JP2019187493A - Divided tablet feeder and medicine delivery device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a semi-tablet feeder capable of preventing jamming on a derivation guide part due to a corner part of a semi-tablet.SOLUTION: A semi-tablet feeder comprises: a cylindrical wall 421 forming a medicine storage part and comprising a discharge opening of divided tablet; a small diameter turn table 408 provided in the cylindrical wall 421, whose inside is a concave surface, and which moves the divided tablets by rotation thereof; a curve state rectification guide 411 for regulating a transfer path of the divided tablets on the small diameter turn table for moving the divided tablets to an outer peripheral direction following rotation of the small diameter turn table; and a large diameter turn table 420 which is provided on an outer periphery of the small diameter turn table, whose outer periphery extends to the vicinity of an inner periphery of the cylindrical wall, and which transports divided tablets from the small diameter turn table by rotation thereof and discharges the divided tablets from the discharge opening 422. The semi-tablet feeder further comprises a width regulation part provided at least on a downstream side of a position of the large diameter turn table facing the rectification guide, and on an upstream side of the discharge opening, in which a divided tablet mount width of the large diameter turn table is almost 1/2 of a length between a divided surface of the divided tablet and an arc surface.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

  The present invention relates to a divided tablet supply device that can supply divided tablets (half tablets) obtained by dividing tablets one by one and a medicine dispensing device that divides and delivers the supplied divided tablets.

  In the dispensing business, hundreds of types of tablets and capsules of various shapes are prescribed according to the prescription, for example, 42 times for 2 weeks in the morning, noon, and night, and each time, once for a predetermined number of types of tablets and capsules. A drug dispensing device (Patent Document 1) that can be encapsulated in a single package after being counted is put into practical use and has greatly contributed to the efficiency of dispensing operations and prevention of misuse.

  The drug supply devices accommodated in these drug dispensing devices must inevitably have a structure that can supply one by one corresponding to the shape of each tablet or capsule. For this reason, it is necessary to change the dimensions of each part centering on the outlet part of the medicine according to the medicine to be supplied, and as a result, these medicine supply devices are specific to each medicine type (dedicated cassette) There was a need.

  On the other hand, for example, with the advent of generic drugs, the variety of drugs has been increasing in recent years, and it has been necessary to prepare a dedicated drug supply device corresponding to this. On the other hand, in order to solve the above problem, even if the shape of the medicine is different as shown in Patent Document 2, it can be supplied accurately one by one without greatly changing the mechanism side. Although a drug supply device has been considered, the tablets that can be handled have been limited to circular flat plates, oblong flat plates, and cylindrical capsules.

  Also, in the field of pediatric medicine, etc., when it is necessary to strictly control the dose of the drug, the tablet is cut into half at the center and divided into half the volume of one tablet (so-called half tablet) It is necessary to prescribe. As a method for prescribing such half tablets, the “half tablet cut feeder” system is used to feed half tablets one by one from the tablet supply device of the drug dispensing device and cut into half tablets halfway. (Patent Document 3) and a “half-lock feeder” system (Patent Documents 4 and 5) in which a half-tablet is cut in advance with another device, and then the half-tablet is loaded into a dedicated cassette and paid out.

Japanese Patent No. 6255528 WO2017 / 094687 JP 2018-27261 A JP2015-12893A JP 2004-41433 A

  In the apparatus described in Patent Document 1, many types of tablets can be dispensed, but each cassette corresponds to one type of tablet, and when a new shaped tablet appears, a new dedicated cassette is prepared. Need arises.

  Further, the device described in Patent Document 2 stores tablet size data separately, and when the dispensing of the tablet is instructed, the tablet passage is changed according to the width and height of the tablet. The body is set in advance according to the size of the tablet.

  When half-tablet tablets are packaged, from the viewpoint of dispensing efficiency, the “half-tablet cut feeder” described in Patent Document 3 is more efficient, but the cutting accuracy when cut in the apparatus is low. There are also dispensing sites where a “half-tablet feeder” is considered preferable from the generation of broken powder during cutting. However, when the dedicated cassette for the half-lock feeder described in Patent Documents 4 and 5 is prepared, the number of types of the dedicated cassette is further increased, resulting in a heavy burden in maintaining and managing the medicine dispensing apparatus. Further, in the case of half tablets, corners are formed in the outer shape as compared with round and oval tablets, so that there is also a problem that clogging is likely to occur during conveyance by the corners.

  The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a divided tablet supply device and a medicine dispensing device that prevent clogging of the divided tablets when supplying divided tablets.

