JPH0710104A - Medicine supplying apparatus in medicine dispensing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a medicine supplying apparatus which can easily and securely manage necessary kinds of medicine all together by constituting a part in combination of a medicine dispensing device having a plurality of feeders for receiving types of medicine which are relevant to one another. CONSTITUTION:A medicine separately packing device comprises a plurality of medicine feeders 1, 1... coupled to one another, wherein each medicine feeder 1 comprises a cassette 2 like a hollow container for receiving numerous kinds of medicine and a base 3 for removably mounting the cassette 2, while all of the cassettes 2, 2... are laterally coupled in a single body by removable rod-like coupling members 4 and all of the bases 3, 3... are laterally coupled in a single body by removable frame-like coupling members 5. When each cassette 2 receiving numerous kinds of medicine is positioned on each base 3 corresponding thereto and mounted on a rotating arranging disk, it is received in an arranged state into a recess while it is being rotated and stirred according to a medicine discharging instruction, and tablets are dropped one by one starting from the medicine which has reached a position immediately below a partition.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a medicine supply device for supplying medicines to be packed in a medicine packing machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a medicine packing machine is provided with a large number of medicine feeders for individually accommodating medicines. Conventional medicine feeders of this kind are constructed as independent feeders, respectively. It is designed to be positioned and used at an arbitrary place among a large number of places provided.

On the other hand, in addition to the usual chemicals which do not require special care in management, the chemicals include temperature control chemicals that need to be stored at a temperature lower than room temperature and dry atmospheres because they dislike humidity. There are some humidity control chemicals that need to be stored, as well as powerful drugs and narcotics that require strict handling.

[0004]

However, in the conventional medicine packing machine, each medicine feeder is an independent single body, and its installation place is arbitrarily selected from a large number of places. Therefore, for example, when drug feeders containing temperature controlled chemicals and humidity controlled chemicals are randomly installed in various places of the medicine packing machine,
It is inconvenient and difficult to perform temperature control or humidity control collectively for these drug feeders. Also, if drugs such as powerful drugs and narcotics are often placed in a place where they are easily accessible, Since it is easy to accidentally take out the drug in order to replenish it to the drug feeder, it is difficult to strictly manage it, and therefore it is inconvenient and difficult to perform the necessary management of the drug contained in the drug feeder. Therefore, there was a problem that the necessary management was not carried out sufficiently.

The present invention solves the problems of the above-mentioned conventional ones, and performs various managements required for the medicines contained in at least some of the medicine feeders installed in the medicine packing machine. An object of the present invention is to provide a drug supply device in a drug packing machine that can be easily performed.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a medicine packing machine having a large number of medicine feeders for individually accommodating medicines, and at least some of the medicine feeders are combined with each other. It is composed.

[0007]

According to the present invention, by adopting the above-mentioned means, a plurality of drug feeders containing the drugs related to each other out of a large number of drug feeders installed in the drug packing machine are combined, and thus the combined products are combined. For a plurality of drug feeders, various kinds of management required for the drugs stored in them can be collectively and easily and reliably performed.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a drug supply device according to the present invention, which is installed and used at a predetermined position of an appropriate drug packing machine (not shown).
It is composed of a plurality (for example, six) of drug feeders 1, 1, ... Each drug feeder 1
Is a cassette 2 in the shape of a hollow container for containing a large number of drugs,
The cassette 2 is composed of a base 3 on which the cassette 2 is removably mounted, and all the cassettes 2, 2, ... , Are arranged side by side by a removable frame-shaped coupling member 5 and are integrally coupled.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, each cassette 2 is
A rectangular bottom plate 8 around which a frame plate 7 that fits with the stepped portion 6 of the base 3 and is positioned when placed on the base 3 is formed.
It is equipped with A through hole 9 extending downward in a cylindrical shape is formed at a predetermined position of the bottom plate 8, and a cylindrical portion 10 of a size that is substantially inscribed in the bottom plate 8 about the through hole 9 is provided upright on the bottom plate 8. Therefore, the bottom surface of the cylindrical portion 10 is constituted by the bottom plate 8. An enlarged portion 11 having a sectional area substantially equal to the size of the bottom plate 8 is continuously provided above the cylindrical portion 10. Therefore, the sectional area of the enlarged portion 11 is much larger than that of the cylindrical portion 10. There is. 12 is a base 3, 3, ... Connected cassettes 2, 2 ,.
The grips are used when attaching and detaching the medicine feeders, and are provided in each medicine feeder 1 so that they can be used as grips when the coupling members 4 and 5 are removed and the medicine feeders 1, 1, ... Are individually handled. ing.

