Abstract:
A system for dispensing items comprising a base and at least one wheel rotatably coupled to the base. There is also at least one actuator slidably disposed the wheel. This actuator is for retaining the item to be dispensed from the system. There is also at least one optical recognition system disposed adjacent to the wheel. This optical recognition system is for identifying at least one characteristic of the item to be dispensed to selectively actuate the actuator to dispense the item to be dispensed. The optical recognition system can be in the form of a camera or an electric eye to recognize a visual feature of an item to be dispensed such as a tablet or a pill.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This application is a non provisional application and claims priority from provisional application Ser. No. 60/675,006, this application is also a continuation in part application and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. 120 from U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/872,882 filed on Jun. 21, 2004, which is a continuation in part application of 10/697,631 filed on Oct. 29, 2003, wherein that application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) from U.S. provisional application 60/422,179 filed on Oct. 29, 2002. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     The present invention relates to a pill or tablet analysis device which can be used to analyze pills or tablets in a precise manner. Other pill distribution systems are known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,220,481; 6,227,345; 5,984,079; 5,826,696; and 3,356,260 are known in the art and are hereby incorporated herein by reference.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]     The invention relates to a pill or tablet handling device that includes a wheel that has a plurality of reception slots for receiving a pill or tablet oriented in a particular manner.  
         [0004]     Essentially, the invention relates to a system for dispensing items comprising a base or stand and at least one wheel rotatably coupled to the base. There is also at least one actuator slidably disposed the wheel. This actuator is for retaining the item to be dispensed from the system. There is also at least one optical recognition system disposed adjacent to the wheel. This optical recognition system is for identifying at least one characteristic of this item to be dispensed, to selectively actuate the actuator to dispense this item. The optical recognition system can be in the form of a camera a measuring laser system or an electric eye to recognize a visual feature of an item to be dispensed such as a tablet or a pill. In at least one embodiment of the invention, this visual feature can be in the form of a laser burned hole print or bar code in the pill.  
         [0005]     This device can also include least one hopper for feeding items to be dispensed into a position adjacent to the actuator.  
         [0006]     To hold and selectively dispense the items to be dispensed, the wheel can comprise at least one wing or extension having a notch for receiving an individual pill or tablet from the hopper. The wheel can include at least one recess, and at least one slot for receiving an actuator for selectively retaining a pill. The actuator can include an actuator block, a spring and an actuator arm. Each recess is for receiving each actuator block and each associated spring while each slot is for receiving each actuator arm.  
         [0007]     This system also can include least one cam for selectively actuating the actuator, wherein when the actuator is activated it can be used to dispense the item from the associated wheel. In this case, the actuator can comprise at least one actuator wheel wherein the actuator wheel can be selectively contacted by the cam to cause the actuator to slide in the wheel causing the actuator arm to slide away from the item to be dispensed thereby releasing and dispensing the item from the wheel.  
         [0008]     While the wheel is turning, each item to be dispensed from the wheel is viewed by the optical recognition system to determine whether the item to be dispensed should be sent down an associated accept chute or an associated reject chute. In this case, the optical recognition system can be coupled to the stand via an optical support element.  
         [0009]     This optical support element can be in the form of at least two holding elements with a first holding element for holding a first optical recognition element such as a camera on one side of the wheel, and a second holding element for holding a second optical recognition element such as a camera on an opposite side the wheel.  
         [0010]     Essentially, a computer or processor is in communication with the cameras or both optical recognition elements wherein the computer has a predefined set of optical parameters to determine whether to accept or reject an item to be dispensed. In at least one embodiment, this item to be dispensed can be in the form of a tablet or a pill. Upon visual recognition, the computer would determine whether the pills would be dispensed into either the accept chute or the reject chute. In at least one embodiment, the wheel which selectively retains the pills in a wing region, has an actuator selectively retaining these pills in the wheel. When the camera identifies that the pill is unacceptable, a piston or solenoid actuating element would adjust its position to cause a reject cam to rotate to then actuate against the selected actuator wheel to cause the actuator block to slide against the spring to dispense the pill into a reject chute. At this point, the wheel may slow or stop to ensure ejection of the appropriate pill.  
