Patent ID: 9682016
Date: 2017-06-20
CPC Classifications: A61J,G06M,G07F

Claim:
1. An apparatus for counting and dispensing pills, said apparatus having a self-calibrating dispensing portion, comprising: a) a hopper for containing a plurality of pills; b) a transport tube having an inlet aperture for receiving pills discharged from said hopper and an optical detector mechanism for directly measuring transit time of said pills proximate said detector mechanism and for generating a pulse width signal and an amplitude signal for each of said detected pills; c) a microcontroller operatively connected to said optical detector mechanism and to said inlet aperture, said microcontroller having means for receiving said pulse width signal and said amplitude signal for each of said detected pills, for analyzing said pulse width signal and said amplitude signal, and for dynamically storing information representative thereof; and d) means operatively connected to said inlet aperture for controlling opening and closing operations thereof, said means for controlling being dynamically adjusted for self-calibration thereof based upon said stored information representative of said pulse width signal and said amplitude signal and irrespective of measured or stored size and shape of said pills.