Pill box having safety sliding closure

[57] ABSTRACT

A pill box or similar article includes a body in the form of an open topped rectangular enclosure and a top cover slidably fitted to the body. Wing portions disposed on opposite side walls of the body are resiliently biased outwardly from the side walls to intercept abutments on the cover and normally block movement of the cover from its closed position. The box is opened only by depressing the wing portions into engagement with the side walls of the body simultaneously with a sliding motion of the cover. Other features are disclosed.

Claims, 14 Drawing Figures

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PATENTED^ 11074 3,782,584

SHEET 1 OF 2

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FIG. 5b b

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PATENTED^ US?’ 3,782.584

SHEET Z Of 2

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3,782,584

PILL BOX HAVING SAFETY SLIDING CLOSURE

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to small containers of a type suitable for the carrying of pills such as aspirin tablets or the like. More specifically, the present invention is directed to a new and improved pill container or the like that is simply and easily opened by adults but which is substantially secure against opening by small children.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is important for obvious reasons that medicinal containers be secure against opening by small children, and there are being imposed federal and state regula- 15 tions to assure that suitable safety standards are met. Such medicinal containers should not, however, be so difficult for adults to open as to amount to a substantial inconvenience or nuisance. Furthermore, the containers must be susceptible of manufacture by mass pro- 20 duction techniques and, in this regard, critical tolerance limitations should be avoided which might complicate manufacture and/or render a percentage of the containers unreliable or unsafe in operation.

The container of the present invention satisfies all of 25 the requirements outlined above. The manner of opening the container is not even to an adult readily apparent upon mere inspection. However, clear and unambiguous instructions for opening may be written on the container in just a few words. Also, opening of a con- ³⁰tainer of the invention requires a level of coordination not often found in small children, for example, those in the three to five year age group.

The present container is easily opened by an adult without likelihood of spilling any of the contents as is ³⁵one of the difficulties with certain prior art containers. The container is also constructed to permit selective dispensing of a desired quantity of items, for example, one, two or three tablets. A special seal structure may be incorporated as an integrally formed part of the con- ⁴⁰tainer body to assure the purchaser that the package has not been tampered with or opened previously. In addition, the present container locks in a positive fashion in contrast to the pressure responsive releasable detents or the equivalent of certain prior art structures ⁴and thus the present container is secure against opening by jarring or vibration. Furthermore, although the present container demands an adult’s skill and coordination in opening, the container is closed merely by ₅θ sliding the cover to the closed position. In other words, return movement of the cover demands none of the skill and coordination required for opening.

In accordance with the present invention, a pill box comprises body means having a body wall and four side walls defining a rectangular enclosure. A first opposed pair of side walls is provided with structure for effecting a sliding and interlocking fit with a top cover and these side walls are further provided with respective wing portions disposed intermediate the ends of the side ₆θ walls and resiliently biased outwardly therefrom, the wing portions being depressible into engagement with respective ones of the side walls. A cover means effects a sliding and interlocking fit with the body means for providing a slidable top cover for the body means that is movable between open and closed positions. Oppositely disposed abutments on the cover means are provided for engaging respective ones of the wing portions to preclude slidable movement of the cover means from its closed to its open position unless both of the wing portions are depressed simultaneously with slidable motion of the cover means relative to the body means. Other objectives and features of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading of the following description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The novel features of the present invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention together with further objects and advantages thereof may best be understood, however, by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in the several figures of which like reference numerals identify like elements and in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view, partly in section, of a first embodiment of a pill box constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the top cover of the box of FIG. 1;

FIG· 3 is a perspective view of the body portion of the box of FIG. 1, the top cover having been removed;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines 4—4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along lines S—5 of FIG. 3 and showing one of the resiliently biased wing portions in its normal position;

FIG. 5a is a sectional view similar to that of FIG. 5 but showing the wing portion in a depressed position;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the underside of the container body shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectional view taken along section lines 7—7 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of an alternative and preferred embodiment of the pill box according to the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the body of the pill box with the top cover removed;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the top cover of the pill box of FIG. 8;

FIG. 11 is an enlarged detail view of a cover locking mechanism taken along sectional lines 11—11 of FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the underside of the container body of FIG. 9; and

FIG. 13 is an exploded detail view of a seal for the container as seen along sectional lines 13—13 of FIG. 12.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a container or pill box according to the present invention and generally designated by the reference numeral 10. The pill box 10 is of the popular miniature size, typically carried in the pocket or purse and suitable for holding about a dozen aspirin tablets or the like. The box 10 comprises a hollow rectangular body portion 12 to which there is slidable fitted a generally planar top cover 14.

