Portable medication container

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12245990-B2
Application number	US-202217727274-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 22, 2022
Priority date	Apr 22, 2021
Publication date	Mar 11, 2025
Grant date	Mar 11, 2025

Abstract

The medication container includes a generally card-shaped housing with an interior. The housing has a first opening that is sized to allow a plurality of pills to simultaneously be inserted into the interior of the housing and a first door that is movable between an open position and a closed position to selectively open and close the first opening. The housing also has a second opening that is spaced from the first opening and is configured to only allow a single dose of pills to be dispensed at a time. A second door is movable between open and closed positions. Electronic circuitry is disposed in the interior of the housing and is configured to detect the passage of the pills through the second opening and also to record data pertaining to each dispensing event to a memory contained within the interior of the housing.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A medication container, comprising:
a generally card-shaped housing having an interior that is able to hold a plurality of pills;
a first opening that is sized to allow a plurality of pills to simultaneously be inserted into the interior of the housing, a first door movable between an open position and a closed position to selectively open and close the first opening;
a second opening that is spaced from the first opening on a same wall of the housing and is configured to only allow a single dose of pills to be dispensed from the interior of the housing at a time, a second door movable between an open position and a closed position to selectively open and close the second opening;
electronic circuitry disposed in the interior of the housing and being configured to detect the passage of the pills through the second opening and record data pertaining to each dispensing event to a memory contained within the interior of the housing; and
a guide including at least one guide wall which extends between the top wall and a bottom wall and is fixedly attached therebetween, said guide wall channeling the pills in the interior of the housing towards the second opening and singulates the pills such that only a single pill can be aligned with the second opening for dispensing at a time.

2. The medication container as set forth in claim 1 wherein the electronic circuitry includes at least one touchless sensor that is configured to detect the passage of pills through the second opening without contact between the at least one touchless sensor and the pills;
wherein said touchless sensor selectively triggers a scale to weigh the pills.

3. The medication container as set forth in claim 2 wherein the at least one touchless sensor includes at least one photoreflective diffuse sensor that is configured to sense a break in a path of light from a light source to a light detector.

4. The medication container as set forth in claim 1 wherein the electronic circuitry includes a wireless module that is able to transmit the data pertaining to each dispensing event from the memory to an external device.

5. The medication container as set forth in claim 1 wherein at least one of the first door and the second door is a slidable door that can slide between the open and closed positions;
wherein the first door has multiple positions that adjust to the size of one of said plurality of pills.

6. The medication container as set forth in claim 1 wherein at least one of the first door and the second door includes a living hinge and can pivot between the open and closed positions.

7. The medication container as set forth in claim 1 further including a door locking device in the housing that
locks the first door and only unlocks the first door in response to a positive access approval to access the housing to add or remove a pill, and
locks the second door and only unlocks the second door in response to sensing a positive dispensing verification that an approved person is requesting the second door to be unlocked in the housing, and
locks both the first and second doors and only unlocks both of said doors in response to a positive approval that an approved person is requesting both the doors to be unlocked.

8. The medication container as set forth in claim 1 further including a weight sensor contained within the interior of the housing and configured to weigh the pills within the interior and also configured to transmit weight data to the electronic circuitry.

9. The medication container as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the second door is a dispensing door,
the housing further including a plurality of walls that are fixedly attached and located within the interior of the housing and dividing the housing into a plurality of chambers, and
the housing having a plurality of dispensing doors with each dispensing door being associated with one of the chambers.

10. A medication container, comprising: a generally card-shaped housing having an interior that is able to hold a plurality of pills:
a first opening, in a top wall of the housing, that is sized to allow a plurality of pills to simultaneously be inserted into the interior of the housing, a first door movable between an open position and a closed position to selectively open and close the first opening;
a second opening, in the top wall of the housing, that is spaced from the first opening and is configured to only allow a single dose of pills to be dispensed from the interior of the housing at a time, a second door movable between an open position and a closed position to selectively open and close the second opening;
a non-contact pill sensor disposed at the second opening and configured to detect the dispensing of pills out of the interior volume outside of the housing; and
a guide including at least one guide wall which extends between the top wall and a bottom wall and is fixedly attached therebetween, said guide wall channeling the pills in the interior of the housing towards the second opening and singulates the pills such that only a single pill can be aligned with the second opening for dispensing at a time;
wherein the second opening is located on a corner of the top wall of the housing.

11. A medication container, comprising:
a generally card-shaped housing having an interior that is able to hold a plurality of pills;
a filling opening that is sized to allow a plurality of pills to simultaneously be inserted into the interior of the housing, a filling door movable between an open position and a closed position to selectively open and close the filling opening;
a dispensing opening that is spaced from the filling opening on the same wall of the housing and is configured to only allow a single dose of pills to be dispensed from the interior of the housing at a time, a dispensing door movable between an open position and a closed position to selectively open and close the dispensing opening;
a pair of guide walls fixedly attached and positioned within the interior of the housing and converging towards one another in a direction towards the dispensing opening for singulating the pills so that only a single dose of the pills can be aligned with the dispensing opening at a time; and
electronic circuitry disposed in the interior of the housing and being configured to detect the passage of the pills through the dispensing opening and record data pertaining to each dispensing event to a memory contained within the interior of the housing.

12. The medication container as set forth in claim 11 wherein the single dose of pills that can be aligned with the dispensing opening at a time includes only a single pill.

13. The medication container as set forth in claim 11 wherein the electronic circuitry includes at least one touchless sensor that is configured to detect the passage of pills through the dispensing opening without contact between the at least one touchless sensor and the pills;
wherein said touchless sensor selectively triggers a scale to weigh the pills.

14. The medication container as set forth in claim 13 wherein the at least one touchless sensor includes at least one photoreflective diffuse sensor that is configured to sense a break in a path of light from a light source to a light detector.

15. The medication container as set forth in claim 11 wherein the filling door is slidable between the open and closed positions and wherein the open position includes a plurality of different open positions with different areas of the filling opening being exposed.

16. The medication container as set forth in claim 11 wherein the

Assignees

• Evernorth Strategic Dev Inc

Inventors

• Gilreath Lindsay N
• Hoffman Robert E

Classifications

• G16H20/13

  delivered from dispensers · CPC title

• A61J2200/74

  for weight · CPC title

• A61J2200/70

  Device provided with specific sensor or indicating means · CPC title

• A61J2200/30

  Compliance analysis for taking medication · CPC title

• A61J2205/60

  using magnetic or electronic identifications, e.g. chips, RFID, electronic tags · CPC title