JP2022169440A - Drug feeder, drug delivery device, drug feeder calibration method, and drug feeder failure detection method - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a drug delivery device capable of determining a state of weight measurement means requiring no robot or no need to use multiple gravimetric means.SOLUTION: A drug feeder includes: a drug container for containing powder medicine; a holding member holding the drug container; and weight measuring means that directly or indirectly measures the weight of a drug container. The drug feeder discharges the powder medicine from the drug container and is capable of detecting a discharge amount of the powder medicine by the weight measuring means. The drug feeder has a weight member 42 and lifting means that lifts up/down at least any of the weight member 42, the weight measuring means or the drug container. The drug feeder is configured to perform calibration and/or fault detection of the weight-measuring means by comparing a state with a load of the weight member 42 applied to the weight-measuring means with a state with no load of the weight member 42 applied to the weight measuring means.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 13

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a medicine feeder for metering out a prescribed amount of medicine. The invention also relates to a drug dispensing device with such a drug feeder. Further, the present invention relates to a method of calibrating such a drug feeder and a method of detecting failure of such a drug feeder.

In recent years, large hospitals and large-scale pharmacies have introduced a powder medicine packaging device and a medicine dispensing device having a powder medicine packaging function.
In the conventional medicine dispensing device disclosed in Patent Document 1, a medicine bottle containing prescribed powdered medicine is manually taken out from the medicine cabinet, and the total weight of the prescribed powdered medicine is weighed using a scale such as a scale. It is difficult to say that it is a fully automatic device because it is necessary to perform the work of ejecting.
In order to deal with this problem, the present applicant put into practical use the drug dispensing device disclosed in Patent Document 2.

The drug dispensing device disclosed in Patent Document 2 includes a container storage device that stores a large number of drug containers, a robot that transports the drug containers, a container placement device that vibrates the drug containers and discharges the drugs from the drug containers, A distribution dish is built in. The container placement device also has weight measuring means for measuring the weight of the drug container.
Then, the required drug container is automatically selected, placed on the container placing device by the robot, and the drug container is vibrated to discharge the drug directly from the drug container to the distribution tray. While the medicine is being discharged, the weight measuring means monitors the weight of the medicine container to detect the amount of medicine discharged, and when the amount of medicine discharged reaches a predetermined amount, the vibration is stopped.
After that, the robot is driven to move the medicine container onto another weight measuring means, and the weight of the medicine container is detected again by another weight detecting means.
This weight re-detection operation is mainly performed for the purpose of detecting a failure of the weight measuring means.
That is, the weight of the drug container after drug discharge detected by the weight measuring means of the container placing device is compared with the weight of the same drug container detected by another weight detecting means. If the means are not faulty and there is a difference between the two, the weighing means may be faulty.

JP-A-2000-85703 WO2015/076267

In the drug dispensing device disclosed in Patent Document 2, a robot is used to transfer the drug container to another weight measuring means to determine whether the weight measuring means is good or bad, so it is essential to operate the robot. In addition, the medicine dispensing device disclosed in Patent Document 2 needs to use a plurality of weight measuring means.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a drug feeder that does not necessarily require a robot or a plurality of weight measuring means when judging the quality of the weight measuring means. and Another object of the present invention is to provide a drug dispensing device having such a drug feeder. A further object of the present invention is to provide a drug feeder calibration method and a drug feeder failure detection method that do not necessarily require a robot and do not necessarily require the use of a plurality of weight measuring means.

One aspect of the present invention for solving the above problems is a drug container containing a powdered drug, a holding member for holding the drug container, and a weight measuring device for directly or indirectly measuring the weight of the drug container. means for discharging powdered medicine from said medicine container, and capable of detecting the amount of discharged powdered medicine by said weight measuring means, said medicine feeder comprising a weight member, said weight member or said weight measuring means Alternatively, a lifting means for lifting and lowering at least one of the drug containers is provided, and a state in which the load of the weight member is applied to the weight measurement means and a state in which the load of the weight member is not applied to the weight measurement means. to calibrate the weight measuring means.

According to the medicine feeder of this aspect, it is possible to calibrate the weight measuring means and detect failures without necessarily requiring a robot as an external device or other weight measuring means.

In the aspect described above, the elevating means elevates the weight member, and it is preferable that the weight member elevates to perform the calibration.

The preferred aspect described above has a weight receiving portion, and the weight receiving portion is adapted to support the weight when the holding member holds the drug container and when the drug container is removed from the holding member. It is further preferred to be able to take the load of the member.

According to this aspect, the weight measuring means can be calibrated both in a state in which the drug container is held and in a state in which the drug container is removed.

The preferred aspect described above has a measurement means inspection section formed including the weight member, the lifting means, and a weight receiving section capable of receiving the load of the weight member, and the measurement means inspection section It is further preferable that the calibration is performed, and the measuring means inspection portion is arranged at a position laterally spaced from the holding member.

According to this more preferable aspect, even if the measuring means inspecting part for calibrating the weight measuring means fails, replacement and maintenance of the measuring means inspecting part become easy.

The preferred aspect described above has a weight receiving portion, and the lifting means includes a motor as a power source, a cam rotated by the operation of the motor, and a lifting member mounted on the cam, The elevating member moves up and down as the cam rotates while maintaining a state of being placed on the cam. It is further preferable that the state in which the member is in contact with the weight receiving portion is shifted to the state in which the weight member is not in contact with the weight receiving portion.

According to this further preferred aspect, it is possible to calibrate the weight measuring means with a simple structure.

The preferred aspect described above has a weight receiving portion, and the weight receiving portion is a part of the holding member, is formed at a position below the held drug container, and lifts and lowers the weight member. and switching between a state in which the weight member is placed on the weight receiving portion and the load of the weight member is applied to the weight measuring means and a state in which the weight member is separated upward from the weight receiving portion, The weight member may be arranged at a position below the held drug container in each of the state of being placed on the weight receiving portion and the state of being separated upward from the weight receiving portion. More preferred.

According to this more preferable aspect, the space required for disposing the drug feeder can be saved, which is preferable.

In the aspect described above, it is preferable that the drug container can be manually held by the holding member, and the drug container held by the holding member can be manually removed.

Another aspect of the invention is a drug dispensing device comprising a drug feeder as described above.

Even in this aspect, it is possible to calibrate the weight measuring means without necessarily requiring a robot or other weight measuring means.

The aspect described above has a medicine packaging unit for packaging powdered medicine, a hopper member into which the powdered medicine to be supplied to the medicine packaging unit is put, and a hopper-side weight measuring means for directly or indirectly measuring the weight of the hopper member. Then, a target amount of powdered medicine is discharged based on the detected value of the weight measuring means, and the discharged powdered medicine is put into the hopper member, and the failure is detected based on the detected value of the hopper side weight measuring means. It is preferable to

In this aspect, since it is possible to determine whether or not the weight measuring means was normal during the operation of discharging the powdered medicine, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of problems caused by the failure of the weight measuring means.

Another aspect of the present invention comprises a medicine container containing a powdered medicine, a holding member holding the medicine container, and weight measuring means for directly or indirectly measuring the weight of the medicine container, A method for calibrating a drug feeder capable of detecting the amount of powdered medicine discharged by a weight measuring means, comprising: a weight acquisition step of performing weight measurement by the weight measuring means in a state in which a load of a weight member is applied to the weight measuring means. and comparing the weight obtained in the weight obtaining step with a pre-stored weight to determine whether or not the weight measuring means is normal.

Another aspect of the present invention comprises a medicine container containing a powdered medicine, a holding member holding the medicine container, and weight measuring means for directly or indirectly measuring the weight of the medicine container, A drug feeder failure detection method capable of detecting the amount of powdered medicine discharged by a weight measuring means, wherein the weight is measured by the weight measuring means while a load of a weight member is applied to the weight measuring means. performing the weight obtaining step prior to the operation of discharging the powdered medicine, further performing the weight obtaining step after the operation of discharging the powdered medicine, and weight obtained in the weight obtaining step performed prior to the operation of discharging the powdered medicine; A failure detection method for a medicine feeder, wherein the weight obtained in the weight obtaining step performed after the powdered medicine discharging operation is compared with the weight obtained in the weight obtaining process to determine whether or not the weight measuring means has failed during the powdered medicine discharging operation. be.

According to this aspect, it is possible to calibrate the weight measuring means and detect failures without necessarily requiring a robot as an external device or other weight measuring means.

In the above aspect, in the operation of discharging the powdered medicine, the powdered medicine is discharged with the powdered medicine discharging portion of the medicine container in the open state. , and preferably the weight of the drug container before discharging the powdered drug is obtained as the original weight before opening the powdered drug discharging portion of the drug container.

According to this aspect, it is possible to discharge the powdered medicine with higher precision.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can provide a drug feeder that does not necessarily require a robot and does not necessarily require the use of a plurality of weight measuring means when judging whether the weight measuring means is good or bad. Also, it is possible to provide a drug dispensing device equipped with such a drug feeder. Furthermore, it is possible to provide a drug feeder calibration method and a drug feeder failure detection method that do not necessarily require a robot and do not necessarily require the use of a plurality of weight measuring means.

1 is a perspective view showing a drug dispensing device according to an embodiment of the present invention, showing a state in which an upper lid is opened; FIG. Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the periphery of a distribution plate of the medicine dispensing device shown in Fig. 1; 2 is a perspective view of the drug feeder of FIG. 1; FIG. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the drug feeder of FIG. 3 with information reading means omitted; FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the drug feeder observed from a direction different from that of FIG. 4; Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the drug feeder (feeder body) with the drug container removed from the holding member; FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the medicine feeder of FIG. 6 as seen from another direction; FIG. 7 is a side view showing the feeder body of FIG. 6; FIG. 9 is a side view showing a model of the feeder main body of FIG. 8; FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a state in which the weight calibration unit of FIG. 4 is viewed from another direction; FIG. 11 is an exploded perspective view showing the weight calibration unit of FIG. 10; It is a figure which shows the upper guide member of FIG. 10, (a) is a perspective view observed from the downward side, (b) is sectional drawing. 5A to 5C are explanatory diagrams schematically showing the operation when the weight calibration unit shown in FIG. 4 shifts from the first state to the second state, and shifts in the order of (a) to (c). (a) is a perspective view showing a weight according to an embodiment different from that of FIG. 11, and (b) is a perspective view showing a weight support member according to an embodiment different from that of FIG. (a) is an explanatory view schematically showing a medicine feeder according to an embodiment different from the above embodiment, and (b) shows the medicine feeder in (a) changing from the first state to the second state. It is explanatory drawing which shows a mode that it transfers typically. 3A is a perspective view of a calibration instrument that can be attached to the scraping device of FIG. 2, and FIG. ) is an explanatory diagram showing an exploded calibration instrument. 17(a) is an explanatory diagram schematically showing how a weight member is supported by the calibration instrument shown in FIG. 16, and FIG. 17(b) is a diagram showing a vibration-side horizontal movement of the weight member by the calibration instrument shown in FIG. 16. FIG. FIG. 10 is an explanatory view schematically showing how the device is placed on the part; It is explanatory drawing which shows typically the medicine feeder which concerns on embodiment different from above-described embodiment, (a) shows a 1st state, (b) shows a 2nd state. (a) is an explanatory diagram schematically showing a state in which a weight correcting unit different from the above-described embodiment is adopted in a medicine dispensing device. (b) is an explanatory view schematically showing the periphery of one weight member when the left figure is in the first state, and the right figure is one weight member when in the second state. It is an explanatory view showing the periphery typically. FIG. 10 is an explanatory view schematically showing main parts of a medicine dispensing device according to an embodiment different from the above-described embodiment, showing how powdered medicine is discharged from a medicine feeder to a distribution tray and failure detection operation is executed. FIG. 21 is a diagram showing how the medicine dispensing device shown in FIG. 20 performs a failure detection operation different from that in FIG. 20; FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a drug container according to an embodiment different from the above-described embodiment, where (a) shows how the lid member is closed, and (b) shows how the lid member is opened; show. FIG. 22B is a cross-sectional view showing the drug container shown in FIG. 22A, showing a state in which the lid member and other portions are cut along different cutting planes; FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing a specific procedure of discharging operation for discharging powdered medicine from a medicine feeder to a distribution tray, and the discharging operation is executed in the order of (a) to (k).

Hereinafter, a medicine dispensing device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the following description, unless otherwise specified, the vertical positional relationship is based on the normal installation state (state shown in FIG. 1).
Also, in order to facilitate understanding, the outline and rough operation of the drug dispensing device 1 will be described first, and then each member and device will be described in detail.

As shown in FIG. 1, the drug dispensing device 1 of this embodiment is surrounded by a housing 2, and the interior is divided into a tablet hand-dispensing area 300, a powdered medicine division area 301, and a medicine packaging area 302. ing. In addition, a swingable upper lid 4 is provided on the upper portion of the housing 2. By closing the upper lid 4, the upper lid 4 covers the upper parts of the members belonging to the powdered medicine dividing region 301. state.

A tablet manual distribution device 303 is provided in the tablet manual distribution area 300 .
Since the tablet manual distributing device 303 is well known, a detailed description thereof will be omitted. This tablet hand-dispensing device 303 is positioned above a distribution plate 3, a drug feeder 5, etc., which will be described later.

The medicine packaging area 302 incorporates a medicine packaging device 305 as conceptually shown in FIG. The medicine packaging device 305 is a machine for packaging medicines for each dose, and has a packing paper supply device 306 (packaging paper feeding section) and a packing device 308 (sealing section). The drug packaging device 305 is also provided with a powdered drug charging hopper 310 above the packaging device 308 for charging the drug.
Although the powdered medicine charging hopper 310 is shown at a position distant from the distribution tray 3 for drawing purposes, the upper end of the powdered medicine charging hopper 310 is actually located in the equipment storage opening 15 of the distribution tray 3 .

The drug packaging device 305 is used by attaching roll paper to the attachment portion of the main body (not shown) of the packaging paper supply device 306 . The roll paper is formed by winding a band-shaped packing paper (wrapping paper) around a tubular core member to form a roll. Although not particularly limited, the roll paper of the present embodiment is a roll of packaging paper that is folded in two and has a band shape.
In addition, the medicine packaging device 305 has a printing mechanism (printing section) (not shown).
In the drug packaging device 305, the packaging paper fed out from the roll paper is introduced into the printing mechanism, and information such as the patient name, drug name, date and time of administration (information related to prescription and information related to the drug to be provided) is printed. . After that, the packaging paper on which the predetermined information is printed is opened upward. In this state, the medicine (powder medicine) dropped (supplied) from the powder medicine introduction hopper 310 is received.
Furthermore, the packaging paper containing the drug is introduced into the sealing section (packaging device 308) and sealed in the vertical and horizontal directions by the sealing section to sequentially package the received drugs. As a result, a drug package containing a single dose of drug is formed, and the drug package is transported to the outside of the apparatus.
At this time, a drug packaging band is formed in which a plurality of drug packages are continuously packed, and the band is conveyed to the outside of the apparatus. However, instead of the drug packaging band, one or more individual drug packages may be formed and delivered to the outside of the apparatus.
Note that the above-described horizontal direction is the delivery direction (delivery direction) of the packaging paper, and the vertical direction is the direction that intersects (perpendicularly) with the delivery direction of the packaging paper.

Further, an identifier may be attached to the core member of the roll paper described above. The identifier is information that can individually identify the roll paper (information on the manufacturer, etc. (manufacturer name, etc.), information on the date of manufacture, etc., type of roll paper wound around the core, order number, shipping date , customer information of the delivery destination, model name and model code of the packaging machine to which the roll paper is attached, other IDs, etc.), and may be, for example, a memory such as an IC tag. Also, a code such as a one-dimensional code (bar code) or a two-dimensional code may be used, and when a code is employed, it may be attached to a label.
Then, when the roll paper is loaded into the packaging paper supply device 306, an operation is performed to check with the device to be loaded, that is, to determine whether or not the predetermined roll paper is correctly loaded into the device. good too. Alternatively, information for identifying that the roll paper is unused may be stored in the identifier, and an operation for determining whether or not the roll paper is unused may be executed when the roll paper is loaded. Furthermore, information regarding the remaining amount of packaging paper when the roll paper (packaging paper roll) is attached to the main body of the packaging paper supply device 306 may be stored. Further, when the packaging operation of packaging the medicine is executed, the remaining amount at an appropriate time during the packaging operation may be stored. Information about this remaining amount may be stored, for example, during the packaging operation. In addition, after the packaging operation, the remaining amount at the end of the packaging operation may be stored. That is, when the drug dispensing device 1 is operated, information regarding the remaining amount may be stored at appropriate timing.

As shown in FIG. 2, the powdered medicine division area 301 is an area where the distribution tray 3 is installed, and the medicine feeder 5 and the cleaning device 7 are arranged around it. A scraping device 8 is provided in the powdered medicine dividing area 301 .
The distribution pan 3 and scraping device 8 are well known and will be briefly described.
The distribution plate 3 is a disk-shaped member provided with a drug-inserting groove 13, which is also referred to as a "groove". The drug introduction groove 13 surrounds the outer edge of the distribution plate 3 in a ring shape. The distribution plate 3 is provided with an equipment storage opening 15 in the center. In addition, in FIG. 2, most of them are covered with a lid.
The above-described powdered medicine charging hopper 310 is installed in the equipment storage opening 15 .
The distribution dish 3 can be rotated at a constant speed. It can also be rotated by a predetermined angle.

The raking device 8 has a rotating plate 12 (see FIG. 2) at the tip of a raking arm 11 (see FIG. 16B, etc.). Specifically, a mounting base 255 (see FIG. 16B, etc.) that can be rotated by a motor is provided at the tip of the scraping arm 11, and a scraping plate or the like (not shown) is attached to the mounting base 255. ) is mounted thereon. That is, the rotating plate 12 is rotated by the power of the motor.
A root portion of the scraping device 8 is installed on a turntable (not shown) in the equipment storage opening 15 of the distribution plate 3 . A scraping arm 11 of the scraping device 8 protrudes from the center of the distribution plate 3 . The scraping device 8 can be turned as a whole by rotating the turntable. Also, the scraping arm 11 can swing vertically. Note that the scraping device 8 may not be provided with a turntable and may not rotate as a whole, and the scraping arm 11 may be swingable.

Here, in the drug dispensing device 1 of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2 , the upper opening serving as the drug inlet of the powdered drug charging hopper 310 is located inside the distribution plate 3 . That is, the distribution tray 3 continues in an annular (annular) fashion outside the powdered medicine charging hopper 310, and the powdered medicine charging hopper 310 is located in an area surrounded by the distribution tray 3 in a plan view. The scraping device 8 is also positioned inside the distribution plate 3 .
When the powdered medicine on the distribution tray 3 is scraped out by the scraping device 8 and put into the powdered medicine charging hopper 310 , the powdered medicine is scraped out toward the inside of the distribution tray 3 . That is, the rotary plate 12 is rotated to move the scraping plate so as to move the powdered medicine on the distribution tray 3 to the inside of the distribution tray 3 (the scraping plate moves from the outer edge side to the inner edge side of the distribution tray 3). rotating plate 12 so as to move in the transverse direction).
In this embodiment, the scraping device 8 is provided inside the distribution tray 3 and the powdered medicine is scraped out toward the inside of the distribution tray 3, thereby reducing the number of members outside the distribution tray 3. In other words, a wide space is secured around the drug feeder 5 outside the distribution plate 3 to facilitate manual attachment/detachment of the drug container 20 to/from the feeder main body 10. This contributes to the miniaturization of the entire device.

As shown in FIGS. 3, 4, and 5, the drug feeder 5 has a feeder section 22 provided with a weight calibration section 21 (measuring means inspection section). The drug feeder 5 also has an information read/write means 66 (see FIG. 3) capable of reading and writing information to and from an information storage means 65 (see FIG. 4), which will be described later. 6 and 8, the feeder section 22 has a medicine container 20 containing powdered medicine and a feeder body 10 holding the medicine container 20. As shown in FIGS.
The feeder body 10 is mechanically divided into a container support portion 23 (holding member), a weight measurement portion 24, and a base portion 26, as shown in FIG.
The container support section 23 has a support base 27, a vibrating member 16, and vibrating means 30a and 30b. The vibrating means 30a and 30b are piezoelectric elements and have a plate shape.

The support base 27 and the vibrating member 16 are both "L" shaped members having a horizontal portion and a vertical wall portion. That is, the support base 27 has a support-side horizontal portion 30 and a support-side vertical wall portion 31, as shown in FIGS. The vibrating member 16 also functions as a container holding portion, and has a vibrating side horizontal portion 32 and a vibrating side vertical wall portion 33 . The vibration-side vertical wall portion 33 has two engaging portions (a groove-shaped engaging portion 48 (trapezoidal engaging portion 47) and an engaging piece 50 that engage with the medicine container 20, see FIG. 7). ) is provided.

As shown in FIG. 7, the engaging portion 47 has a trapezoidal shape that is nearly rectangular when viewed from the front, and has a bulging portion 58 at the lower portion of one oblique side. A groove-like engaging portion 48 is formed on a side corresponding to the oblique side of the trapezoidal shape.
A substantially rectangular opening 51 is provided on the front surface of the engaging portion 47 and in the lower portion thereof. An engaging piece 50 is accommodated in the opening 51 . The engaging piece 50 is connected to the loading/unloading mechanism and projects from the opening 51 .
A shutter opening/closing mechanism 55 is provided on one side of the vibration-side horizontal portion 32, as shown in FIG. The shutter opening/closing mechanism 55 is an opening/closing mechanism for discharging a fixed amount of powdered medicine from the medicine container 20 .

The support base 27 and the vibrating member 16 are connected by two vibrating means 30a and 30b. There is substantially no contact between the vibration-side horizontal portion 32 and the support-side horizontal portion 30 . Therefore, when the vibrating means 30a and 30b are energized, the vibrating member 16 vibrates.

A weight measurement section 24 is arranged below the container support section 23 . The weight measurement unit 24 includes weight measurement means 25 and vibration isolation means 18 . The weight measuring means 25 is a known load cell. The vibration isolation means 18 has a vibration isolation member 28 .
A container supporting portion 23 (supporting base 27, vibrating member 16, vibrating means 30a, 30b) is connected to the detection portion of the weight measuring means 25. As shown in FIG. The base portion 26 also supports the upper members (the support base 27, the vibrating member 16, and the vibrating means 30a and 30b) via the vibration isolating member 28 of the weight measuring portion 24. As shown in FIG.
The weight of container support portion 23 is detected by weight measuring means 25 . The weight of the anti-vibration means 18 hangs on the base portion 26 but does not hang on the weight measuring means 25 . Therefore, the weight of the container support portion 23 (the support base 27, the vibrating member 16, the vibrating means 30a and 30b) is detected (measurable) by the weight measuring means 25. FIG.

The drug container 20 is a container filled with powdered medicine, and has a rectangular parallelepiped shape with substantially square side surfaces.
The drug container 20 is surrounded by a front wall 35, a rear wall 36, left and right side walls 37, a top wall 38 and a bottom wall 40, as shown in FIGS.
At the bottom wall 40 of the drug container 20 and in the vicinity of the front wall 35, there is an openable and closable powdered medicine discharge part.
Further, there are engagement portions (engagement groove 130 and engagement recess 131, see FIG. 6) on the vertical sides and the lower portion of the rear wall 36 .

Specifically, the rear wall 36 is provided with a pair of engaging grooves 130 and one engaging recess 131, as shown in FIG. The engaging grooves 130 are vertical grooves that open inward along the left and right vertical sides of the back wall 36 . The engagement recess 131 is a recess provided in the lower portion of the rear wall 36 .
The engagement groove 130 is a portion that engages with the engagement portion 48 (see FIG. 7). That is, by inserting the rear wall 36 of the drug container 20 from above along the vibration-side vertical wall portion 33 of the feeder body 10, the engaging groove 130 and the engaging portion 48 are engaged.
The engaging recess 131 is a portion that engages with the engaging piece 50 (see FIG. 7). Specifically, the engagement piece 50 is retracted into the opening 51 when the drug container 20 is attached to the feeder body 10 (inserted from above along the vibration-side vertical wall portion 33 of the feeder body 10). Then, when the drug feeder 5 is driven, it protrudes from the opening 51 to the outside, the engaging piece 50 is inserted into the engaging recess 131, and the engaging piece 50 and the engaging recess 131 are engaged.

Furthermore, information storage means 65 (information recording member, RFID tag in this embodiment) is attached to one of the two left and right side walls 37 (see FIG. 4). The information storage means 65 stores information on the medicine container 20 (information on the powdered medicine contained in the medicine container 20). For example, it stores identification information (information such as drug name and various codes) that identifies the stored medicine, and remaining amount information about the current remaining amount of the stored medicine. The information stored in the information storage means 65 is information that can be used in association with prescription data and the like. It becomes possible to perform a specified operation. This information storage means 65 may be a memory such as an IC tag. Also, a code such as a one-dimensional code (bar code) or a two-dimensional code may be used, and when a code is employed, it may be attached to a label.

The medicine feeder 5 has the information reading/writing means 66 (see FIG. 3) capable of reading and writing information to/from the information storage means 65, as described above. In this embodiment, an RFID reader/writer is employed as the information reading/writing means 66, and reading/reading of information from/to the information storage means 65 is possible by wireless communication. An operation of reading the cassette information from the information storage means 65 and an operation of writing (rewriting) the remaining amount after dispensing the powdered medicine from the medicine container 20 are possible. Note that the cassette information is information about the drug container 20 described above, and includes, for example, the drug name and remaining amount.
The information reading/reading means 66 is located outside the information storage means 65 when the medicine container 20 is attached to the feeder main body 10, and is arranged at a position slightly separated from the information storage means 65 (FIG. 3, See Figure 4). It is also conceivable to provide information reading means, information writing means, etc. capable of reading and writing information instead of the information reading means 66 .

The drug container 20 also has a shutter structure 120 as shown in FIG. The shutter structure 120 has a shutter member 121 and a transmission member 122 . By holding the drug container 20 in the feeder body 10, the transmission member 122 and the shutter opening/closing mechanism 55 are engaged. When the transmission member 122 is linearly moved by the shutter opening/closing mechanism 55 , the shutter member 121 is linearly moved, and an opening (powder medicine discharge portion) provided on the lower side of the drug container 20 is opened to communicate with the outside. Further, by moving the shutter member 121 in the opposite direction to the open state, the opening (powder medicine discharge portion) is closed so as not to communicate with the outside. Then, when discharging the powdered medicine from the medicine container 20, the medicine container 20 is shifted from the closed state to the open state.

The medicine container 20 is filled with powdered medicine and fixed to the feeder body 10 as shown in FIG. That is, the back wall 36 (see FIG. 6) of the drug container 20 is in contact with the vibration-side vertical wall portion 33 of the vibrating member 16 serving as the container holding portion, and the back wall 36 side (see FIG. 6) of the bottom wall 40 of the drug container 20 is The drug container 20 is fixed to the feeder main body 10 in a state in which it is in contact with the vibration-side horizontal portion 32 and most of the drug container 20 is cantilevered. In addition, the engaging portions (the engaging groove 130 and the engaging recess 131, see FIG. 6) of the drug container 20 are aligned with two engaging portions (the groove-shaped engaging portions 48 (trapezoidal) of the vibrating member 16, respectively. They are the engaging portion 47) and the engaging piece 50, and are engaged with the engaging portion 47) (see FIG. 7). Therefore, the drug container 20 is integrated with the vibrating member 16 and vibrates together with the vibrating member 16 .

