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 continuation in part application and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. 120 from U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/697,631 filed on Oct. 29, 2003 incorporated herein by reference. This application also claims priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) from U.S. provisional application 60/422,179 filed on Oct. 29, 2002 incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     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 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 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 similar to that shown in  FIG. 6  with the base plate removed;  
         [0023]      FIG. 8  is a left side perspective view of the device with the base plate in place;  
         [0024]      FIG. 9  is a perspective view of the wheel;  
         [0025]      FIG. 10  is a perspective view of the wheel with a top removed;  
         [0026]      FIG. 11  is a perspective view of the wheel with the holders removed;  
         [0027]      FIG. 12  is a perspective view of the holders;  
         [0028]      FIG. 13  is a perspective view of a single holder shown in  FIG. 12 ;  
         [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; and  
         [0033]      FIG. 18  is a perspective view of the holder shown in  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0034]     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  12 , a base plate  14 , coupled to the stand  12 . There is a hopper  16  for dispensing these tablets into a wheel  20 .  
         [0035]     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. 6 ) wherein wings  50  are for holding or presenting tablets  35 .  
         [0036]     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 .  
         [0037]      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 .  
         [0038]      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.  
         [0039]      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. 8 ) 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 .  
         [0040]     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.  
         [0041]      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.  
         [0042]      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 .  
         [0043]      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 .  
         [0044]      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 .  
         [0045]      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 .  
         [0046]     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 .  
         [0047]      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  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 .  
         [0048]      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.  
         [0049]     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 .  
         [0050]      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 .  
         [0051]      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. 10/697,631 and shown in  FIG. 16  of that reference wherein the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference.  
         [0052]     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 .  
         [0053]      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 a camera  235  or optical reading device such as an eye for analyzing a tablet. First bracket  220  is slidable 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.  
         [0054]     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 .  
         [0055]     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.  
         [0056]     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.  
         [0057]     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 .  
         [0058]     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 .  
         [0059]     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.  
         [0060]     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.  
         [0061]     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