Micro barcoded pill and identification/medical information retrieval system

• US 6,799,725 B1
• Filed: 08/05/1994
• Issued: 10/05/2004
• 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: Hess, Robert J., Sullivan, Scott L.
• Primary Examiner(s): LE, THIEN MINH
• Application Number:
  US08/286,785
• Time in Patent Office: 3,714 Days
• Field of Search: 235/462, 235/472, 235/454, 235/375, 235/455, 235/470, 235/494, 235/379, 235/466, 209/580, 209/581, 209/587, 209/583, 209/900, 209/938, 209/949
• 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: 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

Abstract

A pill imprinted with a micro barcode of encoded information pertaining to source identification and/or medical information pertaining to the contents of the pill. A device for reading the micro barcode on the pills and indicating what was read. The device may convey the pills in succession and sort them in accordance with the expiration date or type of medication.

Claims

1. A pill on which is imprinted micro barcode, said micro barcode containing information pertaining to any one of medication contents of the pill and source identification of the pill.

2. A pill as in claim 1, wherein said source identification includes information selected from the group consisting of a manufacturer, a distributor, country of origin, and production lot number.

3. A pill as in claim 1, wherein said medical information is selected from the group consisting of potency expiration date, frequency of taking medication and dosage of medication in accordance with recommended treatment, side effects, conditions that adversely affect the potency and effectiveness of the medication, and instructions on treatment in the event of adverse reaction to the medication as may result from an unauthorized taking of the medication such as by an unsupervised child.

4. A pill as in claim 1, wherein the pill is imprinted with a validity code that is not apparent as such to the eye under normal lighting conditions.

5. A device for retrieving information encoded on a micro barcode imprinted on a pill and indicating the retrieved information to a user, comprising:

means for scanning the micro barcode on the pill to retrieve information encoded in the micro barcode;

means for interpreting the scanned micro barcode; and

means responsive to results of interpretation by said interpreting means for indicating information encoded in the micro barcode in a manner understandable to the user.

6. A device as in claim 5, wherein said responsive means includes means for conveying to said scanning means in succession a plurality of pills each imprinted with a respective micro barcode and means for conveying away the pills from said scanning means.

7. A device as in claim 6, wherein said means for conveying away the pills includes means for sorting the pills in dependence upon results from said interpreting means.

8. A device as in claim 7, wherein said results include a determination of an elapsement of a potency expiration date encoded in the micro barcode.

9. A device as in claim 8, wherein said results include a determination of which pills contain medication that is of the same type.

10. A device as in claim 5, further comprising means for searching for a validity code on the pill, the validity code being distinct from the information retrieved from the micro barcode that becomes indicated to the user, said responsive means being programmed to fail to reveal the validity code itself to the user.

11. A method of retrieving information encoded on a micro barcode imprinted on a pill and indicating the retrieved information to a user, comprising the steps of:

scanning the micro barcode on the pill to retrieve information encoded in the micro barcode;

interpreting the scanned micro barcode; and

in response to results of the interpreting, indicating information encoded in the micro barcode in a manner understandable to a user.

12. A method as in claim 11, wherein the step of indicating includes conveying in succession a plurality of pills each imprinted with a respective micro barcode before the step of scanning and conveying away the pills after the step of scanning.

13. A method as in claim 12, wherein the step of conveying away the pills includes sorting the pills in dependence upon results from the step of interpreting.

14. A method as in claim 13, wherein said results include determining an elapsement of a potency expiration date encoded in the micro barcode.

15. A method as in claim 13, wherein said results include determining which pills contain medication that are of the same type.

16. A device as in claim 11, further comprising the step of searching for a validity code on the pill, the validity code being distinct from the information retrieved from the micro barcode that becomes indicated to the user, and revealing a presence of a validity code, if present, but failing to reveal the validity code itself to the user during the step of indicating information.

17. A device for retrieving information encoded on a micro barcode imprinted on a pill and indicating the retrieved information to a user, comprising:

a scanner configured and arranged to scan the micro barcode on the pill and retrieve information encoded in the micro barcode;

an interpreter of the scanned micro barcode; and

an indicator of the information encoded in the micro barcode in a manner understandable to the user in response to results of interpretation by the interpreter.

18. A device as in claim 17, further comprising a conveyor configured and arranged to convey to the scanner in succession a plurality of pills each imprinted with a respective micro barcode and a further conveyor configured and arranged to convey the pills away from the scanner.

19. A device as in claim 18, wherein the further conveyor includes a sorter configured and arranged to sort the pills in dependence upon the results of the interpretation by the interpreter.

20. A device as in claim 17, wherein the interpreter includes a determiner of an elapsement of a potency of expiration date encoded in the micro barcode.

21. A device as in claim 17, wherein the interpreter includes a determiner of which pills contain medication that is of the same type.

22. A device as in claim 17, further comprising a searcher of a validity code on the pill, the validity code being distinct from the information retrieved from the micro barcode that becomes indicated to the user.

23. A device as in claim 22, further comprising a controller programmed to fail to reveal the validity code itself to the user.

24. A method of retrieving information encoded by a micro bar code, comprising

scanning a micro bar code that pertains to medication contents of a pill;

comparing the scanned micro bar code with codes stored in memory to find a match;

retrieving information corresponding to the matched code, the retrieving including accessing a central data base over phone lines to retrieve the information; and

making an indication of the retrieved information, the retrieved information being selected from a group consisting of information concerning frequency and quantity of dosages of the medication contents, information on medically related warnings concerning the medication contents, and information pertaining to a potency expiration date for the medication contents.