US20120325688A1

US20120325688A1 - Pill holder

Info

Publication number: US20120325688A1
Application number: US13/510,543
Authority: US
Inventors: Richard Davis; James Kustow; Lior Kristal
Original assignee: Q Systems Ltd
Current assignee: Q SYSTEM Ltd; Q Systems Ltd
Priority date: 2009-11-20
Filing date: 2010-11-18
Publication date: 2012-12-27
Also published as: WO2011061536A2; EP2501259A2; WO2011061536A3; GB0920357D0

Abstract

A toothbrush sheath with an integrated pill sheet holder, the sheath comprising a brush cavity configured to accept and hold a toothbrush for use by a user and a cavity shaped to accept pill sheets of various sizes. Also described is an electric or manual toothbrush with an integrated pill sheet holder, the handle of the toothbrush comprising a pill sheet cavity shaped to accept pill sheets of various Sizes. Also described is a static toothbrush holding unit with a base having a designated space for holding the toothbrush and a built-in ejectable tray for holding pill sheets.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a pill sheet holder. In particular, the invention relates to a pill sheet holder integrated in a toothbrush, toothbrush sheath and a static toothbrush holding unit.

BACKGROUND

Many people take tablets daily, for treatment or for preventative reasons. Most tablets are not taken more than twice a day. Commonly taken tablets include the contraceptive pill, vitamin or mineral supplements and anti-materials for travel.
‘Compliance’ with medication regimens means taking the correct number of tablets at the correct time. Compliance has emerged as a major problem and studies have shown that as many as 50% of all prescriptions are taken incorrectly, 30% of adult hospital admissions are in some way related to compliance issues and that non-compliance results in twice as many deaths as road traffic accidents (in the USA). Non-compliance has been reported to cost an estimated £60 billion a year worldwide. It has also been reported that over 60% of women forget to take a prescribed daily contraceptive pill at least once a month and that a single missed pill reduces its effectiveness from 98% to 80%.
One of the main reasons for non-compliance is simply forgetting to take the medication. In the case of preventative pills, there are no immediate adverse symptoms to remind the user to take them. However, without consistent compliance the original objective of the pill taking is unlikely to be achieved.
Efforts have been made to improve the compliance and convenience of taking pills through various approaches including pill boxes, pill organisers and pill dispensers. However, the basic problem of users having to remember to take the pills still exists, even with such standalone devices. The majority of pill holders on sale are crude and bulky because they are designed predominantly for the elderly who are commonly on multiple medications and may have poor vision and dexterity.
Moreover, prior art devices involve the removal of the pills from the original packaging and handling/manipulation of the pills days or weeks before they actually need to be taken which is inconvenient. Additionally, if the pills are not properly sealed then moisture ingress may damage them and impair their function.
In summary, compliance with dosing regimes is not currently supported by existing product designs. There is, therefore, a requirement for a simple, efficient and effective pill dispensing and reminder system.

