Pill printing and identification

• US 5,992,742 A
• Filed: 05/30/1997
• Issued: 11/30/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 08/05/1994
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Robert J. Hess, Scott L. Sullivan
• Original Assignee: Robert J. Hess, Scott L. Sullivan
• Inventors: Sullivan, Scott L., Hess, Robert J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Le, Thien Minh
• Application Number:
  US08/866,598
• Time in Patent Office: 914 Days
• Field of Search: 235/462, 235/472, 235/454, 235/375, 235/383, 235/494, 705/28, 705/3, 705/29
• US Class Current: 235/462.01
• CPC Class Codes: A61J 3/007 Marking tablets or the like apparatus for printing on tablets or the like B41F17/36
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/06037 multi-dimensional coding
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/66 Trinkets, e.g. shirt buttons or jewellery items recognising microscopic objects G06V20/69
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/0092 for assembling and dispensing of pharmaceutical articles medical dispensers for private use, A61J7/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/08 by coded identity card or credit card or other personal identification means without personal verification means G07F7/02
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 1/0054 with control of supplementary check-parameters, e.g. weight or number of articles

Abstract

A machine readable code on a label of a pill or imprinted directly thereon. The code may be used to track the identity of the pill for purposes of avoiding mix-up or trademark violations. The code has patterns whose resolution is too small for the unaided eye to discern.

Claims

1. A method of administering a pill comprising the steps of:

scanning a bar code on a surface of a pill;

accessing a database in response to the scanning of the bar code;

finding a correlation to the scanned bar code in the database by making a comparison;

retrieving information from the database that is associated with the correlation in response to the step of finding the correlation;

making a determination as to whether the pill is suited to be administered for consumption based on the information from the step of retrieving;

making an indication in response to the determination;

administering the pill for consumption provided the indication of the determination was favorable for the consumption, and

keeping track of whether the pill is a placebo or contains a drug based on the correlation, the placebo having a marking that is the same as a marking on the pill that contains the drug, the placebo having the bar code that is different from a bar code on the pill that contains the drug.

2. A pill containing a drug and comprising:

an outer surface that is generally rough and porous and defines a total surface area; and

a code-receiving region on said outer surface, said code-receiving region including a layer of material made from one of gelatin, keratin, collagen wax, sugar, protein, plastic, and sugar-based composition, said code-receiving region having a surface area that is less than said total surface area of said pill; and

a machine-readable code located on said code-receiving, region, said code relating to one of drug information, manufacturing information, and contraindications of the drug.