         [0011]     If the camera identifies that this pill is acceptable, then the wheel continues to turn past the reject chute without contacting the reject cam, wherein the actuator contacts an accept cam to eject the pill or tablet into the accept chute. This accept cam is elongated so that as the wheel continues to turn in a clockwise manner past the accept chute the cam continues to actuate the actuators in contact with that cam to open up a receipt slot or notch in the wheel to accept a new tablet to be dispensed from the hopper.  
         [0012]     Each tablet is then unloaded from a slot in the hopper wherein each tablet in the hopper can then slide into the receipt slot or notch in the wheel. The tablets align in these notches or slots so that they can be easily viewed by the cameras disposed adjacent to the wheel. The tablets are held in place by the actuator arm which is pushed against the tablet via the actuator spring acting on the actuator block.  
         [0013]     In this way, quality control over these tablets is ensured so that a poorly designed tablet which is optically recognizable can be rejected from the group. For example, tablets that have a time release coating may also have a hole burned into them from a laser burning system. An improperly drilled hole would alter the time release on the pill or tablet. This device can be used to ensure that each tablet has at least one properly burned hole. If the tablet does not contain a properly burned hole, then that tablet is removed from the group of acceptable tablets and sent through the reject chute. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0014]     Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description considered in connection with the accompanying drawings. It should be understood, however, that the drawings are designed for the purpose of illustration only and not as a definition of the limits of the invention.  
         [0015]     In the drawings, wherein similar reference characters denote similar elements throughout the several views:  
         [0016]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the first embodiment of the device;  
         [0017]      FIG. 2  is a side perspective view of the device shown in  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0018]      FIG. 3  is a top perspective view of the device shown in  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0019]      FIG. 4  is a side view of the device shown in  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0020]      FIG. 5  is a front-side perspective view of the device with the hopper present;  
         [0021]      FIG. 6  is a front perspective view of the wheel and hopper removed from the device shown in  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0022]      FIG. 7  is a perspective view opposite to that shown in  FIG. 6  with the base plate removed;  
         [0023]      FIG. 8  is a side perspective view of the device with the base plate being removed;  
         [0024]      FIG. 9  is a perspective view of the wheel with a top removed;  
         [0025]      FIG. 10  is a perspective view of the holders;  
         [0026]      FIG. 11  is a perspective view of a single holder shown in  FIG. 10 ;  
         [0027]      FIG. 12  is a perspective view of a wheel with the holders with a top removed;  
         [0028]      FIG. 13  is a perspective view of a wheel with a top on it;  
         [0029]      FIG. 14  is a perspective view of the hopper;  
         [0030]      FIG. 15  is an opposite side perspective view of the hopper shown in  FIG. 14 ;  
         [0031]      FIG. 16  is a perspective view of the device shown in  FIG. 1  without the wheel shown;  
         [0032]      FIG. 17  is a perspective view of the device without the hopper or the wheel shown;  
         [0033]      FIG. 18  is a perspective view of the holder shown in  FIG. 17 ;  
         [0034]      FIG. 19  shows a perspective view of another embodiment of the invention;  
         [0035]      FIG. 20  is a perspective view of a set of blocks;  
         [0036]      FIG. 21  is a perspective view of the base for the wheel shown in  FIG. 19 ;  
         [0037]      FIG. 22  is a side cross-sectional view of the cover plate. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0038]     Referring to the drawings,  FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the invention wherein in this view, there is a device for dispensing tablets or pills. This device includes a stand or base  12 , a base plate  14 , coupled to the stand  12 . There is a hopper  16  for dispensing these tablets into a wheel  20 .  
         [0039]     Wheel  20  includes an inner wheel  24  and an outer wheel  22 . Inner wheel  24  is coupled to a rotary drive motor  18  (See  FIG. 3 ) while outer wheel is coupled to a holding element in the form of wings, extension elements or flanges  50  (See  FIG. 9 ) wherein wings  50  are for holding or presenting tablets  35 .  
         [0040]     Disposed adjacent to wheel  20  are at least two chutes, wherein there is a reject chute  34  and an accept chute  32  disposed adjacent to reject chute  34 . These chutes are coupled to stand  12 . An optical support system  200  is also coupled to stand  12  wherein this optical support system is for reviewing and analyzing tablets in wheel  20 .  
