Apparatus, system and methods for dispensing products

• US 20050236418A1
• Filed: 04/22/2004
• Published: 10/27/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 04/22/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Parata Systems, LLC (Becton, Dickinson & Co)
• Original Assignee: Parata Systems, LLC (Becton, Dickinson & Co)
• Inventors: Gaasch, Thomas F., Holmes, William K., Baker, Stuart C., Finn, Daniel C.
• Granted Patent: US 7,228,200 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 221/119
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/18 involving self-service terminals [SST], vending machines, kiosks or multimedia terminals
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 11/26 Endless bands
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 11/58 the articles being supported on or by endless belts or like conveyors
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/0092 for assembling and dispensing of pharmaceutical articles medical dispensers for private use, A61J7/00

Abstract

Products are dispensed from a dispensing apparatus in which products marked with transaction information are received in a chain of bins. In response to control information synthesized from transaction information on the products in the bins and a dispense request, the chain is moved to place a bin at a dispensing station on the dispensing apparatus. At the dispensing station, a mechanism is operated in response to the control information to provide access to the bin. A product in the bin may then be retrieved.

Claims

1. A dispensing apparatus, comprising:

a housing;

a chain of bins in the housing;

a dispensing station on the housing;

an entry device for generating a dispense request;

a controller for producing control information in response to a dispense request and transaction information on products in the bins;

a mechanism in the housing coupled to the chain for moving the chain to place a bin at the dispensing station in response to the control information; and

,

a door mechanism at the dispensing station for providing access to the bin in response to the control information.

2. The dispensing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the chain is an endless chain having a longitudinal direction of rotation and including a series of bin arrays, each bin array including one or more bins disposed transversely to the direction of rotation.

3. The dispensing apparatus of claim 2, each bin in a bin array including an elongated box having an open front portion.

4. The dispensing apparatus of claim 3, further including a package for containing products to be dispensed, the package including a mark with transaction information and retainer for acting to retain the mark with in a predetermined position in the box where the transaction information can be sensed.

5. The dispensing apparatus of claim 1, further including an information sensor near the dispensing station for sensing transaction information from products in bins at the dispensing location.

6. The dispensing apparatus of claim 5, the information sensor coupled to provide transaction information from products in bins at the dispensing station to the controller.

7. The dispensing apparatus of claim 6, wherein the chain is an endless chain having a longitudinal direction of rotation and including a series of bin arrays, each bin array including one or more bins disposed transversely to the direction of rotation.

8. The dispensing apparatus of claim 7, each bin in a bin array including an elongated box having an open front portion and a retainer acting against a side of the box.

9. The dispensing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the mechanism for moving the chain is a rotation mechanism.

10. A dispensing apparatus, comprising:

a housing;

a chain of bins in the housing;

a loading station on the housing for loading the bins with products marked with transaction information;

an entry device for receiving a dispense request including information identifying a recipient;

a controller for producing control information in response to information identifying a recipient and transaction information on products in the bins;

a mechanism coupled to the chain for moving the chain to place a bin at a dispensing location in response to the control information; and

,

a door mechanism at the dispensing location having a first state blocking access to all bins at the dispensing location and a second state for providing access to the bin at the dispensing location in response to the control information.

11. The dispensing apparatus of claim 10, wherein the chain is an endless chain having a longitudinal direction of rotation and including a series of bin arrays, each bin array including one or more bins disposed transversely to the direction of rotation.

12. The dispensing apparatus of claim 11, each bin in a bin array including an elongated box having an open front portion.

13. The dispensing apparatus of claim 12, further including a package for containing products to be dispensed, the package including a mark with transaction information and retainer for acting to retain the mark with in a predetermined position in the box where the transaction information can be sensed.

14. The dispensing apparatus of claim 10, further including an information sensor near the dispensing station for sensing transaction information from products in bins at the dispensing location.

15. The dispensing apparatus of claim 14, the information sensor coupled to provide transaction information from products in bins at the dispensing station to the controller.

16. The dispensing apparatus of claim 15, wherein the mechanism coupled to the chain is a rotation mechanism and the chain is an endless chain having a longitudinal direction of rotation and including a series of bin arrays, each bin array including one or more bins disposed transversely to the direction of rotation.

17. The dispensing apparatus of claim 16, each bin in a bin array including an elongated box having an open front portion and a retainer acting against a side of the box.

18. The dispensing apparatus of claim 17, wherein the mechanism coupled to the chain is a rotation mechanism.

19. An apparatus for securely dispensing products, comprising:

a housing;

an endless chain of bins in the housing;

a loading station on the housing for loading the bins with packages labeled with packaging information;

a dispensing station on the housing;

a device for providing a dispense request including information identifying a recipient;

an information sensor mechanism for sensing transaction information from products in the bins a controller coupled to the device and the sensor mechanism for producing control information in response to the identification information and to the transaction information;

a rotation mechanism coupled to rotate the endless chain to place a bin at the dispensing station in response to the control information; and

a door mechanism at the dispensing station for providing access to the bin in response to the control information.

