Canister arrangement for refilling pharmaceutical dispenser
First Claim
1. A canister for use with a pharmaceutical dispensing apparatus comprising:
- a) a housing;
b) a plurality of chambers in said housing, at least one of said plurality of chambers having a sloping floor at a lower extremity thereof;
c) a controlled aperture disposed between each pair of adjacent ones of said chambers;
d) a controller operatively connected to said controlled aperture and to said plurality of chambers for determining whether objects disposed in at least one of said plurality of chambers are to be refilled in bulk for eventual dispensing therefrom; and
e) an opening at a lower extremity of said housing.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A canister arrangement for refilling a pharmaceutical dispenser. The dispenser can hold a predetermined number of pills, tablets, or capsules at one time. Since the canister arrangement can hold considerably more than the dispenser can, the canister is able to fill the dispenser to capacity multiple times before the canister must be refilled. The canister has a housing and one or more chambers in the housing. When a plurality of chambers is present, at least one of the chambers has a sloping floor at the bottom of the housing. A swinging door is disposed between each pair of adjacent chambers. The swinging door(s) are automatically activated when the dispensing apparatus senses that the dispenser and the previous chamber are both empty. An opening is also provided at the bottom of the housing. A sliding door covers the opening to prevent pills, tablets and capsules from exiting the housing. The sliding door is automatically opened upon the occurrence of an external condition, such as when the dispensing apparatus senses that the dispenser is empty.
38 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A canister for use with a pharmaceutical dispensing apparatus comprising:
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a) a housing; b) a plurality of chambers in said housing, at least one of said plurality of chambers having a sloping floor at a lower extremity thereof; c) a controlled aperture disposed between each pair of adjacent ones of said chambers; d) a controller operatively connected to said controlled aperture and to said plurality of chambers for determining whether objects disposed in at least one of said plurality of chambers are to be refilled in bulk for eventual dispensing therefrom; and e) an opening at a lower extremity of said housing. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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5. A pharmaceutical dispensing subunit comprising:
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a) a canister comprising; i) a first housing; ii) a plurality of chambers in said first housing, at least one of said plurality of chambers having a sloping floor at a lower extremity thereof; iii) a controlled aperture disposed between each pair of adjacent ones of said chambers; iv) a controller operatively connected to said controlled aperture and to said plurality of chambers for determining whether objects disposed in at least one of said plurality of chambers are to be refilled in bulk for eventual dispensing therefrom; and v) a first opening at a lower extremity of said housing; and b) a dispenser comprising; i′
) a second housing; andii′
) a second opening disposed at an upper extremity of said second housing, said second opening being in operative relationship with said first opening of said canister, whereby pills, tablets and capsules disposed in said canister are automatically transferred to said dispenser upon the occurrence of an external condition. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9)
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16. A canister for use with a pharmaceutical dispensing apparatus comprising:
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a) a housing; b) a chamber in said housing; c) a loading door; d) a dispenser having means for determining whether objects disposed in said chamber are to be refilled in bulk for eventual dispensing thereby; and e) an electrical connector to establish communications between said canister and a dispenser. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19)
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Specification