Pill counting and control system for a pill transport apparatus

Abstract

The present invention provides a method and apparatus for dispensing varying quantities of pills quickly, conveniently, securely, accurately operable to incorporate one or more sensors and at least two data sets for the purpose of monitoring the activity of transferring pills from a pill singulation to a bottle. For example, a counting means may be operable, in real-time or near-real time, to count the pills transferred to a bottle. A sensor array data-acquisition means may be utilized to facilitate the collection and monitoring of data relating to transfer of pills to a bottle. The counting means and sensor array data-acquisition means may be applied in a cooperative manner so as to facilitate examinations for the purpose of identifying pill events, such as overlapping pill dispensing, that have the potential to invalidate the counting means results.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 receiving input of a quantity of a pill;   determining, using a control system, logic requirements for dispensing the quantity of the pills;   delivering the pills to a pill singulator, comprising of:
 a tray for supporting the pills; 
 a drive means that is operable to move the pills in a stream that is of one said pill in width; and 
 a guide to guide to establish spacing between the driven pills and to guide the driven pills into a container; 
   counting the number of the pills being driven into the container by:
 gathering sensor data from:
 an light emitter disposed adjacent to, and emitting light over, the opening of the container; and 
 a light receiver disposed adjacent to the opening of the container opposite to, and receiving light emitted by, the light emitter, wherein the delivery of each said pill through the opening of the container results in a state-date event each of which is included a first portion of the sensor data and corresponds to light emitted by the light emitter:
 towards the pill being delivered through the opening of the container; and 
 received by the receiver sensor array; 
 
 a video capturer operable to capture video frames of the delivery of the number of pills being driven into the container, wherein the captured video frames are included a second portion of the sensor data; 
 and 
 a weight scale operable to obtain the weight of the container before and after the pills are driven into the container, wherein the before and after weights of the container are included a third portion of the sensor data; 
 
 and 
 analyzing such sensor data so as to establish:
 a primary pill count derived from the first, second and third portions of the sensor data; and 
 a secondary validated pill count derived from:
 the primary pill count; and 
 reference data related to a prior valid count of similar said pills; 
 
 
   and   authorizing the dispensing of the pills if the analysis of the sensor data generates a successful comparison result between:
 the input quantity of the pills; 
 the primary pill count; and 
 the secondary validated pill count. 
   
     
     
         2 . The method as defined in  1 , wherein the counting of the number of the pills being driven into the container includes incrementing a series of sensor transitions acquired from at least one of the light receiver, the video capturer and the weight scale. 
     
     
         3 . The method as defined in  1 , wherein the series of sensor transitions define the primary pill count. 
     
     
         4 . The method as defined in  3 , further comprising:
 relating the primary pill count to a timeline for a pill dispense, and   generating time-gap data for the pill dispense based on the time-gap between any two consecutive said pills being driven to the opening of the container.   
     
     
         5 . The method as defined in  4 , further comprising feeding back the time-gap data to the control system in at least one of real time and near real time to enable the control of the operation of the pill singulator to reduce at least one of pill counting errors and other pill driving operational errors. 
     
     
         6 . The method as defined in  5 , further comprising:
 operating a secondary pill counter to capture secondary sensor data in counting the pills; and   validating the primary pill count by the captured secondary sensor data.   
     
     
         7 . The method as defined in  6 , further comprising analyzing the captured secondary sensor data based on a statistical analysis thereof. 
     
     
         8 . The method as defined in  7 , further comprising accessing a logical function of a decision tree, for directing the application of the statistical analysis to at least one of the primary pill count and the secondary sensor data. 
     
     
         9 . The method as defined in  8 , further comprising the step of feeding the results of the statistical analysis to the control system. 
     
     
         10 . A non-transient computer readable medium comprising software executable by hardware to perform a plurality of steps, wherein the steps comprise:
 receiving input of a quantity of an item;   determining, using a control system, logic requirements for dispensing the quantity of the items;   receiving a count of the number of the items being driven into the container by:
 gathering sensor data from:
 an light emitter disposed adjacent to, and emitting light over, the opening of the container; and 
 a light receiver disposed adjacent to the opening of the container opposite to, and receiving light emitted by, the light emitter, wherein the delivery of each said item through the opening of the container results in a state-date event each of which is included a first portion of the sensor data and corresponds to light emitted by the light emitter:
 towards the item being delivered through the opening of the container; and 
 received by the receiver sensor array; 
 
 a video capturer operable to capture video frames of the delivery of the number of items being driven into the container, wherein the captured video frames are included a second portion of the sensor data; 
 and 
 a weight scale operable to obtain the weight of the container before and after the items are driven into the container, wherein the before and after weights of the container are included a third portion of the sensor data; 
 
 and 
 analyzing such sensor data so as to establish:
 a primary item count derived from the first, second and third portions of the sensor data; and 
 a secondary validated item count derived from:
 the primary item count; and 
 reference data related to a prior valid count of similar said items; 
 
 
   and   outputting an authorization for the dispensing of the items if the analysis of the sensor data generates a successful comparison result between:
 the input quantity of the items; 
 the primary item count; and 
 the secondary validated item count. 
   
