US 5,509,773 A · Machine and process for recovering pharmaceutical product

Abstract

An apparatus for recovering pharmaceutical product from blister packs and a method for doing same is provided. Pharmaceutical product blister pack cards, which are unsuitable for sale, are straightened, if necessary, and stacked in a magazine. Individual blister cards are indexed from the magazine stack onto an operations chain conveyor at a loading station by a finger indexing subsystem. The chain conveyor carries the blister card to a cutting station where the back face of the card receives a peripheral cut at the location of each blister pocket and inside the wall of the pocket. The chain conveyor then carries the blister card to a punching station where each product on the card is forced through the back face of the card utilizing moving the respective cut section of the card back, thereby discharging the product into a collection bin. The emptied blister card is moved to a discharge region where it is separated from the chain conveyor. The operation of the entire machine is driven end timed from a single central drive motor. The number of moving parts in the machine is minimized.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A method of recovering pharmaceutical product from blister pack cards, said cards each having a top face with at least one blister product pocket extending outwardly therefrom and a back face, comprising the steps of:

establishing a transport plate for holding each said blister pack card and controlling the orientation thereof while said blister pack card and said blister product packet thereof are operated upon;
feeding said cards, each held by a said transport plate, individually and sequentially to a cutting station;
at said cutting station, cutting through the back face of said card, oriented by said transport plate, at each blister product pocket location, simultaneously;
moving said cut card oriented by said transport plate to a punching station;
at said punching station, simultaneously forcing each said product out of its respective pocket of said cut card by punching downward on each said blister thereby crushing it and pushing said product held therein through said cut back face to free said product of said card structure while said card is oriented by said transport plate;
collecting said freed product;
and
collecting said emptied card as waste from said transport plate.

5 more elements

An apparatus, having a cutting station and a punching station, for recovering pharmaceutical product from blister pack cards, said cards each having a back face and a plurality of blister product pockets extending upwardly from said back face in a pattern to form a top face of said card, and pharmaceutical product held in said blister pockets, comprising:

a retention structure for holding a quantity of said blister cards from which product is to be recovered;
an indexing structure for selecting single ones of said blister cards from said retention structure and feeding same;
a conveyance structure including a plurality of nest plates each having an opening therethrough for receiving said singly fed blister cards from said indexing structure and for conveying same in single sequential and predetermined order first to a cutting station and then to a punching station;
a plurality of cutter structures, establishing said cutting station, and aligned consistent with said pattern of the product blister pockets on said card and operable to cut a flap through said back face at the location of each said product pocket when a said card is aligned with said cutting station, said cutter structures operating through each said nest plate opening;
a knock out structure, establishing a punching station, and operable to simultaneously push each of said product units through its respective cut flap when said card is aligned with said punching station thereby emptying said card of said product, whereof a die member is lowered onto each said blister pocket collapsing it and pushing said product downward through said cut back face, said knock out structure operating through said each said nest plate opening;
a collection structure for receiving said emptied product, being positioned adjacent said punching station;
and
a discharge structure wherein said conveyance structure is manipulated for each nest plate to discharge each said emptied card.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Machine and process for recovering pharmaceutical product

Life of this patent

Machine and process for recovering pharmaceutical product

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims20