Patent Grant
11701299
The present invention relates to a receptacle for illuminating a container. More specifically, the present invention is directed to a receptacle for illuminating a medicine or pill container.
Traditional medicine containers or bottles are generally used to safely store pills or medicines for patients to access in time of need. Many, especially aging patients with diminished, low or compromised vision, are prescribed medicines for various ailments that come in multiple pill containers. Some pills are taken at regular intervals, e.g., daily, after a meal or when the patient experiences one or more symptoms of a condition. With more than one pill bottle, the ability to retrieve the right pill or pills is critical to avoid the consumption of the wrong pills which can have grave effects on the patient due to an overdose of a particular medicine while not having the right pill or pills to address the condition at hand. Therefore, it is critical for a patient to retrieve one or more pills from the right container. This, however can be a challenge, especially if the patient has diminished, low or compromised vision while the patient is required to take more than one medicine and the pills come in similarly or identically-shaped and sized containers where the only distinguishing feature of one bottle from another is the label disposed on the bottle often having small prints indicating the contents of the bottle. When a medication is required under low light conditions and when the patient is not fully awake, e.g., when the patient wakes up from sleep, the patient must still ascertain the appropriate medication is being taken. It is under these conditions when the patient will most likely confuse one medication bottle for another.
Various attempts have been made in the past to try to increase and improve compliance by patients to take their medication, one of which is a reminder system which incorporates a timer with a pill bottle. U.S. Pat. No. 7,081,807 to Lai discloses an electronic pill reminder device that that is retrofitted inside a regular conventional pill bottle cap installed inside the conventional pill bottle between the bottle cap and the bottle container. When a user closes the pill bottle cap on the bottle container, an electronic timer, with a factory predetermined time interval, is activated. The timer generates alert signals to remind a user that a last pill has been taken and to remind the user to take his next dose. Although Lai's device includes among other components, an LED configured for generating a light signal to alert a patient, the LED is not configured to be disposed in a manner suitable to aid the patient in reading the prints on the label of the bottle.
There exists a need for a device suitable to be used in conjunction with a pill bottle for illuminating the label of a pill bottle such that the contents of the pill bottle can be ascertained under low light conditions.
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a receptacle for receiving a bottom portion of a container having an outer surface and a bottom surface, the receptacle including:
The at least one light transmission property can be transparency or translucency.
In accordance with the present invention, there is further provided a receptacle for receiving a bottom portion of a container having an outer surface and a bottom surface, the receptacle including:
In accordance with the present invention, there is further provided a receptacle for receiving a cap of a container having an outer surface, the receptacle including:
The container can be cylindrical or rectangular and the bottom portion of the container can be circular or rectangular. In one embodiment, the receptacle further includes a controller and a switch, the switch is functionally connected to the controller, the light emitting device is functionally connected to the controller, wherein an activation of the switch is configured to turn on the light emitting device for a period. In one embodiment, the period is about 30-90 seconds. In one embodiment, the receptacle further includes a switch configured to selectively power the light emitting device wherein an activation of the switch is configured to turn on the light emitting device. In one embodiment, the switch is a device selected from the group consisting of an on-off switch, a tilt switch, a motion sensor, an ultrasonic sensor and an infrared sensor. In one embodiment, the light emitting device includes at least one light source including at least one light emitting diode (LED). In one embodiment, the receptacle further includes a controller and a communication module, the light emitting device is functionally connected to the controller, the communication module is functionally connected to the controller, wherein the communication module is configured to enable one of an activation command and a deactivation command of the light emitting device through the controller.
An object of the present invention is to provide a receptacle to illuminate an outer surface of a medicine container so that a patient can easily read the label disposed on the medicine container under a low light condition.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a receptacle to illuminate an outer surface of a medicine container where the receptacle can be adapted to the medicine container without modifying the medicine container.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a receptacle to illuminate an outer surface of a medicine container where the receptacle can be adapted to the medicine container without modifying the medicine container and without undue effort.
