WO1990004381A1

WO1990004381A1 - Use of cup system

Info

Publication number: WO1990004381A1
Application number: PCT/SE1988/000547
Authority: WO
Inventors: Christer Hedward; Bengt Karlstrom
Original assignee: Be Ch Medical Ab
Priority date: 1987-04-27
Filing date: 1988-10-20
Publication date: 1990-05-03
Also published as: SE8701708L; SE8701708D0

Abstract

Use of system of cups (15), which are stacked inside one another and placed in sets in a collecting cup (4). In this connection, they are so stacked inside one another that they can accommodate products in a space at the bottom of each cup. The collecting cup (4) has a lid (11), securably arranged over an upper opening (9). The cup system is used for distribution of medicine in nursing institutions in so far as, from a list or other registration means, prescribed medicine is portioned out into said cups (15), in said spaces, patient data for each patient is marked on a label or similar (13) belonging to each collecting cup (4). The cups (15) prepared with medicine for the patients concerned are stacked inside the collecting cup marked for the patient, which is sealed by means of the lid (11) etc. until the intended patients have received medicine and cups (15) in a number of marked collecting cups (4), whereupon these are distributed according to their marking.

Description

Title:

Use of cup system

Technical area:

The present invention relates to use of sets of cups which are stacked inside one another and placed in sets in collecting cups and in this connection so stacked inside one another, in a manner known per se, that they can accommodate products in a space at the bottom of each cup, in addition to which the collecting cup has a lid which can be secured over an upper opening of the cup.

State of the art:

When medicine is to be distributed to patients in a nursing institution, this must be carried out rationally and with great reliability, so that every patient re¬ ceives the medicine which has been prescribed, with an indication of when it is to be taken. This requirement is usually satisfied by the prescribed medicine being. prepared for each patient within a ward by being placed in cups of different colours, each colour representing the mealtime when the medicine concerned is to be taken. Such preparation is carried out once per day and for all the patients, whereupon the portioning cups are collected on the necessary number of special trays with recesses, in which the cups can be placed. Cups which contain tablets and are intended for the same patient are then often placed inside one another in a stack. Marking with a label is carried . out in conjunction with the preparation so that an indication is obtained for dis¬ tribution of the cups to the different patients. For distribution of medicine which is to be taken outside the customary daily schedule, for example at night, there may be supplementary systems.

The system described is rational and the preparation of the doses of medicine can be carried out once per day according to lists or other registration means and in general the patients take the medicine themselves accord¬ ing to the markings after the prepared doses have been distributed.

Technical problem:

In spite of these advantages, it has been observed that with the system there is too high a risk of mixing up the doses and thus distribution to the wrong patients. The portion cups are not marked in themselves and, should a tray be knocked against or dropped, it is possible that ,medicines end up in the wrong cups or that cups are mixed up.

Solution: In patent specification GB-433 499, a cup system is indicated, with a collecting container which contains a number of drinking cups stacked inside one another. The cup system concerned is intended as a tea or coffee service and the collecting cup is fashioned as a pot. In SE-424 959, a cup system is indicated, in which a number of drinking cups stacked inside one another have inter¬ vening spaces between their bottoms, which form a sealed space intended for dry ingredients which, when a cup is released from the stack, can be mixed with liquid in order to make a drink which is consumed using the cup.

If the invention according to the latter specification is applied in a cup system according to the former specifi¬ cation, a stack of cups is thus obtained, in which products, which are thus represented in the example by said dry ingredients, are accommodated and which in their .turn are accommodated in the collecting cup. According to the invention, it is proposed that a system of this type is used for distribution of medicine.

The invention means that the cup system is used for distribution of medicine in nursing institutions in so far as, from a list or other registration means, prescribed medicine is portioned out into said cups, patient data for each patient is marked on registration means belonging to each collecting cup, such as a label or similar, whereupon the cups prepared with medicine for the patients concerned are stacked inside the collecting cup marked for the patient, which is sealed by means of a lid etc. until the intended patients have received medicine and cups prepared in marked collecting cups, whereupon these are distributed according to their marking.

Advantages: By means of the present invention, a distribution system is obtained, which eliminates said reliability risks while keeping handling at least as rational as in the previously known system. Moreover, a very compact system is obtained.

