US 6,439,500 B1Granted

Scrub returns cabinet

AssigneeS&S X-Ray Products, Inc.

InventorNorman A. Shoenfeld

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Abstract

A scrubs returns cabinet for hospital workers to return surgical garment tops and bottoms. A cabinet housing has a door, drawer or similar port through which the customer places the soiled scrub suit after entering customer identification information. There are first and second belts in the housing that unwind from respective back and front reels or drums, and wind over a series of rollers or idlers onto a lower collecting drum. The scrubs fall onto one of the belts, and then are captured between the belts. The scrubs are compressed onto the collecting drum. The direction of travel of the belts is reversed to expel the soiled scrubs from the cabinet. These can be discharged directly into a laundry bin, so that the laundry attendant does not have to reach into the cabinet to retrieve the scrubs. The cabinet can be configured for the return of towels or other articles, or for dispensing such articles.

Claims12

Dependent claims

Returns cabinet which is adapted for a customer to return hospital garments to be picked up and laundered, comprising a cabinet housing;

a return port in said cabinet housing for the customer to place a hospital garment to be returned;
customer input means adapted for said customer to input identification information and to initiate a return procedure;
a first supply reel within said cabinet housing supplying a first web belt that is wound thereon;
a second supply reel within said cabinet housing supplying a second web belt that is wound thereon;
a collecting reel in said cabinet housing taking up both said first and second web belts;
drive means for turning said reels;
means defining a path for said first and second web belts between the respective supply reels and said collecting reel;
such that a portion of one of said first and second belts defines a landing zone where said one belt receives the garment placed in said return port;
and controller means coupled to said customer input means and said drive means for controllably turning the reels such that garments received on said landing zone travel on said one belt along said path towards said lower reel, and are captured between said first and second belts and are compressed between said belts on said collecting reel.

6 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.