DESC: FORM 2
The Patents Act, 1970
(39 of 1970)

Complete Specification
(See Section 10; Rule 13)

“Automated Machine for prescribed Pill Retrieval”

DOSEPACK INDIA LLP
An Indian company incorporated under Indian Companies Act
Having registered address at
329 & 429, 3rd & 4th Floor
Kalasagar Shopping Hub,
Opp. Sattadhar Saibaba Temple,
Ghatlodia, Ahmedabad,
Gujarat, India

The following specification particularly describes the nature of the Invention and the manner in which it is performed:
FIELD OF INVENTION:

The present invention relates to an automated machine for prescribed pill retrieval. In particular, it provides an automated machine for complete error free and precise packaging of the prescribed pills in the blister packs, thereby eliminating human dependency. Moreover, the present invention facilitates parallel automated processing of the blister pack in a way that it enables the user for the placement of the specific pills being filled in the blister packs. It provides an automated machine with higher accuracy for prescribed pill retrieval in substantially less lead time. Moreover, it further provides an automated machine for prescribed pill retrieval that substantially reduces the footprint requirement in a pharmacy and thereby provides the machine that fits all types of small, medium, large size pharmacy.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION:

A pharmacy is a place where the medicinal pills are being stored and sold to the patient according to the prescription. The prescription comes from the medical practitioner, clinic, and hospitals. According to the prescription, the pharmacist provides the dosage to the patient in a pack. The pack in which dosage are filled is called blister pack. The weekly blister pack has a peculiar arrangement of seven rows and 4 columns. Seven rows are provided each for seven days in a week whereas four columns are provided for the different dosage slot like morning, noon, evening and night. The arrangement of a pack can be varied as per the requirement, irrespective of said standard arrangement; i.e. a pharmacy may have different possible arrangements of monthly blister packs comprising of eight rows four columns; or it eight rows five columns according to the pill requirement.

Due to increase in number of daily prescriptions, Pharmacy has to deal with the repetitive and cumbersome process of filling blister packs manually. In order to ensure complete accuracy in filling blister packs, pharmacy has to apply significant efforts thus making the process more human dependent and prone to errors. Also with this the pharmacy has to deal with the high cost associated with the manual filling of the blister packs. Moreover, adhering to stringent government pharmacy regulations in filling blister packs manually takes substantial amount of time which in turn also increases the cost and effort. In order to overcome the problems associated with the conventional techniques, there are many techniques being developed and used to provide the prescribed dosage to the patient. The efficiency of said techniques are based on certain criteria which are lead time, footprint, cost, energy requirement, accuracy, scalability, robustness stackability etc.

Globally most of the pharmacies are being operated manually. As the technique involves human dependency, chances of error in filling blister pack substantially increases. Since it is related to human medication that affects the life of a human, there has to be the highest accuracy and precision in providing the prescribed dosage in the blister pack. Further, the manual filling of the blister pack consumes more lead time. The lead time is the average time required to complete the filling of the blister pack as per the prescribed dosage and provide it to the patient. Therefore, the manual filling technique is quite cumbersome, time consuming and does not ensure accuracy and precision in providing prescribed dosage.

Another technique to provide the prescribed dosage to the patient in pharmacy includes the use of varied semi-automatic machines. The semi- automatic machines are used to overcome the human dependency and increase the speed to some extent. Many of them are in use by numerous pharmacies. Said semi- automatic machines works on robotic arm principle and conveyer belt. However, said existing machines occupy considerable amount of space thus adds into footprint of the machine. Footprint in a pharmacy is the total available space. Due to extra maintenance of stock and other such requirements in pharmacy the free space available in a small or medium pharmacy is already less and the use of such machine further adds into shortage of the space as they are bulky. In addition such Machines are also not flexible enough when compared in terms of productivity and space requirement, adding unnecessarily to footprint without any substantial increase in the productivity and efficiency of the machine. Moreover the lead time required by such existing machines is more with lower accuracy rate and hence are not efficient. Further, while filling the blister packs, if drugs are out of stock, lead time considerably increases. Said limitations exists in the conventional systems as they are not linked to the automated process of blister packaging. Also, the problem lies when wrong drugs are being filled and there are no means of verification either in manual or semi-automated systems or even automated systems which becomes a fatal problem at times when dealing with human health. Moreover, the overall cost is higher compared to its energy requirement, scalability, and robustness.
PRIOR ART AND its DISADVANTAGES:

Chinese patent Application CN107910052 (A) relates to a smart pharmacy system includes a sorting module, a warehousing module, a server, a human-machine interaction module, a temperature/humidity monitoring module, a database, and a pharmacy management software application. The functions of the respective modules of the smart pharmacy system are achieved by the control of the pharmacy management software application. The smart pharmacy system can automate the medicine dispensing and supplementing processes and intelligently monitor the condition of the medicinal materials and the dispensing process, so that the pharmacy management is safe and efficient. The smart pharmacy system is highly expandable and devices can be provided for or removed from the smart pharmacy system at any time in order that the pharmacy can make adjustments and optimizations according to actual conditions.

However said application fails to disclose the technicalities behind an automated Machine for prescribed Pill Retrieval. It discloses a process of automating medicines by sorting them. It does not discloses the technicalities behind providing a completely packed prescribed dosage form of pills neither does it provides the accuracy in providing prescribed dosage form. Also it is unable to dispense and provide multiple unit doses in a single blister pack. It does not provide functionality of prioritizing pill retrieval of selected prescriptions.

US patent application US20060122729A1 discloses a pharmacy post office receives prescriptions and produces through an automated pill dispensing and packaging system, pharmacy letters that are sorted and delivered as first class or priority mail pieces. The system packages the prescription medication in carriers that are sized to fit into mail sorting machines that sort the first class or priority mail pieces by postal delivery routes. The pharmacy letters include patient mailing address information such that the pharmacy letters are then fed to the mail sorting machines and sorted along with the first class or priority mail pieces for delivery by the postal delivery persons along their customary routes. The system includes a robotic subsystem that dispenses the medication from pill canisters supplied by the drug companies and provides the pills to an automated packaging system. The packaging system feeds the pills into compartments of a carrier base or blister pack and prints on the carrier or applies as labels thereto drug identification information, mailing address information and tracking information, such as a machine readable code. The packaging system then assembles and seals the carrier, such that mailing address information is available for reading by mail sorting machines. The assembled pharmacy letters are then supplied to the mail sorting machines and included in the first class or priority delivery operations of the post office. A track and trace system may be included to provide a delivery schedule to the patient and/or prescribing doctor. The track and trace system is informed when the packaging system provides a pharmacy letter to the mail sorting machines, and the system determines if the pharmacy letter will be included in the same day postal delivery operations or in the next day operations. When a pharmacy letter is delivered by the postal delivery person, he or she scans the tracking code and transmits information back to the system, which then updates its delivery schedule to show the completed delivery.