SUMMARY

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not an extensive overview of the disclosure. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the invention or delineate the scope of the invention. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts disclosed herein in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.
There is provided a toothbrush sheath with an integrated pill sheet holder, the sheath comprising a brush cavity configured to accept and hold a toothbrush for use by a user and a pill sheet cavity shaped to accept pill sheets of various sizes.
There is also provided a toothbrush with an integrated pill sheet holder, the handle of the toothbrush comprising a pill sheet cavity shaped to accept pill sheets of various sizes.
There is also provided a static toothbrush holding unit comprising a brush cavity for holding a toothbrush and a built-in ejectable tray for holding pill sheets.
The toothbrush sheath may have dense foam-like material in the brush cavity for holding toothbrushes of various handle sizes.
The outer body of the toothbrush sheath or toothbrush may incorporate transparent panels. The transparent panels may have the advantage of facilitating visualisation of the contained pill sheet.
The toothbrush sheath or toothbrush may comprise a means for ejecting the pill sheet from the pill sheet cavity.
The pill sheet cavity may comprise one or more arc shaped cavities. The pill sheet cavity may comprise one or more V-shaped cavities. Preferably, the pill sheet cavity may comprise at least one arc shaped cavity and at least one V-shaped cavity.
The pill sheet cavity may comprise more than one distinct cavities. Alternatively, the pill sheet cavity may comprise more than one overlapping cavities.
An insert, preferably made of plastic, may be provided for insertion into the pill sheet cavity to reduce its width. The insert may have the advantage of allowing thin pill sheets to be gripped.
The toothbrush sheath or toothbrush may be provided with a cover for the pill sheet cavity. The cover may be transparent or translucent. The transparent or translucent cover may allow the pill sheet which protrudes out of the cavity to be directly visualised.
Preferably, the cover is in the form of a cup, such as a plastic screw-on or clip-on cup. Preferably, the cover will have a flat stable base allowing the toothbrush sheath or toothbrush to be stood upright. The cover may also function to hold pills, or liquid for taking those pills.
The toothbrush sheath or toothbrush may be provided with display means, such as a display screen, for displaying pill usage and/or prompting pill usage. The display may be a LCD. The display may automatically update. The automatic update may be by means of a catch mechanism triggered every time the pill sheet is withdrawn or reinserted after use.
The toothbrush sheath or toothbrush may be provided with buttons to manually change the monitoring display on the display means.
The toothbrush sheath or toothbrush may also be provided with a speaker that can emit alarms or pre-recorded messages, before, during or after brushing. There may be additional alerting mechanisms
The toothbrush may be a manual or an electric toothbrush.
The static toothbrush holding unit may be adapted to take either manual or electric toothbrushes.
Adaptor pieces may be provided that click into the toothbrush cavity of the static toothbrush holding unit allowing compatibility with toothbrushes of various diameters.
Ejection of the pill sheet tray in the static toothbrush holding unit may be triggered every time the toothbrush is lifted from the holder. Ejection of the tray may be triggered by a catch mechanism in the brush cavity. Alternatively, the brush cavity could incorporate a light sensor which is stimulated when the toothbrush is lifted out, completing a circuit and prompting ejection.
The static toothbrush holding unit adapted to take electric toothbrushes may also act as a charging device for the electric toothbrush.
The static toothbrush holding unit may be provided with display means, such as a display screen, for displaying pill usage and/or prompting pill usage. The display may be a LCD. The display may automatically update. The automatic update may be by means of a catch or light sensor mechanism triggered every time the toothbrush is lifted from the holding unit.
The static toothbrush holding unit may be provided with a speaker that can emit alarms or pre-recorded messages, before, during or after brushing. There may be additional alerting mechanisms.
The static toothbrush holding unit may incorporate a wall mounting unit.
The preferred features may be combined as appropriate, as would be apparent to a skilled person, and may be combined with any of the aspects of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a front perspective view of a manual toothbrush and a toothbrush sheath with and without the manual toothbrush inserted;

FIG. 2 shows a front perspective view of a replaceable toothbrush head and a manual toothbrush with built-in cavity shown with and without the replaceable toothbrush head attached;

FIG. 3 shows a front perspective view of an electric toothbrush with built-in cavity;

FIG. 4 shows a cross sectional view of a toothbrush sheath, with a pill sheet inserted and a manual toothbrush partially inserted;

FIG. 5 shows cross sectional views of two possible shapes for a pill sheet cavity, (A) Arc shaped and (B) V-shaped;

FIG. 6 shows a cross sectional view of a combined arc and V-shaped pill sheet cavity;

FIGS. 7 (A) to (C) show three cross sectional views of a pill sheet cavity with the corresponding perspective views of a portion of a toothbrush/toothbrush sheath with such pill sheet cavities accommodating pill sheets in various configurations (including cut strips of pills);

FIG. 8 shows two types of pills sheet: (A) a pill sheet that cannot be folded down the centre due to the non-symmetric/non-parallel arrangement of the pills, and (B) a pill sheet that can be folded down the centre due to the parallel and symmetric arrangement of the pills. Also showing a central ridge that aids folding;

FIG. 9 shows three perspective views of a portion of a toothbrush/toothbrush sheath showing: (A) a pill sheet cavity and a pill sheet prior to insertion, (B) a pill sheet being inserted into the cavity, and (C) a pill sheet fully inserted into the cavity and a removable cover for the base, prior to attachment;

FIG. 10 shows an insert that is designed to be slotted into a pill sheet cavity in order to reduce its width;

FIG. 11 shows two front views of a toothbrush/toothbrush sheath containing a pill sheet visible through a transparent panel, with a display screen, manual handling and ejector buttons;

FIG. 12 shows: (A) a static toothbrush holding unit for manual toothbrushes; (B) a static toothbrush holding unit for electric toothbrushes; and (C) a static toothbrush holding unit with adaptor pieces;

FIG. 13 shows an alternative wall mountable design for a static toothbrush holding unit;

FIG. 14 shows ejection of the pill sheet tray in the static toothbrush holding unit; and

