JP4174251B2 - Drug cassette - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a medicine cassette configured to discharge a medicine to be accommodated every predetermined amount.
[0002]
[Prior art]
A medicine cassette that is configured to discharge a medicine to be accommodated every predetermined amount is used as a component of a medicine selection and supply device.
That is, the medicine selection and supply device includes a support frame such as a drum and a plurality of cassettes mounted on the support frame, each of which contains a predetermined drug. For example, the cassette is detachably attached to a base member attached to the support frame.
In use, the medicine selection and supply device selectively drives a corresponding cassette according to a selection signal from an operator based on the prescription. As a result, the rotor in the one cassette rotates, and the contained medicine is automatically discharged by a necessary amount.
[0003]
More specifically, the cassette includes a housing portion and a rotor that is rotationally driven in the housing portion. The rotor is provided with a notch for holding the medicine to be accommodated. On the other hand, the accommodating portion is provided with a discharge port at a position corresponding to the rotation locus of the notch of the rotor.
Further, the accommodating portion has a locking piece for limiting the quantity of the medicine held in the notch to be discharged at a time. For example, when the medicine is discharged for each tablet according to the rotation of the rotor, the locking piece is at the height of the first medicine positioned at the lowest position among the medicines held in the notches of the rotor. It is provided at the corresponding position. With such a configuration, when the rotor is rotated and the cutout is aligned with the discharge port provided in the housing portion, only the first medicine held in the cutout is discharged from the discharge port.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, the chemical | medical agent accommodated in the said cassette has various shapes. For example, in the case of a half tablet formed by cutting a tablet in half, the posture when held in the notch is not constant, and the posture with the bottom face down (see FIG. 6 (a)) or the cut surface is It can take the standing posture (see FIG. 6 (b)). Therefore, even when the locking piece is provided in the case of such a medicine, a plurality of medicines may enter below the locking piece, or the medicine may be damaged by the locking piece.
The present invention has been made in view of such prior art, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a medicine cassette with a simple structure capable of accurately discharging the necessary number of medicines according to the rotation of the rotor regardless of the shape of the medicine. Objective.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a medicine cassette configured to discharge a contained medicine every predetermined amount, and the inclined reference bottom surface and the reference bottom surface cooperate with each other. And a rotor that is rotatable with respect to the reference bottom surface so that the rotation axis is orthogonal to the reference bottom surface of the storage unit, It has a notch of a size that allows the medicine to be accommodated to be inserted, and the reference bottom surface of the accommodating part has a lowermost region located at the lowermost position in the region corresponding to the rotation trajectory of the notch in the rotor. Further, a discharge port is provided on the upper side, and further, on the reference bottom surface of the housing portion, with respect to the rotation direction of the rotor, between the lowermost region and the discharge port, toward the rotor. Protruding protrusions are provided To provide a dosage Casetta.
[0006]
Preferably, the storage portion includes a bottom plate member that forms the reference bottom surface and a storage portion main body that forms the side surface, and the bottom plate member may be detachably fixed to the storage portion main body.
Preferably, the notch may be formed so as to open to a peripheral edge of the rotor.
[0007]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of a medicine cassette according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a partially longitudinal side view showing a state in which the medicine cassette 1 according to the present embodiment is mounted on a support base 200 such as a drum in a state where the medicine cassette 1 is placed on the base member 100.
[0008]
The base member 100 is preferably configured to be screw-coupled to the support base 200, and the medicine cassette 1 is detachably attached to the base member 100 through elastic engagement or magnetic engagement. The
[0009]
The cassette 1 includes a housing portion 10 having a medicine housing space and a rotor 20 disposed in the medicine housing space.
The container 10 has a reference bottom surface 11 that is inclined at a predetermined angle (for example, 40 to 50 °) with respect to a horizontal plane, and a side surface 12 that forms the drug storage space under the cooperation of the reference bottom surface 11. is doing.
Preferably, the reference bottom surface 11 has a circular shape in plan view, and the side surface 12 can be extended from the periphery of the reference plane 11 so as to be orthogonal to the reference plane, whereby the medicine storage space Can be substantially cylindrical.