However, said prior art does not provide an automated machine for prescribed pill retrieval. Said prior art is based on conveyor belt mechanism, thereby requires more footprint and also does not provide parallel working mechanism of the machine for providing required dosage. It does not provide functionality of prioritizing pill retrieval of selected prescriptions as it involves sequential operation on the use of conveyor belt. Thereby it utilizes more lead time and more footprint. The prior art fails to provide accurate and precise dosage as per the prescription. Also said prior art does not facilitate the packaging of dosage when the number of dosage or blister packs increases. It only provides a single dosage of the prescribed dose. Thereby is not efficient. Further it does not provide means of storage for storing the processed packs which in turn adds to lead time as user has to manually sort and find prescriptions from bin. Moreover the entire system disclosed in prior art comes to halt in occurrence of failure of any one system performing single operation and thereby adds to the down time.
Another US patent application US6219587 discloses the system for automatically dispensing medications or other medical elements includes several groupings, i.e. vaults, of storage members, each vault containing approximately 100 individual cartridges, which each contain packages of unit-of-use doses of a given medication or other medical supply, such as syringes. Each storage member includes an ejector which ejects selected medications/supplies to a supply trough. The packages in the trough are moved to a central collator, which dispenses them to a bin receptacle which has been moved underneath the collator and which is typically identified with a particular patient. Information concerning medications/supplies for a particular patient is stored in a system database and used to determine the particular medications/supplies dispensed into a given bin. Barcoding is used to maintain control over the bins, and the medications, forming a closed information/control system. Particular medications and/or supplies which are not available in the automatic dispensing system are supplied from a supplemental medications cart which has been previously stocked with the correct additional medications by virtue of information from a control computer. The filled bins are transferred to a medication cart which can only be accessed as a result of a command signal after a particular patient and his/her associated bin have been matched. A nurse, having access to the correct bin and sector thereof, removes the medications from the cart and administers them to the patient.

However prior art is based on conveyor belt mechanism, thereby requires more footprint and also does not provide parallel working mechanism of the machine for providing required dosage. On occurrence of failure of one system the entire system comes to shutdown thereby decreasing the efficiency of the system. It also fails to provide accurate and precise and error free prescription of dosage. Moreover it fails to identify the wrong or mismatched pill/drug in the dosage and is therefore not efficient. The lead time required by that prior art is also more. Thus, not efficient.

DISADVANTAGES OF PRIOR ART:

The existing prior art suffers from all or any of the following disadvantages:

? Existing prior art fails to provide an automated machine for prescribed pill retrieval. They further fails to provide an automated machine that functions parallely in dispensing and packaging of the prescribed pills.
? Most of them do not provide an accurate and precise automated machine for prescribed pill retrieval.
? They fail to provide the functionality of prioritizing blister packs to be filled as per the selected prescriptions, as conventional machines are based on sequential operations. Thus one has to wait in case of emergency until the blister pack is processed completely by the conventional machine.
? Many of them fails to provide a machine that dispenses multiple periodic doses in a single blister pack.
? Existing machines fails to provide error free blister packs containing prescribed pills, and hence does not ensure accuracy in packaging of the prescribed pills.
? Conventional machines available occupies more footprint and hence do not fit in small and medium pharmacies.
? Most of the Conventional machines uses conveyer belt & robotic arms for different operations in packaging of pills and thus are not scalable and stackable. Also they are rigid in their footprints and are bulky.
? The lead time required i.e. average time required in complete processing of single blister pack as per prescription, by existing machines is high as it involves sequential operations based on queue, and does not operate in parallel. Also the lead time of the conventional machines is high as the said machines are based on robotic arms and conveyor belt system for various operations.
? Down time of the conventional machines available is also high since they are sequential in operation. Thus, if a single system fails in the machine, the entire machine comes to halt leading to increase the down time of the machine and thereby decreasing the efficiency of the machine.
? Scalability of existing machines involves deployment of more conveyor lines that adds to footprint and at the end does not involves prioritizing means based on necessity of packaging of the prescribed pills.
? Existing machines are also not stackable and thus adds directly to the footprint.
? Conventional machines require more power consumption as plurality of robotic arms and conveyor belts are used to suffice the packaging of dosage form in a single blister pack.
? Conventional machines require more inventory of pill or drugs and thereby leads to incur additional cost and additional space requirement in a pharmacy.
? In the conventional machines the Lead time is high as the system comes to a halt in the case when a drug that needs to be filled as per prescription is out of stock.
? Most of them are not energy efficient.

Thus, there is an unmet need to develop an invention that suffices the purpose of complete automation of accurately delivering packed blister pack as per the prescription to the patient in a pharmacy.

OBJECTS OF INVENTION:

Accordingly the object of the present invention is to provide an automated machine for prescribed pill retrieval. In an aspect the present invention provides an automated machine for prescribed pill retrieval that accurately delivers the packed blister pack as per the prescription to the patient in a pharmacy.

It is the object of the present invention to provide an automated machine for prescribed pill retrieval that ensures the accuracy in the packed blister pack as per the prescribed dosage form in substantially less lead time. In an aspect the present invention provides a machine that facilitates the parallel processing for complete packaging of prescribed dosage form.

It is also the object of the invention to provide an automated machine for prescribed pill retrieval that eliminates the error in processing of blister packs and thereby provides accurate and precisely packed blister packs as per the prescription. In an aspect the present invention dispenses multiple periodic doses in a single blister pack.

In another object, the present invention provides an automated machine for prescribed pill retrieval that eliminates the sequential working operations of the conventional machines and facilities parallel working operations for processing of the blister packs and thereby requires substantially less lead time in packaging of a complete blister pack as per the prescription.

In yet another object, the present invention provides an automated machine for prescribed pill retrieval that facilitates the system of prioritizing blister packs in substantially less time to be filled as per the prescribed prescriptions and emergency situation, with accuracy.

In yet another object, the present invention provides an automated machine for prescribed pill retrieval that is suitable for all small, medium and large sized pharmacies as it reduces the footprint requirement in a pharmacy.

In an object the present invention provides a flexible automated machine for prescribed pill retrieval that is suitable for all small, medium and large pharmacies with ease of operation along with accuracy in the operation.

In an object the present invention provides a modular automated machine for prescribed pill retrieval that is suitable for all small, medium and large pharmacies with ease of operation along with accuracy in the operation.

In yet another object of the present invention provides scalable automated machine for prescribed pill retrieval that enables fast processing of the blister packs increasing the productivity and efficiency of the machine. In an object the present invention provides a machine that is modified as per the processing requirements of the blister packs, time, and available space in pharmacies.

In another object present invention provides a stackable automated machine for prescribed pill retrieval thus is suitable for the pharmacies where available footprint is an issue, thereby is universal.

It is also the object of the invention to provide an automated machine for prescribed pill retrieval that eliminates the requirement of additional inventory for storage of pills and thus saves the additional cost for storage of pills and additional space requirement in a pharmacy. Yet further object the invention facilitates to maintain and keep record on the pill quantity required for the processing of the blister packs.

