JP2010037018A - Individually packaged medicine automatic feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To achieve an individually packaged medicine automatic feeder 40 which stores a number of individually packaged medicines 10 each formed by sealing a round medicine 11 in a bag 12 and sequentially feeds them each in a good posture. <P>SOLUTION: The automatic feeder includes: a number of individual storage members 20 each of which includes a box body 21 whose top is opened and height C is lower than the height A of the round medicine 11 and which store one individually packaged medicine 10 in an upright position; an endless belt 41 whose upper portion is horizontally tensioned; and a drive unit 44 which circulatingly moves the endless belt 41; wherein the individual storage members 20 are arranged in a row circumferentially on the endless belt 41. Of each individual storage member 20, the box body 21 is shaped like a rectangular parallelepiped, a longitudinal internal dimension D is narrower than the outside diameter B of the round medicine 11, a lateral internal dimension F is wider than the outside diameter B of the round medicine 11, a front wall 23 includes a notch 24 formed at its center, and a rear wall 25 includes a notch 26 at its center, allowing the individually packaged medicine 10 to be movably inserted therein. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

The present invention relates to a device for automatically supplying individual packaged medicines arranged in a line and sequentially supplying them.
Here, the round drug is a drug stored in a cylindrical container. The individually packaged medicine is one in which round medicines are packed and sealed one by one, and is in a double encapsulated form with a hard inner container and a soft outer bag.

A device for storing and sequentially supplying many injection ampules, which are typical examples of round drugs, has been put into practical use, and can be roughly classified into a storage type and a random storage type. It is done.
In the former alignment storage type (see, for example, Patent Document 1), the ampules are stored in the cartridge in a completely aligned state standing in a row and are urged in one direction by a spring or the like, and further, the tip is opened and closed by opening and closing the gate. Will be discharged one by one. After dropping and discharging, the ampoule is transported horizontally, stocked in a completely aligned state that is connected side by side, and further transferred by a pusher one by one with a retainer of a circulating vertical conveyor belt conveyor. It is scooped up and then sent forward like a warp throw, rolling down the inclined plate and fit in the alignment case.

  In the latter random storage type (see, for example, Patent Document 2), the ampoule that is randomly inserted into the container is swung and scooped up by the upward movement of the circulation type extraction member, and is also removed by the extraction member that has turned from rising to lowering. It is sent to the opposite side like warp throwing, transferred to the transport mechanism there, and transported horizontally by changing its orientation vertically. Then, by dragging off the heavy tail at the missing part, the head and tail of the medicine are automatically aligned. Then, they are taken out in a completely aligned state in a horizontal arrangement. In this case, since the width of the take-out member that picks up the ampoule when it is raised is substantially the same as the diameter of the ampoule, there is no inconvenience that the ampoule can be rolled up even if the pusher is not used together.

  In addition, a device has been developed in which a large number of individually packaged drugs in which ampule-filled drugs are sealed one by one in a soft outer bag are sequentially stored. This is an automatic supply device for individually packaged medicines that stores and sequentially supplies a large number of individually packaged medicines that are sealed in a bag one by one (see, for example, Patent Document 3), and has an upper frame above the front plate. A medicine storage section provided with a transport mechanism provided on the inner bottom thereof, and a push-up member having a width capable of mounting a plurality of the individually packaged medicines is reciprocated up and down between the transport mechanism and the front plate. At the position, the vehicle is provided with a sequential discharge mechanism that inclines and sequentially discharges the mounted medicine while partitioning the medicine on the upper frame.

  Round individually packaged drugs are difficult to line up or roll in a perfectly aligned state because a soft bag is covered on the outside of a hard container. Also, although it is packaged, the hardness and thickness of the central part where the cylindrical container is housed and the peripheral part where it is not so different are extremely different. It is also difficult to discharge with only the members. Therefore, while using the original method for scooping up round drugs without an outer bag as a prototype, it has been modified as described above so that even if the round drug has an outer bag, it can be discharged one by one. It is.

JP-A-2-28406 JP 2000-185816 A JP 2008-150128 A

    [Patent Document 4] Japanese Patent Application No. 2008-174018

In such a conventional automatic dispensing machine, not only the drug contained in a hard container such as an ampoule, but also an individual packaged drug sealed in a soft outer bag, a large number of drugs are stored when needed. It can be supplied one by one.
However, the scooping method for round drugs has the advantage that the storage conditions can be relaxed even though there is a large amount of storage. On the other hand, if it is not possible to scoop up, it will be retried. There is also a characteristic that the time spent is not constant and the upper limit is not fixed.

