Compartmentalized container loading and management system

• US 10,358,247 B2
• Filed: 10/27/2017
• Issued: 07/23/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 10/27/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Chudy Group LLC (Becton, Dickinson & Co)
• Original Assignee: Chudy Group LLC (Becton, Dickinson & Co)
• Inventors: Chudy, Duane S., Jehn, Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Collins, Michael
• Application Number:
  US15/796,479
• Publication Number:
  US 20190127102A1
• Time in Patent Office: 634 Days
• Field of Search: 700231-244
• CPC Class Codes: A61J 1/035 Blister-type containers blisters in general B65D75/36
• CPC Class Codes: A61J 7/04 Arrangements for time indication or reminder for taking medicine, e.g. programmed dispensers
• CPC Class Codes: B65B 5/103 for packaging pills or tablets
• CPC Class Codes: B65B 57/00 Automatic control, checking, warning, or safety devices registering wrapping or container-forming material fed from rolls B65B41/18
• CPC Class Codes: B65B 67/02 Packaging of articles or materials in containers
• CPC Class Codes: B65B 7/2871 by gluing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/147 using display panels
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2380/08 Biomedical applications
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/003 Details of a display terminal, the details relating to the control arrangement of the display terminal and to the interfaces thereto specific for a CRT G09G1/165; for a flat panel G09G3/2092

Abstract

A compartmentalized container loading and management system for loading compartmentalized containers, such as blister cards. A single system may be utilized to hand-load many different types of blister cards having different numbers of wells arranged in different patterns. Systems of the types described herein may include a docking station, a container locator, and a controller. The docking station may include visible information locations which provide visible information proximate wells of a docked blister card to indicate the well which should be loaded. The visible information locations may be changed to match the number, arrangement and pattern of the wells. A container locator may locate the blister card with wells at known positions of the docking station so that visible information may be associated with each well. A controller may control the visible information locations to provide visible information matching the pattern of the wells of each blister card.

Claims

1. A compartmentalized container loading system for rapid and accurate hand-loading of items into a container, each container having a light-transmissive body and spaced apart compartments arranged in one of a plurality of patterns in which the compartment patterns have (1) different numbers of compartments, and (2) different spacing between the compartments, the system comprising:

a docking station including a video display which is overlaid by a container selected for loading, the display providing visible information locations on the display which are operable in the plurality of different patterns including the compartment pattern of the selected container when such container overlies the display such that each visible information location of the pattern provides visible information viewable through the body proximate each compartment;

a container locator associated with the display, the locator providing at least one container-locating position which locates the compartments of the selected container at known positions of the display; and

a controller operative to control the visible information locations on the display at the known positions to match the compartment pattern of the selected container to provide the visible information proximate each compartment.

2. The compartmentalized container loading system of claim 1 wherein each compartmentalized container is a blister card.

3. The compartmentalized container loading system of claim 2 wherein the compartments are wells.

4. The compartmentalized container loading system of claim 3 wherein the visible information locations on the display are operable to provide the visible information through each well of each compartment pattern.

5. The compartmentalized container loading system of claim 3 wherein the visible information locations provide visible information on the display selected from the group consisting of light information and image information.

6. The compartmentalized container loading system of claim 5 wherein the display is selected from the group consisting of a light emitting diode (LED) display, an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display, a liquid crystal display (LCD) display, and a plasma display.

7. The compartmentalized container loading system of claim 5 wherein the container locator comprises:

a fixture associated with a single location of the docking station and having at least one tray-locating position overlying the display; and

at least one portable tray receivable at a single position in each tray-locating position to support a blister card thereon with the wells over known positions of the display such that visible information is viewable through the wells.

8. The compartmentalized container loading system of claim 7 wherein each at least one each tray-locating position is defined by a plurality of fixture walls and the tray is sized to fit within the walls in the single position.

9. The compartmentalized container loading system of claim 8 wherein the fixture defines a plurality of the tray-locating positions enabling plural trays to be simultaneously over different portions of the display.

10. The compartmentalized container loading system of claim 9 wherein the fixture is a first fixture and the first fixture is interchangeable with a second fixture which has a number of tray-locating positions different from the first fixture.

11. The compartmentalized container loading system of claim 8 wherein the fixtures include stacking structure enabling each fixture to be loaded with at least one tray and stacked atop another fixture.

12. The compartmentalized container loading system of claim 7 wherein the tray comprises:

a top side supporting a blister card and defining well-receiving openings in a pattern matching the pattern of the wells and through which the wells are inserted; and

an open bottom under each opening enabling the visible information to be viewed through the opening when the tray is over the display.

13. The compartmentalized container loading system of claim 12 wherein the tray is a first tray and the first tray is interchangeable with a second tray.

14. The compartmentalized container loading system of claim 13 wherein the tray includes handles.

15. The compartmentalized container loading system of claim 13 further including a removable temporary cover configured to overlie the tray and a blister card supported thereon.

16. The compartmentalized container loading system of claim 13 further including a unique machine-readable identification element associated with each of the fixtures, the at least one tray-locating position, and each tray such that association of a tray with the at least one tray-locating position and the fixture enables the system to identify the known positions of the wells over the display.

17. The compartmentalized container loading system of claim 16 wherein the machine-readable identification elements are selected from the group consisting of a linear barcode, a 2-D barcode, and a radio frequency identification tag (RFID).

18. The compartmentalized container loading system of claim 16 further including a further video display operatively connected to the controller to display information indicating each well into which an item is to be loaded.

19. The compartmentalized container loading system of claim 13 further including a sealing workstation for application of a tri-panel closure to a loaded blister card, the sealing workstation having:

a fixture including a dock sized to receive a tray and a loaded blister card thereon in a single position;

a platform with guide structure adjacent the dock;

a tri-panel closure including a cover portion which overlies the loaded blister card and has an adhesive-coated side with a release liner facing the blister card, a spine attached to the cover portion, and a front portion attached to the spine and held at a single position on the platform by the guide to thereby locate the cover portion over the blister card at a single position,

whereby, the cover portion may be folded away from the blister card to remove the release liner and then folded back onto the blister card to join the cover portion to the blister card sealing the blister card with the front portion being folded around and over a bottom side of the blister card.

20. The compartmentalized container loading system of claim 19 further including patient-specific information on the tri-panel closure describing medicament items in the blister card and the date and time at which the medicaments are to be taken by the patient.