JP4401233B2 - Drug feeder - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a medicine feeder that dispenses a solid medicine such as a tablet or a capsule, and more particularly to a medicine feeder characterized by an operation when a medicine cassette is attached to a support member.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, devices such as a medicine dispensing device and a medicine filling device are provided with a medicine feeder that dispenses stored medicines one by one to a predetermined position. As disclosed in Patent Document 1 below, the drug feeder is roughly composed of a drug cassette that accommodates a large number of drugs and a support member (mounting table) on which the drug cassette is mounted. The medicine cassette is provided with a housing part for holding a large number of medicines, and a rotor is housed in the housing part. On the outer peripheral surface of the rotor, there are formed a plurality of pocket portions for inflowing and holding the medicine stored in the storage portion. A rotor gear is mounted on the rotating shaft of the rotor, and is engaged with an intermediate gear attached to the bottom of the medicine cassette. In the medicine cassette, a medicine discharge port is formed at a position where it can communicate with a pocket portion provided on the outer peripheral surface of the rotor.

On the other hand, a motor such as a geared motor is housed in the support member, and a drive gear is mounted on the rotation shaft of the motor.
The drive gear and the intermediate gear function as a clutch. When the drug cassette is mounted on the support member, the drive gear on the support member side and the intermediate gear provided on the drug cassette side are engaged. Therefore, when the motor accommodated in the support member is driven, a rotational force is transmitted from the drive gear to the intermediate gear and the rotor gear, and the rotor rotates. Thereby, the pocket part provided in the outer peripheral part of the rotor reaches | attains a chemical | medical agent discharge port sequentially, and the chemical | medical agent currently hold | maintained at the pocket part is discharged | emitted sequentially from a chemical | medical agent discharge port.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-30501

  Conventionally, a medicine feeder that has been generally adopted in devices such as medicine filling devices can freely rotate a rotor when a medicine cassette is removed from a support member for replenishment or inspection of medicine in a container. Therefore, the rotor may be rotated by an impact or vibration when the drug cassette is attached or detached, and the drug may be discharged from the drug discharge port. Therefore, for example, in the medicine feeder disclosed in Patent Document 1 above, when the medicine cassette is not attached, the rotor gear is elastically locked to provide a deterring means for preventing rotation of the rotor, and when the medicine cassette is attached. Release means for releasing the locking between the restraining means and the rotor is provided.

The medicine feeder disclosed in Patent Document 1 is provided with a restraining means for restraining the rotor from rotating, so that the medicine is unlikely to be erroneously discharged. However, even when the configuration disclosed in Patent Document 1 is adopted, the rotor rotates when the intermediate gear or the rotor gear receives an external force.
As described above, the medicine feeder is removable from the medicine cassette, and is used with the medicine cassette attached to the support member. When the drug cassette is mounted on the support member, the intermediate gear provided on the drug cassette side engages with the drive gear on the support member side. When the drug cassette is mounted on the support member, the intermediate gear is driven by the drive gear. The intermediate gear receives external force from the drive gear on the support member side.
For this reason, in the medicine feeder disclosed in Patent Document 1, the intermediate gear may turn slightly due to the force when the medicine cassette is mounted, and the rotor may rotate. As a result, there is a risk that a drug that should not be discharged is discharged.
That is, the rotation of the rotor that occurs when the medicine cassette is mounted on the support member is slight, but for example, the pocket portion of the rotor may communicate with the medicine discharge port in a halfway state. In the case where the rotor is slightly rotated, the pocket portion and the medicine discharge port are completely communicated with each other. Therefore, the medicine feeder of the prior art sometimes spills the medicine when the medicine cassette is mounted.
If the medicine is accidentally discharged from the medicine feeder, the medicine will be distributed to a person who should not be prescribed, which may lead to a serious accident.

  Therefore, the present invention focuses on the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a medicine feeder that can surely prevent a medicine from dropping accidentally when a medicine cassette is mounted.

The invention according to claim 1, which is provided to solve the above-described problem, has a container part that contains a large number of solid medicines, and a medicine cassette in which a rotor is rotatably arranged inside the container part, A medicine feeder having a support member to which the medicine cassette is mounted, wherein the rotor has a pocket portion for holding a predetermined amount of medicine accommodated in the accommodating portion, With the rotation of the rotor, communicated with the pocket portion, provided with a drug discharge port for discharging the drug held in the pocket portion,
The medicine cassette is provided with cassette side connection means for transmitting rotational force to the rotor,
The support member is provided with a support side connection means that engages with the cassette side connection means, and a drive means that rotates the support side connection means in a predetermined positive direction and rotates the cassette side connection means and the rotor in the forward direction. And
At least one of the cassette side connection means and the support side connection means has a shape similar to an escape wheel or escape wheel,
By moving the medicine cassette in the mounting direction with respect to the support member, the cassette side connection means hits the support side connection means, and after rotating the rotor preferentially in the reverse direction, the cassette side connection means and the support side connection means It is a medicine feeder characterized by being able to engage with.

Similarly to the prior art, the medicine feeder of the present invention is used with a medicine cassette mounted on a support member, and the cassette-side connecting means and the support-side connecting means are engaged during the mounting. Here in the tablet feeder of the present invention, when the cassette-side connection means when mounting the medicine cassette to the support member abuts the support side connecting means, the rotor is reversely rotated preferentially.
That is, in the medicine feeder of the prior art, when the medicine cassette is loaded, it is up to the rotor to rotate in the forward direction or the reverse direction, and if it rotates in the forward direction, the medicine may fall. On the other hand, in the medicine feeder of the present invention, the rotor rotates preferentially when the medicine cassette is mounted. Here, “preferentially reverse rotation” does not necessarily mean reverse rotation, but the reverse rotation rate is extremely higher than the normal rotation rate, and even if it rotates forward, the amount of rotation is very small. Refers to the situation.
Therefore, in the medicine feeder of the present invention, even if the medicine cassette is mounted on the support member, the pocket portion existing upstream in the forward rotation direction of the rotor is not exposed to the medicine discharge port and is held in the pocket portion. There is no accidental discharge of drugs.

  In the present invention and the invention described below, “solid drug” refers to all solid drugs such as tablets and capsules.

The invention according to claim 2 has a receiving part for storing a large number of solid medicines, a medicine cassette in which a rotor is rotatably arranged inside the containing part, and a support member to which the medicine cassette is attached. The rotor has a pocket portion that holds a predetermined amount of the medicine stored in the storage portion, and the storage portion includes a pocket portion as the rotor rotates. Communicating, provided with a drug discharge port for discharging the drug held in the pocket,
The medicine cassette is provided with cassette side connection means for transmitting rotational force to the rotor, and the cassette side connection means has a cassette side tooth portion,
The support member is provided with support side connection means, and the support side connection means is provided with support side teeth that engage with the cassette side teeth.
The cassette side tooth portion and the support side tooth portion each have a tooth bottom surface and a tooth tip surface protruding from the tooth bottom surface, and there are side surfaces on both sides of the tooth tip surface.
One side is a positive side that contributes to force transmission by driving the support side tooth part and driving the cassette side tooth part to contact the other tooth part when rotating the rotor in a predetermined positive rotation direction. The other side is the reverse side present on the opposite side of the normal side,
Either one or both of the cassette side tooth part and the support side tooth part has an angle formed with the circumscribed surface of the tooth bottom surface at the position where the tooth bottom surface and the reverse rotation side surface intersect, and the normal rotation side surface and the tooth bottom surface intersect. An asymmetrical tooth portion that is larger than the angle formed by the circumscribed surface of the tooth bottom surface and the positive rotation surface at the position where
The tooth part on the other side slides along the reverse side surface of the asymmetrical tooth part constituting one of the cassette side tooth part or the support side tooth part by moving the medicine cassette in the mounting direction with respect to the support member. It is a medicine feeder characterized by this.

In the medicine feeder of the present invention, when the medicine cassette is moved with respect to the support member, the cassette side tooth part and the support side tooth part gradually engage with each other. Here, in the medicine feeder of the present invention, at least one of the teeth on the cassette side and the teeth on the support side is such that the angle formed between the reverse rotation side and the tooth bottom is greater than the angle formed between the normal rotation side and the tooth bottom. It is composed of large asymmetrical teeth. Further, when the medicine cassette is moved in the mounting direction with respect to the support member, the tooth portion on the other side along the reverse side surface of the asymmetrical tooth portion constituting one of the cassette side tooth portion or the support side tooth portion. Slides.
Therefore, the medicine feeder of the present invention rotates the cassette side connecting means and the rotor in reverse by mounting the medicine cassette, and is held in the pocket portion positioned upstream in the forward rotation direction of the rotor with respect to the medicine discharge port. It is possible to reliably prevent the medicine that is being discharged from being erroneously discharged.