  For this reason, in order to provide an individual packaged medicine automatic supply device even in fields where stability of drug sequential dispensing time and upper limit determination are required, an individual packaged drug automatic supply apparatus must be realized by a method different from the scooping method. Is required. And as a candidate for that, the conventional storage method that comes into practical use comes to mind, but as described above, since individual packaging drugs are unsuitable for complete alignment and rolling, for example, remove the condition that they are connected, It is conceivable to embody the individual packaged medicine automatic supply device by arranging the medicines in a line and dropping them one by one from the top.

  If it is a condition that medicines do not have to be connected, that is, it is not necessary for the medicines located in the front and back to be in direct contact with each other, they are arranged in a row and dropped and discharged in order from the top. It has been materialized and has been developed with a stable drug sequential dispensing time. This is a single-line conveyor (Patent Document 4) provided at the final stage of the drug handing device, and is configured by a large number of partition members integrally formed with only one partition chamber, which are horizontally arranged in parallel and driven together. A pair of endless belts, and partition members are arranged in a line and mounted on the endless belt.

However, in this apparatus, since the posture of each medicine is not regulated in the compartment, the posture of the discharged medicine is not stable. In addition, since individually packaged drugs with ampoules, vials, etc. sealed are considerably larger than ordinary tablets, when the individually packaged drugs are stored in the compartments, the partition members are enlarged at a stretch. Even if the upper part is unavoidable, the size of the lower part of the conveyor that returns without containing the medicine cannot be overlooked. For this reason, even if it enlarges said single row conveyor simply, practical use of an individual packaging chemical | medical agent automatic supply apparatus cannot be performed.
Therefore, it is a technical problem to realize a compact individual packaged medicine automatic supply apparatus that stores a large number of round individual packaged drugs and sequentially supplies them in a good posture.

  The individual packaged medicine automatic supply device of the present invention (Solution means 1) was devised to solve such a problem, and a large number of individually packaged drugs sealed in a bag of round drugs one by one. In the individual packaged medicine automatic supply device which stores and sequentially supplies, a large number of individual accommodation members that can accommodate one individual packaged medicine consisting of a box whose upper surface is released and whose height is lower than the round medicine, An endless strip which is provided so as to be able to circulate and move on a vertical surface and whose upper portion is horizontally stretched; and a drive unit that circulates and moves the endless strip; It is characterized by being arranged on the outer periphery of the belt.

  Moreover, the individual packaging medicine automatic supply device of the present invention is (the solution means 2), the individual packaging medicine automatic supply device of the above-mentioned solution means 1, wherein the individual housing member has a rectangular parallelepiped box shape, and the endless The inner method in the front-rear direction, which is the stretching direction of the upper part of the strip, is narrower than the round drug, the left and right inner methods are wider than the round drug, and the central part of the front and rear side walls is missing from top to bottom The individually packaged medicine can be loosely inserted.

  In such an individual packaging medicine automatic supply device of the present invention (Solution means 1), by individually storing the individual packaging medicine one by one in the individual accommodation member coming to the upper part of the endless strip, Round individual packaging drugs are stored in a line. When the endless strip circulates in the vertical plane, the leading individual storage member falls with the endless strip at the front end while changing the direction of travel from horizontal to vertical, and the individual packaging medicine stored in the endless strip is discharged forward. Therefore, the individual packaging medicines are stably discharged one by one in the time corresponding to the driving state of the endless strip.

In addition, since the individual packaged medicines are discharged as they fall from the standing state to the front, the discharged individual packaged medicines have the same head and tail orientation, so it can be said that the posture is good and stable. Furthermore, since the height of the individual storage member is kept lower than that of the individual packaging medicine, the individual packaging member is discharged under the endless strip that moves when it returns from front to back. The moving area of the individual accommodating member that must be secured in the side portion may be smaller than the aligned moving area of the individually packaged medicine that must be secured in the upper portion of the endless strip.
Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to realize a compact individual packaged medicine automatic supply device that stores a large number of round individually packaged drugs and sequentially supplies them in a good posture.

  Further, in the individual packaging medicine automatic supply device of the present invention (Solution means 2), when the individual packaging medicine is stood and accommodated in the individual accommodation member, a round thing is provided in the central portion sandwiched between the front and rear side wall chips. By spraying the medicine and storing the overhanging part such as the edge of the outer bag in a place surrounded by the side wall, it is possible to align and store not only the head and tail of the round medicine but also the front and back of the outer bag. In addition, if the posture is changed from the standing posture to the forward-facing posture, the posture is taken over until the medicine is discharged, so that the posture of the discharged individually packed medicine is further improved.

