JP2000033913A - Vibration feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To feed powder by providing a timer and a memory part on a control part, and effecting the vibration by an exciting means at the resonance frequency of the time fluctuation data until the change in the resonance frequency becomes stable after a power source is closed and a specified time is elapsed, to correct the deviation in the point of resonance. SOLUTION: A control part 10 which detects the resonance frequency of a vibration feeder 2 by changing the output frequency to an exciting means 5 and controls to effect the excitation by setting the output frequency to the exciting means 5 is provided. The control part 10 is provided with a timer to measure the time after a power source is closed and a memory part to preliminarily measure and store the time fluctuation data of the resonance frequency to be changed by the effect of the temperature by a heat generating source after the power source is closed corresponding to the time of measurement by the timer, the vibration is effected by the exciting means 5 with the resonance frequency of the time fluctuation data stored corresponding to the time of measurement until the resonance frequency to be changed by the temperature change becomes stable after the power source is closed and the resonance frequency becomes stable.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vibration feeder for supplying powder such as powdered medicine to a packaging device or the like using vibration.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A vibratory feeder for supplying powder to a packaging device for packing powder at a hospital or the like is provided with a dish-shaped trough provided below a hopper into which powder is charged, and elastically supports the trough. Vibration means is provided on the support base, and an AC voltage having a required frequency is applied to the vibration means by a control circuit, and the trough is vibrated to supply powder such as powdered medicine using the vibration. ing.

When powder is supplied to a packaging device using such a vibration feeder, the powder is supplied from the vibration feeder to a powder distribution device, for example, as shown in FIG. You. Reference numeral 1 denotes a distribution tray of the distribution device, 2 denotes a vibration feeder, 2a denotes a trough, 3 denotes a rotary scraper, 4 denotes a hopper, 5 denotes a vibration means, 6 denotes a motor, and 7 denotes a discharge unit.

When the powder supplied from the hopper 4 is dropped by the vibration of the vibrating means 5 from the trough 2 a of the vibrating feeder 2, the powder having a uniform thickness is formed in the annular R groove 1 a of the distribution plate 1 which is rotated by the motor 6. The powder spread and distributed to a predetermined thickness is scraped out by the rotating scraping arm 3a of the scraper 3, discharged from the discharge unit 7, and sent to the rear packaging unit (not shown). .

When a vibration is applied to the vibration feeder 2, the frequency of the AC voltage applied to the piezoelectric element, which is the vibration means 5, is determined based on a value detected by a vibration sensor attached to detect the vibration. The resonance point which resonates at the natural frequency is searched and adjusted so as to match this resonance point, and the trough 2a is adjusted at the time of shipment so as to vibrate most strongly.
The adjustment of the resonance point is generally performed when the vibration feeder 2 is empty.

A vibration sensor is attached to a trough to adjust the resonance point, and the applied frequency is changed. The relationship between the applied frequency and the output voltage of the vibration sensor is shown in FIG. The range of frequencies at which the trough vibrates strongly is very narrow. Further, the frequency at the resonance point varies according to changes in the temperature and the weight of the powder on the trough, as shown in FIGS.

This means that if the resonance point deviates even slightly from the applied frequency due to a change in the temperature or the weight of the powder, the vibration of the trough is rapidly reduced. When the vibration of the trough is weakened, the powder supply capacity is reduced. Conversely, when the amount of powder decreases, the resonance point approaches the applied frequency, the vibration of the trough becomes abnormally large, and the supply amount increases more than necessary, which may cause instability.

[0008]

By the way, when supplying powdered medicine from the hopper to the vibrating feeder, the lower end of the hopper provided in contact with the trough is tilted little by little to open the lower end in accordance with the inclination. The opening between the trough and the gap changes by adjusting the inclination, and the drive motor is connected to the hopper through a connecting arm that provides inclination to adjust the opening. ing.

In general, a stepping motor is used for this drive motor because the opening amount can be precisely and minutely changed. This motor is always energized to maintain the hopper opening amount, and the temperature rises to about 40 ° C. . Since the motor is mounted on a support common to the support of the vibration feeder, the temperature of the entire vibration feeder also increases.

