JP2807938B2 - Powder take-out device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a device for taking out a required amount of powder from a container containing the powder.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, there are many types of powdered medicines handled in hospital pharmacies and the like. These powdered powders are separately stored for each type in a relatively large amount in a storage container called an apparatus bottle. In addition, they are arranged side by side on the shelf of the dispensing table. When dispensing any kind of powder stored in such a device bottle for dispensing to a patient based on a doctor's prescription, the required amount of the powder must be removed from the device bottle first. Must. That is, in general, a powder of the type indicated in the prescription is taken out of the device bottle by an amount corresponding to one prescription indicated in the prescription, and then divided into single doses. It has been practiced to divide a single dose into one packet, and to administer such a package to a patient. As described above, the dispensing operation of the powdered medicine is generally roughly divided into the work of taking out the powdered medicine for one prescription from the device bottle, the work of dividing the prescription for one dose, and the work of packaging for each dose. However, among these, as for the dividing operation and the packaging operation, various dividing apparatuses and packaging apparatuses have been developed in accordance with the demand for automation, and some of them have been put to practical use.

[0003]

However, since the device bottle does not originally have a function of taking out a predetermined amount of powder, it is impossible to automatically take out the powder from the device bottle. Even if the amount for one prescription to be taken out varies depending on the prescription, for example, instead of the device bottle, an appropriate container equipped with a function to take out a certain amount of the contents is prepared, and the powder is taken. Even if it is stored, it is impossible to automatically remove any required amount of the powder from the container, and therefore, in the past, in the dispensing of powder, at least the powder removal from the device bottle has been performed by a pharmacist. Must be done manually, which is not only a major burden for pharmacists, but also in automating powder dispensing operations. Is a Joteki inhibitory factor, was a very serious problem.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art and to provide a powdered medicine removing device capable of automatically removing a required amount of powdered medicine from a container containing the powdered medicine. Things.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a stock part for accommodating a powder and a stock part for storing the medicine.
And a discharge section with a discharge port communicating with the
And the powdered medicine container has, toward the discharge opening provided in the discharge portion
A discharge member for discharging the powdered medicine , and connected to the discharge member
A driving device that is provided as a
An opening / closing member provided for opening and closing the discharge port;
An actuating member attached to the container to actuate the opening / closing member
When, discharging from the weighing unit and the powder medicine container for weighing the emissions discharged <br/> powder medicine through the outlet from the powdered medicine container
A setting section for setting the required amount of powder to be dispensed and the discharge
The driving device and the operation device are adjusted so that the amount becomes the required amount.
A powdered medicine taken out device and a control unit that performs control equipped with a control device provided in the rotary members, stopping of the drive unit
An adjusting unit for instructing the control unit on timing is provided by the control unit.
It is provided in the device.

[0006]

According to the present invention, by employing the above-mentioned means, the powdered medicine stored in the powdered medicine container is automatically discharged by a required amount arbitrarily set in the control device without any manual operation of the pharmacist. Taken out and stored in powdered medicine
When to stop the operation of the discharge member according to the amount of powder discharged from the container
By adjusting the discharge operation of the powdered medicine is adjusted
Thus , both the speed and accuracy of discharge can be achieved.

