Drug dispensing apparatus and removal tool

A child-proof dispenser for a coiled strip of blister-packaged drugs and the like comprising:

• a container having an inner compartment sized and shaped for enclosing a coiled strip of blister-packaged drugs, said container including separate, interfitting, cup-shaped inner and outer shells, said inner shell having a bottom wall portion and an inner sidewall portion and said outer shell fitted over said inner shell, said outer shell including a top wall portion extending over the top of said inner shell and an outer sidewall portion overlapping said inner sidewall portion substantially the full vertical extent thereof, leaving only the bottom wall portion exposed, said inner and outer shells having central hub portions holding said shells together by means of a snap-fit male and female locking joint and supporting said outer shell to rotate relative to said inner shell, said inner shell having an inner dispensing opening and said outer shell having an outer dispensing opening, said inner shell having an inside guide section forming a guide passage leading to said inner dispensing opening and a cut-off blade defining one side of said inner dispensing opening;
• a knob on the top of said outer shell having a central hole alined with the center hole of said hub portion on said inner shell and having means for supporting a removal tool, said removal tool including a plunger that extends into said alined holes to engage said hub portion in said inner shell to release said inner and outer shells from one another;
• resilient means between said shells to move said outer shell to an at-rest position with respect to said inner shell to cover said inner dispensing opening with said outer shell to prevent dispensing via said inner dispensing opening until said inner shell is held against movement and a turning force is applied to said outer shell to aline said inner and outer dispensing openings;
• and
• an ejecting trigger arranged to move relative to said shells having a downturned front portion arranged to bear against a portion of said strip in said guide passage to advance said strip through said alined inner and outer dispensing openings and remove a dosage from the strip by cutting the strip on said cut-off blade.