KR101620353B1 - tool of the robot in the automatic medication control system - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a work tool for a robot used in an automatic drug management system for storing a medicine and discharging a medicine according to a user's instruction, and more particularly to a work tool for a robot capable of carrying a plurality of medicines at one time will be.

To this end, the robot working tool of the automatic medicine management system according to an embodiment of the present invention is a work tool of a robot for vertically or horizontally moving on the front plane of a plurality of shelves storing medicines, A grip portion including a pair of side grippers which are fed together in a direction (X-axis) and in which the width of the inner side (Y-axis) facing the drug is adjusted so as to grip the drug, and a medicine gripped by the gripper, And a conveying belt for conveying the medicine in the forward and backward directions (X-axis) after releasing the gripper for further transportation is provided.

Medicine, management, robot

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to an automated drug management system,

The present invention relates to a work tool for a robot used in an automatic drug management system for storing a medicine and discharging a medicine according to a user's instruction, and more particularly to a work tool for a robot capable of carrying a plurality of medicines at one time will be.

As shown in FIG. 7, the automatic drug administration system 200 is an automated warehouse system that stores various types of medicines purchased while occupying a small area, and discharges medicines requested by a withdrawal instruction of a pharmacist.

A plurality of shelves 210 and 220 are provided on an inner front surface and an inner rear surface of the automatic drug administration system 200, and a robot 230 for transporting medicines is provided in a space between the front shelf and the rear shelf.

The robot 230 includes a vertical axis bar 232 slidably coupled to a main guide rail 231 formed on the floor or a ceiling, a work tool for ascending and descending on a vertical axis bar and gripping a medicine, And a tool is gripped by the tool.

First, robots including rotating joints are expensive to produce, and each rotating joint is disadvantageously difficult to precisely control due to inertia. Furthermore, since the space between the front and rear shelves is generally narrow, the working range of the robot is inevitably limited, which is inefficient.

Therefore, a robot moving in a straight line as described above is useful for a work space having a narrow front and rear length and a relatively large area.

On the other hand, the work tool of the robot should store the medicine on the shelf by putting the medicine on the shelf, and also take out the medicine stored in the shelf and discharge it. A typical working tool having such a function is constituted of a suction plate for gripping the surface of the medicine by a suction force for sucking air through the air nozzle, or a gripper holding the medicine by gripping it.

Such a work tool handles only one medicine at a time of storing / retrieving one time, and when the number of medicines to be treated is two or more, the same route has to be repeated as many as the number of medicines.

For example, when withdrawing drug A stored in one of the shelves and drug B stored in another shelf, the robot moves to the shelf where the drug A is located, and then grips the drug A with the working tool to transfer the drug A to the outlet, Since the drug B must be gripped and transported after moving to the shelf where B is located, there is a problem that the operation amount is increased.

This repetitive operation shortens the lifetime of the robot, increases the management cost, and takes a long time to store / withdraw a large number of medicines.

Especially, the increase of the time required is a factor to limit the manufacturing size of the management system as the amount of drug loading in the automatic drug management system increases and the size of the management system becomes larger as the workload becomes stagnant.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to enable a working tool of a robot used in an automatic medicine management system to carry a plurality of medicines at one time.

It also has the purpose of enabling a plurality of medicines to be delivered to the work tool to be taken out one by one in a stable manner.

It also has a purpose of preventing the medicine from falling off when the medicine is transferred by the working tool.

It also has a purpose of allowing the medicine to be taken out stably at a predetermined position.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a working tool of a robot for vertically or horizontally moving on a front plane of a plurality of shelves for storing medicines, A grip portion including a pair of parallel grippers which are fed together with the gripper and whose width (Y axis) is adjusted so as to face the drug so as to grip the drug, And a conveyor belt for conveying the medicine in the forward and backward directions (X-axis) after the gripper is released from the gripper for the robot operation tool.

In addition, the grip portion is provided with a pinion gear which is housed in the front and rear rails inside the housing and which is coupled to a belt rotated in the forward and backward direction by a drive motor and is moved in the forward and backward direction, A rack coupled to the pinion so as to extend left and right through rotation of the pinion, and a bracket coupled to a vertical plate to which the gripper is coupled at an end of the rack. Provide a work tool.

Further, a pair of the grippers are provided in parallel, and an inclined pad protrudes from an inner surface of the gripper facing the robot.

Further, a robot work tool of the automatic drug administration system is provided, wherein a stopper plate is provided at the front and rear ends of the upper surface of the working tool to elevate and lower the medicine to prevent the medicine from coming off.

Further, a robot work tool of the automatic drug administration system is further provided, wherein position sensors are provided at the front and rear ends of the upper surface of the working tool to detect the medicine to be drawn out.

