The invention relates to a method of dispensing medicines as defined in the preamble of claim 1 and to a medicine dispenser as defined in the preamble of claim 11.

The method of dispensing medicines and the medicine dispenser, hereafter briefly referred to as "the solution", according to the invention are applicable to medicine dispensing, prefer ably at home, the medicine dispensing necessitating supervi sion by homecare/home-help service staff or the family, for example. Examples of the application thereof include, inter alia, in-home medical assistance for the elderly and the dis abled, as well as in-home medical assistance for the handi capped and the disabled.

Automated medicine dispensing at a customer's home is an in ternationally strongly growing sector of the medication man agement. In Finland, and in other developed countries, the number of old people, and especially their average amount of medication, has been growing, making it more difficult to control if the old people use their medicines in the correct way. The dispensing of medicines is especially being developed to facilitate the medication management of the elderly. The elderly often use a vast variety of, and different types of, medicines, the taking of which is hard for the elderly to remember, and the actual correct intake of which is hard for them too, and they often need help for it. In automated ma chine dispensing of medicines, the medicines are packaged into pouches or receptacles in single-unit doses, only requiring the patient to remember to take his/her dose of medicine when the apparatus offers it to him/her. One of the purposes of the medicine dispenser is to reduce the number of homecare visits solely carried out for administering medication.

It is hard for many older people to remember to take their medicines, especially at the right time. Automated dispensing makes it possible to ensure that they are taking all their medicines, provided that the doses of medicines are taken at the time stated thereon. Different kinds of alarm devices have been developed to assist this. Dispensing by means of medicine dispensers allows their family or homecare staff to easily monitor their use of medicines, via a portable smart device, for example.

In a prior-art medicine dispenser, a so-called medicine clock, a customer's next 14 or 28 medication doses, for example, are added into the dispenser, followed by closing the dispenser. The dispenser has a simple clock device for rotating medica tion dose compartments inside the apparatus, in order to allow the medication doses to be taken, through an opening provided in the apparatus, out of the apparatus at the right time.

In another prior-art medicine dispenser, a customer's 14-day medication, in the form of a medication dose pouch roll pro duced by a pharmacy or a care institution, are loaded into the dispenser. The medication dose pouch roll comprises single medication dose pouches, heat-sealed one after another, cor responding, in number, to the 14-day need of the customer.

In a third prior-art medicine dispenser, medication doses are loaded into medication dose receptacles contained in the dis penser and served to the customer therefrom, at the right time and in a predetermined order.

All the above-mentioned known solutions have the common draw back that they are inflexible in terms of medicine dispensing, being solely intended for so-called long-term medications which are taken continuously. The medication doses are loaded into the dispenser sequentially, one after another, and can only be taken out of the apparatus sequentially. This makes it very difficult, or impossible, to change the medication doses contained in the apparatus, and, among other things, it does not provide flexibility for easy insertion of a new course of medication into the medicine dispenser. It is usual that a single change in the medication doses requires the entire contents of these dispensers to be discharged and re organized. This is a time-consuming process and resource intensive for caretakers. Besides, this compromises the drug safety by increasing the risk of dispensing errors since the medicines must be reorganized inside the apparatus. The so lutions according to these technologies do not allow for dis pensing variable dose or "when required" medicines, or short courses of antibiotics, for instance. Besides, because these medicine dispensers only are capable of receiving tablets, capsules and certain effervescent tablets, they do not allow for dispensing other forms of medication.

Further, the medicine clock type dispensers suffer from the problem that the dispenser must be turned around in one hand and the medicines must be dropped, therefrom, into the other, free hand, which is a difficult task for many older people. The apparatus being small in size, it has quite a low capacity and also gets easily lost among one's belongings at home. The user interface and the display of the apparatus are compli cated and small, respectively, and hard to read for old people with eyesight problems.

Further, a major problem with the medication dose pouch ap paratuses is that the customer must tear or cut the dose pouch open before access to the medicines in the pouch. At this stage, it is possible that medicines fall down to the floor and that the tearing or cutting the pouch by scissors is an impossible, often at least a difficult and insecure task for an elderly person.