In an object it facilitates the storage and maintenance of the packed blister packs thereby adding to its efficiency with ease of operations.

In yet another object, the present invention provides an automated machine for prescribed pill retrieval that utilizes less power

In yet another object, the present invention provides an energy efficient automated machine for prescribed pill retrieval.

In yet another object, the present invention provides an automated machine for prescribed pill retrieval that obviates the problems of prior art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION:

Aspects of the present disclosure relates to automated machine for prescribed pill retrieval. Said automated machine eliminates the human dependency for accurately and precisely packaging of the prescribed pills in pharmacies. Said machine comprising: Receiving means Plurality of Automated Dose Conveyance means, Parking Station, Lift Table, Pack Separator station, Drug Dispensing station, printing station Sealing station, Unloading station, Automatic storage and Rack station, Controller 1. Each of the components being able to function in parallel such that the accurate and precise packaging of the blister packs as per the prescribed prescription is completed in substantially less lead time.

In an aspect, it enables the modification of the said various component parts as per the processing requirements of the blister packs, time, and available space in pharmacies, thereby is universal.

In an alternative arrangement, the present machine is modular and stackable and allows the arrangement of the component parts as per user requirement in the pharmacies. In further aspect the components or stations of the present invention is used in the plurality for making process faster achieving substantially increased productivity as per requirement.

In an aspect, Drug dispensing station further comprises: identifying means, Pill dispensing Means, Pill refilling means, controller 2. Said controller 2 functioning parallel to the controller 1 in dispensing of the pills as per the prescription. In an alternative arrangement, it provides manual refilling of pills for packaging of the specific pills in the prescription, thereby ensuring the accuracy.

In an aspect, plurality of automated dose conveyance means each of which consists of unique RFID tag and communicates its position and location with the controller 1, enabling the parallel operation.

In an aspect, the parking station of the present invention facilitates the parking and charging of plurality of automated dose conveyance device.
In an aspect, said lift table further comprises: Plurality of Ball screw Plurality of pulleys, Motor, Belt, Location Tag, Shaft, Base framework, for transport of said automated dose conveyance means.

In an aspect said pack separator automatically on receiving the control command separates a single blister pack. In another aspect the printing station facilitates the accurate printing of the label over the processed blister pack as per the command and prescription received from the controller. In yet another aspect, the sealing station in the present invention facilitates precise and accurate sealing of the label over the processed blister pack. Said unloading station in the further aspect of the invention facilitates the unloading of the packed blister packs transferring the same to Automatic storage and Rack station, wherein the processed blister packs are stored and delivered to the patient.

In an aspect, said machine provides the verification system that verifies and ensures that the blister packs are packed in accordance with the prescribed prescriptions, thereby ensuring the accuracy and precision in the present machine.

In an aspect, said machine facilitates prioritizing of the blister packs in substantially less time to be filled as per the prescribed prescriptions and emergency situation, with accuracy.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS:

Fig.1 : Shows the front isometric view of the present automated machine for prescribed pill retrieval.
Fig.2 : Shows the back isometric view of the present automated machine for prescribed pill retrieval.
Fig.3 : Shows the top view of the footprint layout of the present automated machine for prescribed pill retrieval.
Fig.4 : Shows the block diagram for the present automated machine for prescribed pill retrieval.
Meaning of reference numerals used in the present automated machine for prescribed pill retrieval:

P : Present automated machine for prescribed pill retrieval
Rm : Receiving means
AD : Automated Dose Conveyance means
Ps : Parking Station
Lt : Lift Table
PSs : Pack Separating station
Ds : Drug Dispensing Station
IM : Identifying means
PDM : Pill dispensing Module
PRM : Pill re-filling means
PRs : Printing station
Ss : Sealing station
Us : Unloading station
ASRs : Automatic storage and Rack station
MVs : Manual Verification station
IPS : Pharmacy Database
Sm : Storage Means
Pr : Printer
Cs : Cloud Server
C1 : Controller 1
C2 : Controller 2

DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION:

The embodiment of the present invention provides an automated machine for prescribed pill retrieval (P). The present automated machine works in parallel and processes the prescribed pill retrieval with higher accuracy and in substantially less lead time eliminating human dependency. Also the present invention (P) allows accurate packaging and delivering of multiple periodic doses in a single blister pack. Further the present invention (P) provides a machine that adapts to different shapes of a pharmacy. In addition to this present machine is modified as per the processing requirements of the blister packs, time, and available space in pharmacies thus is scalable and stackable and utilizes less footprint and also does not adds to the additional inventory management for keeping the stock of pills or drugs. Moreover the present invention (P) is modular that facilitates the easy operation of the present invention (P) at every pharmacies. It provides universal solution to the problems of prior art and is efficient.

Referring to fig 1 – 4, the present automated machine for prescribed pill retrieval (P), uses existing;
o Pharmacy Database (IPS),
o Storage means (Sm),
o Printer (Pr),
o Cloud Server (CS);
And requires following for installation and working of the present automated machine for prescribed pill retrieval (P)
? Receiving means (Rm),
? Plurality of Automated Dose Conveyance means (AD) ,
? Parking Station (Ps),
? Lift Table (Lt),
? Pack Separator station (PSs) ,
? Drug Dispensing station (Ds),
? Printing station (PRs),
? Sealing station (Ss),
? Unloading station (Us),
? Automatic storage and Rack station (ASRS),
? Controller 1 (C1),
? Controller 2 (C2),

Wherein;

Said receiving means (Rm) is connected to the cloud server (CS) on one end and on the other end is connected to the plurality of controllers of the present system (P), controller 1 (C1) and controller 2 (C2). The cloud server (CS) is in turn connected to the storage means (Sm) of the pharmacy database (IPS). Said pharmacy database (IPS) stores the patient information across the pharmacy network using any of the existing pharmacy Softwares. Wherein the medical records and the data of the patients are located at the pharmacy databases or across databases for large pharmacies. The present system (P) is applicable universally to small, medium, large scale pharmacies irrespective of its facilities and databases. The medical records and databases in the pharmacy requires the installation of the pharmacy Softwares to parse the patient data and records and thereby store the data and record in the storage means (Sm). Said storage means (Sm) consists of the patient data and medical records, wherein said data and records includes but does not limits to records such as name of patient, name of drug, dose of drug, method of intake of drug, name of doctor and others. Alternatively, said medical records and data may be stored at the means other than storage means (Sm) not restricting to clinic, hospitals, nursing home, or centrally on the cloud server (CS). As a part of illustration only and not limiting the scope of the invention the present system (P) alternatively utilizes the cloud server (CS) to parse the patient data and medical records from said storage means (Sm). Said Cloud server (CS) continuously gathers and parse the patient data. Further the receiving means (Rm) is provided to receive the dose prescription from cloud server (CS). Said receiving means (Rm) communicates with the cloud server (CS) either through an e-mail, fax or with the use of any other pharmacy software for fetching prescription in required format.

