Patent Application
20250221888
The present invention relates to devices for holding personal items, such as medicants or similar pills.
The majority of adults require daily medications, and it is not always possible to administer these necessary medications while at home. Some do-it-yourselfers wrap pills in paper napkins, cellophane or foil before placing them in a pocket or purse. Unfortunately, such wrappings are easily undone or lost entirely before it is time to administer the pill.
There is always the temptation to take the entire bottle of pills, using the protective container as a portable pill capsule. Not only does such use risk loss of the entire container, for maintenance medications, the majority are now provided in 90-day supplies, making the container bulkier to carry and the potential loss expensive.
Most commercially available pill containers are intended for organizing daily medications over a week's time span. They are seldom designed for easy portability, have no area for writing pill identification information, and are not configured for easily carrying in a pocket or to fit in a smaller compartment in a purse or handbag. The closures for the individual compartments are not robust, and most easily come open, spilling their carefully divided contents within the pocket, purse or handbag.
Similar problems exist relative to other personal items. The present invention is directed to overcoming these and other problems.
Aspects of the invention comprise a holder or container, particularly configured for personal use, such as for removably storing a plurality of pills, and methods of making and using the same.
In one embodiment, the invention comprises a two-piece container that is small and easily carried, yet the two pieces are securely connectable, so as to be water and child-resistant. In one configuration, one of the container pieces has a reduced diameter portion that is insertable into the second container piece, there the two pieces are securable using a mating ridge (formed on one of the pieces) and groove (formed in the other piece) connection.
In one embodiment, the container may have a capsule shape, having a generally cylindrical main portion with generally hemi-spherical ends, thus facilitating location of the container in a person's pocket or the like.
In one embodiment, a flattened surface may be defined on am exterior side of the container, providing a location for attachment of adhesive stickers on which users can write information, such as identifying the contents (such as medications), dosages, time for taking, with/without food, and other drug use information, and aiding in preventing the container from rolling. In some embodiments, one or both ends of the container may define a generally planar surface, such as for supporting the container in an upright position.
The container may be provided in a variety of sizes, such as designed to hold a number of pills for a certain period of time, such as one day, a few days, or a week. The container(s) may include a visual indicator, such as a color indicator, corresponding to different sized containers. At least one portion of the container may be generally transparent to permit viewing of the contents thereof.
Further objects, features, and advantages of the present invention over the prior art will become apparent from the detailed description of the drawings which follows, when considered with the attached figures.
In order that the advantages of the invention will be readily understood, a more particular description of the invention briefly described above will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments that are illustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that these drawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are not therefore to be considered to be limiting of its scope, the invention will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings, in which:
In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a more thorough description of the present invention. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known features have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the invention.
As illustrated in
The cap 22 and body 24 are selectively connectable to one another and selectively disconnectable from one another. As illustrated in
As indicated, the cap 22 and body 24 are preferably connectable and disconnectable. In one embodiment, at least one of the cap 22 or body 24 has a reduced dimension portion or extension for fitting into the other. For example, as illustrated in
In one embodiment, the reduced dimension portion 36 may be formed by a reduced thickness in the wall 32 of the base 24, where the wall thickness reduction may result in a ledge or step 38 on an exterior of the base 24, or where the reduced dimension portion 36 comprises an extension of the base 24, having such a reduced dimension characteristic (in relation to the cap 22 into which it fits, as detailed herein). In one embodiment, the cap 22 may define an inset area 40 for matingly accepting the reduced dimension portion 26 of the base 24, such as an area of reduced wall thickness which similarly results in a step or ledge 42 on the interior of the cap 22 (again, the inset area 40 might be configured as an extension portion of the cap 22 and have such characteristics).
