JP2000272764A - Medicine bag printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a medicine bag printer capable of simplifying a structure for supplying medicine bags from the storage portion to a printing means in a smaller space, shortening a processing time and printing desired data on a number of medicine bags in order. SOLUTION: A first delivery conveyor shorter than medicine bags and two second delivery conveyors (second conveyors) longer than the first delivery conveyor are provided at the approximate center of the bottom at the downstream side of a storage portion 2 for storing the medicine bags in stack and at both sides of the first delivery conveyor, respectively, to guide the medicine bags to the printer 5 in the ascending order in the storage portion 2.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a medicine bag printing apparatus for printing required items on medicine bags at a pharmacy such as a hospital or a clinic.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a medicine bag containing a medicine to be handed to a patient at a pharmacy such as a hospital includes a patient name, a dispensing date, a medical department, and a medicine to be administered based on a prescription of each patient. It is necessary to describe usage and notes. For this reason, in a pharmacy such as a hospital where the number of doses is large, a medicine bag printing apparatus is used which can print data input by a computer using a printer in accordance with prescriptions of the usage and the like described in the medicine bag.

In a conventional medicine bag printing apparatus, an appropriate amount of medicine bags are stacked on a loading table, and the medicine bags on the loading table are fed out one by one from a top by a feed roller and conveyed to a paper feeding section of a printer. Is configured to be discharged to the medicine bag tray by the feed roller.

In the medicine bag printing apparatus described in JP-A-6-270475, medicine bags are stacked and housed in a storage section, and the lowest medicine bag in the storage section is sucked and separated by a suction device. The medicine bag is transported to the rear conveyor with the swing arm in between, and the conveyor carries the medicine bag to the front printer, and the medicine bag printed by the printer is discharged to the medicine bag tray below the storage section.

[0005]

However, in the medicine bag printing apparatus having the above-mentioned conventional structure, the position of the uppermost medicine bag on the loading table and the position of the printer paper feeding section need to be matched with each other. In addition to this, there is a problem that the medicine bag pushing-up means for adjusting the uppermost position of the medicine bag according to the amount of the medicine bag on the loading table is required, and the device configuration becomes complicated.

In the medicine bag printing apparatus described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 6-270475, a medicine bag take-out mechanism for sequentially pulling medicine bags in a storage section from the lower side and supplying the medicine bags to the printer is very complicated, and the processing time is extremely long. There is a problem that the cost increases and the cost increases. In addition, there is a problem that it is not possible to simultaneously process various sizes of medicine bags.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and realizes a space saving by simplifying a structure from a storage section of a medicine bag to a supply means to a printing means, and reduces a processing time. It is an object of the present invention to provide a medicine bag printing apparatus which can shorten the time, can sequentially print required data on a large number of medicine bags, and can process the data rationally.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a medicine bag printing apparatus according to the present invention is housed in a bottom portion of a housing portion in which medicine bags are stacked and housed, in the housing portion. Dispensing means for sequentially sending the medicine bags from the bottom is provided, and in a medicine bag printing apparatus provided with printing means on the downstream side of the sending means, the sending means includes a first conveyor shorter than the length of the medicine bag, and a first conveyor. It is characterized by comprising a second conveyor longer than the length.

In the present invention, medicine bags are stacked and housed in the storage section, and the lowermost medicine bags in the storage section are sequentially pulled out one by one by a sending means provided at the bottom of the storage section, and are sent to the printing means. Sent out. Here, the reason why the length of the first conveyor is set to be shorter than the length of the medicine bag is as follows. That is, when the length of the first conveyor is, for example, about the same as the length of the medicine bag, when a number of medicine bags are stored in the storage unit, the lowermost medicine bag is sequentially sent forward. The contact pressure between the lowermost medicine bag and the first conveyor is too large,
It becomes extremely difficult to send out each sheet. On the other hand, if the length of the first conveyor is shorter than the length of the medicine bag as described above, it is possible to send out the medicine bags one by one while suppressing an increase in the contact pressure between the first conveyor and the medicine bag. become. On the other hand, when the number of medicine bags in the storage unit is reduced to about 2 to 3, the contact pressure for sending cannot be sufficiently secured with only the first conveyor, and thus the medicine bags are provided by providing a second conveyor longer than the first conveyor. It is possible to reliably send the last one.

According to the present invention, it is possible to reliably supply the lowermost medicine bag to the printing means one by one irrespective of the number of medicine bags accommodated in the accommodation portion with a very simple configuration. For this reason, it is possible to reduce the cost and to extremely shorten the processing time.

