Article dispensing – Progressively destroyed cellular magazine-type supply source
Reexamination Certificate
1999-02-04
2001-02-27
Ellis, Christopher P. (Department: 3651)
Article dispensing
Progressively destroyed cellular magazine-type supply source
C221S072000, C221S197000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06193103
ABSTRACT:
The invention concerns a pill dispenser comprising a base plate and a cover rotatably mounted relative to the base plate, holding means for releasably holding a collection of pills, and an aperture for selectively releasing a pill, wherein the dispenser includes at least one notch and a toothed circular guide path for the at least one notch.
As used in this description, pills are deemed to comprise also capsules, coated and non-coated tablets, and any other pharmaceutical drug in solid state, and kept in the dispenser in any suitable position, such as upright or on the side.
Such a pill dispenser is known from U.S. Pat. No. 3,557,747 teaching a dispenser comprising a tablet ring rotatably mounted relative to both the cover and the base plate. The tablet ring comprises a circular series of notches having the shape of a saw-tooth and intended to cooperate with a toothed circular guide path provided on the base plate. This construction is intended to prevent rotation of the tablet ring relative to the base plate in the counter clockwise direction. For initial use the known pill dispenser required rotation of the cover until an indicia on the base plate exposed through an aperture in the cover, indicates the date on which the first pill is to be taken.
The known pill dispenser has the disadvantage that is requires rotation of the parts thereof by manual operation, which can be hard for people with a problematic bone structure. A further problem is that the known pill dispenser allows the sequence of pills to be broken, in that it is possible to rotate the cover relative to the base plate by more than one position.
The invention intends to overcome these problems and to realize further goals which will be explained hereafter.
The pill dispenser according to the invention is characterized in that the toothed guide path comprises an upper and lower rim defining said guide path, and both essentially shaped in the form of a saw-tooth, whereby the at least one notch is provided in between said upper and lower rim, and whereby the guide path and the at least one notch are provided on the cover and the base plate, which are movable in the axial direction relative to each other between a proximate and a distant position so as to cause movement of the at least on notch along the said rims of the toothed guide path in the direction defined by the shaped saw-tooth, and to effect corresponding rotation of the cover relative to the base plate. Rotation of the cover relative to the base plate can now simply be effected by pressing the cover while the dispenser is on the table, or alternatively, by pressing base plate and cover towards each other while holding the dispenser between the thumb and fingers of one hand. Repeated pressing of the cover towards the base plate alternated with repeated removal of pills makes the pills of subsequent days available for use. The link between each of the pills in the dispenser, and the subsequent days to which they relate, can simply be given by providing a day-indicator on a part on top of the dispenser which is fixed relative to the holding means for the pills. In this way the orientation of the days on the day-indicator is fixed with respect to the pills contained in the dispenser. It is further to be noted that the pill dispenser according to the invention is tolerant with respect to its sizing; it can be given any suitable size ranging from pocket-size to any larger class of sizes.
The pill dispenser according to the invention can suitably be provided with a monitoring device in order to registrate actuation of the dispenser, time and date of actuation, etcetera.
Preferably, the pill dispenser includes a spring providing a force to the cover and the base plate in their axial direction to promote their assuming the distant position. The spring constant can then be selected to honour both ease of operation and sufficient resistance to withstand unintended operation while the dispenser is kept for instance in a ladies bag.
In one aspect of the invention the pill dispenser according to the invention has the feature that in the distant position of the cover and the base plate, the at least one notch rests in a recess provided in the toothed guide path. This recess provides the secure and accurate positioning of the cover relative to the base plate. When assuming this distant position the aperture in the cover for release of a pill is always located immediately in front of the one pill which is intended to be released from the dispenser while securing the remainder of the pills under the cover of the dispenser.
Preferably, there are multiple recesses, the number of which corresponding to the maximum number of pills for which the dispenser is suited, and each recess defining a position of the aperture for release of one pill.
In a further aspect of the invention the recess or recesses are provided in only one of the rims, and during movement of the cover and base plate to the proximate position, the notch abuts against the rim opposite to the recess or recesses, while during movement of the cover and base plate to the distant position the notch abuts against the rim provided with the recess or recesses. This construction provides a very secure operation of the pill dispenser preventing unintended rotation of the cover relative to the base plate in the opposite direction.
In a preferred embodiment, the aperture is provided in the cover, and means are provided for initial closure thereof prior to the release of the first of a complete series of pills, and/or for closing the aperture when desired during any moment thereafter.
In a further preferred embodiment, the cover of the pill dispenser according to the invention is provided with a baffle extending inwards from the edge of the aperture into the direction of the holding means for the pills, which holding means are realized as a circular row of compartments, each compartment suited for holding one pill and being too narrow for receiving the baffle when loaded with one such pill. This provision prevents the unintended skipping of a subsequent pill to be retained from the pill dispenser. Further rotation of the cover relative to the base plate is only possible after removing the pill which has been selected next for removal.
The pill dispenser according to the invention is suited for refills by the consumer. In an alternative embodiment, refilling is supported by providing the aperture in the base plate which is then shaped substantially circular near the base plate's outer circumference, and that the base plate comprises holding means for a blister pack containing the pills, whereby the cover has a projection extending inwards and abutting against the blister pack so as to release one of the pills contained in the blister pack when the cover and the base plate are placed in the proximate position.
In a further preferred embodiment, the pill dispenser has at least three, and preferably at least four notches irregularly distributed along the circumference of the toothed guide path. This renders the pill dispenser according to the invention rather tolerant with respect to the spot and direction of the forces applied to the cover and base plate. With less than four notches the pill dispenser would be rather sensitive in this respect, resulting in pushing these two components out of alignment when the force is not applied exactly in the middle or is improperly directed. Moreover, the irregular disposition of the notches along the circumference of the toothed guide path prevents undesirable or premature opening of the dispenser due to the circumstance that only one orientation, being the initial position of base plate relative to cover, is suited for disassembly and reassembly of the dispenser.
In still another preferred embodiment, the pill dispenser according to the invention is characterized in that each notch is provided on the cover and the base plate is provided with channels giving the notches access to the toothed guide path. This allows for ease of assembly, both at the factory and by the consumer, when
Akzo Nobel N.V.
Blackstone William M.
Crawford Gene O.
Ellis Christopher P.
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