Furthermore, since the side walls of the individual container members are eliminated before and after the place where the round medicine in which the individual packaged medicine is most bulged is removed, the space between the front and back individual packaged medicines can be shortened. Compact mounting is also achieved with respect to the length in the front and back direction.
Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to realize a more compact individual packaged medicine automatic supply device that stores a large number of round individually packaged drugs and sequentially supplies them in a more posture.

A specific form for carrying out such an individual packaged medicine automatic supply device of the present invention will be described with reference to Example 1 below.
The first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 embodies all the above-described solving means 1 and 2 (claims 1 and 2 at the beginning of the application).
In the illustration, for simplification and the like, a housing panel, a base, a frame, a fastener such as a bolt, a coupling such as a hinge, a transmission member such as a timing belt, an electric circuit such as a motor driver, a controller, etc. The electronic circuit and the like are not shown in the figure, and those necessary and related to the explanation of the invention are mainly shown.

  About Example 1 of the individual packaging chemical | medical agent automatic supply apparatus of this invention, the specific structure is demonstrated referring drawings. 1A is a perspective view of an individually packaged medicine 10, FIG. 1B is a perspective view of an integrated individual storage member 20, FIG. 1C is a developed perspective view of a combined individual storage member 20, and FIG. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an individual packaging medicine automatic supply device 40.

  The individually packaged medicine 10 to be handled by the individual packaged medicine automatic supply device 40 (see FIG. 1 (a)) is a double-encapsulated form in which the round medicines 11 are put in the outer bag 12 one by one and sealed. . A typical example of the round drug 11 is one in which a drug solution such as an injection or an infusion is contained in a cylindrical container such as an ampoule or a vial. Since the shape of the hard inner container made of glass or plastic is cylindrical, it is called round. While the inner container is hard, the outer bag 12 is soft, and is made of a gas barrier film, for example, to suppress an increase in pH of the chemical solution.

  The individual packaging medicine automatic supply device 40 (see FIG. 1 (d)) contains a large number of individual packaging medicines 10 so as to supply them with a good posture when sequentially supplying them, and to achieve compact packaging, This is an improvement of the row conveyor system, and is provided with a large number of individual storage members 20 for storing the individual packaging medicines 10 one by one, and an endless strip that can be mounted with the individual storage members 20 and can be circulated and moved on a vertical surface. A belt 41, a driven shaft 42 and a drive shaft 43 that support the endless strip 41 in the front-rear direction and horizontally stretch the upper and lower portions of the endless strip 41, and the endless strip 41 via the drive shaft 43. And a drive unit 44 that circulates, and the individual accommodating members 20 are mounted on the outer periphery of the endless strip 41 in a line.

  The individual packaging medicine automatic supply device 40 includes a side plate 45 (not shown) that supports the drive shaft 43, the drive unit 44, and the like and restricts lateral displacement of the individual storage member 20, a frame body (not shown), and the like. . Although not shown in the figure, a controller or power source dedicated or shared with other devices is also provided. For convenience of explanation, when referring to directions such as front and rear, right and left and up and down, the horizontal extending direction of the upper portion of the endless strip 41 is the front and rear direction, and the traveling direction of the upper portion of the endless strip 41 is forward, The horizontal direction perpendicular to the horizontal direction is the left-right direction, and the vertical direction is the vertical direction. About the individual accommodating member 20, the direction when it is attached to the endless strip 41 and comes to the horizontal upper part of the endless strip 41 is adopted.

  The individual accommodation member 20 is provided with a box body 21 whose upper surface is opened so that only one individual packaging medicine 10 can be stood and housed when the individual packaging medicine 10 is accommodated. Further, a locking portion 27 is provided on the bottom and bottom surfaces so that the endless strip 41 can be attached to the outer periphery. Although the latching portion 27 is illustrated in a claw-like shape, it may be other as long as it can be attached. For example, a detachable type such as screwing may be used, and a fixed type such as bonding may be used. The individual accommodating member 20 can be mass-produced at a low cost by injection molding or the like from hard plastic or the like, and may be an integral type (see FIG. 1B) or a combination of two bodies (see FIG. 1C). In the illustrated combination type, a seat portion 30 provided with a locking portion 27 and a box body 21 surrounding the storage chamber 22 are separated. For example, the seat portion is inserted after inserting a countersunk screw into the through hole 28 of the box body 21. They are united by being screwed into the 30 screw holes 31, but may be detachable such as hooking or chucking, or may be fixed such as bonding or welding.

