Parata Systems, LLC

John Volkar

Steven J Remis

Adam J Hahn

Joseph Popovich, Jr

Raymond Rhodes

Monroe Thomas Milton

Joseph Popovich

Michael A Bergeron

Monroe Milton

Brian G Broussard

William Toole

A singulating disc, carried by a housing, has a plurality of openings around its periphery. The disc rotates vertically through a pickup chamber of a hopper carried by the housing. A vacuum is pulled through the openings by a pump which is connected to the disc. Items are placed in the hopper and, via gravity, fall to the bottom of the hopper where they contact the periphery of the rotating disc. The vacuum at the openings attaches an item and holds it while the disc rotates. At the top of the discs rotation, a diverter directs the item into a path depending on the results of a fragment detection and/or counting mechanism. Items that are allowed to pass by the diverter are scraped off the disc into another path by a scraper. Negative pressure is used to singulate and count a multitude of sizes and shapes of items with no calibration. Retractable paddles, a vacuum management system, and RFID tags may be incorporated. The paddles aid in the pickup and agitation of the items while the vacuum management system conserves the vacuum capacity necessary to pickup and singulate items. The RFID tags may contain information such as the number of items left in the hopper, a par level for that item, an expiration date, among others. Because of the rules governing abstracts, this abstract should not be used to construe the claims.

Vacuum based pill singulator and counter based thereon

A stand alone imaging system is disclosed that captures undistorted, high resolution, stop-action images of objects (e.g., medicine pills) moving at automation speeds, processes the images in real time, and then performs real-time I/O based control that is a function of the image processing results. The imaging system has a form factor that enables it to be embedded inside a product (e.g., a pill dispenser). The imaging system also has a flexible I/O system so that a variety of different applications can be handled by changing only the programming and the external hardware connected to the device in which the imaging system is embedded. In the case of pill dispensing and quality control, a miniature, low cost imaging system can be embedded in a pill dispenser to obtain a pill image and then process the image in real time as the pill moves through a counting system. The embedded imaging system processes the images fast enough and with sufficient quality and resolution so as to command a pill counting mechanism to dispense or reject the pill based on the image processing results. Images of the pills can also be sent to a remote location or an archive. The embedded imaging system has sufficient processing power and I/O to control the entire pill counting mechanism. Lighting may be provided by a separate solid state lighting source which may be controlled by the embedded imaging system's camera or operated independently. Because of the rules governing abstracts, this abstract should not be used to construe the claims.

Embedded imaging and control system

A singulating disc, carried by a housing, has a plurality of openings around its periphery. The disc rotates vertically through a pickup chamber of a hopper carried by the housing. A vacuum is pulled through the openings by a pump which is connected to the disc. Items are placed in the hopper and, via gravity, fall to the bottom of the hopper where they contact the periphery of the rotating disc. The vacuum at the openings attaches an item and holds it while the disc rotates. At the top of the disc's rotation, a diverter directs the item into a path depending on the results of a fragment detection and/or counting mechanism. Items that are allowed to pass by the diverter are scraped off the disc into another path by a scraper. Negative pressure is used to singulate and count a multitude of sizes and shapes of items with no calibration. Retractable paddles, a vacuum management system, and RFID tags may be incorporated. The paddles aid in the pickup and agitation of the items while the vacuum management system conserves the vacuum capacity necessary to pickup and singulate items. The RFID tags may contain information such as the number of items left in the hopper, a par level for that item, an expiration date, among others. Because of the rules governing abstracts, this abstract should not be used to construe the claims.

One embodiment of the present invention includes a system comprising a housing having an upper end and a lower end. The housing carries a plurality of movable blades defining an entry aperture proximate to the upper end, an exit aperture proximate to the lower end, and a chamber there between. An adapter may be provided for connection to the housing and for receiving an article storage container. The upper end of the housing carries a sensor responsive to the presence and absence of the article storage container. A memory device carries information about the presence and absence of the article storage container. An article determining and actuating station has electronics for interrogating the memory device, for controlling the plurality of blades and for determining the number of items dispensed. A receptacle collects articles that have been dispensed. Methods of associating a flow control device with an article storage container and of dispensing items are also disclosed.

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Mars, PA, United States of America

John Volkar