[0007]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a powder dispensing device according to the present invention. The powder dispensing device includes a powder container 1 for accommodating a powder and a powder container. When the required amount of powder is discharged from the device 1, the control device 2 adjusts the discharge operation of the powder container 1 according to the amount of discharged powder. The powder container 1
A stock unit 3 having an internal volume capable of storing a sufficient amount of powdered medicine of any type, a discharging unit 5 for discharging the stored powdered powder little by little, and a stocking unit for continuously discharging powdered powder from the discharging unit 5. And a supply section 4 for supplying the powdered medicine from the discharge section 3 to the discharge section 5. On the other hand, in accordance with the discharging operation of the powder container 1, the control device 2
A weighing unit 6 for weighing the powder discharged from the apparatus, a setting unit 8 for arbitrarily setting the required amount of the powder to be discharged, and a discharge before and after the discharge operation to adjust the discharge operation according to the discharge amount of the powder. Operating level (ie emissions per unit time)
And an adjusting unit 9 for instructing a discharge amount to be performed (that is, a timing at which the discharge operation level is switched),
By comparing the weighed value of the weighing unit 6 with the set value of the setting unit 8, when the weighed value, that is, the discharge amount of the powder reaches the set value, that is, the required amount of the powder, the discharging operation of the powder container 1 is ended. The control unit 7 is configured to perform the discharging operation of the powder container 1 according to the discharging operation level instructed by the adjusting unit 9 during the discharging operation period of the powder container 1. . FIG. 2 shows a schematic configuration of an embodiment of the powdered medicine container 1, in which each of the stock unit 3, the supply unit 4, and the discharge unit 5 has a cavity having a required internal volume and shape. In addition, the vacant space of the stock unit 3 and the vacant space of the supply unit 4 communicate at least partially, and the vacant space of the supply unit 4 and the vacant space of the discharge unit 5 communicate at least partially. However, since the internal volume, shape, communication location, form, and the like of these cavities can be variously designed, specific illustration is omitted. For example, as an example, the supply unit 4 is arranged below the stock unit 3, and the discharge unit 5 is arranged further below the supply unit 4, and the stock unit 3 is arranged.
And the upper end of the empty space of the supply unit 4 communicates with the lower end of the empty space of the supply unit 4, and the upper end of the empty space of the discharge unit 5 communicates with the lower end of the empty space of the supply unit 4. As a result, the powdered medicine in the empty space of the stock unit 3 enters the empty space of the supply unit 4 only if it falls smoothly, and if it drops more smoothly from there, it passes through the empty space of the supply unit 4 and the discharge unit. 5 can be designed to enter the space. Appropriate discharge members 11a and 11b are provided in parallel in the empty space of the discharge section 5, and a discharge port formed in an appropriate place of the empty space has:
An appropriate shutter 12 is provided. Discharge member 11
a, 11b can be constituted, for example, by a screw formed with a helical collar projecting around the support shaft, in which case the cavity is formed in two separate or joined cylindrical shapes. It is preferable to dispose the screw-shaped discharge members 11a and 11b in each of the cylinders, and it is preferable to form discharge ports at the ends of the two cylinders and dispose the common shutter 12 here. . The discharge members 11a and 11b have appropriate motors 13a that rotate the discharge members 11a and 11b to move the powdered medicine in the empty space toward the discharge port.
13b is connected to the shutter 12, and an appropriate operating member 14 that opens and closes the shutter 12 and opens and closes the discharge port of the empty space is connected to the shutter 12. Therefore, when the discharge members 11a and 11b are rotated by the motors 13a and 13b, and the shutter 12 is opened by the operating member 14, the powder in the empty space of the discharge unit 5 moves toward the discharge port and is discharged from the discharge port. On the other hand, when the rotation of the discharge members 11a and 11b is stopped and the shutter 12 is closed, the movement and discharge of the powdered medicine in the discharge unit 5 are stopped. Further, the discharge amounts of the powdered medicine per unit time by the discharge members 11a and 11b are configured to be different from each other.
That is, the discharge amount of the powdered medicine per unit time by the discharge member 11a is larger than the discharge amount of the powdered medicine by the discharge member 11b per unit time, and conversely, the discharge amount of the powdered medicine by the discharge member 11b depends on the discharge member 11a. Keep the emission of powdered medicines less than the unit time. For example, whether the diameter of the discharge member 11a is larger than the diameter of the discharge member 11b or the screw pitch of the discharge member 11a is longer than the screw pitch of the discharge member 11b, Alternatively, by combining both, the discharging members 11a, 11
b can be achieved even when rotating at the same speed as each other, and can also be achieved by increasing the rotation speed of the discharge member 11a by the motor 13a compared to the rotation speed of the discharge member 11b by the motor 13b. Can be. The discharge members 11a and 11b having different powder discharge amounts per unit time are combined with the control unit 7 and the adjustment unit 9 of the control device 2 as follows. That is, for example, during the period from the beginning of the discharging operation period of the powder container 1 to a little before the end period, the discharging members 11a and 11b are rotated together, thereby discharging a relatively large amount of powder per unit time, When a little before the end of the discharging operation period, the discharging member 11b is rotated as it is, but the rotation of the discharging member 11a is stopped, so that only a small amount of powdered powder is discharged per unit time. The timing of switching from driving to stop is instructed by the adjustment unit 9, and the control unit 7 controls the motors 13a and 13b according to the instruction. By doing so, for example, during the discharging operation of the powder container 1,
By rotating the discharge members 11a and 11b together, the powder is discharged in a relatively large amount per unit time, so that the required amount of the powder to be discharged is discharged in a relatively short time, but due to the large discharge. It is possible to avoid a disadvantage that a large quantity error that cannot be avoided at the end of the discharging operation period occurs. For example, during the discharging operation period of the powder container 1, only the discharging member 11b is rotated,
Only a small amount of powder is discharged per unit time, so that there is substantially no amount error at the end of the discharge operation period due to the minute discharge, but until the required amount of powder to be discharged has been discharged. It is configured to avoid the disadvantage of taking a considerable amount of time. In addition, a suitable stirring member 15 is provided in the space of the supply unit 4.
Is provided. The stirring member 15 can be constituted by, for example, a scraper formed by projecting a plurality of arm members around the support shaft, and
A suitable motor 16 adapted to rotate the stirring member 15 is connected to the stirring member 15. Therefore, if the stirring member 15 is rotated by the motor 16, the supply unit 4
The powder in the empty space is smoothly supplied to the empty space of the discharge unit 5 while being stirred, and the powder is supplied from the stock unit 3 to the empty space of the supply unit 4.
Further, the powdered medicine in the empty space of the stock unit 3 gradually moves toward the empty space of the supply unit 4 in accordance with the powdered discharge operation of the discharge unit 5 and the accompanying powdered supply operation of the supply unit 4. In order to make this movement smooth,
It is desirable that the cross-sectional area of the vacant space of the stock unit 3 be gradually increased from the upstream to the downstream, or at least be substantially the same from the upstream to the downstream. However, for the purpose of storing as much powder as possible with the limited outer dimensions of the stock unit 3 and the purpose of suppressing the installation space of the powder container 1, it is necessary to make the upstream side larger than the downstream side. In such a case, it is indispensable to provide a suitable stirring member 17 in the stock section 3 itself in addition to the stirring member 15 of the supply section 4. Such a stirring member 17
May be rotated by an independent dedicated motor, but the motor 16 for the stirring member 15 of the supply unit 4 is shared, and the motor 16 rotates the stirring member 17 together with the stirring member 15. can do.
The installation of the stirring member 17 is not limited to the case where the cross-sectional area of the space of the stock part 3 is larger on the upstream side than on the downstream side, and is not limited to the case where the cross-sectional area is substantially the same from upstream to downstream. Is effective even when it gradually increases from upstream to downstream.

