APPARATUS FOR THE INDICATION OF A PREDETERMINED NUMBER OF SHAKING MOVEMENTS

Abstract: The present invention provides an apparatus for the indication of a predetermined number of shaking movements, comprising means (4, 3, 2) for translating the shaking movements into a movement of an indicator means (5) from a starting position to an indicator position after the predetermined number of shaking movements.

Description: APPARATUS FOR THE INDICATION OF A PREDETERMINED NUMBER OF SHAKING MOVEMENTS The invention relates to an apparatus for indicating a predetermined number of shaking movements. Many medicaments are oil-in-water emulsions or suspensions, which means that they consist of two components, of which at least one is a liquid, which components separate after a prolonged period of settling. Medicaments of that kind must be strongly shaken before use, so that a homogeneous mixture results. The intensity of shaking has hitherto been at the user's own discretion. Therefore there is a need for a device advising the user that the medicament has been shaken sufficiently. Similar difficulties are known from other fields, for example in fuel mixtures for two-stroke engines, in diagnostics and, quite generally, in chemical analyses. The invention is based on the object of producing an apparatus furnishing an indication as to whether a container has been subjected to a predetermined number of shaking movements. According to the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for the indication of a predetermined number of shaking movements, comprising means for translating the shaking movements into a movement of an indicator means from a starting position to an indicator position after the predetermined number of shaking movements. The means for translating the shaking movements into a movement of an indicating means may include an element, which due to its inertia moves relative to the apparatus when the apparatus is moved. It is at least univariant with the freedom of translation or of rotation, itself serving as an indicator means, or the movement of the element is transmitted positively or non- positively to the indicator means, which is thereby moved from the starting position into the indicator position after a predetermined number of shaking movements have been carried out. The movement of the indicator means from the starting position into the indicator position may be a rectilinear or a rotational movement. The indicator means may be, for example, a strip-shaped element which in its starting position projects from the upper surface of the apparatus and in the course of a predetermined number of shaking movements moves downwardly thus projecting from the bottom surface of the apparatus when being in its indicator position. Stop-dogs engaging with the strip-shaped element may cause the strip-shaped element to be moved only in one direction by action of the shaking movements. The reset movement of the indicator means from the indicator position to the starting position can easily be achieved by manually pulling the strip-shaped element down and entirely out of the apparatus and inserting it at the top surface of the apparatus. Preferably, however, the translation means is a ratchet mechanism, i.e. a mechanism generating an intermittent movement, rotational or rectilinear. In such a case, the indicator means can be moved by action of the ratchet mechanism. An element moving due to its inertia relative to the apparatus is a ratchet element. The ratchet element may be pivoted and may be unbalanced in such a way as to swing to and fro when the apparatus is shaken. This rotational swinging movement may be translated into an intermittent rotational or rectilinear movement of the indicator means by employing conventional means known in connection with ratchet mechanisms. To this end, the ratchet mechanism preferably includes a toothed element, more particularly a gear wheel, with a stop-dog of the ratchet element carrying said element by one pitch at each shaking movement. Whenever the gear wheel has been turned by a predetermined number of teeth, an indication appears advising the user that, at appearance of this indication, the predetermined number of shaking movements have been carried out. Preferably, the ratchet element is a ratchet ring surrounding the gear wheel at a close distance and having an inwardly projecting stop-dog engaging with the teeth. Near the stop-dog the radius of the ratchet ring is enlarged in order to provide enough space for the stop-dog to move. Preferably, the ratchet ring itself does not possess a considerable unbalance, but a weight resting in a freely movable bearing transmits the swinging movement caused by shaking onto the ratchet ring. To this end, the weight may possess a recess with which a nose mounted at the periphery of the ratchet ring engages, thereby coupling the ratchet ring to the weight. The indicator means may consist of a simple marking on the gear wheel appearing in a window. This is, however, unfavourable, as the indicator means continues its movement after reaching its indicator position, if the shaking movement is not stopped. An indicator means of that kind demands considerable attentiveness from the user. A more realistic embodiment is one in which the gear wheel is blocked after a predetermined number of shaking movements, so as to prevent the indication from disappearing