DE20105418U1 - Medication depot - Google Patents

Description

VONNEMANN KLOIBER LEWALD HUBNER

Patent Attorneys & European Patent Attorneys

Date: Reference number: W 5301

UTILITY MODEL REGISTRATION

company

wodimed GmbH Schweinbach 8

88167 Maierhöfen

Title Drug Depot

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DESCRIPTION

The invention relates to a medication depot with a medication supply and a weekly dispenser, consisting of a cup holder for a plurality of cups.

In home care for the elderly and sick, a certain supply of medication must be available from which the carer takes the amounts required for one-off or multiple use of medication and makes them available for the person being cared for. Usually, the total amount of medication to be taken at a certain time is put into a small cup. Since the nursing staff is only present for part of the time during home care, the medication to be taken at different times of the day is usually prepared together and made available in different cups for the person being cared for. To avoid confusion when taking the medication, so-called day dispensers are known, which consist of a cup holder for four cups in particular, with the cup holder being labeled with the respective times of intake, preferably with the terms "morning", "noon", "evening" and "night".

The distribution of the medication required for the various intake times into the corresponding cups is very time-consuming, among other things, because a large number of medication packages have to be opened and the respective medications have to be removed, which is quite laborious. A significant time saving can be achieved by using the well-known weekly dispenser. This is a cup holder for all the cups of a week. The weekly dispenser only needs to be filled once a week, which means that the time-consuming removal of the medication from its

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The respective packaging only needs to be cleaned once a week, which means that a lot of working time can be saved overall.

Since it would be a nuisance for the nursing staff to constantly carry all the medications of the people being cared for with them, it is desirable to store the medications in the respective apartments. However, this poses the problem that children or people with dementia can gain access to the medication. This can lead to medication being taken when not intended and, in some cases, a dangerous situation for everyone involved.

The object of the invention is to provide a medication depot suitable for home care, which allows simple, fast and safe handling of the medication.

The invention solves this problem by accommodating the medication supply and the weekly dispenser in a handy depot container that can be locked using a container lock. The medication depot according to the invention can also use a weekly dispenser that is advantageous in terms of the working time required, and the lockability advantageously prevents children or people with dementia from accessing a relatively large amount of unpacked medication. The depot container is compact and relatively light, so that it can be easily moved to a safe place by hand every day. This further increases security against unauthorized access.

In a preferred embodiment, the depot container consists of a box with at least one medication compartment for the medication supply, a weekly dispenser that is detachably arranged on the box and a container lid that is arranged to enclose the weekly dispenser and can be closed on the box. In this

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Thanks to the advantageous arrangement, the caregiver can immediately access the cups for a particular day after unlocking and opening the lid in order to take them out or put them back. After that, the lid only needs to be closed and locked again. The weekly dispenser only needs to be refilled from the medication supply once a week. To do this, the weekly dispenser is simply lifted out of the box and placed to the side, making the medication compartment with the medication supply accessible. This is extremely simple and practical to use.

In a preferred embodiment, the container lid is provided with a cylinder lock. Such cylinder locks are very secure and cannot be manipulated, at least by children or people with dementia.

It is particularly advantageous for nursing staff if the container lock can be locked using a master key that is also suitable for other container locks. Nursing staff therefore only need to carry a single master key with them in order to be able to operate the respective medication depots of all the people being cared for.

In a further development of the invention, it is provided that the container lid is designed to be removable from the depot container. This measure is particularly practical if the medication depot is used in a context where access by unauthorized persons can be excluded. Access to the weekly dispenser or the medication supply can thus be simplified and accelerated.

If the container lid can be clipped onto the depot container in a form-fitting manner, it can be installed by hand without additional tools.

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A particularly advantageous design of the weekly dispenser provides that the cups in the cup holder are arranged in a rectangular pattern, in which the cups assigned to a day of the week are arranged in a row and the cups assigned to a time of day are arranged in a column. When filling the cups, all of the cups arranged in a column can thus easily be filled with the same medication, while when removing the cups intended for a day of the week, one row can be removed at a time. The arrangement in a rectangular pattern makes handling easier and safer. In a preferred embodiment, which is sufficient for most purposes of taking medication, four columns are provided for the times of day: morning, midday, evening and night.

The safety against confusion can be increased even further if the cups assigned to one time of day each have the same uniform color, which is different from the colors of the cups assigned to other times of day. If the person being cared for gets used to the respective colors, confusion is practically impossible.

The medication depot according to the invention can be further improved by having a supply of replacement cups to replace lost cups and by the cups being designed to be stackable in order to be able to accommodate them more easily in a confined space within the depot container.

It is also advantageous if the medication depot is equipped with a daily dispenser, consisting of a container for holding the cups assigned to a day of the week.

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Providing them in a daily dispenser is convenient on the one hand and prevents the individual cups from being mixed up on the other hand if the daily dispenser is labeled accordingly (morning, noon, evening and night). In a preferred embodiment, the medication depot has a separate compartment for holding the replacement cups and/or the daily dispenser. A special compartment has the advantage that it can be adapted to the shape of the daily dispenser in order to hold it securely. In addition, the separate compartment prevents the daily dispenser and the replacement cups from being mixed up with the medication supply.

An embodiment of the invention is explained in more detail below with reference to the drawings.

Fig. 1: A side view of a drug depot according to the invention with the components contained therein;

Fig. 2: a perspective view of the closed medication depot;

Fig. 3: a side view of an opened medication depot with daily and weekly dispensers removed from it;

Fig. 4: a top view of a weekly dispenser.

