JP4290248B2 - Drug packaging device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a medicine packaging apparatus.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a medicine packaging device, a tablet supply unit having a plurality of tablet feeders accommodated for different types of tablets, and a tablet packaging unit for collecting and sequentially packaging tablets supplied from the tablet supply unit are provided. Those having a different structure are known.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the medicine packaging device, it is determined whether or not tablets remain in a predetermined location in order to return to the current state in an abnormal stop such as an abnormal stop due to a power failure or the like during a packaging operation or a forced emergency stop. It is necessary to check and manually collect the tablets if they remain. This is because, in an abnormal stop, the memory (RAM) of the control device is cleared, and the control device cannot grasp the type, amount and remaining position of the tablet being supplied or packaged.
[0004]
In particular, since such a recovery operation is not frequently performed, leaks are likely to occur at check points.
[0005]
Then, this invention makes it a subject to provide the chemical | medical agent packaging apparatus which can perform the recovery | restoration at the time of an abnormal stop automatically and reliably.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
As a means for solving the above problems, the present invention provides:
In the medicine packaging device that sequentially wraps the tablets supplied from the medicine supply section in the medicine packaging section,
The medicine charging hopper that temporarily stores the medicine to be supplied from the medicine supply unit to the medicine packaging unit is detachably provided, and the medicine that remains in the middle of the medicine supply path before the restart after the non-normal stop is removed. It is provided with the control means to make it collect | recover.
The medicine supply unit may include a manual supply device.
[0007]
With this configuration, it is possible to collect the medicine remaining in the middle of the medicine supply path by the medicine charging hopper without driving the medicine packaging section after the abnormal stop and before restarting. In this case, it is preferable to collect and collect only the same medicine in the medicine input hopper.
[0008]
The medicines to be collected in the medicine charging hopper may be one by one, or the same kind may be collected.
[0009]
It is preferable that the control means changes the bag length of the wrapping paper to be packed in the medicine packaging portion according to the amount of medicine collected in the medicine charging hopper and packages the collected medicine.
[0011]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[0012]
FIG. 1 shows a medicine packaging apparatus according to this embodiment. This medicine packaging apparatus is generally composed of a tablet supply unit 1 and a tablet packaging unit 2.
[0013]
The tablet supply unit 1 includes an automatic supply unit 3 and a manual supply unit 4.
[0014]
The automatic supply unit 3 is configured by arranging a plurality of tablet passages 5 extending in the vertical direction in a ring shape and aligning a plurality of tablet feeders 6 along each tablet passage 5.
[0015]
As shown in FIG. 2, each tablet feeder 6 includes a motor base 7 and a feeder container 8 that is detachably attached to the motor base 7. Each feeder container 8 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape that opens upward and can be covered with a cover 9, and each feeder container 8 contains a different type of tablet. A rotor 10 is rotatably provided on the bottom side of the feeder container 8 and is rotated by driving a motor 12 in the motor base 7 via a gear 11. By rotating the rotor 10, the tablets stored in the feeder container 8 can be sequentially discharged to the tablet passage 5 through the drop guide passage 13.
[0016]
The tablet passage 5 is provided with shutters 14 and 15 that can be opened and closed at a lower end opening portion and an intermediate portion, respectively. The shutter 14 provided at the lower end opening of the tablet passage 5 is constituted by a donut-shaped flat plate, and the lower end opening of each tablet passage 5 can be opened by openings provided at a predetermined pitch along the circumferential direction. In addition, as shown in FIG. 3A or 3B, the shutter 15 provided in the intermediate portion of the tablet passage 5 employs an opening / closing plate 15b provided so as to be rotatable about a support shaft 15a. . For the opening / closing plate 15b, a shock-absorbing material, for example, a silicon resin coated with Teflon resin is used, and the falling tablets can be prevented from bouncing back.
[0017]
Further, a hopper 16 is disposed below the tablet passage 5 so that tablets falling from each tablet passage 5 are collected in one place. The lower opening of the hopper 16 is provided with a shutter 17 similar to that provided in the intermediate part of the tablet passage 5 and is opened when packaging in the tablet packaging part 2.