in the event of excessive shaking. This can be achieved by the provision of an indicator means including a slide, i.e. an element resting in a movable bearing, which is connected to the gear wheel by a ratchet mechanism in such a way as to cause the slide to move at each complete revolution or each rotational movement by a predetermined angle from the starting position into the indicator position. To this end, the slide preferably includes a projecting pin and the gear wheel possesses a recess, the pin clicking into the recess at each complete revolution of the gear wheel, thus releasing the slide, whereby the slide can be moved, due to its dead weight or to spring resistance, from the starting position to the indicator position. When being moved, the slide makes different portions of its surface visible through a window at the outer surface of the apparatus, depending on whether it is in the starting position or the indicator position. Most simply, these different portions of the surface,may have different colours, the user inferring from the change of colour that the predetermined number of shaking movements have been carried out. After application of the medicament or some other mixture consisting of two components, by means of the apparatus according to the invention, the apparatus is reset into its starting position. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the slide, after being reset, does not immediately fall back into the indicator position. This is preferably achieved by providing for the slide, when being reset, to cause a slight forward rotational movement of the gear wheel thereby enabling the recess to be slightly removed from the pin, thus preventing the latter from clicking back into the recess. The reset movement of the slide can be automatically actuated if the slide possesses a nose projecting downwardly from the apparatus when in the indicator position. If, for example, a medicine bottle equipped with the device according to the invention is put down after use, the slide is pushed upwardly and thereby reset without any further manipulation being necessary. The individual elements of the apparatus according to the invention may be made of plastics and manufactured according to conventional methods. A reverse movement of the gear wheel is normally prevented by friction between the gear wheel and the adjacent elements. As is quite usual in ratchet mechanisms, the reverse movement may also be prevented by a dedicated stop-dog engaging with the teeth. An embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of illustration and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 shows the apparatus for the indication of a predetermined number of shaking movements in connection with a medicine bottle; Fig. 2 is a side view of the interior of the apparatus; Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view along the line II-II of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a view of the apparatus similar to that of Fig. 2; however, the slide is in the indicator position; Fig. 5 and 6 show the housing in a side view and a cross-sectional view along IV-IV; Fig. 7 and 8 show the mounting support for the gear wheel in a side view and a view from underneath; Fig. 9 and 10 show the slide in a side view and a top view; Fig. 11 and 12 show the gear wheel in a side view and a front view; and Fig. 13 and 14 show the ratchet ring in a side view and a front view. Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a medicine bottle to which an apparatus for the indication, of a predetermined number of shaking movements is fixed. Through a window 15 an indicator means 5 is visible. The indicator means is first in a starting position, in which through the window 15 a red coloured portion of the surface of the indicator means is visible. After a predetermined number of shaking movements, the indicator means moves from the starting position to the indicator position, in which, for example, a green coloured portion of the surface of the indicator means is visible through the window 15. From this the user understands that a predetermined number of shaking movements required to ensure an even mixing of the medicament have been carried out. Fig. 2 to 4 illustrate the correlation between the individual elements of the apparatus. The apparatus includes a housing 1 having a first side wall 11 and a framing 12, the two elements forming one structural member. The open side is covered by a cover 13 held in a groove in the edge of the framing 12. Cramp-like walls 14 are provided projecting from the cover 13 in order to fix the apparatus to the medicine container. The side wall 11 and the framing 12 are shown in detail in Fig. 5 and 6, and the cover 13 with its cramp-like walls 14 is shown in Fig. 7 and 8. In Fig. 3 and Fig. 8 the cramp- like walls 14 have a form suitable to fix the apparatus to a bottle of rectangular cross-section. The medicine bottle shown in Fig. 1 has a circular cross-section, and the walls 14 are in this case configured to form a circular arc exceeding 180°. There is a pivot 16 provided, which protrudes from the cover 13 into the interior of the housing and on which a gear wheel 2 is pivoted. The gear wheel 2 is illustrated in Fig. 11 and 12. The gear wheel 2 has, in the embodiment shown, twenty teeth 21, which have substantially radially directed tooth faces 23 and flat backs 24. The