Patent Publication Number: US-7908827-B2

Title: Method and apparatus for automatically filling prescriptions using interchangeable platens

Description:
This application is related to U.S. application titled, “PILL DISPENSER WITH INTERCHANGEABLE PLATEN HAVING ELECTRONICALLY READABLE IDENTIFICATION,” which was filed on Jun. 27, 2008; Ser. No. 12/163,615 and inventor Norman D. Knoth. Additionally, this application is related to U.S. application titled, “PILL DISPENSER WITH CANISTERS HAVING ELECTRONICALLY READABLE IDENTIFICATION,” which was filed on Jun. 27, 2008; Ser. No. 12/163,653 and inventor Norman D. Knoth. Additionally, this application is related to U.S. application titled, “LOW-PROFILE X-Y TABLE,” which was filed on Jun. 27, 2008; Ser. No. 12/163,686 and inventor Norman D. Knoth. 
     This application is related to U.S. Pat. No. 7,225,597 titled “MACHINE TO AUTOMATE DISPENSING OF PILLS,” U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/317,538, titled “CASSETTE FOR DISPENSING PILLS,” and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/683,871, titled “METHOD OF DISPENSING PILLS FROM A MOVABLE PLATEN”, all of which are incorporated by reference. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to the field of dispensing medicine and more particularly to an apparatus that automatically fills vials and blister packs with medicine in the form of pills, capsules, gel-caps and the like. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     The dispensing of medicine in the form of pills, capsules, gel-caps, and the like is performed in many ways and in many locations including pharmacies, packaging plants and hospitals. Pharmacies or drug stores employ Pharmacists to fill prescriptions with the prescribed amount of a prescribed medicine or dose. The Pharmacist fills the prescription from a bulk package of medicine into a delivery package sized for the consumer. Although Pharmacists are very careful to dispense the correct quantity of the correct medicine, ever too often, the wrong quantity is dispensed, or worse yet, the wrong medicine is dispensed. 
     The medicine is often delivered to the consumer in a package that is a container with a lid, for example, a vial or bottle. After counting the prescribed amount of medicine, the Pharmacist funnels the pills into the container, attaches the lid and places a label on the container indicating what medicine is stored inside and information related to the medicine. Again, the transfer of pills into the container creates another opportunity for one or more pills to be lost, thereby not providing the proper amount to the consumer. 
     With some consumers, it may be difficult to remember which pill to take, when to take it, and even whether they have already taken the pill. To overcome this problem, an array pack was devised with a series of compartment resembling cups or blisters, each “blister” containing one or more pills that are to be taken at the same time. This form of packaging is known as “blister packs,” “dose packs,” “bingo cards,” and “punch cards.” Often, cold medicine is supplied to consumers on such a card with a single dose in each blister and then the blister pack is packaged in a simple box with labels and advertising on the outside. Although a huge benefit to the consumer, filling the blister pack with a prescription involves the Pharmacist sitting down and laboriously dispensing the doses by hand into the individual blisters of the pack, then sealing the back. Furthermore, for prescriptions in which the dosage varies by day, extra attention to detail is required because each blister may have different quantities of pills or pills of a different strength or a combination of such, again feeding into the probability of error. 
     Presently, automation equipment is available for automatically filling prescriptions from a plurality of pill storage bins (or canisters). Each storage bin is filled with a supply of a given medicine in pill, capsule or gel-cap form. The storage bin has an electro-mechanical dispensing control and the dispensing control is controlled by a machine control that has, for example, a user interface for the Pharmacist to enter the medicine name, strength and quantity, thereby initiating the dispensing of that number of pills. The pills are then directed into a vial. 
