MECHANISMS FOR SENSING THE OPENING AND CLOSING OF PHARMACEUTICAL CONTAINERS
First Claim
1. A system for sensing the opening and closing of a pharmaceutical container, the system comprising:
- a pharmaceutical container, comprising;
a container body;
a container neck disposed at one end of the container body;
container threads disposed on the container neck;
a container closure removably attached to the container neck via the container threads;
control circuitry integrated within the container body;
indicators integrated within the container body; and
an automatic sensing mechanism integrated within the pharmaceutical container body.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Multiple embodiments of mechanisms for sensing the opening and closing of pharmaceutical containers are disclosed. In particular, the example sensing mechanisms of the invention trigger an automatic, built-in, electronic dosage reminder and open/close event logging operation while requiring no additional actions or otherwise changed behavior by the patient, in order to increase patient compliance with dosing regimens. Furthermore, certain embodiments of the sensing mechanisms are reliable and sufficiently low cost to be practical for use in commercial product applications. In one embodiment, the sensing mechanism includes two electrical conductors that have no electrical connection therebetween when the closure is not present on the container and a bridge conductor in the closure that provides an electrical connection therebetween when the closure is tightened onto the container. In this example embodiment, the state of the two electrical conductors may be monitored in order to sense a container opening and closing event.
21 Citations
13 Claims
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1. A system for sensing the opening and closing of a pharmaceutical container, the system comprising:
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a pharmaceutical container, comprising; a container body; a container neck disposed at one end of the container body; container threads disposed on the container neck; a container closure removably attached to the container neck via the container threads; control circuitry integrated within the container body; indicators integrated within the container body; and an automatic sensing mechanism integrated within the pharmaceutical container body. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method of sensing the opening and closing of a pharmaceutical container, the method comprising:
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providing a pharmaceutical container having an automatic sensing mechanism; sensing the opening and/or closing of the pharmaceutical container; triggering the automatic sensing mechanism to automatically generate a dosage reminder signaling a user at dose time via the control circuitry and indicators which are actuated by opening and re-closing of the pharmaceutical container; and tracking container usage and dosage compliance.
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Specification