The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 26, 2016
Filed:
Dec. 21, 2012
Deka Products Limited Partnership, Manchester, NH (US);
Dean Kamen, Bedford, NH (US);
James G. Turner, Manchester, NH (US);
Erik N. Sabin, Goffstown, NH (US);
Gregg W. Rivinius, Bedford, NH (US);
David E. Collins, Cincinnati, OH (US);
Benjamin Zaslow, Sunnyside, NY (US);
Jonathan Zobro, Grand Rapids, MI (US);
Alexander R. Therrien, Manchester, NH (US);
Jared N. Farlow, Brookline, MA (US);
DEKA Products Limited Partnership, Manchester, NH (US);
Abstract
A pill dispenser includes a housing, a pill-dispensing mechanism, a receptacle, a pill-viewing camera, an identifying camera, one or more processors, and a storage medium (e.g., a memory). The pill-dispensing mechanism is coupled to an opening of the housing. The first pill-viewing camera is positioned to capture an image of the receptacle, and the identifying camera is positioned to capture an image of an area adjacent to the housing. The one or more processors are in operative communication with the pill-dispensing mechanism, the pill-viewing camera, and the identifying camera. The storage medium stores processor-executable instructions for: instructing the pill-dispensing mechanism to dispense a pill; instructing the pill-viewing camera to capture a first image of the pill to determine a presence of the pill; instructing the pill-viewing camera to capture a second image to determine an absence of the pill; and instructing the identifying camera to capture a third image.