CN110996880B

CN110996880B - Tablet dispenser

Info

Publication number: CN110996880B
Application number: CN201880050381.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: A·泽特斯托姆
Original assignee: Medimi AB
Current assignee: Medimi AB
Priority date: 2017-06-08
Filing date: 2018-04-27
Publication date: 2022-11-04
Anticipated expiration: 2038-04-27
Also published as: CN110996880A; CA3066607A1; EP3634358C0; EP3634358B1; JP2020522371A; WO2018226136A1; CA3066607C; EP3634358A1; KR20200031608A

Abstract

A tablet dispenser (10) is provided. The tablet dispenser (10) comprises a body (11), the body (11) having a base (11 a) for resting on an underlying foundation when in use. The main body (11) comprises a tablet dropping channel (12) extending in a direction angled (#) with respect to a base plane formed by the base (11 a) and a support structure (13) for accommodating at least two tablet cassette units stacked one on top of the other with respect to the base (11 a). Each pill case unit has an opening (158) allowing tablets to be released from the associated pill case unit (15) into the tablet drop channel (12) by gravity, tilting each pill case unit (15) at an angle (α) relative to the base plane.

Description

Tablet dispenser

Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to medical dispensers, and in particular to a pill box for personal or hospital use and a multi-box medical pill dispenser.

Background

Medical tablet dispensers are used in both clinics and home care in an attempt to improve compliance and monitoring with medications. Compliance is improved by only allowing the patient to dispense the correct number and type of tablets according to a dosing regimen accessible to the medical tablet dispenser. Since many patients require several types of medication, it is highly desirable to provide a tablet dispenser that is capable of dispensing different types of medication from a single tablet dispenser.

Although many solutions are known, generally such multi-tablet type dispensers are rather mechanically complex in order to allow dispensing of different types of tablets from a single unit.

It would be advantageous to improve a tablet dispenser unit that is less complex than conventional units and provides improved robustness.

Disclosure of Invention

It is an object of the present invention to at least alleviate the above problems.

According to one aspect, a tablet dispenser is provided. The tablet dispenser unit comprises a body having a base for resting on an underlying foundation in use. The body comprises a tablet dropping channel extending in a direction angled with respect to a base plane formed by the base. Further, the body includes a support structure for housing at least two pill cassette units stacked one on top of the other relative to the base, each pill cassette unit having an opening that allows tablets to be released from the associated pill cassette unit into the tablet dropping path by gravity, tilting each pill cassette unit at an angle relative to the base plane.

According to another aspect, a pill case unit is provided. The pill cassette unit includes a compartment member having a cylindrical cover plate with an inner wall disposed thereon, wherein a plurality of flexible flanges are disposed on the cylindrical cover plate between the inner wall and an outer boundary of the cover plate. Furthermore, the tablet cassette unit comprises an associated socket for receiving the compartment member in use, wherein the socket comprises a cylindrical socket base plate and an outer wall extending at least partially along an outer boundary of the socket base plate, the outer wall having an inner diameter larger than an outer diameter of the cover plate, thereby allowing the socket to surround the compartment member in use, such that two adjacent flanges, the inner wall, the cover plate, the outer wall and the socket base plate form a tablet compartment for holding at least one tablet. The socket base plate comprises means for detachably attaching the cylindrical inner wall of the associated compartment member to the socket such that the compartment member, when attached, is allowed to rotate relative to the socket, thereby allowing each tablet compartment and the opening to be rotationally aligned.

Drawings

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be better understood by the following illustrative and non-limiting detailed description of preferred embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Figures 1a and 1b show isometric views taken from different perspectives of a tablet dispenser as provided herein, respectively;

figures 2a to 2d show isometric views, respectively, taken from different perspectives of a tablet dispenser as provided herein, with the outer cover removed;

figures 3a and 3b show perspective views taken from different perspectives of a pill case unit as provided herein, respectively;

figures 4a and 4b show perspective views taken from different perspectives of the pill case unit of figures 3a and 3b, respectively, when assembled and mounted into a case receiving member of an associated support structure;

figures 5a to 5c show isometric views of an alternative socket of the pill box unit of figures 3a to 4b respectively; and

fig. 6a to 6c show isometric views of the bottom of the tablet dispenser unit at different stages when a cup is introduced into the tablet dispenser unit, respectively.

