US3885703A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Pill dispenser with movable trap chamber and agitator
Assignee: Individual
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Filing: 1973-07-02
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Granted: 1975-05-27
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Expires: 1993-07-02
Abstract
Abstract A pill dispensing device for dispensing pills one at a time, including a rotatable plate having a pair of orifices therein positioned adjacent the bottom portion of the pill dispenser, the plate being rotatable through 180* of arc in either direction; in one extreme, the plate accepts a pill from a container when one of the holes in the plate registers with a hole in the bottom of the container, and in the other extreme, the pill is ejected through an orifice in the bottom of the pill dispenser. Thus a reciprocating motion of a lever connected to the plate through an arc of 180* accepts a pill in one of a pair of orifices while simultaneously ejecting a pill through the other orifice.
Inventors
- 👤 William T Neavin
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-26 18:24
CPC Classifications
B; B65; B65D; B65D83/00; B65D83/04; B65D83/0409; B65D2583/00; B65D2583/04; B65D2583/0472; B65D2583/0477; B65D2583/049; B65D2583/0495
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 16
Claim 1
Independent Claim
296 words
A pill dispensing apparatus comprising: a housing having a first bottom end and a second top end adapted to retain a plurality of pills of uniform size, said bottom end further defining a first opening slightly larger than said pills positioned between the center of said bottom and an Edge thereof, an interior wall element adjacent said bottom end of said housing and defining an intermediate wall parallel to and spaced from said housing bottom end, said wall element further defining a downwardly opening orifice therethrough slightly larger than said pills positioned between the center and a side of said housing opposite from said first opening in said housing bottom end and further defining a horizontal arcuate slot extending through said wall, a pill discharge device rotatably positioned between said interior wall element and said bottom wall and rotatable in a horizontal plane substantially through 180* of arc, said pill discharge device further defining a pair of opposed openings slightly larger than said pills therein having their axes parallel to the axis of said pill discharge device so that when said device is rotated through said 180* of arc in one direction, one of said pair of openings registers with said orifice in said wall in said housing while the other opening registers with said opening in said bottom end, and rotatable pill agitating means connected to said discharge device, said agitating means extending into said pill-containing housing through said slot in said interior wall element to sweep over the opposed openings to agitate said uniform pills, thereby urging one of said pills to drop through said orifice in said wall element when one of said pair of openings is said pill discharging element registers therewith when at an extreme end of said 180* of arc.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
296 words
A pill dispensing apparatus comprising: a housing having a first bottom end and a second top end adapted to retain a plurality of pills of uniform size, said bottom end further defining a first opening slightly larger than said pills positioned between the center of said bottom and an Edge thereof, an interior wall element adjacent said bottom end of said housing and defining an intermediate wall parallel to and spaced from said housing bottom end, said wall element further defining a downwardly opening orifice therethrough slightly larger than said pills positioned between the center and a side of said housing opposite from said first opening in said housing bottom end and further defining a horizontal arcuate slot extending through said wall, a pill discharge device rotatably positioned between said interior wall element and said bottom wall and rotatable in a horizontal plane substantially through 180* of arc, said pill discharge device further defining a pair of opposed openings slightly larger than said pills therein having their axes parallel to the axis of said pill discharge device so that when said device is rotated through said 180* of arc in one direction, one of said pair of openings registers with said orifice in said wall in said housing while the other opening registers with said opening in said bottom end, and rotatable pill agitating means connected to said discharge device, said agitating means extending into said pill-containing housing through said slot in said interior wall element to sweep over the opposed openings to agitate said uniform pills, thereby urging one of said pills to drop through said orifice in said wall element when one of said pair of openings is said pill discharging element registers therewith when at an extreme end of said 180* of arc.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
59 words
The invention as set forth in claim 1 wherein said interior wall element comprises annular pill guideway means on the side away from said housing bottom end, said pill guideway means including concave wall portions leading into said orifice in said interior wall element to guide said pills into said orifice as they gravitationally descend said pill dispensing apparatus.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
63 words
The invention as set forth in claim 2 wherein the first end of said housing fits over said pill guideway means, the the inner wall of said housing forming a throat portion that tapers into said concave portion of said guideway means to effect a smooth transition into said orifice in said interior wall element as the pills gravitationally descend within said housing.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
42 words
The invention as set forth in claim 3 wherein said pill containing housing is the original bottle the pills are contained in, said pill dispenser being adapted to accept said bottle, the opening of the bottle being adjacent said pill guideway means.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
71 words
The invention as set forth in claim 4 wherein said pill agitating means rotatably connected to said pill discharge device is a blade having its top edge substantially parallel to said wall, the bottom edge being shaped to conform to the concave walls of said pill guideway means, said pill agitating blade extending through said slot in said interior wall element so that said blade rotates above said pill guideway means.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
33 words
The invention as set forth in claim 5 wherein said top edge of said pill agitating blade is scalloped to enable said blade to more efficiently agitate differently shaped pills of uniform size.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
152 words
