US2940447A - Drinking glass for swallowing pills and the like - Google Patents

Description

E. ZANEGOOD June 14, 1960 DRINKING GLASS FOR SWALLOWING PILLS AND THE LIKE Filed March 17, 1958 INVENTOR.

ERIC ZANEGOOD ATTOEVEY United States Patent DRINKING GLASS FOR SWALLOWING PILLS AND THE LIKE Eric Zanegood, 2908 139th St, Flushing, N.Y.

Filed Mar. 17, 1958, Set. No. 721,768

1 Claim. (Cl. 128-222) This invention relates generally to drinking glasses, and more particularly has reference to a device which is used in combination with a basically conventional drinking glass construction, and which when so used facilitates the taking of solid medicaments, such as-pills, tablets, capsules, etc.

Many persons have diificulty in swallowing pills or tablets, and this may be particularly true of small children or persons of advanced age. This produces certain problems, with respect to the administering of solid medications to such individuals. Often, the pill is crushed and is taken in a partly or fully dissolved condition. However, this is not always practicable, not only because of the inconvenience and loss of time involved, but also because many pills are quite bitter or unpalatable. This is true, for example, of drugs which are so unpalatable to the taste that they must be enclosed in gelatin capsules that dissolve following swallowing thereof.

It has therefore been proposed to provide means to facilitate the taking of tablets, and the present invention aims to provide an improved device of this general nature. Accordingly, in one embodiment of the invention the device comprises a shallowly recessed, upwardly opening, ledge-like member having a fixed connection to the inner surface of the side wall of the glass, said member being freely perforated in such a manner that when the glass istilted for drinking of water or another liquid contained therein, the water will flow through the perforations and will wash into ones mouth a pill or pills that were previously deposited in the recessed member. In other words, the recessed member is normally disposed above the level of the water in the glass, so that the pill initially remains ,dry. Said member is disposed near the lip of the glass, and therefore, when the glass is tilted, the water will run through the perforations and carry the pill into the mouth, so that the pill is swallowed with the water, in such a way that the drinker merely drinks the water in a natural manner to take the pill.

Another object is to provide, in another embodiment of the invention, a device as stated which will be removable so that it can be engaged in any conventional glass, without requiring any modification or redesign of said glass.

Another object is to so form the device, in the lastmentioned form of the invention, that it can be rotated to selected positions within the glass. In this connection, the rotatable adjustment of the device is adapted, in accordance with the invention, to provide a coactive relationship between said device and the glass proper, such that they will provide a reminder as to the next time that a dose of the medicine should be taken. In this arrangement, the device has an index marking at one location thereon, while the glass has a circumferential series of indicia ascending in value from "1 to 12. The index marking, by rotatable adjustment of the device, can thus be registered with any selected numerical indicium so that the user is provided with a reminder as to the next time stated which, in both forms of the invention, will include a particular form and relative arrangement of perforations of the recessed member or pill holding element, such as to insure to the maximum extent the proper flow of the liquid through said perforations, in a stream that will immediately carry into the users mouth the pill that is to be taken.

For further comprehension of the invention, and of the objects and advantages thereof, reference will be had to the following description and accompanying drawings, and to the appended claims in which the various novel features of the invention are more particularly set forth.

In the accompanying drawings forming a material part of this disclosure:

Fig. l is a view of a device of the characterdescribed, and of a drinking glass to which it is integrallyconnected, the glass being shown partly in side elevation and partly in longitudinal section.

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view substantially on line 2--2 of Fig. l.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view substantially on line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is an exploded, fragmentary prespective view of a modified construction.

Fig. 5 is a greatly enlarged, fragmentary sectional view longitudinally through the drinking glass shown in Fig. 4, with the device being shown properly positioned therein, said device being shown in section.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view on the same scale as Fig. 5, taken substantially on line 6-6 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary perspective view of the drinking glass with another form of the device positioned therein.

Referring to the drawings in detail, in Figs. l-3 there is shown a drinking glass 10which may take any of various forms or sizes. This holds a quantity of'water W when in use, or other liquid that one may prefer during the swallowing of a pill A.

In accordance with the invention, a shallowly recessed, segmentally shaped, upwardly opening member or ledgelike element 12 is formed integrally with the side wall of the glass, being connected to said side wall over the full width of said member 12.

The element 12 has an outer edge which is arcuately bowed in a direction inwardly of the drinking glass as shown in Fig. 2. As a result, the recess 13 of the element 12 is obliquely shaped when seen in top plan, with said recess being progressively reduced in width in adhection toward its bottom. In the bottom of the recess, there are formed a plurality of wedge-shaped perforations 14, extending radially inwardly of the glass with their wider ends occurring substantially at the periphery of the glass. Said perforations 14 are of elongated form, extending up the slope of the wall of the member 12 as shown in Fig. 1.

