Automated article dispensation mechanism
First Claim
1. An apparatus for collecting and dispensing articles, said apparatus comprising:
- an article transport substrate having a plurality of apertures;
a vacuum source for creating a negative pressure through said apertures;
a torque source for rotating said article transport substrate; and
articles to be collected and or dispensed by said apparatus;
wherein gravity assists said articles in associating with said apertures; and
wherein centrifugal force assists said articles in maintaining said association with said apertures.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Disclosed is a system for collecting, sorting, counting and consolidating an unorganized pool of solid or semi-solid articles such as pills for dispensation. Specifically, the articles are extracted from inside a bin using attraction points on a transport substrate and sorted into containers in finite quantities. The system consists of several components, preferably including a torque source, a counter and a vacuum source, which are uniquely integrated onto a single end-effector to reduce cost and redundancy by servicing several bins. Further, the system presents a method of attracting and carrying pills using negative vacuum pressure, gravity and centrifugal force. This centrifugal force holds articles to the local attraction points and is provided by the spinning of the transport substrate. Pills are collected from the bin or plenum at the local attraction points, counted, cleaved from the local attraction points and guided to a container or vial.
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Citations
89 Claims
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1. An apparatus for collecting and dispensing articles, said apparatus comprising:
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an article transport substrate having a plurality of apertures;
a vacuum source for creating a negative pressure through said apertures;
a torque source for rotating said article transport substrate; and
articles to be collected and or dispensed by said apparatus;
wherein gravity assists said articles in associating with said apertures; and
wherein centrifugal force assists said articles in maintaining said association with said apertures. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. An automated system for collecting and dispensing articles, said system comprising:
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a housing;
an article transport substrate residing in said housing, said article transport substrate containing a plurality of apertures;
a vacuum source in communication with said article transport substrate to attract said articles to said apertures;
a torque source for rotating said article transport substrate;
means for ejecting misplaced articles;
a sensor for detecting said articles positioned in said apertures;
means for separating said articles from said article transport substrate, such that said articles enter a dispensing route; and
a controller for controlling operation of said article transport substrate, said vacuum source and said torque source. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
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47. An automated system for collecting and dispensing articles, said system comprising:
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a plurality of dispensing units, wherein each of said dispensing units includes a bin, a rotatable article transport substrate, a sensor, a filter, a separator, and a dispensing route;
an end-effector; and
a controller for controlling said article transport substrate, said sensor, a vacuum source and a torque source;
wherein said article transport substrate contains a plurality of apertures for accepting said articles from said bin; and
wherein said end-effector is movable to interface with each of said plurality of dispensing units to receive a predetermined number of said articles. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66)
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67. An apparatus for a collecting and dispensing system, said apparatus comprising:
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a vacuum source;
a torque source;
at least one sensor; and
control circuitry;
wherein said vacuum source is placed in communication with apertures on an article transport substrate;
wherein said torque source drives said article transport substrate; and
wherein said control circuitry receives signals from said sensor, controls said vacuum source, controls said torque source and controls the movement of said apparatus.
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68. A method for dispensing articles, said method comprising the steps of:
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providing a dispenser unit having an article transport substrate containing a plurality of apertures;
rotating said article transport substrate within a bin containing a plurality of said articles;
applying a vacuum to said plurality of apertures such that one of said articles becomes secured to approximately each of said plurality of apertures during said rotating;
counting said articles secured to said plurality of apertures prior to separating said articles; and
separating said articles to be dispensed;
wherein gravity assists said articles in becoming secured to said apertures; and
wherein centrifugal force assists said articles in maintaining said association with said apertures. - View Dependent Claims (69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89)
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Specification