teeth 21 rest on a circular disk 25 with a larger diameter, the teeth 21 forming a unitary structural member with the disk 25. The sides of the teeth 21 of the gear wheel 2 are in contact with the cover 13 so that above the teeth 21 an annular space is left between the cover 13 and the edge of the disk 25. There is a ratchet ring 3 resting in this annular space, surrounding the teeth at a minimum distance without, however, pressing against the tips of the teeth. A stop- dog 31 projects from the inner surface of the ratchet ring 3 and engages with the teeth 21. The stop-dog 31 is configured so as to form one structural member with the ratchet ring 3. At the point where the stop-dog 31 projects inwardly, the radius of the ratchet ring 3 is enlarged in such a way as to enable the stop-dog 31 to slide over the backs of the teeth. A nose 32 is provided projecting from the periphery of the ratchet ring 3 and engaging with a gap 41 provided in a weight 4. The weight 4 consists of two cylindrical parts 42, 43, which are connected to one another by a connecting shank 44. Between the two cylindrical parts 42, 43 and around the connecting shank 44, the annular gap 41 is formed, in which the nose 32 of the ratchet ring 3 rests. The weight 4 is on three sides held in flat longitudinal troughs in the side wall 11, the framing 12 and the cover 13, whereby a free space 45 is saved for the axial movement of the weight 4. When the apparatus is shaken, the weight 4 moves, due to its inertia, to and fro within the free space 45, thus transferring this movement via the nose 32 onto the ratchet ring 3 so as to cause the latter to carry out a swinging rotational movement. As illustrated in Fig. 2, the ratchet ring 3 catches the gear wheel 2 during its counter-clockwise rotation, whereas it slides with its stop-dog 31 over the backs of the teeth during its clockwise rotation so as to enable the stop-dog 31 to engage in the next tooth space. Usually, a click to prevent gear wheel 2 from a reverse movement is not required, as the gear wheel 2 is on one side in contact with the cover 13 and on the other side with the slide 5 described hereinafter, so that it rotates at relatively high friction sufficient to prevent reverse rotation of the gear wheel 2. Provided in the housing 1, between the gear wheel 2 and the side wall 11, is a slide 5, which is in the form of a knee with two differently long legs. The longer leg extends parallel to the gear wheel 2 and is somewhat longer than the diameter of the gear wheel 2, whereas the shorter leg is adjacent the framing 12. The slide is movable between a starting position and an indicator position, Fig. 2 showing it in its starting position and Fig. 4 in its indicator position. At its lower edge the slide has a step-like shoulder so that a projecting part 55 results, jutting out of the apparatus when the latter is in the released position. In the centre of the lower part of the framing, there is a slot- shaped opening 18, through which the projecting part 55 emerges. The top of the slide carries a pin 51 pointing in the direction of the gear wheel 2. The pin 51 is in contact with the edge of the disk 25 of the gear wheel 2 thus locking the slide 5 in its starting position. The disk 25 possesses at one point a radially directed groove or recess 22, which at each revolution of the gear wheel 2 faces the pin 51 once, so that the latter may click into the recess 22 thus releasing the slide 5 from its locked starting position and causing the latter to fall down - by action of a spring 56 disposed at the. upper edge of the slide and supported against the framing 12 - into its indicator position, in which the projecting part 55 juts out from the opening in the bottom of the housing 1. In order to ensure that the pin 51 clicks into the recess 22, an elevation 26 is provided at that point of the edge of the disk 25 where the recess 22 runs through the circumference of the disk 25. This elevation 26 hits the pin 51 when the gear wheel rotates thus blocking the further rotation of the gear wheel 2, even if the pin 51 clicks into the recess 22 with a certain time-lag. A window 15 is provided in the side wall 11 and the neighbouring part of the framing 12, through which a part of the slide 5 is visible. The width of the window in the direction of movement of the slide 5 is smaller than that of the stroke of the slide 5, i.e. the distance travelled thereby, such that different parts of the latter - depending on whether it is in the starting position or the indicator position - become visible through the window 15. The part visible in the starting position may be coloured red and that visible in the indicator position may be green. It will be appreciated that any other markings or types of indication are possible. On placing the apparatus on a surface, i.e. when the medicine bottle to which the apparatus is attached is, for example, set aside during storage, the indicator is thereby reset. This is achieved by causing the downwardly projecting part 55 to be pushed back into its housing 1 when the apparatus is placed on a surface, in turn causing the slide 5 to be reset to its starting position resulting in the corresponding indication through the window 15. The pin 51 is thereby upwardly moved out of the recess 22. In order to prevent the pin from immediately falling down into the recess 22 as soon as the apparatus is lifted from the surface, the reset movement of the slide must be correlated with a slight forward movement of the gear wheel 2. This is achieved by providing at the short leg of the slide 5 a nose 52, which hits a similar nose 28 at the periphery of the disk 25 thus causing a slight forward movement of the gear wheel 2. By this action the recess 22 is put out of alignment with the pin 51 so as to prevent the pin 51 from clicking into the recess 22 as soon as the apparatus is lifted. The nose 28 on the disk 25 is disposed in relation to the nose 52 on the slide 5 in such a way that the noses contact one another - thus moving the gear wheel 2 slightly forward - only after the pin 51 has been lifted entirely over the elevation 26, thereby enabling the elevation 26 to pass underneath the pin 51. As an additional feature, the lower surface of the pin 51 is inclined against the rotatory direction of the gear wheel 2, so that when the pin 51 hits the elevation 26, an action in the direction of rotation of the gear wheel 2 is exerted on the latter. In summary, the operation of the apparatus is as follows: The apparatus being fixed, for example, to a medicine bottle is taken up by the user and is shaken, the direction of the shaking movement intended roughly to correspond to the longitudinal axis of the weight 4. This to and fro movement of the weight 4 caused by shaking results in a swinging rotational movement of the ratchet ring 3, this movement being translated by means of the stop-dog 31 into an intermittent rotational movement of the gear wheel 2 in a counter-clockwise direction (as seen in Fig. 2) . During this rotatory movement of the gear wheel 2 , the pin 51 first rests on the edge of the disk 25, so that the slide 5 is. locked in its starting position. As in the embodiment shown the gear wheel 2 has twenty teeth, twenty shaking movements result in a complete revolution of the gear wheel 2. After these twenty shaking movements the recess 22 is in alignment with the pin 51 so that the latter is allowed to click into the recess 22 and the slide 5 falls downwardly. By this action, the indication visible through the window 15 changes, enabling the user to recognize that the predetermined number of shaking movements have been carried out and that the medicament is sufficiently mixed to be applied. Afterwards the user places the medicament onto some kind of surface thus causing the projecting part 55 to be moved back into the housing 1 and the pin 51 to be lifted off the recess 22. Immediately after the pin 51 has left the recess 22, the gear wheel 2 is caused by the noses 52 and 28 to undergo a slight forward movement so as to remove the pin 51 from its alignment with the recess 22. At the same time the indication visible through the window 15 changes.

Claims: CLAIMS; 1. Apparatus for the indication of a predetermined number of shaking movements, comprising means for translating the shaking movements into a movement of an indicator means from a starting position to an indicator position after the predetermined number of shaking movements. 2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the means for translating the shaking movements into the movement of the indicating means is a ratchet mechanism. 3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the ratchet mechanism comprises a ratchet element moving to and fro by action of the shaking movements. 4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2 or claim 3, wherein the ratchet mechanism incorporates a. toothed element. 5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein the toothed element is a gear wheel. 6. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein the ratchet element moves the toothed element intermittently whereby, after the toothed element has been moved by a predetermined number of teeth corresponding to the predetermined number of shaking movements, the indicator means has been caused to move from the starting position to the indicator position. 7. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 3 to 6, wherein the ratchet element is a ratchet ring surrounding the gear wheel and incorporating a stop-dog projecting inwardly and engaging with the teeth. 8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein the ratchet ring can be set swinging by a weight resting in a freely movable bearing. 9. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the indicator means is a slide carrying a projecting pin and the gear wheel possesses a recess, the pin clicking into the recess at each complete revolution of the gear wheel, thus releasing the slide. 10. Apparatus as claimed in claim 9, wherein the slide, by being moved, makes different portions of its surface visible through a window. 11. Apparatus as claimed in claim 9 or claim 10, wherein the slide, when being reset, causes.a slight rotational forward movement of the gear wheel so as to prevent the pin from clicking into the recess. 12. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 9 to 11, wherein the slide comprises at the bottom a projecting part which projects downwardly when the pin clicks into the recess, so as to cause the slide to be reset when the apparatus is placed on a surface.

Inventors: PRANZ WILHELM, SCHWAB WALTER, PRANZ, WILHELM, SCHWAB, WALTER
Applicants: CHIBRET PHARMAZEUTISCHE GMBH
Application year: 1993
Main classification: B01F15
IPC codes: B01F15, G06M1