CA2939392A1

CA2939392A1 - Medication dose reminder device

Info

Publication number: CA2939392A1
Application number: CA2939392A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Rafik Batroussy
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2016-08-15
Filing date: 2016-08-15
Publication date: 2018-02-15
Also published as: CA2956271A1

Abstract

A self-adhesive medication dosage Tracker/Reminder device attached to the exterior of a medication container or a medication outer package includes a self-adhesive surface made of paper or thin carton or plastic that gets attached to the medication container, to which are attached - on the other non-adhesive side - 2 vertical parallel strips made of flexible material such as plastic. The said 2 strips each carries referencing dosage time indicia so that on one of the strips are imprinted the 7 days of the week (Monday Tuesday Wenesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday), while on the other strip are imprinted the 4 times of the day for dosage administration (Morning Noon Evening Bedtime). Each of the said strip carries a selector in the form of a plastic Frame or Window. The selector is engageably movable to each of a plurality of selectable positions referencing dosage time indicia.
The indicia may be inscribed to establish a highly customized schedule. A
specific indicium selection may be secured against inadvertent displacement of the Frame using a concavity or a groove on the upper edge and another concavity or groove on the lower edge of the plastic strips in each selectable indicium location in the following way: The engaged plastic Frame/Window would have a width slightly less that the width of the plastic strip in an unconcaved or ungrooved location, while the width of the engaged frame/window would equal the width of the plastic strip in a concavity or grooved location on any selected indicium. The frame and the scheduled dosage time period indicia form a reminder system indicating when a next dose is due or when the last dose was taken or used. This standardized device would be suitable for use with a large variety of curved wall and flat wall containers and medication outer packages.

Description

Description:
Field of the invention: The invention acts as a Task Tracker and Reminder, and it provides a simple and cost-effective visual representation of the patient's dosage schedule for a particular medication, and when the last dose of the said particular medication was taken or when the next dose is due.
Description of the Background Art:
Numerous devices, methods and systems were developed to help patients adhere to their prescribed medication regimen and prevent accidental misssing or duplicating a dose, specially among the elederly suffering from memory problems or for any patient using multiple medications at different times of the day. Some of those inventions were developed by Pharmacists while other were developed by non-Pharmacists. Cylindrical vials (for tablets and capsules dosage forms) and cynlindrical bottles (for liquid dosage forms) are the predominant dispensing containers for the said dosage forms. Other dosage forms, such as suppositories, injections and inhalers have their own packaging and dispensing containers which are usually packaged inside appropriately sized carton boxes as final and outer packages. A great similarity exists between dispensing and packaging containers available for prescription and non-prescription medications.
Producing a cost-effective reliable tracker device for the great variety of containers and packages in use can fulfill the needs of a large numer of users.
Previous attempts to fulfill these needs, but in reality failed to become widely available due to major shortcomings of undue complexity and/or high cost of manufacturing, are presented below:

1- United States patent number 3,921,568 granted to William Joseph Fish on July 25,1973 "Self Adhering Medication Time Reminder" describes a six part device mountable on a medication container. Some of these parts are made of plastic and some of metal. The rigid construction of the device allows it to be mountable only on flat surfaces such as the top of a pill bottle lid where it can be damages or disclocated when the patient tries to open the lid, and might interfer with patients suffering from hand joints pain and inflammation trying to open the vial.

2- United States patent number 4,345,541 granted to Anthony-Euclid C.
Villa-Real for a "Mono-Ring Rotary Medication Reminder" has 2 parts only and replaces the medication container existing cap. However, because medication containers have various shapes and sizes of openings, a wide variety of different sizes of the device has to be manufactured in order to be used efficiently on containers of different shapes; and even then, the device would not be suitable for use on a curved surface.

3- Unites States patent number 5,377,614 granted to Bradley M. Glazer on January 3, 1995 for a "Reminder Device for Pill Container" descrbes a device wih as many as nine components, making it relatively expensive and too complicated to be manufactured on a large scale. Glazer's device is attached to the container cap with metal nails or tacks. These tacks might stress the cap or even crack it during installation.