Detailed Description

Referring to fig. 1a and 1b, a tablet dispenser 10 is provided. The tablet dispenser comprises a body 11, the body 11 having a base 11a for resting on a underlying foundation in use. The body 11 comprises a tablet dropping channel 12, which tablet dropping channel 12 extends in a direction at an angle β relative to the base plane formed by the base 11a. In normal use, the base plane is aligned with a horizontal top surface (e.g. a table or desk) whereby the tablet dropping channel extends in a direction having a component on the vertical axis of the plane. The body 11 also includes a support structure 13 for receiving at least two pill cassette units 15 stacked on top of each other relative to the base 11a. Each tablet cassette unit is provided with an opening 158, which opening 158 allows tablets stored in the tablet compartments of the tablet cassette unit 15 to be released into the tablet dropping channel 12 by gravity. To this end, each pill case unit 15 is inclined at an angle α relative to the base plane. Thus, the drop channels and the pill cassette units are each arranged at an angle relative to the base plane.

Preferably, the angle of inclination a (best seen with respect to the cross-sectional view of figure 2 a) of each cassette unit with respect to the base plane is less than the angle β between the extension of the drop chute and the extension of the base plane. In some cases, the tablet drop channels extend approximately orthogonally with respect to the base plane. As shown in fig. 2a to 2d, the cover of the body has been removed to better show the internal structure of the tablet dispenser.

As shown in the bottom of fig. 1b, the tablet dispenser may comprise a power connector comprising an optional communication interface, such as ethernet, USB, connecting the tablet dispenser to an external device for external monitoring, remote updating of dosage regimen, etc. As shown in fig. 1a, a display and a dispensing button for providing useful information to the user may also be provided on the tablet dispenser unit. Referring to fig. 3a to 4b, each of the pill case units 15 includes a compartment member 151, the compartment member 151 having a cylindrical cover plate 152, an inner wall 153 being disposed on the cover plate 152. A plurality of flexible flanges 154 are disposed on cylindrical cover plate 152 between inner wall 153 and the outer boundary of cover plate 152. Thus, a flange 154 extends radially from the inner wall 153 to the outer boundary of the cover plate 152, as best shown at the top of FIG. 3 a. In addition, each pill case unit 15 further includes an associated receptacle 155 for removably receiving the compartment member 151 prior to use. The socket 155 includes a cylindrical socket base plate 156 and an outer wall 157 that extends at least partially along an outer boundary of the socket base plate 156. The opening 158 may be provided in the outer wall 157 at a portion of the outer wall 157, as best shown in fig. 3a and 3 b. The inner diameter of the outer wall 157 is greater than the outer diameter of the cover plate 152, thereby allowing the receptacle 155 to surround the compartment member 152 when assembled. When assembled, a tablet compartment for holding at least one tablet is formed between two adjacent flanges 154, inner wall 153, cover plate 152, outer wall 157 and socket base plate 156. As the compartment member 151 comprises a plurality of flanges 154, a plurality of tablet compartments are formed in the space between the compartment member 151 and the respective receptacles 155 when assembled.

Each pill box unit may be pre-filled with pills, for example, before reaching the end consumer. The cassettes may be assembled by placing the tablets in the relevant space between the two flanges 154 of the compartment member 151 and, upon completion, lightly pressing the associated socket 151 against the compartment member to pre-fill each cassette unit. Identification means indicating the type of tablets in the tablet cassette unit, such as a QR code, an ID tag, a label, etc., may be provided on the outside of the outer wall 157. Such identification means may be read prior to use of the tablet dispenser so that the tablet dispenser knows the type of medicament stored in each cartridge unit. The identification device (e.g., QR code) may contain information such as patient ID, drug ID, number of tablets, start/end date of drug treatment, cassette serial number, and the like.

As shown in fig. 3a and 3b, the inner wall 153 may have a cylindrical shape. The receptacle substrate 156 comprises means 159 for removably attaching the inner wall 153 of the associated compartment member 151 to the receptacle 155. In this way, the compartment member 151 is allowed to rotate relative to the socket 155 when assembled, thereby allowing each tablet compartment and the opening 158 to be rotationally aligned when in use.

As shown in fig. 3a and 3b, the means 159 for removably attaching the inner wall 153 to the receptacle may, for example, comprise a latch or clip 159 provided on the receptacle 155 to engage a flange 1531 extending radially from the inner wall 153 of the compartment member 151.

The cover plate 152 includes a cylindrical ridge pattern 41 disposed on a side opposite the inner wall 153 and the flexible flange 154. The cylindrical ridge pattern has one engagement surface 411 for each tablet compartment. Therefore, the number of the engaging surfaces 411 is equal to the number of the flanges 154 of the compartment member 151. In use, each engagement surface 411 is arranged to receive a force, for example from a spring-loaded telescopic push rod (25) as shown in fig. 4a and 4b, to rotate the compartment member 151 relative to its associated socket 155 to align the opening 158 with the next tablet compartment in the tablet cassette sequence.