When the temperature of the entire vibration feeder rises, the resonance point for the natural frequency of the vibration feeder also changes with the rise in temperature, so that the frequency of the AC voltage applied to the piezoelectric element of the vibration feeder remains in the initial setting state. In this case, no effective vibration is given due to the shift of the resonance point, and the supply amount of the powder is greatly reduced.

On the other hand, as described above, the change in the resonance point of the vibration feeder also occurs when the amount of powder supplied to the trough increases and the weight of the powder increases. For this reason, in the application of Japanese Patent Application No. 9-279091, respective resonance points when the medicine on the trough is empty and when the medicine is in a predetermined amount are stored in advance, and the resonance point is changed according to the medicine amount. A vibration feeder with a control device for controlling the vibration is proposed.

However, even with such a vibrating feeder that can be operated under stable conditions by shifting the resonance point in accordance with the amount of the drug, the resonance point actually shifts due to the above-mentioned temperature rise. Is left after power is turned on until the effect of the change of the power supply becomes negligible.

In addition to the waiting time due to the effect of the temperature rise of the vibrating feeder, the medicine packaging apparatus may be used for about three minutes until the temperature of the heater roller of the packaging unit reaches the temperature at which the packaging paper can be sealed, or at the pharmacy. Processing time from receiving prescription data to mixing and dispensing powdered medicines from 5 minutes to 30 minutes
There are several factors that can not start the operation immediately after turning on the power, such as taking minutes.

In consideration of such a problem, the present invention keeps the power within a range within which the resonance point can be disregarded from the initial state due to the influence of temperature after a certain period of time from power-on. An object of the present invention is to provide a vibration feeder capable of correcting a shift of a resonance point and supplying powder.

[0015]

According to the present invention, there is provided a vibration feeder which vibrates a trough to which powder is supplied by vibrating means and feeds powder from a tip of the trough. A control unit for controlling the output frequency to the vibration means by detecting the resonance frequency of the vibration feeder by changing the output frequency to the vibration means and adjusting the output frequency to the vibration means in accordance with the frequency. And a storage unit that measures and stores in advance the time variation data of the resonance frequency changed by the influence of the temperature of the heat source from the time of power-on in accordance with the time measured by the time measurement unit. After a certain period of time after the power is turned on, until the resonance frequency that changes due to the temperature change becomes stable, the vibrating means vibrates at the resonance frequency of the time-varying data stored corresponding to the clocking time. As than is has a configuration of a vibrating feeder you.

When powder such as powdered medicine is supplied by the vibration feeder having such a configuration, the vibration state is adjusted as follows. To supply the powder, it is desirable to operate the vibration feeder at a resonance frequency matching its natural frequency,
Such adjustment of the vibration state is performed in advance with the vibration feeder empty. Even if such a resonance point is adjusted immediately after the power is turned on, the vibrating feeder that supplies powder such as powdered medicine does not come with a prescription or dispensing instruction even when trying to operate the packaging device. It may not be able to operate to a certain extent and may enter a standby state.

In such a case, the resonance frequency changes due to the influence of the temperature of the heat source such as the hopper motor when the power is supplied immediately after the power is turned on. The width of the resonance frequency in the resonance state at the resonance point is generally as narrow as several hertz (Hz) or less. If the resonance frequency changes even a little due to temperature rise, the vibration frequency applied by the vibration means remains unchanged if the vibration applied by the vibration means remains unchanged. And the vibration of the vibration feeder is rapidly attenuated.

However, the vibration feeder, which has been waiting for a certain period of time in an operation stop state, returns to the operation start condition again when the operation start conditions are met.
The resonance frequency data corresponding to the time at the time of restart is read from the resonance frequency time variation data stored in the storage unit of the control unit, and the data is vibrated by the vibration means as an estimated value of the resonance frequency at that time. . As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to obtain a vibration within an accuracy range such that the attenuation of the vibration of the vibration feeder can be ignored without measuring the resonance frequency based on the time variation data measured and stored in advance.