     The art of filling containers with pills is quite old, going back to U.S. Pat. No. 2,457,220 to Fowler, et al issued Dec. 28, 1948; which is hereby incorporated by reference and describes a motorized pill dispensing machine. This machine has one storage area for a supply of pills that are thereafter handled by the machine in groups of a known quantity. As the machine rotates, the pills fall into receptacles numbering that known quantity, then as it further rotates, that number of pills falls through an opening, into a funnel and then into a pill container in the shape of a bottle or vial. This device is limited to dispensing a fixed quantity of a single type of pills into bottles. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 6,318,051 B1 to Preiss, issued Nov. 20, 2001; which is hereby incorporated by reference describes a device for dispatching singular items from a single supply station into product packs (blister packs) of the same type and is useful in an assembly line process of filling blister packs with a single medication. This device is limited to dispensing a single type of pill into a single type of blister pack. Likewise, U.S. Pat. No. 6,805,259 B2 to Stevens, et al, issued Oct. 19, 2004; hereby incorporated by reference, also describes a tablet dispenser that dispenses tablets from multiple reservoirs into blister packs. Although not limited to one medication as the previous patents, this device is limited to dispensing only into blister packs. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 6,925,774 B2 to Peterson, issued Aug. 9, 2005 is hereby incorporated by reference. It describes a machine a machine for filling blister package cavities. This device does not fill vials and to do so, a pharmacy would need to purchase a second machine. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 7,006,894 to de la Huerge, issued Feb. 28, 2006 is hereby incorporated by reference. This patent describes a device for filling a medication cassette which is then provided to a patient in a hospital setting. The disclosed device does not fill vials and/or blister packs from a plurality of canisters. 
     Unfortunately, the prior art does not provide the flexibility of interchangeable platens wherein multiple platens are provided for a single dispensing device and each platen is designed for a particular blister pack or to hold a vial. 
     What is needed is a method and apparatus that will accurately fill a prescription from a plurality of canisters into a target package wherein the target package is held by a platen or a plurality of platens, each platen adapted to easily install into the apparatus. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An objective of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for dispensing pills, the apparatus having a plurality of platens, each platen adapted to hold either a vial or any one of a plurality of blister package types. 
     Another objective of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for dispensing pills, the apparatus having at least two platens, a first of the at least two platens adapted to hold a vial and a second of the at least two platens adapted to hold a particular blister pack, whereas the at least two platens are installable into the apparatus without the use of tools. 
     In one embodiment, a device for dispensing pills is disclosed including a set of pill canisters and a control for releasing a desired quantity of pills from a selected pill canister at a target location. A frame is situated beneath the target location. The frame is adapted to move in both an X axis and a Y axis and adapted to accept and hold a selected platen of a set of platens whereas the selected platen holds and supports a target container into which the desired quantity of pills is deposited. 
     In another embodiment, a method for dispensing pills is disclosed including providing a device for dispensing pills having a set of pill canisters and a control for releasing a desired quantity of pills from a selected pill canister at a target location. The device for dispensing pills has a frame situated beneath the target location that moves in both an X axis and a Y axis and accepts and holds a platen. The method continues with selecting a target package then selecting a platen to hold and support a target package and placing the target package into the platen. Next, the platen is inserted into the frame. Next, the device for dispensing pills is instructed to dispense the desired quantity of pills into the target package. Once finished, the platen is removed from the frame and the target package is removed from the platen. 
     In another embodiment, a device for dispensing pills is disclosed including a set of pill canisters and a mechanism for releasing a desired quantity of pills from a selected pill canister at a target location. The device for dispensing pills includes a mechanism for holding a desired platen beneath the target location and to move the desired platen in both the X axis and the Y axis. The desired platen selected from a plurality of platens and the desired platen holds and supports a target container into which the desired quantity of pills is deposited. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The invention can be best understood by those having ordinary skill in the art by reference to the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: 
         FIG. 1  illustrates a plan view of a pill dispensing machine of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  illustrates a perspective view of an individual pill dispensing device of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  illustrates a perspective view of a first exemplary platen for holding a particular type of blister package of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  illustrates a perspective view of a second exemplary platen for holding a particular type of blister package of the present invention. 
         FIG. 5  illustrates a perspective view of a third exemplary platen for holding a vial package of the present invention. 
         FIG. 6  illustrates a perspective view of a pill dispensing device with the first platen installed beneath the active dispensing canister. 
         FIG. 7  illustrates a perspective view of a pill dispensing device with a fourth platen installed beneath the active dispensing canister, showing 10 canisters adapted to a carousel. 
