AU602680B2 - Article counting device - Google Patents

Description

V

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 60 2680 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION

(ORIGINAL)

Application Number: Lodged: 7a7?/I~ Class Int. Class Complete Specification Lodged: Accepted: Published: Priority Related Art: I his do'rumcnt confit:nm C, .qmdmenvs inde t-.1,i hon 49 and is cu ting.

4, 1 *4 6 6l 0°e 0@ 4 o Se I C,6 APPLICANT'S REFERENCE: USSN 856,475 Name(s) of Applicant(s): Kerney Hurst Address(es) of Applicant(s): 507 Eagle Drive, Pineville, Louisiana, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

Address for Service is: a IC PHILLIPS ORMONDE and FITZPATRICK Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys 367 Collins Street Melbourne 3000 AUSTRALI Complete Specification for the invention entitled: 0 4

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ARTICLE COUNTING DEVICE Our Ref 50094 POF Code: 895/57162 The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to applicant(s): 6003q/1 1 ARTICLE COUNTING DEVICE The present invention relates to a device used for counting small articles and more particularly to a device for use in a machine for dispensing individually discrete objects. The device is suitable for use in a machine for counting pills or tablets, and it will be convenient to hereinafter disclose the invention in relation to that exemplary application. It is to be appreciated, however, that the invention is not limited to that application.

Valuable time is used by pharmacists in the tedious operation of counting out the exact number of tablets or capsules required to fill individual prescriptions. This time could be well utilized by the pharmacist in filling out the label or instructions for the user, in receiving telephone prescriptions from a physician, or in performing many of the other activities that can only be done by a o registered pharmacist. The high volume of prescriptions now being filled by pharmacists makes it desirable to provide a means for accurately counting out the required number of tablets or capsules for each particular prescription. Furthermore, some drug items may be purchased in bulk quantity which are then counted into groups and packaged in smaller containers for resale.

The prior art reveals a number of counting machines designed to count a predetermined number of pills or tablets, some of which deposit the respective pills or tablets in a separate container, which are also conveyed by the counting device. Some of the prior art machines are intended for the use of manufactures where the 0 articles are packaged in large quantity for bulk distribution rather than by the use of an individual pharmacist in filling a prescription for a relatively small number of pills or tablets.

The most pertinent of the prior art patents are U.S.

Patent No. 3,368,713, issued on February 13, 1968, for Article Counting Device, and U.S. Patent No. 4,111,332, issued on September 5, 1978, for Article Counting Device.

The subject matter of Patent No. 4,111,332 relating to the S disks for segregating the -la- -i -i.i I i-- S'1 2 pills for counting and the machine controls are incorporated herein by reference.

These patents employed a spring arm and a microswitch to detect the pills so as to overcome the problem with light sources and detectors. These problems stemmed from ambient light and dirt and dust on the windows. The use of spring arm and switch detectors however introduced several problems. First, and of considerable importance, are the space requirements of the system. Since the spring arm must be precisely located relative to the article to be dispersed, a separate detector had to be used for every tablet or capsule and thus a separate counting head was required for each different pill. In such systems as many as 6 to S 15 200 different heads are employed. In these locations such as large hospitals, the need for quick delivery of o.o 0 large numbers of different pills renders the systems :00 economical but smaller institutions and smaller drug .°OO 2 stores cannot readily afford the cost and space of such systems.

o..The present invention is an improvement over the above-named patents and other prior article counting and delivery systems for use in smaller institutions and stores by significantly reducing the amount of space and 0"25 equipment needed to dispense the same variety of drugs and the cost thereof also. Further the improved design prevents any tendency of a springy or spring loaded counter arm to ever bind or bend. Furthermore, if the counter arm is bent, it can scrape on the side of the slot in which it operates and fail to reset fast enough to count the next pill. If this happens an uncounted pill can pass through the exit opening thereby resulting in an inaccurate count. The unique count detector of the present invention eliminates inaccurate counts of this nature.

Further it has been found that microswitch sensors used as pill count detectors in prior devices are susceptible to erroneous readings if one attempts to detect different pills with one device. Mechanical e 3 detectors do not provide the necessary versatility to detect a wide variety of shapes or sizes of pills and thus a separate motor driven head with detector is used for each type of tablet or capsule. Further detection difficulties are created by irregular or non-standard shaped drugs. The detector of the present invention eliminates these problems and allows for articles of all shapes and sizes to be detected by a single detector.

