초록 ▼

The system for automatically dispensing medications or other medical elements includes several groupings, i.e. vaults, of storage members, each vault containing approximately 100 individual cartridges, which each contain packages of unit-of-use doses of a given medication or other medical supply, su

The system for automatically dispensing medications or other medical elements includes several groupings, i.e. vaults, of storage members, each vault containing approximately 100 individual cartridges, which each contain packages of unit-of-use doses of a given medication or other medical supply, such as syringes. Each storage member includes an ejector which ejects selected medications/supplies to a supply trough. The packages in the trough are moved to a central collator, which dispenses them to a bin receptacle which has been moved underneath the collator and which is typically identified with a particular patient. Information concerning medications/supplies for a particular patient is stored in a system database and used to determine the particular medications/supplies dispensed into a given bin. Bar coding is used to maintain control over the bins, and the medications, forming a closed information/control system. Particular medications and/or supplies which are not available in the automatic dispensing system are supplied from a supplemental medications cart which has been previously stocked with the correct additional medications by virtue of information from a control computer. The filled bins are transferred to a medication cart which can only be accessed as a result of a command signal after a particular patient and his/her associated bin have been matched. A nurse, having access to the correct bin and sector thereof, removes the medications from the cart and administers them to the patient.

대표청구항 ▼

[ What is claimed is:] [1.]1. An apparatus for automatically dispensing medical elements to an individual bin receptacle, the bin receptacle having at least one individual sector, comprising:at least one vault storage assembly comprising a plurality of storage members for medical elements, each stor

[ What is claimed is:] [1.]1. An apparatus for automatically dispensing medical elements to an individual bin receptacle, the bin receptacle having at least one individual sector, comprising:at least one vault storage assembly comprising a plurality of storage members for medical elements, each storage member holding a plurality of overjacket packages containing medical elements, each overjacket package having an indicia associated therewith indicating the medical element contained therein, the overjacket package having a size and configuration corresponding to a unit dose of medication and suitable for use in a bin receptacle;an ejection member for ejecting the overjacket packages of medical elements from their associated storage member, in response to a signal command;an assembly for moving a bin receptacle into a medical element receiving position;a collecting and transferring assembly which receives the ejected overjacket packages of medical elements and transfers them into the bin receptacle; anda controller, providing signal commands, for controlling operation of the apparatus.