MEDICATION DISPENSING APPARATUS FOR DISPENSING SINGLE ITEMS FROM MULTIPLE-COMPARTMENT BINS
First Claim
1. A medication dispensing apparatus comprising:
- an enclosure;
a plurality of different-sized medication storage bins located at a plurality of storage locations within the enclosure, each medication storage bin being configured to hold one or more medically related items, wherein at least one medication storage bin includes one or more dividers providing two or more sub-compartments within the at least one medication storage bin;
a medication dispensing area having one or more doors in the enclosure for passing a selected medication storage bin through the enclosure, wherein the one or more doors are configured to open to define an opening of variable size, and wherein the medication dispensing area is configured to successively present sub-compartments of the at least one medication storage bin through the one or more doors such that each time a medically related item stored by the at least medication storage bin is requested, a sub-compartment containing a next available medically related item is presented; and
a robot system for moving the selected medication storage bin between a corresponding storage location within the enclosure and the medication dispensing area.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A medication dispenser provides automation to the steps of locating and acquiring medications to be administered to a patient. The medication dispenser includes an enclosure providing a secure environment for storing medications in multiple sized medication storage bins. The medication storage bins are hung in storage racks located within the enclosure. A robot system is also provided within the enclosure for moving bins between the storage racks and a medication dispensing area. The medication dispensing area includes doors configured to open to define an opening for passing a selected bin through the enclosure. The medication storage bin includes multiple sub-compartments, each configured to receive a single medically related item. The medication storage bin is moved through the opening to present the first sub-compartment containing a medically related item, while other sub-compartment containing medically related items remain within the enclosure.
52 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A medication dispensing apparatus comprising:
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an enclosure; a plurality of different-sized medication storage bins located at a plurality of storage locations within the enclosure, each medication storage bin being configured to hold one or more medically related items, wherein at least one medication storage bin includes one or more dividers providing two or more sub-compartments within the at least one medication storage bin; a medication dispensing area having one or more doors in the enclosure for passing a selected medication storage bin through the enclosure, wherein the one or more doors are configured to open to define an opening of variable size, and wherein the medication dispensing area is configured to successively present sub-compartments of the at least one medication storage bin through the one or more doors such that each time a medically related item stored by the at least medication storage bin is requested, a sub-compartment containing a next available medically related item is presented; and a robot system for moving the selected medication storage bin between a corresponding storage location within the enclosure and the medication dispensing area. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method for dispensing medications from a medication dispensing apparatus, the method comprising:
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receiving a selection of a type of medically related item; determining a medication storage bin containing a plurality of medically related items of the selected type, the medication storage bin being located at a storage location within the medication dispensing apparatus, wherein the medication storage bin includes one or more dividers providing two or more sub-compartments within the medication storage bin, wherein each sub-compartment contains a medically related item of the selected type; determining the storage location of the medication storage bin within the medication dispensing apparatus; using a robot system within the medication dispensing apparatus to retrieve the medication storage bin from the storage location and move the medication storage bin to a medication dispensing area, the medication dispensing area having one or more doors in an enclosure of the medication dispensing apparatus for passing the medication storage bin through the enclosure; opening the one or more doors to define an opening in the enclosure; and moving the medication storage bin through the opening in the enclosure created by opening the one or more doors such that a first sub-compartment of the medication storage bin containing a first medically related item of the selected type is presented outside of the enclosure while remaining sub-compartments of the medication storage bin remain within the enclosure. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19)
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20. A method for dispensing medications from a medication dispensing apparatus, the method comprising:
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receiving a selection of a type of medically related item; determining a medication storage bin containing one or more medically related items of the selected type, the medication storage bin being located at a storage location within the medication dispensing apparatus, wherein the medication storage bin includes one or more dividers providing two or more sub-compartments within the medication storage bin, wherein at least one of the sub-compartments includes a medically related item of the selected type and at least one of the sub-compartments is empty; determining the storage location of the medication storage bin within the medication dispensing apparatus; determining a first sub-compartment containing a first medically related item of the selected type; using a robot system within the medication dispensing apparatus to retrieve the medication storage bin from the storage location and move the medication storage bin to a medication dispensing area, the medication dispensing area having one or more doors in an enclosure of the medication dispensing apparatus for passing the medication storage bin through the enclosure; opening the one or more doors to define an opening in the enclosure; and moving the medication storage bin through the opening in the enclosure created by opening the one or more doors such that the first sub-compartment of the medication storage bin containing the first medically related item of the selected type is presented outside of the enclosure while any remaining sub-compartments containing any remaining medically related items of the selected type remain within the enclosure.
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Specification