Method and apparatus for dispensing items

摘要

A method for rapidly and accurately dispensing a predetermined number of discrete items, the method comprising: operating a conveyor to transport multiple items towards an imaging device, wherein the items are arranged in a single layer and at least some of the items are transported in parallel; operating the imaging device to continuously capture images of an area immediately below an end of the conveyor, so that items falling off the conveyor are recorded in the images while in trajectory; processing the images in real time, to continuously determine the number of falling items; stopping the conveyor before the number of falling items has reached the predetermined number, while continuing to determine the number of falling items until items cease to fall off the conveyor innertially; and automatically dispensing an additional amount of items, to complete the predetermined number of items.

主权项

1. A method for rapidly and accurately dispensing a predetermined number of discrete items, the method comprising:
operating a conveyor to transport multiple items towards an imaging device, wherein the items are arranged in a single layer and at least some of the items are transported in parallel, in a direction orthogonal to a direction of the transport; operating the imaging device to continuously capture images of an area immediately below an end of the conveyor, so that items falling off the conveyor are recorded in the images while in trajectory, wherein at least some of the items falling off the conveyor are falling off in parallel, in a direction orthogonal to a direction of the transport; processing the images in real time, to continuously determine the number of falling items; stopping the conveyor before the number of falling items has reached the predetermined number, while continuing to determine the number of falling items until items cease to fall off the conveyor inertially, wherein the total number of falling items is smaller than the predetermined number by up to ten; and operating a supplementary item dispenser to automatically and discretely dispense, one by one, the exact number of items needed to complete the predetermined number of items.