Prior Patent No. 4,111,332 has also suggested the use of other mechanical switches or photoelectric sensing devices. Photoelectric sensors, as indicated above, are sensitive to ambient light, dirt and dust, unlike the detector of the present invention.

Many of the prior art counting machines, but not S. those of the patents discussed above, provide a single 8 0 ~hopper which must be emptied and refilled with the 0089 0 tablets or capsules to be counted and various controls must be set to accommodate the passage of various size capsules or tablets. Further as in the patents discussed above, the use of a separate hopper for each individual group of tablets or capsules along with drive means and i counting circuitry for each hopper as presently practiced and is too expensive for all but the highest quantity users. The present invention eliminates the need for refilling and resizing along with eliminating the need for multiple drive means and counting circuitry.

uieRy p Tii EiiyEUTi t The present invention allows access -66unting and dispensing of any variety of drugs withlonly a single motor, platform and infrared count detector by utilizing a number of cassettes, wit each cassette carrying its own dispensing disk zzed and adjusted for a particular size and shape t et or capsule. The single infrared detector inherently insensitive to shape or size of pilld to ambient light and to a great degree to dust S RA4/

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The present invention may be used in a machine for dispensing individually discrete objects which allow access, counting and dispensing of any variety of drugs with only a single motor, platform and infrared count detector by utilizing a number of cassettes, with each cassette carrying its own dispensing disk sized and adjusted for a particular size and shape tablet or capsule. The single infrared detector is inherently insensitive to shape or size of pill and to ambient light and to a great degree to dust and dirt.

Each cassette of such a machine may be comprised of an inner drum portion between a flat upper plate with a central drug receiving hole and a flat lower plate. The S.0 lower plate of the cassette may flatly contact a support o a

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o. o preferably inclined toward the front. The cylindrical 0.

drum which contains the tablets or capsules may be free to 00 rotate between the top and the bottom plates of the cassette. The drum may be rotated by a motor shaft projecting through the support and the bottom plate and engaging the drum.

The present invention may be embodied as the disk-like bottom of the drum of such a machine and may be undercut to form radial and angular outwardly open grooves or slots for receiving a tablet or capsule as disclosed in Patent No. 4,111,332. By rotation of the drum, tablets or capsules received in the outermost portions of the slots travel along the slot to the innermost end portion, and the innermost end portion of the respective slots are successively passed over an opening formed in the cassette bottom plate aligned with an opening formed in the support. A detector, mounted below the support adjacent the opening, may be tripped by the passage of a tablet or capsule, as it falls by gravity through the opening, for operating an electrical counting means.

In such a machine for dispensing individually discrete objects, various different cassettes may be provided to accommodate tablets or capsules of different sizes. The cassettes may differ in the shape and R2, configuration of the slots in the disk-like bottom of the LU -4- T1 1 drum, and in the size and shape of the opening in the bottom plate of the cassette. The various configurations of the slots may be tailored to the geometry of the particular tablet or capsule to be dispensed thereby and are such as to prevent jamming of the slots to assure rapid dispensing and to prevent more than one tablet or capsule being dispensed at one time.

The support surface upon which the cassette of such a machine may rest while in operation, and through which the pills drop as they are counted on their way to the delivery chute, may be configured so as to provide accurate count of whatever size or shape pill is being dispersed by the selected cassette. Provision may therefore be made for the drop-out hole of the support surface to be sufficiently large to allow any available sized or shaped pill to easily pass through. Positioning pins on the base of such a machine may provide accurate alignment of the mechanism with the motor drive shaft and drop-out hole. The infrared detector may be provided at a critical location with respect to this hole and at an appropriate angle to the platform to insure that any article passing through the hole will trip the detector.

The ability to utilize a single detector and counting means regardless of the size or shape of the pill or capsule is essential to the use of a single drive station and may be provided in a machine for dispensing individually discrete objects by utilizing an infrared source and detector. Such a detector is insensitive to light, dust, size, shape and virtually insensitive to dirt. Cleaning may require only a dusting of the windows over the source and detector and then only occasionally.

A machine as set forth above may further comprise circuits for controlling the dispensing of capsules or tablets. The circuits which are disclosed in prior Patent No. 3,368,713 and incorporated herein, provide a mechanism, for instance, push buttons, for inserting a desired count into a storage member. The desired cassette, preloaded with tablets or capsules, may be t4 9 placed in position on the inclined support surface. A ~VT0 start button may then be depressed to begin the counting and dispensing operation. Operation of the start button may energize the motor for rotating the drum of the selected cassette and also may energize several control elements to permit counting of the pills as dispensed.

