JP4501302B2 - Medicine container - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a medicine container having a function of detecting the opening / closing of an upper lid or taking out of contained medicine with an optical sensor and recording the detected time.
[0002]
[Prior art]
As one of the treatment methods for illness, pharmacotherapy, which recovers by continuously taking drugs, has become popular. In order for medication to be effective, it is important for the patient to take the medicine prescribed by the doctor correctly. However, since the patient's taking action is not appropriate, such as an incorrect dose or forgetting to drink, the effect expected by the doctor may not be obtained.
[0003]
In a study conducted to determine how much of the patients who did not benefit from drug therapy were caused by inappropriate behavior, there was a report about a trial using a drug container equipped with a microchip. It has been published (JAMA [Japanese version], September 1999, pages 29-31). This medicine container has a function of recording the date and time each time the container is opened and closed in order to grasp the time and number of times that the patient took the medicine. By the record obtained from this medicine container, As the patient's taking situation became clear, it was shown that there was a significant correlation between the taking situation and the patient's recovery status.
[0004]
In drug therapy, several types of drugs are often taken on a daily basis, but some drugs are taken every morning, noon, and evening, and other drugs are taken only in the daytime. When different for each type of medicine, the patient is likely to mistake the time and frequency of taking each medicine. As a prior art for preventing such a mistake in taking action, there is a medicine container disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-286425.
[0005]
This medicine container is divided into a plurality of chambers in which the upper part of the container is arranged in a row, with one room at the lower part, and each of the upper and lower rooms has a chest pocket with a lid that opens in the same direction. A container that fits in.
[0006]
In this medicine container, when the upper part of the container is divided into, for example, four rooms, each room separately stores medicines to be taken in the morning, noon, evening, and before going to bed, and the container. Since the front and back of the container can be distinguished naturally from the direction in which the lid opens, the first room from the end of the container can be selected in the morning, the next as daytime, etc., so that the position of each room can be selected without error. We are trying to prevent mistakes.
[0007]
By the way, when a patient uses this medicine container, the function to record the fact that the medicine was taken in the medicine container in order for the doctor to know whether or not the medicine was taken correctly by the patient. However, as one of the methods, it is conceivable to use the technique of the medicine container equipped with the microchip.
[0008]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, if a medicine container that is divided into a plurality of chambers and each chamber has a lid and a microchip is mounted and the function of recording the date and time each time the lid is opened and closed is used, all lids Since it is only possible to record the opening and closing date and time of the patient at once, there is a problem that the doctor cannot grasp whether or not the patient has properly taken the medicine separately stored in each room.
[0009]
Therefore, the present invention was devised to solve the above-described problems in the prior art, and in a drug container having a plurality of chambers for storing drugs, it is possible to obtain dose data for each drug separately stored in each chamber. The purpose of this is to make it a technical issue, so that doctors can grasp whether or not the patient's taking action has been done properly, and can be used for patient guidance and confirmation of the therapeutic effect.
[0010]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
Among the present invention for solving the above technical problems, the means of the invention according to claim 1 is:
Consists of a bottomed container body with an upper lid that can be opened and closed independently for each chamber, and a deep dish-shaped lower lid that is assembled to the container body from below, and is light-shielding. The container is molded of plastic,
Opening a small hole for each chamber on the bottom wall of the container body, and disposing each of the optical sensors so as to receive only light incident from the small hole under the small hole;
Assemble a sensor body with a memory part that records over time so that the detection signal by light reception can be read for each photosensor, connected to each photosensor on the bottom surface of the lower lid,
It is in.
[0011]
In the medicine container of the present invention, the patient opens the upper lid of the room containing the medicine to be taken from among the plurality of rooms containing the medicine separately, and takes out the medicine from the room to take it. when the patient opens the lid, or when taking out the medicine, the upper lid ever more exposed small holes have been shielded by the drug, the light sensor disposed beneath it, the light incident from the stoma Receive light. With the received light, the optical sensor generates a detection signal, and this detection signal is input to the sensor body through the connection line, and is recorded for each room as time data in a memory unit inside the sensor body.
[0012]
Further, the memory unit is set so that each data can be recorded over time, and therefore, the data for each room is recorded in time order.
[0013]
The doctor can collect the containers regularly, read the data for each room input to the sensor body from the memory unit using the reading device, and know the time when the medicine separately stored in each room was taken Therefore, it is possible to grasp whether or not the patient's taking action has been properly performed, and to use it for guidance to the patient, confirmation of the therapeutic effect, and the like.
[0014]
Invention of Claim 2 adds that the alerting | reporting part which notifies the matter regarding taking of a medicine to the sensor body was added to the structure of invention of Claim 1.
[0015]
In the invention according to claim 2, the patient can prevent mistakes in taking action by taking the medicine in accordance with matters related to taking the medicine notified by the notification section, for example, the taking time.
[0016]
According to a third aspect of the present invention, the notification unit according to the second aspect of the present invention is configured by a display panel provided on a surface visible from the outside of the sensor body.
[0017]
In the invention according to claim 3, the patient can know the matters related to taking medicine, for example, what time and how many medicines to take, by looking at the display panel. By taking the medicine according to the above, mistakes in taking action can be prevented.
[0018]
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the notification unit according to the second aspect of the present invention includes a buzzer that emits a warning sound.
[0019]
In this invention of claim 4, when it is time to take the medicine, the buzzer provided in the sensor body emits a warning sound and informs the patient of the time, thereby reliably preventing forgetting to take the medicine. Can do. Further, the same effect can be obtained even when used together with the display panel shown in the invention of claim 3.