[0019]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 1 is an overall schematic diagram of a vibration feeder and a control circuit thereof according to an embodiment. Trough 2 for vibration feeder
A powder such as powder is supplied from a hopper 4 provided on the hopper a, and a connecting arm 4x is connected to incline the supply amount by adjusting the opening amount at the lower end of the hopper 4, and the lower end thereof is driven by a motor 9. Driven. The trough 2a is supported on a support 8 that elastically supports the inside of the support, and a piezoelectric element as a vibration unit 5 for vibrating the support and the trough 2a is mounted in the support 8.

The vibrating means 5 changes the oscillating frequency of the oscillating circuit 12 by the electronic volume 11 with a control signal from the control unit 10 and applies an AC voltage obtained by amplifying the output signal to a required output by the amplifier 13. To generate vibration. As the electronic volume 11, a variable resistor or a varicap (variable capacitor) can be used. In a special case, digital signals of various frequencies written in the RAM are selected.
A device that changes the output frequency of the A / D converter may be used. It is theoretically possible to use an L / C oscillation circuit.

The control unit 10 receives detection signals from the vibration sensor 14 and the drop sensor 15. When a detection signal in which the oscillation frequency from the oscillation circuit 12 is changed and the vibration of the trough 2a in each state is detected by the vibration sensor 14 is input to the control unit 10, the control unit 10 calculates the natural vibration of the trough 2a from the detection signal. It is determined whether the resonance frequency matches the resonance frequency.
Control the oscillation frequency of The drop sensor 15 is the trough 2a
Detected by an optical signal whether or not powder such as powdered medicine has fallen.

The vibration control of the vibration feeder having the above configuration will be described below. In the control of the vibration feeder of this embodiment, as compared with the vibration feeder of the earlier application, a prescription or a dispensing instruction (hereinafter, referred to as a prescription) does not come, so that a standby state is established, and an initial resonance point fop detected in a trough empty state. The time fluctuation data obtained by measuring in advance so that the value of becomes a value as close as possible to the value after a certain period of time elapses from the arrival of the prescription and restarted by the effect of temperature rise In which the value of the resonance point hop is corrected, and the subsequent processing is basically the same as that of the vibration feeder of the earlier application. The details of the time variation data will be described later.

As shown in FIG. 3, the timer supply the drug packaging device is timing means immediately step S ₀₁ when it is turned on (not shown) is started, respective portions of the apparatus as an initial processing at S ₀₂ Reset And the trough and the distribution dish are cleaned. Also, the trough 2a in S ₀₃ is to detect the resonance point fop of the vibrating feeder 2 when the air condition is carried out. The detection of the resonance point fop in the empty state is performed according to the flowchart of FIG.

As shown in the figure, S _R1 sets the basic output to the vibration means 5 for measuring the resonance frequency, S _R2 controls the electronic volume 11 to sweep the oscillation frequency of the oscillation circuit 12, _{At R3} , it is determined whether the output voltage from the vibration sensor 14 has reached the target voltage. This target voltage is shown in FIG.
In the resonance waveform shown in the figure, there is only one resonance point. However, in practice, a portion having a partial peak waveform may be included in portions other than those shown in FIG. A predetermined value is set in advance in order to make the waveform portion indicating the resonance frequency.

When the output voltage does not reach the target voltage, the process returns to S _R2, and when the output voltage reaches the target voltage, the output value of the vibration sensor 14 is compared with the immediately preceding value in the next S _R4 , and the subsequent output value becomes If it is larger than the immediately preceding value, it is determined that the peak value has not yet been reached, and the process returns to S _R2 . If the subsequent output value is smaller than the immediately preceding value, the resonance point detection is determined at S _R5 , and if the detection of the resonance point is confirmed. In S _R6 , the control of the electronic volume 11 is stopped, and the value of the resonance frequency at the time of stopping and the output value of the corresponding vibration sensor are stored. If the resonance point cannot be detected, the process returns to S _R1 .

As described above, the resonance point fop in the trough empty state is detected immediately after the power is turned on. This is performed so that the vibrating feeder 2 can be operated immediately as soon as the medicine packaging apparatus becomes operable after the power is turned on. This is performed as an initial setting operation for performing Next, in _S04 , the presence or absence of a prescription or the like is checked. The presence / absence of the prescription is input by a signal input means (not shown), or when data of a dispensing instruction instead of the prescription is sent from the host computer, the signal is used as an input signal, and the presence / absence of the input signal is checked. .

[0027] If after the dispensing work in pharmacies, such as large hospitals has started, the long subsequent work for general of S ₀₄ determines for input signals such as the prescription to be inputted one after another is stopped Although there is no prescription at the beginning of the morning or in a pharmacy of a relatively small scale, for example, there is no prescription yet immediately after the power is turned on. However, during that time, the power of the vibrating feeder is turned on, so that the temperature of the motor and the like rises, and the resonance frequency of the vibrating feeder fluctuates accordingly.

For this reason, when performing a subsequent control operation step for operating the vibration feeder after the elapse of the waiting time, the resonance frequency of the vibration feeder changes due to the rise in temperature. Even if the subsequent control operation step is performed with the empty resonance frequency set as the operation, the vibration state of the vibration feeder is deviated from the state of maximum vibration, so that the effective medicine supply operation will not be performed. .

[0029] Therefore, the resonance point f by the time variation data stored in the control unit 10 in S ₁ as described above without measuring the resonant frequency after the variation if such a practice
Modify op. The time fluctuation data is data of the resonance frequency stored as a value that fluctuates in accordance with the lapse of time since the power of the vibration feeder is turned on as shown in FIG.

The time variation data has a characteristic that the temperature of the motor fluctuates every moment from the moment of turning on the power and fluctuates due to the influence thereof, as can be seen by referring to FIG. This fluctuation characteristic stabilizes in about three hours as shown.

The measured data shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 show changes in the actually measured data when the power is turned on at a room temperature of about 20.degree. As shown by the broken line in the figure (estimated curve), since the motor temperature at the start differs, the curve of the time variation data also differs.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 9, the width of the resonance frequency is extremely small, and when the frequency differs from the resonance frequency by several hertz, the vibration state changes greatly. Therefore, it is most preferable to accurately measure the motor temperature at the start in accordance with each season in which the vibration feeder is used, and to use the time variation data based on the variation data curve at the measured temperature.

However, the room in which the variable feeder is used is generally controlled by an air conditioner, and the time variation data of only the curve in the middle season without actually measuring the room temperature can be sufficiently used as correction data. And is preferable to the case where the resonance frequency is not modified at all. This is because data that can give a vibration of about 70% or more of the true resonance frequency can be used practically.

The above time variation data indicates that the temperature interval is 5 ° C.
Is stored in the storage unit in advance as resonance frequency data at each time corresponding to the time measured at the time, and the resonance frequency fluctuation at each time measured from the time when the power is turned on is calculated as the resonance frequency at that time. Used as fop.

When the curves corresponding to the time of the temperature and the resonance frequency are set to three types, ie, winter, middle and summer, the time variation data by the curves for each season is stored.
For example, one of them may be selected by an input signal from a switch (not shown). In this case, the respective curves in winter and summer are measured and stored as time variation data similar to that in the middle season.

As described above, when the resonance frequency fop in the empty state fluctuated due to waiting for a prescription or the like is obtained,
Then, wait for introduction of powdered medicine into the hopper 4, when the charged is detected by a sensor or the like, moves the flow of determination processing in S _2.

In this process, as shown in FIG. 4, the hopper 4 is opened at a reference angle at S _F1 , the applied frequency is set at S _F2 based on the numerical value of the electronic volume 11 stored at Step S _R6 , and then S _F3. in setting the reference output, the timer is started at S _F4, vibrating the trough 2a simultaneously. Then, the vibration of the trough 2a is continued, and when the fall sensor 15 for monitoring the fall of the powdered medicine detects the fall, the process proceeds to Step _SF6 ,
If not detected, it is determined at S _F7 whether or not the standard time kt has been _exceeded . If it has, the process proceeds to step S _F6 , and if not, the process returns to step S _F5 . In step S _F6 , the timer is stopped, and the vibration of the trough 2 a is stopped.
Determining the quality of fluidity at S _F8 against the measurement time and the standard time kt timer. Based on the result, at the time of setting the initial operation output described later, a large value is set as the initial operation output for powdery drugs with poor fluidity, and a small value is set as the output for powdery substances with good fluidity.

