GR20160100515A - Device for monitoring the expiration date of consumable products and medicines - Google Patents

Abstract

Novelty: an electronic portable and manually-operated device destined for the monitoring of the expiration date of selected consumable products and medicines is disclosed. Constitution: the ON/OFF button 1, the digital touch screen 2 having the green-coloured button serving for the input of products and the planning of medication 3, the optical reader 4, the red-coloured button 5 erasing the expired products from the device, the button 6 actuating the optical reader, the alarm 7 and the analog keyboard 8. All possibilities are operating on the basis of the barcode of the selected consumable products and medicines. Purpose: to inform the interested persons, within selected hours and via sound or written messages displayed on the screen, about the date expiry, and this selectively some days (<90 days) before expiration; to selectively schedule the repeated taking of one or more medicines within 24 hours, for a certain period of time or for the rest of the life.

Description

Expiration Date Management Device for Consumable Products and Medicines

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION.

The present invention is a small hand-held Electronic Device (portable), with an integrated Optical Reader (Barcode), with which households will be able to monitor the expiration dates of consumable products and plan the 24-hour reception of medicines.

The ability to track the expiration date of products exists and is used in some SUPER MARKETS, but it is integrated into their huge software, which has a primary role to track warehouses and cash registers. The purpose of this invention is the construction of a portable small electronic device that will be used by households, it will have the necessary software, it will scan consumable products-medicines, it will process data, and it will inform in writing on the screen, to those interested, the details of the consumable products -medicines, at the time they wish.

The advantage of this invention is that this device is hand-held (portable), it will have a digital screen, equipped with an alarm, it will be possible to monitor the expiration date of at least one hundred consumable products and it will be possible to schedule the taking of medicines by the interested parties. This device, due to its size and affordable price, will be used mainly by households, and will contribute to the reduction of consumable products that consumers throw away due to their expiration, thereby helping the household economy and the National Health System. This position of mine is reinforced by the article by Eleni Petropoulos, which I am attaching, where in an EFET investigation, it states that annually 100-140 tons of medicines, worth several million euros, end up in landfills.

The Expiry Date Management Device for Consumable Products and Medicines (Fig. 1), according to the present invention, will have ON/OFF Button (1), Digital Touch Screen (2), green button for entering the products and scheduling the taking of medicines (3 ), built-in Optical Reader (4), red export-delete product button (5), optical reader activation button (6) and notification alarm (7). The same device will also be available with an analog keyboard (8) and will have all of the above (1,2,3, 4, 5, 6, 7) as shown in (Fig. 2), so that the interested party can:

1. To import-export the consumable products - drugs, having as a basis for their management the barcode of the product, To have the possibility to write the name of the product (the first time), to enter the expiration date of the products and the device to automatically updates selectively (with the alarm) "x" days before the expiration date of food-drugs (where X<90 days). This device will be used to manage household food-medicines so that they are used "x" days before their expiration date.

2. To import-export the medicines based on the barcode and the device selectively with visual-sound and multiple reminders within this 24 hours, it will display the name of the medicine and the alarm will sound, in order for the interested party to carry out the scheduled medicine downloads at fixed hours, for certain days or for life. This feature of the device is currently assigned to the nurses in the care areas of the interested parties.

EXAMPLE-1, USING THE HOME APPLIANCE IN CONSUMABLES

PRODUCTS.

On May 25, 2016 we receive a product (eg ABEZ spaghetti with an expiry date eg 31/08/17). Press the green button (Fig.1 a/a.3) to insert the product. With the Optical Reader activation button pressed (Fig.1 a/a.6), scan the product with its Optical Reader.

On the screen of the device will appear:

a : PRODUCT or DRUG : Select "product"

b: WRITE NAME: We write "ABEL Spaghetti".

c : EXPIRY DATE: We write "31/08/17".

d: DAYS OF NOTICE BEFORE EXPIRY: We write "x" days that we must be notified to use the product (we write, for example, 20). Thus, the device from 11/08/17 and until 31/08/17 at 12.00 noon will sound and display on the screen "MACARONIA AVEL, entry date 25/5/2016, expiry date 31/08/17". This message will remain on the screen until the product is deleted and until 31/08/17, its expiration date. In case there is a second or more products that expire and must and. these remain on the screen, then every ten seconds their inscription on the screen will alternate.