[0018]
As described above, the tablets supplied from the tablet feeder 6 are held by the shutters 14, 15, and 17 respectively provided in the tablet passage 5 and the hopper 16. The shutters 14, 15, and 17 are driven synchronously so that the held tablets can be sequentially supplied to the next shutters 14, 17 or the tablet packaging unit 2.
[0019]
On the other hand, the manual supply unit 4 is for manually supplying the tablets when packaging tablets that are not accommodated in the tablet feeder 6 of the automatic supply unit 3. The manual supply unit 4 has a tablet tray that can be removed from a tablet bucket fixed to a support frame. A plurality of distribution baskets partitioned in a lattice shape are formed inside the tablet tray. The bottom plate of each distribution basket can be opened and closed, and is configured to open sequentially from the one located on one end side. In each distribution basket, the operator stores the necessary number of tablets manually in consideration of the opening order (see, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 6-37202).
[0020]
As shown in FIG. 4, the tablet packaging unit 2 wraps a tablet while rewinding a wound long packaging sheet and folding it in two, while sequentially sealing at intervals in the longitudinal direction ( For example, see JP-A-9-202301).
[0021]
Next, operation | movement of the said chemical | medical agent packaging apparatus is demonstrated according to the flowchart of FIG.
[0022]
When the power is turned on (step S1), the packaging process is started (step S2). In the packaging process, a predetermined amount of tablets are sequentially supplied from the corresponding tablet feeder 6 based on prescription data read from a host computer or terminal (not shown) and packaged one by one in the tablet packaging unit 2. This packaging process is performed for all data scheduled for processing included in the prescription data (step S3).
[0023]
During the packaging process, if the power supply is stopped due to a power failure, etc., or the emergency stop button is operated, etc., it is stopped abnormally (step S4), the currently executed packaging process program stops and Data related to packaging such as the type and amount of tablets will be lost. For this reason, it is necessary to read the prescription data again and restart the packaging process, but it is impossible to grasp how many tablets in the middle of the packaging process remain in the conveyance path. However, data on the packaging flag F is stored.
[0024]
Therefore, if the power supply is turned off and restarted (step S5), the tablet collection process is automatically started (step S6). The tablet collection process is performed in the order of the automatic supply unit 3 and the manual supply unit 4.
[0025]
In the tablet collection process of the automatic supply unit 3, as shown in FIG. 6, the shutters 14, 15, and 17 are simultaneously operated, and the tablets are sequentially supplied to the lower shutters 14 and 17 or the tablet packaging unit 2. (Step S11). In the tablet packaging unit 2, the supplied tablets are packaged in the same manner as in the normal packaging process (step S12). This process is performed until all the tablets staying in the tablet supply path are collected (step S13). In this case, there are three positions where the tablet is held: the middle and lower end openings of the tablet passage 5 and the lower end opening of the hopper 16, and one position is opened by one opening / closing operation by the shutters 14, 15, and 17. Since it moves to the lower shutters 14 and 17 or the tablet packaging part 2, if the shutter 14 is opened and closed three times, all tablets can be reliably collected.
[0026]
In the tablet collection process in the manual supply unit 4, the manual supply unit 4 is operated, and the tablets accommodated in each distribution basket are sequentially packaged in the tablet packaging unit 2. The packaging process here is performed for all tablets held in the manual supply unit 4.
[0027]
In the above embodiment, the tablets staying in the middle of the tablet supply path are packaged so as to be one package at each staying position. However, all the staying tablets are collected in the same packaging bag. Also good. In this case, the bag length may be changed depending on the number of tablets to be collected.
[0028]
Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the thing of the structure which arrange | positions the tablet feeder 6 arranged in the up-down direction cyclically | annularly was employ | adopted as the automatic supply part 3, as shown in FIG. The different types of tablets are accommodated in the long cassette 21, and the tablets dropped from each cassette 21 are transported to the packaging device 24 by the belt conveyor 23 via the hopper 22 and packaged. You may employ | adopt the thing provided with the automatic supply function.