The invention according to claim 3 has a receiving part for storing a large number of solid medicines, a medicine cassette in which a rotor is rotatably arranged inside the containing part, and a support member on which the medicine cassette is mounted. The rotor has a pocket portion that holds a predetermined amount of the medicine stored in the storage portion, and the storage portion includes a pocket portion as the rotor rotates. Communicating, provided with a drug discharge port for discharging the drug held in the pocket,
The medicine cassette is provided with cassette side connection means for transmitting rotational force to the rotor, and the cassette side connection means has a cassette side tooth portion,
The support member is provided with support side connection means, and the support side connection means is provided with support side teeth that engage with the cassette side teeth.
The cassette side tooth portion and the support side tooth portion each have a tooth bottom surface and a tooth tip surface protruding from the tooth bottom surface, and there are side surfaces on both sides of the tooth tip surface.
One side is a positive side that contributes to force transmission by driving the support side tooth part and driving the cassette side tooth part to contact the other tooth part when rotating the rotor in a predetermined positive rotation direction. The other side is the reverse side present on the opposite side of the normal side,
Either one or both of the cassette side tooth portion and the support side tooth portion has a forward rotation side surface and a reverse rotation side surface having a ridge line passing through the central axis of the cassette side connection means or the support side connection means and the center portion of the tooth tip surface. An asymmetrical tooth that is asymmetric with respect to the boundary plane that includes the normal rotation side surface and the boundary plane is smaller than the angle between the reverse rotation side surface and the boundary plane;
The tooth part on the other side slides along the reverse side surface of the asymmetrical tooth part constituting one of the cassette side tooth part or the support side tooth part by moving the medicine cassette in the mounting direction with respect to the support member. It is a medicine feeder characterized by this.

  In the medicine feeder of the present invention, the tooth shape of at least one of the cassette side tooth portion and the support side tooth portion is unique. That is, the forward rotation side surface and the reverse rotation side surface of the tooth part are asymmetrical with respect to the axial center position of the cassette side connection means and the support side connection means and the boundary plane passing through the center part of the tooth tip surface. It has an asymmetric shape in which the angle formed by the plane is smaller than the angle formed by the reverse side surface and the boundary plane. Further, when the medicine feeder of the present invention is moved so as to attach the medicine cassette to the support member, the medicine feeder along the reverse side surface of the asymmetric tooth part constituting one of the cassette side tooth part or the support side tooth part. The tooth part on the other side slides. Therefore, in the medicine feeder of the present invention, when the medicine cassette is mounted, the cassette side connecting means is preferentially reversely rotated, and the pocket portion located on the upstream side in the positive rotation direction of the rotor with respect to the medicine outlet is from the medicine outlet. Move away. Therefore, according to the above-described configuration, it is possible to provide a medicine feeder in which no medicine is erroneously discharged when the medicine cassette is attached.

  In the medicine feeder according to claim 2 or 3, it is desirable that at least the rotor-side connection means of the rotor-side connection means and the support-side connection means is constituted by an escape wheel. (Claim 4)

  According to such a configuration, the rotor can be rotated in the reverse direction when the medicine cassette is mounted, and the erroneous discharge of medicine can be reliably prevented.

  The invention according to claim 5 extends in the circumferential direction of the rotor, and the pocket portion communicates with the medicine discharge port as the rotor rotates, and the accommodation side pocket portion communicates with the accommodation portion side. The medicine feeder according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a partition member for partitioning is provided, and the partition member extends from the medicine discharge port to the downstream side in the normal rotation direction of the rotor. It is.

  In the medicine feeder of the present invention, since the partition member extends to the downstream side in the normal rotation direction of the rotor with respect to the medicine discharge port, the discharge side pocket portion immediately after passing through the drug discharge port with the rotation of the rotor The drug is not replenished. Therefore, even when the medicine cassette is attached to the support member, the rotor rotates in the reverse direction so that the medicine is not erroneously discharged even if the discharge-side pocket portion that has just passed through the medicine discharge port is exposed to the drug discharge port.

  6. The medicine feeder according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the torque required for the operation of the support side connecting means is larger than the torque required for the operation of the rotor side connecting means. It is.

  According to such a configuration, when the medicine cassette is attached to the support member, the cassette side connecting means can be reliably rotated in the reverse direction to prevent the medicine from being erroneously discharged.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the chemical | medical agent feeder in which the fall of the chemical | medical agent does not occur at the time of mounting | wearing a support means with a chemical | medical agent cassette can be provided.

Next, a drug feeder according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
In the following description, the vertical positional relationship is based on the posture shown in FIG. 1 unless otherwise specified. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the medicine feeder of this embodiment. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a gear train of the medicine feeder shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a gear train in the course of mounting the medicine cassette on the support base of the medicine feeder shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the medicine feeder of the present embodiment, showing a support base and a medicine cassette.

1 to 4, reference numeral 1 denotes a medicine feeder according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 4, the medicine feeder 1 is roughly composed of a medicine cassette 2 and a support base 3 (support member) on which the medicine cassette 2 is mounted.
Although the medicine cassette 2 and the support base 3 can be separated, a series of power transmission paths from the motor 54 to the rotor 10 as shown in FIG. The rotor 10 rotates. Further, in a series of power transmission paths, a connecting gear (intermediate gear) 22 and a roller gear 15 described later belong to the medicine cassette 2 side as shown in FIG. 5, and the motor 54 and the drive gear 52 belong to the support base 3 side. Furthermore, in this embodiment, an escape wheel is employed for the large-diameter gear 25 and the drive gear 52 which are part of the connecting gear 22 as described later. A rotary encoder (rotation amount detecting means) 33 is provided between the motor 54 and the drive gear 52.
Hereinafter, each member will be described.

  FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of the medicine cassette shown in FIG. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a schematic structure when the medicine cassette shown in FIG. 4 is viewed from the medicine discharge port side.

The medicine cassette 2 is formed of a synthetic resin, and includes a housing portion 5 in which a large number of medicines T are housed, and a synthetic resin base portion 6 that is integrated with the housing portion 5. Yes.
The storage unit 5 functions as a container for storing a large number of medicines T, and has a large medicine storage space 32 inside. The container 5 is made of a transparent resin so that the remaining amount of the medicine T inside can be visually confirmed.
A lid 7 that closes the opening is detachably mounted on the top surface side of the accommodating portion 5. A concave portion 8 a that is recessed downward is provided at a substantially central portion of the bottom surface 8 of the housing portion 5. The planar cross-sectional shape and opening shape of the recess 8a are circular.
The rotor 10 is accommodated in the recess 8a in a rotatable state. As shown in FIG. 5, the recess 8a is bottomed and has a bottom surface 8b.

  FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the rotor 10 provided in the medicine cassette shown in FIG. FIG. 8 is a front view of the rotor 10 provided in the medicine cassette shown in FIG. FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing the relationship between the partition member, the medicine discharge port, and the rotor 10 of the medicine feeder shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the rotor 10 has an inclined surface with a conical top surface, and pocket portions 11 extending in the axial direction are formed at a plurality of positions at equal angles on the outer peripheral surface. In other words, the rotor 10 has a plurality of ribs 12 extending in the vertical direction on the outer peripheral surface, and a pocket portion 11 extending in the vertical direction is formed at a circumferential intermediate position between the adjacent ribs 12 and 12. The pocket portion 11 has a groove shape, and both ends of the pocket portion 11 are open in the vertical direction of the rotor 10. Therefore, the medicine T collected above the rotor 10 sequentially slides downward along the inclined surface of the rotor 10, and flows into the gap formed by the inner wall of the recess 8 a of the housing portion 5 and the pocket portion 11 of the rotor 10.

