US20070170202A1

US20070170202A1 - Emergency medical pill dispenser

Info

Publication number: US20070170202A1
Application number: US11/256,456
Authority: US
Inventors: Jeffrey Chen; Christine Tung
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2005-10-22
Filing date: 2005-10-22
Publication date: 2007-07-26

Abstract

A medicine dispenser for at least one medical pill includes an outer casing having a receiving cavity, a penetrable membrane, and a dispensing arrangement. The dispensing arrangement includes a pill actuator provided on the outer casing, and a dispensing platform movably mounted in the receiving cavity for moving between a normal position and a dispensing position, wherein in the normal position, the dispensing platform holds the medical pill in position within the receiving cavity, and wherein in the dispensing position, the dispensing platform is driven by the pill actuator to move in the receiving cavity for pushing the medical pill penetrating the penetrable membrane so as to push the medical pill out of the outer casing to be urgently consumed by a patient.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a dispenser, and more particularly to a medicine dispenser which is capable of discharging life-saving medicine in a timely and effective manner for avoiding unnecessary delay in treating a patient's health problem.
2. Description of Related Arts There exist a number of acute diseases which may kill a patient in a split-second. For example, when acute heart attack comes, the patient may suddenly feel extremely painful in his chest and go unconscious within few minutes. Very often, the period from feeling pain and going unconscious is far shorter than that of reporting to and waiting for local emergency service. As a result, it is crucial for the patient to be treated in a timely manner for saving his invaluable life.
As a matter of conventional art, there exist some emergency pills for, say, treating acute heart attacks. The pills are to be consumed by placing them under the patient's tongue and they will expand the patient's coronary arteries within seconds so as to ensure that the patient's heart is supplied with sufficient amount of blood. Although the pills will not cure the patient's heart problem, they are nevertheless effective in mitigating acute symptoms and allow the patient's heart to continue working before comprehensive medical treatment is available.
A major problem for these conventional pills is that they are usually contained in a regular container which may comprise a container body and a cap for enclosing that container. While a healthy person may be able to open the container easily, the patient may not be able to do so when acute symptom comes. For example, when acute heart attack emerges, the patient's hands may be shaking so that he may even not to able to hold the container securely, not to mention opening the cap and taking the packaged medicine inside the container with sound composure. The consequence may be that the patient cannot take the medicine properly or in a timely manner. In the worst situation, the patient, during the course of taking the medicine, may accidentally drop some of those on the ground so that the patient may not be able to take sufficient amount of the medicine for mitigating his symptom.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

