Patent Publication Number: US-7584849-B2

Title: Home medicine station

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/704,246 filed on Jul. 26, 2005 by the present inventor. 
    
    
     FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH 
     Not Applicable 
     SEQUENCE LISTING OR PROGRAM 
     Not Applicable 
     FIELD OF INVENTION 
     This invention relates generally to medicine dispensing for individual timed doses of medicine on a daily basis over a prescribed period of time, such as a week, for compliance with a dosage regiment. More particularly this invention will store medicine pill vials, constantly indicate times for correct medicines, securely hold daily medicine dispensers, allow for medical communications and storage of said communication sheets as records, all said elements embodied within one medicine apparatus. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates generally to medical devices and more specifically to dispensing of medications for home or institution care where the patient must take multiple medicines at predetermined intervals. Some type of medical therapy requires patients to take many different types of medications, often in the form of pills or capsules at regular intervals. Failure to take a medication when prescribed or double dosing because a patient has forgotten that they have already taken their medication is a common problem. The problem is compounded when multiple medications with different prescribed dose frequencies are being used at one time. 
     Research into the issues of prescription medication non-compliance indicated the significant consequences that result. The National Pharmaceutical Council estimates that non-compliance costs more than 100 billion dollars a year in the USA alone in increased hospital and nursing home admissions, lost productivity and premature deaths. Ninety percent of elderly patients made some medication errors. Older adults average 2.3 serious medication errors per patient per month (Green et al., 1995). Non-compliance is directly responsible for the admission of 380,000 patients to nursing homes each year (23% of all nursing home admissions). In 60% of all nursing home admissions non-compliance is a greater factor than the person&#39;s actual medical condition (Col, Fanale &amp; Kronholm, 1990, Merchenbaum &amp; Turk 1997). 
     The use of medicines and pills has often proven an inconvenience, particularly when a patient is being administered more than one type of pill. Common is the scene of a crowded and overflowing medicine chest where shelf upon shelf is overlaiden with required drugs. Such a sight of disorderliness only increases the anxiety of the patient. 
     Often times laying the required medications out on a table or countertop does little to alleviate the aggravating condition. This situation is particularly distressing for the elderly patient who struggles to maintain their independence and would like to find some way to organize their entourage of pill vials. One way of accomplishing this is to organize his pills in a safe and orderly fashion. Safe so that no needed medication is overlooked. Orderly so that the pills may be organized, but not hidden or misplaced. 
     Accordingly, there has been a need for a medicine apparatus designed to store, indicate, dispense, and communicate for use in health care industry to assist those required to take medications at regular intervals. Such a medicine apparatus should be of durable construction and easy to assemble and operate. Additionally there exists a need for medicine dispensing which minimizes the change of an accidental overdose or under dose of medications. The invention that I present fulfill these needs and provides other related advantages. 
     DESCRIPTION OF PRIOR ART 
     There are some patents that I am aware of that have made attempts at solving the above the above-mentioned situation, these are as follows. 
     Mr. Kjell was issued U.S. Pat. No. 4,038,937 on Aug. 2, 1977 the entitled Medicine Dispenser and Method. The invention was an improved portable dispenser for medicines and included a disposable tray insert. There are enough separate compartments for four segments per day for a seven-day period. The first improvement my invention provides, is to have the pill vials stored within the housing allowing for one convenient location for the medicines. The second improvement is the ability for the day, segment of the day, and time indicator to be located directly beside the medicine dispensers. A third major improvement is the communication/record drawer allowing for medical communications to be located directly below the indicator and dispensers within the same housing. 
     Mr. McLaughlin was issued U.S. Pat. No. 4,717,042 on Jan. 5, 1988; the invention is named Medicine Dispenser for Home Health Care. This invention is basically a daily medicine dispenser with a microprocessor to control the opening of the medicine compartments. The said invention has electrically controlled solenoids that release the lid allowing the medicine compartments to open. His invention has audible and visual indicators. The first improvement my invention makes over the above patent is to allow for medicines to be arranged for seven individual days. The second is to store pill vials and label each pill vial individually. A third major improvement is the communication/record drawer allowing for medical communications to be located directly below the indicator and dispensers within the same housing. 