  In any form, the individual accommodating member 20 (see FIG. 1B) is mainly composed of a rectangular parallelepiped box 21 that is short in the front and rear directions, and the upper open internal space of the box 21 is individually provided. It is the storage chamber 22 for the packaged medicine 10, the height C of the storage chamber 22 is lower than the height A of the round drug 11, and the inner method D on the left and right of the storage room 22 is outside the round drug 11. The inner diameter E before and after the storage chamber 22 is narrower than the outer diameter B of the round drug 11, and the outer dimension F before and after the box 21 is the outer diameter B of the round drug 11. The front wall 23 of the horizontal four side walls is formed with a chip 24 and the center portion of the front wall 23 is chipped from the top to the bottom, and the rear wall 25 facing the front wall 23 is chipped. 26 is formed, and the central portion of the rear wall 25 is also missing from the top to the bottom. Therefore, the individual container member 20 can be obtained by picking the individually packaged medicine 10 with a fingertip and inserting it into the storage chamber 22 from the lower end side of the round medicine 11 and a lower central portion of the round medicine 11 and a lower central portion of the outer bag 12. The round drug 11 stands in a state where it is loosely fitted in the center of the storage chamber 22 and can be easily inserted and removed, and the left and right portions of the lower side of the outer bag 12 of the individually packaged drug 10 are accommodated in the left and right portions of the storage chamber 22. Yes.

  The endless strip 41 may be a wide single strip as long as the endless strip 41 has a ring shape and an annular shape that can be circulated and can be fitted with the individual accommodating member 20, and a plurality of strips that are arranged in parallel and driven together. A belt may be used. For example, an endless belt made of a synthetic rubber toothed belt, an endless chain such as a metal link chain, a crawler portion of a tank plastic model, and the like are employed. The driven shaft 42 and the drive shaft 43 employ a geared roll, a sprocket wheel, or the like, and are supported horizontally in a state where the shaft can rotate. The drive unit 44 employs an easily controllable pulse motor or an inexpensive AC motor, and is directly connected to the drive shaft 43 or indirectly connected to the drive shaft 43 via a transmission mechanism such as a reduction gear. 43 is circularly moved.

  The controller (control device) discharges the individually packaged medicine 10 from the individual packaged medicine automatic supply device 40 by sending an operation signal to the drive unit 44 in response to the supply instruction. If the supply instruction is a button press operation and the discharge operation is simple open control with only the intermittent feed of the endless strip 41, a small electronic circuit such as a pulse shaping circuit is sufficient, and prescription data and derived dispensing are sufficient. If complicated control such as automatically supplying a required number of individually packaged medicines 10 according to instruction data or feedback control using a discharge sensor is implemented, it is embodied by an electronic circuit mainly composed of a programmable microprocessor or sequencer. .

  About the individual packaging chemical | medical agent automatic supply apparatus 40 of this Example 1, the use aspect and operation | movement are demonstrated referring drawings. FIG. 2 is a right side view of the individual packaging medicine automatic supply device 40 in which a large number of individual packaging medicines 10 are stored in a line in a row (a) to (c).

  First (see FIG. 2 (a)), since it is necessary to arrange and store, the individual packaging medicines that come to the upper part of the endless strip 41 and are arranged in a line in the front-rear direction one by one. Hold 10 upright. At that time, the upper part of the round medicine 11 of the individually packaged medicine 10 is picked by the finger together with the outer bag 12, and the lower part of the round medicine 11 of the individual packaged medicine 10 is placed in the central portion of the storage chamber 22 together with the outer bag 12. By inserting, a round individual packaging medicine 10 is stood and stored easily and easily. At this time, the portion of the lower portion of the outer bag 12 that protrudes to the left and right is stored in the storage chamber 22 surrounded by the left and right side walls. When such a storing operation is repeated, a large number of individually packed medicines 10 are aligned and stored in a line following the individual storing member 20.

And (refer FIG.2 (b)), if a supply instruction | indication is issued, the endless strip 41 will start circulation operation | movement according to it, and an endless strip 41 will be endless by the circulation movement of the endless strip 41 in the front end (left end in FIG. 2). The strip 41 tries to turn downward following the axial rotation of the driven shaft 42, and the leading individual accommodating member 20 increases the inclination while changing the traveling direction from the horizontal forward direction to the diagonally forward direction. The medicine 10 also takes a forward leaning posture. Further tilted (see FIG. 2 (c)), and when it falls down almost horizontally, the leading individual packaging medicine 10 falls forward from the leading individual storage member 20.
Thus, the individually packaged medicine 10 is discharged with a good posture. Specifically, the top individual packaging medicine 10 has the head of the round medicine 11 in front, the tail and bottom of the round medicine 11 in the back, the outer bag 12 extends to the left and right, and the front and back of the outer bag 12 Also lay down, maintaining the front and back surfaces during containment.