The pocket portion 11 has a width PW and a depth PH that can hold only one drug T, and a length PL (height) that can hold one or more drugs T (FIGS. 6 and 7). .
The width RW of the rib 12 is equal to the width PW of the pocket portion 11. A slit 12 a that extends in the circumferential direction of the rotor 10 and communicates with the pocket portion 11 is formed at an intermediate portion in the vertical direction of the rib 12. The slit 12a surrounds the entire circumference of the rotor 10 in an annular shape.
As shown in FIGS. 5 and 8, a rotating shaft 20 that protrudes vertically downward is provided on the bottom surface side of the rotor 10. The rotating shaft 20 protrudes downward from the bottom surface 8b of the recess 8a. A rotor gear 15 is attached to the tip (lower end) of the rotating shaft 20 as shown in FIG. The attachment structure of the rotor gear 15 is as shown in FIG. 8, and the boss 13 is screwed to the bottom surface side of the rotor 10 so as to be exposed to the outside of the bottom surface 8b (downward in FIG. 5), that is, the pedestal 6 side. It is integrated. An O-ring 16 is interposed between the boss 13 and the rotor gear 15.

  As shown in FIGS. 2, 3, and 5, a connecting gear 22 is rotatably disposed at a position adjacent to the rotor gear 15.

  10A is a perspective view showing a connecting gear employed in the medicine cassette shown in FIG. 4, FIG. 10B is a sectional view taken along the line A-A in FIG. 10A, and FIG. A directional arrow line view, (d) is the C section enlarged view of (c).

  As shown in FIG. 10, the connecting gear 22 is a two-stage gear in which a small-diameter small-diameter gear portion 23 and a large-diameter large-diameter gear portion 25 are integrally formed. The small-diameter gear portion 23 is an external gear having a normal involute tooth profile, and is a portion that engages with the rotor gear 15 as shown in FIGS. 2, 3, and 5. The large-diameter gear portion 25 is an external gear having an escape wheel type tooth profile, and engages with a drive gear 52 provided on the support base 3 side. The large-diameter gear portion 25 has a plurality of tooth portions 26 arranged at a predetermined pitch.

The tooth profile shape of the tooth portion 26 of the large diameter gear portion 25 is such that two tooth side surfaces 28 and 30 are provided on both sides of the tooth tip surface 27 as shown in FIG.
In the present embodiment, a series of power transmission paths from the motor 54 to the rotor 10 are completed as shown in FIGS. 2 and 16, and when the rotor 10 is rotated by receiving power from the motor 54, the drive gear 52 on the support portion side. Is driven, and the large-diameter gear portion 25 is driven by this. When the rotor 10 is rotated in a predetermined forward rotation direction, the tooth side surface 28 that contacts the drive gear 52 and contributes to the transmission of force is rotated. This is called the normal rotation side. The tooth side surface 30 (backlash side) provided on the opposite side of the normal rotation side surface 28 is referred to as a reverse rotation side surface.

  That is, the tooth profile shape of the tooth portion 26 of the large-diameter gear portion 25 is such that the forward rotation side surface 28 and the reverse rotation side surface 30 are formed on both sides of the tooth tip surface 27 as shown in FIG. In the tooth portion 26, as shown in FIGS. 10C and 10D, the forward rotation side surface 28 and the reverse rotation side surface 30 are in an asymmetric relationship. More specifically, the normal rotation side surface 28 forms an angle θ <b> 1 with the circumscribed surface P <b> 1 of the tooth bottom surface 31 at the intersection with the tooth bottom surface 31. In the present embodiment, θ1 is 90 degrees. Further, the reversing side surface 30 forms an angle θ2 (θ2> θ1) with the circumscribed surface P2 of the tooth bottom surface 31 at the intersection with the tooth bottom surface 31.

  Further, when assuming a plane X1 including the ridgeline of the top portion T1 of the tooth tip surface 27 of the large diameter gear portion 25 and the rotation center axis of the large diameter gear portion 25, the tooth portion 26 is normal to the plane X1. The rolling side surface 28 and the reverse side surface 30 are in an asymmetric positional relationship. That is, the positive rotation surface 28 is substantially parallel to the plane X1, and the angle θ3 formed by the positive rotation surface 28 and the plane X1 is approximately 0 degrees. On the other hand, the angle formed by the reverse rotation surface 30 and the plane X1 is θ4, which is larger than the angle θ3 formed by the normal rotation surface 28 and the plane X1.

  As shown in FIGS. 5, 9, and 11, a medicine discharge port 18 is provided in the lower portion of the storage portion 5.

As shown in FIGS. 9 and 11, the drug discharge port 18 has a width MW such that one pocket portion 11 of the rotor 10 and two ribs 12 and 12 adjacent to both sides thereof are exposed.
In addition, FIG. 11 is a B direction arrow view of the chemical | medical agent cassette shown in FIG.

A partition insertion port 21 extending in the circumferential direction of the recess 8 a is provided above the medicine discharge port 18 as shown in FIGS. 5 and 9. The width NW of the partition insertion port 21 is larger than the width MW of the medicine discharge port 18. The partition insertion port 21 is located at a position corresponding to the slit 12 a provided on the outer periphery of the rotor 10 in a state where the rotor 10 is accommodated in the recess 8 a.
In the present embodiment, the partition insertion port 21 communicates with the medicine discharge port 18, but the partition insertion port 21 and the drug discharge port 18 do not necessarily need to communicate with each other.

A comb-like partition member 35 is horizontally inserted into the partition insertion port 21. The length SW of the partition member 35 is larger than the width MW of the medicine discharge port 18. That is, the partition member 35 covers the upper part of the full width of the medicine discharge port 18, and further extends back and forth with respect to the rotation direction of the rotor 10.
Specifically, the extension amount FW of the partition member 35 with respect to the rotation direction side (downstream side) of the rotor 10 is substantially equal to the width PW of the pocket portion 11. Specifically, in the present embodiment, the extension amount FW is plus or minus 20% of the width PW of the pocket portion 11.

The extension amount BW of the partition member 35 with respect to the reverse rotation direction side (upstream side) of the rotor 10 is ½ of the width PW of the pocket portion 11. The extension amount BW of the partition member 35 with respect to the reverse rotation direction side (upstream side) of the rotor 10 is desirably 20% or more of the width PW of the pocket portion 11, and the most recommended range is 30% to 100%. is there.

In this embodiment, the partition member 35 is disposed at a position corresponding to the slit 12a provided on the outer periphery of the rotor 10, and the pocket portion 11 is divided into the lower pocket portion 11a and the upper pocket portion 11b by the partition member 35. ing.
For this reason, the pocket portion 11 that comes along with the rotation of the rotor 10 is once divided by the partition member 35, further rotates to reach the downstream side of the medicine discharge port 18, and further doubles the width PW of the pocket portion 11. After moving the corresponding distance (extension amount FW), the lower pocket portion 11a and the upper pocket portion 11b are completely joined. That is, the lower pocket portion 11 a and the upper pocket portion 11 b merge at a position where the rear end side in the traveling direction of the pocket portion 11 is completely separated from the partition member 35.

Therefore, the medicine T accommodated in the pocket portion 11 side by side is separated vertically by the partition member 35 when it arrives at the medicine discharge port 18 as the rotor 10 rotates.
Therefore, the medicine T held in the pocket portion 11 that arrives with the rotation of the rotor 10 contacts the partition member 35 and is divided vertically on the upstream side of the medicine discharge port 18, and then downstream of the drug discharge port 18. Then, after further rotating and moving by a distance (extension amount FW) corresponding to twice the width PW of the pocket portion 11, the pocket portion 11 moves to the lower pocket portion 11a. That is, the medicine T in the upper pocket portion 11 b moves to the lower pocket portion 11 a at a position where the rear end side in the traveling direction of the pocket portion 11 completely leaves the partition member 35.

This also allows the lower pocket portion 11a to contain the amount of medicine T to be dispensed at a time (in this embodiment, one tablet), and the upper pocket portion 11b to replenish the empty lower pocket portion 11a. The medicine T is held and is in a standby state.
The partition member 35 has a comb shape as described above, but the combs are inclined as shown in FIG. The inclination direction of the comb is in order with respect to the rotation direction of the rotor 10.

  As shown in FIGS. 9 and 11, only the portion below the slit 12a provided on the outer periphery of the rotor 10 (hereinafter referred to as the lower pocket portion 11a as necessary) can be exposed to the medicine discharge port 18. . For this reason, when the pocket portion 11 is located at a substantially central portion in front view of the medicine discharge port 18, an upper portion of the pocket portion 11 at the position of the medicine discharge port 18 (hereinafter referred to as an upper pocket portion 11 b as necessary). And other pocket portions 11 are in a state of facing the inner peripheral wall of the recess 8a. Therefore, when the rotor 10 rotates, the lower pocket portion 11 a provided in the rotor 10 is sequentially exposed to the medicine discharge port 18, and the medicine T held in the lower pocket portion 11 a is dispensed from the medicine discharge port 18.

