Patent ID: 8880219

Claim:
An apparatus for counting and dispensing pills, comprising: a) a hopper for containing a plurality of pills; b) a transport tube operatively connected to said hopper for receiving pills therefrom, said transport tube having an outlet; c) a detector mechanism operatively connected to said transport tube for detecting pills proximate said detector mechanism and for generating a pulse width signal and an amplitude signal for each of said detected pills, said signals being dependent on the interruption of electromagnetic signals generated by photodiodes and received by detectors in said detector mechanism; and d) a microcontroller operatively connected to said detector mechanism and to said inlet aperture, said microcontroller having means for receiving said pulse width signal and said amplitude signal for each of said detected pills and for analyzing said pulse width signal and said amplitude signal, for calculating a slice volume therefor, and for calculating the volume of detector mechanism blockage as a function of the sum of said slice volumes, said analysis being dependent upon both the time of occlusion of said electromagnetic signals and the degree thereof, generating a three-dimensional analog pill data signal representative of the actual volume of said detected pill volume for each of said detected pills.