Medication dispensing cabinet and associated drawer assembly having pockets with controllably openable lids
First Claim
1. A medication dispensing cabinet comprising:
- a cabinet body;
a plurality of drawers disposed within and configured for slidable extension relative to the cabinet body;
a plurality of pockets serially positioned within a first drawer, each pocket including a lid configured to cover the pocket and limit access to medication within the pocket; and
a linkage member configured to operably engage the lids of the plurality of pockets, wherein the linkage member has a first state in which the linkage member prevents one or more of the lids from being opened and a second state in which the linkage member permits a lid to be opened in accordance with a predefined sequential order,wherein the pockets are positioned and the lids are configured such that a second lid is prevented from fully opening as a result of operable contact with a first lid of an adjacent pocket in an instance in which the first lid of the adjacent pocket has not yet been opened.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A medication dispensing cabinet, a medication dispensing drawer assembly and an associated method are provided to facilitate controlled access to medications in an efficient manner. A medication dispensing cabinet includes a cabinet body, a plurality of drawers disposed within and configured for slidable extension relative to the cabinet body and a plurality of pockets serially positioned within a drawer. Each pocket includes a lid configured to cover the pocket and limit access to medication within the pocket. The medication dispensing cabinet also includes a linkage member configured to operably engage the lids of the plurality of pockets. The linkage member has a first state in which the linkage member prevents one or more of the lids from being opened and a second state in which the linkage member permits the lids to be opened in accordance with a predefined sequential order.
146 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A medication dispensing cabinet comprising:
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a cabinet body; a plurality of drawers disposed within and configured for slidable extension relative to the cabinet body; a plurality of pockets serially positioned within a first drawer, each pocket including a lid configured to cover the pocket and limit access to medication within the pocket; and a linkage member configured to operably engage the lids of the plurality of pockets, wherein the linkage member has a first state in which the linkage member prevents one or more of the lids from being opened and a second state in which the linkage member permits a lid to be opened in accordance with a predefined sequential order, wherein the pockets are positioned and the lids are configured such that a second lid is prevented from fully opening as a result of operable contact with a first lid of an adjacent pocket in an instance in which the first lid of the adjacent pocket has not yet been opened. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A medication dispensing drawer assembly comprising:
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a drawer; a plurality of pockets serially positioned within the drawer, each pocket including a lid configured to cover the pocket and limit access to medication within the pocket; and a linkage member extending alongside the plurality of pockets and configured to operably engage the lids of the plurality of pockets, wherein the linkage member has a locked state in which the linkage member prevents one or more of the lids from being opened and an unlocked state in which the linkage member permits a lid to be opened in accordance with a predefined sequential order, wherein the pockets are positioned and the lids are configured such that a second lid is prevented from fully opening as a result of operable contact with a first lid of an adjacent pocket in an instance in which the first lid of the adjacent pocket has not yet been opened. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method for controllably dispensing medication comprising:
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maintaining a linkage bar in a locked state in order to prevent one or more lids that cover respective pockets within a drawer from being opened; unlocking the linkage bar; permitting a lid to be opened in accordance with a predefined sequential order while the linkage bar is unlocked to permit access to medication within the respective pocket; and relocking the linkage bar while the lid remains open, wherein permitting a lid to be opened comprises preventing a second lid of a pocket from fully opening as a result of operable contact with a first lid of an adjacent pocket in an instance in which the first lid of the adjacent pocket has not yet been opened due to positioning of the pockets and configuration of the lids. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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Specification