Abstract:
A kiosk according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a housing; a touch screen configured to receive input information from a user; a label printer configured to print output information from the kiosk; a pill drop opening; a pill chute; a drive tube having entry and exit openings, wherein the drive tube has an axis extending through a longitudinal axial centerline thereof, and has an inside surface comprising a helical flute, wherein the entry opening is in communication with the pill chute, and wherein the exit opening is higher than the entry opening such that the axial centerline of the drive tube is inclined; a motor configured to rotate the drive tube to separate and convey pills received through the pill drop opening and the pill chute; and an optical counter configured to count the pills as the pills fall from the exit opening of the drive tube.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCES 
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/027,179 filed on Jul. 21, 2014, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
     
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0002]    Embodiments described herein relate generally to an interactive kiosk for receiving medication, and more specifically to an interactive kiosk for receiving, counting, and labeling medication liquids and capsules. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    When a pharmacy or other organization accepts recalled or partially used pharmaceutical prescriptions, it is often a time-consuming process to verify the medication, count the number of pills or volume of liquid being returned, and address and ship the medication to the origin company or its designated recall agent. Various different information systems are employed for different parts of this process, often requiring a high level of supervision and manual intervention, thus increasing expense. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0004]    A kiosk according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a housing; a touch screen on the housing, the touch screen configured to receive input information from a user of the kiosk; a label printer on the housing, the label printer configured to print output information from the kiosk; a pill drop opening; a pill chute; a drive tube having an entry opening and an exit opening, wherein the drive tube is tubular, has an axis extending through a longitudinal axial centerline of the drive tube, and has an inside surface comprising a helical flute, wherein the entry opening is in communication with the pill chute, and wherein the exit opening is higher than the entry opening such that the axial centerline of the drive tube is inclined; a motor configured to rotate the drive tube to separate and convey pills received through the pill drop opening and the pill chute; and an optical counter configured to count the pills as the pills fall from the exit opening of the drive tube. 
         [0005]    A kiosk according to an embodiment of the present invention may includes a processor within the housing, the processor communicably coupled to the touch screen, the label printer, the motor, and the optical counter, wherein the processor is configured to: receive information about the pills from the touch screen based upon user input; selectively actuate the motor to convey the pills from the entry opening to the exit opening; receive and store count information about a number of the pills from the optical counter; and instruct the label printer to print a label displaying the count information. 
         [0006]    A kiosk according to an embodiment of the present invention may further include a camera; and a scale, wherein the processor further communicably coupled to the camera and the scale, and wherein the processor is further configured to: receive information about a liquid medicine; receive and store information about a weight of the liquid medicine from the scale while the liquid medicine is placed upon the scale; receive and store visual information from the camera about the liquid medicine while the liquid medicine is placed upon the scale. 
         [0007]    According to some embodiments of the present invention, the axial centerline of the drive tube is inclined along a direction from a rear of the kiosk toward a front of the kiosk. In some cases, the touch screen is located at the front of the kiosk. The kiosk may include a catch bin located at the front of the kiosk, wherein the catch bin is configured to receive the pills after the pills have fallen from the exit opening of the drive tube, according to embodiments of the present invention. While multiple embodiments are disclosed, still other embodiments of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, which shows and describes illustrative embodiments of the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and detailed description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not restrictive. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0008]      FIG. 1  illustrates a front perspective view of an interactive kiosk according to embodiments of the present invention. 
           [0009]      FIG. 2  illustrates a front elevation view of the interactive kiosk of  FIG. 1 , according to embodiments of the present invention. 
           [0010]      FIG. 3  illustrates a left side elevation view of the interactive kiosk of  FIGS. 1 and 2 , according to embodiments of the present invention 
           [0011]      FIG. 4  illustrates a right side elevation view of the interactive kiosk of  FIGS. 1-3 , according to embodiments of the present invention. 
