Patent ID: 7426814

Claim:
A method of dispensing pills from a machine having a platen that is movable, the platen holding a target packet of either a vial or a blister pack, the method comprising: moving a cassette over a target location, the cassette having a designated supply of pills within; selecting a quantity of the pills to be dispensed from the cassette; determining a type of the target package held in the platen; if the type of target package is the vial: positioning the vial by moving the platen holding the vial beneath the target location; releasing the quantity of the pills from the cassette into the vial; and if the type of target package is the blister pack; for each blister in the blister pack: positioning the each blister under the target location by moving the platen holding the blister pack; releasing a subset of the quantity of the pills from the cassette into the each blister.