Handling medication receptacles by pharmaceutical dispensing system and method

1. A medication dispensing system, which inserts a probe to pick at least one single pill from one or more medication containers, and dispenses the at least one single pill into an opening in a medication receptacle, comprising:

a medication panel, having a plurality of docking ports for accommodating said one or more medication containers;

one or more actuators;

a gripper attachable to the probe or including the probe;

a receptacle carrier comprising a receptacle mount for holding the receptacle, and movable by the one or more actuators;

control circuitry, outputting positioning signals to the one or more actuators to move the receptacle carrier, and outputting dosage-manipulation signals to the one or more actuators to move the gripper to pick and manipulate said at least one single pill out of the medication container; and

wherein a horizontal distance between the opening of the receptacle and said at least one single pill is less than 20 cm at least prior to outputting the dosage-manipulation signals.

2. The medication dispensing system according to claim 1 , wherein said dispenses at least one single pill into an opening in a medication receptacle comprises dropping said at least one single pill into said opening of said medication receptacle.

3. A medication dispensing system according to claim 1 , wherein the positioning signals maintain a horizontal distance of less than 20 cm between a projection of the opening of the receptacle and a projection of the medication container on a horizontal plane.

4. A medication dispensing system according to claim 1 , wherein the dosage-manipulation signals manipulate said at least one single pill in a medication path, between the medication container and the opening of the medication receptacles, having a total horizontal length of less than 20 cm.

5. A medication dispensing system according to claim 1 , wherein the manipulation signals comprise rotating the gripper, between picking said at least one single pill out of the medication container and positioning said at least one single pill vertically above the opening of the receptacle.

6. A medication dispensing system according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more actuators move the receptacle carrier vertically between the medication containers.

7. A medication dispensing system according to claim 1 , wherein said receptacles is one or more medication envelopes, having an open state in which an upper side of the envelope is open for receiving said at least one single pill.

8. A medication dispensing system according to claim 7 , comprising an envelope opener module having a manipulator, configured to open the envelope by coupling the manipulator to a face of the envelope.

9. A medication dispensing system according to claim 1 , comprising a dispensing head, supporting the receptacle carrier to form a single unit that moves the receptacle together with the dispensing head.

10. A medication dispensing system according to claim 9 , wherein the gripper is rotatably coupled to the dispensing head.

11. A method for dispensing medications in receptacles, using a dispensing system, having a gripper for picking at least one single pill from a medication container, and dispensing said at least one single pill into an opening in a medication receptacle, comprising:

extracting said at least one single pill out of the medication container by the gripper or by coupling the gripper to a probe inserted in the medication container;

positioning a receptacle by a receptacle carrier in a horizontal distance of less than 20 cm between said at least one single pill and the opening of the receptacle, at least prior to the extracting; and

dispensing said at least one single pill in the receptacle.

12. A method according to claim 11 , comprising locating said at least one single pill to be vertically above the opening in the medication receptacle.

13. A method according to claim 11 , wherein the positioning comprises moving the receptacle carrier in respect to the gripper.

14. A method according to claim 11 , comprising opening the receptacle prior to the dispensing.

15. A method according to claim 11 , comprising opening the receptacle between the positioning and the dispensing.

16. A method according to claim 11 , wherein the time between the extracting and the dispensing is less than 1 sec.

17. A method according to claim 11 , comprising rotating the gripper to align with a probe inserted within the medication container prior to the extracting.

18. A method according to claim 11 , wherein the dispensing system comprises a dispensing head supporting the gripper, and the method comprises coupling the receptacle carrier and the dispensing head prior to the extracting.

19. A method according to claim 11 , comprising approximating the gripper to the medication container.

20. A method according to claim 11 , wherein said dispensing said at least one single pill in the receptacle comprises dropping said at least one single pill into said opening of said medication receptacle.

21. A method according to claim 11 , wherein the positioning is prior to the extracting.

22. A method according to claim 21 , wherein the positioning includes maintaining an overlap between the projection of the opening of the receptacle and the projection of the medication container on a horizontal plane.