FORM 2
THE PATENTS ACT, 1970
(39 of 1970)
As amended by the Patents (Amendment) Act, 2005
&
The Patents Rules, 2003 As amended by the Patents (Amendment) Rules, 2006
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(See section 10 and rule 13)
TITLE OF THE INVENTION
Blister strip pickup mechanism for a blister packing machine
APPLICANTS
Sci-tech Centre, 7 Prabhat Nagar, Jogeshwari West, Mumbai 400 102, Maharashtra, India, an Indian company
INVENTORS
Hanji Bharama, ACG Pampac Machines Pvt Ltd, Gate No 446/2, Village Bebadohol PIN 410 506, Taluka Maval, Dist Pune, Maharashtra, an Indian national and Singh Jasjit, Sci-tech Centre, 7 Prabhat Nagar, Jogeshwari West, Mumbai 400 102, Maharashtra, a British national
PREAMBLE TO THE DESCRIPTION
The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is
to be performed:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a blister strip pick up mechanism for a blister packing machine,
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Blister packing of dosages of products like tablets, granules or capsules, especially pharmaceutical or neutraceutical products, is a modern and widely used mode of packing of such products because of the distinct advantages like cost benefit, mass producibility or ease of use by the consumer. A typical blister packing machine used for blister packing dosages of such products comprises a large number of stations including a film unwinding station, a film heating station, a cavity forming station, an indexing station, a dosage feeding station, a dosage inspection station, a lidding foil unwinding station, a sealing station, an embossing station, a perforation station and a blister strip punching station in series. The entire operation of the machine is controlled by a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC).
During operation of the machine, a web comprising a thermoforming film like polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or polyethylene (PE) film being unwound at the film unwinding station is progressively advanced through the following stations in a sequence. The film is heated to its plastic state at the heating station and fed to the cavity forming station where cavities for the dosages are formed in the film. The film is pulled or stretched at the indexing station to the required or specified length, also called draw of length (DOL). Dosages of the product are

filled in the cavities at the dosage feeding station. Accurately filled cavities and inaccurately filled cavities including unfilled cavities are sensed at the dosage inspection station.
A lidding foil like aluminium or paper foil being unwound at the lidding foil unwinding station is closed against the film at the cavity side thereof and the foil is sealed to the film at the sealing station. Details like batch number or codes are embossed on the foil side of the film at the embossing station. Perforations are formed in the sealed film according to the blister strip layout at the perforation station. Blister strips are cut or punched out from the perforated film according to the blister strips layout at the blister punching station. The blister packing machine includes a blister strip pick up mechanism to pick up the blister strips being cut or punched out at the blister strip punching station and to drop the accurately filled and inaccurately filled blister strips usually at two different locations, for example, in a reject bin and on a downstream conveyor, respectively. However, in case the conveyor is full or non-operational, the good blister strips are carried forward and dropped in a good blister strip collector bin located beyond the conveyor.
The blister strip pick up mechanism comprises a driven shaft disposed in the proximity of the blister strip punching station for intermittent rotation in the horizontal plane and also for simultaneous reciprocating linear motion in the same horizontal plane forward and back.

Mounting blocks are mounted on the driven shaft in spaced apart relationship with one another corresponding to the width of the blister strips. Each of the mounting blocks comprises four sucker arms projecting therefrom spaced apart from one another at an angular distance of 90°. Each of the sucker arms has a vacuum cup at the distal end thereof. The vacuum cups are connected to air and vacuum supplies controlled by the PLC.
The blister strip pick up mechanism also comprises a drive mechanism for imparting rotary and simultaneous reciprocatory motions to the driven shaft and the sucker arms and vacuum cups. The drive mechanism comprises a drive shaft driven by a motor through a pulley and belt arrangement. A parrot cam and a disc cam are mounted on the drive shaft. The parrot cam is operatively connected to the driven shaft through a roller assembly, pulley and belt drive and imcoma coupling. The disc cam is associated with a cam follower which is operatively connected to the driven shaft through a linkage.
In a cycle of operation of the pickup mechanism, the drive shaft describes one complete revolution of 360° and the parrot cam rotates the roller assembly by 90° which in turn causes the driven shaft to rotate by 90° in the horizontal plane through the pulley and belt drive and imcoma coupling, Simultaneously, the cam follower follows a cam path in the disc cam and causes the linkage to move linearly forward and back in the same horizontal plane. As a

