Patent Publication Number: US-7909165-B2

Title: System for delivering sequential components

Description:
This application claims the benefit of provisional application Ser. No. 60/790,482, filed Apr. 10, 2006. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     This invention relates to delivering sequential components, and more particularly delivering the components in an easy to open storage unit. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Traditionally, patients and other pill-takers along with their caretakers execute a weekly pill-fill ritual. They gather their stock jars and bottles other repositories of their medication stock, and load a seven-day receptacle. Each bin of the receptacle holds all the medications for the day, or for a particular time period. The pill-fill requires the pill takers or caretaker to know where the pill supplies are stored, and which medications are to be taken, and at what time. For many pill-takers, the print on the medication bottle is too small for them to read. The caps and closure devices can be difficult to remove. Transferring the small pills to the proper small bin container can be a trial. 
     SUMMARY 
     It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a series of sequential storage units for presenting small components such as parts or medication in an easy to open storage unit. A breachable bubble on the storage unit is compressed causing a edge breach with peel flaps that can be pulled back to open the storage unit. Self-assembly products may require a dozen assembly steps involving hundreds of small parts of many sizes such as bolts, nuts, washers, screws, brackets, and small tools. Each step entails a specified group of parts. The assembler must locate and use each part in a specified sequence for orderly assembly of the product. 
     It is another object of this invention to provide such a series of sequential storage units which are loaded with medication by qualified people under controlled conditions. The storage units may be automatically loaded at major hospitals and mail-order pharmaceutical warehouses. Orders are filled by trained clerks and skilled technicians using reliable computers and extensive data bases. 
     It is a further object of this invention to provide such a series of sequential storage units for sequentially presenting medications for sequential delivery. As each storage unit is presented and the medications disbursed, it is intuitively clear which of the remaining storage unit is next. 
     Briefly, these and other objects of the present invention are accomplished by providing a system for delivering specified components of a specified quantity in a specified sequence. A base lamina and a flexible cover lamina are pressed into opposed selective engagement defining a series of sequential storage units. A perimeter seal formed around each storage unit has a frangible seal portion and a destruct seal portion. A sealed medication chamber within each storage unit proximate the destruct seal stores a dosage of the medication. A chamber access region within each storage unit is proximate the frangible seal portion for accessing the medication chamber. A chamber seal formed by the selective engagement of the opposed laminae, extends across each storage unit between the medication chamber and the chamber access region. A breachable bubble is formed within each chamber access region by the opposed laminae during the selective engagement. The bubble is between the frangible seal portion and the chamber seal. The bubble expands under applied pressure towards the frangible seal portion of the storage unit. The expansion separates the opposed laminae forming the bubble, until the bubble produces a perimeter breach in the frangible seal portion. A flexible peel flap is formed by the flexible cover lamina along the breached frangible seal portion as the bubble breaches. The flap may be peeled away from the base lamina detaching the chamber seal to open the medication chamber providing delivery of the medication stored therein. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Further objects and advantages of the sequence of storage units and the operation of the breachable bubble will become apparent from the following detailed description and drawings (not drawn to scale) in which: 
         FIG. 1A  is a fragmentary top view of a series of storage units  10 X and  10 Y and  10 Z showing medication chamber  16 M containing medications  10 M; 
         FIG. 1B  is a fragmentary sectional view taken generally along reference line IB-IB of  FIG. 1A  prior to the breaching of bubble  16 B; 
         FIG. 1C  is a fragmentary side view of the storage units after to the breaching of bubble  16 B; 
         FIG. 2  is a fragmentary top view of delivery sheet  20  of storage units  20 U; 
         FIG. 3  is a top view of delivery strip  30  of storage units  30 U showing catch tray  32 T; 
         FIG. 4  is a side view of medication dispenser  48 D for supporting delivery spool  48  containing a roll of sequential storage units  40 U; and 
         FIG. 5  is a front view of a calendar medication delivery system  50  having rigid base  52 B. 
     
