JP2007190401A - Medicament cassetter - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a medicament cassetter securely preventing rotation of a distribution rotor not only when the cassetter is detached from a support table but when the cassetter is attached to the support table regardless of the number of teeth of a gear not to accidentally discharge medicaments. <P>SOLUTION: The medicament cassetter has the distribution rotor which is detachable from the support table constituting a medicament distribution device for discharging a prescribed number of stored medicaments such as tablets at a time. The distribution rotor comprises a peripheral wall in which a medicament alignment passage is formed and an agitation inclined part for agitating the medicaments. The peripheral wall and the agitation incline part are formed as separate bodies and structured to be rotatably independently. A cassetter body has a locking means for locking the peripheral wall of the distribution rotor when the cassetter body is detached from the support table and releasing the lock of the distribution rotor when the cassetter body is attached to the support table. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a medicine cassette that discharges a predetermined number of medicines such as tablets and capsules contained therein, and more particularly, to a medicine cassette that is improved so as not to inadvertently discharge the medicine stored in a support base when it is attached or detached. .

  In general, a drug cassette includes a drug container that stores a drug such as a tablet therein, a distribution rotor that is rotatably provided in the drug container, and a slave gear that is fixed to a rotation shaft of the distribution rotor. Thus, it is configured to be attachable to and detachable from a support base constituting the medicine distribution device.

  When such a medicine cassette is mounted on the support base, the subordinate gear of the medicine cassette meshes with the main gear connected to the drive means provided on the support base, and the distribution rotor is rotated by operating the drive means, whereby the medicine alignment path A predetermined number of medicines are discharged from the discharge hole to the discharge hole.

  By the way, when replenishing a medicine or exchanging the kind of medicine, the medicine cassette is removed from the support base, but since the distribution rotor provided in the medicine cassette is rotatable, the medicine cassette The dispensing rotor may rotate inadvertently and the stored medicine may be discharged when attaching or detaching, or when changing or replenishing the medicine cassette.

In order to prevent the discharge of the medicine, for example, as shown in FIG. 6, when the medicine cassette 40 is removed from the support base (not shown), the slave gear 41 is locked by the spring bias and the medicine cassette 40 is attached. Then, a means of providing a locking member 43 for releasing the locking of the dependent gear 41 can be considered.
According to the locking member 43, the locking ridge 43a is fitted between the teeth 41a and 41a of the dependent gear 41 (tooth groove 41b), so that the dependent gear 41 is firmly locked and rotates. Therefore, since the distribution rotor 44 does not rotate when the medicine cassette 40 is removed, it is considered to be an effective means for preventing inadvertent discharge of the medicine.

  However, in the above means, when removing the medicine cassette 40, it is impossible to deny the possibility that the locking crest 43a of the locking member 43 abuts against the teeth 41a of the dependent gear 41 and interferes with each other. In this state, after that, the dependent gear 41 is slightly rotated, and the locking ridge 43a and the tooth groove 41b of the dependent gear 41 are fitted.

If the subordinate gear 41 is slightly rotated in this way, the distribution rotor 44 is also rotated accordingly, so that the medicine may be discharged.
For example, if the number of medicine alignment paths 45 of the distribution rotor 44 is about twice the number of teeth 41a of the subordinate gear 41, when the subordinate gear 41 rotates from the tooth 41a to the tooth groove 41b, the distribution rotor 44 The drug alignment path 45 ′ (the part where the drug has already been discharged and empty, in other words, the discharged drug alignment path 45 ′) located in the discharge hole 46 at the time of removal moves and moves to the discharge hole 46 next to it. The medicine alignment path 45 "is positioned and the medicine is discharged.

  Even if the number of the teeth 41a of the subordinate gear 41 and the number of the drug alignment paths 45 are substantially the same, the distribution rotor 44 is slightly rotated when the apparatus is stopped. If the intermediate portion between the discharged drug alignment path 45 'and the adjacent drug alignment path 45 "is positioned without being positioned, the interference between the locking crest 43a and the tooth groove 41b of the subordinate gear 41 occurs. When the subordinate gear 41 is slightly rotated after the engagement, the adjacent medicine alignment path 45 "is positioned in the discharge hole 46 and the medicine is discharged.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made to solve such problems, and reliably distributes not only the state of removal from the support base, but also when it is attached to or detached from the support base, regardless of the number of gear teeth. It is an object of the present invention to provide a medicine cassette that prevents rotation of the rotor and prevents the medicine from being discharged carelessly.

  The present invention is a medicine cassette that is provided with a rotatable dispensing rotor 11 that is detachably attached to a support base 2 constituting a medicine dispensing apparatus and that discharges a predetermined number of medicines such as stored tablets. In the rotor 11, the peripheral wall 11a in which the medicine alignment path 16 is formed, and the stirring inclined portion 33 that stirs the medicine are separately formed and configured to be rotatable separately. When the cassette body 3 is removed from the support base 2, the peripheral wall 11a of the distribution rotor 11 is locked, and when the cassette body 3 is attached to the support base 2, the lock of the distribution rotor 11 is released. Means are provided.

When the medicine cassette having the above structure is detached from the support base 2, the distribution rotor 11 is locked by the locking means. Therefore, the distribution rotor 11 is inadvertently used when the cassette body 3 is transported or when the medicine is refilled. Therefore, the stored medicine is not inadvertently discharged from the discharge hole 17.
Such a locking means locks the distribution rotor 11 from which the medicine is discharged when rotated, and thus is a direct means for preventing rotation, and for example, locks the subordinate gear of the distribution rotor. In this case, it is possible to reliably lock the distribution rotor 11 without the possibility that the tooth of the slave gear and the locking member interfere with each other and the rotation of the distribution rotor slightly after removal.

  In the medicine cassette of the present invention, the peripheral wall 11a of the distribution rotor 11 is provided with a plurality of medicine alignment paths 16 for aligning the medicine, and the locking means is fitted into the medicine alignment path 16 at the medicine discharge position B. It is characterized by comprising a latching portion 23 that can be obtained.

In the medicine cassette having the above-described configuration, since the locking tool main body 22 is inserted into the exit portion for discharging the medicine, the effect of preventing the medicine from being inadvertently discharged can be achieved most reliably.
Here, the drug discharge position refers to a part of the plurality of drug alignment paths 16 provided in the distribution rotor 11 that has already been discharged after being discharged.
Since the medicine alignment path 16 at the medicine discharge position is empty because the medicine has already been discharged, the locking tool main body 22 can be securely inserted.

In the medicine cassette according to the present invention, the locking means for preventing discharge of the medicine when the cassette body is attached / detached, transported, etc., locks the peripheral wall of the distribution rotor to be prevented from rotating. Compared with the means for locking the gear, there is an effect that the distribution rotor is securely locked at the time of attachment / detachment to prevent the rotation and prevent the medicine from being inadvertently discharged.
Furthermore, if the locking portion as the locking means is inserted into the drug alignment path at the drug discharge position, the drug discharge port is blocked by the locking portion, so that the drug is most effectively inadvertent. Emission can be prevented.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the medicine dispensing apparatus in this embodiment is detachably attached to the support base 2 and fan-shaped support bases 2.. And a cassette body 3 capable of containing a medicine such as a tablet or a capsule.

  The housing 1, the support base 2, and the cassette body 3 are manufactured by being integrally formed of hard plastic.

  The support 2 is provided with a drug passage hole 5 for dropping the tablet at the bottom on the housing side, and a sensor (not shown) serving as a detection means capable of detecting the passage of the drug is formed on the inner surface of the drug passage hole 5. )).

Further, a main drive gear 8 connected to a drive shaft 7 of a rotary motor (not shown) serving as a drive means is provided on the front side (side away from the housing 1) from the drug passage hole 5. It becomes. Here, as shown in FIG. 2, the main drive gear 8 is provided on the left side in a plan view of the center line of the support base 2 in the front-rear direction.
The drive shaft 7 is coupled to the rotary motor so as not to be relatively rotatable in both directions. On the other hand, the main drive gear 8 is relatively unrotatable only in one direction (X direction shown in FIG. 2) and opposite to the drive shaft 5. (Y direction shown in FIG. 2) is coupled to be relatively rotatable.
Note that a one-way clutch is employed between the drive shaft 7 and the main drive gear 8 and is non-rotatably connected only in the position direction.

Next, as shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the cassette body 3 constituting the medicine cassette discharges the medicine by a predetermined number while rotating inside the medicine storage section 10 whose upper side is opened and closed by the lid 9. The structure is provided with a rotatable distribution rotor 11.
The distribution rotor 11 is integrally provided at the upper end of the rotary shaft 12 provided on the center line in the front-rear direction of the cassette body 3, and the lower end of the rotary shaft 12 projects downward from the bottom surface 10a of the medicine container 10. A slave gear 14 is fixed to the lower end of the rotary shaft 12.
The distribution rotor 11 and the rotary shaft 12 and the rotary shaft 12 and the dependent gear 14 are not relatively rotatable in both directions.

When the cassette body 3 is mounted on the support base 2, the slave gear 14 of the cassette body 3 meshes with the right side of the main driving gear 8 provided on the left side (one side) of the support base 2.
A concave drug alignment path 16 in which drugs can be individually aligned is formed at predetermined intervals on the peripheral wall 11a of the cylindrical distribution rotor 11 of the cassette body 3.

  Further, on the rear side of the bottom surface 10a of the medicine container 10 of the cassette body 3 (the position above the medicine passage hole 5 when the cassette body 3 is mounted on the support base 2), the stored medicine is placed on the support base 2 A discharge hole 17 is formed for discharging to the medicine passage hole 5.

In addition, a partition plate 18 is provided on the rear side (above the discharge hole 17) of the peripheral surface 10b of the drug storage unit 10 to discharge the drug aligned in the drug alignment path 16 to the discharge hole 17 by a predetermined number. ing.
When the distribution rotor 11 rotates, the medicines stored in the medicine storage unit 10 are aligned with the medicine alignment path 16, and are partitioned by the partition plate 18 when the medicine alignment path 16 is positioned above the discharge hole 17. The lowermost drug is discharged and falls into the drug passage hole 5.

  The medicine cassette 1 is engaged with the peripheral wall 11a of the distribution rotor 11 when the medicine cassette 1 is removed from the support base 2, and the medicine cassette 1 is attached to the support base 2 when the medicine cassette 1 is mounted on the support base 2. Locking means for releasing the lock of the peripheral wall 11a is provided.

More specifically, the locking means comprises a locking tool body 22 having a generally U-shape in plan view that is rotatably supported by a shaft portion 21 that protrudes from the bottom surface 10a of the medicine storage portion 10, The one end side of the locking tool main body 22 passes through a window portion 20 formed on the rear side (above the discharge hole 17) of the peripheral surface 10b of the medicine storage portion 10, and passes the medicine alignment path of the distribution rotor 11 A locking portion 23 made of a substantially triangular protrusion in a plan view that can be fitted into 16 is formed, and the other end side of the locking tool body 22 protrudes rearward from the rear end surface of the medicine storage portion 10 to be a cassette. An action portion 24 that is pressed against the housing 1 when the main body 3 is mounted on the support base 2 is formed.
Furthermore, the locking tool main body 22 is urged in a direction in which the locking portion 23 is fitted into the medicine alignment path 16 by a biasing body 25 such as a spring inserted into the shaft portion 21.

The locking tool body 22 biased by the biasing body 25 is biased by the biasing body 25 when the cassette body 3 is pulled out when the cassette body 3 is removed from the support base 2. Of the plurality of drug alignment paths 16, the drug aligning path 16 is located above the discharge hole 17, that is, the locking tool main body in the drug alignment path 16 at the site where the drug has already been discharged (drug discharge position B). The locking portions 23 of 22 are fitted to lock the distribution rotor 11.
On the other hand, when the cassette body 3 is mounted on the support base 2, the action portion 24 of the locking tool body 22 is pressed against the housing 1, and the locking tool body 22 resists the biasing force of the biasing body 25 and the shaft portion 21. And the locking part 23 is separated from the medicine alignment path 16, so that the locking of the distribution rotor 11 is released.

  Reference numeral 27 denotes a gear case that covers the side of the main driving gear 8 projecting from the support base 2, and 28 denotes a case rib projecting downward from the bottom surface 10 a of the medicine container 10 of the cassette body 3. Show.

  The casing 1 is provided with catch metal fittings (not shown) made of permanent magnets, and a magnet plate (not shown) is disposed at the rear end of the peripheral surface 10b of the cassette body 3 at a position facing the catch metal fittings. ) Is installed.

  When the medicine cassette having the above structure is removed from the support base 2, the peripheral wall 11a of the distribution rotor 11 is locked by the locking means, so that not only when the cassette body 3 is transported or when the drug is refilled, The distribution rotor 11 does not rotate inadvertently at the time of mounting, and therefore the stored medicine is not inadvertently discharged from the discharge hole 17.

If the locking means directly locks the distribution rotor in this way, for example, the locking member and the teeth of the dependent gear abut when the medicine cassette is removed, such as means for directly locking the dependent gear, After that, the engaging member is fitted into the tooth space of the subordinate gear so that the distribution rotor does not rotate, and the discharge of the medicine can be surely prevented when the medicine cassette is attached / detached and transported.
This eliminates the risk of inadvertent discharge of the drug due to the relationship between the number of subordinate gears and the number of drug alignment paths of the distribution rotor, and therefore ensures that even if only the distribution rotor of the drug cassette is replaced, there is no problem with the drug. Prepared discharge can be prevented.

Further, since the locking means has a configuration in which the locking portion 23 of the locking tool body 22 is fitted into the concave drug alignment path 16, the locking section 23 and the drug alignment path 16 are sufficiently engaged. Furthermore, since the locking portion 23 is made of a protrusion formed in a triangular shape in plan view, it is easy to fit into the concave medicine alignment path 16.
Therefore, for example, even when the distribution rotor 11 is slightly rotated when the apparatus is stopped and is slightly displaced from the medicine discharge position B, the tip of the protrusion is inserted into the medicine alignment path 16 where the position is displaced. In addition, since the oblique side portion 23a of the projection presses the corner portion 32 (see FIG. 4) of the convex surface 32 constituting the peripheral wall 11a of the distribution rotor 11, the distribution rotor 11 is slightly returned and locked. There is an advantage that the portion 23 can be fitted into the medicine alignment path 16 and the distribution rotor 11 can be locked.

Further, since the medicine is already discharged in the medicine alignment path 16 at the medicine discharge position B, the medicine does not exist and is empty (of course, the cassette main body 3 provided with the partition plate 18). In this case, it means the medicine alignment path 16 between the discharge hole 17 and the partition plate 18). When the cassette body 3 is removed, the locking portion 23 of the locking tool body 22 may be disturbed by the medicine. The dispensing rotor 11 can be locked by securely fitting into the medicine alignment path 16 without any problem.
In addition, the medicine discharge position B is a position where the medicine alignment path 16 communicates with the discharge hole 17 and is an exit portion from which the medicine is discharged from the cassette body 3 to the support base 2. Inserting the plug directly closes the outlet of the drug, so it is very effective as a means for preventing the drug from being discharged.

  In addition, the medicine dispensing device comprising the cassette main body 3 provided with such a locking means and the support base 2 having the above-described configuration is assumed to have a dependent gear 14 of the cassette main body 3 when the cassette main body 3 is mounted on the support base 2. Even when the teeth of the support base 2 and the teeth of the main drive gear 8 of the support base 2 come into contact with each other, the main drive gear 8 is rotatable in the Y direction (from the front to the rear of the support base 2). Will rotate and the interference between the teeth will be eliminated, so that the main gear 8 and the subordinate gear 14 will mesh without the subordinate gear 14 rotating.

That is, the main driving gear 8 is provided on the left side (one side) with respect to the insertion direction of the subordinate gear 14 (from the front to the rear side of the support base 2), and the right side (the other side) of the main driving gear 8 is Y. Since it is coupled to the drive shaft 7 so as to be relatively rotatable in the direction, only the main driving gear 8 rotates when the main driving gear 8 and the subordinate gear 14 come into contact with each other.
Therefore, when the cassette body 3 is mounted on the support base 2, incomplete meshing of gears (interference between teeth) does not occur, and furthermore, the subordinate gear 14 does not rotate, so the distribution rotor 11 does not rotate during mounting. So the drug is not inadvertently discharged.

