US 12,441,498 B2
Apparatus for counting and unloading pharmaceutical articles
Giuseppe Monti, Pianoro (IT)
Assigned to Marchesini Group S.P.A., (IT)
Appl. No. 18/555,604
Filed by Marchesini Group S.P.A., Pianoro (IT)
PCT Filed Apr. 15, 2022, PCT No. PCT/IB2022/053567
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Oct. 16, 2023,
PCT Pub. No. WO2022/224108, PCT Pub. Date Oct. 27, 2022.
Claims priority of application No. 102021000010202 (IT), filed on Apr. 22, 2021.
Prior Publication US 2024/0199250 A1, Jun. 20, 2024
Int. Cl. B65B 5/10 (2006.01); B65B 39/00 (2006.01); B65B 57/20 (2006.01)
CPC B65B 5/103 (2013.01) [B65B 39/002 (2013.01); B65B 39/005 (2013.01); B65B 57/20 (2013.01)] 13 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An apparatus for counting and unloading pharmaceutical articles, comprising:
a plurality of descent channels configured so as to receive internally thereof pharmaceutical articles;
an accumulation chamber, arranged below the descent channels and having an entry mouth for receiving the pharmaceutical articles exiting from the descent channels and an unloading mouth for unloading the pharmaceutical articles;
blocking elements, activatable to open/close the descent channels, the blocking elements being activatable to open the descent channels and enable falling of the pharmaceutical articles in the accumulation chamber and to close the descent channels when a number of the pharmaceutical articles that have fallen into the accumulation chamber has reached a predetermined value;
a closing element which is arranged and movable with respect to the unloading mouth in such a way as to be movable between a first closed position (O1), in which the closing element is positioned at the unloading mouth, in order to close the B unloading mouth and enable accumulation of the pharmaceutical articles, and a second open position (O2), in which the closing element is completely removed from the unloading mouth in order to free and open the unloading mouth for unloading the pharmaceutical articles accumulated in the accumulation chamber,
the closing element is configured and conformed in such a way as to comprise a first abutment surface and a second abutment surface which are arranged at an angle to one another, and wherein, the accumulation chamber and the closing element are reciprocally arranged and configured in such a way that, with the closing element being positioned in the first closed position (O1) at the unloading mouth in order to close the unloading mouth, the first abutment surface is arranged in the accumulation chamber inclined and with a first angle with respect to a first internal wall of the accumulation chamber defining a first accumulation volume (V1) for the pharmaceutical articles between the first abutment surface and the first internal wall, and the second abutment surface is arranged inside the accumulation chamber inclined and with a second angle with respect to a second internal wall of the accumulation chamber, opposite the first internal wall, defining a second accumulation volume (V2) for the pharmaceutical articles between the second abutment surface and the second internal wall, in such a way that the pharmaceutical articles falling from the descent channels can accumulate into a first group (A1) of pharmaceutical articles in the first accumulation volume (V1) and into a second group (A2) of pharmaceutical articles in the second accumulation volume, (V2),
and in that the closing element is movable with respect to the unloading mouth from the first closing position (O1) to the second open position (O2) in order first to move the second abutment surface away from the second internal wall of the accumulation chamber opening a first part of the unloading mouth for the unloading of the second group (A2) of pharmaceutical articles, and then to move away and completely remove the first abutment surface from the unloading mouth for the unloading of the first group (A1) of pharmaceutical articles.