AU762923B2 - Improvements in, or relating to medication dispensing folders having separate medication holders - Google Patents

Description

AUSTRALIA Regulation 3.2 Patents Act 1990

ORIGINAL*

COMPLETE SPECIFICAT ION STANDARD

PATENT-

Invention Title: Improvements in, or relating to medication dispensing folders having separate medication holders The following statement is a full description of this invention, .including the best method of performing it known to me:-- (see wi thin) I This invention relates to a re-chargeable medicationdispensing holder for providing several days of supply of medication to be taken by a patient requiring different medication doses at different times of the day. Such holders customarily take the form of a folder which is used in conjunction with a blister card sandwiched in the folder and having individual blisters arranged on rows corresponding to respective days of the week, and in columns corresponding to the times of each day at which the medication doses in a particular blister are to be taken.

The above-described way of providing a patient with a week's supply of medication requires the patient to carry the folder with him. As the folder may be about 20 cms.

long and 15 cms. wide, it is rather too bulky to fit comfortably in a pocket. In our copending published PCT International Patent Application No. W099/02118 is described a medication container which can be assembled with similar medication containers and which each contain 20 a week's supply of medication doses which are to be taken at the same time on each day of the week. If the patient is to take medication doses four times a day, which is the usual approach for administering medication, four separate containers will be used. Each container will 25 contain holders of, for example, a particular colour to 5 Spec320 o* 2 25 NMy 2001 denote the time of day the medication is to be taken. The holders take the form of cups having foil closures sealed across their mouths. If the patient is travelling away from home on a particular day, he removes the four cup corresponding to the medication doses he is to take during the day. The cups are quite small measuring only about 1 1/2 cms. diameter and having about the same depth. Four such cups containing respective medication doses to be taken at. breakfast, lunch, tea and suppertime can easily be carried by the patient in his pocket or bag. This is a much more convenient way of carrying one's medication than by having to retain a relatively large folder in one's possession.

An object of this invention is to improve the versatility of a re-chargeable, medication-dispensing holder.

In accordance with the broadest aspect of this invention, e a holder for providing several days supply of medication o oo S to a patient requiring different medication doses to be administered at different times of the day, includes: a panel as below defined and having an array of windows respectively having their positions associated with the times and days the medication is to be taken; elements located behind the panel and having apertures registering with respective windows; manually releasable .32 y

S°

o

S.

*5 5 5: Sp~c320 25 May 2001 fastening means securing the elements to the panel and operable to allow the elements to be individually released from the panel sockets defined between the elements and the panels; a set of cups each holding the medication doses to be taken at a particular time on a particular day and sealed by a manually rupturable closure; and, devices on the cups to retain them in their respective sockets when the elements are fastened to- the back of the panel so that the bodies of the cups protrude from the holder at one side; the arrangement being such that the closures are accessible to allow removal of the contents of a chosen cup while it is held in its socket, but a sealed cup can also be bodily removed from the holder by releasing the fastening means of the associated element. The term "sheet-like panel" is defined in this specification as meaning that the width and length of the panel are very much larger than its thickness.

In accordance with a narrower aspect of this invention, a medication-dispensing folder 10 stores several days' supply of a patient's medication in individually removable cups which are disposed at positions in the folder corresponding to the days and times of day when the patient's medication is to be taken and which are 25 sealed by finger-rupturable closures marked with data

C

C

C. C

C

C

C. C C C Spec-3 20 215 MiaN 2001 indicating the contents of the cups, the folder having two sheet-like panels, as above defined, folded together about a hinge axis and disconnectably-fastened to one another to trap between them the cups which have their respective closures spanning corresponding windows of one of the two panels and their bodies protruding through respective apertures in a second of the two panels; in which folder one of the two panels is divided into separate parallel elongated elements or elements corresponding to different days of the week the elementsbeing individually disconnectable from the windowed panel and turnable about the hinge to allow the cups associated with it to be individually removed from their apertures without risk of displacing any of the other cups in the folder.

The advantage of the narrower aspect of the invention is that it combines the versatility of the medication dispensing system described in our previously mentioned International Patent Application, with the ease of use 20 and reliability of a folder. If the patient wishes to retain the folder on him, he can do so and can take the medication doses at the appropriate time by rupturing the closure of the appropriate cup by way of the window in which it is displayed. On the other hand, if the patient 25 intends to journey away from home for a part of the day, SSpec320 5 25 lMa 2001 he can unfasten the element or finger corresponding to that day, and remove the individual medication cups he needs and carry them with him or her.The invention will now be described in more detail, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying largely diagrammatic drawings, in which: FIGURE 1 is perspective view of a holder for storing medication doses to be dispensed and constructed as folder shown in its open condition; FIGURE 2 is perspective view of the folder, in its closed condition and viewed from the back, a finger element of the hack panel of -a folder being shown in its open condition; and, FIGURE 3 is an englarged cross-section through part of the folder and an associated dosage container or cup, and is taken on the line and in the direction indicated by the arrows 3 3 in the enlarged scrap detail of figure 2.