  That is, in the upper part of the medicine discharge port 18, the medicine T located in the upper pocket portion 11 b comes into contact with the partition member 35 and is prevented from dropping, and the partition member 35 prevents one or more medicines T from being discharged from the pocket. Is done.

  FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing a state in which the medicine cassette is observed from the bottom side. FIG. 14 is a bottom view of the medicine cassette.

  As shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, the pedestal 6 has a substantially U-shape when viewed from the bottom side (in the direction of arrow B in FIG. 1), and has a first lever 40 and a second lever on the inside. 41 is arranged. The first lever 40 is rotatably attached to the bottom surface of the medicine cassette 2 by a support shaft 43. The first lever 40 has a pressing lever 45 extending in the direction of detachment of the medicine cassette 2 from the support shaft 43 (the direction of arrow D in FIGS. 13 and 14), and the mounting direction of the medicine cassette 2 from the support shaft 43. An elastic piece 46 is extended in the direction of arrow I in FIGS. As with the first lever 40, the second lever 41 is also provided with a pressing lever 47 and an elastic piece 48, and is attached to be rotatable by a support shaft 50. The first lever 40 and the second lever 41 are configured such that the elastic pieces 46 and 48 are engaged with the guide portions 51 and 51 provided on the top surface of the support table 3 by mounting the drug cassette 2 on the support table 3. It becomes impossible to detach from the support base 3. Further, when the pressing levers 45 and 47 are pushed inwardly of the pedestal portion 6 with the medicine cassette 2 mounted on the support base 3, the first lever 40 and the second lever 41 rotate around the support shafts 43 and 50. To do. Thereby, the engagement state of the elastic pieces 46 and 48 and the guide portions 51 and 51 is released, and the medicine cassette 2 can be detached from the support base 3.

Next, the support base 3 will be described. The support table 3 is for mounting the above-described drug cassette 2 on the upper portion thereof, and as shown in FIG. 4, guide portions 51 and 51 for mounting the drug cassette 2 are provided on the top surface of the support table 3. They are arranged almost in parallel. An opening 36 is provided at the back of the support base 3, and the opening 36 penetrates the back surface side of the support base 3. The position of the opening 36 is a place that coincides with the medicine outlet 18 of the medicine cassette 2 when the medicine cassette 2 is mounted, and the medicine discharged from the medicine outlet 18 of the medicine cassette 2 is discharged outside through the opening 36. Is done.
On the inner wall of the opening 36, a lock number counter 37 for measuring the number of drugs is provided.

  The drive gear 52 is exposed in the vicinity of one guide portion 51, which is a flat portion of the support base 3. The drive gear 52 is disposed at a position where the drive gear 52 engages with the large-diameter gear portion 25 of the connection gear 22 provided on the pedestal portion 6 when the medicine cassette 2 is mounted.

  FIG. 15A is a perspective view showing the drive gear 52 employed in the support base, FIG. 15B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 15A, and FIG. FIG. 4D is an enlarged view of part C of FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 15, the drive gear 52 is an escape wheel type gear similar to the large-diameter gear portion 25 of the connecting gear 22 mounted on the medicine cassette 2 side, and a plurality of tooth portions 55 are formed in the peripheral portion. Has been. The tooth portion 55 protrudes from the tooth bottom surface 56 in the radial direction of the drive gear 52 similarly to the tooth portion 26 of the large diameter gear portion 25, and tooth side surfaces 57 and 58 are provided on both sides of the tooth tip surface 59. It is.

In the present embodiment, a series of power transmission paths from the motor 54 to the rotor 10 are completed as shown in FIGS. 2 and 16, and when the rotor 10 rotates upon receiving power from the motor 54, the drive gear 52 is driven to The large-diameter gear portion 25 is engaged with the large-diameter gear portion 25 of the connecting gear 22 and the large-diameter gear portion 25 is driven. However, when the rotor 10 rotates in a predetermined positive rotation direction, The tooth side surface 57 on the side contributing to transmission is referred to as a normal rotation side surface. A tooth side surface 58 (backlash side) provided on the opposite side of the normal rotation side surface 57 is referred to as a reverse rotation side surface.
That is, the drive gear 52 of the present embodiment is formed with a forward rotation side surface 57 and a reverse rotation side surface 58.
The angle formed between the circumscribed surface P3 of the tooth bottom surface 56 and the normal rotation side surface 57 at the root of the normal rotation side surface 57 is θ1. Further, the angle θ2 formed between the circumscribed surface P4 of the tooth bottom surface 56 and the reverse rotation side surface 58 at the base portion of the reverse rotation side surface 58 is larger than the above-described θ1 (θ2> θ1).

  When the tooth 55 of the drive gear 52 is assumed to be a plane X2 that passes through the rotation center axis C2 of the drive gear 52 and the ridgeline of the top T2, the forward rotation side surface 57 and the reverse rotation side surface 58 are in relation to the plane X2. It is asymmetric. The positive rotation surface 57 is substantially parallel to the plane X2, and the angle θ3 formed by the positive rotation surface 57 and the plane X2 is approximately 0 degrees. On the other hand, the angle formed between the reverse rotation surface 58 and the plane X2 is θ4, which is larger than the angle θ3 formed between the normal rotation surface 57 and the plane X2.

The drive gear 52 is connected to a rotation shaft of a motor 54 disposed inside the support 3. As the motor 54, for example, a geared motor, such as a geared motor, that is output with the rotational speed of the rotor being reduced is recommended.
In addition, a medicine guide passage 53 that communicates with the medicine discharge port 18 by mounting the medicine cassette 2 is formed in the support base 3.

In the medicine feeder 1 of the present embodiment, a series of power transmission paths from the motor 54 to the rotor 10 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 16 are completed in a state where the medicine cassette 2 and the support 3 are combined as described above. . (FIG. 16 is a skeleton diagram showing a gear train of the medicine feeder shown in FIG. 1)
That is, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 16, the drive gear 52 is attached to the rotating shaft of the motor 54, the drive gear 52 is fitted with the large-diameter gear portion 25 of the connection gear 22, and the small-diameter gear portion of the connection gear 22. 23 and the rotor gear 15 are fitted, and the rotor 10 is coupled to the rotor gear 15.
Therefore, when the motor 54 rotates, the drive gear 52 rotates in the clockwise direction (F direction) as shown in FIG. 16, and the large-diameter gear portion 25 of the coupling gear 22 fitted thereto engages in the counterclockwise direction (F direction). The small-diameter gear portion 23 integrated with the large-diameter gear portion 25 rotates in the counterclockwise direction (F direction), and the rotor gear 15 fitted therewith rotates in the clockwise direction (F direction). Rotates clockwise (F direction).

The drug feeder 1 according to the present embodiment is characterized by an operation when the drug cassette 2 is mounted on the support 3.
Hereinafter, characteristic operations of the present embodiment will be described.
FIG. 17 is a conceptual diagram showing the relationship between the rotor gear 15 and the drive gear 52 in the course of mounting the medicine cassette 2 on the support 3 of the medicine feeder 1 as shown in FIG. FIG. 18 shows the relationship between the rotor gear 15 and the drive gear 52 in the middle of the state where the support 3 of the medicine feeder 1 and the medicine cassette 2 are completely fitted as shown in FIG. It is a conceptual diagram. FIG. 19 shows the relationship between the rotor gear 15 and the drive gear 52 in the middle of the state in which the support 3 of the medicine feeder 1 and the medicine cassette 2 are completely fitted as shown in FIG. It is a conceptual diagram. FIG. 20 is a conceptual diagram showing the relationship between the rotor gear 15 and the drive gear 52 when the medicine cassette 2 is completely mounted on the support 3 of the medicine feeder 1 as shown in FIG. It is.
FIG. 21 (a) shows the operating state of the medicine feeder 1 in the course of mounting the medicine cassette 2 on the support 3 of the medicine feeder 1 as shown in FIG. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the relationship between the chemical | medical agent discharge port 18 and the chemical | medical agent T, (b) is an expansion perspective view of the chemical | medical agent discharge port 18 vicinity in the state of (a).
FIG. 22A shows the medicine feeder 1 in a state where the medicine cassette 2 is completely mounted on the support 3 of the medicine feeder 1 as shown in FIG. 1 (or when the rotor is rotated backward after the medicine is discharged). It is a conceptual diagram which shows the relationship of the rotor 10, the chemical | medical agent discharge port 18, and the chemical | medical agent T in the operation state of (b), (b) is the expansion perspective view of the chemical | medical agent discharge port 18 vicinity in the state of (a).

