Customer specific packaging line
First Claim
1. In an automated container filling system, including a container input station and a container filling station, the improvement comprising:
- fill control means for controlling the container filling station to fill any of a plurality of containers with any of a plurality of medications, and a plurality of tag means each capable of containing medication order information, a respective one of said tag means associated with each respective container for conveying respective order information for the respective container to said fill control means, said fill control means operating in response to said respective order information from said respective tag means by controlling the container filling station to fill the respective container associated with said respective tag means with a respective medication prescribed in the respective order.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An automated packaging line has capability of filling large and small orders, of one or more bottles, each bottle filled with a respective one of a plurality of different pharmaceutical tablets, in a single run. Structure is provided for filling orders for an individual consumer, for a pharmacist, and for a wholesaler, simultaneously, using differently sized bottles, and providing customized labels for each bottle. A flexible filler station simultaneously fills plural bottles with respective tablets. An intelligent data carrying puck carries each bottle, including therein information describing, among others, the bottle, the customer, the order, the pharmaceutical, the bottle size and label information. Puck handling stations (PHS) are dispersed throughout the line, to verify a number of operations implemented on the line and to reject a puck at the earliest opportunity, while permitting subsequent rejection by a subsequent PHS. The PHS units are substantially identical, with DIP switch modifying operation of the controlling software thereof to implement different features at different points on the line. The pucks are recycled after each pass along the line. An initializing PHS wipes clean the puck data storage and, in a fail safe operation, marks it as a reject. The flexible filler station must mark the puck acceptable. Each subsequent PHS, following the flexible filler station, following a capper and following a label printer, may reject the puck if marked as a reject or if failing to meet various criteria.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. In an automated container filling system, including a container input station and a container filling station, the improvement comprising:
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fill control means for controlling the container filling station to fill any of a plurality of containers with any of a plurality of medications, and a plurality of tag means each capable of containing medication order information, a respective one of said tag means associated with each respective container for conveying respective order information for the respective container to said fill control means, said fill control means operating in response to said respective order information from said respective tag means by controlling the container filling station to fill the respective container associated with said respective tag means with a respective medication prescribed in the respective order. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. In an automated container filling system, including a container input station and a container filling station, the improvement comprising:
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fill control means for controlling the container filling station to fill any of a plurality of containers with any of a plurality of medications, and a plurality of tag means each containing container specific information, a respective one of said tag means associated with each respective container for conveying said container specific information to said fill control means, said fill control means operating in response to said container specific information from said respective tag means by controlling the container filling station to fill the respective container associated with said respective tag means with a respective one of said plurality of medications in accordance with a respective order corresponding to said container specific information. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method of operating a packaging line for mass production of packaged containers to implement an automated packaging-to-shipping system, comprising the steps of:
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in a single run, automatically packaging different orders for different quantities of different products in containers, and automatically labeling individual containers to identify quantity and product packaged therein, thereby providing individual orders for shipping to individual customers. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22)
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Specification