PILL DISPENSING APPARATUS
First Claim
1. A pill dispensing apparatus for filing one or more prescriptions for a customer order having a plurality of storage locations for pill form medicines, a first side and a second side comprising:
- a controller;
a conveyor extending substantially across the pill dispensing apparatus between the first side and the second side;
a plurality of smart totes carried on the conveyor for movement across the pill dispensing apparatus toward the second side arranged for accumulating prescriptions for a customer'"'"'s order comprising;
a vial storage area arranged to receive vials of automatically filled prescriptions for a customer'"'"'s order;
a storage area for manually filled prescriptions for a customer'"'"'s order;
a circuit board and microprocessor arranged to provide an interface connection to controller; and
a tote display connected to the circuit board arranged for displaying the prescriptions for the customer'"'"'s order assigned to the smart tote by controller;
a communication link operatively connecting the interface of respective smart totes with the controller;
a plurality of dispensing units respectively positioned in the plurality of storage locations each arranged to hold and dispense a pill form medicine to fill a prescription;
at least one vial feed module operatively connected to the controller and arranged to store empty vials and sequentially feed empty vials;
at least one labeler module operatively connected to the controller and arranged to receive vials from the at least one vial feed module and, under control of the controller, print and apply a label for one of the prescriptions for a customer'"'"'s order to a vial; and
a vial transport module operatively connected to the controller and movably mounted to the pill dispensing apparatus to;
transport a labeled vial from the one of the at least one labeler modules to a location for automatically filling the vial for one of the prescriptions from a dispensing unit containing the pill form medicine corresponding to the label; and
transport the vial containing the one of the prescriptions to the vial storage area on the smart tote assigned to the customer'"'"'s order.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Automated pill dispensing apparatus for filing prescriptions in a retail pharmacy. The pill dispensing apparatus can automatically dispense pill form medicines from dispenser units into vials to fill customer prescription orders and place the filled vials in a smart tote assigned to that customer order. The smart totes can include a display listing the automatically filled and manually prescriptions required to complete the customer order assigned to that smart tote. A plurality of smart totes can be positioned on a conveyor arranged to transport the smart totes to one side of the pill dispensing apparatus and a return conveyor. The pill dispensing apparatus can include a controller, a plurality of storage locations for dispenser units, one or more vial feed modules, one or more labeler modules, a vial transport module and an order database.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A pill dispensing apparatus for filing one or more prescriptions for a customer order having a plurality of storage locations for pill form medicines, a first side and a second side comprising:
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a controller; a conveyor extending substantially across the pill dispensing apparatus between the first side and the second side; a plurality of smart totes carried on the conveyor for movement across the pill dispensing apparatus toward the second side arranged for accumulating prescriptions for a customer'"'"'s order comprising; a vial storage area arranged to receive vials of automatically filled prescriptions for a customer'"'"'s order; a storage area for manually filled prescriptions for a customer'"'"'s order; a circuit board and microprocessor arranged to provide an interface connection to controller; and a tote display connected to the circuit board arranged for displaying the prescriptions for the customer'"'"'s order assigned to the smart tote by controller; a communication link operatively connecting the interface of respective smart totes with the controller; a plurality of dispensing units respectively positioned in the plurality of storage locations each arranged to hold and dispense a pill form medicine to fill a prescription; at least one vial feed module operatively connected to the controller and arranged to store empty vials and sequentially feed empty vials; at least one labeler module operatively connected to the controller and arranged to receive vials from the at least one vial feed module and, under control of the controller, print and apply a label for one of the prescriptions for a customer'"'"'s order to a vial; and a vial transport module operatively connected to the controller and movably mounted to the pill dispensing apparatus to; transport a labeled vial from the one of the at least one labeler modules to a location for automatically filling the vial for one of the prescriptions from a dispensing unit containing the pill form medicine corresponding to the label; and transport the vial containing the one of the prescriptions to the vial storage area on the smart tote assigned to the customer'"'"'s order. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A pill dispensing apparatus for filing one or more prescriptions for a customer order comprising:
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a controller; first and second spaced housings positioned to form a first side and second side of the pill dispensing apparatus; an array of storage locations located between the first and second housings arranged to respectively receive dispensing units; a work surface extending from the first side to the second side of the pill dispensing apparatus above the array of storage locations to form part of a top surface of the pill dispensing apparatus; a conveyor extending substantially across the pill dispensing apparatus adjacent the work surface connected to the first and second housings to form part of the top surface of the pill dispensing apparatus and connected to the controller; a return conveyor extending substantially across the pill dispensing apparatus positioned below the conveyor connected to the first and second housings and connected to the controller; a plurality of smart totes carried on the conveyor and return conveyor for movement across the pill dispensing apparatus on the conveyor toward the second side for accumulating prescriptions for a customer'"'"'s order and for movement across pill dispensing apparatus on the return conveyor toward the first side comprising; vial storage receptacles arranged to receive vials of automatically filled prescriptions for a customer'"'"'s order; a storage area to receive manually filled prescriptions for a customer'"'"'s order; a circuit board and microprocessor arranged to provide an interface connection to the controller; and a tote display connected to the circuit board arranged for displaying the prescriptions for the customer'"'"'s order assigned to the smart tote by controller; a communication link operatively connecting the interface of respective smart totes with the controller; a lift transfer module at the second side arranged to transport a smart tote from the conveyor to the return conveyor and at the first side arranged to transport a smart tote from the return conveyor to the conveyor; a plurality of dispensing units respectively positioned in the plurality of storage locations, each arranged to hold and dispense a pill form medicine to fill a prescription; at least one vial feed module positioned in one of the first and second housings operatively connected to the controller and arranged to store empty vials and sequentially feed empty vials; at least one labeler module positioned in the one of the first and second housings operatively connected to the controller and arranged to receive vials from the at least one vial feed module and, under control of the controller, print and apply a label for one of the prescriptions for a customer'"'"'s order to a vial; and a vial transport module including a feed head operatively connected to the controller and movably mounted to the pill dispensing apparatus to, under control of the controller; transport a labeled vial from the one of the at least one labeler modules to the dispensing unit containing the pills to fill the one of the prescriptions corresponding to the label; operate the dispensing unit to dispense the number of pills required to fill the one of the prescriptions into the vial; and transport the vial containing the one of the prescriptions to a vial storage receptacle on the smart tote assigned to the customer'"'"'s order. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification