BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
In drawings which show non-limiting embodiments of the invention:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a dispensing device according to a particular embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 2 is a longitudinal side view of the FIG. 1 device;
FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the FIG. 1 device;
FIG. 4 is a transverse side view of the FIG. 1 device;
FIG. 5 is cross-sectional side view of a container with the FIG. 1 device inserted in the container;
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 6-6 of FIG. 5;
FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a dispensing device according to a second embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 8 is a longitudinal side view of the FIG. 7 device;
FIG. 9 is a top plan view of the FIG. 7 device;
FIG. 10 is a transverse side view of the FIG. 7 device;
FIGS. 11A, 11B and 11C are cross-sectional views showing the device of FIG. 1 or FIG. 7 placed in containers of various sizes; and
FIGS. 12A, 12B, 12C and 12D show alternative embodiments of the device shown in FIG. 1, having lips or other portions formed on various of the edges of the device.
DESCRIPTION
Throughout the following description, specific details are set forth in order to provide a more thorough understanding of the invention. However, the invention may be practiced without these particulars. In other instances, well known elements have not been shown or described in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the invention. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative, rather than a restrictive, sense.
FIGS. 1-4 depict various views of a dispensing device 20 according to a particular embodiment of the invention. Dispensing device 20 comprises a generally elongate body member 22 having an outer surface 24, an inner surface 26, longitudinal peripheral edges 28, 29, and side peripheral edges 32, 33. Device 20 also comprises a plurality of teeth 34 extending from inner surface 26 at spaced apart locations. Device 20 also comprises one or more tabs 36 located along longitudinal peripheral edges 28, 29.
In the illustrated embodiment, as best shown in FIG. 3, the circumference of body member 22 is symmetrical about a central longitudinal axis 38 and a central transverse axis 39. In particular, body member 22 has straight side peripheral edges 32,33 connected to longitudinal peripheral edges 28, 29. Each of longitudinal peripheral edges 28, 29 comprises a relatively flat central portion 40 which tapers towards side peripheral edges 32, 33 (represented by curved portions 41), convex portions 42, straight angular portions 44 and straight portions 46. Straight portions 46 are connected to and are substantially perpendicular to straight side peripheral edges 32, 33. Straight portions 46 and central portion 40 generally lie in the same horizontal plane. The shape of the illustrated embodiment provides certain advantages discussed later but in general, body member 22 may have other shapes (such as a rectangular shape, an oval shape or a polygonal shape, for example). In the illustrated embodiment, as best shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, body member 22 has generally planar longitudinal and transverse profiles. However, body member 22 may have other profiles, such as a slightly concave longitudinal side profile to facilitate bending of body member 22.
As shown in FIG. 12A, body member 22 may also have one or more lips 48 extending entirely or partially around its peripheral edges. In the illustrated embodiment, lips 48 extend along side peripheral edges 32, 33 and project from inner surface 26. As shown in FIG. 12B, lips 48 may have blunted or rounded edges. In other embodiments, lips 48 may extend along longitudinal peripheral edges 28, 29, in which case tabs 36 may form a part of lips 48. As shown in FIGS. 12C and 12D, instead of lips 48, some embodiments may comprise piping portions 47 or solid portions 49 formed along side peripheral edges 32, 33 and projecting from inner surface 26. Piping portions 47 and solid portions 49 may have a variety of shapes. In the illustrated embodiment, they have an arcuate shape.
In the illustrated embodiment, teeth 34 are generally perpendicular to inner surface 26 and uniformly spaced apart. Teeth 34 are also aligned along a longitudinal axis 50 of body member 22 that is offset from central longitudinal axis 38. However, teeth 34 may also lie along central longitudinal axis 38 or individual or groups of teeth 34 may not be aligned along any longitudinal axis. In addition, teeth 34 do not have to be uniformly spaced apart. In an alternative embodiment, teeth 34 are not perpendicular to inner surface 26; instead, angle α or angle β (FIG. 4) may be an acute angle which would assist in retention of pills on a shelf formed by teeth 34 as discussed below.
In the illustrated embodiment, teeth 34 have varying lengths, ranging from short teeth 51, intermediate teeth 52 and long teeth 53. In general, however, teeth 34 may be of uniform length or vary between two or more different lengths, as long as teeth 34 can be transformed into a shelf when inserted into a container as discussed below. Teeth 34 are shown with tapered ends. However, this shape is not necessary and teeth 34 may have blunt or rounded ends, for example. In the illustrated embodiment, there is one tab portion 36 located in central portion 40 of each of longitudinal peripheral edges 28, 29. Like teeth 34, tabs 36 extend outwardly from inner surface 26. As stated above, tabs 36 may form part of lips 48 if lips 48 extend along either or both of longitudinal peripheral edges 28, 29.
Device 20 may be made of plastic or other bendable resilient material. In some embodiments, device 20 comprises a single piece of injection molded plastic. A variety of different plastics may be used, for example, Nylon 66 or Delrin® 500P. Plastic is advantageous because it is relatively inexpensive, deformable and generally non-reactive.
The operation of dispensing device 20 is now described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. FIG. 5 shows a container 54 having a lid 56 for storing objects 55. Some lids may include an insert 57 which is used to achieve a more secure closure of container 54 with lid 56. Device 20 is inserted into container 54 by first bending side peripheral edges 32, 33 towards each other. This may be done by grasping side peripheral edges 32, 33 with the fingers and thumb of one or both hands. Alternatively, if side peripheral edges 32, 33 have lips 48, piping portions 47 or solid portions 49 formed on them, then the user may grasp the outward facing surfaces of these structures. Lips 48, piping portions 47 or solid portions 49 prevent side peripheral edges 32, 33 from digging into a user's fingers and thumb when the user applies force to bend device 20.
By bending peripheral edges 32, 33 towards each other, this causes body member 22 to take on a circular shape and teeth 34 to extend generally radially from inner surface 26. Device 20 is bent so that it has a radius less than that of container 54. Device 20 can then be placed into the opening of container 54 with either one of longitudinal peripheral edges 28 or 29 entering the container first. Due to the resilient nature of body member 22, body member 22 will spring back and outer surface 24 will engage the inside wall 59 of container 54 in a friction fit. Device 20 will extend partially around inside wall 59 (FIG. 6). In the illustrated embodiment of FIGS. 1-5, only a portion of outer surface 24 will engage inside wall 59 in a friction fit. The portions of outer surface 24 which do not engage inside wall 59 defines spaces 60 between inside wall 59 and outer surface 24. In other embodiments, the entire outer surface 24 engages inside wall 59 in a friction fit and can also be used with different sized containers (FIGS. 11A-11C).
Device 20 is then pushed into container 54 either with the fingers or by replacing lid 56 on container 54. The relatively flat surfaces provided by central portion 40 and straight portions 46 provide a platform for the inner surface of lid 56 to press against when lid 56 is placed on container 54. This causes device 20 to be pushed into container 54 until the appropriate height of device 20 within container 54 is obtained. Specifically, if lid 56 has insert 57, then portions of either longitudinal peripheral edges 28, 29, namely central portion 40 and straight portions 46 will lie flush against insert 57. If lid 56 does not have an insert, then portions of either longitudinal peripheral edges 28, 29, namely central portion 40 and straight portions 46 will lie flush against the inner surface of lid 56, as shown in dashed lines in FIG. 5.
Once device 20 is installed in this manner, teeth 34 form a shelf 58 in container 54 and an opening 62 is defined between shelf 58 and the inside wall of container 54. When whichever is the upper angle, angle α or angle β (FIG. 3), is an acute angle such that teeth 34 of installed device 20 point towards lid 54, this creates an upwardly-angled shelf (not shown) for better retention of objects 55 on the shelf.
Once device 20 is installed, at least one object 55 can then be removed as follows. Container 54 with closed lid 56 is inverted. This causes at least one object 55 to pass through opening 62. When container 54 is partially or fully righted, object 55 is captured and retained by shelf 58. Lid 56 is removed and object 55 is taken out of container 54.
Once container 54 is empty or whenever it is desired to remove device 20, device 20 may be removed by grasping tab 36 or lip 48, if lip 48 is formed along either longitudinal peripheral edges 28, 29, with a fingernail or fingertip and pulling device 20 out of container 54. Device 20 may also be removed by holding onto the outermost teeth 34 of shelf 58 and pulling device 20 out of container 54. Device 20 may then be inserted into another container.
In the illustrated embodiment, teeth 34 are aligned along longitudinal axis 50 which is offset from central longitudinal axis 38. By aligning teeth 34 along axis 50, this provides for two possible shelf heights when device 20 is inserted into container 54. When longitudinal peripheral edge 28 is inserted into container 54 first (as shown in FIG. 5), this provides for a lower shelf height in upright container 54, which allows larger objects to be captured and retained on shelf 58. When longitudinal peripheral edge 29 is inserted into container 54 first (not shown), this provides for a higher shelf height in upright container 54 and can be used for smaller objects. The longitudinal offset alignment of teeth 34 in conjunction with lid 56 or insert 57 will determine how far device 20 is inserted from the top of container 54. Tabs 36 and/or lip 48, if lip 48 is formed along either longitudinal peripheral edges 28, 29, may also assist in inserting device 20 into container 54 by engaging lid 56 or insert 57. When insert 57 is present, spaces 60 ensure that portions of longitudinal peripheral edge 28 or 29 are spaced apart from inside wall 59 and will engage insert 57 to ensure that device 20 will be pushed down into container 54 by insert 57.
In the illustrated embodiment of FIGS. 1-4, the tapered shape of central portions 40 which form curved portions 41 ensures that device 20 bends about a transverse central region. Convex portions 42 tends to nullify twisting forces when bending device 20 and thereby adds stability to device 20. Straight angular portions 44, straight portions 46 and side peripheral edges 32, 33 provide fingerholds to allow device 20 to be more easily grasped. Fingerholds may also be provided by lips 48, piping portions 47 or solid portions 49. The extended length of side peripheral edges 32, 33, relative to the length of device 20 between opposing curved portions 42, also provides for increased contact between device 20 and inside wall 59. This results in greater support for device 20 when inserted in container 54.
FIGS. 7-10 depict a dispensing device 120 according to another embodiment of the invention. Dispensing device 120 is substantially similar to dispensing device 20, except that dispensing device 120 comprises a body member 122 that is different from body member 22 of device 20. Body member 122 comprises a longitudinal member 130, first transverse members 131 and second transverse members 135.
In the illustrated embodiment, longitudinal member 130 is rectangular shaped. However, longitudinal member 130 may have other shapes. In the illustrated embodiment, first transverse members 131 are longer than second transverse members 135. However, first and second transverse members 131 and 135 may be of the same length. Tabs 136 extend outwardly from inner surfaces of first and second transverse members 131 and 135. In the illustrated embodiment, four first transverse members 131 and four second transverse members 135 are shown. However, device 120 may have two or more of each of first and second transverse members 131 and 135.
The operation of device 120 is substantially the same as for device 20. Device 120 is grasped by the side peripheral edges 32, 33 and the outermost first and second transverse members 131, 135 using the fingers and thumb of one or both hands. Side peripheral edges 32, 33 are bent towards each other such that body member 120 has a circular shape with a radius less than that of container 54. Device 120 is then inserted into container 54 with either first transverse members 131 or second transverse members 135 entering container 54 first. Due to the resiliency of body member 122, body member 122 springs back to engage inside wall 59 in a friction fit. Device 120 extends partially around inside wall 59. The entire outer surface 24 may engage inside wall 59 in a friction fit as shown in FIG. 11 or only a portion of outer surface 24 may engage inside wall 59 in a friction fit as with device 20 and shown in FIG. 6. Once device 120 is at least partially inserted into the opening of container 54, device 120 may be pushed down into the container using the hand or with lid 56 as described above for device 20.
Once installed in container 54, teeth 34 of device 120 forms a shelf 58 and an opening is defined between shelf 58 and container 54. The operation of device 120 to dispense an object from container 54 is the same as for device 20. The longitudinal offset alignment of teeth 34 achieved by the unequal lengths of first and second transverse members 131, 135 results in two possible shelf heights for shelf 58 when inserted in container 54. To remove device 120 from container 54, any one of tabs 136 closest to the opening of container 54 may be grasped using a fingernail or fingertip to pull device 120 out of container 54. Device 120 may also be removed by holding onto the outermost teeth 34 of shelf 58 and pulling device 120 out of container 54.
Device 120, like device 20, may be used with containers of various sizes. In addition, the size of device 120 may be modified to fit smaller containers by cutting longitudinal member 130 along line 137 shown in FIG. 9.
As will be apparent to those skilled in the art in light of the foregoing disclosure, many alterations and modifications are possible in the practice of this invention without departing from the spirit or scope thereof. For example:
- In the embodiments described above, the dispensing devices may be used to dispense pharmaceutical products such as medications in the form or pills, capsules or tablets. However, the dispensing devices may be used to dispense other objects such as candies, chocolates, beads, nuts, bolts, nails, etc.
- In some embodiments, the dispensing devices may be made of different colours, so as to be highly visible and correspond to different types of medication. This is useful where the containers are transparent or translucent and the colour of the dispensing device can be readily seen through the container.
Accordingly, the scope of the invention is to be construed in accordance with the substance defined by the following claims.
Patent Application
20080093377