         [0041]      FIG. 2  shows an opposite perspective view of this device wherein tablets  35  are disposed inside of hopper  16  and are selectively dispensed out from a hole in hopper  16  so that these tablets  35  can feed into a retainer or tablet holder which is in the form of an indent, notch, hole, or reception area  52  (see  FIG. 9 ) in wings  50 .  
         [0042]      FIG. 4  shows that this device, particularly wheel  20  is positioned on an approximately 45 degree angle so that tablets  35  can be dispensed at least partially using a gravitational force. Because wheel  20  is positioned at this angle, tablets that are inserted into reception areas  52  will remain in these areas while wheel  20  is spinning. Thus, because of this positioning, the release of the holding element or pill will cause the pill to slide down a slot and into an adjacent reception area.  
         [0043]      FIG. 5  shows this device with wheel  20  removed. In this view, a dispensing rim or cam  26  is exposed wherein this dispensing rim  26  is curved and has at least a first region that is disposed adjacent to accept chute  32 . Cam  26  is designed to contact a plurality of actuator wheels  73  (See  FIG. 10 ) which then react by opening a leaf or arm that is blocking or keeping a tablet or pill in reception area  52  to allow a tablet to be dispensed into accept chute  32 . Thus, in this design, dispensing rim  26  is positioned so that when wheel  20  rotates in a clockwise manner, the cam wheels  73  will contact this cam  26  at, or just before an associated reception area  52  reaches accept chute  32  so that these tablets can be dispensed into accept chute  32 .  
         [0044]     In addition, cam  26  continues to curve around along a path of actuator wheels so that any associated actuator wheels  73  would still be retracted when reception area  52  reaches a region where hopper  16  would be dispensing tablets into wheels  20 . This keeps each reception area  52  open so that pills  35  can slide into each area.  
         [0045]      FIG. 6  is a front perspective view of the device with the hopper removed. With this design, there is shown a plurality of columns  19   a ,  19   b  and  19   c  which are coupled to base plate  14 . In this case, columns  19   a  and  19   b  are used to support a base bracket  42  and a cylinder  40 . Cylinder  40  is attached at one end to base bracket  42  and at an opposite end to cam  26  which is also supported by column  19   c . Cam  26  is coupled at an opposite end to a rotating column or hinge  45  and a support shaft or column  46 . Support shaft or column  19   c  is slidable along base plate  14  so that cam  26  can be rotated about shaft  45 . Cam  26  can be rotated so that it can move from a first position, wherein it is positioned so that it can be set to contact associated cam wheels to release tablets or pills when the wheel rotates in a clockwise manner. Cam  26  can also be rotated around shaft  45  so that it can move into a second position wherein cam  26  rotates in a counter clockwise manner around column  45  to move away from wheel  20  so that cam  26  does not interact with cam wheel  73  (See  FIG. 7 ) so that the tablets disposed in the wheel are retained.  
         [0046]      FIG. 7  shows an opposite side perspective view of the device shown in  FIG. 6 . In this view, cylinder  40  is shown connecting from base bracket  42  to slidable block or column  19   c . There is also shown an additional column  19   d  wherein columns  19   a ,  19   b  and  19   d  are support elements for supporting hopper  16 .  
         [0047]      FIG. 8  shows a perspective view of the device shown in  FIG. 6  with the base plate removed. In this view, there is shown additional support columns  62 ,  64 ,  66 , and  68  which are supported on a bottom base plate  69 . Bottom base plate  69  is coupled to frame  12  while support columns  62 ,  64 ,  66 , and  68  are supported on bottom base plate  69  and are used to support base plate  14  shown in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0048]      FIG. 9  is a front perspective view of wheel  20  removed from the device shown in  FIG. 1 . Wheel  20  includes wheel section  22  and also a hole  60  wherein hole  60  is designed to couple to an axle (not shown) coupled to rotatable motor  18 . Wheel  20  includes wings or holding element  50  which includes an indent or hole  52  that can be used to receive tablets  35  as shown in  FIG. 12 . Along with the plurality of wings  50  and indents  52 , there are a plurality of slots  52  and housings  56  which are either cast into wheel  20  or machined into wheel  20  and are used to receive at least one actuator  70  shown in  FIG. 10 . In addition, there are a plurality of holes  58  which allow a shaft  74  to extend from sliding blocks  72  to cam wheels  73  (see  FIG. 10 ) which can be positioned on an opposite side of wheel  20  than sliding blocks  72 . Holes  58  are formed in an elongated manner so as to allow shaft  74  to slide axially out or in. In a radially inner region of these slots or housings  56 , there is a spring receiving indent  59  which bends radially in, in a curved manner so that a spring  76  can rest inside and extend out therefrom. This spring  76  is held or laterally supported by this indent so that spring  76  can provide continuous support for block  72 .  