4- United State patent number 5,271,353 granted to Gerard Besthorne on December 21, 1993 describes a clock-like device which is attached to the side of the medicine container by means of a V-Notch cut into the back of the device and an elastic strap which encircles and grips the bottle. The device has eight parts and adds greatly to the overall size of the container, making it unbalanced and impractical to transport.

5- United States patent number 2,587,147 granted to Henry A. Guion and Evelyn Arnold. The device is a clock face with one hand turning on a metal stud or axle. This simple device has three parts but no obvious means of attachement to the container. In addition, the device is made of rigid material and would not easily adhere to a curved surface of a medication container.

6- Canadian patent number 2210084 granted to Ronald Grant Mathieson on December 16, 2003 (Lapsed July 8, 2008) "A Medication Reminder Device"
includes a hub made of paper or similar flexible material that attaches to the curved wall of a medication container, and an annular dial made of paper, or other such flexible material, that is pinned between an unfixed part of the hub and the container but is otherwise free to rotate about the hub. The dial includes interval segments, such as time of day, and the hub includes a co-operating pointer for indicating the interval segment selected.
The dial stands away from the curved surface on each side, allowing a patient to rotate the dial about the hub to indicate the time at which the last dose of medication was taken or the time at which the next dose of medication is due. Although the inventor claims that his device is simple and easy to manufacture, only the hub can be adhesively fixed to a medication container while the dial is free to rotate about the hub, which could make the dial, due to its surface standing away from the curved surface of the hub, prone to dislocation and detachement and hence the loss of the functionality of the device. In addition, the size of the device might overlap with the prescription label attached to the medication container, putting the patient at risk of not reading the copmplete use instruction indicated on the prescription label.

7- Canadian patent application number 2476087 by Harry Giewercer filed on August 12, 2004 and opened to public March 5, 2005 describing a medication dosage reminder device operating on the exterior of a medication container includes a selector member retentively engaged with an attached cooperating support member. The selector is engageably movable to each of a plurality of selectable positions referencing dosage time indicia, and where the selector and the scheduled dosage time period form a reminderindicating when a next dose is due or when the last dose was taken. The major drawback of this device is its bulkiness and the potential of hindering the prescription label as it adheres to the whole circumference of the round medication container. In addition, it's formed of more than one part which might makes its manufaturing process complex and impractical.
Description of the Invention:
(Note: all measures stated hereunder are not absolute and can be changed according to the manufacturing process requirements or as per the different commercial needs for the device).
The invention is a Medication Dosage Reminder Device constructed of three components attached together to form one device. The first component is a sheet made from flexible material such as paper, card board or plastic. This basal sheet is rectangular in shape, measuring 2 inch long and 0.5 inch wide. The basal sheet is self-adhesive on the lower surface while non-adhesive on the upper surface. The adhesive lower surface is to be applied to the medication container while the upper non-adhesive surface carries the second and the third component. The second and the third component each comprises of a strip made from plastic or any other similarly pliable material, either transparent or not, each rectangular in shape and measuring 2 inch long and 0.2 inch wide.
The second component (or the first strip) has seven indicia imprinted on it indicating the days of the week for medication administration or use in a format like "Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday", "M T W Th F Sa Su", "MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT SUN" "or similar indicia, in such a way that each indicium is separated from the one next to it by a vertical line, or can be contained in an imprinted frame on the plastic strip, or without any separation of any kind. The indicia cover the whole lenght of the plastic strip except for 0.1 inch long end portion on the start and another 0.1 inch long end portion on the end of every plastic strip.

