1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of eye drop dispensing devices and more specifically to an eye drop bottle holder with resilient legs.
2. Description of the Related Art
Devices for dispensing eye drop solutions are known. Generally, a bottle of eye drop solution includes a drop dispenser that is built into the exit orifice of the container. To dispense the solution, the user squeezes the bottle forcing solution out of the exit orifice and into his or her eye. Many users have trouble with dispensing eye drops from standard dispensing bottles. The user has a tendency to blink when the drop is about to enter the eye, causing the drop to miss the eye and land on a closed lid. Therefore, eye drop solution is frequently wasted due to the user blinking during the attempted application and the user ends up with eye drop solution streaming down his or her face.
A number of efforts have attempted to resolve the above mentioned problem. Thomas Keen, in his U.S. Pat. No. 4,543,096, discloses a dispenser with an eyelid opening device. The user is required to place a pair of lid spreading arms dangerously close to his eye and then to press a lever arm to keep the eyelids apart. Thomas Sherman, in his U.S. Pat. No. 6,371,945, discloses an attachment for a bottle that includes a ring intended to help align the bottle with the eye. However, no attempt is made to hold the eyelid open. Gary Campagna, in his U.S. Pat. No. 3,934,590, shows a tripod like device for aligning the solution bottle over the user's eye. No attempt is made to hold the lid open. James Davidian, in his U.S. Pat. No. 6,595,970, shows a device for dispensing eyed drops. He proposes a dispensing arm, one side of which includes an indentation that receives the user's nose, the other side of which accepts a dispensing bottle. The bottle includes a pair of arms which, when squeezed, impinge on the side walls of the bottle forcing solution out of the bottle and into the user's eye. No attempt is made to hold the user's eyelid open. The U.S. Pat. No. 4,692,834 of Julia Clifford et al shows a dispenser that facilitates the user's amount of drops that exit a solution holding bottle. This bottle has retractable apertures that capture and release a drop of solution. James Walsh, in his U.S. Pat. No. 4,927,062, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,041,978 and 6,010,488 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,834,727 as well as U.S. Pat. No. 5,902,292, all attempt to position an eye drop bottle in a correct location above a person's eye, but none of them includes a means to help hold the user's eye lids in the spread apart, open position. U.S. Pat. No. 4,321,916 discloses an eyelid retractor that is used during ocular surgery or the like. It is not designed to be used by a user of eye drop solution.
None of the above cited inventions safely holds the user's eyelids open while dispensing eye drops from a standard eye drop bottle. Additionally, none of the above mentioned patents allows the user to dispense a portioned amount of eye drop solution in an automatic and repeatable fashion. None of the above cited inventions dispenses a precise amount of eye drop solution and simultaneously holds the user's eyelids open while doing so.