If we use the above product before the expiration date of the product, we press the red button and with the Optical Reader button pressed we scan the product, the screen of the device will show "ABEL PASTA, date of introduction 25/5/2016, date of expiration 31 /08/17" DELETED. Thus, the product will not exist in the device's memory as an alarm, while it will exist as a name. So the next time we enter the same product with the same barcode and every time we scan a product that is in the device's memory, the name of the product will appear on the screen (eg Macaroni ABEL). In these cases we will only fill in the expiry date and "x" days of notice before its expiry date.

EXAMPLE-2 USING THE DEVICE FOR PRE-DETERMINED DRUG DOWNLOADS.

We receive a drug (eg DEPON) with an expiry date of 30/09/19). Press the green enter button. With the optical reader button pressed, we scan the product. On the screen of the device will appear:

a. PRODUCT or MEDICINE. We select "drug"

b. HOW MANY DAYS WILL IT TAKE : We write "10" days

c. PER HOW MANY HOURS IT WILL BE RECEIVED: We write, per "8hours"

d. TIME OF 1ST DOWNLOAD : We write, even "08.00"

The device alarm is activated and the device for the remaining 10 days, three times a day (08.00 am, 16.00 pm and 24.00) will alert with a sound signal and will write on the screen ".DEPON, 8-hour reception". After the end of the 10 days, the device will stop updating.

In addition, the device records the product in its memory as consumable and from 30/05/19, every 10 days and until 30/09/19 at 12.00 noon, it will sound and display on the screen "DEPON, expiry date 30/09/19 ». After the 30/09/19 product expiration date, the device will stop updating and will be automatically deleted from the alarm memory. If a product was used without being deleted, then from the first audio-visual update by pressing the red button, the product will be deleted.

Below I list the designs of two types of devices:

Fig.1 shows the type of device with touch screen and digital keyboard.

Fig.2 shows the same device with the same capabilities with a digital display, but with an analog keyboard.

These devices may vary in terms of dimensions and appearance, depending on manufacturing needs and capabilities. The devices will have the ON/OFF button (1), the digital screen for information extraction (2), a green button for inserting the consumable products (3), a built-in Optical Reader (4), a red button to delete-export the products (5), a button to activate-deactivate the Optical Reader (6), alarm to notify the interested party (7), analog keyboard (8) and selective use of its operating language.

Claims (9)

Claims 1. Consumables and Medicines Expiration Date Management Device characterized by having an ON/OFF button (1), a medicine product insertion button (3), a built-in Optical Reader (4), a medicine product extraction button (5), a drug product button Optical Reader activation (6), audible alarm (7), 2. Expiration Date Management Device for Consumables and Medicines according to claim one characterized in that the keyboard is digital touch (2). 3. Expiration Date Management Device for Consumables and Medicines according to claim one characterized in that the keyboard is analog (8). 4. Expiry Date Management Device for Consumable Products and Medicines according to claims 1,2,3, characterized in that the import-export of consumable products-medicines based on the Barcode with the name of the product (the first time), with input of the expiration date of the product, with a notification alarm that is automatically activated selectively "x" days before the expiration date of the medicinal products. 5. Expiry Date Management Device for Consumable Products and Medicines according to claims 1,2,3, characterized by the fact that the import-export of medicines based on the Barcode selectively has the possibility of a visual and audio reminder of taking medicine, on a 24-hour basis, with a note of the name of the medicine. 6. Expiration Date Management Device for Consumable Products and Medicines according to claims 1,2,3, characterized by the possibility of selecting its operating language. 7. Expiry Date Management Device for Consumable Products and Medicines according to claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 is characterized by the fact that the following fields to be filled in appear on the screen of the device: a: PRODUCT or DRUG, b : WRITE NAME, c : EXPIRY DATE, d : NOTICE DAYS PRIOR TO EXPIRATION. 8. Expiration Date Management Device for Consumable Products and Medicines according to claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 is characterized in that the following fields to be filled in appear on the screen of the device: a. PRODUCT or DRUG, b. HOW MANY DAYS WILL IT TAKE c. HOW MANY HOURS WILL IT TAKE, d. 1ST DOWNLOAD TIME. 9. Expiry Date Management Device for Consumable Products and Medicines according to all claims 1-8 is characterized in that the alarm of the device is selectively activated and at the same time the information field is displayed on the screen.