Dispensing Arrangement

The present invention relates to dispensing arrangements and more particularly to dispensing arrangements used with regard to items which may cause cross-contamination between patients.

Dispensers and containers are found throughout the world for various items in everyday use. These dispensers and containers can only be used in a fashion which could ailow the user to touch any or all of the following; the dispenser or container, the items to be dispensed or contained, other items within the dispenser or container, or the packaging for items in the dispenser or container. Also these dispensers or containers invariably do not prevent airflow over the items being contained or dispensed. It will also be understood that some items may be presented in strips with a number torn off and may be placed in a user's pocket causing further contamination.

Many items in everyday use such as pens and thermometers are known to carry disease and harmful micro-organisms on their surfaces, as are containers and dispensers. This is a particular problem in hospitals.

There is evidently a requirement to provide a means of containing and or dispensing various items in a fashion which precludes the potentially lethal result of cross infection by disease and harmful micro-organisms from the multiple touching by the user or multiple users of various items such as pens and thermometers, other such items within the container or dispenser, the packaging of these items, and the containers or dispensers of these items.

There is also a need to remove items in storage within dispensers or containers from the airflow that can also carry disease and harmful microorganisms which can be deposited on the surface of the items or the packaging of the items.

There is also a necessity for the number of items which can be held within a given dispenser to be maximised.

In accordance with the present invention there is provided a dispensing arrangement for articles which may be contaminated before use upon handling and/or removal, the arrangement comprising a plurality of containers presented in a stack, sides of adjacent containers being in close approximation to each other and portions of adjacent containers defining an enclosure for a product in use, external parts of the containers being handleable to allow removal from a base of the stack to allow access to the enclosure without contact within the container and/or with other containers.

Alternatively in accordance with the present invention there is provide a dispensing arrangement for an article which may be contaminated before use upon handling and/or removal, the arrangement comprising a plurality of containers presented in a stack, sides of adjacent containers being in close approximation to each other and portions of adjacent containers defining an enclosure for a product in use.

Further in accordance with the present invention there is provided a dispensing arrangement for an article which may be contaminated before use upon handling and/or removal, the arrangement comprising a plurality of containers presented in a stack, sides of adjacent containers being in close approximation to each other and portions of adjacent containers defining an enclosure for a product in use to prevent air flow contamination of a product in the enclosure.

Normally, the arrangement includes an article in each enclosure. Typically, the article is a product. Possibly, the article comprises a product in protective packaging.

Preferably, sides of the containers include surface features for engagement with parts of an adjacent container for closure between adjacent containers in the stack.

Advantageously, the enclosure is defined between base parts of adjacent containers in, the stack.

Additionally, the containers have a trough cross section.

Generally, the containers are flared.

Typically, the containers are deformably retentive to tactile contact and/or marked by such tactile contact.

Normally, the containers are disposable.

Advantageously, the containers are formed from cardboard or a plastics material or a mouldable material.

Typically, the containers are coated or impregnated with a biocide and/or disinfecting agent.

Generally, the containers in the stack have an integrity feature between adjacent containers broken when a container is forcibly removed from the base of the stack.

Preferably, the integrity feature comprises an adhesive spot or rupturable thread/tape or fusible weld or perforated tab or other continuity between adjacent containers.

Generally, the arrangement includes a dispenser comprising a magazine for the stack with an open end to expose part of a container at the base of the stack to allow access for handling of that container for removal.

Typically, parts of the containers when at the base of the stack interfere with parts of the open end to retain the stack in the magazine.

Advantageously, parts of the containers comprise tabs which interfere with the parts of the open end in the form of flaps to retain the stack within the magazine and interference between the tabs and flaps is overcome in use by forcible handling to remove a container from the base of the stack.

Normally, the product which may be contaminated in the enclosure comprises a thermometer or pen or tongue depressor or swab.

Still further according to the present invention, there is provided a container, the container being as defined in any of the preceding paragraphs.

Yet still further according to the present invention, there is provided a pen, the pen including a gripping part for gripping by a user and a nib, the pen being substantially flat and of substantially constant section thickness along its length to minimise in use the stacking height of a stack including a plurality of such pens.

Additionally, further according to the present invention, there is provided a pen, the pen including a gripping part for gripping by a user and a nib, the pen being substantially flat with a tapering cross-section in one plane from the gripping part to define an elongate shape to extend in use over a user's gripping arc.

Preferably, the pen is approximately 2mm thick.

Each pen in the stack may be enclosed by a container, which container may be as defined in any of the preceding paragraphs.

The pen may include a stem part, which may be narrow in width relative to the gripping part. The relatively broad gripping part may be rounded, and may flare outwardly width wise from the stem part, and may converge inwardly width wise to a nib part. The nib may extend from the nib part.

The pen may be arranged to permit only limited use by a user. The pen may include a reservoir for ink, and the reservoir may be arranged to be of such capacity as to permit only limited use of the pen by a user.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a container in accordance with a dispensing arrangement of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a side cross-section of a dispensing arrangement in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 3 is a front cross-section of the dispensing arrangement as depicted in Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a front perspective view of dispensing arrangements in accordance with the present invention; and,

Figure 5 illustrates a pen and a thermometer which are articles which may suffer cross-contamination.