According to the robot working tool of the automatic drug administration system according to the embodiment of the present invention as described above, a plurality of medicines can be stacked and transported at one time by the bottom conveyor provided with the conveyor belt, The operation amount of the robot is reduced and the lifetime of the robot is increased. In addition, since the number of drugs that can be treated per unit time is greatly increased, the automatic drug administration system can be made larger.

In addition, the pads protruding from the inner side end portions of the parallel grippers are provided, so that only the medicines located at the frontmost or the rearmost room among the plurality of medicines of the same size positioned on the conveyor belt can be selectively gripped and discharged. So that the sequential discharge can be stably performed.

In addition, the stopper plate is elevated, so that when the work tool is moved or the floor is moved, the medicine is released from the work tool and does not fall outside, so that the medicine can be safely transported.

In addition, the position sensor is attached, and the medicine can be stably placed on the shelf or the discharge port.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, functions, configurations, and functions of a robot work tool of the automatic drug administration system according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First, referring to FIG. 7, an automatic drug administration system employing a robot working tool of the automatic drug administration system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be briefly described.

The automatic drug administration system 200 includes a plurality of front shelves 210 for storing medicines on the front side of the main body 201 and a plurality of rear shelves 220 on the rear side. Between the front shelf 210 and the rear shelf 220, a work space 202 is formed in which a robot 230 for storing medicines on the shelf or taking out medicines on the shelf is movable. At this time, depending on the design of the automatic drug management system, the shelf may have only a front shelf or only a rear shelf.

The robot 230 includes a vertical axis bar 232 slidable in a left and right direction on a main guide rail 231 formed on a ceiling surface and a bottom surface of the main body, 100). Through this configuration, the work tool 100 is transferred in a vertical or horizontal direction on a plane, and the medicine in the medicine inlet 203 is transported and stored in the front shelf 210 or the rear shelf 220, And discharges the medicine to the discharge port 204 for discharging the medicine.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a robot working tool of an automatic medicine management system according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 1.

The robot working tool 100 of the automatic drug administration system according to the embodiment of the present invention is configured to include a pair of the robot operation tool 100 that is transported together in the forward and backward directions (X axis) and whose width (Y axis) And gripping the drug gripped by the gripper 11 in a forward and backward direction (X-axis direction) after gripping the gripper 11 for further transportation of other drugs, And a conveyor belt 21 for conveying the medicines to the conveying belt 2. [

At this time, the grip portion 1 grasps medicines located in the shelf, medicine inlet, and the like and then places the medicines on the conveyor belt 21, grasps medicines located on the conveyor belt 21, places the medicines on the shelves, It plays a role.

On the other hand, the bottom conveying section 2 transfers the medicine raised by the gripping section 1 backward or forward through the conveyor belt 21, so that the gripping section 1 moves the other medicine onto the operation tool 100 It can be used to secure space.

Thus, since a plurality of medicines can be sequentially stacked in the longitudinal direction of the conveyor belt 21, it is possible to carry a plurality of medicines at the same time.

That is, in taking out a large number of medicines scattered and stored in and around the shelf, the work tool can carry a plurality of medicines one after another, so that the work tool moves each shelf with medicines to the shortest distance to collect and load the medicines And the discharged medicine can be discharged at a time. Therefore, the interval in which the work tool moves is shortened for each operation of storing or discharging a large amount of medicine, so that the operation amount of the robot is reduced so much that the aging of the equipment can be delayed.

In addition, the number of drugs that can be treated per unit time is much higher than that of a conventional robot that repeatedly moves the discharge port and the lathe and discharges the medicine one at a time. That is, since a plurality of medicines can be stored or withdrawn at a time, the time required for transporting a large amount of medicines is reduced. Therefore, it becomes possible to enlarge the automatic drug management system.

On the other hand, the grip portion 1 is provided with a feed table 12 for moving the gripper 11 in the forward and backward directions (X direction) or for moving the gripper 11 in the left and right directions (Y direction) 13).

2, the housing 110, which forms the outer shape of the working tool, is formed with front and rear lengths corresponding to the width between the front shelf and the rear shelf, and on both sides of the bottom of the housing 110, Respectively.

On both sides of the bottom surface of the conveying table 12, a lower guider 121 is provided so as to correspond to the bottom rail 125, and the conveying table is movably coupled along the bottom rail in the longitudinal direction. A belt 122 is fixed to the front and rear ends of the conveyance belt 12 and the belt 122 is driven by a pulley 123 provided at the front end and the rear end of the inside of the housing, The rotation is controlled by the motor 124.

That is, the conveying belt 12 connected to the belt 122 by the driving motor 124 is conveyable in the front-rear direction. The gripper 11 coupled to the conveying table 12 through the bracket 13 is conveyed along with the conveyor table 12 in the forward and backward direction by the movement of the conveyor table 12 in the forward and backward directions.

