Patent Grant
7416143
The present invention relates generally to tablet and pill crushing devices.
The present invention is an improvement in tablet crushing devices of the prior art, including the tablet crusher described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,915,637, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention provides a tablet crushing device that may be constructed with fewer and less complicated parts, while providing a smooth and quiet crushing action, while providing all of the other advantages of earlier devices such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,915,637.
These other advantages include effective crushing of the tablet into small particle size, relatively easy hand operation of the device through the use of mechanical advantage, the ability to crush tablets of various size and shape, the elimination of the need for use of impact forces, and the reduction of risk of cross contamination from different medications.
Another advantage of the present invention is that the mechanism is designed to be simpler and to avoid any undue strain on load bearing parts. In this regard, the tablet crusher described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,915,637 uses a complex linkage that may be strained by excessive force.
Finally, it remains desirable to provide a tablet crusher that is more compact than those of the prior art, such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,915,637 and U.S. Design Pat. No. D502,267.
Accordingly, there remains a need for a tablet crusher that is effective, efficient and relatively quiet in operation, and which offers all of the same advantages of prior art devices while eliminating some of the remaining disadvantages.
The present invention includes a tablet crusher that is quiet in operation and which does not rely on impact forces to crush pills.
In broadest terms, the tablet crusher of the present invention includes a screw actuator that is operable to bring to bear a force on a platen so as to urge it against an anvil, and wherein the platen and anvil are shaped so as to bring about a rolling crushing force upon a tablet disposed therebetween, the crushing force supplied by a screw actuator which is mounted to the base.
The preferred embodiment of the present invention is a device for crushing a tablet, comprising: (1) a base; (2) an anvil integrally fixed to the base, the anvil having a concave crushing face; (3) a platen having a convex crushing face, coupled at a pivot to the base so as to be moveable against the anvil; (4) a screw actuator for facilitating movement of the platen against the anvil, the screw actuator having a handle; whereby movement of the handle produces movement of the platen relative to the anvil, for crushing a tablet between the anvil and the platen.
It is preferred that the device additionally comprises a swivel linkage between the screw actuator and the platen, such that the angle between the screw actuator and the platen may change as the platen is advanced toward the anvil.
The base portion may be made as one piece or as multiple pieces, and may also include a bottom base comprising an opening to a storage cavity.
The device of the present invention may preferably include a pouch for receiving a tablet to be crushed, the pouch being adapted for fitting between the anvil and the platen.
Other aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, illustrating by way of example the principles of the invention.
In accordance with the foregoing summary of the invention, the following presents a description of the preferred embodiment of the present invention which is also considered to be the best mode thereof.
In the following detailed description and in the several figures of the drawings, like elements are identified with like reference numerals.
The preferred embodiment of the present invention allows for the elimination of multiple compression links of the prior art devices while providing for a smooth crushing force to be brought to bear on the tablet-crushing anvil. The present invention also provides an assembly that may be easily disassembled for cleaning.
With reference now to the drawings, there is shown in
The platen 14 and anvil 13 have correspondingly shaped curved crushing surfaces, the platen 14 having a convex crushing surface 18 and the anvil 13 a concave crushing surface 19. This shape allows the tablet crusher to perform the crushing function with greater smoothness as handle 16 is turned. The threaded fitting 17 may be integrally formed with the handle 16, or may be attached together as separate pieces. The threaded fitting 17 may extend through top base portion 12 and be held in a removable position by any known attachment means, such as through plate 20 and screws 21, so that it may be replaced if necessary.
The tablet crusher of the present invention is also shown in an assembled form in
The distance of travel from the maximum open position to the fully closed position is also preferably determined such that the fully closed position is reached at the maximum extension of the threaded fitting 17 into the top base portion 12. The threaded fitting 17 also preferably includes a collar portion 22 and knob end 23 that fits into a well 29 formed into the rear side of platen 14 by an interference fit so as to allow some freedom of movement by swiveling with respect to the platen 14 in response to the angular movement of the platen 14 with respect to the top base portion 12 and the longitudinal axis of the threaded portion 17 as the screw actuator is advanced. The preferred embodiment of the screw actuator may be appreciated from
Another benefit of the curved platen and anvil faces is that the tablet, when placed in a pouch to be crushed, is crushed through a uniform movement. This occurs because the curved opposing surfaces tend to allow initial fragmentation of the tablet to proceed such that tablet fragments more readily move upward from the bottom of the pouch while remaining within the envelope of the crushing zone as actuation proceeds. In this regard, because the pouches are typically flat, the curved faces permit greater space to allow fragmentation to occur and continue throughout the actuation stroke.
In the preferred embodiment, the distance between the fully retracted platen and the anvil (shown in
By action of the curved surfaces 18 and 19, crushing forces are brought to bear throughout the platen's travel against the anvil.
The dimensions of the tablet crusher of the present invention are not critical. The device as shown in the drawings has a base portion that is about 2.6 inches square and about 1.25 inches in height. The remaining portions of the device are approximately to that scale.
In operation, one or more pills are placed in a pouch. The pouch containing the pill(s) can then be inserted between the platen 14 and the anvil 13 and, depending upon the degree of crushing desired, the position of the pouch might be varied between the platen 14 and the anvil 13. One of the advantages of the present invention is that it allows for control over the degree to which the pill or tablet is crushed, something that is more difficult to control using crushers of the prior art described herein which use a lever action.
The pouch that may be used may be a simple rectangular pouch or one such as described in U.S. Design Pat. No. D497,543, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. The preferred pouch is the subject of co-pending application Ser. No. 11/153,516, filed by Frank Leyshon and Ronald Funk and entitled Pill Crusher Pouch, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
These pouches typically are made of a plastic material and may be stored in the storage cavity 25 and be of sufficient size to extend through opening 26 to be available to the user.
The tablet crusher 10 may be made of any appropriately strong material, typically metal, as is known and used for these types of devices. As an alternative, the device may be made in part of a polycarbonate or ABS (e.g., glass filled).
The advantages of the invention when compared to the prior art include the ability to crush a tablet with a smooth hand action and with a device that may be made relatively compact compared to devices of the prior art.
It will be evident that there are additional embodiments and applications which are not disclosed in the detailed description but which clearly fall within the scope of the present invention. The specification is, therefore, intended not to be limiting, and the scope of the invention is to be limited only by the following claims. The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from its spirit or essential characteristics. The described embodiment is to be considered in all respects only as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. All variations that come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.
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