This invention relates to a combined container and dispenser for particles such as tablets used medically for numerous therapeutic and prophylactic purposes.
In modern medicine many types of tablets must be taken at regular intervals over a considerable period. The storage, transportation and dispensing of these tablets presents the patient with a considerable problem if he receives the tablets merely in a conventional container (such as a box or bottle) from his pharmacist. Among the drawbacks of these conventional containers are the facts that the tablets are exposed on opening the container, and that they tend to receive more handling than is desirable. It is also sometimes difficult for the patient to extract the tablets one at a time, particularly if they are small or if the patient is a child or a person who suffers from a disability impairing his mechanical dexterity.
Some forms of modern packaging, such as blister wrapping and the packing of tablets in rolls, go some way to improve the position, but not all tablets, and particularly small tablets to be taken regularly over a lengthy period, are suitable for this type of approach. Blister and roll packages also suffer from certain inherent defects, among them a relatively low resistance to handling and, at least in the case of blister wrapping, a lack of compactness.