Patent Application
20070056982
This invention relates to a vertically mounted, gravity fed dispensing container for containing a blister pack of medications by which the medications in the blister pack can be ejected from the blister pack for dispensing to a patient, or, for self administration.
Medications are commonly delivered in what are known as “blister packs” in which medications are placed in a series of blisters and then sealed on the other side by a foil layer. The medications are thus maintained in properly supported position in a hygienic manner in the individual blisters and held in place by the foil layer. In some, but not all cases, support is provided by a cardboard backing/overlay, formed of card which can then include printed information or other written information which identifies the medication and/or the patient.
Various designs and arrangements of such blister packs have previously been proposed including the different shaping of the openings and therefore of the blisters to provide particular effects. In particular Canadian Patent 1,310,936 assigned to the present applicant there is disclosed a blister pack of this type in which the openings are arranged in a matrix of seven rows and four columns providing four blisters each of which can be used for a respective day of the week with four medication administration times as defined by the rows, or, by four weeks of seven days for a single specific medication administration time. Thus a patient taking medications four times a day can be supplied with a blister pack of this type in which the medications for each time of day and for each day of the week are set out in the individual blisters.
Further details of this arrangement are shown in the above Canadian Patent issued Dec. 1, 1992, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Other arrangements are shown for example in U.S. design Pat. Nos. D296589 issued Jul. 5, 1988 and D293887 issued Jan. 26, 1988.
Blister packs of this type therefore make the medications properly available to the patient so that the patient can be ensured that they have taken the proper medications at the proper time. Reminders can be provided and the patient will be readily aware if a medication has been omitted since the medications not taken will remain in the blister pack.
As shown in the above Canadian patent, the dimensions of the individual blisters have been modified to provide larger blisters at certain times of day and smaller blisters at other times of day depending upon volume of medication commonly taken at those times.
A critical issue, however, is proper storage and convenient placement of the blister packs to ensure the medications are taken and not forgotten remains an open problem in that they merely may be discarded within the patients home. By not being stored in a consistent location or by being placed in an inconvenient location, or readily supported for the convenience of the patient or for the convenience of a caregiver looking after the patient may lead to medication non-compliance and a serious and potentially dangerous situation.
In addition, poor or improper storage may lead to medication degradation, or provide easy access for individuals not intended for the medications.
A number of different designs have been proposed of devices for holding blister packs and/or expelling of medications from blister packs.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,109,984 (Romick) issued May 5th 1992 is disclosed a holder for blister packs with two overlying sheets between which the blister pack is retained with each sheet having opening aligned with the blisters by which the medications can be expelled though the openings. A cover extends over one of the sheets.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,651,840 (Van Dulleman) issued Nov. 25th 2003 is disclosed a holder for a blister pack where the blister pack is annular and the holder defines a housing surrounding the outside of the blister pack with a dispensing plunger inside the annulus of the blister pack to expel the medications outwardly though an opening in the outer housing so that the medication when expelled from the blister falls directly through the opening. The plunger and opening are rotated relative to the blister pack to select one of the blisters for expulsion of the medication.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,348,158 (Honan) issued Sep. 20th 1994 is disclosed a holder for a blister pack where the blister pack is rectangular and the holder defines a corresponding shaped housing with a-top and bottom and with a dispensing plunger at the top of the blister pack to expel the medications downwardly though the bottom so that the medication when expelled from the blister falls directly through a bottom opening. The plunger is movable along an S-shaped track across the top of the housing to interact with each blister in turn.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,368,187 (Poncetta) issued Nov. 29th 1994 is disclosed a dispenser for simultaneously dispensing medications from a stack of parallel, horizontal, overlying blister packs where a dispensing plunger with a cutter at the top of the blister pack stack is driven downwardly through an aligned column of the blisters of stack to expel the medications downwardly into a bottom container.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,318,051 (Preiss) issued Nov. 20th 2001 is disclosed an automated system for expelling medications from blister packs using a vertically movable plunger which pushes downwardly through the blister pack to expel the medication into a tray below the blister pack.
It is one object of the invention to provide a dispensing container for holding blister packs of medications which assist the user in conveniently storing the blister pack and dispensing the medications therefrom.