The weight calibration section 21 detects whether or not the weight measuring means 25 is normal. As shown in FIG. 4, the weight calibration unit 21 includes a weight 42 (weight member, weight for calibration), a weight mounting member 43 (weight receiver) on which the weight 42 is mounted, and a weight for lifting the weight 42 into the air. It has a support member 45 (see FIG. 10).
The weight placement member 43 is fixed to the container support portion 23 of the feeder body 10 via an attachment member. Therefore, the weight of the weight mounting member 43 is added to the weight measuring means 25. As shown in FIG.
On the other hand, the weight support member 45 is arranged so that a load is applied to the base portion 26 of the feeder body 10 (see FIGS. 10 and 11). The weight of the weight support member 45 is therefore not added to the weight measuring means 25 .

In this embodiment, six drug feeders 5 are fixed around the distribution plate 3, as shown in FIG. The drug container 20 has a front wall 35 side (see FIG. 6 and the like) protruding toward the distribution plate 3 , and the powdered drug discharge section is positioned directly above the drug introduction groove 13 .

In the medicine dispensing device 1 of this embodiment, the medicine container 20 of each medicine feeder 5 is filled with different medicines in advance.
Then, based on a prescription (prescription data that is information about prescription), a specific drug feeder 5 is driven and powdered drugs are put into the distribution tray 3 . Specifically, a signal from a control device (not shown) supplies current of a constant frequency to the vibrating means 30a and 30b of a specific drug feeder 5 to generate vibration, and the vibrating member 16 is vibrated by this vibration.
Also, the distribution plate 3 is rotated before and after the start of vibration.

Also, the weight of the medicine container 20 is measured before and after the start of the vibration. The weight of the medicine container 20 is obtained by subtracting a certain value from the weight detected by the weight measuring means 25 . More specifically, the weight of the drug container 20 is calculated from the weight detected by the weight measuring means 25 by the member including the container supporting portion 23 and part of the weight calibrating portion 21 (the load is applied to the weight measuring means 25). material) is subtracted. The weight of the medicine container 20 before the powdered medicine is discharged is stored as the original weight G. Also, the weight of the drug container 20 is constantly monitored. That is, the current weight of the drug container 20 is monitored as the current weight g.

When vibrating member 16 starts to vibrate, drug container 20 vibrates with it. Here, in this embodiment, the drug container 20 is firmly joined to the vibrating member 16 by two engaging portions (the engaging groove 130 and the engaging recess 131, see FIG. 6). In addition, the drug container 20 vibrates at the same frequency as the vibrating member 16 because the degree of close contact with the vibrating member 16 is high. As a result, the powdered medicine stored in the medicine container 20 slowly moves toward the powdered medicine discharge section side (the shutter structure section 120 side, see FIG. 7) provided on the bottom wall 40 .
Then, the powdered medicine drops from a powdered medicine discharging portion, which is an opening provided on the lower side of the medicine container 20, and enters the medicine charging groove 13 of the distribution tray 3 below.

The fact that the powdered medicine is falling is confirmed by the weight of the medicine container 20 decreasing. That is, in this embodiment, the current weight of the medicine container 20 is continuously monitored as the current weight g even while the powdered medicine is falling from the medicine container 20 . The original weight G of the drug container 20 immediately after being placed on the vibrating member 16 is compared with the current weight g, and the falling amount H of the powdered medicine (the discharged amount of the powdered medicine, G minus g) is always calculated. The vibration of the vibrating member 16 is stopped when the total falling amount H (total discharge amount) of the powder medicine reaches a desired weight.

In the subsequent operation, the rotating plate 12 of the scraping device 8 is dropped into the drug feeding groove 13 of the distribution plate 3. Furthermore, after that, the distribution plate 3 is rotated by an angle corresponding to the number of distribution, and the powdered medicine for one dose is collected on the front side of the rotating plate 12. - 特許庁Then, the rotary plate 12 is rotated, and the powdered medicine is scraped out of the distribution tray 3 by a scraping plate (not shown) and put into the powdered medicine feeding hopper 310 by doses. The powdered medicine dropped from the powdered medicine charging hopper 310 is introduced into the medicine packaging device 305 .
In this manner, the medicine dispensing device 1 of the present embodiment is capable of packaging the medicine by one dose in the same manner as a well-known medicine dispensing device. Further, the container support portion 23 functions as a powdered medicine discharging means for discharging the powdered medicine from the medicine container 20 .

The series of drug discharge operations described above are performed while the weight 42 is lifted by the weight support member 45 of the weight calibration unit 21 . Therefore, the weight of the weight 42 is not detected by the weight measuring means 25 .
When determining whether or not the weight measuring means 25 is normal, the weight supporting member 45 is operated to place the weight on the weight placing member 43 (details will be described later). As a result, the weight of the weight 42 is applied to the weight measuring means 25, and the weight of the weight 42 is detected.
Here, since the weight of the weight 42 is known, it can be said that the weight measuring means 25 is normal if the increase in the detected weight due to the weight 42 being placed is equal to the value of the weight of the weight 42 stored in advance. . Conversely, if the amount of increase in the detected weight due to the placement of the weight 42 is different from the weight of the weight 42, it can be said that the weight measuring means 25 is out of order. That is, in the calibration of the weight measuring means 25, a weight obtaining step is performed to obtain an increase in the detected weight (the weight of the weight 42) due to placing the weight 42 thereon.

By the way, in the medicine dispensing device 1, when discharging (supplying) the powdered medicine from the medicine container 20 to the distribution tray 3, it is necessary to determine whether or not there is uneven discharge and whether there is an abnormality in the discharged amount. Then, a distribution check operation is performed to determine whether or not the amount of one package (one dose) is correct.
More specifically, when the powdered medicine is discharged, the falling amount H of the powdered medicine is constantly calculated as described above. Then, based on the falling amount H of the powdered medicine, the discharge speed of the powdered medicine to the distribution tray 3 (discharged amount per unit time) is calculated. Here, when the amount of discharge per unit time deviates from the specified value, that is, when it is detected that the amount of discharge per unit of time has become extremely small or, conversely, has become extremely large, uneven discharge occurs. It is determined that
Further, when discharging the powdered medicine, the weight of the powdered medicine contained in the medicine container 20 is measured before the discharge of the powdered medicine is started and after the discharge of the powdered medicine is completed. When the value obtained by subtracting the weight of powdered medicine after completion of discharging from the weight of powdered medicine before starting discharging is the same as the expected discharge amount (target discharge amount based on prescription), it is determined that there is no abnormality in the discharged amount. On the other hand, if they are not the same, it is determined that there is an abnormality in the amount of discharge.
When it is determined that uneven discharge has occurred, or when it is determined that there is an abnormality in the discharged amount, a notification operation is performed to notify that effect. The notification operation may be an operation in which the medicine dispensing device 1 is provided with sound generating means such as a speaker and a display device such as a display, and outputs warning sounds and voices, and displays a message. This also applies to the notification operation in the following description.

Next, the weight calibration unit 21, which is a characteristic part of this embodiment, will be described.
As shown in FIG. 10, the weight calibration unit 21 of the present embodiment includes the weight 42 and the weight placement member 43, the lifting device 60 (lifting means), the upper guide member 61, and the control device 62. is doing. The lifting device 60 , the upper guide member 61 , and the control device 62 are fixed to the base portion 26 (see FIG. 4 ) via mounting members 63 . In other words, these loads are applied to the base portion 26 .

Note that the weight placement member 43 and the mounting member 63 are directly mounted to the container support portion 23 and the base portion 26, respectively, or indirectly via other members (see FIG. 4). At this time, the weight placement member 43 and the attachment member 63 are attached via temporary fastening elements.
The term "temporary fastening element" as used herein refers to a type of fastening element, and in principle refers to a fastening element that can be removed without being destroyed. , is the screw. As described above, the weight calibration unit 21 can be removed from the drug feeder 5 (detachable from the feeder main body 10).

The weight 42, as shown in FIG. 11, is a metal weight having an approximately spherical outer shape.
The weight mounting member 43 is a member in which a flat plate-like receiving plate portion 43a and an upright plate-like mounting plate portion 43b are integrally formed. The mounting plate portion 43b is a portion to be affixed to an object to be mounted (the container support portion 23 or a mounting member interposed between the container support portion 23) and has a screw hole.

An engaging hole portion 70 is provided in the receiving plate portion 43a. The engagement hole portion 70 is a through hole having a circular opening shape, and penetrates the receiving plate portion 43a in the thickness direction (vertical direction). The engaging hole 70 has a size that allows the weight support member 45 to pass through but not the weight 42 .

As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the lifting device 60 has a motor 80 serving as a power source (power section), a cam 81, a weight support member 45 (lifting member), and a support-side guide member .

The cam 81 is fixed to the output shaft of the motor 80 and rotates as the motor 80 operates. This embodiment employs an eccentric cam in which the distance from the center of rotation to the outer peripheral surface changes in the circumferential direction.
The weight support member 45, as shown in FIG. 11, is a vertically elongated substantially rectangular parallelepiped member having a depression 45a on its upper surface. The recessed portion 45a is a portion on which the weight 42 is placed. In other words, it has a shape in which a part (lower part) of the weight 42 can be fitted almost exactly, and has a curved surface that comes into contact with a part of the weight 42 when the weight 42 is placed. This curved surface has a recessed depth that becomes shallower from the center toward the edge.

The support-side guide member 82 is a thick plate-like member formed to have a substantially rectangular outer shape in plan view. A guide hole 90 is provided in the support-side guide member 82 . The guide hole 90 is a through hole that passes through the support-side guide member 82 in the thickness direction (vertical direction), and is formed to have a size that allows the weight support member 45 to be substantially just inserted therethrough.

The upper guide member 61 is a thick plate-like member having a thickness in the vertical direction. A guide recess 93 is provided on the lower surface of the upper guide member 61 as shown in FIG. The guide recess 93 is a bottomed hole having a bottom portion on the upper side, and is a recessed portion that is recessed in a substantially truncated cone shape (substantially mortar shape).

The control device 62 is a control board that controls the operation of the weight calibration unit 21 and is capable of transmitting and receiving information to and from the control device on the main body side of the medicine dispensing device 1 . That is, the control device 62 has computing means such as a CPU, storage means such as a memory, and communication means such as an I/O port. Communication with an external device such as a control device on the main body side may be wired communication or wireless communication.

As shown in FIG. 11, the mounting member 63 has a main body portion 63a having an upright mounting plate portion 95 and a control device mounting portion 63b. is attached to the base portion 26 with .

Next, an assembly structure of the weight calibration unit 21 will be described.
As shown in FIG. 10, a motor 80 and a cam 81 are arranged on both sides of the mounting member 63 with the body portion 63a therebetween. A motor 80 arranged on one main surface side of the main body portion 63a, and a support-side guide member 82 and an upper guide member 61 arranged on the other main surface side are attached to the main body portion 63a. At this time, the support-side guide member 82 is arranged above the cam 81, and the upper guide member 61 is arranged further above it.

The control device mounting portion 63b of the mounting member 63 partially extends around the cam 81 as shown in FIGS. Thus, the cam 81 is positioned between the motor 80 and the controller 62, as shown in FIG.

The weight support member 45 is placed on the cam 81 and inserted through the guide hole 90 . Further, the receiving plate portion 43a is arranged at a position spaced upward from the supporting side guide member 82, and the weight 42 is arranged above the receiving plate portion 43a. An upper guide member 61 is arranged above the weight 42 .

As shown in FIG. 13, the weight calibration unit 21 operates the motor 80 to obtain the first state in which the load of the weight 42 is not applied to the receiving plate portion 43a, and the load of the weight 42 as described above. The second state added to the receiving plate portion 43a can be switched.

In the first state, as shown in FIG. 13(a), the weight 42 is lifted by the weight support member 45, positioned above the receiving plate portion 43a, and out of contact with the receiving plate portion 43a. That is, the weight 42 does not contact the upper opening of the engaging hole 70 . In the present embodiment, at this time, a portion of the lower side of the weight 42 is positioned inside the engaging hole portion 70 .
Also, in the first state, the upper portion of the weight 42 is in a state of being deeply inserted into the guide concave portion 93 of the upper guide member 61 .

When the motor 80 operates in the first state and the cam 81 rotates, the weight support member 45 moves downward and the weight 42 moves downward as shown in FIGS. 13(b) and 13(c). It moves downward while being placed on the member 45 . Then, a part of the weight 42 comes into contact with the upper opening of the engagement hole portion 70, and the weight 42 is placed on the receiving plate portion 43a. As a result, the first state (see FIG. 13(a)) shifts to the second state (see FIG. 13(c)).
In the second state, the weight support member 45 is positioned downwardly away from the weight 42, that is, the weight 42 and the weight support member 45 are not in contact with each other, and the upper surfaces of the weight 42 and the weight support member 45 are not in contact with each other. It is preferable to set a state in which a gap is formed between. Conversely, if all the load of the weight 42 is to be received by the receiving plate portion 43a, the weight 42 and the weight support member 45 are in contact with each other in the second state (the state in which they are arranged adjacently). good.

Also in the second state, the upper portion of the weight 42 is positioned inside the guide recess 93 of the upper guide member 61 . That is, when the weight 42 moves up and down within the movable range, the upper part of the weight 42 is positioned inside the guide recess 93 and the lower part is positioned inside the engagement hole 70. state is maintained. In other words, in each of the first state, the second state, and the state in the middle of transition, the weight 42 is partly always positioned inside the guide recess 93 and partly positioned inside the engagement hole 70 . It will be in a state where it is always located inside the

As described above, the upper guide member 61 and the receiving plate portion 43a function as movement restricting means for restricting the range of movement of the weight 42, and also function as drop-off preventing means for preventing the weight 42 from dropping off.
When the weight support member 45 also moves vertically within its movement range, some portion of the weight support member 45 is positioned inside the guide hole 90 . In other words, the support-side guide member 82 functions as movement restricting means for restricting the movement range of the weight support member 45, and also functions as drop prevention means for preventing the weight support member 45 from dropping off.

