US1974332A

US1974332A - Pill dispenser

Info

Publication number: US1974332A
Application number: US703312A
Authority: US
Inventors: Hauck Herbert
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1933-12-20
Filing date: 1933-12-20
Publication date: 1934-09-18
Anticipated expiration: 1951-09-18

Description

Sept. 18, 1934. H. HAUCK I PILL DISPENSER Filed D60- 20, 1933 Patented Sept. 18, 1934 UNITED STATES.

PATENT OF F ICE 1 Claim.

either one or more pills as may be desired, and

which will dispense the pills in such a manner -that the remaining pills within the pill bottle will remain sanitaryand untouched.

A further object of this invention is to provide a pill dispenser that may be inserted into the end of an ordinary pill bottle and cooperate therewith so as to dispense only a single pill at a time or such a measured number of pills at one time as :may be the desired capacity of the dispenser.

A further object of this invention is to provide a sanitary pill dispenser, which will eliminate the objectionable practice of pouring a number of pills into .ones hand in order to procure a limited numberof pills for immediate use, necessitating the returning of the remaining pills to the container and often contaminating them.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, p as will hereinafter become apparent, this invention comprises the constructions, combinations 0 and arrangements of parts, hereinafter set forth,

disclosed and shown on the accompanying drawing. .In thisdrawing,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the pill dispenser applied to a pill bottle,

,Figure 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view r of the same clearly illustrating the invention,.and

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the pill dispenser.

.' There is shown at 10 the pill dispenser constituting this invention and adapted to cooperate with a pill container such as the pill bottle 11. The ordinary closure. or stopper member for the pill bottle 11 is discarded and instead the apertured stopper 12 is substituted therefor, this apertured stopper 12 having an aperture 13 therethrough to receive the cylindrical tube 14 of the pill dispenser 10. The end of the cylindrical. tube 14 is closed off by a stopper or sealing member I 15 secured on the arm 16 of the bell crank lever 17. The bell crank lever 17 is pivoted as at 18 by means of a pair of wings 19 to a base 20 secured on the side of the tube 14. The otner arm 21 of the bell crank lever 1'7 is normally held in the tube closing position 21 by means of a 'compression spring 22 mounted between the arm 21. and the ,base 20.

A plunger 23 is secured beneath the arm 21 of bell crank 17 and has its end extending into the aperture 24 through the base 20 and the side of the tube 14. This plunger 23 may be placed within the cylindrical spring 22, thus additionally serving as a guidefor retaining'the spring 22 in proper position. a

The aperture 24 will be so spaced from the end of the tube 14 that there will be room for the desired number of pills 25 between the aperture 24 and the end of the tube. Preferably this desired number will be a single pill 25, although if desired it may be made any desired number.

In operation, the tube is normally held closed by the stopper 15 being pressed against the end ,of the tube 14 by means of compression spring 22. When it is desired to dispense a pill from the container 11, the arm 21 is pressed from the position 21' to the position 21. This causes the plunger 23 to move through the aperture 24 until its end is in the path of the pill 25 in the tube 14, preventing any pills from passing this point.

Previous to this action however the container 11 has been up-ended to the position shown in Figures 1 and 2, allowing a pill to pass beyond the aperture 24 and rest against the'closure member 15. As the arm 21 is depressed the closure member 15 moves away from the closure posi- 5 tion, allowing the pill-25 already past the aperture 24 to drop therefrom.

If additional pills are desired the arm 21 is released and allowed to return to the position 21' and is again depressed to dispense yet another pill, this action being repeated until the desired number of pills have been dispensed. As a result of this the pills 25 remaining in the bottle or. container 11 are untouched and not handled until it is desired to make use thereof, 5 thereby preventing contamination of the pills before they are to be used.

The novel features and the operation of this device will be apparent from the foregoing description. While the device has been shown and the structure described in detail, it is obvious that this is not .to be considered limited to the exact form disclosed, and that changes may be made therein within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus set forth and disclosed the nature of this invention, what is claimed is:

A pill dispenser adapted to cooperate with a pill container, comprising an apertured closure no member adapted to close the mouth of the pill container, a cylindrical tube extending through said apertured closure into said pill container to receive pills therein at one end thereof,- and a closure means at 'the other end of said tube preventing more than a measured number of pills to pass thereby at one time, said closure means comprising a'bell crank lever mounted on the end of said cylinder, a stopper and sealing memher on one arm of said bell crank adapted to close the, end of said tube, a spring between the other arm of said bell crank and said tube adapted to normally hold said stopper member in. closing position, and a tube cut oft plunger secured to said other arm of said bell crank and adapted to project into said tube, said plunger her to drop from the end member being spaced from said stopper and sealing member a distance substantially equal to the diameter of the desired number of pills to be dispensed at one time, whereby when said stopper and sealing member is in closing position the desired number of pills'may enter the tube between said closure member and the path of saidlplunger member, and when said other arm of said bell crank is moved towards the tube the closure'member is withdrawn from the end of the tube and the plunger member is simultaneously projected into the path through said tube allowing the measured number of pills between the closure member and the plunger memof the tube. HERBERT HAUCK.