Automated label and verification systems and methods for filling customer orders of medical items
First Claim
1. A method for filling a customer order containing at least one product to be labeled and verified before delivery to a predetermined customer associated with the customer order, each product including a medical item, and the method comprising:
- receiving a batch of products to be picked from a storage carousel surrounded by a cage having a door, the batch of products including medical items contained in the customer order;
generating pick instructions including an indication of a storage location in the storage carousel for each of the batch of products to be picked;
determining a sequence of products to be removed from the storage carousel by determining the most efficient manner of presenting the products to the door of the cage, including identifying any groups of products in one or more storage locations that may be presented to the door of the cage simultaneously;
rotating the storage carousel to move a first storage location holding a first product of the batch of products adjacent to the door of the cage to provide access for a user to remove the first product from the first storage location;
prompting a user to remove the first product by illuminating an associated pick module on the cage located adjacent to the first storage location;
receiving input from the user that confirms removal of the first product from the storage carousel;
minimizing movements of the storage carousel during retrieval of the batch by following the sequence of products during completion of the rotating, prompting, and receiving input steps;
repeating the rotating, prompting, and receiving input steps until all of the products for the batch of products have been removed from the storage carousel; and
labeling the products with a patient label and verifying that a correct patient label was applied to each of the products in the customer order, thereby making the customer order ready for delivery to the predetermined customer.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Systems and methods for filling a customer order. An automated label and verification machine is used to print and apply patient labels to products containing medical items and then verify the product label and patient label on each of the products. In order to supply the automated label and verification machine with a batch of different products making up the customer order, a user is sent to a storage carousel and prompted to pick the products from storage locations rotated into location adjacent to a door in the cage surrounding the storage carousel. The use of the storage carousels maximizes the number of distinct products and amount of those products that may be stored in close relation to the automated label and verification machine, thereby making the process more space and time efficient.
104 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A method for filling a customer order containing at least one product to be labeled and verified before delivery to a predetermined customer associated with the customer order, each product including a medical item, and the method comprising:
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receiving a batch of products to be picked from a storage carousel surrounded by a cage having a door, the batch of products including medical items contained in the customer order; generating pick instructions including an indication of a storage location in the storage carousel for each of the batch of products to be picked; determining a sequence of products to be removed from the storage carousel by determining the most efficient manner of presenting the products to the door of the cage, including identifying any groups of products in one or more storage locations that may be presented to the door of the cage simultaneously; rotating the storage carousel to move a first storage location holding a first product of the batch of products adjacent to the door of the cage to provide access for a user to remove the first product from the first storage location; prompting a user to remove the first product by illuminating an associated pick module on the cage located adjacent to the first storage location; receiving input from the user that confirms removal of the first product from the storage carousel; minimizing movements of the storage carousel during retrieval of the batch by following the sequence of products during completion of the rotating, prompting, and receiving input steps; repeating the rotating, prompting, and receiving input steps until all of the products for the batch of products have been removed from the storage carousel; and labeling the products with a patient label and verifying that a correct patient label was applied to each of the products in the customer order, thereby making the customer order ready for delivery to the predetermined customer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11)
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9. A method for filling a customer order containing at least one product to be labeled and verified, each product including a medical item, the products being picked from a storage carousel surrounded by a cage having a door and including storage bins holding controlled substances, the door on a cage being motorized, the storage bins in the storage carousel defining separated vertical columns containing groups of storage bins that may be presented simultaneously for access at the door of the cage, and, when a first product is a controlled substance, the method comprising:
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maintaining controlled substances of different schedule levels in different vertical columns of the storage carousel, thereby separating controlled substances of different schedule levels in independent pie-piece-shaped portions of the storage carousel; receiving a batch of products to be picked from the storage carousel, the batch of products including medical items contained in the customer order; closing the motorized door to prevent access to the storage bins of the storage carousel before providing any pick instructions to the user to remove a product from the storage carousel; verifying identification data provided by the user to determine if the user is authorized to remove controlled substances from the storage carousel; generating pick instructions including an indication of a storage location in the storage carousel for each of the batch of products to be picked; rotating the storage carousel to move a first storage location holding the first product of the batch of products adjacent to the door of the cage to provide access for a user to remove the first product from the first storage location such that the portions of the storage carousel containing controlled substances of a schedule level higher than what the user is authorized to remove are never rotated past the door, thereby preventing a user from having even temporary access to controlled substances of a schedule level higher than what the user is authorized to remove; opening the motorized door to provide access to the storage carousel only when the identification data has been verified and only after the first storage location has been rotated to the door of the cage; prompting a user to remove the first product by illuminating an associated pick module on the cage located adjacent to the first storage location; receiving input from the user that confirms removal of the first product from the storage carousel; repeating the rotating, prompting, and receiving input steps until all of the products for the batch of products have been removed from the storage carousel; and labeling the products with a patient label and verifying that a correct patient label was applied to each of the products in the customer order.
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12. A system configured to fill a customer order containing at least one product to be labeled and verified before delivery to a predetermined customer associated with the customer order, each product including a medical item, and the system comprising:
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a storage carousel including a plurality of storage bins on a plurality of shelves, each storage bin configured to receive bulk inventory of a product; a cage surrounding the storage carousel, the cage including a door configured to provide selective access to one of the storage bins on each shelf of the storage carousel; a plurality of pick modules mounted on the cage adjacent to the door, each pick module being associated with one of the shelves of the storage carousel; a controller having a processor and a memory; program code resident in the memory and configured to be executed by the processor to identify a customer order and receive a batch of products to be picked from the storage carousel, the batch of products including medical items contained in the customer order, determine a sequence of products to be removed from the storage carousel by determining the most efficient manner of presenting the products to the door of the cage, including identifying any groups of products in one or more storage locations that may be presented to the door of the cage simultaneously, actuate rotation of the storage carousel to provide access to one of the products in the batch and to minimize movements of the storage carousel during retrieval of the batch by following the sequence of products, prompt the user to remove the product from the storage carousel by illuminating the pick modules, and continue rotation and illumination steps until all products for the batch have been removed from the storage carousel; and an automated label and verification machine configured to receive the batch of products, label the products with patient labels, and verify that the patient labels match product labels located on the products, thereby making the customer order ready for delivery to the predetermined customer. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification