Patent Application
20120235550
Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to drawer assemblies and associated methods and, more particularly, to drawer assemblies and associated methods that controllably limit the slideable extension of a drawer relative to a cabinet body of a medication dispensing cabinet.
Medication dispensing cabinets have been developed in order to store and controllably dispense a variety of medications. A medication dispensing cabinet may include a cabinet body with one or more drawers that are slideably disposed within the cabinet body. The drawers store the various medications. While some of the drawers may be unlatched and freely openable, other drawers may be locked in order to more closely control access to the medications stored in the locked drawers.
Some medication dispensing cabinets are automated and, as such, include or are otherwise associated with a computer that controls access to the medication stored within the cabinet. The computer may allow access to only authorized users, such as medical providers who work in the unit in which the medication dispensing cabinet is located. Once authorized by the computer, a medical provider may identify a particular medication to be dispensed, such as by reference to the medications prescribed to a respective patient to whom the medical provider is attending. The computer may then unlock the respective drawer in which the particular medication is stored so as to provide access to the medication.
Even when unlocked, some drawers are controllably limited in the amount that the drawer may be slideably extended from the cabinet body. For example, a drawer may include a series of pockets or storage locations arranged in a linear fashion from the front to the rear of the cabinet. Each pocket may include a predefined quantity of medication, such as a single or unit dose of a medication. In an instance in which each pocket of a drawer is filled with medication, such as following restocking of the medication dispensing cabinet, a computer, in response to a request to dispense a unit dose of the medication, will unlock the drawer, but limit the extension of the drawer relative to the cabinet body such that a single pocket, that is, the pocket that is closest to the front of the cabinet, is exposed, while the other pockets remain within the cabinet body and are inaccessible. Once the medical provider has removed the medication from the first pocket, the drawer may be reinserted into the cabinet and locked.
Thereafter, in response to a request for another unit dose of the medicine, the computer may cause the drawer to be unlocked and may permit the drawer to be opened so that the first two pockets, that is, the two pockets closest to the front of the cabinet, are accessible, while the remainder of the pockets remain inaccessible within the cabinet. Even though two pockets are accessible, the medication has previously been removed from the first pocket such that the medical provider can only obtain the medication stored within the second pocket. The computer may maintain a record of the pockets that have been accessed within a respective drawer and/or the pockets in a drawer that still store medication. Based upon this information, the computer may not only unlock a drawer in response to a request for the medication, but may control the extent to which the drawer may be extended so as to permit access to only the prescribed dose of the medication, while continuing to prevent access to other pockets of the drawer that still also include the additional quantities of medication. By controlling the extent to which a drawer may be extended from a cabinet, an automated medication dispensing cabinet may maintain control over both the medication that is accessible and the quantity of the medication that is accessible.
In order to limit the extension of a drawer, at least some medication dispensing cabinets include electronically actuated drawers that require electrical wires or other cabling to extend lengthwise along the drawer, such as from the front face of the drawer towards a rear portion of the drawer. As a result of the relative movement of the drawer with respect to the cabinet, medication dispensing cabinets must be designed to ensure that the wiring or other cabling does not interfere with the movement of the drawer and, conversely, that the movement of the drawer does not impinge upon or otherwise damage the wiring or other cabling. As such, the wiring or other cabling associated with a drawer may increase the complexity of the design of the drawer as well as the overall cabinet.
In some instances, the limitation imposed upon the extension of a drawer could be overcome if a pulling force was applied to the drawer that was substantial and/or that was very soon after the drawer had been unlocked. In instances in which the limitation upon the extension of a drawer were overcome, the medical provider could have access to a larger quantity of the medication than was intended to be dispensed and a larger quantity of the medication than is required by the medical provider to satisfy the particular prescription that is being fulfilled.
A cabinet, a drawer assembly and an associated method are provided for controllably limiting the slideable extension of a drawer relative to a cabinet body. By controllably limiting the slideable extension of a drawer, the cabinet may permit access to a desired quantity of the medication stored within the drawer, while limiting access to additional quantities of the medication beyond that which is to be dispensed. The drawer assembly of one embodiment need not include wiring or cabling that extends along the length of the drawer so as to simplify the design of the drawer and the resulting cabinet. Additionally, the drawer assembly of one embodiment provides a secure stop to further extension of the drawer so as to limit, or eliminate, instances in which the limitations imposed upon the extension of the drawer are overcome.
