Abstract:
A pill organizer and dispenser enables a supply of medicinal pills to be taken over a pre-selected period of time by placement on a grid which has slots representing days of the week for containment of pills in respective receptacles which may then be dispensed by tilting the grid to cause the pills to slide between the slots for collection.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATION  
       [0001]     This application is a regular utility of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/640,792, filed on Dec. 30, 2004. The entire disclosures of this application is incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     The present invention relates to a device for organizing pills and vitamins in a dispenser for holding the pills for daily dispensing.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]     It has become common place for a person to be required to ingest medicinal pills on a daily basis and, in many instances, for the rest of that person&#39;s life. One must be concerned with the possibility that too much or too little of the prescription or vitamin may be injurious to one&#39;s health. Furthermore, when even as many as 10 pills, or more, may be needed for disease prevention and control, it is critical that these pills be taken on time and not to be forgotten. Keeping track of medications has become quite a chore which is confronted by millions. Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide a pill collector and dispenser which would serve to satisfy current demands.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0004]     This invention is directed to a pill collector and dispenser of relatively simple construction, yet will serve to satisfy current demands.  
         [0005]     The pill collector and dispenser comprises a grid having a base for holding the pills. A plurality of ridges are fixed to the base and extend from one side of the base to an opposite side thereby forming slots which represent the days of the week. The base also has bosses between the ridges which extend substantially perpendicular to the ridges from side-to-side of the base thereby forming a receptacle for the pills which are held on the base. Each of the ridges has an upper edge extending above the height of the bosses. A lid engages the upper edges of the ridges to contain the pills in receptacles formed by the lid, ridges and bosses. This arrangement allows for filling and collating pills that must be taken daily by loading them into the appropriate receptacles for dispensing medication or vitamins as needed. The grid is compartmentalized with dispensing instructions to aid in the placement of pills into receptacles for dispensing. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS AND PREFERRED MODE OF THE INVENTION  
       [0006]     The advantages and features of the pill collector and dispenser of this invention will be better understood with reference to the following detailed description and accompanying drawing in which  
         [0007]      FIG. 1  is a top perspective view of a portion of the grid according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0008]      FIG. 2  is a side view of an end of the grid of  FIG. 1  showing the relationship of the bosses to a ridge.  
         [0009]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a medication listing which may be seen through the base of  FIG. 1  when the base is made of a transparent plastic.  
         [0010]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a box, preferably made of clear plastic, for receiving the grid of  FIG. 1  with the underlying medication instructions of  FIG. 2 .  
         [0011]      FIG. 5  is a side view of a sliding panel which is operable to engage the slots formed in the grid and box for discharging pills from each of the daily slots by moving the panel outwardly thereby permitting the pills in each of the daily slots to either be accumulated at one side or the bottom of the box for daily dispensing or discharged in its entirety into a separate daily container depending on whether the sliding panel clears the open end of the slot for a given day or is pulled fully open. The sliding panel may be removed entirely if the consumer decides to always dump the pills into a separate daily container. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0012]     Referring to  FIG. 1 , a plastic grid  10  is shown for holding in a preselected and organized fashion a supply of pills  11 . The grid essentially consists of a base  12  having a plurality of ridges  13  fixed to the base and extending from one side of the base to an opposite side, thereby forming daily dispensing slots  14 . For example, seven (7) slots are shown which represent Monday to Sunday. Each slot  14  represents the day&#39;s worth of medicinal pills depending upon the number of pills to be taken. There are bosses  15  between the ridges that extend substantially perpendicular to ridges from another side of the base to its opposite side thereby forming a receptacle  16  for each of the pills  11  placed on the grid base  12 . Each of the ridges  13  has an upper edge extending above the height of the bosses (best shown in  FIG. 2 ) for engaging the lid  40  or panel of a box  41  ( FIG. 4 ) which is preferably used to contain the pills held by the grid.  
         [0013]     In its broadest form, the bosses  15  may be eliminated and the receptacle  16  can be defined by the surface of the grid between ridges  13  so that the pills may be placed on the surface. For example, a listing of medications  30  may include the grid drawn on the sheet that lists the medications for organizing the pills for dispensing. In this form of the invention, the pills are not really contained by bosses  15  and the ridges  13 , however, the pills may be organized in holding areas on the grid between slots  18  formed by the ridges  13  for dispensing by tilting the grid so that the pills may slide out of the slots  14 . In addition, in another form of the invention, not shown, the ridges  13  could be formed to extend beyond the grid base  12  so that they can be inserted part way into the hand or daily existing organizer so that the pills may be dispensed without mixing into an adjacent daily box.  
         [0014]     With reference to  FIGS. 1-5 , in its most preferred form, the box  41  in  FIG. 4  is formed of clear plastic for receiving a sheet  30  having a descriptive listing of medication. For example, a sheet of paper setting forth the medications as shown in  FIG. 3  may be used. The listing of medications is placed in the box  41  of  FIG. 4  and is superimposed by a transparent plastic grid of  FIG. 1 . The transparent, removable plastic grid of  FIG. 1  enables the list of medications to be removed and customized or replaced as needed and to be seen through the grid base  12  as the pills are placed in the receptacles  16  formed by the ridges  13  and bosses  15 , and contained by the lid  40  of the box  41  when the lid is closed.  
         [0015]     The pill collector and dispenser of  FIGS. 1-5  works by placing pills  11  in the respective receptacles  16  between the ridges  13  and the bosses  15 , taking care to align them according to the medication instructions of  FIG. 3  which underlie the transparent face of the grid  10 . After the pills  11  are loaded onto the grid  10  according to the listing of medications which underlie the transparent base, and the grid  10  is held in the box  41 , the lid  40  of the box may be closed to contain the pills in their respective receptacles  16 . A sliding panel or plurality of panels  50  of the type shown in  FIG. 5  operates in each slot  18  and  18 ′ to selectively open a side or bottom of the grid  10  for dispensing pills  11  which have been held in the respective daily (or daily section) receptacles  16  between the ridges  13  of the grid  10 . The space between slots  18  and  18 ′ provides a daily dispensing time section corresponding to morning, noon, dinner, night, etc., for dispensing pills as needed during the day.  
         [0016]     When the sliding panel  50  or plurality of panels  50  are closed, the pills  11  may then be collected into the bottom of each section (morning, noon, dinner, night, etc.) in each daily slot so they may be taken by the consumer as needed by removing them or sliding open the appropriate panel  50  to clear the slot for that day or time of the day.  
         [0017]     Dispensing is accomplished by tilting the box  41  so that the pills  11  slide down over the bosses  15  and into one side of the box  41 . The pills  11  may also be dispensed by turning the box  41  upside down and tilting it so that the pills  11  more readily fall over the bosses  15  but remain in the daily slots. Each sliding panel  50  is closed by sliding it through each slot  18  or  18 ′, as the case may be, to form a barrier for collection of pills  11 . The pills  11  may then be collected in each daily slot or daily section so they may be taken by the consumer as needed, for example, by sliding open one or more panels  50  to clear the slot for that day or daily section. The sliding panel  50  or panels  50  are simply moved further as needed to clear each day or daily section for dispensing in a similar manner. Alternatively, all the pills  11  may be slid all at once through the open ends of the daily slots into a separate daily container by sliding all panels  50  in slots  18  and  18 ′ all the way open or removing pills  11  entirely if desired.  
         [0018]     The foregoing description illustrates the operation of the preferred embodiment of the pill organizer and dispenser, but is not meant to limit the scope of the invention.