JP2000203541A - Medicine pack printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the reliability for the printing operation and also improve the operation properties of printing information input at an input section by carrying out the centralized control for the printing data control (printing order, the number of packs) together with the portion packaging control by a body control section when the printing by a medicine pack printer in a medicine portion packaging machine is controlled. SOLUTION: Connections are arranged so that signals from a printing information input section 50 are transmitted to a main body control section 20 of a medicine portion packaging machine, and signals from the body control section 20 are so connected as to be transmitted to a printing control section 30, and the centralized control for printing anyone of printing data different for respective medicine-taking periods is carried out together with the portion packaging operation by using the printing data, the printing order and the data from the input section 50 by the body control section 20, and based on the control, printing data and printing start signals for respective packs are transmitted to the printing control section 30 and printed on a printer section 11.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a medicine package printing apparatus for printing a patient name, a medicine name and the like on a medicine packaging paper in a medicine dividing and packaging machine for packing medicine such as powdered medicine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A V-shaped basin having a partition plate movably provided along a longitudinal direction of a V-shaped cross section as a medicine dividing and packaging machine for packing medicines such as powdered medicine for each patient based on instructions of a prescription. One with a system-type drug dividing unit, or one with a circular disk-type drug dividing unit in which an R groove is provided on the outer periphery of a circular disc and a predetermined width of scraping roller is brought into contact to scrape by a predetermined amount. Etc. are known. In such a medicine dividing and packaging machine, following the medicine dividing unit, a medicine packaging unit that divides the medicine divided into a predetermined amount into a packaging paper, and prints necessary information such as a patient name and a medicine name on the packaging paper. A medicine package printing device and the like are provided.

[0003] The medicine packaging unit is composed of a triangular plate placed in the middle of a transfer path for feeding a heat-fusible packaging paper wound in a roll in one direction, the folding paper being folded into two. The medicine is supplied intermittently from the medicine supply unit and the medicine is divided into the above-mentioned predetermined amount and falls, and the medicine is heat-sealed for each fixed amount to continuously form a sachet.

[0004] The medicine package printing apparatus is provided in the transfer path so as to print the necessary items on the packing paper in front of the above-mentioned packaging unit, and after printing the necessary items, the above-mentioned packaging unit responds a little later. A certain amount of drug is packaged. Since the contents of the packaging process by the medicine dividing unit and the packaging unit as described above and the printing operation by the printing device are greatly different, a main body control unit that drives and controls the medicine dividing unit and the packaging unit and the printing device are controlled. Generally, it is provided separately from the print control unit.

[0005] An example in which the printer unit is controlled by the print control unit in the above-mentioned medicine dividing and packaging machine is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No.
No. 200527. In this publication,
When the print data such as the patient name among the data input from the print information input unit is frequently updated, the inconvenience that the waiting time increases during the timing of printing in the printer unit and the packing efficiency decreases, The control from the print control unit to the printer unit is described with the object of shortening the printing time and improving the packaging efficiency.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a conventional control circuit which includes not only the control of the printer unit by such a print control unit but also a main body control unit for controlling the entire medicine dividing and packaging machine. As shown in the figure, the medicine package printing apparatus includes a print information input unit, a print control unit, a printer unit, a medicine package printing interface in a main body control unit of the medicine dividing and packaging machine, and the like.

The print information input unit includes a patient name, usage, number of days, print order (repeated / continuous), print data (morning, noon,
(Evening, before going to sleep), etc. are input, and based on these input data, the patient name, number of days, minutes, number of packages, printing order (repeated / continuous), printing data (morning, noon, evening, before going to sleep), etc. are printed. It is sent to the control unit. The print control unit stores print fonts in a memory and creates dot data from character codes to drive the printer unit. The printer unit includes a printer head, an ink ribbon, and the like, and performs printing in contact with the wrapping paper.

