JP2005247355A - Chemical feeder and assembly thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a chemical feeder miniaturizing a container body in the height direction, and also to provide a chemical feeder assembly which constantly uses the container body of the common dimension even when the overall length of the chemical is different. <P>SOLUTION: In the chemical feeder having a container body 10 and an aligning disk 20, the groove length of an aligning part 22b of a groove 22 is substantially the same as the overall length L of the chemical P, and the groove length of a preliminary aligning part 22a is smaller than the overall length L. The dimension of the container body 10 is unified thereby. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  In the present invention, a preparation of a dosage form that can be handled one tablet at a time such as a tablet / capsule (such a preparation is referred to as “medicine” in this specification) is stored in a container, The present invention relates to an apparatus for sending a fixed number of medicines out of a container according to a control signal.

  In hospital pharmacies, out-of-hospital prescription reception pharmacies, and the like, prescribed types and amounts (a single dose, dosing interval, administration days, etc.) of drugs are delivered to patients according to a prescription created by a doctor. In such pharmacies, especially for drugs such as tablets and capsules, there is a drug feeder (also called “tablet feeder” or the like) as a device that automatically selects a drug specified for each prescription from a large amount of inventory. It is used (for example, Patent Documents 1 to 4).

The medicine feeder is a device having a container for containing medicine and having a mechanism devised to feed out the contained medicine one by one based on a control signal according to a prescription.
As shown in FIG. 7 of Patent Document 2, one medicine feeder (symbol 13 in the figure) is a device that sends out one kind of medicine, and is an assembly in which the same number of kinds of medicines to be stocked are arranged in parallel. And any drug feeder is selectively activated by the control device. The medicine discharged from each medicine feeder is configured to be gathered at one place by a chute (conduit 14 and collecting member 15 in the figure), and this makes it possible to freely combine and take out medicines according to prescriptions. Below the chute, a packaging device (symbol 17 in the figure) for individually packaging the medicines in a continuous film package is added, and a medicine packaging device in which a large number of medicine feeders and packaging devices are integrated (same figure). Then, it is set as the tablet packaging apparatus 10).
With this medicine packaging device, pharmacies such as hospitals simply input prescription data, send only the necessary medicines from the appropriate medicine feeder, and wrap the film one tablet at a time. A plurality of types of medicines to be taken can be combined into one and automatically packaged and output as a single dose.

  As shown in FIG. 10 of Patent Document 2, each medicine feeder has a feed mechanism for feeding out the contained medicine one by one. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a main part of a typical preferable feed mechanism in a conventional medicine feeder, and shows an example in which the medicine is a capsule.

As shown in FIG. 6, a typical conventional medicine feeder includes a container body 100 and an alignment board 200. The container main body 100 is configured to have a tank part 110 for containing medicines and an alignment board container part 120 adjacent to the bottom thereof, and is usually formed of a translucent plastic so that the amount of the medicine inside can be visually confirmed. Is done. In the example of the figure, the alignment board accommodating part 120 has a cylindrical shape with the rotation center axis as the vertical direction.
Alignment board 200 (particularly main body portion 210) is rotatably accommodated in alignment board accommodating part 120. In the example of the figure, the main body portion 210 of the alignment board 200 has a columnar shape that can be rotatably fitted to the alignment board housing part 120, and is disposed coaxially with the alignment board housing part 120. The upper part of the main body portion of the aligning plate is a stirring portion 240 that protrudes in a spiral shape, and protrudes into the tank portion 110 and acts so as to be guided into a groove described later while stirring the capsule.
The alignment board 200 is connected to an external driving device (not shown) on the lower surface, and is configured to perform step rotation by a rotation angle corresponding to one groove described later.

One or more grooves 220 are provided on the outer peripheral surface of the alignment board 200 so that the medicine enters from the tank portion. A partition wall 230 exists between the grooves. This partition wall 230 is referred to as “wing-shaped protrusion 13 d” in Patent Document 2.
The groove 220 extends in a direction having a vertical component, and, as shown in FIG. 6, the groove has the longest dimension (full length) L10 in one capsule so that the extending direction of the groove is the same. The groove depth and the groove width are determined so as to face (that is, the capsule drops in the longitudinal direction).
With respect to the groove 220 of the aligning plate, the aligning plate receiving portion 120 of the container body is configured to have a height H10 that is equal to or greater than the entire length of the groove 220. As a result, the groove 220 is covered by the wall surface of the alignment board housing part over the entire length, forming a tubular path surrounded on all sides, and reliably functions as a groove.

The total length of the groove 220 is at least twice as long as the total length L10 of the capsules to be accommodated, and from the inner wall surface of the aligning disc container 120 at the position corresponding to the full length of the capsules from the lowest end of the grooves 220. The partition plate 300 protrudes locally, and the groove 220 is divided into two, an upper preliminary alignment portion 221 and a lower alignment portion 222.
That is, as shown in FIG. 6, the groove 220 has a length that allows two capsules to continuously enter completely, and the groove length of the lower alignment portion 222 is equal to the total length L10 of the capsule, The groove length of the preliminary alignment portion 221 is equal to or longer than the total length L10 of the capsule. The total length of the groove 220 may be equal to twice the total length of the capsule, or the groove length of the pre-alignment portion may be longer than the total length of the capsule, for example, in the case where it corresponds to a small capsule.
The significance of securing the preliminary alignment portion 221 as a preceding stage of the alignment portion will be described later.
All partition walls on the outer periphery of the alignment portion are provided with a notch in the center so that the partition plate 300 can enter to the vicinity of the bottom of the groove, whereby the alignment plate 200 rotates without being obstructed by the partition plate 300. can do.