  By forming a medicine container for containing the divided tablets, a cylindrical wall in which a release opening for the divided tablets is formed in a part thereof, and being provided inside the cylindrical wall, the inner side being formed as a concave surface, and rotating A small-diameter turntable that rotates and moves the divided tablet placed on the upper part, and is arranged on the small-diameter turntable in a curved shape from the inner peripheral side to the outer peripheral side, on the small-diameter turntable By restricting the transfer path of the divided tablet, a fixed rectifying guide for moving the divided tablet in the outer peripheral direction of the small diameter turntable as the small diameter turntable rotates, and an outer periphery of the small diameter turntable are provided. The outer periphery extends in the vicinity of the inner periphery of the cylindrical wall. By rotating, the divided tablets transferred from the small-diameter turntable are placed, and the release of the cylindrical wall is performed. A large-diameter turntable that is conveyed in the opening direction and discharges the divided tablets from the discharge opening, and at least downstream of the large-diameter turntable from a position facing the straightening guide, and more than the discharge opening. A width restricting portion is provided on the upstream side, and the divided tablet placement width of the large-diameter turntable is formed to be approximately equal to ½ of the distance between the divided surface of the divided tablet and the arc surface.

The perspective view which shows the state which pulled out the tablet cassette shelf of the chemical | medical agent dispensing apparatus which concerns on embodiment. The front view which saw through the inside of the chemical | medical agent delivery apparatus which concerns on embodiment. Sectional drawing of the plane of the half-tablet supply apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment. Sectional drawing of the side surface of the half-tablet supply apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment. Sectional drawing for demonstrating the shape and conveyance state of a half-lock according to 1st Embodiment. Sectional drawing of the plane of the half-tablet supply apparatus which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. The figure explaining the rotation action of the half lock by the projection part concerning a 2nd embodiment. Sectional drawing for demonstrating the shape and conveyance state of a half-lock according to 2nd Embodiment. The block diagram of the chemical | medical agent delivery apparatus which concerns on embodiment. The flowchart for demonstrating operation | movement of the chemical | medical agent delivery apparatus which concerns on embodiment. The figure for demonstrating operation | movement of a tablet supply apparatus. The figure for demonstrating the half tablet which is a divided tablet. The figure which shows the state which the division | segmentation surface aligns with the cylindrical wall side with a half-lock supply apparatus, and conveys a half-lock correctly. The figure which shows the state in which the circumferential surface is aligned with the cylindrical wall side by the half-lock supply apparatus, and the half-lock is correctly conveyed. The figure which shows the state by which the circumferential surface was aligned by the cylindrical wall side with the half-lock supply apparatus, and the circumferential part of the half-lock was stopped by the front-end | tip of the 1st extraction | leading guide. The figure which shows the state in which the subsequent half tablet was conveyed from the state of FIG. 15, and the half tablet was jammed.

Hereinafter, a half-tablet supply device and a medicine dispensing device according to an embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.
First, problems when a round tablet and a divided tablet (half tablet) obtained by dividing a round tablet in half are supplied by a tablet supply device will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 11 is a plan sectional view of the tablet supply device 500. A small-diameter turntable 502 is rotatably provided around a shaft inside a cylindrical wall 501 and is driven to rotate in the direction of arrow Y1 by a drive source (not shown). The On the outer periphery of the small-diameter turntable 502, a large-diameter turntable 503 is rotationally driven in a direction indicated by an arrow Y2 by a driving source (not shown) at a rotational angular velocity faster than the rotational angular velocity of the small-diameter turntable 502. The outer periphery of the large diameter turntable 503 extends to the inner periphery of the cylindrical wall 501. The cylindrical wall 501, the small-diameter turntable 502, and the large-diameter turntable 503 form a medicine container.

  On the small-diameter turntable 502, a fixed rectifying guide 504 whose inner peripheral end is fixed near the axis of the small-diameter turntable 502 and whose outer peripheral end extends in a curved shape (semi-circular shape) to the vicinity of the large-diameter turntable 503. Is provided. A part of the cylindrical wall 501 is provided with a tablet discharge opening 505 from which the wall has been removed. A tablet discharge guide 506 is provided outside the discharge opening 505.

  In the vicinity of the discharge opening 505, a lead-out guide 507 for guiding tablets one by one to the discharge opening is provided. The tip 507a of the lead-out guide 507 has an acute angle, and the tip 507a is rotated by the shape of the tablet to rotate the tablet. Only one tablet is allowed to pass through.

  When the round tablet P is accommodated on the small-diameter turntable 502 with such a configuration, and the small-diameter turntable 502 and the large-diameter turntable 503 are rotated, the tablet P on the small-diameter turntable 502 rotates together with the small-diameter turntable 502. However, the tablet P moves to the outer peripheral direction of the small-diameter turntable 502 by restricting the movement in the rotational direction by the fixed rectifying guide 504, and is finally transferred onto the large-diameter turntable 503. .

  The tablets P transferred to the large-diameter turntable 503 are conveyed along with the rotation of the large-diameter turntable 503 and discharged one by one by the leading end 507a of the lead-out guide 507 through the discharge opening 505 to the discharge guide 506. .

  When a divided tablet is accommodated and supplied to such a tablet supply device, there are problems as described below.

  As shown in FIG. 12, in a divided tablet (half tablet) obtained by dividing a round tablet P in half, a corner E is formed at a connection portion between the divided surface D and the arc surface R. In the present embodiment, the circular flat plate-like round tablet shown in FIG. 12A will be described as an example, but it is needless to say that the present invention can also be applied to an oval flat plate as shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 13, in the half-tablet supply device, the tablet placement width of the large-diameter turntable, that is, the distance from the inner circumference of the cylindrical wall 501 to the inner circumference of the large-diameter turntable 503 is an arc from the split surface D of the half-tablet. Generally, it is configured to be approximately equal to the distance to the surface R. This is so that one half tablet is supplied to the discharge opening 505 one by one.

  When the half-tablet is accommodated in the medicine container of the half-tablet supply apparatus configured as described above and the small-diameter turntable 502 and the large-diameter turntable 503 are rotated, the half-tablet on the small-diameter turntable 502 is moved to the straightening guide 504. Is moved in the outer circumferential direction, placed on the large-diameter turntable 503, and conveyed. The half-tablet placed on the large-diameter turntable 503 includes a mixture P1 having a divided surface D facing the cylindrical wall 501 and a material P2 having an arcuate surface R facing the cylindrical wall 501. When the split surface D of the half-tablet faces the cylindrical wall 501 side, the arcuate surface R faces the tip 507a of the lead-out guide 507 when passing through the tip 507a portion of the lead-out guide 507, so that the half-lock does not hinder. Can pass through.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 14, the half lock P2 in which the arcuate surface R of the half lock faces the cylindrical wall 501 side is in a state where the divided surface D is aligned with the inner peripheral surface of the large-diameter turntable 503. The leading end 507a of the guide 507 can pass through. However, as shown by P3 in FIG. 15, the half-locked arc surface R faces the cylindrical wall 501 side, and the front corner E in the conveying direction protrudes from the inner periphery of the large-diameter turntable 503. Then, the corner E projecting from the half-lock large-diameter turntable 502 comes into contact with the tip 507a of the lead-out guide 507, and the conveyance is hindered. When the succeeding half tablet is transported in this state, the transport is stopped by the half tablet P3 which is prevented from being transported. As a result, the half tablet is clogged as shown in FIG. Will not be able to.

  In order to solve such a problem, the present embodiment is devised so that the divided surfaces D of all the half tablets face the cylindrical wall 501 side on the large-diameter turntable 503.

Hereinafter, the first embodiment will be described in detail.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a state in which one tablet cassette shelf 200a of the medicine dispensing apparatus 100 is pulled out. FIG. 2 is a front view of the inside of the medicine dispensing device 100 seen through. In the medicine dispensing apparatus 100, four tablet cassette shelves 200a to 200d are accommodated side by side in the upper part thereof. Each tablet cassette shelf 200 can be manually pulled out as indicated by 200a in FIG.

  Each of the tablet cassette shelves 200a to 200d includes a right cassette housing portion 201 on the right side and a left cassette housing portion 202 on the left side. Each of the cassette housing portions 201 and 202 is formed in five stages, and each stage accommodates a dedicated cassette 203 that is a tablet supply device that dispenses tablets of a specific size and shape. The dedicated cassette 203 accommodated in the cassette accommodating portions 201 and 202 is a conventionally known cassette as described in, for example, Japanese Patent No. 6255528, and is a dedicated cassette adapted to the size and shape of each tablet. In the embodiment, 50 to 58, and 232 dedicated cassettes 203 can be accommodated in each shelf as four whole shelves.

  On the other hand, half tablet cassettes 204a and 204b corresponding to the supply of half tablets as divided tablets are accommodated in the lowermost stage. These half tablet cassettes 204a and 204b correspond to the divided tablet supply device of the present invention. Hereinafter, the half lock cassettes 204a and 204b are collectively referred to as a half lock cassette 204.

  Four half-lock cassettes 204 are accommodated in each shelf, and the medicine dispensing apparatus 100 as a whole can accommodate a total of 16 tablets. The half-lock cassette 204 is larger than the dedicated cassette 203 (in FIG. 2, the dedicated cassette 203 and the half-lock cassette 204 are described in the same size. Of size). Therefore, in each pharmacy, the dedicated cassette 203 is used for tablets that are frequently used, and the half-tablet cassette 204 is used for half-tablets that are less frequently used.

