Patent Application
20230329976
This disclosure relates in general to the field of medication dosage tracking apparatuses and, more specifically, to a medication dosage tracking apparatus that is removably attachable to a medication container.
Medication, which is defined herein to include substances (including but not limited to prescription medication, vitamins and other nutritional supplements, and over-the-counter (OTC) medications), taken by or administered to an individual in the form of pills, tablets, capsules, powders, and/or liquids, to improve the health of an individual, is a critical daily support element for a large segment of the population. Medications may be administered orally or by other means, such as suppositories or injections, for example.
Many medications are more effective, and sometimes only effective, if taken precisely at the time or times specified in a prescription. Tracking mechanisms can be helpful in this regard; however, tracking mechanisms may themselves be difficult to keep track of. Moreover, if an individual is using multiple tracking mechanisms, it may be difficult to ascertain to which medication or supplement a particular tracking mechanism relates.
To provide a more complete understanding of the present disclosure and features and advantages thereof, reference is made to the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying figures, in which like reference numerals represent like elements:
The following disclosure describes various illustrative embodiments and examples for implementing the features and functionality of the present disclosure. While particular components, arrangements, and/or features are described below in connection with various example embodiments, these are merely examples used to simplify the present disclosure and are not intended to be limiting. It will of course be appreciated that in the development of any actual embodiment, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made to achieve the developer's specific goals, including compliance with system, business, and/or legal constraints, which may vary from one implementation to another. Moreover, it will be appreciated that, while such a development effort might be complex and time-consuming; it would nevertheless be a routine undertaking for those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure.
In the specification, reference may be made to the spatial relationships between various components and to the spatial orientation of various aspects of components as depicted in the attached drawings. However, as will be recognized by those skilled in the art after a complete reading of the present disclosure, the devices, components, members, apparatuses, etc. described herein may be positioned in any desired orientation. Thus, the use of terms such as “above”, “below”, “upper”, “lower”, “top”, “bottom”, or other similar terms to describe a spatial relationship between various components or to describe the spatial orientation of aspects of such components, should be understood to describe a relative relationship between the components or a spatial orientation of aspects of such components, respectively, as the components described herein may be oriented in any desired direction. When used to describe a range of dimensions or other characteristics (e.g., time, pressure, temperature, length, width, etc.) of an element, operations, and/or conditions, the phrase “between X and Y” represents a range that includes X and Y.
Further, the present disclosure may repeat reference numerals and/or letters in the various examples. This repetition is for the purpose of simplicity and clarity and does not in itself dictate a relationship between the various embodiments and/or configurations discussed. Example embodiments that may be used to implement the features and functionality of this disclosure will now be described with more particular reference to the accompanying figures.
In particular embodiments, a retention member 106 is provided on one end 108 of strap 104 and includes a slot 110 for receiving an opposite end 112 of strap 104. End 112 may be shaped such that it is easily introduced into and subsequently pulled through slot 110 to a desired location on strap 104. In particular embodiments, strap 104 is wrapped around a medication container prior to introducing end 112 into slot 110, at which point, end 112 may be pulled through slot 110 until retention mechanism 106 is at the desired location (i.e., until strap 104 is wrapped tightly around medication container).
In certain embodiments, strap 104 may comprise a material such as silicone, rubber, plastic, or the like, for example, and ribs 114 may be provided along a portion of a length of strap 104 (e.g., proximate end 112) and positioned an appropriate distance from one another for retaining the retention member 106 at a desired location along the length of strap 104. It will be recognized that other means of tightening and retaining the strap at a desired tightness may be employed without departing from the spirit or scope of the disclosure. For example, retention mechanism 106 may comprise a rachet type of clasp for retaining 104 in place around a container, in which case ribs 114 could be eliminated and strap 104 could comprise fabric.
Referring now also to
In particular embodiments, hour wheel 302 may be rotated about axis 312 by applying rotational force to outer edge of hour wheel 302. Ridges may be provided on the outer edge of hour wheel 302 to aid in the application of sufficient rotational force thereto. Characters representing hours of a day (e.g., 0, 1, 2, . . . 24, or 1 AM, 2 AM, 3 AM . . . 12 PM) may be provided around the periphery of hour wheel 302 on the front surface thereof. In operation, a user can select an hour to be displayed through a window 314 of hour face 304 by rotating hour wheel 302 relative to hour face 304 until the desired hour is visible through window 314. Similarly, in particular embodiments, day wheel 306 may be rotated about axis 312 by applying rotational force to outer edge of day wheel 306. Ridges may be provided on the outer edge of day wheel 306 to aid in the application of sufficient rotational force thereto. Characters representing days of the week (e.g., SUN, MON, TUE, . . . SAT) may be provided around the periphery of day wheel 306 on the front surface thereof. In operation, a user can select a day to be displayed through a window 316 of hour face 308 and a window 318 of face plate 310 by rotating day wheel 306 relative to those components until the desired day is visible through window 316.
