Method and system for high-speed tablet counting and dispensing
First Claim
1. A medicament dispensing system comprising:
- a) a plurality of tablet dispensing subsystems, each including a plurality of storage containers for storing tablets, a feed channel network that is adapted to fill said storage containers with tablets, a discharge port, and discharge means for selectively emptying said plurality of storage chambers for supply to said discharge port; and
b) a plurality of controllers corresponding to said plurality of tablet dispensing subsystems, wherein each controller executes a dispensing routine and a fill routine, said dispensing routine cooperating with said discharge means to supply a number of tablets from said storage compartments to said discharge port in accordance with a tablet quantity encoded in a dispense request command supplied thereto, said fill routine cooperating with the feed channel network of the corresponding tablet counting and dispensing subsystem to fill at least one storage container emptied as a result of said dispensing routine, wherein said fill routine operates independently of the tablet quantity encoded in the dispense request command.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A medicament tablet dispensing system and method dispenses any selected number of tablets, up to a maximum number, with minimal dispensing delays. During fill operations, a preset number of tablets are counted and stored in dedicated storage compartments. Dispensing operations are performed in response to dispense request commands. The fill operations are performed in a manner independent from the quantity of tablets identified by the dispense request commands. During the dispensing operations for a particular dispense request command, the preset number of tablets are emptied from one or more of the dedicated storage compartments, thereby avoiding delays associated with counting all of the dispensed tablets. Moreover, the fill operations and the dispensing operations may be performed in parallel for high-throughput dispensing applications.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. A medicament dispensing system comprising:
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a) a plurality of tablet dispensing subsystems, each including a plurality of storage containers for storing tablets, a feed channel network that is adapted to fill said storage containers with tablets, a discharge port, and discharge means for selectively emptying said plurality of storage chambers for supply to said discharge port; and b) a plurality of controllers corresponding to said plurality of tablet dispensing subsystems, wherein each controller executes a dispensing routine and a fill routine, said dispensing routine cooperating with said discharge means to supply a number of tablets from said storage compartments to said discharge port in accordance with a tablet quantity encoded in a dispense request command supplied thereto, said fill routine cooperating with the feed channel network of the corresponding tablet counting and dispensing subsystem to fill at least one storage container emptied as a result of said dispensing routine, wherein said fill routine operates independently of the tablet quantity encoded in the dispense request command. - 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, 24, 25)
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Specification