Abstract:
The pill cutter is a pill container with a blade and cuts pills within the cap for the blade while the blade is not exposed at any time. A cutting board is hinged to the end of the cap and has a clamp, which holds the pill and is always aligned with blade. No visual alignment of pill and blade is needed. It is a safer, more convenient and more precise pill cutter

Description:
[0001]    The pill cutter is a continuation of my patent application Ser. No. 13/329,185, titled Pill Pen With A Pill Cutter And Grinder. The pill cutter can either be part of the pill pen disclosed in this application as a segment with blade or a standalone pill cutter. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 
       [0002]    The pill cutters commonly used are characterized by a swing blade and v-shaped slot to position the pill. The shortcomings associated with such pill cutter are the exposed blade when the cutter is open, which poses a risk of accidental cutting injury, the mobility of the pill in the v-shaped slot which may result in inaccurate splitting, especially when the pill is of small size or irregular shape, and the need to visually align the pill with the blade before cutting. I have designed a pill cutter which doesn&#39;t expose the blade at any time, has a clamp to firmly hold the pill, doesn&#39;t need visual alignment before cutting and is small in size. It is safer, more convenient and more accurate than ones currently being used. 
       SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
       [0003]    As part of the pill pen of my design, the pill cutter is a cylindrical pill container with a blade at its end. The length of the cylindrical segment can be variable and and can be quite short and takes little space. The cylindrical segment with blade has several evenly spaced longitudinal short ridges which engage the longer slots in the interior wall of the cylindrical cap for the blade, so that the segment with blade can only move up and down instead of sidewise. 
         [0004]    The cylindrical cap for the blade has a cover at its lower end. The interior surface of the cover functions as the cutting board for the blade and has a clamp with two arms to hold the pill for cutting. A spring wires is integrated in each arm to create gripping force. The two arms of the clamp form two loops, a smaller and a larger loop. The larger loop holds a regular size pill and the smaller loop holds a tiny pill or a half pill to be split again. Each arm has finely serrated surface for firm gripping. The cap for the blade is longer than the the pill pen segment with blade. Also, the pill pen segment with blade has two small flanges at its opening, which stops the upper end of the segment with blade from going lower than the upper end of its cap and therefore prevents the blade from being exposed below the lower end of the cap while the cover of the cap is open. The cover of the cap is of sufficient thickness. When the cover is closed, part of its thickness is within the cap and the interior surface of cover meets the blade, thus it functions as a cutting board. 
         [0005]    The ridge-slot engagement only allows the segment with blade to move up and down within its cap and ensures that the blade is always aligned with the central line between the two arms of the clamp. Therefore one just places the pill between the two arms and close the cover of the cap. The pill is truly immobilized. Then the segment with blade is pressed down, which splits the pill equally. No visual alignment or estimate is necessary. 
         [0006]    When a pill is split, the two arms are flexible and move apart slightly to accommodate the expanding volume created by the separated two pieces of the pill. However, in the case of a v-shaped slot, when a pill is cut into two, the increased volume can not expand and is squeezed by the fixed two arms of the v-shaped slot, which may cause the pill to chip. 
         [0007]    A spring is fixated between the two arms of the clam with its wire being integrated in each arm to create gripping force. Two opposing short stubs at the end of each arm keep the two arms slightly apart, making space for the blade when the cover of the cap is closed. 
         [0008]    Another version of pill cutter features a square pill container with a blade and has a similar clamp for pills on the cutting board. Two elastic wires which emanate from a spring press the two arms of the clamp to create gripping force. The cap for the blade is longer than the the pill container with blade. Also, the pill container with blade has two small flanges at its opening, which stops the upper end of the pill container with blade from going lower than the upper end of its cap and therefore prevents the blade from being exposed below the lower end of the cap while the cover of the cap is open. 