The drug cassette according to the above embodiment has the above-described advantages from the above-described configuration, but the locking means provided on the drug cassette is a locking tool that can be inserted into and removed from the drug alignment path 16 of the distribution rotor 11. It is not limited to the main body 22, for example, it may be configured to lock the distribution rotor 11 by pressing the convex surface 32 constituting the peripheral wall 11a of the distribution rotor 11, and the concave surface 32 is provided with a depression, A configuration in which the locking portion 23 of the locking tool main body 22 can be inserted into and removed from the recess may be employed.
Further, the locking tool main body 22 is not necessarily limited to the configuration for locking the drug alignment path 16 at the drug discharge position B 1.
The point is that the peripheral wall 11a of the distribution rotor 11 is locked when the cassette body 3 is removed from the support base 2, and the lock of the distribution rotor 11 is released when the cassette body 3 is mounted on the support base 2. If it is a stop means, the specific structure will not ask | require.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, the locking portion 23 includes a protrusion formed in a substantially triangular shape in plan view, and the locking portion 23 is locked even when the drug alignment path 16 is slightly displaced from the drug discharge position B. When the oblique side portion 23a of the portion 23 presses the peripheral wall 11a of the distribution rotor 11, the distribution rotor 11 is slightly returned by the inclined side of the oblique side portion 23a. Although there is an advantage that 23 is securely inserted and the distribution rotor 11 is locked, the locking portion 23 is not limited to a substantially triangular protrusion in plan view. This is because the above-described advantages can be obtained if the locking portion 23 is formed with at least one inclined surface 23a that contacts the corner portion 32a of the convex surface 32 of the distribution rotor 11.

  Further, the distribution rotor 11 is integrally formed with the peripheral wall 11a in which the medicine alignment path 16 is formed and the stirring inclined portion 33 (see FIG. 5) for stirring the medicine, but each is formed separately. The structure which can be rotated separately may be sufficient.

Further, the medicine dispensing device of the above embodiment has the above-mentioned advantages from the above configuration, but transmits the rotation in one direction of the driving means to the distribution rotor 11, and does not transmit the rotation in the opposite direction to the distribution rotor 11. As the means, the main drive gear 8 is connected to the drive shaft 7 of the drive means so as to be relatively rotatable in only one direction. For example, the drive shaft 7 and the main drive gear 8 are non-rotatably connected and the subordinate gears. Even if 14 and the distribution rotor 11 are configured to be rotatable only in one direction, the above-described effects can be obtained.
Of course, both gears may be coupled so as to be rotatable in one direction, or any gear may be configured to be rotatable in one direction with another gear interposed.

  In short, when the medicine cassette is attached / detached, the main driving gear 8 and / or the subordinate gear 14 can rotate in either direction to prevent both gears from interfering with each other without being inserted or removed, and the medicine dispensing device can be When operating, if the main drive gear 8 transmits the rotation of the drive device in one direction to the slave gear 14 and rotates the distribution rotor 11 to discharge the medicine, it does not interfere with the original function. The design can be freely changed within the intended range.

The side view which shows the outline of the chemical | medical agent distribution apparatus in one Embodiment of this invention. The principal part expanded sectional plan view of the support stand of the embodiment. The rear view which shows the chemical | medical agent cassette of the embodiment. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line II in FIG. 3. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the roll line of FIG. 3. The reference top view of the locking member which locks a dependent gear.

Explanation of symbols

2… Support base 3… Cassetter body 8… Main drive gear
11 ... distribution rotor 11a ... peripheral wall 14 ... subordinate gear
16 ... Drug alignment path 23 ... Locking part B ... Drug discharge position

Claims (2)

A medicine cassette provided with a rotatable dispensing rotor (11) that is detachably attached to a support base (2) constituting a medicine dispensing apparatus and that discharges a predetermined number of medicines such as stored tablets.
The distribution rotor (11) is configured so that the peripheral wall (11a) in which the medicine alignment path (16) is formed and the stirring inclined part (33) for stirring the medicine are formed separately and can be rotated separately. The cassette main body (3) is engaged with the peripheral wall (11a) of the distribution rotor (11) when the cassette main body (3) is removed from the support base (2), and the cassette main body (3) The medicine cassette is provided with a locking means for releasing the locking of the distribution rotor (11) when mounted on the support (2). The peripheral wall (11a) of the distribution rotor (11) is provided with a plurality of drug alignment paths (16) for aligning drugs, and the locking means is a drug alignment path (16) in the drug discharge position (B). The medicine cassette according to claim 1, further comprising a locking portion (23) that can be fitted into the body.

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