Vacuum Based Pill Singulator and Counter Based Thereon

• US 20080061074A1
• Filed: 11/07/2007
• Published: 03/13/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Parata Systems, LLC (Becton, Dickinson & Co)
• Original Assignee: Parata Systems, LLC (Becton, Dickinson & Co)
• Inventors: Remis, Steven, Rhodes, Raymond, Hahn, Adam, Volkar, John
• Granted Patent: US 8,348,094 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 221/69
• CPC Class Codes: B65B 35/06 Separating single articles from loose masses of articles
• CPC Class Codes: B65B 5/103 for packaging pills or tablets
• CPC Class Codes: B65B 57/20 Applications of counting devices for controlling the feed of articles other applications B65B65/08
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 11/1657 the picking arrangements using suction
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/0092 for assembling and dispensing of pharmaceutical articles medical dispensers for private use, A61J7/00
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/13 delivered from dispensers

Abstract

A singulating disc, carried by a housing, has a plurality of openings around its periphery. The disc rotates vertically through a pickup chamber of a hopper carried by the housing. A vacuum is pulled through the openings by a pump which is connected to the disc. Items are placed in the hopper and, via gravity, fall to the bottom of the hopper where they contact the periphery of the rotating disc. The vacuum at the openings attaches an item and holds it while the disc rotates. At the top of the discs rotation, a diverter directs the item into a path depending on the results of a fragment detection and/or counting mechanism. Items that are allowed to pass by the diverter are scraped off the disc into another path by a scraper. Negative pressure is used to singulate and count a multitude of sizes and shapes of items with no calibration. Retractable paddles, a vacuum management system, and RFID tags may be incorporated. The paddles aid in the pickup and agitation of the items while the vacuum management system conserves the vacuum capacity necessary to pickup and singulate items. The RFID tags may contain information such as the number of items left in the hopper, a par level for that item, an expiration date, among others. Because of the rules governing abstracts, this abstract should not be used to construe the claims.

Claims

1. A singulating device, comprising:

a housing;

a hopper defining a pickup chamber, said hopper connected to said housing;

a hollow, rotatable singulating disc carried by said housing, said disc having a plurality of openings around the periphery thereof, a portion of said disc rotating through said pickup chamber, said disc having a plurality of pistons, each piston positioned so as to control the volume of air flowing through one of said plurality of openings;

a source of rotary motion coupled to said singulating disc;

a vacuum source coupled to said singulating disc;

at least one path;

means for removing items from the periphery of said singulating disc into said path; and

a cam positioned to interface with each of said pistons such that air flow is at a maximum for each opening while said opening is located in said pickup chamber and is at a minimum when said opening is positioned at said means for removing.

2. The singulating device of claim 1 wherein said cam additionally interfaces with said pistons such that air flow is less than a maximum air flow during a portion of rotation of said disc from said pickup chamber to said means for removing.

3. The singulating device of claim 1 additionally comprising a plurality of retractable paddles extendable from said periphery of said disc, and a mechanism for extending and retracting said plurality of paddles as said disc rotates.

4. The singulating device of claim 1 wherein said hopper is removable, said removable hopper having said pickup chamber formed therein, said hopper being connectable to said housing.

5. The singulating device of claim 4 additionally comprising an RFID tag carried by said removable hopper, and a tag reader carried by said housing.

6. The singulating device of claim 5 wherein said RFID tag includes a tag into which information may be written.

7. The singulating device of claim 6 wherein said information includes at least one of a quantity of items in the hopper, a par level for that item, an expiration date for the items and a location where the hopper is

8. A method of singulating items, comprising:

rotating a portion of a hollow, singulating disc through a pickup chamber while pulling a vacuum at a plurality of openings located around a periphery of the disc, and as said disc is rotating,

controlling the volume of air flowing through each of the plurality of openings; and

removing items captured by the singulating disc.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein said controlling includes maximizing the air flow when an opening is in the pickup chamber and minimizing the air flow for an opening during the removing of an item.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein said controlling includes regulating the air flow so that it is less than maximum during a portion of rotation of the disc from the pickup chamber until the removing of the item.

11. The method of claim 8 additionally comprising controlling the extension and retraction of paddles from a periphery of the disc as the disc rotates.

12. The method of claim 11 additionally comprising ceasing the rotation of the disc and retracting all of said paddles.

13. The method of claim 12 including removing a hopper having the pickup chamber from a housing carrying the singulating disc.

14. The method of claim 8 additionally comprising attaching a hopper having the pickup chamber to a housing carrying the singulating disc and reading an RFID tag carried by the hopper.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein said reading includes reading at least one of a quantity of items in the hopper, a par level for that item, an expiration date for the items and a locate wherein the hopper is stored.