When the medicine cassette 2 is mounted, the medicine cassette 2 is first in a posture in which the medicine discharge port 18 faces the medicine guide passage 53 of the support 3. In this state, the medicine cassette 2 has elastic pieces of the first lever 40 and the second lever 41 arranged on the bottom surface side of the pedestal portion 6 with respect to the guide portions 51, 51 provided on the top surface of the support base 3. 46 and 48 is Ategawa way along. Then, it is pushed in the direction of arrow I in FIG.
When the medicine cassette 2 is pushed in the direction of arrow I, the large-diameter gear portion 25 of the connection gear 22 and the drive gear 52 exposed on the top surface of the support base 3 are separated from each other as shown in FIGS. As shown in FIGS. 18, 19, and 20, the large-diameter gear portion 25 gradually approaches the drive gear 52 exposed on the top surface of the support 3.

That is, before the medicine cassette 2 is pushed in, the large-diameter gear portion 25 of the connecting gear 22 and the drive gear 52 exposed on the top surface of the support base 3 are separated as shown in FIGS.
When the medicine cassette 2 is pushed in the direction of arrow I from this state, the tooth tip surface 27 of the tooth portion 26 of the large-diameter gear section 25 on the medicine cassette 2 side is the tooth of the drive gear 52 on the support base 3 side as shown in FIG. It abuts against one tooth side surface 58 constituting the portion 55. Here, since the motor 54 is stopped when the medicine cassette 2 is mounted, the drive gear 52 on the support base 3 side hardly rotates even when it hits the tooth portion, and is almost fixed. On the other hand, the connecting gear 22 on the medicine cassette 2 side is in a freely rotatable state. That is, when the medicine cassette 2 is mounted, the torque required to rotate the drive gear 52 by applying an external force is much larger than the torque required to rotate the connecting gear 22 (large diameter gear portion 25). Therefore, when the medicine cassette 2 is further pushed in the direction of arrow I, the large-diameter gear portion 25 approaches the drive gear 52 as shown in FIGS. 19 and 20, and the tooth tip surface 27 of the large-diameter gear portion 25 moves to the drive gear 52. Slides along the reversing side 58. Along with this, the large-diameter gear portion 25 on the medicine cassette 2 side rotates in the reverse direction (the arrow R direction in FIG. 19). When the large-diameter gear portion 25 rotates in reverse, the small-diameter gear portion 23 and the rotor gear 15 rotate in conjunction with this, and the rotor 10 rotates in reverse.

  When the rotor 10 rotates in the reverse direction, as shown in FIG. 21, the lower pocket portion 11 a located on the reverse side (upstream side) of the rotor 10 with respect to the drug discharge port 18 and partially exposed to the drug discharge port 18 As shown in FIG. 22, it is away from the medicine discharge port 18 and completely hidden behind the peripheral wall of the recess 8a. Therefore, even if the medicine cassette 2 is mounted on the support base 3, the medicine T held in the lower pocket portion 11 a that is away from the medicine outlet 18 is not discharged from the medicine outlet 18.

  On the other hand, with the reverse rotation of the rotor 10, the lower pocket portion 11 a located at a position adjacent to the forward rotation side (downstream side) of the rotor 10 with respect to the drug discharge port 18 returns to the drug discharge port 18 side. 18 may be exposed. However, in the medicine feeder 1 of the present embodiment, the partition member 35 extends in the forward rotation direction and the reverse rotation direction from the medicine discharge port 18, so that the lower pocket portion 11 a that has just passed through the drug discharge port 18 is formed. The drug T is not retained. Further, the reverse rotation distance of the rotor 10 when the medicine cassette 2 is mounted is about ½ of the width PW of the lower pocket portion 11a (may be larger). Therefore, as shown in FIG. 22, even when the rotor 10 rotates reversely with the mounting of the medicine cassette 2 and the lower pocket portion 11 a hidden in the concave portion 8 a in the forward rotation direction appears at the medicine discharge port 18, the medicine T falls. Does not happen.

  In the above-described medicine feeder 1, when the medicine cassette 2 is mounted, the tooth tip surface 27 that forms the tip of the tooth portion 26 of the large diameter gear portion 25 on the medicine cassette 2 side is necessarily provided on the support base 3 side. It strikes against the reverse rotation side 58 of the tooth portion 55 of the drive gear 52. When the medicine cassette 2 is mounted, the motor 54 is in a stopped state, and the drive gear 52 is almost fixed. Therefore, when the medicine cassette 2 is inserted in the direction of the arrow I, the large-diameter gear portion 25 is reliably reversed, and the pocket portion 11 located adjacent to the upstream side of the discharge port 10 is hidden in the recess 8a. Therefore, the medicine cassette 1 does not cause erroneous ejection of the medicine T when the medicine cassette 2 is mounted.

  In the medicine feeder 1 of the above embodiment, both the large-diameter gear portion 25 provided on the medicine cassette 2 side and the drive gear 52 provided on the support base 3 side are so-called escape wheel-like gears. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a gear having a shape similar to an escape wheel may be adopted. Further, the escape wheel and the gear having a shape similar to that of the escape wheel are not necessarily employed on both the medicine cassette 2 side and the support base 3 side. For example, as shown in FIG. 23, the large-diameter gear portion 25 may have an involute tooth portion 70.

That is, FIG. 23 is a conceptual diagram showing the relationship between the rotor gear and the drive gear 52 when the medicine cassette is mounted on the support in the medicine feeder which is a modified example of the medicine feeder shown in FIG.
Even in this case, the toothed portion 70 is rotated reversely when the medicine cassette 2 is mounted by arranging the drive gear (gang type) 52 so that the forward rotation side 57 faces in the forward rotation direction and the reverse rotation side 58 faces in the reverse rotation direction. Sliding along the side surface 58, the large-diameter gear portion 25 and the rotor 10 rotate in reverse. Therefore, even if it is a case where it is a structure as shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 24, the medicine feeder 1 may be configured such that the large-diameter gear portion 25 on the medicine cassette 2 side has an escape wheel shape and the drive gear 52 has an involute tooth portion 71. That is, FIG. 24 is a conceptual diagram showing the relationship between the rotor gear and the drive gear 52 when the medicine cassette is mounted on the support base in the medicine feeder which is a modified example of the medicine feeder shown in FIG.

  Also in this case, the medicine cassette 2 is pushed in the mounting direction (arrow I direction) by setting the large-diameter gear portion 25 so that the normal rotation side surface 28 faces in the reverse rotation direction and the reverse rotation side surface 30 faces in the normal rotation direction. Thus, the reverse side surface 30 of the large diameter gear portion 25 is pushed by the tooth portion 71, the large diameter gear portion 25 rotates in the reverse direction, and the rotor 10 rotates in the reverse direction. As a result, the lower pocket portion 11a located on the upstream side in the rotation direction of the rotor 10 with respect to the medicine discharge port 18 before the medicine cassette 2 is mounted is pushed back further upstream. Further, since the partition member 35 is extended to the downstream side in the rotation direction of the rotor 10 with respect to the drug discharge port 18 before the drug cassette 2 is mounted, the lower pocket portion approaching the drug discharge port 18 from the downstream side. There is no drug T in 11a. Therefore, even if it is a case where it is a structure as shown in FIG.

  In the above embodiment, the large-diameter gear portion 25 and the drive gear 52 both have the normal rotation side surfaces 28 and 57 substantially perpendicular to the circumscribed surfaces P1 and P3 of the tooth bottom surfaces 31 and 56. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIGS. 25A and 25B, the forward rotation side surfaces 28 and 57 may be inclined in the direction approaching the reverse rotation side surfaces 30 and 58. 25 (a) and 25 (c) are front views showing modifications of the connecting gear and the drive gear 52, and FIGS. 25 (b) and (d) are enlarged views of portions A and B of (a) and (c), respectively. It is.