[0010]
FIG. 2 is a view taken in the direction of arrow II in FIG. FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG.
The rotor 20 extends from the center of the disk portion 21 to the side opposite to the medicine containing space so that the rotation axis X is orthogonal to the reference bottom surface 11, and the center of the disk portion 21. And a support portion 25 that is rotatably inserted into a support hole provided in the reference bottom surface 11.
More specifically, a driven shaft 26 provided with a driven bevel gear 27 at one end is fixed to the support portion 25, and the driven bevel gear 27 is a motor (not shown) accommodated in the base member 100. And the drive-side bevel gear 110 that is operatively connected to the drive-side bevel gear 110.
Needless to say, the transmission mechanism between the motor and the rotor may be configured using a belt or a universal joint, as well as using a gear, as in the illustrated embodiment.
[0012]
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the disk portion 21 of the rotor 20 is provided with a notch 22 through which a predetermined number (for example, one) of medicines can be inserted. That is, only the medicine that has entered the notch 22 is held by the notch 22 and the reference bottom surface 11 and is conveyed in the circumferential direction as the disk portion 21 rotates.
[0013]
Preferably, the notch 22 is formed so as to open to the periphery of the disk portion 21. By comprising in this way, the medicine which gathered in the lower area in a medicine storage part can be made to enter into notch 22 efficiently.
More preferably, a plurality of the notches 22 can be provided at equal intervals along the circumferential direction of the disk portion 21.
[0014]
As shown in FIG. 3, the disk portion 21 of the rotor 20 is separated from the reference bottom surface 11 with a gap 50 at least in the notch 22. The gap 50 is, for example, 0.5 to 1.5 mm.
Preferably, the disk portion 21 has a contact portion 23 that contacts the reference bottom surface 11 in a region other than the region corresponding to the rotation locus of the notch 22. By providing such a contact portion 23, the disk portion 21 can be stably rotated with respect to the reference bottom surface 11.
[0015]
FIG. 4 is a view taken along arrow II with the rotor removed. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line VV in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 4, the reference bottom surface 11 of the housing portion 10 has a lowermost region (hereinafter referred to as a lowermost region) among regions corresponding to the rotation locus 22 a of the notch 22 in the rotor 20. A discharge port 15 is provided above the position. The discharge port 15 is formed, for example, in an uppermost region (hereinafter referred to as the uppermost region) among regions corresponding to the rotation locus 22a of the notch 22.
[0016]
That is, in the medicine cassette 1 according to the present embodiment, the medicine held in the notch 22 and conveyed in the circumferential direction according to the rotation of the rotor 20 is discharged from the cassette 1 through the discharge port 15. The The discharge port 15 is communicated with a conveyance path 120 formed in the base member 100 (see FIG. 1), and the medicine discharged from the cassette 1 is a hopper (not shown) communicated with the conveyance path 120. To the packaging device (not shown).
[0017]
Further, the reference bottom surface 11 of the housing portion 10 includes the lowermost region and the lowermost region of the region corresponding to the rotation locus 22a of the notch 22 with reference to the rotation direction of the rotor 20 (the arrow direction in FIG. 4). A convex portion 18 that protrudes toward the rotor 20 is provided between the discharge port 15. The convex portion 18 has a height of 0.3 to 1.3 mm, for example.
Preferably, the convex portion 18 is formed in a region located above the rotation axis X of the rotor in a region corresponding to the rotation locus 22 a of the notch 22.
[0018]
Hereinafter, the operation of the medicine cassette 1 having such a configuration will be described by taking, as an example, the case where the medicines to be stored are discharged one by one.
The medicine accommodated in the medicine accommodation space gathers in the lower region by gravity and enters into the notch 22 located in the lower region.
The medicine that has entered the notch 22 is held under the cooperation of the notch 22 and the reference bottom surface 11 and the side surface 12, and is conveyed along the rotation locus of the notch 22 according to the rotation of the rotor 20. The That is, the medicine in the notch 22 is conveyed in the rotational direction of the rotor 20 in a state where it is in contact with the reference bottom surface 11 and the side surface 12.