Upon operation of the start button, as indicated below, pills may be dispensed from the selected cassette and detected until the desired count is attained. Totalizing of the count may be accomplished by appropriate counters or other forms of totalizers located in the control unit.

When the accumulated count of dispensed pills equal the preselected count, operation of the selected cassette may be discontinued and the counter may be automatically reset °o to a predetermined number. The cycle may then be repeated 00 o. o with the same or a different cassette using the same or a 00 different count.

000 A machine for dispensing individually discrete o objects which includes the present invention may utilize a single counting base, or can use several bases, and numerous cassettes. The cassettes may be filled with various drugs, a different cassette for each drug, and are 000. stored on shelves or in any convenient manner near to the S base. The operator of the dispensing system may then only 1 0 0 have to select a cassette from the storage area and position it on the top surface of the base.

The operation may then enter the desired number of pills to be counted out into the counting control and depress the start switch. The motor may then be activated and the desired pills counted and dispensed.

0 In a machine for dispensing individually discrete Sobjects which includes the present invention, the use of cassettes to store the drugs presents a substantial cost and space savings over equipping a pharmacy with numerous bases and hoppers, and is much more convenient than having a single base and hopper and having to empty the hopper after every count and to refill the hopper with the next drug desired to be counted and dispensed and then reset the controls for that specific hopper.

It is an object of the present invention to provide -6another slotted device for dispensing capsules and other discrete objects.

The present invention provides a device for use in a machine for dispensing individually discrete objects, comprising; a circular flat disk having a top surface and a bottom surface, said bottom surface having a plurality of slots extending inwardly from adjacent the periphery of said disk and equally spaced from one another along said bottom surface, each said slot having a first, a second and a third slot section, said first slot section lying closer to the 0: center of said disk than said second slot section, said first slot section defining a first arc of constant radius, said first slot section extending 0 outwardly in the direction in which said disk is to be °00 rotated in use, said second slot section defining a second arc of constant radius extending outwardly from said first slot section in a direction opposite to the direction in which i' said disk is to be rotated and having a reverse curvature S relative to said first arc, said third slot section having a central axis lying at an acute angle with respect to a first radius of said disk intersecting the junction of said second and third slot sections from said first radius in a direction in which said disk is to be rotated, said third slot section extending inwardly from the periphery of said disk S 30 opposite to the direction in which said disk is intended to be rotated.

The following description refers in more detail to the various features of the device for use in a machine for dispensing individually discrete objects of the present invention. To facilitate an understanding of the invention, reference is made in the description to the accompanying drawings where the device is illustrated in a preferred embodiment. It is to be understood that the -9 device is not limited to the preferred embodiment as -U -7-

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illustated in the drawings.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an article holding cassette on its support containing a counting control unit shown in elevation; Figure 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken substantially along the line 2-2 of Figure 3; Figure 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the cassette, drum and support, and the receiving slot area, taken substantially along the line 3-3 of Figure 1; Figure 4 is a top view of a drum disk for dispensing capsules illustrating by solid and dashed lines one configuration of the capsule receiving slots formed in the o: underside of the disk; oo o o0.. Figure 5 is a top view of the arrangement of the platform top of the support; 00 Figure 6 is a top view of the bottom plate of a oaooo 00.o0 cassette; 000 Figure 7 is a side view in elevation of a preferred embodiment of the cassette supporting platform; Figure 8 is a perspective view of a cassette; and Figure 9 is a block diagram of a control system for 0o0O the device of a machine for dispensing individually o discrete objects and includes the present invention.

Figure 10 is a partial top view of a drum disk illustrating the detail of a representative slot of the present invention.

S DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring specifically to Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings, one embodiment of the overall system of a machine for dispensing individually discrete objects which includes the present invention is comprised of two major elements; cassettes 14 and a base 20. For such a system only a single base 20 is necessary. However, numerous cassettes are desirable to accommodate a variety of pills, tablets or capsule sizes and shapes.

39 A41_ -7ai- i i' iiii-- i- L1-- i L ^I I~I S8 i. Figure 9 is a bllck diagram of a control" aysefor the device of the present invention.

Figure 10 is a partial top view of a d disk illustrating the detail of a representativ slot of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF TH REFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring speci *j6ally to Figure 1 of the accompanying drawing, the overall system of the present invwntion is co)prised of two major elements; cassettes 14 and a base 20. For a system in accordance with the present nvention only a single base 20 is necessary.