These 0.1 inch ends are used to attach the said plastic strip to the upper non-adhesive surface of the first component using suitable adhesive or by means of a stitch or stitches or by any other means, while the rest of the plastic strip is free and not adhering to the upper surface of the first component. Inside each compartment where each said indicium is imprinted on the said plastic strip there are 2 small grooves or concavities opposing each other: one on the top edge of the plastic strip and the opposing one on the same exact level on the lower edge of the said compartment on the plastic strip. Therefore the first plastic strip carries a total of 7 upper concavities and 7 lower concavities in an opposing structure. Engaged to the plastric strip is a movable frame or window, made of a pliable material such as plastic, but not made of a material that could be permanently bent, disfigured or folded easily such as paper or carton.
The movable plastic frame has a lenght of around 0.25 inch and can entirely contour a single indicium compartment imprinted on the said plastic strip.
The said frame or window has a width of 0.18 inch, slightly narrower than the width of the plastic strip but almost equaling to the distance between the bottom point of the any concavity and the bottom point of the opposing concavity in each and any indicium compartment. The first strip is attached in such a way to be separated from the longitudinal edge of the upper surface of the first component by 0.03 inch, and parallel to the second strip and separated from it by 0.03 inch as well.
The third component (or the second strip) has four indicia imprinted on it indicating the 4 times of the day for medication administration or use in a format like "Morning Noon Supper Bedtime" or "Morning Noon Evening Bedtime" or similar indicia, in such a way that each indicium is separated from the one next to it by a vertical line, or can be contained in an imprinted frame on the plastic strip, or without any separation of any kind.
The indicia cover the whole lenght of the plastic strip except for 0.1 inch long end portion on the start and another 0.1 inch long end portion on the end of every plastic strip. These 0.1 inch ends are used to attach the said plastic strip to the upper non-adhesive surface of the first component using suitable adhesive or by means of a stitch or stitches or by any other means, while the rest of the plastic strip is free and not adhering to the upper surface of the first component. Inside each compartment where each said indicium is imprinted on the said plastic strip there are 2 small grooves or concavities opposing each other: one on the top edge of the plastic strip and the opposing one on the same exact level on the lower edge of the said compartment on the plastic strip. Therefore the second plastic strip carries a total of 4 upper concavities and 4 lower concavities in an opposing structure. Engaged to the plastric strip is a movable frame or window, made of pliable material such as plastic, but not made of a material that could be permanently bent, disfigured or folded easily such as paper or carton. The movable plastic frame has a lenght of around 0.45 inch and can entirely contain a single indicium compartment imprinted on the said plastic strip. The said frame or window has a width of 0.18 inch, slightly narrower than the width of the plastic strip but almost equaling to the distance between the bottom point of the any concavity and the bottom point of the opposing concavity in each and any indicium compartment. The second strip is attached in such a way to be separated from the longitudinal edge of the upper surface of the first component by 0.03 inch, and parallel to the first strip and separated from it by 0.03 inch as well.
Each movable plastic frame or window attached to each plastic strip is composed of a rectangular structure having 2 sides forming the lenghts, and 2 sides forming the widths, in addition, there is a third bar located in the middle of the frame and parallel to the 2 widths and on equal distance from both of the said 2 widths, and of the same lenght as the said 2 width sides and attached to the lenght sides of the frame on both ends. Each frame is engageable with the corresponding plastic strip in a way that the said plastic strip pass underneath the first width side, then above the middle bar then underneath the opposing width side. Thus each plastic frame can slide along its corresponding plastic strip lenght (except the end 0.1 inch on both sides of the said plastic strip used to attached the said plastic strip to the first component) by gently pushing or pulling it and therefore allowing the patient or the user of the medication vial to select the appropriate dosage timing indicated by the selected indicium and indicating the time of the last dose of medication ingested or used, or the time of the next dose of medication to be ingested or used. The selected location of the frame over the selected indicium is secured by means of the middle bar of the frame depressing into the 2 opposing concavities of the selected indicium compartment on the plastic strip, thus securing its location and preventing accidental movement.
Functionality: The device serves the goal of being a simple way to remind the patient about the time the patient took the previous medication dose, or the time the patient should take the next medicaction dose. The said goal can help the patient avoid confusion related to medication intake and use, like accidental duplication of a certain medication dose due to mistakenly thinking that the said certain dose was not taken, or not taking a certain dose due to mistakenly thinking that the said certain dose was already taken.
When the device is used as a reminder for the previous dose of medication intake or use, and upon the patient intaking or using a specific dose at a specific time, the patient can locate the two frames over the two plastic strips to show the indicia corresponding to the day of the week and the time of the day when the said previous dose was administered. When the time comes for the next dose, and by checking the device previously selected indicia, the patient is sure that the said previous dose was intaken or used and that it is the right time to administer the next dose, and then upon administering the next dose, the patient can relocate the two frames over the two plastic strips to show indicia of the time the said next dose was administered.
When the device is used as a reminder for the next dose of medication intake or use, and upon the patient intaking or using a specific dose at a specific time, the patient can locate the two frames over the two plastic strips to show the indicia corresponding to the day of the week and the time of the day when the next dose should be administered. When the time comes for the next dose, and by checking the device previously selected indicia, the patient is sure that the time is right to administer or use the said next dose, and then upon administering the said next dose, the patient can relocate the two.frames over the two plastic strips to show indicia of the time the following dose should be administered.
A slightly strong push or pull using fingers or an object of choice can relocate the frame from its first selected indicium to select a second indicium whenever the patient administer or use a specific dose of medication.
The simplicity of the device structure allows the device to be attached to all kinds of medication containers: round or flat; containing solid, liquid or semi-liquid pharmaceutical dosage forms; and on prescription or non prescription product containers and outer packages as well.
The Device might be used for non-pharmaceutical purposes as well as a Tracker and Reminder for any occasional or regularly repeated task.
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Variants: Some variants of this Medication Tracker/Reminder Device can exist. One of them can be composed of the second and the third component only but not the first component, which is the basal sheet. The 2 plastic stips with their engageable plastic frames can adhere to the medication container via the lower surface of their 0.1 inch extremities only, leaving the rest of the plastic strip non-adhesive to allow a free movement of the plastic frames along the said plastic strips.

