METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DISPENSING ITEMS
First Claim
1. A method for rapidly and accurately dispensing a predetermined number of discrete items, the method comprising:
- operating a conveyor to transport multiple items towards an imaging device, wherein the items are arranged in a single layer and at least some of the items are transported in parallel;
operating the imaging device to continuously capture images of an area immediately below an end of the conveyor, so that items falling off the conveyor are recorded in the images while in trajectory;
processing the images in real time, to continuously determine the number of falling items;
stopping the conveyor before the number of falling items has reached the predetermined number, while continuing to determine the number of falling items until items cease to fall off the conveyor innertially; and
automatically dispensing an additional amount of items, to complete the predetermined number of items.
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Abstract
A method for rapidly and accurately dispensing a predetermined number of discrete items, the method comprising: operating a conveyor to transport multiple items towards an imaging device, wherein the items are arranged in a single layer and at least some of the items are transported in parallel; operating the imaging device to continuously capture images of an area immediately below an end of the conveyor, so that items falling off the conveyor are recorded in the images while in trajectory; processing the images in real time, to continuously determine the number of falling items; stopping the conveyor before the number of falling items has reached the predetermined number, while continuing to determine the number of falling items until items cease to fall off the conveyor innertially; and automatically dispensing an additional amount of items, to complete the predetermined number of items.
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Citations
14 Claims
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1. A method for rapidly and accurately dispensing a predetermined number of discrete items, the method comprising:
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operating a conveyor to transport multiple items towards an imaging device, wherein the items are arranged in a single layer and at least some of the items are transported in parallel; operating the imaging device to continuously capture images of an area immediately below an end of the conveyor, so that items falling off the conveyor are recorded in the images while in trajectory; processing the images in real time, to continuously determine the number of falling items; stopping the conveyor before the number of falling items has reached the predetermined number, while continuing to determine the number of falling items until items cease to fall off the conveyor innertially; and automatically dispensing an additional amount of items, to complete the predetermined number of items. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. An apparatus for rapidly and accurately dispensing a predetermined number of discrete items, the apparatus comprising:
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a parallel transport conveyor configured to transport multiple items, in parallel, from a hopper to an end of the conveyor; an imaging device configured to continuously capture images of an area immediately below an end of the conveyor, so that items falling off the conveyor are recorded in the images while in trajectory; a counting device configured to process the images in real time, to continuously determine the number of falling items; an actuator configured to control operation of said conveyor in accordance with actuator control commands; a computing platform configured to receive the number of falling items from said counting device, to generate the actuator control command to stop said conveyor before the number of falling items has reached the predetermined number, and to generate a dispenser control command based on the number of items needed for completing the predetermined number of items; and a supplementary item dispenser configured, responsive to the dispenser control command, to dispense exactly the number of items needed for completing the predetermined number of items. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. An item dispenser comprising:
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a parallel transport conveyor configured to transport items at a rate of at least 50 items per second; an imaging device configured to continuously capture images of an area below an end of the conveyor, so that items falling off the conveyor are recorded in the images while in trajectory; a counting device configured to process the images in real time, to continuously determine the number of falling items; an actuator configured to control operation of said conveyor in accordance with actuator control commands; a computing platform configured to receive the number of falling items from said counting device, to generate the actuator control command to stop said conveyor before the number of falling items has reached the predetermined number, and to generate a dispenser control command based on the number of items needed for completing the predetermined number of items; and a supplementary item dispenser configured, responsive to the dispenser control command, to dispense exactly the number of items needed for completing the predetermined number of items, at a rate of 1-4 items per second.
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Specification