Smart Pill Dispenser with Rotating Cap Assembly
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Solution Overview
Problem
Complex medication regimens with multiple types of pills lead to diminished compliance due to cumbersome loading and lack of effective dispensing solutions, and existing multi-chambered pill containers often fail to improve adherence and may not comply with transportation regulations.
Innovation Solution
A medication dispensing assembly with a housing, carousel, and cap assembly that rotates to dispense pills from multiple bottles, featuring a drive unit, inspection zone with sensors, and a staging zone with verification mechanisms to ensure accurate and secure dispensing, allowing for integration of multiple medication types and compliance with regulatory labeling requirements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a manual multi-chambered pill container is used, then multiple medications can be stored in one container, but the device becomes cumbersome to load and does not significantly improve compliance
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides medication storage into separate original bottles rather than a single multi-chambered container. Each bottle remains intact and can be independently loaded into the dispensing device, eliminating the need for complex multi-chambered containers while maintaining the ability to store multiple medication types.
Solution Approach 2:
The automated dispensing system performs the loading and dispensing operations automatically based on programmed schedules. The system self-manages the complex task of tracking multiple medications and dispensing them at the correct times, eliminating the need for users to manually load and manage multiple chambers.
2Device complexity
If medications are transferred from original bottles to a multi-chambered container, then storage is consolidated, but compliance is not improved and regulatory labeling requirements are not met
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts medications from their original bottles and stores them in the dispensing device's automated system while maintaining the original bottles' integrity and labeling. This approach eliminates the need for transferring medications to multi-chambered containers that fail to meet regulatory requirements, while still achieving consolidated storage and improved compliance through automation.
3Extent of automation
If an automated dispensing system is implemented, then medication compliance is improved through automation, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The dispensing device uses a universal carousel mechanism that can hold and dispense multiple original bottles of different sizes and shapes. This single carousel system handles all medication types uniformly, reducing overall system complexity compared to separate dispensing mechanisms for each medication type while maintaining high automation capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The carousel acts as an intermediary between the storage bottles and the dispensing mechanism. It provides a simple rotating platform that brings different bottles to a fixed dispensing location, eliminating the need for complex robotic arms or multiple independent dispensing mechanisms while achieving automated multi-medication dispensing.
4Productivity
If pills are dispensed through a complex multi-piece cap assembly, then individual pills can be dispensed sequentially, but the mechanism becomes complicated
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using a complex multi-piece cap assembly with multiple openings to dispense pills sequentially, the system inverts the approach by using a simple single-opening cap that dispenses one pill at a time through a straightforward rotational mechanism. The complexity is eliminated by working backwards from the dispensing action rather than trying to accommodate multiple pills through a complex structure.
Data Source
AI summary
The medication dispensing assembly includes a housing having an interior. A medication bottle is disposed in the interior with its cap assembly facing vertically downwardly. The cap assembly includes outer, middle, and inner pieces. The outer and inner pieces are fixed with one another, and the middle piece is fixed with the bottle. A drive unit is disposed in the interior of the housing and is configured to rotate the bottle and the middle piece of the cap assembly about a vertical axis. The three pieces of the cap assembly have respective medication openings, and rotating the bottle causes individual pills to travel first from the bottle into the inner piece, then into the middle piece, then around the vertical axis, and then outside of the cap assembly through the medication opening of the outer piece.