Patent ID: 8798788

Claim:
An apparatus for dispensing solid pharmaceutical items, comprising: a frame; a container dispensing station attached to the frame; a labeling station attached to the frame; a dispensing station having a plurality of bins that receive and dispense solid pharmaceutical items, the bins having dispensing outlets that define generally a vertical dispensing plane, each of the bins further including a bin control circuit that monitors the counting of items traveling through the dispensing outlet and directly into a pharmaceutical vial, wherein the bin control circuit of each bin includes an identifier that is unique to that bin; a first carrier positioned and configured to grasp and transport a container, the first carrier rotatably mounted relative to the frame for rotation about a first vertical axis; and a second carrier positioned and configured to grasp and transport a container, the second carrier being movable along a horizontal axis defined by a horizontal rail mounted to the frame and movable about a second vertical axis that is perpendicular to the horizontal axis, the horizontal axis being parallel to the dispensing plane; and a controller operatively connected with and controlling the operation of the container dispensing station, the labeling station, the first carrier, the dispensing station, and the second carrier.