This invention aims at eliminating the above-mentioned draw backs and providing a reliable, flexible, secure and advan tageous method of dispensing medicines. It also aims at providing a medicine dispenser, hereafter briefly also re ferred to as "the dispenser", which is easy to move from one place to another, and quick to set up, as well as very easy to use by older people and other user groups . The method according to the invention is characterized in what is set forth in the characterizing part of claim 1. Correspondingly, the medicine dispenser according to the invention is charac terized in what is set forth in the characterizing part of claim 11. The other embodiments of the invention are is char acterized in what is set forth in the rest of the claims.

The method of dispensing medicines employs a medicine dis penser comprising a control system, a medication dose space and a medication dose moving mechanism as well as medication dose platforms movable on a bottom, the method bringing a medication dose out of the medicine dispenser, to be served. The medication dose moving mechanism conveys any desired med ication dose contained in the medicine dispenser to be next served, by using, in the conveyance, a medication dose plat form free, unoccupied spot on the bottom, to switch the po sitions of the medication dose platforms. The medicine dis penser according to the invention has a confined space for containing medication doses, as well as a control system and a memory. The medicine dispenser comprises a plurality of mutually substantially identical medication dose platforms, disposed, in lines and in columns, on a support carrier form ing the confined space, side by side with each other, and that the support carrier has at least one unoccupied spot, i.e. a medication dose platform free spot, to which any medication dose platform lying next to the unoccupied spot can be moved.

Compared to the state-of-art medicine dispensers, the major advantage of the solution according to the invention is that it is flexible and easy to use. The dispenser has an openable and closable serving station with a spot for a medication dose platform and for a medication dose receptacle which can be, for example, a conventional plastic medication dose cup used in healthcare. The medication dose receptacle is put on a medication dose platform which can be, for example, 48 in number, in a 7 x 7 matrix, one of the spots thereof being unoccupied in order to allow the medication dose platforms to be moved. A medication dose to be served is brought to the customer through the serving station, and, in addition, all the medication doses needed by the customer during the next period, such as 14 days, are individually loaded, in medica tion dose receptacles, into the dispenser through the same serving station. The solution according to the invention makes it possible to next bring any unoccupied medication dose plat form, or a medication dose platform having a medication dose receptacle thereon, from the inside of the dispenser, to the serving station, in a flexible manner. This is crucially dif ferent from apparatuses where the medication doses are dis pensed sequentially, in a predetermined order. Bringing the medication dose platforms to the serving station in a flexible manner provides the solution with obvious advantages. It al lows for, inter alia, easy and quick changes to the medica tion, such as adding unexpected courses of medication into the medication dose receptacles already filled with medica tions doses, or adding courses of medications in their dedi cated medication dose receptacles. A change in the medication can be a total replacement of a long-term medication with another medication. In practice, the state-of-art automated medicine dispensers only are capable of handling regular med ications which are taken continuously, without any possibility to make medicinal changes to the medication doses contained in the apparatus. In addition to the above, the solution according to the invention is capable of flexibly and reliably dispensing any temporary medicines, such as courses of medi cation, for example, as well as "when required" medicines, such as pain killers for acute pain. In this case, the "when required" medicine is provided in certain medication dose spots in advance, and when this medicine is required, a named nurse, for example, can remote control the "when required" medicine to the serving station, to be served to the customer.

Another advantage of the solution according to the invention is that it is suitable for different types of medicines, such as pills, capsules, chewable tablets and liquids. The solu- tions allows for the use of standard medication dose recep tacles used in care work which are familiar to the customers and which can be equipped with a tight lid. The solution according to the invention has a variety of applications, including, inter alia, normal households of the elderly, because the lack of reliable medicine administration is a significant factor to that the elderly cannot cope alone at home any longer and to that the elderly must be institu- tionalized. This easy-to-use and reliable medicine dispenser according to the invention prolongs the home-living period of the elderly as well as contributes to their independence and to their health level, which, in turn, significantly reduces the expenses that the healthcare of the elderly causes to society.