[0008] Next, the operation of the powdered medicine take-out device configured as described above will be described. First, the powder container 1
A predetermined type of powdered medicine is charged in a sufficiently large amount and stocked in the stocking section 3 of. Next, the stirring member 17 of the stock unit 3 and the stirring member 15 of the supply unit 4 are rotated by the motor 16 to supply the powdered medicine in the stock unit 3 to the supply unit 4 while stirring, and Is supplied to the discharge section 5 while stirring, and the discharge section 5
To be filled. At this time, if necessary, the motor 13
By rotating the discharge members 11a and 11b by a desired amount by means of a and 13b, the discharge section 5 can be reliably filled with the powdered medicine. Of course, such an outlet 5
The filling operation of the powdered medicine into the medicine can be performed according to the instruction of the control device 2, but since it is effective only for the first time, it may be omitted. Then, when taking out the powdered medicine stored in the powdered medicine container 1, the motors 13 a, 13 b are driven together to rotate the discharge members 11 a, 11 b, and the operating member The shutter 12 is opened by operating the shutter 14. Then, the discharge operation of the powder is started, and the powder in the empty space of the discharge unit 5 is rotated by the rotation of the discharge members 11a and 11b.
It moves in large quantities toward the outlet per unit time and is continuously discharged from the outlet. At this time, the discharging member 11
The amount of powder that substantially matches the amount discharged from the discharge unit 5 by the rotation of the a and 11b is smoothly supplied from the supply unit 4 into the discharge unit 5 by the rotation of the stirring member 15, and is also discharged from the supply unit 4 to the discharge unit. As a result, the amount of the powdered powder substantially corresponding to the amount supplied to the cartridge 5 is smoothly moved from the stock unit 3 into the supply unit 4 by the rotation of the stirring members 15 and 17, so that the discharge of the powdered drug from the discharge unit 5 is interrupted. It will be performed continuously without any change. Then, slightly before the end of the discharging operation period, the motor 13b is driven by the instruction of the control device 2 while the discharging member 11b is being rotated.
a to stop the rotation of the discharge member 11a, whereby the discharge amount of the powdered medicine per unit time sharply decreases,
Emitted in small quantities. Further, the discharge amount of the powdered medicine discharged from the discharge unit 5 (that is, the weighed value by the weighing unit 6)
Reaches the required amount to be discharged (that is, the set value by the setting unit 8), the motor 13
b, the rotation of the discharging member 11b is stopped, and the operating member 14 is operated to close the shutter 12. Then, the operation of discharging the powder will end,
The discharge of the powder from the discharge unit 5 is stopped, and the rotation of the stirring member 15 and the stirring member 17 by the motor 16 is also stopped. As a result, the removal of the powder is finished. As a result, the required amount of powder to be discharged is discharged in a relatively short time and with substantially no volume error, so that both the speed and accuracy of powder discharge can be realized effectively without difficulty. Will be done. The required amount (for example, one prescription) of the powdered medicine discharged from the discharge part 5 of the powdered medicine container 1 is then divided into single doses by an appropriate dividing device, and then by an appropriate packing device. Can be packaged so that each dose is one packet.