         [0009]    A pill clamp which can hold more than one pills for cutting features an articulation in each of the two arms of the pill clamp, which keeps the two arms parallel to each other, which therefore are able to hold multiple pills at the same time. This clamp is applicable to both the cylindrical and square pill cutters. 
         [0010]    Magnet can be used in place of the spring to bring the two arms of the pill clamp together. Two or three magnet tablets are embedded in the cutting board along the middle line while an iron bar is embedded in each arm of the pill clamp. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0011]      FIG. 1  shows the pill cutter as a cylindrical segment with a blade in the pill pen, which is disclosed in my patent application Ser. No. 13/329,185, titled Pill Pen With A Pill Cutter And Grinder. 
           [0012]      FIG. 2  is the standalone pill cutter. 
           [0013]      FIG. 3  shows the details of the clamp for pills. 
           [0014]      FIG. 4  shows the pill cutter with a blade on a square pill container which is within its cap. 
           [0015]      FIG. 5  shows the details of a pill clamp with an articulation in each of the two arms of the clamp, which keeps the two arms parallel to each other, which thus are able to hold multiple pills at the same time. 
           [0016]      FIG. 6  shows a pill clamp with an articulation in each of its two arms, the longer segments of which are parallel to each other and thus are able to hold more than one pills to be spitted at the same time. A iron bar is embedded in each arm and two or three magnetic tablets are embedded in the cutting board along the middle line. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0017]      FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2  show the pill cutter can be variable in its length. 
         [0018]      FIG. 1  shows the pill cutter as part of the pill pen and is the last cylindrical segment of the pill pen. It is a shorter version. The successive cylindrical segments of the pill pen are joints together by spiral threads  1 . The segment with blade has several evenly spaced longitudinal short ridges  2  on its surface, which are coupled to the longer slots  3  in its cap  4 . The segment with blade moves up and down along the slots, but can not move sideways and therefore the blade remains aligned with center of the two arms of the clamp. The cap  4  for the blade  5  has a thick cover  6  at its end. The cover  6  is coupled to the cap  4  with a hinge  7 . When the cover  6  is closed, part of its thickness is within the cap  4  and the blade  5  rests between the two arms  8  of the clamp for the pills. A tab  9  on the edge of the cover  4  can be grasped to open and close the cover and prevents the cover from going all the way into the cap. 
         [0019]    The cap  4  for the blade is longer than the the pill pen segment  10  with blade  5 . Also, the pill pen segment  10  with blade has two small flanges  11  at its opening, which stops the upper end of the segment  10  with blade from going lower than the upper end of its cap  4  and therefore prevents the blade from being exposed below the lower end of the cap at any time. 
         [0020]      FIG. 2  shows a standalone pill cutter and is a longer version. The cylindrical segment  10  can be used as a pill box and has a cover. The cylindrical segment  10  with blade  5  has several evenly spaced longitudinal short ridges  2  on its surface, which are coupled to the longer slots  3  in its cap  4 . The segment with blade  10  moves up and down along the slots  3 , but can not move sideways. 
         [0021]    The cap  4  for the blade  5  is longer than the the pill pen segment  10  with blade. Also, the pill pen segment with blade has two small flanges  11  at its opening, which stops the upper end of the segment with blade from going lower than the upper end of its cap  4  and therefore prevents the blade  5  from being exposed below the lower end of the cap  4  at any time. This would decrease the risk of accidental cutting injuries associated with the swing blade in the pill cutters currently being used. 
         [0022]    The cap  4  for the segment  10  with blade and its cover  6  are joined together with a hinge  7 . A tab  9  on the edge of the cover  4  can be grasped to open and close the cover and prevents the cover from going all the way into the cap. The cover  6  of the cap is opened and shows a clamp with two arms  8  to hold a pill. A middle line  12  between the two clamp arms  8  is marked on the cap&#39;s cover  6 , which functions as the cutting board for the pills. 
