Pill organizer containing disposable receptacles

A pill organizer assembly and the associated method of organizing and isolating multiple doses of pharmaceuticals using a pill organizer. The pill organizer includes a holding case. A plurality of partition walls extend between the side walls in the holding case. The partition walls define a plurality of compartments. A lid is provided that is selectively positionable into a closed position on the holding case. A plurality of removable receptacles are provided. A removable receptacle is disposed within each of the plurality of compartments. The lid creates a seal against each of the removable receptacles when the removable receptacles are within the plurality of compartments and the lid is in its closed position. The seal created by the lid isolates the contents of the removable receptacles until they are removed from the holding case.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

In general, the present invention relates to pill organizers that hold pills in dose units and enable a patient to keep track of when and if the pills have been taken properly. More particularly, the present invention relates to the structure of such pill organizers and features intended to maintain the cleanliness of such pill organizers.

2. Prior Art Description

Many people take pills on a regular basis. The pills taken may be vitamin pills or nutritional supplement pills. Many times the pills taken by a person are necessary to treat a medical condition or disease. Regardless of why pills are taken, if the pills are taken on a regular basis, it is very easy for a person to forget that certain pills were taken at certain times. If a person forgets they have already taken a pill and takes the same pill again, that person may overdose or otherwise experience an adverse reaction. If a person forgets to take a pill, that person may lack the benefits provided by the pill. Both scenarios present significant health risks to a person.

To complicate matters, the number of pills taken regularly by a person tends to increase with age. Furthermore, short-term memory tends to decrease with age. Accordingly, it is very common for an elderly person to forget whether or not they have taken their medications in a timely fashion.

Recognizing the need to help people keep track of medications, pill organizers have been developed. Pill organizers are storage containers that are divided into various compartments. Often the pill organizer has several compartments to represent the seven days of the week. Pills are placed into each of the compartments at the beginning of the week. A person then takes the pills from one of the compartments everyday. If a person sees that the “Monday” compartment is empty, he/she knows that the pills for that day have already been taken. Such prior art pill organizers are exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 6,464,506 to Welles, entitled INFORMATION AND MEDICATION COMPLIANCE ORGANIZER and U.S. Pat. No. 4,749,085, to Denney, entitled PILL BOX HOLDER.

Often, a prior art pill organizer is a plastic box that defines a plurality of small square compartments. The pills are placed into the compartments. In order to take the pills, a person must first reach into the small compartment and remove the pills. This seams simple, but it often is not. Many pills are very small. It is difficult to reach and grab such pills at the bottom of a narrow compartment. The task is far more difficult for elderly patients that may have arthritis in their hands and/or poor eyesight.

Another problem associated with prior art pill organizers is one of cross-contamination. When pills are placed inside a small compartment, some fragment dust from that pill remains inside the pill compartment. The fragment dust may then contaminate other pills that are subsequently placed inside the pill organizer. For example, many cholesterol lowering drugs are known to cause birth defects in pregnant women. Pregnant women are advised against even touching such drugs. If a pregnant woman uses a pill organizer to organize her prenatal medications, and that pill organizer is contaminated with cholesterol lowering drugs from previous usage, serious consequences may result.

Yet another disadvantage of prior art pill organizers is that the pills within the organizers are not isolated from the surrounding environment. Pills may lay in a pill organizer for days or weeks, depending upon the size of the organizer. Many pills contain pharmaceutical compounds that are adversely affected by humidity and other environmental factors, such as heat and light. Such pills are typically held within sealed pill cases provided by the pharmacy. However, when the pill is removed from the pill case and is placed in the pill organizer, the pill becomes exposed to the surrounding environment for possibly a prolonged period of time.

A need therefore exists for an improved pill organizer that not only tracks the taking of medications, but also makes the medications easily accessible and prevents potentially dangerous cross-contamination and environmental degradation. This need is met by the present invention as described and claimed below.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a pill organizer assembly and the associated method of organizing and isolating multiple doses of pharmaceuticals using a pill organizer.

The pill organizer includes a holding case having a bottom surface, side walls and an open top. A plurality of partition walls extend between the side walls in the holding case. The partition walls define a plurality of compartments. A lid is provided that is selectively positionable into a closed position on the holding case. The lid covers the open top of the holding case when it is in its closed position.

A plurality of removable receptacles are provided. A removable receptacle is disposed within each of the plurality of compartments. The lid creates a seal against each of the removable receptacles when the removable receptacles are within the plurality of compartments and the lid is in its closed position. The seal created by the lid isolates the contents of the removable receptacles until they are removed from the holding case.

To utilize the pill organizer assembly, a dose of pharmaceuticals is placed into each of the removable receptacles. The filled removable receptacles are placed into the various compartments within the holding case. The lid is maneuvered into its closed position over the holding case. The lid creates a seal against each of the removable receptacles, therein isolating the pharmaceuticals contained therein. To access the pharmaceuticals, the lid is opened and the removable receptacle containing the pharmaceutical is removed. Once used, the removable receptacle is discarded in order to prevent cross-contamination.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Although the present invention can be used to hold and track many different objects, it is primarily intended for use in holding and tracking medications in pill form. Accordingly, the present invention pill organizer assembly is illustrated and described holding pills in order to set forth the best mode contemplated for the invention. It should, however, be understood that the objects being placed in the pill organizer are discretionary to the user and should not be considered a limitation on the invention, as defined by the claims.

