Vacuum Apparatus and Methods for Handling Pills

Abstract

A pill handling apparatus having a plurality of rotary slats delivers pills from a reservoir to a number of containers. The rotary slats have receptacles in fluid communication with a vacuum assembly and the pills are drawn into the receptacles by vacuum. The pill may be released into containers by expelled air from a blower assembly. Pills entering containers may be individually counted to assure accurate filling of the containers. A conveyor may position the containers at filling stations to receive pills. The rotary slats may be independently rotatable for delivering accurate pill counts to the containers. Optical devices may inspect the pills as they travel toward the containers.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]The present invention relates to pill handling apparatus and methods and, more particularly, relates to an apparatus and associated methods for handling pills with a vacuum assembly.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]Pharmaceutical medicines and associated packaging apparatuses are subject to high expectations from consumers and guidelines and dictates from regulatory entities. For example, pills, capsules, and the like are produced and packaged to meet various regulations including sterility requirements. In addition, pills should be accurately counted and packaged so that each package includes exactly a predetermined number of units as labeled. Cost effective automated counting and packaging systems address these challenges.[0003]A typical conventional pill counting and packaging machine includes a hopper having a reservoir of pills in contact with a pill-capturing assembly such as an array of rotary slats. The rotary slats capture pills and drop or guide...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0009]The present invention provides a pill handling apparatus having a plurality of rotary slats, each of which is disposed in fluid communication with a vacuum assembly. The rotary slats each have an outer surface that defines receptacles for receiving pills. The outer surface of each rotary slat may further define an outer contour sloped toward the receptacles thereof to facilitate the entry of pills into the receptacles. Air is drawn into the pill receptacles by the vacuum assembly to urge pills within a reservoir to be received by the receptacles. The rotary slats rotate to transport the pills from the reservoir to containers, which may be disposed at filling stations to receive pills from respective rotary slats. The rotary slats may be independently rotatable so that each container can be accurately filled by a respective rotary slat. The pill handling apparatus may also include a blower assembly configured to expel air from the receptacles to urge pills to be dispensed from the receptacles to the containers. Camera devices may be positioned adjacent respective rotary slats for detecting and / or inspecting pills received by the slats, e.g., before the pills are released to containers. A conveyor may move the containers and position each container adjacent a respective rotary slat for receiving pills therefrom.

Problems solved by technology

This device may operate well; however, pills may occasionally fail to be captured and the cover 80 prevents visual inspection of pills received in the openings 18.

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