US 8,588,966 B2Granted

Cabinet system

AssigneeAutoMed Technologies, Inc.

InventorJames A. Michael

Life of this patent

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Abstract

A cabinet system for securely storing items includes a cabinet housing, a controller, and at least one drawer unit. The cabinet housing has a locking mechanism, and the controller is in communication with the cabinet housing and configured to operate the locking mechanism. The drawer unit is designed to be releasably locked at least partially within the cabinet housing by the locking mechanism, and slidable within a portion of the cabinet housing when released by the locking mechanism. The drawer unit includes at least one storage compartment, a cover, memory, and a power source. The storage compartment is configured to store at least one item therein. The cover is movable to an open configuration and a closed configuration. When the cover is in the closed configuration, the cover limits access to the item of the storage compartment. The memory is powered by the power source and is configured to store data associated with a movement of the cover.

Claims28

Dependent claims

A medical item storage cabinet system, comprising:

a cabinet including a plurality of drawer bays and a data bus, each bay being configured to slidably accept a drawer and permit movement of the drawer between an open and closed position;
a plurality of drawers, each drawer slideable within a respective bay of the cabinet, one or more of the plurality of drawers including:
at least one compartment secured closed by a cover movable between open and closed positions to permit access to the compartment;
an electronic memory attached to the drawer which moves with the drawer when the drawer is moved and which stores movement data representative of movement of the cover;
a cover monitoring device coupled to the memory to permit the memory to store movement data;
and
a connector attached to the drawer and coupled to the memory, the connector being configured to make contact with the data bus when the drawer is in the closed position, and disconnect from the data bus when the drawer is in the open position;
and
a locking mechanism for selectively locking each drawer within its respective bay in a closed position;
and
a controller coupled to the data bus, the controller operating the locking mechanism, and being operable to store data representative of the information stored in the electronic memory of a drawer when the drawer is moved such that the respective connector makes contact with the data bus.

8 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 13/032,753Filed 23 Feb 2011 · continuation in part
Priority: 9 Jan 2009
Published: US 2011/0140831 A116 Jun 2011
Granted: 19 Nov 2013
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification25 codes

E05B 47/00
Operating or controlling locks or other fastening devices by electric or magnetic
A47B 67/02
Chests; Dressing-tables; Medicine cabinets or the like; Cabinets characterised by the arrangement of drawers: cabinets for shaving tackle,…
A47B 81/00
Cabinets or racks specially adapted for other particular purposes
A47B 88/40
Drawers for tables, cabinets or like furniture; Guides for drawers: sliding drawers; Slides or guides therefor

Family

Application12/351,679Parent of this continuation-in-part · filed 9 Jan 2009
US 2011/0140831 A1Pre-grant publication · published 16 Jun 2011
US 8,103,379 B2Parent of this continuation-in-part
US 2010/0176699 A1Published application
US 8,588,966 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.