Disposable pill counting device
A disposable pill system including disposable pill counting tray to hold the a pill, a disposable spatula for use with the disposable pill counting tray, the disposable pill counting tray including a folding side wall to define an area for the pill.
The present invention claims priority under 35 USC section 119 and provisional application Ser. No. 60/676,781 filed on May 2, 2005.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates generally to health care, and more particularly to a pill counting device and method for using the pill counting device.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONAmong other things, pharmacies commonly supply pills and other medication in prescription vials for holding their medication after the patients leave the pharmacy and their appointment with the doctor. Some patients when they come to the pharmacy with their prescription scripts are in pain and wish to take their medication immediately in accordance with the doctor's signa which is a Latin term to label the prescription according to dose, route of administration and frequency of use. The only concern of the patients under these circumstances is that the medication will provide some relief from the pain which they suffer and/or cure the ailment. Since the inception of the pharmacy, the tools that have been used to fill the tablet/capsule prescription drug order has been the pill counting tray and spatula. These tools are based on technology which has been in existence for more than 80 years. However, these devices are still used today by the pharmacy to manually fill, accurately count and dispense the medication into the prescription vials. This process is repeated over and over again with the same pill counting tray and spatula. There is no attempt to prevent the contamination of the next patient's medication by the medication of the previous patient. However, many patients are allergic to some kinds of medications, and it is possible for the patient's medication to become contaminated with the previous patient's medication and for the patient to sustain a serious allergic reaction without knowledge of the source of the contamination. The contamination could occur during the filling, counting and dispensing of the patient's medication.
U.S. Pat. No. Des 342,572 discloses a pill counter.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,851,649 to McCanney discloses a method and apparatus for manually counting pills.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,169,643 discloses a main body portion which has a platform surface and tapered side surfaces.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,121,722 discloses a counter including a bottom tray having adjoining upstanding sides.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,952,369 discloses a pill counter having a bottom which is flat and has the general shape of a truncated triangle.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,116,425 discloses a sorting tray which includes a substantially planar sorting surface bounded by upwardly and outwardly extending sidewalls.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,150,785 discloses a tray member including a bottom wall or base portion, a front wall, a rear wall a left side wall and a right side wall. Many patients are not sure if they are allergic to such drugs as penicillin or sulfa drugs. The only source of such an unidentified allergic reaction is that there has been a cross-contamination and evidenced by the patient's complaints of nausea and vomiting or diarrhea. Alternatively, the patient may simply feel depressed or crossed tempered.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention eliminates the drug cross-contamination problem in the pharmacy environments. The present invention includes a device and method of pill dispensing in which the pill counting device is disposable. The disposable pill counting device includes a disposable pill counting tray which may have a built-in chute and a disposable spatula for directing the pills into the medication vial.
By virtue of the fact that the present invention relates to a disposable pill counting device, the present invention is an effective device to prevent the allergic reaction of the patients caused by drug cross-contamination. With the present invention, the patients are assured of receiving substantially pure medication from the pharmacy. It should be understood that the word ‘pill’ can be tablets, capsules or any other suitable type of pill medication which is dispensed as medication by the pharmacy.
By employing the disposable pill counting tray and disposable spatula the drug cross-contamination and the resulting induced allergies can be avoided. The common medications that induce allergic reactions include antibiotics and some heart disease medications; however, there are many other drugs that can induce the allergic response. Consequently, the present invention is an important contribution to preventing these induced allergies.
The disposable pill counting tray and the disposable spatula are simpler in construction, cost-effective and more versatile in operation than other pill counting trays and spatulas. The disposable pill counting tray and disposable spatula ensures safety for the patients. The disposable pill counting tray and disposable spatula provides a new and contamination free device for each patient. By virtue of the disposable aspect of the disposable pill counting tray and disposable spatula, these devices can be used once and discarded.
The disposable pill dispensing device eliminates a drug cross contamination concerns of the community. Consequently, the disposable the dispensing device provides an important contribution and solves the problem of unrecognized allergic reactions.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSThe invention may be understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which, like reference numerals identify like elements, and in which:
While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings and are herein described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the description herein of specific embodiments is not intended to limit the invention to the particular forms disclosed.
Claims
1. A pill counting device to hold a pill, comprising:
- a disposable pill counting tray;
- said disposable pill counting tray including a folding side wall to define an area for said pill.
2. A pill counting device to hold a pill as in claim 1, wherein said folding sidewall is outwardly sloping.
3. A pill counting device to hold a pill as in claim 2, wherein said folding sidewall is outwardly sloping to accept another pill counting tray to form a nested pair.
4. A pill counting device to hold a pill as in claim 1, wherein said pill counting tray is substantially U-shaped.
5. A pill counting device to hold a pill as in claim 4, wherein said U-shaped pill counting tray includes a first arm for a staging area for said pill
6. A pill counting device to hold a pill as in claim 5 wherein said U-shaped pill counting tray includes a second arm for forming a dispensing area for said pill.
7. A pill counting device to hold a pill as in claim 6, wherein said second arm extends beyond said first arm.
8 A pill counting device to hold a pill as in claim 1, wherein said pill counting tray is formed from cardboard.
9. A disposable pill system; comprising:
- a disposable pill counting tray to hold the a pill,
- a disposable spatula for use with said disposable pill counting tray having a hooked end;
- said disposable pill counting tray including a folding side wall to define an area for said pill.
10. A disposable pill system as in claim 1, wherein said folding sidewall is outwardly sloping.
11. A disposable pill system as in claim 2, wherein said folding sidewall is outwardly sloping to accept another disposable pill counting tray to form a nested pair.
12. A disposable pill system as in claim 1, wherein said disposable pill counting tray is substantially U-shaped.
13. A disposable pill system as in claim 12, wherein said U-shaped pill counting tray includes a first arm for a staging area for said pill
14. A disposable pill system as in claim 13, wherein said U-shaped pill counting tray includes a second arm for forming a dispensing area for said pill.
15. A disposable pill system as in claim 13, wherein said second arm extends beyond said first arm.
16. A disposable pill system as in claim 9, wherein said pill counting tray is formed from cardboard or molded plastic.
17. A disposable pill system as in claim 9, wherein said system further includes a tray cover to cover said pill counting tray.
18. A disposable pill system as in claim 17, wherein said tray cover is formed from molded plastic.
19. A disposable pill system as in claim 17, wherein said tray cover is disposable.
20. A pill counting device to hold a pill as in claim 1, wherein said pill counting tray is formed from molded plastic.
Type: Application
Filed: May 1, 2006
Publication Date: Dec 21, 2006
Inventor: Ming Koh (Kent, WA)
Application Number: 11/414,937
International Classification: B65D 1/34 (20060101); B65D 85/42 (20060101);