result, the driven shaft with the sucker arms and vacuum cups also moves forward and back. The rotation of the driven shaft by 360° is thus intermittent at intervals of 90° and requires four complete revolutions of the drive shaft.
While the driven shaft describes rotary motion by an angular distance of 90° and reciprocating motion forward and back simultaneously, a row of vacuum cups along the driven shaft rotates and advances towards the blister strips being cut or punched out at the blister strip punching station, suck and hold the blister strips and move back. Simultaneously, the leading row of vacuum cups (row of vacuum cups immediately ahead) along the driven shaft with blister strips sucked and held thereagainst also rotate by a further angular distance of 90°. During rotation of the leading row of vacuum cups by a further 90°, inaccurately tilled blister strip(s) in the leading rows of vacuum cups, if any, is/are dropped into a reject bin located at 45° with respect to the driven shaft and accurately tilled blister strip(s) in the leading row of vacuum cups is /are carried forward and dropped into a downstream conveyor disposed at the location of the further 90°. In case the conveyor is full or non-operational, the good blister strip(s) is/are carried further forward and dropped in a good blister collector bin located beyond the conveyor. Both the reject and good blister strips are further handled as required. The cycle is repeated in every complete rotation of the drive shaft.

In such a blister strip pickup mechanism, there is a pause between the intermittent rotations of the driven shaft by 90° and also a dwell time for picking up the blister strips from the blister strip punching station and for dropping the blister strips on the conveyor in a cycle of operation of the blister strip pickup mechanism. As a result, cycle time of the pickup mechanism is increased and productivity is reduced. Besides, the blister strip pickup mechanism comprises a large number of components and is complex and complicated in construction. It is also heavy, occupies large area and is very costly. Its maintenance cost is high and reliability is reduced,
Due to the intermittent operation and large number of components of the blister strip pickup mechanism and also due to the transmission of motion through a large number of components, the pickup mechanism is prone to jerks and vibrations. As a result, the operation of the pick up mechanism is noisy and pick up and drop of the blisters may not be performed accurately. As the sucker arms are fixed on the mounting block, the distance between the vacuum cups and conveyor remains the same. Therefore, while dropping the blister strips on the conveyor there are chances for the blister strips, especially light blister strips to fly off the conveyor because of the fixed distance between the vacuum cups and conveyor. Further, in order to drop the blister strips on the conveyor, vacuum is cut off from all the vacuum cups and air is introduced in the vacuum cups at the same time to blow out and drop the good

blister strips on the conveyor. Therefore, all the blister strips fall down on the conveyor simultaneously. As a result also, there are chances for the blister strips, especially light ones to flyout of the conveyors. In both the above cases, there is also possibility that the blister strips flying out of the conveyor may get mixed with the reject blister strips. Because of the jerk and vibrations, wear and tear to the components is also increased thereby increasing the maintenance cost of the blister pick up mechanism. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the invention this is provided a blister strip pickup mechanism for a blister packing machine comprised of a driven shaft disposed for rotation about a horizontal axis in the proximity of the blister strip punching station of the machine, a cylindrical support block mounted at the one end of the driven shaft and defining four radial lines at radial distances of 90° with respect to one another, four pairs of rotary support pins rotatably held in the cylindrical support block circumferentially spaced apart from one another, the support pins of each pair of support pins being located at opposite sides of a radial line on the cylindrical support block at a radial distance of 45° with respect to the radial line on the cylindrical support block, four pairs of drive gears, each pair of drive gears being in mesh with each other and mounted at the inner ends of each pair of support pins projecting out inwardly from the inner surface of the cylindrical support block, a stationary guide and counter balancing hollow cylindrical member supported on the machine frame and having a thoothed inner circumference disposed over the drive gears in mesh with the drive gears and