    
    
     The first digit of each reference numeral in the above figures indicates the figure in which an element or feature is most prominently shown. The second digit indicates related elements or features, and a final letter (when used) indicates a sub-portion of an element or feature. 
     REFERENCE NUMERALS IN DRAWINGS 
     The table below lists the reference numerals employed in the figures, and identifies the element designated by each numeral. 
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                 10 Delivery system 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 10K 
                 Corner 
               
               
                   
                 10M 
                 Medication(s) 
               
               
                   
                 10X 
                 Sequential Storage Unit 
               
               
                   
                 10Y 
                 Sequential Storage Unit 
               
               
                   
                 10Z 
                 Sequential Storage Unit 
               
               
                   
                 10XY 
                 Boundary 
               
               
                   
                 10YZ 
                 Boundary 
               
               
                   
                 12B 
                 Base Lamina 
               
               
                   
                 12C 
                 Cover Lamina 
               
               
                   
                 12P 
                 Perimeter Breach 
               
               
                   
                 14B 
                 Base Flexible peel flap 
               
               
                   
                 14C 
                 Cover Flexible peel flap 
               
               
                   
                 14D 
                 Destruct Seal Portion (left and right) 
               
               
                   
                 14F 
                 Frangible Seal Portion (left and right) 
               
               
                   
                 14S 
                 Diagonal Chamber Seal 
               
               
                   
                 14XY 
                 Tear-Away Cut Lines 
               
               
                   
                 14YZ 
                 Tear-Away Cut Lines 
               
               
                   
                 16B 
                 Breachable Bubble 
               
               
                   
                 16M 
                 Sealed Medication Chamber 
               
               
                   
                 16R 
                 Chamber Access Region 
               
            
           
           
               
            
               
                 20 Delivery Sheet 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 20K 
                 Corner 
               
               
                   
                 20U 
                 Sequential Storage Unit 
               
               
                   
                 24P 
                 Tear-Away Perforations 24P 
               
               
                   
                 26R 
                 Chamber Access Region 
               
            
           
           
               
            
               
                 30 Delivery Strip 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 30L 
                 Medical Data Label 
               
               
                   
                 30U 
                 Sequential Storage Unit 
               
               
                   
                 32B 
                 Base Lamina 
               
               
                   
                 32C 
                 Cover Lamina 
               
               
                   
                 32T 
                 Catch Tray 
               
               
                   
                 34F 
                 Frangible Seal Portions 
               
               
                   
                 36M 
                 Medication Chamber 
               
               
                   
                 36R 
                 Chamber Access Region 
               
               
                   
                 40M 
                 Medications 
               
               
                   
                 40U 
                 Sequential Storage Unit 
               
            
           
           
               
            
               
                 48 Delivery Spool 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 48D 
                 Medication Dispenser 
               
               
                   
                 48M 
                 Inner Mooring End 
               
               
                   
                 48T 
                 Outer Terminal End 
               
            
           
           
               
            
               
                 50 Calendar Matrix 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 50A 
                 am Storage Unit 
               
               
                   
                 50P 
                 pm Storage Unit 
               
               
                   
                 50U 
                 Storage Units 
               
               
                   
                 52B 
                 Rigid Base Lamina 
               
               
                   
