Medicine dispenser for home health care

Claim 1

A medicine dispenser, comprising: a box-like container having a lid hinged along one upper edge thereof, which lid can be locked shut to deny unwarranted access to the interior of the container, the container providing an interior peripheral ledge spaced to lie near the lid when closed, the ledge providing means for supporting a tray or the like immediately beneath the lid when closed, the lid having a plurality of apertures therethrough; means for manually encoding the tray supporting means to prevent the accidental positioning of an unintended tray within the container, the manually encoding means including a plurality of peg-receiving openings through the interior peripheral ledge of the container, and at least one peg manually insertable and removable from the peg-receiving openings, the at least one peg having a head extending above the upper surface of the interior peripheral ledge; a medicine tray dimensioned for placement within the container, the medicine tray including at least one aperture therethrough dimensioned and positioned to permit the head of the at least one peg to fit within and through the at least one aperture when the medicine tray is positioned within the container and the lid is shut, the medicine tray further including a plurality of compartments, each of the compartments being positioned immediately beneath a respective one of the plurality of lid apertures when the lid is closed; a plurality of compartment covers attached to the lid adjacent respective ones of the plurality of lid apertures, each of the compartment covers capable of being shut and opened with respect to the lid to selectively permit access to respective ones of the compartments, the plurality of compartment covers being spring loaded to automatically open when a latch means included on the lid is activated to selectively release the compartment covers, the latch means including a plurality of trigger solenoids positioned, respectively, adjacent respective ones of the plurality of lid apertures opposite the attachment points of the associated compartment cover; an interior container compartment for housing power and controlling means for the medicine dispenser; means for connecting the power and controlling means to the lid; an audible alarm mounted on the lid and electronically coupled with the power and controlling means; a manually actuable control button mounted on the lid and electronically coupled with the power and controlling means; and a liquid crystal display positioned to be observable through the lid, which display is further electronically coupled with the power and controlling means.