In one embodiment, a cabinet is provided for storing a plurality of medications and includes a cabinet body, a drawer slideably disposed within the cabinet body and an extension control rod. The drawer may include a plurality of pockets for storing respective medications. The drawer may also include an outwardly extending engagement member. The extension control rod of this embodiment includes a plurality of outwardly extending projections that are arranged helically about the rod. As such, engagement of a projection of the extension control rod with the engagement member of the drawer limits further slideable extension of the drawer relative to the cabinet body.
The extension control rod of one embodiment is rotatable about a longitudinal axis so as to bring different respective projections into contact with the engagement member of the drawer. The cabinet of this embodiment may include a motor for controllably rotating the extension control rod. The cabinet of this embodiment may also include a counter for cooperating with the motor to control rotation of the extension control rod. The outwardly extending projections of the extension control rod may be spaced lengthwise along the rod by a pitch corresponding to a pitch of the pockets. The outwardly extending projections of the extension control rod may also be at different angular positions about the rod and the extension control rod may be positionable such that only a single projection of the extension control rod engages the engagement member of the drawer.
In another embodiment, a drawer assembly is provided that includes a drawer having a plurality of pockets for storing respective medications and an extension control rod for limiting the slideable extension of the drawer. The drawer of this embodiment includes an outwardly extending engagement member. The extension control member may also include a plurality of outwardly extending projections. The projections may be spaced lengthwise along the rod and positioned at different angular positions about the rod. As a result of the engagement of a projection of the extension control rod with the engagement member of the drawer, further slideable extension of the drawer may be controllably limited.
The plurality of outwardly extending projections may be arranged helically about the rod. The extension control rod may be rotatable about a longitudinal axis so as to bring different respective projections into contact with the engagement member of the drawer. The drawer assembly may also include a motor for controllably rotating the extension control rod. In this embodiment, the drawer assembly may further include a counter for cooperating with the motor to control rotation of the extension control rod. The outwardly extending projections of the extension control rod may be spaced lengthwise along the rod by a pitch corresponding to a pitch of the pockets. The extension control rod may be positionable such that only a single projection of the extension control rod engages the engagement member of the drawer. In one embodiment, a distal end of the engagement member of the drawer may include chamfered corner portions so as to facilitate contact with only a single projection of the extension control rod.
In a further embodiment, a method for controlling extension of a drawer is provided. The method may include rotating an extension control rod that includes a plurality of outwardly extending projections that are arranged helically about the rod. The rotation of the extension control rod may include positioning the rod such that a respective projection extends toward the drawer. The method of this embodiment also includes limiting the extension of the drawer as a result of the engagement of the respective projection of the extension control rod with an engagement member of the drawer.
The drawer of one embodiment includes a plurality of pockets. In this embodiment, limiting the extension of the drawer includes permitting at least one pocket to be accessed while preventing at least one other pocket from being accessed. The outwardly extending projections of the extension control rod of this embodiment may be spaced lengthwise along the rod by a pitch corresponding to a pitch of the pockets.
In one embodiment, positioning the rod may include positioning the rod such that only a single projection of the extension control rod engages the engagement member of the drawer. The rotation of the extension control rod may also include rotating the extension control rod about a longitudinal axis so as to bring different respective projections into contact with the engagement member of the drawer. The method of one embodiment may also include unlocking the drawer following rotation of the extension control rod to permit subsequent extension of the drawer to the limit imposed by engagement of the respective projection of the extension control rod with the engagement member of the drawer.
Reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, and wherein:
The present invention now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which some, but not all embodiments of the inventions are shown. Indeed, these inventions may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will satisfy applicable legal requirements. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.
