1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to dispensers, and more particularly, to a system and method for dispensing pharmaceutical samples.
2. Description of Related Art
During a doctor's visit, oftentimes the physician will provide pharmaceuticals or pharmaceutical samples to a patient. In one embodiment, the pharmaceutical samples may be stacked in a gravity stack box or dispenser. Typically, the gravity stack box organizes the samples in a single vertical stack. An opening is provided at the bottom of the gravity stack box that allows the doctor to pull out one or more of the samples. Disadvantageous, the weight of the entire vertical stack will be upon the bottom-most pharmaceutical sample. Thus, it may be difficult to pull out the bottom pharmaceutical sample. Additionally, the amount of pharmaceutical samples which can be stored in the gravity stack box is limited to the height of the gravity stack box which in turn is limited to the vertical space available on top of a counter where the gravity stack box is placed.
Alternatively, the pharmaceutical samples may be stored in a drawer. In this embodiment, the pharmaceutical samples may be loosely stored in the drawer, thus requiring the doctor to reach into the drawer and grab one or more of the samples. While this embodiment allows for easy access to the samples, the samples are not neatly organized. Furthermore, there are typically only a limited number of drawers in an examination room; not enough for dispensing all the various pharmaceutical samples a physician may have in possession.
This disadvantage may lead the physician to store the samples or pharmaceuticals in boxes either in drawers or on top of the counter. Thus, the doctor may dispense pharmaceutical samples by reaching in and grabbing an appropriate amount of samples. The placement of boxes on top of the counter, however, may appear messy and unprofessional.
Therefore there is a need for a system that can neatly and easily organize and dispense pharmaceuticals.