| 摘要 |
A smart medicine container is provided to secure accesses to a bulk supply of pills stored therein and pills dispensed therein. The medicine container comprises a control unit, a memory, a communication interface unit, a pill-supply housing configured to store a bulk supply of pills, a pill-supply locking means configured to lock access to the pill-supply housing, a dispensing assembly configured to dispense pills from among the bulk supply of pills, and a dispensed-pill housing configured to receive and store dispensed pills, a dispensed-pill locking means configured to lock access to the dispensed-pill housing. The control unit is programmed to irreversibly cause the pill-supply locking means to lock access to the pill-supply housing and irreversibly cause the dispensed-pill locking means to lock access to the dispensed-pill housing when receiving information indicating that the bulk supply of pills should permanently discontinue to be taken by a patient. |
| 主权项 |
1. A medicine container for securing accesses to a bulk supply of pills stored therein and one or more pills dispensed therein, the medicine container comprising:
a control unit having a processor, and programmed and configured to control operations of the medicine container; a memory operatively coupled to the control unit and configured to store code and data used in connection with operations of the medicine container; a communication interface unit operatively coupled to the control unit and configured to communicate with at least one of external and remote devices through at least one of communication interfaces and networks; a pill-supply housing configured to store a bulk supply of pills; a pill-supply locking means operatively controlled by the control unit, the pill-supply locking means configured to lock access to the pill-supply housing, and unlock access to the pill-supply housing only when an unlocking of access to the pill-supply housing is authorized by the control unit; a dispensing assembly operatively controlled by the control unit, and configured to dispense one or more pills from among the stored bulk supply of pills based on dispensing schedule data stored in the memory; a dispensed-pill housing configured to receive and store one or more pills dispensed by the dispensing assembly; a dispensed-pill locking means operatively controlled by the control unit, the dispensed-pill locking means configured to lock access to the dispensed-pill housing, and unlock access to the dispensed-pill housing only when an unlocking of access to the dispensed-pill housing is authorized by the control unit; and wherein the control unit is programmed and configured to irreversibly cause the pill-supply locking means to lock access to the pill-supply housing and irreversibly cause the dispensed-pill locking means to lock access to the dispensed-pill housing, when the control unit receives discontinuing information indicating that the stored bulk supply of pills should permanently discontinue to be taken by a patient. |
