Abstract:
The present invention is an ingestible carrier for a medication to be taken orally by an individual. The carrier includes a cavity into which one or more medications can be inserted and frictionally retained by the carrier. The carrier is formed of an easily ingestible material and is shaped in a suitable mold to include the cavity within which the medication can be positioned and retained. The carrier can be easily formed in a mold to enable the dosage form to be quickly easily made available for use.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention relates to oral medications, and more particularly to an ingestible carrier for medication and a method for forming the carrier for the medications that allows the medications to more easily be ingested.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     With the developments in the field of pharmaceuticals, there are an increasing number of medications available for oral administration for a wide variety of conditions. These medications come in various forms that can be ingested orally, with the majority being of a size capable of being relatively easily swallowed by an individual.  
         [0003]     However, due to the necessary dosage amounts for certain medications, or the particular form of the medication, the medications often times are not able to be readily swallowed by an individual due to the overlarge size of these medications. In addition, certain individuals are not capable, for various reasons, of easily swallowing medications that are required for the health of the individual.  
         [0004]     In order to increase the ease of orally administering medications to individuals, a number of different dosage forms of the medications have been developed. The majority of these dosage forms include various coatings on the exterior of the medications, which enable the medications to be more easily swallowed by an individual. Nevertheless, on many occasions, these improved dosage forms of the medications still present certain difficulties to people taking the oral medication dosages.  
         [0005]     Therefore, it is desirable to develop a carrier to assist in the ingestion of various oral medications and a structure and method of forming the carrier, which allows for oral medications to be taken in a quick and easy manner by individuals previously unable to do so.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0006]     According to a primary aspect of the present invention, an ingestible carrier is provided which is created by a moldable and ingestible material that includes a recess formed within the material and in which the medication can be positioned. The recess enables the medication dose or dosages to be positioned completely within the carrier such that the medication can easily be ingested along with the carrier. The recess formed within the carrier is dimensioned to enable the medication or medications to be securely held within the recess, such that the medication cannot easily become dislodged from within the recess once positioned therein. This ensures that the medication is ingested along with the carrier without becoming separated from the carrier.  
         [0007]     According to another aspect of the present invention, a mold structure is provided which allows for the formation of the carrier complete with the recess within the carrier in a simple manner. The mold can be configured to form any number of carriers at a single time, such that a number of different medications can be taken by different individuals at the same time. The mold has a very simple construction that allows it to be easily utilized to form the carrier by placing the ingestible material into the mold, and can be easily cleaned after use for additional uses to form ingestible carriers for oral medications.  
         [0008]     Numerous other aspects, features and advantages of the present invention will be made apparent from the following detailed description taken together with the drawing figures. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0009]     The drawings illustrate the best mode currently contemplated as practicing the present invention.  
         [0010]     In the drawings:  
         [0011]      FIG. 1  is an isometric view of an adjustable carrier constructed according to the present invention;  
         [0012]      FIG. 2  is an isometric view of a mold utilized to construct the adjustable carrier of  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0013]      FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view along line  3 - 3  of  FIG. 2 ;  
         [0014]      FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view along line  4 - 4  of  FIG. 2 ;  
         [0015]      FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view illustrating the insertion of the medication into the adjustable carrier of  FIG. 1 ; and  
         [0016]      FIG. 6  is an isometric view of the molds utilized to form the carrier of  FIG. 1  in a stacked configuration. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0017]     With reference now to the drawing figures in which like reference numerals designate like parts throughout the disclosure, an ingestible carrier constructed according to the present invention is illustrated generally at  10  in  FIG. 1 . The carrier  10  can have any suitable and easily ingestible shape, but the preferred embodiment is bullet-shaped and includes a flat side  12  and a tapered side  14 . The tapered side  14  defines a narrow end  16  opposite the flat side  12  that radially expands in a gradual manner as the tapered side  14  extends towards the flat side  12 .  
         [0018]     The narrow end  16  defines an interior recess or cavity  18  within which medication  21 , such as a liquid medication, pill, tablet or capsule, can be positioned. The size of the cavity  18  is preferably slightly smaller in diameter than a conventional pill, table or capsule. As a result, when a medication in form of a pill, tablet or capsule is positioned within the cavity  18 , the medication  21  is engaged by the sides of the cavity  18  such that the medication  21  is frictionally held within the cavity  18  once positioned therein, as best shown in  FIG. 5 . Preferably, the cavity  18  is cylindrical in shape, such that a wide variety of conventional medications can be positioned therein. Also, the cavity  18  defines an open end  19  at the tapered side  14 , and a closed end  20  disposed within the carrier  10 . The distance between the closed end  20  and the open end  19  is preferably sufficient to accommodate at least a pair of tablets or capsules  21  within the cavity  18 . However, the cavity  18  can be shortened or lengthened to accommodate varying numbers of medication forms therein. Also, additional cavities  18  can be formed in other portions of the carrier  10  to further enable the carrier  10  to accommodate additional medications  21 . The cavity  18  can also be adapted to retain liquid medications, such as by including an amount of an absorbent material (not shown) within the cavity  18  capable of retaining a liquid medication therein, and preventing the medication from flowing out of the cavity  18 . The carrier  10  can also include a suitable plug (not shown) that is positionable within the open end  19  of the cavity  18  once the liquid medication is positioned therein to maintain the liquid medication within the cavity  18 . The plug can be formed of the same material as the carrier  10 , or another ingestible material, or by another medication  21  engaged within the cavity  18  over the liquid medication.  
