Conveyor for use in contamination sensitive equipment
First Claim
1. An apparatus for filling containers with tablets, said apparatus comprising:
- a) a tablet bin retaining a plurality of tablets, said tablet bin including a discharge aperture for releasing tablets therefrom;
b) a conveyor having a plurality of cavities, each cavity capable to carry at least one tablet, at least a section of said conveyor including a continuous sheet of flexible material, said conveyor being located adjacent said discharge aperture for receiving tablets therefrom;
c) a drive unit operative to impart movement to said conveyor for displacing said conveyor along a predetermined path, whereby as said conveyor moves beneath said tablet bin said cavities are filled with tablets;
d) a tablet releasing station located along said predetermined path, said conveyor being operative to transport tablets in said cavities from said tablet bin to said tablet releasing station, at said tablet releasing station said cavities releasing the tablets contained therein; and
e) a container filling station for receiving the tablets released from said cavities at said tablet releasing station, said container filling station being operative to direct tablets to at least one container.
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention relates to a disposable conveyor for use with an apparatus handling contamination-sensitive discrete items. The conveyor has at least one cavity, each cavity capable to carry at least one discrete item. The conveyor is adapted to be mounted on the contamination-sensitive apparatus that, in operation, is capable to impart movement to the conveyor for displacing the conveyor, and its cavities, along a predetermined path. The present invention also relates to a method for transporting discrete items in a machine performing production runs with different types of contamination-sensitive discrete items. The method involves installing a conveyor as described above on the machine and using it to perform a first production run with a first type of discrete items. The conveyor is then disposed of and a new conveyor installed on the machine, used to perform a second production run with a second type of discrete items, different from the first type.
46 Citations
23 Claims
-
1. An apparatus for filling containers with tablets, said apparatus comprising:
-
a) a tablet bin retaining a plurality of tablets, said tablet bin including a discharge aperture for releasing tablets therefrom;
b) a conveyor having a plurality of cavities, each cavity capable to carry at least one tablet, at least a section of said conveyor including a continuous sheet of flexible material, said conveyor being located adjacent said discharge aperture for receiving tablets therefrom;
c) a drive unit operative to impart movement to said conveyor for displacing said conveyor along a predetermined path, whereby as said conveyor moves beneath said tablet bin said cavities are filled with tablets;
d) a tablet releasing station located along said predetermined path, said conveyor being operative to transport tablets in said cavities from said tablet bin to said tablet releasing station, at said tablet releasing station said cavities releasing the tablets contained therein; and
e) a container filling station for receiving the tablets released from said cavities at said tablet releasing station, said container filling station being operative to direct tablets to at least one container. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
-
Specification