Xerox Corporation

Lionville Systems, Inc.

Pyxis Corporation

John D. Zoltner

Daniel L. Carter

John F. Gardner

Anthony F. Lipani

John F Gardner

Tobin H Williams

Eric C Norlin

Shelly I Slogoff

Jane F Laycock

E Ford Williams

Daniel Lee Carter

Henry R Till

John D Zoltner

Tab Alan Tress

Anthony F Lipani

Robert M Simms

Robert K Waring

James Simpson

A mechanical system closes and latches one or more drawers in a multiple-drawer cabinet. Drawers which are slightly ajar are grasped by the latching mechanism, pulled fully closed, and locked shut. A latch finger engages a catch connected to the drawer and pulls the drawer closed. The finger is actuated by a crankshaft which, as it rotates, first lowers the latch finger to capture the catch, and then retracts the latch finger and with it the captured drawer. The crankshaft rotates to a position where any pull forces on the finger are nearly in line with the axis of the crankshaft and have little tendency to cause reverse rotation. The crankshaft is then retained in this position, effectively locking the drawer closed. Thus, any drawer which is left slightly ajar, and which may falsely appear to be latched, is subsequently closed and securely locked. The latching mechanism may be motorized or manually operated. If motorized, a controller may actuate the mechanism to close and lock the drawers after some predetermined delay. Unlocking may be enabled by key or by security code entry. The locking capability of this system makes it particularly useful in controlling access to medications in a hospital environment or wherever expensive or potentially dangerous materials are stored.

Drawer closing and latching system

A mechanical system opens a selected drawer in a multiple-drawer cabinet. The drawers are arranged in rows and columns. A selected drawer is unlatched by moving a rod which has protruding fingers, only one of which is positioned to engage a latch in a column of drawers. When the rod moves longitudinally, the selected drawer becomes unlatched. The unlatched drawer can open only to a distance determined by a cable which unwinds from a drum and passes around a pulley attached to the drawer. Thus, by controlling the rotation of the drum, the system can be programmed to open the drawer only to a distance which exposes the first non-empty compartment in the drawer. A computer controls the selection and opening of the drawers. The computer keeps a record of which compartments of each drawer have been emptied. Each time a drawer is opened, it is opened to the next non-empty compartment, allowing access to one and only one compartment in the drawer. The invention is therefore especially useful in dispensing medications and other similar articles in a hospital environment.

Drawer operating system

Method for automatic dispensing of articles stored in a cabinet

In a device and method for increasing the solids content of an image formed from a liquid developer, absorption material is contacted with a toner dispersant laden image, and the absorbed dispersant is vacuumed out of the absorption material. The absorption material preferably is a conductive cover on a porous roller biased with an electrical charge which is the same as the charge of the toner particles, such that the resulting electric field repels the toner particles from the absorption material so that minimal toner particles are transferred to the absorption material.

Vacuum assisted dispersant reduction system

A book binding apparatus and method secures pages of a document in a U-shaped channel. The apparatus automatically adjusts the binding jaws of the apparatus to the current size of the channel prior to the binding force being applied to the channel. The operating forces generated by the apparatus in deforming the channel are limited by generating small amounts of deformation in the channel for each pull of an operating handle, and by using multiple pulls of the handle to completely secure the pages into the channel. A debinding apparatus and method, using the same mechanism as the binding apparatus, debinds the pages from the channel.

Apparatus and method for applying hard and soft covers to bound or

A bindery system captures pages of a bound or unbound book in a hard or soft cover case by crimping a metal U-shaped channel which is bonded to the inside spine surface of the hard or soft covers.

Apparatus for applying hard and soft covers to bound or unbound documents

Growing community of inventors

Penfield, NY, United States of America

John F Gardner