According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a dispensing container for use with a blister pack having a series of blisters each containing a dose of one or more medications which can be expelled from the blisters by a user for use of the medication, the dispensing container comprising:
a holder portion for receiving and supporting the blister pack;
the holder portion having a plurality of openings therein arranged to be aligned with the blisters in the blister pack such that the medication in each blister can be expelled from the blister through the opening;
a catching container fixed to the holder portion adjacent the holder portion such that medication expelled from the blisters through the openings is caught and held in the catching container;
and a dispensing opening in the catching container arranged such that the medication caught and held in the catching container can be discharged by the user from the catching container through the dispensing opening when required;
the dispensing opening and the catching container being arranged such that the medication is held in the catching container until the user releases the medication from the dispensing opening.
The user may be the patient themselves or may be a caregiver either in a home setting or in an institution.
Preferably the catching container is shaped to converge the medications from each of the blisters to the dispensing opening.
Preferably the dispensing opening includes a discharge chute for collecting the medications from the catching container.
Preferably the discharge opening includes a valve operable by the user to release the medications from the discharge opening after they have been expelled from the blister and collected in the catching container.
Preferably the valve comprises a hinged flap which may be actuated by the valve including a push lever operable by the user to open the valve.
In a particularly preferred arrangement, the container includes a wall mounting arrangement arranged such that with the dispensing container mounted on a vertical wall surface the holder portion mounts the blister pack vertically with the catching container behind the blister pack and the dispensing opening at a bottom wall of the catching container. However other mountings may be used or the container may be free standing.
Preferably in this arrangement, the wall mounting arrangement is attached on a rear face of the catching container.
Preferably the wall mounting arrangement comprises a magnet for attachment to a metal surface and holes for attachment to mounting screws.
Preferably the holder portion comprises a separate piece from the catching container which is arranged to snap onto the catching container.
Preferably the holder portion comprises two generally planar sheets for receiving the blister pack therebetween which are connected by a hinge at a bottom edge.
Preferably there is provided a front door panel hingedly attached to the catching container which can be moved from a closed position covering the holder portion to an open position exposing the holder portion and the blister-pack thereon.
Preferably a front face of the door panel has a photograph holder.
Preferably there is provided a punch having a front face shaped to match the openings in the holder portion for punching out the medications from the blisters, the punch having a manually graspable handle for manual movement of the punch to a selected one of the blisters and a support on the dispensing container to hold the punch on the dispensing container when not in use.
Preferably the support comprises a receptacle into which the punch is placed.
According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a dispensing container for use with a blister pack having a series of blisters each containing a dose of one or more medications which can be expelled from the blisters by a user for use of the medication, the dispensing container comprising:
a holder portion for receiving and supporting the blister pack;
the holder portion having a plurality of openings therein arranged to be aligned with the blisters in the blister pack such that the medication in each blister can be expelled from the blister through the opening;
a catching container adjacent the holder portion such that medication expelled from the blisters through the openings is caught and held in the catching container;
a dispensing opening in the catching container arranged such that the medication caught and held in the catching container can be discharged by the user from the catching container through the dispensing opening when required;
and a wall mounting arrangement arranged such that with the dispensing container mounted on a vertical wall surface the holder portion mounts the blister pack vertically with the catching container behind the blister pack and the dispensing opening at a bottom wall of the catching container.
Preferably in the above aspect the discharge opening includes a valve operable by the user to release the medications from the discharge opening.
According to a third aspect of the invention there is provided a dispensing container for use with a blister pack having a series of blisters each containing a dose of one or more medications which can be expelled from the blisters by a user for use of the medication, the dispensing container comprising:
a holder portion for receiving and supporting the blister pack;
the holder portion having a plurality of openings therein arranged to be aligned with the blisters in the blister pack such that the medication in each blister can be expelled from the blister through the opening;
a catching container adjacent the holder portion such that medication expelled from the blisters through the openings is caught and held in the catching container;
a dispensing opening in the catching container arranged such that the medication caught and held in the catching container can be discharged by the user from the catching container through the dispensing opening when required;
and a punch having a front face shaped to match the openings in the holder portion for punching out the medications from the blisters, the punch having a manually graspable handle for manual movement of the punch to a selected one of the blisters and a support on the dispensing container to hold the punch on the dispensing container when not in use.