The perforations are of a number and size' such as to permit the free passage of the water W therethrough,.

when the glass is tilted during normal drinking of the water. At the same time, the water is caused to flow in an increased quantity through the base ends of the perforations, as distinguished from the smaller ends thereof located radially inwardly from the side wall of the glass. When the glass is tilted, the pill or tablet A will ordinarily fall against the side wall of the glass, and it will be observed that it is at this location that the maximum flow or stream of the water passes through the perforations. At the same time, there is a more restricted flow through the smaller ends of the perforations, which would be the 1 the c s 7* gReferring n e modification;

- r' n' ana fii l ifiaf t e wa eisbt at e fil is qwe s a "Whitew ter t h taa at v 9 conscious action' so far as the taker of the pill is con! cerned. 'lfhere is thus eliminated the difficulties which have heretoforepersisted for some individuals, in "connection withgthe swallowing ot pills, tablets, or. other solid medicamentsk Of' course, the device'can'be formed with the glass 2,940,441 a, f; 77 I r The device 18 inthis form of the invention is iden- "tical "to the device 18, with the exception that on one of the arms2'4 there is an index marking 28 in the form of ward each other to'r eleas'e the grip of arms 24* on glass easilLfat Zthe'tirnecit-manufacture. of the glass, the con 7 a the glass, to locate the index means 28, 30 in registrastruction o t-Fig. 1 presenting normanufacturing problems In the form of the invention shown in 'Figs. 4 -6, 'there si lu rat d n e ti al dr nk n glass w hiw i s ss' ia dafie ib ly d e atedl usvedrfd facilitate the taking of pills and -similar medications.

Glass 16,fthus, canfbe used any oof; various devices 18and'vice iversa V i Therdevicel' lfifis formed'ofja plastic m aterial in the illustrated example, and has a generally' annular shape,

32; Then,' th' e.device is 'meizel'y Iro'tatahly adjusted within tion with a selected, difiere n't indicium 34 or 36, to provide a reminder as to the time when the next pill is to be taken.

* with. a pill-holcling element 20 being integrallyformed at V one location oon'ithe circumference of the device. ElementZO is identical toielement '12, in shape, size; and V in the; number and shape 'of'its perforations 22,

, 'Howeven' insteadof the glass forming one wall of the a ,recess of theelement 20 (as it does inthe first form of 1 the invention with element 12), the device 18 includes apair of integrally connected spring arms 24 each'extendjIn all formsof the invention, of course, the functional and'structural characteristics of .the' 'devic'e iare such as to cause the pill or tablet to'lbecarried, immediately into the mouth, when the glass is tiltedrfor -drinkingtthe water. Further, all forms have thedesirable characteristic of permitting manufacture at a comparatively low cost;

\ While I have iillustratedlandrdescribed. the preferred embodimentsofmy,invention, it is to beunders-tood that Ldo notlimit myself to thelprecise constructions herein ing through slightly less than l80.degrees of a circle.

At "the locationof the integral'co'nnection of said arms,'

there 'isdefi ned a wall 2 5 cooperating with the wall of v 7 the'member 20in definingthe.pilhholdingrecess;

the inner surface of the'side wall of the glass 16. At

' their free ends, which are spaced; closely apart at a'loca tion diametrically opposite the member 20, the arms '24 e are int'egrallyiiform'ed with radially upwardly extending handles 26, These' may beipressed together with the thumb and index finger, l0 move the arms toward each otherjout'iof engagement with the 'wall of'the glass,

It canheseenthatthe construction 1s such that one may merely' insert the thumbr and index finger in the glass, and; squeeze the handles 26 t0vvard each other, to

disclosed and that various changes and modifications/maybe made within the scope of :the invention as defined in the appended claim. I v t 1-.

7 Having thus described my invention, what I .claim .as new, and desireto secure by United States'LettersPatent The combination, with a drinking glass; of a glass attachment for causing'medicamentto be carried into the mouth witha liquid that is being'drunk from the glass, comprising a ledge member recessed to' receive said medicament and adapted to project inwardly: from the side wall ofv the glass} saidr'memberrhaving perforations through which the liquid may flow on tilting of the glass, said connection of the member to said-wall comprising a ring snugly,orem0vahly engaging'in the glass, said ring 'beingof the spliflspringable type and including a pair of integrallyconnectedspring harms 'spring-tensioned to bear firmly against the inner surface-of the Wallfof the glass, said-arms terminating in inwardly directed finger pieces iortmanipulating the ring, thering having an indemmarle a ing on one of said arms and being rotatably' adjustable in release'the device from engagement with the glass. The

device is inserted inthe same way, of course, it being understood that when it has been inserted in the glass,

thehandles arereleased. The arms 24 will naturally move engagement with the, side wall I l I 7 12, the seriesof :indicia and said arms lyingina Sub? 1m" ai'i n ea c t on xii-fl ts oformgthe, gla Si32 has the shape 1 of the glass 16. 7 However, it diftefs'from the glasses previously lillustratedand deasc ribed, inthat it has over its full circumferencea circumferential series of numerical owl to Fig. 7, there isjhere shown another said glass, the glass having a circumferentialseries of indicia designating different times oi the day when a medicinal dosevis to be taken, said-marking being selectivelydocatablein registration with selected indicia, the indiciar ascending in numerical value from Fl to 'stantiall y common plane. i :1

lkeferences i iteil in thetileof fpatent' Uisurno STATES PATENTS

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