Further, in the present invention, it is preferable that one first conveyor is provided at the center of the storage section, and one second conveyor is provided on both sides of the first conveyor. By doing so, it is possible to suppress an increase in the contact pressure between the first conveyor and the center of the medicine bag where the gravity of the medicine bag acts strongly in a state where a large number of medicine bags are housed in the housing part,
When the number of medicine bags in the storage unit is reduced to about two or three, the contact pressure for delivery can be sufficiently ensured by the second conveyors arranged on both sides of the first conveyor, so that the medicine bags in the storage unit are more reliably provided. This has the effect of enabling stable transmission.

In the present invention, a plurality of combinations of the storage section and the printing means are arranged, and respective outlets of these printing means are connected via a conveying means, and a medicine bag with a print is provided at a downstream end of the conveying means. Is preferably provided. By doing so, it is possible to simultaneously print various types of medicine bags, and it is possible to improve the processing efficiency.

Further, in the present invention, it is preferable that the size of the storage section can be arbitrarily adjusted according to the size of the medicine bag to be stored. By doing so, the medicine bags of each size can be stacked in the storage section in a state of being aligned, and there is an effect that the medicine bags can be smoothly transported to the printing means.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, a specific embodiment of a medicine bag printing apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view of a medicine bag printing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 shows A in FIG.
FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line A-B, and FIG.

The medicine bag printing apparatus 1 of this embodiment has a storage section 2 for stacking and storing medicine bags P, and a bottom 2a of the storage section 2.
A delivery unit (corresponding to a delivery means in the present invention) 3 provided in the printer and pulling out the inner medicine bags one by one from the bottom in order.
A printer (corresponding to a printing unit in the present invention) 5 provided downstream of the storage section 2 and provided with a supply port 4 downstream of the sending section 3.

In the present embodiment, a plurality of sets of the storage section 2 and the printer 5 are arranged vertically and horizontally, and
Are connected to a conveyor 7 respectively. The downstream end of the conveyor 7 is disposed above the apparatus 1 and is connected to a medicine bag tray 8 for collecting printed medicine bags P. Each of the printers 5 is connected to a computer (not shown), and a print data signal is transmitted to a required printer 5 based on prescription data.

The delivery section 3 has a first delivery conveyor (corresponding to a first conveyor in the present invention) 9 shorter than the length of the medicine bag P, which is disposed substantially at the center of the bottom surface on the downstream side of the storage section 2. On both sides of the first delivery conveyor 9, two second delivery conveyors (corresponding to the second conveyor in the present invention) 10a and 10b longer than the length of the first delivery conveyor 9 are arranged in parallel with the first delivery conveyor 9. It is provided and configured. In the present embodiment, the length of the first delivery conveyor 9 is approximately １ ／ of the maximum length of the storage section 2 in the transport direction (vertical direction).
In addition, the length of the second sending conveyors 10a and 10b is set to be approximately 1.5 times the length of the first sending conveyor 9.

The first delivery conveyor 9 includes a driving roller 11
endless belt 13a is wound between the endless belt 13a and the driven roller 12a, and a tension roller 14a for preventing the endless belt 13a from being loosened is disposed between the driving roller 11a and the driven roller 12a. I have. The tension roller 14a is disposed below the downstream end of the medicine bag P stored in the storage unit 2, and the drive roller 11a is connected to the printer 5 from the downstream end of the medicine bag P.
It is arranged below the side. The driving roller 11
The drive shaft 15 supporting a is connected to a motor (not shown) via a clutch 16. The motor rotates when a print data signal is transmitted from the computer to the printer 5. The clutch 16 is connected to operate the first and second delivery conveyors 9, 10a, and 10b. After being separated, the first and second delivery conveyors 9, 10a and 10b stop.

The second delivery conveyors 10a and 10b are:
Drive rollers 11b and 11c supported on a drive shaft 15 supporting the drive roller 11a;
12c, endless belts 13b, 13c are wound, and tension rollers 14b, 1c are interposed between the driving rollers 11b, 11c and the driven rollers 12b, 12c.
4c is provided and configured. The tension rollers 14b and 14c are supported on a support shaft 17 that supports the tension roller 14a, and the driven rollers 12b and 12c are supported on the same axis.

A medicine bag receiving table 18 is disposed substantially at the center of the bottom of the storage section 2 and upstream of the first delivery conveyor 9. A medicine bag P is provided on both sides of the medicine bag cradle 18.
And guides 18a and 18b that support the rear of the camera and can move in the left-right direction with respect to the sending direction. In addition, a first remaining amount sensor 19 that detects the amount of storage from above the medicine bag P is provided above the inner wall of the storage unit 2, and below the first remaining amount sensor 19 and on the bottom 2 a of the storage unit 2. A second remaining amount sensor (not shown) for detecting that the storage amount becomes 0 from below the medicine bag P is provided.