When shifting from the second state to the first state, the cam 81 may be rotated in the same direction as when shifting from the first state to the second state, or may be rotated in the opposite direction. may
By rotating the cam 81 in this manner, the weight support member 45 (contact position between the weight support member 45 and the cam 81) moves upward, and the weight 42 is lifted and moved upward.

According to the weight calibration unit 21 of the present embodiment, whether or not the weight measuring means 25 is normal in the state in which the drug container 20 is not attached to the feeder unit 22 and the state in which the drug container 20 is attached to the feeder unit 22 is determined. can be determined. Hereinafter, this determination operation is also referred to as calibration of the weight measuring means 25 . That is, the calibration of the weight measuring means 25 is an operation to determine whether the weight measuring means 25 is in a state of being able to correctly detect the weight, or whether it is in a state of not being able to correctly detect the weight for some reason.

In this embodiment, as described above, on the condition that the weight of the weight 42 is correctly detected by the weight measuring means 25, it is determined that the weight measuring means 25 is in a state in which the weight can be correctly detected. That is, when the weight calibration section 21 is shifted from the first state to the second state, the load of the weight 42 is applied to the receiving plate section 43a as described above. At this time, since the weight mounting member 43 is attached to the container support portion 23, the load of the weight 42 is received by the receiving plate portion 43a, so that the weight of the weight 42 can be detected by the weight measuring means 25. .

Therefore, the weight is measured by the weight measuring means 25 in the first state, and then the weight is measured by the weight measuring means 25 in the second state. Then, the value obtained by subtracting the detected value of the first weight measurement performed in the first state from the detected value (measured value) of the second weight measurement performed in the second state is the same as the weight of the weight 42. It is determined that the weight of the weight 42 is correctly detected on the condition that the weight is equal to the weight.

In addition, the following operations may be performed in the calibration without the drug container 20 attached. That is, the weight is measured by the weight measuring means 25 in the second state, and the value obtained by subtracting the basic weight from the detected value is calculated.
Here, the “basic weight” is the sum of the weight of the members constituting the feeder section 22 that apply a load to the weight measuring means 25 and the weight of the weight placement member 43 . Further, "the weight of the weight placing member 43" includes the weight of the other member when the weight placing member 43 is attached to the container support portion 23 via another member.
Then, on the condition that the value obtained by subtracting the basic weight from the detected value is the same as the weight of the weight 42, it is determined that the weight of the weight 42 is correctly detected. At this time, it may be determined that the weight of the weight 42 is correctly detected on the condition that the detected value is equal to the sum of the weight of the weight 42 and the basic weight.
Among the members constituting the feeder section 22, the weight of the members to which a load is applied to the weight measuring means 25, the weight of the weight mounting member 43, and the weight of the weight 42 are measured in advance by another electronic balance or the like, and controlled. It may be stored in the device.

In addition, in the calibration with the drug container 20 attached, for example, the weight is measured by the weight measuring means 25 in the second state, and the value obtained by subtracting the total value of the basic weight and the weight of the drug container 20 from the detected value is obtained. calculate. Then, on the condition that the calculated value is the same as the weight of the weight 42, it is determined that the weight of the weight 42 is correctly detected. At this time, it is determined that the weight of the weight 42 is correctly detected on the condition that the detected value is the same as the sum of the weight of the weight 42, the basic weight, and the weight of the medicine container 20. good.
The weight of the drug container 20 may be measured in advance and stored in the control device. In addition, the weight of the medicine container 20 may be the sum of the weight of the medicine container 20 itself and the weight of the contained medicine when medicine (powder medicine) is contained therein.

In the medicine dispensing device 1 of the present embodiment, the weighing means 25 of each medicine feeder 5 is automatically calibrated before the power is turned on and the work of the day is started.
In addition, when it is decided to perform the packaging operation, the weight measuring means 25 of each medicine feeder 5 is automatically calibrated before the packaging operation is performed. Note that the calibration performed before execution of the packaging operation may be performed for all the medicine feeders 5, or may be performed only for the medicine feeder 5 used in the packaging operation scheduled to be performed next.

Further, in the calibration of the weight measuring means 25 executed before the start of the work of the day, an operation of comparing the value obtained or calculated in the previous day's calibration with the value obtained or calculated in the execution of the calibration may be executed. For example, the weight value of the weight 42 calculated in the previous day's calibration is compared with the weight value of the weight 42 calculated after the power is turned on. It may be determined that there is none. Conversely, if they are not the same, it may be determined that the weight measuring means 25 of the drug feeder 5 is abnormal.

When it is determined by calibration that the weight measuring means 25 is incapable of correctly measuring weight (the weight measuring means 25 has an abnormality), the medicine dispensing device 1 of the present embodiment performs a notification operation to notify that fact. may be executed. In addition, until the abnormality (failure) of the weight measuring means 25 is resolved (until the fact that the abnormality has been resolved is input by a certain operation, etc.), the user may mistakenly place the medicine container 20 into the feeder body. A notification operation may be performed to notify that the medicine cannot be discharged by the feeder main body 10 even if the medicine is placed (held) on the feeder body 10 . This notification operation is performed each time the drug container 20 is placed on the feeder body 10 . Alternatively, in addition to or instead of this operation, the feeder main body 10 is controlled so as not to perform the vibrating operation (set to not perform the vibrating operation).

In the medicine dispensing device 1 of this embodiment, when discharging the powdered medicine from the medicine container 20 to the distribution tray 3 in the packaging operation, it is possible to execute a failure detection operation for determining whether or not the weight measuring means 25 has failed. It's becoming The failure detection operation may be an operation performed in addition to the distribution check operation described above. Specifically, when discharging the powdered medicine from the medicine container 20 of the medicine feeder 5 to the distribution tray 3, the following operations may be performed.
First, in the drug feeder 5 holding the drug container 20, the weight calibration section 21 is set to the first state (step 1). Then, the weight of the medicine container 20 (and/or the weight of the contained powdered medicine) is obtained (step 2). Subsequently, the weight calibration unit 21 is shifted from the first state to the second state, and an operation of detecting the weight of the weight 42 (hereinafter also referred to as preliminary weight measurement operation) is executed (step 3). Further, the weight calibration unit 21 is shifted from the second state to the first state, and the above-described operation of discharging the powdered medicine to the distribution tray 3 is executed (step 4). Also, after executing the operation of discharging the powdered medicine, the weight of the medicine container 20 (and/or the weight of the contained powdered medicine) is obtained (step 5). Further, the weight calibration unit 21 is shifted from the first state to the second state, and an operation of detecting the weight of the weight 42 (hereinafter also referred to as post-weight measurement operation) is executed (step 6).

After the series of operations, when the weight values of the weight 42 acquired in the pre-weight measurement operation (weight acquisition step) and the post-weight measurement operation (weight acquisition step) are the same, the weight measurement means 25 fails. determine that it did not. This makes it possible to detect an abnormality in the balance (weight measuring means 25) even in an environment where the powdered medicine scatters due to the packing operation, and by extension, an abnormality in the discharge operation of the powdered medicine (dispensing of the medicine). It can be detected whether or not In addition, according to such an operation, even when the weight 42 is aged, it is possible to perform a packaging operation with high reliability.
The failure detection operation is not limited to the operation performed by the weight calibration unit 21 described above, and may be an operation performed by the weight calibration units 200, 421, 521, etc., which will be described later. Further, the pre-weight measurement operation and the post-weight measurement operation may be operations of placing the weight on the medicine container and detecting the weight of the weight. Furthermore, the configuration is not limited to the configuration in which the state in which the load of the weight is applied to the weight measuring means 25 and the state in which it is not applied are automatically switched. It is also conceivable to carry out the operation of placing and sensing the weight of the weight.
As described above, in the failure detection operation, the amount of increase in the detected weight due to the placement of the weight 42 is obtained in each of the pre-weight measurement operation and the post-weight measurement operation, and the obtained weight (increased weight) is compare. In the pre-weight measurement operation and the post-weight measurement operation, as in the calibration described above, the detected value of the weight measurement performed in the second state is subtracted from the detected value of the weight measurement performed in the first state to obtain the increment. You can get the weight. Alternatively, the increased weight may be obtained by subtracting the basic weight and the weight of the medicine container 20 from the detected value of the weight measurement performed in the second state. Furthermore, the weight of the weight 42, the basic weight, and the total value (total weight) of the drug container 20 may be obtained and compared.

In the above-described embodiment, an example in which the approximately spherical weight 42 is employed and the approximately rectangular parallelepiped weight support member 45 is employed is shown, but the present invention is not limited to this.
For example, it may be a weight 142 (weight member) shown in FIG. The weight 142 has an upper portion 142a and a lower portion 142b, both of which are substantially truncated conical, and a substantially disk-shaped center portion 142c located therebetween. That is, the upper and lower sides of the weight 142 are tapered portions, and have a tapered shape in which the area of the cross section decreases as it goes upward or downward.
Moreover, when adopting this weight 142, a weight support member 145 (elevating member) shown in FIG. 14(a) may be adopted. The weight support member 145 is a vertically long member having an upwardly convex curved surface on the upper end side and a downwardly convex curved surface on the lower end side, and has a substantially oval vertical cross-sectional shape. is.

In the embodiment described above, an example in which the weight calibration section 21 is arranged on one side of the feeder section 22 has been shown, but the present invention is not limited to this. The weight calibration unit 21 may be arranged on the other side, rearward (a position on the opposite side of the distribution plate 3 with the feeder unit 22 interposed therebetween, and the rear when the distribution plate 3 side is defined as the front). may be placed in In other words, it may be arranged on one side of the periphery of the feeder section 22 (the periphery including the four sides). At this time, it may be arranged at a position adjacent to the feeder section 22 or may be arranged at a position slightly separated from the feeder section 22 in the horizontal direction.
Further, in the medicine dispensing device 1 described above, the user can manually hold the medicine container 20 in the feeder main body 10 . Then, the user can manually remove the drug container 20 held by the feeder main body 10 . That is, it is possible to manually replace (change) the drug container 20 held by the feeder main body 10 .

The medicine feeder employed in the medicine dispensing device 1 is not limited to the one described above, and may be a medicine feeder 201 equipped with a weight calibration section 200 (measuring means inspection section) as shown in FIG. The weight calibration section 200 includes an elevating device 202 (elevating means), a weight member 203 (calibration weight), and a weight receiving member 204 (weight receiving section).

The lifting device 202 has a motor (not shown), a gear 210 that rotates with the operation of the motor, a container lifting section 211 and a weight lifting section 212 . The gear 210 is a pinion gear, and the container elevating section 211 and the weight elevating section 212 each have a geared rack portion. Gears 210 are engaged with respective rack portions. Therefore, when the container raising/lowering part 211 rises, the weight raising/lowering part 212 descends, and when the container raising/lowering part 211 descends, the weight raising/lowering part 212 rises.

The container raising/lowering part 211 has a flat pressing piece 211a. The pressing piece portion 211a is a portion that contacts the drug container 20 supported by the container support portion 23 from below.
The weight raising/lowering part 212 has a plate-shaped weight support part 212a. As shown in FIG. 15B, the weight support portion 212a is provided with a support hole 230 penetrating through the weight support portion 212a in the thickness direction (vertical direction).

The weight member 203 has a flange portion 203a, a constricted portion 203b, and a body portion 203c in order from above. The flange portion 203a has a size that cannot pass through the support hole 230, and the constricted portion 203b and the body portion 203c have sizes that allow it to pass through the support hole 230. As shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 15A, the weight receiving member 204 is a member that has a flat plate-like receiving plate portion 204a and an upright plate-like mounting plate portion 204b and is fixed to the support base 27. As shown in FIG.

Here, the weight raising/lowering part 212 is a member capable of supporting the weight member 203 in a suspended state, as shown in FIG. 15(b). That is, when the weight member 203 is inserted into the support hole 230 from above while the weight support portion 212a is positioned at a high position, the flange portion 203a is caught, and the lower surface of the flange portion 203a and the upper surface of the weight support portion 212a are aligned. Be in contact. At this time, at least part of the constricted portion 203b is positioned inside the support hole 230, most of the weight member 203 is disposed below the weight support portion 212a, and the lower surface of the weight member 203 is the receiving plate portion. 204a at a spaced position.

In the weight calibration unit 200 of the present embodiment, between a first state in which the load of the weight member 203 is not applied to the receiving plate portion 204a and a second state in which the load of the weight member 203 is applied to the receiving plate portion 204a, Switching is possible.

In the first state, the weight member 203 is supported in a suspended state as described above, and is arranged at a position spaced upward from the receiving plate portion 204a. Then, the drug container 20 is placed on the vibration-side horizontal portion 32 of the vibrating member 16, and the pressing piece 211a is arranged at a position spaced downward from the drug container 20. As shown in FIG.

Then, when the motor operates in the first state, the gear 210 rotates and the container raising/lowering part 211 rises, the pressing piece 211a comes into contact with the drug container 20 from below. Then, the container raising/lowering part 211 is raised as it is, thereby moving the drug container 20 upward, and the pressing piece 211 a lifts the drug container 20 .
At this time, when the weight lifting portion 212 descends as the container lifting portion 211 rises, the weight member 203 is placed on the receiving plate portion 204a. When the weight raising/lowering portion 212 is further lowered from this state, the upper surface of the weight support portion 212a is arranged at a position separated below the lower surface of the flange portion 203a. This causes a transition from the first state to the second state. Further, in the second state, the load of the weight lifting section 212 (lifting device 202) is not applied to the receiving plate section 204a (weight measuring means 25).

