EP0212283B1 - Dosing dispenser - Google Patents

Abstract

PCT No. PCT/EP84/00377 Sec. 371 Date Aug. 1, 1985 Sec. 102(e) Date Aug. 1, 1985 PCT Filed Nov. 30, 1984 PCT Pub. No. WO85/02598 PCT Pub. Date Jun. 20, 1985.With a metering dispenser (1) for compactates with a compactate store (3) and a metering disk (4) arranged pivotably around an axis (A) with respect to the store, containing several chambers (27) for accommodating individual compactates, in order to perform dispensing with sufficient reliability in the quantitative dispensing of the individual components in the household sector, given an essentially cylindrical design as well as relative rotatability of the store (3) and the metering disk (4) around the cylinder axis (A) the combination is provided with a metering cup (2) for liquid or free-flowing product. The metering dispenser (1) can be formed as a closure for a storage container accommodating one of the components, so that a multi-component package is present.

Description

The invention relates to a dosing dispenser for compacts, such as tablets, pills, capsules and granules, with a compact storage and a bottom plate assigned to the storage and containing several compact receiving compartments, with the essential cylindrical structure and relative rotatability of the storage and bottom plate around the cylinder axis, the Compactate compartments of the base plate are distributed on a circular path with the cylinder axis as the center point and the memory contains a compactate discharge opening in the form of an discharge shaft which is assigned to a pivoting position of the base plate and is open towards at least one corresponding compactate compartment.

Such a dispenser is known from DE-A-2 052 051. A compactate compartment covers the ejection chute in the ejection position. The latter is also the case with metering dispensers according to the earlier European patent application EP 85 900 090.3 (EP-A-0 165 276) from which the present divisional application originates.

The invention relates to a dosing dispenser for compact products, such as tablets, pills, capsules and granules, with a compact storage device and a metering disc, which is assigned to the storage device and can be pivoted about an axis and contains several compacting receiving compartments.

Furthermore, a dosing dispenser for tablet-shaped products is described in DE-A-31 43 953. The known device has a storage container serving as a refill unit and / or a storage device and a locking adapter assigned to the storage container as well as a slide bearing component with a movable slide valve. The device accordingly consists of a tablet storage container in different cross-sectional shapes, a so-called metering slide and an integrated base element with slide rail and locking adapter. Although the known device is universal and can also be used in the household sector, special precautions for a proportionally proportioned multicomponent metering are not provided.

There are multi-component products, some of whose components are incompatible with one another or lose their effectiveness if they are stored together. In addition, certain drugs can be of such multi-component products more economically and more effectively in tablet, manufactured pills or capsule form and store, while others consist product components cheaper rieselfä- hi ^g he or liquid form.

The invention has for its object to provide a dosing dispenser for two or more components of a multi-component product to be stored separately from one another and having different spatial shapes and / or physical states. which ensures sufficient safety when dispensing the individual components and convenient use, particularly in the household sector.

In a metering dispenser of the type described at the beginning (DE-A-2 052 051), this object is achieved according to the invention in that the chute covers approximately two compact receiving compartments of the base plate designed as a metering disc, and its bottom consists of a narrow section which has a passage for it forms only one compact, and there is a large section that holds the compact intended for the next dosage ready and fixed.

The ejection chute covers approximately two compactate receiving compartments, so that the user can overlook which compactate is to be dosed next or whether a compactate is already in the waiting position for the next dosing. Here, the bottom of the chute is equipped with a passage for only one compact and also has a gap opening for checking the neighboring compact receiving compartment.

In addition to the space required for the discharge chute or the discharge opening, the storage device according to the invention overall comprises an essentially undivided cavity for receiving compactates to be metered. These individual bodies can rest on the open metering disc at the bottom of the store and can be conveyed gradually to the store-side entrance of the discharge chute or the like by rotating the metering disk. Of course, the combination with a dosing cup for liquid or free-flowing product is also advantageous.

The metering dispenser according to the invention can be placed as a separate metering device or as a metering attachment instead of the usual closure on the storage container containing one of the components to be metered. The connection can e.g. B. by a screw thread, a snap lock or the like, are formed in a conventional manner. A dosing cup is expediently provided for dosing the substance contained in the storage container. This can be molded onto the dispenser so that it enters the opening when it is placed on the storage container. Alternatively, however, it is also favorable to design the dosing cup as a slip lid, in particular a screw lid, of the dosing dispenser or its storage. In the latter case, the metering disc and the memory of the metering dispenser should be a - for. B. coaxial to the cylinder axis - passage opening as an outlet channel for the component contained in the reservoir. The product to be dosed can be filled into the dosing cup from this reservoir through this channel (see also parent application EP 85 900 090.3 (EP-A-0 165 276)).