At an upper position between the drive shaft 15 and the support shaft 17, a sheet metal guide 20 (a wall surface on the downstream side of the storage section 2) is disposed in a direction perpendicular to the feeding direction. One arc-shaped rubber belt 2 along the sheet metal guide 20
1 is supported so that the position can be adjusted vertically. The vertical position of the rubber belt 21 can be adjusted by two adjusters 22 and 23 supported by the sheet metal guide 20. Of the adjusters 22, 23, the rubber belt 21 is largely moved by the upper adjuster 22, and fine adjustment is performed by the lower adjuster 23. The rubber belt 21 is provided on the drive roller 11.
a, 11b, 11c (drive shaft 15).

In the present embodiment, the supply port 4 of the printer 5 is arranged so as to be flush with the bottom surface of the storage section 2, and the medicine bags P drawn out of the storage section 2 are first and second. It is sequentially supplied into the printer 5 by the operation of the sending conveyors 9, 10a, 10b. Further, a discharge chute 24 having a pinch roller (not shown) is provided between the printer 5 and the conveyor 7, and the medicine bag P discharged from the discharge port 6 of the printer 5 is discharged by the operation of the pinch roller. After passing through 24, it is introduced into the conveyor 7.

In this embodiment, the storage unit 2 and the printer 5 arranged and combined as described above are arranged in three sets in the vertical direction and two rows in the horizontal direction (a total of six sets). The vertical feed conveyors 25a, 25b are arranged on the discharge port 7 side of the printer 5 in the row, and these vertical feed conveyors 25a, 25b are provided.
b is connected to a horizontal feed conveyor 26, and a vertical feed conveyor 27 is connected to the downstream end of the horizontal feed conveyor 26. The conveyor 7 is a vertical conveyor 2
5a, 25b, 27 and a horizontal conveyor 26, and the medicine bag tray 8 is connected to the downstream end of the vertical conveyor 27. Each of the conveyors 25a, 25b, 26, and 27 is configured to sandwich and transport the medicine bag P between two endless belts.

In the present embodiment, a medicine bag lifting section 28 that lifts the upstream side of the medicine bags P and positions the center of gravity of the medicine bags P on the downstream side when delivering large medicine bags P is provided on the upstream bottom surface of the storage section 2. Are located. The storage unit 2
Has a medicine bag P housed in a position adjustable in the left and right direction.
And two front wall guides (not shown) for aligning the upstream ends of the medicine bags P housed so as to be positionally adjustable in the front-rear direction. The positions of the side wall guide 29 and the front side wall guide are adjusted in accordance with the size of the medicine bag P stored in the section 2, and the size of the storage section 2 is adjusted.

In the medicine bag printing apparatus 1 configured as described above, various medicine bags P are stacked and housed in each of the storage sections 2, and the rubber belt 21 and the first and second medicine bags are adjusted by the adjusters 23 according to the thickness of each medicine bag P. The intervals between the two delivery conveyors 9, 10a and 10b are adjusted. When the required print data signals are given to the required printers 5 by the computer, the clutch 16 of the sending section 3 connected to those printers 5 is connected to drive the drive shaft 1.
5 rotates and the first and second delivery conveyors 9, 10a,
10b operates.

By the operation of the first delivery conveyor 9 and the second conveyors 10a and 10b, a plurality of medicine bags P stored in the storage section 2 are pulled out one by one from below and supplied to the printer 5. Here, the length of the first delivery conveyor 9 located at the center is set to be sufficiently shorter than the length of the second delivery conveyors 10a and 10b located on both sides (about the same length as the length of the medicine bag P). The reason is as follows.

That is, when the length of the first delivery conveyor 9 is set to be substantially the same as the length of the medicine bag P, the lowermost medicine bag P is stored in a state where a large number of medicine bags P are stored in the storage section 2.
From the lowermost medicine bag to the first
The contact pressure with the delivery conveyor 9 becomes too large, and it becomes extremely difficult to deliver the medicine bags P one by one.
On the other hand, when the length of the first delivery conveyor 9 is reduced as in the present embodiment, the increase in the contact pressure between the first delivery conveyor 9 and the medicine bag P is suppressed, and the medicine bags P are delivered one by one. It becomes possible to do.