The print information input at the print information input section is
All of the operations in the printer unit, including the management of which of the following print data of the different print data is to be printed, which are sent to the print control unit by communication formation (serial communication) shown in FIG. Is controlled by the print control unit, and a control is performed such that a print start signal for each package is received from the main body control unit and printing of one package is started by the printer unit.

[0009]

As described above, the main body control section manages the number of packages (divided packages) in the divided and packed units of the divided medicine packaging machine in the conventional medicine divided packaging machine. In the control method in which print data management (printing order and number of packages) for each unit is performed by the print control unit, the cooperative operation of both control units is only a print start signal from the main unit control unit to the print control unit, and the print information is It is not transmitted to the main controller.

[0010] It is more reasonable in control to directly transmit print information to the print control unit and to centrally process the print information in the print control unit.
Although it is apt to be considered that the influence of the main body control unit is small, the contents and timing of printing in the printer unit are actually inseparable from the contents and timing of division / packaging in the main body of the medicine dividing and packaging machine, There is a problem that a malfunction such as a timing shift is likely to occur due to the influence of noise in any of the control units, and the control unit is susceptible to noise.

In addition, if there is an error in the input data to the print information input section, a large processing load is imposed on the print control section due to complicated data correction in the input section in a process of correcting the error. There is a difference in the number of packages in both the unit and the main unit control unit, resulting in printing misalignment.Printing may not be performed on the corresponding part of the medicine package, or printing may be performed on the empty package part. In such a case, it may be necessary to redo the divided packaging of the medicine itself. For this reason, there is a demand for a medicine package printing apparatus that enhances printing reliability and hardly causes printing misalignment.

On the other hand, hospital pharmacies and dispensing pharmacies have to accept a large number of prescriptions in a limited time zone and dispensing within a short time. Under such circumstances, it is desirable that the number of items input to the print information input unit be small. However, it is not easy to omit any of the input items that have been set conventionally, and it is possible to omit any of the items if the data of the item can be obtained by some other means.

There are data of the number of days and the number of parcels as the above input items. However, if there is an input error in these data, the time and effort for correcting the data are considerably large. In the print information input section, in order to prepare for dispensing a large number of prescriptions in order, some print information is input and stored in advance. This is because, if there is an error, the printing information is transmitted directly to the printing control unit, so that it is necessary to delete the printing information and input an interrupt while considering the order in the medicine dividing and packaging machine main body.

Therefore, if the number of days and the number of parcels among the input items can be obtained by some other means, the trouble of inputting can be eliminated, the operability can be greatly improved, and the item data can be divided by the main body control unit. If the information can be acquired in connection with the wrapping operation, the timing shift of the printing operation hardly occurs.

The present invention divides print data management (print order, number of packages) when controlling a printing operation, and centrally manages the package control together with the packaging control while paying attention to the problems in the conventional medicine package printing apparatus. It is an object of the present invention to provide a medicine package printing apparatus which can improve the reliability of the printing operation, prevent printing deviation, and reduce the labor of inputting printing information in the input section to improve operability. And

[0016]

According to the present invention, as a means for solving the above-mentioned problems, a supplied medicine is divided into a predetermined amount, the medicine is supplied to a medicine packaging paper, and a heat-sealed sachet is continuously produced. A printer unit provided in a transfer path of the medicine packaging paper so as to print necessary items on the medicine packaging paper in relation to the division packaging operation in the medicine division packaging machine to be formed, and a printing control unit for controlling the printing operation, A signal is transmitted from the print information input unit to the main body control unit that controls the dividing and packaging operation, the signal is transmitted to the print control unit via the main body control unit, and the package number signal is transmitted from the package number setting unit. Connected to input to the main unit control unit, send print data signal including print data, print order, fraction related to the divided packaging of medicines from the print information input unit, and from the main body control unit based on the print information Per package A medicine package printing device configured to send character data and a print start signal to the print control unit, and to print the required number of days and the number of parcels of print data on the medicine packaging paper in a predetermined printing order via the print control unit; and It was done.