         [0049]      FIG. 10  is a perspective view of actuators  70  which include sliding blocks  72  and cam wheels  73  which are attached to sliding blocks  72  via a shaft  74 . Sliding blocks  72  slide within housings  56  and each contain at least one spring  76  which is used to selectively activate sliding blocks  72 . Spring  76  fits inside of indented housings  56  in a region of indent  59 . Spring  76  acts to bias sliding block  72  towards a radially outside region on wheel  20 . Actuators  70  also include an actuator arm  78  which fits inside of a corresponding slot  53  on wheel  20 . Actuator arm  78  is slid back and forth inside of corresponding slot  53  wherein actuator arm  78  is used to hold a corresponding tablet or pill  35  in place in hole or slot  52 . The features of actuator  70  are shown in greater detail in  FIG. 11 .  
         [0050]     Notch  52  can be formed as a crescent or semi-circular shaped slot wherein this notch can be formed to receive a substantial portion of a rounded tablet or pill. The rounded edges of notch or hole  52  allows tablet or pill to reside in notch  52  while being supported by a shaft or actuator arm  78  which has a corresponding curved edge to wrap around this associated pill. The shape of this notch and the shape of the associated end of actuator arm  78  can be used to hold the associated tablet or pill in place. When the actuator arm  78  is moved out of place, then pill or tablet drops out and is released into either an accept shaft  32  or a reject shaft  34 .  
         [0051]      FIG. 12  shows a perspective view of wheel  20  wherein in this view, there is shown actuators  70  disposed inside of wheel  20  wherein these actuators  70  have springs  76  disposed in recessed region or indent  59  for receiving springs  76 . As wheel  20  rotates, actuators  70  selectively contact one or more cams such as cam  26  to release tablets.  FIG. 13  shows the wheel of  FIG. 12  with a cover  23  disposed on top covering actuators  70 .  
         [0052]      FIGS. 14 and 15  show two different perspective views of hopper  16  wherein hopper  16  includes a plurality of tabs  17   a    17   b  and  17   c  which are used to allow hopper  16  to connect to columns  19   a ,  19   b  and  19   d  respectively.  
         [0053]     Hopper  16  can also have a side panel  162 , a plurality of side blocks  163  and  165 , and a top block  164 . There is also an additional panel  161  which can be used to help future tablets or pills through slot  167 .  
         [0054]      FIG. 16  shows hopper  16  coupled to columns  19   a  and  19   b  via tabs  17   a  and  17   b , while this view also shows an additional cam system  126  which can be used to selectively release tablets or pills from wheel  20  so that these tablets or pills flow down a reject chute  34 . Additional cam system  126  also contains additional piston  140  which can be used to selectively activate cam  125  to react with cam wheels  73  so that pills or tablets can be released into reject chute  34 . If cam system  126  does not activate cam  125  then the tablets or pills  35  remain in wheel  20  and are only released into accept chute  32  via cam  26 .  
         [0055]      FIG. 17  is a perspective view of the device with the wheel removed. In this case, there is shown second cam system  126  which includes a piston  140  for activating this second cam system. A plurality of shafts  19   a ,  19   b , and  19   d  are also shown wherein these shafts can be used to support a hopper  16  (not shown). Essentially, piston  140  is designed to receive signals from an associated computer as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/6927,631 and shown in  FIG. 16  of that reference wherein the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference.  
         [0056]     If piston  140  contracts, it causes cam  125  to contract into wheel  20  so that cam wheels  73  interact with cam  126  causing pills or tablets to be expelled into eject chute  34 .  
