Method and apparatus for dispensing items

• US 8,972,049 B2
• Filed: 10/24/2012
• Issued: 03/03/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/01/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Data Detection Technologies Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Data Distribution Technologies LLC (General Patent Corporation)
• Inventors: Weinberger, Zvi, Tidhar, Ari, Shneiderman, Israel, Kahana, Nachshon, Adam, Amichai, Teitelbaum, Aryeh, Davidovitch, Oded, Shomer, Yossi, Lichi, Yuval, Faib, Igor
• Primary Examiner(s): WAGGONER, TIMOTHY R
• Application Number:
  US13/658,881
• Publication Number:
  US 20130144431A1
• Time in Patent Office: 860 Days
• Field of Search: 700/236, 700/240
• US Class Current: 700/240
• CPC Class Codes: B65B 5/103 for packaging pills or tablets
• CPC Class Codes: B65B 57/14 and operating to control, or stop, the feed of articles or material to be packaged
• CPC Class Codes: B65B 57/20 Applications of counting devices for controlling the feed of articles other applications B65B65/08
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 43/08 Control devices operated by article or material being fed, conveyed or discharged and controlling the discharging devices B65G47/42
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 17/00 Digital computing or data processing equipment or methods, specially adapted for specific functions information retrieval, database structures or file system structures therefor G06F16/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06M 7/02 wherein objects ahead of the sensing element are separated to produce a distinct gap between successive objects
• CPC Class Codes: G06M 7/04 Counting of piece goods, e.g. of boxes
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10016 Video; Image sequence
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/0004 Industrial image inspection

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.

Claims

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, in a direction orthogonal to a direction of the transport;

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, wherein at least some of the items falling off the conveyor are falling off in parallel, in a direction orthogonal to a direction of the transport;

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 inertially, wherein the total number of falling items is smaller than the predetermined number by up to ten; and

operating a supplementary item dispenser to automatically and discretely dispense, one by one, the exact number of items needed to complete the predetermined number of items.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the operating of the supplementary item dispenser is performed at least partially simultaneously with the operating of the conveyor.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the area immediately below the end of the conveyor extends to an effective portion of the width of the end of the conveyor, such that all of the items transported in parallel and falling off the end of the conveyor in parallel are recorded in the images.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein a vertical gap is provided between the end of the conveyor and an upper edge of the area, to ensure that an end surface of the conveyor is not recorded in the images.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the processing of the images to continuously determine the number of falling items comprises increasing an item count by one when an item exits the area, wherein an exit is determined when a top portion of an item appears in an image but is missing from a consecutive image.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the processing of the images to continuously determine the number of falling items comprises increasing an item count by one when an item enters the area, wherein entrance is determined when a bottom portion of an item appears in an image but is missing from an immediately preceding image.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the processing of the images to continuously determine the number of falling items comprises:

tracking each item over consecutive images, from entering the area until exiting the area; and

increasing an item count by one upon the exit of each tracked item, to prevent a miscount if occasional noise appears in one or more of the images.

8. An apparatus for rapidly and accurately dispensing a predetermined number of discrete items, the apparatus comprising:

a parallel transport conveyor configured to transport multiple items in parallel, in a direction orthogonal to a direction of the transport, wherein the transport is 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, wherein at least some of the items falling off the conveyor are falling off in parallel, in a direction orthogonal to a direction of the transport;

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,

generate an actuator control command of said actuator control commands, the actuator control command being to stop said conveyor before the number of falling items has reached the predetermined number, such that the number of falling items is smaller than the predetermined number by up to ten, and

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 and discretely, one by one, the number of items needed for completing the predetermined number of items.

9. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said counting device comprises an image sensor and is configured to capture said images using a predetermined number of pixel rows of said image sensor, the predetermined number being lower than a total number of sensor rows existing in said image sensor.

10. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said counting device is configured to determine the number of falling items by analyzing a pattern of sensor pixels affected by a falling item in consecutive samples of the image sensor.

11. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said counting device comprises an image sensor, and wherein the apparatus further comprises at least one light source for providing light to be reflected by the falling items onto the image sensor.

12. The apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising a lens assembly for focusing light reflected from the falling items onto the imaging device.

13. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the supplementary dispenser is further configured to dispense the number of items needed for completing the predetermined number of items at least partially simultaneously with the transporting of the multiple items by the parallel transport conveyor.

14. An item dispenser comprising:

a parallel transport conveyor configured to transport items such that items fall off an end of the conveyor at a rate of at least 50 items per second, wherein at least some of the items which fall off the end of the conveyor fall off in parallel, in a direction orthogonal to a direction of the transport;

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,

generate an actuator control command of said actuator control commands, the actuator control command being to stop said conveyor before the number of falling items has reached a predetermined number, such that the number of falling items is smaller than the predetermined number by up to ten, and

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, discretely, one by one, and at a rate of 1-4 items per second.

15. The item dispenser according to claim 14, wherein the supplementary dispenser is further configured to dispense exactly the number of items needed for completing the predetermined number of items at least partially simultaneously with the transporting of the items by the parallel transport conveyor.