Lidded drawer for single line item dispensing

• US 8,234,008 B2
• Filed: 03/02/2009
• Issued: 07/31/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 02/29/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Carefusion 303 Incorporated (Becton, Dickinson & Co)
• Original Assignee: Carefusion 303 Incorporated (Becton, Dickinson & Co)
• Inventors: Weber, Frank Dean
• Primary Examiner(s): WAGGONER, TIMOTHY R
• Application Number:
  US12/396,404
• Publication Number:
  US 20090224638A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,247 Days
• Field of Search: 700/231, 700/242, 700/236, 700/237, 312/215, 312/222, 221/131, 221/130
• US Class Current: 700/242
• CPC Class Codes: A47B 67/02 Cabinets for shaving tackle, medicines, or the like
• CPC Class Codes: A47B 88/40 Sliding drawers; Slides or guides therefor
• CPC Class Codes: A47B 88/453 Actuated drawers
• CPC Class Codes: A47B 88/90 Constructional details of drawers
• CPC Class Codes: A47B 88/994 in the form of trays or inserts
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/0092 for assembling and dispensing of pharmaceutical articles medical dispensers for private use, A61J7/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 1/0027 Details of drawer or money-box

Abstract

A medication cabinet that includes at least one drawer, a drive mechanism, and a drawer latching mechanism, is disclosed. The drawer includes a slider, and a container that includes a receptacle and a lid that moves between an open position and a closed position. The container also includes a fastener to fasten the lid to the receptacle. The slider maintains the lid in the closed position when at least a portion of the wall is coupled with the fastener, and actuates the lid from the closed position to the open position when the fastener passes through an opening in the wall. The drive mechanism controls longitudinal movement of the slider, and is mounted to the chassis, allowing the drawer to be free of electrical connections with the chassis. When the drive mechanism is not used to move the lid into the open position, longitudinal movement of the slider is inhibited.

Claims

1. A medication cabinet comprising:

a drawer comprising;

a body comprising a plurality of receptacles;

a plurality of lids coupled to the body, each lid configured for movement between an open position and a closed position configured to restrict access to a respective one of the plurality of receptacles;

a plurality of fasteners respectively coupled to the plurality of lids; and

a slider, coupled to the body, configured to move longitudinally along a direction of movement of the drawer between a plurality of selectable slider positions, each slider position associated with one of the plurality of lids; and

the slider comprising;

a wall configured to selectively contact the plurality of fasteners so as to retain the respective lids in the closed position,

wherein the wall comprises a plurality of openings, each opening associated with a respective lid, each opening positioned such that the fastener coupled to the respective lid passes through the opening and allows the lid to move from the closed position toward the open position when the slider is disposed in the slider position associated with the respective lid.

2. The cabinet of claim 1, further comprising a restricting mechanism configured to move the lid from the open position to the closed position when the drawer is returned to a position substantially within the cabinet.

3. The cabinet of claim 1, wherein the slider is configured for longitudinal movement from a first position proximal to the cabinet to a second position distal to the cabinet, and the cabinet further comprising:

a sensor configured to determine a longitudinal position of the slider; and

an alert module configured to transmit an alert based on the inability of the slider to obtain a longitudinal position commanded by the sensor.

4. The cabinet of claim 1, wherein each contiguous pair of receptacles is separated by a common wall, and the drawer further comprising comprises:

a second lid, comprising a second fastener, and configured to be coupled to the body when the lids for the contiguous pair of receptacles are decoupled from the body, and further configured for movement between an open position, and a closed position configured to restrict access to the contiguous pair of receptacles,

wherein the common wall of the contiguous pair of receptacles is configured to be removed.

5. The cabinet of claim 1,

wherein the slider is configured for longitudinal movement from a first position proximal to the cabinet to a second position distal to the cabinet,

wherein the drawer further comprises a stop lever coupled to the drawer,

wherein the stop lever is held in a retracted position when the slider is in the first position, the refracted position facilitating removal of the drawer from the cabinet, and

wherein the stop lever is actuated into a deployed position when the slider is in the second position, the deployed position restricting removal of the drawer from the cabinet.

6. The cabinet of claim 5, wherein the stop lever is actuated into the deployed position by a bias member coupled to the slider.

7. The cabinet of claim 1, wherein an end of the drawer proximal to the cabinet is sized and shaped to permit the drawer to move vertically along an axis perpendicular to the direction of movement of the drawer.

8. The cabinet of claim 1,

wherein the lid of the at least receptacle is manually selected for actuation from the closed position to the open position, while each lid of the remaining plurality of containers is in a closed position restricting access to the remaining plurality of containers.

9. The medication cabinet of claim 1, wherein:

the body further comprises a plurality of ribs arranged in a row;

the slider further comprises a plurality of teeth disposed in a row proximate to the row of ribs;

the plurality of fasteners are configured such that when one of the plurality of lids is moved from the closed position toward the open position when the respective opening is positioned to restrict the respective fastener from passing through the respective opening, the respective fastener becomes decoupled from the lid;

the ribs, teeth, and fasteners are configured such that a fastener that becomes decoupled from the respective lid will fall into one of a plurality of gaps between the ribs and project above the ribs such that the plurality of teeth of the slider are inhibited from passing by the decoupled fastener, thereby preventing the slider from moving.

10. The medication cabinet of claim 1, further comprising:

a drive mechanism, coupled to the cabinet, and configured to control longitudinal movement of the slider; and

a drawer latching mechanism coupled to the cabinet, configured to couple the drawer to the cabinet.

11. The cabinet of claim 10, wherein the drawer further comprises:

a second slider, coupled to the body, configured to move longitudinally along a direction of movement of the drawer between the plurality of selectable slider positions, the second slider comprising;

a second wall configured selectively contact the plurality of fasteners so as to retain the respective lids in the closed position,

wherein the second wall comprises a plurality of openings, each opening associated with a respective lid, each opening positioned such that the second fastener coupled to the respective lid passes through the opening and allows the lid to move from the closed position toward the open position when the second slider is disposed in the slider position associated with the respective lid; and

a second drive mechanism, coupled to the cabinet, and configured to control longitudinal movement of the second slider,

wherein the drawer latching mechanism is configured to couple the drawer to the cabinet, and is further configured to actuate the drive mechanism and the second drive mechanism at substantially the same time, thereby resulting in the movement of each of two lids from a closed position to an open position at substantially the same time.

12. The cabinet of claim 11,

wherein the actuation of the drive mechanism and the second drive mechanism results in the movement of each of three lids from closed positions to open positions at substantially the same time.