Abstract:
A pill dispenser that aids in the dispensing of pills from a medicine bottle or container having a top opening and an inside wall in which a raised spiral coil is included on the inside wall of the container where the coil terminates next to the top opening, the raised spiral coil forming a substantially spiral ridge and a substantially spiral trough into which pills are guided when tipping the bottle or container to discharge one or more pills.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    This invention relates to a pill dispenser that aids in the dispensing of pills from a medicine bottle or container typically used for over the counter or prescription medicines in pill form. The task of shaking one or two pills from an irregularly shaped bottle or cylindrical container can often be challenging. Frequently, more pills than are desired spill into the hand and the excess have to be returned to the bottle. In addition to the potential for contamination of the replaced pills, the task is annoying and may be frustrating to seniors with impaired functionality of their hands. The spiral pill dispenser of this invention is an inexpensive solution that controls the movement of pills in a pill bottle that is either irregularly shaped or is cylindrical in form as is frequently used for prescription medications in pill form. 
         [0002]    The spiral pill dispenser of this invention is designed for use with an existing pill bottle or for incorporation into the inner surface of a pill bottle during the manufacturing process. These and other features of the spiral pill dispenser are described in relation to the preferred embodiments set forth in the detailed description of the preferred embodiments. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    The invented spiral pill dispenser is designed and constructed to aid in the discharge of pills from a pill bottle. The term, “pill” includes both conventional compressed powder formulations and capsules, including liquid-filled capsules. Similarly, the term “bottle” includes both irregularly shaped bottles such as plastic or glass aspirin bottles, and cylindrically shaped bottles such as the plastic canisters that are typically used for pharmaceutical drugs in pill or capsule form. The spiral pill dispenser is in the form of a raised coil on the inside wall of the bottle. The raised coil is provided on at least the portion of the inside of the container next to the opening. The raised coil spirals from a start point within the bottle to a termination next to the bottle opening. 
         [0004]    One are more pills are retrieved by a simple sequence. After removing the bottle cap on a bottle containing pills and tipping the bottle in a customary fashion, the bottle is then gently rotated to guide contained pills along the spiral to the opening for discharge. A gentle shake can accompany the rotation to control the sequential discharge, so that only one or two pills are dispensed under the user&#39;s control. This simple mechanical addition to the ordinary pill bottle, along with the intuitive rotation of the bottle, facilitates the expedient discharge of pills, one by one. 
         [0005]    The dimensions of the raised coil or ridge on the inside wall of the pill bottle naturally depend on the size and configuration of the pills. Smaller pills will require a reduced size in the height of the coils and the spacing of one coil from another in the spiral. It is to be understood that while the preferred embodiment would incorporate the raised coils directly into the wall of the container during manufacturing, other embodiments allow addition of the spiral coil to existing bottles. For example, a preformed coil having an adhesive contact surface can be installed on the inner wall of the bottle. Alternately, for cylindrical canister-type bottles, a tubular sleeve with a raised helical coil on its inner wall can be inserted into the entire length of the bottle, or for both cylindrical and irregular-type bottles, into just the neck of the bottle. These and other features are disclosed in the detailed description that follows a brief description of the drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0006]      FIG. 1  is a cross-sectional side view of an irregularly shaped bottle with removed cap showing the integral internal spiral coil. 
           [0007]      FIG. 2  is an enlarged partial cross-sectional view of the preferred configuration of the internal spiral coil of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0008]      FIG. 3  is an exploded view of a raised spiral coil sleeve for insertion into a conventional cylindrical prescription bottle. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0009]    Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 3 , the pill dispenser, designated in general by the reference numeral  10 , is shown in two different embodiments. In  FIG. 1  the pill dispenser  10  is integral with a pill bottle  12 . In  FIG. 3  the pill dispenser  10  is an added accessory element to a pill bottle  11  of the type typically used for pharmaceutical drugs. 