four sucker arms disposed perpendicular to the outer surface of the cylindrical support block
in a circular configuration at radial distances of 90° with respect to the outer surface of the
cylindrical support block, each of the sucker arms being connected to the outer ends of each
pair of rotary support pins projecting out outwardly from the outer surface of the cylindrical
support block through a radially reciprocating means and each of the sucker arms having a
row of spaced apart vacuum cups along the length thereof corresponding to the width of the
blister strips and connected to air and vacuum supplies controlled by the Programmable
Logic Controller (PLC) controlling the operations of the machine.
According to an embodiment of the invention the blister pickup mechanism comprises an air and vacuum regulator for controlling the drop of the good blister strips, BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In the accompanying schematic drawings:
Fig 1 is an elevation of a blister strip pickup mechanism according to an embodiment of the invention;
Fig 2 is a crossectional view of the pickup mechanism of Fig 1;
Fig 3 is a front view of the pickup mechanism of Fig 1;
Fig 4 is a front view of the cylindrical support block of the pickup mechanism of Fig 1;
Fig 5 is an isometric view of the stationary guide and counter balancing hollow cylindrical member of the pickup mechanism of Fig 1;
Fig 6 is a front view of the link of the pickup mechanism of Fig 1;
Fig 7 is a front view of the stationary disc of the pickup mechanism of Fig 1; and
Fig 8 is a front view of the rotary disc of the pickup mechanism of Fig 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION WITH REFERENCE TO THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS
The blister strip pick up mechanism 1 according to an embodiment of the invention as illustrated in Figs 1 to 8 of the accompanying drawings for a blister packing machine (not shown) comprises a driven shaft 2 disposed for rotation about a horizontal axis in the proximity of the blister strip punching station (not shown) of the machine. A cylindrical support block 3 is mounted at the one end drive of the driven shaft through hole 3a therein and describing four radial lines 3b, 3c, 3d and 3e at radial distances of 90° with respect to one another. Four pairs of rotary support pins 4,4 are rotatably held in holes 3f in the cylindrical support block circumferentially spaced apart from one another. The support pins of each pair of support pins are located at opposite sides of a radial line at a radial distance of 45° with respect to the radial line. A pair of drive gears 5 are mounted at the inner ends of each pair of support pins projecting out inwardly from the inner surface 3g of the cylindrical support block. The drive gears of each pair of drive gears are in mesh with each other. A stationary guide and counter balancing hollow cylindrical member 6 having a toothed inner circumference 7 is disposed over the drive gears in mesh with the drive gears. The guide and counter balancing hollow cylindrical member is supported on a circular bracket 8 disposed over the driven shaft through a hole 8a in the bracket 8 describing a clearance with the shaft and mounted on the machine frame (not shown). As the circular bracket is fixed on the machine frame describing a clearance with the driven shaft 2, it remains stationary during rotation of the shaft 2.
A pair of driven discs 9 are mounted at the outer ends of each pair of rotary support pins 4 projecting out outwardly from the outer surface 3h of the cylindrical support block. 10 is link

