Medicine Dispenser

The present invention is a medicine dispensing device provided with a programmable timer for signalling a patient at the correct time for taking their medicine and provided with a carousel having compartments prefillable with medicine which is manually rotatable in one direction in order to dispense the contents of only the next adjacent compartment.

Medicine dispensing devices are not new. As the accompanying information disclosure statement reveals, several patents have been granted for such devices. The devices employ a variety of rotatable carousels having compartments for medicine. Some of these carousels can be rotated to align the individual compartments with a dispensing port for dispensing the medicine.

However, the exiting carousels involve complicated, typically motorized, means for controlling and driving the carousel from position-to-position to automatically align sequential compartments with the dispensing port. These complicated motorized means take both psychological and physical control away from the patient and subject the patient to control by a machine. Also, for those machines that are operated by line current, power failure can inactivate the devices, causing patients to become frustrated or anxious when they are uncertain about whether they will receive their medication at the proper time. Extended power outages can cause patients to miss their medication.

Another problem with existing medicine dispensing devices is that some of them automatically dispense the medicine whether or not the patient responds to the indicating alarm. Thus, medication can be innocently lost by the patient or double dosages can be taken without the patient being aware of the situation. This is possible in light of the fact that many patients for whom medicine dispensing devices are obtained are somewhat forgetful and are dependent upon the device to supply the proper dosages at the proper time. Older patients, in particular, tend not to question the functioning of a sophisticated device which is so complicated that they do not understand how it works.

Another problem with existing devices is that, due to their sophistication, they are expensive to purchase and are often beyond the means of many elderly individuals who, although they badly need the assistance which such devices could render, cannot afford to purchase them.

The present invention is directed to these problems by providing a device for dispensing medicine which is simple to use and is manually operated by the patient. This allows the patient to remain in control rather than to be controlled by a machine. Since the invention is manually operated, power failures have no effect on the device. Also, the present invention has a clear top which allows the patient to see the pills he or she is to take and, if the carousel becomes jammed, the patient can use the filler hole to extract the medication from the compartment. Additionally, the present invention does not dispense medicine automatically, thus reducing the possibility of the patient losing medication or taking double doses. The present invention also allows supervisory personnel to tell if dosages have been missed by checking the number of empty compartments.

Briefly, the present invention is a device for manually dispensing medicine at times programmable on an internally provided timer having either an audible or visual alarm. The device consists of a stationary basket removably mounted upon a canister so that a window provided in a bottom of the basket aligns with a receiving end of a spout provided in the canister. The spout is downwardly sloped and extends outside the canister, terminating at a dispensing end. The timer and alarm are housed in a storage area within the canister which has space for storing extra medicine, etc. A post mounts to the bottom of the basket and extends vertically upward. A carousel rotatably mounts in the basket on the post by means of a central disk attached to the carousel which engages a shoulder provided on the post. The carousel is provided with a central hub having upwardly projecting teeth and with outwardly projecting fins so that compartments are formed between adjacent fins and the basket. A filler ring covers the top of the compartments and is provided with a filler hole as a means of inserting medicine into the compartment. The filler hole is provided with a movable filler hole cover. A top plate secures to the post above the carousel and is provided with an anti-reverse tab which engages the teeth to limit rotation of the carousel to one direction. A flexible lever rotatably mounts to the post above the top plate and extends outward between stops provided on the top plate, the stops functioning to limit the lever's rotation. The lever and the filler ring are secured in place by means of a cover having a gap to allow an end of the lever to extend beyond the cover. The lever is provided with an ear which is engagable with the teeth in ratchet fashion as a means of turning the carousel to align the next adjacent compartment with the window, and thus dispensing the contents of the compartment.

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a medicine dispenser constructed according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan elevation of the medicine dispenser taken along line 2--2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an exploded side elevation of the medicine dispenser of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a top plan elevation of the cover taken along line 4--4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a top plan elevation of the filler ring taken along line 5--5 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a top plan elevation of the top plate taken along line 6--6 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a top plan elevation of the carousel taken along line 7--7 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged and partially cut away side elevation of the medicine dispenser of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 9 is a top plan view of the medicine dispenser taken along line 9--9 of FIG. 8 showing the medicine dispenser with the cover and washer removed.

Referring now to the drawings and initially to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is illustrated a medicine dispenser 10 constructed according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The medicine dispenser 10 is provided with a cylindrical canister 12 having a base 14 on which the medicine dispenser 10 rests. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the canister 12 is open around its top edge 15 to reveal a storage area 16 contained within the canister 12 for storing extra medicine (not shown), etc. A digital timer 18 is also located within the storage area 16 and extends through a first opening 20 of the canister 12. The timer 18 has four "on" and four "off" settings (not illustrated) enabling the timer 18 to be set for as many as four different times for administering medication within a twenty-four hour period. The timer 18 is attached to an audible alarm 24 which extends through a second opening 26 in the wall 22. The audible alarm 24 is activated by the timer 18 to signal the patient (not shown) when it is time to take their medication. Optionally, a visual alarm 28 such as a light can be attached to the timer 18 and extended through a third opening 30 in the wall 22 for use by a hearing impaired patient (not shown).

The canister 12 is also provided with a spout 32 which extends through the wall 22. The spout 32 has a dispensing end 34 located outside the canister 12 and a receiving end 36 located within the storage area 16 and is positioned so the receiving end 36 opens upward.

