Double activation prevention

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12370330-B2
Application number	US-202017774219-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 2, 2020
Priority date	Nov 8, 2019
Publication date	Jul 29, 2025
Grant date	Jul 29, 2025

Abstract

A holder for an inhaler article that includes a sleeve positioned within a housing cavity, a piercing element, and a lockout mechanism. The sleeve comprises a sleeve cavity arranged to receive the inhaler article. The sleeve is movable within the housing cavity between a first and second position. The piercing element is arranged to pierce the inhaler article received within the sleeve when the sleeve is moved from the first position to the second position. The lockout mechanism comprises a guide, a follower member coupled to the sleeve, and a retaining section. The follower member is arranged to move along the guide into the retaining section as the sleeve moves from the second position and back to the first position. The retaining section is arranged to hold the follower member when the sleeve has returned back to the first position, thus retaining the sleeve in the first position.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A holder for an inhaler article, the holder comprising:
a sleeve positioned within a housing cavity, wherein the sleeve comprises a sleeve cavity arranged to receive the inhaler article and the sleeve is movable within the housing cavity between a first position and a second position;
a piercing element arranged to pierce the inhaler article received within the sleeve when the sleeve is moved from the first position to the second position; and
a lockout mechanism comprising a guide, a follower member coupled with the sleeve, and a retaining section;
wherein the follower member is arranged to move along the guide into the retaining section as the sleeve moves from the second position and back to the first position; and
wherein the retaining section is arranged to hold the follower member when the sleeve has returned back to the first position, thus retaining the sleeve in the first position, and the follower member is arranged to be in a neutral position in which the follower member does not interface with the guide when the inhaler article is not within the sleeve cavity.

2. The holder according to claim 1 wherein the follower member is movable relative to the sleeve, and the follower member is arranged to interface with the inhaler article when the inhaler article is inserted into the sleeve cavity so that the inhaler article moves the follower member out of the neutral position and into contact with the guide.

3. The holder according to claim 1 wherein the follower member extends within the sleeve cavity in the neutral position.

4. The holder according to claim 3 wherein the follower member is flexible so that the follower member deflects outwardly away from a longitudinal axis of the sleeve into contact with the guide when the inhaler article is received in the sleeve cavity.

5. The holder according to claim 1 wherein the follower member is biased towards the neutral position so that the follower member moves out of contact with the guide, or the retaining section when the inhaler article is removed from the sleeve.

6. The holder according to claim 1 wherein the guide is arranged to move the follower member in a first lateral direction away from an initial lateral orientation as the sleeve moves from the first position to the second position.

7. The holder according to claim 6 wherein the follower member is biased towards the initial lateral orientation; and
wherein the guide is shaped so that the follower member returns to the initial lateral orientation when the sleeve is in the second position.

8. The holder according to claim 7 wherein the follower member and the guide are arranged to emit an audible sound when the follower member returns to the initial lateral orientation.

9. The holder according to claim 6 wherein the guide is arranged to move the follower member in a second lateral direction by the guide as the sleeve moves from the second position to return to the first position.

10. The holder according to claim 1 wherein the retaining section is shaped to hold the follower member within the retaining section to resist movement of the sleeve when the follower member reaches the retaining section.

11. The holder according to claim 1 wherein the follower member is an elongate member coupled with the sleeve.

12. The holder according to claim 11 wherein the elongate member is integrally formed with the sleeve.

13. The holder according to claim 1 wherein the guide comprises a protrusion.

14. The holder according to claim 1 wherein the guide comprises a channel.

Assignees

• Philip Morris Products Sa

Inventors

• Blättler Olivier
• Dayioglu Onur
• Stohr Dominique Paul Gabriel
• Crook Benjamin
• Loser Peter
• Meylan Grégoire

Classifications

• A61M2205/273

  preventing reuse, e.g. of disposables · CPC title

• A61M2202/064

  Powder · CPC title

• A61M15/0035

  Piercing means · CPC title

• A61M2205/581

  by audible feedback · CPC title

• A61M15/0023

  retractable · CPC title