US 12,214,917 B2
Filling process with cell-by-cell automated compounding
Ted Matthew Mills, Novi, MI (US); Jeffrey Thomas Linton, Ann Arbor, MI (US); Chase Ryan Linton, Ann Arbor, MI (US); and Justin Michael Gauvin, Waltham, MA (US)
Assigned to Tespo IP, LLC, Plymouth, MI (US)
Appl. No. 17/620,998
Filed by TESPO IP, LLC, Plymouth, MI (US)
PCT Filed Jun. 18, 2020, PCT No. PCT/US2020/038467
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Dec. 20, 2021,
PCT Pub. No. WO2020/257477, PCT Pub. Date Dec. 24, 2020.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/862,819, filed on Jun. 18, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2022/0324592 A1, Oct. 13, 2022
Int. Cl. B65B 3/00 (2006.01); A61J 7/00 (2006.01); B65B 1/06 (2006.01); B65B 1/32 (2006.01); B65B 1/36 (2006.01); B65B 3/06 (2006.01); B65B 3/28 (2006.01); B65B 3/30 (2006.01); G07F 17/00 (2006.01)
CPC B65B 3/003 (2013.01) [A61J 7/0084 (2013.01); B65B 1/06 (2013.01); B65B 1/32 (2013.01); B65B 1/36 (2013.01); B65B 3/06 (2013.01); B65B 3/28 (2013.01); B65B 3/30 (2013.01); G07F 17/0092 (2013.01); A61J 2200/74 (2013.01); A61J 2205/10 (2013.01)] 19 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method for filling a pod comprising:
providing a pod having a housing defining a plurality of serving chambers arranged in an annular array and surrounding a drive hub;
receiving data indicative of a customized nutritional supplement for the pod to a controller of an automated filling station; and
filling the customized nutritional supplement into at least one of the plurality of serving chambers of the pod via the automated filling station by controlling a plurality of hoppers of the filling station to dispense the customized supplement into the plurality of serving chambers of the pod, each hopper containing a corresponding ingredient available for the customized supplement;
wherein filling the pod further comprises aligning the plurality of serving chambers of the pod with a plurality of apertures in an upper plate of a filling fixture in the filling station;
wherein filling the pod further comprises filling the plurality of apertures in the upper plate with the nutritional supplement with a lower plate positioned beneath the upper plate; and
wherein filling the pod further comprises translating a lower plate relative to the upper plate such that the nutritional supplement flows from the plurality of apertures directly into the plurality of serving chambers.