AUTOMATED PRECISION SMALL OBJECT COUNTING AND DISPENSING SYSTEM AND METHOD
First Claim
1. A small object dispenser for accurately counting and dispensing measured quantities of small objects into receptacles, the small objects having a lesser dimension and a greater dimension, the dispensing unit comprisinga cabinet having an interiora hopper disposed in the interior;
- a top disposed above the hopper and surrounding and defining an input port disposed above the hopper, the input port closed by an input gate; and
an outfall port disposed below the hopper;
an object counter disposed between the hopper and the outfall port, the object counter havingcylindrical chamber walls having an interior surface surrounding and defining a chamber having a chamber diameter;
plate means disposed coaxial with the chamber at one end thereof and forming a chamber floor;
a step motor coupled to an axle extending through the plate means coaxial with the chamber;
a chute disposed above the chamber and adapted to funnel the small objects from the hopper into the chamber;
recharge means removably coupled to the cabinet for recharging the hopper with small objects;
controller means adapted to operate the dispensing unit; and
security means for securely tracking the small objects through the dispensing unit.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An automated dispenser receives a canister of small objects secured atop the dispenser using a bar-code matched gate operated by a central controller. A hopper below the gate directs small quantities of objects into a charge block which urges them into a circular counter and atop a movable plate forming the bottom of the counter. The plate bears slots around its perimeter adjacent the cylindrical walls of the counter. The central controller operates a servo motor to rotate the plate in measured increments, urging a precise count of objects into a port through which they fall one at a time into a receptacle. Means on the cylinder walls orients objects so that only a single one at a time may fall into each slot, thereby preventing overfilling. An exit sensor counts the objects as they fall to verify quantity and guard against under-filling.
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Citations
15 Claims
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1. A small object dispenser for accurately counting and dispensing measured quantities of small objects into receptacles, the small objects having a lesser dimension and a greater dimension, the dispensing unit comprising
a cabinet having an interior a hopper disposed in the interior; -
a top disposed above the hopper and surrounding and defining an input port disposed above the hopper, the input port closed by an input gate; and an outfall port disposed below the hopper; an object counter disposed between the hopper and the outfall port, the object counter having cylindrical chamber walls having an interior surface surrounding and defining a chamber having a chamber diameter; plate means disposed coaxial with the chamber at one end thereof and forming a chamber floor; a step motor coupled to an axle extending through the plate means coaxial with the chamber; a chute disposed above the chamber and adapted to funnel the small objects from the hopper into the chamber; recharge means removably coupled to the cabinet for recharging the hopper with small objects; controller means adapted to operate the dispensing unit; and security means for securely tracking the small objects through the dispensing unit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A pharmaceutical dispensing unit adapted to dispense pharmaceuticals into prescription bottles, the dispensing unit comprising
a cabinet surrounding a cabinet interior, the cabinet bearing a cabinet identifier and having a hopper disposed within cabinet interior; -
an input port disposed above the hopper; a lockable gate disposed across the input port; and an outfall port disposed below the hopper; a lock neck removably coupled to the cabinet above the hopper, the lock neck bearing a lock neck identifier and having a canister port communicating with the hopper; and a lock neck gate disposed across the canister port; a canister adapted to contain a measured quantity of pharmaceuticals, the canister bearing a canister identifier and having a canister neck removably journaled within the canister port; a counter disposed between the hopper and the outfall port and having a chamber having cylindrical walls and coupled to a step motor by an axle; a circular lower plate coupled to the axle and coaxial with the chamber, the plate having a plurality of slots disposed around its circumference adjacent the chamber walls; and a controller adapted to operate the dispensing unit. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14)
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15. An improved method of dispensing pharmaceuticals into a plurality of prescription bottles, each prescription bottle bearing a bottle identifier associated with a predetermined prescription for the bottle, the method comprising
providing a plurality of dispensing units, each dispensing unit having identifier means for identifying each dispensing unit; -
a pharmaceutical counter adapted to count and dispense a quantity of the pharmaceuticals into each bottle through an output port in the dispensing unit; a hopper adapted to hold a quantum of one type of pharmaceuticals; a charging block for periodically urging a quantity of pharmaceuticals from the hopper into the counter; recharge means for periodically recharging the hopper; and sensing means coupled to the output port for sensing pharmaceuticals as they are dispensed into the bottles; bottle routing means for routing select ones of the prescription bottles through one of the plurality of dispensing units for filling; and a controller for operating the plurality of dispensing units and the bottle routing means to direct each bottle to one of the dispensing units;
thenoperating the controller to (a) cause the bottle routing means to route one of a plurality of prescription bottles to each dispensing unit according to the bottle identifier;
then(b) cause the counter to dispense a predetermined quantity of pharmaceuticals into the bottle; (c) receive signals from the sensor means and interpret them as indicating the dispensing of each pharmaceutical;
then(d) stopping the counter when the predetermined quantity of pharmaceuticals have been dispensed into the bottle;
then(e) repeating steps (a)-(d), inclusive, for each additional prescription bottle.
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Specification