Single pill distributing cap for use on pill bottles. FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[001] The present invention relates generally to distributing means but more particularly to a distributing means for pills and related medicine.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[002] There are many devices made for distributing pills. The most common being those packaging devices marked with the days of the week or the hours of the day so that a patient will know when to take his medication.

[003] There are also many complex devices for use by pharmacists in order to count pills. There are even coin counting machines that use some of the same features.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[004] It is a main advantage of this invention to provide for a simple to use and inexpensive device for distributing pills one at a time.

[005] In order to do so, the invention comprises a cap that fits over a standard

pill bottle. The cap is adapted to distribute one pill at a time from a pill bottle.

[006] The cap has a fixed part that is adapted to screw onto the pill bottle; and a movable part that is adapted to be rotationally attached to the fixed part, such that when the movable part is rotated it is adapted to allow only one pill at a time to egress from said pill bottle and through said fixed and movable parts and thereby become distributed and available from the pill bottle.

[007] The cap has its fixed part that includes a pill sorting chamber and an exit chamber, such that the pill sorting chamber is adapted to allow only one pill at a time to egress therethrough.

[008] The movable part includes an integral transport chamber and a porthole, such that when the movable part is rotated with respect to the fixed part and the transport chamber aligns with the pill sorting chamber of the fixed part, the pill is allowed to drop into the transport chamber; and upon further rotation of the movable part, the transport chamber aligns with the exit chamber thus allowing the pill to egress from the transport chamber and into the exit chamber; and upon further rotation of the movable part, the porthole aligns with a porthole of the exit chamber thus allowing the pill to be evacuated therefrom.

[009] The movable part includes a second transport chamber and second porthole, such that the degree of rotation necessary of the movable part can be reduced and the number of pills within the chambers in the process of egress can be increased to two. [001O] The cap includes circumferential ridges adapted to coincide with circumferential ridges of a pill bottle and adapted to allow a removable secure connection between the cap and the pill bottle.

[0011] The cap can be formed from materials chosen from a list that includes plastic, metal, glass, fiberglass, paper, wax, and wood. [0012] The invention is in fact a pill dispensing system which comprises a pill bottle adapted to contain a plurality of predetermined sized pills; and a cap adapted to distribute one pill at a time from the pill bottle. The cap has a fixed part that is adapted to screw onto the pill bottle; and a movable part that is adapted to be rotationally attached to the fixed part, such that when the movable part is rotated it is adapted to allow only one pill at a time to egress from the pill bottle and through the fixed and movable parts and thereby become distributed and available from the pill bottle.

[0013] There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof

that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.

[0014] In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.

[0015] As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

[0016] These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the invention, are pointed out with

particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter which contains illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION QF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] Fig. 1 Perspective disassembled view of the cap and bottle.

[0018] Figs. 2a-e Series of perspective views showing the various positions of the cap in the pill exiting sequence.

[0019] Figs. 3a-b Side elevation and cutaway view, respectively, of the bottle and cap.

[0020] Figs. 4a-b Perspective external and internal views, respectively, of the fixed part. [0021] Figs. 5a-b Perspective external and internal views, respectively, of the movable part.

[0022] Figs. 6a-b Top and cutaway side view, respectively, of the cap in its first position in the pill exiting sequence.

[0023] Figs. 7a-b Top and cutaway side view, respectively, of the cap in its second position in the pill exiting sequence.

[0024] Figs. 8a-b Top and cutaway side view, respectively, of the cap in its third position in the pill exiting sequence.

[0025] Figs. 9a-b Top and cutaway side view, respectively, of the cap in its fourth position in the pill exiting sequence.

[0026] Figs 10-12 Side cutaway and top perspective view looking inside the cap, respectively, of variations of the cavity.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION [0027] A single pill distributing cap (10) has a movable part (12) and a fixed part (14). The fixed part (14) is screwed onto a bottle (16) and the movable part (12) is rotationally attached to the fixed part (14). The fixed part (14) has two chambers: a pill sorting chamber (18), which forms an extension of the bottle (16) and which collects a plurality of pills (20), and an exit chamber (22) which is created by the juxtaposition of the movable part (12) over the fixed part (14). In other words, half of the interior defining surfaces of the exit chamber (22) are made out of the fixed part (14) while the other half are made out of the movable part (12).

[0028] The movable part (12) includes an integral cavity (24) and a porthole (30), such that when the movable part (12) is rotated with respect to the fixed part (14) and the cavity (24) aligns with the pill sorting chamber (18) of the fixed part (14) the pill (20) is allowed to drop into the cavity (24); and upon further rotation of the movable part (12), the cavity (24) aligns with the exit chamber (22) thus allowing the pill (20) to egress from the cavity (24) and into the exit chamber (22); and at this point the exit chamber (22) is aligned with the porthole (30), thus allowing the pill (20) to be evacuated therefrom. [0029] The fixed part (14) includes circumferential ridges adapted to coincide with circumferential ridges of the pill bottle (16) and adapted to allow a removable secure connection between the cap (10) and the pill bottle (16).

[0030] Looking at figures 2 and 6 to 9, one can follow the path of the pill (20), in various positions in the pill (20) exiting sequence. In figs. 6a-b, when the cap (10) is upside down, a plurality of pills (20), (not shown in figs 6a-b) fall into the pill sorting chamber (18). When a user rotates the movable part (12) one quarter of a turn, so that it looks like in figs 7a-b, at this point, an opening (25) allows only one pill (20) at a time to egress from the pill sorting chamber (18) and drop into a pill cavity (24). Once one pill (20) fills the pill cavity (24), there is no room for more pills (20) and continuing the rotation of the movable part (12) by another quarter of a

turn brings it to the configuration as shown in figs . 8A-b, which is similar to the configuration of figs 6a-b, except for the fact that the pill (20) Is still in the pill cavity (20). At this point, the cap (10) can be returned to the upright position and the pill (20) will remain inside the cavity (24).

5[OO31] Upon continued rotation of the movable part (12), the pill cavity (24) aligns itself with the exit chamber (22), as can be seen in figs 9a-b, and the pill (20), drops into the exit chamber (22). At this point into the rotation of the movable part (12) a porthole (30) is also aligned with the exit chamber (22) so as to allow the pill (20) complete egress from the

I O cap (10). For example, the user can simply tilts the bottle (16) to let the pill (20) slide out of the exit chamber (22). In fact, the pill (20) can drop directly into the mouth of the user, thus eliminating any contact with the hands. Also, when the porthole (30) is aligned with the exit chamber (22), it is also when the cavity (24) is aligned with the sorting chamber

15 (18), which means that as one pill (20) is being taken in, another pill (20) gets ready for the cavity (24). To reduce the amount of turning necessary, in subsequent use, there are preferably two portholes (30) and two cavities (24) diametrically located within the movable part (12).

[0032] Because pills (20) come in various shapes and sizes, a variety of

20 configured and sized cavities (24) can be made. Some examples of cavity (24) configurations are shown in figs 10 to 12.0a-c. For example, figs. 10a-b show a cavity (24) for round pills (20). Figs. 11 a-b show a

cavity (24) for cylindrical pills (20). For example, figs. 12a-b show a cavity (24) for powder or granular substances.

[0033] As to a further discussion of the manner of usage and operation of the present invention, the same should be apparent from the above

5 description. Accordingly, no further discussion relating to the manner of usage and operation will be provided. With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the invention, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and

I O use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by the present invention. Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous

15 modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.

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