In such a medicine package printing apparatus, the printing information from the printing information input section is transmitted to the main body control section of the medicine dividing and packaging machine. A package number signal is separately sent from the package number setting means to the main body control unit. The main body controller prints the printing order and package number from the data of the printing information, the printing order, the fraction, and the package number so that the division and packaging operations are controlled and the printing is performed on the medicine packaging paper at a predetermined timing and printing order. Divide the management and unify management together with packaging control.

Accordingly, when the printing order is determined by the main body control unit and the print data for each packet is sent to the print control unit together with the print start signal, the print control unit reads out font data and the like necessary for the printer unit from the storage unit. To output a print control signal, and printing is performed by the printer unit.

Since it is only necessary to input the print data and the input signal of the print order to the print information input section, the input work becomes faster than before, and the correction of the input mistake requires no data of days and packages. Is reduced.

[0020]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a medicine dividing and packaging machine, and FIG.
FIG. This medicine dividing and packaging machine 1 is based on the premise that a powdered tablet is supplied and packaged into a medicine wrapping paper by a common hopper, and the powdered medicine is divided into a certain amount, and the powdered medicine and the tablet are individually or individually packaged. A printer that has a function of performing packaging processing in a separate packaging mode and that is provided with a printer for printing the time of taking each medicine package and the like before the medicine is packaged in the middle of the transport path through which the medicine packaging paper is sent. .

The present invention relates to a medicine package printing apparatus including the above-described printer, and is not intended for the medicine dividing and packaging machine 1 itself. However, the medicine package printing apparatus is included in a part of the medicine packaging apparatus. Drug dividing and packaging machine 1
Will be described briefly. As shown in the figure, the medicine dividing and packaging machine 1 integrally includes a powder dividing unit 2, a tablet dispensing unit 3, and a packaging unit 4 below the unit, and is operated by input from an operation panel 5 and print information input means 50. .

The powder dividing unit 2 includes a long V-shaped section 6 having a V-shaped cross section, a partition plate 7 slidably provided inside the section, and a divider 8 below the V-shaped section 6. V measure 6
With respect to a divider 8 having a plurality of divided containers provided immediately below it along a longitudinal direction, a slidable partition plate 7 is provided at a position corresponding to the number of packages for dividing the total amount of powdered medicine by a scale plate 9 ( The powder is moved in accordance with the scale shown in FIG. 2), and the powdered medicine is divided by the number of divisions corresponding to the range of the V square 6 in which the partition plate 7 is set.

The V-measure 6 is rotated by a drive unit (not shown) by rotating the inclined measure plate 10, and the lower part is opened as indicated by a dashed line, and the powder is dropped into the divider 8. The partition plate 7 is slidable in the longitudinal direction along the vertical walls of the V chambers 6, magnets m the arm connected thereto, the position detection in the wall of the tablet discharging unit 3 sensor P _H (proximity switch or a Hall element Sensors) are provided. Sensor P _H is provided with a plurality in the longitudinal direction, dividing the number by the number of sensors to a position where the partition plate 7 is set discrimination are displayed.

The divider 8 comprises a plurality of rectangular cylindrical divided containers provided along the longitudinal direction. A bottom plate is provided at the lower bottom of each divided container, and the longitudinal direction (perpendicular to the paper surface). When the divided containers, which have been moved in an intermittent operation by a driving unit (not shown) along the line, come to the position of the common hopper 41, the opening and closing operation is performed by an opening / closing mechanism (not shown), and a predetermined amount of powder is dropped. A hopper 33 provided below the manual dispensing means 31 of the tablet dispensing unit 3 is located above the common hopper 41, and receives the medicine from the divided container 8 and the hopper 33 in common.

Below the common hopper 41, the packaging unit 4
The medicine which is fed from the medicine wrapping paper L wound around the roll shaft 44 and dropped from the common hopper 41 to the medicine wrapping paper S folded in two at the lower triangular plate of the common hopper 41 is heated by the motor 43. A seal 42 is used to divide each package. The above-mentioned roll-shaped packaging paper L
In the middle of the transfer path from the printer to the common hopper 41, a printer unit 11 for printing on medicine packaging paper is provided. The printer 12 may be of a general type (impact dot, thermal, ink jet, etc.).

