INHALER ARTICLE HOLDER WITH ELECTROSTATIC DISCHARGE

Abstract

An inhaler article holder for an inhaler article including a housing defining a housing cavity and an outer surface and a sleeve positioned within the housing cavity. The sleeve is arranged to receive an inhaler article and the sleeve is movable within the housing cavity between a first position and a second position. A piercing element is arranged to pierce the inhaler article received within the sleeve when the sleeve is in the second position. The sleeve is electrically coupled to the housing to form a static electricity discharge circuit when the housing is electrically grounded.

Claims

1. An inhaler article holder comprising: a housing defining a housing cavity and an outer surface; a sleeve positioned within the housing cavity, wherein the sleeve is arranged to receive an inhaler article and the sleeve is movable within the housing cavity between a first position and a second position; and a piercing element arranged to pierce the inhaler article received within the sleeve when the sleeve is in the second position; wherein the sleeve is electrically coupled to the housing to form a static electricity discharge circuit when the housing is electrically grounded.

2. The inhaler article holder according to claim 1, further comprising a spring member contacting a portion of the sleeve, and the spring member electrically coupling the sleeve with the housing.

3. The inhaler article holder according to claim 1, wherein the piercing element electrically couples the sleeve with the housing.

4. The inhaler article holder according to claim 2, wherein the piercing element is disposed within the spring member.

5. The inhaler article holder according to claim 1, wherein the housing is formed of a metal.

6. The inhaler article holder according to claim 1, wherein the sleeve is formed of a polymer having a surface resistivity less than 1?10.sup.11 ohm/sq.

7. The inhaler article holder according to claim 1, wherein the sleeve comprises an airflow element configured to form swirling airflow, and the airflow element is electrically coupled to the housing.

8. The inhaler article holder according to claim 7, wherein the airflow element is formed of a polymer having a surface resistivity less than 1?10.sup.11 ohm/sq.

9. The inhaler article holder according to claim 8, wherein the sleeve extends from an open end to a closed end and defines a cylindrical lumen for receiving an inhaler article, the open end of the sleeve is aligned with an opening in the housing for receiving an inhaler article, the closed end of the sleeve comprises a sleeve bottom element substantially closing the sleeve at the closed end, and the airflow element is coupled to the sleeve bottom element, and the airflow element extends away from the sleeve bottom element and into the cylindrical lumen of the sleeve, and the airflow element is electrically coupled to the housing through the sleeve bottom element and spring member or piercing element.

10. The inhaler article holder according to claim 9, wherein the sleeve bottom element is formed of a polymer having a surface resistivity less than 1?10.sup.11 ohm/sq.

11. The inhaler article holder according to claim 2, further comprising an inner housing formed of a polymer having a surface resistivity less than 1?10.sup.11 ohm/sq, and the inner housing electrically couples the spring member to the housing.

12. The inhaler article holder according to claim 1, wherein the housing is grounded to a user contacting the outer surface of the housing.

13. The inhaler article holder according to claim 11, wherein the inner housing electrically couples the piercing element to the housing.

14. An inhaler system comprising, the inhaler article holder according to claim 1, and an inhaler article containing a capsule disposed within a capsule cavity of the inhaler article, the capsule containing pharmaceutically active particles comprising nicotine, the pharmaceutically active particles having a mass median aerodynamic diameter of about 5 micrometres or less.

15. The inhaler system according to claim 14, wherein the capsule further contains a second population of flavour particles having a mass median aerodynamic diameter of about 50 micrometres or greater.

16. The inhaler article holder according to claim 2, wherein the piercing element electrically couples the sleeve with the housing.

17. The inhaler article holder according to claim 7, wherein the sleeve is formed of a polymer having a surface resistivity less than 1?10.sup.10 ohm/sq.

18. The inhaler article holder according to claim 4, wherein the sleeve is formed of a polymer having a surface resistivity less than 1?10.sup.10 ohm/sq.

19. The inhaler article holder according to claim 18, further comprising an inner housing formed of a polymer having a surface resistivity less than 1?10.sup.10 ohm/sq, and the inner housing electrically couples the spring member to the housing.

20. An inhaler system comprising, the inhaler article holder according to claim 1, and an inhaler article containing a capsule disposed within a capsule cavity of the inhaler article, the capsule containing pharmaceutically active particles comprising nicotine, the pharmaceutically active particles having a mass median aerodynamic diameter in a range from about 0.5 micrometres to about 4 micrometres, and the capsule further containing a second population of flavour particles having a mass median aerodynamic diameter in a range from about 50 to about 200 micrometres.

