Work Experience
Vectura powder inhaler
2012
Vectura is an independent developer of powder inhalers.
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They specialise in design and manufacture of generic versions of existing proprietary inhalers. This is a delicate balance between producing an innovative and cost effective solution that does not violate existing patents and producing a design that is sufficiently similar as make regulatory approval easier.
This project was a fully mechanical inhaler. The lever mechanism advances the reel of blisters, and punches it to allow the medicine to be inhaled through the mouthpiece
The particular challenges of this project was design improvement to achieve robust performance. Powdered medicine is usually made mostly of lactose which is a sugar. This causes problems with all the sliding surfaces within gears and cams.. This was overcome with material selection and sealed edges among other solutions.
Another challenge was the management of the two reels of blister tape that sit inside the device. One reel for unused blisters and one reel for used blisters. With each dose, a blister is punched and is advanced onto the used reel. There must be a careful design of the divider component between the two reels which manages the coiling of the reel and must shift as the used reel grows.
the inhaler mechanism
1. In the closed position, the rotating cover protects the mouthpiece and gear lever
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2. The cover is rotated open revealing the mouthpiece and lever
(3a. Here the device is shown without mouthpiece so show the connection of the lever to the gear mechanism and spindle.)
3. The first half of the travel of the lever rotates the spindle which advances the reel of blisters by one dose.
4. The end of the lever travel draws down the mouthpiece via the L-shaped cam. This action punctures the blister pack and releases the powder.
5. When the cover is rotated back to the closed position a second cam will drive the lever back to the top ready for next dose
6. End