Ocular positioning droplet dispensing device with a recessed dispensing orifice
View Patent ↗An ocular positioning device threadably attached to a standard soft sided squeeze bottle of ophthalmic fluid. The device consists of two parts, an attaching mechanism and a sealing mechanism, connected by a hinge with motion limited to ninety degrees of arc. The sealing mechanism is fitted with a nose bridge saddle designed to rest on the bridge of the users nose and to align the discharge nozzle with the central portion of the ocular opening of either of the users eyes when the attaching hinge is in the fully open position. The sealing mechanism is also fitted with a manually operated latch to maintain the sealing mechanism in the closed and sealed condition to prevent leakage when not in use.
1. An ocular positioning device for a standard soft sided squeeze bottle of ophthalmic fluid having a reduced externally threaded droplet discharge nozzle comprising:
a dispensing mechanism having a dispensing orifice for threadably attaching to the externally threaded droplet discharge nozzle;
a cap sealing section directly attached to said dispensing mechanism by a limited motion hinges, and having a sealing plug dimensioned to slid ably enter and seal said dispensing orifice and the discharge nozzles;
a positioning saddle having one side secured directly to said cap sealing section and having an opposite free side with a concavely notched surface, wherein the concavely notched surface on the opposite free side of the saddle is adapted to seat upon a bridge of a user's nose and to position said droplet discharge nozzle in a fixed vertical alignment raised above and separated from an eye of the user's eye when the droplet dispensing device is used; and
a flexible manually operable latch mechanism on the cap sealing section to securely hold the sealing plug in sealing relation with the said discharge nozzle when said droplet dispensing device is not in use.
2. The device of claim 1 , said limited motion hinge being limited to an arc of approximately 90 degrees.
3. The device of claim 1 , wherein the dispensing mechanism and cap sealing mechanism are each dome shaped, so that the cap sealing mechanism fits over and about the dispensing mechanism, and wherein the sealing plug includes a downwardly projecting member that is located inside of the cap sealing member.
4. The device of claim 2 , wherein the saddle includes an upper exposed edge that allows the user to press against to open the droplet dispensing device to be used.
5. The device of claim 3 , wherein the saddle is fixably attached on one side of the cap sealing mechanism, and the hinge is fixably attached to an opposite side of the cap sealing mechanism.
6. An ocular positioning droplet dispensing device, comprising in combination:
a squeezable bottle of ophthalmic fluid having a narrow droplet discharge nozzle with a dispensing orifice;
a cap sealing member having a closed position for fitting over and plugging the dispensing orifice of the narrow droplet discharge nozzle, the cap sealing member having an open position;
a saddle member having one side fixably attached to one side of the cap sealing member, the saddle member having an exposed free side with concave surface which is opposite to the one side, the saddle member having an upper edge that when pressed moves the cap sealing member to the open position; and
a hinge for attaching a second side of the cap sealing member to the discharge nozzle neck of the bottle, the second side of the cap sealing member being opposite to the first side of the cap sealing member, the hinge having a closed position when the cap sealing member is fitting over and plugging the dispensing orifice of the discharge nozzle, the hinge having an open extended position for allowing the concave surface free side adaptable to be positioned on a bridge of a nose of a user, and allow the dispensing orifice of the discharge nozzle to be positioned in a fixed state raised above and separated from one eye of the user.
7. The ocular positioning droplet dispensing device of claim 6 , wherein the cap sealing member includes:
a downwardly extending plug that fits into and seals the dispensing orifice of the discharge nozzle when the cap sealing member is in the closed position, and the plug is oriented perpendicular to and spaced apart from the dispensing orifice when the cap sealing member is in the open position.
8. The ocular positioning droplet dispensing device of claim 7 , wherein the open extended position of the hinge is limited to an arc of approximately 90 from the closed position of the hinge.
9. The ocular positioning droplet dispensing device of claim 8 , further comprising:
a dome shaped dispensing attachment with a dispensing orifice, the dispensing attachment having internal threads for threadably attaching to exterior threads on the narrow droplet discharge nozzle, the dispensing orifice of the dispensing attachment being aligned with the dispensing orifice of the discharge nozzle, the hinge being directly attached to one side of the dome shaped dispensing attachment.