The tablet dispensing unit 3 includes a manual distributing means 31
And a divider (not shown) provided below the hopper 33 and a hopper 33 below the divider. The manual distributing means 31 is composed of a large number of divided small cells in a mesh shape, and drops the tablets manually distributed in a predetermined cell through a shutter that opens and closes the divided small cells of the divider. The tablet is formed so as to be dropped onto the hopper 33 by opening the lid plate at the bottom of the basin, but the details are omitted.

FIG. 3 is an overall schematic block diagram of the medicine dividing and packaging machine of the above embodiment and a control circuit for controlling the printer unit built therein. As shown in the drawing, the main body control unit 20 of the medicine dividing and packaging machine controls the powder dividing unit 2, the tablet dispensing unit 3, and the packaging unit 4 described above.
Print information is transmitted to the main body control unit 20 from a print information input unit 50 using a small-sized computer having a monochrome liquid crystal display 50a similar in appearance to a notebook personal computer and a surface sheet type keyboard. In addition,
The print information input unit 50 may be a commercially available notebook computer having a built-in hard disk and having a large data storage capacity and easy to see with a color liquid crystal.

The main body control section 20 is composed of a microcomputer for controlling each of the above units, and has a central processing unit (CP).
U) 21, a storage unit 22 storing a program for controlling each unit, and a setting pattern storage unit 23 for setting a pattern of a medication instruction instructed by a prescription for powders and tablets. By inputting a setting signal from the operation panel 5 provided on the division packaging machine main body case, the division and packaging operation is controlled in a predetermined pattern.

The control of each of the above units by the main body control section 20 is not the subject of the present invention and will not be described. A print control unit 30 for controlling the printer unit 11 is connected to the main body control unit 20. The print control unit 30 has the font data for printing written in the storage unit, and when a signal is sent from the main body control unit 20, reads out the font data based on the signal, sends a control signal to the printer unit 11, and Print the print data. Print information input unit 50
Sent from the controller to the main body control section 20, and the main body control section 2
Details of the signal sent from 0 to the print control unit 30 will be described later.

The medicine package printing device in the medicine dividing and packaging machine of the embodiment having the above-described configuration performs printing as follows. The print information input unit 50 has a patient name as print information,
Data of usage and printing order (repeated / continuous) are input.
In this case, the usage data is data such as morning, afternoon, evening, before going to bed, before / after meals / between meals, every hour, and in unison. But,
No days data is entered. Total number of packets of data from the position detection sensor P _H of the partition plate 7 of the powdered medicine splitting unit 2 is sent to the main control unit 20, where since the operation. The calculation of the number of days will be described later.

When the usage data is inputted, the fraction (= the number of divided daily doses) is set based on this. For example, morning =
Fraction 1, noon = fraction 1, evening = fraction 1, before going to bed = fraction 1, morning / evening = fraction 2, morning / day / evening = fraction 3, morning / day / evening / before sleeping = fraction 4, after meal = Fractions 3 and 4 are set in the print information input section 50 such that every 4 hours = fraction 6 and garbage = fraction 1 The printing order is a signal indicating repetition or continuity.

Based on the input signal, a print information input unit 5
From 0, the print data, the print order, and the fraction data are transmitted to the main body control unit 20 by communication formation (serial communication) shown in FIG. The print data is data to be printed on the surface of one medicine package at each dose time, and is composed of a character code such as "after breakfast" and a control code such as designation of double width.

The signal of the printing order (repeated / continuous) is, for example, three days of morning, noon, and evening. Repetition: morning, noon, evening, morning, noon, evening, morning, noon, evening : Different dose periods such as morning, morning, morning, noon, noon, noon, evening, evening, evening, etc. are repeated for three days, or the same dose period is controlled to be continuous for three days and printed. Data. However, the above printing order is determined by the main body control unit 2.
When the print data is sent from 0 to the print control unit 30, the control signal is generated in the main body control unit 20 so as to send out the print data in the repetitive or continuous pattern.

