Medication dispenser station

A medication dispenser station, comprising:

• a plurality of cassettes each for receiving a selected medication in individual doses, each of said cassettes further including scannable data identifying the medication therein and prescription schedule for administration of such medication to a patient;
• a station base including means for receiving and supporting said plurality of cassettes;
• read means on said base for reading said scannable data;
• dispense means on said base for dispensing medication from said plurality of cassettes;
• and
• control means for operating said read means to read said scannable data, and for operating said dispense means in response to said scannable data to dispense each medication from said cassettes in accordance with the prescription schedule associated therewith;
• each of said cassettes defining a vertically open passage, and further wherein said plurality of cassettes are arranged in a vertical stack with the vertically open passages thereof in vertical alignment to cooperatively define a vertically open dispense chute, and further including a receiver disposed at the bottom of said dispense chute, said plurality of cassettes further including tab and notch means for nested engagement of said cassettes in said vertical stack with said vertically open passages thereof in vertical alignment to define said dispense chute.

A medication dispenser station, comprising:

• a plurality of cassettes each for receiving a selected medication in individual doses, each of said cassettes further including scannable data identifying the medication therein and prescription schedule for administration of such medication to a patient;
• a station base including means for receiving and supporting said plurality of cassettes;
• read means on said base for reading said scannable data;
• dispense means on said base for dispensing medication from said plurality of cassettes;
• and
• control means for operating said read means to read said scannable data, and for operating said dispense means in response to said scannable data to dispense each medication from said cassettes in accordance with the prescription schedule associated therewith;
• each of said cassettes defining a vertically open passage, and further wherein said plurality of cassettes are arranged in a vertical stack with the vertically open passages thereof in vertical alignment to cooperatively define a vertically open dispense chute, and further including a receiver disposed at the bottom of said dispense chute, each of said cassettes further comprising a generally ring-shaped housing having a rotatable carousel mounted therein and cooperating with said housing to define an annular array of pockets for receiving medication, said dispense means including a drive member for engaging said carousel to rotate said carousel within said housing through a succession of index steps to displace said pockets in succession into alignment with said vertically open passage, whereby medication within each pocket falls through the dispense chute upon pocket alignment therewith.

A medication dispenser station, comprising:

• a plurality of cassettes each for receiving a selected medication in individual doses, each of said cassettes further including scannable data identifying the medication therein and prescription schedule for administration of such medication to a patient;
• a station base including means for receiving and supporting said plurality of cassettes;
• read means on said base for reading said scannable data;
• dispense means on said base for dispensing medication from said plurality of cassettes;
• and
• control means for operating said read means to read said scannable data, and for operating said dispense means in response to said scannable data to dispense each medication from said cassettes in accordance with the prescription schedule associated therewith;
• said read means comprising a single read head, and means for displacing said read head successively into association with each of said cassettes to read said scannable data thereon.

A medication dispenser station, comprising:

• a plurality of cassettes each for receiving a selected medication in individual doses, each of said cassettes further including scannable data identifying the medication therein and prescription schedule for administration of such medication to a patient;
• a station base including means for receiving and supporting said plurality of cassettes;
• read means on said base for reading said scannable data;
• dispense means on said base for dispensing medication from said plurality of cassettes;
• and
• control means for operating said read means to read said scannable data, and for operating said dispense means in response to said scannable data to dispense each medication from said cassettes in accordance with the prescription schedule associated therewith;
• said read means comprising a single read head and wherein said dispense means comprises a single dispense head, and drive means for displacing said read head and dispense head into association with each of said cassettes, one at a time, to read said scannable data and to dispense the medication.

A medication dispenser station, comprising:

• a station base having an upwardly projecting cassette tower mounted thereon;
• a plurality of generally ring-shaped cassettes each for receiving a selected medication in individual doses, said cassettes being adapted for mounting about said tower in a vertical stack;
• each of said cassettes having a generally ring-shaped carousel mounted rotatably within a generally ring-shaped housing and cooperating therewith to define an annular array of pockets for receiving medication, said housing having a vertically open passage formed therein at a selected location whereby said passages of said plurality of cassettes cooperate to define a vertically open dispense chute when said cassettes are mounted about said tower in said vertical stack;
• said carousel of each of said cassettes being rotatable within said housing to displace said pockets in succession into alignment with said dispense chute to dispense medication;
• each of said cassettes further including scannable data identifying the medication therein and the prescription schedule associated therewith;
• a read head within said tower for reading said scannable data on said cassettes;
• a dispense head within said tower for engaging and rotating said carousels of said cassettes to dispense medication;
• and
• control means for operating said read head to read said scannable data, and for responding thereto for operating said dispense head.

A method of dispensing medication, comprising the steps of:

• loading selected medication in individual doses into a plurality of cassettes;
• applying scannable data to said cassettes to identify the medications and prescription schedules associated therewith;
• mounting said cassettes in a vertical stack;
• reading the scannable data with a read head and loading said data into a control unit memory, said reading step comprising translation of the read head successively into association with each of said cassettes;
• and
• thereafter responding to the data loaded into the control unit memory to operate a dispense head to dispense the medications from the cassettes in accordance with the prescription schedules associated therewith, said step of operating the dispense head comprising moving the dispense head into association with each of said cassettes, one at a time.