     Mr. Newland was issued U.S. Pat. No. 6,169,707 on Jan. 2, 2001; the invention is named Medicine storage and Reminder Device. This invention deviates from Mr. John McLaughlin patent by the use of computer inputs and the use of light emitting diodes to indicate which medicines should be taken at prescribed times. The cost of the computer, modems, programs and programmers would be cost inhibiting in most cases. My invention is designed for ease of use by older patents that may not be computer literate. My design being molded from plastic is lightweight, durable, easy to assemble, easy to use and inexpensive. 
     Mr. Peterson was issued U.S. Pat. No. 6,543,616 B1 on Apr. 8, 2003 the invention is named Medicine Dispensing Tray with Information Cover. This invention has a seven day, four segment pill dispensers and supplies another medicine information label mimicking the label that is installed on the pill vials by a pharmacy. There seems to be two versions of the above patent. The first version has a rigid plastic cover with the information cards firmly attached. The second version has the information sheet attached with a ring to the dispenser. The major theme of his invention is that if a patient drops the dispensing tray they will be able to replace the medicines, with the help of the medicine&#39;s picture and the information sheet. The invention that I am proposing has the original pill vials dispensed by a pharmacy. There will not be a need for additional information sheets that could be lost or a typing error having possible grave consequences. Another distinct advantage is the ability of the weekly communication sheet to have a checklist for the daily medicines. Another improvement is the ability to store the weekly communication sheets, which will allow for forming medical records of medical concerns that a patient may have. 
     SUMMARY 
     The present invention provides a medicine apparatus that is intended and designed to overcome the limitations of the prior art. The apparatus is intended to be used in instances where a patient has been prescribed multiple different medications, which must be taken on a fixed schedule. The use of medicine has often proved an inconvenience, particularly when a patient is being administered more than one type of medicine. Common is the scene of a crowed and overflowing medicine chest where shelf upon shelf is overlaiden with required drugs. Such a sight of disorder only increases the anxiety of the patient. This invention will contain the necessary elements to help alleviate many of the insecurities a patient may have when taking their prescribed medications. 
     The invention resides in an improved medicine system; for storing pill vials indicating time to administer, dispensers, recording medical events and storing weekly communication sheets. The said invention will embody necessary elements to assist a patient in following a rigid schedule for taking prescribed medications and communicating any medical concerns. 
     Having the ability to store weekly communication sheets, the health care provider has accurate information to see a possible dangerous medical trend developing with the patient. Keeping the patient involved it will allow them to feel as if they still have a degree of control in their lives. This will inspire them to even take more interest in their health. 
     The said invention has been designed for patients who may be experiencing dementia. Another design criteria has been for patient who may have concerns with dexterity in their hands. The said invention has been designed to be very durable in case of accidental physical abuse. 
     Another design criteria was to develop the said invention using the Julian calendar and a seven-day period to alleviate possible confusion. Extreme effort has gone into insuring that the elements have the ability to be used by the patient where no discontinuities are present that might add any confusion in the administering of medications. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
       The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention. 
         FIG. 1  is a Perspective view of a preferred form of the medicine apparatus. Most hidden lines are removed for clarity of this view. 
         FIG. 2  is the plan view of the preferred embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 3  is the bottom view of the apparatus. 
         FIG. 4  is the front view of the apparatus. 
         FIG. 5  is the left side view of the apparatus. 
         FIG. 6  is the back view of the apparatus. 
         FIG. 7  is the right side view of the apparatus. 
         FIG. 8  is the top view of the Communication/Records drawer. 
         FIG. 9  is the front view of the Communication/Records drawer. 
         FIG. 10  is the bottom view of the Communication/Records drawer. 
         FIG. 11  is the left side view of the Communication/Records drawer. 
         FIG. 12  is the plan view of the preferred weekly Communication sheet. 
         FIG. 13  is the plan view of the Divider used in the Communication/Records drawer. 
         FIG. 14  is the plan view of the Medicine Dispensers; Monday is shown as an example for the seven-day set. 
         FIG. 15  is the front view of the above mentioned medicine dispensers. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE PRESENT INVENTION 
     The invention has been designed using a common medicine-administering scheme used by physicians, nursing homes, home health care services and such. The invention will allow for a single all inclusive location for a medicine dispensing apparatus for administering medications on a daily basis over a period of time, such as a week, with the added ability for medical communication and medical records storage. 