As indicated above increasing problems with drug resistant agents and viruses has re-focused attention upon approaches to avoid cross- contamination between patients, either directly or indirectly though their carers and users of items such as pens, tongue depressors and thermometers. Clearly increased hand washing will help but not if the tool used is the same, for example if medical notes are written with the same pen before and after hand washing the effectiveness of that hand washing is significantly undermined. Similarly, if the user carries a number of items in their pocket even if these items are disposed of after use as the items or held in protective packaging there will be cross-contamination.

The present dispensing arrangement provides a convenient means by which articles such as pens, depressors, swabs and disposable thermometers can be accessed by users with reduced, if any, cross contamination between patients or potential users of the same articles such as a pen at a writing stand in a local bank. The articles may be packaged or not to form an item which may become cross-contaminated. The dispensing arrangement must be simple to use and cheap whilst achieving high packing densities.

The present dispensing arrangement comprises a container, normally in the form of a trough, which can be stacked to create an enclosure between the containers. The side portions of the containers are in contact to provide a rudimentary barrier but generally there is only a limited seal and no hermetic seal. The article held within the enclosure may be in a sterile package but the present dispensing arrangement is directed to preventing cross-contamination rather than maintaining product sterility in storage.

Figure 1 provides a perspective view of a container 1 used in a dispensing arrangement in accordance with the present invention. Thus, as indicated above the container 1 has a general trough shape with slightly flared side walls 2, 3 and a flat base portion 4. By such a shape it will be understood

that articles which may become contaminated can be placed in a well enclosure 5 formed by the wall 2, 3 and base 4 of the container 1. The present dispensing arrangement is particularly suited to dispensing articles which are flat so generally as will be described later these articles will be specially designed to be flat and normally only for short term or single use life times. The actual shape of the container will be to match the product it is to dispense but it will be understood that commonality of shape and sizing may reduce cost thorough economies of scale.

As will be described later the container 1 has flaps 6 and/or tabs 7 to allow containers to be individually dispensed from a magazine through overcoming an interference with a reciprocal flap or tab in the magazine. To avoid cross contamination this individual container dispense is achieved simply by gripping an outer lower portion in the area 8 either side of the container. Thus, the well 5 is exposed and the article can be removed normally by a tipping action. It will be understood that a new article for each individual patient can then be used and to gain access to this article contact is only made with one container which is then disposed of and so provided the user has washed between dispensing actions there will at least be no direct cross-contamination between patients in a sequence.

Normally, the container as indicated will be disposable. Thus, the container may be formed of pressed cardboard or similar cheap mouldable material. The container may be coated or impregnated with a biocide or disinfectant.

It will be understood that re-use of the container should be prevented. Thus, the container may be formed to irreversibly collapse on dispense so that it cannot be re-used. Furthermore, even before dispense the container may deform or become indelibly marked by tactile contact to provide a warning of cross-contamination.

Figures 2 and 3 give respective side and front cross-sectional views of a dispensing arrangement in accordance with the present invention. Thus, as previously it can be seen that containers 21 are nested in a stack in order to define enclosures 25 in which articles 20 are kept. These articles 20 may be pens or thermometers or swabs or depressors.

The containers 21 are held in a magazine 30 with tabs 27 and flaps 26 engaging reciprocal parts of the magazine 30 to hold the stack in place by interference although other latching or retention mechanisms could be used.

It will be understood that only an outer area 28 of the bottom container 21a is exposed to be gripped for removal to expose its article 20a. Thus, although as indicated the side walls of the containers 21 in contact do not from a perfect seal there is sufficient barrier to prevent dust and non-forced entry of air borne contaminants. In such circumstances, only the outer part 28 is contacted on dispense and the prospects of cross-contamination reduced.

Only three containers are shown in figure 3 and two in figure 2 but it will be understood that normally container stacks of relatively high numbers will be formed in the magazine 30. This will maximize space utilization which is important as each container 21 and article 20 will be for one use and then disposed of so large numbers may be used in a short period of time. It is desirable to extend the time periods as much as possible between it being necessary to refill the magazine. Normally, the stacks of containers will be a standard unit with the top open well 5 (figure 1 ) closed with a cover.

As can be seen in figure 2 and figure 3 the flaps 26 and tabs 27 interfere with lip flaps/tabs of the magazine 30. Thus, a container is removed by an excessive downward force in the direction of arrowhead A. The way that this force is applied may vary from a simple axial force of sufficient magnitude to overcome the interference between the flaps/tabs or might involve pivotal

displacement about a pivot formed by a flap or tab upon a ledge part of the magazine. !n either event, only one container is dispensed at a time and only with tactile contact on the outer surface 28.

Figure 4 provides an external perspective view of two dispenser arrangements in accordance with the present invention. Thus, as described previously, magazines 30a, 30b are side-by-side and secured by brackets 40 to a wall or other suitable surface. At the bottom of each magazine 30 a bottommost container 21 projects so that an outer surface 28 can be gripped to remove the container 21 in order to expose the article. A top end 41 of the magazine 30 may be simply open or have a press on lid but in either event it will be understood that the magazine can be simply loaded by dropping a stack of containers through the end 41.