Whereas there may be many embodiments of the present invention, each embodiment may meet one or more of the foregoing recited objects in any combination. It is not intended that each embodiment will necessarily meet each objective. Thus, having broadly outlined the more important features of the present invention in order that the detailed description thereof may be better understood, and that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated, there are, of course, additional features of the present invention that will be described herein and will form a part of the subject matter of this specification.
In order that the manner in which the above-recited and other advantages and objects of the invention are obtained, a more particular description of the invention briefly described above will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof which are illustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that these drawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are not therefore to be considered to be limiting of its scope, the invention will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings in which:
In one embodiment, a present receptacle can be adapted to a bottom portion of a medicine container to illuminate a label disposed thereon. In another embodiment, a present receptacle can be adapted to a cap of a medicine container to illuminate a label disposed on the medicine container, thereby providing a user an option as to the type of adaptation of the receptacle desired. Some users may prefer a present receptacle that is adaptable to a bottom portion of a medicine container as it does not interfere with the cap of the medicine container which serves as a grasping point of the cap in an effort to open or close the medicine container. Some users may prefer a present receptacle that is adaptable to the cap of a medicine container as it provides a larger surface area for the users to grasp the cap in an effort to open or close the medicine container.
In one embodiment, light rays emitted from a light emitting device of the present receptacle are transmitted via a wall of the receptacle and potentially additionally through a bottom wall of the receptacle, reducing the wall size of the receptacle for accommodating one or more light emitting devices.
The term “about” is used herein to mean approximately, roughly, around, or in the region of. When the term “about” is used in conjunction with a numerical range, it modifies that range by extending the boundaries above and below the numerical values set forth. In general, the term “about” is used herein to modify a numerical value above and below the stated value by a variance of 20 percent up or down (higher or lower).
To assemble the container 6 and receptacle 2, the bottom portion of the container 6 is inserted into the cavity 28 of the receptacle 2 until a bottom wall 18 of the container 6 meets a top surface of the bottom of the receptacle 2. The receptacle 2 is preferably constructed from a material with a surface capable of providing sufficient friction, restriction or interference between the container 6 and receptacle 2 to hold the receptacle in place. The material selected for the receptacle 2 should be chosen to optimize this friction by selecting a material having a coefficient of friction between the receptacle 2 material and the container material 6 that provides sufficient friction while not too large that it becomes difficult to install the receptacle. In other words, the friction should not preclude the insertion of the container 6 into the receptacle 2 or removal of the container 6 from the receptacle 2 when the receptacle 2 is to be separated from the container 6 to be reused on a new container. In other words, the friction should not preclude insertion of the container 6 into the receptacle 2 or removal of the container 6 from the receptacle 2 when the medication has been exhausted and that the receptacle is desired to be removed from the receptacle. It shall be seen then that the receptacle 2 can be adapted to the medicine container without modifying the medicine container and without undue effort. In order to avoid detachment of an installed receptacle, in use, the medicine container is preferably picked up by its container or cap. When the medicine container is desired to be opened, the medicine container is preferably grasped by its container only and not also the receptacle such that the cap can be twisted and pushed against the container to remove the cap from the container without affecting the installed receptacle.
Referring again to
The embodiment of the receptacle 2 shown in
The detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings that show, by way of illustration, specific aspects and embodiments in which the present disclosed embodiments may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice aspects of the present invention. Other embodiments may be utilized, and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the disclosed embodiments. The various embodiments can be combined with one or more other embodiments to form new embodiments. The detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention is defined only by the appended claims, with the full scope of equivalents to which they may be entitled. It will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that any arrangement that is calculated to achieve the same purpose may be substituted for the specific embodiments shown. This application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of embodiments of the present invention. It is to be understood that the above description is intended to be illustrative, and not restrictive, and that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. Combinations of the above embodiments and other embodiments will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon studying the above description. The scope of the present disclosed embodiments includes any other applications in which embodiments of the above structures and fabrication methods are used. The scope of the embodiments should be determined with reference to the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5575553 | Tipton | Nov 1996 | A |
| 7081807 | Lai | Jul 2006 | B2 |
| 20140240962 | Wang | Aug 2014 | A1 |
| 20200069090 | Bloom | Mar 2020 | A1 |
