TABLET STORAGE SYSTEM AND USE THEREOF
A storage device and system for storing whole, divisible tablets and the divided portions of those divisible tablets.
1 . A storage device for storing and dispensing a portion of a divided pharmaceutical tablet derived from a whole, divisible pharmaceutical tablet, said device comprising a receptacle comprising a floor and a bounding wall forming an open, tablet-portion holding area, wherein said receptacle is insertable and retainable within a neck of a pharmaceutical tablet storage bottle.
2 . The device of claim 1 , wherein said receptacle comprises at least one divider wall forming divided compartments within the tablet-portion holding area of the receptacle.
3 . The device of claim 1 wherein said receptacle further comprises a center spindle for a user to grasp the receptacle and remove the receptacle from, and replace the receptacle within, the neck of the bottle.
4 . The device of claim 3 wherein said divider wall comprises a sharpened edge as a tablet-splitter.
5 . The device of claim 1 wherein said receptacle comprises a retaining member formed as an outer lip of the bounding wall, said retaining member corresponding to a receiving means on an inner wall of the bottle neck.
6 . The device of claim 2 wherein the dividing wall comprises two intersecting walls forming four equivalent compartments.
7 . The device of claim 1 further comprising a center spindle formed at the intersection of the intersecting divider walls.
8 . A method for retaining and storing pharmaceutical tablet portions divided from a whole or a previously divided pharmaceutical tablet, said method comprising
providing a divided pharmaceutical tablet receptacle of claim 1 ; and
storing a divided pharmaceutical tablet portion within the receptacle.
9 . The method of claim 8 wherein the method comprises the further steps of
removing the receptacle from the neck of a pharmaceutical storage bottle to access and remove a whole tablet from the main storage area of the storage bottle, and
replacing the receptacle containing a remaining divided pharmaceutical tablet portion within the neck of the bottle.
10 . The method of claim 8 wherein the method further comprises the step of dividing the tablet using a tablet-splitter formed on the upper edge of a divider wall provided in the receptacle.
11 . A system for storing a pharmaceutical tablet portion divided from a divisible pharmaceutical tablet, said system comprising
a storage bottle forming a storage compartment for receiving and storing a whole, divisible pharmaceutical tablet, said bottle including a neck integral therewith,
a separate and separable receptacle comprising a floor and a bounding wall forming an open, tablet-portion holding area, wherein said receptacle is insertable and retainable within a neck of a pharmaceutical tablet storage bottle, and
a closure means capable of closing the storage bottle and receptacle, together.
12 . The system of claim 11 , wherein said receptacle comprises at least one divider wall forming divided compartments within the tablet-portion holding area of the receptacle.
13 . The system of claim 11 wherein said receptacle further comprises a center spindle for a user to grasp the receptacle and remove the receptacle from, and replace the receptacle within, the neck of the bottle.
14 . The system of claim 13 wherein said divider wall comprises a sharpened edge as a tablet-splitter.
15 . The system of claim 11 wherein said receptacle comprises a retaining member formed as an outer lip of the bounding wall, said retaining member corresponding to a receiving means on an inner wall of the bottle neck.
16 . The system of claim 12 wherein the dividing wall comprises two intersecting walls forming four equivalent compartments.
17 . The system of claim 16 comprising a center spindle formed at the intersection of the intersecting divider walls.
18 . The system of claim 11 wherein the device further comprises a supply of divisible compressed tablets having an inactive breaking region formed in the tablet.
19 . The system of claim 18 wherein the tablets are taller-than-wide and have the inactive breaking region formed between two active compositions.
20 . The system of claim 18 wherein the tablets are compressed bilayer tablets having a top inactive layer and a bottom active layer wherein the bottom active layer is scored at least 70% therethrough.