[0029]
Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the thing of the type which wraps a tablet as a medicine packaging apparatus was demonstrated, it is applicable also to the thing of the type which wraps both a tablet and a powder and the type which wraps a powder. And you may make it collect | recover the tablet which stays in the middle of a chemical | medical agent supply path | route at the time of an unusual stop by the chemical | medical agent injection hopper 25 provided in the front of the tablet packaging part 2 so that removal was possible.
[0030]
As an apparatus of the type that wraps both tablets and powders, there is an apparatus including a tablet supply unit 26 and a powder supply unit 27 as shown in FIGS.
[0031]
In the configuration shown in FIG. 8, the tablet supply unit 26 includes a plurality of tablet storage chambers 28 in a lattice shape. The powder supply unit 27 has a doughnut-shaped distribution tray 29 having an arc-shaped powder storage groove on the upper surface of the outer periphery, and a scraping device 30 for scraping the powder from the distribution tray 29 to the drug input hopper 25 by a predetermined amount. (For details, see JP-A-8-85502, etc.).
[0032]
On the other hand, in the one shown in FIG. 9, the tablet supply unit 26 is the same as that shown in FIG. 8, but the powder supply unit 27 has a configuration in which a plurality of divided containers 31 are arranged in parallel. The powder in each divided container 31 is supplied to the medicine charging hopper 25 by opening the bottom opening / closing plate 32 (for details, refer to Japanese Patent Publication No. 60-58136).
[0033]
The medicine charging hopper 25 has a rectangular cylindrical shape, and its discharge port 25a is opened and closed by a shutter 33 provided so as to be rotatable about a support shaft 33a. In the case where the medicine staying in the supply path is collected after the non-normal stop and before restarting, the discharge port 25a is closed by the shutter 33. Thereby, the staying chemical | medical agent is collect | recovered by the chemical | medical agent injection hopper 25. FIG. In this case, the medicine input hopper 25 may be collected one by one, or the same kind of medicines may be collected together. When the medicine is collected, the medicine charging hopper 25 can be removed, and the collected medicine can be returned to the original supply units 26 and 27 for reuse.
[0034]
【The invention's effect】
As is clear from the above description, according to the medicine packaging device of the present invention, after the abnormal stop, before the restart, all the medicine remaining in the middle of the medicine supply path is packaged in the medicine packaging unit. As a result, it is possible to automatically shift to the recovery work without human intervention.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a medicine packaging apparatus according to the present embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the tablet feeder of FIG.
3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an example of the shutter in FIG. 1. FIG.
4 is a perspective view of the tablet packaging portion of FIG. 1. FIG.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the medicine packaging apparatus according to the present embodiment.
6 is a flowchart showing a tablet collection process of FIG.
FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing an example of another automatic supply unit.
FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing an example of another automatic supply unit.
FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing an example of another automatic supply unit.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Tablet supply part 2 ... Tablet packaging part 3 ... Automatic supply part 4 ... Manual supply part 5 ... Tablet passage 6 ... Tablet feeder 7 ... Motor base 8 ... Feeder container 9 ... Cover 10 ... Rotor 11 ... Gear 12 ... Motor 13 ... Drop guide passages 14, 15, 17, 33 ... shutter 16 ... hopper 25 ... drug injection hopper 26 ... tablet supply unit 27 ... powder supply unit

Claims (4)

In the medicine packaging device that sequentially wraps the tablets supplied from the medicine supply section in the medicine packaging section,
The medicine charging hopper that temporarily stores the medicine to be supplied from the medicine supply unit to the medicine packaging unit is detachably provided, and the medicine that remains in the middle of the medicine supply path before the restart after the non-normal stop is removed. A medicine packaging apparatus, comprising control means for collecting the medicine.   The medicine packaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the medicine to be collected in the medicine charging hopper is one package.   The medicine packaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the medicines collected in the medicine charging hopper are the same type.   The said control means changes the bag length of the wrapping paper packed in a medicine packaging part according to the medicine quantity collect | recovered by the said chemical | medical agent injection hopper, and packs the collect | recovered chemical | medical agent. The medicine packaging device according to any one of the above.

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