Patent ID: 7624894
Filing Date: 2009-12-01
Classification: A61J,G07F

Abstract:
1. A pill-dispensing apparatus for automatically dispensing solid pills, comprising: a plurality of storage units for storing pills in bulk, each storage unit including a hopper and an auger movably positioned with respect to the hopper, wherein an inlet of the auger is positioned to receive pills from the hopper, and wherein the auger includes a helical ridge integrated into an inner surface of the auger; and a pill-dispensing module including a dock selectively separable from the storage units and for receiving and holding a selected one of the storage units, a drive unit for rotating the auger of the selected one of the storage units to motivate the pills along the auger of the selected one of the storage units, a pill counter for counting pills dispensed from an auger outlet, and a lift for tilting the hopper of the selected one of the storage units to control flow and to assist in motivating pills to fall from the hopper of the selected one of the storage units and move along the auger of the selected one of the storage units; wherein each storage unit can be selectively received and held by the dock, with the drive unit of the pill-dispensing module being able to rotate the auger of the selected one of the storage units.