Patent ID: 8487738

Claim:
A system for thermally treating and securely maintaining medical items comprising: a housing; a thermal treatment unit disposed within said housing and including a compartment to receive and thermally treat at least one medical item therein, wherein said housing includes a plurality of access members each enabling access from external of said housing to said compartment and said at least one medical item; and a common locking mechanism to selectively transition each of said access members of said housing between open and secured states in response to user manipulation of said locking mechanism and to indicate said state of each of said access members, wherein said locking mechanism includes: a plurality of lock units each associated with a corresponding access member of said housing to transition that access member between said open and secured states, wherein each lock unit includes a locking device attached to a housing interior surface proximate a corresponding access member to manipulate an engagement member and a projection attached to and extending from an interior surface of said corresponding access member with an aperture defined therein to receive said engagement member; a control unit to generate a signal common to each of said plurality of lock units that triggers transition of each of said plurality of access members of said housing to a common state in response to user manipulation of said locking mechanism, wherein said common state includes one of said open state and said secured state, and wherein said common signal includes a first signal to withdraw said engagement member from said aperture and transition each said lock unit to said open state in response to a first user manipulation of said locking mechanism and a second different signal to enable insertion of said engagement member within said aperture and transition each said lock unit to said secured state in response to a second user manipulation of said locking mechanism; an indicator to indicate said common state of each of said plurality of access members of said housing; a time delay relay to actuate said engagement members in accordance with a predetermined time delay; and a backup power system to detect a power failure and to control said time delay relay to actuate said engagement members to transition said access members from said secured state to said open state in response to said detection of said power failure.