In the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, a weighing unit 6 and a setting unit 8 are provided in
Although the discharge amount of the powder discharged from the powder container 1 is controlled by weighing, the present invention is not limited to this. The discharge amount of the powder discharged from the powder container 1 may be, for example, a discharge member 14a. , 14b to rotate the motor 13
Since the control can be performed in accordance with the rotation angle or the driving time of a and 13b, a control method not depending on weighing can be adopted. In the above embodiment, the discharge members 11a, 11
b is constituted by a screw formed by projecting a helical collar around the support shaft, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a discharge member 11a having a coil shape or other appropriate shape and structure is used. , 11b can be used. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the stirring member 15 is constituted by a scraper formed by projecting a plurality of arm members around the support shaft around the support shaft. However, the present invention is not limited to this. It is possible to use a stirring member 15 made of. Further, in the above embodiment, the motor 16 for the stirring member 15 of the supply unit 4 is shared as the motor for the stirring member 17 of the stock unit 3, and the motor 16 rotates the stirring member 17 together with the stirring member 15. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a dedicated motor for the stirring member 17 of the stock unit 3 may be provided independently. In the above embodiment, the stirring member 1 of the supply unit 4 is provided separately from the motors 13a and 13b for the discharge members 11a and 11b of the discharge unit 5.
Although the motor 16 for 5 is provided, the invention is not limited to this. For example, only the motors 13a and 13b are provided, and the discharge members 11a and 11b of the discharge unit 5 are rotated by the motors 13a and 13b. Stirring member 1 of supply section 4
5 as well as the stirring member 1 of the stock section 3.
7 can also be configured to rotate, in which case
When it is necessary to selectively and independently rotate any of the discharge members 11a, 11b or the stirring members 15, 17, the motors 13a, 13b are connected via appropriate clutches.
And the discharge members 11a and 11b or the stirring members 15 and 17
May be configured to be separably coupled. Also, for example, only one of the motors 13a and 13b is provided, and the motor 13 selectively rotates one or both of the discharge members 11a and 11b via an appropriate clutch. Is also possible. Further, in the above embodiment, only one common shutter 12 is provided at the discharge port of the discharge unit 5, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, discharge ports corresponding to the discharge members 11a and 11b are formed. Then, independent shutters 12a and 12b can be arranged, and in that case, the independent operating members 14a and 14b may be connected to the shutters 12a and 12b, respectively. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the discharge amounts of the powdered medicine by the discharge members 11a and 11b per unit time are configured to be different from each other. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Depending on whether only one or both are used at the same time, the discharge amount of powdered medicine per unit time can be changed as a whole, and the number of discharge members is not limited to two. Instead, three or more of them can be provided and used selectively. Further, for example, the driving speed of the motor 13a or 13b can be switched in the middle of the discharging operation period of the powder container 1, so that either one of the discharging members 11a or 11b, that is, Even with a single discharge member, it is possible to change the discharge amount of the powdered medicine per unit time during the discharge operation period of the powdered medicine container 1. Further, in the above embodiment, the required amount (for example, one prescription) of the powdered medicine discharged and taken out from the powdered medicine container 1 by the operation of the control device 2 is divided into single doses by an appropriate dividing device. In addition, an appropriate packaging device is used to divide a single dose into one package, but the present invention is not limited to this. It is also possible to set the amount of a single dose instead of the amount of one prescription, so that the required amount of powdered medicine that has been discharged can be taken in one packet without being divided. It is possible to package as a minute. For example, among the discharge members 11a and 11b, the discharge member 11a capable of discharging a large amount per unit time is used as a discharge member for taking out powdered medicine for one prescription, and the discharge member 11b capable of discharging a small amount per unit time is used. It can also be used properly as a discharge member for taking out a single dose of powdered medicine. Therefore, the method of adjusting the discharging operation by the adjusting unit 9 is limited to the method of switching the discharging operation level (the discharging amount per unit time) during the discharging operation period of the powder container 1 as shown in the above embodiment. For example, when the discharge amount of the powder is one prescription, the discharge operation corresponding thereto is performed by the powder container 1 to discharge a relatively large amount of powder per unit time, while the discharge amount of the powder is 1 In the case of a dose (one packet), the powder container 1 is caused to perform a discharge operation corresponding to the dose,
To discharge a relatively small amount of powder per unit time,
The discharge operation of the powder container 1 can be switched between the case of taking out the prescription and the case of taking out one package.