Referring now to
As also shown in
The drawer 16 is controlled so as to limit the slideable extension of the drawer relative to the cabinet body 12. In this regard, the computer associated with the cabinet may control or limit the extent to which the drawer may be slidably extended such that the medication within the pockets 22 that is exposed and is accessible following the slideable extension of the drawer is limited, such as to a single unit dose or to some other predefined quantity that is consistent with the prescription currently being fulfilled. In this regard, the computer associated with the cabinet 10 may be configured to track the pockets that have been previously accessed or at least previously exposed as well as the pockets that have not yet been accessed and which therefore still include medication. As shown in
In an instance in which a unit dose of medication is to be dispensed, the cabinet 10 of one embodiment of the present invention may permit the slideable extension of the drawer 16 to such an extent that a single pocket 22 that includes medication is exposed. In instances in which medication has previously been removed from one or more pockets adjacent the front 16a of the drawer, the cabinet may permit the drawer to be slideably extended such that the empty pocket(s) proximate the front of the drawer are accessible, along with a single pocket that still includes medication that may be accessed in order to fulfill the prescription, as shown in
The cabinet 10 includes a drawer assembly that is configured in accordance with the embodiments of the present invention to controllably limit the slideable extension of the drawer 16 relative to the cabinet body 12. The drawer assembly includes a drawer and, as shown in
The extension control rod 26 may be mounted or connected to the cabinet body 12 and may extend lengthwise alongside the drawer 16, at least while the drawer is disposed within the cabinet body 12. The extension control rod includes a plurality of outwardly extending projections 30. These outwardly extending projections are spaced lengthwise along the rod and are positioned at different angular positions about the rod. In one embodiment, the spacing of the projections in a lengthwise direction along the rod establishes an equal spacing between adjacent projections. In this regard, the pitch of the projections in a lengthwise direction, that is, the spacing in a lengthwise direction from the center of one projection to the center of an adjacent projection is equal to the pitch of the pockets 22 of the drawer.
Additionally, the different angular positions of the projections 30 about the rod 26 are generally such that there is equal angular spacing between each adjacent projection, as shown in
As described below, the extension control rod 26 serves to limit the slideable extension of the drawer 16 by the engagement of or contact between an outwardly extending projection 30 of the extension control rod and the engagement member 28 of the drawer. As described below, the extension control rod is rotatable relative to its longitudinal axis. While the extension control rod may be controllably rotated using various manners, the drawer assembly of one embodiment includes a motor assembly 32 which, in turn, includes a motor, such as a DC motor, for controllably rotating the extension control rod, as shown in
As shown in
As such, the extension control rod 26 is positionable, such as by the controlled rotation provided by the motor and the associated counter, such that only a single projection 30 of the extension control rod engages the engagement member 28 of the drawer 16. Indeed, the counter may control the motor based upon the extent that the drawer is to be opened, e.g., the number of pockets 22 to be accessible, such that the motor rotates the rod to bring a particular projection into alignment with the engagement member of the drawer that will limit extension of the drawer in the desired manner. The other projections of the extension control rod, that is, the projections that are not to be aligned with the engagement member, are sufficiently angularly offset from the engagement member of the drawer so as not to make contact with the engagement member of the drawer. In order to facilitate the engagement of a single projection of the extension control rod by the engagement member of the drawer, the engagement member of the drawer may be shaped, such as by including a distal end having chamfered corner portions 34, in order to provide additional clearance relative to adjacent projections of the extension control rod, as shown in
In operation, the drawer 16 to be unlocked and slideably extended is initially identified. With reference to
Based upon this determination, the computer 40 may direct or signal the motor assembly 32, such as the motor and associated counter, to rotate the extension control rod 26 to such a degree that the outwardly extending projection 30 that is associated with the fourth pocket (as counted from the front 16a of the drawer 16) will extend toward and contact the engagement member 28 of the drawer. See block 56 of
In this regard, the medical provider may slide the drawer 16 outwardly from the cabinet 10 until the outwardly extending projection 30 engages the engagement member 28 of the drawer, thereby limiting the extension of the drawer so that only the first four pockets are exposed, namely, the first three empty pockets and the fourth pocket that stores a unit dose of the desired medication. By having properly rotated the extension control rod 26 prior to permitting the drawer to be slideably extended and by employing physical contact between the engagement member of the drawer and the projection of the extension control rod, the slideable extension of the drawer may be limited in such a manner that it may not be readily overcome by the exertion of additional force or by the timing of the exertion of the additional force. Once a drawer is opened such that the fourth pocket is exposed, the computer 40 may update the information associated with the medication stored within the drawer to indicate that the medication from the first four drawers have now been accessed. See block 60 of
Many modifications and other embodiments of the inventions set forth herein will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which these inventions pertain having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is to be understood that the inventions are not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.