A main object of the present invention is to provide a medicine dispenser which is capable of discharging life-saving medicine in a timely and effective manner for avoiding unnecessary delay in treating a patient's health problem.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a medicine dispenser which comprises a dispensing arrangement which is adapted for rapidly discharging predetermined medical pills into the patient's mouth upon convenient actuation so as to allow effective and efficient consumption of the medical pills.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a medicine dispenser which is light in weight, easy and convenient to operate so that the user needs only to exert minimal effort for accessing the medicine. In other words, the above-mentioned problems can be substantially overcome by the present invention.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a medicine dispenser which comprises a holding string which is adapted to wear on the user's body so that the user may access the medicine wherever he is and whenever he needs.
Accordingly, in order to accomplish the above objects, the present invention provides a medicine dispenser for at least one medical pill, comprising:
an outer casing having a receiving cavity for receiving the medical pill, and a top opening communicating with the receiving cavity;
a penetrable membrane provided at the top opening of the outer casing to enclose the receiving cavity in a selectively penetrable manner by the medical pill in the receiving cavity; and
a dispensing arrangement which comprises a pill actuator provided on the outer casing, and a dispensing platform movably mounted in the receiving cavity for moving between a normal position and a dispensing position, wherein in the normal position, the dispensing platform holds the medical pill in position within the receiving cavity, and wherein in the dispensing position, the dispensing platform is driven to move by the pill actuator in the receiving cavity for pushing the medical pill penetrating the penetrable membrane so as to push the medical pill out of the outer casing to be urgently consumed by a patient.
These and other objectives, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, the accompanying drawings, and the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a medicine dispenser according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a side view of the medicine dispenser according to the above preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is an alternative mode of the medicine dispenser according to the above preferred embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIG. 1 to FIG. 2 of the drawings, a medicine dispenser for at least one medical pill 70 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention is illustrated, in which the medicine dispenser comprises an outer casing 10, a penetrable membrane 20, and a dispensing arrangement. According to the preferred embodiment, the medicine dispenser is for containing a plurality of medical pills 70, wherein the outer casing 10 has a receiving cavity 11 for receiving the medical pill 70, and a top opening 12 communicating with the receiving cavity 11.
The penetrable membrane 20 is provided at the top opening 12 of the outer casing 10 to enclose the receiving cavity 11 in a selectively penetrable manner by the medical pill 70 in the receiving cavity 11.
The dispensing arrangement comprises a pill actuator 31 provided on the outer casing 10, and a dispensing platform 32 movably mounted in the receiving cavity 11 for moving between a normal position and a dispensing position, wherein in the normal position, the dispensing platform 32 holds the medical pill 70 in position within the receiving cavity 11, wherein in the dispensing position, the dispensing platform 32 is driven by the pill actuator 31 to move in the receiving cavity 11 for pushing the medical pill 70 penetrating the penetrable membrane 20 so as to push the medical pill 70 out of the outer casing 10 to be urgently consumed by a patient.
The outer casing 10 may comprise a first and a second tubular casing shell 13, 14 detachably connected with each other to define the receiving cavity 11 of the outer casing 10, wherein the medical pill 70 is adapted to fittedly receive within the receiving cavity 11 for selectively dispensing therefrom. In other words, the user is able to detach the first tubular casing shell 13 from the second tubular casing shell 14 for replacement of the medical pill 70. Alternatively, the medical pill 70 may also be refilled by pushing the penetrable membrane 20 from the top opening 12.
The penetrable membrane 20 preferably comprises a plurality of elastic valve members 21 inwardly extended from a peripheral edge of the top opening 12 in such a manner that the elastic valve members 21 are adapted to be slightly pushed to deform to create a central clearance of the penetrable membrane 20 for allowing the medical pill 70 penetrating the top opening for being dispensed into the user's month.
According to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the outer casing 10 further has a dispensing slot 15 longitudinally extended thereon to communicate with the receiving cavity 11, wherein the dispensing platform 32 is mounted at the dispensing slot 15 in a slidably movable manner for moving between the normal position and the dispensing position. Moreover, the pill actuator 31 is extended from the dispensing platform 32 to slidably mounted at a side edge portion of the outer casing 11 via the dispensing slot 15 so that when the pill actuator 31 is actuated to slide along the dispensing slot 15, the dispensing platform 32 is adapted to move between the normal position and the dispensing position.
In order to facilitate effective holding of the medical pill 70, the dispensing platform 32 has a top concave surface 321 having a radius of curvature substantially the same as the radius of curvature of an outer surface of the medical pill 70 so that the medical pill 70 is capable of being securely held by the dispensing platform 32 while it is in the normal position. It is worth mentioning that having the same radius of curvature ensures that when the pill actuator 31 is actuated to drive the dispensing platform 32 moving from the normal position to the dispensing position, the medical pill 70 can be substantially driven by the dispensing platform 32 with maximum contact surface area between the dispensing platform 32 and the medical pill 70.
Referring to FIG. 1 of the drawings, the medicine dispenser further comprises a holding string 40 connected with the outer casing 10 for forming a holder loop within the holding string and the outer casing 10 for securely wearing on a user's neck. In other words, the present invention can be securely worn on a user's body so that he may conveniently and rapidly access the medical pill 70 when emergency situation comes.
The operation of the present invention is as follows: the user must first put in predetermined medical pill 70 into the receiving cavity 11 so that it is ready for use when emergency comes. He may then wear the medicine dispenser through the holding string 40 and when emergency comes, he may simply need to hold the outer casing 10 and align the top opening 12 with his mouth. After that, he may simply actuate the pill actuator 31 for dispensing the medical pill 70 from the receiving cavity 11 into his mouth via the penetrable membrane 20 for relieving his emergency conditions. It is important to point out that all these can be done within few seconds so that the user does not risk dropping the medical pill 70 or having the difficulty in opening any cap as mentioned above.
Referring to FIG. 3 of the drawings, a first alternative mode of the medicine dispenser according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention is illustrated. The first alternative mode is similar to the preferred embodiment, except the dispensing arrangement. According to the alternative mode, the dispensing slot 15′ of the outer casing 10′ is provided on a bottom side thereof wherein the pill actuator 31′ is mounted at the dispensing slot 15′ for actuating the dispensing platform moving between the normal position and the dispensing position within the receiving cavity 11′.
More specifically, the outer casing 10′ further comprises a partitioning member 16′ transversely and inwardly extended from the inner sidewall of the outer casing 10′ to divide the receiving cavity 11′ into an upper pill storage compartment 111′ and a lower actuation compartment 112′, wherein the dispensing platform 32′ is movably mounted within the pill storage compartment 111′ for moving between the normal position and the dispensing position.
The pill actuator 31′ comprises an actuation button 311′ movably mounted on the outer casing 10′ at the dispensing slot 15′, and a dispenser arm 312′ inwardly extended from the actuation button 311′ into the pill storage compartment 111′ of the receiving cavity 11′ to connect with the dispensing platform 32′. Moreover, the dispensing arrangement further comprises a resilient element 33′ provided in the actuation compartment 112′ of the receiving cavity 11′ for normally exerting a downward urging force towards the actuation button 311′ for normally retaining the dispensing platform 32′ at the normal position.
Consequently, when the user needs the medical pill 70′ stored the receiving cavity 11′, he can simply press the actuation button 311′ for pushing the dispensing platform 32′ which then pushes the medical pill 70 out of the receiving cavity 11′ to be consumed by the penetrable membrane 20′.
From the forgoing description, it can be shown that the above-mentioned objects have been substantially accomplished. The present invention provides a medicine dispenser which is capable of discharging life-saving medicine in a timely and effective manner for avoiding unnecessary delay in treating a patient's health problem.
One skilled in the art will understand that the embodiment of the present invention as shown in the drawings and described above is exemplary only and not intended to be limiting.
It will thus be seen that the objects of the present invention have been fully and effectively accomplished. It embodiments have been shown and described for the purposes of illustrating the functional and structural principles of the present invention and is subject to change without departure from such principles. Therefore, this invention includes all modifications encompassed within the spirit and scope of the following claims.

Claims

1. A medicine dispenser for at least one medical pill, comprising:

an outer casing having a receiving cavity for receiving said medical pill, and a top opening communicating with said receiving cavity, wherein said outer casing is a cap free casing;

a penetrable membrane, which is made of elastic material, provided at said top opening of said outer casing to enclose said receiving cavity in a selectively penetrable manner by said medical pill in said receiving cavity; and

a dispensing arrangement which comprises a pill actuator provided on said outer casing, and a dispensing platform movably mounted in said receiving cavity for moving between a normal position and a dispensing position, wherein in said normal position, said dispensing platform holds said medical pill in position within said receiving cavity, and wherein in said dispensing position, said dispensing platform is driven by said pill actuator to move in said receiving cavity for pushing said medical pill penetrating said penetrable membrane so as to push said medical pill out of said outer casing to be urgently consumed by a patient without removing any cap from said outer casing at said top opening thereof, wherein said penetrable membrane is penetrated and deformed to apply an elastic force for holding said medical pill until said medical pill is entirely pushed out of said outer casing at said top opening thereof.

2. The medicine dispenser, as recited in claim 1, wherein said outer casing further has a dispensing slot longitudinally extended thereon to communicate with said receiving cavity, wherein said pill actuator is slidably mounted at said dispensing slot while said dispensing platform is extending from said pill actuator via said dispensing slot, so that said pill actuator is adapted to be actuated to slide along said dispensing slot for driving said dispensing platform moving between said between said normal position and said dispensing position.

3. The medicine dispenser, as recited in claim 1, wherein said dispensing platform has a top concave surface having a radius of curvature substantially the same as a radius of curvature of an outer surface of said medical pill, so that said medical pill is securely held by said dispensing platform at said normal position, and when said pill actuator is actuated to drive said dispensing platform moving from said normal position to said dispensing position, said medical pill is effectively driven by said dispensing platform with maximum contact surface area between said dispensing platform and said medical pill.

4. The medicine dispenser, as recited in claim 2, wherein said dispensing platform has a top concave surface having a radius of curvature substantially the same as a radius of curvature of an outer surface of said medical pill, so that said medical pill is securely held by said dispensing platform at said normal position, and when said pill actuator is actuated to drive said dispensing platform moving from said normal position to said dispensing position, said medical pill is effectively driven by said dispensing platform with maximum contact surface area between said dispensing platform and said medical pill.

5. The medicine dispenser, as recited in claim 1, wherein said penetrable membrane comprises a plurality of elastic valve members inwardly extended from a peripheral edge of said top opening of said outer casing in such a manner that said elastic valve members are adapted to be slightly pushed to deform to create a central clearance of said penetrable membrane for allowing said medical pill penetrating said top opening for being dispensed into a user's mouth and for applying said elastic force at each of said elastic valve members against said medical pill to hold said medical pill before said medical pill is pushed out of said outer casing.