In addition, if only one supply instruction is to be discharged, if the leading individual storage member 20 moves forward and tilts forward to a level where the discharge of the leading individual packaging medicine 10 is reliably completed or slightly downward, it turns. The endless strip 41 stops circulating.
Further, if the supply instruction is to discharge a plurality of pieces, if the individual container member 20 moves forward, tilts forward and turns to the point where the discharge of the individual packaging medicine 10 behind the designated number from the top is completed, the endless strip The circulating movement of the belt 41 stops.
In this way, the individual packaging medicines 10 are discharged one by one stably in a time corresponding to the driving state of the endless strip 41. The discharged medicine 10 is carried out by an appropriate dispensing unit 50 including, for example, a carry-out conveyor or a transfer robot, or by an alignment dish with a buffer material for manual transportation.

  Furthermore, since the individually packaged medicines 10 are arranged upright above the endless strip 41, a space taller than the height A of the round medicine 11 must be secured, and this condition will be avoided. However, it is sufficient to secure a space slightly higher than the height of the empty individual accommodating member 20 below the endless strip 41, and the height of the individual accommodating member 20 is the height A of the round drug 11. Since it is lower, compact mounting is achieved for the endless strip 41 and the individual accommodating member 20 that are mounted using the up-and-down folding method.

  Moreover, since the front wall 23 and the rear wall 25 of the individual accommodating member 20 are eliminated from the accommodation location of the round drug 11 in which the individual packaged medicine 10 is most swelled, the individual parts before and after being adjacent in a row Since the accommodation member 20 and thus the gap between the front and rear individual packaging medicines 10 can be shortened, the length of the front and rear in the medicine alignment direction can be reduced while the individual accommodation member 20 is assigned to one individual packaging medicine 10. So far, compact packaging has been achieved.

  The individual packaging medicine automatic supply apparatus of the present invention can be used alone as in the above embodiment, and may store various individual packaging medicines for each type by arranging a plurality of units in parallel. The entire device may be made into a cassette so that it can be attached to and detached from the automatic dispensing device, or the entire device may be incorporated and fixed in the automatic dispensing device, or divided into two bodies and part of the shelf of the automatic dispensing device, etc. The remaining part may be removable.

About Example 1 of this invention, the structure of an individual packaging chemical | medical agent automatic supply apparatus is shown, (a) is a perspective view of an individual packaging chemical | medical agent, (b) is a perspective view of an integrated individual accommodating member, (c) is a combination type. FIG. 4D is a developed perspective view of the individual housing member, and FIG. 4D is a perspective view of the individual packaged medicine automatic supply device. About Example 1 of this invention, the operation state of an individual packaging chemical | medical agent automatic supply apparatus is shown, (a)-(c) are all right view.

Explanation of symbols

10 ... Individually packed drugs,
11 ... Round drug (inner container), 12 ... Outer bag,
20 ... Individual housing member,
21 ... Box, 22 ... Storage room, 23 ... Front wall (side wall),
24 ... chipping, 25 ... back wall (side wall), 26 ... chipping,
27 ... Locking part, 28 ... Through hole, 30 ... Seat part, 31 ... Screw hole,
40. Individual packaging medicine automatic supply device,
41 ... endless strip, 42 ... driven shaft, 43 ... drive shaft,
44 ... Drive unit, 45 ... Side plate, 50 ... Dispensing unit

Claims (2)

  In an individual packaged medicine automatic supply apparatus for storing and sequentially supplying a large number of individually packaged medicines that are sealed in a bag, one by one in a round form, the upper surface is opened and the height is lower than that of the round medicine. A number of individual storage members that can individually store individual packaging medicines, an endless strip that is provided so as to be able to circulate and move on a vertical surface, and whose upper portion is stretched horizontally, and this endless strip A device for circulating and moving the individual packaging medicines, wherein the individual accommodating members are arranged on the outer periphery of the endless strip.   As for the said individual accommodating member, the said box is a rectangular parallelepiped, the inner method in the front-back direction which is the extending | stretching direction of the upper part of the said endless strip is narrower than the said round chemical | medical agent, and the inner method of right and left is the said round chemical | medical agent 2. The individually packaged medicine automatic supply device according to claim 1, wherein the center parts of the front and back side walls are wider and are not inserted from top to bottom so that the individually packaged medicine can be loosely inserted.

Images