Combination Pill Crushing and Dispensing Cup

Administering medication and vitamins, in tablet or capsule form to infants, the elderly, and otherwise feeble hospital patients can be problematic. Not only do these patients have difficulty swallowing the pills, when feeble hospital patients die it is not uncommon for an autopsy to reveal multiple intact pills within the deceased body because the liver failed to produce sufficient enzymes to break through the pill shell. This, of course, prohibits the medication from being dispersed timely into the bloodstream and may contribute to the patient's death. As a result, medication such as aspirin, antibiotics, and other drugs are frequently available in liquid form for easy administration to hospital patients experiencing difficulty with pills and capsules.

For those instances where the medication is only available in pill or capsule form, the pills are frequently crushed in a first container (i.e. with a pestle and mortar), and the pill crushings are then transferred to a second container or dispensing utensil where they can be mixed with a fluid for oral administration to the patient. As detailed in the parent, hereto, there are several drawbacks with the above pestle and mortar technique such as the risk of low and unpredictable dosage compliance, cross-contamination, and the necessity to purchase and maintain inventory of multiple utensils and containers for the crushing, mixing, and dispensing tasks. As disclosed and claimed in the parent, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, a similar problem of administering medication in pill or capsule form exists for comatose and many infirm adult patients physically unable to swallow medication in pill or capsule form. The solution thereto was provided by the pill-crushing syringe disclosed and claimed in the parent. The invention disclosed and claimed therein is a good and valuable invention which itself may be used to crush pills for suspension in a fluid for administration principally through an intravenous tube or the like but which may also be administered orally. Although the pill crushing syringe itself represents an elegantly simple design which is amendable to low cost, high volume manufacture, the inventor herein has continued his search to further extend his pill crushing concept to even simpler designs at even lower cost.

In order to solve these and other problems in the prior art, and as an extension of the general concept disclosed and claimed in the parent hereto, the inventors herein have succeeded in designing and developing a single use pill dispensing cup with a cup bottom having an knurled surface on its interior and exterior surface. The cup is designed to nest and, when used as a nesting pair, a pill may be placed between an upper and lower cup and crushed between the two knurled surfaces on the interior and exterior of the cup bottoms. Although prior art single use medicine dispensing cups are typically thin walled and flexible, the present invention contemplates a more substantial construction for the cup so as to withstand the force required to crush the pill as the cups are pushed together against the pill and twisted. Additionally, if desired, the cup may have a wider lip to provide a finger grip for the hands as the cups are twisted together.

The knurled surfaces on the interior and exterior surface of each cup bottom are formed from a plurality of pyramidal shaped protrusions with the protrusions having a flatter angle on the exterior surface than on the interior surface. This flatter angle on the exterior surface makes it less likely that pill crushings will be trapped between the protrusions and instead will remain within the bottom cup. After the pill is crushed, fluid is added to the bottom cup to create the suspension which may then be administered. If there are any pill crushings climbing to the exterior surface of the top cup, it may be conveniently "dunked" in the fluid contained in the lower cup and agitated to remove any remaining pill crushings therefrom. This helps to insure high dosage compliance.

After a nested pair are used to crush and administer a pill, they may be conveniently discarded because of their low cost and this eliminates any risk of cross contamination. As a single cup design is used, it may be readily manufactured at high volume using plastics such as polypropylene or polyethylene and thereby produced at a very low cost. Furthermore, the pill crushing feature of the invention is an added bonus and need not be used should the cups be desired simply for dispensing medication as with the prior art cups presently used.

While the principal advantages and features of the present invention have been briefly described above, a more thorough understanding and appreciation for the invention's advantages and features may be attained by referring to the drawings and descriptions of the preferred embodiment which follow.

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a plurality of nested pill crushing/dispensing cups of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of one pill crushing/dispensing cup illustrating the interior and exterior knurled surfaces; and

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a nested pair of the pill crushing/dispensing cups of the present invention.

A plurality of pill crushing/dispensing cups 10 constructed according to the principles of this invention are illustrated in FIG. 1 stacked atop one another in nested fashion. Each cup includes an open top 12, a closed bottom 14, and a frustoconic wall 16 having a rim 18. The rim 18 is preferably one-quarter inch wide, measured radially, which is sufficiently wide to provide a grip for the fingers to facilitate pushing one of the cups 10 downward into another cup 10. The cups 10 are preferably constructed of styrenic plastic which is light weight but significantly stronger than the cups typical in the prior art. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the bottom 14 includes an interior knurled surface 20 and an exterior knurled surface 22. Alternately, the abraded surfaces may be located at other locations on the cup, such as on the frustoconic wall 16. If located on the side wall 16, the surfaces could conveniently be aligned and a pill crushed therebetween as two cups are nested and twisted against each other. Although preferable, it is not necessary that the pill be crushed as two cups are nested but only that a pill can be crushed by the knurled surfaces.