As shown in
At least one embodiment is disclosed, and variations, combinations, and/or modifications of the embodiment(s) and/or features of the embodiment(s) made by a person having ordinary skill in the art are within the scope of the disclosure. Alternative embodiments that result from combining, integrating, and/or omitting features of the embodiment(s) are also within the scope of the disclosure. Where numerical ranges or limitations are expressly stated, such express ranges or limitations should be understood to include iterative ranges or limitations of like magnitude falling within the expressly stated ranges or limitations (e.g., from about 1 to about 10 includes, 2, 3, 4, etc.; greater than 0.10 includes 0.11, 0.12, 0.13, etc.). For example, whenever a numerical range with a lower limit, RI, and an upper limit, Ru, is disclosed, any number falling within the range is specifically disclosed. In particular, the following numbers within the range are specifically disclosed: R=RI+k*(Ru—RI), wherein k is a variable ranging from 1 percent to 100 percent with a 1 percent increment, i.e., k is 1 percent, 2 percent, 3 percent, 4 percent, 5 percent, . . . 50 percent, 51 percent, 52 percent, . . . , 95 percent, 96 percent, 95 percent, 98 percent, 99 percent, or 100 percent. Moreover, any numerical range defined by two R numbers as defined in the above is also specifically disclosed. Use of the term “optionally” with respect to any element of a claim means that the element is required, or alternatively, the element is not required, both alternatives being within the scope of the claim. Use of broader terms such as comprises, includes, and having should be understood to provide support for narrower terms such as consisting of, consisting essentially of, and comprised substantially of. Accordingly, the scope of protection is not limited by the description set out above but is defined by the claims that follow, that scope including all equivalents of the subject matter of the claims. Each and every claim is incorporated as further disclosure into the specification and the claims are embodiment(s) of the present invention. Also, the phrases “at least one of A, B, and C” and “A and/or B and/or C” should each be interpreted to include only A, only B, only C, or any combination of A, B, and C. The terms “substantially,” “close,” “approximately,” “near,” and “about,” generally refer to being within +/−5-20% of a target value based on the context of a particular value as described herein or as known in the art. Similarly, terms indicating orientation of various elements, e.g., “coplanar,” “perpendicular,” “orthogonal,” “parallel,” or any other angle between the elements, generally refer to being within +/−5-20% of a target value based on the context of a particular value as described herein or as known in the art.
The diagrams in the FIGURES illustrate the architecture, functionality, and/or operation of possible implementations of various embodiments of the present disclosure. Although several embodiments have been illustrated and described in detail, numerous other changes, substitutions, variations, alterations, and/or modifications are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure, as defined by the appended claims. The particular embodiments described herein are illustrative only and may be modified and practiced in different but equivalent manners, as would be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the teachings herein. Those of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that the present disclosure may be readily used as a basis for designing or modifying other embodiments for carrying out the same purposes and/or achieving the same advantages of the embodiments introduced herein. For example, certain embodiments may be implemented using more, less, and/or other components than those described herein. Moreover, in certain embodiments, some components may be implemented separately, consolidated into one or more integrated components, and/or omitted. Similarly, methods associated with certain embodiments may be implemented using more, less, and/or other steps than those described herein, and their steps may be performed in any suitable order.
Numerous other changes, substitutions, variations, alterations, and modifications may be ascertained to one of ordinary skill in the art and it is intended that the present disclosure encompass all such changes, substitutions, variations, alterations, and modifications as falling within the scope of the appended claims.
One or more advantages mentioned herein do not in any way suggest that any one of the embodiments described herein necessarily provides all the described advantages or that all the embodiments of the present disclosure necessarily provide any one of the described advantages. Note that in this specification, references to various features included in “one embodiment”, “example embodiment”, “an embodiment”, “another embodiment”, “certain embodiments”, “some embodiments”, “various embodiments”, “other embodiments”, “alternative embodiment”, and the like are intended to mean that any such features are included in one or more embodiments of the present disclosure but may or may not necessarily be combined in the same embodiments.
As used herein, unless expressly stated to the contrary, use of the phrase “at least one of,” “one or more of” and “and/or” are open ended expressions that are both conjunctive and disjunctive in operation for any combination of named elements, conditions, or activities. For example, each of the expressions “at least one of X, Y and Z”, “at least one of X, Y or Z”, “one or more of X, Y and Z”, “one or more of X, Y or Z” and “A, B and/or C” can mean any of the following: 1) X, but not Y and not Z; 2) Y, but not X and not Z; 3) Z, but not X and not Y; 4) X and Y, but not Z; 5) X and Z, but not Y; 6) Y and Z, but not X; or 7) X, Y, and Z. Additionally, unless expressly stated to the contrary, the terms “first,” “second,” “third,” etc., are intended to distinguish the particular nouns (e.g., blade, rotor, element, device, condition, module, activity, operation, etc.) they modify. Unless expressly stated to the contrary, the use of these terms is not intended to indicate any type of order, rank, importance, temporal sequence, or hierarchy of the modified noun. For example, “first X” and “second X” are intended to designate two X elements that are not necessarily limited by any order, rank, importance, temporal sequence, or hierarchy of the two elements. As referred to herein, “at least one of,” “one or more of,” and the like can be represented using the “(s)” nomenclature (e.g., one or more element(s)).
In order to assist the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and, additionally, any readers of any patent issued on this application in interpreting the claims appended hereto, Applicant wishes to note that the Applicant: (a) does not intend any of the appended claims to invoke paragraph (f) of 35 U.S.C. Section 112 as it exists on the date of the filing hereof unless the words “means for” or “step for” are specifically used in the particular claims; and (b) does not intend, by any statement in the specification, to limit this disclosure in any way that is not otherwise reflected in the appended claims.
This application is a continuation and claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 of U.S. application Ser. No. 17/335,497, filed on Jun. 1, 2021, entitled “PILL REMINDER MECHANISM.” The disclosure of the prior application is considered part of and is incorporated in its entirety by reference in the disclosure of this application.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 17335197 | Jun 2021 | US |
| Child | 18339617 | US |
