Method and system for determining an order of fill for a plurality of pills in a multi-dose medicament container

• US 8,627,639 B2
• Filed: 09/19/2008
• Issued: 01/14/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/19/2008
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Walgreen Co. (Walgreens Boots Alliance Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Walgreen Co. (Walgreens Boots Alliance Incorporated)
• Inventors: Ali, Syed Y., Biesenthal, Amy C., Khullar, Rishi, Lee, Victor, McGonagle, Sean, Pankow, Greg
• Primary Examiner(s): TAWFIK, SAMEH
• Application Number:
  US12/234,221
• Publication Number:
  US 20100071320A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,943 Days
• Field of Search: 534/73, 534/74, 534/75, 534/43, 531/54, 532/37, 356/301, 356/328, 356/326
• US Class Current: 53/473
• CPC Class Codes: B65B 5/103 for packaging pills or tablets
• CPC Class Codes: B65B 5/12 Introducing successive articles, e.g. confectionery products, of different shape or size in predetermined positions

Abstract

A method in a computer system of distributing pills into containers for use by a patient includes obtaining from a memory a fill pattern including a mapping of each of a first plurality of pills to one of a first plurality of containers such that at least two of the first plurality of pills are mapped to the same one of the first plurality of containers, obtaining from the memory an attribute of each of the first plurality of pills such that at least two of the first plurality of pills differ in at least the obtained attribute, and automatically sorting the first plurality of pills according to the attribute of each of the plurality of pills according to a predefined order to generate an ordered list corresponding to an order of depositing the first plurality of pills into the first plurality of containers.

Claims

1. A method in a computer system having a memory and a processor for efficiently packaging pills, the method comprising:

obtaining, by the processor from the memory, a volume of an individual container into which a first pill and a second pill are to be packaged, wherein the second pill differs from the first pill in at least one of size or composition and the individual container is included in a plurality of individual containers of a multi-dose medicament container;

obtaining, by the processor from the memory, a size of the first pill;

obtaining, by the processor from the memory, a size of the second pill;

determining, by the processor, a fill order of the individual container of the multi-dose medicament container based on the size of the first pill, the size of the second pill, and the volume of the individual container; and

causing the first pill and the second pill to be placed into the individual container based on the determined fill order.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining the size of the first pill includes obtaining a volume of the first pill, comprising:

associating the volume of the first pill with a volume of a cuboid circumscribing the first pill; and

calculating the volume of the cuboid based on pill dimensions stored in the memory and corresponding to the first pill.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining the size of the first and second pills includes receiving the size of the first and second pills from a database storing pill information.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first pill and the second pill includes medication.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first pill and the second pill is associated with a prescription.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

obtaining a size of a third pill;

determining the fill order of the individual container of the multi-dose medicament container further based on the size of the third pill; and

causing the third pill to be placed into the individual container based on the determined fill order.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the multi-dose medicament container is a multi-dose blister pack, and wherein the plurality of individual containers are individually sealed cells of the multi-dose blister pack.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein:

the individual container is a first individual container included in the plurality of individual containers and the first individual container corresponds to a first time of ingestion prescribed to a patient;

a second individual container is included in the plurality of individual containers and corresponds to a second time of ingestion prescribed to the patient; and

the method further comprises receiving a fill pattern specifying a mapping of the first, second, and third pills to the first and second individual containers.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein causing the first pill to be placed into the individual container based on the determined fill order includes:

placing the first pill and the second pill into an intermediate filling unit;

based on the determined fill order, and

retrieving the first pill and the second pill from the intermediate filling unit.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the fill order of the individual container of the multi-dose medicament container comprises determining a first fill order of a first individual container of the multi-dose medicament container and determining a second fill order of a second individual container of the multi-dose medicament container, the first fill order being different from the second fill order.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining the volume of the individual container of the multi-dose medicament container comprises obtaining a first volume of a first individual container of the multi-dose medicament container and obtaining a second volume of a second individual container of the multi-dose medicament container, the first volume being different from the second volume.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining the volume of the individual container of the multi-dose medicament container comprises obtaining a first volume and a first shape of a first individual container of the multi-dose medicament container and obtaining a second volume and a second shape of a second individual container of the multi-dose medicament container, the first volume being equivalent to the second volume, and the first shape being different than the second shape.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the size of the first pill is a first attribute of the first pill, and the size of the second pill is a first attribute of the second pill, and wherein determining the fill order of the individual container of the multi-dose medicament container is further based on at least a second attribute of the first pill and the at least a second attribute of the second pill.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein determining the fill order further based on the at least the second attribute comprises determining the fill order further based on at least one of:

a pill weight, a pill shape, a pill color, a pill compatibility, a pill chemical weight, a pill chemical composition, a pill manufacturer information, a pill form or a pill dimension.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining the volume of the individual container of the multi-dose medicament container comprises obtaining a volume of each individual container included in the plurality of individual containers of the multi-dose medicament container.