Patent ID: 8774962

Claim:
An apparatus for dispensing solid pharmaceutical items, comprising: a dispensing station comprising a plurality of bins for storing the items, each of the bins containing items of substantially identical size and configuration, and at least some of the bins containing items that differ in size and/or composition from the items contained in others of the bins; each of the bins including a dispensing outlet on one side that dispenses items and a replenishment opening on a side thereof opposite the dispensing outlet, 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; the bins being releasably mounted on a frame such that the dispensing outlets face an access region within the frame and the replenishment openings face away from the frame in a direction generally opposite of the dispensing outlets; a labeling station mounted to the frame; a dispensing carrier configured to transport a pharmaceutical vial to be filled with the items from the labeling station to a respective bin as the bin is mounted on the frame, the dispensing carrier positioned within the access region; and a controller that controls the operation of the dispensing carrier, the labeling station, and the bins.