Intelligent refrigerator for storing pharmaceutical product containers
US7775056B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Jan 12, 2007 |
| Grant date | Aug 17, 2010 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jan 11, 2028 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC F)Mechanical Engineering; Lighting; Heating
- CPC primaryF25D2700/12
- WIPO fieldControl
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
Intelligent refrigerator system for storing pharmaceutical product containers, such as vials, ampules, syringes, bottles, medication tubes, blister packs and cartons, at the point of dispensing. Embodiments of the invention use product identification technology, such as radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags and readers, to uniquely identify containers as they are added to or removed from the cold storage compartment of the refrigerator, and automatically retrieve from a local or remote database a variety of details associated with the containers and their contents, such as manufacturing data, expiration dates, time out of refrigeration, inventory levels, safety information, usage statistics, known contraindications and warnings, etc. If the details indicate that there is a problem with a particular pharmaceutical (e.g., that it is counterfeit, expired, suspect, spoiled, recalled or almost depleted), then a message or warning is automatically delivered to a human operator via an attached output device, such as a display screen, speaker or printer. Embodiments of the invention may also be configured to monitor and report temperature faults, power failures and other anomalies ass…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.