Pill dispenser

A pill dispenser is provided to enable individuals to take medication at regular specified times throughout the day. The dispenser has an open container with a divider means having a plurality of compartment-forming walls which divide the container into a number of compartments, each compartment adapted to receive and store medication to be taken at a prescribed time as identified with an hour label associated with the compartment, and a rotatable cover enclosing the container and having a sector-shaped opening, which can be moved over a selected compartment for the removal of the medication contained therein. If all compartments are used for holding medication, the sector-shaped opening may be covered with a closure tab which is openable so that the first dose of medication can be taken at the first prescribed time. The divider means may be detachably secured in the container so that it can be replaced with another divider means having a larger or smaller number of compartment-forming walls to thereby accommodate different dosage time periods. The assembly of the dispenser components may be achieved with a separate securing means or the components may be constructed in a particular way without using separate securing means.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 
This invention relates generally to containers for holding pills, such as 
pill boxes carried by individuals, and more particularly to a pill 
dispenser having a plurality of compartments for allocating a number of 
pills to be dispensed at different hours of the day. 
Pill boxes are essentially any containers for holding a supply of pills. 
Initially, when the pills are purchased at the pharmacy or a drug store, 
the pills are contained in a large container which cannot be too 
conveniently carried on the person of an individual. Since only a few 
pills are required to be taken daily, there is available on the market any 
number of small pill boxes which are generally decorated to present a 
pleasing effect. One of the problems associated with taking pills from 
such pill boxes at prescribed times of the day is that the individual may 
underdose or overdose, because of memory lapses. For example, if an 
individual is to take a pill at noon, the individual may not take the pill 
at that time, thinking that the pill was already taken, whereas it was 
not. Or the individual, a short time, after noon, may have forgotten that 
the pill was already taken at noon and mistakenly takes another pill, 
being under the impression that the pill was not taken at the proper time. 
To overcome the foregoing lapses in timing in taking medication, there is 
presently available a container which was designed to dispense medications 
over the entire week. In other words, the container possesses 7 
compartments associated with the weekdays, each compartment provided with 
an individual cover which can be opened to remove the pills in a 
particular compartment associated with a particular day in the week. 
However, the foregoing does not solve the problem of an individual who has 
to take a number of pills at prescribed times during a single day. 
There is a need for a pill dispenser to be used by people who are required 
for medical reasons to take medications at regular specified times 
throughout the day. To attain the most benefit from such medication, it is 
essential that the medication be taken in a proper dose and at a proper 
time. For example, a person afflicted with rheumatoid arthritis is 
required to take an anti-inflammatory drug and an analgesic drug, as many 
as 48 pills a day, for the reduction of inflammation and alleviation of 
pain. Persons affected by myasthenia gravis are required to take a 
specific drug every 3 hours to prevent serious muscle weakness. On the 
other hand, patients with seizures are required to take medications 
generally 6 times a day to control their seizures. The Parkinsonian 
patient medications are titrated as many as 10 times a day to control 
movement disorders. Kidney and other organ transplant patients are 
required to take as many as 18 pills a day to meet their medical and 
post-surgical needs. 
There is an urgent need for a device to assist the aged and invalid 
patients in taking their prescribed medications at particular times. 
Particularly, there is a need for such a pill dispenser to assist the 
nurses who provide services through the Home Health Care Plan, wherein the 
aged and the invalid patients are confined to their homes and are visited 
by such nurses. During this type of ministration, it is quite helpful for 
the nurse to arrange the various pills in a pill dispenser and then leave 
it with the patient for self-treatment until the next daily visit by the 
nurse to the patient. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
In accordance with the invention, there is provided a device for monitoring 
the intake of pills by an individual during the course of the day, thereby 
avoiding uncertainty whether medication has been taken or not. 
It is the object of the invention to provide a pill dispenser having a 
plurality of compartments, each adapted to receive an allocation of pills 
to be taken at a particular time of the day. 
It is a further object of the invention to provide a pill dispenser 
provided with an interchangeable divider means for dividing the space in 
the dispenser into any selected numbers of compartments. 
Additionally, it is the object of the invention to provide a pill dispenser 
which can be manufactured easily by molding techniques. 
Still, a further object of the invention is to provide a pill dispenser 
having a container and a cover provided with integrally formed 
inter-engageable means therebetween to provide for rapid assembly of the 
dispenser, without the use of independent securing members. 
A further object of the invention is to provide a pill dispenser having two 
portions movable with respect to each other, one portion being provided 
with an opening which can be moved to register with a particular 
compartment for releasing therefrom a stored amount of pills. 
The pill dispenser comprises an open container, divider means for dividing 
space in said container into a plurality of uniform compartments, each 
adapted to receive and hold pills, enclosure means enclosing said 
container, the enclosure means being provided with an opening to expose 
one of the compartments, and support means for supporting the enclosure 
means for movement with respect to the container, whereby the enclosure 
means can be moved with respect to the compartments to position the 
opening with respect to a selected compartment to expose the pills 
contained therein. In practice, the container and the divider means may be 
integrally molded. 
In another embodiment, the dispenser utilizes interchangeable divider 
means, each of which has a different number of dividing walls which 
provide a different number of compartments in the container. The container 
has an integrally formed central column or boss over which a hub of the 
divider means is positioned. 
In both of the foregoing embodiments, the enclosure means is in the form of 
a cover which is secured to the container by means of a fastener such as a 
screw. 
In further embodiments, the use of a fastener, such as a screw, can be 
avoided by molding the container, the divider means, and the cover in a 
particular manner. Integrally formed with the container and the cover is a 
central stub structure over which the interchangeable divider means is 
positioned, the ends of the central stub structures having cooperative 
portions which interlock with each other and thus secure the cover to the 
container. 
The enclosure means which is in the form of a cover has a sector-shaped 
opening extending from the center of the cover to a rim portion of the 
cover. A modification of the cover comprises a sector-shaped opening which 
extends from the center and beyond the periphery of the cover, there being 
no rim portion. 
In a further embodiment, the container and the cover and a locking member 
are all molded, the cover having a central opening and the container 
having a central hollow column, the locking member having an intrusion 
head which is adapted to pass through the opening in the cover and into 
the hollow column to obtain securement therewith. 
Ordinarily, a divider means will be selected having a number of 
compartment-forming walls which will separate the container into a 
predetermined number of compartments, not all of the compartments being 
used for pill storage. For example, a 10 compartment dispenser may be used 
for allocating medication every three hours on a 12 hour clock basis. This 
would require only 4 compartments. Thus 6 compartments would not be used 
and it would not matter that the sector-shaped opening in the cover is not 
closed. However, in the event that a dispenser has a limited number of 
compartments, all of which have to be used, the sector-shaped opening can 
be provided with a closure tab which is pivotally secured to the cover.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Referring to FIGS. 1, 2, and 3, a pill dispenser 20 comprises a container 
22, a divider means 23 within the container, and an enclosure means in the 
form of a cover 24, the divider means 23 having a plurality of radiating 
walls 26 extending from a central column 28 to an inner wall 30 of the 
container 22. The radiating walls 26 and the central column 28 can be 
integrally molded with the container 22. The cover 24 comprises a circular 
wall 50 terminating in a rim 52 which is coterminous with an outer wall 44 
of the container 22, the cover being provided with a sector-shaped opening 
32. The walls 26 divide the interior of the container 22 into a plurality 
of compartments 34 and the size of the sector-shaped opening 32 
corresponds to the size of one of the compartments 34. The cover 24 is 
rotatably secured to the container 22 by support means, such as a biasing 
washer 38 and a fastener 36 anchored in the central column 28 and urging 
the cover toward the container. 
As shown in FIG. 1, upper edges 40 of the walls 26 possess concave 
depressions which are adapted to receive one or more nibs 42 molded in the 
undersurface of the cover 24, for example as shown in FIG. 4. The nibs 42 
and the concave edges 40 provide interengagement means, whereby the cover 
24 will interlock with respect to the container 22 so that the opening 32 
may register with any one of the compartments 34. 
The outer wall 44 of the container 22 is provided with indicia 46 
numerically identifying the various compartments 34. The indicia may be 
molded in the surface of the outer wall 44 or may be applied by printing 
or by adhesive labels. The cover 24 may be provided with an indicator 
number 48 which is adapted to register with the indicia 46 whenever the 
opening 32 is positioned over a particular compartment. The biasing washer 
38 provides sufficient resiliency between the cover 24 and the container 
22 to facilitate a disengagement between the nibs 42 and the concave upper 
edges 40 on top of the walls 26. 
As shown, the dispenser 20 has nine compartments 34, eight of the 
compartments are completely closed and can be filled with pills, the 
unused compartment being the one in registration with the opening 32 in 
the cover 24. As an example, with the eight compartments, on the basis of 
a 24 hour medication period, each of the compartments would be associated 
with a three-hour dispensing interval. Of course, it is clear that not all 
of the compartments will be filled with medication if the medication 
dispensing period is longer. For example, if a patient is required to take 
medication every three hours in a 12-hour medication period, four 
compartments would be used, each used compartment being filled with the 
necessary medication and associated with a three-hour dispensing interval. 
As shown in FIG. 1, the rim 52 is provided with knurls 58 to provide the 
user with a firm grasp of the cover 24 whenever it is necessary to rotate 
it into registry with the next succeeding compartment for pill dispensing. 
Since the desired number of compartments in the dispenser will vary with 
the needs of one patient to another, the divider means 23 may be 
separately molded so that it can be detachably secured within the 
container 22. Such modification is shown in the embodiments illustrated in 
FIGS. 4-6. The divider means 23 is formed in the shape of a paddle wheel 
having a number of walls 26 radiating outwardly from a hub 60 which is 
placed over the central column 28. In order to prevent the divider means 
23 from rotating about the column 28, walls 26a and 26b are a trifle 
longer than the other walls so that they engage with slots 62 in the inner 
wall 30 of the container. The column 28 is integrally molded with a bottom 
wall 64 of the container 22. 
The modification shown in FIG. 5 is essentially the same as that shown in 
FIG. 4, except that the central column is short, in the form of a boss 66 
integrally molded with the bottom wall 64, the boss 66 functioning to 
position the hub 60 of the divider means 23, in the same manner as the 
column 28 functions in the modification shown in FIG. 4. 
The embodiments shown in FIGS. 4-6 differ from that shown in FIG. 1 in that 
the cover 24 has a rim 52 which extends beyond the outer wall 44 of the 
container 22. It should be noted that the column 28 and the hub 60 shown 
in FIG. 4 and the hub shown in FIG. 5 possess a height which is less than 
the height of the inner wall 30 inside the container 22, a clearance 
exists below the central portion of the cover 24 so that the cover may be 
deflected or biased toward the container 22 to attain proper engagement 
and disengagement between the nibs 42 and the upper concave edges 40 of 
the walls 26. 
Referring to FIGS. 7 and 7A, there is shown a simplified construction 
(divider means not shown) of a pill dispenser which does not use any 
additional components to provide a complete assembly. In other words, the 
components of the dispenser are assembled together without using the screw 
36 and the biasing member 38. A dispenser 68 comprises a container 70 and 
an enclosure means in the form of a cover 72. The cover 72 is provided on 
its underside with a stub 74 integrally molded and extending from a 
circular wall 76. Similarly, the container 70 has a bottom wall 78 with an 
integrally formed stub 80 which, at its free end, is provided with a 
holding cavity 82 which is adapted to receive a projecting member 84 
extending from the free end of the stub 74. As shown in the enlarged view 
of FIG. 7A, the holding cavity 82 comprises a slot 86 having a centrally 
located enlarged opening 88 to admit the projecting member 84. 
The container 70 may be molded from any plastic material. The cover 72 is 
similarly molded from a plastic material except that the material must be 
yieldable so that during assembly, as the cover 72 is placed over the 
container 70 and then the cover is pressed in its central portion, the 
projecting member will enter into the holding cavity 82 and engage 
therewith. Upon release of pressure from the central portion of the cover 
72, the central portion of the cover will move upwardly a minimal distance 
so that the central portion of the cover 72 will present a slightly 
concave depression. The resiliency developed between the engaged portions 
of the cover and the container is sufficient so that the hubs 42 are in 
engagement with the concave upper edges 40 of the walls 26, for example as 
shown in FIG. 4. The embodiment shown in FIGS. 7 and 7A may be used with a 
detachable divider means (not shown) having a hub which would be 
engageable with the stubs 74 and 80 and secured in the container 70 by 
slots, for example such as slots 62 shown in FIG. 6. 
