Method for sorting, counting and validating articles, in particular pharmaceuticals

A method for sorting and counting articles, in particular pharmaceutical articles, including following steps:

• moving articles in a forward movement direction along a conveying line, the conveying line defining at least one conveying channel for conveying said articles;
• creating a continuous flow of said articles and making said flow of articles fall freely after exiting from said conveying channel;
• checking the integrity of each article of said continuous flow by detecting means, situated along the continuous flow and connected to at least one control unit for processing information;
• freely introducing articles found by said detecting means as non-integral, into collecting means;
• activating, by said control unit and in step relation with said detecting means, deflector means, situated downstream of said detecting means with respect to said flow, for deviating articles found as integral, from the continuous flow and into a container until a selected number of said integral articles is reached;
• activating, by said control unit and in step relation with filling up of said container, of said deflector means to deviate articles found as integral, from the continuous flow into an empty container.