eccentrically pivoted on each pair of driven discs with pivot pins 9a on the driven discs engaged in pivot holes 10a in the link and having a sucker arm 11 fixed to the link in hole 10b in the link at the centre thereof. The four sucker arms are disposed perpendicular to the outer surface 3h of the cylindrical support block in a circular configuration at radial distances of 90° with respect to the outer surface of the cylindrical support block 3. Each of the sucker arms has a row of spaced apart vacuum cups 12 along the length thereof corresponding to the width of the blister strips (not shown) to be picked up and dropped by the pickup mechanism.
The pickup mechanism 1 also comprises a stationary disc 13 disposed over the driven shaft through a hole 13a in the stationary disc and describing a clearance with the driven shaft and fixed to the circular bracket 8 at the inner surface thereof. The stationary disc has a set of concentrically spaced apart first air and vacuum channels 14a, 14b and 14c corresponding to the number of vacuum cups in a row of vacuum cups. The first air and vacuum channels start from a first radial line 13b on the stationary disc and terminate short of a second radial line 13c on the stationary disc at a radial distance of 90° with respect to the first radial line. Each of the first air and vacuum channels has an air and vacuum inlet hole 15 provided along the first radial line 13b on the stationary disc.
The stationary disc also comprises a further set of concentrically spaced apart second air and vacuum channels 16a, 16b and 16c corresponding to the number of first air and vacuum channels and as ecually and concentrically spaced apart as the first air and vacuum channels. The second air and vacuum channels start from the second radial line 13c and cross over a third radial line 13d on the stationary disc at a radial distance of 90° with respect to the first radial line. Each of the second air and vacuum channels has an air and vacuum inlet port 17

along the third radial line. The stationary disc further comprises a set of air inlet orifices 18 at intermediate position between the first and second air and vacuum channels corresponding to the number of the first and second air and vacuum channels and as equally and concentrically spaced apart as the first and second air and vacuum channels. The air inlet orifices are staggered radially on the stationary disc.
A rotary disc 19 is mounted on the driven shaft through a hole 19a in the rotary disc and rotatably held against the stationery disc in leak tight contact with the stationary disc spring biased (compression spring 20) against the stationary disc. The rotary disc has four sets of air and vacuum inlet openings 21 spaced apart from one another along radial lines 22a, 22b, 22c and 22d at radial distances of 90°. Each of the sets of air and vacuum inlet openings comprises as many openings as there are vacuum cups. The air and vacuum inlet openings are as equally and concentrically spaced as and positionally registering with the first and second air and vacuum channels, air and vacuum inlet holes, air and vacuum inlet ports and air inlet orifices in the stationary disc.
During operation of the machine, drive is given to the driven shaft 2 through a rotary drive mechanism (not shown) connected to the other end of the shaft 2 to rotate the shaft 2 continuously. The rotary drive mechanism can be any known mechanism and is, for example, a motor and a pulley mounted on the motor shaft. The pulley is connected to another pulley mounted at the other end of the shaft 2 by a belt. The rotary drive mechanism has not been illustrated in the accompanying drawings and has not been described in the specification in further detail as such is not necessary for understanding the invention. The cylindrical support block 3 rotates with the driven shaft 2 continuously in the same direction. As a result the

rotary motion is transferred to the drive gears 5 through the rotary support pins 4. The drive gears of each pair of drive gears rotate in opposite directions against the toothed inner circumference 7 of the guide and counterbalancing hollow cylindrical member 6 which is stationary. During rotation of the drive gears, the drive gears are guided and counter balanced against the toothed inner circumference of the cylindrical member 6. The teeth and radius ratio of the drive gears and the toothed inner circumference 7 of the cylindrical 6 are selected such that the drive gears rotate about their axes by 360° while rotating against the toothed inner circumference of cylindrical member 6 by 90°.
Therefore, the speed of rotation of the drive gears of each pair of drive gears in each complete revolution of the drive gears against an angular distance of 90° at the inner circumference of member 6 is zero as the drive gears of each pair of drive gears rotate at the same speed in opposite directions. Because of the rotations in opposite directions at the same speed, the resultant or net speed is zero. This provides a dwell time at the end of each complete rotation or revolution of the drive gears of each pair of drive gears by 360° at the completion of an angular distance of 90° against the inner circumference 7 of the cylindrical member 6. Preferably, the ratio of the teeth and radius of each of the drive gears and toothed inner circumference of the cylindrical member 6 is selected to be 1:8.
As a result of the rotation of each pair of drive gears, rotary motion is transmitted to the corresponding pair of driven discs 9 through the corresponding rotary support pins 4. As the drive gears of each pair of drive gears are rotating in opposite directions at the same speed, the discs of each pair of discs also rotates in opposite directions at the same speed and experience a dwell time at the end of every complete rotation thereof by 360°. Due to

