Abstract:
A tray for organizing various objects, e.g., medications, their receptacles and medical implements, that are needed in a typical nursing task is provided. The tray is advantageously constructed to balance all the objects during transport and during use such that its contents are prevented from toppling over in motion or in station.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority to and the benefit of U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/039,289, filed Mar. 25, 2008, which application is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates generally to holders and organizers for items used in the medical and nursing profession. More particularly, the present invention relates to a tray with recesses and depressions defined thereupon for organizing and transporting multiple objects needed for treating, nursing or tending to a patient. 
     An important factor in a patient&#39;s successful convalesce is the nursing process during which prescribed medications should be administered to the patient on time while the patient is consoled and comforted. Most of the time, these tasks fall on the shoulders of the nurses, nurse assistants, attendants and other healthcare staff. However, many healthcare facilities are severely short-handed in nursing staff. While struggling with increasingly complex medication regimens, nurses are often interrupted during their tasks as they answer doctors, family members, pages and telephone calls. If a nurse is on her way toward a patient with a tray full of medications, and she is stopped by a doctor telling her about special treatment needed for another patient, without access to a notepad and a writing instrument, she has to memorize the new information regarding the second patient. In doing so, she might forget what she needs to do with regard to the original patient or even his name, and has to go back to her station to look up that information again. Obviously, this kind of interruptions can give rise to severe consequences when the wrong dosage or medication is administered-with many medications being so potent nowadays, nurses need every bit of help in battling human mistakes, for example, when administering narcotics. Also patients are often in a state where their faculties are compromised to some extent, and with the high turnover rate of both patients and nursing staff, nurses constantly have to check patient identification, often without much help from the patient himself. 
     Therefore, there is a need, unfulfilled by the current products in the market, for a device or apparatus that helps nursing personnel organize multiple objects needed for tending to a patient that also allows them to go back to what they were doing before they were interrupted and to continue with that original task without making mistakes. 
     Prior art applications have often focused on organizing medications automatically or according to the time intervals prescribed for taking the medication. Some of them resort to computers and microprocessors. Accordingly, one of the objectives of the present invention is to provide a simple apparatus that helps the nursing personnel in their organization and effort to minimize the chances of making mistakes while remaining inexpensive to manufacture. A further objective is to provide an apparatus that helps with the transport of multiple objects, including multiple fluids, that are needed for tending patients. Another objective is to provide in a nursing tray prefabricated spaces designed to hold medical instruments and containers of various sizes. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention provides a tray or a similar device for organizing and transporting multiple medications and other objects needed for tending a patient. The tray of the present invention includes a display area. The display may show identity information regarding the patient—this not only reminds the nurse for whom the medication is intended but also gives visual reassurance to a patient when he sees his own name thereon. The tray also may include spaces and structures for depositing a writing instrument and a notepad. The present invention helps a nursing personnel stay organized, reduce mistakes, and spend more time caring for the patient. 
     In one aspect, the tray of the present invention is easy to balance while one is transporting the tray. It is also less likely to topple over while being set down on a level surface. In particular, a tray for transporting and serving medication is provided with a substantially planar body having a top surface and a bottom surface, the body further has a perimetrical surface connecting at least part of the top surface and part of the bottom surface and defining a general thickness of the tray. The tray has first and a second grasping features substantially opposite each other on the side. The two grasping features (e.g., thumb depressions) together define a grasping line across the top surface. The tray also includes a plurality of depressions situated on the top surface and substantially in the grasping line forming a row, each depression sized and shaped for receiving a receptacle. The depressions are sized and shaped for receiving various types of receptacles, some of substantially round cross-sections, some of substantially oval cross-sections. 
     In one feature, the tray also has at least one elongated depression with its long axis running substantially parallel to the grasping line. The elongated depression, in one embodiment, is sized and shaped for receiving a syringe. In particular, the depression may include at least two notches for receiving the syringe in an extended or collapsed state. 
     In another feature, the tray may include a display and a structure for fastening a writing instrument thereonto. 
     In yet another feature, an orthogonal line runs through a midpoint of the grasping line dividing the body into two substantially even halves, and all the depressions and the display are situated symmetrical about the orthogonal line. In one embodiment, all the depressions and the display are arranged in rows that run substantially parallel to the grasp line defined by two grasping features. These features help the user balance various objects on the tray during transportation. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a top view of the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIGS. 3A-3D  are various examples of a “substantially oval” shape described with regard to some of the depressions in embodiments of the invention. 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view of another embodiment of the invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention is herein described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings. With specific reference now to the drawings in detail, it is stressed that the particulars shown are by way of example and for purposes of illustrative discussion of the preferred embodiments of the present invention only, and are presented in the course of providing what is believed to be the most useful and readily understood description of the principles and conceptual aspects of the invention. In this regard, no attempt is made to show structural details of the invention in more detail than is necessary for a fundamental understanding of the invention, the description taken with the drawings making apparent to those skilled in the art how the several forms of the invention may be embodied in practice. 
     In general, the present invention provides a tray, caddy, holder or similar apparatus that supplies prefabricated space for one or more of the following: 
     I. Recesses and depressions for cups and containers for medications and liquids with which to take the medications; 
     II. Display surface for displaying patient identification and other medical information; 
     III. Slot or depression for notes, a notepad, or Post-it® notes; 
     IV. Structure for holding a writing instrument; 
     V. Recess or depression for common external medications such as a bottle of nasal spray, eye drops, ear drops, skin medications, lotions, and/or antiseptics; 
     VI. Slot or depression for a syringe; and 
     VII. Slot or depression for other instruments commonly used in nursing such as spoon, straw and thermometer. 
     The items listed above have been found to be most useful for a busy nursing staff member taking care of patients. However, the invention also contemplates other items commonly needed for performing a nursing task, and making prefabricated space for those item in the tray is within the claimed coverage. Now we turn to some preferred embodiments to illustrate the principles behind the present invention. 
     Referring now to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , a tray for transporting and serving medication according to the present invention is shown, generally indicated by  10 . The tray  10  has a substantially planar body  11  that has a top surface  12  opposite a bottom surface (not shown); the two surfaces are connected by a perimetrical or side surface  14 . The tray can be of any shape, round, oval, rectangular, square or irregular. Tray  10  as illustrated here happens to be substantially round. In one feature, the tray is dimensioned to fit into a drawer of a medication cart. For example, a drawer for one popular mediation cart is about 18 inches by about 10 inches in dimension, and the tray embodiments of the present invention can be dimensioned to be less than that size. In one embodiment, the tray  10  is about 9 inches or 8 inches in width or diameter. The bottom surface is substantially planar and should match the top surface  12  substantially in size and shape, although it can be easily envisioned to be slightly larger or smaller, either for ease of construction, grasping or other purposes. The perimetrical surface  14  defines the thickness of the tray  10  and, in one embodiment, is between about 0.25 inch and about 1.0 inch. Two thumb depressions  16   a  and  16   b  are situated across from each other along the outer edge of the top surface  12 . Each of the thumb depressions  16   a  and  16   b  is shaped and sized to accommodate all or part of a thumb for easy carrying. In one embodiment, the depth of the thumb depressions  16   a  and  16   b  is about half the thickness of the tray  10 . Obviously, other grasping features, such as handles, can be incorporated in the tray of the present invention instead. 
     The tray  10  may further include a support, which can make it easier to lift the tray from a level surface such as the top of a table, a cart or a counter. The support can have one or more legs. In the particular embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 , three foldable legs are attached to the bottom surface or the perimetrical surface  14 . Two of them,  18   a  and  18   b  are visible in  FIG. 1  and are each attached to the bottom surface through a hinge  20   a  and  20   b.    
