Automated Dispensing Carousel With Multi-Patient Carrier Loading
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional automated dispensing systems face inefficiencies in cycle time, throughput, and operator unloading frequency, particularly in healthcare settings where medications need to be dispensed to multiple patients with similar requirements, leading to increased operator intervention and downtime.
Innovation Solution
An automated dispensing system featuring a carousel with multiple carrier holders and a robot that loads and unloads medications efficiently, allowing simultaneous filling of carriers for multiple patients with the same medication needs, and an unloading station with separate access points to minimize errors and reduce operator time.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional automated dispensing systems dispense medications to multiple patients sequentially, then each patient receives accurate medication, but cycle time increases and throughput decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system merges multiple patient medication dispensing operations into a single carrier holder cycle. The robot loads medications for multiple patients simultaneously onto different carriers within the same carrier holder, then dispenses all carriers in one sequence, combining what would otherwise be separate dispensing cycles into one unified operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system transitions from a single-dimensional sequential dispensing approach to a multi-dimensional parallel structure by organizing multiple patient medications within a single carrier holder. This allows the robot to operate in multiple dimensions simultaneously - loading different medications for different patients on different carriers within the same holder, then dispensing them all in one cycle.
2Reliability
If the robot loads medications for one patient at a time, then dispensing accuracy is maintained, but cycle time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-loading all necessary medications for multiple patients onto the carrier holder before the dispensing cycle begins. The robot loads medications for several patients simultaneously onto different carriers within the same holder in advance, so that when dispensing starts, all medications are already positioned and ready, eliminating the need to pause between patient medications.
3Device complexity
If operators unload medications from a single access point, then device complexity is reduced, but unloading time increases and error risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The unloading station is segmented into multiple independent access points, each corresponding to a specific carrier within the carrier holder. Instead of a single access point requiring sequential retrieval, operators can access multiple carriers simultaneously through multiple doors, dividing the unloading task into parallel operations that reduce total unloading time and minimize errors by allowing direct access to specific patient medications.
Data Source
AI summary
Automated dispensing systems and mechanisms for queuing output from an automated dispensing system are provided for the dispensing of articles. The automated dispensing system may increase efficiency of the automated dispensing system by reducing cycle time, increasing throughput, and reducing the time required for the unloading process. A system for dispensing articles may include a carousel including a plurality of stations, a plurality of carrier holders, each configured to be received at a respective station, and a robot configured to retrieve a carrier holder from the carousel. The robot may further be configured to move the carrier holder proximate the location of a first article, load the first article onto the carrier holder, and return the carrier holder to a station of the carousel.