Said receiving means (Rm) communicates with the plurality of controllers, controller 1 (C1) and controller 2 (C2). Wherein said controller (C1) is provided to control and communicate with Automated Dose Conveyance means (AD),Parking station (Ps), Lift table (Lt), Pack Separating Station (PSs), Manual Verification Station (MVs), Printing Station (PRs), Sealing Station (Ss), Unloading Station (Us), Automatic Storage and rack station (ASRS).
Said Automated Dose Conveyance means (AD), is a mobile conveyance means provided to facilitate the transport of the blister pack within the present invention from one station to another. Said Automated Dose Conveyance means (AD) communicates with the controller 1 (C1) about its position at each plurality of stations. Further the present invention (P) comprises of the plurality of Automated Dose Conveyance means (AD) for the parallel and simultaneous packaging of the blister pack as per the prescription thereby is efficient in providing the packed blister pack within substantially less lead time. Said plurality of Automated Dose Conveyance means (AD) communicates with Controller 1 (C1) through unique RFID tag reader ; thereby communicating the controller 1 (C1) its position and thus eliminating the chances of their collision with each other on the track or the lift table (Lt). Moreover Automated Dose Conveyance means (AD) facilitates the sequential packaging and allows to prioritize the packaging based on the emergency situations; there by aiding in parallel working and utilizing substantially less lead time. Further the Automated Dose Conveyance means (AD) comprises of the hollow structure resembling the blister pack in order to facilitate the placing of the blister pack over said Automated Dose Conveyance means (AD). The RFID tag reader reads and identifies the RFIID tag over the blister pack, only when the blister pack is accurately laid over the said means (AD) Each time the Automated Dose Conveyance means (AD) is transported to the stations, it communicates with controller 1 (C1) which in turn communicates with the corresponding station. This aligns the system of the plurality of Automated Dose Conveyance means (AD) eliminating their chances of collision and also saves the time.

Said parking station (Ps) is provided to park and charge the plurality of Automated Dose conveyance means (AD), when said plurality of Automated Dose conveyance means (AD) are not in use. Said parking station (Ps) further comprises of the plurality of parking racks and the lift table (Lt). The parking Station (Ps) comprises of plurality of racks stacked on one other facilitating the parking of plurality of automated dose conveyance means (AD) and thus is modular and stackable. Said parking station (Ps) is connected to the lift table (Lt) of the present system (P). The end of the parking station (Ps) connected to the lift table (Lt) is open so that it facilitates the entry and exit of the plurality of Automated Dose conveyance means (AD) into the parking station (Ps). Said plurality of Automated Dose conveyance means (AD) are parked as well as are being charged when they are not in use at the plurality of parking racks that are stacked one upon the other, making the present system (P) scalable and stackable. Said Parking station further consists of the RFID tags associated with each plurality of racks that identifies the location address and thus helps to locate the parked automated dose conveyance means (AD). Said plurality of automated dose conveyance means (AD) are provided to facilitate the transport of the blister pack from one station to another station in the present invention (P). Said plurality of automated dose conveyance means (AD) ensures the parallel working of the present invention (P) preventing the collision with other automated dose conveyance means (AD). This is because each of the said plurality of automated dose conveyance means (AD) ensures their path of conveyance vide communicating with Controller 1 (C1) with the separate RFID tag provided to each of the plurality of automated dose conveyance means (AD). Said controller 1 (C1) in turn communicates the position of the automated dose conveyance means (AD) to the parking station. Said plurality of automated dose conveyance means (AD) chooses its path to destination automatically based upon traffic of the other conveyance means and prevents itself from colliding with other automated dose conveyance means (AD).

Said lift table (Lt) connected to the parking station and pack separating station (PSs) and is provided to facilitate the entry and exit of the plurality of automated dose conveyance means (AD) from the parking station (Ps). Based on the proximity and charging status of each of the plurality of the automated dose conveyance means (AD), said controller 1 (C1) regulates the automated dose conveyance means (AD) to move towards the pack separating station (PSs) from the parking station (Ps) through lift table (Lt). The lift table (Lt) in turn comprises of:

o Plurality of Ball screw (Bs),
o Plurality of pulleys (Pu),
o Motor (Mo),
o Belt (Be),
o Location Tag (L),
o Shaft (Sh),
o Base framework (Bf);

Said Plurality of Ball screws (Bs) more preferably four, constitutes the ball screw mechanism that facilitates the perpendicular motion of the lift table (Lt) at a fixed distance; wherein the fixed distance depends and varies with the length of the plurality of ball screws used. Said structure of the lift table (Lt) in the present invention (P) provides the stability to present system. Said Plurality of Ball screw (Bs) are connected with each other through Belt (Be). Said plurality of pulleys (Pu) comprises of the Driving pulley mounted on the motor (Mo) and idler pulley. Said motor (Mo) is mounted on the base framework (Bf). A hole at the center of the said base framework (Bf) is provided to insert the shaft (Sh) that in turns supports the idler pulleys. Said idler pulley is provided to vary (increase or decrease) the tension of the belt (Be). Said motor (Mo) rotates the driving pulley which in turn rotates the idler pulleys. Further the ball screw mechanism converts the rotational motion of the motor (Mo) to the linear motion that facilitates the perpendicular motion of the lift table (Lt). Said location tag (L) in the lift table (Lt) ensures the position and the location of the automated dose conveyance means (AD) over the lift table (Lt). The lift Table (Lt) on the other end is connected to the pack separating station (PSs).

Said Pack separating station (PSs) facilitates and ensures the single separation of the blister packs thereby making it ready for filling of the prescribed drugs or pills. For the accurate and precise separation of the single blister pack it comprises of an automated pack separating mechanism that ensures the accurate and precise separation of single blister pack upon the said automated dose conveyance means (AD). Along with the automated pack separating mechanism said Pack Separating Station (PSs) comprises of plurality of sensors to sense the availability of the blister packs on the pack separating station (PSs) and facilitating the separation of the single blister pack from the pack of the blister packs. Further each of the blister packs in the Pack separating station (PSs) are marked up with the RFID tag that ensures the position of each of the blister packs laid over the corresponding Automated Dose Conveyance means (AD) Further the RFID Tag reader located in the Automated Dose Conveyance means (AD) reads and identifies the RFID tag of the blister pack only when it is accurately placed over the said Automated Dose Conveyance means (AD)Said pack separating station (PSs) is connected to the lift table (Lt).

