Patent Application
20100163373
1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate to an apparatus for rapidly orienting and dispensing open-top medicament bottles, especially in the context of automated medicament filling equipment. More particularly, embodiments of the present invention relate to a bulk loading medicament bottle dispenser that rapidly orients irregular-shaped bottles and maintains a supply of bottles to be dispensed.
2. Description of the Related Art
A medicament bottle dispenser is usually part of a larger medicament dispensing system that may receive a large volume of bottles and fill each bottle with medicaments to be distributed to a consumer. An exemplary environment where the medicament dispensing system may be used is a pharmacy, where a patient may receive a bottle filled with prescription, or non-prescription, medication.
The medicament bottle dispenser usually receives the bottles in a bulk load, where each bottle is in a random orientation. The dispenser generally presents the bottles in an upright fashion to the next stage of the medicament dispensing system which may fill the bottles with medicaments. However, traditional implementations of the dispenser may not be synchronized with the rest of the medicament dispensing system.
In some systems, the medicament dispensing system may fill the bottles with pills at a slower rate than the dispenser is feeding it. In order to avoid an overflow of bottles from the dispenser, the dispenser may be adjusted to run at a less than optimal speed.
In other systems, the medicament dispensing system may fill the bottles faster than the dispenser is feeding it. Thus, one or more stages of the medicament dispensing system may be idle while they wait for a bottle to be dispensed. In either case, the medicament dispensing system is performing inefficiently, with either the dispenser or other portions of the medicament dispensing system operating below their capabilities.
In addition, conventional medicament dispensing systems generally handled uniform cylindrical-shaped bottles. While the dispenser could present the bottles to the next stage of the system in a generally upright position, they often don't properly orient an oblong or otherwise non-uniform shaped bottle. Thus, specialized bottles may be mishandled by the medicament dispensing system, resulting in improper filling of the bottles.
Embodiments of the present invention solve the above-mentioned problems and provide a distinct advance in the art of a bulk loading medicament bottle dispenser. More particularly, embodiments of the invention provide a medicament bottle dispenser that maintains a supply of bottles to be dispensed, thereby providing synchronization between the bottle dispenser and subsequent stages, such as a bottle filling stage, of a medicament dispensing system. Furthermore, the medicament bottle dispenser may orient an oblong or otherwise non-uniform shaped bottle to be properly retrieved and handled by subsequent stages of the medicament dispensing system.
In various embodiments, the medicament bottle dispenser may comprise a hopper and a bottle pickup assembly. The hopper may include a bin with a ramped shelf and is configured to receive a plurality of medicament bottles from an external source and roughly align the medicament bottles to be picked up one at a time. The ramped shelf may direct the medicament bottles toward a pickup area in the bin, which may retain the medicament bottles until they are picked up by the bottle pickup assembly.
The bottle pickup assembly includes a pick wheel, at least one pick arm mounted to the pick wheel, a chute, a pickup platform, and a gating mechanism. The pick arm is coupled to the pick wheel and may pick up and retain a first medicament bottle from the plurality of medicament bottles as the pick wheel rotates. The chute may receive the first medicament bottle from the pick arm and may pass the first medicament bottle to the pickup platform. The bottle pickup assembly may further include a first sensor to detect the presence of any medicament bottle on the pickup platform. The gating mechanism may retain the first medicament bottle in the chute if the first sensor detects a second medicament bottle present on the pickup platform. Furthermore, the pick wheel may stop rotating if the second medicament bottle is present on the pickup platform, the first bottle is present in the chute, and a third bottle is retained on the pick arm approaching the chute.
In various other embodiments, the pickup platform may include a rotating unit to properly orient a non-uniform shaped medicament bottle while the medicament bottle is on the pickup platform. The rotating unit may include a turntable, a drive motor, and a second sensor. The turntable may be rotated while retaining the medicament bottle. The drive motor may rotate the turntable at least once to identify an alignment feature present on the medicament bottle. The second sensor may identify the alignment feature such that the medicament bottle may be rotated to the proper orientation.
