Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
131~3~
MEDICATION CARRIER AND INSERT THEREFORE
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to new and useful
improvements in medication carriers and inserts there-
fore.
Conventionally, the carrier consists of two
sheets of substantially rigid plastic hinged together
along one longtitudinal edge thereof. The front panel is
provided with a plurality of substantially rectangular
cutouts to receive corresponding pockets formed in the
insert which is also of plastic but of a much thinner
material and which is provided with a corresponding num-
ber of depressions when viewed from the rear surface
thereof, to receive the medication in the form of pills
or capsules. A relatively thin sheet of foil or othe~
sealing material is then adhesively secured to the back
of the insert covering the open bases of the recesses and
sealing the medication in place and the insert material,
where it is displaced to form the pockets or recesses,
engages through the apertures within the front panel of
the carrier so that the medication for various times of
the day and various days of the week etc. is clearly
visible in these projecting pockets, it being understood
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of course that the insert is usually made of clear
plastic.
Normally, all of the pockets are of the same
size and the carrier and insert may be designed to carry
the medication for one week, two weeks, 28 days or the
like.
The three free edges of the carrier are
normally detachably secured together by well known
press stud means or the like and corresponding dispensing
apertures in the back panel permit the relatively thin
pocket of the insert to be pushed downwardly from the
front panel thus breaking the foil and ejecting the
medication through the aperture in the back panel.
However, as is well known, a regime of medica-
tion often requires a different quantity of pills,
caplets, capsules or the like at different times of the
day. For example, often the majority of various types of
medication is required first thing in the morning with
perhaps lighter quantities at lunch time, sometimes
slightly more at supper time and again a further increase
at bedtime and because of the size of the pills, caplets,
or capsules of certain medications are relatively large,
forming the pockets of the same size as is conventional,
often presents difficulties in engaging the required
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dosage in a standard sized pocket and although larger
pockets may be found, this would necessitate an increase
in the overall size of both the carrier and the insert
which is not only expensive but undesirable due to the
inconvenience which would result in handling, storage and
the like.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the present invention there is
provided a medication dispensing carrier, said carrier
comprising in combination a substantially rectangular
front panel and a substantially rectangular rear panel
hingedly connected together along one corresponding mutual
edge thereof for detachably opening and detachably closing
the panels, said front panel having a plurality of
apertures through said front panel to receive correspond-
ing pockets formed in an insert and sealingly containing
medicaments, said rear panel having a plurality of
medication dispensing apertures formed therethrough
corresponding to the apertures in the front panel, means
to detachably secure said panels together with the
apertures in said front panel being in substantial
alignment with the dispensing apertures in said rear
panel, characterized in that said plurality of apertures
are arranged in seven horizontal rows and four vertical
column and in that said front panel has an information
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display aperture and carries first indicia indicating the
days of the week vertically spaced adjacent one side edge
of said front panel, the indicia being in alignment with
the respective horizontal rows of apertures, second
indi.cia indicating the times of day that medication should
be taken, said second indicia being horizontally spaced
adjacent the uppermost or lowermost horizontal row of
apertures in said front panel and aligned with the
respective vertical columns of apertures, the area of each
aperture in the outermost vertical columns being greater
than the area of each aperture in the two centre columns
such that the aperture area varies with the average
quantity and size of medication required at the respective
corresponding times of day said further indicia including
a pictorial representation of a time period.
The invention also provides such a carrier in
combination with an insert, saiæ insert being
substantially rectangular and having a plurality of rows
of open base~ pockets formed therein arranged in seven
horizontal rows and four vertical columns, the volume of
each pocket in the outermost vertical columns of pockets
being greater than the volume of each pocket in the two
centre columns such that the volume varies with the
average quantity and size of mediation required at the
respective correspon2ing times of day, said insert being
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situated between said front and back panels of said
carrier with said pockets extending through said
corresponding apertures in said front panel and frangible
means detachably sealing the open bases of said pockets to
selectively retain medication therein, depression of said
pockets through the apertures of said front panel breaking
the frangible means detachably securing the open bases of
said pockets thereby ejecting the medication through the
dispensing apertures in said rear panel~
The essence of this invention is therefore to
provide pockets of various sizes in order to accommodate
the varying quantities of medication normally required
during a day. In addition, various visual or pictorial
indicia may be utilized for ease of identification.