The alignment plate 13 arranged in the cylindrical portion 10 is
The alignment portion 14 and the insertion portion 15 are integrally molded of synthetic resin. The upper surface of the alignment portion 14 has a downward slope from the center 16 thereof, is divided into three in the circumferential direction, and is inclined in the same direction along the circumferential direction 17, 17, 1 respectively.
7 are formed through steps 18 between each other, and a recess 1 for accommodating and accommodating medicines one by one is provided around the depression 1.
A large number of 9, 19, ... Are formed at equal intervals in the circumferential direction with partition walls 20, 20 ,.

On the other hand, the insertion portion 15 has a cylindrical shape extending downward from the upper surface of the alignment portion 14 along the central axis thereof, a spline 21 is formed on the lower inner periphery, and a groove 22 is formed on the outer periphery near the lower end. Are formed.

Then, the insertion portion 15 is inserted into the through hole 9 from above and the alignment portion 14 is arranged in the cylindrical portion 10.
With the lower surface of 4 in contact with the bottom plate 8 of the cylindrical portion 10, the washer 23 is loosely fitted into the insertion portion 15 protruding downward from the through hole 9 and the elastic ring 24 is fitted into the groove 22, thereby aligning The board 13 is attached to the cassette 2 so as not to play and to be rotatable.

Although it is possible to integrally mold all of the alignment board 13 made of synthetic resin, the groove 22 causes a so-called "drip" or "sink" phenomenon when molding, and the position of the groove 22 is an insertion portion. It is preferable to form only the groove 22 by machining, since it becomes uneven along the axial direction of 15.

The height of the cylindrical portion 10 of each cassette 2 is almost the same as the height of the partition walls 20, 20, ... Of the aligning board 13, that is, substantially equal to or slightly higher than the height of the partition walls 20, 20 ,. The upper part of the alignment plate 13 which is formed above the recesses 19, 19, ... Is arranged in the enlarged part 11 that is continuous with the cylindrical part 10.

Here, the height of the cylindrical portion 10 is such that the partition walls 20, 2
When the height of the cylindrical portion 10 is relatively high, the medicines are relatively smoothly aligned in the respective recesses 19, 19 ,. 20, ...
If it is formed slightly higher than the height of the partition wall, even if it is about the height of one medicine or less,
0, ... and the recesses 19, 19, ... by the annular part formed between the cylindrical part 10 and the alignment plate 13, the drug is preliminarily aligned to some extent, so that each recess 1
Alignment of the medicines to 9, 19, ... Is carried out more smoothly.

The bottom plate 8 of each cassette 2 is formed with a supply port 25 communicating with the recess 19 at a predetermined position. Further, a plurality of slits 2 are formed on the side surface from the cylindrical portion 10 to the enlarged portion 11 at a position directly above the supply port 25.
6, 26, ... Are formed at intervals in the vertical direction, and the slit 2 has a height suitable for the size of the medicine to be handled.
The partition plate 27 is inserted into 6 and screwed, so that the partition plate 27 covers the upper end of the recess 19 at a position corresponding to the supply port 25 and is positioned above the drug in the recess 19. The medicine before being aligned is prevented from being discharged together with the medicine in the recess 19.

An appropriate motor 28 is attached to each base 3, a spline shaft 29 is fixedly attached to the rotation shaft of the motor 28, and when the corresponding cassette 2 is positioned and placed on the base 3, an alignment plate is formed. The 13 splines 21 are engaged with the spline shaft 29. Then, when the motor 28 is driven in this state, the alignment plate 13 moves to the third position.
The recesses 19, 19, ... Are rotated one pitch at a time along the direction of the arrow in the figure. With the rotation of the aligning plate 13, the medicine in the cassette 2 is pushed upward by the inclined surfaces 17, 17, 17. While being stirred in one direction while being stirred
The medicines are arranged and accommodated in the compartments 9, 19, and so on, and the medicines that have reached the position just below the partition plate 27 are sequentially dropped through the supply port 25 and discharged one by one.

Further, a photo interrupter 30 is fixed to each base 3 at a position directly below the supply port 25, and a drug falling through the corresponding supply port 25 of the cassette 2 is received from the light emitting element 31 of the photo interrupter 30. By blocking the optical path to the element 32, the photo interrupter 30 detects the drop of the medicine.

Next, the operation of the drug supply device configured as described above will be described. First, all the drug feeders 1, 1, ... Of this drug supply device contain drugs related to each other.

For example, when the temperature control chemicals that need to be stored at a temperature lower than room temperature are stored in the chemical feeders 1, 1, ..., By combining this chemical supply device with an appropriate temperature control device, The temperature of the medicines contained in the feeders 1, 1, ... Can be collectively and easily and reliably controlled.

Further, the humidity control chemicals which need to be stored in a dry atmosphere because they do not like humidity are used as chemical feeders 1, 1.
, Respectively, the humidity management of the medicines contained in the medicine feeders 1, 1, ... Can be collectively and easily and surely performed by combining this medicine supply device with an appropriate humidity control device.

