Authomated pill-dispensing apparatus
First Claim
1. A pill-dispensing apparatus for automatically dispensing solid pills, comprising:
- a plurality of storage units for storing pills in bulk, each storage unit including an outer container, a track positioned in a bottom of the outer container, and a hopper movably positioned within the outer container for movement toward and away from the track; and
a pill-dispensing module including a dock for receiving and holding a selected one of the storage units, a drive unit for oscillating the track to motivate the pills from the hopper and along the track, a pill counter for counting pills dispensed from the track, and a lift for raising and lowering the hopper to vary a gap between the hopper and the track to control flow and to assist in motivating pills to fall from the hopper to the track.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An under-counter portable automatic pill-dispensing apparatus includes a double array of storage units for storing pills in bulk, a retriever between the two arrays for retrieving selected storage units, and a pill-dispensing module for unloading pills into a vial. The storage units each include an outer container, a track positioned in a bottom of the outer container, and a hopper movably positioned within the outer container for movement toward and away from the track. The pill-dispensing module includes an oscillator for the track, a pill counter, and a lift for raising and lowering the hopper to control flow of pills. A prescription information station is provided including a computer for receiving patient prescription information, a printer for printing a label for the vial and for applying the label to the vial, bar code scanners for verification, and distributed controllers for operating the various components.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A pill-dispensing apparatus for automatically dispensing solid pills, comprising:
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a plurality of storage units for storing pills in bulk, each storage unit including an outer container, a track positioned in a bottom of the outer container, and a hopper movably positioned within the outer container for movement toward and away from the track; and
a pill-dispensing module including a dock for receiving and holding a selected one of the storage units, a drive unit for oscillating the track to motivate the pills from the hopper and along the track, a pill counter for counting pills dispensed from the track, and a lift for raising and lowering the hopper to vary a gap between the hopper and the track to control flow and to assist in motivating pills to fall from the hopper to the track. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A pill-dispensing apparatus for automatically dispensing solid pills, comprising:
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an outer container;
a track positioned at a bottom of the outer container;
a hopper movably positioned within the outer container for movement toward and away from the track;
a dock for holding the storage unit;
an oscillator for vibrating the track to motivate the pills along the track; and
a lift for lifting the hopper to increase a gap between the track and the hopper when pills bridge up and stop moving along the track.
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12. A bulk storage unit useful for automatically dispensing solid pills, comprising:
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an outer container with parallel first walls;
a linear track adapted to feed singulated pills along its length and that is positioned in a bottom of the outer container; and
a hopper movably positioned within the outer container for movement toward and away from the track, the hopper having second walls positioned parallel and close to the first walls.
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13. A bulk storage unit useful for automatically dispensing solid pills, comprising:
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a linear track adapted to feed singulated pills along its length when pills in bulk are fed onto a leading end of the track;
a hopper having an opening positioned over the track for feeding pills onto the leading end of the track, the hopper including at least one flange; and
an adjustable gate movably attached to the flange and adjustable to change a size of a gap between the gate and the track, for adjustably controlling movement of pills along the track.
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14. A bulk storage unit useful for automatically dispensing solid pills, comprising:
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a track having a length, an upstream end and a downstream end, the track being adapted to feed pills along its length in a longitudinal direction when the track is vibrated;
a storage unit including a hopper positioned over the track and having an opening for dropping pills onto the upstream end, the storage unit including a door movable between an open position permitting singulated pills to drop off the downstream end and a closed position preventing pills from dropping off the track, the door, when close to the closed position and being moved to the closed position moving parallel the longitudinal direction so that any pills landing partially off the downstream end are pushed back onto the track as the door comes to rest in the closed position.
