Abstract: A conveyor belt assembly with a housing profile that protects components positioned in an interior of the housing from spilt products and is easier to clean than previously known conveyor belt assemblies. The conveyor belt assembly of this invention includes a frame with a sloped surface positioned under the conveyor belt such that spilt product that falls through the conveyor belt lands on the sloped surface and gravity pulls the spilt product off the sloped surface to a side of the housing for easy clean up.

Abstract: A dispenser, a system and a method dispense pills from a funnel via a notch on a top side of a first disk. The first disk has ridges on a top side of the first disk for transferring the pills from the funnel to a top side of a second disk. The first disk and/or second disk rotate in a first rotational direction to transfer the pills to the second ring via an opening in a ridge of the first disk. A ring located adjacent to the opening of the first disk rotates in a second rotational direction for transferring the pills to a passage which is located adjacent to the ring. A gate and/or a pocket is located between the ring and an interior of the passage which is sized to receive the pills from the funnel. The pocket is sized to receive a pill from the ring of the dispenser. The dispenser has a configuration mechanism for determining and/or for identifying a configuration the pills. One of the pills is inserted between arms of the configuration mechanism to determine the configuration of the pills.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for singulating individual product items, such as pills, in unit-dose or multi-dose dispersing packaging that utilizes a pill-filling mechanism for reducing a large amount of bulk pills to a single-file stream of pills; a pill separation mechanism for singulating a variety of different sized and shaped pills; and a mechanism for delivering pills to a package, such as a blister-pack. Bar-code scanning and identification software may also be implemented to adjust the mechanisms to adapt the apparatus to different pills as they are presented to the apparatus.

Abstract: An interlocking transfer system includes a workstation having four or more sides, each of which is positioned at 90° angles from the next adjacent side. A cam lift assembly is provided on each of the sides and a means for moving the pallets horizontally. The cam lift assembly is actuated by a reciprocating cylinder which operates to lift and lower the pallets. While pallets are lifted, they are also advanced horizontally using either an external reciprocating cylinder, a motor or by hand. The interlocking transfer system of the present invention provides high efficiency and low transfer rate. It also eliminates the need for lift and locate devices, transfer space due to traffic control, and end-to-end cross transfers. The interlocking transfer system of the present invention also provides for interchangeable fixtures.

Abstract: An interlocking transfer system includes a workstation having four or more sides, each of which is positioned at 90° angles from the next adjacent side. A cam lift assembly is provided on each of the sides and a means for moving the pallets horizontally. The cam lift assembly is actuated by a reciprocating cylinder which operates to lift and lower the pallets. While pallets are lifted, they are also advanced horizontally using either an external reciprocating cylinder, a motor or by hand. The interlocking transfer system of the present invention provides high efficiency and low transfer rate. It also eliminates the need for lift and locate devices, transfer space due to traffic control, and end-to-end cross transfers. The interlocking transfer system of the present invention also provides for interchangeable fixtures.