  Next, reference numeral 205 denotes a vertical chute, and the tablets released from the cassette housing part as indicated by an arrow 206 are naturally dropped onto the shelf buffer part 207 located at the lower part of each shelf 200. The shelf buffer unit 207 is composed of a rotating shutter mechanism 208 and a guide body 209. When the shutter 208 is closed, the shelf buffer unit 207 forms a downward triangular space buffer and temporarily holds the falling tablets. I can keep it. When the shutter mechanism 208 of the shelf buffer unit 207 is opened by a command from a control unit (not shown), the tablet can drop in the direction of the arrow 210. Under the four shelf buffers 207 provided at the bottom of each shelf, an oblique chute 211 having a large funnel shape that can receive the tablet when each shutter mechanism 208 is opened is disposed. The tablets dropped by the oblique chute 211 are collected at the central chute outlet 212.

  Further, a packaging machine 213 is disposed below the oblique chute 211. The packaging machine 213 has a function of performing predetermined printing for each package on the built-in packaging paper roll 214 or performing heat sealing for each package. A plurality of tablets guided from the chute outlet 212 are packaged individually, for example, in units of 215 in the morning, noon, and night, and conveyed in the direction of the arrow 216 to continuously wrap and discharge the finished product from the outlet 217. To do.

  FIG. 3 is a plan sectional view of the half-lock cassette 204 which is a main part of the present embodiment, and FIG. 4 is a side sectional view of the half-lock cassette 204.

  Each mechanism of the half-lock cassette 204 is mounted on the lower plate 301. Reference numeral 302 denotes an axial center holding table, and a vertical shaft 304 is rotatably attached via a bearing 303. A gear 305 is fixed in the middle of the vertical shaft 304, and the rotational force is transmitted via the gear 307 by the first motor 306 fixed to the lower plate 301 so that the vertical shaft 304 can rotate. . An inverted conical conical disk 308 (small-diameter turntable) having a concave surface formed inside is fixed to the vertical shaft 304, and the conical disk 308 also rotates in the direction of the arrow 308a by rotating the vertical shaft 304.

  A rotating cylinder 312 is provided outside the conical disk 308 so as to surround the outer periphery of the conical disk 308. A protrusion 313 is formed on the inner periphery of the lower end portion of the rotating cylinder 312, and the protrusion 313 is a groove bearing 315 provided on the upper part of the three support shafts 314 fixed to the lower plate 301. And the rotating cylinder 312 is rotatably supported. Further, a gear 316 is formed on the outer periphery of the lower end portion of the rotating cylinder 312, and this gear 316 is engaged with a gear 319 coupled to the shaft of the second motor 318 via the intermediate gear 317, whereby the second motor When 318 rotates, the rotating cylinder 312 also rotates.

  The upper end of the rotating cylinder 312 forms a large-diameter turntable 320 whose inner periphery is substantially in contact with the outer periphery of the conical disk 308 and whose upper surface is flat. The large-diameter turntable 320 rotates at a rotational angular speed faster than the rotational angular speed of the conical disk 308 in the direction of the arrow 320a, so that when transferring the half-tablet from the conical disk 308 to the large-diameter turntable 320, the large-diameter turntable 320 is not clogged. Can be transferred. A cylindrical wall 321 is fixed to the lower plate 301 on the outer periphery of the large-diameter turntable 320 so as to substantially contact the outer periphery of the large-diameter turntable 320. The distance between the inner periphery of the cylindrical wall 321 and the inner periphery of the large-diameter turntable 320 is the distance between the half-tablet split surface D and the arc surface R, that is, the radius of the circle when the tablet is circular. / 2 is formed to be almost the same as / 2. The conical disk 308, the large-diameter turntable 320, and the cylindrical wall 321 form a medicine container that accommodates a plurality of half tablets.

  Further, a wall is removed from a part of the cylindrical wall 321, a discharge opening 322 for discharging the half tablet is provided, and a half chute dropping chute 323 is provided outside the discharge opening 322. A first sensor S1 for detecting the released tablet by transmitted light is provided above the drop chute 323, and a second sensor S2 for detecting the tablet supplied to the packaging machine 213 by transmitted light is provided below the drop chute 323. Are provided.

  On the other hand, the vertical shaft 304 protruding to the upper part of the conical disk 308 is rotatably fitted to the half cone 309. Further, the semi-conical body 309 is fixed to a fixed plate 310 whose upper part is fixed to the cylindrical wall 321. Further, an inner peripheral end of a curvilinear (semi-circular) straightening guide 311 is fixed to a side portion of the semiconical body 309, and an outer peripheral end of the straightening guide 311 is disposed so as to approach the vicinity of the large-diameter turntable 320. ing. A slight gap is formed between the lower end of the rectifying guide 311 and the upper surface of the conical disk 308 so that the half lock accommodated therein cannot pass through.

  Reference numeral 324 denotes a lead-out guide that regulates the width of the half-tablet that passes to the discharge opening 322. The guide 324 is supported by the shaft 325 and fixed to the shaft 325 through a gear 327 facing the third guide 327. The tip 324a of the motor 328 can be rotated as shown by a broken line. Then, by rotating the third motor 328 by a predetermined angle, the gap between the lead-out guide tip 324a and the inner surface of the cylindrical wall 321 is set to the distance between the half-tablet split surface D and the arc surface R (that is, the tablet is circular). By setting the radius to about 1.5 times the radius, the half lock can pass through the gap between the cylindrical wall 321 and the tip 324a of the guide 324 one by one.

Next, the relationship between the size of the half tablet and the distance from the inner periphery of the cylindrical wall 321 to the inner periphery of the large-diameter turntable 320 will be described with reference to FIG.
In FIG. 5, when the distance between the split surface D of the half tablets H1 and H2 and the circular arc surface R is Q, the center of gravity G of the half lock H is closer to the split surface D side than the 1 / 2Q position of the half lock H. Exists. Therefore, in this embodiment, the distance W from the inner periphery of the cylindrical wall 321 to the inner periphery of the large-diameter turntable 320 is formed to be approximately equal to 1 / 2Q. Therefore, the half lock H2 that is transported while being placed on the large-diameter turntable 320 with the dividing surface D facing the cylindrical wall 321 side has a center of gravity position as shown in FIG. Therefore, the half lock H2 does not fall from the large-diameter turntable 320.

  On the other hand, the half lock H1 which is mounted on the large diameter turntable 320 and transported with the circular arc surface R facing the cylindrical wall 321 side has a center of gravity as shown in FIG. It exists inside the inner circumference. Therefore, the half lock H1 cannot continue to be placed on the large-diameter turntable 320 and falls to the conical disk 308. The half-lock that has dropped onto the conical disk 308 is again placed on the large-diameter turntable 320 by the rectifying guide 311. By repeating this, the mounting surface D is finally placed with the dividing surface D facing the cylindrical wall 321 side, and is dropped and supplied from the discharge opening 322 to the drop chute 323.

  As a result, in the example shown in FIG. 3, the half tablets P5, P6, P7, and P9 whose dividing surface D faces the cylindrical wall 321 side are discharged from the discharge opening 322, and the arcuate surface R faces the cylindrical wall 321 side. The locks P8 and P10 will fall on the conical disk 308.

  As described above, the distance from the inner periphery of the cylindrical wall 321 to the inner periphery of the large-diameter turntable 320, which is the half-tablet mounting width of the large-diameter turntable 320, is the distance between the half-tablet split surface D and the arc surface R. Since the half lock with the circular arc surface R facing the cylindrical wall 321 falls on the conical disk 308 before reaching the lead-out guide 324, the half-lock is formed at the part of the lead-out guide 324. Will not clog.

Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 6 is a plan sectional view of the half-tablet supply device. In FIG. 6, reference numeral 408 denotes an inverted conical conical disk (small-diameter turntable) having a concave surface inside, and the conical disk 408 also rotates in the direction of the arrow 408a when the vertical axis rotates.

  A rotating cylinder 412 is provided outside the conical disk 408 so as to surround the outer periphery of the conical disk 408. A large-diameter turntable 420 having a flat upper surface is formed at the upper end of the rotating cylinder 412 at a position where the inner periphery thereof is substantially in contact with the outer periphery of the conical disk 408. The large-diameter turntable 420 rotates in an arrow 420a direction at an angular velocity faster than the rotational angular velocity of the conical disk 408. A cylindrical wall 421 is fixed to the lower plate 301 on the outer periphery of the large-diameter turntable 420 so as to substantially contact the outer periphery of the large-diameter turntable 420. Here, the distance L1 from the large-diameter cylindrical wall 421 to the inner periphery of the large-diameter turntable 420 is longer than the distance Q between the split surface D of the largest half-lock handled by this half-tablet supply device and the arc surface R. This is different from the first embodiment. The conical disk 408, the large-diameter turntable 420, and the cylindrical wall 421 form a medicine container that houses a plurality of half tablets.

  Further, a wall is removed from a part of the cylindrical wall 421, and a discharge opening 422 for discharging the half-lock is provided, and a half-lock drop chute 423 is provided outside the discharge opening 422. Although not shown in the figure, the drop chute 423 is provided with a first sensor S1 and a second sensor S2 as in the first embodiment.

  Reference numeral 411 denotes a curvilinear (semi-circular) straightening guide whose inner peripheral end is fixed to the side of the semiconical body 409 and whose outer peripheral end is arranged to approach the vicinity of the large-diameter turntable 420. A semi-cylindrical protrusion 411 a is provided on the outer side of the outer peripheral end of the rectifying guide 311, that is, on the large-diameter turntable 420 side.

