Dual compartment dispenser
A dual compartment dispenser for pill or other item storage includes a larger outer compartment and an auxiliary smaller pocket container configured to accommodate a predetermined daily dosage of items, which the user can carry in a clothing pocket, backpack or handbag, without having to carry the entire bottle container of items. The smaller auxiliary pocket container compartment fits on top of or underneath the cap of the item container compartment, and is held in place by being threaded to the top of the cap of the container, or to an underside of the cap of the container. The smaller auxiliary pocket container compartment can also be held in place by a friction fit or magnetic attachment within or on top of the outer container, with or without a detent and/or ledge supporting the smaller auxiliary pocket container compartment. It can also be loosely supported by a ledge within the neck of a bottle neck container.
This application is based upon and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) of provisional application No. 61/395,447 filed May 12, 2010 and provisional application No. 61/384,370 filed Sep. 20, 2010. These provisional applications are incorporated by reference herein.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThe present disclosure is directed to a dual compartment dispenser for storage of prescription or non-prescription medicine, pills, capsules, tablets, supplements, vitamins, etc.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTIONIt is an object of the present container to provide a convenient dual compartment dispenser for storage of prescription or non-prescription medicine or supplements in the form of pills, capsules, tablets, caplets, or other items, wherein a smaller auxiliary pocket daily dose container is provided with the overall larger container, to enable a user to carry a single daily dosage of these items within a pocket of an article of clothing or in a handbag or other personal storage device, such as a backpack or belt pack.
It is another object of the present invention to support an auxiliary daily dosage container within the confines of a larger dispenser container.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a kit for carrying a daily dosage of prescription or non-prescription medicine, vitamins or other supplements.
Other objects will become apparent from the following description of the present invention.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONIn keeping with these objects and others which may become apparent, the present invention is a dual compartment dispenser for storage of prescription or non-prescription items in which one of the compartments is an auxiliary smaller pocket daily dose container configured to accommodate a predetermined daily dosage of pills, tablets, capsules or prescription or non-prescription medicine, supplements, vitamins or other daily dosage items which the use can carry in a clothing pocket, backpack or handbag, without having to carry the entire bottle container of pills, tablets, capsules or other daily dosage items. For example if a pharmaceutical prescription prescribes a dosage of four pills or other items per day, the smaller compartment can hold a daily dosage of four pills or other items. Likewise, if the dosage is two per day, the smaller compartment can hold the daily dosage of two pill or other items.
The smaller auxiliary pocket container compartment fits underneath the cap of the main container compartment, or optionally is held in place within to the inner collar neck of the container, or to an underside or top side of the cap of the container. The smaller auxiliary pocket container compartment can be held in place by threaded engagement, by a friction fit with or without a detent and/or ledge supporting the smaller auxiliary pocket daily dose container compartment, or by magnets or other adhesive methods inside, or on top of, the cap. The daily dose container can also be supported loosely upon a shoulder ledge inside the neck of a bottle neck container.
The dual compartment dispenser of the present invention enhances a medicine or other vitamin/supplement dispenser container by enabling the user to conveniently carry a daily dose of items in the daytime, while being able to store the smaller auxiliary pocket container compartment within the outer larger compartment container at night between daily dosages.
The smaller container also acts as a reminder so that when empty, the user knows to refill the small container with a daily dose of items for the next day. Preferably, a portion of the smaller container is transparent to reveal to the user the presence or absence of the daily dose of items, or portions thereof, within the smaller container.
In an alternate embodiment, the smaller auxiliary pocket container compartment can be nested within a carry well fitted with an adhesive backing, so that it can be sold with a carry well which is adherable to a surface of a cap for a container holding medicine or other supplements.
The small container can then be held within the carry well in a “well and pot” relationship by various attachment methods, such as by threaded means, friction fit, magnetic or other mechanical grasping means.
The carry well can also be magnetically attached to a surface of a medicine or other supplement container cap. It can be provided and sold in a transparent package attached to the flat top of a pill dispenser container. In this embodiment, the small container can be moved to different carry wells, which are adhesively or magnetically attached to a surface of various medicine container caps.
In general, the dual compartment dispenser can be used as a method of reminding users of daily dosage of pills, including the steps of
-
- a) providing a first container having a supply of prescription or nonprescription medicine or supplements therein;
- b) providing a cap for closing said first container;
- c) providing a smaller container attachable to said cap or said first container;
- d) providing a daily dose of said prescription or nonprescription medicine or supplements within second container;
- e) providing a portion of said second container with a transparent portion for viewing whether said daily dose has been consumed or not,
- f) wherein the smaller second container is removable from the larger first container, to be carried in the pocket or purse of the user, while the first container is covered by the cap.
The present invention can best be understood in connection with the accompanying drawings. It is noted that the invention is not limited to the precise embodiments shown in drawings. Various embodiments of the present disclosure will be described herein below with reference to the figures wherein:
The daily dose containers of the dual compartment dispenser of this invention come in a variety of sizes and shapes and types. Three basic types are shown in
In
In
Alternately, to avoid carrying a magnetized daily dose container in a pocket or purse having credit cards sensitive to magnets, the system could be reversed, so that the daily dose container has a non-magnetic ferro magnetic disk or layer (such as a painted or plated steel disk), and the respective cap of the larger compartment container (such as a pill bottle or a medicine jar) can have the disk magnet attachable thereto. For use with the multiple items in multiple larger containers, each larger container can have a magnet attached thereto.
