Pharmaceutical Disposal Container One-Way Entrance System
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current containers for disposing of solid pharmaceuticals are insecure, allowing easy access and theft due to their simple design, which mixes nonprescription and prescription drugs and lacks effective control mechanisms, leading to discrepancies in drug management.
Innovation Solution
A container with a one-way entrance system using a hollow pipe and a flexible tube to guide pharmaceuticals into a disposal chamber, preventing removal through manipulation or vacuum, and featuring baffles and a reinforcement element to secure the contents.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If simple containers with removable lids are used for disposal of solid pharmaceuticals, then ease of manufacture and ease of operation are improved, but security and control over disposed drugs deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The container is divided into a receiving section with a one-way entrance and a disposal chamber. The one-way entrance allows drugs to enter but prevents removal, creating functional segmentation that ensures security while maintaining simple container structure for easy manufacture.
Solution Approach 2:
The container uses an inverted approach by implementing a one-way entrance that allows entry but blocks exit. This reversal of the typical two-way opening concept provides security control without requiring complex locking mechanisms, maintaining ease of manufacture.
2Ease of operation
If all kinds of solid drugs are mixed into containers, then ease of operation is improved, but detection of theft or loss deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The container incorporates a control number system that provides feedback on the status of disposed drugs. Each container has a unique control number that tracks the drugs disposed, enabling detection of theft or loss while maintaining the simple operation of mixing different drugs in the container.
3Reliability
If a one-way entrance system with flexible tube and baffles is implemented, then security and control over disposed pharmaceuticals are improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The container uses a flexible tube as part of the one-way entrance system. The flexible tube allows drugs to be deposited through the receiving section while preventing removal attempts, providing security control without requiring rigid complex structures.
Solution Approach 2:
The container employs baffles that change the physical parameters of the disposal chamber interior. The baffles create a complex internal path that prevents removal of drugs while maintaining a relatively simple external container structure, balancing security with device complexity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The container ensures secure storage and disposal of pharmaceuticals by preventing removal attempts, maintaining control over disposed drugs, and facilitating easy labeling and cost-effective production.
Implementation Method 1
The free end of the tube should move freely, and since the tube is made of a flexible and foldable material, the tube should close the passage in, or into the tube if the container is sufficiently tilted.
Data Source
AI summary
Container for disposal of solid pharmaceuticals and the like, comprising a receiving section and a disposal chamber. The receiving section comprises—a first member being hollow, having one opening outside of the container, and the other opening inside the container, and—a second member being inside the container, the second member is performed as a flexible tube connected to the receiving section in one end, and having the other end freely suspended above the disposal chamber. The first member is guiding solids thrown into the opening outside the container to the second member which guides the solids into the disposal chamber. The invention also concerns a use of a container of the above type.