FR2782406A1 - Time delay indicator, e.g. for measuring period between administration of substance and subsequent action, comprises rotary discs used with special calendar - Google Patents

Abstract

The indicator (1) has three concentric and movable discs (2,3,4), divided into an equal number of marked sectors (5), each corresponding to a unit of time. The outer disc is marked with the days of the week and the inner ones with numerals and the letter P. The indicator is used in conjunction with a special calendar, divided e.g. by different colors into equal periods with repeating cycles. The discs and calendar together allow a repeating time cycle, e.g. a period of seven days every three weeks, to be indicated clearly.

Description

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  The present invention relates to a device making it possible to determine the waiting time after the administration to a subject of a substance, whether medicinal or not. The subject can be a person, an animal or a plant and the waiting period is the number of days during which the subject is not able to perform certain functions after the end of treatment. This period is fixed either by the manufacturer of the

  substance, either by the government.

  Thus, when a treatment is administered to a dairy cow, its milk should not be used for a certain

  number of days after the end of treatment.

  The fruits of trees that have undergone a phytosanitary treatment should not be eaten before a certain

Number of days.

  An athlete, whose state of health requires the taking of certain substances called "prohibited substances", must refrain from participating in competitions until

  total elimination of the drug.

  Until now, this waiting period was calculated mentally with all the disadvantages that it could present, especially in the event of resumption of treatment during the

timeout.

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  The device of the invention consists of a set of three discs, concentric and movable, divided into equal and marked sectors, each sector of the disks corresponding to a unit of time and each sector of the external disk having an indication relating to the date , the sectors of each of the other two disks being numbered from 1 to P. For this device to be usable all year round, it is necessary that it comprises, at least, three hundred and sixty five sectors. This obligation leads to producing an outer disc of large diameter and the device, or index

  mobile, must be changed every year.

  According to another embodiment of the invention, which overcomes this drawback, the mobile index is associated with a special calendar, divided, into equal parts, or periods, according to a repetitive cycle and the external disc of the mobile index is divided into periods of equal duration, has only one cycle, each sector of said disc having a

day indication.

  So, to fix the ideas, if we choose a period of seven days and a cycle of twenty-one days, the three disks of the index will be divided into twenty-one equal sectors. The choice of a period of seven days is advantageous because it

  corresponds to the seven day of the week.

  To differentiate each period, we can use

  different brands or colors.

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  The present invention will be better understood by the

  description which follows made with reference to the drawings

  annexed by way of indicative example only, in which: FIG. 1 shows an index in accordance with the invention; FIG. 2 shows a special calendar used in association with the index of FIG. 1; - Figure 3 is a partial view showing an alternative embodiment of the index of Figure 1; FIG. 4 is a partial view showing the special calendar used in association with the index of FIG. 3; FIG. 5 is a view, similar to FIG. 1, showing

  an example of use of the device of the invention.

  Referring to the drawings, it can be seen that, in its simplest form, the device of the invention consists of an index 1 consisting of three concentric discs 2, 3 and 4 assembled in their center and able to pivot independently one the other. The three discs are divided into equal sectors 5 and each sector of the disc 2 corresponds, in the example shown, to a specific day. Each sector of the other two discs is identified by numbers from "1 to P". Disc 3 allows you to indicate the number of days during which the treatment is applied and that 4 the number of days

corresponding to the waiting time.

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  According to another embodiment of the invention, the index 1 is associated with a special calendar 6, divided into periods of equal duration according to a repetitive cycle. Each period is identified, for example, by means of a color. In the example shown, each cycle has three periods of seven days. For the year 1998, for example, the first period of the first cycle begins on Monday January 5 and that of the second cycle

  starts on Monday January 26 and so on.

  Disk 2 of the associated index (fig.l) is divided into twenty-one sectors, corresponding to a cycle and each period is identified in the same way as that corresponding to calendar 6. Thus sector 5a, which is marked " Read "for Monday, will be identified in the same way, in the same color for example, as box 6a corresponding to Monday January 5 in calendar 6. Depending on the time, sector 5a may correspond to

  box 6a of the calendar or that 6b for example.

  The functioning of the device will be better understood by

the example below.

  A treatment is applied to a subject on Thursday January 8

  for three days and the waiting period is five days.

  In the example shown, each period of each cycle is identified by the colors "dark gray", "light gray" and

"hatched gray".

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  The calendar box corresponding to the above date is for example a "dark gray" box, the user will therefore position, on disk 2, on sector 5b corresponding to "dark gray Thursday". He will then position the mark "1" of disc 3 opposite this sector disc 2 then it will count three days and position the mark "1" of disc 4 opposite the next sector, that is to say opposite mark "4" of disc 3. Counting five days on disc 4 he will note that the subject will be released on a "light gray Friday" (sector 5c) which corresponds on calendar 6 to "Friday 16 January" (box 6c). It suffices, then to materialize, by an appropriate means , this date on the calendar. For this purpose, each calendar box can include a means allowing this last operation to be carried out such as for example a hole for the insertion of a card, or a space printed with magnetic ink for the installation of a magnetic pad etc. Similar tracking means can be applied to the

outer disc 2.

  It should be noted that, from a reverse manipulation, it is possible from a deadline, fixed in advance, to determine the date of implementation of a treatment protocol. In certain cases, the exclusion period is calculated, not in days, but according to repetitive operations carried out on the subject. Thus, to fix ideas, in the field of dairy cows, the milk exclusion period is calculated in number of milkings. In this case, the device that

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  has just been described above is not completely appropriate and it is necessary to modify the inscriptions carried so much

on the index than on the calendar.

  The variant shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 is applicable,

  in particular, to dairy cows milked twice a day.

  In this case, each sector of the disc 2 is divided into two equal sectors 7 corresponding to "morning" and "evening". Each sector of the disc 3 has two parts 8 and 9, the part 8 of each sector being divided into two equal sectors 10. In this way, the duration of the treatment can be counted in days or in twelve hour periods. The disc

  4 is divided into as many sectors as there is in disk 2.

  Each daily space in the calendar is divided into two parts corresponding to "morning" and "evening". The operation of this embodiment is analogous to that

  which has been described with reference to FIG. 5.

  Disc 2 covers K days divided into N parts and therefore includes K.N equal sectors, ie forty two sectors in the example shown in FIG. 3. The parameters K and N can be modified. Thus K can be equal to 28 if the cycle extends over four weeks and the parameter N can be equal to 3

  if we adopt a morning-noon-evening partition.

  There is no need to expand on the physical production of the components of the device of the invention which is a problem within the reach of ordinary skill in the art. It should be pointed out,

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  however, that disc 2 can be printed on the same support as that on which the calendar appears and, in this case,

  the index will only have two mobile disks, those 3 and 4.

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Claims (4)

  1- Device for determining the waiting time, characterized in that it consists of an index (1) comprising three discs (2, 3 and 4), concentric and movable, divided into equal sectors (5) and identified, each sector corresponding to a unit of time, the external disc (2) comprising indications relating to the date while the sectors of each   of the other two discs are numbered from "1" to "P".   2-Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the index (1) is associated with a special calendar (6), divided, for example using different colors, in equal periods, according to repetitive cycles and in that the outer disk (2) of the index is divided into periods of equal duration, preferably comprises only one cycle and in that   each sector of said disc is identified by the indication of the day.   3-Device according to claim 2, characterized in that each sector of the outer disc (2) is divided into "K" sectors (7) equal, in that each day of the calendar has "N" boxes 10 and in that the disc (4), at least, is divided in K.N equal sectors.   4-Device according to any one of claims 2 and   3, characterized in that the outer disc (2) and the   special calendar are printed on the same support.