Calendar-oriented pill dispenser
First Claim
1. A unitary, non-reuseable dispenser for the storage, dispensing, and patient compliance indication of calendar-oriented pills comprising:
- (A) a plurality of pill-containing enclosures, each enclosure corresponding to only one day of a calendar month, and each day of the calendar month corresponding to at least one enclosure, each enclosure comprising a dome for overlying one pill and rupturable zone positioned below the dome for sealing said pill within the enclosure, said zone being rupturable by downward pressure on the dome so as to release the pill contained within the enclosure;
(B) a carrier comprising a first sheet overlying the domes of the plurality of pill-containing enclosures, the sheet comprising a plurality of cutouts dimensioned for passage therethrough of the enclosure domes, said cutouts positioned with respect to each other in a manner similar to the spatial relationship of the pill enclosures to each other, and a second sheet overlying the rupturable zones having cutouts corresponding in size to the size of the rupturable zones, said cutouts positioned with respect to each other in a manner similar to the spatial relationship of the rupturable zones to each other, so as to allow the pill released via the rupturable zone to passthrough the corresponding cutout in the second sheet;
(C) consecutive integer indicia corresponding to each day of the calendar month, the indicia positioned on the first sheet of the carrier in proximity to the domes so that each dome is identified by one and only one of said indicia for a single calendar date and thereby to visually identify each dome with one and only one calandar date of a calendar month; and
(D) consecutive integer indicia corresponding to each day of the calendar month, the indicia positioned on the second sheet of the carrier in proximity to the rupturable zones so that each zone is identified by one and only one of said indicia for a single calendar date and thereby to visually identity each zone with one and only one calendar date of a calendar month;
whereby the dispenser stores pills in the plurality of pill-containing enclosures, wherein at least one enclosure corresponds to each day of a calendar month, and wherein the dispenser stores the pills in a manner that provides visual identification of each enclosure from both the front and rear of the dispenser with one and only one calendar date of a calendar month, so that dispensing of pills on a daily basis is facilitated and whereby monitoring of user compliance with the calendar oriented regimen is facilitated by identification of the pill-containing enclosures which are not dispensed for any given calendar date.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus to store and aid in the dispensing of calendar-oriented drugs is disclosed in which the apparatus comprises a carrier containing a plurality of pill-containing enclosures, the enclosures arranged in rows. Numerical and/or alphanumerical indicia are associated with the enclosures so that each enclosure is associated with only one day in a calendar month. One or more additional enclosures in different rows may also be associated with the same calendar date. Corresponding indicia on the reverse side of the carrier aid in the determination of which enclosure(s) to open. In this way the user can easily determine and verify that the proper enclosure(s) has been opened. The package also provides a visual indication of calendar days for which pills have not been used by the patient and in this way provides patient compliance information to the physician prescribing such drugs. The dispensing apparatus is particularly suited to the administration of calendar-oriented prescription drugs for the treatment of menopausal symptoms.
-
Citations
58 Claims
-
1. A unitary, non-reuseable dispenser for the storage, dispensing, and patient compliance indication of calendar-oriented pills comprising:
-
(A) a plurality of pill-containing enclosures, each enclosure corresponding to only one day of a calendar month, and each day of the calendar month corresponding to at least one enclosure, each enclosure comprising a dome for overlying one pill and rupturable zone positioned below the dome for sealing said pill within the enclosure, said zone being rupturable by downward pressure on the dome so as to release the pill contained within the enclosure; (B) a carrier comprising a first sheet overlying the domes of the plurality of pill-containing enclosures, the sheet comprising a plurality of cutouts dimensioned for passage therethrough of the enclosure domes, said cutouts positioned with respect to each other in a manner similar to the spatial relationship of the pill enclosures to each other, and a second sheet overlying the rupturable zones having cutouts corresponding in size to the size of the rupturable zones, said cutouts positioned with respect to each other in a manner similar to the spatial relationship of the rupturable zones to each other, so as to allow the pill released via the rupturable zone to passthrough the corresponding cutout in the second sheet; (C) consecutive integer indicia corresponding to each day of the calendar month, the indicia positioned on the first sheet of the carrier in proximity to the domes so that each dome is identified by one and only one of said indicia for a single calendar date and thereby to visually identify each dome with one and only one calandar date of a calendar month; and (D) consecutive integer indicia corresponding to each day of the calendar month, the indicia positioned on the second sheet of the carrier in proximity to the rupturable zones so that each zone is identified by one and only one of said indicia for a single calendar date and thereby to visually identity each zone with one and only one calendar date of a calendar month; whereby the dispenser stores pills in the plurality of pill-containing enclosures, wherein at least one enclosure corresponds to each day of a calendar month, and wherein the dispenser stores the pills in a manner that provides visual identification of each enclosure from both the front and rear of the dispenser with one and only one calendar date of a calendar month, so that dispensing of pills on a daily basis is facilitated and whereby monitoring of user compliance with the calendar oriented regimen is facilitated by identification of the pill-containing enclosures which are not dispensed for any given calendar date. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
-
-
22. A unitary, non-reuseable dispenser for the storage, dispensing, and patient compliance indication of post-menopausal calendar-oriented estrogen therapy pills comprising:
-