FIG. 15 shows the ejected pill sheet tray holding multiple pill sheets.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of the present invention are described below by way of example only. These examples represent the best ways of putting the invention into practice that are currently known to the Applicant although they are not the only ways in which this could be achieved. The description sets forth the functions of the example and the sequence of steps for constructing and operating the example. However, the same or equivalent functions and sequences may be accomplished by different examples.
A convenient method of providing a reminder to take regular medication would be to combine the medication-taking with an act that the user is already practiced at performing everyday. The invention addresses the problematic issue of medication compliance by combining pill taking with the established daily routine of brushing one's teeth. Simply picking up the toothbrush automatically reminds the user to take the pill and moreover the pill is immediately accessible. The ready availability of water for tooth brushing means that the user can immediately take the pills when reminded and the chances of delay and forgetfulness are further reduced.
Devices according to the current invention include a toothbrush sheath, toothbrush and static toothbrush holding unit all with integrated pill sheet holding cavities shaped to accommodate pill sheets of differing sizes. The devices of the invention are easy to use due to the simple and efficient design.
FIG. 1 shows a front perspective view of toothbrush sheath 10 with built-in pill sheet cavity 11 that is designed to have a manual toothbrush 12 inserted into it according to an embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 2 shows a front perspective view of a manual toothbrush 20 with built-in pill sheet cavity 21 and replaceable brush head 22 according to an embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 3 shows a front perspective view of an electric toothbrush 30 with built-in pill sheet cavity 31, again with replaceable brush heads 32 according to an embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 4 shows a cross sectional view of toothbrush sheath 10 according to an embodiment of the invention. Pill sheet cavity 11 of sheath 10 is configured to hold pill sheets 40 of various sizes. The ability to accept pill sheets 40 of various sizes reduces the inconvenience of taking pills out of their packaging to arrange in a pill dispenser and also protects the pills from unnecessary manual handling or moisture ingress before they are removed for ingestion. This is an advantage of the invention and is a significant improvement over available devices where pills have to be removed from the packaging. The available devices also have no means for accommodating pill sheets of various sizes within the available space. In devices of the present invention, pills remain in their original waterproof packaging right until the moment of ingestion.
Hereinafter, for clarity, the toothbrush sheath, manual toothbrush, and electric toothbrush embodiments will be described by the generic word ‘device’ and that word should be construed accordingly.
The cavity 11, 21, 31 is a combination of overlapping arc shaped 50 and V-shaped 51 cavities arranged to accept pill sheets 40 of various sizes as shown in further detail in FIGS. 5 and 6. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 5, the device 10, 20, 30 may comprise independent arc 50 or V-shaped 51 pill sheet cavities. These independent cavities may be incorporated in various forms into the device 11, 21, 31. The arc shaped cavity 50 will be suitable for pill sheets that cannot easily be folded due to an irregular (non-parallel/non-symmetrical) arrangement of the pills along the pill sheet (See FIG. 8(A)). The V-shaped cavity 51 is suitable for accommodating pill sheets that have a parallel and symmetrical pill arrangement (FIG. 8(B)) and therefore can be folded down the centre prior to insertion. Where it is not critical that the entire pill sheet remains intact (as is required for the contraceptive pill), the V-shape also allows two separate cut strips of pills of the same or different varieties to be inserted into each arm of the V-shaped cavity. FIGS. 7(A) to (C) show how cavity 11, 21, 31 in one embodiment of the invention is able to accommodate various configurations of pill sheets 40. These configurations, as explained, include curved, folded and cut strips of pill sheets.
Bending the pill sheet is easy due to the foil covered malleable plastic which usually forms pill sheets. There is often a ridge down the centre of the pill sheet (a remnant of the manufacturing process) that facilitates easy folding. Folding, is however, possible without the ridge. The folding of the pill sheet allows the cavity 11, 21, 31 to accommodate pill sheets of a larger width than the limited diameter of the sheath or toothbrush handle. Moreover, pill sheet 40 when bent to fit into the arc shape 50 of cavity 11, 21, 31 or folded to fit into the V-shape 51 of cavity 11, 21, 31 may naturally open and press against the sides of the cavity 11, 21, 31 thereby creating resilient friction which helps to hold pill sheet 40 in place.
The pill sheet cavity 11, 21, 31 or cavities are designed to allow the insertion of pill sheets containing relatively large pills. FIG. 10 shows a hollow insert 100, preferably made of plastic, that may be provided and that can be slotted into the opening, reducing its width for a tighter fit of pill sheets containing smaller sized pills.
A transparent removable cover 13 covers the pill sheet cavity 11, 21, 31. This cover 13 provides an additional waterproof protective layer to prevent any moisture ingress. Removable cover 13 may be in the form of a cup, such as a plastic screw-on or clip-on cup, which doubles as a pill pot into which the pill can be deposited as it is pushed out of the pill sheet. Furthermore, it can also be filled with water to aid ingestion of a pill. Cover 13 also allows the device 10, 20, 30 to be stood upright.
Moreover, the transparent nature of cover 13 allows the pill sheet, which is protruding a few centimetres out of the pill sheet cavity 11, 21, 31, to be visualised. This serves as an additional simple visual reminder to the user.
In one embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 11, the device incorporates transparent longitudinal panels 110 through which the pills in pill sheet 40 or sheets contained in pill sheet cavity 11, 21, 31 can be viewed. Such transparent panels 110 in the device 10, 20, 30 both serve a reminder function when the device 10, 20, 30 is picked up and give the user the additional advantage of seeing how many pills are remaining on the pill sheet.