A pill dispenser mechanism for dispensing standard sized pills from the open end of an inverted pill container comprising: a base member having a central upstanding portion registrable within the open end of the pill container and an upper surface defining an eccentric funnel thereon, terminating in a lower discharge orifice, said base member including a lateral aperture in a side of the eccentric funnel portion; pill discharge means including at least one pill receiving orifice, disposed below said base member and movable arcuately between pill receiving and pill discharge positions relative to the discharge orifice; and pill agitating means mounted on said pill receiving means and extending through the lateral aperture of said base member, and comprising an elongated arm member extending substantially in a lateral plane across the eccentric funnel portion of the base member, and sweeping over the discharge orifice therein during arcuate movement of the pill discharge means.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
152 words
A pill dispenser mechanism for dispensing standard sized pills from the open end of an inverted pill container comprising: a base member having a central upstanding portion registrable within the open end of the pill container and an upper surface defining an eccentric funnel thereon, terminating in a lower discharge orifice, said base member including a lateral aperture in a side of the eccentric funnel portion; pill discharge means including at least one pill receiving orifice, disposed below said base member and movable arcuately between pill receiving and pill discharge positions relative to the discharge orifice; and pill agitating means mounted on said pill receiving means and extending through the lateral aperture of said base member, and comprising an elongated arm member extending substantially in a lateral plane across the eccentric funnel portion of the base member, and sweeping over the discharge orifice therein during arcuate movement of the pill discharge means.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
59 words
The invention as set forth in claim 7 above, including a bottom member below said pill discharge means and coupled in fixed space relation to the base member, the spacing therebetween being sufficient to receive the vertical dimension of an individual pill, and including a discharge opening in alignment with the pill discharge position of said pill discharge means.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
54 words
The invention as set forth in claim 8 above, wherein said pill discharge means comprises a planar disk element rotatable about a central axis and includes a pair of pill receiving openings equally spaced at opposite sides of a given radius, and wherein said pill agitating arm extends substantially parallel to the given radius.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
237 words
A pill dispenser for dispensing standard sized pills from the open end of an inverted pill container comprising: a cylindrical base member having a bottom wall with an off-center bottom opening for passing pills therethrough, and a top opening in which the open end of a pill container may be received; a pill guiding element interiorly disposed within said cylindrical member and spaced apart from the bottom wall thereof, said pill guiding member including a concave upwardly facing surface terminating in a bottom orifice permitting pills to pass therethrough in a downward direction, said bottom orifice being disposed off-center on a side opposite the bottom opening in said cylindrical member, said pill guiding member further including a second orifice therein spaced from the bottom orifice; and a pivotable member disposed between said pill guiding member and said bottom wall of said cylindrical member, said pivotable member comprising a substantially planar disk element and an agitator arm element extending through the second orifice of said pill guiding element to span the bottom orifice therein when in appropriate radial position, said disk element including a pair of pill receiving orifices extending downwardly therethrough, each of said pill receiving orifices being in an angular position to be in alignment with either the bottom orifice in said pill guiding member or the bottom opening of said cylindrical member, when the other orifice is in alignment with said opening or said orifice.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
237 words
A pill dispenser for dispensing standard sized pills from the open end of an inverted pill container comprising: a cylindrical base member having a bottom wall with an off-center bottom opening for passing pills therethrough, and a top opening in which the open end of a pill container may be received; a pill guiding element interiorly disposed within said cylindrical member and spaced apart from the bottom wall thereof, said pill guiding member including a concave upwardly facing surface terminating in a bottom orifice permitting pills to pass therethrough in a downward direction, said bottom orifice being disposed off-center on a side opposite the bottom opening in said cylindrical member, said pill guiding member further including a second orifice therein spaced from the bottom orifice; and a pivotable member disposed between said pill guiding member and said bottom wall of said cylindrical member, said pivotable member comprising a substantially planar disk element and an agitator arm element extending through the second orifice of said pill guiding element to span the bottom orifice therein when in appropriate radial position, said disk element including a pair of pill receiving orifices extending downwardly therethrough, each of said pill receiving orifices being in an angular position to be in alignment with either the bottom orifice in said pill guiding member or the bottom opening of said cylindrical member, when the other orifice is in alignment with said opening or said orifice.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
64 words
The invention as set forth in claim 10 above, wherein said cylindrical base member includes an arcuate slot in a segment of the periphery of the bottom wall thereof, and wherein handle means coupled to said pivotable member extends through the slot in said bottom wall of said base member to permit manual pivoting of said pivotable member through a selected arc of movement.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
55 words
The invention as set forth in claim 11 above, wherein said agitator arm element is an elongated element having a lower surface which passes above the concave surface of said pill guiding element with sufficient clearance to permit a pill to pass thereunder into said bottom orifice, said arm element further having relatively low height.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
59 words
The invention as set forth in claim 12 above, wherein said concave upwardly facing surface of said pill guiding means is eccentrically disposed relative to the bottom orifice, and wherein the bottom surface of said agitator arm element substantially registers with the sides of said concave surface at each limit of the arc of movement of said pivotable member.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1978-05-26 | 1978-11-25 | 1979-05-27 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1982-05-26 | 1982-11-25 | 1983-05-27 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1986-05-26 | 1986-11-25 | 1987-05-27 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |