An article supply device capable of supplying first and second type articles comprises a main body, an accommodation unit for accommodating articles, a supply unit for supplying articles accommodated in the accommodation unit, a lock unit which prevents articles from being supplied from the supply unit; and a detection unit capable of detecting the presence or absence of first type articles and the presence or absence of the second type articles accommodated in the accommodation unit, wherein the lock unit is turned into a lock state, on condition that the absence of the articles is detected by the detection unit.

A medicine dispensing apparatus gives a sense of stable operation of discharge of excessive medicines when used with general-purpose medicine feeders. A temporary reserving structure is provided at the lower end portion of a medicine guide structure configured to guide medicines discharged from a general-purpose medicine feeder of a non-cassette, fixed container portion type so as to fall down, the temporary reserving structure being operable to temporarily reserve the medicines and cause the medicines to collectively fall down. When it is detected that an excessive medicine has been discharged from the medicine feeder, packing operation is temporarily stopped and the temporary reserving structure is caused to reserve the medicines, and an operation to draw out medicine feeder mount portions is allowed, and thereafter resumption of the packing operation is allowed when it is detected that the medicine feeder mount portions are drawn out and pushed back.

A sorting conveyor and bagging device for selectively depositing packages in bags through collapsible openings in the bags themselves or in sleeves protruding from the mouths of bags. Sliders are positioned between the bags at the ends of chutes. Actuators slide the sliders along the slide tracks to selectively open and position the opening to one bag to receive packages from the chute while the opening to the other bag is closed and positioned out of the way.

A sorting conveyor and bagging device for selectively depositing packages in bags through collapsible openings in the bags themselves or in sleeves protruding from the mouths of bags. Sliders are positioned between the bags at the ends of chutes. Actuators slide the sliders along the slide tracks to selectively open and position the opening to one bag to receive packages from the chute while the opening to the other bag is closed and positioned out of the way.

An ammunition packaging apparatus and system is reconfigurable to package a select caliber of ammunition by changing a set of components to those associated with the selected caliber of ammunition and selecting the corresponding operating procedure. An ammunition collating and packaging apparatus can be quickly reconfigured from packaging a first caliber of ammunition to packaging a second caliber of ammunition by quickly replacing a define set of components and modifying operationally timings to correspond to the selected caliber.

The invention relates to an apparatus and a method for dispensing solid substances, wherein the apparatus comprises a feeder section with a plurality of feeder units, a collection section with a plurality of hoppers and a dispensing section, wherein the plurality of hoppers are rotatable with respect to the feeder units and a first packing position for dispensing the solid substances to the dispensing section, wherein the apparatus comprises a cleaning device for removing pollutants from the hoppers, wherein the cleaning device comprises a hub and a plurality of ducts forming air connections between the plurality of hoppers and the hub, wherein the cleaning device comprises a first blocking member that is arranged for blocking the air connection between one of the hoppers and the hub when said one hopper is positioned in the first packing position.

The invention relates to an apparatus and a method for dispensing solid substances, wherein the apparatus comprises a feeder section with a plurality of feeder units, a collection section with a plurality of hoppers and a dispensing section, wherein the plurality of hoppers are rotatable with respect to the feeder units and a first packing position for dispensing the solid substances to the dispensing section, wherein the apparatus comprises a cleaning device for removing pollutants from the hoppers, wherein the cleaning device comprises a hub and a plurality of ducts forming air connections between the plurality of hoppers and the hub, wherein the cleaning device comprises a first blocking member that is arranged for blocking the air connection between one of the hoppers and the hub when said one hopper is positioned in the first packing position.

An automatic packager including a cartridge and a cartridge mechanism is provided. The cartridge for the automatic packager includes a reservoir for storing a plurality of medications and a wheel including a bottom portion placed in the reservoir. The cartridge also includes a scooping member provided on the wheel to rotate with the wheel and singulate a medication from the reservoir. The cartridge mechanism for the automatic packager includes a platform configured to receive a medication from a cartridge and a camera system. The cartridge mechanism also includes an electronic processor coupled to the camera system configured to dispense the medication from the cartridge in response to determining that the expected medication is delivered to the platform and return the medication to the cartridge in response to determining that the expected medication is not delivered to the platform.

A pill packaging device comprising a pill encloser, a pill dispenser mounted to the pill encloser, and a pill funnel, which routes pills from the pill dispenser to the pill encloser. The pill packaging device may include rolls of first and second packaging film mounted to first and second film mounts, a pill carrousel, a printer, a barcode scanner, and seal jaws.

Systems and methods are disclosed for a medical pill dispensing system. A system includes a plurality of canisters and/or a manual fill tray for storing one or more pills, where the supply module includes a plurality of containers. Each of the plurality of containers or the manual fill tray is configured to dispense one or more pills of a respective type. The system also includes a hopper system for receiving the one or more pills from the plurality of containers or the manual fill tray. The system also includes a top pre-fill tray configured to receive one or more pills from the hopper system. The system further includes a bottom pre-fill tray configured to receive one or more pills from the top pre-fill tray. Both the top pre-fill tray and the bottom pre-fill tray include a plurality of X-direction and Y-direction pointers. The system also includes a control module that facilitates alignment of the top pre-fill tray with the bottom pre-fill tray using the X-direction and Y-direction pointers in both the top pre-fill tray and the bottom pre-fill tray. Feedback logic is used by the control module to align then top and bottom pre-fill trays. The system also includes a packing plate that is capable of receiving a plurality of pill packs. In operation, the system controls dispensing and navigation of one or more pills from a container or manual pre-fill tray such that the pill makes it way from the container, through the hopper system and the top and bottom pre-fill trays and into a desired slot in the pill pack. The multi pre-fill tray system, and its mechanisms that provide for separated compartmentalization of pills, allow the medical pill dispensing system to parallel process and dispense pills designated for multiple pill packs without having to wait till the completion of any one pill pack thereby providing for a higher efficiency system while ensuring that pills designated for one pill pack are not mixed with pills designated for another pill pack.