rotation of the discs of each pair of discs in opposite directions, the links 10 describe an epicyclic motion (ie rotary and linear reciprocity motion) in the radial direction with respect to the cylindrical support block 3 as the links are eccentrically pivoted on the pairs of driven discs. As a result, the sucker arms fixed to the links along with the vacuum ups also describe a rotary motion and a reciprocating radial motion with respect to the cylindrical support block.
Each set of air and vacuum inlet openings 21 in the rotary disc are connected to a row of vacuum cups 12 through air and vacuum lines 23. The air and vacuum inlet holes 15 and air and vacuum inlet ports 17 and air inlet orifices 18 in the stationary disc are connected to air and vacuum supplies (not shown) controlled by the Programmable Logic Controller or PLC (not shown) controlling the operations of the machine.
As the driven shaft 2 rotates, besides the cylindrical support block and the sucker arms with the vacuum cups, the rotary disc 19 also rotates with the driven shaft in close contact with the stationary disc 13. The compression spring 20 ensures that the rotary disc is in close contact with the stationary disc. In a cycle of operation of the pickup mechanism, a set of air and vacuum inlet openings 21 in the rotary disc 19 corresponding to a row of vacuum cups 12, say, air and vacuum inlet openings along the radial line 22a of the rotary dis are aligned with the first air and vacuum channels 14a, 14b and 14c in the stationary disc. As the rotary disc 19 rotates against the stationary disc 13, vacuum is applied through the air and vacuum inlet holes 15 in the stationary disc into the vacuum cups corresponding to the set of air and vacuum inlet openings 21 along the radial line 22a. Simultaneously the row of vacuum cups corresponding to the radial line 22a move forward radially and sucks in a row of blister strips

(not shown) being cut or punched out at the blister strip punching station. Under the suction effect, the row of blister strips are held against the row of vacuum cups and the row of vacuum cups with the blister strips move back during continued rotation of the rotary disc against the stationary disc. The suction effect is continued during further rotation of the row of vacuum cups as vacuum effect is continuously applied in the first vacuum channels 14a, 14b and 14c.
If any one of the blister strips is inaccurately filled, vacuum in the corresponding first air and vacuum channel is discontinued at an angular distance of 45° marked by radial line 13f with respect to the radial line 13b and instead of vacuum, air is forced through the corresponding first air and vacuum inlet hole in the stationary disc. As a result, air flows through the corresponding air and vacuum inlet opening 21 in the rotary disc and the inaccurately filled blister strip is blown out from the corresponding vacuum cup under air pressure. The inaccurately filled blister strip is collected in a reject bin located at 45° angular distance with respect to the stationary disc.
The vacuum cups with the good blister strips will continue to rotate with the rotary disc and the blister strips will continue to be held in the vacuum cups under the vacuum effect being applied in the corresponding first air and vacuum channels. The rotary disc having the air and vacuum inlet holes 21 along the radial line 22a and connected to the row of vacuum cups with good blister strips moving out or exiting from the first air and vacuum channels will continue to be under the influence of vacuum until they travel the intermediate distance between the first air and vacuum channels 14a, 14b and 14c and second air and vacuum channels 16a, 16b and 16c and enter the second air and vacuum channels because of the