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     General Embodiment—(FIG.  1 ABC) 
     System  10  delivers specified components in specified quantities such as medication(s)  10 M of a specified dosage, in a specified sequence (see  FIG. 1A ). Flexible cover lamina  12 C is pressed into selective engagement base lamina  12 B (see  FIG. 1B ). The selective engagement of the opposed laminae defines a series of sequential storage units  10 X and  10 Y and  10 Z. A perimeter seal is formed around each storage unit by the pressed selective engagement. The perimeter seal has a frangible seal portion and a destruct seal portion. The perimeter seal for storage unit  10 Y has frangible seal portion  14 F (no hatching) and destruct seal portion  14 D (double hatching). A frangible seal formed by two laminae heat pressed together can be separated without harmful damage to either lamina, simply by pulling the laminae apart. A destruct seal, however, cannot be separated without damage to one or both of the laminae. 
     Sealed medication chamber  16 M for storing a dosage of the medication, is proximate the destruct seal within each storage unit. Chamber access region  16 R for accessing the medication chamber, is proximate the frangible seal portion within each storage unit. Diagonal chamber seal  14 S (single hatching) formed by the pressed selective engagement of the opposed laminae, extends across each storage unit between the medication chamber and the chamber access region. Breachable bubble  16 B is positioned within each chamber access region between the frangible seal portion and the chamber seal. The bubble is formed by a volume gas, such as ambient air, trapped between the opposed laminae during the selective engagement. The bubble expands under applied pressure towards the frangible seal of the storage unit (see  FIGS. 1A and 1B ). The expansion separates the opposed laminae forming the bubble, until the bubble produces perimeter breach  12 P (see  FIG. 1C ) in the frangible seal portion. Flexible peel flap  14 C is formed by the flexible cover lamina along the breached frangible seal as the bubble breaches. The flap is peeled away from the base lamina by the user, parting the chamber seal to open the medication chamber providing access to the medication stored therein. The user may be the patient who is under medication, or the caretaker who administers the medication or other healthcare professional. 
     The bubble is expandable to open the package by external pressure applied by a consumer. For small bubbles, the consumer may simply pinch a bubble or bubbles between his thumb and forefinger. Slightly larger bubbles may require thumb-to-thumb pressure. The very young and older, infirm consumers may push downward on the bubble against a flat surface with a smooth aide such as a spoon. The consumer may direct the bubble expansion outward towards edge of the package by applying the pressure along the inward side of the bubble proximate point “X”. Inward expansion of the bubble is limited because the applied pressure keeps the opposed laminae pressed together in sealing engagement along the inward side. Therefore, expansion due to the directed pressure is primarily outward urging the bubble outward towards the edge of the package, as indicated by the large outward arrow. The outward bubble expansion progressively separates the opposed laminae forming the outer seal, along a moving separation frontier. The frontier moves across the outer seal until the frontier reaches the edge of the package, where the bubble breaches creating edge breach. 
     The destruct seals are stronger than the frangible seals due to a higher temperature and/or pressure and/or dwell-time during the pressing stage of seal formation. That is, the destruct seals are fused together more than the frangible seals. Preferably the chamber seal has a strength greater than the weak frangible seal but not as great as the strong destruct seal. The chamber seal is stronger than the weak frangible seal so that the chamber seal will not separate during breaching of the bubble which produces the perimeter breach. The chamber seal is weaker than the strong destruct seal so that the medication chamber can be pulled opened after breach of the frangible seal. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 6,726,364 issued on Apr. 27, 2004 to the present inventor shows a breaching bubble which provides opposed peel flaps along a perimeter breach. The flaps are peeled back by the user to open a chamber and present a product. The subject matter of U.S. Pat. No. 6,726,364 is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety into this disclosure. 
     Diagonal Chamber Seal—FIG.  1 A 
     The chamber seal within each storage unit may extend diagonally across the storage unit between the medication chamber and the chamber access region. Diagonal chamber seal  14 S (see  FIG. 1A ) defines triangular shapes for medication chamber  16 M and chamber access region  16 R. The triangular medication chamber has destruct seals  14 D (left and right) along the two legs, and diagonal chamber seal  14 S across the hypotenuse. The triangular chamber access region has frangible seals  14 F (left and right) along the two legs, and chamber seal  14 S across the hypotenuse. The chamber seal is about 1.4 times as long as a single leg of the frangible seal. When the chamber seal is parted, the user has maximum finger or hand access to the medications in the medication chamber. Other non-diagonal configurations may be employed.  FIG. 2  shows a non-symmetrical embodiment in which chamber access region  26 R is limited to a small area in corner  20 K.  FIG. 3  shows a straight embodiment in which medication chamber  36 M is larger than chamber access region  36 R. 
