Anesthesia cart with keyless entry and automatic re-locking

• US 9,078,797 B2
• Filed: 03/07/2014
• Issued: 07/14/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 11/27/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: S&S X-Ray Products Inc.
• Original Assignee: S&S X-Ray Products Incorporated
• Inventors: Shoenfeld, Norman A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Backer, Firmin
• Assistant Examiner(s): WILSON, BRIAN P
• Application Number:
  US14/201,015
• Publication Number:
  US 20140184038A1
• Time in Patent Office: 494 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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: E05B 17/22 Means for operating or controlling lock or fastening device accessories, i.e. other than the fastening members, e.g. switches, indicators E05B39/00 - E05B45/00 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 19/0011 Key decoders general measuring of contours and curvatures G01B3/14, G01B5/20, G01B7/28
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 65/46 for drawers
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 2209/08 With time considerations, e.g. temporary activation, valid time window or time limitations
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/0069 actuated in a predetermined sequence
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/00912 for safes, strong-rooms, vaults or the like
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/28 the pass enabling tracking or indicating presence

Abstract

A controlled access anesthesia cart has at least one drawer or compartment for storing general-use anesthesia items, and at least one drawer or compartment for storing controlled substances, e.g., narcotics. A key card reader on the cart is sensitive to an authorization code to unlock the compartments in the cart for access. The anesthesiologist needs to enter a pass code for access to the controlled substances compartment(s). The compartments then remain unlocked so long as the anesthesiologist remains present. A sonic sensor, e.g., an ultrasonic rangefinder device, communicates with the computer of the cart, and when the anesthesiologist is outside a given beam volume in front of the cart, the cart automatically re-locks the compartments either immediately or after a predetermined short delay period.

Claims

1. An anesthesia cart comprising

a cabinet having a base, a front, a rear, and a top;

a computer control arrangement mounted on said cabinet and including a computer processor, a data entry device, and a key code reader mounted in the cabinet and being coupled to said computer processor;

at least one general use drawer in said cabinet including an electro-mechanical lock coupled to said computer processor;

a controlled-materials drawer in said cabinet having a plurality of lockable compartments and having one or more motors for locking and unlocking the plurality of lockable compartments; and

a sonic presence sensor mounted on said cabinet and centered thereon, having a beam centered in the direction facing past the front of the cabinet and configured for detecting presence or absence of a user within a given beam volume and within a predetermined range of said sonic presence sensor past the front of said cabinet and providing an output signal indicating the presence or absence of the user to said computer processor, wherein said predetermined range of the given beam volume of said sonic presence sensor is substantially eighteen inches in front of said cabinet and said given beam volume is of sufficient width to detect the user immediately in front of the anesthesia cart;

said key code reader cooperating with said computer control arrangement to communicate with the electro-mechanical lock of said at least one general use drawer and to communicate with a respective motor of the one or more motors of said plurality of lockable compartments, and respond to presence of an anesthesia authorization code to unlock said at least one general use drawer to permit access to said at least one general use drawer;

to await entry of an authorized pass code on said data entry device; and

, upon entry of said authorized pass code, to unlock one of the plurality of lockable compartments in said controlled-materials drawer; and

said computer processor being suitably programmed and configured to maintain the at least one general use drawer in an unlocked condition so long as said sonic presence sensor provides said output signal indicating that the user is present within said given beam volume, and to re-lock said at least one general use drawer and to re-lock the respective lockable compartment of said controlled-materials drawer in response to the output signal of said sonic presence sensor indicating that the user is absent from said given beam volume.

2. The anesthesia cart according to claim 1 wherein said controlled-materials drawer is configured as a pull out drawer slidably supported in the cabinet;

the plurality of lockable compartments in the pull out drawer are arranged in at least one pair of rows in a given direction across said pull out drawer and include an elongated covered channel portion extending in said given direction alongside and between said rows of said at least one pair of rows of said plurality of lockable compartments;

each of the plurality of lockable compartments having a compartment lid that is normally locked down but is selectively releasable to permit the compartment lid to open for access to the lockable compartment;

a slide bar disposed in said elongated covered channel portion and suitably configured to move for at least a limited distance along said elongated covered channel portion, and arranged to slide to a plurality of predetermined positions, each position unlocking only a respective one of the plurality of compartment lids and leaving the remaining compartment lids locked; and

a respective motor of the one or more motors for moving said slide bar to a selected one of the plurality of predetermined positions to permit only one said compartment lid to be lifted open.

3. The anesthesia cart according to claim 1 wherein said sonic presence sensor is an ultrasonic range finder.

4. The anesthesia cart according to claim 1 wherein said computer control arrangement is suitably programmed and configured to observe a predetermined delay time when the output signal of the sonic presence sensor indicates that the user is absent from said given beam volume, and to maintain the at least one general use drawer in its unlocked condition until said predetermined delay time has expired.

5. A medications and medical supplies cart comprising

a cabinet having a base, a top, a back, and a front;

a computer control arrangement mounted on said cabinet and including a computer processor, a key code reader mounted in the cabinet and being coupled to said computer processor;

at least one general use compartment in said cabinet including an electro-mechanical lock mechanism coupled to said computer processor; and

means for communicating an unlock code to said key code reader;

said key code reader cooperating with said computer control arrangement to communicate with the electro-mechanical lock mechanism of said at least one general use compartment, and respond to presence of said unlock code to unlock said at least one general use compartment to permit access to said at least one general use compartment; and

a sonic presence sensor mounted on said cabinet and centered thereon, having a beam centered on the front of the cabinet in the direction past the front of the cabinet, and operative to detect presence of a user within a given beam volume of the sonic presence sensor extending for a predetermined distance in front of the cabinet, providing an output signal that indicates that the user is present in said given beam volume and providing another output signal that indicates the user is absent from said given beam volume, wherein said predetermined distance of the given beam volume is substantially eighteen inches in front of said cabinet and the given beam volume is of sufficient width to detect the user immediately in front of the medications and medical supplies cart;

the computer control arrangement being operative, when the output signal of the sonic presence sensor indicates the user is present in said given beam volume to maintain said at least one general use compartment in an unlocked state, and when the output signal of said sonic presence sensor indicates that the user is absent from said given beam volume to re-lock said at least one general use compartment.

6. The medications and medical supplies cart according to claim 5, wherein said sonic presence sensor is an ultrasonic range finder.

7. The medications and medical supplies cart according to claim 5, wherein said computer control arrangement is suitably programmed and configured to observe a predetermined delay time when the output signal of the sonic presence sensor indicates that the user is absent from said given beam volume, and to maintain the at least one general use compartment in its unlocked state until said predetermined delay time has expired.