residual vacuum effect in the air and vacuum lines 23. When the air and vacuum inlet holes 21 exiting the first air and vacuum channels align with the air inlet orifices 18 in the stationary disc one by one because of the staggered nature of the air inlet orifices, air is applied through the air inlet orifices 18 in the stationary disc and the air and vacuum inlet openings 21 in the rotary disc to force the good blister strips out of the vacuum cups and drop down on a conveyor (not shown) disposed along radial line 13c ie at an angular distance of 90° with respect to the first radial line 13b on the stationary disc. As the air inlet orifices are radially staggered, the good blister strips drop down on the conveyor one after another in a controlled manner. During continued rotation of the driven shaft 2, the cycle is repeated with respect to sucker arm and row of vacuum cups corresponding to air and vacuum inlet openings 21 along radial line 22b and subsequent radial lines 22c and 22d.
In case the row of vacuum cups with good blister strips corresponding to the radial line 22a did not drop at 90° radial distance with respect to the first radial line, for instance due to the conveyor being full or non-operational, during continued rotation of the rotary disc against the stationary disc with the sucker arm and row of vacuum cups, the good blister strips will continue to experience vacuum being applied in the second air and vacuum channels 16a, 16b and 16c through the air and vacuum inlet orifices 17. Due to the suction being applied in the second air and vacuum channels through the air and vacuum inlet orifices 17 in the stationary disc, the vacuum effect will continue to hold the good blister strips in the vacuum cups until the rotary disc exits the second air and vacuum channels. When the air and vacuum inlet openings 21 in the rotary disc are aligned with the air and vacuum inlet orifices 17 in the stationary disc, vacuum is discontinued and air is forced through the air and vacuum inlet orifices 17 and corresponding air and vacuum inlet openings 21 in the rotary disc. As a result,

the good blister strips in the row of vacuum cups is dropped down into a good blister strip collector bin located beyond the conveyor aligned with the air and vacuum inlet openings 17 along radial line 13d.
Because of the dwell time between every complete rotation of the drive gears of each pair of gears in opposite directions at the same speed around angular distance of 90° on the toothed inner circumference of the cylindrical member 6, a time interval is automatically available for the good blister strips to drop down exactly on the conveyor. Besides this, as the links 10 are radially reciprocating during rotation of the driven shaft 2, the links with the corresponding sucker arms and row of vacuum cups are timed to move smoothly towards the conveyor while dropping the good blister strips and allow the good blister strips to fall down on the conveyor. Further, as the air inlet orifices 18 in the stationary disc are radially staggered, the good blister strips being dropped on the conveyor fall down on the conveyor one after another in a controlled manner. As a result of all this, there are no chances for the good blister strips to fly off the conveyor and mix with the reject blister strips, if any.
The blister strip pickup mechanism of the invention is simple in construction and is compact and occupies reduced area. It comprises lesser number of components. Therefore, its manufacturing cost and maintenance cost are reduced and reliability is increased. The rotary motion of the driven shaft is directly transmitted to the vacuum arms. Therefore, there are no jerks and vibrations during the operation of the pickup mechanism. Noise level of the mechanism is reduced and it is smooth in operation. Wear and tear to the components is also reduced. The good blister strips are dropped on the conveyor one after another in a

controlled manner thereby eliminating the possibility of the good blister packs flying out of the conveyor and getting mixed with the reject blister strips.
The driven shaft of the pickup mechanism rotates continuously and there is no intermittent motion or pause during rotation of the driven shaft. Dwell time for dropping the good blister strips on the conveyor is built into the pickup mechanism. Because of all this, cycle time is reduced and productivity is increased.
The air and vacuum regulator comprising stationary disc and rotary disc is optional. It is required only if the drop down of the good blister strips is required to be controlled. In the absence of the vacuum regulator, the vacuum cups are directly connected to the air and vacuum supplies controlled by the PLC. The vacuum regulator can also be of different construction. The radially reciprocating means comprising drive discs and links can be of a different construction. The stationary disc can be mounted on the machine frame using a different mounting arrangement instead of circular mounting bracket. The rotary disc need not be spring biased against the stationary disc, What is important is that there should be close contact between the stationary disc and rotary disc. This can be achieved by other means and other construction or configuration also. Such variations of the invention are obvious to a person skilled in the art and are to be construed and understood to be within the scope of the invention.

