Methods and Apparatus for Automatically Filling Dispensing Containers

Abstract

An apparatus is specifically adapted for use with a dispensing container having a tray with one or more discrete cavities for receiving medication, and a seal. The tray includes a machine-readable marker that encodes a unique identifier for the tray and the seal includes a pre-defined area for thermal printing. The apparatus includes a reader adapted to read the marker on the tray and to obtain, from the marker, the unique identifier for the tray. The apparatus also includes a controller adapted to receive patient-specific information and to associate the patient-specific information with the unique identifier for the tray, and a medication dispenser for automatically filling one or more cavities of the tray with medication with reference to the patient-specific information. A sealing unit is adapted to automatically apply the seal to the tray. The thermally printed human-readable information is directly derived from at least some of the patient-specific information.

Claims

1. A dispensing container comprising: a tray with one or more discrete cavities for receiving medication; and a seal; wherein the tray includes a machine-readable marker that encodes a unique identifier for the tray; and wherein the seal includes a pre-defined area for thermal printing.

2. The dispensing container of claim 1, wherein the machine-readable marker is a one-dimensional barcode or a two-dimensional barcode.

3. The dispensing container of claim 1, wherein the pre-defined area for thermal printing comprises a patch of thermoprint ink.

4. The dispending container of claim 1, wherein the pre-defined area for thermal printing comprises a patch of ink and/or a primer.

5. The dispensing container of claim 1, wherein the seal is directly thermally-printable in at least the pre-defined area for thermal printing.

6. The dispensing container of claim 5, wherein heat-sensitive material is integrated or dispersed within the seal material.

7. The dispensing container of claim 1, wherein the seal is a flexible plastics film of single- or multiple-layer construction.

8. The dispensing container of claim 1, wherein the seal is substantially transparent or translucent.

9. An automatic filling system comprising: a dispensing container comprising: a tray with one or more discrete cavities for receiving medication; and a seal; wherein the tray includes a machine-readable marker that encodes a unique identifier for the tray; and wherein the seal includes a pre-defined area for thermal printing; and an apparatus specifically adapted for use with the dispensing container, the apparatus comprising a reader, a controller, a medication dispenser, a sealing unit, and a thermal print head; wherein, when a tray positioned in the apparatus, the system carries out the following steps: the reader reads the marker on the tray and obtains, from the marker, the unique identifier for the tray; the controller receives patient-specific information and associates the patient-specific information with the unique identifier for the tray; the medication dispenser automatically fills one or more cavities of the tray with medication with reference to the patient-specific information associated with the unique identifier; the sealing unit automatically applies the seal to the tray; and the thermal print head thermally prints human-readable information on to the pre-defined area for thermal printing before, during or after the seal has been applied to the tray, the human-readable information being directly derived from at least some of the patient-specific information associated with the unique identifier.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the thermal print head thermally prints machine-readable information on to the pre-defined area for thermal printing before, during or after the seal has been applied to the tray.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the machine-readable information is directly derived from at least some of the patient-specific information associated with the unique identifier.

12. A method for automatically filling a dispensing container comprising: a tray with one or more discrete cavities for receiving medication; and a seal; wherein the tray includes a machine-readable marker that encodes a unique identifier for the tray; and wherein the seal includes a pre-defined area for thermal printing; the method comprising the steps of: reading the marker on the tray and obtaining, from the marker, the unique identifier for the tray; receiving patient-specific information and associating the patient-specific information with the unique identifier for the tray; automatically filling one or more cavities of the tray with medication with reference to the patient-specific information associated with the unique identifier; automatically applying the seal to the tray; and thermally printing human-readable information on to the pre-defined area for thermal printing before, during or after the seal has been applied to the tray, the human-readable information being directly derived from at least some of the patient-specific information associated with the unique identifier.

