Abstract: A self-contained pill dispenser is disclosed. A housing is provided and a hopper for containing a plurality of pills is supported by the housing. A transport tube receives pills from the hopper. The transport tube has a controllable aperture for facilitating or inhibiting delivery of pills to the transport tube. A microcontroller is also operatively connected to the hopper, the transport tube, and the input aperture. Optionally, a feed chute can be operatively connected between the hopper and the transport tube. The system can self-calibrate the mechanism for counting and dispensing pills by dynamically adjusting the input aperture based upon the stored information representative of the pulse width signal and the amplitude signal.

Abstract: A self-contained pill dispenser is disclosed. A housing is provided and a hopper for containing a plurality of pills is supported by the housing. A transport tube receives pills from the hopper. The transport tube has a controllable aperture for facilitating or inhibiting delivery of pills to the transport tube. A microcontroller is also operatively connected to the hopper, the transport tube, and the input aperture. Optionally, a feed chute can be operatively connected between the hopper and the transport tube. The system can self-calibrate the mechanism for counting and dispensing pills by dynamically adjusting the input aperture based upon the stored information representative of the pulse width signal and the amplitude signal.

Abstract: A self-contained pill dispenser is disclosed. A housing is provided and a hopper for containing a plurality of pills is supported by the housing. A feed chute having a detector mechanism is operatively connected to the hopper for receiving pills therefrom. A microcontroller is also operatively connected to the hopper, the feed chute, and the detector mechanism. The microcontroller calculates the volume of each of the pills transiting the detector mechanism based on occluded electromagnetic signals detected by the detector mechanism and the time of transit of each pill relative thereto.

Abstract: A self-contained pill dispenser is disclosed. A housing is provided and a hopper for containing a plurality of pills is supported by the housing. A transport tube is operatively connected to the hopper for receiving pills therefrom, the transport tube having an input aperture. A microcontroller is electrically connected to the hopper, the transport tube, and the input aperture. A mechanism accepts a desired number of pills to be delivered by the transport tube by an operator. The microcontroller is adapted to determine whether the actual average number of pills delivered by the transport tube is equal to the desired number of pills specified by the operator. If the actual average number of pills is greater than the desired number, the microcontroller decreases the opening of the input aperture. A mechanism connected to the inlet aperture controls opening and closing operations thereof, pursuant to instructions transmitted by the microcontroller.

Abstract: A self-contained pill dispenser is disclosed. A housing is provided and a hopper for containing a plurality of pills is supported by the housing. A feed chute having a transport spiral therein is operatively connected to the hopper for receiving pills therefrom. The transport spiral has an outlet and controllable aperture. A vibrating plate is disposed proximate the outlet. A drive mechanism is connected to the vibrating plate for imparting vibration thereto. The drive mechanism can abruptly stop the vibration of the vibrating plate. A microcontroller is also operatively connected to the hopper, the transport spiral, and the drive mechanism. The system can self-calibrate the mechanism for counting and dispensing pills.

Abstract: A self-contained pill dispenser is disclosed. A housing is provided and a hopper for containing a plurality of pills is supported by the housing. A feed chute is operatively connected to the hopper for receiving pills therefrom. The feed chute has an outlet and controllable aperture. A vibrating plate is disposed proximate the outlet. A drive mechanism is connected to the vibrating plate for imparting vibration thereto. The drive mechanism has a mechanism for abruptly stopping the vibration of the vibrating plate. A microcontroller is also operatively connected to the hopper, the feed chute, and the drive mechanism.