[0020]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
The container 1 is composed of an elongated bottomed rectangular tube-shaped container body 2 and a deep dish-shaped lower lid 3 assembled to the container body 2 from below. Both the container body 2 and the lower lid 3 are light-shielding plastics. And prevents light from being transmitted inside.
[0021]
The container body 2 is partitioned into seven chambers 4 by a partition wall 6 in a horizontal line, and each chamber 4 is provided with an upper lid 5 that can be opened and closed independently. A circular small hole 9 is opened, and a short cylindrical piece-like fitting piece 15 is suspended from the lower surface around the small hole 9.
[0022]
The upper lid 5 is integrally connected to the upper end of the rear wall 7 of the container body 2 via a hinge 12 at the rear end thereof, and has a short-tube-like shape that fits tightly into the opening of the chamber 4 on the lower surface thereof. The seal piece 13 is provided with a locking means 14 for locking to the wall surface of the chamber 4 in a closed state, and a finger-hanging piece 23 for opening the lid is provided at the front edge of the seal piece 13. It is protruding.
[0023]
The lower lid 3 is assembled by fitting the upper end of the cylindrical wall to the lower half of the container body 2, the center of the bottom surface is raised to a rectangular shape, and the sensor body 17 is fitted and fixed for storage. A hollow portion 10 is formed, and a circular connection hole 11 is formed in the approximate center of the hollow portion 10.
[0024]
The optical sensor 16 is fitted and fixed to the fitting piece 15, is in contact with the lower surface of the bottom wall 8, and a connection line 18 led out from the sensor body 17 through the connection hole 11 is connected thereto.
[0025]
In the illustrated embodiment, the number of the chambers 4 and the optical sensors 16 in the container 1 is 7 respectively. For example, when one kind of medicine is taken once a day and accommodates one week. Needless to say, a container with a suitable number of chambers suitable for the type of medicine prescribed for each patient, frequency of administration, and the number of light sensors should be selected.
[0026]
When a plurality of types of medicines are accommodated in each room 4, the patient can prevent mistakes in taking action by taking the medicines according to the instructions of the notification unit 20 that informs matters related to the medicines. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4, a display panel 21 provided on the bottom surface of the sensor body 17 and a buzzer 22 that emits a warning sound are used in combination as the notification unit 20.
[0027]
In this case, the display panel 21 displays, for example, the year, month, day, and hour indicating the time for taking the next medicine in order from the left, the number of the room 4 in which the medicine to be taken is stored, and the number of medicines to be taken. . The display panel 21 shown in the drawing indicates that “two medicines” taken in the room number 3 are “taken” at 12:30 on March 6, 2001.
[0028]
And when there are multiple types of medicines to be taken at one time, when the use of one kind of medicine is finished, it is set to switch to the display of the room number and the number of doses corresponding to other kinds of medicines sequentially. Therefore, patients should just follow the indication.
[0029]
The buzzer 22 provided on the left side of the display panel 21 sounds a warning sound when it is time to take the medicine, so that the patient is informed of the time. Can be taken.
[0030]
In addition, doctors can read the data recorded in the memory part of the returned container and know the patient's taking state almost accurately. Can be performed properly.
[0031]
【The invention's effect】
Since the present invention has the above-described configuration, the following effects can be obtained.
In the first aspect of the present invention, the photosensor detects a situation such as opening an upper lid when taking medicine for each chamber in which medicines are separated and stored, and the detection signal for each photosensor As time data is recorded in the memory part of the hospital in chronological order, it is possible to obtain dosage data for each medicine separately stored in each room, so that the doctor knows whether or not the patient's dosage has been done properly. It can be effectively used for patient guidance and confirmation of therapeutic effects.
[0032]
In the invention according to claim 2, since the informing unit informs of matters related to taking the medicine, for example, the taking time, the patient should take the medicine according to the instructions of the informing unit to prevent mistakes in taking action. Can do.
[0033]
In the invention described in claim 3, since the display panel provided on the surface visible from the outside of the sensor body displays the matters related to taking medicine, for example, what time, how many medicines to take, By taking medicine according to this indication, the patient can prevent mistakes in taking action.
[0034]
In the invention according to claim 4, when it is time to take the medicine, the buzzer provided in the sensor body emits a warning sound and informs the time, so that the patient can reliably prevent forgetting to take the medicine.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a plan view of a medicine container showing an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken along line AA in FIG.
3 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken along the line BB in FIG.
FIG. 4 is a bottom view of a sensor body showing an embodiment in which a display panel and a buzzer are used in combination as a notification unit.
[Explanation of symbols]
1; Container 2; Container body 3; Lower lid 4; Chamber 5; Upper lid 5 '; Upper lid (when opened)
6; partition wall 7; rear wall 8; bottom wall 9; small hole 10; recess 11; connection hole 12; hinge 13; seal piece 14; Connecting line 19; Medicine 20; Notification unit 21; Display panel 22; Buzzer 23;

Claims (4)

A container body (2) having a bottom, which is partitioned into a plurality of chambers (4) by a partition wall (6) and includes an upper lid (5) that can be opened and closed independently for each chamber (4), and the container body (2 ) To the bottom wall (8) of the container body (2), which is a container (1) formed of a light-shielding plastic. wherein each chamber (4) opened small hole (9) for each, under the small hole (9), an optical sensor (16) are each to receive only the light incident from the small hole (9) It is arranged and connected to each photosensor (16) by a connection line (18), and each photosensor (16) has a memory unit for recording a detection signal by light reception so that it can be read over time. A medicine container in which a sensor body (17) is assembled to the bottom surface of the lower lid (3). The medicine container according to claim 1, further comprising a notification section (20) for notifying the sensor body (17) of matters related to medication. The medicine container according to claim 2, wherein the notification section (20) is constituted by a display panel (21) provided on a surface visible from the outside of the sensor body (17). The medicine container according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the notification section (20) has a buzzer (22) for generating a warning sound.

Images