From FIG. 3, it may be appreciated that the hollow rectangular body means 12 is formed by a planar bottom wall 16, a first pair of opposed side walls 18, 19 and a second or remaining pair of opposed side walls 21 and 22. The first and longer pair of opposed side

3,782,584 walls 18,19 are each provided with structure for effecting a sliding and interlocking fit with the top cover 14. Although only the side wall 19 is fully visible in FIG. 3, it will be appreciated that the opposite side wall is of an identical construction. Specifically, the side wall 19 in- : eludes a tongue portion 19α preferably formed as an outwardly curved continuation of the side wall 19, as may be appreciated most clearly in FIG. 4. The tongue portion 19α which extends the length of the side wall 19 is interrupted at its center by a wing portion 19b that 1 preferably is of rectangular outline with one side integrally formed with the top of the side wall 19 and with the wing portion 19b normally extending outwardly therefrom at an angle of approximately 30°, as seen most clearly in FIG. 5. ¹

As will also be appreciated from FIG. 5, the wing portion 19b is compartively thin adjacent its point of attachment to the side wall 19 to provide a flexible hinging of the wing portion that facilitates its easy depres- , sion against the side wall 19, as seen in FIG. 5a. It is important that the wing portion 19b as well as the counterpart wing portion 18a on the side wall 18 (partially visible in FIG. 3) be resiliently coupled to their associated side walls so as to reliably return to the normal . position shown in FIG. 5, even after repeated depression. It is presently preferred to manufacture body 12 by injection molding of a suitable and conventional plastic material such as polyethelene, high density polyethelene or polypropylene.

The cover means 14 for the pill box 10, as illustrated in FIG. 2, is of a generally planar rectangular outline corresponding in dimension to the open top of the body 12. A pair of opposed edges of the cover 14 include depending edge portions defining grooves of a contour complementary to the tongue portion 18α and 19α of the side walls 18 and 19 for providing a sliding and interlocking fit between the cover 14 and the body 12. Although only a portion of the depending edge portion 26 is visible in the drawing, it will be understood that it is identical to the edge portion 24 fully visible in FIG. 2. As seen perhaps most clearly in FIG. 4, the depending edge portions 24, 26 wrap partially about the tongue portions 19α and 18α respectively, to prevent the top cover from being lifted off of the body and limiting motion between the body and cover to a sliding movement.

As seen in FIG. 2, one end segment of the edge portion 24 depends considerably below the level of the complementary tongue portion 18α of the body 12 to form a stop abutment 24α. The stop abutment 24α and its counterpart 26α on the opposite side of cover 14 (FIG. 4) are adapted to engage respective ones of the wing portions 19b and 18b so as to normally preclude sliding movement of the top cover 14 from its closed position depicted in FIG. 1 to an open position (not shown). It will be understood that in the open position of cover 14 a portion of the body 12 is uncovered to permit access to the contents of the box.

In order to limit sliding of the cover 14 to a direction in which stop abutments 24α and 26α are moved toward their respective wing portions, one of the remaining pair of opposed edges of the top cover 14 is provided with an integral depending tab portion 28. The tab 28 intercepts the side wall 21 and thus limits sliding movement of the cover to a single direction in which the tab 28 is moved away from the side wall 21.

It is also desired both to yieldably lock the top cover in its closed position even when the wings are depressed and to provide a positive yet yieldable stop limiting the extent of removal of the top cover 14 from the body 12. To this end, there is provided a first pair of locking detents 30 in the planar top surface of the cover 14 located adjacent respective ones of the edges 24 and 26 and equidistant from the depending end tab 28. A second similar pair of detents 32 are spaced inwardly of detents 30 by a predetermined distance. In the present embodiment, the top cover 14 is formed by stamping of a metal sheet and detents 30 and 32 are formed by making slight surface depressions in the planar top surface of the cover 14, resulting in corresponding bumps on the undersurface of the cover. These bumps or detents engage the upper edge of the end wall 21 to act as stops for sliding movement of the cover; however, the bumps will ride over the top of the wall 21 with the exercise of moderate force.

Further structural features of the pill box 10 may be appreciated by reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. The bottom exterior of the body 12 supports bracket means for releasably securing a folded paper sheet 33 or similar article against the bottom wall 16. The sheet 33 may include advertisements and/or instructions relative to use of the medicine or other items contained within the box 10. The sheet 33 is secured to the bottom exterior wall 16 of the body 12 by four L-shaped brackets 34,36,38 and 40 that may integrally be formed with the bottom wall. The L-shaped brackets are disposed at spaced locations corresponding to each of the four corners of the rectangular sheet 33. Each of the brackets is of a crosssectional configuration as depicted by the crosssectional view of the exemplary bracket 40 in FIG. 7. As there seen, the bracket 40 includes an upright portion of a height corresponding to the approximate thickness of the folded sheet 33 and an inwardly extending terminal lip portion 40α for overlying and cap। tivating the folded sheet against the bottom wall 16.