Claims

Claims THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1- A medication reminder device to be attached to a medication container or to any curved or flat surface, comprising of a rectangular or longitudinal sheet made of flexible material such as paper, carton or plastic, whereas the lower surface of the said sheet is self adhesive to a surface such as medication container, outer carton package or any flat surface; and 2 plastic strips parallel to each others and attached longitudinally parallel to the lenght sides of the said sheet on the upper surface of the said sheet. Each of the said plastic strips carries imprints of indicia thereon showing timing for medication dose administration or use. Alternatively, the said indicia can be imprinted on the upper surface of the said sheet underneath the corresponding plastic strip provided that the said two plastic strips are transparent so that the said indicia can be easily seen through the said transparent plastic strips. Each said plastic strip carries a plastic frame or window slidable along the said plastic strip lenght (except the end 0.1 inch on both sides of the said plastic strip used to attached the said plastic strip to the first component) and can be pushed or pulled using finger(s) or any object of choice and used to select a specific indicium to indicate a selected time. The said selected time can be the previous medication dose time or the next medication dose time.

2- A medication reminder device according to claim 1 wherein the said sheet measurement allows the said sheet to be attached to a small medication container without overlapping the prescription label. The measurements of the outer perimeter of the said sheet are approximately 2 inch long and 0.5 inch wide.

3- A medication reminder device according to claim 2 wherein the lower surface is self adhesive and carries a thin layer of glue, adhesive or fixative and can be attached to any curved or flat surface including the outer surface of medication container or the outer surface of a medication package.

4- A medication reminder device according to claim 3 wherein the upper surface of the said sheet is non-adhesive.

5- A medication reminder device according to claim 4 wherein the upper surface of the said sheet carries 2 plastic strips attached to the said sheet parallel to each other and wherein approximately 0.1 inch of both ends of the lower surface of the said plastic strips are attached to the upper surface of the said sheet with an adhesive or with stitches, while the rest of each of the said plastic strips is free and not adhered to the upper surface of the said sheet.