Figure 1 shows a folder 1 made of stiff plastics material and having a front sheet-like panel 2 which is hinged along one edge 3 to a rear sheet-like panel 4 of the same overall shape so that the o 25 M av 2001 S •Spec320 6 two panels can be turned face-to-face and secured together by releasable interference fastenings The front panel 2 is provided with a rectilinear array of rectangular windows arranged in four columns 7 each corresponding to a different time of the day, and seven rows 8 each corresponding to a different day of the week.

The times of day and days of the week are marked at the side and above the array of windows on the hidden front face of the panel 2. A large rectangular window 10 at the top of the panel 2 is for the display of information relating to the identity of the patient.

The rear panel 4 is formed with seven parallel strip fingers 11 providing movable elements and each containing four rectangular stepped sockets 12 as shown more clearly in figure 2. A wider finger 13 is provided above the sockets 12 and contains a large opening 15 in which is r o.displayed details of the medication as taken from a doctor's prescription.

o o* The rectangular sockets 12 on the panel 4 are so arranged that each registers with one of the windows of the front panel 2 when the two panels 2 and 4 are brought together face-to-face. The fasteners 5 are associated with the oo o oo free ends of respective fingers so that each finger can go Spec32 7 25 Mav 2001 .S7 S be secured to the back of the panel 2 and released therefrom, as required.

The stepped cross-section of the sockets allows them to receive respective containers or cups 16 of the shape shown in Figure 3. Each cup 16 has an externally-flanged mouth 17 which fits into the wider portion of the stepped socket 12 while allowing the body 18 of the cup to protrude through the narrower portion of the socket as shown. The body 18, of each of the cups thus protrudes 1 from the back panel 4 when the two panels are secured together face-to-face. The size of the window 6 on the front panel is identical to the narrower portion of the socket 12,on the back of the panel so that as long as the folder is closed, the individual cups are kept in positions denoted by the day and the times of the day on which the medication doses of the cup are to be administered to the patient.

The cups are made out of rigid plastics material and are o loaded by a pharmacist in 10 accordance with the requirements of a medical prescription provided by a doctor. The cups can be polarised so that a cup associated with a particular time of day cannot be fitted a into a socket associated with a different time of the o o day. The cavity' of the cup is sufficiently large to take Spec320 8 25 ay 2001 several different medication doses which are held in place by a finger-rupturable foil strip or closure covering the mouth of the cup. The foil is strip may be provided with writing denoting the contents of the cup.

The times of the day in which the medication in the cups is to be taken may be additionally denoted by the cups being distinctively coloured.

The above described folder is used as follows.

The patient is provided with one week's supply of medication doses provided in sealed 20 cups and the markings on the front of the folder inform the patient of the days and times when the medications in the cups are to be taken. The patient takes the medication by rupturing the foil 20 of the appropriate cup positioned at the time and on the day at which the medication is to 15 be taken. By inverting the folder, the medication doses be taken. Y to the palm of in the cup with the ruptured foil, drop into the palm of :the patient.

If the patient is travelling away from home on a If the patient scorresponding particular day, he releases the fastening 5 espondin to the finger for that day and turns the finger 11 about Sne 3 as shown in figure 2. can then remove the hinge line or holders Sf ets 12 in the finger the cups or holders from the sockets STMy 2001 Spct-'^" Scontaining the medication he is required to take on that day. Unused medication cups can be retained in place in the finger 11 by securing it back in position behind the front panel 2 as shown in figure 2.

As is described in our co-pending International Patent Application and mentioned above, the cups corresponding to different times of the day may be differently coloured and appropriately marked so that they cannot be confused with one another after they have been removed from the folder. If any of the cups are unused and are to be returned to the folder, they may also be polarised.with respect to the socket to ensure they cannot be returned to an incorrect position in the finger 11.