Preferably, the knurled surfaces 20 and 22 include a plurality of pyramidal shaped protrusions 24 having faces extending from the bottom 14 at an angle .theta. and .alpha. with respect to a horizontal line drawn parallel to the bottom, respectively. In the preferred embodiment the angle .theta. (interior) is larger than the angle .alpha. so that crushed pill particles are less likely to lodge between the protrusions 24 of the exterior knurled surface 22. Preferably .theta. equals 45.degree. and .alpha. equals 30.degree.. Further, the exterior knurled surface 22 includes a protrusion pattern wherein the protrusion tips are level relative to each other (see FIG. 2) and are sufficiently spaced to sturdily support the cup 10 on a tray, cart, table, or other horizontal surface.

This frustoconic design facilitates nesting the cups 10 one atop another thereby allowing large numbers of cups to be stored in a relative small area. FIG. 3 illustrates a nested pair 30 of the cups 10 with a pill 31 positioned therein. The nested pair 30 includes a base cup 32 and a top cup 34 wherein the exterior knurled surface 22 of the top cup 34 is positioned above the interior knurled surface 20 of the base cup 32 when the base cup is positioned upright. Because the cups are designed and manufactured substantially identical to one another, any two cups may be selected from a large supply of the cups 10 to form the nested pair 30.

In operation, a nurse or other health-care professional divides the appropriate quantity of medication to be administered to a given patient and places the pills/capsules in a cup 10 much like the procedure presently used in the prior art to distribute medicated pills and capsules. If a given patient is able to swallow the pills without difficulty, the cup 10 is well suited to perform the function of the flimsy conventional cups utilized by hospitals in the prior art (i.e. merely containing the medication dosage during transport). The level and spaced protrusion pattern on the exterior knurled surface 22 of the cup bottom 14 provides a sturdy foundation for the cup to rest on the medication trays or carts commonly used in the prior art to transport medication to patients' rooms.

However, if a patient requires, or simply desires, the medication to be suspended in a liquid, this elegant cup design easily facilitates such a request. Rather than selecting a single cup 10, the nurse selects a pair of cups. The nested pair 30 is pulled apart and a pill 31 (or a capsule) is placed within the base cup 32. The top cup 34 is repositioned within the base cup 32 such that the pill is lodged snugly between the interior abraded knurled surface 20 of the base cup 32 and the exterior knurled surface 22 of the top cup 34. The cups 32 and 34 are then preferably twisted in opposite directions while being advanced closer together thereby crushing and grinding the pill therebetween. The rim 18 of the top cup 34 provides a convenient finger grip for the hand while pushing and twisting the cups 32 and 34 together. While in an upright position, the top cup 34 is removed from the base cup 32 and a liquid is added to the base cup thereby forming a suspension of the pill crushings. If desired, the bottom of the top cup 34 may be washed off by dipping it into the liquid. This will ensure that virtually all of the pill pets administered to the patient. The suspension is then orally administered directly from the base cup 32.

Because the angle .alpha. is preferably only 30.degree., it is unlikely that any pill crushings will lodge within the exterior knurled surface 22 thereby promoting high-dosage compliance. Moreover, the top cup 34 may be gently tapped against the interior wall of the base cup 32 as it is removed therefrom to further assure that the pill crushings and pill residue are removed from the exterior of top cup 34. While the 45.degree. angle .theta. may trap a few pill crushings between the interior abraded surface protrusions of the base cup 32, the liquid added to the base cup 32 helps to dislodge any of these pill crushings or residue from the interior knurled surface 20. This, again, contributes to high-dosage compliance. Moreover, this simple design is well adapted for economical mass production thereby making it cost effective to dispose of the top cup 34 and the base cup 32 after only a single use thereby minimizing any risk of cross-contamination.

Although illustrated embodiments of the present invention are described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is understood that the invention is not limited to those precise embodiments and that various other changes and modifications may be effected therein by one skilled in the art without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. The scope of the invention is defined solely by the claims, and their equivalents, appended hereto.