This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.
Other aspects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of the embodiments and the accompanying drawing figures.
Embodiments of the present invention is described in detail below with reference to the attached drawing figures, wherein:
The drawing figures do not limit the present invention to the specific embodiments disclosed and described herein. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the invention.
The following detailed description of the invention references the accompanying drawings that illustrate specific embodiments in which the invention can be practiced. The embodiments are intended to describe aspects of the invention in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention. Other embodiments can be utilized and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense. The scope of the present invention is defined only by the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.
An improved bulk loading medicament bottle dispenser 10 constructed in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention is shown in
The bottles 18 are generally conventional medicament bottles that are roughly cylindrical in shape with a bottom wall 20 and a circumscribing wall 22, as seen in
The hopper 12 is generally of rectangular box shape with an open top as well as a left side wall 26, a right side wall 28, a front wall 30, a rear wall 32, and a bottom wall 34, as seen at least in part in
The bin 38 is roughly rectangular in shape and includes curved edges that couple with the interior of the rear wall 32, the left side wall 26, and the right side wall 28 at a height above the bottom wall 34. The bin 38 angles downward toward the center of the bottom wall 34 from the left side wall 26 and the right side wall 28. The bin 38 also angles downward as it approaches the front wall 30, where it couples with the bottle pickup assembly 14.
The bottle pickup assembly 14 may include a plurality of pick arms 44, a pick wheel 46, a plurality of flaps 48, a dispenser ramp 50, a chute 52, a gating mechanism 54, and a pickup platform 56, as seen at least in part in
The pick wheel 46 is generally disk shaped. The lower portion of the circumference of the pick wheel 46 may abut the forward edge of the bin 38 such that there is very little gap between the pick wheel 46 and the bin 38. The center of the pick wheel is coupled to one end of a drive shaft 58. The other end of the drive shaft 58 is coupled to a drive source 60. The drive source 60 may be generally located within the hopper 12. In various embodiments, the drive source 60 may include a motor 62 with one or more rollers that couple to the drive shaft 58 with a belt 64, such that rotation of the motor 62 produces rotation of the drive shaft 58 and in turn the pick wheel 46. In other embodiments, the drive source 60 may include a motor 62 that is directly coupled to the drive shaft 58 or perhaps is coupled to the drive shaft 58 through one or more gears. Other embodiments of the drive source 60 are possible, as long as they provide rotation to the drive shaft 58 and the pick wheel 46. Furthermore, the drive source 60 may rotate the pick wheel 46 based on an electrical or electronic signal from the controller 16.
The flaps 48 generally help to fully secure a single bottle 18 onto the pick arm 44 as the wheel 46 rotates. In addition, the flaps 48 may knock off, push off, or otherwise remove extra bottles 18 from the arm 44 or any single bottle 18 that is not properly oriented on the pick arm 44. Each flap 48 may be relatively thin, and of adequate stiffness to remove improperly positioned bottles 18 from the pick arm 44 but further secure properly positioned bottles 18 and allow them to continue rotating. Each flap 48 may also include a centrally-located cutout to allow the pick arm 44 to pass through the flap 48 and an elongated tab 66 to aid in the bottle 18 removal process. The flaps 48 may be positioned near the top of the rotation of the pick wheel 46 to further take advantage of the possibility that bottles 18 which are poorly positioned on the pick arm 44 may be ready to fall off and would thus be easier to knock off.