Description of the figures:

In the enclosed drawings, the invention is shown in an exemplary embodiment by means of the arrangements which form part of the system. In this connection, fig. 1 shows a distribution tray in perspective and, by means of dot-dash lines, a collecting tray for a number of dis¬ tribution trays; fig. 2 shows in cross-section a number of arrangement units which form part of the system; fig. 3 shows in cross-section another constituent unit, and fig. 4 shows in perspective one of the units shown in fig. 2.

Preferred embodiments: In fig. 1, a medicine tray 1 is shown, which is intended for distribution to one patient or up to four patients according to the manner of arrangement, as is illustrated below. A ward thus needs a number of trays 1 and these are collected on, according to the number, one or more collecting trays. One of these has been shown in dot- dash lines and indicated with 2 in fig. 1. The tray 1, which will henceforward be called the medi¬ cine tray, has four recesses 3. It is advantageously made as a disposable plastic tray. The recesses 3 are each intended to retain in upright position a collecting cup 4, which will henceforward be called the parent cup. Alternatively, each of the recesses can contain a cup 5 for liquid medicine. This can also be used for liquid which is used to facilitate taking of medicine in tablet form and will henceforward be called the liquid cup 5. If medicine in both tablet and liquid form is distributed to a patient, both a parent cup 4 and one or more liquid cups 5 are used. In this connection, a medicine tray is reserved for each of the patients receiving medicine in such a manner. For those patients who are prescribed only tablets, and this is the most usual case, only the parent cup 4 is used and in such a case a medicine tray can be used for up to four patients.

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The parent cup 4 is also shown, in addition to in fig. 1, in fig. 2 in cross-section and in fig. 4 in perspective. It has a lower part 7, provided with a bottom and executed as a truncated cone, which becomes an upper part 8 with a square opening 9, which is surrounded by a small brim 10. On one edge around the opening 9, a lid 11 is articulated on the upper part. The lid has an edge part 12 which, together with the brim 10, can function as a snap-lock for the lid so that it is secured over the opening 9. In fig. 2 the lid is shown closed and in fig. 4 slightly open. The lid has an essentially plane surface which is provided with a label 13. Advanta- geously, the parent cup is made, for example, from vacuum-moulded transparent plastic material, the lid and the cup being. made moreover in one piec , with the flexible material forming a hinge for the lid.

The parent cup 4 is adapted to accommodate in the lower part 7 a number of medicine cups 15, which in the first instance are intended to accommodate tablets and will henceforward, therefore, be called the tablet cups 15. Since the tablets only fill the cups to a limited extent, they can be stacked inside one another and a number, usually up to four pieces, can be accommodated in the parent cup 4. The aim is that the medicine in the cups is to be taken at different mealtimes. Each of the cups • has a particular colour and each mealtime is assigned such a colour. An indication is thus obtained of when during the day the medicine in each of the cups is to be taken.

The liquid cup 5 is shown in fig. 3. Advantageously, its diameter is adapted to the diameter of the lower part 7

, of the parent cup 4, so that the recesses 3 in the medicine tray 1 can alternatively be used for retaining the parent cup or the liquid cup 5. Should there be a difference in diameter, the recesses 3 can be made with an upper part of greater diameter, adapted to the larger cup, and a bottom part of smaller diameter, adapted to a smaller cup. The liquid cup 5 is advantageously com¬ pleted with a lid 6, which can be snapped on and which, if considered necessary, can also be provided with a label. The tablet and liquid cups and the lid of the latter always consist of disposable material and are advantageously made of plastic. In this connection, the liquid cups also can be colour-coded.

The medicine distribution system is used in the following manner: when the medicine for the patients in a ward is to be prepared, there must be on the one hand a list or other registration means, on which data is given for the medicines which each patient is to have, and on the other hand the necessary quantities of these medicines. In most cases the greater part of the quantity of medicine and in many cases the entire quantity of medicine is in the form of tablets. For all the patients who are to receive tablets, a parent cup 4 is prepared by means of marking the patient data on the label 13. The labels can be produced in advance with the necessary data and applied to the lid 11. Medicine data can also be indicated on the labels. For those patients who (in addition) are to have liquid medicine, the necessary liquid cups 5 must also be allocated to them. . Tablet cups 15 are available in the necessary quantities.

