Patent ID: 8622196

Claim:
A roller assembly for a high-speed tablet feeder comprising a pair of feed rollers and a pair of sort and transport rollers, at least one prime mover, a drive plate, at least two end plates, a pair of side plates, at least one tablet guide, a pivot plate, a handle, a stop pin and a hopper, said feed rollers further comprising a pair of gears at a drive plate end thereof and a blunt end opposite said drive plate end, said sort and transport rollers further comprising a pair of gears at a drive plate end thereof and tapered surfaces at an end opposite said drive plate end, said tapered surfaces defining an exit drop point therebetween, said feed rollers journaled in said drive plate and in one of said end plates, said sort and transport rollers journaled in said drive plate and another of said end plates, said feed rollers disposed above said sort and transport rollers, said pivot plate of said roller assembly rotatably affixed to a base frame of a high speed tablet feeder at a pivot, said base frame provided with a counting and reject block and a tablet chute adjacent said pivot, said counting and reject block containing a product count sensor, said counting and reject block having a curved wall centered on said pivot, said pivot having a centerline thereof that is perpendicular to a centerline between said sort and transport rollers at said exit drop point so that said exit drop point remains fixed regardless of an angle at which said roller assembly is disposed with respect to said base frame, said pivot plate provided with said handle affixed thereto adjacent said drive plate, said tablet chute fixedly mounted to said base frame, a discharge chute fixedly mounted to said base frame and in alignment with said tablet chute, said roller assembly pivotally mounted upon said base frame, said roller assembly driven by said prime mover wherein one of said feed rollers is operatively connected to said prime mover and one of said sort and transport rollers is operatively connected to said prime mover, said side plates joined to said end plates and said drive plate wherein said drive plate and said end plates are affixed to said pivot plate, said drive plate and said end plates supporting said feed rollers and said sort and transport rollers in a spaced relationship from said pivot plate and wherein said prime mover is carried by said drive plate.