U.S. patent number 3,610,468 [Application Number 04/850,798] was granted by the patent office on 1971-10-05 for dispensing closure device for standard tablet container.
Invention is credited to Adolph W. Borsum.
United States Patent |
3,610,468 |
Borsum |
October 5, 1971 |
DISPENSING CLOSURE DEVICE FOR STANDARD TABLET CONTAINER
Abstract
A sleeve-type closure device for fitting into the neck of a
standard tablet or other object container and having resiliently
bowed fingers that lock the sleeve in the neck. The bowed portion
forms a resiliently biased inward, narrow channel to the passage of
tablets therethrough, and a cap having a tablet receptacle with a
sidewall that fits into said sleeve and forces said bowed portion
outwardly, allowing the tablets to pass through the channel into
the receptacle.
Inventors: |
Borsum; Adolph W. (Solana
Beach, CA) |
Family
ID: |
25309137 |
Appl.
No.: |
04/850,798 |
Filed: |
August 18, 1969 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
221/256; 221/288;
141/321; 221/289 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65D
83/049 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B65D
83/04 (20060101); B65d 045/28 () |
Field of
Search: |
;221/174,220,256,266,288,289 ;222/490,494 ;141/321 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Coleman; Samuel F.
Assistant Examiner: Kocovsky; Thomas E.
Claims
Having described my invention, I now claim:
1. A tablet or other object-dispensing closure device for closing
the dispensing opening in a tablet container comprising,
a sleeve comprising a plurality of circumferentially arranged
expandable fingers for fitting into the neck of a container, which
fingers have free ends,
each of said fingers has a longitudinal length that extends along
the axis of the opening in the neck and which fingers are
resiliently bowed rapidly inward midway their length to form a
restricted channel to the passage of tablets therethrough,
said fingers are resilient and bias the bowed structure into the
said restrictive channel condition,
said free ends of said fingers diverge radially outward and have
outer camming surfaces that slidably coact with a diverging inner
surface of the neck joining the bottle,
said sleeve has a band with a radially outward directed flange for
fitting against the edge of the neck of the container at the
dispensing opening,
said band is integrally connected to said fingers for coactively
adjusting the flange with the edge of the neck of the bottle,
a cap for closing said container opening having a tablet receptacle
with a sidewall for being forced into said channel and sufficiently
expanding the midportion of said fingers outwardly to pass pills
therethrough to said receptacle,
and whereby the fingers are freely responsive to expansion and
contraction while the sleeve is self-aligning and adjustable to the
ingress and egress of the said side wall of the tablet receptacle
of the cap as it is screwed on and off the closure.
2. A tablet or other object dispensing closure device for closing
the dispensing opening in a tablet container comprising,
a sleeve comprising a plurality of circumferentially arranged
expandable fingers for fitting into the neck of a container, which
fingers have free ends,
each of said fingers has a longitudinal length that extends along
the axis of the opening in the neck with the intermediate portion
of the fingers resiliently bowed radially inward to form a
restricted channel to the passage of tablets therethrough,
said free ends of said fingers diverge radially outward,
and a cap for closing said container opening having a tablet
receptacle with a sidewall for being forced into said channel and
sufficiently expanding the intermediate portion of said fingers
outwardly to pass pills therethrough to said receptacle.
3. A tablet or other object-dispensing closure device for closing
the dispensing opening in a tablet container as claimed in claim 2
in which;
the ends of said lower free ends of said fingers contact the inner
surface of the container.
4. A tablet or other object-dispensing closure device for closing
the dispensing opening in a tablet container comprising,
a sleeve comprising a plurality of circumferentially arranged
expandable fingers for fitting into the neck of a container, which
fingers have free ends,
each of said fingers has a longitudinal length that extends along
the axis of the opening in the neck and which fingers are
resiliently bowed radially inward midway their length to form a
restricted channel to the passage of tablets therethrough,
a cap for closing said container opening having a tablet receptacle
with a sidewall for being forced into said channel and sufficiently
expanding the midportion of said fingers outwardly to pass pills
therethrough to said receptacle,
said sleeve has an upper band integrally connected to said
fingers,
said band has a radially outward directed flange for fitting
against the edge of the neck of the container at the dispensing
opening,
said fingers are separated one from the other by longitudinal slits
that are open at the free ends of said fingers,
the neck of the container has diverging inner surfaces opposite the
dispensing opening,
and the free ends of said fingers diverge radially outward for
fitting against the diverging inner surface of the neck to lock the
closure into the container.