  Immediately below the groove in which the partition plate is provided, a medicine outlet 400 is provided on the bottom surface of the alignment board housing portion. By providing a partition plate, the space inside the tank, the groove of the alignment section, and the drug outlet do not communicate with each other in a straight line, and the alignment has come to just above the drug outlet (= directly below the partition plate). Only the capsule in the portion 221 falls to the medicine outlet 400 by its own weight and falls to the external chute. Without this partition plate, the medicine can freely fall into the alignment section directly above the medicine outlet, and will come out of the medicine outlet without any quantity limitation.

The pre-alignment part is located between the tank part of the container main body (the stirring part of the alignment board protrudes) and the alignment part (including the medicine outlet), and the drug is accurately extracted from the tank part by the guiding action of the stirring part. Acts to receive and feed out to the alignment section. That is, it can be said that the preliminary alignment unit is a quasi-alignment standby unit placed in front of the alignment unit.
As described in the description of the partition plate, the upper end of the groove must be closed by the partition plate only when the groove of the alignment portion has come right above the medicine outlet. Therefore, in the mode with only the alignment portion (the mode without the preliminary alignment portion), the opportunity for the medicine in the tank to fall into the groove is reduced by the amount blocked by the partition plate. On the other hand, if a preliminary alignment portion is provided, the medicine in the tank can fall into all the grooves over the entire circumference of the alignment board, and the opportunity for the medicine in the tank to fall into the grooves may be impaired. Absent. For such a probabilistic reason, the structure in which the preliminary alignment portion is provided is advantageous in attracting the medicine in the tank to the groove more accurately.

When the medicine in the tank part is received in the preliminary alignment part, the groove width and / or the groove depth is set so that the smallest dimension among the three dimensions (full length, full width, full thickness) of the corresponding medicine passes. regulate. Due to this dimensional restriction, only the direction having a long dimension (usually the direction of the entire length) faces the longitudinal direction of the groove enters the groove. In addition, as necessary, the groove of the preliminary alignment portion may be formed so as to regulate the intermediate dimension as in the case of the alignment portion.
Conventionally, the pre-alignment portion is provided when the shape of the medicine is a long and thin shape (for example, a capsule or the like) in which the intermediate dimension of the dimensions in the three directions is approximately less than half of the maximum dimension. It was done.

As described above, in the conventional medicine feeder, the length of the groove of the aligning plate is secured more than twice the length of the medicine for the long and thin medicine, and the preliminary alignment portion having the groove length longer than the whole length of the medicine is provided. It was a structure to provide. In addition, as for the container main body, various types of the height of the alignment plate housing portion are formed in accordance with the total length of the grooves of the alignment plate.
Therefore, several types of alignment boards and container bodies with different dimensions are prepared according to the total length of various drugs, and appropriate combinations that match the total length of the drug are selected and combined to provide various types of capsules and tablets. The drug feeder was manufactured individually corresponding to the dimensions.
JP 2002-153541 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-154637 Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 5-7601 JP-A-5-7602

  The present inventors examined the configuration of the conventional drug feeder as described above, and found that there are two problems to be improved as shown in (a) and (ii) below.

(A) The first problem is that the configuration of the conventional medicine feeder is such that the length of the groove of the aligning plate and the height of the aligning plate receiving portion are more than twice the total length of the drug in order to secure a preliminary aligning portion. Therefore, for example, if a relatively long medicine such as Japanese Pharmacopoeia (hereinafter referred to as JP) 000 (total length: about 22 mm) is to be sent out, the height dimension of the alignment plate housing is excessive. The point is that it will become larger and not compact.

(Ii) The second problem is that since the total length of drugs differs greatly from one drug type to another, it is necessary to prepare a large number of parts that make up the drug feeder, especially the container body, according to the total length of the drug. It is a point that does not become.
For example, in the above-mentioned No. 000 capsule (for the sake of explanation, the total length is 20 mm), the height of the alignment plate housing portion of the container body must be 40 mm, twice the total length of the capsule. Therefore, the height of the aligning plate accommodating portion is 20 mm, which is twice the total length of the capsule.
Therefore, the heights of the respective alignment board accommodating portions corresponding to both capsules are 40 mm and 20 mm, which are nearly twice different from each other. If the case where a tablet (for example, diameter 5mm) is sent out to this is added, the dimensional difference of the height of the alignment board accommodating part will become still larger.
For example, it is possible to forcibly divert a container body having an alignment board accommodating part for a large 000 capsule to a small 5 capsule, but when diverting with such a large dimensional difference, As shown in FIG. 7, the upper end of the wall surface of the aligning plate accommodating portion 120 for No. 000 capsule (reference P000) is about 20 mm further from the upper end of the groove for the alignment plate for No. 5 capsule (reference P5). Is located above, and the tank portion starts to spread from that position, so that the medicine storage space is wasted.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a drug feeder that can solve the above-mentioned problems and make the container body more compact in the height direction than the conventional one, and always has a common dimension even if the total length of the drugs is different. An object of the present invention is to provide an assembly of drug feeders that can use a container body.

The present inventors have found that the function of the preliminary alignment portion can be sufficiently achieved even when the groove length of the preliminary alignment portion, which has been conventionally secured at least for the entire length of the drug, is shorter than the total length of the drug, The present invention has been completed.
The present invention has the following features.
(1) A medicine feeder for containing and delivering medicines, comprising a container body and an alignment board,
The container main body has a tank portion for storing the drug, and an alignment plate storage portion that is adjacent to the bottom of the container main body and rotatably stores the main body portion of the alignment plate.
One or more grooves are provided on the outer peripheral surface of the aligning plate so that the medicine enters from the tank portion, the grooves extend in a direction having a vertical component, and the groove has a portion having the longest dimension of the medicine. The groove depth and groove width are determined so as to face the extending direction of the groove,
A partition plate protrudes from the inner wall surface of the aligning plate housing portion, and the groove is divided into an upper preliminary alignment portion and a lower alignment portion. A medicine outlet is provided in the aligning plate housing so that the medicine can descend,
Assuming that the longest dimension of one drug is called the total length L, the groove length of the alignment portion is substantially the same as the total length L, and the groove length of the preliminary alignment portion is shorter than the total length L. The medicine feeder characterized by the above-mentioned.
(2) The basic shape of the alignment board is cylindrical,
The medicine feeder according to (1) above, wherein the internal space of the aligning plate housing portion has a cylindrical shape having an inner diameter capable of rotatably housing the aligning plate.
(3) The medicine feeder according to (1) above, wherein the medicine is the following medicine (A) or (B).
(4) an assembly of drug feeders for containing and delivering drugs,
Each drug feeder has a container body and an alignment board, and is formed as a dedicated drug feeder for each drug having different dimensions so that one drug feeder accommodates and sends out only one type of drug,
The container main body has a tank portion for storing the drug, and an alignment plate storage portion that is adjacent to the bottom of the container main body and rotatably stores the main body portion of the alignment plate.
One or more grooves are provided on the outer peripheral surface of the aligning plate so that the medicine enters from the tank portion, the grooves extend in a direction having a vertical component, and the groove has the longest dimension of the medicine to be accommodated. The groove depth and groove width are determined so that the portion faces the extending direction of the groove,
A partition plate protrudes from the inner wall surface of the aligning plate housing portion, and the groove is divided into an upper preliminary alignment portion and a lower alignment portion. A medicine outlet is provided in the aligning plate housing so that the medicine can descend,
As the longest dimension of one drug is called the total length L,
For the drug Px having the maximum total length Lx among the total lengths L of the drugs having different dimensions, the groove length of the alignment portion is substantially the same dimension Ax as the total length Lx, and the groove length of the preliminary alignment portion is the total length. The dimension Bx is shorter than Lx,
For a drug P other than the drug Px, the groove length of the alignment portion is approximately the same as the total length L of the drug P, and the groove length of the preliminary alignment portion is (Ax + Bx−L) or less. An assembly of drug feeders, characterized in that
(5) The basic shape of the alignment board is cylindrical,
The assembly of the medicine feeder according to (4) above, wherein the internal space of the aligning plate accommodating portion is a columnar shape having an inner diameter capable of rotatably accommodating the aligning plate.
(6) The container body is always formed in the same shape with respect to any of the medicines having different dimensions, and the height H of the cylinder which is the shape of the aligning plate housing portion is less than twice the longest dimension Lx of the medicine Px. The assembly of the medicine feeder according to the above (5), wherein the dimensions are as follows.
(7) The assembly of drug feeders according to (4) above, wherein the drug Px is the drug (A) or (B) below.
(8) The partition plate is formed as a component separate from the container body, inserted so as to protrude into the cylindrical space from the outside of the container body, and is configured to be detachably fixed to the container body. (4) An assembly of drug feeders according to the description.
(A) A drug having a shape in which all dimensions in each of three-dimensional directions (x, y, z) orthogonal to each other are different from each other, and the longest dimension among these three dimensions is the total length L, and the remaining two When the dimensions are referred to as full width W and full thickness T, the total length L is a drug whose size is twice or more the larger dimension of full width W and full thickness T.
(B) Among all the dimensions in the three-dimensional directions (x, y, z) orthogonal to each other, one dimension is longer than the remaining two dimensions, and the remaining two dimensions are equal in shape to each other. When the longest dimension is referred to as the total length L, the remaining two dimensions are referred to as the full width W, and the total thickness T, the total length L has a dimension that is at least twice the full width W.

Hereinafter, among various commonly used drugs, a part designed to correspond to the total length of drugs belonging to a class having a long overall length (for example, JP 000 to 0 capsules) "(For example," alignment board for long "), the part designed to correspond to the total length of drugs (for example, No. 3-5 capsules) belonging to a category with a shorter overall length Will be explained.
In the conventional medicine feeder, when the pre-alignment portion is provided on the alignment board, the groove length is exclusively [groove length of the pre-alignment portion = total length of the medicine]. Groove length <total length of drug>. This is based on the new finding that even if the groove length of the preliminary alignment portion is shorter than the total length of the drug, the preliminary alignment portion can function to sufficiently attract the drug.
By shortening the groove length of the preliminary alignment portion, the following two functions and effects can be obtained.
First, the height of the aligning plate and the corresponding height of the aligning plate receiving portion of the container main body are shortened, so that the total height of the container main body, that is, the height of the medicine feeder as a single item is increased. It becomes compact. Alternatively, if the overall height of the container main body is made as usual while shortening the height of the aligning plate / aligning plate receiving portion, the volume of the tank portion can be increased accordingly.
Secondly, by lowering the height of the long alignment plate / alignment plate receiving portion, and not reducing the height of the short alignment plate (that is, not shortening the preliminary alignment portion), It is possible to reduce a dimensional difference between the height of the long aligning plate housing and the height of the short aligning plate. As a result, even if the long container main body is diverted to the short container main body, the waste of the storage space due to the dimensional difference as described in (i) above is suppressed. Therefore, the container main body can be used for only one type of long one. Since the long container body can be used as the short container body, a large number of container bodies are stored and prepared even in the assembly process of the medicine packaging device, which is an assembly of medicine feeders. This is preferable because the manufacturing cost of the medicine packaging device can be reduced. For example, it can be handled by only one type of mold for the container body.

In the following, preferred embodiments of the drug feeder and the aggregate thereof according to the present invention will be described, and the aspect of the drug feeder of the above (1) and the aspect of the aggregate of the above (4) will be described in order. In the following description, the longest dimension of one drug is referred to as a full length L.
As shown in FIG. 1, the medicine feeder according to the above aspect (1) includes a container body 10 and an alignment board 20. P is a drug handled by the drug feeder (as an example, a capsule in the figure).
The basic configuration of the drug feeder itself (for example, the following configurations (a) to (f) and the materials of the respective parts) and the following effects (g) obtained thereby will be described above with reference to FIG. You may refer the description of the conventional structure demonstrated and the patent documents 1-4.
(A) A configuration in which the container body 10 includes a tank portion 11 and an alignment board housing portion 12 adjacent to the bottom portion thereof.
(B) A configuration in which at least the main body portion 21 of the alignment board 20 is rotatably accommodated in the alignment board accommodating portion 12.
(C) A configuration in which a groove 22 is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the alignment board 20 with a partition wall 23 therebetween, and the groove 22 extends in a direction having a vertical component. In the example of FIG. 1, the groove 22 extends in the vertical direction.
(D) A configuration in which the upper part of the aligning plate is a stirring portion protruding in a spiral shape, and a connecting hole or a connecting shaft is provided on the lower surface of the aligning plate so as to be connected to an external driving device.
(E) A configuration in which the partition plate 30 protrudes locally from the inner wall surface of the alignment board housing portion 12 to divide the groove 22 into a preliminary alignment portion 22a and an alignment portion 22b.
(F) A configuration in which a medicine outlet 40 is provided in the alignment board housing portion below the position of the partition plate so that the medicine in the alignment portion can fall by its own weight.
(G) According to the basic configuration of (a) to (f) above, a large number of medicines randomly stored in the tank portion 11 fall into the grooves 22 of the aligning plate 20 to reach the aligning portion, and as the aligning plate rotates, The effect of the drug feeder is such that when the drug turns to a position directly below the partition plate, only the drug falls by its own weight from the drug outlet 40 to an external chute.

An important feature of the medicine feeder of the present invention resides in the groove length of the preliminary alignment portion as described in the above [Effect of the invention].
As shown in FIG. 1, in the present invention, the groove length of the preliminary alignment portion 22 a is shorter than the total length L of the medicine P. That is, the medicine P that has entered the preliminary alignment portion 22a does not completely fit in the preliminary alignment portion as shown in FIG. It will protrude from the tank part. Even such a short pre-alignment portion that is not present in the prior art exhibits the same effect as the conventional pre-alignment portion by appropriate limitation of the groove length.
The groove length of the alignment portion 22b is approximately the same as the total length L of the medicine P as in the past. The term “substantially the same” as used herein means that they may be the same as each other within the allowable error range in which the object of the present invention is achieved. The total length of the medicine is not exactly finished according to the nominal dimension, and the actual dimension of the groove length of the alignment portion 22b also has a manufacturing error.

  As described in the above [Effects of the invention], the present invention has a new finding that even if the groove length of the preliminary alignment portion is set shorter than the total length of the drug as described above, it functions sufficiently as the preliminary alignment portion. It has gained. By setting the groove length of the preliminary alignment portion to be short as described above, the height of the alignment plate housing portion 12 can be lowered by that amount, and the height of one medicine feeder can be made compact. Therefore, the problem (a) described above is solved. Moreover, the advantage that the amount of medicines to be stored is increased. This is the feature of the aspect (1).

In the aspect of (1) above, the groove length of the preliminary alignment portion may be shorter than the total length L of the medicine. However, in the aspect of (4) described above, From the viewpoint of preferably sharing the shape, the groove length of the preliminary alignment portion is preferably 80% or less, particularly 60% or less of the total length L of the drug.
In addition, the lower limit of the groove length of the preliminary alignment portion is appropriate to be 40% or more, particularly 45% or more, of the total length L of the drug to be handled from the viewpoint that the groove can function as the preliminary alignment portion.

  The medicine handled by the medicine feeder of the present invention, that is, the medicine to be delivered in the tank section may be a solid preparation that can be delivered one by one. For example, capsules, tablets (bare tablets, dragees) ), Pills, lozenges and the like. In addition, the drug does not necessarily need to be a drug, and may be similar to a food such as a nutritional supplement.

Among the drugs, the characteristics of the drug feeder of the present invention remarkably appear as shown in the above (A) and (B), which are drugs having an elongated shape.
As shown in FIG. 2 (a), the drug shown in (A) has a total length L that is twice or more the larger dimension (W in the example of the figure) of the full width W and the total thickness T. The longer it is, the longer the drug is.
The shape of the medicine shown in FIG. 2 (a) is an example, and the cross-sectional shape shown by hatching is a shape having a flat surface at the side edge and an inflated center. It may be.

As shown in FIG. 2B, the medicine shown in (B) is longer than the two dimensions T and W where one dimension L remains and the two dimensions T and W are equal to each other. Thus, the total length L is a drug having a dimension that is twice or more the full width W (= total thickness T). A typical example of such a drug is a capsule.
The cross-sectional shape and dimensions of the capsule are not limited, but currently, JP 000 capsule, 00 capsule, 0-5 capsule and the like are used as general-purpose capsules. 0.02 mm, No. 5 capsule has a total length of about 9.40 mm.

The grooves 22 provided on the outer peripheral surface of the aligning plate may be formed by cutting the base material of the aligning plate, or may be formed by joining ridge line projections as partition walls to the aligning plate.
The groove | channel 22 should just be extended | stretched in the direction which has a vertical direction component so that a chemical | medical agent may fall with dead weight. Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the depth and width of the groove 22 indicate that the longest part of the drug (the part having the full length L in the capsule, the part having the diameter in the disk-shaped tablet) is the groove. What is necessary is just to be determined so that it may face the extending | stretching direction.

  The basic shape of the alignment board may be a rotating body, and a columnar shape whose central axis of rotation extends in the vertical direction is a preferred embodiment, but a conical shape with the apex downward (Patent Documents 3 and 4), and the apex is upward It may be conical or the like. The direction of the rotation center axis is preferably the vertical direction, but may be changed as appropriate as long as the medicine can fall at the medicine outlet. With these shapes, the groove extends in a direction having a vertical component so that the drug falls under its own weight.

  It is preferable that the internal space of the aligning plate housing portion in the container body has a shape that matches the basic shape of the aligning plate, and has an inner diameter having a clearance that allows the aligning plate to rotate. The dropping posture of the medicine may be determined according to the distance between the inner wall surface of the aligning plate housing portion and the inner bottom surface of the groove of the aligning plate.

In the above aspect (1), the optimal height of the alignment plate for the medicine and the optimal height of the alignment plate housing portion of the container body may be set, except for shortening the preliminary alignment portion.
When considering only the ideal shape of the drug feeder as a single product without considering the unification of the component dimensions, the height of the aligning plate receiving portion in the container body (dimension H in FIG. 1) is the height of the groove of the aligning plate. A dimension that is substantially equal to the total length (that is, the groove length 22a of the pre-alignment portion in FIG. 1 + the groove length 22b of the alignment portion), in particular, as shown in FIG. It is preferable to do this.
That is, in FIG. 1, H ≧ 22a + 22b is a preferable dimensional relationship.

Next, the aspect (4) of the present invention will be described.
This aspect is an aggregate formed by collecting a plurality of drug feeders according to the present invention, and may include at least one drug feeder according to the above aspect (1). From the standpoint of unifying the dimensions of the container main body into one type, a combination using the medicine feeder alignment board of the above-described aspect (1) for the long use and a conventional medicine feeder alignment board for the short use is preferable. The basic mechanism and configuration of each drug feeder for delivering a drug are the same as those of the drug feeder of the above aspect (1).
FIG. 3 schematically shows the dimensional relationship between the alignment boards 20a, 20b, and 20c of the individual drug feeders in this embodiment, taking the three types of drugs as the longest, medium, and shortest as examples. As shown in the figure, each medicine feeder is formed as a dedicated medicine feeder for each medicine having different dimensions so that only one kind of medicine is accommodated and sent out.

  In the above aspect (4), when a plurality of drug feeders are collected to form an assembly, the groove length of the preliminary alignment portion is shortened for the longest alignment plate, and the height of the alignment plate storage portion of the container body is also reduced. Shorten accordingly. On the other hand, for the medicine alignment board shorter than a certain length, the groove length of the preliminary alignment portion is not shortened, and a container body having the same dimensions as the length is used for this. Thereby, the unification of the container body can be preferably achieved, and the above problem (ii) is solved.

More specifically, as shown in the alignment board 20a of FIG. 3, for the drug Px having the maximum total length Lx among the total lengths of the drugs having different dimensions, the groove length of the preliminary alignment portion is set to the drug total length Lx. Shorter dimension Bx. Since the groove length of the alignment portion is substantially the same dimension Ax as the total length Lx of the drug, the total groove length of the longest alignment plate is Ax + Bx (= Lx + Bx) <2Lx.
This feature is a feature of the medicine feeder of the aspect (1) above, and the amount of shortening of the groove length of the longest pre-alignment portion is as described in the explanation of the aspect (1).
Further, the height Hx of the longest aligning plate housing portion is similarly shortened, and is less than twice the total length Lx of the drug Px, preferably the size Ax + Bx (= Lx + Bx) substantially the same as the total groove length of the aligning plate, Or it is good also as a dimension longer about 0 mm-5 mm than it.
The height dimension Hx of the aligning plate receiving portion shortened for the longest as described above is also applied to other feeders, and the height of the aligning plate receiving portion of the other container body is set to the dimension Hx = Ax + Bx (= Lx + Bx) is the most preferable aspect of this aspect.

The total length of the grooves of the aligning plate for drugs (P1 and P2 in FIG. 3) shorter than the drug Px is preferably set to any one of the following dimensions (i) and (ii).
(I) A drug that is shorter than the longest drug Px by a trace amount, such as the drug P1 in FIG. 3 (that is, a length that is twice the full length L1 of the drug is equal to or greater than the total length Ax + Bx of the longest groove) In the case of (medicine), the total length of the grooves on the alignment board is Ax + Bx. In this case, the length B1 of the preliminary alignment portion is shorter than the total length L1 of the medicine, and the medicine feeder is included in the above-described aspect (1).
(Ii) A drug sufficiently shorter than the longest drug Px as shown in FIG. 3 (that is, twice the total length L2 of the drug is the total length Ax + Bx (= Lx + Bx) of the longest groove) In the case of a lower drug), the total length of the grooves on the alignment board is shorter than Ax + Bx, but the preliminary alignment portion is not shortened and is simply twice as long as L2. As a result, the difference between the height H (= Ax + Bx) of the aligning plate receiving portion 12 of the container main body and the total length of the grooves of the aligning plate 20c (= 2 × L2) is not as great as the conventional case, and the loss of the tank portion is suppressed. The

