Counting & bottling · Industry glossary
Tablet counting
Separating and counting individual tablets or capsules before dispensing a selected quantity into a container.
Also called: tablet counter; capsule counting; electronic counting.
What happens between a bulk hopper and a counted bottle?
A counter must present individual products, detect/count them and direct a selected quantity into a container. In a vibratory feeding arrangement, products are distributed and separated before sensing and batch release. These functions are related but are not one measurement.
A selected bottle quantity is therefore different from a detected item event or an observed completed bottle. A line description becomes clearer when each of those objects is named instead of calling every signal “the count”.
For example, “the counter displayed 60” and “an independent check found 60 in this bottle” describe different evidence. This is an illustrative distinction, not a reported machine trial. When requesting a demonstration, identify which observation is being recorded and how it is associated with the receiving bottle.
| Function | Object to observe | What this does not establish by itself |
|---|---|---|
| Feeding and separation | The product stream presented to the detector. | The correctness of the sensor count. |
| Detection and accumulation | The indicated item events and selected batch quantity. | Successful transfer of every indicated item to its intended bottle. |
| Discharge and bottle handling | The batch transfer and identity of the receiving bottle. | Independent agreement between the bottle contents and the target count. |
Does “electronic counter” always mean optical counting?
No. Electronic describes the broader detection and control arrangement. Infrared and electrostatic-field sensors use different principles; an optical arrangement has light-emitting and receiving components. Identify the installed principle rather than inferring it from the word electronic.
A sensing principle alone is not evidence of accuracy for the intended product. Keep the actual tablets or capsules, count setting and bottle handling within the scope of the comparison; the counting-error and challenge pages cover the separate evidence.
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