[0034] Further, by dividing the data by the position detection sensor P _H of the partition plate 7 with the data of the "fractional" by the usage data as required in the main body control unit 20 "the number of follicles" and "Days" Data is required. When the internal calculation is completed, print data and a print start signal for each packet are transmitted from the main body control unit 20 to the print control unit 30 under the control of the main body control unit 20. The print control unit 30 transmits the print data signal. Upon receipt, necessary font data stored therein is read out, a print control signal is sent out by a print start signal, and printing is performed by the printer unit 11.

For example, in the case of the powder dividing unit 2, the above-mentioned printing control relates the printing data, the printing order and the fraction data to the powder dividing operation, and prints the printing data for each packet at a predetermined timing in the printing control unit 30. Control unit 2 to send to
0 controls.

That is, print management (printing order,
(Package number) is all performed by the main body control unit 20. First, print data for one medicine package is transmitted to the print control unit in synchronization with the timing of medicine division packaging, and then a print start signal is transmitted to the print control unit. Printing is performed by the printer unit 11 via the printer 30.

Therefore, it is not necessary to input the data of "number of days" and "package number" to the print information input unit 50, and such data is not input to the print information input unit 50. No input error occurs.

In the above description, the case where the medicine is supplied from the powder dividing unit 2 is described as an example, but it goes without saying that the same control can be applied to the tablet dispensing unit 3. However, in this case, since the partition plate 7 of the powder splitting unit 2 is not provided, the package number data cannot be obtained directly. However, since there is a rule that the powder and the tablet are generally prescribed for the same number of days, the tablet dispensing unit 3 The signal set by the partition plate 7 may be applied to the tablet dispensing unit 3 as it is.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of another type of a medicine dividing and packaging machine. The illustrated powder dividing unit 2 'is of a type having a powder supply means and a dispensing dish and scraping means, and the tablet dispensing unit 3 is of the same type as in FIG. The packaging unit 4 is basically the same as that of FIG. or,
Although not shown, the units 2 ', 3, and 4 are also installed in a main body case similar to that of FIG.

The powdered medicine dividing unit 2 'is provided with a powdered medicine supply means for spraying the powdered medicine to be supplied from the inlet 6a' of the hopper 6 'little by little on the distribution plate 8' by the vibrating feeder 7 '. Distributing plate 8 'for receiving the powdered medicine scattered from this supply means
Has an R groove 8R 'on the outer periphery of the distribution plate 8a', and uniformly distributes the powder in this groove. The scraping means 9 '
The groove 8R 'is provided with a circular disk plate having a predetermined thickness, which divides the groove 8R' into a required number of portions in the radial direction, and scrapes the powdered powder of each divided region out of the distribution dish 8 '. 9a 'is a rotatable arm.

In the powder dividing unit 2 ', the powder is taken out from the hopper 6' for supplying the powder taken out according to the prescription, and when the distribution and packaging conditions are set, the distribution tray 8 'is rotated, and at the same time, the vibration feeder 7 is rotated. Starts vibrating, and the supplied powder is supplied to the R groove 8R 'of the distribution dish 8'. The scraping means 9 ′ has a circular disk shape and the R groove 8 of the distribution dish 8 ′.
Distributing dish 8 'loaded with powder to be in close contact with the inner surface of R'
Is scraped out by the scraping means 9 'at a position facing the hopper 6'.

At this time, the powder on the disk of the scraping means 9 'is cut into the powder, the distribution plate 8' is rotated to an angle suitable for division and stopped, and the powder on the disk of the distribution plate 8 'is stopped. Rake in. If the dispensing dish 8 'rotates at a constant speed and the supply is constant with the hopper 6', the cake is cut radially from the rotation center of the powdered dispensing dish 8 'which is supplied to and stacked on the R groove 8R' of the dispensing dish. When the cutting line 9 is evenly cut and scraped between the cutting line and the next cutting line by the scraping means 9 ′, the powdered medicine is equally divided and packaged through the common hopper 41.