         [0023]    The slot  2  and ridge  3  coupling ensures that the segment with blade  10  moves only vertically along the slots  3  and the blade  5  is always aligned with the middle line  12  between the two clamp arms  8 . Therefore, when a pill is placed on the marked middle line  12 , the blade  5  will split it into equal halves. This obviates the need to visually align the cutting blade with a pill, as is the case with the pill cutters with a swing blade which are currently being used. 
         [0024]      FIG. 3  shows the details of the clamp for the pills on the cutting board or cover of the cap for the segment with a blade. The cutting board  6  or the cover of the cap is coupled to the segment with blade with a hinge  7 . The clamp has two arms  8  joined together at one end by a pivot  13  . A spring  15  is fixated in front of the pivot  13  and is between the two arms  8  of the clamp with its wire  16  being integrated in each arm to create gripping force. Two opposing short stubs  17  at the end of each arm keep the two arms slightly apart, making space for the blade when the cover of the cap is closed. The two arm of  8  of the clamp form two loops, a small one and large one. The large one is used to hold pills of regular size and small one to hold pill of tiny size or a half pill to be split again. Each arm has a finely serrated surface  19  for firm gripping of any pills, including the pills of small size and of irregular shape. 
         [0025]      FIG. 4  shows a standalone square pill cutter. The square pill container  20  has a blade  5  a cover. The cap  21  for the blade  5  is longer than the the pill container  20  with a blade. Also, the pill container with blade has two small flanges  11  at its opening, which stops the upper end of the pill container from going lower than the upper end of its cap  21  and therefore prevents the blade  5  from being exposed below the lower end of the cap  21  at any time. This would decrease the risk of accidental cutting injuries associated with the swing blade in the pill cutters currently being used. 
         [0026]    The cap  21  for the pill container  20  with blade and its cover or the cutting board  22  are joined together with a hinge  7 . A tab  9  on the edge of the cover  22  can be grasped to open and close the cover and prevents the cover from going all the way into the cap. The cover  22  of the cap is opened and shows a clamp with two arms  8  to hold a pill. A middle line  12  between the two clamp arms  8  is marked on the cap&#39;s cover  22 , which also functions as the cutting board for the pills. The blade  5  is always aligned with the middle line  12  between the two clamp arms  8 . Therefore, When a pill is placed on the marked middle line  12 , the blade  5  will split it into equal halves. This obviates the need to visually align the cutting blade with a pill, as is the case with the pill cutters with a swing blade which are currently being used. The two arms  8  of the clamps have finely serrated surfaces  19  for firm gripping of pills and are slightly curved. When the two arms  8  are closed, a gap is created in between to accommodate the blade  5 . 
         [0027]      FIG. 5  shows the details of the clamp with an articulation in each arm  23  of the clamp. Each arm  23  has two segments, a short segment and a long segment, which are joined together by the articulation, which keeps the long segments of the two arms parallel to each other instead of diverging from the pivot, as in the case of two arms without articulation, which can hold only one pill. Each arm  23  has a finely serrated surface  19  for firm gripping of multiple pills  24 . The cover  22  is coupled to the pill container  20  with blade with a hinge  7 . Each arm  23  is pressed upon by an elastic wire  16  emanated from a spring  15 , which is behind the pivot of the two arms. 
         [0028]      FIG. 6  shows a pill clamp with an articulation in each of its two arms  23 . The longer segments of the two arms are parallel to each other and thus are able to hold more than one pills to be splitted at the same time. A iron bar  26  is embedded in the longer segment of each arm  23 . Two or three magnetic tablets  25  are embedded in the cutting board along  22  the middle line  12 . The size of each magnetic tablet  25  is at least the diameter of a regular pill , so that it maintains a sufficient magnetic field to pull the iron bars in the longer segments of the pill clamp towards the middle line  12 . 
         [0029]    Because of its narrower shape without the use of a spring and its wires to press the arms of the pill clamp, this pill clamp with magnet can be applied to the pill cutter with a swing blade available in the market, too.