With the foregoing in view, the other advantages
as will become apparent to those skilled in the art to
which this invention relates as this specification
proceeds, the invention is herein described by reference
to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, which
includes a description of the best mode known to the
applicant and of the preferred typical embodiment of the
principles of the present invention, in which:
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.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1 is a front elevation of the carrier of
the present invention.
Figure 2 is a rear elevation of the carrier of
Figure 1.
Figure 3 is a rear side elevation of the
insert.
Figure 4 is a side view of the insert.
Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 1 illus-
trating preferred embodiment.
Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 3 illus-
trating the preferred embodiment.
In the drawings like characters of reference
indicate corresponding parts in the different figures.
DETAILED D~SCRIPTION
Proceeding therefore to describe the invention
in detail, reference character 10 shows a carrier having
a front panel 11 formed of relatively rigid plastic and
having a plurality of substantially rectangular apertures
formed therethrough and in the present embodiment, it
will be noted that there are four columns llA, llB, llC
and llD of seven apertures each although of course it
will be appreciated that more or less apertures may be
provided if desired.
For example, a larger carrier may be provided
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to carry prepackaged medication for a greater number of
days or a smaller carrier for a lesser number of days.
A larger rectangular ~perture 12 may be provid-
ed above the columns of apertures to carry information
relative to the patient, doctor or the like and a
plurality of recesses 13 may be formed along the upper
edge 14 which, in conjunction with the rear panel,
enables the carriers may hung on convenient hooks or the
like as will hereinafter be described.
The rear panel 12 of the carrier, is similar to
the front panel and is provided with a similar number of
columns of rectangular apertures 12A, 12B, 12C and 12D
having the same size and configuration as the front panel
and this rear panel is hinged along one vertical edge 16
to a corresponding vertical edge 17 of the front panel,
preferably, by means of a living hinge (shown in phantom
at 28) so that the two panels can be folded open to
receive an insert collectively designated 18 whereupon
the panels may be folded closed and detachably secured by
plastic snap fasteners or the like 19 along the other
opposite edges 16A and 17A.
The apertures 12A, 12B, 12C and 12D in the rear
panel 12 correspond to the apertures llA, llB, llC and
llD in the front panel 11, and are in registration there-
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with when the two panels are in a closed position.
The insert collectively designated 18 is made
of transparent plastic and of a thinner material than the
carrier and may be stamped out to provide a plurality of
pockets 20 matching the apertures in columns llA, llB,
llC and llD in the front panel into which the pockets
engage when the insert is placed between the two panels
of the carrier and the carrier is closed. Alternatively,
the pockets may be of transparent plastic upon a substate
of cardbord or the like.
These pockets 20, when first formed in the
plastic sheet 18 are open based as at 21 so that medica-
tion in the form of pills, capsules or the like 22 may be
placed therein whereupon a thin sheet of foil or the
like, indicated in phantom by reference character 23 in
Figure 4, is adhesively or otherwise secured over the
rear side 25 of the insert thus sealing medication within
the individual pockets 20.
However, as the various types and quantities of
medication often vary throughout the four general periods
of the day in which medication is taken, the individual
columns 26A, 26B, 26C and 26D contain pockets 20 of dif-
ferent sizes as do the panels 10 and 12 of the carrier
(llA, l~B, llC, llD and 12A, 12B, 12C, 12D).
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As an example, when medication is required
first thing in the morning before breakfast, at lunch
time, at supper time (tea time) and at bed time, differ-
ent types and/or quantities of medication are often
required with the greatest number and amount being
required at breakfast time in column 26A, a minimum
amount at lunch time in column 26B, slightly more at
supper or tea time in column 26C and slightly more again
before bed time in column 26D.
Present day medication often being relatively
large, the pockets in column 26A (and corresponding aper-
tures in panels 11 and 12 of carrier 10), are the largest
and may extend approximately 32 m/m in length and 17 m/m
in height.
The pockets in column 26B may be, for example,
25 m/m wide and 17 m/m high, the pockets in column 26C
may be 27 m/m wide and 17 m/m high and the pockets in
column 26D may be 30 m/m wide and 17 m/m high. These
four different sizes are represented in Figures 1, 2 and
3.