Next, in a state in which powdered medicine is stacked on the trough 2a, similarly to the resonance point detection process described above in S _3, the resonance point f
ox is detected. Then, by comparing the resonance point fox and the resonance point fop in S _4, the process proceeds to step S ₅ If the difference is smaller than a certain value, the process proceeds it from the step S ₉ if large.

[0039] In step S _5, set the value of the resonance point fop at trough empty initial operating frequency, as described above, by setting the initial operating output at S ₆ based on the result of the determination fluidity, S Operate the feeder at ₇ . During this time, checks for dropping of the powdered medicine by drop sensor 15 in S _8, fall sensor 15 if not detect a drop of powdered medicine, feed processing powdered medicine is completed.

In step S _9, it sets the value of the resonance point fox when powdered medicine stacked on initial operating frequency, as described above, to set the initial operating output S ₉ based on the results of the determination fluidity, S ₁₁ To operate the feeder. By this operation, the powdered medicine is dispensed from the tip of the trough 2a and decreases.
During this operation, to monitor the change in the output of the vibration sensor 14 in S ₁₂ (110), the output of the resonance point fop at trough empty the frequency of the oscillation circuit 12 in S ₁₃ by adjusting the electronic volume 11 if attenuation changing direction, continue feeder operation in step S ₁₁ at that frequency to be attenuated. During this time, S
_{At 14} , the presence / absence of powder fall is checked by the fall sensor 15. If the fall sensor 15 no longer detects the fall of powder,
The powder supply process ends.

As described above, when the supply of the powder is completed, the process shifts to the division of the powder on the distribution plate 1 by the rotary scraper 3.

In the above-described vibration feeder, the vibration frequency of the trough 2a can be made to follow the resonance point even if the environmental temperature or the weight of the powder on the trough 2a changes and the resonance point moves accordingly. , Can maintain the strength of vibration. Further, frequency adjustment at the time of product shipment is not required. Incidentally, in the following processing step S _9, to improve the feed rate of the powdered medicine, 10% with the lapse of operating output of the piezoelectric element is time, 20%, may be set so as to be enhanced as ..., When the output increase rate of the vibration sensor 14 is lower than the increase rate, the electronic volume 11 may be adjusted to adjust the frequency.

Further, the hopper 4 may be gradually inclined with the lapse of time so that the opening angle thereof is increased. In addition, if it is possible to capture drug amount data and prescription data measured by a balance, the data can be used for the above-described processing. For example, if the powdered medicine movement of 30g or less that there is little resonance point is turned on, is omitted resonance point fox detecting process S ₃ of powdered medicine loading state immediately may be executed Step S ₅ and later.

[0044] Furthermore, when the drug name data can be received, be previously stored flowability data for each drug, without the fluidity determining process S ₂ as described above, the fluidity of the drug You can know. In addition, if the movement data of the resonance point is stored, the resonance points fop, fox
Since the detection processes S ₁ and S ₃ can be omitted, the time required until the start of the supply process can be greatly reduced.

Since the voltage applied to the piezoelectric element decreases at the resonance point (see FIG. 6), the above control can be performed without using the vibration sensor 14 by detecting the peak of the voltage decrease. it can. In addition, the vibration means of the trough 2 may be not only a piezoelectric element but also an electromagnetic type. Also, in order to prevent the introduction of the powdered medicine into the hopper 4 at the time of the initial processing S ₀₂ or the resonance point hop detection processing S _{03 of the} trough empty state, a warning LED is provided or the opening of the hopper 4 is covered with a shutter. You may do so.

FIG. 7 shows a flowchart of the second control. In this embodiment, the resonance frequency fop of the trough empty state is changed until a prescription for one type of powder arrives, or at a fixed time that elapses after the supply operation of the first powder has been completed and before the prescription for the next powder has arrived. It differs from the first embodiment in that the re-detection is performed to correct the value of the resonance frequency fop in the trough empty state measured earlier to a more accurate value.
Hereinafter, different control operation parts will be mainly described.