         [0057]      FIG. 17  also discloses optic stand  200  which is shown in greater detail in  FIG. 18 .  FIG. 18  shows optic stand  200  which includes a column or shaft  210 , a first bracket  220 , which can be used to stabilize an optical recognition system such as a camera  235  or optical reading device such as an eye for analyzing a tablet. First bracket  220  is slidably coupled to column or shaft  210  so that it can be adjusted axially along shaft  210 . In addition, a second bracket  230  can be slidably coupled to column  210  wherein second bracket  230  is a guiding bracket which can be used to aim and guide the above described optical device (not shown). Second bracket  230  can include an opening  232  which can be used to aim or point this type of electric eye.  
         [0058]     An additional guiding bracket  240  is slidably coupled to a column  210  wherein this additional guiding bracket can be set to aim and control the aim of this electric or optical eye  245 . A bottom bracket  250  is coupled to column  210  wherein this bottom bracket  250  can be used to support this optical eye  245  or camera shown by dashed lines in place. This bottom bracket  250  can be slidably coupled to column  210  and used to stabilize the optical eye  245  so that this optical eye can read a bottom side of a tablet  35  that is housed or contained in wheel  20 .  
         [0059]     Bracket  230  can have a plate which has a hole  232  for allowing an eye to scan there-through. In addition, bracket  240  can have a hole  242  which can be used to allow an optic or eye  245  to shine through onto a bottom side of an associated tablet.  
         [0060]     In addition, the oppositely spaced optical eye or camera  235  can also be positioned so that it can read a top side of this pill or tablet  35  as well.  
         [0061]     In use, the device or system operates as follows, pills are dumped or disposed in hopper  16 . These pills are then drawn by gravity down to a hole or slot  167 . The pills flow one by one through slot  167  and into individual notches  52  in wheel  20 . At this point, actuator arm  74  is drawn back away from notch  52  so that notch  52  is positioned to receive these pills  35 . During this time, wheel  20  rotates in a clockwise manner while being driven by rotating motor  18 . At this point, the notch  52  containing the deposited pill rotates past cam  26  so that actuator wheel  73  which was being acted on by cam  26  now moves radially out with actuator block  72  to drive actuator arm  78  into a position to hold pill or tablet  35  in place in that particular notch  52 .  
         [0062]     As wheel  20  continues to rotate in a clockwise manner, that particular pill or tablet  35  then passes adjacent to optic stand or inspection station  200 . Disposed in optic stand  200  are two cameras  235  and  245  wherein camera  235  is disposed above pill  35  while camera  245  is disposed below pill  35 . These cameras are for viewing whether pill  35  has been properly treated wherein at least one side of pill  35  is struck with a laser to remove a portion of its coating. This laser treatment would occur using a different machine or system prior to placing the tablets in hopper  16 . Once this pill or tablet has been reviewed, the images of this pill or tablet are compared with selected images stored by a remote computer. If the pill or tablet is in an acceptable condition, cam  125  of cam system  126  remains in place wherein that pill  35  disposed in wheel  20  rotates past discharge chute  34  without being discharged from wheel  20 .  
         [0063]     Instead, wheel  20  continues to rotate wherein a cam wheel  73  associated with that tablet  35  contacts cam  26  positioned at a bottom region of wheel  20  adjacent to accept chute  32 . At this point, cam wheel  73  rolls over cam  26  and is directed radially inward towards a center region of wheel  20  so that actuator block  72  and actuator arm  78  draws away from notch  52  releasing tablet  35  into accept chute  32 . Wheel  20  continues to rotate while cam wheel  73  is continuously acted upon until it reaches hopper  16  wherein notch  52  then receives an additional tablet for inspection.  
         [0064]     Conversely, if during the rotation of wheel  20  cameras  235  and  245  detect a flawed tablet, then an associated computer would reject this tablet by instructing an associated piston  140  to move cam  126  into a region wherein it contact an associated cam wheels  73  to cause cam wheel to move actuator block  72  in a radially inward direction causing actuator arm  78  to release an associated tablet from wheel  20  into reject chute  34 . At this point, to prevent any unauthorized tablets from being released, the computer would also send a signal to piston  40  to move so that cam  26  moves in a counter clockwise direction moving cam  26  away from cam wheels  73  so that the associated actuator arm remains in position keeping tablets  35  in wheel  20 . In this way, this movement of cam  26  rotating around column  45  keeps imperfect tablets in place.  