           [0012]      FIG. 5  illustrates a rear elevation view of the interactive kiosk of  FIGS. 1-4 , according to embodiments of the present invention. 
           [0013]      FIG. 6  illustrates a right side elevation cross-sectional view of the interactive kiosk of  FIGS. 1-5 , according to embodiments of the present invention. 
           [0014]      FIG. 7  illustrates the right side elevation cross-sectional view of the interactive kiosk of  FIGS. 1-6  showing additional detail, according to embodiments of the present invention. 
           [0015]      FIG. 8  illustrates a kiosk system, according to embodiments of the present invention. 
           [0016]      FIG. 9  illustrates a computer system, according to embodiments of the present invention. 
       
    
    
       [0017]    While the invention is amenable to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments have been shown by way of example in the drawings and are described in detail below. The intention, however, is not to limit the invention to the particular embodiments described. On the contrary, the invention is intended to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0018]      FIGS. 1-5  illustrate external views of a kiosk  10  that facilitates receiving, counting, labeling, and shipping returned medications. The kiosk  10  includes a housing  11 , a pill drop opening  12 , as well as a touch screen  14  configured to permit a user to enter information about the medicine being returned. Kiosk  10  further includes a finger scanner  16  and a front-facing camera  18  to permit the kiosk  10  to document and/or authenticate the user of the kiosk  10 . Kiosk  10  further includes a two-dimensional bar code scanner  17  configured to receive bar code information, for example from the labels of medicines being processed by the kiosk  10 . The kiosk  10  may further include a first label printer  20  and/or a second label printer  22 , as well as a catch bin  24  that is removable from the housing  11  for collecting pills after they have been inserted through pill drop opening  12  and counted. 
         [0019]    The kiosk  10  may further include a side drawer  26 , with a handle  28 , which slides in and out of housing  11 . The side drawer  26  may include a scale  68  (see  FIG. 8 ) for weighing liquid medicines. The side drawer  26  may further include a calibration weight (not shown) used for calibrating the scale  68 . The kiosk  10  may further include a vent  30  configured to permit active or passive cooling or ventilation of the housing  11 . Kiosk may further include a front speaker  32  for conveying audio information to the user. Dual side cameras may be mounted on or within camera mount  34 , which may be used by kiosk  10  to verify medicine placed upon the digital scale  68  within the side drawer  26 , as well as to document whether the seal of the medicine container placed upon the scale is damaged or opened. As shown in  FIG. 4 , the touch screen  14 , which may be an LCD device, may be accessed via a hinged door, which may be locked at lock  38 , according to embodiments of the present invention. 
         [0020]    As illustrated in  FIG. 5 , the rear of the housing  11  may include a pill chute  40  which is removable for maintenance, cleaning, and/or unjamming. The kiosk  10  may further include communications ports such as a USB port  42  and/or an Ethernet port  44 , according to embodiments of the present invention. 
         [0021]      FIGS. 6 and 7  illustrate a cross-sectional view of kiosk  10  taken along a midline of the kiosk  10 , according to embodiments of the present invention.  FIGS. 6 and 7  illustrate the operation of the pill receiving and counting system of the kiosk  10 . Once the kiosk  10  has received information about the pills to be received, for example via touch screen  14 , the kiosk  10  instructs the user to drop the pills into the pill drop opening  12 , for example by opening any bottle in which the pills are contained and pouring the pills into the pill drop opening  12 . From the pill drop opening  12 , the pills fall through the pill chute  40  until they gather at or near the entry opening  48  of the drive tube  46 . A motor  52  is used to drive rotation of the drive tube  46 , with a timing gear system  54  used to couple the motor  52  with the drive tube  46  for rotation of the drive tube  46  by the motor  52 . The drive tube  46  is mounted upon roller bearings  56  to permit rotation of the drive tube  46  with respect to the housing  11 . The motor may be, for example, a twelve-volt motor with a rotational speed of 285 rotations per minute, according to embodiments of the present invention. 
