Accessible pill container

Abstract

An accessible pill container comprising a plurality of closely positioned blades that are integrally formed and molded within a plastic container and forming a concave bowl-shaped platform at a proximal end to be able to hold at least one pill created by the close proximity and concave shape of the blades. Pills enter the bowl by tilting the pill container sideways or upside down so that all of the pill contents rush toward the top of the bottle. Enough space is left between the bowl-shaped platform top and the underside of the cap to allow one or two pills to enter the small open space and fall into the platform bowl capturing the pill or pills until the user tilts the bottle back to its upright vertical position, removes the cap and slides the pill off of the platform with thumb and forefinger to be placed inside the mouth.

Claims

1. An accessible pill container system comprising: a cap; a container with an open proximal end having a container ridge for engaging the cap, a closed distal end, and an outer wall; and a platform further comprising a plurality of vertically oriented blades, with each blade having a blade proximal end, a blade distal end, and a blade back edge, and wherein each blade distal end is integrally molded to the closed distal end, each blade back edge is integrally molded to the outer wall, and each blade proximal end has a concave edge which forms a bowl when at least three blades are present that leaves room for at least one pill between the platform and the cap when the cap is secured with the container.

2. The accessible pill container system of claim 1 the platform comprises between three blades and ten blades.

3. The accessible pill container system of claim 1 wherein the pill container system is molded from a thermoplastic material.

4. The accessible pill container system of claim 3 wherein the thermoplastic material is a copolymer material selected from the group consisting of high-density polyethylene, high-density polypropylene, and polyethylene terephthalate.

5. The accessible pill container system of claim 1 wherein the platform can hold more than one pill.

6. The accessible pill container system of claim 1 wherein the platform has a surface area of about one square inch.

7. The accessible pill container system of claim 1 wherein each blade has a height greater than 75% of an overall container height.

8. An accessible pill container system comprising: a cap; a container comprising a moldable thermoplastic material with an open proximal end having a container ridge for engaging the cap, a closed distal end, and an outer wall; and a platform having a surface area of at most one square inch further comprising a plurality of vertically oriented blades that have a total height greater than 75% of an overall container height, with each blade having a blade proximal end, a blade distal end, and a blade back edge, and wherein each blade distal end is integrally molded to the closed distal end, each blade back edge is integrally molded to the outer wall, and each blade proximal end has a concave edge which forms a bowl when at least three blades are present that leaves room for at least one pill between the platform and the cap when the cap is engaged with the container.

9. The accessible pill container system of claim 8 wherein the moldable thermoplastic material is a copolymer material selected from the group consisting of high-density polyethylene, high-density polypropylene, and polyethylene terephthalate.

10. The accessible pill container system of claim 8 further comprising permanent operating instructions on use of the accessible pill container system imprinted onto an exterior of the outer wall.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) For a more complete understanding of the present disclosure and its advantages, reference is now made to the following descriptions, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

(2) FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the present invention;

(3) FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the platform of the present invention;

(4) FIG. 3 is a top perspective view of the platform of the present invention;

(5) FIG. 4 is a side cross-sectional view of the platform of the present invention; and

(6) FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view.

(7) Similar reference numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views of the drawings. The components of the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(8) The following description is of the best mode presently contemplated for carrying out the invention. This description is not to be taken in a limiting sense but is made merely for the purpose of describing one or more preferred embodiments of the invention. The scope of the invention should be determined with reference to the claims.

(9) A first embodiment of the present invention is seen in FIG. 1, a container 100 has a proximal end 102, a distal end 104, and an outer wall 106. Preferably container 100 is made of a high-density polyethylene (HDPE), high density polypropylene (HDPP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), or other similar thermoplastics that allow for precision molding or recycling. Preferably container 100 is cylindrical but may be any shape that is conducive to the delivery of pills using the system described herein. Integrally molded with the container 100 are a plurality of vertically oriented blades 200 projecting inward towards the container center 110. Each blade 200 is preferably spaced less than 0.25 inches from the next blade 200. Each blade 200 has a blade distal end 202 and a blade proximal end 204. Each blade 200 is preferably less than 0.25 inches thick and about one inch in depth. Preferably there are between three and ten blades 200. Each blade proximal end 204 has a concave horizontal top surface 216 such that each blade proximal end 204, when fully molded, forms a platform 206 in the shape of a concave bowl that has a surface area of no more than one square inch. At least three blades 200 are needed to form the platform 206. The curvature of each blade proximal end 204 is the same concave shape but a different height so that when positioned next to each other they create a bowl shape to capture the pill and hold it until being retrieved. Each blade 200 has a length that runs from the distal end 104 of container 100 towards the proximal end 102 up to a minimum of 75% of the height of the container 100 so that at least one pill 108 can be deposited at the platform 206 without falling out while at the same time preventing too many pills from being deposited.

(10) Further details about the blades 200 are shown in FIGS. 2 through 4. Preferably, the platform 206 is rounded or bowl-shaped but can be any shape that allows for retention of a pill 108. The depth of the platform 206 is dependent on the thickness of the pill 108. Each blade 200 has a back edge 208 that is integrally formed with the outer wall 106.

(11) With reference to FIG. 5, the preferable method of getting a pill 108 onto platform 206 is to invert the container 100 sideways or upside down and then revert container 100 back to the original upright position. Alternatively, a user could shake the container 100 and the result should be at least one pill 108 deposited on the platform 206. The platform void 208 is the distance between the upper platform edge 210 and the bottom of cap 214 (when secured with container 100 using means for pill bottle cap securing known in the art) which should allow one or two pills 108 to be deposited onto the platform 206. At most, two pills 108 should be able to fit on the platform 206. As seen in FIG. 5, these instructions 300 are preferably imprinted onto the container exterior 112 of the outer wall 106 of container 100 whether by etching, raised integrally molded images, or other methods known in the art.

(12) The present disclosure includes that contained in the appended claims, as well as that of the foregoing description. Although this invention has been described in its preferred form with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure of the preferred form has been made only by way of example and that numerous changes in the details of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

(13) Now that the invention has been described.