Special receptacle or package – For ampule – capsule – pellet – or granule – Compartmented
Patent
1993-12-23
1995-01-17
Fidei, David T.
Special receptacle or package
For ampule, capsule, pellet, or granule
Compartmented
206539, B65D 8304
Patent
active
053819047
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a dispenser for medical preparations and an insert therefor.
Over the past 10-15 years, dispensers for medical preparations consisting of a box which releasably accommodates an insert with a number of compartments, have found extended employment. The compartments contain medical preparations, "pills", and are arranged in a specific manner, e.g. in columns and rows, so that the patient or the nurse can easily find one or more medical preparations that the patient is to take at a predetermined point of time. The box may, for example, have markings indicating the day of the week and the hour, and can be opened completely or partially to permit access to the preparations in the desired compartments. The box can be opened by means of shutters arranged in the top of the box. Examples of such dispensers are described in EP-250 636, U.S. Pat. No. 4,038,937, U.S. Pat. No. 4,062,445 and FR-2,575,730.
The general trend in this field goes towards scrapping the insert once it has been emptied of its contents and removed from the box. Then, a new insert with medical preparations, prepared e.g. at a chemist's or a hospital, is inserted in the box.
W092/02202 describes a dispenser where the insert is delivered with a sheet fixed to it and covering the compartments therein. The sheet may be perforated, and the perforation should, with the insert placed in the box and a shutter opened, be broken to permit access to the preparation/preparations in the desired compartments. The sheet may alternatively be peeled off and folded back before the insert is inserted in its box.
The problem encountered in the first-mentioned embodiment is that the sheet portion forming a cover on its compartment will prevent or complicate the removal of the preparation/preparations from the compartments after the perforation has been broken by puncturing the sheet portion. The problem encountered in the second embodiment is that when the sheet is peeled off from the insert, the forces associated therewith may easily cause the insert to tremble, making the preparations leave their compartments so as to either drop to the floor or jump into a wrong compartment. This is especially the case with older people who often have shaky hands. The trembling effect is often aggravated by the insert often being of a thin, flexible plastics material.
The object of the invention is to find a solution to this problem.
This object is achieved by a dispenser and an insert according to the claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGURES
One embodiment of the invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a dispenser according to U.S. Pat. No. 4,038,937 with a first embodiment of the inventive concept applied to it.
FIG. 2 shows a second embodiment of the inventive concept, and
FIG. 3 shows a broken-way, modified part of FIG. 1.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The prior-art dispenser of U.S. Pat. No. 4,038,937 has a box 1, a tray 2 and an insert 3 for receiving several (7.times.4) open-top compartments 4 for receiving medical preparations. The insert 3 fits in the tray 2 which is insertable, together with the insert, into the box 1 through one end thereof (the right-hand one in FIG. 1), whereupon access to the preparations in the compartments is offered after shutters 5 on the top of the box have been slid open. These components consist of plastics.
Opposite the tray-receiving end, the circumferential wall of the box 1 has a through opening 6 which is used for pushing, with a finger, the tray (with the insert) out of the box for reloading it with a new insert containing medical preparations.
The above summary of the known dispenser suffices for an understanding of the invention, which will now be exemplified in more detail.
According to the invention, the insert 3 is provided, e.g. at a chemist's where the insert has been filled with medicine, with a sheet for sealing it. This sheet is a pliable doubled strip 7 consisting e.g. of a
REFERENCES:
patent: 2410923 (1946-11-01), Beardsley
patent: 3527190 (1970-09-01), Huck
patent: 3812963 (1974-05-01), Zahurahec et al.
patent: 3942630 (1976-03-01), Phillips
patent: 4038937 (1977-08-01), Moe
patent: 4062445 (1977-12-01), Moe
patent: 4535890 (1985-08-01), Artusi
patent: 4693371 (1987-09-01), Malpass
patent: 4872559 (1989-10-01), Schoon
patent: 5115911 (1992-05-01), Schulte et al.
Fidei David T.
Item Development AB
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