         [0022]    As the drive tube  46  is rotated about its central axis  49 , which may also be referred to as axial centerline  49 , pills fall, via gravity, from pill chute  40  into drive tube  46  through entry opening  48 . As shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7 , the drive tube  46  has an exit opening  50 , and exit opening  50  is inclined relative to entry opening  48 . The inside surface of the drive tube  46  includes a flute  51  which separates pills from piles or stacks formed near the entry opening  48  and conveys the pills, for example one-at-a-time, upwardly toward the exit opening  50 . This helps to spread out the pills to make them easier to count. A camera  58 , for example an endoscope camera, helps the kiosk  10  to verify pills, and may record images that may be used to assist in auditing the performance of kiosk  10  and/or its users. It has also been found that the use of a drive tube with an internal flute  51  with the exit opening  50  inclined with respect to the entry opening  48  permits the same drive tube  46  to be used for multiple different pill shapes and sizes. Once the pills are conveyed to the exit opening  50  via rotation of the drive tube  46 , the pills fall out of exit opening  50  and through (and/or past) a fiber optic sensor  62  for pill counting. For example, the pills free fall through fiber optic sensor  62 , according to embodiments of the present invention. Next, the pills fall onto a pill ramp guide  64  which directs the pills to a catch bin  24 . After the pills have been counted, the kiosk  10  may then print a bottle label, for example with printer  22 , and/or a shipping label, for example with printer  20 . According to some embodiments of the present invention, the kiosk  10  accesses stored information about the shipping destination based on the medicine information entered initially by the user and prints the shipping destination on the shipping label. According to some embodiments of the present invention, the bottle label includes information about the type of medicine and the number of pills counted by the fiber optic sensor  62 . 
         [0023]      FIG. 7  illustrates that the drive tube  46  may include an inner diameter of 1.58 inches, and an outer diameter of 1.78 inches, according to embodiments of the present invention. The length of the drive tube  46  may be ten inches, according to embodiments of the present invention. The pitch of the flute  51  may vary, and may be, for example, from 1.4 to 2.0 per inch. The height of the flute  51  may vary, and may be, for example, from 0.1 to 0.2 inches tall above the inner diameter of the drive tube  46 . According to some embodiments, the incline of the central axis  49  of the drive tube with respect to the horizontal (i.e. the ground surface horizontal level) is adjustable, for example from eight degrees to twenty degrees. Adjusting this incline angle permits the drive tube  46  to better accommodate pills of different shapes and/or sizes, to encourage them to more reliable fall out of the exit opening  50  one at a time. The incline angle of the drive tube  46  may be adjusted manually, for example during maintenance and/or manufacture, or it may be adjusted manually by the user, it may be adjusted automatically by the kiosk  10  based on known information about pill size and shape based on the user-entered information, and/or it may be adjusted responsively based on performance of the drive tube  46  (e.g. the incline may be raised if camera  58  observes an undesirable stacking or bunching up of pills along the drive tube  46 ), according to embodiments of the present invention. The incline of the drive tube  46  may be raised or lowered with a solenoid or stepper motor or other drive tube incline adjustment mechanism  66  controlled by the kiosk  10 , according to embodiments of the present invention. 
         [0024]    The arrangement and layout of the kiosk  10  with the pill drop opening  12  at the top, the pill chute  40  in back, and the incline of the drive chute  46  rising from back-to-front of the kiosk permits the counted pills to be conveniently gathered in the catch bin  24  which is directly in front of an accessible to the user from the same side of kiosk  10  as they are facing to interact with the touch screen  14 , according to embodiments of the present invention. This arrangement saves time and money. According to embodiments of the present invention, the kiosk  10  is used by a pharmacist or other authorized handler of medicines, according to embodiments of the present invention. 
         [0025]      FIG. 8  illustrates kiosk control system, according to embodiments of the present invention. A control system  200  is communicably coupled to user interface devices  14 ,  18 , printers  20 ,  22 , sensors, scanners, and cameras  16 ,  17 ,  18 ,  34 , and  58 , pill counter  62 , communications ports  42 ,  44 , drive tube incline adjustment mechanism  66 , and/or digital scale  68 , according to embodiments of the present invention. Control system  200  may be a personal computer or other computing device, according to embodiments of the present invention. 
         [0026]    The control system  200  is capable of executing instructions to perform the steps and methods described herein, in whatever order, and excluding one or more steps and/or including one or more additional steps or repetitions of steps, according to embodiments of the present invention. The control system  200  receives information or signals and, based on such information or signals, sends out control signals to cause the hardware to operate accordingly, as described herein. The control system may also receive information from other hardware, not shown. The control system  200  may also rely on other sensors or signals not expressly shown, but which are apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art based on the present disclosure. For example, positional sensors may be used to provide the control system  200  with the two-dimensional (or three-dimensional) position of any piece of hardware described herein. 
         [0027]      FIG. 9  is an example of a computer system  200  with which embodiments of the present invention may be utilized. Computer system  200  represents an exemplary computer, which may operate as controller  200  in order to receive inputs (e.g. from sensors) and/or provide outputs (e.g. to control the printers, rotation of the drive tube  46 , and/or incline of the drive tube  66 ). In this simplified example, the computer system  200  comprises a bus  201  or other communication means for communicating data and control information, and one or more processing devices  202 , such as a well known processor, Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or the like, coupled with bus  201 . 
         [0028]    In this simplified embodiment, computer system  200  further comprises a random access memory (RAM) or other dynamic storage device (referred to as main memory  204 ), coupled to bus  201  for storing information and instructions to be executed by processing device  202 . Main memory  204  also may be used for storing temporary variables or other intermediate information during execution of instructions by processor(s)  202 . 
         [0029]    Computer system  200  can also include a read only memory (ROM)  206  and/or other static storage device coupled to bus  201  for storing static information and instructions for processing device  202 . A mass storage device  207 , such as a magnetic disk or optical disc and its corresponding drive, may also be coupled to bus  201  for storing instructions and information, such as configuration files, a key store and registration database, and the like. 
         [0030]    One or more communication ports  203  may also be coupled to bus  201  for supporting network connections and communication of information to/from the computer system  200  by way of a communication network, such as a Local Area Network (LAN), Wide Area Network (WAN), or the Internet, for example. The communication ports  203  may include various combinations of well-known interfaces, such as one or more modems to provide network access, one or more 10/100 Ethernet ports, one or more Gigabit Ethernet ports (fiber and/or copper), or other well-known network interfaces commonly used in internetwork environments. In any event, in this manner, the computer system  200  may be coupled to a number of other network devices, communication devices, clients, NTMs, and/or servers via a conventional communication network infrastructure. Optionally, operator and administrative interfaces (not shown), such as a display, keyboard, and a cursor control device, may also be coupled to bus  201  to support direct operator interaction with computer system  200 . Other operator and administrative interfaces can be provided through network connections connected through communication ports  203 . Finally, removable storage media (not shown), such as one or more external or removable hard drives, tapes, floppy disks, magneto-optical discs, compact disk-read-only memories (CD-ROMs), compact disk writable memories (CD-R, CD-RW), digital versatile discs or digital video discs (DVDs) (e.g., DVD-ROMs and DVD+RW), Zip disks, or USB memory devices, e.g., thumb drives or flash cards, may be coupled to bus  201  via corresponding drives, ports or slots. 
         [0031]    Various modifications and additions can be made to the exemplary embodiments discussed without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, while the embodiments described above refer to particular features, the scope of this invention also includes embodiments having different combinations of features and embodiments that do not include all of the described features. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications, and variations as fall within the scope of the claims, together with all equivalents thereof.