[0010]

The present invention is configured as described above.
The powdered medicine stored in the powdered medicine container can be automatically discharged and taken out by an arbitrary necessary amount set in the control device without any manual operation of the pharmacist, so that the powder in the conventional device bottle can be taken out. instead, the only any required amount from the powdered medicine container powdered medicine can be automatically taken out, moreover, dispersion
The operation of the discharge member is stopped according to the amount of the powder discharged from the medicine container.
By adjusting the stop time , the discharge operation of the powder is adjusted
It is possible to achieve both discharge speed and accuracy,
Therefore, it is extremely useful in automating the dispensing operation of powdered medicines, and thus plays an indispensable role in realizing an automatic powder dispensing and packaging machine that automatically performs operations from powder dispensing to packaging. It has excellent effects such as being possible.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of a powder dispensing device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a powder medicine container of the powder medicine taking-out device of FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

1: powder container 2: control unit 3: stock unit 4: supply unit 5: discharge unit 6: weighing unit 7: control unit 8: setting unit 9: adjusting unit 11a: discharge member 11b: discharge member 12: shutter 13a: Motor 13b: Motor 14: Operating member 15: Stirring member 16: Motor 17: Stirring member

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-58-54955 (JP, A) JP-A-59-26403 (JP, A) JP-A-2-57505 (JP, A) JP-A 63-549 279394 (JP, A) JP-A-3-42409 (JP, A) JP-A-2-15401 (JP, U) JP-A-1-103501 (JP, U) JP-A-1-1133782 (JP, U) Hikaru 1-155577 (JP, U) Jiko 45-232 (JP, Y1)

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] (1) powdered medicineToContainmentStock section and this strike
A discharge section with a discharge port communicating with the
WasA powder container,The discharge section is provided at the discharge port. Powdered medicineofDischargeTo
Discharging members to be performed; A driving device that is connected to the discharging member and drives the discharging member
And An opening / closing member attached to the discharge section for opening and closing the discharge port
When, Actuating the opening and closing member attached to the powdered medicine container
A moving member;  From the powder containerDischarged through the outletPowdered medicine
EmissionsWeighing unit, which is discharged from the powder container.
Setting section for setting the required amount of powder to be applied, and the discharge
The driving device and the operation device are adjusted so that the amount becomes the required amount.
Of moving partscontrolControl unit to performControl equipment
I gotA powder removal device,Instruct the control unit to stop timing of the driving device
An adjusting unit is provided in the control device Characterized by
Powder take-out device.