That is, in the first state, the load of weight member 203 is not applied to weight measuring means 25 and the load of medicine container 20 is applied to weight measuring means 25 . In the second state, the load of weight member 203 is applied to weight measuring means 25 and the load of drug container 20 is not applied to weight measuring means 25 . Therefore, by shifting to the second state, it is possible to calibrate the weight measuring means 25 . Switching between the first state and the second state can be performed automatically. In addition, the gear 210 rotates in the opposite direction between the transition from the first state to the second state and the transition from the second state to the first state.
In the embodiment described above, the drug container 20 is lifted in the second state, but the drug container 20 does not necessarily have to be lifted. In other words, the weight measuring means 25 may be calibrated while the drug container 20 is being held, and the container elevating section 211 may not necessarily be provided.

By the way, the calibration of the weight measuring means 25 performed before starting work for the day may be performed using a calibration tool 250 shown in FIG. 16(a).
The calibrating instrument 250 is used by being attached to the scraping device 8, and has a mounting member 251, a bearing member 252, a base member 253, and a locking member 254, as shown in FIG. 16(b). The bearing member 252 is a bearing such as a ball bearing, and the locking member 254 is a C-ring.

The mounting member 251 has a body portion 251a and a connecting rod portion 251b.
The main body portion 251a has a disk-shaped portion 260 and a peripheral wall portion 261 that continues in an annular shape. The peripheral wall portion 261 is formed to protrude from the edge of the disk-shaped portion 260 to one side in the thickness direction. A recessed portion (not shown) capable of accommodating the mounting base 255 of the raking device 8 is formed in a portion surrounded by the peripheral wall portion 261 .
The mounting member 251 is a member mounted on the mounting base 255 described above. That is, the mounting member 251 is mounted on the mounting base 255 with the rotary plate 12 removed from the mounting base 255 . In this embodiment, the mounting base 255 can be fitted into the recess of the mounting member 251 substantially exactly. In addition, an engaging portion (not shown) that engages with a projecting portion provided on the mounting base 255 is provided on one side portion (recess portion) of the mounting member 251 . That is, it is an engaging portion that forms a pair (engages with each other) with the projection portion that is the engaging portion on the mounting base 255 side. By engaging these members, the mounting member 251 is integrally mounted and fixed to the mounting base 255 .
The connecting rod portion 251b is a round rod-shaped portion, and is formed at a position opposite to the above-described recessed portion with the disc-shaped portion 260 interposed therebetween.

The pedestal member 253 is a member in which a weight support portion 270, a rotation preventing portion 271, and an upright plate-like connecting plate portion 272 are integrally formed.
The weight support portion 270 is a plate-like portion and is provided with a support hole portion 270a. The support hole portion 270a penetrates the weight support portion 270 in the thickness direction (vertical direction).
The rotation preventing portion 271 has two plate-like members consisting of an upper plate portion 271a and a lower plate portion 271b. Both the upper plate portion 271a and the lower plate portion 271b are plate-shaped portions, and are provided so as to face each other with a space therebetween in the vertical direction.
The connecting plate portion 272 is continuous with the weight support portion 270 at one end in the longitudinal direction, and is continuous with the rotation preventing portion 271 at the other end. The connecting plate portion 272 is provided with a connecting hole portion 272a. The connecting hole portion 272a is a through hole penetrating through the connecting plate portion 272 in the thickness direction.

When the calibration instrument 250 is assembled, the bearing member 252 is attached to a part of the connecting plate portion 272, and the connecting rod portion 251b is inserted through the inner hole of the bearing member 252 and the connecting hole portion 272a. A locking member 254 is attached to a portion of the connecting rod portion 251b that partially protrudes from the connecting hole portion 272a and is located on the distal end side in the insertion direction.
As described above, when the calibrating instrument 250 is not mounted on the scraping device 8, the base member 253 and the mounting member 251 are connected to each other so as to be relatively rotatable. That is, it is rotatable around the connecting rod portion 251b as a rotation axis.

When attached to the scraping device 8, as shown in FIG. 16(a), the weight supporting portion 270 is located on the tip side of the mounting base 255 in the extending direction of the scraping arm 11, and The anti-rotation portion 271 is located on the base end side of the base 255 . At this time, the scraping arm 11 is positioned between the upper plate portion 271a and the lower plate portion 271b of the rotation preventing portion 271, and the scraping arm 11 is sandwiched between the upper plate portion 271a and the lower plate portion 271b. Become. Also, the mounting member 251 and the connecting plate portion 272 are positioned on one side of the mounting base 255 in the thickness direction.

When the calibration instrument 250 is attached to the scraping device 8, the weight member 203 can be supported in a suspended state by the weight support portion 270 in the same manner as described above (see FIG. 17(a)).
That is, in the calibration of the weight measuring means 25 using the calibration tool 250, the drug container 20 is previously removed from the drug feeder 5 having the weight measuring means 25 to be calibrated. Then, the turntable is rotated to turn the entire scraping device 8 (scraping arm 11 and mounting base 255). As a result, the weight member 203 is positioned above the vibration-side horizontal portion 32 as shown in FIG. 17(b). Subsequently, the weight member 203 is placed on the vibration-side horizontal portion 32 by swinging the scraping arm 11 and moving the tip side of the scraping arm 11 downward. By moving the tip side of the raking arm 11 downward as it is, the load of the weight member 203 is applied to the weight measuring means 25, and the weight measuring means 25 is calibrated.

Further, after the calibration is completed, the scraping arm 11 is swung to move the tip side of the scraping arm 11 upward, thereby supporting the weight member 203 in a suspended state and allowing the weight measuring means 25 to measure the weight. A state is assumed in which no load is applied to the member 203 . Subsequently, when calibrating another weight measuring means 25, the entire scraping device 8 is rotated and the above operation is executed.

Further, the medicine feeder employed in the medicine dispensing device 1 is not limited to the one described above, and may be a medicine feeder 405 equipped with a weight calibration section 421 (measuring means inspection section) as shown in FIG. .
The drug feeder 405 of this embodiment has a structure different from that of the drug feeder 5 described above in the container supporting portion 423 (holding member). That is, the vibration-side horizontal portion 432 of the vibration member 416 is formed with a weight arrangement portion 443 that is a concave portion with an upper opening. A member placement hole 446 is formed below the weight placement portion 443 to communicate the space below the vibration member 416 with the weight placement portion 443 . Further, the support-side horizontal portion 430 of the support table 427 is also formed with a member arrangement hole 447 penetrating through the support-side horizontal portion 430 in the vertical direction.

The member arrangement hole 446 of the vibrating member 416 and the member arrangement hole 447 of the support base 427 are formed so that at least parts of them overlap each other in plan view. As a result, a member placement space 448 is formed below the weight placement portion 443 . The member placement space 448 is a space in which the lifting member 445 that is part of the lifting device 460 is arranged.

The elevating device 460 has an elevating member 445 and an elevating mechanism (not shown) that elevates the elevating member 445 . The elevating mechanism has a motor as a power source and a conversion mechanism that converts rotary motion of the motor into linear motion. The conversion mechanism may be a cam positioned below the elevating member 445, or may be a rack and pinion mechanism that combines a toothed portion provided on the elevating member 445 and a pinion gear. That is, the elevating member 445 moves vertically by the operation of the motor.

In the drug feeder 405 of this embodiment, an elevating mechanism is arranged below the vibrating member 416 and the support base 427 . A weight measuring means (not shown) of the medicine feeder 405 is in a state where the weight of the member such as the container support portion 423 is applied, but the load of the lifting device 460 is not applied.

A substantially rectangular parallelepiped weight member 442 (calibration weight) is arranged in the weight arrangement portion 443 . The weight placement portion 443 is positioned below the lower surface of the drug container 20 when the container support portion 423 holds the drug container 20 . At this time, the weight placement portion 443 is entirely covered with the drug container 20 on the upper side.

The drug feeder 405 of the present embodiment has a first state (see FIG. 18A) in which the weight member 442 is arranged at a position separated from the bottom portion of the weight arrangement portion 443, and a state in which the weight member 442 It is possible to switch between a second state (see FIG. 18(b)) in which the bottom portion of 443 is contacted. By shifting the medicine feeder 405 from the first state to the second state, the weight measuring means can be calibrated. Note that the weight member 442 is arranged inside the weight arrangement portion 443 in both the first state and the second state.

That is, in the first state, the weight member 442 is lifted by the elevating member 445 . At this time, the lower portion of the weight member 442 contacts the upper portion of the elevating member 445 , and the weight member 442 is placed on the elevating member 445 . Therefore, the load of the weight member 442 is applied to the lifting member 445 but not applied to the vibrating member 416 . That is, the load of weight member 442 is not applied to the weight measuring means of drug feeder 405, and the load of weight member 442 is not measured by the weight measuring means.
As the lifting member 445 moves downward from the first state, the weight member 442 moves downward along with the movement of the lifting member 445 . Then, the lower portion of the weight member 442 contacts the bottom portion of the weight arrangement portion 443 from above.

Here, the weight member 442 has a size (and/or shape) that cannot be inserted into the member arrangement hole 446 of the vibration member 416 from above. Therefore, when the elevating member 445 continues to move downward, the elevating member 445 is arranged at a position away from the weight member 442 downward. On the other hand, the weight member 442 is placed on the bottom portion of the weight arrangement portion 443 . This completes the transition from the first state to the second state. That is, the load of weight member 442 is applied to the weight measuring means of drug feeder 405, and the load of weight member 442 is measured by the weight measuring means.
As described above, since it is possible to shift from the first state to the second state, in the same manner as described above, the operation ( (calibration of weight measuring means, failure detection). For example, in calibration of the weight measuring means, the weight of the drug feeder 405 is measured by the weight measuring means in the first state. After that, it is shifted to the second state, and weight measurement is performed by the weight measurement means of the medicine feeder 405 . The condition is that the value obtained by subtracting the detected value of the weight measurement performed in the first state from the detected value (measured value) of the weight measurement performed in the second state is the same as the weight of the weight member 442. , it is determined that the weight of the weight member 442 is correctly detected. That is, it is determined that the weight measuring means is in a state of being able to correctly detect the weight.

When shifting from the second state to the first state, the lifting member 445 is moved upward, contrary to the above. As a result, the upper portion of the elevating member 445 contacts the lower portion of the weight member 442 from below, and the elevating member 445 is pushed up to move upward, thereby raising the elevating member 445. Become.

Further, instead of the weight calibration unit 21 described above, a motor as a power source, a torque limiter, and a wire as a linear member are provided, and the wire can be used to pull a portion of the container support unit 23 upward. A weight calibration unit (not shown) may be provided.
That is, one end side of the wire in the longitudinal direction is attached to a member (container support portion 23 or the like, hereinafter also referred to as a fixing target member) among the members constituting the feeder portion 22 where a load is applied to the weight measuring means 25. fixed. On the other hand, the motor and the torque limiter are fixed to the upper lid 4 and the lower part of the upper unit (tablet manual distributing device 303).
In the pulling operation, the wire is wound by operating the motor to pull the member to be fixed to which one end of the wire is fixed, thereby applying a vertically upward force to the member to be fixed. At this time, by interposing a torque limiter between the motor and one end of the wire, a force of a specified magnitude is applied to the member to be fixed.

The calibration of the weight measuring means 25 acquires the detection value of the weight measuring means 25 in a state in which no pulling action is being performed and the detection value of the weight measuring means 25 while the pulling action is being performed. Then, the detected value during execution of the pulling operation is subtracted from the detected value while the pulling operation is not being executed. determine that it is in a detectable state

When calibrating the weight measuring means 25 while holding the drug container 20 , the wire may be fixed to the drug container 20 . Further, in this case, the drug container 20 having the same weight is held in the measurement when the pulling operation is not performed and the measurement when the pulling operation is performed. Here, the term "medicine container 20 having the same weight" means that the weight of the drug container 20, which is the weight of the contained drug added to the weight of the drug contained therein, is the same.

The drug delivery device 1 of the above-described embodiment is provided with a plurality (six) of drug feeders 5, and each drug feeder 5 has its own weight calibrating section 21 individually. In other words, one weight calibration unit 21 can add a weight (weight 42) to one weight measurement unit 25 .
However, like the weight calibration section 521 (measurement means inspection section) shown in FIG.

In this embodiment, one weight calibration unit 521 is associated with a plurality of feeder units 22 to configure a drug feeder.
As shown in FIG. 19, the weight calibration unit 521 of this embodiment includes a motor (not shown), a take-up pulley 501, a wire 502, a plurality of pulley members 503, and a plurality of weight members 504 (for calibration). weight). The take-up pulley 501 and the pulley member 503 are fixed to the upper lid 4 or the lower part of the upper unit (tablet manual spreading device 303). Also, by operating the motor, the wire 502 can be wound by the winding pulley 501 .
In FIG. 19(a), for convenience of drawing, the pulley member 503 and the weight member 504 are only partly numbered, and the other parts are omitted.

Separate pulley members 503 and weight members 504 are arranged above the respective feeder portions 22 . By switching between a state in which the wire 502 is tightly wound around the take-up pulley 501 and a state in which the wire 502 is loosely wound, the weight member 504 is arranged at a position away from the upper surface of the drug container 20 . The first state in which the weight member 504 is placed and the second state in which the weight member 504 is placed on the drug container 20 can be switched.

Here, as shown in FIG. 19(b), the weight member 504 has an internal space 510. As shown in FIG. The internal space portion 510 is a space that is open at the bottom and surrounded by a peripheral wall portion that continues in an annular shape. A wire insertion hole 511 is provided in the upper portion of the weight member 504 to communicate the interior space 510 with the outside. Wire insertion hole 511 is formed narrower than internal space 510 .