We claim;
1. A blister strip pickup mechanism for a blister packing machine comprised of a driven
shaft disposed for rotation about a horizontal axis in the proximity of the blister strip punching station of the machine, a cylindrical support block mounted at the one end of the driven shaft and defining four radial lines at radial distances of 90° with respect to one another, four pairs of rotary support pins rotatably held in the cylindrical support block circumferentially spaced apart from one another, the support pins of each pair of support pins being located at opposite sides of a radial line on the cylindrical support block at a radial distance of 45° with respect to the radial line on the cylindrical support block, four pairs of drive gears, each pair of drive gears being in mesh with each other and mounted at the inner ends of each pair of support pins projecting out inwardly from the inner surface of the cylindrical support block, a stationary guide and counter balancing hollow cylindrical member supported on the machine frame and having a thoothed inner circumference disposed over the drive gears in mesh with the drive gears and four sucker arms disposed perpendicular to the outer surface of the cylindrical support block in a circular configuration at radial distances of 90° with respect to the outer surface of the cylindrical support block, each of the sucker arms being connected to the outer ends of each pair of rotary support pins projecting out outwardly from the outer surface of the cylindrical support block through a radially reciprocating means and each of the sucker arms having a row of spaced apart vacuum cups along the length thereof corresponding to the width of the blister strips and

connected to air and vacuum supplies controlled by the Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) controlling the operations of the machine.
2. The blister strip pickup mechanism as claimed in claim 1, wherein the radially reciprocating means comprises a pair of driven discs mounted at the outer ends of each pair of rotary support pins projecting out outwardly from the outer surface of the cylindrical support block and a link eccentrically pivoted on the pair of driven discs and having a sucker arm fixed to the link at the centre thereof.
3. The blister strip pickup mechanism as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the teeth and radius ratio of each driven gear to the toothed inner circumference of the guide and counter balancing hollow cylindrical member is 1 : 8.
4. The blister strip pick up mechanism as claimed in anyone of claims 1 to 3, which comprises an air and vacuum regulator for controlling the drop of the good blister strips.
5. The blister strip pick up mechanism as claimed in claim 4, wherein the guide and counter balancing hollow cylindrical member is supported on a circular bracket disposed over the driven shaft describing a clearance with the driven shaft and mounted on the machine frame and the air and vacuum regulator comprises a stationary disc disposed over the driven

shaft describing a clearance with the driven shaft and fixed to the circular bracket at the inner surface thereof, the stationary disc having a set of concentrically spaced apart first air and vacuum channels corresponding to the number of vacuum cups in a row of vacuum cups, the first air and vacuum channels starting from a first radial line on the stationary disc and terminating short of a second radial line on the stationary disc at a radial distance of 90° with respect to the first radial line, each of the first air and vacuum channels having an air and vacuum inlet hole along the first radial line on the stationary disc, the stationary disc further comprising a further set of concentrically spaced apart second air and vacuum channels corresponding to the first air and vacuum channels and as equally and concentrically spaced apart as the first air and vacuum channels, the second air and vacuum channels starting from the second radial line on the stationery disc and crossing over a third radial line on the stationary disc at a radial distance of 90° with respect to the second radial line on the stationary disc, each of the second air and vacuum channels having an air and vacuum inlet port along the third radial line on the stationery disc, the stationary disc further having a set of air inlet orifices at the intermediate position between the first and second air and vacuum channels corresponding to the number of first and second air and vacuum channels and as equally and concentrically spaced apart as the first and second air and vacuum channels, the air inlet orifices being staggered radially on the stationary disc and the vacuum regulator further comprising a rotary disc mounted on the driven shaft and

rotatably held against the stationary disc in leak tight contact with the stationary disc, the rotary disc having four sets of air and vacuum inlet openings spaced apart from one another along radial lines at radial distances of 90°, each of the sets of air and vacuum inlet openings comprising as many openings as there vacuum cups, the air and vacuum inlet openings being as equally and concentrically spaced apart as and positionally registering with the first and second air and vacuum channels, air and vacuum inlet holes, air and vacuum inlet ports and air inlet orifices in the stationary disc, each row of vacuum cups being connected to the air and vacuum supplies controlled by the PLC through each set of air and vacuum inlet openings in the rotary disc and the air and vacuum inlet holes, air and vacuum inlet ports and air inlet orifices in the stationary disc.
6. The blister strip pickup mechanism as claimed in claim 5, wherein the rotary disc is
spring biased against the stationary disc.