The cavity 11, 21, 31 in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 4 may contain compressible dense foam-like material. This foam-like material will form a grip around toothbrushes of various handle shapes or diameters and therefore enable insertion and holding of manual toothbrushes in sheath 10.
FIG. 9(A) to 9(C) shows a perspective view of the lower portion of the device 10, 20, 30 with cavity 11, 21, 31 according to an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 9(A) shows pill sheet 40 before insertion into cavity 11, 21, 31. FIG. 9(B) shows folded pill sheet 40 being inserted into cavity 11, 21, 31 of the device 10, 20, 30. FIG. 9(C) shows pill sheet 40 in place in cavity 11, 21, 31 of the device 10, 20, 30. Removable cover 13 which will cover cavity 11, 21, 31 is also shown.
An ejector mechanism 41 provided on the device, and shown in FIG. 4, assists the user in ejecting pill sheet 40 from cavity 11, 21, 31. Ejector mechanism 41, which may be in the form of a slideable button, can be pushed towards the base of the device to eject pill sheet 40 and moves away from the base as pill sheet 40 is inserted into cavity 11, 21, 31.
FIG. 11 shows two front views of the device 10, 20, 30 according to an embodiment of the invention with features such as display screen 111, for example a LCD, manual handling buttons 112, ejector button 41 and transparent panel 110. Cover 13 through which pill sheet 40 is visible is also shown.
Display screen 111 shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 11 is used to monitor and prompt pill usage. The display on the display screen 111 may be updated automatically via a catch mechanism triggered every time pill sheet 40 is removed or reinserted after use. Buttons 112 can be used to manually change the display on display screen 111 if necessary.
There may be alert functions in the form of a flashing light, alarm or recorded voice message. There may be an in-built speaker and/or microphone. Messages may be pre-recorded by the user.
Display screen 111, which may be automatically or manually updated, displays the day, date and/or time that the user needs to take another pill. Alternatively, display screen 111 may display the day, date and/or time when the user last took a pill. Other information such as number of pills remaining on the pill sheet or the pill number (useful in the case of the contraceptive pill) may also be displayed. For example, display screen 111 in this embodiment (FIG. 11) is displaying that the user is on Day 2 of the pill regime and should take the next pill before noon on Monday. Buttons 112 enable the user to manually modify the display in the event that display screen 111 has been erroneously updated.
Display screen 111 and buttons 112 shown in this embodiment are positioned on the upper body of the device thereby making the display less vulnerable to accidental tampering during use of the toothbrush. Alternative placement of these features in a different position and in a different layout is, of course, possible.
The toothbrush sheath 10 described in this section may be more suitable to use with manual toothbrushes as compared to electronic toothbrushes in view of size considerations. However, it could be easily adapted to be used with electric toothbrushes.
FIGS. 12(A) to (C) show a static toothbrush holding unit which has a brush cavity 120 in the base unit 121 to hold a toothbrush 122, 123. In FIG. 12(A) the unit is adapted to hold a manual toothbrush 123 while in FIG. 12(B) the unit is adapted to hold an electric toothbrush 122. FIG. 12(C) shows a selection of adaptor pieces 124 that fit into brush cavity 120 in base unit 121 to allow the base unit 121 to be adapted to hold different sizes and types of toothbrushes.
As explained above, electronic display panel 125 shown in FIGS. 12(A) to (C) is used to monitor and prompt pill usage. There may be alert functions in the form of a flashing light, alarm or recorded voice message. There may be an in-built speaker and/or microphone 127. Messages may be pre-recorded by the user. Manual override and settings buttons 126 allow the user to change the display 125 and set the alert functions on electronic panel 125.
The static toothbrush holding unit adapted to hold electric toothbrushes 122 can also be used as a charging device for the electric toothbrush 122.
The static toothbrush holding unit can be formed as a wall mountable unit 130 as shown in FIG. 13 wherein portion 131 of the holder can be mounted vertically on the wall and the base unit of the holder extends horizontally. There is a hollow brush cavity 132 in base unit 130 for holding the toothbrush and dense foam-like material lining cavity 132 to enable the holder to grip manual toothbrushes of various sizes. The wall mounting unit 130 may be adapted to hold and charge electric toothbrushes.
FIGS. 14 and 15 show an ejectable tray 140 of the static toothbrush holding unit containing pill sheets 141. Every time the toothbrush 142 is lifted out of brush cavity 120, the ejection of the pill sheet tray 140 is triggered. The ejection of the pill sheet tray 140 may be triggered by a catch mechanism in brush cavity 120. Alternatively, brush cavity 120 could incorporate a light sensor which is stimulated when the toothbrush is lifted, completing a circuit. As the tray 140 is ejected, the user is prompted to remove the pill sheet, take a pill, reinsert the pill sheet and push the tray back into the holder.
An advantage of this aspect of the invention is that the tray 140 provides ample space to hold pills of various sizes in pill sheets of various sizes and, as shown in FIG. 15, can also hold multiple layers of pill sheets for people on more than one type of tablet.
Throughout the present text the term “pill sheet” is used to refer to the packaging containing pills whether in blister pack or container with hard plastic edge available in the trade or in any other form.
It will be understood that the term “distinct cavities” refers to cavities that are independent of each other and do not intersect at any point.
It will be understood that the term “overlapping cavities” refers to cavities that intersect at one or more points.
Any reference to ‘a’ or ‘the’ item refers to one or more of those items.
It will be understood that the benefits and advantages described above may relate to one embodiment or may relate to several embodiments. The embodiments are not limited to those that solve any or all of the stated problems or those that have any or all of the stated benefits and advantages.
It will be understood that the above description of a preferred embodiment is given by way of example only and that various modifications may be made by those skilled in the art. Although various embodiments have been described above with a certain degree of particularity, or with reference to one or more individual embodiments, those skilled in the art could make numerous alterations to the disclosed embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of this invention.