In the following, the invention will be explained in more detail, by means of exemplifying embodiments, with reference to the accompanying simplified and schematic drawings wherein

Figure 1 is a simplified as well as an oblique lateral and top view of a medicine dispenser used in the

method according to the invention, in its basic state,

Figure 2 shows the medicine dispenser of Figure 1, with a medication dose available at the serving station,

Figure 3 shows the control mechanisms of the medicine dis penser,

Figure 4 is a simplified as well as an oblique lateral and top view of a medication dose tray used in the solution according to the invention,

Figure 5a shows the medicine dispenser of Figure 2, with the cover and the walls removed,

Figure 5b is a top view of the medicine dispenser of Figure

5a, with the front cover and the serving station removed,

Figure 6a is a top and simplified view of a moving mechanism for the medication dose platforms of the medicine dispenser,

Figure 6b is a lateral and partial section view of the mov ing mechanism for the medication dose platforms of the medicine dispenser,

Figure 7a is a simplified as well as an oblique lateral and top view of how a medication dose platform is identified at the serving station and how the presence of a medication dose receptacle is de tected,

Figure 7b is a simplified as well as an oblique lateral and top view of how a medication dose platform is identified at the serving station and how a med ication dose code of a medication dose receptacle is detected.

Figure 1 is a simplified as well as an oblique lateral and top view of a medicine dispenser 1 employed by the method according to the invention, in its basic state. In its basic state, the medicine dispenser 1 is closed and has a customer's medication doses inserted into it. The medicine dispenser 1 is reliably closed, inter alia, by a cover 2a, walls 2b, a front panel 2c as well as a door 3a of a serving station 3. The front panel 2c of the medicine dispenser 1 is provided with a dedicated user interface for the dispenser 1, having a single operation switch 4 as well as indication means 5a; 5b; a speaker 5a and, as a further option, a lighting strip 5b which, in this exemplifying embodiment, is a LED lighting strip running around the serving station 3. The medicine dis penser 1 contains, inter alia, moving mechanisms for the med ication doses, a dedicated control system and memory for the dispenser 1, data network connection means, grid power means and a backup battery.

Figure 2 shows the medicine dispenser 1 of Figure 1, with the door 3a of the serving station 3 opened by sliding it behind the front panel 2c and with a medication dose available at the serving station 3. The back door 3b of the serving station 3 is closed by sliding in order to not allow any other medi cation doses to be taken out of the medicine dispenser 1.

By making small rearrangements to the production, the medicine dispenser 1 can easily be manufactured with different capac ities in order to meet the customer's needs. A very common capacity is a 14-day medication, three times a day, the med ication doses needed thus being 3 x 2 x 7, that is, 42 in number. Other common capacity needs include, for example, a 7-day medication, three times a day, for 7 days, the capacity needed thus being 3 x 1 x 7, that is, 21 medication doses, in number. In addition to the exact capacity need, extra spots should be left in the medicine dispenser 1, and, consequently, it is appropriate to manufacture a 7 x 7 matrix medicine dispenser 1, for a need of 42 medication doses, for example. The extra spots are left to provide flexibility. They are filled with courses of medication and/or "when required" med icines. For high users of medicines, the frequency of the dispenser refill can flexibly also be set to be other than whole weeks, the frequency refill then being 10 or 12 days, for example.

The individual medication doses are inserted into the medi cation dose receptacles 9 contained in the medicine dispenser 1 which, for instance, can very well be standard medication dose receptacles 9 used in care work and familiar to the customer. As the solution employs liddable standard medica tion dose receptacles 9, they can flexibly receive medicines of different compositions, such as pills, capsules, chewable tablets and liquids. As an example, at a single medication intake time, first, dry medicines, and immediately thereaf ter, liquid medicines can be programmed to be brought, in the medication dose receptacles 9, to the serving station 3.

In the medicine dispenser 1, each of the medication dose receptacles 9 stands on an individually identified medication dose platform 8. As the medication dose receptacle 9, with any required medication, is brought to the medication dose platform 8 in the medicine dispenser 1, the medication dose platform 8 has its own individual date and time data stored in an administration system and transferred, therefrom, to the control system of the dispenser. For this individually identified medication dose platform 8, the same date and time data are also stored concerning when this medication dose must be served to the customer. The medicine dispenser 1 comprises a clock device knowing the exact date, day of the week and time of the day. Using the clock device, the medicine dis penser 1 brings the medication dose platform 8 and the medi cation dose receptacle 9, containing the right medication dose for the customer, to the serving station 3, at the right time. As the medication dose receptacle 9 is brought to the serving station 3, the medicine dispenser 1 alarms the user by means the indication means 5a, 5b, such as audible signals, via the speaker 5, and by turning on or blinking the lighting means 6, and/or by on turning on the LED lights of the lighting strip 5b. If needed, the medicine dispenser 1 may also guide, via the speaker 5a, the customer through the taking of the medicine .

