AUTOMATIC APPARATUS FOR STORING AND DISPENSING PACKAGED MEDICATION AND OTHER SMALL ELEMENTS
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The system includes a bin hopper which temporarily stores a plurality of small elements, such as medications. The elements are moved out of the bin and singulated into a one-by-one sequence by a series of singulating conveyors. The resulting sequence of elements is moved onto a main system conveyor where the element is identified and then moved to a loading mechanism which arranges the item so it is ready to be gripped and stored. The system includes a mass storage apparatus comprising a series of four upstanding cylindrical drums, each having a plurality of individually accessible and addressable cell storage locations for the elements. A gripping apparatus removes the elements from the loading mechanism and transfers them to a selected location in a cylindrical drum. When an article is to be dispensed, the drum is rotated so that an ejection arm comes adjacent the desired location in the drum. The ejector arm is actuated, pushing the small element out of its slot, into the center of the drum, where it falls onto a conveyor which moves the dispensed item from the system.
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Citations
57 Claims
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1-32. -32. (canceled)
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33. A system for automatically storing and dispensing individual elements, comprising:
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a bin for temporarily storing a plurality of individual elements;
apparatus for singulating the individual elements and for depositing them one by one onto a system conveyor;
a loading mechanism for removing one of the elements from the conveyor and positioning it so that it is ready to be stored;
a mass storage apparatus containing a plurality of individually addressable storage locations for storage of said elements;
an assembly for moving the positioned elements and storing each element in a location in the mass storage apparatus; and
at least one dispensing assembly for removing a selected individual element from a location in the mass storage apparatus. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56)
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57. A method for storing and dispensing individual elements, comprising:
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storing a plurality of individual elements in a storage area;
removing the elements from the storage area;
depositing the elements onto a conveyor;
moving the elements along the conveyor to a loading mechanism;
removing the elements from the conveyor with the loading mechanism;
individually moving the positioned elements with a moving assembly to a mass storage apparatus containing a plurality of individually addressable storage locations;
storing each element in one of the locations in the mass storage apparatus; and
using a dispensing assembly, dispensing a selected individual element from a known location in the mass storage apparatus.
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Specification