초록 ▼

A container for storing and dispensing pills is provided. The container has a housing with an upper end and a lower end and a plurality of compartments therein. The compartments have an open end adjacent the upper end of the housing and a lower end adjacent the lower end of the housing. The lower en

A container for storing and dispensing pills is provided. The container has a housing with an upper end and a lower end and a plurality of compartments therein. The compartments have an open end adjacent the upper end of the housing and a lower end adjacent the lower end of the housing. The lower end of each compartment has an opening with a hinged door covering the opening. A cam having a cam surface is attached to the door so the cam rotates as the door opens and closes. A cam follower pin abuts the cam surface and the cam follower pin is constrained to move along a predefined path. The doors can be opened manually one at a time or all together by pushing downward on a centrally located handle at the top of the container. When opening all the door simultaneously the handle can be retained in the door open position by sliding two flanges beneath the handle into a slot and rotating the handle left or right. The housing is mounted to a rotatable lazy-Susan base.

대표청구항 ▼

1. A container for storing and dispensing small solid materials, comprising: a housing having a centrally located longitudinal axis and further having an upper end and a lower end with a plurality of compartments therein, the compartments having an open end adjacent to the upper end of the housing a

1. A container for storing and dispensing small solid materials, comprising: a housing having a centrally located longitudinal axis and further having an upper end and a lower end with a plurality of compartments therein, the compartments having an open end adjacent to the upper end of the housing and a lower end adjacent to the lower end of the housing, the lower end of each compartment having an opening with a hinged door covering each of a plurality of the openings;a plurality of cams each having a cam surface, each cam attached to one of a plurality of the doors so the cam rotates as the attached door opens and closes;a plurality of cam followers each abutting and translating along a different one of the cam surfaces, each of the cam followers restrained to move along a predefined path as the door attached to the cam is opened and closed;a tab on one or more doors sufficiently large to allow manual opening of doors individually and against a resilient member urging the doors to a closed position;a centrally located handle only on a top of the container connected to a linkage mechanism that moves the cam followers to open all doors simultaneously when the handle is pushed down, the handle located on the longitudinal axis; the linkage mechanism comprising a crosspiece located outward of the longitudinal axis and connected to move downwardly with the handle, the crosspiece moving first and second sleeves each sliding along a different one of first and second retaining rods which are generally parallel to the longitudinal axis, each sleeve connected to and moving with a different cam follower. 2. The container of claim 1, wherein the compartments have an inclined or curved back wall oriented to direct items from the upper portion toward the door covering the opening in the lower portion. 3. The container of claim 1, wherein the housing has a base connected to a rotating support so the container can rotate. 4. The container of claim 1, wherein each cam has opposing cam surfaces and one of the cam followers is located between those opposing cam surfaces. 5. The container of claim 1, wherein each of the cams comprises two parallel cams offset a distance apart to straddle a shaft from which one of the cam followers extends to engage each of the parallel cams. 6. The container of claim 1, wherein there are six compartments, each with a one of the doors covering the opening to the compartment. 7. The container of claim 1, wherein the housing has a base connected to a rotatable base to rotate the housing. 8. The container of claim 1, wherein each of the cam followers comprises a pin. 9. A container for storing and dispensing small solid materials, comprising: a housing having a centrally located longitudinal axis and having an upper end and a lower end with a plurality of compartments therein, the compartments having an open end adjacent the upper end of the housing and a lower end adjacent the lower end of the housing, the lower end of each compartment having an opening with a hinged door covering the opening;a cam surface extending from at least some of the doors and a different cam follower abutting each cam surface, each cam follower being slidably mounted to move along an axis parallel to the longitudinal axis with the cam or cam follower resiliently urged to a position corresponding to a selected position of the door;a centrally located handle having a shaft extending therefrom along the longitudinal axis with at least one flange extending outward from the shaft and sized to fit within a slot on the container when the shaft is rotated, with engagement of the flange and slot holding the shaft in a predetermined vertical position relative to the housing; andmeans for moving the cam follower by moving the handle, the means including a linkage having a crosspiece located outward of the longitudinal axis and moving with the handle, the crosspiece moving first and second sleeves each sliding along a different one of first and second retaining rods which are generally parallel to the longitudinal axis, each sleeve connected to and moving with a different one of the cam followers. 10. The container of claim 9, wherein there are six compartments. 11. The container of claim 9, wherein there are six compartments each with a rectangular opening covered by the door. 12. The container of claim 9, further including a return spring to push the handle back to an extended position thereby moving each of the cam followers to a door closed position. 13. The container of claim 9, further including a return spring resiliently urging the handle and flange into a position away from the slot. 14. The container of claim 9, further comprising means connected to the housing for rotating the container. 15. A container for storing and dispensing items from covered compartments, comprising: a housing having a plurality of compartments having a vertical portion extending along a longitudinal axis and a horizontal portion with an opening in the vertical portion to introduce items into the compartment and an opening in the horizontal portion to remove items upward from the compartment and a plurality of covers each entirely covering one of the openings in the horizontal portion;a cam extending from each of at least some of the covers, the cam engaging a cam follower pin constrained to move in a vertical path with a resilient member resiliently urging the cam and cam follower into a position in which the cover blocks the lower opening associated with each cover;a centrally located handle movably mounted along the longitudinal axis;a linkage mechanism connecting the handle to each of the cam follower pins so that movement of the handle along the longitudinal axis moves the cam follower pins against the force of the resilient member associated with that cam follower pin, the linkage mechanism having a crosspiece located outward of the longitudinal axis and moving with the handle, the crosspiece moving first and second sleeves each sliding along a different one of first and second retaining rods which are generally parallel to the longitudinal axis, each sleeve connected to and moving with a different one of the cam followers. 16. The container of claim 15, further comprising a rotatable base fastened to the housing to allow rotation of the housing about the vertical axis. 17. The container of claim 15, wherein the cam comprises two parallel cams offset a distance apart to straddle a shaft from which the cam follower extends to engage each of the parallel cams.