  Even in this case, the angle θ1 formed by the normal rotation side surfaces 28 and 57 with respect to the circumscribed surfaces P1 and P3 is smaller than the angle θ2 formed by the reverse rotation side surfaces 30 and 58 with respect to the circumscribed surfaces P2 and P4 (θ1 <θ2). . Further, the angle θ3 formed by the planes X1 and X2 passing through the axial positions C1 and C2 and the top portions T1 and T2 of the large-diameter gear portion 25 and the drive gear 52 and the normal rotation side surfaces 28 and 57 is reversed with respect to the planes X1 and X2. It is smaller than the angle θ4 formed by the side surfaces 30 and 58 (θ3 <θ4). Therefore, even when the configuration shown in FIGS. 25 (a) and 25 (b) is used, the other tooth portion is always attached to the reverse diameter side surfaces 30 and 58 of the large diameter gear portion 25 and the drive gear 52 when the medicine cassette 2 is mounted. Thus, the large-diameter gear portion 25 and the rotor 10 can be rotated in reverse.

  Further, for example, as shown in FIG. 25C, the large-diameter gear portion 25 and the drive gear 52 have an angle θ1 formed by the normal rotation side surfaces 28 and 57 with respect to the circumscribed surfaces P1 and P3 with respect to the circumscribed surfaces P2 and P4. Is smaller than the angle θ2 formed by the reverse rotation side surfaces 30 and 58 (θ1 <θ2), and the angle θ3 formed by the planes X1 and X2 and the normal rotation side surfaces 28 and 57 is the angle θ4 formed by the planes X1 and X2 and the reverse rotation side surfaces 30 and 58. It is also possible to adopt a configuration that is inclined in a direction away from the reverse rotation side surfaces 30 and 58 within a range that satisfies a condition of smaller than (θ3 <θ4). Even in such a configuration, when the medicine cassette 2 is mounted, the large-diameter gear portion 25 and the rotor 10 can be rotated in the reverse direction to prevent the medicine T from being unexpectedly discharged.

Next, a control device that controls the medicine feeder 1 of this embodiment and its function will be described. FIG. 26 is a perspective view of a medicine dispensing apparatus using a large number of medicine feeders 1 according to the present embodiment. FIG. 27 is a block diagram of the medicine feeder control device of the present embodiment. FIG. 28 is a flowchart showing the operation of the medicine feeder of this embodiment. FIG. 29 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the medicine feeder according to another embodiment.

The medicine feeder 1 of this embodiment is used for a medicine filling apparatus 100 as shown in FIG. 26, for example.
The drug filling device 100 of the present embodiment has a function of selecting a specific drug from a variety of drug groups and filling the vial.
The drug filling device 100 of the present embodiment is roughly composed of a storage shelf 102, a drug supply unit 103, a drug temporary stop unit 105, a drug transport unit 106, a drug filling unit 107, a vial storage unit 108, and a vial transfer unit 109. Has been.
The storage shelf 102 temporarily stores vials filled with medicines. The storage shelf 102 has input means (prescription instruction unit) such as a touch panel 110, and inputs information such as the contents of the prescription, the patient's name, age, and the like. A display device (not shown) is also provided.

The medicine supply unit 103 has a large number of common passage members (not shown) arranged side by side, and a large number of medicine feeders 1 of the present embodiment are attached to the common passage members.
The drug filling device 100 of the present embodiment operates with the input to the touch panel 110 as a starting point. In drug filling apparatus 100 of the present embodiment, the drug vial is separately conveyed to drug loading unit 107, the drug in the drug loading portion 107 is filled into vials.
That is, when the type of medicine is input through the touch panel, the medicine feeder 1 to which the medicine cassette 2 containing the medicine is attached functions.
That is, in the medicine feeder 1 of this embodiment, the motor 54 rotates to rotate the rotor 10, and medicines are discharged from the medicine discharge port 18 of the medicine cassette 2 one by one. The medicine discharged from the medicine discharge port 18 enters the opening 36 of the support base 2 and falls into a common passage (not shown).

Then, the number of medicines discharged by the lock number counter 37 shown in FIG. 4 is counted, and when the number reaches a predetermined number, the motor 54 is stopped and the rotor 10 is stopped to stop the medicine discharge.
The discharged medicine is carried to the medicine filling unit 107 side and filled in the vial.

Here, the medicine feeder 1 employed in the present embodiment counts the number of medicines discharged by the lock number counter 37 as a characteristic operation, and when the motor 54 stops when this number reaches a predetermined number, Prior to the complete stop of the motor 54, the motor 54 is rotated slightly backward, and the rotor 10 is rotated slightly in the reverse direction.
Hereinafter, this function will be described.

The operation of the medicine feeder 1 peculiar to the above-described embodiment is achieved by the control device shown in FIG.
Controller 80 shown in FIG. 27, a CPU (not shown), provided with a reverse rotation amount memory function and the timer-over capability. The reverse rotation amount storage function stores in advance an appropriate rotation amount when the motor 54 is reversely rotated.
An appropriate amount of rotation when the motor 54 rotates in reverse is equivalent to the extension amount FW (plus or minus 20%) of the partition member 35 with respect to the rotation direction side (downstream side) of the rotor 10 and equivalent to the width of the pocket portion 11a ( Plus or minus 20%).

  Further, the signal from the touch panel (input means) 110 of the medicine filling device 100 (FIG. 26) and the signal from the lock number counter 37 are input to the control device 80. Further, the controller 54 controls the motor 54 of the medicine feeder 1. A signal is sent from the control device 80 to a display device (not shown) provided in the storage shelf 102.

Hereinafter, control of the medicine feeder 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.
Control of the medicine feeder 1 according to the present embodiment starts with input to the touch panel 110 as described above, and the contents of the prescription are input to the touch panel 110. Then, the touch panel 110 transmits the contents of the prescription to the control device 80 of the medicine feeder 1.
In the flowchart shown in FIG. 28, prescription data is received from the touch panel 110 of the medicine filling device 100 in step 1.

  Then, the process proceeds to step 2, and a specific medicine feeder 1 is selected from a plurality of medicine feeders 1 based on the inputted prescription data.

In step 3, the number of medicines to be discharged is received. Here, the number to be filled in the vial is received, for example 60. At this stage, the number of drugs to be discharged is determined.
Subsequently, the process proceeds to step 4 to start a predetermined timer. This timer measures the expected maximum time required to discharge the medicine from the medicine feeder 1. That is, the maximum time of the time required to discharge a predetermined amount of the drug, if required any more time, counting the to time think medicine cassette 2 drugs Fi over da 1 a drug is not.

Further, the process proceeds to step 5 where the motor 54 of the medicine feeder 1 is started and the rotor 10 in the tablet cassette 2 is rotated. As a result, the drugs are discharged one by one from the drug discharge port 18 of the drug cassette 2, and the drugs discharged from the drug discharge port 18 enter the opening 36 of the support 2 and are counted while being counted by the lock counter 37. Don't fall into the common passage.
The signal of the lock number counter 37 is input to the control device 80. In step 6, it is determined whether or not the number received in step 3 has reached, for example, 60.

When it is confirmed in step 6 that the predetermined number has been reached, the routine proceeds to step 7 where the motor 54 of the medicine feeder 1 is temporarily stopped.
By stopping the motor 54, the rotor 10 in the tablet cassette 2 is stopped and the discharge of the medicine is stopped, but the state in which the rotor 10 is stopped is a matter of course.
For example, as shown in FIG. 21 described above, a part of the lower pocket portion 11a is looked into while the medicine T is held from the medicine outlet 18, and a part of the medicine T is exposed from the medicine outlet 18 so that the medicine T is unstable. There is a risk of being in a bad state.

In the control method of the present embodiment, the motor 54 of the medicine feeder 1 is temporarily stopped, and then the process proceeds to step 8 where the motor 54 is reversely rotated to rotate the rotor by the rotation amount stored in the reverse rotation amount storage function unit of the control device 80. Move ten.
That is, the rotation amount of the rotor 10 is calculated based on the signal transmitted from the rotary encoder (rotation amount detection means) 33, a signal for reversing the motor 10 is output, the rotation amount of the rotor 10 is monitored, and the partition member 35 is monitored. When the extension amount FW is reached, the routine proceeds to step 9 where the motor 54 is stopped.
In the present embodiment, the rotary encoder 33 is attached to the rotating shaft of the motor 54, and the rotation amount of the roller 54 is indirectly detected from the rotation amount of the motor 54. Of course, the rotation amount detecting means may be provided in other parts. Good. It is also possible to directly detect the rotation amount of the roller 10.

