The Capsule
The Capsule is a handheld storage device for pill medication. The Capsule serves as an alternative for current pill packaging to create an easier process for those with hand dexterity issues while still maintaining a child protective system in place.
Problem Statement
Throughout the project I maintained a focus on redesigning the process of opening the pill bottle. The current bottle packaging for pills focuses on a push down and twist method which has proved difficult for those who suffer from arthritis and low dexterity. About 53 million people in America suffer from some sort of arthritis, of which 85 percent have taken some sort of pill medication in the past year. With such a large pool of people who can potentially struggle with accessing their medication, we want to align the new design with familiar objects used on a daily basis, the main one being deodorant. So the following problem statement is what I used to design a product that can substitute for the current pill bottle:
How can we create a pill bottle cap that maintains a child protective security measure while making it easier for elderly to access their medication?
Ideation
The first design focused on a squeeze method, where both ends of the top must be pushed inward to release the latch for the bottle. The cap’s size would have stayed consistent with current sizes of available pull bottles. While this design does make it easier to open, with a shorter amount of steps, it doesn't prove itself useful, when it comes to keeping children out.
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The second idea I had, I wanted to hone in on the child safety aspect. Still maintaining the cylindrical shape of a pill bottle, The bottom layer of the bottle can be pushed vertically and as the floor raises, medication can be pushed and dispensed out the top. The top of the bottle can only open outward, limiting any physical touch to the pill until it exits the bottle. The key is the length of the tube, the tube needs to be long enough where the average length of a child's finger would not be long enough to push a pill all the way out but the average adult size can. This seemed like a good idea at the moment, but there were two key issues. The bottle would be designed based on average sizes of hands, meaning there are entire groups of people that would be excluded. Also, once a pill is dispensed, there is no logical way of putting the pill back let alone refilling the bottle, creating an unsustainable product.
Prototyping
The Capsule comes with multiple components that come together to make the product usable. The Capsule has an outer case that is used to store all of the interior capsules. These capsules each contain the correct dosages of that person's medication and on top of the capsule are times, dates, and instructions on when to take the medication. This would allow the user to keep track of what day or time they are on to take the medication. To access the capsule, I utilized a screw on mechanic. By Interacting with the turn dial located on the base of the body, the user can turn the dial clockwise and counter closways making each down go up and down respectively. Once the user has turned the dial enough the capsule that lays on the top of the stack will be released and the user can break the capsule open to take their meds.
The outer shell of The Capsule would be a one time purpose and be durable enough to be reusable for long periods of time. The capsules inside however would most likely be made of very lightweight material such as paper or cardboard, as once the seal on one is broken it must be disposed of. The focus is for the capsules to be made of a recyclable material to reduce waste. The user would coordinate with their pharmacy so that the pharmacy can provide weeks worth of capsules for the user and they can organize the capsules inside the case for clear organized use.
