Abstract:
The present invention is a dosage reminder device that serves as a regular and constant reminder of when a medication was last taken as well as when a medicine should next be taken. The device is attached to any medicine box or bottle using a self-adhesive or strap style backing element and, owing to its relative simplicity and low cost, can be disposed of once the medication has been used or is no longer needed. The dial portion includes an opposed raised annular rim with radially inwardly oriented detents. By being mechanically engaged in multiple locations, the dial indicator resists movement, even with inadvertent patient dropping or scraping of the medication receptacle, thusly clearly and securely showing dosage timing.

Description:
[0001]    This application is a Continuation-in-Part of application Ser. No. 12/196,645, filed Aug. 22, 2008, which application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional Application No. 61/021,116, filed Jan. 15, 2008. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    The invention relates generally to a self adhesive medication reminder device. More specifically, the invention relates to a self-adhesive medication reminder device using a time indicator dial re-settable by the user. 
         [0004]    2. Background 
         [0005]    Millions of people routinely take medications for a specific, short term illness, or over the counter medications for a specific ailment. In recent years, the incident of overdose has dramatically risen leaving the medical profession liable for damages as a result of such overdoses. With the medications needed at specific intervals, the need for a reminder of when a dosage was taken or next needs to be taken is critical. Other known devices such as U.S. PG Pub. No. 2006/0180566A1 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,405,045 are one dimensional in their approach with the only application being in conjunction with a vial provided by the pharmacy or other medical professional. Such known devices are typically bulky and overly complicated with a variety of date, day and time functions. The device(s) is more or less designed to be useful in the long term administration of medicine, as opposed to short term doses, and is not particularly adaptable to medications that come in boxes, tubes or oddly shaped bottles. Furthermore, these devices rely heavily on the long term calibration between the device and the prescription frequency on the label of the bottle itself. Other known devices attempt to provide the user with a similar result but require the wholesale transfer of the medication from the original container to a new reminder device. 
         [0006]    U.S. Pat. No. 5,152,422 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,313,439 accomplish the goal of reminding the patient of the next interval for taking the prescribed medication while sacrificing valuable prescription medication information that is typically presented on the original bottle from the pharmacist. The prescription information or directions contained on the bottle or box is important to the patient to confirm or remind the patient of the proper interval. Should a patient transfer its medication to such a device, then dispose of the original container, and then potentially forget or miss-calibrate the device, the patient could be susceptible to an overdose. In addition, such devices potentially introduce the problem of not being able to later identify the medication as it is no longer clearly identified on the label. Thus, such devices are only valuable to long term patients or chronic patients who consistently take the same medication, at the same intervals over long periods of time. Such devices do not serve the non-chronic or temporary patients well. Additionally, such devices are not readily adaptable to medications that come in boxes or tubes or are purchased over the counter. 
         [0007]    Other known devices such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,345,541 attempt to yield the same results but have the (potentially) fatal flaw of rotation to the outer ring of the device thus making the device highly susceptible to unwanted or undesired movement. With the ease of change to the timing devices, a user can never be completely sure that the interval shown on the dials has not inadvertently been moved or adjusted. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,377,614 introduces the potential for error in use of the two dials. Should the dials be reset accidentally, the user would be left without a clear indication of when the last dose was administered and when the next dose should be administered. 
         [0008]    Therefore, there is found a need for a reliable, inexpensive and disposable reminder device to aid in reminding patient of the intervals at which they are due to ingest specific dosages of medicine. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0009]    The present advantageously fills the aforementioned deficiencies by providing a secure self attaching medication reminder device that results in a relatively fixed dial indicator system for indicating dosage timing. The invention is made up of the following elements: a self attaching backing, an (optional) advertising space, a main disk with individual time grooves representing the hours of a day/days of the week/medication cycle, and a central set of reminder hands that point toward and engage the individual time grooves. 
         [0010]    Optional feature(s) would be the dedicated advertising space adjacent the reminder system. The device itself functions with or without the dedicated advertising space. The shape of the backing element can be altered to any shaped configuration and, although shown in rectangular form, could be any shape that could accommodate the surface dial and central pin configuration, and should also have sufficient flexibility to adapt to a container surface to which it is attached. 
         [0011]    Finally, it is an object of the present invention to provide a self attaching medication reminder device that does not suffer from any of the problems or deficiencies associated with prior solutions. 
         [0012]    The present invention now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, which are intended to be read in conjunction with both this summary, the detailed description and any preferred and/or particular embodiments specifically discussed or otherwise disclosed. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided by way of illustration only and so that this disclosure will be thorough, complete and will fully convey the full scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0013]      FIG. 1  is a top plan view of the invention  10 . 