Said Drug dispensing station (Ds) is positioned before Manual verification station (MVs). Said drug dispensing Station (Ds) is provided to identify and accurately dispense the dosage or pill as per the prescription. Said dosage dispensed from the drug dispensing station (Ds) is modified as per the need of the patient’s prescription. Also the drug dispensing Station (Ds) ensures the accurate and precise dosage dispensing identifying the wrong or mismatched pill from the dosage as prescribed. It substantially limits the damage or breakage of the pills during the dispensing and identifies the breakage or damage of pills if any and segregates said pill away from the dosage.
It further comprises:

o Identifying means (IM),
o Pill Dispensing module (PDM),
o Pill refilling means (PRM),
o Controller 2 (C2);

Wherein said Identifying means (IM) is provided to identify the particular pill or dosage as per the prescription. Said Pill Dispensing module (PDM) is provided to dispense the pill as per the prescription. It is provided to store, monitor, regulate, count, verify and dispense the pills according to the prescription.

Said Pill dispensing Module (PDM) mainly comprises, plurality of drawers, plurality of canisters, plurality of PF trays, pill verification system. Wherein said plurality of drawers are provided to assemble said plurality of canisters. Said plurality canisters are prefilled with the prescribed dosage as per the requirement. Said pill verification system comprising of the vision system verifies and ensures whether the dispensed pills are as per the prescription thereby ensuring the accuracy and precision of the present invention (P). Said vision system in the pill verification system identifies the breakage or damage in the pills, identifies the correct pills as per the dosage by capturing images of the said pills and comparing the said images with prescribed dosage as stored in the storage means and as received by the Receiving means (Rm). The mechanism of said pill verification system is such that it allows only the correct and accurate dosage to pass through it and get filled in the blister pack located below the drug dispensing station (Ds) on the automated dose conveyance means (AD). Said plurality of PF trays, more preferably two; Upper PF tray and Lower PF tray facilitates the dispensing of the pills. Said Upper PF tray receives the pills after being verified from the said pill verification system. It consists of a discard tray that discards the pills rejected by the pill verification system. Said lower PF tray receives the accurate pills form the upper PF tray and dispenses the same to the blister pack on the said automated dose conveyance means (AD).

Said pill refilling means (PRM) provides the mechanism to refill the pills in the drawers when they are out of stock. Wherein the controller 2 (C2) controls the refilling mechanism and sends the signals to refill the canisters. Controlling the refilling mechanism, said Controller 2 (C2) identifies the pills required to be refilled in the canisters and communicates the same to controller 1 (C1).Controller 1 (C1) in turn provides the notification of replenishing canisters to the user. The user thereby is intimidated to refill the pills before the canister is emptied. Upon refilling the canisters communicates to the controller 2 (C2) about the quantity of the pills stored in the canisters, thereby maintaining the record of quantity of the pills stored in the canisters. Also the present invention facilitates the manual refilling of pills for packaging of the specific pills as prescribed in the prescription, ensuring accuracy in the processing of the blister pack. For the same it provides manual fill drawer/s, where the user may fill in the specific pills as per the requirement. The specific pills referred herein are the pills which are not stored in the canisters of said dispensing module. As said pills are specific prescribed pills and may be expensive and prone to degradation, the same are stored in the manual fill drawer. The entire mechanism of the Drug dispensing station (Ds) works parallel in identifying, dispensing and refilling the pills and saving the lead time making the present invention (P) work effectively and efficiently in less lead time.

Said Controller 2 (C2) is provided to control the functioning of the drug dispensing station (Ds). It controls and communicates with the drug dispensing station (Ds) also on the other hand it communicates with the controller 1 (C1). Said controller 2(C2) receives the information of the prescription from said receiving means (Rm) and is provided to communicate the same to drug dispensing station (Ds).Said controller 1 (C1) is configured to analyze the pills and their quantity required by the present system for processing of the blister packs. It operates in parallel to controller 2 (C2) and recommends which pill canisters are to be placed in the particular drug dispensing station (Ds). It further controls the functions of the identifying means (IM), Pill dispensing Means (PDM), Pill re filling means (PFM). It identifies the pill as per the prescription, dispenses the pill as per the prescription and also intimates the user to re fill the pills where in case the drawers are devoid of the pills. Further it communicates with controller 1 (C1) about completion of its drug dispensing processing and (C1) in turn communicates with either manual verification station (MVs) or the printing station (Ps).

Said printing station (Ps) is provided for printing of the label of the blister pack as per the prescription. The label of the blister pack as per the prescribed prescription is printed here at the station eliminating the errors in printing. It further consists of printer, printing mechanism and label verification system. Wherein the label verification system ensures the error free printing of the label as per the prescribed dosage. In case of any errors detected in the label it rejects the label. The printing mechanism and the printer are provided to print the label as per the prescribed dosage. Said printer prints the label receiving the inputs from the controller 1 (C1). Wherein the controller 1 (C1) receives the patient data and prescription to be printed for particular blister pack from the cloud server and the storage means (Sm). Said printing mechanism along with the label verification system facilitates accurate and error free label printing for the prescribed dosage blister pack. It also ensures the error free adherence of the said printed label over the respective blister pack as per the prescription and printing of the label. The printed label consists of barcode and an adhesive on the back side. Said barcode is provided for the identification of the prescribed dosage and verification by said label verification system. The label verification system captures the images of the printed label and verifies the same with the prescribed dosage. In cases where the label verification system detects any error in the printing of the label as per dosage prescribed or in case where the system does not read the said barcode on the label, the label verification system rejects the label from forwarding it further. In cases where no errors are found by the label verification system and the barcode over the label is accurately detected, the printed label is forwarded and is dropped accurately and precisely over the corresponding blister pack containing the prescribed dosage laid over said automated dose conveyance means (AD).

Said sealing station (Ss) is provided to seal the error free printed label over the filled blister pack. Said sealing station is connected to the printing station (Ps) and to the unloading station (Us) and it consists of heat sealing mechanism. Said heat sealing mechanism ensures that the printed label for sealing is accurately placed and the automated dose conveyance means (AD) containing the corresponding blister pack is docked in an accurate and precise position under the sealing station (Ss). It further provides the heat and pressure printed label in vertically downward direction such that it melts the adhesive over the back side of the label and causes the printed label to seal over the corresponding blister pack. Upon sealing the label over the corresponding packed blister pack, said heat sealing mechanism moves back to home position in vertically upward direction.

