Medicament dispenser

Abstract

An inhalation device having at least one elongate medicament carrier including, but not limited to, a pair of sheets sealed together and a plurality of medicament powder doses positioned at spaced-apart locations between said sealed sheets, an outlet for a user to inhale from, and a mechanism for stepwise advancement of the at least one elongate medicament carrier.

We claim: 
     
         1 . An inhalation device comprising:
 at least one elongate medicament carrier which comprises a pair of sheets sealed together and a plurality of medicament powder doses positioned at spaced-apart locations between said sealed sheets,   an outlet for a user to inhale from, and   a mechanism for stepwise advancement of the at least one elongate medicament carrier;   wherein said mechanism comprises a separator for separating the sheets of the at least one elongate medicament carrier to reveal the medicament powder doses for presentation to the outlet;   wherein the at least one elongate medicament carrier is configured as an endless loop and stays so configured throughout operation of the inhalation device;   wherein the separator is disposed between the sheets of the at least one elongate medicament carrier to cause the sheets to separate as the at least one elongate medicament carrier advances; and   wherein in use the sheets are rejoined after passing the separator.   
     
     
         2 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the device includes two of said elongate medicament carriers. 
     
     
         3 . The device of  claim 2 , wherein the mechanism comprises a separator for each elongate medicament carrier. 
     
     
         4 . The device of  claim 2 , wherein the mechanism is adapted on each actuation thereof to present to the outlet a medicament powder dose of each carrier. 
     
     
         5 . The device of  claim 3 , wherein the mechanism is adapted on each actuation thereof to present to the outlet a medicament powder dose of each carrier. 
     
     
         6 . The device according to  claim 1 , wherein said medicament powder doses of said at least one medicament carrier comprises a single active medicament component. 
     
     
         7 . The device according to  claim 6 , wherein said single active medicament component is selected from the group consisting of anti-inflammatories, bronchodilators, and anti-cholinergics. 
     
     
         8 . The device according to  claim 7 , wherein the anti-inflammatory is a fluticasone ester. 
     
     
         9 . The device according to  claim 7 , wherein the active medicament component is an anti-cholinergic. 
     
     
         10 . The device according to  claim 2 , wherein each medicament dose portion of a first one of two medicament carriers comprises a bronchodilator as the active medicament component and each medicament dose portion of the other medicament carrier comprises an anti-inflammatory as the active medicament component. 
     
     
         11 . The device according to  claim 10 , wherein said bronchodilator is a beta-agonist and said anti-inflammatory is a steroid. 
     
     
         12 . The device according to  claim 1 , wherein each medicament dose portion or at least one medicament dose portion of at least one medicament carrier comprises plural active medicament components.