Scrub dispensing cabinet
First Claim
1. Dispensing cabinet for dispensing articles, comprising a cabinet housing having a dispense port through which one of said articles can be dispensed to a customer;
- wherein said dispense port comprises a door in a front of the cabinet that opens to permit the customer to remove the article;
first and second reels disposed within said housing;
a web belt wound onto said first and second reels, said belt including a plurality of compartments carried thereon at intervals over its length, wherein the compartments are adapted to be loaded with said articles;
means within said cabinet defining a path for said belt between said reels such that the compartments on said belt align with said dispense port as the belt unwinds from one of the reels and winds onto the other of the reels;
drive means for turning said reels to move said belt past said dispense port; and
control means coupled to said drive means for controlling the turning of said reels to select one of the compartments of said belt and move the belt to align such selected compartment with said dispense port.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A scrubs dispenser cabinet dispenses garment tops and bottoms to customers in a plurality of sizes. A cabinet housing has a dispense port at a convenient location on the front. A pair of reels within the housing have a first web belt wound onto them and the belt has pockets or compartments along its length. These compartments are adapted to be loaded with scrub tops. The belt passes over idlers along a path so that the compartments on the first belt align with the dispense port as the belt unwinds from one reel and winds onto the other. Another pair of reels has a second web belt, the second belt similarly having compartments, here adapted to be loaded with said scrub bottoms. The second belt also moves on a path that aligns the compartments with said dispense port as the belt unwinds from one of the reels and winds onto the other. When a customer selects scrubs of a preferred size, the reels turn to move the belt to the nearest scrubs compartment of the selected size, which will not result in overloading either of the associated reels. The dispenser cabinet can be loaded according to the expected usage patterns to minimize the waiting or process time when a given scrub size is selected. The scrub tops and bottoms can be dispensed independently.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. Dispensing cabinet for dispensing articles, comprising a cabinet housing having a dispense port through which one of said articles can be dispensed to a customer;
- wherein said dispense port comprises a door in a front of the cabinet that opens to permit the customer to remove the article;
first and second reels disposed within said housing;
a web belt wound onto said first and second reels, said belt including a plurality of compartments carried thereon at intervals over its length, wherein the compartments are adapted to be loaded with said articles;
means within said cabinet defining a path for said belt between said reels such that the compartments on said belt align with said dispense port as the belt unwinds from one of the reels and winds onto the other of the reels;
drive means for turning said reels to move said belt past said dispense port; and
control means coupled to said drive means for controlling the turning of said reels to select one of the compartments of said belt and move the belt to align such selected compartment with said dispense port. - View Dependent Claims (2)
- wherein said dispense port comprises a door in a front of the cabinet that opens to permit the customer to remove the article;
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3. Dispensing cabinet for dispensing articles, comprising a cabinet housing having a dispense port through which one of said articles can be dispensed to a customer;
- first and second reels disposed within said housing;
a web belt wound onto said first and second reels, said belt including a plurality of compartments carried thereon at intervals over its length, wherein the compartments are adapted to be loaded with said articles;
means within said cabinet defining a path for said belt between said reels such that the compartments on said belt align with said dispense port as the belt unwinds from one of the reels and winds onto the other of the reels;
drive means for turning said reels to move said belt past said dispense port; and
control means coupled to said drive means for controlling the turning of said reels to select one of the compartments of said belt and move the belt to align such selected compartment with said dispense port;
wherein when said compartments on said belt have been loaded with said articles, a first end portion of said belt is wound onto said first reel, a second end portion of said belt is wound onto said second reel, and a middle portion thereof extends between the reels, and said control means is operative at commencement of dispensing to select initially a compartment at said middle portion of said belt.
