Temperature controlled dispense drawer
AssigneeOmnicell, Inc.
InventorsHerbert Lawson Fisher, Edith Wilson, Dean Fambro, Brian Arnold, Brad Basler, Vihar Kapadia, Sunil Belligundu
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A device for dispensing items includes a cabinet, and a drawer within the cabinet. The drawer includes one or more compartments for storing items and a cooling system within the drawer. The cooling system is configured to maintain the one or more compartments in the drawer at a temperature below the temperature of the environment surrounding the cabinet. The drawer further includes thermal insulation at sides of the drawer and thermal insulation beneath the one or more compartments. The refrigeration system may be a thermoelectric cooling system.
Claims29
A device for dispensing items, comprising:
- a cabinet;
- a drawer within the cabinet, the drawer including one or more compartments for storing items, wherein the drawer comprises an outer shell and thermal insulation inside of the outer shell at sides of the drawer and beneath the one or more compartments;
- and
- a cooling system within the drawer, the cooling system comprising a fan configured to both exhaust heat from the cooling system and cause airflow inside of the drawer and between the outer shell and the thermal insulation of the drawer, the cooling system configured to maintain the one or more compartments in the drawer at a temperature below a temperature of the environment surrounding the cabinet.
A drawer, comprising:
- an outer shell;
- insulation defining a climate-controlled interior of the drawer;
- a thermoelectric cooling system disposed in a side wall of the drawer and configured to maintain interior of the drawer at a temperature below the temperature of the environment surrounding the drawer, the thermoelectric cooling system comprising a fan configured to both exhaust heat from the cooling system and cause airflow inside of the drawer and between the insulation of the drawer and the outer shell;
- a set of walls defining one or more compartments within the climate-controlled interior of the drawer;
- one or more lids covering the one or more compartments;
- an electrical interface for receiving power and control signals;
- and
- one or more actuators coupled to the one or more lids for locking and unlocking the one or more compartments in response to control signals received via the electrical interface.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.