         [0019]     Additionally, the overall size of the carrier  10  can be selected to be any easily ingestible size that also can define a cavity  18  therein that is capable of receiving the medication  21  either entirely or at least partially therein. Preferably, the size of the overall carrier  10  is selected based on the size or age of the individual who will be ingesting the carrier  10 , while the size of the cavity  18  remains the same diameter to accommodate and frictionally engage the medication  21 .  
         [0020]     Referring now to  FIGS. 2-4 , a mold  22  utilized in the formation of the carrier  10  is illustrated. The mold  22  includes a central panel  24  surrounded by a peripheral rim  26  that extends around a top surface  27  of the panel  24  to provide a tray-like structure for the mold  22 . The central panel  24  is supported at opposite ends by a pair of legs  28  extending downwardly from the central panel  24 . The central panel  24 , peripheral rim  26  and legs  28  forming the mold  22  are preferably formed of a lightweight, durable material, such as a plastic material. Further, the material used to form the mold  22  must be capable of withstanding the required amount of temperature variation required to form the carrier  10  within the mold  22 . Also, when the central panel  24 , rim  26  and legs  28  are formed of a plastic material, the components of the mold  22  can be integrally formed, or separately from one another, for later connection to one another in any suitable manner, such as by using an adhesive or by sonic welding, among others, to form the mold  22 .  
         [0021]     The panel  24  also includes a number of apertures  30  spaced about the panel  24 . Each aperture  30  is surrounded on the lower surface  31  of the panel  24  by a downwardly extending form  32  in the desired shape of the carrier  10 . At the lower end  34  of the form  32  opposite the lower surface  31  of the panel  24 , the form  32  includes an upwardly extending cylinder  36 . When the material utilized to form the carrier  10  is poured into the form  32 , the cylinder  36  operates to prevent the material from occupying the space taken by the cylinder  36  and to form the cavity  18  within the carrier  10 . Also, as stated previously, while the preferred shape of the cavity  18  is cylindrical, the cylinder  36  in the form  32  can be altered to have any desired shape that results in the desired shape for the cavity  18 .  
         [0022]     Looking now at  FIGS. 2 and 6 , the length of the legs  28  at each end of the mold  22  are selected to have an overall length slightly larger than the length of the forms  32  extending down from the panel  24 . In addition, the legs  28  have a width slightly less than the width of the opposed ends of each of the panel  24  and the peripheral rim  26 . The reason for this particular preferred configuration for the legs  28  is such that legs  28  can be positioned on the panel  24  of an adjacent mold  22  within the rim  26  on the adjacent mold  22  and to enable the molds  22  to be positioned in a stacked configuration, as shown in  FIG. 6 . In this configuration, the only contact between the vertically adjacent molds is the legs  28 , and the length of the legs  28  is sufficient to maintain the position of the forms  32  on the upper mold  22  above the central panel  24  of the lower mold  22 .  
         [0023]     In addition, as stated previously the carrier  10  formed by the mold  22  can have any desired size depending upon the particular individual who is to ingest the carrier  10  and the medication  21  contained therein. To facilitate the formation of carriers  10  have different sizes, the forms  32  and apertures  30  positioned on a panel  24  can be formed to have different sizes in order to form different size carriers  10  to be utilized by different types of individuals. Additionally, the number and size of the apertures  30  and forms  32  can vary as necessary to maximize the number of carriers  10  and the respective sizes of the carriers  10  to be formed by each mold  22 . In order to further maximize the number of carriers  10  that can be formed by a given mold  22 , the shape of the central panel  24  and accompanying peripheral rim  26  can be varied from the hexagonal shape shown in the preferred embodiments in  FIGS. 2 and 6 , to any desired shape. Also, depending upon the particular shape for the central panel  24 , the number of legs  28  supporting the panel  24  can be varied in order to provide a stable base for the panel  24  and mold  22 .  
         [0024]     Referring now to  FIG. 4 , the carrier  10  can be formed of any suitable material that can be poured or otherwise flow into the form  32  through the aperture  30  in the central panel  24  and subsequently solidify or gel to form the carrier  10 . While the preferred embodiment utilizes a gelatin material that is liquid at elevated temperatures but solidifies at room temperature, any other suitable material that is a liquid at elevated temperatures and a solid at room temperatures, and that is also ingestible may also be utilized.  
         [0025]     Various alternatives are contemplated as being within the scope of the following claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter regarded as the invention.