Preferably in the above aspect the support comprises a receptacle into which the punch is placed.
One embodiment of the invention will now be described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
In the drawings like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different figures.
The container shown in the figures comprises a rear container portion 10 defining a chamber 11 covered by a hinged front door 12. The hinged front door is mounted on side hinges 15 allowing it to be pivoted about a vertical axis along one side of the container from an open position shown in
The front surface of the door carries a holder 16 into which a photograph or other picture can be inserted for holding on the front face to provide an attractive appearance for the container. It will be appreciated that persons using a device of this type tend to be elderly and therefore the device can be turned into a personalized holder so as to reduce its utilitarian or institutional appearance. In the alternative, the holder 16 can be used for patient data printed on a suitable substrate.
The container portion 11 as best shown in
The rear wall 23 can also be attached to other suitable vertical support surfaces for example by double sided adhesive tape. In a further alternative, the rear wall has key hole slots 25 exposed on the rear surface so that screws can be inserted through the key hole slots allowing the container to be suspended on a wall of the type which can readily receive such screws. The unit also comes with an attached magnetic sheet on the back of the unit which allows the unit to be mounted on a metal fridge.
In this way, the whole container can be mounted readily on a vertical support surface with the front wall of the hinged door presented forwardly with the holder 16 thereon.
A separate blister holder 30 is provided which can support a blister pack 31 of the type previously described.
The blister holder 30 includes a first support sheet 32 and a second support sheet 33 with the support sheets being hinged at two bottom horizontal hinge pins 34. The sheet 32 is moulded from a first stiffer plastics material to provide the strength of the structure and the second or front sheet 33 is formed of a transparent plastics material. Each piece includes an integrally moulded hinge element connected by the hinge pin so that the sheets provide sufficient stiffness to be self supporting and the hinge allows the second sheet 33 to be hinged downwardly as shown in
The sheet 32 is rectangular so as to fit into the rectangular opening 20 in the container portion. The container portion includes suitable snap holders 35 at the top and flanges 36 at the bottom which cooperate with the hinges 34 so that the first sheet 32 can be snapped into place and held in place by the snap fasteners as an exposed wall within the container portion 11.
The blister sheet 31 is a separate element from the blister sheet holder and comprises a foil layer 31B and a blister sheet 31C. Blister packs of this type are of course well known as described above. The blister sheet may include a stiffening card but these are optional and one is not shown in the figures.
With the front sheet 33 hinged downwardly as shown in
It will be appreciated that the number and arrangement of the blisters is equal to the number and arrangement of the openings in the two holder sheets. Thus the blister pack drops into the front sheet and matches the openings so that the blisters are exposed in front of the front sheet when the front sheet is closed to the position shown in
A particularly preferred arrangement utilizes the layout of the blister pack as shown in the above Canadian patent where the blisters are arranged in a matrix of seven rows and four columns and in particular the first and fourth columns have the blisters thereof slightly larger in width than the blisters of the second and third columns. In this way a larger amount of medication can be contained within the first and fourth columns.
The manufacture of the holder 30 as a separate item from the container allows it to be snapped out of the container and replaced by an alternative holder. Such an alternative holder may utilize a different arrangement of blister pack with a different number of blisters and/or a different arrangement of blisters. In this way a large part of the dispensing container is generic and can be used with blister packs of different arrangements whereas the holder itself is shaped and designed to match a particular blister pack. The dimensions of the container and the dimensions of the holder are arranged so that they are sufficient to receive within the rectangular area presented blister packs of conventional sizes.
Behind the holder 30, the container portion 11 defines a chamber 40 which is generally rectangular and formed at its rear by the rear wall 23, at its front by the rear holder sheet 32, at its top by the top wall 19, at its sides by the side wall 20 and 21 and its bottom by the bottom wall 22. The chamber 40 has a sufficient width W so that medications expelled from the blisters by pushing on the blisters rearwardly can be received within the chamber 40. Thus the medications, regardless of which blister is depressed for expelling the medications, collects the medications within the chamber 40. Divider walls 23A are provided extending generally vertically and at right angles to the rear wall 23 toward the sheet 33 so as to act as guides for the medications expelled from the blisters to guide the medications downwardly to the bottom wall.