           [0014]      FIG. 2  is a side view of the invention  10 . 
           [0015]      FIG. 3  is an end view of the invention  10 . 
           [0016]      FIG. 4A  is an enlarged cross section view of the invention shown in the set position and taken along lines  4 A- 4 A of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0017]      FIG. 4B  is also an enlarged cross section view of the invention shown in the unset position and taken along lines  4 B- 4 B of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0018]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the invention  10  shown with the central pin  16  and reminder hands  16   a  raised away from the main disk  14  and time grooves  14   a  being adjusted to the proper position. 
           [0019]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view of the invention  10  shown attached to a box  22  of medication. 
           [0020]      FIG. 7  is a perspective view of the invention  10  shown attached to a bottle  24  of medication. 
           [0021]      FIG. 8  is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0022]      FIG. 9  is a front plan view of the embodiment of  FIG. 8 . 
           [0023]      FIG. 10  is a side view of the embodiment of  FIG. 8 . 
           [0024]      FIG. 11  is an exploded view of the embodiment shown in  FIG. 8 . 
           [0025]      FIG. 12  is an alternative rearward exploded view of the embodiment shown in  FIG. 8 . 
           [0026]      FIG. 13  is a rearward perspective view of the  FIG. 8  embodiment. 
           [0027]      FIG. 14  is a front perspective view of the front housing of the  FIG. 8  embodiment. 
           [0028]      FIG. 15  is a rear perspective view of the front housing of the  FIG. 8  embodiment. 
           [0029]      FIG. 16  is a separate perspective view of the central indicator element of the  FIG. 8  embodiment. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0030]    With reference to the drawing  FIGS. 1-7  et seq. The invention  10  provides the user with a simple way of keeping track of medication dosage times and also aids in remembering what time a specific dosage of medication was last taken. The device is not designed to actually administer a dosage or act as an electronic reminder. The invention  10  is designed to easily attach to a box  22  or bottle  24  of medication and specifically mark the hour of the dosage last administered and count out in set intervals of three, six, eight or twelve hours as to what time the next dosage should be administered. The self adhesive medication reminder device makes use of a self adhesive backing  12  of plastic, or paper, with plastic being the preferred material, with a plastic main disk  14  attached having twenty four individual grooves  14   a  which mark the twenty four hours of the day. The twenty-four individual grooves  14   a  are marked numerically with corresponding numbers printed  12   b  on the plastic or paper backing  12 . 
         [0031]    To use the device, the paper covering  12   a  on the back of the plastic backing  12  which protects the adhesive is removed and the device is placed on a box  22  or bottle  24  of medication. The device has a rubber central pin  16  in the middle of the main disk  14  which holds the reminder hands  16   a . The reminder hands  16   a  have color coded arrow heads  16   b  which can be colored in one, two, three or four different colors and are used to clearly distinguish between the first dose and doses after. The color-coded arrow heads  16   b  of reminder arms  16   a  set within grooves  14   a  of main disk  14 . The central pin  16  is pulled upward above the main disk  14  and turned to the desired hour and then lowered back down so color coded arrow heads  16   b  of reminder arms  16   a  set back within grooves/detents  14   a  of the main disk  14 . The reminder hands  16   a  can have one, two, three, four, six or more arms depending on the medication dosage required. 
         [0032]    The advertising space  18  is clearly marked on the self adhesive backing  12  using a material such as, but not limited to ink, paint or laser engraving. The adhesive backing can be produced using various materials such as, but not limited to, flexible or hard plastic, cloth or cardboard. One side of the self adhesive backing is covered with a commercial grade glue such as those found on band aids or stickers, and again covered with a peelable paper  12   a , thus allowing the user to peel the paper off of the device and, using the glue side, attach the device to a box  22  or bottle  24 . Flexible plastic is the preferred backing material. The main disk  14  can be produced using plastic or some other rigid material and the twenty-four hour individual time grooves  14   a  would be fashioned out of whatever material is used for the main disk. The central pin  16  can be made of various materials flexible enough to allow for easy movement of the reminder hands  16   a  and  16   b . Materials such as rubber, string, or elastic are preferred. The key characteristic of this particular component is flexibility. The reminder dial can be produced out of materials such as plastic, wood, metal, or any other rigid material that will easily set into the twenty four hour grooves and withstand any external forces without easily breaking, bending to extremes, or moving. Shown here as a pin-wheel indicator with individual arms corresponding to hour intervals through a 24 hour period, the indicator  16  could also comprise a marked disc with detent/groove  14  engaging pointers  16   b  located thereon and extending therefrom radially outwardly. 
