PORTABLE MEDICATION DISPENSING UNIT

• US 20040148055A1
• Filed: 01/24/2003
• Published: 07/29/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 01/24/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: S&S X-Ray Products Inc.
• Original Assignee: S&S X-Ray Products Inc.
• Inventors: Shoenfeld, Norman A.
• Granted Patent: US 6,775,591 B1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/237
• CPC Class Codes: A61G 12/001 Trolleys for transport of medicaments, food, linen, nursing supplies carts specially adapted for surgery or diagnosis A61B50/13; hand carts B62B3/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61G 2205/10 Bar codes
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 11/62 in which the articles are stored in compartments in fixed receptacles
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/0092 for assembling and dispensing of pharmaceutical articles medical dispensers for private use, A61J7/00

Abstract

A medication dispensing cart has a pull-out drawer, and a conveyor that transports a number of removable medication bins within the cart, one at a time, to the position of the drawer. An on-board processor controls operation of the bin conveyor mechanism whose pathway can be a serpentine (folded) loop. The drawer slide engages the bin located at the drawer position, and the bin can be pulled forward from said conveyor and pushed back onto the conveyor. The bins can be lifted out when the drawer is opened. A 2-D bar code symbol or other machine-readable code, positioned on the bin, contains data identifying the contents of the bin and the associated patient. A reader device reads the coded symbol and transfers data for that bin to an on-board processor. The processor keeps track of the bins on the conveyor, as well as their contents. Pusher arms on the drawer assist in pushing the bin out when the drawer is opened and in returning the bin onto its carrier when the drawer is closed. The arms are rocked out of contact with the associated bin when the drawer is in a fully closed position. The processor provides a record for accountability of access to the bins. An alternative arrangement can be seven feet in height with the drawer access at waist level, and with a pull-out work shelf.

Claims

3-1. The automated medication dispensing cart according to claim 1, wherein said bins are configured to be removable from said drawer when in said drawer position.

12. An automated medication dispensing cart, comprising an enclosure having a front wall having a base end and a top end;

said front wall having an opening at a drawer position thereon;

an on-board processor including user access means permitting a user to enter information for access to medication contained within the dispensing cart;

a plurality of elongated medication bins;

internal conveyor means within said enclosure supporting said plurality of bins and moving said bins under control of said processor along a predetermined pathway inside said enclosure, the pathway including a position aligned with said drawer position;

a drawer located at said drawer position including a slide member engaging a respective one of said bins when located at said drawer position and permitting said bin to be pulled out from said conveyor means and to be pushed in to return the bin to the conveyor means; and

said internal conveyor means including a plurality of bin carriers that move along said pathway, and having structure slidably mating with corresponding structure on said bins for supporting the bins as they travel along said pathway but permitting the bins to slide out from the respective bin carriers when at said drawer position.

13. The automated medication dispensing cart according to claim 12, wherein said drawer position is about three feet above said base end.

14. The automated medication dispensing cart according to claim 12, wherein said top end is about seven feet above said base end.

15. The automated medication dispensing cart according to claim 12 further comprising a pull-out shelf adjacent said drawer position.

16. The automated medication dispensing cart according to claim 12, wherein said pathway is a closed serpentine loop that extends above and below said drawer position.

17. The automated medication dispensing cart according to claim 16, wherein said conveyor means includes a drive web traveling in said serpentine loop and onto which said carriers are affixed, and a motor drive for driving said drive web.