How er, numerous cassettes are desirable to accommodate of pills, tablets or eapsule s-zzz and -hepe-s- 0 Therefore, each system employs numerous cassettes each o 15 configured to accommodate a particular drug size and 0\ shape in conjunction with only a single base. Each oO o cassette is stored with its drum 26 containing the desired drug, and is therefore always ready to be 0ooa positioned on the base for pill dispensing.

The base 20 is comprised of an upper surface 24 and motor 45 with shaft 55, see Figure 3, a delivery chute 47, counting means 22, see Figure 2, counting and control means 18, count indicating means 19 and start switch 21. A cassette 14 is comprised of an inner drum 25 26 in which the pills are stored and a top plate 16 and bottom plate 17. Referring to Figure 3, the cassette also has sides 4 for spacing the top plate 16 and bottom plate 17 apart. The top and bottom plates together with the side walls constitute box 15 of the cassette 14.

30 The box 15 substantially surrounds the drum 26 while allowing free rotation of the drum. The cassette, in use, rests on the upper surface 24 of motor drive housing 20. This surface 24, as better illustrated in Figure 5, has alignment pins 32 and 34, drop out hole 46, infrared source and detector 22 and slot 23 for receiving mounting base 63 of flipper springs 49.

w 9 The infrared source and detector 22 may be for instance a TRW Reflective Object Sensor Type OPB125A which employs an LED and an NPN photo Darlington circuit.

The source and detector are packaged as a single unit, see Figures 2 and 5, which is inclined approximately 200 to the platform. The pills that are to be dispensed follow the path designated by the reference numeral in Figure 5 and thus are dropped into the drop-out hole 46 along the center line of the source and detector 22.

An infrared transparent cover 54 illustrated in Figure 2 V such as glass, plexiglass, etc. is disposed in front of the source and detector 22 to protect the component from i idamage and dust while providing a readily cleanable I surface.

The cassette 14 is removably positioned on the h surface 24 by aligning holes 42 and 44, see Figure 6, with pins 32 and 34 respectively. The motor shaft 55 is inserted through opening 45 in plate 17 and into drive slot 56 in disk 57 illustrated in Figure 4.

20 The drum 26 itself illustrated in Figure 3 is generally cylindrical and is characterized by a vertical wall 27 turned inwardly to form a top surface 28 having a central access opening 29. The bottom of the drum 26 is comprised of a circular disk 30 with slots 60. Many differing slot configurations are possible to accommodate I various sizes and shapes of drugs as illustrated particularly in Figure 10 of and detailed in U.S. Patent SNo. 4,111,332, incorporated herein by reference.

The disk 30 of the drum 26 rides on the top surface 31 of bottom plate 17, and is held in close contact by the top plate 16. Pills which fall into the .!,slots 60 in disk 30 therefore ride in the slots and accross the upper surface 31 of plate 17.

Referring now to Figures 3 and 4, the disk 30 may acquire tablets at any location about its periphery but movement of a tablet from the outermost section of a slot into the next section is effected by gravity. Thus inward movement of a tablet normally occurs over the '4section of the disk in which the outer sections of the slots have a projection on the vertical.

Referring to Figures 2 and 5 a pill sensing device 22 is located below surface 24 in line with drop-out hole 46.

A pill 50 in falling through the drop-out hole 46 intercepts an infrared beam 22a emanating from the source located in the device 22 and reflects the beam along path 22b to a sensor also located in the device 22. The inclination of the source and detector 22 insures that the pill 50 intersects the infrared beam just as it begins to fall so that its velocity is low and is readily detected.

As will be explained in detail subsequently, it is the use of this device which permits a single sensor to accommodate the large variety of tablets and capsules essential to the utilization of a single motor-counter head for the entire range of pills normally dispensed at drug counters.

Continuing with the description of the mechanism of the device, it is essential to accurate operation of the mechanism that a tablet to be counted drop through the drop-out hole designated by reference numeral 46 and located at the 3 o'clock position of the surface 24 and further that only one tablet shall be dispensed. A factor relating to accurate dispensing is concerned with allowing only one tablet to be dispensed each time a slot is presented to the drop-out hole.

Directly related to the above fact is that at the time the slot section 41 approaches the drop-out hole, o the slot section 39 is angled sharply downward so that the second pill falls away from the section 41 and the possibility that two pills might be dispensed is effectively obviated.

35 The angle of the slot section 39 is determined primarily by the need to insure seating of a tablet in section 41 before this latter section is presented to the detector 22.

