Apparatus, system and methods for dispensing products
View Patent ↗Products are dispensed from a dispensing apparatus in which products marked with transaction information are received in a two-dimensional array of moveable bins. In response to control information synthesized from transaction information on the products in the bins and a dispense request, the array is operated to place a bin at a dispensing station on the dispensing apparatus. At the dispensing station, a mechanism is operated in response to the control information to provide access to the bin. A product in the bin may then be retrieved.
1. A dispensing apparatus, comprising:
a housing;
a two-dimensional array of bins in the housing;
a dispensing station on the housing;
a plurality of sensor means near the two-dimensional array of bins for sensing transaction information on products in the bins, the transaction information identifying a recipient of the product;
a controller means connected to the plurality of sensor means for maintaining a bin data structure relating transaction information sensed on products in the bins to locations of the bins in the two-dimensional array of bins;
an entry device for generating a dispense request;
the controller means further for producing control information indicative of a bin in the two-dimensional array in response to the dispense request and transaction information in the bin data structure;
a mechanism in the housing coupled to the two-dimensional array of bins for moving the bins to place the bin at the dispensing station in response to the control information;
and, a door mechanism at the dispensing station for providing access to the bin in response to the control information.
2. The dispensing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the two-dimensional array of bins is a chain having a substantially longitudinal direction of movement and including a series of bin rows, each bin row including one or more bins disposed transversely to the direction of movement.
3. The dispensing apparatus of claim 2 , each bin in a bin row including an elongated box having an open front portion and a tapered back portion.
4. The dispensing apparatus of claim 3 , further in combination with a package for containing a product to be dispensed, the package including a mark with transaction information and a retainer for retaining the package at a location where the mark can be sensed.
5. The dispensing apparatus of claim 1 , the plurality of sensor means including information sensors positioned near the dispensing station for sensing transaction information from products in bins at the dispensing station.
6. The dispensing apparatus of claim 5 , the information sensors having lines of sight into bins at the dispensing location to provide transaction information from products in bins at the dispensing station to the controller means.
7. The dispensing apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the two-dimensional array of bins is an endless chain having a substantially longitudinal direction of movement and including a series of bin rows, each bin row including one or more bins disposed transversely to the direction of movement.
8. The dispensing apparatus of claim 7 , each bin in a bin row including an elongated box having an open front portion, a tapered back portion, and a retainer means acting against a side of the box for retaining a package containing a product at a location against the side of the box where transaction information can be sensed.
9. The dispensing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the mechanism for moving the two-dimensional array of bins is a rotation mechanism.
10. An apparatus for securely dispensing products, comprising:
a housing;
a two-dimensional array of bins in the housing;
a loading station on the housing for loading the bins with packages labeled with transaction information;
a dispensing station separate from the loading station on the housing;
a device for providing a dispense request including information identifying a recipient;
an information sensor mechanism near the loading station for sensing transaction information from products in the bins, the transaction information identifying a recipient of the product;
a controller means coupled to the device and the sensor mechanism for producing control information denoting a bin location in response to the identification information and to the transaction information;
a mechanism coupled to move the bins so as to move a bin at the bin location to the dispensing station in response to the control information; and
a door mechanism at the dispensing station for providing access to the bin in response to the control information.
11. The dispensing apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the two-dimensional array of bins is an endless chain having a longitudinal direction of motion and including a series of bin rows, each bin row including one or more bins disposed transversely to the direction of motion.
12. The dispensing apparatus of claim 11 , each bin in a bin row including an elongated box having an open front portion.
13. The dispensing apparatus of claim 12 , in combination with a package for containing products to be dispensed, the package including a mark with transaction information and retainer for acting to retain the mark with in a predetermined position in the box where the transaction information can be sensed.
14. The dispensing apparatus of claim 10 , further including an information sensor mechanism near the dispensing station and coupled to provide transaction information from products in bins at the dispensing station to the controller means.
15. The dispensing apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the two-dimensional array of bins is a series of bin rows having a substantially longitudinal direction of motion, each bin row including one or more bins disposed transversely to the direction of motion.
16. The dispensing apparatus of claim 15 , each bin in a bin row including an elongated box having an open front portion and a marking on the box to indicate when the box is empty.
17. The dispensing apparatus of claim 16 , in combination with a package for containing products to be dispensed, the package including a mark with transaction information and retainer for acting to retain the mark with in a predetermined position in the box where the transaction information can be sensed.
18. The dispensing apparatus of claim 10 , the door mechanism including an array of doors and the information sensor mechanism including optical detectors, each optical detector having a line of sight through an aperture at the dispensing station near a respective door in the array of doors.
19. A dispensing apparatus, comprising:
a housing;
a two-dimensional array of bins in the housing;
a dispensing station on the housing;
a mechanism coupled to the bins for moving any of the bins to the dispensing station;
a plurality of sensors, each of the sensors associated with a respective one of the bins, each of the sensors configured to read transaction information on a product residing in the bin, the transaction information identifying a recipient of the product;
a controller operatively associated with the plurality of sensors, the controller configured to maintain a bin data structure associating transaction information displayed on and read from a product in a specific bin with the location of that specific bin;
an entry device operatively associated with the controller for generating a request to dispense the product residing in the specific bin;
the controller further configured to signal the mechanism to move the specific bin to the dispensing station in response to the dispense request.