Inhaler

This invention relates to an inhaler having a novel construction.

A variety of inhalers which are so designed that chemical vapors together with steam are jetted to maintain one's health or to cure the throat are known in the art. However, these conventional inhalers are disadvantageous in the following point. Since the vapor feeding sleeve for guiding a stream of mixed chemical vapors is set at a fixed angle, the user must set himself so as to be in agreement with the angle of the vapor feeding sleeve thereby to introduce the stream of vapors to his throat. Thus, his posture is not natural in using the inhaler.

On the other hand, in producing a chemical vapor with an ordinary inhaler, a chemical is sucked into a stream of steam jetted by a vapor producing unit. The inhaler has a chemical container and a condensed water container in addition to the vapor producing unit.

However, the conventional inhaler suffers from the following difficulty: Since no protective means is provided for the chemical container or a chemical sucking nozzle inserted into the chemical container, steam deposited on the chemical sucking nozzle flows down into the chemical container, to dilute the chemical in the chemical container.

The present invention is intended to overcome the above-described drawbacks accompanying a conventional inhaler, by providing an inhaler as described below.

An object of the invention is to provide an inhaler which is so designed that its vapor feeding sleeve is set out of the cover only when the inhaler is used, and it is set in the cover when it is not in use.

Another object of the invention is to provide an inhaler which is so designed that the vapor feeding sleeve can be tilted at a desired angle in using the inhaler.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a nozzle mechanism for an inhaler which is so designed as to protect a chemical from being diluted by water condensed from jetted steam.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an inhaler according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of an inhaler body and its cover, with a part of the cover sectioned;

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the inhaler shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the inhaler from which the cover has been removed; and

FIG. 5 is a side view of the essential components of the inhaler shown in FIG. 4.

One embodiment of this invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. An inhaler according to the invention comprises: a vapor producing unit body 1 an inner construction of which will be described in detail later; and a cover 3 having a rotatable vapor feeding sleeve 2 adapted to feed a mixed chemical vapor, in combination. It is preferable that the cover 3 be made of plastic. The vapor producing unit body 1 has a housing 11 on which a vapor producing unit 12 and a chemical container 56 are provided. The vapor producing unit 12 an inner mechanism of which is well known in the art is provided with a vapor jetting nozzle 14 and a chemical sucking nozzle 15. The cover 3 is detachably fitted in the upper opening of the vapor producing unit body 1. A nozzle path opening 31 is formed in the front portion of the cover 3. The mixed chemical vapor feeding sleeve 2 is pivotably mounted in the opening 31 in such a manner that it can be tilted at a desired angle. The sleeve 2 is substantially in the form of a tapered cylinder the diameter of which is gradually reduced towards the outer end. Locking grooves 21 and a locking groove 22 which is used when the nozzle is turned in an opposite direction are formed radially in each side wall of the sleeve 2 is near the sleeve base, in such a manner that a selected one of the grooves is engaged with a locking strip 32 which is protruded from each side inner wall of the cover 3. It is desirable that the locking strip 32 be protruded from the inner wall of the cover 3 to the extent that the height of protrusion of the locking strip 32 will not obstruct the rotation of the vapor feeding sleeve 2, for instance to 0.5 to 1 mm. Since each locking strip 32 is formed on a wall extending downwardly from the inner side wall of the cover 3 made of synthetic resin, the locking strip 32 is firmly engaged with the selected groove 21 or 22 formed in the side wall of the sleeve 2.

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the angle of inclination of the vapor feeding sleeve 2 can be changed. Therefore, the user can set the vapor feeding sleeve at a suitable angle so that the vapor is naturally applied to the throat of the user who sits on the chair, in advance. Accordingly, even if he uses the inhaler for a long time, he will never become fatigued because his posture is natural in using the inhaler. After the inhaler has been used, the sleeve 2 is turned in the direction of the arrow a in FIG. 1 until the locking groove 22 is engaged with locking strip 32, so that the sleeve 2 is stably held in the cover 3. Therefore, the vapor feeding sleeve 2 for applying the mixing chemical vapor to the throat can be held sanitarily.

A preferred construction of an inner mechanism of the vapor producing unit body 1 will now be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. In FIGS. 4 and 5, the vapor jetting nozzle 14 communicates through its base with a vapor producing unit 12 and the top end of the chemical sucking nozzle 15 is confronted with the top end of the vapor jetting nozzle 14 by means of an arm plate 44. A water bypassing flange 45 is secured to the base of the chemical sucking nozzle 15. The flange 45 extends radially from the base of the nozzle 15 to a suitable dimension. Further, in FIG. 5, reference numeral 55 designates a tube of rubber or the like one end of which is coupled to the lower end portion of the chemical sucking nozzle 15, with the other end inserted into a chemical container 56; and 57, a container into which condensed water drops.

As described above, the water bypassing flange 45 is provided integral with the base of the chemical sucking nozzle 15 according to the invention. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, water reduced from the steam in the inhaler, which otherwise would flow down the sucking nozzle 15 into the chemical container 56, is directed towards the reduced water receiving container 57 by the water bypassing flange 45 in association with a deflector 49. Thus, the chemical in the chemical container 56 will never be diluted by the condensed water.

Only one preferred embodiment of the invention has been described. It is apparent that various modifications are possible within the scope of the accompanying claims.