         [0065]      FIG. 19  shows a perspective view of another embodiment of the invention. In this view there is shown a new type wheel  300  which includes at least one push block  400  which can be in the form of a plurality of push blocks  410  and  420 . These push blocks  410  and  420  are situated inside of sliding section  320  and  330  inside of wheel  300 . Wheel  300  has a center hole  310  for coupling to a rotating drive, a center region  311  for receiving a hopper and a plurality of bolt holes  312   a  and  312   b  for coupling to a drive plate. There are also a plurality of open slots  314  which can be used to receive sliding pills or tablets disposed in a hopper and extending out from a center region  311 . At the end of each of these slots,  314  there is an open hole  316  which can be used to allow a pill to drop therethrough into a distribution hopper.  
         [0066]     So that wheel  300  can receive these blocks, there are cut out or recessed regions  320  and  330  to receive blocks  410  and  420 . First cut out or recessed region  320  is disposed on a peripheral section of the wheel and includes a finger receiving region  322 , a shaft sliding region  324 , and a back block receiving region  326 . There is also a spring cut out receiving region  328  which can be used to receive stabilize and guide a spring associated with a block. Second cut out region  330  which is disposed on an inner region of wheel  300 , is shaped similar to first cut out region wherein second block cut out region includes a finger receiving region  332  which is shorter than finger receiving region  322  because an associated finger on a block is also shorter.  
         [0067]     The two blocks  400  include a first block  410  and a second block  420  which can be substantially z-shaped. First block  410  is also disposed adjacent to a spring  412 , wherein first block  410  includes a spring cut out section  411  which can be used to guide a spring, a hole  414  for receiving a shaft, a finger  416  extending out from a central region of block  410  and a back block section  418  disposed adjacent to spring  412  wherein finger  426  has a recess or indent or curve to receive a pill or tablet. For each of these slots  314  there can be a set of blocks  400 .  
         [0068]     The second block  420  can be in the form of a block that has a spring cut out region  421 , with an associated spring  422  disposed adjacent to spring cut out region  421 . There is also a shaft receiving hole  424  for receiving an associated shaft. An elongated finger  426  is coupled to second block  420  and extends out from the main body of this block. There is also an oppositely extending back block section  428  disposed adjacent to spring cut out region  421  and spring  422 .  
         [0069]     First block  410  fits inside of second section  330  wherein first block  410  is coupled in via a coupling shaft  432  which is coupled to block  410  and fits in and extends through hole  416 . Shaft  432 , is also coupled to a spacer  434  and to a roller  436 . A shaft  442  is coupled to spacer  444  which is used to space roller  446  down to a region so that it can contact a dispensing cam  26  which is situated at the bottom of the angled rotation as shown in  FIG. 6 . First block  410  can be used to allow pills or tablets to be dispensed into slot  314  from a hopper while second block  420  regulates the dispensing of these pills or tablets out of slot  314  and into an accept or reject chute.  
         [0070]     Essentially, the blocks work as follows: first block  410  sitting in second recess  330  is designed to keep pills or tablets from sliding out of slot  314  when the wheel which is angled at approximately 45 degrees is in its upward side of rotation. If first block  410  was not positioned in a closed position, then pills or tablets would slide out from slot  314  and back into the hopper. In this case, spring  412  presses against block  410  so that finger  416  extends out into recessed finger region  332 , and into slot  314  to block the exit or entry of pills. When the wheel rotates so that this block is in a lower rotation section roller  436  interacts with a cam  26  so that block  410  is compressed against spring  412  causing finger  416  to recede into finger region  332  and out from slot  314  to allow a pill to enter into slot  314 .  
         [0071]     Second block  420  is designed to sit inside of first recessed region  320  and is used to control the release of pills from the wheel  300 . Second block  420  has finger  426  which extends through recessed finger region  322  and into slot  314  to keep a pill or tablet from falling through hole  316 . This block  420  is acted on by spring  422  to keep finger  426  in a normally closed position. However when block  420  on wheel  300  rotates into a downward position, it is acted on by cam  26  to push roller  446  back so that block  420  compresses against spring  422  to push finger  426  inward and away from slot  314  to allow a pill or tablet to move forward. Finger  426  is also dimensioned so that it can be acted upon to release only one pill at a time while keeping an adjacent pill retained in the slot. This is because the end portion  426   a  of finger  426  is curved so that at least one surface of this finger extends out into the slot  314  to retain the adjacent pill in the slot.  
