Claims for Patent: 10,792,447

Summary for Patent: 10,792,447

Title:	Breath actuated inhaler
Abstract:	A breath actuated metered dose inhaler may include a canister fire system configured to fire a medicament containing canister in response to patient inhalation. The canister fire system may include a pneumatic force holding unit and having a rest configuration in which a metering valve of the canister is in a refill configuration; a prepared configuration in which a canister actuation force is retained by the pneumatic force holding unit and the canister fire system is actuatable by patient inhalation induced airflow; and a fire configuration in which the metering valve is in a dose delivery position. When in the prepared configuration, the force retained by the so pneumatic force holding unit may be reduced by less than about 6% over a period of 5 minutes, preferably less than about 3% over a period of 5 minutes.
Inventor(s):	Walsh; Declan (Waterford, IE), Prendergast; Paul (Waterford, IE), Buck; Daniel (Waterford, IE), Kent; Trevor (Waterford, IE), Thompson; Niall (Waterford, IE)
Assignee:	NORTON (WATERFORD) LIMITED (Waterford, IE)
Application Number:	16/258,330
Patent Claims:	1. A breath actuated metered dose inhaler comprising: a canister fire system configured to provide a canister actuation force to fire a medicament containing canister in response to patient inhalation, the canister fire system comprising a pneumatic force holding unit and having: a rest configuration in which a metering valve of the canister is in a refill configuration; a prepared configuration in which a canister actuation force is retained by a difference in pressure between an enclosed volume within the pneumatic force holding unit and atmospheric pressure, and in which prepared configuration the canister fire system is actuatable by patient inhalation induced airflow; and a fire configuration in which the metering valve is in a dose delivery position; wherein, in the prepared configuration, the force retained by the pneumatic force holding unit reduces but by less than about 6% over a period of 5 minutes. 2. The breath actuated metered dose inhaler of claim 1, wherein, when in the prepared configuration, the force retained by the pneumatic force holding unit reduces by less than about 3% over a period of 5 minutes. 3. The breath actuated metered dose inhaler of claim 1, further comprising at least one of: a valve port for the pneumatic force holding unit, the valve port comprising an annular boss defining a valve orifice channel and two or more radially outwardly extending projections defining a path through which polymer passes to form the annular boss during injection molding, wherein the two or more radially outwardly extending projections are substantially uniformly circumferentially separated and the annular boss has a longitudinal axis which passes through the valve orifice channel, and wherein the at least two radially outwardly extending projections and the valve orifice channel lie in a common plane coincident with the longitudinal axis; a flap valve comprising a chassis for pivotal mounting within the inhaler, a valve port seal mounted on the chassis configured to selectively engage the valve port in a sealing relation, and a vane for moving the valve port seal away from the valve port in response to inhalation induced airflow; and a diaphragm comprising a rigid disk portion and a flexible membrane, wherein the valve port is unitarily formed with the rigid disk portion. 4. The breath actuated metered dose inhaler according to claim 1 comprising a medicament for use in the treatment of a respiratory disease. 5. The breath actuated inhaler according to claim 4 wherein the respiratory disease is selected from COPD and asthma. 6. The breath actuated inhaler according to claim 5 wherein the medicament is selected from the group consisting of an anticholinergic and a corticosteroid. 7. The breath actuated inhaler according to claim 6, wherein the anticholinergic comprises tiotropium. 8. The breath actuated inhaler according to claim 6, wherein the corticosteroid comprises beclomethasone dipropionate. 9. The breath actuated inhaler of claim 1 wherein the pneumatic force holding unit comprises a valve port comprising a valve seal surface configured to be sealably engaged by a movable valve seal, wherein the valve seal surface has a surface roughness average (RA) of less than about 0.15 um. 10. A breath actuated metered dose inhaler comprising: a canister fire system configured to provide a canister actuation force to fire a medicament containing canister in response to patient inhalation, the canister fire system comprising a pneumatic force holding unit and having: a rest configuration in which a metering valve of the canister is in a refill configuration; a prepared configuration in which a canister actuation force is retained by a difference in pressure between an enclosed volume within the pneumatic force holding unit and atmospheric pressure, and in which prepared configuration the canister fire system is actuatable by patient inhalation induced airflow; and a fire configuration in which the metering valve is in a dose delivery position; wherein, in the prepared configuration, the force retained by the pneumatic force holding unit reduces but by less than about 6% over a period of 5 minutes and wherein the pneumatic force holding unit further comprises a valve port comprising a relatively rigid valve seal surface configured to be sealably engaged by an elastomeric valve seal, wherein the relatively rigid valve seal surface has a surface roughness average (RA) of less than about 0.15 .mu.m.