Lidded mini-drawer assembly without a cable
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing automated dispensing cabinets with solenoid-driven latches and flexible electrical cables face issues with cable breakage due to stress and delamination, limiting reliable access to medication compartments.
Innovation Solution
The system employs mini-drawer assemblies with a sliding tab and hinged lids, eliminating the need for electrical cables by integrating electrical components on the sliding tab, allowing each mini-drawer to be independently controlled and accessed without exposing other compartments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If flexible electrical cables are used to connect solenoid-driven latches to power sources, then the latches can be actuated to control drawer access, but the cables are subject to stress and delamination leading to breakage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the flexible electrical cable from the system by integrating the electrical component directly onto the sliding tab. This extraction eliminates the cable that was previously subject to stress and delamination, thereby resolving the reliability-strength contradiction.
Solution Approach 2:
The sliding tab serves as an intermediary structure that combines both mechanical sliding function and electrical component mounting. By integrating the electrical component onto the tab rather than using a separate cable connection, the system eliminates the weak cable joint while maintaining electrical connectivity for latch actuation.
2Ease of operation
If a drawer is completely pulled out to access compartments, then all compartments become exposed, but this exposes medications that should remain secured
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the drawer into independently controllable mini-drawers, each with its own latch and lid. This segmentation allows individual mini-drawers to be accessed without pulling out the entire drawer, thereby maintaining security of other compartments while enabling easy access to the specific compartment needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements dynamic control where the release mechanism can selectively unlatch only the specific lid corresponding to the requested compartment. This dynamic selective unlatching allows the drawer to remain partially or fully secured while providing easy access to individual compartments, resolving the contradiction between ease of operation and compartment security.
3Productivity
If multiple medications are stored in the same drawer, then space is utilized efficiently, but sequential access requirements limit flexibility in medication arrangement
Solution Approach 1:
By dividing the drawer into multiple independently accessible mini-drawers, the system allows different medications to be stored in separate compartments while maintaining efficient use of overall drawer space. Each mini-drawer can be accessed independently, providing flexibility in medication arrangement without compromising storage efficiency.
Data Source
AI summary
A drawer assembly is described that includes one or more mini-drawer assemblies. A mini-drawer assembly comprises a sliding tab along a rear-to-front axis, a release mechanism coupled to the sliding tab, and a body having a body bottom coupled from the body bottom to the sliding tab. The body may slide over the sliding tab. The mini-drawer assembly may include a plurality of compartments in the body and a plurality of lids that are hingedly coupled to the compartments. Each lid may have a respective fastening element. A plurality of latches may couple to the body such that each latch is coupled to a corresponding compartment. The latch may hold the respective fastening element of the lid. When the body is pulled out along the rear-to-front axis, the release mechanism may engage with the latch to release the respective fastening element and to unlatch the lid of the compartment.