Mobile medication storage and dispensing apparatus

• US 7,747,347 B2
• Filed: 09/26/2006
• Issued: 06/29/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 10/03/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Translogic Corporation (Midea Group Co., Ltd)
• Original Assignee: Sabal Medical, Inc. (Midea Group Co., Ltd)
• Inventors: Park, William C. IV
• Primary Examiner(s): Crawford; Gene
• Assistant Examiner(s): COLLINS, MICHAEL
• Application Number:
  US11/535,348
• Publication Number:
  US 20070078562A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,372 Days
• Field of Search: 221 1-312 C, 700231-244
• US Class Current: 700/243
• CPC Class Codes: A61G 12/001 Trolleys for transport of medicaments, food, linen, nursing supplies carts specially adapted for surgery or diagnosis A61B50/13; hand carts B62B3/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61G 2205/10 Bar codes
• CPC Class Codes: A61J 7/0069 Trays for holding or distributing medicines display trays A47F3/14; serving trays A47G23/06
• CPC Class Codes: A61J 7/0084 for multiple medicaments
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 11/54 about vertical axes
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 11/62 in which the articles are stored in compartments in fixed receptacles
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/0092 for assembling and dispensing of pharmaceutical articles medical dispensers for private use, A61J7/00

Abstract

The medication apparatus includes a mobile housing assembly and a plurality of tray members supported therein for rotation on a central mounting assembly. A lockable access door is present in the housing assembly for controlled access to the trays. A tray locking assembly locks and unlocks the trays individually in a plurality of angular positions so that each of the compartments on a particular tray member can be presented before the door. A drive assembly selectively engages and rotates each tray individually when the tray is unlocked. A control system, including a stored program, identifies a compartment associated with a particular patient or associated with particular medications, unlocks the tray associated with the desired compartment, and rotates the tray to present the compartment before the access door, which is then unlocked and openable.

Claims

1. A mobile medication apparatus, comprising:

a mobile housing assembly;

a plurality of tray members, supported in a vertical stack within the housing assembly, wherein the housing assembly substantially surrounds and is substantially separate from the tray members, all tray members mounted to be rotatable individually, separately from each other, about a single central support assembly which extends through all the tray members;

a single lockable door in the housing assembly for revealing when opened a portion of all of the tray members at once;

a locking assembly for locking and unlocking the tray members individually;

a plurality of compartment members, individually openable, positionable on the individual tray members and rotatable therewith;

a central drive assembly, including a motor, for engaging and rotating each tray member individually; and

a control system, including a stored program, for providing authorized use of the medication apparatus, for identifying and accessing a selected compartment member, located on a particular tray member, into and from which medications are stored and retrieved, for unlocking the particular tray member containing the selected compartment member, for energizing the drive assembly for the particular tray member to move the tray member to a position in which the selected compartment member is presented to the door, for locking the tray member in said position and for subsequently unlocking the door, thereby making the selected compartment member available to a user, wherein the tray members and/or the compartment members thereon are arranged and configured such that the selected compartment member is the only compartment member available to the user that has medications therein when the door is opened, wherein the tray members other than the particular tray member are in a home position, without any compartments thereon containing medications being available.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the locking assembly includes a plurality of tray locking solenoid members, each tray locking solenoid member mounted and operable to lock an associated tray member at a plurality of angular positions.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the central drive assembly includes a tower member and a plurality of tray drive solenoids mounted on the tower member for engagement, respectively, with each tray member, and wherein the control assembly includes means for energizing the tray drive solenoid associated with the tray member containing the selected compartment member.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, including means for entering identifying information for a patient, wherein the stored program identifies the compartment members having medications selected for said patient.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the housing assembly is supported by wheels so that it is moveable.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the compartment members each have a lid with an interference fit with the remainder of the compartment member, and wherein the compartment members have an interference fit with the tray member on which they are positioned.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the control drive system includes a stepper motor and encoder, or a servo drive system, for rotating the tray member through a selected number of angular movements of known magnitude.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each of the tray members has an open sector which is presented to the door when the tray member is in its home position, such that there is no access to the compartment members on any of the tray members other than the selected compartment member on the particular tray member.

9. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein each tray locking solenoid member is engaged with its associated tray member except when the tray member is to be rotated, and each tray drive solenoid is disengaged from its associated tray member unless the tray member is to be rotated during operation of the drive system.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is powered by a battery, which is positioned at the bottom of the housing assembly, providing a stable ballast for the apparatus.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus includes two different kinds of compartment members, one compartment member being arranged and configured for patient-specific or drug-specific medications, the other compartment member being significantly larger, to house larger items.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the one compartment member is subdividable.

13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the compartment members are not lockable.