Claims

1.-18. (canceled)

19. A toothbrush sheath, the toothbrush sheath comprising a brush cavity configured to accept and hold a toothbrush and a pill sheet cavity shaped to accept at least one pill sheet.

20. The toothbrush sheath of claim 19, comprising:

at least one foam-like material adapted to grip and hold the toothbrush in the toothbrush sheath.

21. The toothbrush sheath of claim 19, comprising:

at least one transparent panel on the outer body of the toothbrush sheath.

22. The toothbrush sheath of claim 19, comprising

an ejector mechanism for ejecting the pill sheet from the pill sheet cavity.

23. The toothbrush sheath of claim 19, wherein the pill sheet cavity comprises one or more arc shaped cavities.

24. The toothbrush sheath of claim 19, wherein the pill sheet cavity comprises one or more V-shaped cavities.

25. The toothbrush sheath of claim 19, wherein the pill sheet cavity comprises at least one arc shaped cavity and at least one V-shaped cavity.

26. The toothbrush sheath of claim 19, wherein the pill sheet cavity comprises more than one distinct cavity.

27. The toothbrush sheath of claim 19, wherein the pill sheet cavity comprises more than one overlapping cavity.

28. The toothbrush sheath of claim 19, comprising:

at least one insert for insertion into the pill sheet cavity to reduce its width.

29. The toothbrush sheath of claim 19, comprising:

a cover for the pill sheet cavity.

30. The toothbrush sheath of claim 29, wherein the cover is transparent or translucent.

31. The toothbrush sheath of claim 29, wherein the cover is in the form of a cup.

32. The toothbrush sheath of claim 1, comprising:

a display that displays at least one of (i) pill usage information and (ii) a prompt.

33. The toothbrush sheath of claim 32, wherein the pill usage information is at least one of a day, a date, and a time a user needs to take at least one pill.

34. The toothbrush sheath of claim 32, wherein the pill usage information is at least one of a day, a date, and a time a user last took at least one pill.

35. The toothbrush sheath of claim 32, wherein the prompt is at least one of a flashing light, an alarm, and a recorded message.

36. The toothbrush sheath of claim 32, comprising:

a catch mechanism in communication with the display, wherein the display is automatically updated, via the catch mechanism, based upon at least one of: (i) removal of a pill sheet from the pill sheet cavity, and (ii) insertion of a pill sheet into the pill sheet cavity.

37. The toothbrush sheath of claim 32, comprising:

at least one button adapted to modify the display.