6- A medication reminder device according to claim 5 wherein the first strip of the said plastic strips carries imprinted indicia showing the 7 days of the week along the entire first plastic strip lenght (except the end 0.1 inch on both sides of the said plastic strip used to attached the said plastic strip to the first component), namely "Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday" or "Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun" or similar indicia combinations. The indicia are imprinted one next to the other, separated by either vertical lines , or each imprinted in an imprinted frame, or without any separation or imprinted frames of any kind.

7- A medication reminder device according to claim 6 wherein the said first strip of the said strips carries a plastic frame.

8- A medication reminder device according to claim 7 wherein the said plastic frame is formed of 2 length sides each measuring approximately 0.25 inch and 2 width sides each measuring approximately 0.18 inch and a third bar located on equal distance from the said 2 width sides and parallel to the said 2 width sides and of the same lenght as the said 2 width sides and connecting the said 2 length sides in the middle of the said plastic frame.

9- A medication reminder device according to claims 7 and 8 wherein the said plastic strip passes underneath the first width side of the said plastic frame, then above the said third bar located in the middle of the said plastic frame and then underneath the second width side of the said plastic frame.

10- A medication reminder device according to claim 9 wherein the said plastic frame is slidable along the said plastic strip lenght (except the end 0.1 inch on both sides of the said plastic strip used to attached the said plastic strip to the first component) by means of pushing or pulling the said frame with finger(s) or using any object of choice.

11- A medication reminder device according to claim 10 wherein the said plastic frame is slidable along the said plastic strip lenght (except the end 0.1 inch on both sides of the said plastic strip used to attached the said plastic strip to th.e first component) to select a specific indicium indicating the timing of the previous medication dose or indicating the timing of the next medication dose.

12- A medication reminder device according to claim 11 wherein seven concavities or grooves exist on the upper edge of the said plastic strip and another seven concavities or grooves exist on the lower edge of the said plastic strip, in such a way that one concavity or groove is located above every indicium of the seven said indicia imprinted on the said plastic strip and one concavity or groove is located below every indicium of the seven said indicia imprinted on the said plastic strip and exactly opposite to the upper concavity or groove on each indicium location.

13- A medication reminder device according to claim 9 wherein the measurement of the width of the said plastic frame is slightly less than the measurement of the the width of the said plastic strip at any location that does not carry a said two opposite grooves or concavities.

14- A medication reminder device according to claim 9 wherein the measurement of the width of the said plastic frame is equal to the measurement of the width of the said plastic strip at any location that carries a said two opposite grooves or concavities.

15- A medication reminder device according to claim 10 wherein the said concavities or grooves will prevent accidental dislocation of the said plastic frame from its selected location showing the selected indicium of the timing of the previous or next medication dose.

16- A medication reminder device according to claims 13 and 14 wherein the said measurement of the 2 width sides of the said plastic frame, being slightly less than the measurement of the width of the said plastic strip at any location that does not carry a said two opposite grooves or concavities, will prevent accidental dislocation of the said plastic frame from its selected location showing the selected indicium of the timing of the previous or next medication dose.

17- A medication reminder device according to claim 5 wherein the second strip of the said plastic strips carries imprinted indicia showing 4 times of the day along the entire second plastic strip lenght (except the end 0.1 inch on both sides of the said plastic strip used to attached the said plastic strip to the first component), namely "Morning, Noon, Supper, Bedtime" or "Morning, Noon, Evening, Bedtime" or similar combinations. The indicia are imprinted one next to the other, separated by either vertical lines , or each imprinted in an imprinted frame, or without any separation or imprinted frames of any kind.

18- A medication reminder device according to claim 17 wherein the said second strip of the said strips carries a plastic frame.