13. The method according of claim 12, wherein the patient-specific information is provided manually or electronically.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the patient-specific information includes at least patient identification information and patient prescription information.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the one or more cavities of the tray are automatically filled with medication with reference to the patient prescription information and wherein the human-readable information that is thermally printed on the seal is directly derived from at least some of the patient identification information.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0052] The present invention can be even more fully understood with the reference to the accompanying drawings which are intended to illustrate, not limit, the present invention.

[0053] FIG. 1 is a top view of a tray of a dispensing container according to the present invention.

[0054] FIG. 2 is a top view of a first seal of a dispensing container according to the present invention before thermal printing.

[0055] FIG. 3 is a top view of a second seal of a dispensing container according to the present invention before thermal printing.

[0056] FIG. 4 is a cross section view of a filled dispensing container according to the present invention.

[0057] FIG. 5 is a schematic view of an apparatus according to the present invention for automatically filling a dispensing container with medication.

[0058] FIG. 6 is a top view of the seal of FIG. 3 after thermal printing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0059] With reference to FIGS. 1 to 4 a dispensing container 1 includes a tray 2 made of a substantially rigid plastics material into which is formed a 47 array of discrete cavities 4. The cavities 4 are closed by a seal which is adhered or secured to a generally planar top surface 8 of the tray 2.

[0060] The underside of the tray 2 is pre-printed with a machine-readable marker 10 in the form of a two-dimensional (or matrix) barcode. The marker 10 encodes a unique identifier, which can be a unique data or information string.

[0061] The seal is a flexible sheet of substantially transparent or translucent plastics material (e.g., polypropylene) which is formed with a 47 array of removable portions 12 in a known manner. The seal 6a shown in FIG. 2 is specifically adapted for direct thermal printing and heat-sensitive material (not shown) is integrated or dispersed within the plastics material. If the seal 6a has a multi-layer construction, i.e., with a top layer and a bottom layer, the heat-sensitive material need only be integrated or dispersed within one of the layers, typically the top layer.

[0062] The heat-sensitive material can be integrated or dispersed within the entirety of the seal (or layer), or only within part of the seal (or layer) that is a pre-defined area for direct thermal printing.

[0063] The seal 6b shown in FIG. 3 is also specifically adapted for direct thermal printing and a thermoprint ink patch 14 is pre-applied to the top surface of the seal by flexographic printing.

[0064] FIG. 5 shows an apparatus 20 for automatically filling a dispensing container with medication.

[0065] The apparatus 20 includes a controller 22 which receives electronic patient-specific information 24 in the form of an e-prescription. For the purposes of the present description, the patient-specific information 24 includes the patient's name (so-called patient identification information) and the patient's prescription and dosage instructions (so-called patient prescription information). In an alternative arrangement, the patient-specific information can be manually entered into the apparatus 20 by the pharmacist on receipt of the patient's paper prescription.

[0066] The apparatus 20 includes a barcode reader 26 which is adapted to read the marker 10 on the underside of the tray 2 when the tray is positioned in the apparatus. The barcode reader 26 obtains, from the marker 10, the unique identifier for the tray 2 and sends the unique data or information string 28 to the controller 22. The controller 22 associates or electronically matches the patient-specific information 24 with the unique data or information string 28 obtained from the marker 10.

[0067] The apparatus 20 includes a medication dispenser 30 with a plurality of cassettes 32 for storing different medication. The medication dispenser 30 receives patient prescription information 34 from the controller 22.

[0068] The apparatus 20 includes a sealing unit 36 (e.g., a conventional heat seal unit) that will automatically apply the seal 6a or 6b to the tray 2 after it has been filled with medication.

[0069] The apparatus 20 includes a direct thermal print unit 38 with a thermal print head 40 and a thermal print head controller 42 which receives patent identification information 44 from the controller 22.

[0070] The arrow A indicates the processing direction for the apparatus 20. The tray 4 can be moved through a series of separate process stations, e.g., reading, filling, sealing and printing, within the apparatus 20.