The dispenser ramp 50 generally allows passage of the bottle 18 from the pick arm 44 to the chute 52. The dispenser ramp 50 is generally elongated and sloped at a roughly 45° angle and may include a short stub 68 at one end that is roughly horizontal. The dispenser ramp 50 is positioned along the downward path of the pick arm 44 as the pick wheel 46 rotates. As the bottle 18 starts to descend after reaching the apex of the pick wheel 46, the bottle 18 may encounter the stub 68 and be guided off of the pick arm 44 and down the dispenser ramp 50. The dispenser ramp 50 is positioned at a distance away from the pick wheel 46 such that the pick arm 44 does not encounter or contact the dispenser ramp 50 as the pick wheel 46 rotates.
The chute 52 generally catches the bottle 18 as the bottle 18 descends the dispenser ramp 50 and guides the bottle 18 toward the gating mechanism 54. The chute 52 may include an open top and an open bottom, along with a first side wall 70, a second side wall 72, a third side wall 74, and a fourth side wall 76. The first side wall 70 may be positioned beneath the dispenser ramp 50. The second side wall 72 may be coupled to a vertically extending frame 78 that itself is coupled to the bottom wall 34 of the hopper 12. The third side wall 74 may abut the right side wall 28 of the hopper 12. And the fourth side wall 76 may abut the front wall 30 of the hopper 12. The lower portion of the second side wall 72 and the third side wall 74 are tapered inward toward the center of the chute 52. The lower portion of the first side wall 70 is angled outward away from the center of the chute 52. This tapered and angled structure guides the bottle 18 within the chute 52 such that the bottom of the bottle 18 aligns with the gating mechanism 54.
The gating mechanism 54 generally allows the bottle 18 to fall from the chute 52 to the pickup platform 56. The gating mechanism 54 may include a gate arm 80 and a gate driver 82, as best seen in
The gating mechanism 54 may be positioned next to the chute 52. In various embodiments, the gating mechanism 54 may be positioned just outside the second side wall 72 of the chute 52 such that the gate arm 80 may protrude into the interior of the chute 52. In the extended position, the gate arm 80 extends into the chute 52 and blocks the path of the bottle 18, which retains the bottle 18 within the chute 52. In the retracted position, the gate arm 80 withdraws from the interior of the chute 52 to allow the bottle 18 to freely pass through the chute 52 to the pickup platform 56 below.
The pickup platform 56 generally retains the bottles 18 one at a time until the bottle 18 has been removed from the platform 56 and retrieved for medicament filling by an external entity. The pickup platform 56 may be located at the corner of the front wall 30 and the right side wall 28 and may be placed on or otherwise coupled to the bottom wall 34.
The pickup platform 56 may include a first sensor 84 to sense the presence of a bottle 18 on the platform 56. The first sensor 84 may send a signal to the controller 16 as to whether a bottle 18 is present or absent from the pickup platform 56. The first sensor 84 may include any device or mechanism, such as transducers or the like, that can detect the presence of a bottle 18. However, typically the first sensor 84 may include one or more optical transmitting and receiving devices. The optical transmitters may transmit an optical signal upward from the pickup platform 56. The optical receivers may receive a reflected optical signal if a bottle 18 is present on the pickup platform 56. The optical devices may include such optical components as lasers, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), photodetectors, photodiodes, and the like.
In various embodiments, the pickup platform 56 may also include a rotating unit 86 to properly orient the bottle 18 while the bottle 18 is on the pickup platform 56 waiting to be removed, as seen in
The guide shroud 90 generally maintains the position of the bottle 18 on the turntable 88, such that the bottle 18 is roughly centered on the turntable 88 as the bottle 18 is being rotated, thus helping to ensure that the alignment feature 24 may be detected. The guide shroud 90 may be attached to the surface of the pickup platform 56 and may include a single curved upstanding side wall with a substantially U-shape cross section. The guide shroud 90 surrounds at least a portion of the circumference of the turntable 88.
The drive motor 92 is generally configured to provide rotation for the turntable 88. The drive motor 92 may include any type of motor, such as alternating current (AC), direct current (DC), stepper, etc., that can provide mechanical rotation when given an electrical or electronic signal from the controller 16. The drive motor 92 may be coupled through a driving gear 102 with the turntable 88, such that rotation of the drive motor 92 causes rotation of the turntable 88. Alternatively, the drive motor 92 may be directly coupled or belt coupled to the turntable 88.