For each patient, tablets are now filled into the tablet cups 15 according to the list and are distributed into the differently coloured cups according to the prescribed time of taking. The cups are stacked inside one another with the cup for the first time of taking uppermost etc. and the stack is placed in the parent cup 4 marked with the patient data, as illustrated in fig. 2. The parent cup 4, which is now ready for the patient, is placed in a medicine tray 1. If the patient is additionally to have liquid medicine, the prescribed quantity is filled into the respective cup and a lid is put on. In order that it is possible for the filled cup to be distributed to the correct patient, it must in some way receive a marking. This can be most simply effected by the small medicine tray 1 being reserved for the patient and con- sidered marked for this patient by virtue of the fact that the parent cup provided with the patient data has been placed in the same. If the liquid cup is then placed in the same tray, it can be said that it has been attached to the patient marking of the parent cup. This leads, however, to a certain risk of mixing up; the liquid cup can of course be moved from the tray. A separate marking can be made, therefore, either on the lid 6 or, even more safely, on the cup 5 itself. In spite of this, the medicine tray 1 can be used for the simultaneous distribution of the different medicines to the same patient, which may include a number of liquid cups and as a prerequisite one parent cup.

It has thus been presupposed here that every patient always receives tablets and thus a parent cup, even if they are allocated liquid medicine. In the event that there is only liquid medicine, this should be taken into account in the marking. It should moreover be added that O 90/04381 _ - _

the parent cup can be made so as to accommodate liquid cups also. If the liquid cup or cups is or are provided with a lid, they can be stacked together with the tablet cups, if such are present. By these means, said marking 5 problem is avoided; the label marking of the parent cup can then quite clearly cover all the cups accommodated.

For patients who are allocated both parent and liquid cups, the medicine tray 1 can be handed to the patient and, for example, stand on the bedside table of the 1.0 latter. The medicine tray 1 shown is in this connection made to accommodate up to four cups but the tray can of " course be adapted for another number according to the circumstances.

If the small medicine trays 1 are not required for

15 serving the patients, thus when only parent cups are dis¬ tributed, the medicine trays 1 can be replaced with another aid for distribution from the preparation point to the patients. As has been indicated in fig. 1, if medicine trays are used, these should be collected on a

20 larger tray 2 (fig. 1). However, medicine trays of the type shown in fig. 1 are, as has become clear, not then in general required for the parent cups, but these can be carried directly on the collecting tray or on any other type of tray which is arranged in such a manner that

25 there is no risk of the cups tipping over upon distribu¬ tion. For special cases, for example distribution at night or irregular distribution as a result of newly arrived patients, the entire system can of course be abandoned and smaller collecting trays used or, in the

30 case of distribution to individual patients, only parent cups.

Claims

PATENT CLAIMS

1. Use of." system of cups (15), which are stacked inside one another and placed in sets in a collecting cup (4) and in this connection so stacked inside one another, in a manner known per se, that they can accommodate products in a space at the bottom of each cup, in addi¬ tion to which the collecting cup (4) has a lid (11) which is securably arranged over an upper opening (9) , charac¬ terized in that the cup system is used for distribution of medicine in nursing institutions in so far as, from a list or other registration means, prescribed medicine is portioned out into said cups (15), in said spaces of the latter, patient data^' for each patient is marked on registration means (13) belonging to each collecting cup, such as a label or similar, whereupon the cups (15) prepared with medicine for the patients concerned are stacked inside the collecting cup marked for the patient, which is sealed by means of said lid (11) etc. until the intended patients have received .medicine and cups (15) prepared in marked collecting cups (4) , whereupon these are distributed according to their marking.

2. Use according to Claim 1, for simultaneous distribution of medicine in tablet form and liquid form to certain patients, characterized in that the medicine in tablet form is placed in said cups (15), which are stacked inside one of said collecting cups (4) for each patient, and that the medicine in liquid form is filled into separate liquid cups (5) , trays (1) being used additionally, one allocated to each of the patients concerned and arranged so as to receive one collecting cup (4) and a small number of liquid cups (5).