         FIG. 8A  illustrates a plan view of an X-Y transport of the present invention. 
         FIG. 8B  illustrates a plan view of a second positioning of the X-Y transport of the present invention. 
         FIG. 9  illustrates a side cross-sectional view of the X-Y transport of the present invention. 
         FIG. 10  illustrates a canister loading station of the present invention. 
         FIG. 11  illustrates a block diagram of the dispensing station of the present invention. 
         FIG. 12  illustrates a controller of the dispensing station of the present invention. 
         FIG. 13  illustrates a flow chart of the dispensing station of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Reference will now be made in detail to the presently preferred embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Throughout the following detailed description, the same reference numerals refer to the same elements in all figures. Throughout the description (including the claims), the word “pill” is used generically. For the purpose of this application, the word pill is used to represent anything that can be dispensed by the device of the present invention and there is no limitation placed upon that which is dispensed. For example, tablets, capsules, caplets and gel-caps can be dispensed as well as coated candy (e.g., placebos). The present invention works well with most any solid object and can be scaled to work for much larger objects as well. Throughout the description (including the claims) the forms of packaging are referred to as vials or blister packs. For the purpose of this application, the word vial is used to represent any container having a single compartment for storing pills including, but not limited to, vials, bottles, tubes and the like. Often, these vials are configured to accept a lid that either snaps in place or screws in place. Blister packs refer to a class of packaging that has multiple compartments, wherein each compartment optionally (it is possible for some compartments to be empty) stores a dose of one or more pills, either the same pills or different pills. Other names for blister packs are, for example, dose packs, bingo cards and punch cards. The individual blisters of the blister pack can be arranged in any fashion, such as a linear series of blisters and a matrix of blisters and may be evenly spaced or not. Often, blister packs are sealed by a thin sheet that adheres to their open side, allowing one blister at a time to be pierced to gain access to the pills within that blister. 
     Throughout this description, the term canister refers to a dispenser or canister for a single pill type. The canister has a storage compartment for the pills and a mechanism for dispensing an accurate count of the pills. Canisters are sometimes referred to in the industry as cassettes or other names. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , a plan view of a pill dispensing machine of the present invention is shown. The pill dispensing machine  10  has a control station  12  and three dispensing stations  20 , although any number of dispensing stations is anticipated. The control station  12  has a display  14  and input device/controls  16 . In some embodiments, the control station  12  has a bar code scanner  18 . In such embodiments, the request (e.g., pill type and desired quantity) is scanned from a label on the target package. 
     Each dispensing station  20  is shown with a removable platen  40  installed into which a vial or blister pack is inserted for the automated dispensing of pills. Visible through a window are a plurality of pill canisters  30 , each pill canister  30  containing a plurality of pills of a particular type. The pill canisters  30  are adapted to a carousel or other selection device (e.g., robotic arm, linear row of canisters, etc). In the shown embodiment, a number of canisters  30  are adapted to a carousel (not visible). Since there are multiple dispensing stations  20 , each dispensing station has an indicator  22  and a lock  24 . The lock  24  reduces the threat of unauthorized access to pills held in the canisters. The indicator  22  informs the operator which of the dispensing stations will be used to fill a prescription. As an example, the operator (e.g., pharmacist) enters the request (e.g., prescription information) at the control station  12  either by data entry or by scanning a bar code or similar identifier. Once the control station  12  determines which canister holds the pill type required for the prescription, the indicator  22  illuminates on the dispensing station  20  having the correct pill type telling the operator where to place the target package (e.g., blister pack or vial) for filling the prescription. In some embodiments, the dispensing stations  20  are supported by a cabinet  25  or other support structure as known in the industry. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , a perspective view of an individual pill dispensing station  20  of the present invention is shown with its door  21  open. The dispensing station  20  is shown with a door  21  in the open position showing the canisters  30 . The lock  24  is partially visible as well as the indicator  22 . One particular platen  40  for dispensing pills into a particular blister pack (not shown) is shown installed in the dispensing station  20 . Before dispensing pills, the platen  40  is inserted into a frame  250  (see  FIGS. 8A ,  8 B,  9 ) of the dispensing station  20 . Although a particular platen  40  is shown, many configurations of platens  40 / 44 / 48 , etc., are anticipated. Of the various individual platens  40 / 44 / 48 , each platen is adapted to hold and support one or more particular blister packs or one or more vials (bottles, etc). 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , a perspective view of a first exemplary platen for holding a particular type of blister package of the present invention is shown. This particular platen  40  is configured to hold one or more specific blister packs having a certain number of blisters of one or more blister sizes. For example, the platen  40  shown has cavities  42  for accepting the blisters of several different blister packs. The platen  40  supports blister packs having a similar spacing and sizing of blisters having a configuration up to 5×9 blisters. For example, one such blister pack has 1×7 blisters while another such blister pack has 5×8 blisters, etc. If the blisters of a certain blister pack are not spaced similar to the platen  40  or the blisters are too big to fit within the cavities  42 , another platen is needed to support that particular blister pack. 