Various modifications to the invention are possible. The folder may, for example, be formed with the stepped ket fo etaining the flanges of the cups, partly on 15 sockets for retaining the l es o sockets or panels so that the S both sides of the folded-togethe panels so bdis of he cups can protrude from either side of the bodies of the cuPs be provided folder Alternatively the stepped sockets may be provided folder. Alternativelynly so that the foce o the front panel on the rear surface of the front panel cups protrude from the windows in front o used to customarily Ss though aluminium foil is customaril ls a l th o u g h a lu it is not a completely ecologically 1. close the cups, S* *c Spct320 saifcoYproduct and a foil made of plasti~cs 0 othe satifactry bcomeavailable for providing 9 biodegradable product may becomea reerbl closures to the Cups, which ol be a pe rbe alternative to aluminium foil' S C320 f SM y

Claims (6)

1. A rechargeable hoder for providing several days suppl of medication to a patient requiring s u p p l y medication doses to be administered at different times of the day, the holder including: a panel in the form of a support sheet having an array of windows arranged in transverse tros or column and respectively having their itions o te with the times and days the medicaion to beving taken; elements located behind the panel and having a set of apertures regiterin with a respective windows; manually releasable fastening means securing the elements to the panel and operable t allow the lements to be individually o p e r a b le from the panel; sockets defined between the released 0o he pane; so for cups the panel; a set of locations for cups elements a be taken at a each holding the medication doses to be taken at a each holding and sealed by a particular time on a particular d retain and devices manually rupturabl closure an ee en the cups in their respective sockets en e the cuplements are fastened to the back of the panel so that the bodies of the cups protrude from the holder at one side; the arrangement being such that the closures are accessible to allow removal of the closures held in its contents of a chosen cup while it is held 25 25 h12v 2001 12 Spec2l socket but a sealed cup can also be bodily removed from the holder by releasing the fastening means of the associated element.

2. A holder as set forth in claim I, in which the 2 A h o l d e r a s s each hinged to elements comprise strip-like fingers each hinged to the panel and having apertures which register with the windows of the panel.

3 A holder as set forth in claim 2, in which one finger is provided for each day of the week and the hinge provided at one end of the finger.

4. A holder as set forth in any one of the preceding claims, in which each socket is of stepped shape and ach cup la has periheral external flange shaped to be trapped in a wider portion of the stepped socket when the finger is fastened aainst the back of the panel.

SA holder as set forth i any one of the preceding A holder as sranged in four claims, in which the windows are arranged in columns and seven rows. folder for storing several 20

6. A medication-dispensing folder for i Sof a patient' medication in days. supply M.'y 2001 13 Spc 320 which are disposed a t individually removable cups hih re days an positions in the folder corresponding to t medication is to be times of day when the patient's medication r be taken and which are sealed by finger-rutturale 5 closures marked with data concerning the contents of closures markefolded together Scups the folder having two parts folded together about a hinge axis and disconnectably-fastened to about. which have one another to trap between them the cups which have her respectve closures spanning the windows of one theirand their bodies protruding through of the two panels and their bodies protrudin t inhrogh in a second of the two parts; respective apertures in d i v i d e d into which folder one of the two parts is divided into w h i c h f o l d e r one a each c o n t a ini n g separate parallel ngated eee e nta of Swindows corresponding to different days a line o the elements being the week respectively, he second part Sv disconnectable from the second part individually of windows which is formed by a sheet having an array rangedin transversely extending rows an arranged inhe hinge to allow each elem being turnable about the hinge to allo "each element being e removed fro their a ciated with it to be removed from the cups assocthe s rik of displacing any o apertures without risk of cups in the folder. 2) M:,y 2001 so Spec320 14 *O SA folder as set forth in claim 6, in which the cups have eer nale flanged mouths and are held in place have externally ouths being trapped between by the flanges of the omouth being tapelder. opposed surfaces of respective partsf the folder SA folder as set forth in claim 6, in which the cups have polarising means to ensure that each can only be nul fited ino a socket located at a poiti Snu91y fit t e d i n t o a h day when t h e dose contained w which corresponds to the time of the day when the medication dose contained in the cup administered to the patient SA folderas claimed in any one of claims 6 to 8, in which the two parts e folder are respectivelY of ich t h e t o P t s he and are hinged together about an rectangular h provides the hinging axis for each Shich also provides e comprise hiaxish respectively comprise elements h the of the elementsns individua movable strip Portions Sindividually parts. oI 0 oooo °o Spocoo A folder as claimed in claim 1, arranged and adapted to be used substantially as described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Dated this 14th. Day of April 2003. MANREX PTY. LTD. By:. Applicant s Patent At ney) S16 25 My 2001 *ee e Spcco20 16 May2001