In the case of the above (i), as shown in the alignment board 20b in FIG. 3, the total length of the grooves is matched with the alignment board 20a to be Ax + Bx (= Lx + Bx), but the breakdown is different from the alignment board 20a. The groove length of the part is L1, and the groove length of the preliminary alignment part is the remaining Bx + Lx−L1 obtained by subtracting the groove length L1 of the alignment part from the total length Lx + Bx. That is, the groove length of the preliminary alignment portion in this case is less shortened and is closer to the total length L1 of the corresponding medicine P1.
As described in (i) and (ii) above, for a drug shorter than the drug Px, it is preferable that the total length of the grooves of the alignment plate be Ax + Bx (= Lx + Bx) or less. In that case, the groove length of the preliminary alignment portion is (Ax + Bx−L) or less, where L is the total length of the drug.
When the total length of the drug is shorter than half of (Ax + Bx), such as the drug P2 shown in FIG. 3 (when the total length is doubled, it is less than Ax + Bx), the dimensions of the processing material of the aligner are unified. Depending on the purpose such as, the total length of the groove may be extended to Ax + Bx. In that case, the groove length of the preliminary alignment portion is longer than the total length of the medicine.
In addition, in the case of a small capsule having a sufficiently short overall length, such as a medicine P2 (for example, JP No. 5 capsule) shown in FIG. The collective behavior (such as the ability to sink into the alignment board and the resistance against moving parts inside the container) differs from the behavior of the longest drug Px, and even the alignment part alone can sufficiently fall into the groove. There is a case (that is, a pre-alignment portion may not be required). In such a case, the preliminary alignment part may be omitted, and an alignment board (so-called single-stage blade) having only the alignment part may be used. An alignment plate having only an alignment portion is preferred because it is easy to cut and provides a larger drug storage space within the container.

In order to configure the above aspect (4), the alignment plate determined by taking the groove length of the preliminary alignment portion as short as possible with respect to the drug having the maximum overall length among the drugs handled by the assembly. It is preferable that the total length of the groove is (Ax + Bx) as described above, and the height of the aligning plate receiving portion is made to correspond to this to be the size of the container body of another feeder.
Examples of the drug Px having the maximum total length Lx among the drugs having different dimensions include JP 000 capsule (total length: about 22.02 mm). When the No. 000 capsule is intended, the groove length of the pre-aligned portion is preferably 40% to 60%, particularly 40% to 50% of the total length of the capsule. Correspondingly, if the height of the aligning plate housing portion of the container main body is shortened, the container main body having the same size is preferably used even for the drug feeder targeting a drug shorter than the longest capsule. Can do.

As described above, in the above aspect (4) of the present invention, a container body having a common size is used for the container body of the medicine feeders to be assembled. However, since the breakdown of the total length of the grooves on the alignment plate (the groove length of the preliminary alignment portion / the groove length of the alignment portion) varies depending on the total length of the drug, the height of the partition plate provided in each container body also varies depending on the drug feeder. Therefore, even if the dimensions of the container body are made common, the height of the partition plate must be adjusted for each container body.
Therefore, by adopting a configuration in which the position of the partition plate can be changed with one touch, it is possible to easily cope with a container body dedicated to drugs having different full lengths while using a container body having a common size and shape.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 4, parts 31 a and 31 b including tongue-shaped partition plates 30 a and 30 b are formed as accessories separately from the container body 10 as a configuration that can change the position of the partition plate with one touch. The container body 10 has a structure that can be detachably fixed to the insertion hole of the container main body 10, and is inserted from the outside of the container main body 10 at a height corresponding to the total length of the medicine, thereby projecting the partition plate into the space of the alignment board housing portion. Embodiments are illustrated. The length of the partition plate may be appropriately determined according to the depth of the groove (the cross-sectional dimension of the drug).

  As a structure for variously changing the height of the partition plate with respect to one container body, as shown in FIG. A plurality of pairs of insertion holes 12f and positioning holes 12h are provided at necessary positions on the outer wall surface of the other wall (other parts are not shown), and the partition plate 30 provided for the component 31 is used for positioning. A structure in which the insertion position of the pin 32 is variable is exemplified. Thereby, positioning and change can be easily performed.

In the example of FIG. 5A, the portion 12e itself including the insertion hole 12f and the positioning hole 12h is also a separate part that can be attached to and detached from the alignment board housing portion 12 of the container body.
In the example shown in the figure, the insertion holes 12f have three stages of upper, middle, and lower, but the number of stages is not limited. Moreover, it is not necessary to open all the piercing holes 12f, and only the necessary piercing holes may be opened and the remaining portions may be closed at the part molding stage.
In the example of FIG. 5 (a), the upper and middle of the three stages of insertion holes are closed.
As shown in FIG. 5B, the positioning pin is a split pin 32a, so that it can be fixed simply by pushing it in with the finger in the direction of the arrow shown in the figure, and it can be easily positioned and attached with one touch without using a tool. Is possible.

The thickness of the partition plate may be changed according to the type of the drug, and the material used for the partition plate for that purpose may be appropriately selected from resin, metal (particularly stainless steel), and the like.
For example, in the case of tablets other than capsules (bare tablets, etc.) that are disk-shaped and have a constant thickness, the two drugs that have entered the grooves on the alignment board are placed on the top and bottom (aligned with the preliminary alignment section). When dividing into two parts, a partition plate must be inserted between the two so that there is no resistance relatively accurately. Therefore, the partition plate in such a case is required to be light, thin, flexible, mechanical strength, and difficult to break. As such a material, for example, a thin stainless plate having a thickness of about 0.3 mm to 0.5 mm is preferable.
Moreover, since the capsule is usually cylindrical and both end surfaces are hemispherical, even if the thickness of the partition plate is about 0.5 mm to 1.0 mm, the capsule can easily enter between the drugs. Can do. Therefore, the partition plate for capsules can be a molded product made of a resin material such as PP (polypropylene) or soft PE (polyethylene).