A hooking member 512 is attached to the tip of the portion of the wire 502 that hangs down from the pulley member 503 . The locking member 512 can be inserted into the internal space 510 from below the weight member 504 and has a size (and/or shape) that prevents it from passing through the wire insertion hole 511 . Then, as shown in FIG. 19(b), the hooking member 512 is placed inside the internal space 510, and the wire 502 hanging down from the pulley member 503 extends into the internal space 510 through the wire insertion hole 511. It extends and is in a continuous state with the latching member 512 .

Therefore, when the winding of the wire 502 is loosened in the first state, the hooking member 512 moves downward, and the weight member 504 moves downward accordingly. Then, the lower end portion of weight member 504 comes into contact with drug container 20 from above. As the hooking member 512 moves further downward in this state, the hooking member 512 is separated downward from the upper portion of the weight member 504 in the internal space 510 and does not come into contact with the ceiling wall portion of the internal space 510. state. As a result, the weight member 504 is placed on the medicine container 20, and the state is shifted to the second state.
In the second state, the load of weight member 504 is applied to weight measuring means 25 while the load of hooking member 512 and wire 502 is not applied to weight measuring means 25 .

Conversely, by winding the wire 502 in the second state, the locking member 512 moves upward and contacts the upper portion of the weight member 504 within the internal space 510 from below. As the hooking member 512 moves upward, the weight member 504 moves upward, and the lower end portion of the weight member 504 is separated upward from the drug container 20, thus shifting to the first state.
Since it is possible to shift from the first state to the second state as described above, whether or not the weight measuring means of the feeder section 22 is in a state in which the weight can be detected correctly is checked in the same manner as described above. It becomes possible to perform discriminating operations (calibration of weight measuring means, failure detection). For example, in the calibration of the weight measuring means, the weight is measured by the weight measuring means of the feeder section 22 in the first state. After that, it is shifted to the second state, and the weight measurement by the weight measurement means of the feeder section 22 is performed. The condition is that the value obtained by subtracting the detected value of the weight measurement performed in the first state from the detected value (measured value) of the weight measurement performed in the second state is the same as the weight of the weight member 504. , it is determined that the weight of the weight member 504 is correctly detected. That is, it is determined that the weight measuring means is in a state of being able to correctly detect the weight.

The weight calibration unit 521 of the present embodiment can raise and lower a plurality of weight members 504 at the same time. That is, it is possible to switch between a state in which the load of the weight member 504 is applied to each of the weight measuring means 25 of the plurality of feeder portions 22 and a state in which the weight member 504 does not apply the load to the weight measuring means 25 . be.
Further, instead of the hook member 512 described above, a weight holding means such as an electromagnet may be provided at the tip of the wire 502 (the tip of the portion hanging down from the pulley member 503). That is, the first state may be obtained by energizing the electromagnet to attract the weight and lifting the weight. Alternatively, the current to the electromagnet may be stopped while the weight is placed on the drug container 20, and the weight may not be held.
Furthermore, in the above example, the weight member 504 is placed on the medicine container 20 of the feeder section 22 . In other words, the medicine container 20 is made to function as a weight receiving portion that receives the load of the weight member 504, but the medicine container 20 is previously removed from each feeder portion 22 when performing calibration, and the weight member is attached to the container support portion 23. 504 may be placed.

Further, the drug feeder described above may be formed so that the container support portion 23 can be moved up and down by an elevating device. At this time, the container support part 23 may be moved up and down while supporting the drug container 20 . When the drug container 20 and the container support portion 23 are positioned upward, the load is not applied to the weight measuring means 25, and a large amount of pressure is applied between the lower surface of the support-side horizontal portion 30 positioned above and the weight measuring means 25. A void may be formed.
In this case, the weight measuring means 25 can be calibrated by manually placing the weight member on the weight measuring means 25 .

In the above-described embodiment, the weight calibration section 21 is arranged on one side of the feeder section 22, and the weight 42 is placed on the weight placement member 43 to calibrate the weight measuring means 25. As shown in FIG. However, the medicine feeder 5 that can be employed in the medicine dispensing device 1 is not limited to this.
For example, an elevating device having cams arranged on both sides of the feeder section 22 is provided to move a weight member such as a weight up and down. You may switch the state arrange|positioned in the position away from the part 32 upwards.
In this case, the drug container 20 is removed from the feeder body 10 and the weight measuring means 25 is calibrated. A weight supporting member, which is a member extending from one side of the feeder portion 22 to the other side and supports the weight member, is detachably formed from the main body of the lifting device. That is, when the drug container 20 is supported by the feeder main body 10, the weight supporting member is removed. The weight support member may be capable of supporting the weight member in a suspended state as described above.

In the drug dispensing device 1 of the above-described embodiment, a lower weight measuring means to which the load of the plurality of drug feeders 5 is applied may be provided below the plurality of (for example, three) drug feeders 5 .
With such a configuration, it is possible to determine whether or not the weight of the drug container 20 is correctly detected in all of the plurality of drug feeders 5 .
That is, the weight of the medicine container 20 is measured in each medicine feeder 5, and the total value of the weights of the plurality (three) of the medicine containers 20 is calculated. Further, by subtracting the members other than the drug container 20 (such as the weight values of the feeder main body 10 and the weight calibration unit 21) from the values detected by the lower weight measuring means, a plurality of (three) drug containers Calculate the total value of the 20 weights.
Furthermore, the total value of the weights of the plurality (three) of drug containers 20 calculated based on the detection values of the plurality of weight measurement means 25 and the plurality (three) calculated based on the detection values of the lower weight measurement means is compared with the total value of the weight of the drug container 20 of As a result of the comparison operation, if there is no difference in the total value, it is determined that the weight of the drug container 20 is correctly detected by all of the plurality (three) of drug feeders 5 . Conversely, if there is a deviation, it is determined that the weight of the drug container 20 is not correctly measured by any of the plurality (three) of drug feeders 5 .
As described above, according to the above configuration, it is possible to double-check the weight of the drug container 20 without moving the drug container 20 . Similarly, a plurality of weight measuring means 25 measure the weights of different weights 42 and calculate the total value thereof, and the lower weight measuring means calculates the total value of the weights of the plurality of weights 42, By comparing these, the weight measuring means 25 may be calibrated.

The medicine dispensing device 1 described above may construct and operate a medicine dispensing system together with an external host controller. At this time, it is possible to transmit and receive signals between the drug dispensing device 1 and the host controller. Also, the host controller is configured to have a display device such as a display.
Then, when the medicine dispensing device 1 is turned on before starting work for the day (hereinafter also referred to as start of work), it may be determined whether the medicine feeder 5 needs to be calibrated.

Specifically, at the start of the operation, each medicine feeder 5 is held in a state of holding a measurement container (measurement member). It should be noted that the weight of each container for measurement is obtained by measurement or the like performed in advance, and is stored in the control device.
Then, in each drug feeder 5, a comparison operation is performed to compare the zero point of the weight measuring means 25 and the detected weight of the container for measurement. For example, in each drug feeder 5, a value is calculated by subtracting a previously stored value of the weight of the held measurement container from the detected value of the weight of the held measurement container.
Subsequently, the values calculated by the comparison operations performed in each drug feeder 5 are compared. Then, when the values calculated by the respective medicine feeders 5 are not all the same, the medicine dispensing device 1 transmits a signal to that effect to the host controller. When the host controller receives this signal, it performs a notification operation to prompt the user to calibrate the weight measuring means 25 .
That is, when the values calculated by the respective medicine feeders 5 are not all the same, it is determined that the medicine feeder 5 needs to be calibrated, and a notification operation to prompt the calibration of the medicine feeder 5 is performed.

The series of operations described above may be operations executed based on a signal transmitted from the host controller to the drug dispensing device 1 at the start of work. That is, the operation may be automatically executed by turning on the medicine dispensing device 1 . In addition, a signal is periodically transmitted from the host control device such as each time the packaging operation is performed, every time the packaging operation is performed a predetermined number of times (multiple times), and every time a predetermined time elapses. may be
The measurement container may be an empty drug container 20 or a drug container 20 containing powdered medicine. That is, it may be the drug container 20 used in the packaging operation. Further, the measurement containers held by the respective drug feeders 5 may have different weights.

The drug dispensing device 1 described above may be operated in a state where the power is always on. Further, even when the main body of the medicine dispensing device 1 is turned off, the medicine feeder 5 may be always turned on. In these cases, the detection value of the weight measuring means 25 of each medicine feeder 5 may be constantly monitored to detect whether or not the weight measuring means 25 is abnormal. That is, it may be determined that the weight measuring means 25 has an abnormality when the change in the value of the weight per hour is not a predicted change (eg, the specified value is not maintained).
That is, in a waveform graph in which the horizontal axis is time and the vertical axis is the detected value (weight value), if the waveform is greatly disturbed outside a predetermined range, it is determined that there is an abnormality in the weight measuring means 25. good. Similarly, by continuously monitoring the detection value of the weight measuring means 25, it is possible to detect whether or not the drug container 20 has been removed, whether or not disturbance vibration has occurred, and the like.
Note that when an abnormality is detected, a notification operation may be performed to notify that effect. Also, at that time, information indicating changes in detected values over time, such as the above-described graph, may be displayed on a display device or the like provided in the medicine dispensing device 1 .

As shown in FIG. 20 , the drug dispensing device 1 described above may be provided with a hopper-side weight measuring means 600 capable of detecting the weight of the powdered drug charging hopper 310 . The hopper-side weight measuring means 600 is a part of the packaging device 308 and may be provided on a base member to which the powdered medicine charging hopper 310 is fixed. Further, when detecting the weight of the powdered medicine charging hopper 310, it is determined from the detection value of the hopper side weight measuring means 600 that among the members on which the load is applied to the hopper side weight measuring means 600, the weight of the powdered drug charging hopper 310 is different. A weight value may be obtained by subtracting the weight. Also, an upper lid member that closes the upper opening of the powdered medicine introduction hopper 310 and a lower lid member that closes the lower opening may be provided. In this case, the upper lid member and the lower lid member are members capable of switching between an open state and a closed state of their respective openings. Furthermore, the lower lid member may be provided integrally with the powdered medicine introduction hopper 310 . The powdered medicine may be temporarily retained inside the powdered medicine feeding hopper 310 by putting the powdered medicine into the powdered medicine feeding hopper 310 with the lower lid member closed. At this time, the weight of the powdered medicine charged into the powdered medicine charging hopper 310 can be detected by the hopper-side weight measuring means 600 .

When the hopper-side weight measuring means 600 is provided, the following failure detection operation may be performed.
Specifically, as described above, powdered medicine is discharged from the medicine container 20 of the medicine feeder 5 to the distribution tray 3 . Around this time, the weight of a package of powdered medicine is obtained based on the prescription data. For example, when 63 g of powdered medicine is discharged to the distribution tray 3 as 21 packages, the weight of one package of powdered medicine is 3 g (63/21).
Then, one packet of the powdered medicine is put into the powdered medicine injection hopper 310 whose lower opening is closed by the lower cover member in the same manner as the normal packaging operation. Subsequently, based on the detection value of the hopper-side weight measuring means 600, the weight of the powdered medicine charged into the powdered medicine charging hopper 310 is acquired.

Subsequently, the weight of one package of powdered medicine obtained in advance and the weight of the powdered medicine put into the powdered medicine feeding hopper 310 obtained based on the hopper-side weight measuring means 600 are compared. If the result of the comparison operation is that they are the same, it is determined that the weight measuring means 25 has not failed. Conversely, if the compared weights are not the same, it is determined that the weight measuring means 25 has failed.
Here, as shown in FIG. 20, if powdered medicine is discharged from one medicine feeder 5, it is determined whether or not the weight measuring means 25 of this medicine feeder 5 is out of order. On the other hand, if the powdered medicine is discharged from a plurality of medicine feeders 5, it is determined whether or not the weight measuring means 25 of all the medicine feeders 5 are out of order. That is, when the compared weights are the same, it is determined that the weight measuring means 25 of all the plurality of drug feeders 5 are not out of order. On the other hand, if the compared weights are not the same, it is determined that the weight measuring means 25 belonging to one or more drug feeders 5 has failed.
Note that the weight of one package may be a value calculated based on the detected value of the weight measuring means 25 . That is, the total discharge amount may be calculated based on the detected value of the weight measuring means 25, and the weight of one package may be calculated from the total discharge amount.

Further, when it is determined that the weight measuring means 25 is out of order by the failure detection operation, an informing operation of informing that fact may be executed. Further, the notification operation may include an operation to prompt calibration of the weight measuring means 25 . For example, an operation may be performed to prompt calibration of the medicine feeder 5 that has been determined to be out of order (or is suspected to be out of order) in the failure detection operation, and belongs to the medicine dispensing device 1 (associated with the distribution tray 3). b) an operation to prompt calibration of all drug feeders 5 may be executed.

Moreover, as shown in FIG. 21, the failure detection operation may be performed by stacking the powdered medicine discharged from the medicine feeder 5 to the distribution tray 3 at one point or in an extremely narrow area.
That is, when this failure detection operation is started, one dose of powdered medicine is discharged from the medicine feeder 5 to the distribution tray 3 . During this time, the rotation of the distribution plate 3 is stopped, or the distribution plate 3 is rotated at a very low rotational speed. Therefore, the ejected powdered medicines are piled up at one point or in a very narrow area of the distribution tray 3 to form a powdered medicine assembly 610 . In other words, the powdered medicine set 610 is a collection of powdered medicines piled up like a mountain in a narrow range that is part of the distribution tray 3 (a pile of powdered medicines).

