APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR AN ORAL NICOTINE DISPENSING SYSTEM
An apparatus and method for an oral nicotine dispensing system. The apparatus includes storing a plurality of a pods in a magazine within a body, receiving a fingerprint scan from a user via a fingerprint scanner coupled to the body, authenticating the fingerprint scan, de-activating a locking mechanism to allow access to at least a pod upon successful authentication of the fingerprint scan, and dispensing, using at least a drive mechanism, the at least a pod from the magazine through an opening of the body.
1 . A magazine assembly for storage of oral nicotine pods, the assembly comprising:
a magazine having a wheel shape, comprising: an inner cylinder, a plurality of spokes extending radially from the inner cylinder, and a plurality of compartments formed between the plurality of spokes such that a single compartment is defined by a space between adjacent spokes;
a pod disposed in a compartment; and
a lock disk coupled to a base of the inner cylinder.
2 . The magazine assembly of claim 1 , wherein the lock disk is sprung away from the magazine by flexing of a spring arm.
3 . The magazine assembly of claim 1 , wherein the lock disk comprises a ferrous component.
4 . The magazine assembly of claim 1 , wherein the magazine assembly comprises a plurality of pods, and wherein each of the plurality of pods is disposed in one of the plurality of compartments.
5 . An apparatus for dispensing of oral nicotine pods, wherein the apparatus comprises:
a body;
the magazine assembly of claim 1 disposed within the body;
a magnet;
a drive mechanism coupled to the magazine assembly and configured to guide at least one pod of the plurality of pods into a dispensing position; and
an aperture located on the body and configured to allow for dispensing of the at least one pod from the dispensing position to an exterior environment.
6 . The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the magazine assembly further comprises a ferrous component and the cylindrical magnet is positioned to interact with the ferrous component to convert the locking disk from a locked to an unlocked state and vice versa.
7 . The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the drive mechanism comprises a motor, a power source, and a circuit board.
8 . The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the body further comprises an access restriction mechanism including at least one of a radio frequency chip or a biometric sensor.
9 . The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the body is formed in a cylindrical shape.
10 . The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the aperture is formed in a base wall of the cylindrical shape.
11 . The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the aperture is formed in a circumferential wall of the cylindrical shape.
12 . The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the power source comprises at least one of a battery or a piezoelectric hammer starter.
13 . The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the power source is included in the magazine assembly and is disposed to make contact with the apparatus upon insertion of the magazine assembly.
14 . The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the magnet is a cylindrical magnet disposed axially within the inner cylinder of the magazine.
15 . A method for oral nicotine pod dispensing, the method comprising:
providing a dispenser comprising a magnet;
providing a magazine assembly, the magazine assembly comprising:
a magazine having a wheel shape, comprising: an inner cylinder, a plurality of spokes extending radially from the inner cylinder, and a plurality of compartments formed between the plurality of spokes such that a single compartment is defined by a space between two adjacent spokes;
a pod disposed in a compartment;
a lock disk coupled to a base of the inner cylinder; and
a ferromagnetic component;
inserting the magazine assembly into a body of the dispenser, wherein the insertion causes the magnet to interact with the ferromagnetic component to convert the lock disk from a locked to an unlocked state; and
subsequently dispensing the pod from the magazine through an aperture in the body.
16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the magazine assembly comprises a plurality of pods, and wherein each of the plurality of pods is disposed in one of the plurality of compartments.
17 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the body is formed in a cylindrical shape.
18 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the aperture is formed in a base wall of the cylindrical shape.
19 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the aperture is formed in a circumferential wall of the cylindrical shape.
20 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the magnet is a cylindrical magnet disposed axially within the inner cylinder of the magazine.