     Also visible in  FIG. 3  is an identification device  60 . The identification device  60  is read by the dispensing station  20  when the platen  40  is inserted into the dispensing station  20  (as will be shown in subsequent figures). In some embodiments, the identification device  60  is an RFID (radio frequency identification device)  60  and the dispensing station  20  includes electronics to read the value/data stored in the RFID  60 . In some embodiments, the identification device  60  is a bar code  60  and the dispensing station  20  includes a scanner to read the bar code  60  when the platen  40  with the bar code is inserted into the dispensing station  20 . In some embodiments, the identification device  60  is a magnetic stripe  60  (e.g., as used on credit cards) and the dispensing station  20  includes electronics to read the value/data stored in the magnetic stripe  60 . In other embodiments, any other known identification device and sensing device known is included here within. 
     Referring to  FIG. 4 , a perspective view of a second exemplary platen for holding a particular type or class of blister packages of the present invention is shown. This particular platen  44  is configured to hold one or more specific blister packs having a certain outer dimension. For example, the platen  44  shown has a rectangular opening  46  for holding and supporting blister packs having a rectangular outer shape of a similar size (height/width). It is anticipated that the opening  46  is of any shape needed to match a particular blister pack such as rectangular, square, round, etc. 
     Also visible in  FIG. 4  is an identification device  60 . The identification device  60  is read by the dispensing station  20  when the platen  40  is inserted into the dispensing station  20  (as will be shown in subsequent figures). In some embodiments, the identification device  60  is an RFID (radio frequency identification device)  60  and the dispensing station  20  includes electronics to read the value/data stored in the RFID  60 . In some embodiments, the identification device  60  is a bar code  60  and the dispensing station  20  includes a scanner to read the bar code  60  when the platen  40  with the bar code is inserted into the dispensing station  20 . In some embodiments, the identification device  60  is a magnetic stripe  60  (e.g., as used on credit cards) and the dispensing station  20  includes electronics to read the value/data stored in the magnetic stripe  60 . In other embodiments, any other known identification device and sensing device known is included here within. 
     In some embodiment, the platen  40 / 44  have bottom arrangements and the platen  40 / 44  itself is adapted to receive and accept pills at the target location. In such, the platen  40 / 44  is filled with the desired pills, then the platen is removed from the pill dispensing station  20  and the pills are then transferred to a target container. 
     Referring to  FIG. 5 , a perspective view of a third exemplary platen for holding a vial of the present invention is shown. This particular platen  48  is configured to hold one of various pill bottles or vials  50 . The platen  48  includes an arm  52  that is pivotally attached to the platen  48  by a pin  54  or other pivot device as known in the industry. The arm  52  is urged closed by a spring  56 , thereby holding the bottle or vial  50  against the platen  48 . As shown the arm  52  holds vials  50  of varying diameters, shapes and heights. 
     Also visible in  FIG. 5  is an identification device  60 . The identification device  60  is read by the dispensing station  20  when the platen  40  is inserted into the dispensing station  20  (as will be shown in subsequent figures). In some embodiments, the identification device  60  is an RFID (radio frequency identification device)  60  and the dispensing station  20  includes electronics to read the value/data stored in the RFID  60 . In some embodiments, the identification device  60  is a bar code  60  and the dispensing station  20  includes a scanner to read the bar code  60  when the platen  40  with the bar code is inserted into the dispensing station  20 . In some embodiments, the identification device  60  is a magnetic stripe  60  (e.g., as used on credit cards) and the dispensing station  20  includes electronics to read the value/data stored in the magnetic stripe  60 . In other embodiments, any other known identification device and sensing device known is included here within. 
     Referring to  FIG. 6 , a perspective view of a pill dispensing station with the first platen installed beneath the active dispensing canister is shown. In this view, the cabinetry, carousel and drive mechanisms are left out to highlight certain aspects of the present invention. A pill canister  100  is positioned over a target location (the location to which pills are dropped from the pill canister  100 ). In some embodiments, the pill canister has a label  104  to inform the user (e.g., pharmacist) what type of pill the canister  100  holds. 
     In some embodiments, a canister identification  160  is present on the body of the canister (any convenient location on the canister). The identification  160  is electronically read by the dispensing station  20  to determine which pill type is loaded in individual locations about the dispensing station (e.g., different locations on the carousel). In some embodiments, the identification  160  is a bar code or other optically readable media. In such, an optical reader  162  is used by the dispensing station to read the bar code  160  and determine the pill type contained in the canister  100 . The optical reader  162  is connected to the dispensing station  20  by wires  164 . In some embodiments, the identification is a RFID tag (radio frequency identification tag)  160  and the RFID tag  160  is read by a RFID reader/writer  162 . The RFID reader  162  is connected to the dispensing station  20  by wires  164 . In some embodiments having a RFID identification device  160 , the RFID tag  160  is read-only. In other embodiments having a RFID identification device  160 , the RFID tag  160  has some read-only data and some read/write data. The read/write data is used for various features/functions such as writing a pill count to the RFID identification  160  before removing the canister  100  from the dispensing station  20 . In this way, an initial pill count is written to the RFID identification  160  when the canister  20  is initially filled, then when pills are dispensed, the count is decremented such that the RFID identification  160  always contains an accurate count of the pill count within the canister  100 . This is useful when there are more pill types than positions in the dispensing stations  20  and certain canisters  20  with certain pill types are swapped between the dispensing station  20  and a storage location (not shown). 
     Also shown in  FIG. 6  is a platen  40  for holding blister packs such as the 4×6 blister pack  70  shown. It should be noted that the platen  40  is capable of holding a variety of blister pack configurations such as the 4×6 blister pack  70  shown as long as the blister spacing is similar to that of the platen  40  and the total blister locations horizontally and vertically do not exceed the blisters on the platen  40 . In such cases, a different platen is required having the correct configuration for the desired blister pack. The platen  40  has a platen identification  60 . The platen identification  60  is, in some embodiments, an optically scannable device (e.g., bar code) and in other embodiments an RFID as previously described. The platen identification  60  is used by the dispensing station  20  to determine which platen is present in the dispensing station  20  as will be shown. 
     For completeness, a canister drive motor  102  is shown. The internal operation of the canister  20  is shown, for example, in the cited references as well as other such devices are known in the industry. 
     Referring to  FIG. 7 , a perspective view of a pill dispensing device with a platen  40  installed beneath the active dispensing canister  107 , showing ten canisters  100 / 107  adapted to a carousel  105  is shown. In this example, ten canisters  100  are mounted housed on a carousel  105  and the carousel  105  rotates to position the desired canister  107  over the target location of the installed platen  40 . Any number of canisters  100 / 107  are anticipated as well as other methods known in the industry to select a particular canister  107  and move that canister  107  to the target location including, but not limited to, robotic arms, a linear row of canisters  100 / 107  movable in one plane (e.g., left and right). Also shown in this example is the platen  40  positioning table  200  which positions the platen  40  beneath the target location, moving the platen  40  in an X and/or Y direction as needed to fill either vials or blister packs. Details of one specific positioning table are described with  FIGS. 8A ,  8 B and  9 . 