20. The dispensing apparatus of claim 19, wherein the endless chain has a longitudinal direction of rotation and includes a series of bin arrays, each bin array including one or more bins disposed transversely to the direction of rotation.

21. The dispensing apparatus of claim 20, each bin in a bin array including an elongated box having an open front portion.

22. The dispensing apparatus of claim 21, further including a package for containing products to be dispensed, the package including a mark with transaction information and retainer for acting to retain the mark with in a predetermined position in the box where the transaction information can be sensed.

23. The dispensing apparatus of claim 19, further including an information sensor near the dispensing station for sensing transaction information from products in bins at the dispensing location.

24. The dispensing apparatus of claim 23, the information sensor coupled to provide transaction information from products in bins at the dispensing station to the controller.

25. The dispensing apparatus of claim 24, wherein the endless chain has a longitudinal direction of rotation and includes a series of bin arrays, each bin array including one or more bins disposed transversely to the direction of rotation.

26. The dispensing apparatus of claim 25, each bin in a bin array including an elongated box having an open front portion and a marking on the box to indicate when the box is empty.

27. The dispensing apparatus of claim 26, further including a package for containing products to be dispensed, the package including a mark with transaction information and retainer for acting to retain the mark with in a predetermined position in the box where the transaction information can be sensed.

28. The dispensing apparatus of claim 19, the information sensor mechanism for acting through the door 4 mechanism.

29. The dispensing apparatus of claim 28, the door mechanism including an array of doors and the information sensor mechanism including optical readers, each optical detector having a line of sight through an aperture at the dispensing station near a respective door in the array of doors.

30. A processor-executed method for dispensing products, comprising:

loading products labeled with packaging information to a chain;

receiving a dispense request for a labeled product;

synthesizing control information in response to the transaction information and the dispense;

the control information identifying at least one product for the recipient; and

moving the products in response to the control information so that the at least one product is placed at a locked dispensing location.

31. The method of claim 30, further including providing access to the dispensing location in response to the control information.

32. A processor-executed method for securely dispensing products from an endless chain of bins, comprising:

loading products labeled with transaction information to the bins;

displaying a list of recipients to receive at least one product in the bins;

receiving information identifying a recipient in the list;

synthesizing control information from the transaction information and the identifying information;

the control information identifying at least one bin containing a product for the recipient;

moving the endless chain in response to the control information so that the at least one bin is positioned at a locked dispensing location; and

providing access to the dispensing location in response to the control information.

33. A storage medium containing software instructions for:

receiving transaction information about packages loaded to an endless chain;

receiving information identifying a recipient of at least one package;

synthesizing control information from the transaction information and the identifying information;

the control information identifying at least one package for the recipient; and

causing rotation of the endless chain in response to the control information so that the at least one package is placed at a locked dispensing location.

34. The medium of claim 33, the software instructions further including instructions for providing access to the dispensing location in response to the control information.

35. A program product containing a program of software instructions for securely dispensing pharmaceutical products from an endless chain of bins, the program including instructions for:

receiving transaction information from labels of packages containing pharmaceutical products loaded to the bins;

displaying a list of recipients to receive at least one package;

receiving a dispense request including information identifying a recipient in the list;

synthesizing control information from the transaction information and the identifying information;

the control information identifying at least one bin containing a package for the recipient;

causing movement of the chain in response to the control information so that the at least one bin is positioned at a locked dispensing location; and

unlocking the dispensing location in response to the control information.

36. A dispensing apparatus, comprising:

a housing;

a chain of bins in the housing;

a dispensing station on the housing;

an entry device for generating a dispense request;

a controller for producing control information in response to a dispense request and transaction information on products in the bins; and

a mechanism in the housing coupled to the chain for moving the chain to place a bin at the dispensing station in response to the control information.

37. The apparatus of claim 36, further including a door mechanism at the dispensing station for providing access to the bin in response to the control information.

38. The dispensing apparatus of claim 36, wherein the chain is an endless chain having a longitudinal direction of rotation and including a series of bin arrays, each bin array including one or more bins disposed transversely to the direction of rotation.

39. The dispensing apparatus of claim 38, each bin in a bin array including an elongated box having an open front portion.

40. The dispensing apparatus of claim 39, further including a package for containing products to be dispensed, the package including a mark with transaction information and retainer for acting to retain the mark with in a predetermined position in the box where the transaction information can be sensed.

41. The dispensing apparatus of claim 36, further including an information sensor near the dispensing station for sensing transaction information from products in bins at the dispensing location.

42. The dispensing apparatus of claim 41, the information sensor coupled to provide transaction information from products in bins at the dispensing station to the controller.

43. The dispensing apparatus of claim 42, wherein the chain is an endless chain having a longitudinal direction and including a series of bin arrays, each bin array including one or more bins disposed transversely to the direction of rotation.

44. The dispensing apparatus of claim 43, each bin in a bin array including an elongated box having an open front portion and a retainer acting against a side of the box.

45. The dispensing apparatus of claim 36, wherein the mechanism for moving the chain is a rotation mechanism.