Smart tray for dispensing medicaments
First Claim
1. A method of dispensing medicament units from a dispensing tray operationally coupled to a dispensing machine, comprising:
- receiving a request to dispense at least one medicament unit from the dispensing tray;
scanning the at least one medicament unit to receive characteristic data pertaining to at least one physical characteristic of the at least one medicament unit;
confirming the authenticity of the at least one medicament unit based on the received characteristic data; and
dispensing the at least one medicament unit.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The invention relates to a method and system that utilizes one or more cassettes or trays, which hold one or more types of medicaments, the cassettes or trays being configured for secure and intelligent dispensing of the medicaments. In one embodiment, a smart tray for dispensing medicaments includes: a housing; a chamber within the housing to store the medicament units; an outlet defined in the housing to dispense the medicament units; and a rotatable disk within the housing and defining at least one radial groove configured to hold at least one medicament unit, the rotatable disk being positioned between the storage chamber and the outlet whereby when the rotatable disk rotates, the at least one radial groove carries the at least one medicament unit from the chamber to the outlet. In a further embodiment, the smart tray includes a memory device within the housing to store information pertaining to the medicament units stored in the tray and/or information pertaining to the status or operation of the tray.
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Citations
64 Claims
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1. A method of dispensing medicament units from a dispensing tray operationally coupled to a dispensing machine, comprising:
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receiving a request to dispense at least one medicament unit from the dispensing tray;
scanning the at least one medicament unit to receive characteristic data pertaining to at least one physical characteristic of the at least one medicament unit;
confirming the authenticity of the at least one medicament unit based on the received characteristic data; and
dispensing the at least one medicament unit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A medicament dispensing tray, comprising:
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a housing for holding a plurality of medicament units;
an outlet defined in the housing for dispensing at least one of the plurality of medicament units; and
a scanner coupled to the housing for scanning at least one medicament unit and generating scanned physical characteristic data, wherein the scanned physical characteristic data is utilized to determine the authenticity of the at least one medicament unit. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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21. A medicament dispensing tray, comprising
a housing; -
a storage chamber within the housing containing a plurality of medicament units;
an outlet defined by the housing for dispensing at least one medicament unit; and
a scanner coupled to the housing for scanning the at least one medicament unit dispensed from the outlet. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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37. A medicaments dispensing tray, comprising:
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a housing containing a plurality of medicament units; and
an outlet defined by the housing to dispense the plurality of medicament units;
wherein the housing comprises a bottom casing and a top casing configured to fit together with the bottom casing thereby providing a hermetically sealed encasing for the plurality of medicament units, the walls of the bottom and top casing being between 0.005 and 0.100 inches in thickness and reinforced with a plurality of embossments. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39)
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40. A medicaments dispensing tray, comprising:
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a housing containing a plurality of medicament units; and
an outlet defined by the housing to dispense the plurality of medicament units; and
a compressible medium located within the housing for moving the plurality of medicament units contained in the housing so as to facilitate dispensing of at least one medicament unit. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42)
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43. An adjustable medicament dispensing tray, comprising:
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a housing;
a chamber within the housing for storing a plurality of medicament units;
an outlet defined by the housing for dispensing a medicament unit; and
an adjustable transportation medium disposed in the housing and including at least one adjustable holder configured to receive the medicament unit and transport the medicament unit from the chamber to the outlet, wherein the adjustable holder is adjusted in accordance with a physical dimension of the medicament unit. - View Dependent Claims (44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52)
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53. A method for dispensing of medicament units from a medicament container, comprising:
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transferring at least one medicament unit from a storage chamber of the medicament container to a rotatable disk housed in the medicament delivery tray, the rotatable disk having at least one radial groove for holding at least one medicament unit;
imparting a force on the rotatable disk thereby causing rotational motion of the rotatable disk, wherein when the rotatable disk assembly rotates, the radial groove carries the at least one medicament unit from the chamber to an outlet port; and
dispensing the at least one moved medicament unit from the outlet port. - View Dependent Claims (54, 55)
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56. A method of dispensing medicament units from a dispensing tray operationally coupled to a dispensing machine, comprising:
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receiving a request to dispense at least one medicament unit from the dispensing tray;
verifying the validity of the request by accessing information stored in a memory coupled to the dispensing tray; and
dispensing the at least one medicament unit if the request is validated. - View Dependent Claims (57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62)
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63. A medicaments dispensing tray for dispensing medicament units, comprising:
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means for storing one or more medicament units;
means for discharging the one or more medicament units from the medicaments dispensing tray;
moving means housed in the medicament dispensing tray for moving the one or more medicament units;
means for transferring at least one medicament unit from the means for storing to the moving means;
wherein the moving means comprises means for moving at least one medicament unit to the means for discharging such that the at least one medicament moved by the moving means is dispensed from the medicaments dispensing tray.
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64. A medicaments dispensing tray for dispensing medicament units, comprising:
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moving means housed in the medicament dispensing tray for moving one or more medicament units in the medicament dispensing tray;
outlet means for dispensing the one or more medicament units from the medicaments dispensing tray;
wherein the moving means comprises means for moving at least one medicament unit to the outlet means such that the at least one medicament moved by the moving means is dispensed from the medicaments dispensing tray.
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Specification