19- A medication reminder device according to claim 18 wherein the said plastic frame is formed of 2 length sides each measuring approximately 0.45 inch and 2 width sides each measuring approximately 0.18 inch and a third bar located on equal distance from the said 2 width sides and parallel to the said 2 width sides and of the same lenght as the said 2 width sides and connecting the said 2 length sides in the middle of the said plastic frame.

20- A medication reminder device according to claim 18 and 19 wherein the said plastic strip passes underneath the first width side of the said plastic frame, then above the said third bar located in the middle of the said plastic frame and then underneath the second width side of the said plastic frame.

21- A medication reminder device according to claim 20 wherein the said plastic frame is slidable along the said plastic strip lenght (except the end 0.1 inch on both sides of the said plastic strip used to attached the said plastic strip to the first component) by means of pushing or pulling the said frame with finger(s) or using any object of choice.

22- A medication reminder device according to claim 10 wherein the said plastic frame is slidable along the said plastic strip lenght (except the end 0.1 inch on both sides of the said plastic strip used to attached the said plastic strip to the first component) to select a specific indicium indicating the timing of the previous medication dose or indicating the timing of the next medication dose.

23- A medication reminder device according to claim 11 wherein four concavities or grooves exist on the upper edge of the said plastic strip and another 4 concavities or grooves exist on the lower edge of the said plastic strip, in such a way that one concavity or groove is located above every indicium of the four said indicia imprinted on the said plastic strip and one concavity or groove is located below every indicium of the four said indicia imprinted on the said plastic strip and exactly opposite to the upper concavity or groove on each indicium location.

24- A medication reminder device according to claim 19 wherein the measurement of the width of the said plastic frame is slightly less than the measurement of the width of the said plastic strip at any location that does not carry a said two opposite grooves or concavities.

25- A medication reminder device according to claim 19 wherein the measurement of the width of the said plastic frame is equal to the measurement of the width of the said plastic strip at any location that carries a said two opposite grooves or concavities.

26- A medication reminder device according to claim 23 wherein the said concavities or grooves will prevent accidental dislocation of the said plastic frame from its selected location showing the selected indicium of the timing of the previous or next medication dose.

27- A medication reminder device according to claims 24 and 25 wherein the said measurement of the 2 width sides of the said plastic frame, being slightly less than the said measurement of the width of the said plastic strip at any location that does not carry a said two opposite grooves or concavities, will prevent accidental dislocation of the said plastic frame from its selected location showing the selected indicium of the timing of the previous or next medication dose.

28- A medication reminder device according to claim 1 serves the goal of being a simple way to remind the patient about the time the patient took the previous medication dose, or the time the patient should take the next medicaction dose. The said goal can help the patient avoid confusion related to medication intake and use, like accidental duplication of medication dose or not taking a certain dose due to mistakenly thinking that the dose was already taken.

29- A medication reminder device according to claim 1 whereas the device structure allows the device to be attached to all kinds of medication containers: round or flat, containing solid, liquid or semi-liquid pharmaceutical dosage forms, and on prescription or non prescription product containers as well.

30 - A medication reminder device according to claim 1 whereas when the device is used as a reminder for the previous dose of medication intake or use, and upon the patient intaking or using a specific dose at a specific time, the patient locate the two frames over the two plastic strips to show the indicia corresponding to the day of the week and the time of the day when that said dose was administered. When the time comes for the next dose, and by checking the device previously selected indicia, the patient is sure that the previous dose was intaken and that it is the right time to administer the next dose, and then upon administering the next dose, the patient can relocate the two frames over the two plastic strips to show indicia of the time the said next dose was administered.

31- A medication reminder device according to claim 1 whereas when the device is used as a reminder for the next dose of medication intake or use, and upon the patient intaking or using a specific dose at a specific time, the patient locate the two frames over the two plastic strips to show the indicia corresponding to the day of the week and the time of the day when the following dose should be administered. When the time comes for the following dose, and by checking the device previously selected indicia, the patient is sure that the time is right to administer or use the said following dose, and then upon administering the following dose, the patient can relocate the two frames over the two plastic strips to show indicia of the time the next dose should be administered.