[0019]
By the way, it is very difficult to design the shape of the notch 22 so that only one medicine to be stored enters. In particular, when the medicine to be stored is a half tablet formed by cutting a flat tablet in half (see FIG. 6), the posture of the medicine when entering the notch 22 is not constant, and therefore There is a possibility that a plurality of medicines are held by one notch.
Even when storing ordinary tablets, two or more drugs are transported while other drugs are placed on one drug that has entered the notch due to friction between the drugs. May be. In such a case, two tablets of one drug and another drug are discharged from the discharge port 15 at the same time.
[0020]
On the other hand, in the present embodiment, as described above, the convex portion 18 is provided in a region of the reference bottom surface 11 corresponding to the rotation locus 22a of the notch 22. Therefore, one medicine that has entered the notch 22 is lifted upward when passing through the convex portion 18, and as a result, the other medicine placed on the one medicine is inclined to the disk portion 21. And slide down along.
[0021]
Thus, in the present embodiment, by providing the convex portion 18, one medicine that has entered the notch 22 and another medicine that has been placed on the one medicine are simultaneously discharged from the outlet. It can be effectively prevented from being discharged.
[0022]
The shape of the notch 22 is appropriately set according to the outer shape when the tablet to be stored enters the notch in order to prevent a plurality of medicines from entering the notch. When the medicine to be used is a half tablet as shown in FIG. 6, as described above, the posture of the medicine when entering the notch is not constant.
Therefore, when accommodating such a half tablet, the shape of the notch 22 can be a shape obtained by superposing the cross-sectional shape of the half tablet and the planar shape of the half tablet (see FIG. 2). Thus, only one half tablet can be easily inserted into the notch.
[0023]
Moreover, in this Embodiment, although the case where the said reference | standard bottom face 11 was integrally formed in the chemical | medical agent accommodating part 10 was demonstrated to the example, this invention is not limited to such a form. That is, the member forming the reference bottom surface 11 can be separated from the main body of the medicine container, and the member can be attached to the main body of the medicine container.
[0024]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the medicine cassette according to the present invention, since the convex portion is provided at a position corresponding to the rotation trajectory of the notch provided in the rotor, on the inclined reference bottom surface in the medicine container, It is possible to effectively prevent unnecessary medicines conveyed by the notches from being discharged from the discharge port.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a partially longitudinal side view of a medicine cassette according to an embodiment of the present invention, showing a state in which the medicine cassette is attached to a support frame via a base member.
FIG. 2 is a view taken along arrow II in FIG.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG.
4 is a view taken in the direction of arrow II in FIG. 1, showing a state in which the rotor is removed. FIG.
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line VV in FIG. 4;
6 (a) and 6 (b) are a plan view and a front view of a half-lock.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Drug cassette 10 Drug container 11 Reference bottom surface 12 Side surface 15 Drug discharge port 18 Convex portion 20 Rotor 21 Disk portion 22 Notch

Claims (3)

A medicine cassette configured to discharge a contained medicine every predetermined amount,
An accommodating portion having an inclined reference bottom surface and a side surface that forms a medicine accommodating space under the cooperation of the reference bottom surface;
A rotor that is rotatable with respect to the reference bottom surface so that the rotation axis is orthogonal to the reference bottom surface of the housing portion;
The rotor has a notch of a size that allows the medicine to be contained to be inserted;
The reference bottom surface of the housing portion is provided with a discharge port above a lowermost region located at the lowest position in a region corresponding to the rotation trajectory of the notch in the rotor,
Further, the reference bottom surface of the accommodating portion is provided with a convex portion protruding toward the rotor between the lowermost region and the discharge port with reference to the rotation direction of the rotor. The drug cassette. The housing portion includes a bottom plate member that forms the reference bottom surface, and a housing body that forms the side surface,
The medicine cassette according to claim 1, wherein the bottom plate member is detachably fixed to the housing main body. The medicine cassette according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the notch is formed so as to open to a peripheral edge of the rotor.

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