Different operation parameters, possibly varying depending on the location of use or the customer type, for example, can easily be programmed into the control system of the medicine dispenser 1. One of the above-mentioned operation parameters is, for example, the serving time, i.e. the duration of keep ing the medication dose available to the customer at the serving station 3 before the serving station is closed. The serving time can be programmed to be one hour, for example, and an additional operation parameter can be audible notifi cations, every 10 minutes from the speaker, for example, of the availability of the medication dose at the serving station 3. A lighting member 6, such as a LED, illuminates the serving station 3, making it easy for the customer to see the medi cation dose receptacle 9. An identifier member 7, such as camera, monitoring the medication dose receptacle 9 to be taken next, is provided at the serving station 3. Thus, the system is continuously aware of whether the customer already has taken the medication dose made available to him/her. As soon as the identifier member 7 detects that the medicine has been taken, the door 3a of the serving station 3 can be closed. Besides, the system can acknowledge, by means of an audible message via the speaker 5a, to the customer that the medicine has been taken successfully.

Figures 3 shows control mechanisms for the medicine dispenser 1, and Figure 4 is a simplified as well as an oblique lateral and top view of a medication dose tray 15. In its basic state, the medicine dispenser 1 operates fully independently, using an externally supplied current, and, in case of power failure, using a built-in backup battery. The internal control system and the clock device of the dispenser carry out the daily administration of the medication doses, independently of the operation of a data network 10a, for example. However, the data network 10a normally connects the medicine dispenser 1 to a centered administration system 13, typically a cloud service on the Internet. The administration system 13 contains information of the medication doses 1 inserted into the med icine dispenser 1, of whether they have been taken success fully or omitted.

The information of whether a medication dose has been taken is transferred from the medicine dispenser 1 to the admin istration system 13, via the data network 10a, allowing a named nurse, for example, to monitor how the customer takes his/her medicines. If the identifier member 7 does not detect that the medicine has been taken by a certain time, the dis penser closes the serving station 3 and transmits an alarm to the administration system 13 which, in turn, can send an alert to the named nurse, to his/her personal smart device 11, such as a smart phone, PDA, tablet or computer, via a data network 10b. Then, the named nurse can contact the customer, by phone, for example, or head to the location concerned in order to check the situation. Once the customer is reached and he/she is ready to take his/her medication dose, the named nurse can use his/her smart device 11 to connect to the administration system 13 which controls the medicine dispenser 1 to bring the missed medication dose to the serving station 3, to be served again. If the missed medication dose no longer can be served to the customer, the medicine dispenser 1 can keep the missed medication dose hidden inside, and this medication dose can be dealt with later, when new medicines are inserted, for instance .

The administration systems (13) of the medicine dispensers, and the medicine dispensers 1 themselves, can also be moni tored and operated centrally, such as from a homecare agency 14, via a data network 10c. A common way of administrating the medicine dispenser 1, as well as the taking of the indi vidual medication doses, is to use personal smart devices 11. The smart device 11 can be possessed by the customer him self/herself or by some other named person, such as a rela tive, personal nurse or an external named nurse. The smart device 11 is not directly connected to the medicine dispenser

I but the connection to the administration system is always established via the data network 10b, and any administration and operation of the medicine dispenser 1 by the smart device

II is carried out via the administration system 13.