         [0072]      FIG. 20  shows a back end view and a side view of these two blocks  410  and  420 . In this case, both blocks contain a recess  419  and  429  respectively, wherein these recesses are designed to receive a spring housed therein. These recesses are designed so that the spring rides therein and is stabilized inside of these recesses  419  and  429 .  
         [0073]     In addition, this view also shows the shape of the ends of each finger  416  and  426 . Finger  416  has a flat angled end  416 A designed to keep pills or tablets inside of the slot while finger  426  has a curved end  426   a  designed to wrap around and hold a particular pill or tablet in place. This feature is designed so that by holding the pill in place it can create a system where a particular end pill or tablet can be laser or mechanically drilled, coated, painted inscribed or viewed for analysis before deposition in another bin. In addition with this curved end  426   a  the finger can control a particular tablet so that only one tablet will fall through a slot  316 .  
         [0074]      FIG. 21  is a perspective view of the base  500  which receives wheel  300 . Base  500  includes a central hopper  502  which can be used to contain pills or tablets. This base  500  can also include a peripheral end  504  which has an end hole  506  disposed in this peripheral end. This hole can line up with peripheral hole  316  on wheel  300 . There is also an adjustable cam eject system  510  disposed at eject region  32  wherein this eject system  510  is controlled by a central computer to selectively eject a pill or tablet from wheel  300 . This device can include a solenoid  512  that is in communication with a central computer and a trigger finger, that includes a base  511  and an extending finger element  514  which can be selectively rotated out to activate or push in push roller  446  to at least partially release finger  426  to allow only one tablet to drop through hole  316  and through hole  506  and into a bin. This minor release movement still causes finger  426  to remain at least partially in slot  314  to keep the remaining pills or tablets fixed in this slot as that particular slot passes either a reject or an eject station. This feature then creates a system where only one pill will drop at a time from each slot as each slot passes either a reject or an eject station.  
         [0075]     There is also a cam reject system  520  which is disposed at reject region  34  and which can be used to selectively reject a tablet from the system as the wheel  300  is rotating but before that pill or tablet reaches the eject region. Thus, there is a selectively activated solenoid  522  which can be selectively activated by a computer, a base  521  and a finger element  524  which can be selectively rotated out to contact a roller  446  or to be positioned in its normally retracted region so that an otherwise acceptable pill will pass the reject region and pass to the eject region where it is later ejected from the system. If however, the system detects that a particular pill should be rejected the computer can signal that cam solenoid  522  to rotate finger  524  to contact roller  446  to cause roller  446  to move to retract finger  426  to reject a tablet at the reject region. If a single pill is rejected from the reject region the next pill does not advance in that slot until it passes eject region  32  and onto cover plate  530 .  
         [0076]     Cover plate  530  is disposed at a bottom region of the dispensing system. Cover plate  530  is shown in greater detail in a cross sectional view in  FIG. 22 . This cover plate can be made from any material but can be in the form of plastic an can cover both the top and bottom of wheel  300  via top cover  534  and bottom cover  536  which extend out from body  532 . In this position, the pills are kept in place and kept from falling through holes  316  via bottom cover  536 , while top cover  534  keeps these pills in from a top region. As these slots pass this cover plate rollers  436  and  446  contact activating cams  26  and  26   a  (See  FIG. 6 ) at the bottom region of the rotation of the wheel. These activating cams are substantially stationary and can be used to automatically cause the blocks  410  and  420  to fully retract, causing pills or tablets to flow from hopper  502  into each slot  314  having a vacant opening to cause the slots to fill with tablets. Once the wheel passes this region, the activating rollers  436  and  446  are no longer in contact with these activating cams  26  and  26   a  so that the blocks  410  and  420  extend back into their resting positions with fingers  416  and  426  extending back into slot  314  thus fixing these pills in place.  
         [0077]     Accordingly, while at least one embodiment of the present invention has been shown and described, it is to be understood that many changes and modifications may be made thereunto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.