Labelling system and method
AssigneeRight Epharmacy (Pty) Ltd
InventorAndre Vanbiljon
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A pharmaceutical dispenser includes a conveyor including a receiving end for receiving an article to be labelled, a discharge end for discharging the article after the article has been labelled into a dispensing container, a label applicator for attaching at least part of a label to the article whilst the article travels on the conveyor, and a resiliently deformable object for forcing at least part of the at least partially attached label onto the article. The dispensing container receives the article, as the article falls under a force of gravity from the conveyor at its discharge end into the dispensing container. The conveyor includes a dispensing opening in a front side of the pharmaceutical dispenser through which the article is accessible and removable from the dispensing container.
Claims19
A pharmaceutical dispenser comprising:
- a conveyor comprising:
- a receiving end for receiving an article to be labelled;
- a discharge end for discharging the article after the article has been labelled into a dispensing container;
- a label applicator for attaching at least part of a label to the article whilst the article travels on the conveyor;
- a resiliently deformable object for forcing at least part of the at least partially attached label onto the article;
- the dispensing container receiving the article, as the article falls under a force of gravity from the conveyor at its discharge end into the dispensing container;
- and
- a dispensing opening in a front side of the pharmaceutical dispenser through which the article is accessible and removable from the dispensing container.
A pharmaceutical dispensing method comprising the steps of:
- moving an article, being a container containing medicine, on a conveyor, to pass by a label applicator;
- attaching at least part of a label, to the article with the label applicator;
- forcing, a resiliently deformable object against part of the at least partially attached label in the direction of the article;
- allowing the article to move further on the conveyor until it falls, under force of gravity, off the end of a discharge end of the conveyor into a dispensing container which is accessible from a front of a pharmaceutical dispenser.
A labelling apparatus comprising a conveyor comprising:
- a receiving end for receiving an open top dispensing box with an article to be labelled therein;
- a discharge end for discharging the article;
- a label applicator for attaching a label to the article;
- a resiliently deformable object movable to securely force portion of the label onto the article;
- a suction cup movable between an engagement position in which the suction cup engages the article in the dispensing box and a retracted position in which the article is attached to the suction cup and moved out of the dispensing box;
- and
- a discard apparatus that pushes the dispensing box off the conveyor after which the suction cup releases the article so that the article falls back onto the conveyor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.