The smart device 11 has means, such as an application 12, enabling the medicine dispenser 1 to be administered via the administration system 13. The application 12 is used for ad ministering the filling of the medicine dispenser with medi cation doses, for example, at regular intervals, such as fort nightly. The named nurse has the customer's medication doses already inserted into medication dose receptacles 9. The med ication dose receptacles 9 can be prepared in advance, at the homecare agency 14, for example, on the medication dose trays 15 shown in Figure 4, from which the medication dose recep tacles 9 can easily and reliably be moved, in the right order, into the medicine dispenser 1. The application 12 is used for asking the medicine dispenser 1 to bring one/next medi cation dose platform 8 to the serving station 3. In the ap plication 12, a timing, a date/a day of the week and a time of the day, is set for the medication dose platform 8 brought to the serving station 3, and the medication dose receptacle 9, with the medicines, corresponding to this time is put on the medication dose platform 8. As the medication dose recep tacle 9 corresponding to this time is acknowledged, from the application, to be put thereon, the camera acting as the identifier member 7 reads an identification code provided on the side of the medication dose platform 8 and specific to the medication dose platform 8. The control system of the medicine dispenser 1 links the identification code of the medication dose platform 8 to the given time, stores the linked information in the medicine dispenser' s memory and transmits, via the data network 10a, the linked information to the administration system 13 located in the cloud service. Accordingly, all the other medicine intake times are filled, for a desired period, in its entirety, by means of the appli cation 12.

The filling with medicines can also be performed without a smart device 11, using an operation switch 4 provided in the user interface of the medicine dispenser 1, and a filling routine preprogrammed into the control system of the dispenser 1. Then, a filling mode is activated by a specific press of the operation switch 4, such as by continuously keeping the operation switch 4 pressed down for 10 seconds. Once the filling mode is activated, the control system of the dispenser 1 conveys the first medication dose platform 8 to the serving station 3 and asks, by an auditory instruction via the speaker 5a, the named nurse/the filling person to put the first med ication dose receptacle 9 of the period on the medication dose platform 8. Thereafter, the named nurse presses the operation switch once, with the result that the identifier member 7 reads the individual identification code 8 provided on the side of the medication dose platform 8, the control system links the identification code to a preprogrammed time, stores the linked information in the medicine dispenser' s 1 memory and transmits, via the data network 10a, the linked infor mation to the administration service 13 located in the cloud service. Thereafter, the system conveys the medication dose into the dispenser 1, brings a new medication dose platform 8 to the serving station 3, the process then continuing in the same way until all the medicine intake times for the entire desired period are dealt with and the medicines are filled into the medicine dispenser 1.

The solution according to the invention being able to next convey any requested medication dose platform 8 contained in the medicine dispenser 1, to the serving station 8, by means of the moving mechanism of the medication dose platform 8, the invention advantageously solves the problems which the current solutions have not been able to solve. Especially in automated medicine dispensing, it has been problematic to make changes or additions to the medication doses inserted into the apparatuses. Such changes/additions to the medication doses are relevant when the customer has a change of medica tion, or, a temporary course of medication, such as antibi otics, prescribed by his/her doctor. In the solution according to the invention, when changes or additions to the medication doses already filled into the apparatus are needed, these changes or additions can flexibly be made with the assistance of the application 12 provided in the smart device 11. The application 12 is used for asking the system to bring the medication dose receptacle 9 of the time that requires a change/an addition, to the serving station 3. The necessary changes /additions to the medication dose receptacle 9 are made and the changes/additions are acknowledged, followed by clos ing the serving station 3 and conveying the medication dose receptacle 9 to which the changes/additions were made, on the medication dose platform 8, back to the inside of the dis penser 1.

Another problem related to the current solutions is how to dispense medicines, such as pain killers, that are need oc casionally. In practice, the current solutions do not support the taking of occasional medicines at all but these medicines are taken separately and there is no medicine dispenser useful for administering them. The solution according to the inven tion also supports the taking of occasional medicines, such as pain killers. In the step of inserting the medication doses, the medication dose receptacle capacity of the dis penser 1 does not have to be entirely reserved for the timed medication doses but the dispensel 9 has extra medication dose receptacles 9. As an example, in a medicine dispenser 1 having 7 x 7-1, i.e. 48 medication dose platforms 8 in number, 2 x 7 x 3, i.e. 42 of the medication dose platforms are reserved for the timed medicine medication doses, covering a 14 day/three times a day need and still leaving six unoccupied medication dose receptacles 9 for occasional medicines. Each of these unoccupied medication dose receptacles 9 is filled with an occasional medicine. When the customer needs to take a medicine like this, the dispenser 1 is programmed to bring the medicine to the serving station 3, as the operation switch 4 is pressed, for example. Alternatively, the customer can contact his/her named nurse who asks, using his/her smart device 11, the medicine dispenser 1 to bring the occasional medicine to the serving station 3. Alternatively, several occasional medicines are dosed into one of the unoccupied medication dose receptacles 9 and this medication dose recep tacle 9 is made available, always when needed, to the customer 9, by bringing it to the serving station 3 wherefrom he/she can take any necessary amount of the medicine. This also allows for administering, when necessary, a greater number of different medicines that are needed occasionally.

