A crown for a pharmaceutical tablet packaging machine includes: a generally cylindrical hub having an upper end and a lower end; a generally disc-shaped divider mounted to the upper end of the hub, the divider having upper and lower surfaces and a plurality of radially-extending teeth; and a cap mounted to the upper surface of the divider, the cap having an upper surface comprising a plurality of alternating hummocks and furrows. The cap is attached to the divider with a first fastener, and wherein the hub is attached to the divider with a second fastener.

A storage and dispensing station for drugs is provided. The storage and dispensing station includes a receiving space for drug portions, the receiving space having a feed section with a base section and a dispensing opening, an ejection device for moving a drug portion through the dispensing opening, the ejection device having a slide which can be moved in the feed section towards the dispensing opening and a slide drive coupled to the slide for moving the slide, as well as a lock which can be moved in the feed section and which can be moved in the feed section such that when a drug portion is moved towards the dispensing opening, movement of drug portions in the feed section is prevented.

A blister pack includes a housing having a plurality of cavities and a cover sealed to the housing and enclosing the cavities. The cover including a base layer, at least one security element, and a heat protective layer. The heat protective layer includes one of an amorphous polymer and a semi-crystalline polymer.

A pharmaceutical pack and the method for making the same are provided. The pharmaceutical pack includes a blister layer and a lidding sheet disposed over the blister layer. The blister layer defines at least one opening. The lidding sheet includes a first layer and optionally a second layer. The first layer includes at least one hologram, and is disposed on the second layer, which is a plastic film. The blister layer and the lidding sheet define at least one cavity so as to hold at least one pharmaceutical dosage form therein.

Item-management systems, apparatus, and methods are described, preferably for management of items such as medicaments. In embodiments, an item-management system comprises a container defining plural cells, a docking station configured to receive the container, sources of visible information to indicate the cell(s) into which an item is to be loaded, and at least one controller operable to control the visible information sources to indicate the cell into which the item is to be received.

A method for dispensing discrete medicaments with a dispensing device includes the steps of predicting a depletion time in the future when the medicaments in the container of a first feeder unit of the plurality of feeder units will be depleted; providing a notification ahead of said depletion time that a second feeder unit holding medicaments with the same composition as the first feeder unit needs to be presented to the dispensing device, together with a due time for presenting said second feeder unit to the dispensing device; and continuing the dispensing of the medicaments from the first feeder unit at least until the due time.

An order processing system, such as may be used in a high-volume pharmacy, may include a material handling system, an accumulator, and a packing device. The material handling system may move containers through a plurality of container paths. The container sorting device may receive the containers, scan the plurality of containers to detect container identifiers, and separate the containers based on the container identifiers to travel through a first container exit path or a second container exit path. The accumulator may accumulate containers that traveled through the first container exit path and the second container exit path. The accumulator may include an accumulator scanning device for scanning the containers to detect the container identifiers. The accumulator may group the containers together based on the detected container identifiers and orders, and provide the grouped containers. The packing device may package the grouped containers along with literature associated with the orders.

A plural-mode automatic medicament packaging system. In embodiments, the system may include an automatic dispensing machine including an automatic medicament dispensing unit and may further include pouch packaging and blister package packaging units. The medicament dispensing unit may include one or more storage and dispensing units which store and dispense medicaments. Medicaments output from the medicament dispensing unit may be packaged in a pouch package by the pouch packaging unit. Alternatively, a diverter may direct medicaments output from the medicament dispensing unit to the pouch package packaging unit for packaging in a blister package. A single automatic medicament packaging system can package medicaments in different types of packaging providing a pharmacy with the opportunity to package medicaments in the form of packaging most appropriate to meet patient needs.

The invention relates to a device for filling a medicine-unit container for use in a medicine unit dispensing device, comprising a support for the container, adapted to fix the position of the container relative to the device and limit a movement of the container relative to the device and at least one movable push element, such as a rod or pin, operable relative to the support, for pushing an unlocking element of a container supported by the device.

A method for packaging discrete medicaments in pouches in a packaging device configured to form and fill the pouches in an elongated web, the method comprising the following steps: transporting the elongated web along a web trajectory, printing information on the elongated web related to the discrete medicaments that are fed to the elongated web at the position of the printed information on the elongated web, feeding the discrete medicaments to the elongated web at the position on the elongated web of the related printed information, inspecting the elongated web to determine whether there is a fault related to the elongated web, and in response to a fault being detected, printing a fault indication or a fault symbol on the elongated web, and forming an empty pouch at the position of the fault indication or fault symbol.