When the failure detection operation is executed for the weight measuring means 25 of a plurality of drug feeders 5 , one package of powdered drugs is discharged from each of them to form powdered drug aggregates 610 at a plurality of locations on the distribution tray 3 . Around this time, based on the prescription data, the weight of one package of the powdered medicine discharged from each medicine feeder 5, that is, the weight of the target discharge amount when creating each powdered medicine group 610 is obtained.
Subsequently, the distribution tray 3 is rotated at a low speed to move one powdered drug set 610 a to a position close to the powdered drug charging hopper 310 , and then this powdered drug set 610 a is charged to the powdered drug charging hopper 310 . At this time, the lower opening of the powdered medicine charging hopper 310 is kept closed, and the weight of the powdered medicine charged into the powdered medicine charging hopper 310 is obtained based on the detection value of the hopper-side weight measuring means 600 .

Then, the weight of the powdered medicine (powder medicine set 610a) fed into the powdered medicine feeding hopper 310 is compared with the weight of one package that was the target discharge amount of the fed powdered medicine (target discharge amount when forming the powdered medicine set 610a). . As a result of the comparison operation, if they are the same, it is determined that the weight measuring means 25 of the medicine feeder 5 that discharged this powdered medicine was not out of order. Conversely, if they are not the same, it is determined that the weight measuring means 25 of the drug feeder 5 that has discharged this powdered drug has failed.
For example, if one medicine feeder 5 discharges powdered medicine with a target discharge amount of 3 g to create the powdered medicine set 610a, it is determined whether the weight of the powdered medicine fed into the powdered medicine feeding hopper 310 is 3 g. . Then, if it is 3 g, it is determined that the weight measuring means 25 belonging to one drug feeder 5 has not failed.

Subsequently, the lower opening of the powdered medicine introduction hopper 310 is opened, and the powdered medicine (the powdered medicine aggregate 610a) is discharged from the inside of the powdered medicine introduction hopper 310. FIG. Thereafter, by rotating the distribution tray 3 at a low speed, another powdered drug set 610b is moved to a position close to the powdered drug charging hopper 310, and this powdered drug set 610b is charged into the powdered drug charging hopper 310. Prior to this charging operation, the lower opening of the powdered drug charging hopper 310 is closed. Then, in the same manner as described above, based on the detection value of the hopper-side weight measuring means 600, the weight of the powdered medicine (powder medicine set 610b) fed into the powdered medicine feeding hopper 310 is acquired.

Then, in the same manner as described above, the weight of the powdered medicine (powder medicine set 610b) fed into the powdered medicine feeding hopper 310 and the target discharge amount of the fed powdered medicine (target discharge amount when forming the powdered medicine set 610a) for one package Compare the weight of From this, it is determined that the weight measuring means 25 of the drug feeder 5 that discharged this powdered drug was not out of order. Similarly, it is determined whether or not the weight measuring means 25 is out of order for each of the plurality of drug feeders 5 .
This failure detection operation is not limited to an operation targeting the weight measuring means 25 of a plurality of drug feeders 5 , and may be an operation targeting the weight measuring means 25 of one drug feeder 5 .
In the failure detection operation described above, the value (discharge amount) calculated based on the detection value of the weight measuring means 25 and the value (input amount) calculated based on the detection value of the hopper side weight measuring means 600 are compared. Actions may be performed.
Further, in the above example, the failure detection operation was performed using powdered medicine discharged from the medicine feeder 5 to the distribution tray 3 . However, the failure detection operation may use cleaning chemicals (cleaning agents), foods, excipients, etc., instead of the powdered medicine. That is, a powder different from the drug may be used. An excipient is an additive added to increase the volume before formulation, and is a so-called bulking agent. The term "food" as used herein includes starch, sodium bicarbonate, and other foods that can be taken orally by humans, and the same applies to the following. When these are used in place of the powdered medicines, a container for detection operation containing these in the medicine container 20 is used.

As described above, when the hopper-side weight measuring means 600 is provided, the following hopper attachment determination operation may be performed.
This hopper attachment determination operation is an operation for determining whether or not the powdered medicine introduction hopper 310 is attached to the base member. Specifically, the hopper-side weight measuring means 600 detects the change in weight when the powdered medicine charging hopper 310 is attached and detached. That is, based on the detection value of the hopper-side weight measuring means 600, it is determined whether or not the load of the powdered medicine charging hopper 310 is applied to the hopper-side weight measuring means 600. Then, when it is determined that the load of the powdered medicine charging hopper 310 is applied, it is assumed that the powdered medicine charging hopper 310 is attached. Conversely, if it is determined that no load is applied to the powdered medicine charging hopper 310, it is assumed that the powdered medicine charging hopper 310 has been removed.
According to the hopper attachment determination operation described above, it is possible to detect whether or not the powdered medicine charging hopper 310 is attached without providing a sensor for detecting the powdered medicine charging hopper 310 or wiring for detection in the powdered drug charging hopper 310 .

As described above, when the hopper-side weight measuring means 600 is provided, the following hopper cleaning operation may be performed.
First, the basic cleaning operation of the hopper will be described. In the medicine delivery device 1 described above, the cleaning operation of the powdered medicine introduction hopper 310 is executed after execution of the packaging operation and before execution of the subsequent packaging operation.
As a cleaning operation of the powdered medicine charging hopper 310, a cleaning chemical or food (hereinafter simply referred to as a cleaning agent) is charged into the powdered medicine charging hopper 310 with the lower opening closed, and then the upper opening is closed, There is a suction cleaning operation that provides suction within the powdered drug input hopper 310 . In the suction cleaning operation, the lower lid member may be opened and closed in the latter half of the suction, and at this time, air may be blown from the air nozzle to the outside of the lower lid member. Further, as the cleaning operation, there is a dust collection operation for removing the medicine or the like adhering to the powdered medicine introduction hopper 310 by a dust collector (not shown). The dust collector generates negative pressure to suck in dust together with air, and is not particularly limited, but may be equipped with a vacuum pump or a dust bag. Furthermore, as the cleaning operation, there is a vibrating cleaning operation in which the powdered medicine charging hopper 310 is hit or vibrated by a vibrator, a knocker, or the like. In the cleaning operation of the drug dispensing device 1, one or more selected from a suction cleaning operation, a dust collection operation, and a vibration cleaning operation is performed.

Here, depending on the type of the powdered medicine adhering to the powdered medicine feeding hopper 310, there are some that are difficult to remove by the cleaning operation. In addition, it may be difficult to remove the powdered medicine by the cleaning operation due to the humidity of the place where the medicine dispensing device 1 is installed.
Therefore, in the medicine dispensing device 1 of the present embodiment, when performing the cleaning operation after performing the packaging operation, before the packaging operation is performed, after the packaging operation is performed (before the cleaning operation is performed), and when the cleaning operation is performed. After each execution, the operation of weighing the powdered medicine input hopper 310 is executed. That is, when the powdered medicine adheres to the powdered medicine feeding hopper 310, the value of the weight of the powdered medicine feeding hopper 310 measured by the hopper-side weight measuring means 600 increases. Therefore, by acquiring the weight difference before and after the packaging operation (comparing the detected values), it is possible to determine how much powdered medicine has adhered to the powdered medicine introduction hopper 310 due to the packaging operation. In addition, by comparing the weight value before execution of the packaging operation and the value of weight after execution of the cleaning operation, it is possible to determine whether the cleaning operation was properly performed, that is, whether the powdered medicine was completely removed. can determine whether Therefore, the cleaning operation can be evaluated by comparing the detection values before the packaging operation and after the cleaning operation.

Then, the drug dispensing device 1 performs a cleaning operation based on the detection value of the hopper-side weight measuring means 600 described above. For example, compare the detected values before and after the packaging operation, and if a large amount of powdered medicine is adhered, increase the amount of cleaning agent, increase the strength of hitting, and increase the number of times of hitting. , the suction strength of the dust collector is increased, the suction time is lengthened, and the like to perform the cleaning operation. Conversely, if the powdered medicine is not very attached, the cleaning operation is performed by reducing the amount of cleaning agent, weakening the strength of tapping, and so on. That is, based on the detected value of the hopper-side weight measuring means 600, the details of the cleaning operation to be performed (the amount of cleaning agent, the length (execution time) of various operations such as the suction operation, the number of tapping, the interval, the strength, etc.) , strength of dust collecting operation, etc.). Also, based on the detection value of the hopper-side weight measuring means 600 described above, it is determined whether or not the cleaning operation is to be performed again after the cleaning operation. When the cleaning operation is to be performed again, the content of the subsequent cleaning operation is also determined based on the detected value of the hopper-side weight measuring means 600 . In other words, based on the detection value of the hopper-side weight measuring means 600, the number of times the cleaning operation is performed is determined, and the content of each cleaning operation to be performed once or multiple times is determined. The number of cleaning operations to be performed may be determined whether or not the cleaning operation is to be performed continuously each time the cleaning operation is performed, or may be determined how many times to perform the cleaning operation before the first cleaning operation is performed. , the number of times to perform the cleaning operation may be determined before the second and subsequent cleaning operations are performed. As for the contents of the cleaning operation, similarly, the contents of the cleaning operation to be performed successively each time the cleaning operation is performed may be determined, or the contents of the cleaning operation may be determined at an appropriate timing.

Further, after the cleaning operation is performed, information regarding the evaluation of the already performed cleaning operation (hereinafter also referred to as cleaning evaluation information) may be stored in a storage means such as a control device. The cleaning evaluation information may be information stored in association with information on the type of powdered medicine to be cleaned, information on humidity at the time of execution, information on the details of the cleaning operation performed, and the like. Then, each time the cleaning operation is performed, the cleaning operation may be performed with the content changed so as to obtain a better evaluation based on the cleaning evaluation information and related information. According to such a configuration, the longer the operation of the medicine dispensing device 1 is continued, the more the accuracy of the cleaning operation is improved.

As described above, the scraping device 8 is used with the rotary plate 12 attached to the mounting base 255 . Here, when the hopper-side weight measuring means 600 is provided, the following attachment determination operation may be performed.
The attachment determination operation is an operation for determining whether or not a member (rotary plate 12 in this embodiment) to be attached to the scraping device 8 afterward is correctly attached. Specifically, the operation of closing the lower opening of the powdered medicine charging hopper 310 and charging one packet of the powdered medicine from the distribution tray 3 into the powdered medicine charging hopper 310 is executed. Then, on condition that the weight of the powdered medicine thrown into the powdered medicine feeding hopper 310 is correctly detected by the hopper-side weight measuring means 600, it is determined that the rotary plate 12 is correctly attached to the scraping device 8. Conversely, when the weight of the powdered medicine put into the powdered medicine injection hopper 310 is not detected correctly, it is determined that the rotating plate 12 is not properly attached to the scraping device 8 .
The attachment determination operation may be an operation that is executed in parallel with the packaging operation. That is, it may be determined whether or not the rotary plate 12 is correctly mounted when the powdered medicine is put into the powdered medicine injection hopper 310 from the distribution tray 3 in the packing operation. In this case, if it is determined that the rotary plate 12 is not correctly attached, the packaging operation that is being performed may be stopped. Also, a notification operation may be performed to notify that the rotating plate 12 is not correctly mounted.
The attachment determination operation may be performed separately from the packing operation. For example, the powdered medicine may be discharged from the medicine feeder 5 to the distribution tray 3 before the packaging operation is performed. . Also, the attachment determination operation may be an operation executed in parallel with the failure detection operation described above. That is, when the weight of the powdered medicine put into the powdered medicine feeding hopper 310 is correctly detected, it is determined that the rotating plate 12 is properly mounted and the weight measuring means 25 of the medicine feeder 5 that has discharged this powdered medicine is not out of order. . On the other hand, if the weight of the powdered medicine is not correctly detected, it is determined that the rotating plate 12 is not properly mounted or the weight measuring means 25 of the medicine feeder 5 that has discharged the powdered medicine is out of order.

The drug feeder of the present invention may employ a drug container 680 shown in FIG. 22 instead of the drug container 20 described above. This drug container 680 has a structure that is detachable from the feeder body 10 in the same manner as the drug container 20 described above. That is, together with the feeder main body 10 described above, a drug feeder is configured.

This drug container 680 is also surrounded by a front wall 691 , a rear wall 692 , two side walls 693 , a top wall 694 and a bottom wall 695 . Here, the two side walls 693 are large-area side surfaces having a larger area than the front wall 691 and the rear wall 692 . On the other hand, the front wall 691 and the rear wall 692 are small area side surfaces. In other words, the medicine container 680 is an elongated box-shaped member when viewed from the front wall 691 side. In other words, the drug container 680 is a vertically long container that is taller than it is wide (narrow and tall). Moreover, the side surface shape is a rectangular parallelepiped with a substantially square shape.
Further, the medicine container 680 has an openable and closable medicine discharge part 697 (powder medicine discharge part, see FIG. 23) at a position near the front wall 691 on the bottom wall 695 . The medicine container 680 has a shutter structure 712 .

The shutter structure 712 has a shutter member 712a having a closing wall and a transmission member (not shown). As in the above-described embodiment, linear movement of the transmission member moves the shutter member 712a to open and close the medicine ejection portion 697. As shown in FIG. That is, as in the above-described embodiment, a portion of the transmission member on the side of the rear wall 692 is exposed to the outside (detailed illustration is omitted), so that the drug container 680 can be held by the feeder body 10. , engages with the shutter opening/closing mechanism 55 .

As shown in FIG. 23, the medicine container 680 of this embodiment differs from the medicine container 20 described above in that the lid member 701 constitutes the top wall 694 of the walls. In other words, the lid member constitutes the right and left side walls 37 of the drug container 20 described above, and powdered medicine can be filled by opening the large-area side wall. On the other hand, the drug container 680 has a lid member 701 attached to a box with an open top surface, and the lid member 701 can be swung by a hinge. By opening the lid member 701, powdered medicine can be filled from above, and by closing the lid member 701, the drug container 680 can be sealed. The medicine container 680 of the present embodiment can be filled with powdered medicine while being held by the feeder main body 10 .

