Drawer operating system

A drawer operating system comprising:

• a plurality of drawers, and a latching means connected to each of said drawers, the drawers being movable linearly from a closed position to an open position, the drawers having a plurality of compartments,
• means for selecting a drawer to be opened and for unlatching said selected drawer,
• means for recording the type of contents in a drawer and determining a number of compartments in the drawer to be exposed, and for determining a distance to which said drawer can move, and for permitting the drawer to be opened no further than to said distance, and
• wherein the drawer, when opened to said distance, exposes said number of compartments.

A drawer operating system comprising:

• a plurality of drawers, and a plurality of latches connected to each of said drawers, the drawers being movable linearly a predetermined distance from a closed position to an open position,
• a selection structure for unlatching a selected drawer,
• a structure for variably limiting the predetermined distance to which said drawer can move,
• a record means for making a record of a number of times the drawer is permitted to open, and of the distance to which the drawer is permitted to open at each such time,
• a memory structure for storing information on initial contents of the drawers, and
• wherein said record means comprises a means for automatically determining the remaining contents of each drawer.

A drawer operating system comprising:

• a plurality of drawers, and a latching means connected to each of said drawers, the drawers being movable linearly from a closed position to an open position, the drawers having a plurality of compartments,
• a means for selecting a drawer to be opened and for unlatching said selected drawer,
• a means for determining a number of the compartments in the drawer to be exposed, and for determining a distance to which said drawer can move, and for permitting the drawer to be opened no further than to said distance,
• wherein the drawer, when opened to said distance, exposes said number of compartments,
• a means for making a record of a number of times the drawer is permitted to open, and of the number of compartments exposed at each such time,
• a means for storing information on initial contents of the drawers, and
• wherein the means for making a record comprises a means for automatically determining remaining contents of each drawer.

A drawer operating system comprising:

• a plurality of drawers, and one or more latches connected to each of said drawers, the drawers being movable linearly a predetermined distance from a closed position to an open position,
• a selection structure for unlatching a selected drawer,
• a structure for variably limiting the predetermined distance to which said drawer can move,
• a recorder for making a record of the distance to which the drawer is permitted to open at each such time, and
• memory for storing information about the contents of the compartments in the drawers, and wherein said recorder tracks the remaining contents of each drawer.

A drawer operating system comprising:

• a plurality of drawers, and a latch connected to one or more of said drawers, the drawers being movable linearly from a closed position to an open position, the drawers having a plurality of compartments,
• a selection structure for selecting a drawer to be opened and for unlatching said selected drawer,
• means for determining a number of the compartments in the drawer to be exposed, and for determining a distance to which said drawer can move, and for permitting the drawer to be opened no further than to said distance,
• wherein the drawer, when opened to said distance, exposes said number of compartments,
• a means for making a record of the number of compartments exposed at each such time,
• a means for storing information about the contents of the drawers, and
• wherein the means for making a record comprises a means for determining the remaining contents of each drawer.

A drawer operating and dispensing method comprising the steps of:

• providing a cabinet having a plurality of drawers and one or more latches connected to one or more of said drawers, the drawers being movable linearly a predetermined distance from a closed position to an open position,
• unlatching a selected drawer,
• variably limiting the predetermined distance to which said drawer can move,
• making a record of the distance to which the drawer is permitted to open at each such time, and
• storing information about the type of contents in the compartments in the drawers.

A drawer operating and dispensing method comprising the steps of:

• providing a cabinet having a plurality of drawers and a latch connected to one or more of said drawers, the drawers being movable linearly from a closed position to an open position, the drawers having a plurality of compartments,
• selecting a drawer to be opened and for unlatching said selected drawer,
• determining a number of the compartments in the drawer to be exposed, determining a distance to which said drawer can move, and permitting the drawer to be opened no further than to said distance,
• exposing said number of compartments when the drawer is opened to said distance,
• making a record of the number of compartments exposed at each such time, and
• storing information about the contents of the drawers.