Smart cap system
First Claim
1. A medicine container cap for use with a bottle containing a plurality of pills comprising:
- a casing having a pill dispensing opening, the casing being configured to securely attach to the bottle and represent a cap structure that closes off the bottle;
a door member coupled to the casing and movable between at least an idle position and a dispensing position in which the pill dispensing opening is open and one pill is released; and
a pill dispensing track assembly that is removably coupled to the casing and includes a pill ramp for delivering pills to the pill dispensing opening and an insert that includes a pill dispenser slot that receives pills from the pill ramp and is open to the pill dispensing opening, the pill ramp being coupled to the casing and for insertion into the bottle to contact pills therein, the insert being detachable from the pill ramp and insertable through an opening in the casing for being attached to the pill ramp;
wherein the pill ramp includes a vertically adjustable member that modifies a characteristic of the pill ramp based on at least one characteristic of the insert that is selected and inserted through the opening in the casing and coupled to the pill ramp.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A medicine container cap for use with a bottle containing a plurality of pills includes a casing having a pill dispensing opening. A pill dispensing track assembly is removably coupled to the casing and includes a pill ramp for delivering pills to the pill dispensing opening and an insert that includes a pill dispenser slot that receives pills from the pill ramp and is open to the pill dispensing opening. The insert is detachably from the pill ramp and is insertable through an opening in the casing for being attached to the pill ramp. The pill ramp includes an adjustable member that modifies a characteristic of the pill ramp based on at least one characteristic of the insert that is selected, inserted through the opening in the casing and coupled to the pill ramp.
175 Citations
27 Claims
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1. A medicine container cap for use with a bottle containing a plurality of pills comprising:
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a casing having a pill dispensing opening, the casing being configured to securely attach to the bottle and represent a cap structure that closes off the bottle; a door member coupled to the casing and movable between at least an idle position and a dispensing position in which the pill dispensing opening is open and one pill is released; and a pill dispensing track assembly that is removably coupled to the casing and includes a pill ramp for delivering pills to the pill dispensing opening and an insert that includes a pill dispenser slot that receives pills from the pill ramp and is open to the pill dispensing opening, the pill ramp being coupled to the casing and for insertion into the bottle to contact pills therein, the insert being detachable from the pill ramp and insertable through an opening in the casing for being attached to the pill ramp; wherein the pill ramp includes a vertically adjustable member that modifies a characteristic of the pill ramp based on at least one characteristic of the insert that is selected and inserted through the opening in the casing and coupled to the pill ramp. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A medicine container cap for use with a bottle containing a plurality of pills comprising:
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a casing having a pill dispensing opening, the casing being configured to securely attach to the bottle and represents a cap structure that closes off the bottle; a door member coupled to the casing and movable between an idle position and a dispensing position in which the pill dispensing opening is open and one pill is released; and a pill dispensing track assembly that is removably coupled to the casing and includes; a pill ramp for delivering pills to the pill dispensing opening, the pill ramp including a central shaft and a ramp extending about the central shaft; an insert that includes a pill dispenser slot that receives pills from the pill ramp and is open to the pill dispensing opening, the pill ramp being coupled to the casing and for insertion into the bottle to contact pills therein, the insert being detachable from the pill ramp and insertable through an opening in the casing for being attached to the pill ramp resulting in the pill ramp being in registration with the pill dispensing slot; and a vertically adjustable member that has a first portion attached to the central shaft and a second portion that is attached to the insert, the vertically adjustable member being disposed between ramp portions of the pill ramp, the vertically adjustable member including an underside surface that faces an underlying ramp portion with a pill space being defined between the adjustable member and the underlying ramp portion, wherein the vertically adjustable member is adjustable along a vertical axis so as to alter dimensions of the pill space; wherein there is a direct correspondence between a height of the insert and the position of the vertically adjustable member along the central shaft.
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21. A medicine container cap for use with a bottle containing a plurality of pills comprising:
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a casing having a pill dispensing opening, the casing being configured to securely attach to the bottle and represents a cap structure that closes off the bottle; a door member coupled to the casing and movable between an idle position and a dispensing position in which the pill dispensing opening is open and one pill is released; and a pill dispensing track assembly that is removably coupled to the casing and includes; a pill ramp for delivering pills to the pill dispensing opening, the pill ramp including a central shaft with the pill ramp extending about the central shaft; an insert that includes a pill dispenser slot that receives pills from the pill ramp and is open to the pill dispensing opening, the pill ramp being coupled to the casing and for insertion into the bottle to contact pills therein, the insert being detachable from the pill ramp and insertable through an opening in the casing for being attached to the pill ramp resulting in the pill ramp being in registration with the pill dispensing slot; and a vertically adjustable member that has a first portion coupled to the central shaft in such a way that the vertically adjustable member can travel vertically along the central shaft and a second portion that is attached to the insert, the vertically adjustable member being disposed between ramp sections of the pill ramp, the vertically adjustable member including an underside surface that faces an underlying ramp portion with a pill space being defined between the adjustable member and the underlying ramp portion, wherein the vertically adjustable member is adjustable along a vertical axis so as to alter dimensions of the pill space and only permit pills having a predetermined size to travel to the pill dispensing slot; wherein there is a direct correspondence between a height of the insert and the position of the vertically adjustable member along the central shaft. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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Specification