Patent Application
20120191051
A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever. Further, no reference to third party patents or articles made herein is to be construed as an admission that the present invention is not entitled to antedate such material by virtue of prior invention.
This invention relates to indicators and in particular analog visual indicators used to dispense a measured amount of liquid.
Analog indicators have existed since time immemorial. The hour glass, for example, uses sand or fluid which, influenced by the weight of gravity, moves from one reservoir to another by passing through a small aperture therebetween. Another example of an ancient analog indicator is the “Clepsydra”, as illustrated in “Horloges Anciennes” by Richard Mühe and Horand M. Vogel, French Edition, Office du Livre, Fribourg, 1978, page 9.
Referring to
Referring to
These prior devices are cumbersome, requiring significant or dedicated space for indicating the value, lack accuracy or only are too costly for many users.
What is needed is a visual indicator that provides a quickly read indication of a measured dosage value and is inexpensive to manufacture.
A visual indicator display device includes a bracelet, a transparent capillary chamber, and a displacement member. The transparent capillary chamber is matched to an indicia and has a primary length and a width less than the primary length. The displacement member is functionally disposed at one end of the capillary chamber and is responsive to a measureable input for moving a fluid contained therein a defined amount.
An object of the invention is to provide a visual indicator which takes up minimal space.
Another object of the invention is to provide a flexible visual indicator which adapts to requirements which do not readily permit a straight, rigid indicator, such as when such indicator is worn on a wrist, ankles, a head or around or along some part of human body, or on objects such as clothes and sporting articles.
Another object of the invention is to provide an aesthetic, comfortable, reliable and intellectually attractive indicator.
Another object of the invention is to provide a dispenser of fluids such as drugs, medication, ointment, oils or perfumes.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, dimensions may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help improve understanding of the invention and its embodiments. Furthermore, when the terms ‘first’, ‘second’, and the like are used herein, their use is intended for distinguishing between similar elements and not necessarily for describing a sequential or chronological order. Moreover, relative terms like ‘front’, ‘back’, ‘top’ and ‘bottom’, and the like in the description and/or in the claims are not necessarily used for describing exclusive relative position. Those skilled in the art will therefore understand that such terms may be interchangeable with other terms, and that the embodiments described herein are capable of operating in other orientations than those explicitly illustrated or otherwise described.
The following description is not intended to limit the scope of the invention in any way as they are exemplary in nature and serve to describe the best mode of the invention known to the inventors as of the filing date hereof. Consequently, changes may be made in the arrangement and/or function of any of the elements described in the disclosed exemplary embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
A visual indicator display device includes a bracelet, a transparent capillary chamber, and a displacement member. The transparent capillary chamber is matched to an indicia and has a primary length and a width less than the primary length. The displacement member is functionally disposed at one end of the capillary chamber and is responsive to a measureable input for moving a fluid contained therein a defined amount.
A suitable fluid may be an oil, a lotion, or a liquid such as a drug or other medication. The displacement member is attached to one end of the capillary chamber which is responsive to a measureable input for displacing the indicator surface thus allowing the user to read a measurement from the indicia.
Referring to
Further, optionally, an optical fiber and an LED light source illuminate the fluid 28 in the reservoir 12 in a known manner.
A potentiometer 56 regulates the voltage setting to a displacement control system 60. The displacement control system 60 includes an incremental position sensor 62, for example, the tracker NSE-5310 (the specification of which is attached as Appendix A to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/235,725, filed 21 Aug. 2009, incorporated herein by reference hereto) located adjacent the plunger 32. This control system 60 includes encoding for direct digital output, in which a hall element array on the chip 62 is used to derive the incremental position of an external magnetic strip 64 placed adjacent the chip at a distance of approximately 0.3 mm (typically), the magnetic strip 64 being attached to the plunger 32 in order to translate therewith. This sensor array detects the ends of the magnetic strip to provide a zero reference point.
In an alternate embodiment, the power supply 22 can be solar cells, a wound watch spring, movement captured by an oscillating mass (such as used in automatic watches), or a pneumatic system storing compressed air.
To return the fluid 28 to an initial position, such as 6:00 AM, for example, the plunger 32 may be returned by a return spring 40 or a magnetic device (not shown). Other options are conceivable, of course, which include the return line 42, which allows simple reversing of the motor 34 to reset the indicator 10.
A suitable motor 34 is referred to by its trademark SQUIGGLE™, available from New Scale Technologies, Inc. of New York, USA.
Referring now to
Referring now to
In a preferred embodiment, the number of turns of the linear drive 14′ is recorded and controlled so as to ensure the proper dosage. The electronics are powered by the power supply 22′. Alternatively, the position of the piston 35 can be controlled in the manner as described in the above embodiment shown in
In the embodiment using an external magnetic strip (having a magnetic characteristic where the magnetic field generated thereby increases or decreases along the length of the cartridge) attached to or integrated on the cartridge 12′, the computer controller can use this to regulate the dosage administered to the patient.
As with the prior embodiment, the power supply 22′ can be a battery, solar power, a wound watch spring, an oscillating mass (such as used in automatic watches), or a pneumatic system storing compressed air,
After a cartridge 12′ is fully dispensed, a button (not shown) on the housing 13 can be activated to retract the plunger 32′. The piston 35 remains stationary to prevent any aspiration of fluid from the patient, should the cannula still be connected to the body. Once retracted, the device 10″ can be reloaded with a replacement cartridge 12′.
As with the earlier embodiment, a suitable motor 34 is the SQUIGGLE™ motor already described.
Note, that the housing 13 can be fitted with a watch face 39 and corresponding movement (not shown), in order that the drug administration device can also serve as a wrist watch.
Optionally, the threaded rod 33′ of the drug administration device 10″ is enclosed in a tube 41 which connects on the side 13″ of the housing 13′ and wraps around the wearer's wrist to reconnect to the side 13′ of the housing, giving the visual effect of a two or multi-banded wrist watch.
It is foreseen that the cartridge 12′ used in such drug administration device 10″ would include a chemical litmus-type indicator which would indicate whether the insulin or other drug is suitable for continued injection. This indication could be expressed by an element of the cartridge 12′ changing color, from a color that indicates the fluid is suitable for use, to another color that indicates the fluid is no longer suitable for use.
Still further, the device 10″ can be used as a perfume dispenser by replacing the cannula with an aspirating head which can be manually (via a dispenser head or button) or automatically (via the dosage control of the invention) operated.
Referring now to
The cam 152 is formed resembling a nautilus spiral so as to progressively move the piston shaft 160 and therefore the piston head 166 to displace a determined amount of fluid 28 into the capillary channel 120, at a rate which will indicate the time accurately. Of course, a similar determined amount of drug or perfume may be administered to living organism in this manner as well
Referring now to
It should be noted that the invention 10, 10′, 10″ may be made exclusive of all electronics (such as would typically be the case where the invention is positioned in the luxury watch market). In such embodiment, the power source 22″ may be movement from an oscillating mass, which winds a watch spring, which powers a gear train, for which the rate of rotation is controlled by a pendulum-like regulator or oscillating disk (e.g., a balancier/turbion), which has a characteristic period, as known in the art.
Other embodiments are shown and described in appendices attached to the priority filings, which is incorporated herein in this written description. Further, this application incorporates by reference the contents of PCT Appl. No. PCT/EP2010/______ of the same applicant, entitled FLUID INDICATOR, filed on the 20 of Aug. 2010, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference thereto and relied upon.
It should be appreciated that the particular implementations shown and described herein are representative of the invention and its best mode and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention in any way. Furthermore, any connecting lines shown in the various figures contained herein are intended to represent exemplary functional relationships and/or physical couplings between various elements. It should be noted that many alternative or additional physical connections or functional relationships may be present and apparent to someone of ordinary skill in the field.
Moreover, the apparatus, system and/or method contemplates the use, sale and/or distribution of any goods, services or information having similar functionality described herein.
The specification and figures are to be considered in an illustrative manner, rather than a restrictive one and all modifications described herein are intended to be included within the scope of the invention claimed, even if such is not specifically claimed at the filing of the application. Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be determined by the claims appended hereto or later amended or added, and their legal equivalents rather than by merely the examples described above. For instance, steps recited in any method or process claims should be construed as being executable in any order and are not limited to the specific order presented in any claim. Further, the elements and/or components recited in any apparatus claims may be assembled or otherwise operationally configured in a variety of permutations to produce substantially the same result as the present invention. Consequently, the invention is not limited to the specific configuration recited in the claims.
Benefits, other advantages and solutions mentioned herein are not to be construed as necessary, critical, or essential features or components of any or all the claims.
As used herein, the terms “comprises”, “comprising”, or any variation thereof, are intended to refer to a non-exclusive listing of elements, such that any process, method, article, composition or apparatus of the invention that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements recited, but may also include other elements described in this specification. The use of the term “consisting” or “consisting of” or “consisting essentially of” is not intended to limit the scope of the invention to the enumerated elements named thereafter, unless otherwise indicated. Other combinations and/or modifications of the above-described elements, materials or structures used in the practice of the present invention may be varied or otherwise adapted by the skilled artisan to other design without departing from the general principles of the invention.
The patents and articles mentioned above are hereby incorporated by reference herein, unless otherwise noted, to the extent that the same are not inconsistent with this disclosure.
Other characteristics and modes of execution of the invention are described in the appended claims.
Further, the invention should be considered as comprising all possible combinations of every feature described in the instant specification, appended claims, and/or drawing figures which may be considered new, inventive and industrially applicable.
Multiple variations and modifications are possible in the embodiments of the invention described here. Although certain illustrative embodiments of the invention have been shown and described here, a wide range of modifications, changes, and substitutions is contemplated in the foregoing disclosure. While the above description contains many specifics, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the invention, but rather as exemplifications of one or another preferred embodiment thereof. In some instances, some features of the present invention may be employed without a corresponding use of the other features. In addition, the term “flexible” as used herein encompasses the concept of variable, in that a variable volume reservoir should be considered a flexible chamber, even if no individual components flex. Accordingly, it is appropriate that the foregoing description be construed broadly and understood as being given by way of illustration and example only, the spirit and scope of the invention being limited only by the claims which ultimately issue in this application.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/235,725, filed 21 Aug. 2009 and U.S. Provisional Application 61/349,897, filed 31 May 2010, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference thereto.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/IB10/02055 | 8/20/2010 | WO | 00 | 4/17/2012 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61235725 | Aug 2009 | US | |
| 61349897 | May 2010 | US |