[0071] When a tray 2 is positioned within the apparatus, its marker 10 is scanned by the barcode reader 26 and the unique data or information string 28 is sent to the controller 22 which associates or electronically matches it with the patient-specific information 24 that it has already received from the e-prescription. In particular, the controller 22 associates both the patient identification information 44 and the patient prescription information 34 with the unique data or information string 28.

[0072] The medication dispenser 30 uses the patient prescription information 34 to fill the appropriate cavities 4 of the tray 2 with the relevant medication. The medication can be dispensed from the cassettes 32.

[0073] Once the tray 2 has been filled, the sealing unit 36 will automatically adhere the seal 6a or 6b to the generally planar top surface 8 of the tray 2. A plurality of seals can be stored in a seal feeder tray (not shown) that forms part of the sealing unit 36.

[0074] The thermal print head 38 is then controlled to thermally print human-readable information 46 on to the seal 6a or 6b after it has been adhered to the tray 2. In an alternative arrangement, the seal can be thermally printed before it is adhered to the tray 2 by the sealing unit 36, or during the sealing process.

[0075] In the case of the seal 6a shown in FIG. 2, the human-readable information is directly thermally printed on to the pre-defined area of the seal. In the case of the seal 6b shown in FIG. 3, the human-readable information 46 is directly thermally printed on to the thermoprint ink patch 14 of the seal.

[0076] The human-readable information 46 that is thermally printed on the seal can be data or information that is in a format that can be naturally read by humans such as text constructed from alphanumeric characters or a visual image, for example. The human-readable information 46 is derived directly from the patient-specific information 24, and in particular from the patient identification information 44 that is determined by the controller 22. In this specific example, the patient identification information 44 that is sent to the thermal print head controller 42 is the patient's name, namely Joe Bloggs. The thermal print head 40 includes a plurality of heating elements arranged as a closely spaced dot matrix. The thermal print head controller 42 selects specific heating elements to create the text JOE BLOGGS for the particular seal to be printed.

[0077] The heating elements apply heat to the seal 6a to activate the heat-sensitive material that is integrated or dispersed within the plastics material of the seal or apply heat to the patch 14 of the seal 6b to activate the thermoprint ink and create a permanent image with the text JOE BLOGGS. In the case of the seal 6a shown in FIG. 2, the application of the heat to the seal will change the color or opacity of the actual plastics material to create the permanent image. FIG. 6 shows the seal 6b after it has been thermally printedit should be noted that the tray has been omitted both for clarity and to emphasize that the seal can be thermally printed before it is adhered to the tray in some arrangements.

[0078] The seal 6b shown in FIG. 6 has also been thermally printed with additional human-readable information, namely Jan. 1, 2017, that is not patient-specific. This additional human-readable information indicates the date on which the dispensing container was filled by the apparatus 20.

[0079] In an alternative arrangement, the apparatus can include a thermal transfer print unit instead of the direct thermal print unit. Such a thermal transfer print unit would still include a thermal print head but would also have means for interposing the transfer ribbon (or printer foil) between the thermal print head and the pre-defined area of the seal for thermal printing.

[0080] The present invention can include any combination of these various features or embodiments above and/or below as set-forth in sentences and/or paragraphs. Any combination of disclosed features herein is considered part of the present invention and no limitation is intended with respect to combinable features.

[0081] The entire contents of all references cited in this disclosure are incorporated herein in their entireties, by reference. Further, when an amount, concentration, or other value or parameter is given as either a range, preferred range, or a list of upper preferable values and lower preferable values, this is to be understood as specifically disclosing all ranges formed from any pair of any upper range limit or preferred value and any lower range limit or preferred value, regardless of whether such ranges are separately disclosed. Where a range of numerical values is recited herein, unless otherwise stated, the range is intended to include the endpoints thereof, and all integers and fractions within the range. It is not intended that the scope of the invention be limited to the specific values recited when defining a range.

[0082] Other embodiments of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the present specification and practice of the present invention disclosed herein. It is intended that the present specification and examples be considered as exemplary only with a true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the following claims and equivalents thereof