The apertures in the carrier panels 11 and 12
are of similar dimensions to the pockets in the insert
and the spacing between the apertures (and pockets) is
sufficient so that a standard overall dimension or sized
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carrier and insert may be utilized.
In operation, the medication for each period
and each day is placed in the various pockets 20 of the
insert whereupon the foil sheet 23 is secured on the back
of sheet to temporarily close the pockets. The insert is
then engaged between the panels of the carrier with the
pockets 20 protruding upwardly through the apertures
within the front panel and being maintained in place by
the snap engagement of the rear panel with the corres-
ponding edges of the front panel.
When medication is required, the relatively
thin plastic forming the insert enables the relevant
pocket to be pushed downwardly through the corresponding
aperture in columns llA, llB, llC or llD of the front
panel thus breaking the frangible foil cover of that
particular pocket thereby ejecting the medication through
the corresponding aperture in columns 12A, 12B, 12C or
12D in the rear panel and into a small container (not
shown) for presentation to the patient.
The various apertures in the columns may be
marked by the day of the week vertically and by the times
of medication horizontally so that a glance will show the
exact status of the dispensing of medication at any one
time, the major advantage of the present invention being
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the different sizes of the pockets for different periods
during the day at which medication should be given and
the pictorial identification 27 for each time period.
Reference to Figures 5 and 6 are similar to
Figures 1 and 3 but show the preferred embodiment. In
this embodiment, the four vertical columns llA, llB, llC
and llD are shown having different areas.
llD is shown with the largest area, (E.G. 32
m/m x 17 m/m) llA with the second largest area (E.G. 30
m/m x 17 m/m) and the intermediate apertures llB and llC
are substantially similar in area and have the third lar-
gest area (E.G. 27 m/m x 17 m/m).
Figure 3 shows the front view of the insert 18
but with the pockets 26A, 26B, 26C and 26D also varying
in volume corresponding with the apertures llA, llB, llC
and llD through which they extend when the insert in
engaged between the front and rear panels as hereinbefore
described.
Here again, the volume of pocket 26D is the
largest, pocket 26A is the second largest and pockets
26B and 26C are similar and are the third largest.
Also to be noted are the written and pictorial
indicia situated above each vertical column of apertures
in the front panel 10 of Figure 5. Over the first verti-
131~93~
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cal column on the left hand side is the word "Morning~'
surmounted by the pictorial representation of a rising
sun preferably on a yellow background.
The second vertical column from the left, is
indicated as Noon and shows the sun substantially in the
center of the rectangle preferably upon a blue back-
ground.
The third column from the left is marked either
Supper or Tea Time depending upon the country in which
the carriers are being used. This shows a setting sun on
the right hand side of the rectangle and preferably with
an orange background.
The fourth and final column from the left is
marked "Bed Time" and shows a crescent moon and a plural-
ity of stars in white preferable upon a black back-
ground.
The areas of the rectangles in which the pic-
torlal indlcla are shown, are substantially similar to
the areas of the apertures in the columns above and below
whlch the pictorial lndicla is placed.
Against each horizontal column of apertures and
preferably on the left hand side of the front panel,
there is provided further indicia preferably in the form
of a rectangle with an arrowhead indicating the hori~on-
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tal column and marked successively Sunday, Monday,Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
; It will therefore be appreciated that both
pictorial and written indicia indicate the capsule of
pocket of medication which should be taken at each parti-
cular time period and it will be appreciated that depres-
sion of the flexible transparent material forming the
pocket through the relevant aperture in the front panel,
breaks the membrane on the rear side of the insert thus
ejecting the medication through the corresponding aper-
tures in the rear panel into a cup or other receptacle.
The different sizes of the pockets enables
varying quantities and sizes of medication for the
various time periods to be incorporated in a standard
sized carrier.
The upper edge l9A may be provided with slotted
apertures 15 registering with the recesses 13 in the
front panel thus enabling the carriers to be suspended
from the carrier holders or the like.
Since various modifications can be made in my
invention as hereinabove described, and many apparently
widely dif~erent embodiments of same made within the
spirit and scope of the claims without departing from
such spirit and scope, it is intended that all matter
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¦ contained in the accompanying specification shall be
interpreted as illustrative only and not in a limiting
sense.
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