Description

[0084] The Examples will now be further described with reference to the figures in which:

[0085] FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional diagram of an illustrative inhaler system;

[0086] FIG. 2 is perspective exploded view of an illustrative inhaler article holder;

[0087] FIG. 3A is a schematic cross-sectional diagram of an illustrative inhaler system where the inhaler article is received in the inhaler article holder and piercing the capsule in a second position;

[0088] FIG. 3B is a schematic cross-sectional diagram of the illustrative inhaler system of FIG. 3A where the piercing element is retracted from the capsule in a first position;

[0089] FIG. 4 is another schematic cross-sectional diagram of FIG. 3B illustrating the inhalation airflow path through the inhaler system;

[0090] FIG. 5 is a schematic circuit diagram of an illustrative inhaler article holder; and

[0091] FIG. 6 is another schematic circuit diagram of an illustrative inhaler article holder.

[0092] The schematic drawings are not necessarily to scale and are presented for purposes of illustration and not limitation. The drawings depict one or more aspects described in this disclosure. However, it will be understood that other aspects not depicted in the drawing fall within the scope and spirit of this disclosure.

[0093] FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional diagram of an illustrative inhaler system 10. FIG. 2 is perspective exploded view of an illustrative inhaler article holder 30. FIG. 3A is a schematic cross-sectional diagram of an illustrative inhaler system 10 where the inhaler article 20 is received in the inhaler article holder 30 and piercing the capsule 25 in a second or compressed position. FIG. 3B is a schematic cross-sectional diagram of the illustrative inhaler system 10 of FIG. 3A where the piercing element 50 is retracted from the capsule 25 in a first or relaxed position. FIG. 4 is another schematic cross-sectional diagram of FIG. 3B illustrating the inhalation airflow 150 path (arrows) through the inhaler system 10.

[0094] The inhaler article holder 30 is configured to receive a separate consumable inhaler article 20 and induce swirling inhalation airflow into and through an inhaler article 20 during consumption. The inhaler article holder 30 and an inhaler article 20 form an inhaler system 10. The inhaler article 20 remains in the inhaler article holder 30 during use by the consumer. The inhaler article holder 30 is configured to induce swirling inhalation airflow entering the received inhaler article 20.

[0095] The illustrative inhaler article 20 includes a body 22 extending from a mouthpiece end 21 to a distal end 23. A capsule cavity 24 is defined within the body 22. A capsule 25 is contained within the capsule cavity 24. Dry powder particles described above may be contained within the capsule 25. The capsule 25 may be pierced to form an aperture through the body of the capsule 25 and inhalation air may flow through the inhaler article 20 to release dry powder particles from the pierced capsule 25 and into the inhalation airflow and out of the mouthpiece end 21.

[0096] The inhaler article holder 30 includes a housing 32 defining a housing cavity defined by a housing inner surface 34, and an outer surface 35. A sleeve 40 is positioned within the housing cavity. The sleeve 40 is arranged to receive an inhaler article 20 and the sleeve 40 is movable within the housing cavity between a first position and a second position, along a longitudinal axis of the housing cavity.

[0097] A piercing element 50 is arranged to pierce the capsule 25 within the inhaler article 20 received within the sleeve 40 when the sleeve 40 is in the second position as illustrated in FIG. 3A. The sleeve 40 is electrically coupled to the housing 32 to form a static electricity discharge circuit when the housing 32 is electrically grounded, for example, when grasped by a user during inhalation.

[0098] The piercing element 50 may be configured to extend into the sleeve 40 along a longitudinal axis of the housing 32. The inhaler article holder 30 may include a spring member 60 configured to bias the sleeve 40 and any received inhaler article 20 away from the piercing element 50.

[0099] The sleeve 40 extends from an open end 42 to a closed end 44 (or restricted end) and defines a sleeve cavity 45 or cylindrical lumen 45 along a longitudinal axis of the sleeve 40. The open end 42 of the sleeve aligns with the single housing opening 36.

[0100] The sleeve closed end 44 includes an airflow element 46 and an aperture to allow the piercing element to pass through the closed end 44 and extend into the sleeve cavity 45. The airflow element 46 includes one or more inhalation air inlets 47 that provide airflow communication from the annular space around the sleeve 40 into the sleeve cylindrical lumen 45. This airflow element 46 is configured to induce rotating or swirling inhalation airflow into the sleeve cylindrical lumen 45 and directly into the inhaler article capsule cavity 24. This swirling or rotational inhalation airflow may be transmitted into an inhaler article 20 to rotate a capsule 25 and release dry powder contained within the capsule 25.