On the other hand, on the upper surface of the conveying table 12, a pinion 127 whose rotation is controlled by an operation motor 126 provided below the conveying table 12 is provided. Further, the front and rear sides of the upper portion may further include lateral rails 128 slidably coupled to later-described lateral guiders.

The bracket 13 is provided to correspond to a pair of left and right sides of the housing 110 and is moved in the left-right direction (Y direction) away from or close to each other by the rotation of the pinion 127, 11).

The left bracket includes a vertical plate 131 positioned parallel to a side surface of the housing, and a vertical plate 131 disposed parallel to the vertical plate 131. [ And a rack 132, which is coupled to the inside of the housing at the bottom to be protruded and coupled to the front of the pinion 127, is engaged. The lateral plate 131 is provided with a side guider 133 which is coupled to the rack 132 in parallel and is slidably coupled to the lateral rail 128 formed in front of the conveying table 12 . The left gripper 11 is coupled to the upper portion of the vertical plate 131.

The right bracket 13 coupled to the opposite side of the left bracket is also provided with a vertical plate 131, a rack 132 and a side guider 133. At this time, the rack 132 is coupled to the rear of the pinion 127 The side girder 133 is slidably coupled to a side rail formed at the rear of the conveyance table 12 and the right side gripper 11 is coupled to the upper side of the vertical plate 131.

As a result, the brackets 13 are moved away from or close to each other in the left-right direction (Y direction) by the rotation of the pinion 127, whereby the grippers 11 are moved away from each other or close to each other, .

Meanwhile, the gripper 11 may have a length corresponding to the length of the front and rear of the housing and may be formed parallel to the housing, and an inclined pad 111 may protrude from the end of the inner side facing each other. The pad 111 may be made of an elastic material such as rubber or silicone so that the gripped medicine does not slip.

In this way, the pad is protruded from the inner side, so that it is possible to selectively hold the medicines located at the foremost or the last of the plurality of medicines of the same size located on the conveyor belt.

On the other hand, the bottom conveyor 2 is coupled to the inside of the lid 120 on which the cutout grooves 121 are formed in the front and back direction. The bottom conveyor 2 includes a pulley 22 provided in the front and rear of the lid, a belt motor 23 for rotating the pulley 22, and a conveyor belt 21 wound on the pulley and moving in the forward and backward directions . At this time, the conveyor belt 21 is joined to the height of the cutout groove 121 of the lid 120 to form a floor on which the medicine is put.

The stopper plate 3 may be further provided at the front and rear ends of the upper surface of the working tool 100 to prevent the chemicals from being separated from the stopper plate.

The stopper plate 3 is coupled to the slit 122 formed at the front end and the rear end of the lid and is lifted up to the upper portion of the slit 122 by the rotation of the motor 31 provided inside the lid 120 , And falls to the inside of the slit (122).

The stopper plate 3 prevents the chemicals placed on the conveyor belt 21 from rising when the work tool 100 is moved. In addition, when the medicine is moved backward by the operation of the bottom conveyance, the stopper plate provided at the rear end is raised so that the medicine does not fall backward.

With such a stopper plate, when the movement of the working tool or the operation of the floor bottom is carried out, the medicine can be safely transported off the work tool without falling out.

In addition, a position sensor 4 for recognizing the position of the medicine may be further provided at the front and rear ends of the upper surface of the working tool 100.

The position sensor 4 is provided at each of the front and rear ends of the upper surface of the working tool. At this time, the position sensor provided at the front end or the rear end is a known infrared sensor and is configured to be able to depress chemicals passing through the front and rear ends of the working tool 100.

The position sensor 4 serves as a reference point for calculating the distance by which the medicine should be moved when the medicine is taken out.

That is, in order to stably place the medicine on the shelf from the size of the medicine and the length of the shelf, the control device (not shown) moves the medicine from the position sensor whose position is specified according to the design to the front or back Calculate the transfer length of the drug to be treated. After the medicine is gripped through the gripper, the gripper is moved forward and backward by the movement length of the medicine, and then the gripper is released from gripping, thereby placing the medicine on the shelf.

At this time, the position sensor serves as a reference point for counting the movement length of the medicine. That is, when the medicine delivered by the gripper moves from the position sensor to the end of the working tool, the gripper moves in the forward and backward directions by the movement length of the medicine so that the medicine can be stably placed on the shelf.

Hereinafter, the operation of the robot working tool of the automatic medicine management system according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 6 attached hereto.

Describe the process of withdrawing a large number of medicines located on a shelf.

The work tool 100 is transported to the destination shelf where the medicine M is located by the robot. The height of the work tool is located lower than the target shelf so that it does not get caught in the front of the work tool when the drug is moved horizontally.