  A half-lock width restricting guide plate 405 protruding from the cylindrical wall 421 is provided on the downstream side in the rotation direction of the large-diameter turntable 420 with respect to the protrusion 411a of the rectifying guide 411. Inside the half-lock width restricting guide plate 405, an upstream taper portion 405a and a downstream inner arcuate surface 405b are formed. The lead screw (male screw) 406 directly connected to the shaft of the pulse motor 404 is rotatable with respect to the lead screw (female screw) 407 formed on the cylindrical wall 421 side of the half-lock width regulating guide plate 405. Is provided. A line C connecting the pulse motor shaft and the lead screws 406 and 407 is configured to pass through the conical disks 408 and the rotary shafts of the large-diameter turntable 420. By rotating the pulse motor 404, the half-lock regulation guide The amount of protrusion of the inner arcuate surface 405b of the plate 405 from the cylindrical wall 421 can be varied. That is, the inner arcuate surface 405b of the half-lock width restricting guide plate 405 forms an inner circumference that is substantially the same as the inner circumference of the cylindrical wall 421. By rotating the pulse motor 404, the large-diameter turntable 420 is moved from the inner arcuate surface 405b. Can be varied according to the size of the half-tablet that supplies the distance L2 to the inner circumference.

  Furthermore, an outlet guide 424 is provided in the vicinity of the discharge opening 422 downstream of the half-lock restricting plate 405. The derivation guide 424 is rotatable about a shaft 425. By rotating a motor (not shown), the distance between the distal end 424a of the derivation guide 424 and the arcuate surface 405b of the half-lock regulating guide plate 405 is adjusted by one half lock. It can be passed.

  Next, the operation of the half-tablet supply device of the second embodiment configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. First, according to the size of the half-lock accommodated in the medicine container shown in FIG. 6, the pulse motor 404 is rotated to adjust the protruding amount of the half-lock regulating guide plate 405, and the large-diameter turn from the inner arcuate surface 405b. The distance L2 to the inner periphery of the table 420 is set to be approximately equal to 1 / 2Q of the distance Q between the half-lock split surface D and the arcuate surface R. Moreover, the position of the front-end | tip of the derivation | leading-out guide 424 is set by rotating the motor which is not shown in figure.

  In this state, the half tablet is accommodated in the medicine accommodating portion, and the conical disk 408 and the large-diameter turntable 420 are rotated. With this rotation, the half-lock on the conical disk 408 rotates together with the conical disk 408, but movement in the rotation direction is restricted by the fixed rectifying guide 411, so that the outer periphery of the conical disk 408 is aligned along the rectifying guide 411. Move in the direction.

  At this time, as shown in FIG. 7A, the half lock H3 in which the split surface D of the half lock slides on the outer surface of the rectifying guide 411, that is, the half lock H3 in which the arc surface R faces the cylindrical wall 421. Is locked by a columnar protrusion 411 a formed on the straightening guide 411 at a corner E at the front end in the moving direction. When the large-diameter turntable 420 is further rotated while the corner E of the half-lock H3 is locked, the half-lock H3 is rotated in the clockwise direction as shown in FIG. 7B. . Since the width L1 of the large-diameter turntable 420 is sufficiently larger than the size of the half-lock H3, the half-tablet H3 does not fall on the conical disk 408 as shown in FIG. Is conveyed by the large-diameter turntable 420 in a state facing the surface.

  On the other hand, in the half lock H4 in which the arc surface R has slid on the outer surface of the rectifying guide 411, the arcuate surface R of the half lock is a cylindrical protrusion 411a of the rectifying guide 411 as shown in FIG. However, by sliding on the arcuate surface R, the half-lock H4 does not rotate, and the split surface D of the half-lock H4 faces the cylindrical wall 421 as shown in FIG. It is conveyed by the turntable 420.

  Here, all the half tablets are not necessarily conveyed in a state where the divided surface D faces the cylindrical wall 421. For this reason, the half lock carried on the large-diameter turntable 420 is moved in the inner circumferential direction by the half lock restriction guide plate 405. As a result, the half tablets P12 and P13 conveyed facing the cylindrical wall 421 through the dividing surface D can pass without falling, but the half tablets that the arc surface R of the half tablets is conveyed facing the cylindrical wall 421. In P15 and P16, the gravity position G of the half-lock is present inside the inner periphery of the large-diameter turntable 420, and falls from the large-diameter turntable 420 onto the conical disk 408. The dropped half tablet is again placed on the large-diameter turntable 420 by the rectifying guide 411.

  The movement of the half lock by the half lock restriction guide plate 405 and the state of dropping from the large diameter turntable 420 are shown in FIG. That is, FIG. 8A shows a state before the half lock H5 conveyed with the dividing surface D facing the cylindrical wall 421 is conveyed to the position of the half lock restriction guide plate 405, and FIG. The large-diameter turntable 420 is rotated and the half lock H5 is moved in the inner circumferential direction by the half lock restriction guide plate 405. As shown in FIG. 8B, the half lock H5 with the dividing surface D facing the cylindrical wall 421 is conveyed in the direction of the discharge opening 422 without falling because the center of gravity is on the large-diameter turntable 420. Is done.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 8C, the half lock H6 conveyed with the circular arc surface R facing the cylindrical wall 421 is moved in the inner peripheral direction by the half lock restriction guide plate 405. As a result, as shown in FIG. 8 (d), the center of gravity of the half lock H6 conveyed with the circular arc surface R facing the cylindrical wall 421 is moved to the inner peripheral side of the large-diameter turntable 420. It will fall from the turntable 420 to the conical disk 408.

