Patent ID: 8240506

Claim:
An apparatus for dispensing pharmaceutical articles, the apparatus comprising: a) a housing assembly including a first inlet wall and a second inlet wall that is moveable relative to the first inlet wall, the housing assembly defining: a hopper chamber that houses pharmaceutical articles; and a dispensing channel fluidly connected to the hopper chamber, the dispensing channel having an inlet and an outlet and defining a flow path, the inlet being defined at least in part by the first and second inlet walls; and b) an adjustment system operable to adjust the position of the second inlet wall relative to the first inlet wall to adjust the size of the inlet to singulate the pharmaceutical articles passing through the inlet, the adjustment system including: an input mechanism selectively operable by an operator to selectively move the second inlet wall relative to the first inlet wall; and an operator feedback mechanism that provides tactile feedback to the operator responsive to operation of the input mechanism by the operator to indicate prescribed increments of movement of the second inlet wall relative to the first inlet wall; wherein: the input mechanism includes a rotatable member that is rotatable relative to the housing assembly; the operator feedback mechanism provides tactile feedback to the operator as the operator rotates the rotatable member to and/or from a prescribed rotational position of the rotatable member; the rotatable member includes a threaded shank and a knob affixed thereto; and the adjustment system is configured such that rotation of the knob rotates the threaded shank, which in turn translates the second inlet wall relative to the first inlet wall.