PILL DISPENSING SYSTEM

摘要

A method of automatically filling a prescription using a station (10) that includes a label printer and applier (54), a plurality of containers (20) holding a bulk supply of pills, a plurality of receptacles (19) for holding the containers (20), a dispensing unit (51), a pill bottle dispenser (45,70) containing pill bottles (50,86), and a robot arm (25) for moving the pill bottles (50,86) and the containers (20) within the station (10). The dispensing unit (51) is a single unit not incorporated into the containers (20). The method comprises automatically: moving a selected container (20) to the dispensing unit (51); moving a selected pill bottle (50,86) from the pill bottle dispenser (45,70) to the printer and applier (54); printing and applying a label (56) to the selected pill bottle (50,86); moving the labelled pill bottle (50,86) to the dispensing unit (51); dispensing a number of pills from the selected container (20) to the labelled pill bottle (50,86); removing the labelled pill bottle (50,86) from the dispensing unit (51); and removing the selected container (20) from the dispensing unit (51).