The socket base plate 156 may be provided with a protrusion 35, the protrusion 35 protruding in a direction having a component in the same direction as the outer wall 157, as best shown in the bottom of fig. 3 b. The protrusions (which may be provided as circular protrusions) are arranged, in use, to engage one of the flexible flanges 154 when the flange 154 is moved over the protrusion 35 in a rotational movement relative to the socket 155, thereby bending the flexible flange to increase the size of the tablet compartment to avoid a tablet becoming jammed in the tablet compartment when the latter is aligned with the opening 158. The inherent flexibility of the plastic material (e.g. PVC, ABS, PET and PMMA) is sufficient to withstand such bending of the flanges.

Fig. 5a shows a perspective view of an alternative socket 155 in which a stabilising element 52 is provided across the opening 158 of the socket 155 at the edge of the outer wall 157. The stabilizing element 52 reduces the risk of undesired bending of the socket 155 in use. If such an undesirable bend is large enough, the tablets in the tablet cassette unit may be misplaced or accidentally released from the tablet cassette unit.

Fig. 5b shows an isometric view of an alternative receptacle 155, wherein the receptacle 155 includes an angled plate 51 adjacent to (e.g., radially forward of) the opening 158. The inclined plate 51 may be spring loaded and have an idle or inclined state in which the inclined plate 51 protrudes or inclines into the associated tablet compartment, such that rotational movement of the adjacent flange 154 of the compartment member 151 is prevented by engagement of the inclined plate 51. This is particularly beneficial during transport of the assembled cartridge unit 15 in use, as accidental rotational movement between the compartment member 151 and the socket 155 can be prevented, thereby eliminating the risk of accidental release of tablets from the cartridge unit. The inclined plate 51 also has an aligned state in which the top surface of the inclined plate 51 is aligned with the receptacle substrate 156. Thus, in the aligned state, the top surface is flush with the socket base plate and therefore does not prevent the tablets from sliding toward the opening 158. When mounted in the support structure 13, the inclined plate 51 may be brought from its rest state into alignment, whereby members (not shown) of the support member 13 engage with a bottom surface of the inclined plate 51, forcing the inclined plate from its rest state into its alignment state.

It will be appreciated that the inclined plate need not be located directly in front of the opening 158, as shown in figures 5b and 5 c. The inclined plate 51 may be provided at other positions of the socket base plate, for example adjacent to the tablet compartment portion. However, it should be understood that during transport, preferably the tablet compartment in which the inclined plate is arranged is free of tablets, to prevent tablets from falling out.

Fig. 5c shows a perspective view of an alternative socket 155 comprising both a stabilizing element 52 and an inclined plate 51.

Referring to fig. 1a and 6a to 6c, an opening 16 may be provided in the side wall of the main body 11, the opening 16 being for accessing the bottom of the tablet falling passageway 12. In use, the cup 30 may be introduced into the opening.

The tablet dispenser 10 may further comprise a sensor 17, the sensor 17 being adapted to detect the presence of the cup 30 when inserted through the opening 16. The opening 16 communicates with the tablet dropping passage.

A lifting assembly 20 is arranged in the tablet dispenser 10 and is arranged to move between different heights so as to align with each tablet cassette unit 15.

The lifting assembly 20 may include a fixed guide rail 21. Furthermore, the carriage 22 is movable along the guide rail 21 by operation of an electric motor 23, which electric motor 23 is operatively connected to the carriage 22 via an associated drive belt 24. The electric motor 23 may be an electric stepping motor fixedly arranged in the tablet dispenser, as shown in fig. 2 c. By operation of the electric motor, the drive belt 24 connected to the carriage 22 will move the carriage 22 along the guide rail 22 into alignment with the associated pill case units 15 and/or the case receiving members 131 that are stacked on top of each other near the guide rail 21 and at different heights along the guide rail 21.

The movable member may be provided with a detector, such as a camera (not shown), for detecting identification information (identification means such as a QR code, an ID tag or an ID tag as described above) of each tablet unit. The identification information includes at least the type of the tablets contained in the tablet cassette unit 15, but if more than one tablet is stored therein, the identification information may also include the number of tablets stored in each tablet compartment.

