Automated article dispensation mechanism

Details Automated article dispensation mechanism Automated article dispensation mechanism

2004-07-07

2010-06-01

Crawford, Gene O. (Department: 3651)

Article dispensing

With discharge assistant

Multiple, simultaneously acting and circumposed

C221S203000, C221S009000, C221S013000, C221S195000, C221S196000, C221S200000, C221S202000, C221S207000, C221S254000, C221S258000, C221S263000, C221S266000, C221S277000, C221S298000

Reexamination Certificate

active

07726514

ABSTRACT:
Disclosed is a system for collecting, sorting, counting and consolidating an unorganized pool of solid or semi-solid articles such as pills for dispensation. Specifically, the articles are extracted from inside a bin using attraction points on a transport substrate and sorted into containers in finite quantities. The system consists of several components, preferably including a torque source, a counter and a vacuum source, which are uniquely integrated onto a single end-effector to reduce cost and redundancy by servicing several bins. Further, the system presents a method of attracting and carrying pills using negative vacuum pressure, gravity and centrifugal force. This centrifugal force holds articles to the local attraction points and is provided by the spinning of the transport substrate. Pills are collected from the bin or plenum at the local attraction points, counted, cleaved from the local attraction points and guided to a container or vial.

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