How Does an Advair Dispenser Work?

by Marsh in Workshop > Science

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How Does an Advair Dispenser Work?

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Did you ever wonder how an Advair Discus dispenser works? I did. Here's what I found.

Remove the Outer Cover

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 Peel the labels off to expose the center axle.
This whole thing just snaps together and will just as easily unsnap to come apart.
Pry the outer case away from the inner carrier and it will pop off.
Once free, the inner carrier easily slides out.

Open the Inner Carrier

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 This is the meat of the device. It's all snap together pieces though so it comes apart easily.
First, pop off the mouthpiece.
Then work your way around the edge to free the 3 snaps. Finally, there are 2 more snaps under the mouthpiece and the top will pop right off.

Examining the Inside.

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 Now that the unit is open, We find that the medicine was contained within dimples along a strip of foil in much the same way as caps from an old cap gun held a small powder charge. One side of the device peels a foil cover from the dimples to expose each next dose of medicine. This happens every time you depress the cocking lever.
These rolls slide easily off their capstans.

In to the Gears

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 This is a pretty ingenious device.
It has a counter to let you know how many of the 60 doses remain and clutches so if you fail to fully cock it, the next attempt completes the action instead of wasting a dose.
Now all I need to do is figure out what to build into it.