  As described above, the half-tablet mounting width of the large-diameter turntable on the downstream side in the conveyance direction of the half-lock from the position facing the straightening guide of the large-diameter turntable and upstream from the discharge opening of the half-lock Is provided with a width restricting portion that is formed to be approximately equal to ½ of the distance between the split surface and the arc surface of the half tablet. And the lead-out guide part does not clog the half-lock.

  In addition, since the projections with which the corners formed in the half-lock are in contact with the outer periphery of the straightening guide are formed on the outer side near the end of the straightening guide, the split surface D of the half-lock faces the outside of the straightening guide 411 and slides. The half lock that has been moved, that is, the half lock whose arc surface R faces the cylindrical wall side is rotated by the projection, and the split surface of the half lock faces the cylindrical wall side. There is no clogging.

FIG. 9 is a control block diagram of the medicine dispensing apparatus 100 described in the first embodiment.
An overall control unit 218 is provided in the medicine dispensing apparatus 100, and the overall control unit 218 includes a packaging machine 213, a plurality of dedicated cassettes 201 and 202, and a plurality of half-lock cassettes 204 via an in-casing communication path. It is connected. The overall control unit 218 is connected to a prescription system 219 in the pharmacy via the LAN.

  A half lock cassette control unit 413 is provided in the half lock cassette 204. The half-lock cassette control unit 413 includes a first motor 306 that rotationally drives the conical disk 308, a second motor 318 that rotationally drives the rotating cylinder 312, that is, the large-diameter turntable 320, and a third motor that rotationally drives the lead-out guide 324. The first sensor S1 and the second sensor S2 that are provided in the motor 328 and the drop chute 323 and detect the tablet passing therethrough are respectively connected.

  When the packaging operation is started in accordance with the prescription, the prescription system 219 notifies the overall control unit 218 of an instruction such as a tablet name per dose, a quantity, a dosing instruction such as morning and night, and the number of days. The overall control unit 218 instructs the dedicated cassettes 201 and 202 containing each necessary tablet for each dose to pay out a necessary quantity. Similarly, a dispensing instruction for a necessary quantity is transmitted to the control unit 413 of the half-lock cassette 204. Based on this packaging instruction, tablets are released from the dedicated cassettes 201 and 202, half tablets are released from the half tablet cassette 204, and tablets released by the packaging machine 213 are packaged.

Next, the operation of releasing the half tablet from the half tablet cassette 204 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
That is, an instruction for the quantity to be discharged is transmitted from the overall control unit 218 to the control unit 413 of the half-tablet cassette 204.

  In addition, in the preparatory operation for setting a tablet of a specific size in the half-tablet cassette in advance, the control unit 413 drives the third motor 318 by a predetermined pulse in accordance with the size, so that the leading end of the guide 324 The width between 324a and the inner surface of the cylindrical wall 321 is set to about 1.5 times the half-lock width so that only one tablet can pass sequentially.

  The control unit 413 receives the release command quantity n to be released from the overall control unit 218 (ST1). Upon receipt of the released quantity n, the control unit 413 counts the value C of the first counter (first counting means) that counts the released quantity of the half tablets based on the output of the first sensor S1 provided above the drop chute 323. Is cleared to zero. Further, based on the output of the first sensor, the timer P that detects that the release of the half tablet has stopped for a predetermined time is reset (P = 0) (ST2). These first counter and timer are not shown, but are provided in the RAM in the control unit 413.

  Next, the first motor 306 and the second motor 318 are driven to rotate the conical disk 308 and the large-diameter turntable 320 (ST3). Until the half tablet is released from the discharge opening 322, the first sensor S1 of the drop chute 323 is not turned on (ST4 = N), and it is determined whether the timer P has elapsed for a predetermined time (ST5). If the timer P has not elapsed, the first sensor S1 repeats until it detects a half-lock. The conical disk 308 and the large-diameter turntable 320 rotate to release half tablets one by one from the discharge opening 322, and the released half tablets are detected by the first sensor S1 while dropping the drop chute 323. (ST4). When the first sensor S1 is turned on, the value C of the first counter is counted up (C = C + 1) and the timer P is reset (P = 0) (ST6). As a result of the count-up, it is determined whether or not the value C of the first counter coincides with the discharge number n (ST7). If the value C of the first counter does not match the release command number n, the process returns to ST4 and the tablet release is continued.