The operation motor is operated so that the gripper 11 is widened in the lateral direction (Y direction) wider than the width of the medicine M based on the size information of the medicine M previously inputted. Thereafter, the driving motor is operated to move the gripper 11 in the forward and backward directions (X direction) so that the pads 111 are positioned on both sides of the medicine (FIG. 6A).

Thereafter, the operation motor is rotated in the opposite direction to grip the medicine M with the gripper 11, and then the drive motor is rotated in the opposite direction to place the medicine on the conveyor belt 21 and open the gripper 11 The gripping is released (see Fig. 6 (b)).

Thereafter, the belt motor is driven to operate the conveyor belt 21 to move the medicine M to the center of the bottom conveyor 2, thereby securing a space for loading the next medicine (Fig. 6 (c) Reference).

Next, the work tool 100 is moved to another shelf by the robot, and a plurality of medicines M are stacked on the conveyor belt 21 while repeating the above-described process (see Fig. 6 (d)).

Meanwhile, in order to discharge the medicine loaded on the work tool, the work tool is transferred to the discharge port higher than the discharge port, and the medicine is sequentially discharged to the discharge port by combining the movement of the gripper in the lateral direction (Y direction) .

At this time, the movement of the gripper by the drive motor, the operation motor, and the belt motor and the movement distance of the conveyor belt are calculated by the control device based on the size of the automatic medicine management system and information of the medicine size inputted in advance. Since the slip of the medicine may occur on the conveyor belt at this time, the movement of the medicine in the forward and backward directions (X direction) of the gripper which grips and removes the medicine from the start of the take-out of the medicine, which is recognized by the position sensor, is controlled.

On the other hand, when a large number of medicines having different sizes of medicines are to be transferred, the medicament size should be small so that the medicines can be sequentially gripped through the grip bars having parallel inner side surfaces. (See Fig. 6 (d)).

In addition, in the case of taking out a large number of medicines scattered and stored in the front shelf and the rear shelf, in addition to the action of the gripper as described above, And can be transported at a time.

1 is a perspective view of a robot working tool of an automatic medicine management system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is an exploded perspective view of the present invention shown in Fig.

3 is a schematic front cross-sectional view of the present invention shown in Fig.

Figure 4 is a schematic side cross-sectional view of the present invention shown in Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a schematic top cross-sectional view of the present invention shown in Figure 1;

Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of an automated drug management system in which the present invention shown in Figure 1 is used.

FIG. 7 is a view schematically showing the use state of the present invention shown in FIG. 1; FIG.

Description of the Related Art [0002]

100: Work Tool

110: housing 120: lid 121: incision groove 122: slit

1:

11: gripper 111: pad

12: feed belt 121: lower guider 122: belt

123: pulley 124: drive motor 125: bottom rail

126: Operation motor 127: Pinion 128: Side rail

13: bracket 131: vertical plate 132: rack 133: side guider

2: Floor conveyance

21: conveyor belt 22: pulley 23: belt motor

3: Stopper plate

31: Motor

4: Position sensor

200: Management System

201: main body 202: work space 203: medicine inlet 204:

210: Front shelf

220: Rear shelf

230: robot 231: main guide rail 232:

Claims (5)

A working tool of a robot for vertically or horizontally moving on a front plane of a plurality of shelves in which a medicine is stored, The work tool (1) including a pair of parallel grippers (11) which are fed together in the forward and backward directions (X-axis) and whose widths (Y-axis) A floor including a conveyor belt 21 for conveying medicines held by the gripper 11 to another conveying direction of the medicines in the forward and backward direction (X-axis) after releasing the gripper 11, Wherein the conveyor belt (21) is provided with a conveying unit (2) for loading and conveying a plurality of medicines in the forward and backward directions (X-axis). The method of claim 1, In the grip portion 1, Rear direction by a driving motor 124 and is coupled to a belt 122 which is rotated in the forward and backward directions by the driving motor 124 so as to be moved in the forward and backward direction, A conveyance belt 12 provided with a pinion 127, A rack 132 coupled to the pinion 127 so as to extend left and right through rotation of the pinion 127 and a vertical plate 131 to which the gripper 11 is coupled at an end of the rack 132 And a combined bracket (13) is included. 3. The method of claim 2, The pair of grippers 11 are provided in parallel, And a sloping pad (111) protrudes from an inside surface of the gripper (11) opposite to the gripper (11). The method of claim 1, Wherein a stopper plate (3) is provided at the front and rear ends of the upper surface of the working tool to move up and down to prevent the release of the medicine. The method of claim 1, The robot working tool of claim 1, further comprising a position sensor (4) for detecting drugs drawn on the front and rear ends of the upper surface of the working tool.

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