In this embodiment, after going through steps S _{01 to} S ₀₃ and before checking for the presence of a prescription in S ₀₄ ,
In _S031 , it is determined whether or not the time T is the fixed time N. Time T checks the presence or absence of a prescription, such as in the following S ₀₄ unless a certain time N, the first for the S ₁ following control operation is carried out in due prescription like before the constant time N
This is the same as the embodiment. However, when the time T while awaiting the coming of prescriptions, etc. becomes constant time N goes to S _032, that the re-detection is performed of the resonance frequency fop of the trough empty state is a feature of this embodiment.

The re-detection of the resonance frequency fop is actually measured by the same detection method as the detection in S ₀₃ . Such redetection of the resonance frequency fop in the trough empty state is effective in performing control in a more accurate resonance state. It should be noted, is a time T, time N is also time that is measured from the time counting started at S _01.

At S ₀₃₃ after the re-detection, N is set to 10 for example.
Increments the time in minutes and sets the next fixed time to 4
Set to 0 minutes. Thereafter, the presence or absence of a prescription or the like is checked in S ₀₃₄ , and if a prescription or the like has arrived at that moment, the flow proceeds to S ₂ to determine the liquidity.

If a prescription or the like has not arrived, the flow returns to S ₀₃₁ to determine the time T. If T = N, the flow waits for a prescription or the like to come again at S ₀₄ .

When a prescription or the like _arrives at S ₀₄ , the process proceeds to S ₁ , and S
₀₃₂ resonant frequency under the influence of the temperature rise of the motor also during certain time N = time elapsed to prescription or the like comes to 30 minutes S ₀₄ after modifying and re-detects the resonance frequency fop at fop
Is fluctuating, the fluctuation value is corrected by the time fluctuation data. In this case, as in the first embodiment, the time variation data is set to the resonance frequency fop using the measurement data in the middle season or the estimated value that changes based on the data in each of the winter, middle and summer seasons.

For example, when the estimated resonance frequency fop is based on mid-season data, if the room temperature when the power is turned on is slightly different from the room temperature when data is measured during the mid-season, the resonance frequency fop is reduced by the error. The curve of the change with the passage of time will be shifted from the true fop change curve, but the error can be ignored if the room temperature is close to the temperature at the time of the measurement data.

When the estimated value of the resonance frequency fop is used, between each fixed time N ₃₀ and the next fixed time N ₄₀ , the value of the resonance frequency fop actually measured at every fixed time N ₃₀ and the value of the previously measured resonance frequency fop are measured. obtains the difference between the fop value at constant time N ₃₀ corresponding example of data in the intermediate season is the time N the difference
A value obtained by dividing the value divided by fop at ₃₀ as a correction coefficient, and using the correction coefficient as the estimated value of the resonance frequency at any time between N ₃₀ and N ₄₀ , using a value reduced in proportion to time Get closer to more accurate values.

That is, for example, the time N ₃₆ until the time N ₄₀
Ε = {fop (N ₃₀ measured value) −fop (N ₃₀ re-detected value)} / fop (N ₃₀ measured value) (1), and the estimated fop value at N ₃₆ is , Fop (N ₃₆ measured value) ± fop (N ₃₆ measured value) × ε (2) + Indicates that the room temperature at power-on is lower than that at the time of measurement, and-indicates that the room temperature is higher than at the time of measurement. The judgment of the room temperature is based on the resonance frequency f in the initial trough empty state when the power is turned on.
It is obtained by comparing the values of the temperature data obtained according to FIG. 10 from the measurements of op.

In the above, f at any time in the middle season
Although the procedure for obtaining the estimated value of op has been described, in winter,
It is needless to say that even when three types of measured data of the middle season and summer are used, the procedure may be the same as that of the measured data of each season.

In each of the first and second embodiments, fo
In principle, the estimated value of p at any time is the same as the measured value at any time, but the data described as a modified example of the second embodiment in the latter half of the second embodiment described above. Can be applied to the first and second embodiments.

[0057] That is, in modifying the resonance frequency fop if by the time variation data in step S ₁ of the first embodiment shown in the flowchart of FIG. 2, in consideration of the relationship between the resonance frequency fop at room temperature by previously 10 determine the resonance frequency fop of the initial time trough empty state in S _03.