(A) a backing sheet formed from a thin metalized foil sheet containing a plurality of rupturable zones, the zones arranged in seven rows, the first three rows each comprising six zones corresponding to calendar days 1 through 18, each zone dimensioned for underlying one estrogen pill, the fourth row containing three rupturable zones corresponding to calendar days 16-18, each zone dimensioned for underlying a progesterone pill, the fifth row containing six rupturable zones corresponding to calendar days 19 through 25, each zone dimensioned for underlying an estrogen pill, the sixth row containing six rupturable zones also corresponding to calendar days 19 through 25, each zone dimensioned for underlying a progesterone pill, and the seventh row containing six rupturable zones corresponding to calendar days 26 through 31, each dimensioned for underlying a calcium replacement pill; (B) a plastic sheet sealingly positioned over the backing sheet, the plastic sheet having a plurality of domes formed therein, each dome dimensioned for overlying one of the rupturable zones so as to form a pill-containing enclosure dimensioned for receipt of one pill of the calendar-oriented estrogen therapy regimen to be stored and dispensed by the dispenser; (C) a carrier having a first sheet overlying the domes of the plastic sheet, the first sheet having a plurality of cutouts dimensioned and spaced with respect to each other so as to allow the domes to protrude through the sheet, and a second sheet overlying the backing sheet, the second sheet also having a plurality of cutouts dimensioned and spaced with respect to each other so as to allow the rupturable zones formed in the backing sheet to be exposed; and (D) consecutive indicia positioned on the first sheet of the carrier, the indicia representing integers from the numeral one to thirty-one, each indicia positioned in proximity to each dome to be dispensed on a particular calendar day so as to visually identify each dome with one and only one calendar date; whereby the user of the calendar-oriented dispenser can easily identify each pill to be dispensed on a given calendar date, wherein the dispenser facilitates compliance with the post-menopausal estrogen therapy calendar-oriented regimen and whereby compliance with the regimen can be ascertained by determining which domes of the pill-containing enclosures contain pills at the completion of the calendar-oriented regimen for a given calendar month. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
-
-
37. A unitary, non-reuseable dispenser of pills for the storage, dispensing and patient compliance indication of a post-menopausal oriented estrogen regimen comprising:
-
(A) a backing sheet containing a plurality of rupturable zones, the zones arranged in a plurality of rows, a first group of such zones corresponding to a first set of calendar days for which an estrogen pill is to be taken on each day, a second group of such zones corresponding to a second set of calendar days for which a progesterone pill is to be taken on each day, and a third group of such zones corresponding to a third group of calendar days for which a calcium pill is to be taken on each day; (B) a plastic sheet sealingly positioned over the backing sheet, the plastic sheet having a plurality of domes formed therein, each dome dimensioned for overlying one of the rupturable zones so as to form a pill-containing enclosure dimensioned for receipt of one pill of the calendar-oriented regimen to be stored and dispensed by the dispenser; (C) a carrier having a first sheet overlying the domes of the plastic sheet, the first sheet having a plurality of cutouts dimensioned and spaced with respect to each other so as to allow the domes to protrude through the sheet, and a second sheet overlying the backing sheet, the second sheet also having a plurality of cutouts dimensioned and spaced with respect to each other so as to allow the rupturable zones formed in the backing sheet to be exposed; and (D) consecutive indicia positioned on the first sheet of the carrier, the indicia representing integers corresponding to at least the maximum number of days of a particular calendar month for which the dispenser is to be used so as to visually identify each zone with one and only one calendar date; whereby the user of the calendar-oriented dispenser can easily identify each pill to be dispensed on a given calendar date, wherein the dispenser facilitates compliance with the post-menopausal estrogen therapy regimen and whereby compliance with the regimen can be ascertained by determining which domes of the pill-containing enclosures contain pills at the completion of the calendar-oriented regimen for a given calendar month. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52)
-
-
53. A method of dispensing pills which is intended to be taken on a calendar-oriented basis comprising the steps of:
-
(1) providing a unitary, non-reuseable dispenser, and said dispenser having; (A) a plurality of pill-containing enclosures, each enclosure corresponding to only one day of a calendar month, and each day of the calendar month corresponding to at least one enclosure, each enclosure comprising a dome for overlying one pill and rupturable zone positioned below the dome for sealing said pill within the enclosure, said zone being rupturable by downward pressure on the dome so as to release the pill contained within the enclosure; (B) a carrier comprising a first sheet overlying the domes of the plurality of pill-containing enclosures, the sheet comprising a plurality of cutouts dimensioned for passage therethrough of the enclosure domes, said cutouts positioned with respect to each other in a manner similar to the spatial relationship of the pill enclosures to each other, and a second sheet overlying the rupturable zones having cutouts corresponding in size to the size of the rupturable zones, said cutouts positioned with respect to each other in a manner similar to the spatial relationship of the rupturable zones to each other, so as to allow the pill released via the rupturable zone to pass through the corresponding cutout in the second sheet; (C) consecutive integer indicia corresponding to each day of the calendar month, the indicia positioned on the first sheet of the carrier in proximity to the domes so that each dome is identified by one and only one of said indicia for a single calendar date and thereby to visually identify each dome with one and only one calendar date of a calander month; and (D) consecutive integer indicia corresponding to each day of the calendar month, the indicia positioned on the second sheet of the carrier in proximity to the rupturable zones so that each zone is identified by one and only one of said indicia for a single calendar date and thereby to visually identify each zone with one and only one calendar date of a calendar month; (2) storing the pills to be dispensed for each calendar date of a calendar month in said dispenser and (3) rupturing the rupturable zone of the pill-containing enclosure corresponding to the calendar day for which the medication is to be dispensed. - View Dependent Claims (54, 55, 56, 57, 58)
-
Specification