     Also, in this example, each canister has a canister identification device  160  and the dispensing machine has a reader  162  for reading the canister identification device  160  and determining which canister  100  is in each possible position. In some embodiments, the canister identification device  160  is a bar code and the reader  162  is a bar code reader. In some embodiments, the canister identification device  160  is an RFID and the reader  162  is a RFID reader. 
     In some embodiments, the canister identification device  160  is an RFID with writable storage and the reader  162  is an RFID reader/writer. In such embodiments, various data is written to the RFID by the dispensing station  20 . For example, a quantity field within the read/write data area of the RFID is reserved for a quantity of pills present in the canister  107 . When the canister  107  is filled at a filling station, the quantity field in the RFID  160  is set to the number of pills in the canister  107 . During dispensing, the quantity of pills in the canister  107  is read from the quantity field of the RFID  160  to determine if sufficient pills are present in the canister  107 . After dispensing a quantity of pills, the new quantity of pills present in the canister  107  is written back to the RFID  160  so that, if the canister is moved, etc., the RFID  160  will contain an accurate count of pills within the canister  107 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 8A , a plan view of an X-Y positioning table  200  of the present invention is shown. Although there are many ways known in the industry to position a platen  41  beneath a target location such as those described in the referenced patents and all of which are included here within, the X-Y positioning table  200  of  FIGS. 8A ,  8 B and  9  provide a unique, low-profile positioning table. The X-Y positioning table  200  includes a stationary base  202  and a frame  250  that is movable in both the X direction and the Y direction. In the present invention, one of the possible platens such as a platen  41  configured to hold a blister pack  45  having seven compartments  43  is inserted into the frame  250  and the X-Y positioning table  200  positions the desired compartment  43  beneath the target location. 
     The X-Y positioning table  200  has two positioning drive motors or servo motors  218 / 238  (see  FIG. 9 ) mounted to the stationary base  202 . Each of the positioning drive motors or servo motors  218 / 238  is interfaced to drive gears  210 / 230 . The X drive gear  210  interfaces to an X-plane linear gear  212  and the Y drive gear  230  interfaces to a Y-plane linear gear  232 . Rotation of either of the drive gears  210 / 230  results in linear movement of the respective linear gear  212 / 232 . The X-plane linear gear  212  is held within an X-direction slot  214  while the Y-plane linear gear  232  is held within a Y-direction slot  234 , each slot  214 / 234  maintains directionality and holds the linear gears  212 / 232  in relation to the drive gears  210 / 230 . 
     The X-plane linear gear  212  is affixed to an X-plane truck  216 . Movement of the X-plane truck  216  in response to rotation of the X-plane linear gear  212  results in movement of the frame  250  in the X direction. The X-plane truck  216  has bearings  217  that travel within an X-truck trough  252  of the frame  250 . Likewise, the Y-plane linear gear  232  is affixed to a Y-plane truck  218 . Movement of the Y-plane truck  218  in response to rotation of the Y-plane linear gear  232  results in movement of the frame  250  in the Y direction. The Y-plane truck  218  has bearings  219  that travel within a Y-truck trough  254  of a frame  250 . In this way, as the X-plane linear gear  212  moves in the X direction, the Y-plane truck  218  travels within the Y-truck trough  254 . As the Y-plane linear gear  232  moves the frame  250  in the Y direction, the X-plane truck  216  travels within the X-truck trough  252 . In this way, the frame  250  moves in both the X direction and the Y direction with respect to the base table  202  responsive to rotation of the X drive gear and rotation of the Y drive gear. Since there is no required overlap of the X-drive and Y-drive mechanisms, the X-Y table of the present invention requires less z-axis thickness. 
     In some embodiments, each platen [ 41 ] includes a platen identification  60 . In some embodiments, the platen identification  60  is a bar code. In some embodiments, the platen identification  60  is an RFID. In some embodiments, the platen identification  60  has writable data storage such as a writeable RFID. In other embodiments, the platen identification  60  is any known identification device known in the industry. A platen identification reader  165  for reading the platen identification  60  (e.g., a bar code reader or an RFID reader) is provided within the dispensing station  20 . In some embodiments in which the platen identification  60  has writable data storage (e.g., writeable RFID), the platen identification reader  165  is adapted to write data to the platen identification  60 . 
