Signals and indicators – Indicators – Operator movable
Reexamination Certificate
2003-04-08
2004-09-14
Fulton, Christopher W. (Department: 2859)
Signals and indicators
Indicators
Operator movable
C116S315000, C116S316000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06789497
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to bottle tops, and, more particularly, is concerned with an indicator to be placed on pill bottle tops which shows the number of pills that are to be taken on a given day.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Indicators have been described in the prior art. However, none of the prior art devices disclose the unique features of the present.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,975,010, dated Nov. 2, 1999, Marshall disclosed indicators and methods of indicating which are intended primarily for use with medicine containers. The devices typically indicate the number of doses of medication ingested or remaining to be taken by a patient during a particular period. These devices additionally provide tactile assistance to patients in appropriately repositioning the indicator arms and, when used correctly, may reduce the possibility of patient overdose by restricting improper attempts to advance the indicator arm.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,579,224, dated Apr. 1, 1986, Heavener disclosed a container for game board pieces and other equipment, such as dice and cards, which has a carrying and storing handle, and is provided with a partially open area on one side thereof. A flat member is fastened by hinges to the container and folds forward to at least partially close the open area of the container. There is enough space between this hinged flat member and the container so that the game board will fit between these two parts. The game board is held in place as a result of pins extending from the container through the game board and making frictional engagement with the holes in the flat, hinged member. The flat, hinged member may alternatively be held in assembly with the game board by straps, and either the pins or straps may be employed to hold the flat, hinged member over the open area of the container when it is desired to store the game pieces without securing the container to the game board. The handle may have a slight central recess for convenience in mounting a number of the units on a pegboard or the like.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,489,834, dated Dec. 25, 1984, Thackrey disclosed a medicine bottle and cap, the cap containing a window through which one of several index marks, preferably serial numbers, is visible. The index marks are on a member nesting inside the cap and equipped with spring fingers set at an angle on a skirt. During opening of the bottle, this marked member is prevented from rotating as the cap is unscrewed, thus indexing the index marks. During closing, frictional forces cause all parts to rotate together.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,753,189, dated Jun. 28, 1988, Mastman, et al, disclosed a medicine bottle unit having a closure for indicating dosage and other information which changes automatically as the closure is rotated on the bottle of the unit. The closure includes an outer cap and an inner member within the cap. The cap and inner member have cooperable indicia thereon. The inner member moves with the cap as the cap is rotated in one direction on the bottle. However, the cap moves relative to the bottle and the inner member when the cap is rotated in the opposite direction on the bottle, thus assuring a change in the information represented by the indicia on the cap and the indicator on the inner member, or by indicia on the inner member visible through a hole in the cap. Several embodiments of medicine bottle unit are disclosed.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,432,300, dated Feb. 21, 1984, Lyss disclosed a pill dispenser having a rotatable cap with special opening means for dispensing a pill at the proper time for medication. The dispenser comprises a housing having openings corresponding to each time for medication in a repetitive cycle such as in a day or week. A rotatable indicator cap or lid has means cooperating with the housing to provide by a detent means stagewise movement and in a modification ratchet means for one way rotation. An opening in the cap is provided for view of indicia means on the top of the housing with a selected time for taking indicia. When the time for taking the pill arrives, the cap is rotated to present a dispensing opening in registry with one of the housing openings for dispensing a pill. The indicator cap and a bottom fill cap may be press fitted on the bottle housing for simple fabrication and refilling the contents.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,528,933, dated Jul. 16, 1985, Allen disclosed a container for pharmaceuticals and the like which has a caplike closure incorporating an indicator disk which is automatically indexed into successive indicating positions each time the container is used by removal and replacement of the closure. The container also has a manually operable rotary reminder wheel on its base. The disk may be used to indicate days of the week and the wheel to indicate hours of the day.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,405,045, dated Sep. 20, 1983, Villa-Real disclosed a color-coded, two-component medicament container comprising a cap means with variously pre-set structural interval spacings between each pair of preformed window system to differentiate a fixed three-hour time interval cap from a four-hour interval cap, a six-hour time interval cap, an 8-hour time interval cap and from a unitary pre-formed window for a 12 or 24-hour time interval cap; each kind of cap to be specifically used according to the prescribed frequency of drug administration such as every 3-hour frequency, every 4-hour frequency, every 6-hour frequency, every 8-hour frequency and every 12 or 24-hour frequency, respectively, as coordinated in a snug-fitting but clockwisely rotatable engagement with a complementarily shaped cylindrical medicament container having clock-like numeral indicia ranging from 1 to 12 and equidistantly arranged as in a clock therearound the supper circumferential exterior wall of the said indicament container is disclosed.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,347,804, dated Sep. 7, 1982, Villa-Real disclosed a simple mechanically manipulatable two-component interacting device for use as an effective medication time intake reminder having a stationary outer ring component having a circularly running clocklike numerical indicia that are equally interspaced between each succeeding numeral ranging from 1 to 12 is disclosed. The inner rotatory disc has fixed interval spacings between the “LAST DOSE” arrow indicia and the “NEXT DOSE” arrow indicia depending upon the required application such as the time interval called for in the administration of each particular medication. It is also disclosed and preferred that each rotatory disc for each respective time interval application be differently color coded to easily distinguish one from the other.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,915,256, dated Apr. 10, 1990, Tump disclosed a dispenser for dispensing a series of different pills over a prescribed period. The dispenser is provided with an indicator that is adjustable to preset the start of the pill regiment on whatever day desired. The pill package and dispenser are constructed and arranged so that after the indicator has been preset, the pill package can be fixedly positioned in the dispenser with the first pill of the regimen in position to be taken by the user on the first preselected day.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,279,422, dated Jan. 18, 1994, Adams disclosed a device suitable as a closure cap for a medicine container. The device has indicia circumferentially marked on the upper surface of the device representing the time for next taking the medicine in the container. An arm rotatably and pivotably mounted in the center of the device is set to point at the time for next taking the medicine. The arm is releasably retained in position by cooperating pegs and indentations on the upper surface of the device and the underside of the rotatable arm.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,216,975, dated Jun. 8, 1993, Bartholomew disclosed a combination pill bottle cap and indicator device adapted to function as the closure or cover for a pill bottle or container. The device includes an indicator providing a visual indication for the user that a pill has been or sh
Fulton Christopher W.
Smith R. Alexander
Williamson George L.
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