When the bottle 18 is first received on the pickup platform 56, the drive motor 92 of the rotating unit 86 may rotate the bottle 18 for a full revolution (360°) so that the second sensor 94 may identify the alignment feature 24 of the bottle 18. Once the alignment feature 24 is identified, the drive motor 92 may rotate the bottle 18 to the proper orientation to be handled by external equipment. The rotating unit 86 may include intelligent circuitry or mechanisms to automatically energize the drive motor 92 to rotate the turntable 88 until the second sensor 94 detects the alignment feature 24 and to automatically stop the turntable 88 when the alignment feature 24 is detected.
In various embodiments, the bottle dispenser 10 may also include other sensors or sensing elements to detect the presence of a bottle 18 in other locations within the dispenser 10. For example, a sensing element may positioned in the vicinity of the chute 52 to detect the presence of a bottle 18 in the chute 52 being held up by the gating mechanism 54. There may also be a sensing element in the vicinity of the pick wheel 46 to detect the presence of a bottle 18 on the pick arm 44. All additional sensing elements may send a bottle 18 present or bottle 18 absent signal to the controller 16.
The controller 16, as seen in
The controller 16 may include one or more of the following: microprocessors, microcontrollers, programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), and the like. The controller 16 may also be described by one or more code segments of a hardware description language, such as VHDL or Verilog.
The bottle dispenser 10 may operate as follows, as seen primarily in
Bottles 18 that are oriented such that the longitudinal axis of the bottle 18 is aligned with the longitudinal axis of the pick arm 44 may get picked up by the pick arm 44. As the pick wheel 46 rotates, properly positioned bottles 18 on the pick arm 44 may get more securely positioned by the flaps 48, while bottles 18 that are askew on the pick arm 44 may get knocked off the pick arm 44. While the pick wheel 46 continues to rotate, the bottle 18 may encounter the ramp stub 68 and the dispenser ramp 50 and fall off the arm 44 and onto the ramp 50. From the dispenser ramp 50, the bottle 18 may enter the chute 52. For the first bottle 18 entering the chute 52, the gating mechanism 54 is retracted, because there is not a bottle 18 on the pickup platform 56. Thus, the first bottle 18 falls through the chute 52 and onto the pickup platform 56. If the bottle 18 is of oblong shape and includes an alignment mark, the rotating unit 86 rotates the bottle 18 until the alignment mark is detected as discussed above. The bottle 18 then waits on the pickup platform 56 to be retrieved.
While a bottle 18 is on the pickup platform 56, the controller receives a signal that the bottle 18 is present. In turn, the controller 16 sends a signal to the gating mechanism 54 to extend the gate arm 80. Although, even if there is a bottle 18 in the chute 52, the pick arm 44 still rotates and picks up bottles 18, as best seen in
If a first bottle 18 is on the pickup platform 56, the gate arm 80 of the gating mechanism 54 is extended to prevent a second bottle 18 from landing on the first bottle 18 and perhaps knocking both bottles 18 off the platform 56. It is desirable to prevent bottles 18 from stacking up within the chute 52 and on the dispenser ramp 50. However, it is also desirable for the bottle dispenser 10 to maintain a supply of bottles 18 that are ready to be dispensed as quickly as possible. Thus, when there is a first bottle 18 present on the pickup platform 56, a second bottle 18 present in the chute 52 at the gating mechanism 54, and a third bottle 18 retained on the pick arm 44 approaching the chute 52, as best seen in
Although the invention has been described with reference to the embodiments illustrated in the attached drawing figures, it is noted that equivalents may be employed and substitutions made herein without departing from the scope of the invention as recited in the claims.
Having thus described various embodiments of the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent includes the following:
