Automated mechanical mechanism for a blood glucose sensor dispensing instrument

A sensor dispensing instrument adapted to handle a sensor pack containing a plurality of sensors, comprising:

• an outer housing comprising a sensor opening;
• a motor generally disposed within the outer housing;
• a linear drive system generally disposed within the outer housing;
• a power transfer system connected with the motor and the linear drive system, wherein the power transfer system transfers power from the motor to the linear drive system;
• and
• a disk drive mechanism generally disposed within the outer housing and connected with the linear drive system, wherein a sensor is disposed through said sensor opening when said motor is activated.

A method of operating a sensor dispensing instrument adapted to handle a sensor pack containing a plurality of sensors, each of said plurality of sensors being disposed in a sensor cavity on said sensor pack and enclosed by a protective foil covering, said sensor dispensing instrument further adapted to perform a test using one of said plurality of sensors, said sensor dispensing instrument comprising an outer housing having a sensor opening through which one of said sensors is disposed to conduct the test, and said sensor dispensing instrument further comprising a button, a disk drive mechanism having an indexing disk for supporting and rotating said sensor pack, an indexing disk drive arm for rotating said indexing disk, a knife blade assembly for puncturing said foil covering and ejecting one of said sensors from said sensor cavity and through said sensor opening, and a pusher for moving said indexing disk drive arm and said knife blade assembly, wherein said method comprises the steps of:

• a) pressing said button to cause a motor within said sensor dispensing instrument activate, wherein the motor causes said indexing disk drive arm to move and rotate said indexing disk and align the sensor cavity with the sensor opening, and causes the knife blade assembly to puncture the foil covering and eject the sensor from the sensor cavity and through said sensor opening;
• and
• b) performing the test by using the sensor disposed in said sensor opening.