     The boundaries between the sequential storage units has both a destruct seal and a frangible seal. Boundary  10 XY between unit  10 X and  10 Y has frangible seal  14 F (right) of unit  10 X, adjacent to destruct seal  14 D (left) of unit  10 Y. Likewise, boundary  10 YZ between unit  10 Y and  10 Z has frangible seal  14 F (right) of unit by, adjacent to destruct seal  14 D (left) of unit  10 Z. The frangible seal must peel away as a storage unit is opened, leaving the adjacent destruct seal intact for maintaining the integrity of the adjacent storage unit. Cover lamina  12 C has tear-away cut line  14 XY along boundary  10 XY, and tear-away cut line  14 YZ along boundary  10 YZ. The cut lines are between the frangible seal and the destruct seal to permit the cover lamina of one storage unit to pull-away from the cover lamina of the adjacent storage unit. This tear-away cut line is preferable a depth controlled laser cut through the cover lamina, which terminates at the base lamina. 
     The delivery system may have a flexible cover lamina with a rigid base lamina, which provides a single flexible peel flap. The user holds the rigid base down and pulls the flexible flap away to expose the medication. Alternatively, base lamina  12 B may also be flexible forming flexible peel flap  14 B opposed to peel flap  14 C formed by flexible cover lamina  12 C (see  FIG. 1C ). The pair of peel flaps facilitates pulling apart the chamber seal. 
     The peel flaps may be positioned at a corner of each storage unit. Corner  10 K permits ease of gripping the peel flaps by the user (see  FIG. 1C ) and peeling them back unsealing frangible seal  14 F (left and right). Alternatively, the peel flap may be positioned in the middle between two corners (see  FIG. 3 ). 
     Strip Embodiment—FIG.  3   
     The base lamina and cover lamina may be a strip for sequential presentation of the series of sequential storage units in a strip array. Base lamina strip  32 B (see  FIG. 3 ) may be wider than cover lamina strip  32 C and extend beyond perimeter frangible seal portion  34 F of the cover lamina. This extension provides tray  32 T for catching the stored medications as they are delivered. The catch tray may have a raised edge berm for retaining the medication on the tray. 
     The strip of opposed laminae may be wound onto delivery spool  48  (see  FIG. 4 ) with inner mooring end  48 M and outer terminal end  48 T, for sequential presentation of the strip of sequential storage units from the terminal end. Medication dispenser  48 D may be provided for supporting the delivery spool and the storage units. Medications  40 M may be vacuum packed within the sealed medication chambers on the strip of storage units. Removing the air from the medication chamber reduces the shipping volume and spool size requirements. Even a slight vacuum locks the medications in place during shipment and handling, preventing them from grinding against one another. Alternatively, an inert gas may be provided within the sealed medication chamber for preserving the medication. A nitrogen flush introduced just before sealing the medication chamber displaces the ambient oxygen. 
     The cover lamina may be transparent permitting visible identification of the medication. Medications are frequently known to the user or caretaker only by color or size or shape. The lamina may be color coded to indicate the period of day for taking the medications. For example, pink may indicate morning, yellow may indicate noon, and blue may indicate evening. Alternatively, the cover lamina and the base lamina may be opaque for preventing UV and other photo damage. 
     Row and Column Embodiments—FIG.  2  and FIG.  5   
     The series of sequential storage units may be a matrix of rows and columns across a sheet of opposed laminae. The entire inventory of medication can be seen at a glance. A series of tear-away perforations  24 P (see  FIG. 2 ) traverse the matrix between adjacent storage units  20 U, permitting presentation of a single storage unit. A medication storage unit may be torn-away from the matrix and distributed individually. Alternatively, each of the sequential storage units may be firmly secured to the preceding storage unit and to the succeeding storage unit (see  FIG. 3 ) along the strip of opposed laminae. The empty storage units remain on the strip after delivery, along with the full storage units containing forgotten medication, as a record of compliance. 
     Calendar matrix  50  of sequential storage units  50 U may have a plurality of horizontal rows corresponding to the weeks of a particular month. The matrix may also have seven vertical columns corresponding to the seven days of each week. The user can easily locate and identify the medication for each day. The calendar day may be divided into am and pm storage units  50 A and SOP as shown for Tuesday the 4th in  FIG. 5 . The base lamina for the calendar matrix may be sufficiently rigid to be self standing and function as a stand-up display of the matrix of storage units and of the medications sequentially stored therein. 
     Medical Data 
     Medical data relating to the medication may be associated with each storage unit. The name and dosage of the medication may be listed along with the schedule (date and time of day for taking). Important side effects and emergency numbers may be listed. The patient&#39;s name and age, and the name of the doctor or caretaker may be provided. The medical data may be printed directly on the lamina, or on label  30 L later affixed to the lamina (see  FIG. 3 ), or inserted into the medication chamber or chamber access region. The basic information may be included in a quick scan format such as bar code. More extensive data, such as medical history may be included in a suitable mega format such as toned digital data. 
     INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY 
     It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the objects of this invention have been achieved as described hereinbefore. Various changes may be made in the structure and embodiments shown herein without departing from the concept of the invention. Further, features of embodiments shown in various figures may be employed in combination with embodiments shown in other figures. Therefore, the scope of the invention is to be determined by the terminology of the following claims and the legal equivalents thereof.