The following are three types of drug feeders (long, medium, short) that target three types of capsules with different overall lengths (long, medium, short), share the same container body size, and deliver each capsule exclusively. For example), and an aggregate is shown.
The dimensional specifications of the three types of capsules are as follows.
Long capsule (JP 000): Total length of about 22.02mm, trunk diameter of about 9.53mm
Medium capsule (JP 1): Total length of about 16.71mm, trunk diameter of about 6.61mm
Short capsule (JP-5): Length of about 9.40mm, body diameter of about 4.66mm

The main dimensions of the alignment board produced for the three types of capsules are as follows.
[Alignment board for long]
As shown in FIG. 1, a cylindrical ingot member (body outer diameter 61 mm) having an agitating portion protruding in a spiral shape was formed of ABS (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene) resin. The lower surface of the ingot member is provided with a hole for connecting to an output rotating shaft of an AC synchronous motor which is an external drive device.
A total of 10 grooves (preliminary alignment portions + alignment portions) in the vertical direction were cut at equal intervals over the entire circumference on the side surface of the body of the ingot member, so that partition walls and grooves were alternately arranged. The groove width was 10.5 mm, and the total length of the groove was 32 mm. Between the alignment portion and the preliminary alignment, a 5 mm partition groove exists in the circumferential direction so as to cross each groove.
The breakdown (by design) of the total length of 32 mm of the groove is that the groove length of the alignment portion that should correspond to the total length of the capsule is about 22 mm, and the groove length of the preliminary alignment portion is the remaining 10 mm. Therefore, in a state where two No. 000 capsules have entered the groove of the alignment plate, a phenomenon unique to the present invention occurs in which the capsule protrudes by about 12 mm from the upper end of the groove.

[Medium alignment board]
A cylindrical ingot member similar to that for long ones was formed, and a total of 15 vertical grooves were cut on the side surface of the body at equal intervals over the entire circumference, so that partition walls and grooves were alternately arranged. The groove width was 8.0 mm and the total length of the groove was 32 mm.
The breakdown of the total length of the grooves (in terms of design) is that the groove length of the alignment portion is approximately 17 mm corresponding to the total length of the capsule, and the groove length of the preliminary alignment portion is the remaining 15 mm. Therefore, in a state where two No. 1 capsules have entered the groove of the alignment board, the upper end of the capsule protrudes from the groove length by about 2 mm.
In the present embodiment, the preliminary alignment portion and the alignment portion are provided. However, in the case of JP 1 capsule, even if the preliminary alignment portion is omitted, there is no problem in practical use. There is a case.

[Short-range alignment board]
A cylindrical ingot member similar to that for long ones was formed, and a total of 17 grooves in the vertical direction were cut into the body side surface at equal intervals over the entire circumference, so that partition walls and grooves were alternately arranged. The groove width is 6.0 mm, and the total length of the groove is 32 mm.
The breakdown of the total length of the grooves (in terms of design) was such that the groove length of the alignment portion was about 10 mm corresponding to the total length of the capsule, and the remaining groove length of the preliminary alignment portion was 22 mm. Accordingly, three capsules No. 5 can enter vertically into the groove of the alignment plate, and the upper end of the capsule is retracted about 2 mm from the upper end of the groove to the inside.
In this embodiment, the total length of the groove is set to 32 mm, the preliminary alignment portion and the alignment portion are provided, and the size of the No. 5 capsule is set to continuously enter three vertically. In actual use, there is often a case where a problem-free feedability can be obtained even if the preliminary alignment portion is omitted.

[Container body]
The main body of the container was formed of AS (acrylonitrile-styrene) resin in accordance with the shape and size of the aligning plate accommodating portion to the long aligning plate.
The internal space of the aligning plate receiving portion is formed in a cylindrical shape with an inner diameter of φ62 mm so that the aligning plate can be rotated and an appropriate gap with the aligning plate is set, and the height is set to 32 mm in accordance with the long aligning plate. .
As shown in Fig. 1, a partition plate is inserted from the outside into a position that is the height of the full length of the medicine from the lower surface, which is the dimensional reference of the alignment board, at the position immediately above the medicine outlet, and the grooves of the alignment board are aligned. It was set as the structure which can isolate in a part and a preliminary alignment part. Further, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a structure with positioning pins and positioning holes is provided on the outside of the alignment board housing portion so that the partition plate member can be changed with one touch in accordance with the total length of each capsule.
The tank part is integrated above the alignment board accommodating part, and the pedestal part is integrated below, but detailed description of these shapes and dimensions and description of other details are omitted.
As described above, the container main body having the aligning plate accommodating portion adapted to the long aligning plate was also formed for other drug feeders.

Combine the container body formed as a common dimension with the alignment plate for long, medium and short, set the partition plate at the optimum position for each, and attach the external drive device to the lower part of each three types Configured drug feeder.
Capsules corresponding to the respective drug feeders are filled with the corresponding capsules, and the external drive device is operated to observe the action of the pre-alignment part and the condition of delivery. The pre-alignment part of the long drug feeder is While the groove length was 12 mm shorter than the total length of the drug, the capsule was attracted sufficiently well as a preliminary alignment part. The capsules that entered the pre-alignment part fell into the alignment part without being caught at the entrance of the groove, and the phenomenon that the medicine did not come out from the medicine feeder did not occur at all in the 1000-tablet continuous delivery experiment.
In addition, in the middle and short medicine feeders, the upper end of the aligning plate receiving portion of the container body and the upper end of the preliminary aligning portion can be substantially the same height, and the aligning plate having only the aligning portion dedicated for short use. Compared to a container main body having a short aligning plate accommodating portion corresponding to (the tank portion is correspondingly large), the amount of medicine accommodated was not significantly inferior.