FIGS. 8 and 8A show a modified cover 90 provided with a sector-shaped 
opening 92 which is completely opened at its radial perimeter, as opposed 
to the opening 32 shown in FIG. 3, wherein the rim 52 peripherally closes 
the opening 32. 
A further modification of a cover is shown in FIG. 9, wherein a cover 94, 
identical to the cover 24 in FIG. 3, is provided with a closure tab 96 
having a sector shape and extending from a pivot portion 100 centrally 
secured to the cover 94 by fastener 102. The closure tab 96 is made from 
metal and has a split portion 104 in the pivot portion 100. The split 
portion 104 performs two functions, biasing and anchoring. The split 
portion 104 acts as a spring washer and resiliently biases the cover 94 
against the container. Further, a sharp edge on the split portion 104 
anchors the closure tab 96 on the cover 94 so that it rotates with the 
cover as it is moved over a selected compartment. However, the split 
portion 104 will permit rotational movement of the closure tab 96 with 
respect to the cover 94 to thereby uncover a sector-shaped opening 98 in 
the cover to enable the user to gain access to the selected compartment. 
The size of the sector-shaped closure tab 96 is slightly larger than 
opening 98 indicated by broken outline. 
A still further embodiment of the pill dispenser is shown in FIG. 10 
wherein a dispenser 106 comprises a cover 108, a container 110 and a lock 
pin 112, all of which are molded from plastic material. A divider means, 
not shown in the cross-sectional view, can be integrally molded with the 
container 110. The pill dispenser 106 is assembled by positioning the 
cover 108 atop the container 110 and then inserting the lock pin 112 
through an opening 114 in the cover and forcing the lock pin into a 
holding cavity 116 in a column 122 so that a head 118 on the lock pin 112 
engages with a lock surface 120 within the column 122 integrally molded 
with the bottom wall 123 of the container 110. The cover 108 should be 
made from a plastic material that will yield when pressed in the center 
portion thereof in the direction of the column 122. The height of the 
column 122 is less than the height of an inner wall 124 on the inside of 
the container 110 to provide a sufficient clearance for the lock pin 112 
to enter into the holding cavity 116 and interengage the head 118 with the 
column 122. Of course, the divider means could be made detachable by 
providing it with a hub adapted to slip over the column 122, similar to 
the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, 5 or 6. 
Although the components of the pill dispenser can be molded from any type 
of plastic material, it is preferred that the cover be made of a clear 
plastic material to disclose the contents in the container and which is 
also yieldable to pressure applied in the central portion of the cover to 
provide proper interaction between the nibs 42 and the concave upper edges 
40 of the divider means 23. 
A typical model of the pill dispenser that was constructed was about 31/4 
inches in diameter, with the container being 1 inch high and a cover 
having a depth of 1/4 inch. 
Typically, for example, the embodiment shown in FIG. 10 is manufactured by 
an injection molding process. The components of the pill dispenser 106 are 
manufactured in three molds, one producing the cover 108, one the 
container 110, and one for the lock pin 112, which holds the container and 
the cover together. The cover and the container are made from clear 
polystyrene and the lock pin is made from clear polyethylene. 
In connection with the description pertaining to the embodiments using 
detachable divider means, the size of the sector-shaped opening has to be 
designed for use with the divider means having the larger plurality of 
compartment-forming walls. Assuming that it is desired to manufacture a 
pill dispenser provided with detachable divider means, if the diameter of 
the container is 3.25 inches, the circumference of the container is 
approximately 10.2 inches. Assuming that a pair of divider means are to be 
used with the container, one divider means having six compartment-forming 
walls and the other divider means having 12 compartment-forming walls, the 
size of the sector-shaped opening would be designed to have an arcuate 
periphery of approximately 0.85 inches which was obtained by dividing the 
circumference of 10.2 inches by 12. The opening having the arcuate 
periphery of 0.85 inches would serve satisfactorily to release pills 
contained in a particular compartment either in a six compartment or 
twelve compartment arrangement. In other words, in using any number of 
detachable divider means, the size of the opening in the cover would be 
determined by the size of compartment in the divider means having the most 
compartment walls. 
While there have been described what is at present considered to be the 
preferred embodiments of the invention, it will be understood that various 
modifications may be made therein, and it is intended to cover in the 
appended claims all such modifications as fall within the true spirit and 
scope of the invention.