Single dose pharmaceutical dispenser subassembly

A subassembly for use in a computerized medicine dispensing station, said station of the type having a cabinet that houses a plurality of openable drawers in stacked arrangement containing dispensable pharmaceutical items in locked storage therein for retrieval following instructions inputted into a computer integrated with the station, said subassembly comprising:

• a) a drawer including a base plate, spaced-apart side walls and a front panel defining an interior compartment, said drawer of a size and shape for insertion into the cabinet;
• b) said interior compartment divided into a plurality of subcompartments, each extending rearward of said front panel and defined by a pair of spaced-apart side walls and a curved rear end wall;
• c) a moveable magazine mounted in a sub-compartment for racetrack-like movement therein between said side walls and said end wall, said magazine including a plurality of individual, open-sided magazine cups of a size and shape for containing single items of dispensable pharmaceuticals therein;
• d) said front panel having formed therein a door aperture for each subcompartment from which the pharmaceutical items may be extracted, one at a time, from a magazine;
• e) a tight-fitting, normally-closed and locked door pivotally mounted in each said door aperture;
• f) first means for receiving appropriate computer instructions and moving said magazine to a position wherein a specific magazine cup is located inside one of said doors in locked position therein;
• g) second means for detecting the presence of a pharmaceutical item in said cup, and unlocking and partially opening said door for further opening by a user;
• and,
• h) third means for closing and re-locking said door following extraction of the item from said door.