In use, the detector scans the QR code or ID tag and checks it against dosage plan and patient information available to the control unit of the tablet dispenser unit. Since the serial number of each pill box unit may be stored by the control unit (optionally together with a stored usage history of said pill box unit), the control unit will prevent the pill box units from being reused after the tablets have been used up and from being reused at a later stage after the pill box units have been taken out of the tablet dispenser. Because at least some of the information of the pill box unit (e.g. patient ID, tablet type, dosage regimen) needs to match the information already stored or desired by the control unit of the tablet dispenser unit, the use of a pill box unit with wrong information can be prevented. The detector may be controlled to scan all QR codes or ID tags each time the cover 11 of the tablet dispenser unit is closed. To this end, a sensor for detecting when the lid 11 is closed may trigger a signal to the control unit to scan the cassette unit. It may also be arranged to scan the cassette unit 15 immediately prior to dispensing the medicament.

The lift assembly 20 may be operatively associated with at least one spring-loaded telescopic push member 25 to engage the engagement surface 411 of the spine pattern 41 of each pill cassette unit 15. In its rest state, the spring-loaded telescopic pushing member 25 is not in contact with the ridge pattern 41 or any associated engagement surface 411, see fig. 4a and 4b. The spring of the telescopic pushing member is used to move the telescopic pushing member to its idle state.

Upon engagement with the rotating member 26 of the lifting assembly 20, the spring-loaded telescopic pushing member may be pushed from its idle state into engagement with the engagement surface 411 against the spring force of the spring, thereby rotating the compartment member 151 relative to its socket 155 to align the next tablet compartment with the opening 158.

Thus, the rotating member 26 can be engaged with and disengaged from the telescopic pushing member 25 in use. The rotating member 26 may have an arc shape for improved engagement and disengagement of the telescopic pushing member. The rotary member 26 may be of the eccentric type, so that in use the rotary motion of the rotary member 26 is converted into a translational motion engaging/disengaging the telescopic pushing member 25.

The rotating member 26 may be attached to the support 22 and its associated rotation controlled by a servo motor 261. The axis of rotation of the rotating member may extend parallel to the longitudinal direction of the guide rail 21. When the rotary member 26 is returned to its rest position by the operation of the servomotor 261, it is disengaged from the associated telescopic pushing member 25, so that the telescopic pushing member 25 is returned to its rest state by the elastic force of its associated spring. The servomotor 261 can also be attached to the carriage 22 so as to follow the movement of the carriage along the guide rail 21 when the electric motor 23 is running.

Thus, when the carriage 22 moves along the guide rail 21, the rotating member 26 will follow the movement. As shown in fig. 4a-4b and 6a-6b, by providing a telescopic push member 25 associated with each cassette unit 15, the rotary member 26 can be moved along the rail 21 by an electric motor to a level associated with each cassette unit 15 to allow engagement/disengagement between the rotary member 26 and the telescopic push member 25 associated with each cassette unit 15 by operation of a servo electric motor 261.

As shown in fig. 4a-4b, the telescopic pushing member 25 may be connected to the cartridge receiving member 131 of the support structure 13 as shown in fig. 4a-4 b. Furthermore, the support structure 13 may comprise more than one cassette receiving member 131, each cassette receiving member 131 being stacked on top of each other with respect to the base 11a of the tablet dispenser. Each of the cartridge receiving members may include a hollow passage portion 132 constituting a part of the tablet dropping passage 12. In this way, several cartridge receiving members 131 can be stacked on each other and together form the tablet falling passage 12 through their respective hollow passage portions 132.

It will be appreciated that the operation of the lifting assembly (including the operation of the electric motor 23, the detector, the rotary member 26 and the associated servomotor 261) may be controlled using a control unit having computer processing capabilities and associated memory for storage. It should be understood that all software related functions of the tablet dispenser unit, such as: the display operation, saving/updating/executing the dosage regimen, buttons, communication interface (ethernet, USB) may be controlled by a control unit having computer processing capabilities.

Claims

1. A tablet dispenser (10) comprising:

a body (11), said body (11) having a base (11 a) which rests on an underlying foundation when in use;

the main body (11) comprises:

a tablet dropping channel (12), said tablet dropping channel (12) extending in a direction at an angle (β) with respect to a base plane formed by said base (11 a);

a support structure (13) for accommodating at least two pill box units (15) stacked on top of each other relative to the base (11 a), each pill box unit having a first opening (158), the first opening (158) allowing tablets to be released from the associated pill box unit (15) into the tablet dropping channel (12) by gravity, tilting each pill box unit (15) at an angle (a) relative to the base plane; and is

The tablet dispenser (10) further comprises a lifting assembly (20), the lifting assembly (20) comprising a support (22), the support (22) being arranged to move along a guide rail (21) between different heights so as to align with each tablet cassette unit (15).

