Electrical pulse counters – pulse dividers – or shift registers: c – Applications – Counting animate or inanimate entities
Reexamination Certificate
2001-03-22
2002-04-23
Wambach, Margaret R. (Department: 2816)
Electrical pulse counters, pulse dividers, or shift registers: c
Applications
Counting animate or inanimate entities
Reexamination Certificate
active
06377648
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to pill counters for use by druggists or pharmacists in dispensing a predetermined number of pills, capsules or tablets into a prescription bottle from a stock bottle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
When dispensing a prescription for a medicament which is formulated as unit doses, e.g., in the form of pills, tablets, capsules, dragees or the like, the pharmacist has to remove the required number of unit doses from a bulk supply and place them in a smaller container. It is important that the counting is as accurate as possible, since the prescription is generally designed to last for a specific period of time, and the patient will become anxious if there are either too few or too many dosage units to complete the course of treatment which his physician has suggested.
The most widely used device employed by pharmacists for counting out pills and capsules, or more generally tablets, is a simple flat tray having a collecting bin positioned along one side margin thereof. A bulk supply of tablets is poured onto the tray and the desired amount counted into the bin using a conventional spatula technique. Once counted, the segregated tablets in the bin must be somehow placed in a prescription bottle without spilling the overage remaining on the tray. This oftentimes proves to be rather difficult. Although this type of tray is simple in construction and can be easily handled, the number of tablets that can be processed at one time is generally limited. Similarly, any moderate displacement of the tray can cause spillage or commingling of already separated tablets with the bulk. In recent years a number of mechanical and/or electrical pill dispensing devices have been developed. Typical prior art devices of this type include those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 792,918; 707,062; 2,771,198; 2,812,076; 2,863,572; 3,150,785; 3,206,062; 3,290,488; 3,386,618; 3,402,827; 3,662,904; 3,677,437; 3,746,211; 3,837,139 and 3,848,395.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for counting small articles such as pills. For convenience the term “pill” will be used herein to cover tablets, capsules, dragees and other unit dose pharmaceutical formulations for oral administration.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of this invention to provide a pill counter capable of being operated at relative high speeds to expedite the counting of pills.
In accordance with the present invention, the foregoing objective is realized by providing a pill counting machine comprising an outer casing, a funnel and three pill rotors. The three pill rotors are capable of rotating at predetermined synchronized speeds in order to sort the pills into pill bottles. The first and third rotors each contain a plurality of holes/chambers spaced equidistantly and radially from the center of each rotor. The second rotor contains a single orifice.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3837139 (1974-09-01), Roseberg
patent: 3848395 (1974-11-01), Totten
Stinson, Mag & Fizzell, P.C.
Wambach Margaret R.
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