Medical cabinet communication system and methods
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A storage cabinet, comprising:
- at least one shelf that holds items and divides an interior of the cabinet;
a first communication channel through which the cabinet communicates with an inventory management system;
a second communication channel through which the cabinet communicates with a nearby cabinet, wherein the second communication channel is a short-range wireless network channel; and
a transceiver device that establishes and transmits a signal of the second communication channel.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Described is an RFID-enabled medical item storage, organization, and/or tracking device, such as a cabinet or shelf, that includes a limited-range wireless network communication capability, such as low-energy Bluetooth or Zigbee, to communicate with nearby cabinets, shelves or mobile devices, any of which may serve as a communication aggregator to coordinate the communication of multiple cabinets, shelves and other devices with an inventory management system or other back-end computer system or other device via back haul wireless or wired networks (e.g., the Internet).
-
Citations
20 Claims
-
1. A storage cabinet, comprising:
-
at least one shelf that holds items and divides an interior of the cabinet; a first communication channel through which the cabinet communicates with an inventory management system; a second communication channel through which the cabinet communicates with a nearby cabinet, wherein the second communication channel is a short-range wireless network channel; and a transceiver device that establishes and transmits a signal of the second communication channel. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
-
-
11. A method for a first storage cabinet to communicate with a nearby second storage cabinet in an absence of a wired or Wi-Fi network connection in the first cabinet, the method comprising:
-
transmitting a signal from a first storage cabinet to a second storage cabinet using a short-range wireless network channel; receiving the signal via a two-way radio on the second storage cabinet; pairing the second storage cabinet to the first storage cabinet; and communicating over a wired or Wi-Fi network, from the second storage cabinet, information associated with the first storage cabinet obtained from the signal. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
-
-
15. A storage system, comprising:
-
a first storage cabinet, including; at least one shelf that holds items and divides an interior of the first cabinet; a first communication channel through which the first cabinet communicates with an inventory management system; a second communication channel through which the first cabinet communicates with a transceiver of a second cabinet, wherein the second communication channel is a short-range wireless network channel; and a transceiver of the first cabinet that establishes and transmits a signal of the second communication channel; and the second storage cabinet, including; at least one shelf that holds items and divides an interior of the second cabinet; a first communication channel through which the second cabinet communicates with the inventory management system; the second communication channel through which the second cabinet communicates with the transceiver device of the first cabinet; and the transceiver device of the second cabinet that establishes and transmits a signal of the second communication channel, wherein the first and second cabinets are positioned within substantially 100 feet of each other.
-
-
16. A storage cabinet, comprising:
-
at least one shelf that holds items and divides an interior of the cabinet; a first communication channel through which the cabinet communications with an inventory management system; and a second communication channel through which the cabinet communicates with the inventory management system via a nearby transceiver, wherein the second communication channel is a short-range wireless network channel. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
-
Specification