     The drawing discloses a preferred embodiment of the present invention. While the configuration according to the illustrated embodiment is preferred, it is envisioned that alternate configurations of the present invention may be adopted without deviating from the invention as portrayed. The preferred embodiment is discussed hereafter. 
     Referring now to the drawings and firstly to FIGS.  1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , the preferred embodiment of the invention is generally shown at numeral  20  and includes a molded plastic housing  22 , an indicator  24 , and refillable medicine dispensers  26 . The housing  22  includes an array of upward facing integrally recessed areas for storage of ten standard medicine pill vials  28  having forty five degree flares  37  (seen in  FIG. 2 ). The housing  22  includes an upward facing integrally recessed area for the storage of larger medicine containers  30 . The housing  22  includes an upward facing integrally recessed area to securely hold the indicator  24 . The housing includes an upward facing integrally recessed area to hold daily medicine dispensers  26 . The housing  22  includes upward facing integrally recessed containment area for sorting medicines  32 . The housing  22  includes a side opening and supports for a communications/records drawer  34 . The housing  22  will be formed from medically accepted plastics. There is a one-eighth inch upper boundary  36  to keep all medications contained within the housing  22 . The housing  22  will include two ergonomically designed handles  38  to allow for easy movement of the medicine apparatus. 
     This embodiment  20  incorporates a continuously display indicator  24 , that advises the patient of the day, segments of the day, and time. The indicator  24  has the ability to be set to customize the time for the segments of the day. When the clock circuit goes to 12:00 p.m. the indicator will display the new day and the preset segment functions for that day will operate as per the settings for that day. 
     The embodiment  20  incorporates a seven-day set of individual daily dispensers  26  with each dispenser incorporating individual cubicles for four individual segments per day. Referring to  FIG. 14  and  FIG. 15  the said individual dispensers will incorporate a tab correctly labeled with the abbreviated day for easy of identifying and grasping  68 . After removing the correct day and identifying the correct segment of the day, the medicine is placed in the medicine sorting area  32 , for ease of handling. The said medical dispensers  26  will hold a seven-day supply of medicines, Sun.-Sat. Each of the four daily segments have a latch able lid that will securely seal the segments until manually opened by the patient. The said cubicles have been sized to hold a multiple of different medications. Each segment will be identified by permanent markings of the said segments by bold ink print  40 . The said dispensers will be held in place by an indented contact area on the bottom of the dispenser  42 . This indented area will contact a matched area on the housing  70 , to secure the dispensers in place until needed. 
     The embodiment  20  will include a medicine sorting area  32  with a graduated inclined surface. This sorting area is sized to be helpful to individuals who may be experiencing lose of dexterity in their hands. The sorting area  32  can also be used as a convenient location for sorting medication when refilling the seven-day dispensers. 
     The embodiment  20  will supply a labeling area  44  below each recessed storage area  28  for assigning location for individual medicines. The size for the labeling areas  44  have been designed to accommodate a label that is commonly used for return addresses on postal packages. A raised shoulder completely surrounding said areas  46  will protect the labels. Printing of the said labels can be computer generated or hand written. 
     Referring to FIGS.  8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , the embodiment  20  will include a communications/records drawer  34 , with a drawer handle  80 . The drawer  34  will contain weekly communications sheets  48 . Referring to  FIG. 12  the sheets  48  will allow for final medical checks, medical questions, additional instructions, and recording of any medical concerns by the patient. The weekly communication sheets  48  will follow the same format of the seven-day four segments of day, to help alleviate possible confusion by the patient. 
     When the communication/records drawer  34  is slid open, it will set flush on a surface due to the molded bottom surface supports  52 , 54 , 56 . The surface  54  will lock the drawer in place upon closing. Surface  56  will lock the drawer in place when opened. The communication/records drawer  34  has two integrally molded stops  50 , to prevent the said drawer from being pulled free of the housing  22 . 
     The communication/records drawer will be supported internally by the use of two plastic runners  62 . The runners will be molded within the housing  22 . The said runners will hold the said drawer  34  approximately one-eighth of an inch off of any flat surface. 
     The communication/records drawer will also serve in the capacity of storing the weekly communication sheets. Referring to  FIG. 13 , a translucent plastic divider  60  will be provided to separate the utilized sheets from the not yet utilized sheets. The divider  60  will incorporate a flexible nylon tab  64  to be used for identifying, grasping and lifting. The tab will be labeled with the indicia “Records”.