Clearly, repeated use of an article will cause rather than prevent cross contamination. In order to act as a further reminder to a user and the patient the containers in the stack as well as the articles themselves could be arranged to have a random or repeated sequence of colours. Thus, consecutive use of the same article may be more easily noted. Furthermore, if there is consistence between the container colour and article then if a tally is maintained or simply by looking at the colour of the last container in the previous patient's waste bin it should be possible to determine repeated use.

The purpose of the present dispensing arrangement is to avoid cross contamination of articles which are used upon-a patient such as thermometers but also with respect to pens which are used to record notes. If these items could be used for extended periods this would defeat the purpose. Furthermore, as described above it is highly advantageous to use flat articles for closer packing densities. Figure 5 illustrates a pen 51 in figure 5a and a disposable thermometer 60 in figure 5b which are both generally flat. The pen 51 is a flat spoon shaped member with a nib or felt which allows a few _^

lines of text to be written. The thermometer 60 is of standard shape which is fiat. The articles could be coated or impregnated with a biocide or disinfecting agent.

The special pens 51 designed for the dispenser each have a thin flat section made from any rigid or semi rigid material in order to maximise the number capable of being stacked one on top of another within any given length. Each pen 51 is of constant section thickness along its length. In one example the section thickness is approximately 2mm.

Each pen 51 in plan view includes a relatively narrow stem part 52, which flares outwardly to a relatively broad, rounded gripping part 54. The gripping part 54 converges inwardly to a nib end 56. A nib 58 extends from the nib end 56. A reservoir (not shown) is located within the nib end 56 to supply the nib 58 with ink. The reservoir is arranged to be of such capacity as to allow only limited use of the pen 51. The capacity could, for instance, be such as to only allow the writing of notes for a single patient, after which the pen is thrown away. The limited reservoir capacity thus reduces the risk of cross contamination between patients.

. Other means of limiting the use of the pen 51 could be used. In one example, the nib 58 and ink could be arranged so that the ink flows during continuous use, but will cease to flow if not used for a predetermined, relatively short period of time. To facilitate this, the ink could be formulated to be relatively fast drying.

The relatively broad, rounded gripping part 54 in combination with the relatively narrow stem part 52 is comfortable and easy for holding by a user, in contrast to a pen which of constant width along its length. The stem part 52 is long enough to rest against the user's hand in use over a gripping arc from the fingers to the edge of the palm of the user's hand, to steady the pen 51 in

the user's fingers and allow ease and comfort of use, Again, in contrast, a pen of round cross section of only 2mm diameter is less comfortable and more difficult to use. Furthermore, with a diameter of only 2 mm it may be difficult to have sufficient material strength for stiffness whilst the flat pen of the present invention may only be 2mm in cross-sectional depth but wider at a gripping part in one plane.

The shape of the pen as described allows dense stacking of a plurality of pens and ease and comfort of use by a user. Such easy and comfortable use is important, since otherwise users will substitute other pens and circumvent the cross contamination prevention arrangements.

This invention relates to the storage, carriage and dispensation of items such as pens and thermometers in a fashion which precludes the perpetuation of disease and cross infection by harmful micro-organisms from contact with other items within the dispenser or container, the packaging of the items, dispenser or container, and from the airflow around the items, whilst enabling the largest number of items to be stored within the dispenser unit.

According to the present invention there is a dispensing unit which can be conveniently situated by mounting to any convenient surface. This dispenser is compact with overall sectional dimensions similar to the size of the items to be dispensed.

The containers will be trough shaped to accommodate items such as pens, thermometers, tongue depression sticks or swabs These items are stored within the dispenser within and at the bottom of the trough shaped stacking containers which can be manufactured from any rigid or semi rigid material, preferably of bio-degradable or re-cyclable material. These containers have a base area which is similar in shape to, and slightly larger

than the item which is to be dispensed when the item is lying flat in the bottom of the container. The walls of the container are tapered outwards and upwards from the base thus allowing the containers to stack inside one ^" another to save space. The top of the container has a lip or lips which protrude outwards from the top rim providing a means of locating the container within the dispenser. The length of the container protrudes below the dispenser is designed in such a fashion to prevent the contact by user of the dispenser unit in the action of removing a container from the unit. The fact that the items are lying within the container removing them from the airflow, preventing contamination by any harmful micro-organisms which are present in the airflow.

The containers are stacked within the dispenser with the items to be dispensed interspersed between them. The action of removing the lowest or outermost container from the dispenser enabling the user to extract the contents without contacting the dispenser, the next item to be dispensed or the container of the next item to be dispensed, preventing cross, contamination by such actions.

Whilst endeavouring in the foregoing specification to draw attention to those features of the invention believed to be of particular importance it should be understood that the Applicant claims protection in respect of any patentable feature or combination of features hereinbefore referred to and/or shown in the drawings whether or not particular emphasis has been placed thereon.