WO2005070369A1

WO2005070369A1 - A container for dispensing drugs

Info

Publication number: WO2005070369A1
Application number: PCT/IB2005/000154
Authority: WO
Inventors: Giorgio Foletti
Original assignee: Giorgio Foletti
Priority date: 2004-01-22
Filing date: 2005-01-24
Publication date: 2005-08-04

Abstract

A container for dispensing drugs to several patients, comprising a base consisting of a plurality of individual compartents and a lid consisting of a plurality of individual portions for covering the individual compartments, in which the lid is associated in a removable way with said base to allow the separation from the container of at least one individual compartment together with the corresponding covering portion.

Description

Description A container for dispensing drugs.

Technical field This invention concerns the sector of pharmacological therapy dispensing to patients, particularly in hospital and nursing home settings and the like.

Background art Improvised systems are currently used to dispense treatment to patients, such as the preparation of sterile dressings containing the drugs and on which the necessary information is indicated, such as the bed occupied by the patient and the time at which the drugs should be taken. This solution is generally inefficient and risks both the loss of the drugs, because the dressing cannot contain them properly, and the difficult recognition of the administration data, for example the patient's bed number or the time. Furthermore, a limitation of these known administration systems is that there is no exact and secure arrangement of the doses prepared for the various patients, this being a particularly serious drawback in the case of patient numbers ranging from just a few to several tens, with the risk of losing the drugs (which are all placed together on the nurse's trolley) or of mixing them up between the patients. The need is therefore greatly felt for a container that allows simple and safe dispensing of individual drug treatments to patients in hospitals, nursing homes or similar structures.

Summary of the invention The aim of this invention is therefore to overcome these problems . In accordance with the invention, this aim is achieved by means of a device and a machine for covering boxes according to the attached claims. Other advantageous aspects of the device are described in the other claims. The advantages provided by this invention consist mainly of the fact that a biunivocal relationship is established between a position of the drugs in the container and the data relative to the patient (e.g. the bed occupied by the patient and the time of administration) who is to receive the treatment. The container also allows better orderly organisation of the drug dispensing, preventing accidental loss or mixing them up.

Brief description of the drawings The technical features of the invention, according to the aforesaid aims, are clearly described in the claims below and its advantages will become more evident from the detailed description which follows, with reference to the accompanying drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment provided merely by way of example without restricting the scope of the invention, and in which: figure 1 shows the base of a container according to the invention; figure 2 shows a lid which can be associated with the base shown in figure 1; figures 3-6 show an example of the administration indications (different administration times for several bed numbers) marked on several lids, one for each administration time, of the type show in figure 2 ; - figures 7-9 show a longitudinal side view, a view from above and a front side view, respectively, of a preferred embodiment of the container; figure 10 shows a view from above of a second preferred embodiment of the container; - figure 11 is a schematic view of the separation of the individual compartments of the container; figure 12 shows another preferred embodiment of the invention ; figures 13-13a show a further preferred embodiment of the container with several rows of compartments formed in a single base and indicating the preferred cutting line; figures 14-17 show subsequent stages in the use of another preferred embodiment of the container with a support designed to hold the administration indications.

Detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention Various embodiments of the container according to the invention, for dispensing drugs to a plurality of patients, are described herebelow. With reference to the accompanying drawings, a container 1 according to the invention comprises a base 2 in which a number of compartments 3 are formed to hold drugs 4 for the same number of patients. The compartments 3 are preferably arranged in one or more rows (figure 13) and are separated by cutting lines 5, which may have weakened parts or cuts 6 to favour the separation of the individual compartments . The container 1 also comprises a lid 7 consisting of a series of individual covering portions 8 which correspond to the position of the individual compartments 3. The portions 8 preferably present surfaces on which the therapeutic indications relative to the patients can be marked by printing or in another way. The surfaces bearing the indications may, however, be positioned on different parts of the container 1 as long as they correspond to the compartments to be filled according to the indications. For example, it is particularly useful for each portion 8 to indicate the bed number of a certain patient and the time at which the drugs 4 are to be taken (for example in figures 3-6, the portions 8 show the various times for administration of the drugs to the patients occupying beds 1 to 10, although these indications may have different quantities and combinations) . To facilitate the association between compartments 3 and portions 8 the base 2 can be equipped with one or more tabs 9 which allow the precise insertion of the lid 7 in order to cover the compartments 3. In particular, it is possible to have a pair of continuous tabs 9 which extend along the two sides 10 of the compartments (figures 8, 9) or a series of individual tabs corresponding to the various compartments (figure 10) ; in this case the discontinuity of the tabs also makes it easier to separate the adjacent compartments . To further facilitate the use of the container, one or more supports 11 designed to hold spare lids 7 for insertion on the compartments may also be provided. For example, depending on the application, the support may be single (figures 14-17) or multiple (figure 12) . With particular reference to figures 14-17, an additional support 13 is described, which is designed to hold the container 1 and which may be an integral part or not of the support 11 for the lids 7. In using the container according to the invention, a lid 7 is inserted in the support 11 of the container, with the indications relative, for example, to the patient's bed and to the administration time of the drugs 4 (figure 14) . The drugs 4 can therefore be inserted in the relative compartments 3 (figure 15) as shown in the patient medicine register, according to the bed number. Subsequently (figure 16) , the lid is inserted to close the compartments and (figure 17) the container can be removed from the support 13. The individual compartments 3, showing the exact indication of the patient who must be given the drugs and the time of administration, can then be separated. Advantageously, in the case of a lid for multiple rows of compartments (figure 13), a row/column indication of the administration data is defined, thanks to which it is possible to separate strips 13 containing several compartments 3 , each of which can contain the drugs for a certain patient (the same bed number of each strip 13) at the various administration times. Figure 18 shows a preferred embodiment in which the lid 7 is an integral part of and folds open from the base 2, to which it can be firmly fixed by means of fixing elements, for example the press-fixing type, and in which the portions 8 of the lid 7 can already be partially separated from each other to facilitate the individual administration of the drugs and the cutting of the individual compartments. In a preferred embodiment, the container 1 is made from transparent plastic in order to better identify the drugs placed in the compartments, but it is understood that the invention can be adapted and modified in several ways without departing from the scope of the inventive concept. Moreover, all the details of the invention can be substituted by technically equivalent elements.

Claims

1. A container for dispensing drugs to several patients, comprising a base (2) consisting of a plurality of individual compartments (3), and a lid (7) consisting of a plurality of individual portions (8) for covering the individual compartments (3), in which the lid (7) can pass from an open position to a closed position in which it is fixed to the base (2) creating a biunivocal association of at least one individual compartment (3) with a corresponding covering portion (8) , and in which pairs consisting of said compartments (3) and said associated portions (8) can be individually separated from the container.

2. A container according to claim 1, foreseeing surfaces corresponding to the individual compartments (3) , on which indications relative to the individual therapy to be administered to the patients can be affixed.

3. A container according to either of the foregoing claims, in which said surfaces corresponding to the individual compartments

(3) for affixing the indications relative to the individual therapy to be administered to the patients are printed surfaces on the portions (8) of the lid (7) .

4. A container according to any of the foregoing claims, in which said surfaces corresponding to the individual compartments for affixing the indications relative to the individual therapy to be administered to the patients are printed surfaces on the base.

5. A container according to any of the foregoing claims, in which said base consists of a plurality of individual compartments

(3) aligned in one or more rows.

6. A container according to any of the foregoing claims, in which said base (2) comprises at least one restraining tab (9) positioned at the opening surfaces of at least one of said compartments (3), and said lid (7) consists of a flap which can be inserted firmly under the tab (9) to cover at least one compartment (3 ) .

7. A container according to claim 6, in which said base (2) comprises at least one opposing pair of restraining tabs (9) positioned at each individual compartment (3).

8. A container according to claim 6, in which said base (2) comprises a pair of continuous restraining tabs (9) , extending along the opening sides of the compartments (3) along the entire longitudinal development of the base (2) .

9. A container according to any of the foregoing claims, in which said compartments (3), associated with the corresponding portions (8) , can be separated individually or in orderly rows (13) .

10. A container according to any of the foregoing claims, in which said compartments (3) can be separated along a facilitated cutting line (12).

11. A container according to any of the foregoing claims, in which said lid is an integral part of and folds open from the base 2, to which it can be firmly fixed by means of press-fixing elements .

12. A container according to claim 11, in which at least one of said portions (8) of the lid (7) can already be at least partially separated from the others .

13. An assembly for dispensing drugs, comprising a container according to any of the foregoing claims, and also comprising at least one housing or support (11) to accommodate one or more of said lids (7) .

14. An assembly according to claim 13, comprising a support (13) to accommodate said container (1) so that the position of the compartments (3) corresponds to the position of the portions (8) of the lid (7) placed on the support (11).