Figure 5a shows the medicine dispenser 1 of Figure 2, with the cover 2a and the walls 2b removed, and Figure 5b is a top view of the medicine dispenser 1 of Figure 5a, with the front cover 2c and the serving station 3 removed. An inter mediate floor 16 divides the medicine dispenser 1 into an upper portion 16a and a lower portion 16b.

The upper portion 16a contains a support carrier 17, which, seen from above, is substantially rectangular in shape and which has flat and slippery bottom 17a as well as a rim 17b running around the bottom. The support carrier 17 is fixed to the upper surface of the intermediate floor 16. On the bottom 17a of the support carrier 17, medication dose plat forms 8 are provided, which, seen from above, are substan tially rectangular in shape, preferably square, for example. The medication dose platforms 8 rest freely on the bottom 17a and are disposed adjacent to each other, the lateral edges of the medication dose platforms 8, at their closest, lightly contacting the rim 17b and/or the lateral edges of the other medication dose platforms 8. The lines and columns of the medication dose platforms 8 on the support carrier 17 are mutually perpendicular, the lines and columns thus form ing an x-y matrix. The support carrier 17 has a ledge 3c, inside the serving station 3, allowing one medication dose platform 8 to be slid from the inside of the medicine dis penser 1, from the spot 17c of the bottom 17a of the support carrier 17, to the ledge 3c. The rim 17b runs along three edges of the ledge 3c in order to prevent the medication dose platform 8 from sliding off the ledge 3c. The medication dose platforms 8 do not entirely cover the rectangular area of the bottom 17a of the support carrier 17 because, in the dispenser 1, the medication dose platforms 8 are always at least one less in number than what is needed to cover the rectangular area of the bottom 17a, not taking into account the spot occupied by the ledge 3c. In solution according to this embodiment, the area of the rectangular bottom 17a would accommodate 7 x 7, i.e. 49 medication dose platforms but the medication dose platforms used in the solution are 48 in number. This leaves one unoccupied spot 17d, i.e. a medica tion dose platform free spot 8, on the bottom 17a. This unoccupied spot 17d allows the medication dose platforms 8 to be moved on the bottom 17a of the support carrier 17. As one medication dose platform 8 is moved to the unoccupied spot 17d, by sliding, the unoccupied spot 17d becomes occu pied and a new unoccupied spot 17d is created in another position on the support carrier 17, in the position wherefrom the moving of the medication dose platforms 8 started.

Figure 6a is a top and simplified view of the moving mecha nism for the medication dose platforms of the medicine dis penser 1, and 6b is a lateral and partly sectional view of the moving mechanism for the medication dose platforms of the medicine dispenser 1.