- first and second reels disposed within said housing;
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4. Dispensing cabinet for dispensing articles, comprising a cabinet housing having a dispense port through which one of said articles can be dispensed to a customer;
- first and second reels disposed within said housing;
a web belt wound onto said first and second reels, said belt including a plurality of compartments carried thereon at intervals over its length, wherein the compartments are adapted to be loaded with said articles;
means within said cabinet defining a path for said belt between said reels such that the compartments on said belt align with said dispense port as the belt unwinds from one of the reels and winds onto the other of the reels;
drive means for turning said reels to move said belt past said dispense port; and
control means coupled to said drive means for controlling the turning of said reels to select one of the compartments of said belt and move the belt to align such selected compartment with said dispense port;
wherein said compartments are adapted to hold soft, pliant articles such that the articles can be compressed as the web belt is wound upon one of said reels.
- first and second reels disposed within said housing;
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5. Dispensing cabinet for dispensing articles, comprising a cabinet housing having a dispense port through which one of said articles can be dispensed to a customer;
- first and second reels disposed within said housing;
a web belt wound onto said first and second reels, said belt including a plurality of compartments carried thereon at intervals over its length, wherein the compartments are adapted to be loaded with said articles;
means within said cabinet defining a path for said belt between said reels such that the compartments on said belt align with said dispense port as the belt unwinds from one of the reels and winds onto the other of the reels;
drive means for turning said reels to move said belt past said dispense port; and
control means coupled to said drive means for controlling the turning of said reels to select one of the compartments of said belt and move the belt to align such selected compartment with said dispense port; and
wherein said belt carries position-identifying coded indicia thereon to identify the location sequence position for each of said compartments on said belt, and further comprising detecting means sensitive to said coded indicia for identifying the location sequence of the compartment located at said dispensing port.
- first and second reels disposed within said housing;
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6. Garment dispenser for dispensing garment tops and bottoms each in a plurality of sizes, comprising a cabinet housing having a dispense port through which the garment tops and bottoms in respective desired sizes can be dispensed to a customer;
- a first reel and a second reel disposed within said cabinet housing, a first web belt wound onto said first and second reels, said first belt including a plurality of compartments carried thereon at intervals over its length and wherein the compartments are adapted to be loaded with said garment tops;
first means within the cabinet housing defining a path for said first belt within said cabinet housing between said first and second reels so that the compartments on said first belt align with said dispense port as the belt unwinds from one of the first and second reels and winds onto the other of the reels;
a third reel and a fourth reel disposed within said cabinet housing;
a second web belt wound onto said third and fourth reels, said second belt including a plurality of compartments carried at intervals over its length and wherein the compartments are adapted to be loaded with said garment bottoms;
second means within the cabinet housing defining a path for said second belt within said cabinet housing between said third and fourth reels so that the compartments on said second belt align with said dispense port as the belt unwinds from one of the third and fourth reels and winds onto the other reel;
drive means for turning said reels to move said belts past said dispense port; and
control means coupled to said drive means for controlling the turning of said reels to select one of the compartments of one or both of said belts and to move one or both belts to align such selected compartment with said dispense port. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
- a first reel and a second reel disposed within said cabinet housing, a first web belt wound onto said first and second reels, said first belt including a plurality of compartments carried thereon at intervals over its length and wherein the compartments are adapted to be loaded with said garment tops;
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13. A method of loading hospital scrubs into a scrub dispenser and dispensing the scrubs from the dispenser to customers, in which scrubs of three or more sizes are each carried in a respective compartment on a web belt that has a first end portion wound upon a first reel, a second end portion wound upon a second reel, and a middle portion that extends between said reels and passes a dispense port through which a hospital scrub of a desired size can be removed by a customer;
- and in which control and drive means are operative to turn the first and second reels controllably to move the belt past said dispense port and halt the belt when a compartment containing a hospital scrub of the desired size is aligned with said dispense port;
the method comprising loading the scrubs according to a size distribution scheme into the compartments along the belt; and
each time a customer selects a scrub of a given size, moving said belt so that a nearby compartment containing such size scrub is aligned with said port. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
- and in which control and drive means are operative to turn the first and second reels controllably to move the belt past said dispense port and halt the belt when a compartment containing a hospital scrub of the desired size is aligned with said dispense port;
Specification