Beneficial product dispenser
First Claim
1. A dispensing station, comprising:
- a loading compartment housed within the dispensing station and comprising a plurality of loading bins fixedly secured within an interior of the dispensing station, each loading bin configured to hold a dispensable unit;
an inventory compartment housed within the dispensing station, the inventory compartment comprising a plurality of inventory bins, each inventory bin configured to hold a dispensable unit;
a loading access port having an open configuration and a closed configuration, the open configuration to provide access to the plurality of loading bins from an exterior of the dispensing station through the loading access port while the loading bins remain fixedly secured within the interior of the dispensing station and access to the inventory bins within the inventory compartment is blocked, and the closed configuration to block access to the plurality of loading bins and the inventory bins within the inventory compartment; and
a manipulation unit configured to transfer dispensable units from the loading bins within the interior of the dispensing station to inventory bins within the inventory compartment, wherein transferring a dispensable unit comprises removing the dispensable unit from one of the loading bins, moving the dispensable unit into the inventory compartment, and placing the dispensable unit into one of the inventory bins.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A dispensing station comprises beneficial products for patients of a health care provider. An inventory database tracks inventory available in the dispensing station. A patient is associated with a prescription record, which specifies a prescribed beneficial product. The patient may provide patient identifying information to the dispensing station, such as credentialed payment information, which may be used to identify a prescription record, authenticate the patient, transfer a payment, and/or dispense the prescribed beneficial product to the patient. The prescription record may be valid for a limited time period, may be restricted to fulfillment within a particular location, and/or may be restricted to one or more specified dispensing stations. The dispensing station may validate the beneficial products before dispensing the products to the patient.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A dispensing station, comprising:
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a loading compartment housed within the dispensing station and comprising a plurality of loading bins fixedly secured within an interior of the dispensing station, each loading bin configured to hold a dispensable unit; an inventory compartment housed within the dispensing station, the inventory compartment comprising a plurality of inventory bins, each inventory bin configured to hold a dispensable unit; a loading access port having an open configuration and a closed configuration, the open configuration to provide access to the plurality of loading bins from an exterior of the dispensing station through the loading access port while the loading bins remain fixedly secured within the interior of the dispensing station and access to the inventory bins within the inventory compartment is blocked, and the closed configuration to block access to the plurality of loading bins and the inventory bins within the inventory compartment; and a manipulation unit configured to transfer dispensable units from the loading bins within the interior of the dispensing station to inventory bins within the inventory compartment, wherein transferring a dispensable unit comprises removing the dispensable unit from one of the loading bins, moving the dispensable unit into the inventory compartment, and placing the dispensable unit into one of the inventory bins. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A dispensing system, comprising:
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an enclosure comprising, a loading compartment within an interior region of the enclosure, the loading compartment comprising a plurality of loading bins fixedly secured within the interior region of the enclosure, each loading bin configured to hold one or more dispensable units, and an inventory compartment comprising a plurality of inventory bins within the interior region of the enclosure, each inventory bin configured to hold one or more dispensable units; a loading access port, wherein the loading access port is configured to; provide access to the plurality of loading bins fixedly secured within the interior region of the enclosure from an exterior of the enclosure while blocking access to the inventory bins within the inventory compartment when open, and block access to the interior region of the enclosure from the exterior of the enclosure when closed; a manipulation unit configured to transfer a dispensable unit from a loading bin fixedly secured within the interior region of the enclosure to a particular inventory bin within the inventory compartment in response to determining that the loading port is closed by; removing the dispensable unit from the loading bin, moving the dispensable unit to the inventory compartment, and depositing the dispensable unit within the particular inventory bin; and a controller configured to update an inventory database to associate the dispensable unit with a location of the particular inventory bin within the inventory compartment in response to transferring the dispensable unit to the particular inventory bin. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. An enclosure that defines an interior region of a dispensing station, the dispensing station comprising:
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an inventory compartment fixedly enclosed within the interior region of the dispensing station and comprising a plurality of inventory containers; a loading compartment fixedly enclosed within the interior region of the dispensing station and comprising a plurality of loading containers; a loading access door; a loading configuration configured to allow access to the loading compartment through the loading access door from outside the interior region of the dispensing station and to block access to the inventory compartment through the loading access door from outside the interior region of the dispensing station; a locked configuration configured to prevent access to the loading compartment from outside the interior region of the dispensing station through the loading access door; and a manipulation unit configured to transfer dispensable units held within loading containers of the loading compartment to inventory containers within the inventory compartment, wherein transferring a particular dispensable unit held within a particular loading container comprises removing the particular dispensable unit from the particular loading container, moving the particular dispensable unit from the loading compartment to the inventory compartment, and depositing the particular dispensable unit into an inventory container within the inventory compartment.
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Specification