     An array of depressions are disposed on the top surface  12  of the tray  10  for receiving and holding multiple objects useful in nursing. The number and types of the depressions may vary without departing from the spirit of the invention. Depth of the depressions may vary, e.g., about half the thickness of the tray, as long as they can hold the intended object securely. They are preferably organized in easily recognizable patterns so that the user can quickly find the right depression to put a given object. In the illustrated embodiment, a row (or, optionally, multiple rows) of substantially round depressions is centrally located, i.e., substantially in the middle section of the tray, for receiving small receptacles, preferably of substantially round cross-sections. This helps to stabilize the entire tray as the expected round receptacles can be the heaviest objects on the tray as they often carry various kinds of liquid. Preferably, the row(s) of round depressions is also roughly aligned with a “grasping line”  25  (best viewed in  FIG. 2 ) between the two thumb depressions ( 16   a  and  16   b ). This is particularly advantageous for carrying open receptacles which helps the user balance the tray during the transport without spilling the content of any open receptacles. Three of such round depressions are shown as  22 ,  24  and  26 . The central depression  22  is the largest for carrying the largest receptacle, presumably with the largest amount of liquid. In this embodiment, the central depression  22  is located in the center of the round, top surface of the tray  10 . The other two depressions  24  and  26  may be of substantially the same size so that the receptacles they carry tend to balance out in weight. Again, if the weight of the receptacles and their contents in depressions  24  and  26  are not the same, it is much easier for the user to balance the tray during transport as the two depressions line up with the two thumb depressions ( 16   a  and  16   b ). 
     Space for multiple receptacles is envisioned as a patient often requires more than one medication, solid or liquid, and sometimes they need to be taken with more than one liquid, e.g., water, juice and syrup. Some of the intended receptacles include pill bottles or containers, soufflé portion cups, paper cups, plastic cups, liquid bottles, lotion or gel bottles or tubes, and cups of any material. In one embodiment, depressions  22 - 26  are sized to fit receptacles that are designed to carry liquids of an amount between 0.5 and 10 ounces. For example, if the envisioned receptacles are calibrated plastic medication cups with respective capacity for 0.5, 0.75, 1.0, 1.25, 1.5, 2.0, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 5.0 and 9.0 oz of fluid, the diameters of the depressions  22 - 26  may vary from about 1.0 inches to about 3.0 inches, preferably in the range of 1.0 to 2.0 inches. The depressions  22 - 26  may be substantially cylindrical, i.e., the diameters of the opening and the bottom of the depression are substantially the same. Or, the depressions  22 - 26  may be part of a conical structure, i.e., there is a taper in the side-wall such that the diameters of the opening and the bottom of the depression are not the same. Typically, the bottom would be smaller than the opening to correspond to the shape of a typical liquid receptacle. Obviously, the number of substantially round depressions may be other than three in an embodiment. 
     In one particular embodiment, the central depression  22  has an opening that measures about 2.0 inches in diameter, while both depressions  24  and  26  have an opening that measures about 1.0 inch in diameter. 
     Still referring to the illustrative embodiment shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , on one side of the central row of round depressions is an elongated depression or slot  28 , which can be used for receiving a number of objects, such as a syringe, a notepad (e.g., Post-it® notes), a straw, a spoon, a tongue depressor, or a writing instrument. Depending on the intended use, there may be one or more of such slots shaped and sized to fit the objects in mind. In a preferred embodiment, the slot&#39;s long axis runs substantially parallel to the “grasping line”  25  ( FIG. 2 ) defined by the two thumb depressions ( 16   a  and  16   b ) for balance purposes. 
     In the illustrated embodiment, there is also a substantially oval depression  30 . It may be located anywhere on the top surface  12  of the tray of course, but where it is a relatively small depression, it may be located closer to the periphery than the center of the round tray  10  as illustrated here.  FIGS. 3A-3D  illustrate some examples of “substantially oval” shapes. Depressions of such shapes have proved to be useful because many receptacles used in healthcare have cross-sections of these shapes. Examples of such receptacles include those for nasal sprays. 
     Referring back to  FIG. 1 , on the other side of the central row of round depressions is a substantially planar display  32  situated at an angle for displaying information, such as patient identity and medication information. Patient identity information can include the last name, first name, room number and bed number (i.e., location information). The display  32  can include a writable surface for directly writing upon it, or configured to hold a pre-marked (e.g., computer printed) strip. At the back of the display  32  is a structure that holds a writing instrument. In the illustrated embodiment, two loops  34   a  and  34   b  between the display  32  and the top surface  12  serve this purse as one can fasten the cap of a pen onto the loop or slide the body of the pen through at least one of the loops. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 2 , which is a top view of the tray  10 . In particular, according to one feature of this embodiment, the long axes of each row or depression and of the display are all aligned and substantially parallel to the “grasping line”  25  between the two thumb depressions ( 16   a  and  16   b ) for better balance and ease of handling. In one feature, a symmetric arrangement is provided for further advantage in stability. An orthogonal line  34  runs perpendicular through the midpoint  27  of the grasping line  25 , dividing the tray  10  into two substantially even halves. In an optional feature, all depressions and the display  32  may be situated symmetrical about this orthogonal line  34 . 
     Referring now to  FIG. 4 , another embodiment  40  of the invention is illustrated through a top view. The tray  40  is substantially rectangular with multiple depressions and a display  42 , optionally with the pen-holding loops in the back, all similar to the ones described above. There are two rows of depressions in a relatively central section of the tray. One row  44  consists of substantially round depressions  46   a - 46   d . In this particular case, the four depressions  46   a - 46   d  are of substantially the same size. The second row  47  has two substantially round depressions  48  and  50 , and a substantially oval depression  52 . These depressions are similar to those described with regard to tray  10 . In one embodiment, each of the depressions  46   a - 46   d  is shaped and sized to accommodate a 1.25 oz soufflé cup, and depressions  48  and  50  are shaped and sized to accommodate a 5 oz and a 10 oz soufflé cup, respectively. 
     An elongated slot  54  sized and shaped for receiving a straw is also provided. Two substantially rectangular slots  56  and  58  are also provided. They can receive and accommodate a notepad (e.g., Post-it® notes), instruction sheets, wipes, toiletries, waste, and so on. A depression  60  sized and shaped for receiving a syringe is provided. It has a narrow tip  62  to orient the placement of the syringe. A distal notch  64  is provided to accommodate the rim of the needle cap. And a middle notch  66  is provided to accommodate both the proximal end of the syringe and the handle of the plunger in a collapsed state of the syringe, i.e., when the plunger is pushed against the proximal end of the syringe barrel. A proximal notch  68  is provided to accommodate the handle of the plunger in the extended state, i.e., when the plunger is pulled all the way away from the barrel. In one embodiment, the syringe slot  60  is about 7 inches long and can accommodate syringes of 20-50 cc capacity. Finally, a depression  70  sized and shaped for receiving a spoon is specifically provided. 
     The tray  40  is preferably dimensioned to fit a drawer of a medication cart. In one embodiment, it is about 12 inches by 9 inches. It may optionally have grasping features such as the thumb depressions described above and support features such as the foldable legs described above. 
     It is hereby noted that by “to receive” or “to accommodate,” it does not necessarily mean to fit the entire object. With receptacles, it is sufficient to fit a bottom portion of the receptacles. And with elongated objects, fitting part of the body is sufficient in most cases. Therefore, for example, the slot  54  in the second illustrated embodiment does not have to be longer than a straw-in fact, slight shorter may be more advantageous as one end of the straw will stick out and be ready to be picked up. 
     Trays of the present invention may be made of any suitable material by a suitable process well known to one skilled in the art. Such materials include plastics and metals, and, preferably, can be sanitized. 
     While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to the structures and methods disclosed herein and as illustrated in the drawings, it is not confined to the details set forth and this invention is intended to cover any modifications and changes as may come within the scope and spirit of the following claims.