The bottom wall 22 of the chamber includes a central chute 41 with a bottom mouth 42. The chamber and the bottom wall are shaped so that any medications, regardless of the blister from where they came, fall to the bottom wall and then move by a shaping of the bottom wall into the chute 41 to collect at the mouth 42. Thus when the user depresses a blister, the medications are expelled and tumble to the bottom for collection at the mouth 42 of the chute.
The mouth 42 is closed by a flap 43 which extends across the mouth so that the medications at the mouth 42 fall onto the flap 43 and remain within the chute until the user is ready to receive the medications. The flap 43 is attached to a hinged lever 44 with a forwardly extending lower end 45 at the mouth 42. Thus the user can place a receptacle such as a cup against the bottom end of the lever and apply pressure to the lever so that it pivots rearwardly about a designed and integral hinge members 46 which pivots the flap 43 downwardly allowing the medications to be released from the mouth 42. The lever 45 is wider than the mouth 42 and has a central cupped area 47 tending to guide a circular edge of a receptacle such as a cup into the required position under the mouth 42. Thus the user, who may be infirm, can readily place the cup in the required position under the mouth 42 and can apply sufficient pressure flexing the lever and the flap about the hinge 46 to release the medications when the user is ready to receive those medications. The flap 43 and the lever 45 are preferably formed integrally, as a separate piece from the lower wall 22, from a memory plastics material so that it recovers to the closed position when the pressure by the user is released. The separate piece can be snap fit into the bottom wall at the top ends of the hinge pieces 46.
The user therefore has an extended period of time after the medications are punched from the blister to move to the next step in the process of picking up the cup or receptacle and moving it to the lever to release the medications from the chute 41. These actions can therefore be carried out as two separate steps with the user being able to concentrate initially on punching the required blister and only after this is carried out can concentrate upon collecting the medications for use.
A punch 50 is provided as a separate loose element having a handle 51 and a punching portion 52. The punching portion 52 has a front face 53 shaped to match the openings in the holding sheets and the blister pack so that the punch can be inserted into one of the openings and pushed forwardly to expel the material from the blister. The punch is a simple inexpensive item defined by the front face 53 and a side wall which extends rearwardly and outwardly in a slightly conical or pyramid shape so as to provide an effective punching action. The front face may therefore be slightly smaller than the openings, bearing in mind that some of the openings are smaller than others so that the punch face must match the smallest of the openings and thus may be significantly smaller than the largest of the openings. However the conical shape of the punch overcomes this problem by allowing the punch to pass through the blister and through the rear holding sheet slightly into the chamber 40 to ensure that the medications are punched through the foil layer and all the medications are expelled into the chamber 40.
The handle 51 is a simple flat strap which extends across the punch and can be grasped between the finger and thumb of the user to present the punch face at the openings in the blister pack. A receptacle 55 is provided for the punch so that it can be held in the container at the blister pack so that it is readily available for the punching action. In the embodiment shown the receptacle comprises a generally cylindrical opening having a shape matching the shape of the front face of the punch so that the front face can be dropped downwardly into the receptacle so that the expending side walls of the punch portion engage against the inside surface of the hollow or cylindrical receptacle leaving the handle readily exposed upwardly from the receptacle. Thus the user can simply lift the punch out of its holder, effect the punching action and immediately return the punch to its holder to be available for the next punching action.
As an alternative the punch may be simply suspended on a flexible string or elastic so that it is permanently held within the container and readily available to be pulled by the user to the required blister.
The punch therefore is an inexpensive item readily available at all times and thus avoids the difficulty of the user in punching using the tip or knuckle of a finger bearing in mind that the users tend to be infirm.
Since various modifications can be made in my invention as herein above described, and many apparently widely different embodiments of same made within the spirit and scope of the claims without department from such spirit and scope, it is intended that all matter contained in the accompanying specification shall be interpreted as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense.