         [0033]    While all components of the device could be manufactured using flexible plastic, wood, metal, hard plastic or cardboard, the preference is for all components to be manufactured using flexible plastic. The central pin  16  in particular should be made of a rubber band like material, with the key characteristic of elasticity and flexibility, making it easy for the pin to be pulled from the set position in order to move the reminder hands  16   a  to their proper position. 
         [0034]    With reference to  FIGS. 8-16  et seq: This embodiment of the invention  50  includes 5 basic elements: to wit: A front cover  52 ; a back cover  70 ; a flexible strap  60 ; a dial indicator  53 ; and a resilient element  80  contained between the respective covers that pushes the dial indicator outwardly with respect the front cover  52 . The resilient element  80  maintains the dial indicator pointers  59  protrusions in registration with the medication timing indicia grooves  57 . (The resilience function, per se, may be incorporated into the overall shape and form of the dial  53 .) 
         [0035]      FIGS. 8 ,  9  and  10  depict perspective view, plan view, and side view, respectively, of the alternate embodiment  50 . The front cover  52  includes a raised annular ring  55  that includes indicia  58  for medication timing thereon. The annular ring  55  includes an inner surface thereof that has inwardly directed grooves  57  for engaging extended elements of pointer protrusions  59  that form a part of the rotating dial  53 . The flexible strap  60  secures the device  50  to a variety of differing medication containers (bottles, boxes, etc.). 
         [0036]      FIGS. 11 and 12  show alternate exploded views of the cooperating elements of the invention embodiment  50 . The respective front  52  and back  70  covers connect, to form the body or backing element of the device  50 , by virtue of the insertion of the back cover  70  into a surrounding depending rim  67  associated with front cover  52 .  52  and  70  can be retained one against the other by friction, glue, snap, etc. Two elements, namely the strap  60  and the resilient element  80  are trapped between the respective covers  52  and  70  once they are assembled. The flexible strap  60  is aligned in a groove or channel  72  and associated with the back cover  70 . The front cover  52 , likewise has a groove  69  to align and capture strap  60  on its rearward face once the back cover  70  is inserted therein. 
         [0037]    The resilient element  80  is retained in an annular recess  63  on the rearward side of the rotating dial  53  main disk  51 . The resilient element  80  pushes against back cover  70  and against the rearward side of the dial  53  in a position opposite the front side button  56 . Hence, when a user pushes on the front side button  56 , the entire dial retreats into the device  50  as resilient member  80  collapses against the rear cover  70 . The axial alignment of the dial  53  within the overall device  50  is maintained owing to the close fitment between the sides  65  of the annular recess in the rearward side of the front cover  52  and the edges of dial  53  main disk element  51 . The fitment between the main disk  51  and recess sides  65  enables aligned registered telescoping movement between the dial  53  and front cover  52  annular raised rim  55 . 
         [0038]    In use, a user would use a digit (thumb or finger) to depress dial  53  downwardly and into the body of the device  50  as defined by front cover  52  and rear cover  70 . The side elements  65  cooperating with edges of main disk  51  retain the relative axial alignment of the recess sides  65  and edges of disk  51 . The relative telescoping displacement between the dial  53  and front cover  52  enables the pointer protrusions  59  to slip beneath the downward extent of grooves  57  contained along the inner edge of raised annular rim  55 . In this depressed and telescoped position, the dial  53  can be rotated so as to register the protrusions  59  with newly selected grooves indicating a new mediation cycle. 
         [0039]    The resilient element  80  can be a spring washer, coil, or foam element. Or, in the alternative, the dial itself can be a spring washer (slightly concave) and incorporate the resilient function therein. The necessary feature is to enable registered telescoping movement into the body of the device to allow the pointers  59  to un-register with the grooves  57  and allow for dial rotation. 
         [0040]    Although shown as a strap  60  for embodiment  50 , the attaching function can be accomplished by an adhesive element in the same way as for the embodiment in  FIG. 1-7 . 
         [0041]    While the present invention has been described above in terms of specific embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to these disclosed embodiments. Many modifications and other embodiments of the invention will come to mind of those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains, and which are intended to be and are covered by both this disclosure and the appended claims. It is indeed intended that the scope of the invention should be determined by proper interpretation and construction of the appended claims and their legal equivalents, as understood by those of skill in the art relying upon the disclosure in this specification and the attached drawings.