The precise point of entry of a tablet into the section 38 of a slot 60 cannot be determined and may occur at any location where the section 38 has a vertical downward component. The angle of section 39 must be chosen such that a tablet entering section 38 either proceeds to its innermost location before being presented to the sensor 22 or is prevented from reaching the section 41 until after the section 41 has passed the sensor 22 and drop-out hole 48.

The slot illustrated in detail in Figure 10 is representative of an effective and efficient slot design.

As illustrated, the slot is comprised of an inner section 41, a middle section 39 and an outer or periphery section 38. The slot is essentially smoothly curved to allow unimpeded swift travel of a pill along the slot from outer to inner ends.

The center of curvature of the inner section 41 of the slot lies at a point along a first radius A approximately 1.8 to 1.9 inches outward from the center of the disk 30. This radius A is 26° clockwise, ahead, of a second radius B of disk 30 and 110 ahead of a third radius C of disk 30. The center of curvature of the middle section 39 of the slot lies along this third radius C at a distance of approximately 3.3 inches from the center of disk At the inner most end of the slot section 41, the slot is widened by .040 inches on the forward edge and by .025 inches on the trailing edge. The pill in the end of the slot will be retained by the recesses formed by the widened slot and will not slide back under the influence of gravity or pressure from a microswitch lever.

Referring now to Figures 2 and 3, when motor 45 is energized it drives a shaft 55 to which the disk 30 is keyed. Thus the disk 30 and drum 26 are rotated and a tablet or tablets 50 may enter the slot section 38, shown at the left hnnd side, as viewed in Figure 3, and proceed through slot section 39 to slot section 41. If two or more tablets enter the slot the two innermost tablets are positioned, as shown by the right hand portion of Figure 12 3, wherein the innermost tablet 51 is positioned to drop as the tablet is rotated across the opening 46 where the tablet falls by gravity into a delivery tube 47. As the slot approaches the drop-out hole the outermost tablet 50, shown in the right hand portion of Figure 3, falls away from the innermost tablet so that two tablets cannoo be dispensed.

The vast majority of all pills presently on the market can be accommodated by a single motor control and counting circuitry and a single motor incorporated into a single base structure 20. The base 20 by virtue of alignment pins 32 and 34 and alignment slot 23 is capable of accommodating a cassette 14 on its upper surface 24.

The drop-out hole 46 through the upper surface 24 of the base 20 is sufficiently large to accommodate a tablet or capsule of any size or shape available on the market. The hole 48 in the base plate 17 of the cassette 14, however, is sized to accommodate the tablet or capsule to be dispensed from the particular cassette 14.

The slots in the bottom disk 30 of the drum 26 of the cassette 14 are also specifically sized and shaped for the particular tablets or capsules to be dispensed by the cassette 14.

When a cassette 14 is properly positioned on the upper surface 24 of base 20, the drop-out hole 48 is aligned with drop-out hole 46. The shape and location of hole 48 is such that a pill dropping through hole 48 will fall through the correct area of hold 46 to trigger the detector 22.

By providing cassettes adapted to specific size and shape drugs and a base adapted to accommodate any size or shape, the present invention eliminates the need for more than a single base unit 20 so long as the sensor can also accommodate such a wide variety of sizes and shapes of pills. Any variety of drugs can be dispensed simply by having enough cassettes to accommodate the desired variety. The cassettes 14 quickly and easily are mounted and dismounted from the top surface 24 of the base 13 The wide variety of pill shapes and sizes which will now fall through the drop-out hole 46 as opposed to a specifically designed drop-out hole of prior counters require a unique means of count detection.

A microswitch with a lever arm or a spring wire presents difficulties in detection because over a wide range of pill sizes and shapes, the lever arm will not always be contacted consistently and positive detection will not always result. Further, such arms or spring 0 ~wires occasionally produce jams. Of greater importance, however, is the ability of the infrared detector to operate in the present environment essentially without error. In order to accommodate the wide variety of pills contemplated by the present invention the drop-out hole 46 must large enough to accommodate the range of sizes of hole 48 which will vary depending on the specific drug size or shape. The infrared device is basically insensitive to shape or size of pill, ambient light, light reflections, dirt, dust and the like. If dirt or dust buildup is a problem the cover 54 of the source-detector, i.e. device 22, is merely wiped clean.

Referring to Figure 9, there is illustrated a simplified block diagram of the basic counting and control structure which is illustrated in detail as Figure 7 of Patent No. 3,368,713, incorporated herein by reference.