In such a configuration, when the cap 22 and base 24 are connected, as best illustrated in
In one embodiment, the container 20 may define a generally planar exterior area, such as along an exterior portion of the middle section thereof. The generally planar exterior area may comprise a flattened section 44 of at least one of, and preferably both, the cap 22 and base 24, as illustrated in
In one embodiment, the cap 22 and base 24 may remain connected to one another via friction therebetween, such as between the reduced dimension portion 36 of the base 24 against the inset area 40 of the cap 22. However, in a preferred embodiment of the invention, the container 20 may include a means for connecting or engaging the cap 22 and base 24. As illustrated in
For example, as illustrated, a raised rib or ring 50 extends outwardly from the exterior of the base 24, and is preferably located at the reduced dimension portion 36 thereof. A mating groove 52 may extend into the interior of the cap 22, and is preferably located at the inset area 40 thereof. When an end of the base 24 is configured to abut the step or ledge 42 of the cap 22, the ring 50 is preferably located the same distance from the open end 28a of the base 24 as is the groove 52 from the step or ledge 42 of the cap 22.
In one embodiment, the rib or ring 50 causes the base 24 to have an exterior dimension which the same as or slightly greater than the open end 26a of the cap 22, thus requiring the base 24 to be press-fit into the cap 22, preferably to the point where the rib or ring 50 fits into the groove 52, thus connecting the cap 22 and base 24 and resisting disconnection thereof.
In one embodiment, the rib or ring 50 and mating groove 52 extend circumferentially around the cap 22 (interior) and base 24. In other embodiments, however, the rib or ring 50 (or other engaging elements) might comprise individual nubs or bumps or the like, such as for engaging a contiguous groove 52 or mating depressions.
In a preferred embodiment, as illustrated in both
The container 20 may have a variety of configurations. As one example, for a container 20 having a length of 76.27 mm and a width/diameter of 31.83 mm, the base 24 may have a length of 63.35 mm, with the reduced dimension portion 36 having a length of 25 mm. The raised ring 50 may be 2.3 mm in width and have a height of 1.08 mm and be positioned 11.74 mm from the open end 28a and 13.06 mm from step or ledge 38. The height of the step or ledge 38 may be about 2.42 mm and the generally planar area 44 of the base 24 may measure 14.48 mm in width. The cap 22 may be 38.11 mm in length and 31.41 mm in width, with the generally planar area 44 having a width of 14.48 mm. The stop or ledge 42 of the cap 22 may be positioned about 26.45 mm from the open end 26a and have a height of 2.58 mm. The groove 52, also formed in the interior surface of the cap 22 may have a width of 2.36 mm and a central depth of approximately 0.44 mm. The centerline of the groove 52 may be about 13.10 mm from the open end 26a of the cap 22. The thickness of the walls 30,32 may be about 1.22 mm, except in the reduced dimension section 36 and inset area 40.
In one embodiment, the container 20 may be configured in different sizes, such as illustrated in
In this regard, the container 20 is preferably configured so that the interior area 34 will accept therein one or more, and preferably a plurality of, pills (which pills may have a variety of shapes and sizes, and may have tablet, capsule or other configurations, such as is well-known in the art relative to existing medicants).
The container 20 of the invention has a number of advantages and may have other configurations or features.
As described, one or both ends of the container 20 (as defined by the closed end 26b of the cap 22 and the closed end 28b of the base 24) may be generally hemispherical, such as to provide greater mechanical resistance to deformation and to present smooth exterior surfaces to the user and for storage (such as to facilitate location of the container 20 into a pocket or the like). In one embodiment, however, and as illustrated in
As described above, in one embodiment, the raised ring 50 and groove 52 are preferably formed about the entire circumference of the base 24 and cap 22. Their respective lateral positions are so located on the cap and body that mating occurs upon the extension terminus of the base 24 reaches the step or ledge 42 inside the cap 22. Full insertion also places the open end 26a of the cap 22 against the step or ledge 38 of the base 24. This (along with engagement of the ring and groove), prevents inadvertent separation or opening of the container 20, assists in forming a water resistant connection, and opening the joined pieces likely requires motor skills that exceeds the abilities of most children.
In one embodiment, as illustrated in
Further, at least one other portion of the container 20, such as the cap 22, may be generally transparent, thus allowing the user to see through the cap 22 into the interior 34 of the container 20. This allows a user to see, for example, the pills (or other contents) which are inside the container 20. Of course, in other embodiments, the generally transparent area might be a portion of the container 20, such as a window.
It will be understood that the above described arrangements of apparatus and the method there from are merely illustrative of applications of the principles of this invention and many other embodiments and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the claims.