6. The medicine dispenser, as recited in claim 3, wherein said penetrable membrane comprises a plurality of elastic valve members inwardly extended from a peripheral edge of said top opening of said outer casing in such a manner that said elastic valve members are adapted to be slightly pushed to deform to create a central clearance of said penetrable membrane for allowing said medical pill penetrating said top opening for being dispensed into a user's mouth and for applying said elastic force at each of said elastic valve members against said medical pill to hold said medical pill before said medical pill is pushed out of said outer casing.

7. The medicine dispenser, as recited in claim 4, wherein said penetrable membrane comprises a plurality of elastic valve members inwardly extended from a peripheral edge of said top opening of said outer casing in such a manner that said elastic valve members are adapted to be slightly pushed to deform to create a central clearance of said penetrable membrane for allowing said medical pill penetrating said top opening for being dispensed into a user's mouth and for applying said elastic force at each of said elastic valve members against said medical pill to hold said medical pill before said medical pill is pushed out of said outer casing.

8. The medicine dispenser as recited in claim 1, further comprising a holding string connected with said outer casing for forming a holder loop within said holding string and said outer casing for securely wearing on a user's neck.

9. The medicine dispenser as recited in claim 4, further comprising a holding string connected with said outer casing for forming a holder loop within said holding string and said outer casing for securely wearing on a user's neck.

10. The medicine dispenser as recited in claim 6, further comprising a holding string connected with said outer casing for forming a holder loop within said holding string and said outer casing for securely wearing on a user's neck.

11. The medicine dispenser as recited in claim 7, further comprising a holding string connected with said outer casing for forming a holder loop within said holding string and said outer casing for securely wearing on a user's neck.

12. The medicine dispenser, as recited in claim 1, wherein said outer casing further comprises a partitioning member transversely and inwardly extended from said inner sidewall of said outer casing to divide said receiving cavity into an upper pill storage compartment and a lower actuation compartment which is communicated with said upper pill storage compartment, wherein said dispensing platform is movably mounted within said pill storage compartment for being driven to move by said pill actuator from said normal position to said dispensing position and for being driven to return back to said normal position from said dispensing position.

13. The medicine dispenser, as recited in claim 12, wherein said outer casing further has a through dispensing slot formed at a bottom side thereof, wherein said pill actuator comprises an actuation button movably mounted on said outer casing at said dispensing slot, and a dispenser arm inwardly extended from said actuation button into said pill storage compartment of said receiving cavity to connect with said dispensing platform, in such a manner that said actuation button is adapted to be actuated for driving said dispensing platform to move between said normal position and said dispensing position via said dispenser arm.

14. The medicine dispenser, as recited in claim 13, wherein said dispensing arrangement further comprises a resilient element provided in said actuation compartment of said receiving cavity for normally exerting a downward urging force towards said actuation button for normally retaining said dispensing platform at said normal position.

15. The medicine dispenser, as recited in claim 12, wherein said penetrable membrane comprises a plurality of elastic valve members inwardly extended from a peripheral edge of said top opening of said outer casing in such a manner that said elastic valve members are adapted to be slightly pushed to deform to create a central clearance of said penetrable membrane for allowing said medical pill penetrating said top opening for being dispensed into a user's mouth and for applying said elastic force at each of said elastic valve members against said medical pill to hold said medical pill before said medical pill is pushed out of said outer casing.

16. The medicine dispenser, as recited in claim 13, wherein said penetrable membrane comprises a plurality of elastic valve members inwardly extended from a peripheral edge of said top opening of said outer casing in such a manner that said elastic valve members are adapted to be slightly pushed to deform to create a central clearance of said penetrable membrane for allowing said medical pill penetrating said top opening for being dispensed into a user's mouth and for applying said elastic force at each of said elastic valve members against said medical pill to hold said medical pill before said medical pill is pushed out of said outer casing.

17. The medicine dispenser, as recited in claim 14, wherein said penetrable membrane comprises a plurality of elastic valve members inwardly extended from a peripheral edge of said top opening of said outer casing in such a manner that said elastic valve members are adapted to be slightly pushed to deform to create a central clearance of said penetrable membrane for allowing said medical pill penetrating said top opening for being dispensed into a user's mouth and for applying said elastic force at each of said elastic valve members against said medical pill to hold said medical pill before said medical pill is pushed out of said outer casing.

18. The medicine dispenser as recited in claim 15, further comprising a holding string connected with said outer casing for forming a holder loop within said holding string and said outer casing for securely wearing on a user's neck.

19. The medicine dispenser as recited in claim 16, further comprising a holding string connected with said outer casing for forming a holder loop within said holding string and said outer casing for securely wearing on a user's neck.

20. The medicine dispenser as recited in claim 17, further comprising a holding string connected with said outer casing for forming a holder loop within said holding string and said outer casing for securely wearing on a user's neck.