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the state where the drug is inhaled by the use
of the asthma drug inhaler with a whistle according to another embodiment of the
present invention, and FIG. 14 is a diagram showing the flow inside the inhaler.
As shown in FIG. 13, when the patient him/herself inhales the asthma drug by the
use of the asthma drug inhaler with a whistle
14, first, the patient holds
the mouthpiece
14a in his/her mouth
18 and inhales air. The
reference numeral
19 denotes the air inhaled in the mouth.
When the patient takes the air with holding the mouthpiece
14a in
the mouth
18, the air
19a flows in through the air hole
15e
provided at the lower part of the main body
15, and further, the air
19b and
19c also flow in through the four air-intake
apertures
15c provided in the upper part of the tube body
15a
to correct the difference between the lung capacity in the inhalation and the
air flow rate in the delivery passage of the finely powdered drug so as to prevent
the breathing difficulty when taking air.
At this time, the air
19c taken through the air-intake aperture
15c with the whistle
16 attached thereto simultaneously flows
in the whistle
16. Thereafter, the air flows in the mouthpiece
14a
after passing through the whistle
16 and is delivered in the oral cavity
of the patient as the air
19.
FIG. 14 is a diagram showing the flow of the air and the drug inside the inhaler
when the drug is inhaled by using the asthma drug inhaler with a whistle according
to the present invention shown in FIG. 13. The patient inhales the air with holding
the mouthpiece
14a in the mouth.
Then, the air
19a flows in through the air hole
15e
provided at the lower part of the tube body
15a, and the air
19a passes the inhaled drug tube
15b and flows in the
mouthpiece
14a. At this time, the air
19a flown through
the air hole
15e into the inhaled drug tube
15b winds
up the finely powdered drug
19e in the inhaled drug tube
15b
and flows in the mouthpiece
14a together with the drug
19e.
At the same time with the inflow of the air
19a through the air
hole
15a, the air
19b is taken in through the four
air-intake apertures
15c provided in the upper parts of the outer
peripheral surface of the tube body
15a. Simultaneously, the air
19c flows also in the whistle
16 attached to the air-intake
aperture
15c. Therefore, when the air
19d flows out
from the whistle
16, the sound
19f like "beep" is emitted
by the vibration of the protrusion in the whistle
16.
The finely powdered drug
19e in the inhaled drug tube
15b
wound up by the air
19a flown in through the air hole
15e
flows in the mouthpiece
14a together with the air
19a
through the drug inlet
14d provided at the center of the mouthpiece
14a, and the drug
19e is dispersed by generating the
spiral flow from the spiral-shaped groove
14c and then is delivered
in the oral cavity.
The case where the whistle
16 is attached to one of the air-intake apertures
15c provided in the tube body
15a has been described
here. However, it is also possible to provide the whistle
16 to any of the
four air-intake apertures
15c and the number of the whistles attached
is not limited to one, and it is possible to provide several whistles.
In addition, since the position to which the whistle
16 is attached is
not limited if it is located on the air passage below the mouthpiece
14a,
the whistle can be attached to the air hole
15e not to the air-intake
aperture
15c.
As described above, the asthma drug inhaler with a whistle
14 shown in
FIGS. 10 to 14 according to another embodiment of the present invention is realized
by attaching a whistle to the asthma drug inhaler
20 shown in FIGS. 15 and
16. However, not only the asthma drug inhaler
20 but also the other inhalers
can be used to provide the asthma drug inhaler with a whistle if the inhalers have
a structure in which the air is taken in from the upper part and the lower part
of the main body located below the mouthpiece.
More specifically, if the inhaler has a structure in which the air is taken
in from the upper stream of the air passage, the inhaler can be used to provide
the asthma drug inhaler with a whistle by attaching a whistle to an air-intake
part such as the air-intake aperture.
The present invention has the structure as described above. So, the advantages
as follows can be accomplished. First, the asthma drug inhaler with a whistle according
to the present invention makes it possible to check whether or not the patient
him/herself can sufficiently inhale the drug owing to the sound emitted from the whistle.
Second, it is possible to explain how to handle the inhaler in an easily
understood manner for such patients as the children and the elderly, who cannot
handle the inhaler, by explaining that a sound is emitted when the drug is appropriately inhaled.
Third, since the whistle is designed to be detachable, the patient who gets
accustomed to handing the inhaler can use the inhaler without attaching the whistle.
Fourth, in the case of the inhaler having a structure in which openings for
air intake are provided in the mouthpiece and the air is taken in from the lower
stream of the air passage, the whistle can be attached to the opening, and in the
case of the inhaler having a structure in which air holes and air intake apertures
for taking air are provided in the parts of the main body below the mouthpiece
and the air is taken in from the upper stream of the air passage, the whistle can
be attached to the parts of the main body. Therefore, almost all types of the inhalers
for inhaling the drug by the patient him/herself can be used to provide the asthma
drug inhaler with a whistle.
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