This invention relates to the area of pill dispensers, and more specifically to the field of pill dispensers having mechanisms for preventing tampering by children. Although there are numerous containers on the market and numerous patents disclosing the use of tamper preventative mechanisms, virtually all of these are difficult to use by persons with limited hand mobility or they employ relatively complex mechanisms which are more difficult and more expensive to manufacture.
For example, although U.S. Pat. No. 3,027,000 discloses a container which is child tamper resistant, the dispenser requires numerous pieces having slots, bevels and ridges in order to make the dispenser work. And, although U.S. Pat. No. 4,784,288 discloses the use of a tamper evident container, the container is easy to open with one hand and is not child resistant. Also, this particular device is fairly complex in construction and requires the use of numerous bevels, tangs, flanges and complex ridges and slots in order to make it easily manipulated by one hand. Also the container is not refillable and must be discarded after all pills are used up.
Pill dispensers commonly provided with prescription drugs are very difficult to manipulate and require either excessive downward force to engage a series of ratchets which allow the lid to be turned to be removed, or the dispenser requires excessive upward force to turn the lid and remove it.
The present invention overcomes all of these disadvantages by providing a very simple, two or three piece device which is refillable and reusable, easy to manipulate and simple in construction and design making it readily and commercially marketable at extremely low cost.