Referring toFIG. 1in conjunction withFIG. 2, there is shown an exemplary embodiment of a pill organizer assembly10. The pill organizer assembly10includes a holding case12. The holding case12has a lid14that enables the holding case12to be selectively opened and closed. The lid14can be removable from the holding case12, but is preferably connected to the holding case12with a hinge connection16.

The holding case12contains a plurality of partition walls20within its interior. The partition walls20divide the interior of the holding case12into a plurality of compartments22, wherein each of the compartments22preferably has the same dimensions. The preferred length, width and depth of each compartment22are between one inch and three inches. When the lid14is closed on the holding case12, a gap space24exists between the lid14and the tops of the partition walls20. The gap space24is uniform across the entire case.

A plurality of disposable serving receptacles30are provided. Each serving receptacle30has walls32that define a cup structure with an open top34. Each serving receptacle30is sized to hold between one and ten pills. Accordingly, the preferred volume of each serving receptacle30is preferably no larger than eight cubic inches. The serving receptacles30are preferably made out of thin plastic or paper and are therefore very low cost. Each serving receptacle30preferably has a flange lip36that extends around the periphery of the open top34. Each serving receptacle30also has a length, width and height that enable the serving receptacle30to pass into one of the compartments22.

The flange lip36is larger than the compartment22in which it sits. Consequently, the flange lip36rests upon the top of the partition walls20that define the compartments22. The height of the serving receptacle30is equal to or shorter than the depth of the compartments22. Accordingly, when a serving receptacle30is placed into a compartment22, the flange lip36seats flush against the top of the partition walls20.

The flange lip36has a thickness T1that is equal in size to, or just slightly larger than, the gap space24in between the lid14and the top of the partition walls20. Accordingly, when the lid14is shut onto the holding case12, the lid14presses against the flange lip36creating a seal between the flange lip36of the serving receptacle30and the lid14. The seal created by the lid14contacting the top of the flange lip36is important because it isolates the contents of the serving receptacle30. Consequently, even if the holding case12is dropped, shaken or otherwise disturbed, the contents from any one serving receptacle30cannot contaminate the contents of any of the other serving receptacles30. Furthermore, provided the lid14remains closed, the pills in the various serving receptacles30are all isolated from environmental contaminants, such as humidity and dust particles. When the lid14is open, the pills in all of the serving receptacles30become momentarily exposed to the ambient environment. But the exposure is only temporary. As soon as the lid14is closed on the holding case12, all seals are reestablished. Only a small amount of ambient air remains in each of the serving receptacles30. Any contaminants in such small volumes of air are unlikely to adversely affect any of the exposed pills.

Since the lid14closes against the flange lip36of the serving receptacles30, the flange lip36must lay flat. To help facilitate a person grasping each of the serving receptacles30, a tab40is provided. The tab40extends inwardly toward the interior space defined by the serving receptacle30. The tab40provides a structure that is easily grasped so that the serving receptacle30can be manually lifted out of the holding case12. By positioning the tab40in such a manner, the tab40does not disturb the ability of the lid14to seal the open tops34of each of the serving receptacles30.

To utilize the pill organizer assembly10, a plurality of serving receptacles30are filled with pills that need to be taken on a regular basis, i.e. every few hours, twice a day, daily or the like. The serving receptacles30are then placed into the various compartments22within the holding case12. In the shown embodiment, there are thirty compartments. Such a configuration can hold daily medications for a month, i.e. thirty days. The filled serving receptacles30are placed into the various compartments of the holding case12. The lid14is then closed. As the lid14is closed, the flange lip36around every one of the serving receptacles30is compressed against the lid14. This isolates the pills inside each of the serving receptacles30. Accordingly, the pills are not exposed to ambient humidity or other environmental contaminants that can degrade the effectiveness of the pills.

When desired, a person opens the lid14of the pill organizer assembly10and removes one of the serving receptacles30. The lid14of the pill organizer assembly10is then closed, therein minimizing the exposure of the pill organizer assembly to the surrounding environment. The pills contained within the serving receptacle30are consumed and the serving receptacle30is thrown away. In this manner, any contamination that remains within the serving receptacle30is not reintroduced back into the pill organizer assembly10. Concerns about pill contamination of the various compartments22is therefore eliminated. The next time the pill organizer assembly10is filled, new serving receptacles30are used.

In the embodiment of the pill organizer assembly10expressed inFIG. 1andFIG. 2, the various serving receptacles30have open tops34and no individual covers. Referring toFIG. 3, the serving receptacle30is shown with a cover44. The serving receptacle30is the same as has been previously described. However, the cover44that is provided seals the top of the serving receptacle30before it is placed into the holding case12. The lid14(FIG. 1) is biased onto the cover44when the lid14(FIG. 1) is closed on the holding casing12(FIG. 1), thereby holding the covers44closed.

A serving receptacle30with an individual cover44can be used to hold liquid pharmaceuticals and pharmaceuticals that are highly susceptible to contamination degradation or potentially dangerous cross-contamination.

It will be understood that the embodiments of the present invention pill organizer assembly that are described and illustrated are merely exemplary. Accordingly, a person skilled in the art can make many variations, modifications and alternate embodiments using functionally equivalent components. For instance, the serving receptacles and the compartments in the holding case can both have shapes other than the square shapes shown. Furthermore, the number of compartments in the holding case can be altered as a matter of design choice. All such alternate embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the present invention as defined by the claims.