In the present embodiment, since the motor 54 of the medicine feeder 1 is temporarily stopped and then reversely rotated by the amount corresponding to the extension amount FW, for example, the rotor 10 and the medicine discharge port in the situation as shown in FIG. The positional relationship with 18 changes as shown in FIG.
That is, the lower pocket portion 11a located on the reverse rotation side (upstream side) of the rotor 10 and partially exposed to the medicine discharge port 18 is away from the drug discharge port 18 as shown in FIG. 22, and is behind the peripheral wall of the recess 8a. Completely hidden. Therefore, the medicine T is stably held, and the medicine T does not fall off even when the medicine feeder 1 vibrates. Moreover, even if the tablet cassette 2 of the medicine feeder 1 is removed in this state, the medicine T is not discharged.

  In addition, the pocket portion 11 located on the downstream side of the medicine discharge port 18 matches the position of the medicine discharge port 18 by reversing the rotor 10, but the lower pocket portion 11 a of the pocket portion 11 has a partition member 35. The medicine T from the upper pocket portion 11b is in an unfallen state because it fits under the umbrella of the partition member 35. Therefore, the lower pocket portion 11a returned by the reverse rotation of the rotor 10 is empty, and the medicine T does not spill from the portion.

When step 8 ends, step 10 is reached to check whether there is another discharge request. If there is another discharge request, the process returns to step 3 to repeat the previous process.
On the other hand, if the predetermined number has not yet been reached in the determination of the number of discharges in step 6 described above, the process proceeds to step 11 to check the timer that started counting in step 4 described above. If the timer that started timing in step 4 has not yet expired, the process returns to step 6 and then repeats steps 6 and 11 to wait for either a predetermined number to be discharged or the timer to expire.

When the drug ejection speed from the tablet feeder 1 timer without reaching the predetermined number has expired, the medicine cassette 2 drugs Fi over da 1 should be considered drug is not, because it should be discontinued work The process proceeds to step 12, and a predetermined flag is set on the software.

  Then, the process proceeds to step 13, and a signal is sent from the control device 80 to a display device (not shown) provided in the storage shelf 102, and a display indicating that the product is out of stock is made.

  Then, the routine proceeds to step 14 where the motor 54 is temporarily stopped, and further, the routine proceeds to step 15 where the motor 54 is reversely rotated to move the rotor 10 by the rotation amount stored in the reverse rotation amount storage function of the control device 80. The amount of rotation and its effect at this time are the same as in step 8 described above, and the unstable drug T is firmly held, and the possibility of dropping off is eliminated.

Thereafter, the process proceeds to step 16 and the motor 54 is stopped.
Then, the process proceeds to step 17 to wait for filling of the medicine. When the medicine cassette 2 is filled with medicine, the process proceeds to step 12, the software flag 17 is reset, and the display indicating that the product is out of stock disappears in step 19. Then, returning to step 6, if a predetermined number is discharged, the process proceeds to step 7 and the above-described process is repeated.

  The control method described above is to be referred to as an “individual processing method”, and the motor 54 is reversely rotated every time a predetermined amount of medicine is discharged from the medicine cassette 2 to stabilize the medicine holding. In addition to the feature of reliable operation, this method also has an effect of preventing clogging of medicines because the rotor 10 is rotated reversely every time a predetermined number is discharged.

On the other hand, a method to be referred to as an “overall processing method” in which the motor 54 is reversely rotated together for each prescription is also recommended.
That is, the embodiment shown above assumes a case where a drug is filled in a vial, and a considerable number of drugs are discharged at one time. However, depending on the device, a small number of drugs such as one or two may be discharged. In some cases, it may be discharged many times.
For example, the prescription is to take 3 tablets every 3 hours, wrapping 3 tablets in a single package and providing them for 3 days. In the “individual processing method”, the motor 54 rotates in reverse every time three medicines are discharged, and this is repeated 24 times. Therefore, work efficiency is poor and it takes too much time to finish the work.

  Therefore, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 29, when the motor 54 is temporarily stopped after the medicine discharge is completed in step 6, the motor is not reversed, and the process proceeds to step 8 to confirm the next discharge data. For example, if the prescription is to take 3 tablets every 3 hours as described above, a large number of 3 discharge requests remain, and the steps 3 to 8 are repeated. When all the discharges are completed, the routine proceeds to step 9 where the motor 54 is rotated in the reverse direction, and the routine proceeds to step 10 where the motor 54 is finally stopped.

In the above-described embodiment, the rotation amount when the motor 54 is rotated in reverse is exemplified as the extension amount FW corresponding to the rotation direction side (downstream side) of the rotor 10 of the partition member 35. It can be changed as appropriate according to the situation.
The reverse rotation amount of the rotor 10 should be designed based on the extension amount FW of the partition member 35 with respect to the rotation direction side (downstream side) of the rotor 10. The reverse rotation amount is equal to or less than the extension amount FW of the partition member 35. It is desirable that there is, more desirably, 80% or less of the extension amount FW.

On the other hand, a preferable range of the extension amount FW of the partition member 35 serving as a reference with respect to the rotation direction side (downstream side) of the rotor 10 is 50% or more of the width PW of the pocket portion 11. A more preferable range of the extension amount FW is 100% to 400% of the width PW of the pocket portion 11 and ideally 100% to 300% of the width PW of the pocket portion 11.
FIG. 30 is a perspective view showing the relationship between the partition member of the medicine feeder, the medicine discharge port, and the rotor 10 when the extension amount FW of the partition member 35 with respect to the rotational direction side of the rotor 10 is three times the width PW of the pocket portion 11. FIG.

The above description relates to the relationship between the reverse rotation amount of the rotor 10 and the partition member 35, but the absolute amount of the reverse rotation amount of the rotor 10 is preferably equal to or greater than the pocket width PW.
A certain amount of effect can be expected even if the amount of rotation when the motor 54 is rotated in the reverse direction is small, but the motor 54 is rotated only by the amount by which the rotor 10 is reliably rotated in consideration of gear backlash and the like. Should.
A preferable upper limit of the absolute amount of the reverse rotation amount of the rotor 10 is about four times the pocket width PW. More preferably, it is not more than 3 times the pocket width PW.
Therefore, a preferable range of the absolute amount of the reverse rotation amount of the rotor 10 is 100% to 300% of the pocket width PW. In other words, the preferable range of the reverse rotation amount of the rotor 10 is not less than the width PW of the pocket portion 11 of the rotor 10 and not more than the total width of the adjacent pocket portions 11 and the ribs 12 sandwiching the pocket portion 11.

  In short, it is assumed that the medicine T held in the pocket portion 11 on the downstream side of the medicine discharge port 18 is exposed to about 50% from the medicine discharge port 18 and is held unstable as shown in FIG. The medicine T is stably held by rotating the rotor 10 from the reverse side, and the medicine T held in the pocket portion 11 returning from the upstream side and matching (including partially matching) with the medicine discharge port 18 is not discharged. The reverse rotation amount of the range is found, and the rotor 10 is rotated by this reverse rotation amount.

  The amount of reverse rotation needs to be within a range in which the medicine T held in the pocket portion 11 returned from at least the upstream side and matched (including partially matched) with the medicine discharge port 18 is not discharged.

  In the above-described embodiment, the motor 54 is rotated for a certain period of time. When a predetermined amount of medicine is not discharged during this period, it is determined that there is no medicine. However, the rotary encoder 33 shown in FIG. A method of detecting the number of revolutions and determining that there is no medicine in the case where a predetermined amount of medicine is not discharged even though the number of rotations of the motor reaches a certain amount is also recommended.