The room temperature data (resonance frequency at the actual measurement) is compared with, for example, the value of the resonance frequency at the room temperature at the time of the measurement in the middle season, and the difference is obtained. Then, using the difference value, a coefficient is obtained by the above-described equations (1) and (2), and an estimated value at each arbitrary time may be obtained from the coefficient.

When the correction processing is applied to the control of the first embodiment, the vibration supply of the first kind of medicine is completed in S _{1 to} S _{14 and} the processing for the vibration supply of the next kind of medicine is performed. also measurement of the time when is first carried out continuously from the time of the timer started in S _01.

Therefore, even when different kinds of drugs are supplied, S
₀₄ waits for the prescription or the like in, in modifying the time variation data of resonance frequency fop at S ₁ coming prescription, etc., using the estimation value correction processing described above to the already measured data at each arbitrary time Good.

[0061] In the case of applying a correction to the control of the second embodiment, if the time T is a constant time N ₃₀ or subsequent predetermined time N in S ₀₃₁ of the flowchart of FIG. 7, each fixed time If a prescription or the like comes between N and N, the estimated value at any time during that time may be determined using the value corrected by the correction coefficient described as the modification of the second embodiment.

[0062] Also, even when it came prescription, etc. at any time before the first predetermined time N ₃₀ is the time variation data at S ₁ may be used a value corrected by the same correction factor.
However, in this case, the application of the correction coefficient is the same processing as the application of the correction coefficient in the first embodiment.

[0063]

As described above in detail, in the vibration feeder of the present invention, the control unit is provided with the time measuring means and the storage unit, and the time variation data is obtained after a certain period of time from when the power is turned on until the change in the resonance frequency becomes stable. Vibration is performed by the vibration means at the resonance frequency of the vibration feeder.Therefore, particularly when the resonance frequency is adjusted in an empty state of the vibration feeder, there is a change in the resonance frequency due to the effect of temperature rise during a lapse of a fixed time from power-on. However, there is an advantage that the adjustment is automatically performed so that the vibration feeder can be vibrated with an intensity within a range where the deviation due to the influence can be ignored.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall schematic view of a vibration feeder according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of control according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a resonance point detection process.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a liquidity determination process.

FIG. 5 is a time-temperature change curve of a hopper motor.

FIG. 6 is a time resonance frequency change curve of a hopper motor.

FIG. 7 is a control flowchart of a second embodiment.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of time-varying data.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a relationship between a vibration frequency of a trough and an output of a vibration sensor.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a relationship between a temperature and a change in a resonance point.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the relationship between the weight of the powder loaded on the trough and the change in the resonance point.

FIG. 12 is a schematic view of a conventional medicine dispensing device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Distribution dish 2 Vibration feeder 2a Trough 3 Raider 4 Hopper 5 Vibration means 6 Motor 7 Discharge part 8 Support base 9 Motor 10 Control part 11 Electronic volume 12 Oscillation circuit 13 Amplifier 14 Vibration sensor 15 Drop sensor

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A vibration feeder that vibrates a trough to which powder is supplied by vibrating means and sends out powder from a tip of the trough, detects a resonance frequency of the vibrating feeder by changing an output frequency to the vibrating means. A control unit that controls the vibration so as to match the output frequency to the vibration means with the frequency is provided.The control unit measures time from power-on, and the control unit measures time from the time when the power is turned on. Correspondingly, there is provided a storage unit which measures and stores in advance the time variation data of the resonance frequency changed by the influence of the temperature due to the heat source from the time when the power is turned on. A vibrating means for vibrating the vibration means at the resonance frequency of the time-varying data stored corresponding to the clocking time until is stabilized. 2. When the trough is empty, the resonance frequency of the vibrating feeder is detected at predetermined time intervals after power is turned on, and is vibrated at the resonance frequency. The vibrating feeder according to claim 1, wherein the vibrating means vibrates the vibrating means. 3. The vibration feeder according to claim 1, wherein different measurement data is provided for each season as the time variation data, and the data is switched for each season. 4. A resonance frequency of a vibration feeder measured and stored in a state where a trough is empty from a reference temperature at the time of power-on in the storage unit, and a resonance frequency measured at power-on at an arbitrary temperature. 4. The vibration feeder according to claim 1, wherein the time variation data is corrected based on a coefficient obtained.