The folded sheet 33 is secured in place by pushing it downwardly against the bracket members so that it snaps into place under the captivating lips of each bracket element. The sheet 33 is removed merely by ^; grasping it with a finger at any one of the four locations intermediate the individual bracket members or, alternatively, by inserting the point of a pencil or the like under the sheet at any one of the aforesaid four locations.

• A further feature of the structure of the invention is visible in FIG. 7. Specifically, as there shown, the point of attachment 16α of the bottom wall 16 to the side wall 19 is thin relative to the otherwise uniform thickness of the bottom wall 16. The attachment of the bottom wall 16 to the remaining side walls 18, 21, and 22 of the body 12 is similar to that depicted in FIG. 7. With the body 12 being formed of a resilient molded plastic material, the bottom wall 16 will deflect upwardly toward the top cover 14 as a substantially unitary platform when moderate pressures are applied to the bottom wall. Thus, when the boxes 10 are stacked and packaged for shipment, the bottom walls 16 of the individual boxes will be deflected upwardly by a sufficient distance to captivate the enclosed pills between the bottom wall and the top cover of each box and prevent movement of the pills within the box, and resultant partial disintegration of the pills during transit.

3,782,584

With the pill box assembled as shown in FIG. 1, the box is opened by placing the thumb and forefinger of one hand on respective ones of the opposite wing portions 186 and 196 and by depressing the wings against their associated side walls simultaneously with effecting a relative sliding motion of the top cover and bottom with the thumb and forefinger of the remaining hand. By reason of the locking detent 30, there is initially some resistance to the sliding motion even with the wings depressed, but this is overcome with a moderate 1 force. Once the edge segments defining abutments 24α and 26α have slid over the top of the respective wing portions 196 and 186, the wings are captivated under the edge segments and the thumb and forefinger may be removed from the wings. The top cover 14 slides ¹easily once the detent 30 has cleared the end wall 21 and until the detent 32 intercepts the end wall 21. It will be recalled that the detent 32 is located so that a desired number of pills, such as a single row, are exposed and accessible when the detent 32 is contiguous the side wall 21. The pill box 10 is easily closed by merely slidably returning the top cover 14 to its closed position. Thus, the skill and coordination required for opening is not needed for closing and the user may effect closing with one hand while holding the pills or reaching for a glass of water with the other hand. The depending end tab 28 prevents the cover from being slid beyond its closed position during return movement.

Although not presently preferred, the box 10 may be constructed with only a single wing portion and lock tab, the other lock tab being omitted entirely or made in the form of a tear-off and disposable seal for the container, as will be understood more clearly upon consideration of the preferred seal described later herein. Also, the body portion 12 and the top 14 may be fitted to one another for relative rotational movement instead of the linear sliding movement described, although again such is not presently preferred particularly when the container is utilized for carrying medication.

A preferred embodiment of a pill box according to the invention is designated generally by the reference number SO in FIG. 8, while the top cover and body portions are generally designated by the reference numerals 52 and 54, respectively. The pill box 50 is generally similar to the pill box 10 just described except that, for reasons presently to be explained, it is adapted to be opened by slidable movement of the top cover 52 in either direction from its normally closed position. Additionally, the embodiment 50 includes an alternative and preferred form of cover locking mechanism as well as several other features as will now be explained. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the various structural features described in connection with the present embodiment may be incorporated into the embodiment previously described.

The body portion 54 as viewed in FIG. 9 may be identical to its counterpart 12 in FIG. 3 excepting for the formation of a pair of restraining means 56 and 58 located adjacent opposite opposed ends of the body 54. Accordingly, it will be noted that the body portion 54 includes a bottom wall 60, a first pair of opposed sidewalls 62 and 64, and a second pair of opposed side or end walls 66 and 68. The first pair of side walls 62 and 64 include the previously described tongue and wing portions, exemplified by the visible tongue portion 64α and the wing 646 of the side wall 64.

The restraining means 56 is formed as a pair of wall segments integrally connected to the side walls 62 and 68 to define a small rectangular enclosure of a dimension to occupy a portion of a first row of the pills 70. In the present embodiment, the width of the box 50 between the side walls 62 and 64 corresponds to a row of three pills and the restraining means 56 occupies the position of one pill of the row. Similarly, the restraining means 58 is formed as a pair of wall segments integrally connected to the end walls 64 and 66 and occupies a rectangular space corresponding to two pills thereby leaving space for a single pill 70 in the row adjacent wall 66. The restraining means 56 and 58 may be of a height less than the height of the adjacent side walls, it being required only that the restraining means be of sufficient height and peripheral dimension to prevent one of the pills 70 from occupying the same space. The restraining means may also take the form of one or more vertical pins or posts that block the pills from occupying selected positions in the row.

