Pill dispenser

Claim 1

A holder and dispenser for pellets comprising: A. a first cylindrical tube having two end walls and a first circumferential wall, said first circumferential wall having a first opening therein of sufficient size for one of said pellets to pass through, said first opening beginning near one of said two end walls and extending axially along said first tube a distance at least greater than the width of one of said pellets, said first opening extending circumferentially around approximately 180* of the first circumferential wall, said first tube having an inside diameter slightly greater than the diameter of the pellets to be dispersed and an axial length sufficient to hold within the first tube a plurality of the pellets, B. a second cylindrical tube having one end wall and a further circumferential wall, the inside diameter of said further circumferential wall being slightly greater than the outside diameter of the first circumferential wall, said further circumferential wall being fitted over the first circumferential wall at the end corresponding to said one of said two end walls, the outside of said first circumferential wall and the inside of said further circumferential wall forming two adjacent cylindrical surfaces, said further circumferential wall having a second opening therethrough substantially geometrically congruent to the first opening, said second opening being located axially a distance away from said one end wall, C. a protrusion extending from one of the two adjacent cylindrical surfaces toward the other adjacent cylindrical surface, D. a recessed pathway in said other adjacent cylindrical surface holding and guiding said protrusion through a path, said pathway including two end segments extending axially along said other adjacent cylindrical surface, one end of each end segment being connected to the ends of a middle segment of the pathway which extends generally circumferentially around said other adjacent cylindrical surface, and the other end of each end segment respectively forming first and second ends of the pathway, said pathway being arranged such that, when the protrusion is located in said first end of the pathway, the two tubes are axially compressed and the two openingS are not superimposed, and when the protrusion is located in said second end of the pathway, the two tubes are axially extended and the two openings are superimposed, and E. bias means for positively biasing the tubes to cause the protrusion, in the absence of applied force, to remain in said second end of the pathway when there and to remain in the first end of the pathway when there, whereby a twist-and-lock motion and a twist-and-unlock motion are required respectively to open and close an outlet resulting from the superimposition of the first and second openings.