Pill Box Filler

[DIYer]

Thanks rgsparber! We've added your Pill Box Filler to our Storage and Organization category,
as well as to your builder page: rgsparber's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

Pill Box Filler by rgsparber

tags: organizer

[mklotz]

Marv,

I did my best to translate your text into a rendering and have put it at the end of my article. How close did I get?

Rick

Close but not quite what I had in mind.

The tines of the comb in my vision are narrow with parallel sides (picture a popsicle stick). At one end of each of these tines is a small V which captures a single pill. Seven of these are fastened into a comb in a way that allows any pill not captured in the V to remain in place. Once each V is filled, the comb is pushed over the edge of the plate and the pills drop out of the V's into the open pill boxes held just below the plate.

Maybe the attached crude sketch will help.

[rgsparber]

Close but not quite what I had in mind.

The tines of the comb in my vision are narrow with parallel sides (picture a popsicle stick). At one end of each of these tines is a small V which captures a single pill. Seven of these are fastened into a comb in a way that allows any pill not captured in the V to remain in place. Once each V is filled, the comb is pushed over the edge of the plate and the pills drop out of the V's into the open pill boxes held just below the plate.

Maybe the attached crude sketch will help.

Marv,

The picture makes ALL the difference. I'll make one and see how it works.

Thanks!

Rick

[mklotz]

Marv,

The picture makes ALL the difference. I'll make one and see how it works.

Thanks!

Rick

I would have supplied the sketch in my original note but I was deeply embroiled in a project for SWMBO. I'll look forward to hearing about your evaluation of the idea.

[Bony]

This is what I've come up with, it's very good for collecting together 7 pills and has been made to neatly fit and fill the days of a weekly pill box. After 7 pills have been collected the remaining ones are simply brushed aside, and the 7 can then be swiped into the pill box. I would like to add a simple mechanism for automatically collecting just 7 pills and discarding the rest, but that hasn't emerged from the depths of my mind yet. Maybe tonight.
Thanks for your ideas Rick & Marv.

[Bony]

I add that it's a simple tray made from aluminium sheet with V notches cut out. A useful addition which I will shortly make is another tray that this one slides on top of and that fits around the ends of the pill box so that a swipe of the top tray dispenses the pills accurately into their respective days without spillage.

[Karl_H]

I know that this is contrary to the mission of this network, but here is a completely different approach:

I look forward to Sunday morning when I refill my pill boxes and usually do it while the coffee is brewing instead of looking at the front page.
I get a huge thrill when I dump exactly 14 pills ( for my twice a day meds ) or exactly 7 pills ( for my daily meds) into my hand before pinching one into each compartment.
When it works I give a holler and tell my wife "big thrills for little minds."

While it would be thrilling to get a contraption work, it seems after the initial joy, my little thrill would be gone forever. Not sure the trade is worth it.

[rgsparber]

I have updated the article with a model of Marv's tool in action.

None of the proposed tools work well with elliptical pills or capsules. I hope others will suggest ways to solve this problem.

Rick

[Bony]

Rick, you could try having 7 (I suggest slightly larger) holes equally spaced along the sheet of plastic so that sliding it under the tray allows them all to drop into the box at once. Yes, it's only a very slight improvement.
I can't find the most recent version with Marv's suggestion. Have you posted his idea?

[rgsparber]

Rick, you could try having 7 (I suggest slightly larger) holes equally spaced along the sheet of plastic so that sliding it under the tray allows them all to drop into the box at once. Yes, it's only a very slight improvement.
I can't find the most recent version with Marv's suggestion. Have you posted his idea?

Thanks for the suggestion.


You may need to do a reload of the link to get the newest version.

Rick