The moving mechanism for the medication dose platforms is located in the lower 16b portion. A single medication dose platform, or a line of several medication dose platforms 8, is moved on the bottom 17a of the support carrier 17 by a conveyor member 18. The conveyor member 18 comprises a base element 28, guide elements 27, an electromagnet 25 and an identifier sensor 26. Preferably, the medication dose plat forms 8 and the support carrier 17 are made of a non-magnetic material. A magnetic counter-element 24, such a permanent magnet, is provided in the middle portion of each medication dose platform 8. As the permanent magnet 25 is activated by an electric current, a strong magnetic field is created be tween the electromagnet 25 and the counter-element 24 of the medication dose platform 8, enabling the medication dose platform 8 to be slid on the bottom 17a of the support carrier 17, by moving the electromagnet 25 of the conveyor member 18 in the horizontal direction. As the electromagnet 25 is powered off, the magnetic field between the electro magnet 25 and the medication dose platform 8 gets weaker and disables the conveyor member 18 from moving the medication dose platform located above it and comprising the magnetic counter-element 24, the conveyor member 18 thus becoming freely movable. The conveyor member 18 is moved below the support carrier 17, in a first direction by a first actuator 30, such as an electric motor, and in a second direction, perpendicular to the first direction, by a second actuator 32, such as an electric motor. Seen from the top of the medicine dispenser 1, the first direction and the second direction are, hereafter, referred to as the x-direction and the y-direction, respectively. The electromagnet 25 is at tached to the base element 28, having a toothed belt 29, the toothed belt 29 being rotatable, in the x-direction, between two toothed pulleys 31. The electric motor 30 has a toothed pulley for moving the toothed belt 29, and the conveyor member 18 attached thereto, in the x-direction. The conveyor member 18 has guide elements 27 which are supported on a guide rod 23 parallel to the x-direction and which keep the conveyor member 18 exactly in the right x-coordinate direc tion.

All the above-mentioned components 18, 23, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30 of the x-directional moving mechanism are provided on a slide 20 moving in the y-direction. Seen from the top of the dispenser 1, the slide 20 only moves, in the x-y coordinate system, in the direction of the y-axis. The slide 20 is supported, by y-directional guide elements 22, on y- directional guide rods 21. The slide 20 is moved in the y- direction by an electric motor 32 attached to the bottom portion 2d of the dispenser 1. A toothed belt 33, rotatable between two toothed pulleys 34 in the y-direction, is at tached to the lower face of the slide 20. The electric motor 32 has a toothed pulley for moving the toothed belt 33 and the slide 20 attached thereto. The electric motors 30 and 32 are precision motors, the rotational movements and the ro tational history of which is accurately monitored by the control system, the control system thus always having accu rate information of the position of the conveyor member 18 in the x-y coordinate system. A typical precision for one electric motor pulse is a movement of 0.33 millimeters in the x-y coordinate system.

The identifier sensor 26 for identifying the medication dose platforms 8 on the support carrier 17, based on the magnetic counter-element 24 in the middle thereof, is provided on top of, and in the middle of, the electromagnet 25 of the con veyor member 18. The identifier sensor 26 is used for deter mining the exact positions of the medication dose platforms 8 and, of the unoccupied spot 17d, on the support carrier 17.

The identifier sensor 26 is also used for automatically solving any situations where a medication dose platform 8 cannot be moved because another medication dose platform 8/other medication dose platforms 8, in the front thereof, blocks the move, or because friction is created in the move ment of the medication dose platform 8 to an extent that it does not move to a target position on the support carrier 17. The automatic problem solving process of the control system may measure, after each move, if the move was suc cessful. Any line of medication dose platforms 8 on the support carrier 17 can be measured in a single measurement. The length of the line provides information of the position of the center points of the medication dose platforms 8, i.e. the magnetic counter-elements 24. So many successive measurements of the positions of the medication dose plat forms 8 can be made that the problem solving procedure is able to determine which ones of the medication dose platforms 8 are blocking the move. Thereafter, these blocking medica tion dose platforms 8 are moved out of the way, allowing the originally planned move to be carried out. If no blocking medication dose platforms 8 exist, the blocking is caused by something else, such as increased friction due to rubbish, dust, or the like. In this case, the problem solving proce dure may measure, after the attempted move, the distance that the medication dose platform 8 moved. To reach the target, the move of the medication dose platform 8 can also be repeated any desired number of times. If the move cannot be carried out at all, the problem solving procedure informs the administration system 13 about that service is needed.

In its normal operation mode, the medicine dispenser 1 is driven by grid power, or, for example, by 12 V direct current from an external source of voltage connected to grid power, for example. However, for a grid power failure, a backup battery is provided in the lower portion 16b of the dispenser 1. The backup battery 35 ensures that, in case of a grid power failure, the medicine dispenser 1 is able to continue to work for a period of several medicine intakes. After the grid power failure, the backup battery 35 is automatically recharged to be fully operational.