The packed blister pack after sealing of the label is transported to the unloading station (Us) by the automated conveyance means (AD). Said Unloading Station (Us) is connected to the sealing station (Ss) on one end and on the other is connected to the Automatic storage and rack station (ASRS) and is provided to unload the sealed blister packs. It consists of the unloading mechanism that facilitates the hassle free unloading of the packed blister pack and is less time consuming. Said automated dose conveyance means (AD) checks for the availability of space for docking under the Unloading station (Us) in order to unload the packed blister pack.
Proper docking of the automated dose conveyance means (AD), activates the unloading mechanism and accurately and precisely unloads the packed blister pack from the automated dose conveyance means (AD) and transfers the same to the Automatic storage and rack station (ASRS) in substantially less lead time. Wherein the unloading mechanism comprises a plurality of conveyor systems along the horizontal and vertical axis of the said station, actuator, a vacuum system, sensors. Said vacuum system is provided to accurately and firmly pick the packed blister pack and transport the same to the conveyor system. Said actuator controls the vertical motion of the system. Said sensors are located at the vertical axis of the conveyor system and are provided to detect the presence of the packed blister pack picked up by the vacuum system. This ensures the precision in picking up the accurate blister pack from the Automated dose conveyance means (AD). Said packed blister pack is placed over the conveyor system and is transported to the Automatic storage and rack station (ASRS). Said Automatic storage and rack station (ASRS) is connected to the unloading station (Us). Sealed blister packs are transferred to the automatic storage and rack station (ASRs). Said automatic storage and rack station (ASRs) is provided to store the packed blister pack and then directly deliver the same to the patient. This adds in saving the lead time in delivering the blister pack to the patient. The Automatic storage and rack station (ASRS) consist of the plurality of racks arranged at an angle such that it facilitates the accommodation of pair of blister pack in a rack. The plurality of racks is such that it detects the presence of the blister pack over it, which helps in identification of the packed blister pack as per the prescription Said plurality of racks comprises of slits wherein the blister packs are stored. The slits further consists of the RFID tag reader that identifies the tag over the packed blister pack and detects the presence of the blister pack over the rack.

Said manual verification station (Ms) is provided to correct the error detected in packaging of the blister pack in drug dispensing station (Ds), printing station (Ps), Sealing station (Ss), Unloading station (Us). Said pill verification system in the drug dispensing station (Ds) verifies the errors in the dispensed pills and the same is received at the manual verification system (Ms). The error detected by the pill verification system in the blister pack pertains to a pill being missing from the prescribed dosage, a pill deferring from that of the prescribed dosage, a broken or mismatched pill. Said automated dose conveyance means (AD) upon receiving the control from said controller 1 (C1) transports the blister pack with error to the manual verification station (MVs) at the lift table (Lt) where the user rectifies the error in the pack manually and sends the signal to C1 which in turn sends the signal for further pack processing. Similarly the verification system in the printing station (PRs), verifies the error in the printing the label in the blister pack relating to unmatched label printing, mismatched barcode on the label, improper labeling of dosage, and sends a signal to the controller 1 (C1). Said C1 in turn sends the signal to the automated dose conveyance means (AD) which transports the blister pack to the manual verification station (MVs). Where the user rectifies the error and sends a signal to the controller 1 (C1) for the further processing of the pack. This ensures the accurate and precise packaging of the blister pack as per the prescribed prescription.

WORKING OF INVENTION:

The detailed stepwise working of the present invention is explicated herein below. The present invention (P) works simultaneously and parallelly and thus is efficient in providing accurate and precisely packed blister pack as per prescription in substantially less lead time.

1. The pharmacy where the present invention is in use, employs the use of already existing Pharmacy database (IPS). Said Pharmacy database (IPS) consist of the medical records and data of the patient across the pharmacies. Said storage means (Sm) stores the patient information parsed from said pharmacy data base (IPS) from the clinics, hospitals, medical practitioners. Said cloud server (CS) continuously receives the patient information and prescription and transfers the same to the Receiving Means (Rm).
2. The receiving means (Rm) receives the dosage prescription from the cloud server (CS) which in turn communicates the prescription to the controller 1 (C1).ADD Said Controller1 (C1) communicates with one of the Automated dose conveyance means (AD) from the plurality of Automated dose conveyance means (AD) parked at the parking station (Ps) based on the data available of its availability, battery status.
3. Said controller1 (C1) upon receipt of the prescription and selecting the Automated dose conveyance means (AD) sends the signal to the parking station (Ps). The parking station (Ps) in turn identifies the Automated dose conveyance means (AD) and communicates to the controller 1 (C1). Further controller 1 (C1) sends the signal to the lift table (Lt). The Lift table (Lt) upon receipt of the signal moves to the level of the selected automated dose Conveyance means (AD). Upon receiving the signal from the controller 1 (C1) said selected automated dose conveyance means (AD) moves to the lift table (Lt). The lift table (Lt) than along with the automated dose conveyance means (AD) moves to the level of the pack separating station (PSs), communicating with C1.
4. Said automated dose conveyance means (AD) communicates with C1 upon reaching the pack separating station (PSs). Controller 1 (C1) than sends the signal to the pack separating station (PSs) to initiate the process of separation of the single blister pack. The Pack separating station (PSs) activates the automated pack separating mechanism that ensures and separates a single blister pack with the help of sensor. The separated single blister pack is laid upon the hollow structure of the corresponding Automated Dose conveyance means (AD) The RFID tag reader located on the Automated Dose conveyance means (AD) reads and identifies the RFID tag on the said blister pack only when it is accurately placed over it. The automated dose conveyance means (AD) upon receiving the single blister pack communicates with the controller 1 (C1) which further commands automated dose conveyance means (AD) to move to the next station.
5. Said automated dose conveyance means (AD) upon receiving the command from the controller 1 (C1) move towards the drug dispensing station (Ds). Wherein controller 1 (C1) and controller 2 (C2) operates in parallel. The controller 2 (C2) of the drug dispensing station (Ds) activates and sends the command to the Identifying means (IM), that in turn identifies the dosage received to be packed in the blister pack and in turn communicates with controller 1 (C1). With this the controller (C2) activates the pill dispensing means (PDM) that starts the dispensing of the pills as per the prescription. The pills are dispensed to the upper PF tray wherein the pill verification system is activated simultaneously and it verifies the pill being dispensed in the blister pack is as per the prescription. The pills verified by the said pill verification system are dispensed to the lower PF tray. The pills detected with damage or error by the pill verification system are discarded. The accurate and precise dosage of pills from the lower PF tray is than dispensed to the blister pack over the automated dose conveyance means (AD).The pill re-filling means is activated where in case the canisters are empty and are required to be filled with the pills. In case where the pills are to be filled manually, where the pills are specifically prescribed pills and are not stored in canisters, said automated dose conveyance means (AD) is directed towards the manual pill dispensing drawer wherein the user manually fills the pills as prescribed in the blister pack.
6. In cases when error is detected by the pill verification system in the drug dispensing station (Ds), the controller 2 (C2) sends the signal to controller 1 (C1) of the said error which in turn sends the signal to automated dose conveyance means (AD) and manual verification station (MVs). The erroneous pills detected by the pill verification system is discarded. The automated dose conveyance means (AD), upon receipt of the control from C1 moves towards the manual verification station (MVs), where the user corrects the error as per the prescription and sends the signal to C1. In turn C1 sends the signal to automated dose conveyance means (AD) to move to the further station for pack processing.
7. In cases where no errors are detected in dispensing of the pills at the drug dispensing station (Ds), controller 2 (C2) sends the command to Controller 1 (C1). Said Controller 1 (C1) in turn sends the signal to the cloud server (CS) via receiving means (Rm). Cloud server (CS) fetches the data of the prescription from the storage means (Sm) and commands the printer to print the label as per the prescription received from the storage means (Sm). Further the controller 1 (C1) sends the control to the label verification system in the printing station (PRs). The label verification system verifies the label is as per the prescription and the barcode is in readable format or not. Upon verification from the said label verification system the printed label is dropped over the corresponding blister pack over the automated dose conveyance means (AD). In case of any error detected the label is rejected by the system. The automated dose conveyance means (AD) upon receiving the accurate printed label for the pack sends the signal to C1 and moves towards the further station.
8. Automated dose conveyance means (AD) upon reaching the sealing station (Ss), send the signal to the C1 which in turn activates the heat sealing mechanism in the sealing station for sealing of the label over the blister pack. Upon completion of the sealing, the sealing station (Ss) sends signal to the C1 which in turn commands the automated dose conveyance means (AD) to move towards the unloading station (Us).
9. Controller 1 (C1) sends the signal to the unloading station (Us) to start the processing of unloading the blister pack. This initiates the unloading mechanism. The vacuum system in the said mechanism transfers the blister pack and further it is transported to automated storage and rack processing station (ASRS).
10. The sensors located in the automated storage and rack processing station (ASRS) sense the RFID tag over the blister pack and accordingly locates and arranges the blister pack as per the prescription. Which is than further delivered to the patient.