     In embodiments in which the platen identification  60  has writable data storage (e.g., writeable RFID); information is written to the platen identification  60  and read/used at a later time. For example, the request (e.g., pill type, pill quantity, distribution in blister pack, etc.) is written to the platen identification  60  externally to the dispensing station  20  then when the platen [ 41 ] is inserted into the dispensing station  20 , the request is read from the platen identification  60 . In some embodiments, after filling the request, the request is then overwritten or cleared by the dispensing station  20  so the same request is not later duplicated. 
     Referring to  FIG. 8B , a plan view of a second positioning of the X-Y transport of the present invention is shown. This view shows the frame  250  and platen  41  have moved left (X-direction) with respect to the position of the frame  250  in  FIG. 8A . To get to this position, the X-plane drive gear  210  rotated clockwise resulting in the X-plane linear gear  212  moving left (X-direction) within the X-slot  214 . As the frame  250  and platen  41  move left, the bearings  219  of the Y-truck  218  move within the Y trough  254 . Note that in  FIG. 8B , the platen identification  60  is over the reader  165 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 9 , a side cross-sectional view of the X-Y transport  200  of the present invention is shown. In this, the platen  41  is held within the frame  250 . The X-drive motor/servo  218  interfaces with the X-drive gear  210  and the X-drive gear  210  meshes with the X-plane linear gear  212 . The Y-drive motor/servo  238  is visible. The X-plane linear gear  212  interfaces to the X-plane truck  216  by a post  253 . One or more bearings  217  are mounted to the X-plane truck and the bearings are slideably interfaced to the X-truck trough  252  formed in the frame  250 . Note that it is preferred that the bearings  217 / 219  be ball bearings. In some embodiments, the bearings  217 / 219  are brass or nylon bearings. In some embodiments, the bearings  217 / 219  are a solid, non-rotating object that slides down the truck troughs  252 / 254 . In some embodiments, the truck troughs  252 / 254  have flat edges  255  while in other embodiments, the truck troughs  252 / 254  have flared edges or lipped edges to hold the bearings  217 / 219  within the truck troughs  252 / 254 . 
     Referring now to  FIG. 10 , a canister loading station of the present invention is shown. The canister loading station  300  has a stand or platform  302  adapted to securely hold a canister  100 . Bulk pills are provided in a bulk pill container  310 . Pills from the bulk pill container  310  are counted and placed into the canister  100 . In some embodiments, the canister loading station  300  includes an input device such as a keypad  304  or touch screen (not shown). In some embodiments, the canister loading station  300  includes a display  306 . In embodiments having a display  306 , the canister identification  160  is read by a canister loading station reader  362  and the proper pill type is displayed on the display  306 . In embodiments having both a display  306  and input device  304 , the canister identification  160  is read by a canister loading station reader/writer  362  and the proper pill type is displayed on the display  306  and, after loading the quantity of pills into the canister, the user enters that quantity at the input device  304  and the canister loading station reader/writer  362  writes the quantity of pills present in the canister  100  into the canister identification  160 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 11 , a block diagram of the dispensing station of the present invention is shown. Information from the canister identifier  160  (on a canister  100 ) is read by the canister identifier reader/writer  162  and the information is provided to the main program  400  running on the controller  500  (see  FIG. 12 ). In some embodiments in which the canister identifier is writable, information such as an updated pill count is sent from the main program  400  to the canister identifier reader/writer  162  and, the canister identifier reader/writer  162  writes the information to the canister identifier  160 . 
     Platen identification information from the platen identifier  60  is read by the platen identifier reader  165  and the platen identification information is provided to the main program  400  running on the controller  500  (see  FIG. 12 ). In some embodiments, the platen identification information is used to determine which specific platen software program  402  needs to be used/loaded by the main program  402 . In some embodiments, the platen identification information contains parameters that are used by a generic platen software program  402  to control the positioning of the platen  40  during filling operations. In some embodiments, the platen identification information contains the platen software program  402  and the platen software program  402  is read from the platen identifier  60  and loaded by the main program  402 . As an example of a platen-specific program, if a given platen has one row of seven blisters, the platen specific program  402  is loaded/run to control the X-Y table  200  to place pills in that specific blister package. As an example of a generic platen program for a platen that has one row of seven blisters, the generic platen program  402  is provided control information from the platen identification information indicating, for example, valid positions on the platen where blisters (or vials) are present so that the X-Y table  200  is instructed to locate the blister package correctly when dispensing pills. 
     Referring to  FIG. 12 , a controller of the dispensing station of the present invention is shown. The controller  500  is shown for completeness and the device shown is a simplified example of a typical processor-based controller that has a processor  510  and associated memory  520  and storage  525 . The storage  525  is, for example, Flash memory, battery-backed SRAM or a hard disk. This is an exemplary system and any suitable processor, memory and persistent storage can be substituted including microcontrollers such as the Intel® 80C51, processors such as the Intel® Pentium IV, memory such as SDRAM and DDR and persistent storage such as ROM, EPROM, hard disks, etc. The operating program  400 , data parameters, etc. are typically stored in the persistent storage  525  A system bus  530  interfaces the processor to peripheral devices as discussed below. 
     The controller  500  displays information, alerts, prompts, etc., on a display  560 . In some embodiments, the display  560  is a graphics display. In some embodiments, the display  560  is a LCD display. In other embodiments, the display is a numeric display, alpha-numeric display, set of lights or any combination thereof. Operation of the system is initiated by control inputs  570 . In some embodiments, the control inputs  570  include a keyboard. In other embodiments, the control  570  includes push buttons, switches, potentiometers and digital potentiometers, etc. 
     The processor  510  reads the platen identification  60  through a platen reader input port  540  as known in the industry. The canister identification  160  is read/written by the processor  510  through a canister identification I/O port  550 . 
     The X-Y motors  218 / 238  of the X-Y table  200  are controlled by an X/Y I/O port  580  and the carousel rotation motor  584  (or other selection mechanism motor control) is controlled by the carousel I/O port  582 . The carousel dispensing motor  102  is controlled by a pill drive I/O port  586 . In some embodiments (not shown) a pill drop sensor is connected to the processor  510  for counting the number of pills dropped at the target location. 
     Referring to  FIG. 13 , a flow chart of the dispensing station of the present invention is shown. This is one possible method of dispensing pills and various other methods and/or orders of steps are anticipated. 
     The method begins with loading  600  a plurality of canisters  100  onto the carousel  105  (or other canister selecting mechanism as previously described). Next, the desired target package (e.g., a specific blister pack or a vial) is loaded  602  into a platen configured to hold and support that type of package and the platen with the target package is loaded  604  into the frame  250  of the pill dispensing station  20  and the platen identification  60  is read  606  to determine which platen was loaded. Responsive to the platen identification  60 , software specific to filling that platen is loaded/run  608 . Next, the request (e.g., type of pill, quantity of pills and distribution within the individual blisters) is entered  610  (or prescription scanned at the dispensing station scanner  18 ). The canister  107  having the desired pill type is selected and placed over the target location  612 . In some embodiments, the canister identification  160  is read to assure/determine the proper canister  107  is located over the target location. In some embodiments, the current quantity of pills present in the canister  107  is read  614  from the canister identification  160  to assure a sufficient number of pills are available in the canister  107 . The desired pills are dispensed into the target location  616 , moving the X-Y table as per the software  402  specific to the particular platen to fill individual blisters as needed. In embodiments in which the canister identification  160  is writeable, an updated quantity of pills contained within the canister  107  is written  616  to the canister identification  160 . 
     Equivalent elements can be substituted for the ones set forth above such that they perform in substantially the same manner in substantially the same way for achieving substantially the same result. 
     It is believed that the system and method of the present invention and many of its attendant advantages will be understood by the foregoing description. It is also believed that it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the components thereof without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention or without sacrificing all of its material advantages. The form herein before described being merely exemplary and explanatory embodiment thereof. It is the intention of the following claims to encompass and include such changes.