The medication depot according to the invention has a depot container 1 and a weekly dispenser 2 that can be inserted into the depot container 1. As can best be seen in Fig. 1, a medication compartment 3 is provided in the lower part of the depot container 1, in which a supply of packaged medication can be stored. Furthermore, a separate compartment 2 is provided in the lower part of the box-shaped lower part 11, which is used to store stacked

replacement cups 5 and a daily dispenser 6 arranged above the replacement cups 5.

As can best be seen in Fig. 3 and 4, the weekly dispenser 2 consists of a cup holder 7 in which 28 cups 8 are arranged in a rectangular pattern in the form of a matrix. The cups assigned to a day of the week each form a row of four, which can be identified by a side label with the names of the days of the week (Monday to Sunday). Seven cups are assigned to each of the times of day morning, noon, evening and night and each form a column. A label 10 on the top of the cup holder 7 enables the individual columns to be identified. In addition, the respective time of day is identified by uniform coloring of the cups contained in a column.

As can be seen best in Fig. 3, the daily dispenser 6 also consists of a cup holder, which, however, can only hold the four cups 8 intended for one day, which are assigned to the individual intake times of morning, noon, evening and night. The daily dispenser 6, like the weekly dispenser 2, is also provided with an inscription

10, which is not shown in the figure. As can also be seen in Fig. 3, the cups 8 are conical in shape, so that they .

can be pushed into one another and thus stacked in the smallest of spaces. This is particularly advantageous for storing the replacement cups 5 in the separate compartment 4 of the depot container 1.

The weekly dispenser 2 is adapted in its dimensions to the depot container 1 in such a way that it fits into a box-shaped lower part

11 of the depot container 1, whereby two lateral projections 12 rest on the upper side of the box-shaped lower part 11 and thus secure the daily dispenser 6 in its position above the

Support the medicine compartment 3 so that it cannot sink further downwards.

The depot container 1, which is equipped with the medication supply, the replacement cups 5, the daily dispenser 6 and the weekly dispenser 2, can be securely closed using a container lid 13. For this purpose, the container lid 13 is provided with a container lock 14, which is designed as a cylinder lock. The container lid 13 encloses the weekly dispenser 2, so that neither the medication contained in the cups 8 of the weekly dispenser 2 nor the medication supply in the medication compartment 3 can be accessed by unauthorized persons. The caregiver has a key to the cylinder lock 14 and thus has access to its contents. The caregiver's key is a master key that fits not only in the cylinder lock 14 of the existing depot container 1, but at least in the locks of the depot containers at other locations that are operated by the same caregiver.

Furthermore, the container lid 13 is designed to be removable from the box-shaped lower part 11 of the depot container, wherein preferably a hinge connection 15 (not shown in detail) is used, by means of which the container lid 13 can be clipped onto the box-shaped lower part 11. ;

LIST OF REFERENCE SYMBOLS

1 depot container

2 weekly dispensers

3 Medicine compartment

4 compartment

5 replacement cups

6 daily dispensers

7 cup holders

8 cups

9 Inscription

10 Inscription

11 boxes

12 Side projections

13 Container lid

14 Container lock

Claims (12)

1. Medication depot with a medication supply and a weekly dispenser ( 2 ), consisting of a cup holder ( 7 ) for a plurality of cups ( 8 ), characterized in that the medication supply and the weekly dispenser ( 2 ) are accommodated in a handy depot container ( 1 ) which can be closed by means of a container lock ( 14 ). 2. Medication depot according to claim 1, characterized in that the depot container ( 1 ) consists of a box ( 11 ) with at least one medication compartment ( 3 ) for the medication supply, a weekly dispenser ( 2 ) removably arranged on the box ( 11 ) and a container lid ( 13 ) which is arranged closably on the box ( 11 ) so as to enclose the weekly dispenser ( 2 ). 3. Medication depot according to claim 2, characterized in that the container lid ( 13 ) is provided with a cylinder lock ( 14 ). 4. Medication depot according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the container lock ( 14 ) can be locked by means of a master key which also fits other container locks. 5. Medication depot according to one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that the container lid ( 13 ) is designed to be removable from the depot container ( 1 ). 6. Medication depot according to claim 5, characterized in that the container lid ( 13 ) can be clipped onto the depot container ( 1 ) in a form-fitting manner. 7. Medication depot according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the cups ( 8 ) in the cup holder ( 7 ) of the weekly dispenser ( 2 ) are arranged in a rectangular pattern (matrix), in which the cups assigned to a day of the week are each arranged in a row and the cups assigned to a time of day are each arranged in a column. 8. Medication depot according to claim 7, characterized in that four columns are provided for the times of day: morning, noon, evening and night. 9. Medication depot according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that the cups ( 8 ) assigned to a time of day have a uniform color which differs from the color of the cups assigned to other times of day. 10. Medication depot according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the cups ( 5 , 8 ) are designed to be stackable, and the medication depot has a supply of replacement cups ( 5 ). 11. Medication depot according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it is equipped with a daily dispenser ( 6 ) consisting of a cup holder for receiving the cups ( 8 ) assigned to a day of the week. 12. Medication depot according to claim 10 or 11, characterized in that it has a separate compartment ( 4 ) for receiving the replacement cups ( 5 ) and/or the daily dispenser ( 6 ).