Dosing dispensers or dosing attachments according to the invention can be produced with relatively little effort, because they consist of only two to three individual parts which, after filling, are put together with the respective product and - possibly inseparably - remain connected to one another. If the dosing dispenser is designed as a closure of a storage container containing the component, a multi-component packaging is created after the coupling of the closure and storage container.

In contrast to the metering dispenser according to DE-A-31 43 953, the axis of rotation of the metering disk according to the invention coincides with the cylinder axis of the associated compact storage device. The compacting compartments of the metering disc should therefore be distributed on a circular path with the cylinder axis as the center. For dosing, the storage device has a compact ejection opening in the form of an ejection chute that is assigned to a swivel position of the dosing disk and is open towards the corresponding compact compartment. So if a compact comes to the bottom of the discharge opening by turning the metering disc further, the product can be fed to the intended place of use by tilting or at the head of the metering dispenser. It is noteworthy that touching the metered object by hand is not necessary.

The rotation of the metering disc required for the introduction of compactates into the ejection opening of the storage device is simplified if the relative positions of the metering disk and the storage device, in which a compact receiving compartment is aligned with an ejection opening, are identified by noticeable and / or audible engagement when rotating relative. To achieve this, transverse grooves and steps can be provided on the adjacent edges of the accumulator and metering disc at the corresponding angular intervals.

• Fig. 1 einen Längsschnitt, teilweise in der Ansicht eines Ausführungsbeispiels eines Dosierspenders für die Anwendung als Pillen- oder Kapseldosierer ;
• Fig. 2 einen, Ausschnitt der Bodenplatte der Dosierscheibe nach Fig. 1 mit eingelegter Kapsel ;
• Fig. 3 eine Draufsicht des Dosierspenders nach Fig. 1 ;
• Fig. 4 den Querschnitt längs der Linie IV-IV von Fig. 1 ;
• Fig. 5 eine Abwicklung in der Seitenansicht längs der Linie V-V von Fig. 4 ; und
• Fig. 6 einen Längsschnitt längs der Linie VI-VI von Fig. 4 in der Seitenansicht.

Details of the invention are explained on the basis of the schematic illustration. Show it :

• 1 shows a longitudinal section, partly in the view of an embodiment of a dosing dispenser for use as a pill or capsule dosing device.
• FIG. 2 shows a section of the base plate of the metering disc according to FIG. 1 with an inserted capsule;
• 3 shows a top view of the metering dispenser according to FIG. 1;
• 4 shows the cross section along the line IV-IV of Fig. 1.
• Fig. 5 is a development in side view along the line VV of Fig. 4; and
• Fig. 6 is a longitudinal section along the line VI-VI of Fig. 4 in side view.

1 to 6, a total of 30 pill or capsule dispenser is explained which can be produced as a metering attachment with a molded-on sub-chamber or can be provided with a separate measuring cup closure and associated pouring channel, as is known from EP-85 900 090.3 .

1 to 6 consists of a lower part 31 and an upper part 32 with a common longitudinal or cylindrical axis A. The lower part 31 includes a cylinder tube 33, the lower end of which is closed by a base plate 34 designed as a metering disc. The base plate 34 has dome-shaped depressions or compact compartments 36 located on an outer circular arc 35, which have a cross section corresponding to the half profile of the pills or capsules to be metered. In the middle of the base plate 34, a cylindrical, inwardly projecting projection 37 with a slightly conical end face 38 is also provided. From the lower edge of the extension 37 there is a continuous, outwardly sloping bevel 39 which extends to the inner edge of the spherical compartments 36 with respect to the cylinder axis A.

The upper part 32 of the metering dispenser 30 consists of a cylinder piece 40 with a head plate 41 and an edge 42 which overlaps the cylinder tube 33 of the lower part 31. A circular cutout 43 is provided in the head plate 41, from which downwards, following the opening profile, a cylindrical inner wall 44 and two radially to the cylinder axis extending to the wall of the cylinder piece 40 formed side walls 45 and the cylinder piece, which ends at the shoulder 46 within the side wall 45. The wall parts or extensions 44a and 45a which extend beyond the shoulder 46 overlap in the lower region the projection 37 projecting from the base plate 34. The shoulder 46 forms the shortened lower end of the cylinder wall in the region between the side walls 45. The shortening is intended to prevent the prevent pills from falling out of compartment 36; without the shortening, a somewhat larger construction would be required.