         [0010]    In the unitary embodiment of  FIG. 1 , the irregularly shaped bottle is typical of the type found in retail stores for over the counter medicines. In this embodiment, the pill dispenser  10  is in the form of a raised spiral coil  14  that is located at the neck  16  of the pill bottle  12  and comprises approximately three turns of the spiral coil  14  formed during the manufacturing process of the bottle. In molding plastic pill bottles, the incorporation of a pill dispenser  10  that is integral with the bottle adds a convenience for the user that is a small additional expense. 
         [0011]    The pill bottle  12  of  FIG. 1  is shown in cross-section to illustrate the raised spiral coil  14  that spirals to the bottle opening where it terminates. The raised spiral coil  14  is shown enlarged in the partial cross-sectional segment of  FIG. 2 . In  FIG. 2 , the configuration of the coil  14  is parabolic to provide rounded internal edges to minimize any chaffing to the pills  18  during dispensing and to guide pills into the trough  20  between the raised coils  14 . Preferably, there should be at least three turns of the spiral coil and the size of the raised coils  14  and width of the trough  20  should correspond generally to the size of the pills  18  contained by the bottle  12 . The width of the trough  20  should be slightly greater than the width of a pill  18  and preferably slightly less than its length to insure a sequential disposition during dispensing. 
         [0012]    It is to be understood that the term “pills” includes capsules. Capsules are frequently elongated and therefore require a greater width to the trough  20  than a circular or elliptical pill in order to round the helical path in the neck  16  of the bottle  12  during dispensing. The preferred number of turns can be reduced to accommodate pills of larger size. 
         [0013]    The pill bottle  12  of  FIG. 1  has a top  22  with a lip  24  that engages a press-on cap  26  in a conventional manner. It is also to be understood that an irregularly shaped bottle  12  is differentiated from the cylindrical pharmaceutical pill bottle  28  of  FIG. 3  only for purposes of showing how the invented spiral coil pill dispenser can be adapted to a variety of conventional pill bottles. The shape of the bottle  12  shown in  FIG. 1  is merely an example of one irregularly shaped bottle. If the dispenser  10  is integral and fabricated during the manufacture of the bottle, the bottle may have a longer neck than the typical bottle to add additional turns of the coil. Alternately, the bottle with the integral spiral coil dispenser  10  may be cylindrical in shape and of the type shown in  FIG. 3 . 
         [0014]    Referring now to  FIG. 3 , the pill dispenser  10  is in the form of a cylindrical (or slightly truncated conical) sleeve  40 . The sleeve  40  has a shell  42  with a top  44  having a thin rim  46  which seats on the top  48  of the cylindrical bottle  28 . For convenience the sleeve  40  and the bottle  28  are transparent to illustrate the internal raised spiral coil  49  in dotted line on the inside wall  50  of the sleeve. The exploded view of  FIG. 4  illustrates the manner the sleeve  40  is inserted into the conventional pharmaceutical pill bottle  28 . The pill bottle  28  has a cap  52  that seats over the thin rim  46  of the sleeve  40  and engages a flange  54  at the top  48  of the cylindrical bottle. 
         [0015]    It is to be understood that just as the integral or unitary raised spiral coil can be incorporated into the wall of a cylindrical bottle during manufacture, a sleeve with an internal raised spiral coil can be adapted for insertion into the neck of an irregularly shaped bottle. Additionally, other modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, the dispenser can be in the form of a coil that is adhesively attached to the wall of the bottle in a short spiral. 
         [0016]    During use, the method of dispensing pills from a pill bottle having a raised spiral coil in the neck of the bottle located next to the top opening is intuitive. The pill bottle is gently tipped to urge contained pills seated in the trough between raised turns of the coil toward the opening. The pill bottle may optionally be gently shaken to advance the pills to the neck and opening of the bottle. The pill bottle in the tilted position is gently rotated with a clockwise motion to dispense individual pills. Although the procedure is designed for the ease of a right-handed person, a left-handed person can easily adapt with a counter-clockwise rotation. Alternately, a raised spiral coil can be constructed with an opposite rotation for a left-handed person, particularly for the inexpensive insert embodiment. 
         [0017]    These and other features have been described with respect to multiple preferred embodiments to illustrate the scope of the invention which is set forth in the claims that follow.