On the other hand, the number of medicine bags P in the storage section 2 is 2-3.
If the number is reduced to about the number of sheets, the first delivery conveyor 9 alone cannot secure a sufficient contact pressure for delivery. For this,
In the present embodiment, the second delivery conveyors 10a and 10b having the same length as the length of the medicine bag P are provided on both sides of the first delivery conveyor 9 so that the medicine bag P can be reliably delivered to the last sheet. I have. Note that even when a plurality of medicine bags P are simultaneously drawn downstream from the sheet metal guide 20, the upper medicine bag P is caught on the rubber belt 21 so that simultaneous feeding of a plurality of medicine bags P is prevented and one medicine bag P is prevented. Only printer 5
Supplied to

The medicine bag P thus supplied into the printer 5
Is printed in accordance with the print data signal, and is discharged from the discharge port 7. These printed medicine bags P are introduced into the respective conveyors 7 through the discharge chute 24, and are conveyed to the medicine bag tray 8 provided at the upper portion of the apparatus 1 by the operation of the conveyors 7.

According to this embodiment, the storage unit 2 has a simple configuration.
There is an effect that regardless of the number of medicine bags P stored in the inside, the medicine bags P can be supplied to the printer 5 one by one from the lowest medicine bag without fail. The bottom of the storage unit 2 and the printer 5
Since the supply port 4 is provided on one side, there is no need to provide a medicine bag pushing-up device which has been conventionally used, and unnecessary space can be eliminated. Therefore, the storage section 2 and the printer 5 can be made compact. Can be combined. Therefore, it is possible to arrange a plurality of sets of the storage unit 2 and the printer 5 in the apparatus 1, to simultaneously print various types of medicine bags P, and to shorten the processing time.

The medicine bag printing apparatus 1 of this embodiment has two
A storage unit 2 of various sizes is used, and the maximum size of the larger storage unit 2 is 280 mm wide × 340 mm long,
The maximum size of the smaller storage unit 2 is 280 horizontal x 260 vertical
mm by the side wall guide 29 and the front side wall guide provided in the storage unit 2.
The size of the inside is adjustable. Therefore, a standard medicine bag (small: 125 mm wide x 210 mm long, middle: 15 mm wide)
0mm × 250mm, large: 180mm × 300m
m, each bottom: 180mm wide x 340mm long x 60mm bottom)
And plain paper (A4 size, B5 size) or the like, and it is also possible to create and use a medicine bag within the maximum size of the storage section 2.

In the present embodiment, a case has been described in which prescription data (medication information) is printed on the medicine bag P, but it is also possible to print prescriptions and medicine information on plain paper, for example.

In this embodiment, six combinations of the storage section 2 and the printer 5 are arranged, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, 4, 8, and 9 combinations may be arranged as needed. Can be done. Also, the size of the storage section 2 is not limited to the above numerical values.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view of a medicine bag printing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. 2;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Medicine bag printing apparatus 2 Storage part 3 Sending part (delivery means) 4 Supply port 5 Printer (printing means) 6 Discharge port 7 Conveyor 8 Medicine bag tray 9 First delivery conveyor 10a, 10b Second delivery conveyor 11a, 11b, 11c Drive Rollers 12a, 12b, 12c Followed rollers 13a, 13b, 13c Endless belts 14a, 14b, 14c Tension rollers 15 Drive shafts 16 Clutches 17 Support shafts 18 Medicine bag receiver 19 Remaining amount sensor 20 Sheet metal guide 21 Rubber belts 22, 23 Adjusters 24 Discharge chute 25a, 25b, 27 Vertical feed conveyor 26 Horizontal feed conveyor 28 Medicine bag lifting section 29 Side wall guide

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A medicine bag comprising, at the bottom of a storage portion for storing medicine bags in a stacked manner, a delivery means for sequentially sending the medicine bags stored in the storage portion from the bottom, and a printing means provided downstream of the delivery means. In the printing apparatus, the sending means, a first conveyor shorter than the length of the medicine bag,
A medicine bag printing apparatus comprising a second conveyor longer than the length of the first conveyor. 2. The medicine bag printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein one of the first conveyors is provided at the center of the storage section, and one of the second conveyors is provided on both sides of the first conveyor. 3. A plurality of combinations of the storage section and the printing means are arranged, and respective outlets of the printing means are connected via a transport means, and a printed medicine bag is stored at a downstream end of the transport means. 3. A tray according to claim 1, wherein a tray is provided.
3. The medicine bag printing device according to item 1. 4. The storage section is capable of arbitrarily adjusting its size according to the size of a medicine bag to be stored.
The medicine bag printing device according to any one of the above.