At every station said automated dose conveyance means (AD) communicates with controller 1(C1), which in turn communicates with the corresponding station accordingly and initiates the further proceedings in the packaging of blister pack at varied stations, enabling the parallel processing. This facilitates the packaging of the blister pack accurately and precisely as per the prescription in substantially less lead time. Also the automated dose conveyance means (AD) communicates with the controller 1 (C1) about its position through RFID tag while the packaging of the blister packs. The Controller 1 (C1) in turn controls the plurality of automated conveyance means (AD) such that it synchronizes and enables the parallel functioning of each of the plurality of the automated conveyance means (AD), And also ensures that the plurality of automated dose conveyance means (AD) working parallel do not collide or intersect on each other’s path.

Having described what is considered the best form presently contemplated for embodying the present invention, various alterations, modifications, and/or alternative applications of the invention for any system will be promptly apparent to those skilled in the art. Therefore, it is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the practical aspects of the actual preferred embodiments hereby described and that any such modifications and variations must be considered as being within the spirit and the scope of the invention, as described in the above description.

ADVANTAGES OF PRESENT INVENTION:

There are many advantages of the present invention over prior art:

? It provides an automated machine for prescribed pill retrieval, eliminating human dependency.
? It further provides an automated machine that functions parallely in dispensing and packaging of the prescribed pills.
? It provides an accurate and precise automated machine for prescribed pill retrieval.
? Moreover the present invention facilitates functionality of prioritizing blister packs to be filled as per the selected prescriptions. Thus in case of emergency the machine automatically facilitates the packaging of the packs which are in need upon user instructions.
? It further provides a machine that dispenses multiple periodic doses in a single blister pack.
? It also provides error free blister packs containing prescribed pills, and hence ensures accuracy in packaging of the prescribed pills.
? The present invention provides stackable machine, wherein the component parts of the machine can be utilized and arranged as per the need and space available in the pharmacy.
? The present invention is flexible and is not bulky.
? The lead time required i.e. average time required in complete processing of single blister pack as per prescription, by existing machines is substantially less.
? Down time of the present machine is low, due to parallel processing and therefore is efficient.
? Present invention is scalable and is applicable to all small, medium, large pharmacies.
? Present invention facilitates in identification of the pills required to be refilled upon exhaustion from the inventory.
? Eliminates the requirement of the drug inventory, thereby eliminating additional cost incurred.
,CLAIMS:We Claim;

1. The present Automated Machine for Prescribed Pill Retrieval (P) wherein said machine is configured to be modular, scalable, stackable and works in parallel for processing of the prescribed pills with accuracy in less lead time and does not require human intervention, comprising:
? Pharmacy Database (IPS),
? Storage means (Sm),
? Printer (Pr),
? Cloud Server (CS);

the pharmacy database (IPS) provides the patients’ medical records across the pharmacy network; said storage means (Sm) stores the medical records of the patient form said pharmacy database (IPS); Said Cloud server (CS) continuously gathers and parse the patient data;

characterized in that, said machine comprises:

o Receiving means (Rm),
o Plurality of Automated Dose Conveyance means (AD) ,
o Parking Station (Ps),
o Lift Table (Lt),
o Pack Separator station (PSs) ,
o Drug Dispensing station (Ds),
o Printing station (PRs),
o Sealing station (Ss),
o Unloading station (Us),
o Automatic storage and Rack station (ASRS),
o Controller 1 (C1),
o Controller 2 (C2);
wherein,
the receiving means (Rm) connected to cloud server (CS) on one end and to controller 1 (C1) and controller 2 (C2) on the other end communicates with cloud server (CS) and receives the patient data, dosage prescription for the present system; said receiving means (Rm) receives the dosage prescription from the cloud server (CS) and communicating the prescription to the controller 1 (C1); said controller 1 (C1) further communicates with one of the Automated dose conveyance means (AD) from the plurality of Automated dose conveyance means (AD); controller 1 (C1) controls the present entire system (P) and is in parallel communication with each station;

the Automated Dose Conveyance means (AD), is a mobile conveyance means comprising of hollow structure, RFID Tag reader and is configured in the present system to transfer blister packs within the present invention from one station to another; the communication of automated dose conveyance means (AD) through RFID tag reader with controller 1 (C1) facilitates the parallel working of automated dose conveyance means (AD) at each station in packaging of the blister packs providing sequential packaging prioritizing the packaging of blister packs based on emergency situations; said automated dose conveyance means (AD) continuously communicates its position and its battery status at each station to the controller 1 (C1); said automated dose conveyance means (AD) communicating with the controller 1 (C1) picks its path to next station automatically based upon traffic of the other conveyance means preventing itself from colliding with other automated dose conveyance means (AD);

the parking station (Ps) comprising of parking racks with RFID tags stacked on one another and lift table (Lt) facilitating parking and charging of said automated dose conveyance means (AD); said RFID tags on each parking racks identifies the location and locates the parked automated dose conveyance means (AD); said automated dose conveyance means (AD) communicates to the controller 1 (C1) which in turn communicates with the parking station (Ps); parking station (Ps) identifies the Automated dose conveyance means (AD) and communicates to the controller 1 (C1); controller 1 (C1) sends the signal to the lift table (Lt) wherein said lift table (Lt) connected to the parking station and pack separating station (PSs) providing stability to the present system (P), facilitates the entry and exit of the plurality of automated dose conveyance means (AD) from the parking station (Ps); said lift table (Lt) further comprises: Plurality of Ball screw (Bs), Plurality of pulleys (Pu), Motor (Mo), Belt (Be), Location Tag (L), Shaft (Sh), Base framework (Bf), for the transport of said automated dose conveyance means (AD); said Plurality of Ball screws (Bs) preferably four, constitutes the ball screw mechanism that facilitates the perpendicular motion of the lift table (Lt) at distance depending and varying as per the length of the plurality of ball screws used; Plurality of Ball screw (Bs) are connected with each other through Belt (Be); further said plurality of pulleys (Pu) comprises of the Driving pulley mounted on the motor (Mo) and idler pulley provided to vary (increase or decrease) the tension of the belt (Be); said motor (Mo) is mounted on the base framework (Bf); hole at the center of the said base framework (Bf) is provided to insert the shaft (Sh) that in turns supports the idler pulleys; ball screw mechanism converts the rotational motion of the motor (Mo) to the linear motion that facilitates the perpendicular motion of the lift table (Lt); said location tag (L) in the lift table (Lt) ensures the position and the location of the automated dose conveyance means (AD) over the lift table (Lt);