In Figure 9, the switch 21 corresponds to switch S 3 S1 and switch 18 corresponds to switch S3 of the patent.

The counting control means of the patent is represented S 30 by the block 70 of Figure 9 hereof while the block 72 I represents the circuit 12 of the patent. The rotary switches for selecting the number of pills preferably are replaced by the push button selector 18.

Referring again to Figure i, the counting control means 18 including a count indicator 19 and start switch 45 21, connected to th.e motor 1 and detector 22 by internal wiring, may be conventional. Commercially available solid state or electro-mechanical predetermining counting units of types which are satisfactory are manufactured by Veeder-Root, Digital Systems Division of Hartford, Connecticut; and ENM Company of Chicago, Illinois. As indicated above, the 35 counting control disclosed by U.S.

Patent No. 3,368,713, issued on February 13, 1968, may be used, or the circuit disclosed in U.S. Patent 4,111,332 may be used.

Since in one embodiment of a machine for dispensing individually discrete objects and including the present invention a variety of drugs is dispensed with a single motor 55 and single detector 22, the circuitry of 3,368,713 or 4,111,332 is modified by removal of the circuits required to control a multiplicity of motors and o microswitches.

O° A few general comments concerning the apparatus are 00 in order. The inclination of the platform 24 of the drug 0 °ooo cells should be about 40° relative to the horizontal.

°oo If the angle is much greater, the articles are not °o collected properly by the disk for conveyance to the upper region of the (hopper) and the feed rate materially reduced. The angle of about 400 has been found to be the angle which produces maximum feed rate. Relative to o0°°o the slots in the disks, they are generally curved to allow maximum smoothness and speed of movement through the slot.

h It should be noted that although the present invention is described as applicable to dispensing drugs, the principles of this invention are applicable to dispensing other types of discrete items.

Obviously the invention is susceptible to changes or alterations without defeating its practicability, therefore, we do not wish to be confined to the preferred embodiment shown in the drawings and described herein.

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Claims (10)

1. ,An ar.ticle of t-o be-p-1r.yd o Rs individually discrete objects, comprising; a circular flat disk having a top surface and a bottom surface, said bottom surface having a plurality of slots extending inwardly from adjacent the periphery of said disk and equally spaced from one another along said bottom surface, each said slot having a first, a second and a third slot section, said first slot section lying closer to the center of said disk than said second slot section, said first slot section defining a first arc of constant radius, said first slot section "e extending outwardly in the direction in which said 0 disk is to be rotated in use, 0 said second slot section defining a second arc 0°o 20 of constant radius extending outwardly from said first slot section in a direction opposite to the direction in which said disk is to be rotated and having a reverse curvature relative to said first arc, ;said third slot section having a central axis lying at an acute angle with respect to a first radius of said disk intersecting the junction of t said second and third slot sections from said first radius in a direction in which said disk is to be 30 rotated, said third slot section extending inwardly from the periphery of said disk opposite to the direction in which said disk is intended to be rotated.

2. ftte-ru as specified in claim 1 wherein said first arc sweeps 88.5°.

3. SxE.rr as specified in claim 1 wherein the center of curvature of said first arc lies along a first radius of said disk 26° clockwise from a 9 second radius of said disk intersecting the \1V C. L.JL^ i centerline of said first slot section adjacent its inner end.

4. A device as specified in claim 3, wherein the center of curvature of said second arc lies along a third radius of said disk approximately 110 counter clockwise from said first radius.

A device as specified in claim i, wherein said acute angle is approximately 240.

6. A device as specified in claim 3, wherein said slot further comprises a third slot section having a central axis lying at an angle of approximately 240 from said first radius.

7. A device as specified in claim 1, wherein said slot 0o n~ oo further comprises a third slot section having a central o axis lying at an acute angle with respect to a radius of 0. o0 said disk intersecting the junction of said second and third slot sections, said third slot section extending 0oo inwardly from the periphery of said disk in the direction op 0~ abo in which said disk is intended to be rotated.

8. A device as specified in claim 3, wherein the centerlines of said first and second slot sections are tangential at their point of intersection. 0000 .0.0

9. A device as specified in claim 4, wherein the o 0 o centerline of said third slot section is tangential to the outer edge of said second slot section at its inner end. o o

10. A device for use in a machine for dispensing individually discrete objects as set forth in claim 1 substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to 00 00 o0 00 what is shown in the accompanying drawings. Dated: 12 July 1990 PHILLIPS ORMONDE FITZPATRICK Attorneys for: KERNEY J. HURST -16-