  According to the present invention, the container body can be made more compact in the height direction than before. Further, when a drug feeder assembly is configured, it is possible to use a container body having a common size even if the total length of the drugs is different, and the cost of the drug packaging device can be reduced.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the chemical | medical agent feeder by this invention, Comprising: A container main body is shown with sectional drawing, and the aligning board is shown with the external view. It is a figure which shows an example of the chemical | medical agent handled by the chemical | medical agent feeder by this invention. It is a figure which shows the dimensional relationship between the medicine feeders in the aggregate | assembly by this invention. In the chemical | medical agent feeder of this invention, it is sectional drawing which shows an example of the structure for changing the position of a partition plate. In the chemical | medical agent feeder of this invention, it is a perspective view which shows an example of the structure for changing the position of a partition plate by one-touch. The container body of the example in the figure is drawn like a cylindrical body because only the aligning plate housing portion is drawn for explanation, but its upper end extends to the tank portion, and the lower end is a pedestal. Spread to the part. It is a figure which shows the structure of the conventional chemical | medical agent feeder. It is a figure which shows the problem of the conventional chemical | medical agent feeder.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Container main body 11 Tank part 12 Alignment board accommodating part 20 Alignment board 21 Main body part 22 Groove 22a Preliminary alignment part 22b Alignment part 23 Partition 30 Partition plate 40 Drug outlet P Drug

Claims (8)

A medicine feeder for containing and delivering medicine, having a container body and an alignment board,
The container main body has a tank portion for storing the drug, and an alignment plate storage portion that is adjacent to the bottom of the container main body and rotatably stores the main body portion of the alignment plate.
One or more grooves are provided on the outer peripheral surface of the aligning plate so that the medicine enters from the tank portion, the grooves extend in a direction having a vertical component, and the groove has a portion having the longest dimension of the medicine. The groove depth and groove width are determined so as to face the extending direction of the groove,
A partition plate protrudes from the inner wall surface of the aligning plate housing portion, and the groove is divided into an upper preliminary alignment portion and a lower alignment portion. A medicine outlet is provided in the aligning plate housing so that the medicine can descend,
Assuming that the longest dimension of one drug is called the total length L, the groove length of the alignment portion is substantially the same as the total length L, and the groove length of the preliminary alignment portion is shorter than the total length L. The medicine feeder characterized by the above-mentioned. The basic shape of the alignment board is cylindrical,
The medicine feeder according to claim 1, wherein the internal space of the aligning plate accommodating portion is a columnar shape having an inner diameter capable of rotatably accommodating the aligning plate. The drug feeder according to claim 1, wherein the drug is the following drug (A) or (B).
(A) A drug having a shape in which all dimensions in each of three-dimensional directions (x, y, z) orthogonal to each other are different from each other, and the longest dimension among these three dimensions is the total length L, and the remaining two When the dimensions are referred to as full width W and full thickness T, the total length L is a drug whose size is twice or more the larger dimension of full width W and full thickness T.
(B) Among all the dimensions in the three-dimensional directions (x, y, z) orthogonal to each other, one dimension is longer than the remaining two dimensions, and the remaining two dimensions are equal in shape to each other. When the longest dimension is referred to as the total length L, the remaining two dimensions are referred to as the full width W, and the total thickness T, the total length L has a dimension that is at least twice the full width W. A collection of drug feeders that contain and deliver drugs,
Each drug feeder has a container body and an alignment board, and is formed as a dedicated drug feeder for each drug having different dimensions so that one drug feeder accommodates and sends out only one type of drug,
The container main body has a tank portion for storing the drug, and an alignment plate storage portion that is adjacent to the bottom of the container main body and rotatably stores the main body portion of the alignment plate.
One or more grooves are provided on the outer peripheral surface of the aligning plate so that the medicine enters from the tank portion, the grooves extend in a direction having a vertical component, and the groove has the longest dimension of the medicine to be accommodated. The groove depth and groove width are determined so that the portion faces the extending direction of the groove,
A partition plate protrudes from the inner wall surface of the aligning plate housing portion, and the groove is divided into an upper preliminary alignment portion and a lower alignment portion. A medicine outlet is provided in the aligning plate housing so that the medicine can descend,
As the longest dimension of one drug is called the total length L,
For the drug Px having the maximum total length Lx among the total lengths L of the drugs having different dimensions, the groove length of the alignment portion is substantially the same dimension Ax as the total length Lx, and the groove length of the preliminary alignment portion is the total length. The dimension Bx is shorter than Lx,
For a drug P other than the drug Px, the groove length of the alignment portion is approximately the same as the total length L of the drug P, and the groove length of the preliminary alignment portion is (Ax + Bx−L) or less. An assembly of drug feeders, characterized in that The basic shape of the alignment board is cylindrical,
The assembly of the medicine feeder according to claim 4, wherein the internal space of the aligning plate receiving portion is a columnar shape having an inner diameter capable of rotatably holding the aligning plate. The container body is always formed in the same shape for any of the drugs with different dimensions,
6. The assembly of drug feeders according to claim 5, wherein a height H of a cylinder, which is a shape of the aligning plate housing portion, is a dimension that is less than twice the longest dimension Lx of the drug Px. The aggregate of drug feeders according to claim 4, wherein the drug Px is the drug (A) or (B) below.
(A) A drug having a shape in which all dimensions in each of three-dimensional directions (x, y, z) orthogonal to each other are different from each other, and the longest dimension among these three dimensions is the total length L, and the remaining two When the dimensions are referred to as full width W and full thickness T, the total length L is a drug whose size is twice or more the larger dimension of full width W and full thickness T.
(B) Among all the dimensions in the three-dimensional directions (x, y, z) orthogonal to each other, one dimension is longer than the remaining two dimensions, and the remaining two dimensions are equal in shape to each other. When the longest dimension is referred to as the total length L, the remaining two dimensions are referred to as the full width W, and the total thickness T, the total length L has a dimension that is at least twice the full width W.   The partition plate is formed as a part separate from the container body, and is inserted into the cylindrical space so as to protrude from the outside of the container body, and can be detachably fixed to the container body. A collection of drug feeders.

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