the Pack separating station (PSs) comprises of automated pack separating mechanism that facilitates accurate and precise separation of single blister pack upon the said automated dose conveyance means (AD); automated dose conveyance means (AD) communicates with C1 upon reaching the pack separating station (PSs); it further comprises plurality of sensors to sense the availability of the blister packs on the pack separating station (PSs); controller 1 (C1) communicates and controls the process of pack separating;

the Drug dispensing station (Ds) identifies and accurately dispenses the dosage or pill as per the prescription; said automated dose conveyance means (AD) receiving the command from the controller 1 (C1) move towards the drug dispensing station (Ds); controller 1 (C1) and controller 2 (C2) operates in parallel at drug dispensing station (Ds); the printing station (Ps) for printing of the label of the blister pack as per the prescription; it further comprises of printer, printing mechanism and label verification system, Wherein the label verification system ensures the error free printing of the label as per the prescribed dosage and barcode capturing the image of the of the printed label; controller 1(C1) through cloud server (Cs and storage means (Sm) provides prescription data and commands printer to print label as per prescription; the sealing station (Ss) to seal the error free printed label over the filled blister pack, comprises of heat sealing mechanism; said heat sealing mechanism is such that it applies heat and pressure over the printed label in vertically downward direction melting the adhesive over the back side of the label and sealing the label over corresponding blister pack; said Automated dose conveyance means (AD) communicates with C1 and C1 activates the heat sealing mechanism in the sealing station for sealing of the label over the blister pack; the unloading station (Us) comprises unloading mechanism for unloading of the packed blister pack to Automatic storage and rack station (ASRS); Controller 1 (C1) communicates with unloading station (Us) to start the processing of unloading the blister pack wherein Proper docking of the automated dose conveyance means (AD), activates the unloading mechanism and accurately and precisely unloads the packed blister pack from the automated dose conveyance means (AD) and transfers the same to the Automatic storage and rack station (ASRS); automatic storage and rack station (ASRs) stores packed blister pack; it consists of the plurality of racks arranged at an angle facilitating the accommodation of pair of blister pack in a rack; Said plurality of racks comprises of slits to store blister pack; said slits consists of the RFID tag reader detecting the blister pack and identifying the same as per prescription; the manual verification station (Ms) is provided to verify the error in the blister pack from drug dispensing station (Ds), printing station (Ps), Sealing station (Ss), Unloading station (Us).

2. The present Automated Machine for Prescribed Pill Retrieval (P) wherein said machine is configured to be modular, scalable, stackable and works in parallel for processing of the prescribed pills with accuracy in less lead time and does not require human intervention as claimed in claim1, wherein the drug dispensing station (Ds) comprises:

? Identifying means (IM),
? Pill Dispensing module (PDM),
? Pill refilling means (PRM),
? Controller 2 (C2);
wherein
the controller 1 (C1) and controller 2 (C2) operates in parallel in dispensing accurate drugs;

the Identifying means (IM) identifies the pill or dosage as per the prescription;

the Pill Dispensing module (PDM) stores, monitors, regulates, counts, verifies and dispenses the pills according to the prescription; it comprises plurality of drawers, plurality of canisters, plurality of PF trays, pill verification system; said drawers are provided to assemble said canisters prefilled with the prescribed dosage; said pill verification system comprising of the vision system identifies the breakage and damage in the pills, verifies the correct pills as per prescription and ensures whether the dispensed pills are as per the prescription: capturing images of said pills and comparing images with prescribed dosage as stored in the storage means and as received by the Receiving means (Rm); said plurality of PF trays, more preferably two; Upper PF tray and Lower PF tray facilitates the dispensing of the pills; Upper PF tray receives the pills after being verified from the said pill verification system with discard tray discarding the pills rejected by pill verification system; lower PF tray receives the accurate pills form the upper PF tray and dispenses the same to the blister pack on the said automated dose conveyance means (AD);

the pill refilling means (PRM) comprises of refilling mechanism for refilling the pills in the drawers; controller 2 (C2) controls the refilling mechanism and sends the signals to refill the canisters; said refilling mechanism; refilling the canisters communicates to the controller 2 (C2) about the quantity of the pills stored in the canisters, thereby maintaining the record of the quantity of the pills stored in the canisters;

the Controller 2 (C2) controls the functioning of the drug dispensing station (Ds); It controls and communicates with the drug dispensing station (Ds) and communicates with the controller 1 (C1); controller 2(C2) receives the information of the prescription from said receiving means (Rm) and is provided to communicate the same to drug dispensing station (Ds); it controls identifying means (IM) identifying the pill as per the prescription, Pill dispensing Means (PDM) dispensing the pill as per the prescription, Pill re filling means (PFM) intimating the user vide communicating to controller 1 (C1) to re fill the pills where the drawers are devoid of the pills; controller 1 (C1) is configured to analyze the pills and their quantity required by the present system for processing of the blister packs; it operates in parallel to controller 2 (C2) recommending which pill canisters are to be placed in the particular drug dispensing station (Ds); said controller 2 (C2) communicates with controller 1 (C1) about completion of its drug dispensing processing;

the Drug dispensing station (Ds) works parallel in identifying, dispensing and refilling the pills saving lead time of the present invention (P).

3. The present Automated Machine for Prescribed Pill Retrieval (P) wherein said machine is configured to be modular, scalable, stackable and works in parallel for processing of the prescribed pills with accuracy in less lead time and does not require human intervention as claimed in claim1, wherein the unloading mechanism in said unloading station comprises plurality of conveyor systems along the horizontal and vertical axis of the said station, actuator, a vacuum system, sensors; Said vacuum system is accurately and firmly picks the packed blister pack and transports the same to the conveyor system; Said actuator controls the vertical motion of the unloading mechanism; Said sensors are located at the vertical axis of the conveyor system and are provided to detect the presence of the packed blister pack picked up by the vacuum system ensuring the precision in picking up the accurate blister pack from the Automated dose conveyance means (AD).

Dated this 25th Day of October, 2019

_
Gopi Trivedi (Ms)
IN/PA 993
Authorized Agent of Applicant

To,
The Controller of Patents,
The Patent Office
At Mumbai.