Figure 7a is a simplified as well as an oblique lateral and top view of how a medication dose platform 8 is identified and how the presence of a medication dose receptacle 9 is detected at the serving station 3, and Figure 7b is a sim plified as well as an oblique lateral and top view of how a medication dose platform 8 is identified and how a medication dose code 37 of a medication dose receptacle 9 is identified at the serving station 3. The serving station 3 has a back door 3b which can be slid aside and which is opened when the medication dose platform 8 and the medicine receptacle 9 are brought, from the inside of the medicine dispenser 1, to the ledge 3c of the serving station 3, or when the medication dose platform 3 and the medicine receptacle 9 are conveyed to the inside of the dispenser 1. When the front panel door 3a of the serving station 3 is opened, the backdoor 3b is always closed.

The serving station 3 comprises a lighting member 6 illumi nating the medication dose platform 8 present at the serving station 3, and the medication dose receptacle 9 standing thereon. A camera acting as an identifier member 7 and cap turing an image of an identification code 36, such as a bar code, attached to the medication dose platform 8, is provided at the serving station 3. The individual identification code 36 of the medication dose platform 8 present at the serving station 3 is linked to the current x-y position information of the medication dose platform 8, at the serving station 3, and stored in the memory. From this onwards, the control system is able to accurately calculate the changing position of this medication dose platform 8, provided with the iden tification information 36, in the x-y coordinate system, based on the operation of the conveyor member 18 and the change information of the motors 30 and 32. Accordingly, the control system calculates the exact positions of all medi cation dose platforms 8, provided with the individual iden tification information 36, in the x-y coordinate system, and, therefore, knows where exactly the unoccupied spot 17d is located in the x-y coordinate system. The control system continuously stores the exact position of each medication dose platform 8 in the dedicated memory of the medicine dispenser 1 and, if necessary, also in the memory of the administration system 13 located in the cloud service. As a new medication dose is brought into a medication dose recep tacle 9 on a medication dose platform 8 having a given in dividual identification code 36 and present at the serving station 3, an intake time, a date/a day of the week and a time of the day, are concurrently set for this medication dose and also stored in the dedicated memory of the medicine dispenser 1 as well as in the memory of the administration system 13 located in the cloud service. Thus, the dedicated memory of the dispenser 1 and the memory of the administra tion system 13 contain information of the position of each medication dose platform 8, provided with the individual code 36, in the medicine dispenser 1, and a schedule telling when the medication dose platform 8, and the medication dose thereon, must be brought, from the inside of the medicine dispenser 1, to the serving station 3. Since the medicine intake interval usually is several hours, the control system of the medicine dispenser 1 has a plenty of time for posi tioning the next medication dose behind the closed door 3a of the serving station 3 to wait for the next medicine intake time. The control system monitors the clock device of the medicine dispenser 1 and opens the door 3a of the serving station 3 for the customer as well as informs the customer about the arrival of the new medication dose.

The identifier member 7 of the serving station 3 also moni tors the medication dose receptacle 9 when the door 3a of the serving station 3 is open and the medication dose is available to the customer. The identifier member 7 detects when the customer takes the medication dose present at the serving station 3 and forwards this information to the con trol system, which, in turn, forwards this information, via the data network 10a, to the administration system 13, and, eventually, to the persons in charge. If the missed medica tion dose is not taken within a certain period of time, this information is also forwarded.

Medicine dispensing systems may also produce a medication dose code 37, such as a QR code, which is linked, in an administration system, to a user, the medicines contained in the dose, an intake time of the medication dose and the duration of keeping it available. This medication dose code 37 can be attached to the medication dose receptacle 9 when the medication dose is filled into it. The camera, acting as the identifier member 7, reads this medication dose code 37 and the identification code 36 of the medication dose plat form 8. The control system receives the medicine intake time, and the duration of availability, linked to this code from the administration system.

It will be understood by a person skilled in the art that the invention is not solely limited to the above examples but may vary within the scope of the accompanying claims. Thus, the number of the medication dose platforms of the medicine dispenser may vary from the number stated in any of the embodiments.

It will also be understood by the person skilled in the art that, on the support carrier, the medication dose platforms can be loosely attached to each other, while still allowing them be movable, in the x-y coordinate system, towards a unoccupied spot .