[0101] The airflow element 46 of the sleeve 40 includes a tubular element having a central passage in fluid communication with the sleeve cavity 45. The airflow element 46 has at least one air inlet 47 allowing inhalation air 150 to enter into the central passage. The at least one air inlet 47 extends in a direction that is tangential to the central passage to generate the swirling or rotational inhalation airflow.

[0102] The sleeve 40 includes a tubular element that may extend into the sleeve cavity 45 about 5 mm and have an outer diameter of about 5.5 mm and an inner diameter of about 4 mm. The received inhaler article 20 open distal end 23 may have an inner diameter of about 5.5 mm to provide an interference fit with the airflow element 46 tubular element.

[0103] The sleeve closed end 44 may further include a sleeve bottom element 48 substantially forming the closed end of the sleeve 40. The sleeve bottom element 48 may be fixed and contact the airflow element 46. The sleeve bottom element 48 may extend away from the airflow element 46 a distance along the sleeve longitudinal axis and toward the closed end of the housing cavity. The sleeve bottom element 48 may have an aperture that contains the piercing element 50 and allows the piercing element 50 to pass through the sleeve bottom element 48 aperture.

[0104] An inner housing 70 may be contained within the housing cavity. The inner housing 70 may separate at least a portion of the sleeve 40 from the inner surface of the housing cavity. The inner housing 70 may separate a fixed end of the piercing element 50 from the inner surface of the housing cavity. The inner housing 70 may separate the spring member 60 from the inner surface of the housing cavity.

[0105] An annular cover 38 may secure the inner housing 70 and sleeve 40 into the housing cavity. The annular cover 38 defines the single housing opening 36 for receiving the inhaler article 20. The annular cover 38 may be fixed to the housing 32 with a pin element 39.

[0106] FIG. 4 illustrates the inhalation airflow 150 path through the inhaler system 10. Inhalation airflow 150 enters the inhaler article holder 30 along the outer surface of the received inhaler article 20 and the annular cover 38. Once inside the housing cavity, the inhalation air 150 travels along the sleeve 40 length to the closed end 44 of the sleeve 40. The inhalation air 150 then enters the air inlet 47 of the airflow element 46 and forms swirling or rotating inhalation airflow 150 within the sleeve lumen 45. This swirling or rotating inhalation air is then directly transmitted into the distal end 23 of the inhaler article 20 and into the capsule cavity 24. The swirling inhalation airflow rotates or agitates the capsule 25 and dry powder particles are entrained in the inhalation airflow. The entrained inhalation airflow then flows out of the inhaler article via the mouthpiece end 21 and to the user 100. The inhalation airflow 150 path is illustrated in FIG. 4 with arrows.

[0107] FIG. 5 is a schematic circuit diagram of an illustrative inhaler article holder. FIG. 6 is another schematic circuit diagram of an illustrative inhaler article holder.

[0108] In FIG. 5 the circuit includes the sleeve or airflow element 46 is electrically coupled to the housing 32 and the housing 32 is grounded via a user 100 contacting the housing 32. Electrostatic forces e; conduct through the sleeve or airflow element 46 to the housing and then to ground, effectively minimizing electrostatic forces e.sup.? on the surface of the sleeve or airflow element 46.

[0109] In FIG. 6 the circuit includes the airflow element 46 is electrically coupled to the housing 32 and the housing 32 is grounded via a user 100 contacting the housing 32. Electrostatic forces e conduct through the airflow element 46 to a sleeve bottom element 48 then to a spring member 60 or piercing element 50 and then to the inner housing 70 and then to the housing 32 and then to ground, effectively minimizing electrostatic forces e.sup.? on the surface of the airflow element 46.

[0110] For the purpose of the present description and of the appended claims, except where otherwise indicated, all numbers expressing amounts, quantities, percentages, and so forth, are to be understood as being modified in all instances by the term about. Also, all ranges include the maximum and minimum points disclosed and include any intermediate ranges therein, which may or may not be specifically enumerated herein. In this context, therefore, a number A is understood as A ?2% of A. Within this context, a number A may be considered to include numerical values that are within general standard error for the measurement of the property that the number A modifies. The number A, in some instances as used in the appended claims, may deviate by the percentages enumerated above provided that the amount by which A deviates does not materially affect the basic and novel characteristic(s) of the claimed invention. Also, all ranges include the maximum and minimum points disclosed and include any intermediate ranges therein, which may or may not be specifically enumerated herein.