US 5,520,450 · Granted 1996-05-28
The Hospital Supply Cabinet That Knew Exactly What You Needed
Imagine a tall cabinet in a hospital that stores medications and supplies, but instead of being a free-for-all, it has a built-in computer with a keyboard. When a nurse types in what they need and who they are, the computer automatically unlocks only the specific drawer or door containing that item—preventing theft and keeping track of what's being used.
The plain-English version
What it protects
The claim covers a cabinet system that combines physical storage with an integrated computer locked inside a sub-compartment. What's protected here is the specific mechanism where typed information on the cabinet's own keyboard triggers electrical signals that selectively unlock individual doors or drawers based on what was requested, rather than unlocking the whole cabinet at once.
Why it matters
This patent represents an early effort to solve a real hospital problem: tracking and controlling access to expensive medications and supplies to prevent loss, theft, and medication errors. By embedding the computer inside the cabinet itself and linking it directly to the locking mechanism, Pyxus created a self-contained security and inventory system that would become a standard tool in pharmacy and supply chain management across healthcare facilities.
Real-world use
A nurse in a hospital pharmacy enters their ID and the name of a medication into the cabinet's keypad; instantly, only the drawer containing that drug unlocks, while all others stay locked.
Original USPTO abstract
A supply station with internal computer, comprising an upright cabinet having integrally connected top, bottom, side and rear cabinet panels defining a tall storage and interior dispensing cavity accessible through a front opening, a plurality of horizontally openable and lockable doors, including door frames and transparent windows, hingedly mounted at various locations over the front opening, a mechanism for locking the doors when they are closed over the front opening, at least two partitions in the cavity in spaced-apart arrangement to form a smaller sub-cavity therein, a computer, including a keyboard, for inputting coded information concerning the particular dispensable items in the cabinet needed for a patient and information as to the party entering the information that causes electrical impulses to be issued therefrom in conformance with such information, mounted in the sub-cavity and accessible through the front opening; and, door unlocking mechanism interconnected the computer and the locking mechanism for receipt of the electrical impulses from the computer to selectively unlock one or more of the doors at a particular location on the station as a function of information inputted to the station.
Patent details
- Publication number
- US 5,520,450
- Filing date
- 1994-08-02
- Grant date
- 1996-05-28
- Assignee
- Pyxis Corporation
- Inventor(s)
- COLSON, JR.; ANGUS R., PINNEY; LINDA, GRUZDOWICH; GREGORY J., STEUSLOFF; PATRICK M.
- CPC class
- A47F3/02
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