Apparatus, system and methods for dispensing products
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A dispensing apparatus, comprising:
- a housing;
a chain of bins in the housing;
a dispensing station on the housing;
a loading station on the housing;
an entry device for generating dispense requests;
means near the loading station for reading transaction information from marks on products when the products are in the bins;
bin array data structure means for storing the transaction information obtained by the reading means in association with the locations of the bins that contain the products;
a controller means coupled to the entry device, to the reading means, and to the bin array data structure means for;
placing transaction information read by the reading means into the bin array data structure means in association with the locations of the bins in which the products are loaded; and
,producing control information in response to a dispense request and the transaction information stored by the bin array data structure means, the control information indicating a bin containing a product;
a mechanism in the housing coupled to the chain for moving the chain to place a the 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.
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
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.
111 Citations
43 Claims
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1. A dispensing apparatus, comprising:
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a housing; a chain of bins in the housing; a dispensing station on the housing; a loading station on the housing; an entry device for generating dispense requests; means near the loading station for reading transaction information from marks on products when the products are in the bins; bin array data structure means for storing the transaction information obtained by the reading means in association with the locations of the bins that contain the products; a controller means coupled to the entry device, to the reading means, and to the bin array data structure means for; placing transaction information read by the reading means into the bin array data structure means in association with the locations of the bins in which the products are loaded; and
,producing control information in response to a dispense request and the transaction information stored by the bin array data structure means, the control information indicating a bin containing a product; a mechanism in the housing coupled to the chain for moving the chain to place a the 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. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A dispensing apparatus, comprising:
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a housing; a chain of bins in the housing; a loading station on the housing for loading the bins with products; a dispensing location on the housing; an entry device for generating a dispense request including information identifying a recipient; means in the housing adjacent the loading station for reading transaction information on products after the products are in the bins; a controller means coupled to the entry device and to the reading means for producing control information in response to information identifying a recipient and the transaction information; a mechanism coupled to the chain for moving the chain to place a bin at the 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. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. An apparatus for securely dispensing products, comprising:
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a housing; an endless chain of bins in the housing; a loading station on the housing for loading the bins with packages labeled with transaction information; a dispensing station on the housing; a device for providing a dispense request including information identifying a recipient; an information reading mechanism adjacent the loading station for reading transaction information from products when the products are in the bins; a bin array data structure storing the transaction information of products in bins in association with the locations of the bins in the chain of bins; a controller coupled to the device, the reading mechanism, and the bin array data structure for; placing transaction information read by the reading mechanism into the bin array data structure means in association with the locations of the bins in which the products are loaded; and
,producing control information in response to the identification information and to the transaction information stored by the bin array data structure, the control information indicating a bin containing a product; 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. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A method for dispensing products, comprising:
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reading transaction information from products when the products have been loaded to a chain; storing the transaction information in a data structure in which the transaction information is associated with the locations in the chain where products are loaded; receiving a dispense request for a product in the chain; synthesizing control information in response to the transaction information in the data structure and the dispense request; the control information identifying a location of at least one product in the chain for the recipient; and moving the chain in response to the control information so that the location is placed at a locked dispensing location. - View Dependent Claims (28)
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29. A method for securely dispensing products from an endless chain of bins, comprising:
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reading transaction information on products when the products have been loaded to the bins; storing the transaction information in a data structure in which the transaction information is associated with the locations in the chain where products are loaded; receiving information identifying a recipient; synthesizing control information from the transaction information in the data structure and the identifying information; the control information identifying the location of 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.
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30. A storage medium containing instructions for:
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receiving transaction information read from packages when the packages have been loaded to an endless chain; storing the transaction information in a data structure in which the transaction information is associated with the locations in the endless chain where products are loaded; receiving information identifying a recipient of at least one package; synthesizing control information from the transaction information in the data structure and the identifying information; the control information identifying a bin location in the endless chain of at least one package for the recipient; and causing rotation of the endless chain in response to the control information so that the bin location is placed at a locked dispensing location. - View Dependent Claims (31)
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32. A program product including a storage medium containing a program of software instructions for securely dispensing pharmaceutical products from an endless chain of bins, the program including instructions for:
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receiving transaction information read from labels of packages containing pharmaceutical products after the packages have been loaded to the bins; storing the transaction information in a data structure in which the transaction information is associated with the locations of bins where products are loaded; receiving a dispense request including information identifying a recipient; synthesizing control information from the transaction information in the data structure 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.
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33. A dispensing apparatus, comprising:
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a housing; a chain of bins in the housing; a dispensing station on the housing; a loading station on the housing; an entry device for generating dispense requests; a first reading means near the loading station, with a line of sight into the chain of bins for reading transaction information from products after the products are loaded in the bins; a second reading means near the dispensing station, with a line of sight into the chain of bins for reading transaction information from products in bins at the dispensing station; a bin array data structure for storing the transaction information obtained by the first reading means in association with the locations of the bins in the chain of bins; controller means coupled to the entry device, to the first and second reading means, and to the bin array data structure for; placing transaction information read by the first reading means into the bin array data structure in association with the locations of the bins in which the products are loaded; producing control information in response to a dispense request and transaction information stored by the bin array data structure, the control information identifying a bin location in the chain of bins; means in the housing for moving the chain to place the identified bin location at the dispensing station in response to the control information; one or more locked doors at the dispensing station; and
,means for unlocking a door at the dispensing station to provide access to the identified bin location in response to transaction information read by the second reading means from a product in the bin at the bin location. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43)
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Specification