The control circuit of the previous embodiment can be applied to the medicine dividing and packaging machine having the above-described configuration as it is. Therefore, the description of the operation is omitted. In this example, however, there is no partition plate, and the number of divisions in the distribution plate 8 '= the fraction must be instructed from outside. However, in the illustrated medicine dividing and packaging machine, an operation panel for operating the powdering unit 2' and the tablet unit 3 is used. Since the number 5 is provided, the number key switch of the operation panel 5 may be used as a package number input means, and its signal may be input to the main body control unit 20 to be used as a package number signal.

In addition, there are various types of medicine dividing and packaging machines other than the above, and it goes without saying that the concept of the control circuit can be applied to any medicine package printing apparatus.

[0045]

As described in detail above, the medicine package printing apparatus according to the present invention sends only print data on the print data, print order and fraction from the print information input section to the main body control section of the medicine dividing and packaging machine. Since the main controller sends print data and a print start signal for each package and prints the required number of days and the number of packages in the predetermined printing order on the medicine packaging paper,
The print information is divided by the main unit control unit, integrated control is performed together with the packaging control, and print control is performed to prevent print misalignment and improve print reliability, and data of days and packages is omitted as print input. Therefore, there is an advantage that the possibility of occurrence of an error during the input operation is reduced and the workability can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall schematic view of a medicine dividing and packaging machine including a medicine package printing apparatus according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of the same.

FIG. 3 is an overall schematic block diagram of a control circuit for controlling the medicine dividing and packaging machine;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a transmission format of transmission data (a) embodiment, (b) conventional example

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of an example of another type of a medicine dividing and packaging machine.

FIG. 6 is an overall schematic block diagram of a conventional control circuit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Powder dispersing unit 3 Tablet dispensing unit 4 Packaging unit 5 Operation panel 6 V-measure 7 Partition plate 8 Divider 10 Measuring plate 11 Printer unit 12 Printer 20 Main unit control unit 30 Print control unit 50 Print information input unit 31 Hand spread unit 33 Hopper 41 Common hopper 42 Heat seal 43 Motor

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Akiomi Obama 3-3-1 Meishinguchi, Toyonaka City Inside Yuyama Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Toru Tanaka 3-3-1 Meishinguchi, Toyonaka City Co., Ltd. F-term in Yuyama Works (reference) 3E056 AA02 BA11 CA02 DA01 EA08 FA01 FB08 GA04

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A medicine dividing and packaging machine which divides a supplied medicine into a predetermined amount, supplies the medicine to medicine packaging paper, and continuously forms a heat-sealed sachet, which is necessary in connection with a dividing and packaging operation in a medicine dividing and packaging machine. A printer unit provided on the transfer path of the medicine packaging paper so as to print matters on the medicine packaging paper, and a printing control unit for controlling the printing operation, and a printing information inputting unit to a main body control unit for controlling the dividing and packaging operation. Connected to transmit a signal, transmitted to the print control unit via the main body control unit, and connected to input a parcel number signal from the parcel number setting means to the main body control unit, and connected from the print information input unit. It sends print data signals including print data, print order, and fractions related to the divided packaging of medicines, and sends print data for each package and a print start signal from the main unit control unit to the print control unit based on the print information. Feed and print control unit A package printing device for printing print data for the required number of days and the number of packages on a package paper in a predetermined printing order via the printer. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the package number setting means has a V-shaped cross section.
2. The medicine package printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the number of packages is set by a partition plate slidably provided on the divide-by-measuring device and a position detector linked thereto. 3. The print control unit according to claim 1, wherein when the print control unit receives print data from the main body control unit, the print control unit reads out a font signal stored in a font storage unit and prints the print data according to a print start signal. Item 3. The medicine package printing device according to Item 1 or 2.