  On the other hand, when the half tablet is clogged at the tip 324a of the lead-out guide 324, the half tablet cannot be released, and when the timer P reaches a predetermined time (ST5 = Y), the first motor 306 and the second motor 318 are released. Is reversed for a predetermined time (ST8). When the first motor 306 and the second motor 318 are reversely rotated for a predetermined time, the half-tablet that is clogged in the lead-out guide 324 part is run backward on the large-diameter turntable 320 or falls onto the conical disk 308. The clog is removed.

  Thereafter, the timer P is reset (P = 0) (ST9), the first motor 306 and the second motor 318 are rotated forward (ST3), and the half-tablet is continuously released. When the number C of half tablets released in ST7 becomes equal to the release command number n (ST7 = Y), the first motor 306 and the second motor 318 are stopped (ST10), and the release operation is terminated.

  As described above, since the half-tablet on the large-diameter turntable 320 is oriented so that the divided surface D faces the cylindrical wall 321 as much as possible, a half-tablet supply device that is less likely to be clogged can be provided. If the clogging still occurs in the lead-out guide portion, the first motor 306 and the second motor 318 are reversed to remove the clogging, so that maintenance work can be saved.

  Although some embodiments and modifications of the present invention have been described, these embodiments and modifications are presented as examples, and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments and modifications can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalents thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Tablet dispensing apparatus 200 ... Tablet cassette shelf 201,202 ... Dedicated cassette 204 ... Half tablet cassette (medicine supply apparatus)
213 ... Packaging machine 306 ... First motor 308, 408 ... Conical disk (small-diameter turntable)
311,411 ... Rectifying guide 411a ... Projection 318 ... Second motor 320,420 ... Large-diameter turntable 321,421 ... Cylinder wall 322,422 ... Discharge opening 324 424... Derivation guide 405... Half-lock restriction guide plate (width restriction portion)
D: Dividing surface R ... Arc surface E ... Corner portion 413 ... Half-lock cassette control unit

Claims (8)

A cylindrical wall that forms a drug containing part for containing the divided tablet and has a release opening for the divided tablet formed in a part thereof,
A small-diameter turntable that is provided inside the cylindrical wall, the inside of which is formed as a concave surface, and rotates to move the divided tablet placed on the top by rotating,
It is arranged on the small diameter turntable in a curved shape from the inner peripheral side to the outer peripheral side, and by restricting the transfer path of the divided tablets on the small diameter turntable, the small diameter turntable can be rotated. A fixed rectifying guide that moves the divided tablets in the outer peripheral direction of the small-diameter turntable,
Provided on the outer periphery of the small-diameter turntable, and the outer periphery extends in the vicinity of the inner periphery of the cylindrical wall. By rotating, the divided tablets transferred from the small-diameter turntable are placed on the cylinder. A large-diameter turntable that conveys in the direction of the discharge opening of the wall and discharges the divided tablets from the discharge opening;
The large-diameter turntable is provided on the downstream side of at least the position facing the straightening guide and on the upstream side of the discharge opening, and the divided tablet placement width of the large-diameter turntable is set to the dividing surface of the divided tablet. And a width regulating portion formed approximately equal to 1/2 of the distance between the arc surface and the arc surface,
The divided tablet supply apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. In the width restricting portion, the distance between the inner circumference of the cylindrical wall and the inner circumference of the large-diameter turntable is 1 / of the distance between the divided surface of the divided tablet and the arc surface over the entire circumference of the large-diameter turntable. Formed almost equal to 2,
The divided tablet supply device according to claim 1. The width restricting portion is provided on the large-diameter turntable, and is formed by a width restricting guide plate capable of changing the amount of protrusion from the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical wall according to the dimensions of the divided tablets.
2. The divided tablet supply device according to claim 1, wherein: The inner circumference side of the width regulating guide plate is formed in the same circumferential shape as the inner circumference of the cylindrical wall,
The divided tablet supply device according to claim 3. When the split surface of the split tablet is transported to the center side of the large-diameter turntable outside the vicinity of the outer peripheral end of the straightening guide, the split tablet is brought into contact with the corner of the split tablet. Formed a convex part to rotate,
The divided tablet supply device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the divided tablet supply device is provided. The rotational angular velocity of the large-diameter turntable is set faster than the rotational angular velocity of the small-diameter turntable,
The divided tablet supply device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the divided tablet supply device is provided. A sensor for detecting a divided tablet released from the discharge opening;
A controller that reverses the small-diameter turntable and the large-diameter turntable for a predetermined time when the release of the divided tablets is not detected for a predetermined time based on the output of the sensor;
The divided tablet supply device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising: A shelf in which a plurality of divided tablet supply devices according to any one of claims 1 to 7 are stored;
A packaging part that is provided below the shelf and wraps the divided tablets released from the divided tablet supply device with a wrapping paper;
A medicine dispensing device comprising: