Patent Publication Number: US-10758454-B2

Title: Pill crushing assembly

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     Not Applicable 
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
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     THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT 
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     INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC OR AS A TEXT FILE VIE THE OFFICE ELECTRONIC FILING SYSTEM 
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     STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY THE INVENTOR OR JOINT INVENTOR 
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     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     (1) Field of the Invention 
     (2) Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98 
     The disclosure and prior art relates to crushing devices and more particularly pertains to a new crushing device for crushing and cutting a pill. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a plunger unit that may be manipulated. A base is provided and the base may be positioned on a support surface. A pill is selectively positioned on the base. The plunger unit is selectively positioned on the base. Thus, the plunger unit selectively crushes the pill on the base. 
     There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure 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 disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto. 
     The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S) 
       The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a pill crushing assembly according to an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of an embodiment of the disclosure showing a lid in an open position. 
         FIG. 3  is a front view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 4  is a cross sectional view taken along line  4 - 4  of  FIG. 3  of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective in-use view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to  FIGS. 1 through 5  thereof, a new crushing device embodying the principles and concepts of an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated by the reference numeral  10  will be described. 
     As best illustrated in  FIGS. 1 through 5 , the pill crushing assembly  10  generally comprises a plunger unit  12  that may be manipulated. The plunger unit  12  comprises a tube  14  that has a first end  16 , a second end  18  and an inner surface  20 . A lip  22  extends inwardly from the inner surface  20 . The lip  22  is continuous such that the lip  22  forms a ring extending around the tube  14 . The lip  22  has an upwardly facing surface  24 . 
     A shaft  26  is provided. The shaft  26  has a primary end  28  and a secondary end  30 . The shaft  26  is slidably positioned within the tube  14 . A dome  32  is coupled to the primary end  28  of the shaft  26  and the dome  32  may be depressed. 
     The dome  32  comprises a disk  34  that has a first surface  36  and a second surface  38 . The first surface  36  is positioned on the primary end  28  of the shaft  26 . A pair of ridges  39  extends upwardly from the second surface  36  and the ridges  39  are oriented to form a V shape. A pill  40  is selectively placed between the ridges  39  such that the ridges  39  inhibit the pill  40  from sliding the second surface  38 . The pill  40  may be oral medication or the like. 
     A lid  42  is hingedly coupled to the second surface  38  of the disk  34 . The dome  32  is selectively depressed when the lid  42  is positioned in a closed position. The lid  42  has an interior surface  44 . A blade  46  is coupled to the interior surface  44  of the lid  42 . The blade  46  has a distal edge  48  with respect to the lid  42 . The distal edge  48  is sharpened to cut the pill  40  in half when the lid  42  is positioned in the closed position. Additionally, the blade  46  passes between the pair of ridges  39  when the lid  42  is positioned in the closed position. 
     A biasing member  50  is positioned around the shaft  26 . The biasing member  50  extends between the upwardly facing surface  24  of the lip  22  and the first surface  36  of the disk  34 . The biasing member  50  biases the shaft  26  to extend outwardly from the first end  16  of the tube  14 . Moreover, the shaft  26  is selectively urged downwardly in the tube  14  when the dome  32  is depressed. The biasing member  50  may be spring biasing member  50 . 
     A crusher  52  is provided. The crusher  52  is coupled to the secondary end  30  of the shaft  26 . Thus, the crusher  52  crushes the pill  40  when the shaft  26  is urged downwardly in the tube  14 . The crusher  52  abuts the lip  22  when the biasing member  50  biases the shaft  26  outwardly from the tube  14 . Thus, the shaft  26  is retained in the tube  14 . The crusher  52  may have a distal end  54  with respect to the shaft  26  and an outer surface  56 . The outer surface  56  may taper inwardly between the shaft  26  and the distal end  54 . 
     A base  58  provided and the base  58  may be positioned on a support surface  60 . The support surface  60  may be a table top or the like. The pill  40  is positioned on the base  58  when the pill  40  is to be crushed. The plunger unit  12  is selectively positioned on the base  58 . Thus, the plunger unit  12  selectively crushes the pill  40  on the base  58 . 
     The base  58  comprises a platter  62  that has a primary surface  64 . The platter  62  is positioned on the support surface  60 . The second end  18  of the tube  14  abuts the primary surface  64  when the plunger unit  12  is positioned on the base  58 . A stem  66  is coupled to and extends upwardly from the primary surface  64 . The stem  66  extends upwardly into the tube  14  when the plunger unit  12  is positioned on the base  58 . 
     The stem  66  has a distal end  67  with respect to the platter  62 . The distal end  67  has a well  68  extending toward the platter  62 . The pill  40  is positioned in the well  68  and the well has a diameter of approximately 20 mm. The well  68  has a bounding surface  70  and the crusher  52  engages the bounding surface  70  when the shaft  26  is urged downwardly in the tube  14 . Thus, the pill  40  is crushed between the bounding surface  70  of the well  68  and the crusher  52 . 
     In use, the pill  40  is positioned in the well  68 . The plunger unit  12  is positioned on the base  58  and the dome  32  is urged downwardly. Thus, the pill  40  is crushed between the stem  66  and the crusher  52 . The plunger unit  12  is removed from the base  58  and the crushed pill  40  is poured out of the well  68 . The lid  42  on the dome  32  is selectively opened and the pill  40  is selectively placed on the second surface  38  of the disk  34 . The lid  42  is manipulated into the closed position and the blade  46  cuts the pill  40 . 
     With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and 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 an embodiment of the disclosure. 
     Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure 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 disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.