Dosing device for administering metered amounts of powdered medicaments

Abstract

A powder dispenser assembly includes a container for holding a supply of powdered material, the container including a conduit extending therethrough; a metering plate rotatably mounted with respect to the container beneath the supply of powdered material for supplying the powdered material to the conduit, the metering plate including perforated areas therein, each adapted to hold one metered amount of the powdered material, and a first set of ratchet teeth; a blade assembly for scraping the powdered material into the perforated areas, the blade assembly being positioned between the supply of powdered material and the metering plate; a mouthpiece for enabling inhalation of the metered amount of powdered material from one selected perforated area through the conduit; a base rotatably mounted with the container; a spring plate for biasing the metering plate into biased contact with the blade assembly, the spring plate being non-rotatably mounted in the base and including a second set of ratchet teeth for engaging the first set of ratchet teeth to provide engagement between the spring plate and the metering plate such that rotation of the bas relative to the container causes rotation of the metering plate relative to the container, and spring fingers for biasing the second set of ratchet teeth into engagement with the first set of ratchet teeth and for biasing the metering plate into engagement with the blade assembly; and a rotation limiting mechanism for limiting rotation of the base relative to the container to an incremental angle of rotation.