US 6,497,342 B2Granted

Medicine feeder

AssigneeMcKesson Automated Healthcare, Inc.

InventorsBin Zhang, Manoj K. Wangu

Life of this patent

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Abstract

A unit dose medicine feeder for use in a packaging machine that can receive pills individually from a reservoir has a cylindrical housing having a base with an opening through which a pill may pass. There is a wheel-like component on the base that has a plurality of slots about its outer periphery. The slots are sized to receive a single pill in the form of a tablet, capsule or caplet and are oriented to have walls that are 10° to 45° from vertical. A gear mechanism is provided to connect the wheel-like component to a motor to rotate the wheel-like component. That rotation will sequentially align the slots with the opening in the base allowing a pill within the slot to pass from the slot through the opening. The orientation of the slots enables the wheel to receive a wider range of pill sizes without jamming and without dispensing more than one unit from a slot. Preferably there is a trap door in the medicine feeder that directs a dispensed pill directly to packaging material in a packaging machine.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A unit dose medicine feeder comprising:

a. a housing having a base and a wall extending from the base and defining a reservoir for holding pills, the base having an outer periphery and an opening located along the outer periphery, the opening sized to allow at least one pill selected from the group consisting of tablets, capsules and caplets to pass through the opening;
b. a wheel-like component having a top surface, a bottom surface which is adjacent the base of the cylindrical housing, an outer periphery and a plurality of elongated slots around the outer periphery, each slot oriented to have a center line that is parallel to the wall of the cylindrical housing and from 10° to 45° from vertical, the slots sized to receive a single pill selected from the group consisting of tablets, capsules and caplets, the slots being positioned so that as the wheel-like component is rotated the slots will sequentially become aligned with the opening in the base allowing a pill within the slot to pass from the slot through the opening,
c. a coupling attached to the wheel-like component and configured for connection to a motor for rotating the wheel-like component relative to the base, and
d. a retainer attached to the wall of the housing, the retainer positioned opposite from the opening in the base and adjacent the top of the wheel like member, the retainer sized to cover a slot in the wheel-like member when that slot is aligned with the opening in the base.

1 more element

An improved unit dose medicine packaging machine of the type in which a medicine feeder containing pills is positioned above packaging material that is sealed around each dispensed pill, the improvement comprising the medicine feeder comprising:

a. a housing having a base and a wall extending from the base defining a reservoir for holding pills, the base having an outer periphery and an opening located along the outer periphery, the opening sized to allow at least one pill selected from the group consisting of tablets, capsules and caplets to pass through the opening;
b. a wheel-like component having a top surface, a bottom surface which is adjacent the base of the cylindrical housing an outer periphery and a plurality of elongated slots around the outer periphery, each slot oriented to have a center line that is parallel to the wall of the cylindrical housing and from 10° to 45° from vertical, the slots sized to receive a single pill selected from the group consisting of tablets, capsules and caplets, the slots being positioned so that as the wheel-like component is rotated the slots will sequentially become aligned with the opening in the base allowing a pill within the slot to pass from the slot through the opening;
c. a coupled attached to the wheel-like component and configured for connection to a motor for rotating the wheel-like component relative to the base;
and
d. a retainer attached to the wall of the housing, the retainer positioned opposite from the opening in the base and adjacent the top of the wheel like member, the retainer sized to cover a slot in the wheel-like member when that slot is aligned with the opening in the base;
and
e. a motor connected to the coupling.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 09/726,855Filed 30 Nov 2000
Published: US 2002/0096535 A125 Jul 2002
Granted: 24 Dec 2002
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification5 codes

B65G 47/1457
By means of movement of the bottom or a part of the wall of the container: rotating movement in the plane of the rotating part
B65B 35/08
Separating single articles from loose masses of articles: using pocketed conveyors
B65B 35/26
Feeding, e.g. conveying, single articles: by rotary conveyors
B65G
Transport or storage devices