Vial gripping mechanism for automatic medicament dispensing machine

A vial gripping mechanism operable to protect a sensor while in transit for use in an automatic medicament dispensing machine, the mechanism comprising:

• a first rotatable jaw;
• a second jaw coupled to an output shaft of a jaw motor and operable to rotate toward the first jaw thereby gripping a vial;
• a swing arm rotatably secured to the mechanism, the swing arm including a sensor end, a cam end, and a channel which protects a cable;
• at least a portion of the sensor affixed to the sensor end;
• a cam fixedly mounted to the mechanism;
• a torsion spring operable to push the cam end against the cam;
• a shield operable to protect the sensor end when the swing arm is in a shielded position by surrounding the sensor end on at least three sides;
• and
• a motor operable to move the swing arm relative to the cam such that the sensor end is rotated between the shielded position and a sensing position.

A medicament dispensing machine for dispensing and counting countable medicaments, the medicament dispensing machine comprising:

• a plurality of medicament dispensers operable to store and dispense medicaments;
• a plurality of vial dispensers operable to store and dispense empty vials;
• a sensor receiving array and a sensor transmitting array together operable to aid in counting medicaments;
• and
• a vial gripping mechanism operable to move within the machine, the mechanism including
• a first rotatable jaw,
• a second jaw coupled to an output shaft of a jaw motor and operable to rotate toward the first jaw thereby gripping a vial,
• a swing arm rotatably secured to the mechanism,
• a cam operable to cause rotation of the swing arm,
• a shield fixedly mounted to the mechanism and operable to protect a sensor end of the swing arm when the swing arm is in a shielded position, and
• a motor operable to move the swing arm relative to the cam such that the sensor end is rotated between the shielded position and a sensing position.