Further, when drugs such as powerful drugs and narcotics, which require strict handling, are stored in the drug feeders 1, 1, ..., respectively, the drug feeder is attached / detached, particularly the cassettes 2, 2 ,. By removing the attachment / detachment without a key, the drug feeder 1,
Strict management of the medicines contained in 1, ... Can be collectively and easily and surely performed.

When the medicine is stored in each cassette 2 of such a medicine supply device, the height of the cylindrical portion 10 is formed to be approximately the same as the height of the partition walls 20, 20 ,. The ratio of the internal volume to the installation space of the cassette 2 is expanded to the maximum, and since there is no wasted space between the cassettes 2, 2, ..., The ratio of the internal volume to the installation space of the drug supply device is the maximum. The maximum amount of medicine that can be accommodated in the medicine supply device is maximized.

Moreover, the height of the cylindrical portion 10 of each cassette 2 is such that the recesses 19 and 1 necessary for aligning and containing the medicines are provided.
Since the original function of the cylindrical portion 10 that constitutes the contours of 9, ... Is not substantially hindered, the recesses 19, 19,
The medicines will be properly aligned and stored in.

In this way, each cassette 2 containing a large number of medicines is positioned and placed on each corresponding base 3, and the motor 2 is operated in accordance with an appropriate medicine discharge command.
When 8 is operated, the alignment plate 13 rotates, and the alignment plate 1 is rotated.
With the rotation of 3, the medicine in the cassette 2 is accommodated in the recesses 19, 19, ... while being pushed upward by the inclined surfaces 17, 17 and 17 and being stirred in one direction while being aligned. The medicines, which have reached the position just below the partition plate 27, are sequentially dropped through the supply port 25 and discharged one by one.

The falling drug passes through the photointerrupter 30, and the photointerrupter 30 detects the drop of the drug by blocking the optical path from the light emitting element 31 to the light receiving element 32 of the photointerrupter 30. Becomes

In the above embodiment, the six drug feeders 1, 1, ... Are combined to constitute the drug supply device, but the number of drug feeders forming the drug supply device can be arbitrarily increased or decreased. Further, by removing the connecting members 4 and 5, each drug feeder 1 can be used as an independent feeder alone.

The plurality of drug feeders to be combined are not limited to those containing control chemicals such as temperature and humidity, and those containing powerful drugs, narcotics, etc. It is possible to combine any desired number of products, or an arbitrary number of products containing medicines used by doctors in charge, and in either case, the combined cassettes 2, 2, ... , ..., can be detected by a single suitable switch, so that the output of this switch can be used not only to confirm the installation of the drug delivery device, but also to combine it, for example. It is also possible to operate various management devices and the like.

Further, in the above embodiment, the insertion portion 15 of the alignment plate 13 and the motor 28 are spline-engaged with each other. However, the insertion portion 15 and the motor 28 or another driving member are appropriately spline-engaged. Alternatively, the washer 2 may be attached to the insertion portion 15 in the above embodiment.
Although the alignment plate 13 is attached to the cassette 2 by loosely fitting 3 and fitting the elastic ring 24 into the groove 22, the alignment plate 13 may be attached to the cassette 2 by other appropriate means. Well, moreover, the alignment board 1
The shapes and the like of the inclined surfaces 17, 17, 17 and the partition walls 20, 20, ... Of No. 3 are not limited to those of the above-mentioned embodiment, and other changes and modifications of the above-mentioned embodiment are possible. There is no end.

[0030]

Since the present invention is constructed as described above,
It is possible to combine a plurality of drug feeders containing drugs related to each other out of a large number of drug feeders installed in the medicine packaging machine, and thus, to accommodate them in the combined drug feeders. It is possible to easily and reliably carry out various management required for the selected drug, and the number of drug feeders to be combined can be arbitrarily increased or decreased as necessary, so that the optimal number of drugs can be controlled at any time. It has an excellent effect that the feeder can be handled collectively.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a developed front view showing an embodiment.

[Figure 2] Enlarged vertical section side view with a part cut away

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing only one cassette.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Drug feeder 2 ... Cassette 3 ... Base 4, 5 ... Coupling member 6 ... Step part 7 ... Frame plate 8 ... Bottom plate 9 ... Through hole 10 ... Cylindrical part 11 ... Enlarging part 13 ... Aligning board 14 ... Aligning part 15 ... Insertion Part 16 ... Center 17 ... Inclined surface 18 ... Step 19 ... Recess 20 ... Partition wall 21 ... Spline 22 ... Groove 23 ... Washer 24 ... Elastic ring 25 ... Supply port 26 ... Slit 27 ... Partition plate 28 ... Motor 29 ... Spline shaft 30 Photo-interrupter 31 Light-emitting element 32 Light-receiving element

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A medicine dispensing machine comprising a large number of medicine feeders for individually accommodating medicines, wherein at least some of the medicine feeders are combined with each other.