VACUUM PILL DISPENSING CASSETTE AND COUNTING MACHINE

摘要

A medication storing and dispensing cassette (20) is comprised of a housing (134) defining at least a portion of a bulk storage chamber (162) for storing a medication, defining at least a portion of a pick-up area (163), and defining at least a portion of a discharge chute (164) sized to temporarily store a quantity of the medication. A divider wall (158) is positioned between the bulk storage chamber and the pick-up area. A gate (160) is positioned to control an exit end of the discharge chute. A rotatable conveying wheel (172) having openings (174) proximate to the periphery thereof is positioned such that a portion of the wheel is adjacent to an entrance end of the decharge chute. A calibration arm (176) is positioned adjacent the openings of the rotatable wheel. A baffle (166) is positioned to block those openings in that portion of the rotatable wheel adjacent to the discharge chute. An air agitation system is provided so that pills may be moved from the bulk storage chamber to the pick-up area.