The top cover 52 is likewise generally similar to its counterpart 14 of FIG. 2, but there are several important differences. Specifically, the cover 52 includes in similar fashion to the cover 14 a pair of opposed arcuately curved depending edge portions 72 and 74 forming mating grooves for the tongues 64α and 66α of the body 54. Each of the edge portions 72, 74 are further provided with a pair of spaced abutments as exemplified by the abutments 72α and 726 visible in FIG. 10. The abutments 72α and 726 are spaced from one another by a distance somewhat greater than the width of the body wing portion 646 and the abutments are located along the length of the cover 52 such as to lie on opposite sides of the associated wing portion 646 when the cover is in its closed position, as seen in FIG. 8. The abutments 72α and 726 as well as the counterparts on the edge portion 74 (not visible in the drawing) are positioned to intercept the wing portions and thereby normally preclude relative movement of the top cover 52 and body 54.

The procedure for opening the pill box 50 is exactly the same as that previously described in connection with the pill box 10 except that the box 50 may be opened by sliding the top cover 52 in either direction since in the present embodiment there is no counterpart to the depending stop abutment 28 to preclude movement of the cover in one direction. However, in order to facilitate a controlled dispensing of the tablets ₅₀ within box 50 it is desired that sliding movement of the cover in either direction be limited to a distance corresponding to the width of one row of pills in the box. To this end, the opposite terminal segments 72c and 72d on the cover edge portion 72 are struck inwardly 55 toward the box side wall so as to intercept the wing portion 646 even when the wing is depressed against the side wall. The edge portion 74 includes similar terminal segments struck inwardly to intercept the associated wing portion, one of the segments 74 c being visible in the drawing.

Since the cover means to a positive stop at a distance corresponding to one row of the tablets when slidably moved in either direction from its closed position, the user can selectively dispense one or two tablets 70 into ₆₅ his hand depending on the direction in which the cover 52 is urged. Of course, appropriate instructions (which may simply be the numerals 1 and 2 in colored blocks adjacent the respective opposite ends of the cover 52)

3,782,584 guide the user as to the direction to slide the top cover. The present arrangement precludes spilling of the contents of the box or inadvertent dispensing of a greater number of tablets than desired. This embodiment also includes all of the child proof safety features of the earlier described embodiment.

A further feature of the invention may be appreciated by reference to FIGS. 12 and 13. As seen in FIG. 12, the underside of the bottom wall 60 may be provided with bracket means in the form of four individual bracket elements 76-78 constructed and located in generally the same manner as their counterparts on the box 10 as earlier described in connection with FIG. 6, the brackets serving to secure a folded sheet 81 to the underside of the box. Accordingly, the bracket structure will not again be described in detail. There is further illustrated in FIG. 12, a lock tab means 80 integrally formed with the wing portion 64 and arranged for precluding opening of the pill box 50 while the lock tab 80 is still affixed to the wing. The lock tab structure 80 is intended to act as a seal to assure a purchaser that the pill box has not been tampered with or opened previously. The lock tab structure 80 comprises, as seen in FIG. 13, a circular bridge portion 80α including diametrically opposed tabs that connect to the side wall 64 and the wing portion 64b respectively, so as to preclude depression of the wing portion 64b into engagement with side wall 64. The bridge 80α is affixed to both the side wall 64 and the wing portion 64b, but the points of connection are very thin and may be broken by a moderate force applied to a stem portion 80b of the lock tab that is joined to the center of the bridge 80α. The stem portion 80b is normally bent to lie in a plane parallel to the bottom wall 60 and a narrowed neck portion effects a snap fit between the adjacent bracket members 78 and 79 with an enlarged and flattened head portion 80c of the stem extending beyond the neck. The adjacent and facing portions of brackets 78 and 79 include overhanging lip portions for releasably captivating the stem 80b of member 80.

The seal is broken and the package readied for use by lifting the flattened head 80c of the lock tab 80 to unsnap the stem 80b from the bracket 78, 79 and by thereafter pulling on the flattened head to break the points of contact of the bridge 80α with the members 64 and 64b. The lock tab 80 is then discarded, and the pill box is ready for use.

While particular embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it is apparent that various changes and modifications may be made, and it is therefore intended in the following claims to cover all such modifications and changes as may fall within the true spirit and scope of this invention.