The cylindrical inner wall 44 and the radial side walls 45 or their lower extensions 44a and 45a are connected and stabilized at the end with the aid of a profiled base plate 47. The base plate 47 consists of a large section 47a and a narrow section 47b. The large section 47a is designed so that it allows a view into the dome-shaped compartment 36 from the discharge chute, while the narrow section 47b of the base plate 47 only serves to stabilize the adjacent vertical walls 44, 45 and at the same time tipping out one in the upstream dome-shaped tray 36 lying tablet allows.

1 to 6 preferably has a cross section which significantly exceeds the diameter of the pills to be dosed. There are two main reasons for this: Firstly, a smaller shaft would cause manufacturing difficulties because such a shaft could not be cooled sufficiently quickly in the corresponding molding tool and thus led to an extension of the production cycles. On the other hand, an ejection chute that covers two compartments in cross-section and by attaching the profiled base plate 47 achieves an improved torsional stiffness compared to the relative rotation and creates the possibility of using the section 47a to hold the pill intended for the next dosage ready and to hold it while the the pill in front is dispensed by swiveling the dispenser; if portion 47a were not present in the exemplary embodiment, two pills would be removed when swiveling.

The distance 48 between the lower edge or side of the base plate 47 and the upper edge, i. H. the highest elevations, the base plate 34 of the lower part 31 is selected to be slightly smaller than the pill half height 49 projecting over the spherical compartment 36, so that, when the upper part 32 to the lower part 31 rotates relative to one another, the lowest possible starting point of the lower edge corner of the base plate 47 over the in the compartments 36 to receive lying pills or capsules, which prevents jamming. The radial side wall 45 adjoining the large-area section 47a of the base plate 47 is provided on its underside with a recess, not shown, which is adapted to the protruding pill profile, while the opposite side wall 45 terminates in a profile (FIG. 6) which follows the base plate 34 of the lower part 31.

The metering dispenser 30 according to FIG. 1 is filled in bulk into the upper part 32 which is overhead. After filling, the lower part 31 is put over the upper part 32 and locked. After swiveling the dosing device into the "upper part / top" position, the filled pills or capsules fall into the exposed dome-shaped compartments 36 of the base plate 34. By rotating the upper part 32 relative to the lower part 31 - counterclockwise in the exemplary embodiment - by two dome segments, the dosing dispenser can be tilted 30 a pill or capsule can be removed in the overhead position. With each further turn around a calotte segment and renewed overhead positions, a further pill or capsule is released. In this exemplary embodiment, no renewed pivoting (from or into the overhead position) is required to trigger the second pill, but only further rotation about the cylinder axis A.

Of course, the metering dispenser 30 according to FIGS. 1 to 6 can be equipped with detents for the relative rotation of the upper and lower part. When using transparent or apparent material for the lower part 31, it becomes possible for the user to observe the complete emptying of the residue down to the last compact and to ensure that the refill is carried out in good time.

Claims (4)

1. Metering dispenser (30) for solid articles such as tablets, pills, capsules and granulates, with a solid article store (32) and a base plate (34), which is associated with the store and contains several solid article receiving compartments (36), with substantially cylindrical build-up as well as relative rotatability of store (33) and base plate (34) about the cylindrical axis (A), wherein the solid article receiving compartments (36) of the base plate (34) are distributed over a circular path (35) with the cylindrical axis (A) as centre and the store (32) contains a solid article ejector opening (43), which is in the shape of an ejector shaft, is associated with one pivotal setting of the base plate (34) and open towards at least one corresponding solid article receiving compartment, characterised thereby, that the ejector shaft (43) covers over about two solid article receiving compartments (36) of the base plate (34) constructed as metering disc and that its base consists of a narrow partial piece (47b), which forms a passage for only one solid article, and a partial piece (47a) of large area, which presents and retains the solid article provided for the next metering.

2. Metering dispenser (30) according to claim 1, characterised thereby, that a cylinder encompassing the cylindrical store (32) is shaped on at the base plate (34).

3. Metering dispenser according to one of the preceding claims, characterised thereby, that the interior of the store (32) is constructed- - externally of the ejector shaft adjoining an outlet opening (43) - as solid article reservoir open towards the metering disc (34).

4. Metering dispenser according to one of the preceding claims, characterised thereby, that the surface of the metering disc (34) is constructed to be sloping (38, 39) down towards the solid article receiving compartments (36).

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