2. The tablet dispenser (10) according to claim 1, wherein each tablet cassette unit (15) comprises a compartment member (151), wherein the compartment member (151) has a cylindrical cover plate (152), the cylindrical cover plate (152) being provided with an inner wall (153), wherein the cylindrical cover plate (152) is provided with a plurality of flexible flanges (154) between the inner and outer walls of the cover plate (152).

3. The tablet dispenser (10) according to claim 2, wherein each tablet cassette unit (15) further comprises an associated socket (155), the socket (155) being adapted to detachably receive the compartment member (151) prior to use, wherein the socket (155) comprises a cylindrical socket base plate (156) and an outer wall (157) extending at least partly along an outer boundary of the socket base plate (156), the outer wall (157) having an inner diameter larger than an outer diameter of the cover plate (152) thereby allowing the socket (155) to enclose the compartment member (151) in use, such that two adjacent flexible flanges (154), the inner wall (153), the cover plate (152), the outer wall (157) and the socket base plate (156) together form a tablet compartment for holding at least one tablet.

4. The tablet dispenser according to claim 3, wherein the inner wall (153) has a cylindrical shape, and wherein the socket base (156) comprises means (159) for detachably attaching the cylindrical inner wall (153) of the associated compartment member (151) to the socket (155), such that the compartment member (151) when attached is allowed to rotate relative to the socket (155), thereby allowing rotational alignment of each tablet compartment and the first opening (158) when in use.

5. The tablet dispenser (10) according to claim 2, wherein the cover plate (152) comprises a cylindrical ridge pattern (41) provided at a side opposite the inner wall (153) and the flexible flange (154), wherein the cylindrical ridge pattern has one engagement surface for each tablet compartment, wherein the engagement surface (411) is arranged, in use, to receive a force to rotate the compartment member (151) relative to the associated socket (155) to align the opening (158) with a next tablet compartment of the tablet cassette unit.

6. The tablet dispenser (10) according to claim 4, wherein the socket base plate (156) is provided with a protrusion protruding in a direction having a component in the same direction as the direction of the outer wall (157), wherein the protrusion is arranged, in use, to engage one of the flexible flanges (154) to bend the flexible flange to increase the size of the tablet compartment to avoid tablets getting stuck in the tablet compartment when the latter is aligned with the first opening (158).

7. The tablet dispenser (10) according to claim 1, wherein the body (11) further comprises a second opening (16) in a side wall thereof, the second opening (16) being for entering a bottom of the tablet falling channel (12).

8. The tablet dispenser (10) according to claim 7, wherein the body (11) further comprises a sensor (17), the sensor (17) being adapted to detect the presence of a receiving cup (30) when the receiving cup (30) is inserted through the second opening (16) for entering the bottom of the tablet dropping channel (12).

9. The tablet dispenser (10) according to claim 1, wherein the lifting assembly (20) comprises a detector for detecting identification information of each tablet unit, wherein the identification information comprises at least the type of tablet contained in the tablet cassette unit (15).

10. The tablet dispenser (10) according to claim 1, wherein the lifting assembly (20) is operatively connected to at least one spring-loaded telescopic push member (25), the telescopic push member (25) for engaging an engagement surface (411) of the ridge pattern (41) of the compartment member (151) of each cartridge unit (15).

11. The tablet dispenser (10) according to claim 10, wherein the lifting assembly (20) further comprises a rotating member (26) for engaging/disengaging the telescopic pushing member (25) in use.

12. The tablet dispenser (10) according to claim 1, wherein the support structure (13) comprises at least two cartridge receiving members (131), each of which is stacked on top of the other with respect to the base, wherein each cartridge receiving member comprises a hollow channel portion (132) constituting a part of the tablet dropping channel (12).

13. The tablet dispenser (10) according to claim 3, wherein the socket base plate (156) adjacent to the first opening (158) comprises an inclined plate (51), the inclined plate (51) having a rest state in which the inclined plate (51) protrudes into the associated tablet compartment, such that in use rotational movement of a flexible flange (154) adjacent to the compartment member (151) is prevented by engagement of the inclined plate (51) during transport of the assembled tablet cassette unit (15).

14. The tablet dispenser (10) according to claim 3, provided with a stabilizing element (52) across the first opening (158) of the socket (155) at an edge of the outer wall (157).