It is further noted that the foregoing descriptions are exemplary, so that other embodiments may be foreseen from the description of the Claims.
Claims
1. A daily dose container comprising:
- a cylindrical housing having a closed bottom and an open top with a capacity to house one day dosage supply of prescription or non-prescription medical or supplement items;
- an upper portion having means adjacent said open top for receiving a cap; and
- said cylindrical housing having means adapted to be incorporated into or attached onto a container having an extended supply of said prescription or non-prescription medical or supplement items.
2. The daily dose container of claim 1 in which said means adjacent said open top comprises external threads to receive a screw cap.
3. The daily dose container of claim 1 in which said means adjacent said open top comprises said daily dose container having an exterior surface attachable to the inside of the container having the extended supply of prescription or non-prescription medical or supplement items in a friction fit therebetween.
4. The daily dose container of claim 1 in which said adapted means comprises said closed bottom having a threaded recess.
5. The daily dose container of claim 4 in which said adjacent means comprises said open top designed to receive a push-on cap.
6. The daily dose container of claim 1 in which said adapted means comprises an outer wall of said housing adjacent said closed bottom being threaded.
7. A dual compartment dispenser comprising:
- a cylindrical housing with a first compartment having an open top with a neck ledge collar formed below said open top containing an extended supply of prescription or non-prescription medical or supplement items;
- an upper portion of said housing adjacent said open top having features to receive a closure;
- a collar within said neck ledge located below said open top;
- a daily dose container having a shoulder resting within said neck on said collar, said daily dose container having a more limited supply of said prescription or non-prescription medical or supplement items; and
- a closure for closing said cylindrical housing thereby forming a single container in which a single dose of said prescription or non-prescription medical or supplement items may be conveniently be carried within said cylindrical housing in addition to a separate larger supply of said medical or supplement items.
8. The dual compartment dispenser of claim 7 in which said upper portion of said cylindrical housing has a reduced diameter.
9. A dual compartment dispenser for prescription or non-prescription medical or supplement items comprising:
- a cylindrical housing with a first compartment having an open top containing an extended supply of prescription or non-prescription medical or supplement items;
- a cap threadably engaging an upper end of said cylindrical housing closing said open top;
- said cap having a recess;
- a daily dose container having a more limited supply of said prescription or non- prescription medical or supplement items removably mounted within said recess of said cap; and
- means for retaining said daily dose pill container within said recess.
10. The dual compartment dispenser of claim 9 in which said retaining means comprises an internal collar in said recess for frictionally engaging a body of said daily dose container allowing said daily dose container to be conveniently removed and replaced at will.
11. The dual compartment dispenser of claim 9 in which said retaining means comprises an internal collar in said recess for threadably engaging a body of said daily dose container allowing said daily dose container to be conveniently removed and replaced at will.
12. The dual compartment dispenser of claim 9 in which said retaining means comprises a magnet subsystem for retaining said daily dose container within said recess.
13. The dual compartment dispenser of claim 12 in which said magnet subsystem comprises a disk magnet adhesively attached to a bottom wall of said daily dose container, and said recess in said cap having a ferromagnetic layer to which said disk magnet will adhere when said daily dose container is stored in said cap.
14. The dual compartment dispenser as in claim 13 in which said at least one ferromagnetic layer comprises a plurality of ferromagnetic layers, each with an adhesive layer covered by a release layer so that a user can attach said daily dose container having said disk magnet to other caps of other cylindrical housing holding other extended supplies of prescription or non-prescription medical or supplement items, said other caps each having a respective ferromagnetic layer attached thereto.
15. The dual compartment dispenser as in claim 12 in which said magnet subsystem comprises a disk magnet adhesively attached to a cap of said cylindrical housing and a non-magnetized ferromagnetic layer attached to said daily dose container.
16. The dual compartment dispenser as in claim 15 in which said at least one ferromagnetic layer comprises a plurality of ferromagnetic layers, each with an adhesive layer covered by a release layer so that a user can attach said daily dose container having said ferromagnetic layer to other caps of other cylindrical housing holding other extended supplies of prescription or non-prescription medical or supplement items, said other caps each having a respective disk magnet attached thereto.
17. The dual compartment dispenser of claim 9 in which said cap includes a child resistant closure on one side of said cap and a freely operable closure on an opposite side of said cap, wherein one side of said cap engages and holds said daily dose container in a secure configuration and an opposite side of said cap also engages and holds said daily dose container in a non-secure configuration.
18. A method of reminding users of daily dosage of pills comprising the steps of providing a first container having a supply of prescription or nonprescription medicine or supplements therein;
- providing a cap for closing said first container;
- providing a smaller container attachable to said cap or said first container;
- providing a daily dose of said prescription or nonprescription medicine or supplements within said second container;
- providing a portion of said second container with a transparent portion for viewing whether said daily dose has been consumed or not, and,
- wherein said second container is removable from said first container while said first container is covered by said cap.
19. The method as in claim 18 further comprising the step of attaching said smaller container to said cap or said first container by at least one of a gravity fit against a ledge within said first container, by threaded engagement or by friction fit engagement.
20. The method as in claim 18 further comprising the step of attaching said smaller container to said cap or said first container by a magnet subsystem comprising a disk magnet adhesively attached to a non-magnetized ferromagnetic layer.
Type: Application
Filed: Apr 15, 2011
Publication Date: Nov 17, 2011
Inventor: James V. Giocastro (Valley Stream, NY)
Application Number: 13/066,480
International Classification: B65D 83/04 (20060101);