     
     
         11 . A system comprising:
 a pill singulator, operable to transfer pills to a pill container, comprising:
 a tray for supporting the pills; 
 a drive means that is operable to move the pills in a stream that is of one pill in width; and 
 a guide to:
 guide the driven pills towards a pill receiving station; and 
 establish spacing between the driven pills; and— 
 
   a control system, linked to the pill singulator, operable to:
 control the driving of pills by the pill singulator, including controlling the starting and stopping of the pill singulator; 
 control the speed of the driving of pills by the pill singulator; and 
 determine logic requirements for the dispensing of an input quantity of the pills— 
   and   a counting system, linked to the control system, operable to counting the number of pills being driven into the container by:
 gathering sensor data from:
 an light emitter disposed adjacent to, and emitting light over, the opening of the container; and 
 a light receiver disposed adjacent to the opening of the container opposite to, and receiving light emitted by, the light emitter, wherein the delivery of each said pill through the opening of the container results in a state-date event each of which is included a first portion of the sensor data and corresponds to light emitted by the light emitter:
 towards the pill being delivered through the opening of the container; and 
 received by the receiver sensor array; 
 
 a video capturer operable to capture video frames of the delivery of the number of pills being driven into the container, wherein the captured video frames are included a second portion of the sensor data; 
 and 
 a weight scale operable to obtain the weight of the container before and after the pills are driven into the container, wherein the before and after weights of the container are included a third portion of the sensor data; 
 
 and 
 analyzing such sensor data so as to establish:
 a primary pill count derived from the first, second and third portions of the sensor data; and 
 a secondary validated pill count derived from:
 the primary pill count; and 
 reference data related to a prior valid count of similar said pills; 
 
 
 wherein the control system authorizes the dispensing of the pills if the analysis of the sensor data generates a successful comparison result between:
 the input quantity of the pills; 
 the primary pill count; and 
 the secondary validated pill count. 
 
   
     
     
         12 . The system as defined in  11 , wherein the counting system is further operable to generate the primary pill count by incrementing a series of sensor transitions acquired from at least one of the light receiver, the video capturer and the weight scale. 
     
     
         13 . The system as defined in  12 , wherein the sensor transitions define the primary pill count. 
     
     
         14 . The system as defined in  13 , wherein the counting system is further operable to:
 relate the primary pill count to a timeline for a pill dispense, and   generate time-gap data for the pill dispense based on the time-gap between any two consecutive said pills being driven to the opening of the container.   
     
     
         15 . The system as defined in  14 , wherein the counting system is further operable to feed back the time-gap data to the control system in at least one of real time and near real time to enable the control of the operation of the pill singulator to reduce at least one of pill counting errors and other pill driving operational errors. 
     
     
         16 . The system as defined in  11 , wherein the counting system is further operable to validate the primary pill count by operation of a secondary pill counter. 
     
     
         17 . The system as defined in  16 , wherein the counting system is further operable to validate the primary pill count using captured secondary sensor data from the secondary pill counter. 
     
     
         18 . The system as defined in  17 , wherein the counting system is further operable to analyze the secondary sensor data based on a statistical analysis thereof. 
     
     
         19 . The system as defined in  18 , wherein the counting system is further operable to:
 apply one or more of a plurality of logical functions that embody or form part of a decision tree, for directing the application of the statistical analysis to the particular primary pill count and secondary sensor data; and   feed the results of the statistical analysis to the control system.   
     
     
         20 . A system comprising:
 means for receiving input of a quantity of an item;   means for determining, using a control system, logic requirements for dispensing the quantity of the items;   means for receiving a count of the number of the items being driven into the container by:
 gathering sensor data from:
 an light emitter disposed adjacent to, and emitting light over, the opening of the container; and 
 a light receiver disposed adjacent to the opening of the container opposite to, and receiving light emitted by, the light emitter, wherein the delivery of each said item through the opening of the container results in a state-date event each of which is included a first portion of the sensor data and corresponds to light emitted by the light emitter:
 towards the item being delivered through the opening of the container; and 
 received by the receiver sensor array; 
 
 a video capturer operable to capture video frames of the delivery of the number of items being driven into the container, wherein the captured video frames are included a second portion of the sensor data; 
 and 
 a weight scale operable to obtain the weight of the container before and after the items are driven into the container, wherein the before and after weights of the container are included a third portion of the sensor data; 
 
 and 
 analyzing such sensor data so as to establish:
 a primary item count derived from the first, second and third portions of the sensor data; and 
 a secondary validated item count derived from:
 the primary item count; and 
 reference data related to a prior valid count of similar said items; 
 
 
   and   means for outputting an authorization for the dispensing of the items if the analysis of the sensor data generates a successful comparison result between:
 the input quantity of the items; 
 the primary item count; and 
 the secondary validated item count.