Apparatus for controlling access to a plurality of drawers
First Claim
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1. An apparatus for holding and obtaining an item, comprising:
- a housing;
a plurality of drawer trays contained in said housing wherein each of said plurality of trays contains one or more drawers, each of said one or more drawers comprising;
a plurality of compartments that are capable of storing the item;
a striker plate;
a solenoid-controlled latch wherein said latch engages said striker plate to lock said drawer in place when said latch is not energized;
a raster strip; and
three photodetectors located in proximity to each other and located in proximity to said raster strip wherein said three photodetectors illuminate light towards said raster strip; and
a controller communicatively coupled to each said latch for said one or more drawers wherein said controller is adapted to energize said latch to disengage each said latch from said striker plate to unlock said one or more drawers;
said controller adapted to receive a transaction request for the item in said housing and wherein said controller de-energizes said latch to lock said one of said one or more drawers when all of said three photodetectors are occluded.
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Abstract
An apparatus for controlling access to a plurality of drawers, in one embodiment being tool dispensing apparatus (10) comprising a housing (12), a plurality of drawers (26) within the housing (12), each drawer for storing one or more tools, and a control system (14-22, 34-50) for controlling access to the drawers (26). Preferably, the apparatus (10) comprises a plurality of drawer trays (28) located in the housing (12) and on each of which one or more drawers (26) is located. The drawers are preferably divided into compartments and a control mechanism for providing access to appropriate compartments is disclosed in detail.
93 Citations
15 Claims
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1. An apparatus for holding and obtaining an item, comprising:
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a housing;
a plurality of drawer trays contained in said housing wherein each of said plurality of trays contains one or more drawers, each of said one or more drawers comprising;
a plurality of compartments that are capable of storing the item;
a striker plate;
a solenoid-controlled latch wherein said latch engages said striker plate to lock said drawer in place when said latch is not energized;
a raster strip; and
three photodetectors located in proximity to each other and located in proximity to said raster strip wherein said three photodetectors illuminate light towards said raster strip; and
a controller communicatively coupled to each said latch for said one or more drawers wherein said controller is adapted to energize said latch to disengage each said latch from said striker plate to unlock said one or more drawers;
said controller adapted to receive a transaction request for the item in said housing and wherein said controller de-energizes said latch to lock said one of said one or more drawers when all of said three photodetectors are occluded. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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Specification