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15. A track useful for feeding solid pills along its length, comprising:
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a solid member having a top surface defining a horizontal plane, the top surface having a groove formed therein that extends from an upstream end of the solid member across a middle section of the solid member to a downstream end of the solid member and further that extends to an edge of the solid member at the downstream end;
the groove in the downstream end defining a well-defined ā
Vā
shape with first angled side surfaces that are adapted to convey singulated pills one at a time off the edge of the downstream end, the groove in the upstream end defining an enlarged shape with second angled side surfaces shaped to store pills but also slidingly convey pills flowing onto the upstream end toward a center of the groove; and
the groove in the middle section being formed from third angled side surfaces that extend at compound angles to the first and second angled side surfaces to form a transition pocket that redistributes bunched-up pills as the bunched-up pills travel from the upstream end into the middle section in order to unbunch the pills, and then centers and singulates the pills as the unbunched pills travel out of the transition pocket in the middle section to the downstream end.
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16. A pill-dispensing apparatus for automatically dispensing solid pills, comprising:
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a mobile frame on wheels;
a plurality of storage units movably stored on the frame for storing pills in bulk;
an x-y-z direction retriever module on the frame for retrieving the storage units one at a time based on prescription information;
a pill-dispensing module on the frame, including a dock for receiving and holding a selected one of the storage units and for dispensing pills from the selected one storage unit, the retriever being adapted to position the selected one storage unit in the pill-dispensing module for dispensing pills and then being adapted to replace the selected one storage unit in its storage position on the frame;
a vial handler module on the frame for holding a vial under the pill-dispensing module for receiving the dispensed pills; and
a controller for operating the pill-dispensing module, the retriever module, and the vial handler module.
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17. A pill-dispensing apparatus for automatically dispensing solid pills, comprising:
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a countertop and countertop support adapted to position the countertop above a floor surface at a height suitable for use by a pharmacist standing and working adjacent the countertop, the countertop having a top surface suitable for handling pills and filling prescriptions, and further the opposing sides of the countertop being open so that the pharmacist can communicate with and give prescriptions to customers on a side of the countertop opposite from the pharmacist; and
a dispensing apparatus for automatically dispensing pills from bulk containers to vials pursuant to the prescriptions, the dispensing apparatus including a plurality of bulk storage units, a retriever for selecting one of the storage units, a dispensing station for dispensing pills from the selected storage unit, a vial handler for collecting the dispensed pills, and a labeler, all of which are positioned under the countertop.
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18. A pill-dispensing apparatus for automatically dispensing solid pills, comprising:
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a frame with storage locations;
a plurality of storage units movably stored in respective ones of the storage locations, the storage units being adapted to hold pills in bulk, the storage units having a depth and being arranged in first and second vertical parallel planes with a space therebetween at least as deep as the depth of the storage units;
an x-y-z direction retriever module operably mounted on the frame for movement in the space, the retriever module including a carrier adapted to carry a selected one of the storage units, the retriever further including first, second and third actuators operable to move the retriever in x, y, and z orthogonal directions, respectively, and further including a coupler operable to grip the selected one storage unit as the selected one storage unit is pulled from its respective storage location onto the carrier;
a pill-dispensing module on the frame, including a dock for receiving and holding the selected one of the storage units and a pill-dispensing mechanism for dispensing pills from the selected one storage unit; and
a controller for controlling the first, second, and third actuators, the gripper, and the pill-dispensing mechanism.
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19. A method of dispensing prescriptions, comprising steps of:
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providing bulk storage of pills in storage units under a countertop and above a floor surface;
automatically retrieving selected ones of the storage units and then automatically dispensing pills from the selected storage units into vials, the steps of the retrieving and dispensing both being performed automatically and under the countertop; and
presenting vials filled with dispensed pills to a person standing adjacent the countertop.
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20. A method of automatically dispensing solid pills, comprising steps of:
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providing an outer container with parallel first walls, a linear track in a bottom of the container that is adapted to feed singulated pills along its length, and a hopper movably positioned within the outer container, the hopper being filled with pills and having an opening with pills flowing through the opening onto the track; and
moving one of the hopper and the track to change a distance from the opening to the track to cause pills that have bridged and bunched up in the opening to become unbunched.
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21. A method of automatically refilling containers of solid pills in bulk, comprising steps of:
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providing bulk storage of pills in a plurality of storage units stored under a countertop and above a floor surface;
sensing that one of the storage units is empty and unable to dispense pills; and
automatically retrieving the empty storage unit and presenting the retrieved storage unit to a pharmacist for filling with a new supply of pills.
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Specification