The lid member 701 of this embodiment has a lid body portion 702 and a small lid portion 703, as shown in FIG. A small lid portion 703 is attached to the lower side of the lid main body portion 702 (the lower side when closed), and is swingable by a hinge.
Here, the lid member 701 has an in-lid accommodating portion 704 capable of accommodating a desiccant or the like. The in-lid storage portion 704 of the present embodiment is a space for disposing a humidity conditioner. By rocking the small lid portion 703, the lid-inside accommodating portion 704 can be opened and closed. In other words, the in-lid accommodating portion 704 is a space formed between the lid body portion 702 and the small lid portion 703 . Specifically, it is a space located above most of the small lid portion 703 when the lid member 701 is closed and the small lid portion 703 is closed.

This drug container 680 has a partition plate portion 710 (partition member) inside. The partition plate portion 710 is a plate-like portion arranged at the boundary between the storage space 739 for storing the powdered medicine and the powdered medicine passageway 740 . The powdered medicine passage 740 is a portion through which the powdered medicine passes when the powdered medicine is discharged. It is a space that contains

The partition plate portion 710 is a portion that assumes a horizontal posture when the drug container 680 is held by the feeder body 10 . The partition plate portion 710 is provided with a plurality of small holes, and these small holes penetrate the partition plate portion 710 in the vertical direction (thickness direction). Also, a portion adjacent to the partition plate portion 710 has a large inclined portion 715 and a small inclined portion 716 .

The large inclined portion 715 and the small inclined portion 716 both form inclined surfaces that incline toward the partition plate portion 710 when the drug container 680 is held by the feeder body 10 . The large slope portion 715 is longer than the small slope portion 716, and the respective slope angles are the same. That is, the space between the large slope portion 715 and the small slope portion 716 (the lower portion of the storage space 739) converges toward the partition plate portion 710. As shown in FIG.

When the medicine is to be discharged from the medicine container 680 , the medicine container 680 is held by the feeder body 10 , the medicine discharge part 697 is opened, and the medicine container 680 is vibrated. At this time, when the powdered medicine in the powdered medicine passageway 740 decreases due to discharge, the powdered medicine in the medicine container 680 moves from the storage space 739 , which is the space above the partition plate portion 710 , to the powdered medicine passageway 740 , and then to the medicine discharge portion 697 . move towards. Then, it is discharged from the medicine discharge portion 697 .
Here, when the drug container 680 is vibrated, the powdered drug in the drug container 680 is agitated in the storage space 739 which is the space above the partition plate portion 710 . At this time, part of the stored powdered medicine moves upward on the large inclined portion 715 and moves upward from the partition plate portion 710 toward the partition plate portion 710 side. For this reason, on the small holes (slits) of the partition plate portion 710, the powdered medicine does not easily apply a downward pressing force, and the powdered medicine flowing by stirring appropriately falls from the small holes (slits), so that the powdered medicine can be discharged smoothly. becomes possible.

Here, in the medicine dispensing device 1 (see FIG. 1, etc.), when discharging the powdered medicine from the medicine container 20 of the medicine feeder 5 to the distribution tray 3, as described above, prior to discharge, the preliminary weight measurement operation is performed. do. Then, the weight calibration unit 21 is shifted from the second state to the first state, and the operation of discharging the powdered medicine to the distribution tray 3 is executed. After executing the operation of discharging the powdered medicine, the weight of the medicine container 20 (and/or the weight of the contained powdered medicine) is obtained. Furthermore, a post weight measurement operation is executed.

Further, in the operation of discharging the powdered medicine, as described above, the operation of measuring the weight of the medicine container 20 is executed. That is, the weight of the medicine container 20 is measured before and after the vibration of the vibrating member 16 in the feeder section 22 starts, and the current weight of the medicine container 20 is continuously monitored as the current weight g even while the powdered medicine is falling. Then, the original weight G and the current weight g of the drug container 20 immediately after being placed on the vibrating member 16 are compared to constantly calculate the falling amount H of the powdered medicine, and when the total falling amount H of the powdered medicine reaches the desired weight, Vibration of the vibrating member 16 is stopped.

Here, in the operation of discharging the powdered medicine described above, the weight of the medicine container 20 before the opening provided on the lower side of the medicine container 20 is opened may be obtained as the original weight G of the medicine container 20 (it may be set as a zero point). ). When the drop amount H of the powdered medicine reaches a certain level or more and approaches the desired weight (or reaches the desired weight), the vibration of the vibrating member 16 is stopped, and the opening of the medicine container 20 is kept open for a predetermined period of time. A waiting operation of waiting may be performed. At this time, the falling amount H of the powdered medicine calculated by comparing the original weight G and the current weight g obtained after the execution of the standby operation can be used as the amount of powdered medicine finally discharged to the distribution tray 3 (amount of discharged powdered medicine). good.
Hereinafter, regarding a specific procedure for discharging the powder medicine to the distribution tray 3 by such a discharge operation, the medicine container 20 is attached to the feeder main body 10 and held, and after executing the discharge operation of the powder medicine, the medicine container 20 is removed. A case of removing from the feeder main body 10 will be described in detail as an example.

First, as shown in FIG. 24, the drug container 20 is attached to and held by the feeder body 10 (step 1, see FIG. 24(a)). Next, the weight calibration unit 21 is shifted from the first state to the second state, and the operation of detecting the weight of the weight 42 (preliminary weight measurement operation) is executed (step 2, see FIG. 24(b)). Next, the weight calibration unit 21 is shifted from the second state to the first state (step 3, see FIG. 24(c)). Next, the weight before opening the drug container 20 is obtained as the original weight G of the drug container 20, and the zero point is taken (step 4, see FIG. 24(d)). Next, the drug container 20 is opened (step 5, see FIG. 24(e)). The vibrating member 16 is vibrated to discharge (discharge) the powdered medicine (step 6, see FIG. 24(f)). The standby operation is executed, and the original weight G and the current weight g obtained after the standby operation are compared to obtain the final discharge amount of the powdered medicine (step 7, see FIG. 24(g)). The opening of the drug container 20 is closed (step 8, see FIG. 24(h)). The weight calibration unit 21 is shifted from the first state to the second state, and the operation of detecting the weight of the weight 42 (post-weight measurement operation) is executed (step 9, see FIG. 24(i)). At this time, similarly to the above, when the weight values of the weight 42 obtained in the pre-weight measurement operation and the post-weight measurement operation are the same, it is determined that the weight measurement means 25 has not failed. Subsequently, the weight calibration unit 21 is shifted from the second state to the first state (step 10, see FIG. 24(j)). The drug container 20 is removed from the feeder main body 10 (step 11, see FIG. 24(k)).

By executing the operation of discharging the powdered medicine as described above, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of measurement error (dispensing error) in the discharged amount of the powdered medicine due to unintended dropping of the powdered medicine.
More specifically, when the drug container 20 is opened, there is a possibility that the drug adhering to the shutter member 121 or the like may drop as the drug container 20 is moved to the open state. In addition, it is conceivable that the drug may fall from the vicinity of the powdered drug discharge portion (opening) in the drug container 20 by any chance. Therefore, by performing the zero point before opening the drug container 20, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of errors due to the unintended dropping of the powdered medicine.
In other words, if the shutter member 121 is opened and the zero point is taken after the shutter member 121 is opened, if the medicine (powder medicine) falls when the shutter member 121 is moved to the open state, the weight of the discharged medicine is divided and packaged. There is a possibility that it will be different from the amount (emission amount that should be emitted originally). In other words, there is a possibility that the discharge amount will increase by the amount of the powdered medicine that has fallen before the zero point is taken.
On the other hand, by executing the operation of discharging the powdered medicine according to the procedure described above, it becomes possible to discharge the powdered medicine more accurately. In other words, according to the above-described embodiment, it is possible to cause a problem caused by the failure of the weight measuring means due to the failure detection operation, and it is possible to prevent (suppress) the occurrence of measurement errors in the amount of discharge. It is possible to discharge powdered medicine with high precision.

The present invention is a drug dispensing device, a calibration method related to the drug dispensing device, and a failure detection method related to the drug dispensing device, and is intended to "ensure a healthy life for all people of all ages." The third goal of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which is to promote the welfare of people, can be achieved.
The drug dispensing device of the present invention is a device that can be performed even by non-pharmacists such as technicians by eliminating powdered drug inspection work such as powdered drug weighing that should be performed by a qualified person such as a pharmacist. Specifically, without being conscious of the fact that it is a drug, the operator can select the number of the drug container specified based on the prescription information, or if the drug container is placed on a shelf or the like, the specified drug container can be selected by a lamp or the like. Only by taking out the medicine and placing it on the medicine dispensing device, the packaging work required for the prescription can be reliably performed and completed. As a result, qualified pharmacists can shift from pharmacist-oriented work such as dispensing work to person-to-person work in which they face patients. The third goal of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which is to ensure decent livelihoods and promote well-being, can be achieved. This is the same for a drug dispensing device that employs the drug feeder of the present invention, and a drug dispensing device that executes the drug feeder calibration method and the drug feeder failure detection method of the present invention.
The present invention can also reduce labor costs and improve economic productivity. This will also contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

1; drug dispensing device, 5,201,405; drug feeder, 20,680; drug container, 21,200,421,521; ), 25; Weight measuring means 42, 142; Weight (weight member) 43; means), 80; motor, 81; cams, 203, 442, 504; weight member, 204; weight receiving member (weight receiving portion), 310;

Claims (12)

a drug container containing a powdered drug, a holding member for holding the drug container, and weight measuring means for directly or indirectly measuring the weight of the drug container, discharging the powdered drug from the drug container, In the drug feeder capable of detecting the discharge amount of the powdered drug by the weight measuring means,
a state in which a load of the weight member is applied to the weight measurement means; A drug feeder that performs calibration and/or failure detection of said weight measuring means by comparing a state in which no member load is applied to said weight measuring means. 2. The drug feeder according to claim 1, wherein said elevating means elevates said weight member, and said weight member elevates to perform said calibration and/or said failure detection. having a weight receiving part,
The weight receiving portion is capable of receiving the load of the weight member in each of a state in which the holding member holds the drug container and a state in which the drug container is removed from the holding member. 3. The drug feeder according to 2. a measurement means inspection unit including the weight member, the elevating means, and a weight receiving portion capable of receiving the load of the weight member;
4. The medicine feeder according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the calibration and/or the failure detection are performed by the measuring means inspecting part, and the measuring means inspecting part is arranged around the holding member. . having a weight receiving part,
The elevating means has a motor as a power source, a cam rotated by the operation of the motor, and an elevating member mounted on the cam,
The elevating member moves up and down with the rotation of the cam while maintaining a state of being placed on the cam,
5. The weight member according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the lifting member pushes up the weight member from below to shift from a state in which the weight member is in contact with the weight receiving portion to a state in which the weight member does not contact the weight receiving portion. A drug feeder according to any of the preceding claims. having a weight receiving part,
The weight receiving portion is a part of the holding member and is formed at a position below the held drug container,
By moving the weight member up and down, the weight member is placed on the weight receiving portion, the load of the weight member is applied to the weight measuring means, and the weight member moves upward from the weight receiving portion. The separated state is switched,
3. The weight member is disposed at a position below the held drug container in each of a state of being placed on the weight receiving portion and a state of being separated upward from the weight receiving portion. 4. The drug feeder according to 2 or 3. 7. The drug according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the drug container can be manually held by the holding member, and the drug container held by the holding member can be manually removed. feeder. A drug dispensing device comprising a drug feeder according to any one of claims 1-7. A medicine packaging unit for packaging powdered medicine, a hopper member into which the powdered medicine to be supplied to the medicine packaging unit is put, and a hopper-side weight measuring means for directly or indirectly measuring the weight of the hopper member,
A target discharge amount of powdered medicine is discharged based on the detected value of the weight measuring means, and the discharged powdered medicine is put into a hopper member, and the failure detection is performed based on the detected value of the hopper side weight measuring means. 9. A drug dispensing device according to claim 8. A medicine container containing a powdered medicine, a holding member for holding the medicine container, and weight measuring means for directly or indirectly measuring the weight of the medicine container, wherein the weight measuring means discharges the powdered medicine. A method for calibrating a drug feeder capable of detecting
a weight acquisition step of measuring the weight by the weight measuring means with the load of the weight member applied to the weight measuring means;
A method of calibrating a drug feeder, wherein the weight obtained in the weight obtaining step is compared with a prestored weight to determine whether or not the weight measuring means is normal. A medicine container containing a powdered medicine, a holding member for holding the medicine container, and weight measuring means for directly or indirectly measuring the weight of the medicine container, wherein the weight measuring means discharges the powdered medicine. A drug feeder failure detection method capable of detecting
a weight acquisition step of measuring the weight by the weight measuring means with the load of the weight member applied to the weight measuring means;
performing the weight acquisition step prior to the operation of discharging the powdered medicine;
Further performing the weight acquisition step after the powder medicine discharging operation,
The weight obtained in the weight obtaining step performed prior to the powdered medicine discharging operation is compared with the weight obtained in the weight obtaining step performed after the powdered medicine discharging operation, and the weight measuring means performs the powdered medicine discharging operation. A drug feeder failure detection method for determining whether or not a drug feeder has failed. In the operation of discharging the powdered medicine, the powdered medicine is discharged by opening the powdered medicine discharging portion of the medicine container, and in the operation of detecting the amount of discharged powdered medicine, the weight of the medicine container before discharging the powdered medicine is obtained as the original weight. 12. The failure of the drug feeder according to claim 11, wherein an operation of acquiring the weight of the drug container before discharging the powdered drug as the original weight is executed before opening the powdered drug discharging portion of the drug container. Detection method.

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