A lower edge 38 of a cylindrical basket 40 removably engages the top edge 15 of the canister 12, and the basket 40 is retained on top of the canister 12 by means of a downward oriented lip 42 provided on the lower edge 38 of the basket 40. The lip 42 is slightly smaller than the top edge 15 of the canister 12 so that the lip 42 inserts into the storage area 16, adjacent to the top edge 15 in order to install the basket 40 onto the canister 12. As best seen in FIG. 8, the lip 42 is continuous around the lower edge 38 except for a slot 44 provided in the lip 42 which aligns with the spout 32 so that the spout 32 is held within the slot 44 as the basket 40 is installed on the canister 12. Thus, once the basket 40 is installed on the canister 12, the spout 32 and the slot 44 prevent the basket 40 from turning relative to the canister 12.

Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 8, the basket 40 is hollow internally and is provided with a side upright 45 and a bottom 46. The bottom 46 has a centrally located post 48 extending upward therefrom. The post 48 is provided with a shoulder 50 on which a lower of two central disks 52 rotatably mounts. Each central disk 52 is attached to a central hub 54 of a carousel 56. Teeth 58 are provided on an upper edge 60 of the central hub 54 as a means for turning the carousel 56 as will be explained more fully hereafter.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 7, the carousel 56 is a spoke mechanism with vertically oriented fins 62 mounted on the center hub 54 so that the fins 62 extend to the side upright 45 of the basket 40 and define a plurality of separate compartments 64 located within an area defined by adjacent fins 62, the side upright 45 and the basket bottom 46. Preferably, the medicine dispenser 10 is provided with twenty-eight compartments 64, a sufficient number to accommodate a week's supply of medicine when the medicine is to be taken four times per day.

FIGS. 8 and 9 show the basket bottom 46 is provided with a window 66 which is positioned above the receiving end 36 of the spout 32 and is shaped so that, as the carousel 56 is rotated, only one compartment 64 coincides with the window 66 at a time. When a compartment 64 is aligned with the window 66, the window 66 serves as a means of allowing medicine contained within the compartment 64 to fall by gravity through the window 66 into the receiving end 36 of the spout 32, through the spout 32 and out of the medicine dispenser 10 at the dispensing end 34 of the spout 32.

A clear, freely rotatable filler ring 68, illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 5, is provided around the center hub 54 and extends to the side upright 45, forming a cover for the compartments 64. The filler ring 68 is provided with a filler hole 70 accessible by a movable swinging filler hole cover 72 attached to the filler ring 68. The filler hole cover 72 can be swung open and the filler ring 68 rotated in order for supervisory or medical personnel (not shown) to fill the compartments 64 with the appropriate non-liquid medicine, generally pills 73.

As shown in FIGS. 3, 6 and 9, a top plate 74 is secured to the post 48 above the carousel 56 and a flexible lever 76 rotatably attaches by means of screws 77 or other suitable means to the post 48 above the top plate 74. The lever 76 extends outward from the post 48, extending between a forward stop 78 and a rear stop 79 which are provided on the top plate 74 and which limit rotation of the lever 76. The top plate 74 is provided with an anti-reverse tab 80 which engages the teeth 58 to prevent the carousel 56 from rotating in a counter-clockwise direction "A". The lever 76 and the filler ring 68 are held in place by a washer 81 and a cover 82 which secures to a free end 84 of the post 48. FIG. 4 shows that the cover 82 has a downward oriented peripheral lip 85 provided with a gap 86 through which an end 88 of the lever 76 extends. The lever 76 is provided with a downward facing ear 90 which is engagable in ratchet fashion with the teeth 58.

As illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 9, in order to turn the carousel 56, the lever 76 is first moved counterclockwise "A", then clockwise "B" in a ratchet fashion. The lever 76 is flexible so that as the lever 76 is first manually moved counterclockwise "A" by means of pressure exerted on the end 88 of the lever 76, the lever 76 flexes sufficiently upward to allow the ear 90 to be pulled over the tooth 58 adjacent to it. Once the ear 90 has cleared the adjacent tooth 58, it flexes back to its original shape to engage the tooth 58 over which it has just been pulled. The rear stop 79 prevents the lever 76 from rotating sufficiently for the ear 90 to be pulled over the next adjacent tooth 58. Next, the lever 76 is moved clockwise "B", causing the ear 90, which is now engaging the tooth 58 over which it has just been pulled, to rotate the teeth 58 and the attached carousel 56. The forward stop 78 stops the lever 76 from rotating so that the next adjacent compartment 64 of the carousel 56 is positioned over the window 66. In use, the compartments 64 are prefilled via the filler hole 70 with the appropriate medicine. Next, the timer 18 is set for the appropriate times for medication to be taken. When the timer 18 activates either an audible or visual alarm, either 24 or 28, the patient manually moves the lever 76 first counterclockwise "A", then clockwise "B" to dispense the proper medicine.

While the invention has been described with a certain degree of particularly, it is manifest that many changes may be made in the details of construction and the arrangement of components without departing from the spirit and scope of this disclosure. It is understood that the invention is not limited to the embodiment set forth herein for the purposes of exemplification, but is to be limited only by the scope of the attached claim or claims, including the full range of equivalency to which each element thereof is entitled.