According to one embodiment, an article handling apparatus includes a gripper, a supporting portion, a sensor, and controller. The gripper grips an article. The supporting portion supports an article from below. The sensor recognizes a plurality of articles to generate a recognition result. The controller calculates a position of a first article located highest among the plurality of articles based on the recognition result, calculates a position of a second article located second highest in a region determined based on the position of the first article, controls movement of the gripper based on the position of the first article, and controls the movement of the supporting portion based on the position of the second article.

A product storage device includes: a product storage column storing products aligned in a row in a product storage path; a first gate moving back from and forward to a most downstream area that is downstream of a most downstream product in the product storage path; a second gate disposed in an upstream side with respect to the first gate and moving back from and forward to the most downstream area; a gate operation mechanism keeping the first and second gates in a state of having moved forward to the most downstream area in a standby state and to allow them to move back from the most downstream area when an operation command is given; and a measuring unit measuring the number of taken-out products by counting the number of changes in at least one of the first and second gates from a backward movement to a forward movement.

A hands-free dispenser for dispensing lengths of absorbent sheet products, includes: a dispenser body containing a dispensing mechanism; a hand sensor for detecting the presence of a user's hand in the vicinity of the dispenser; an elongated metallic conductive element having a proximate end in electrical communication with at least one metal surface of the dispenser positioned at a first location relative to the hand sensor, and a distal end in electrical communication with at least one charge receiver positioned at a second location relative to the hand sensor, the second location being at a greater distance from the hand sensor than the first location.

The invention concerns a secure device for dispensing unit doses (Mi) of an active substance in a solid dosage form. Such a device comprises means to prevent refilling of the chamber containing the unit doses. It may further accommodate a processing unit and means of communication with the outside world. Such a device is particularly effective when it comes to combating the counterfeiting of medicines. It may further be used to detect patients' non-adherence during a clinical trial or the non-adherence of a patients suffering from chronic diseases.

The present invention is for wipe dispensers for dispensing interconnected wipes. An exemplary wipes dispenser may include a container body and a removable lid forming an interior region into which a plurality of interconnected wipes may be disposed. Pulling on a lead end of a lead wipe causes a following wipe to also be pulled and follow the lead wipe. The removable lid may cover a portion of a container aperture (e.g., an open top of the container body). A landing member in the lid covers a portion of the container aperture by extending from a top rim of the container body toward the middle of the interior region. The landing member may form an angle with a substantially vertical exterior wall of the container, where the formed angle may be less than 90. In an embodiment, the landing member may include a concavely shaped portion. The landing member may include one or more fingers.

A sanitary automatic glove dispensing apparatus and method of use. The automatic sanitary glove dispensing apparatus, based on one or more received dispensing events, dispenses pairs of connected protective gloves stored on a roll of protective gloves and overlapped in a pre-determined pattern, by both cuff ends so both finger ends of the protective gloves are not contaminated during dispensing. After a pair of protective gloves are dispensed by both cuff ends, no additional protective gloves are exposed from the apparatus until another protective glove dispensing event is received, thereby protecting remaining protective gloves in the apparatus from contamination by noroviruses and bacteria from a surrounding environment and from other users of the apparatus.

A sanitary automatic glove dispensing apparatus and method of use. The automatic sanitary glove dispensing apparatus, based on one or more received dispensing events, dispenses pairs of connected protective gloves stored on a roll of protective gloves and overlapped in a pre-determined pattern, by both cuff ends so both finger ends of the protective gloves are not contaminated during dispensing. After a pair of protective gloves are dispensed by both cuff ends, no additional protective gloves are exposed from the apparatus until another protective glove dispensing event is received, thereby protecting remaining protective gloves in the apparatus from contamination by noroviruses and bacteria from a surrounding environment and from other users of the apparatus.

Embodiments of a system and method for unloading articles from a container of items for use in an automatic stack feeder are disclosed. The automatic stack feeder may comprise a belt, a moveable lower paddle, and a moveable upper paddle, wherein the lower paddle is configured to partially extend through a belt of the automatic stack feeder. The movement of the belt, the lower paddle, and the upper paddle are coordinated such that there is no need to interrupt the operation of the automatic stack feeder to unload the container.

Embodiments of a system and method for unloading articles from a container of items for use in an automatic stack feeder are disclosed. The automatic stack feeder may comprise a belt, a moveable lower paddle, and a moveable upper paddle, wherein the lower paddle is configured to partially extend through a belt of the automatic stack feeder. The movement of the belt, the lower paddle, and the upper paddle are coordinated such that there is no need to interrupt the operation of the automatic stack feeder to unload the container.

Pill dispensers including a housing, a bottom cap that engages an open bottom end of the housing, and a base that engages the bottom cap such that the bottom cap is spaced from the base. The bottom cap is adapted to facilitate movement of pills into a transport member, which is moveable with respect to the remainder of the bottom cap from a first position aligned with an upper opening in the bottom cap to a second position aligned with a lower opening in the bottom cap, through which a pill is dispensed.