5. A tablet or other object dispensing closure device for closing
the dispensing opening in a tablet container as claimed in claim 4
in which,
the side interproximal edges of said free ends of said fingers in
the outward position abut to provide a continuous interproximal
abutting structure having a diameter that is larger than the
diameter of the container neck opening.
6. A tablet or other object dispensing closure device for closure
of the dispensing opening in a tablet container as claimed in claim
4, in which,
said cap comprises a cylindrical housing with a closed end for
fitting over the outside of the dispensing opening of the
container,
and said receptacle is fixed to the inner surface of said closed
end in aligned position to pass into said restricted channel when
said cap fits over the neck
7. A tablet or other object-dispensing closure device for closing
the dispensing opening in a tablet container as claimed in claim 6
in which,
said receptacle is fixedly secured to said cap,
and said sidewall of said receptacle has an outwardly projecting
fin that moves in one of said slits upon moving said receptacle in
said restricted channel, whereby rotation of said cap in securing
and removing said cap to and from said container respectively
rotates said sleeve.
8. A tablet or other object-dispensing closure device for closing
the dispensing opening in a tablet container as claimed in claim 7
in which,
said free ends of said fingers have means for contacting and moving
adjacent tablets in rotational movement of said sleeve.
9. A tablet or other object-dispensing closure device for closing
the dispensing opening in a tablet container as claimed in claim 8
in which,
said contacting means comprises short outward projections on the
lower ends of said free ends.
10. A tablet or other object-dispensing closure device for closing
the dispensing opening in a tablet container as claimed in claim 6
in which,
said receptacle has a recessed receptacle volume in the end that
passes into said restricted channel, which volume is capable of
receiving a limited predetermined number of tablets.
12. A tablet or other object-dispensing closure device for closing
the dispensing opening in a tablet container as claimed in claim 10
in which,
said receptacle has means for moving said receptacle axially
relative to said cap, whereby said receptacle may be moved in and
out of the restricted channel when said cap is secured to said
container.
13. A tablet or other object-dispensing closure device for closing
the dispensing opening in a tablet container as claimed in claim
12, in which,
said fingers have a resilient structure that biases the fingers
into a restrictive channel, preventing passage of tablets
therethrough and forming a receptacle volume between said cap
recessed receptacle and the said restricted channel.
11. A tablet or other object-dispensing closure device for closing
the disposing opening in a tablet container as claimed in claim 10,
in which,
said receptacle has sufficient axial length that when said cap is
secured to said container said receptacle wall contacts the outer
portion of the midlength of said fingers and expands the restricted
channel.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Pills, tablets, and the like are often carried and dispensed from
standard containers. It is well known that there is considerable
danger in employing the standard containers that readily and easily
dispense pills, tablets and the like in large and unmeasured
quantities. Medicaments in pill or tablet form are often of a
harmful nature to children and adults alike when taken in large
amounts. Thus, such containers when readily available to children
or adults can create hazardous conditions where such persons
improperly remove successive amounts of pills and thus consume a
dangerous quantity of such pills. So it is advantageous to make the
openings of such existing tablet dispensers only capable of
dispensing tablets in limited and measured quantities and to make
it relatively difficult to remove tablets from the containers in
any sizable quantities by children or by adults inadvertently.
There are known tablet container closure devices for limiting the
quantity of tablets dispensed from tablet containers. However, such
closure devices are expensive to construct, are difficult to use,
have weak structures, or often require special adaptation of the
tablet container structures to accept the closure devices. Further,
it is necessary in such closure devices to achieve a sealing of the
container opening while still maintaining the closure device
difficult to open and when opened, to only dispense one or two
tablets at a time.
Thus it is advantageous to have a simplified, easy to construct,
inexpensive, tablet-dispensing container with a closure opening
that is difficult to open by children or inadvertently by adults
and obtain more than a limited number of tablets, that employs an
expandable, restricted tablet passage in the container opening that
cannot be easily removed, and, further, that is particularly
designed for use on existing bottles and tablet containers, but
that can be used on specially made pill and tablet dispensing
containers.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In embodiments of the tablet container closure of this invention, a
sleeve is positioned in the neck of a tablet container. The sleeve
has a plurality of circumferentially arranged fingers that are
secured at one end to a band structure with the other ends having
free movement. The band structure has a flange that abuts against
the open end of the container when inserted in the neck opening.
The fingers have a longitudinal length that extends along the axis
of the opening in the neck of a bottle or container, which fingers
are separated from each other by longitudinal slits that are open
at the free ends of the fingers. The fingers are bowed radially
inward along the midportion of their length to form a restricted
channel to the passage of tablets therethrough and out of the
container. When inserting the sleeves in the neck opening, the ends
of the fingers are contracted by overlapping the free ends. When
the sleeve is in position, the free ends of the fingers expand to
press against the inner surface of the diverging volume of the
container. The resilient force of the finger plus the locking
action of the abutting side edges of the fingers provides an
enlarged free end structure that is larger than the neck opening.
This structure functions to lock the sleeve in the container so
that it is impossible to remove by hand. The resilience of the
finger in pressing against the inner surface of the container draws
the flange portion of the band into substantially sealing contact
with the open end of the container.
A cap structure that is used with the sleeve has known threads or
the like for coacting with the threads or attaching means on the
container. A tablet receptacle is positioned in the cap structure,
which receptacle has side surfaces that move into the restricted
channel forcing the bowed midportion of the fingers outwardly. The
tablets are then able to pass through the channel and into the
receptacle.
In one embodiment, the receptacle is forced into the restricted
channel when the cap is secured to the container. In another
embodiment, the receptacle is movable relative to the cap
structure. In the latter embodiment, the receptacle is moved while
the cap is on the container to spread the fingers and pass tablets
therethrough. In both embodiments, the number of tablets that can
be obtained is limited by the volume of the receptacle and the size
of the tablets. The cap must be removed to deliver the tablets in
the receptacle.
In use, the tablets or objects are funneled gravitationally into
the receptacle while the container is in the inverted position and
the receptacle is pressed inwardly into the restricted channel. In
this delivering position, the free ends of the fingers project into
the container volume and contact the tablets or objects positioned
to pass through the channel. It sometimes occurs, especially where
there are a large number of tablets in the container, that the
tablets tend to jam the funnel opening and not easily pass therein.
To prevent this from occurring, one embodiment has means for
rotating the sleeve while the cap is being secured to the container
and while the receptacle is being moved into the restricted
opening. The free ends of the fingers have projection means for
contacting the tablets that are jammed into the funnel opening,
that when rotated move the tablets sufficiently to break up the
jammed condition.
Thus the sleeve closure, by virtue of the bowed fingers and slits,
permits the fingers to be adjusted and contracted so that the
closure may be inserted into the neck of the bottle or container;
and when the closure is once inserted, the fingers expand and the
sleeve is locked in the throat of the bottle and cannot be
removed.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a new and
improved tablet-dispensing closure device for tablet
containers.
It is another object of this invention to provide a new and
improved tablet container closure that only dispenses tablets in
small and measured amounts.
It is another object of this invention to provide a new and
improved tablet container closure that may be easily and
inexpensively constructed and that is easily employable on special
tablet containers or on existing bottle-type tablet containers.
It is another object of this invention to provide a new and
improved tablet container closure for obtaining maximum
simplification and flexibility with minimum cost, fast and easy
operation even by frail or arthritic, contaminationproof,
spillproof, and childproof pill container, and maximum sterility in
dispensing tablets.
It is another object of this invention to provide a new and
improved tablet-container closure for dispensing pills or tablets
in small and measured amounts that cannot be removed from the
container by hand and that breaks up the jamming of tablets around
the closure opening.
Other objects and many advantages of this invention will become
more apparent upon a reading of the following detailed description
and an examination of the drawings wherein like reference numerals
designate like parts throughout and in which:
FIG. 1 is a vertical transverse sectional view of a
tablet-container closure device inserted into a known tablet
dispensing bottle.
FIG. 2 is a vertical transverse sectional view of a
tablet-container cap and receptacle that coacts to close the
container closure of FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a vertical transverse sectional view of a modified form
of the cap structure of FIG. 2.
FIG. 4 is a vertical transverse sectional view of another
embodiment of the container closure inserted into the neck opening
of a known tablet bottle.
FIG. 5 is a top plan view with parts broken away of the closure
device of FIG. 4.
FIG. 6 is a vertical transverse sectional view of a cap member for
closing the opening in the bottle and closure device of FIG. 4.
FIG. 7 is a bottom view with parts broken away of a modified form
of the closure device of FIG. 4.
Referring to FIG. 1, a sleeve 38 is inserted into an existing neck
portion 34 of a known pill or tablet bottle 35. The sleeve 38 is
made of plastic or other suitable material that resiliently returns
to its original shape after being deformed. The sleeve 38 is formed
with an inward-curved constricted opening 39 that is sufficiently
small that it prevents movement of tablets in bottle 35
therethrough. Slits 42 in the sleeve form resilient fingers 43 that
allow the sleeve to be expanded outwardly, expanding the
constricted opening 39 to pass tablets through the opening 39. The
lower end portion 44 expands downwardly and outwardly and presses
against the outward diverging neck of the bottle 35 rigidly holding
the sleeve 38 in position with the upper flange 46 abutting against
the upper edge of the bottle 35. In inserting the sleeve 38 into
the bottle 35, the lower ends 45 of the fingers 43 are moved
inwardly, overlapping the ends to form a contracted end structure.
After the sleeve is positioned in the bottle 35 with the contracted
end structure being pushed through the neck opening, the end 45 of
the fingers expand outwardly to a position where the interproximal
sides of the fingers substantially abut, preventing inward
contraction of the ends 45. This locks the sleeve 38 in its
position in the bottle 35 to such an extent that it is virtually
impossible to remove the sleeve portion 38 from the neck of the
bottle 35 without employing tools.
The cap for the closure sleeve of FIG. 1 is illustrated in FIG. 2
and may comprise any known metal or plastic cap 50 having grooves
52 for coacting with the threaded grooves 36 on the bottle 35.
Positioned in the cap 50 is a receptacle cap 54 that abuts against
the upper surface of the cap 50 at 60 and is secured thereto in any
suitable manner such as by friction or by cement. The receptacle
cup may be made integral with the cap. A downwardly projecting
cylindrical wall 56 is recessed to provide a receptacle recess 58
for accepting pills or tablets passed through the channel 39 of
sleeve 38. When the cap 50 is screwed onto the bottle 35,
cylindrical wall 56 passes just sufficiently into opening 39
forcing by camming action the sides 40 to move outwardly thus
enlarging channel 39 and allowing tablets to pass therethrough into
the receptacle volume 58. The surface 61 coacts with the upper
surface of flange 63 to seal the volume of the tablet bottle 35 in
the known manner.
In the embodiment of FIG. 3, the normal cap structure 62 is
provided with a movable receptacle cap 64 that has a receptacle
volume 66 and a connecting rod 70 that projects through opening 72
in the cap structure 62. When the cap 62 is threaded onto the
bottle 35, the receptacle cap 64 is moved upward until surface 71
abuts against the top of cap portion 62. When it is desired to
remove a pill or tablet from bottle 35, the user then inverts the
bottle and applies pressure to end 68 forcing the receptacle cap 64
and cylindrical wall 65 to move the fingers 40 of sleeve 38 outward
expanding channel 39 and allowing tablets to fall by gravitational
movement through the channel into the receptacle volume 66. Upon
release of pressure against end 68, the intersloping camming
surface of fingers 40 of the sleeve 38 resiliently contract
inwardly camming the receptacle cap 64 axially in the outward
direction closing the space 74 and sealing the container. The
remainder of the tablets or pills are then restricted from passing
through channel 39 into the receptacle 66 and the end cap 62 may be
threadably removed from the bottle 35 allowing removal of a
selective and limited number of pills or tablets from the
receptacle volume 66. The biasing means of the fingers for
resiliently biasing the cap receptacle 64 by means of the camming
surface in an axial outward motion acts to seal the container when
side 71 contacts the cap 62, to restore the channel closure to
passage of tablets, and to minimize any deforming stresses and
strains that may result in structural deformities.
Referring to FIG. 4, a modification of the structure of FIG. 1
comprises a rotatable hourglass-shaped sleeve insert 80 that has
uniformly spaced fingers 84 terminating in ends 88 with the
thin-walled fingers being separated by slits 94 and being joined by
a radially projecting flange 82 at the external end. The flared
internal end 88 contacts at 91 and cooperatively locks the insert
80 within the throat or neck of the container 76 and exerts
sufficient downward force to draw the flange portion 82 into
sealing contact with the upper surface of the throat of the bottle
76. The insert 80 has inwardly curved surfaces that form a
constricting channel 85. The cap member 96 (see FIG. 6) has a
receptacle cap 98 positioned therein and secured by friction or
cement or other known means to end surface 102 that moves
cylindrical wall 103 downward into the hour glass sleeve insert 80
and moves the fingers 84 outward, enlarging the channel 85 and
allowing pills or tablets to move therethrough into the receptacle
volume 100.
The receptacle cap 98 has at least one narrow fin or projection 104
that projects radially outward from the outer surface of the
cylindrical wall 103 near its bottom edge. The fin 104 is so
positioned with respect to the axis of the insert sleeve 80, that
it engages one of the slits 94, fitting between the fingers and
sliding inward or outward within the slit 94 as the cap 96 is
screwed inward and outward. This causes the sleeve insert 80 to
rotate in a clockwise or counterclockwise motion. The ends 88 of
each of the fingers 84 have at least one small projection 92 facing
inwardly toward the axis of the insert 84. Also the ends 88 are cut
at an angle and finished to form in general a circular picketlike
arrangement with the points 90 of the pickets so located with
respect to the ends as to be in a leading position as the sleeve 80
is rotated in a counterclockwise position and with the inclined
picket edge trailing during said rotation. In lieu of the small
projections 92, the leading edge 90 of the feet 88 may have a thin
leading edge projection 95 (see FIG. 7) originating at the picket
point 90 and extending and fading into the end surface, and
extending inward toward the axis.
In each configuration the surface projections at the picket points
function to engage the pills or tablets when the container is
inverted and function to actively cooperate in breaking up and
freeing the jammed pills or tablets, which sometimes occurs at
occasions at the throat end of the bottle when the bottle is in the
inverted position. This allows the free tablets to gravitationally
drop into the receptacle when the hourglass insert 80 is rotated in
a counterclockwise movement during the unscrewing of the cap 96 to
open the container and deliver the tablet. Where there are a large
number of tablets in the bottle 76, by slightly shaking the bottle
containing the insert 80 simultaneously as the cap is unscrewed, a
tablet is dislodged from the jammed tablets when jamming occurs and
thus is free to drop into the recess 100. This removes the
necessity of having to violently shake the bottle to dislodge
tablets, which action often causes all of the tablets to drop onto
the floor or table. FIGS. 5 and 7 illustrate the top edge
configuration and the lower edge configuration of the embodiment
previously described.
Relative to the embodiments employing the sleeve inserts of FIG. 1
and FIG. 4, cold set of the fingers of the insert sleeves is
minimized due to the length, thinness and minimum movement of the
fingers 40 and 84. Thus this structure still assures contraction of
the channel openings and tablet retention when the cap is removed.
The insert sleeves by virtue of the slits, permits the fingers to
be adjusted and contracted so that the closure may be inserted and
locked by contacting interproximal side edges into the neck of the
bottle.
* * * * *