It is a perspective view of the medicine feeder of the embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view which shows the gear train of the chemical | medical agent feeder shown in FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the gear train in the middle of mounting | wearing the chemical | medical agent cassette to the support stand of the chemical | medical agent feeder shown in FIG. It is a disassembled perspective view of the chemical | medical agent feeder of embodiment of this invention, and shows a support stand and a chemical | medical agent cassette. It is AA sectional drawing of the chemical | medical agent cassette shown in FIG. It is a perspective view which shows schematic structure at the time of seeing the chemical | medical agent cassette shown in FIG. 4 from the chemical | medical agent discharge port side. It is a perspective view of the rotor with which the chemical | medical agent cassette shown in FIG. 4 is provided. It is a front view of the rotor with which the chemical | medical agent cassette shown in FIG. 4 is provided. It is a perspective view which shows the relationship between the partition member of the chemical | medical agent feeder shown in FIG. 4, a chemical | medical agent discharge port, and a rotor. (A) is a perspective view which shows the connection gear employ | adopted as the chemical | medical agent cassette shown in FIG. 4, (b) is AA sectional drawing of (a), (c) is B direction arrow of (a). FIG. 4D is an enlarged view of a portion C in FIG. It is a B direction arrow directional view of the chemical | medical agent cassette shown in FIG. It is AA sectional drawing of FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the state which observed the chemical | medical agent cassette from the bottom face side. It is a bottom view of a medicine cassette. (A) is a perspective view which shows the drive gear employ | adopted as the support stand, (b) is AA sectional drawing of (a), (c) is a B direction arrow directional view of (b), ( d) is an enlarged view of part C of (c). It is a skeleton figure which shows the gear train of the chemical | medical agent feeder shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing the relationship between the rotor gear and the drive gear in the course of mounting the medicine cassette on the support base of the medicine feeder as shown in FIG. 3. FIG. 18 is a conceptual diagram illustrating the relationship between the rotor gear and the drive gear in the middle of the state in which the support stage of the medicine feeder and the medicine cassette are completely fitted as shown in FIG. FIG. 19 is a conceptual diagram showing the relationship between the rotor gear and the drive gear in the middle of the state in which the support stage of the medicine feeder and the medicine cassette are completely fitted as shown in FIG. FIG. 20 is a conceptual diagram showing the relationship between the rotor gear and the drive gear in a state where the medicine cassette is completely mounted on the support base of the medicine feeder as shown in FIG. FIG. 3A shows the operating state of the medicine feeder 1 in the course of mounting the medicine cassette 2 on the support 3 of the medicine feeder 1 as shown in FIG. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the relationship between the exit 18 and the chemical | medical agent T, (b) is an expansion perspective view of the chemical | medical agent discharge port 18 vicinity in the state of (a). (A) is an operation of the medicine feeder 1 in a state where the medicine cassette 2 is completely mounted on the support 3 of the medicine feeder 1 as shown in FIG. 1 (or when the rotor is rotated backward after the medicine is discharged). It is a conceptual diagram which shows the relationship between the rotor 10, the medicine discharge port 18, and the medicine T, and (b) is an enlarged perspective view of the vicinity of the medicine discharge port 18 in the state (a). It is a conceptual diagram which shows the relationship between the rotor gear and drive gear at the time of mounting | wearing a chemical | medical agent cassette with respect to a support stand in the chemical | medical agent feeder which is a modification of the chemical | medical agent feeder shown in FIG. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the relationship between the rotor gear and drive gear at the time of mounting | wearing a chemical | medical agent cassette with respect to a support stand in the chemical | medical agent feeder which is a modification of the chemical | medical agent feeder shown in FIG. (A), (c) is a front view which shows the modification of a connection gear and a drive gear, (b), (d) is the A, B part enlarged view of (a), (c), respectively. It is a perspective view of the medicine delivery device which used many medicine feeders of the embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram of the control apparatus of the chemical | medical agent feeder of embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the chemical | medical agent feeder of embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the chemical | medical agent feeder of other embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the relationship between the partition member of a chemical | medical agent feeder, a chemical | medical agent discharge port, and a rotor in case the extension amount with respect to the rotation direction side of the rotor of a partition member is 3 times the width | variety of a pocket part.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Drug feeder 2 Drug cassette 3 Support stand (support member)
10 rotor 11 pocket portion 11a lower pocket portion (discharge side pocket portion)
11b Upper pocket (accommodation side pocket)
18 Discharge port 32 Medicine storage space 35 Partition member 52 Drive gear (support side connection means)
54 Motor (drive means)

Claims (6)

A drug feeder having a container for storing a large number of solid drugs, a drug cassette in which a rotor is rotatably disposed inside the container, and a support member to which the drug cassette is mounted, The rotor has a pocket portion that holds a predetermined amount of medicine stored in the storage portion. The storage portion communicates with the pocket portion as the rotor rotates and is held in the pocket portion. There is a drug outlet that discharges
The medicine cassette is provided with cassette side connection means for transmitting rotational force to the rotor,
The support member is provided with a support side connection means that engages with the cassette side connection means, and a drive means that rotates the support side connection means in a predetermined positive direction and rotates the cassette side connection means and the rotor in the forward direction. And
At least one of the cassette side connection means and the support side connection means has a shape similar to an escape wheel or escape wheel,
By moving the medicine cassette in the mounting direction with respect to the support member, the cassette side connection means comes into contact with the support side connection means, and after the rotor is preferentially rotated in the reverse direction, the cassette side connection means and the support side connection means A medicine feeder characterized in that it can be engaged with the medicine feeder. A drug feeder having a container for storing a large number of solid drugs, a drug cassette in which a rotor is rotatably disposed inside the container, and a support member to which the drug cassette is mounted, The rotor has a pocket portion that holds a predetermined amount of medicine stored in the storage portion. The storage portion communicates with the pocket portion as the rotor rotates and is held in the pocket portion. There is a drug outlet that discharges
The medicine cassette is provided with cassette side connection means for transmitting rotational force to the rotor, and the cassette side connection means has a cassette side tooth portion,
The support member is provided with support side connection means, and the support side connection means is provided with support side teeth that engage with the cassette side teeth.
The cassette side tooth portion and the support side tooth portion each have a tooth bottom surface and a tooth tip surface protruding from the tooth bottom surface, and there are side surfaces on both sides of the tooth tip surface.
One side is a positive side that contributes to force transmission by driving the support side tooth part and driving the cassette side tooth part to contact the other tooth part when rotating the rotor in a predetermined positive rotation direction. The other side is the reverse side present on the opposite side of the normal side,
Either one or both of the cassette side tooth part and the support side tooth part has an angle formed with the circumscribed surface of the tooth bottom surface at the position where the tooth bottom surface and the reverse rotation side surface intersect, and the normal rotation side surface and the tooth bottom surface intersect. An asymmetrical tooth portion that is larger than the angle formed by the circumscribed surface of the tooth bottom surface and the positive rotation surface at the position where
The tooth part on the other side slides along the reverse side surface of the asymmetrical tooth part constituting one of the cassette side tooth part or the support side tooth part by moving the medicine cassette in the mounting direction with respect to the support member. A drug feeder characterized by that. A drug feeder having a container for storing a large number of solid drugs, a drug cassette in which a rotor is rotatably disposed inside the container, and a support member to which the drug cassette is mounted, The rotor has a pocket portion that holds a predetermined amount of medicine stored in the storage portion. The storage portion communicates with the pocket portion as the rotor rotates and is held in the pocket portion. There is a drug outlet that discharges
The medicine cassette is provided with cassette side connection means for transmitting rotational force to the rotor, and the cassette side connection means has a cassette side tooth portion,
The support member is provided with support side connection means, and the support side connection means is provided with support side teeth that engage with the cassette side teeth.
The cassette side tooth portion and the support side tooth portion each have a tooth bottom surface and a tooth tip surface protruding from the tooth bottom surface, and there are side surfaces on both sides of the tooth tip surface.
One side is a positive side that contributes to force transmission by driving the support side tooth part and driving the cassette side tooth part to contact the other tooth part when rotating the rotor in a predetermined positive rotation direction. The other side is the reverse side present on the opposite side of the normal side,
Either one or both of the cassette side tooth portion and the support side tooth portion has a forward rotation side surface and a reverse rotation side surface having a ridge line passing through the central axis of the cassette side connection means or the support side connection means and the center portion of the tooth tip surface. An asymmetrical tooth that is asymmetric with respect to the boundary plane that includes the normal rotation side surface and the boundary plane is smaller than the angle between the reverse rotation side surface and the boundary plane;
The tooth part on the other side slides along the reverse side surface of the asymmetrical tooth part constituting one of the cassette side tooth part or the support side tooth part by moving the medicine cassette in the mounting direction with respect to the support member. A drug feeder characterized by that.   4. The medicine feeder according to claim 2, wherein at least the rotor-side connecting means is constituted by an escape wheel among the rotor-side connecting means and the support-side connecting means.   A partition member is provided that extends in the circumferential direction of the rotor and partitions the pocket portion into a discharge side pocket portion that communicates with the medicine discharge port as the rotor rotates and a storage side pocket portion that communicates with the storage portion side, The medicine feeder according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the partition member extends from the medicine discharge port to the downstream side in the forward rotation direction of the rotor.   The drug feeder according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the torque required for the operation of the support side connection means is larger than the torque required for the operation of the rotor side connection means.

Images