Apparatus, system and methods for dispensing products
First Claim
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1. A dispensing apparatus, comprising:
- a housing;
a two-dimensional array of bins in the housing;
a dispensing station on the housing;
a plurality of sensor means near the two-dimensional array of bins for sensing transaction information on products in the bins, the transaction information identifying a recipient of the product;
a controller means connected to the plurality of sensor means for maintaining a bin data structure relating transaction information sensed on products in the bins to locations of the bins in the two-dimensional array of bins;
an entry device for generating a dispense request;
the controller means further for producing control information indicative of a bin in the two-dimensional array in response to the dispense request and transaction information in the bin data structure;
a mechanism in the housing coupled to the two-dimensional array of bins for moving the bins to place 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.
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Abstract
Products are dispensed from a dispensing apparatus in which products marked with transaction information are received in a two-dimensional array of moveable bins. In response to control information synthesized from transaction information on the products in the bins and a dispense request, the array is operated 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.
74 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A dispensing apparatus, comprising:
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a housing; a two-dimensional array of bins in the housing; a dispensing station on the housing; a plurality of sensor means near the two-dimensional array of bins for sensing transaction information on products in the bins, the transaction information identifying a recipient of the product; a controller means connected to the plurality of sensor means for maintaining a bin data structure relating transaction information sensed on products in the bins to locations of the bins in the two-dimensional array of bins; an entry device for generating a dispense request; the controller means further for producing control information indicative of a bin in the two-dimensional array in response to the dispense request and transaction information in the bin data structure; a mechanism in the housing coupled to the two-dimensional array of bins for moving the bins to place 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. An apparatus for securely dispensing products, comprising:
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a housing; a two-dimensional array of bins in the housing; a loading station on the housing for loading the bins with packages labeled with transaction information; a dispensing station separate from the loading station on the housing; a device for providing a dispense request including information identifying a recipient; an information sensor mechanism near the loading station for sensing transaction information from products in the bins, the transaction information identifying a recipient of the product; a controller means coupled to the device and the sensor mechanism for producing control information denoting a bin location in response to the identification information and to the transaction information; a mechanism coupled to move the bins so as to move a bin at the bin location to 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 (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A dispensing apparatus, comprising:
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a housing; a two-dimensional array of bins in the housing; a dispensing station on the housing; a mechanism coupled to the bins for moving any of the bins to the dispensing station; a plurality of sensors, each of the sensors associated with a respective one of the bins, each of the sensors configured to read transaction information on a product residing in the bin, the transaction information identifying a recipient of the product; a controller operatively associated with the plurality of sensors, the controller configured to maintain a bin data structure associating transaction information displayed on and read from a product in a specific bin with the location of that specific bin; an entry device operatively associated with the controller for generating a request to dispense the product residing in the specific bin; the controller further configured to signal the mechanism to move the specific bin to the dispensing station in response to the dispense request.
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Specification