Patent ID: 6253953
Filing Date: 2001-07-03
Classification: B65B,G06M,G07F

Abstract:
An automatic high-speed pill counting apparatus comprising:a cylindrical pill hopper having a pill exit and a center hole in a base plate;a rotational separative feeder rotatably mounted in the lower portion in said cylindrical pill hopper and removably fitted on a shaft borne in the center hole of said base plate, said feeder including an upper diametrically smaller portion and a lower diametrically larger portion having an external diameter approximate to the internal diameter of the lower portion of said pill hopper, a multiplicity of vertically through holes being formed in the outer circumference of said lower diametrically larger portion and allowed to come into alignment with said pill exit for accommodating a plurality of pills vertically, the lower portions of said multiple vertically through holes being diverged downward, a ring-shaped slit being formed in such a position in the outer circumference of said lower diametrically larger portion as to accommodate substantially one pill from the bottom;a pill separating plate mounted on said cylindrical pill hopper above said pill exit and having an inwardly projected tip fitted loosely in said slit;a drive motor for driving said shaft; anda pill passage counting sensor arranged below said pill exit.