Claims for Patent: 8,161,968

Summary for Patent: 8,161,968

Title:	Medicament dispenser
Abstract:	There is provided a medicament dispenser for containing plural elongate form medicament carriers, each having multiple distinct medicament dose portions carried thereby, the dispenser having a housing of generally non-circular form, and within said housing a dispensing mechanism for dispensing the distinct medicament dose portions carried by each of said plural medicament carriers. The mechanism comprises at least one receiving station for receiving each of the plural medicament carriers; a release for releasing in combination a distinct medicament dose portion from each of the plural medicament carriers on receipt thereof by said receiving station; an outlet, positioned to be in communication with the distinct medicament dose portions releasable by said release; and at least one indexer for individually indexing the distinct medicament dose portions of each of the plural medicament carriers. The dispenser contains plural elongate form medicament carriers, each having multiple distinct dose portions carried thereby. At least one of said medicament carriers has the form of a continuous loop.
Inventor(s):	Augustyn; Stephen (Milton Keynes, GB), Davies; Michael Birsha (Ware, GB), Harvey; Stephen James (Ware, GB), Rand; Paul Kenneth (Ware, GB)
Assignee:	Glaxo Group Limited (Greenford, Middlesex, GB)
Application Number:	10/565,515
Patent Litigation and PTAB cases:	See patent lawsuits and PTAB cases for patent 8,161,968
Patent Claims:	1. A medicament dispenser for containing plural elongate form medicament carriers, each medicament carrier having multiple distinct medicament dose portions carried thereby, said dispenser having a housing, and within said housing a dispensing mechanism for dispensing the distinct medicament dose portions carried by each of said plural medicament carriers, said mechanism comprising, a) at least one receiving station for receiving each of the plural medicament carriers; b) a release for releasing in combination a distinct medicament dose portion from each of the plural medicament carriers on receipt thereof by said receiving station; c) an outlet, positioned to be in communication with the distinct medicament dose portions releasable by said release; and d) at least one indexer for individually indexing the distinct medicament dose portions of each of the plural medicament carriers, wherein said dispenser further comprises a movable cover for the outlet, wherein the cover: is movable from an at rest position, in which the cover covers the outlet, to a primed position and then an actuated position to uncover the outlet, and couples to the dispensing mechanism such that: movement of said cover from the primed position to the actuated position actuates one or more components of the dispensing mechanism, and movement of said cover from the at rest position to the primed position does not actuate said one or more components of the dispensing mechanism. 2. A medicament dispenser according to claim 1, wherein the movable cover couples to said release and said at least one indexer for actuation thereof. 3. A medicament dispenser according to claim 1, wherein said movable cover is coupled to the dispensing mechanism by gearing. 4. A medicament dispenser according to claim 1, further comprising a track along which the movable cover is movable from the at rest position, to the primed position and then to the actuated position. 5. A medicament dispenser according to claim 4, wherein the track is on the housing. 6. A medicament dispenser according to claim 1, wherein the movable cover is mounted to the housing for arcuate movement relative thereto from the at rest position, to the primed position and then to the actuated position. 7. A medicament dispenser according to claim 1, wherein the at least one indexer is comprised of an index wheel for each medicament carrier. 8. A medicament dispenser according to claim 1, wherein the release is comprised of a take-up spindle for each medicament carrier. 9. A medicament dispenser according to claim 1 for containing plural blister strip form medicament carriers, each medicament carrier having multiple distinct pockets for containing medicament dose portions, wherein said pockets are spaced along the length of and defined between two peelable sheets secured to each other, said dispensing mechanism comprising, a) an opening station for receiving a pocket of each of said medicament carriers; and b) at least one peeler positioned to engage a base sheet and a lid sheet of a pocket which has been received in said opening station for peeling apart such a base sheet and lid sheet, to open such a pocket; and wherein the outlet is positioned to be in communication with an opened pocket and through which a user can access a medicament dose portion from such an opened pocket; and the at least one indexer is for individually indexing the distinct pockets of each of the plural medicament carriers. 10. A medicament dispenser according to claim 9, wherein for each blister strip the dispensing mechanism comprises a lid take-up spindle for winding up the used lid sheet of the blister strip thereon and an index wheel for indexing the blister strips and wherein the movable cover is coupled to the dispensing mechanism such that movement of the movable cover from the at rest position to the primed position does not result in any rotation of the lid takeup spindles and index wheels, but further movement of the movable cover to the actuated position results in sufficient rotation of the lid take-up spindles and index wheels to advance each blister strip by one pocket distance and the leading pocket thereof to be peeled open and brought into communication with the outlet. 11. A medicament dispenser according to claim 1 containing the plural elongate form medicament carriers. 12. A medicament dispenser according to claim 11, wherein the dose portions of each medicament carrier are in powder form. 13. A medicament dispenser according to claim 1 which is an inhalation device with the outlet in the form of a mouthpiece. 14. A medicament dispenser for containing plural elongate blister strip form medicament carriers, each medicament carrier having multiple distinct medicament dose portions carried in multiple distinct pockets which are spaced along the length of and defined between peelable base and lid sheets secured to each other, said dispenser having a housing, and within said housing a dispensing mechanism for dispensing the distinct medicament dose portions carried by each of said plural medicament carriers, said mechanism comprising, at least one receiving station for receiving each of the plural medicament carriers; an opening station for receiving a pocket of each of said medicament carriers; a release for releasing in combination a distinct medicament dose portion from each of the plural medicament carriers on receipt thereof by said receiving station, comprising: at least one peeler positioned to engage a base sheet and a lid sheet of a pocket which has been received in said opening station for peeling apart such a base sheet and lid sheet, to open such a pocket; a lid take-up spindle for each medicament carrier for winding up the lid sheet thereon; an outlet, positioned to be in communication with the distinct medicament dose portions releasable by said release and through which a user can access a medicament dose portion from an opened pocket; and an index wheel for each medicament carrier for individually indexing the distinct pockets of each of the plural medicament carriers; wherein said dispenser further comprises a movable cover that couples to the dispensing mechanism and that is movable from an at rest position, in which the cover covers the outlet, to a primed position and then an actuated position to uncover the outlet, and movement of the movable cover is coupled to the index wheels and lid take-up spindles by gearing that is arranged such that movement of the cover from the at rest position to the primed position does not result in any rotation of the index wheels and lid take-up spindles, but further movement of the cover to the actuated position results in sufficient rotation of the index wheels and lid take-up spindles to advance each medicament carrier by one pocket distance. 15. A medicament dispenser according to claim 14, wherein the dose portions of each medicament carrier are in powder form. 16. A medicament dispenser according to claim 14 which is an inhalation device with the outlet in the form of a mouthpiece.