JP6172496B2 - Drug feeder - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a medicine feeder that dispenses a solid medicine such as a tablet or capsule, and particularly relates to a medicine feeder that has a function of reliably dispensing up to the last one without any medicine residue. It is.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, devices such as a drug dispensing device and a drug filling device have been provided with a drug feeder that dispenses stored tablets one by one to a predetermined position. The medicine feeder employs a rotor having a single pocket region as disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2, and upper and lower two-stage pockets as disclosed in Patent Documents 3, 4, 5, and 6. Some employ a rotor having a region. In any case, as disclosed in the following patent document, the drug feeder is roughly composed of a drug cassette that accommodates a large number of tablets, a support base on which the drug cassette is mounted, and a partition member.
The drug cassette has a storage part provided with a drug storage space for storing a large number of tablets, and a rotor is stored inside the storage part. A medicine housing groove is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the rotor, and a plurality of pocket portions are formed in a space between the inner wall of the housing portion. The plurality of pocket portions have a function of causing the tablets stored in the storage portions to flow in and hold. The medicine storage groove is a groove whose top and bottom are open. The pocket portion is a space in which the opening portion of the drug containing groove is sealed by the inner wall of the containing portion, and the top and bottom are open.
A rotor gear is mounted on the rotation shaft of the rotor. Further, a medicine discharge port is formed in the housing portion at a position where it can communicate with a medicine housing groove provided on the outer peripheral surface of the rotor.
The partition member has a plate shape or a comb shape, and is provided above the medicine discharge port.

Here, in the medicine feeder provided with the rotor having the one-step pocket area as disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2, the partition member 100 is located further above the pocket area 102 provided with the medicine accommodating groove 101 as shown in FIG. Is provided.
That is, as shown in FIG. 20, a row of drug storage grooves 101 is arranged above the drug discharge port 103, and a partition member 100 is further provided on the top.

On the other hand, a motor such as a geared motor is accommodated in the support base, and a drive gear is mounted on the rotation shaft of the motor.
When the motor accommodated in the support base is driven, a rotational force is transmitted from the drive gear to the rotor gear, and the rotor 105 rotates in the direction of the arrow as shown in FIGS. The medicine storage groove 101 provided on the outer peripheral surface rotates. As the rotor 105 rotates, the tablet in the container is stirred and enters the pocket 108 through the opening 106 on the upper side of the pocket 108.

Then, the rotor 105 further rotates and the pocket portion 108 sequentially reaches the medicine discharge port 103 as shown in FIG. 20B, and the tablets held in the pocket portion 108 are sequentially discharged from the drug discharge port 103.
The pocket portion 108 is a space that opens upward and downward as described above. However, since the partition member 100 is provided above the medicine discharge port 103 and further above the medicine containing groove 101, the pocket portion 108 is provided. When the medicine reaches the medicine discharge port 103, the opening 106 on the upper side of the pocket portion 108 is sealed by the partition member 100.
When the pocket portion 108 reaches the medicine discharge port 103, the tablets held in the pocket portion 108 are sequentially discharged from the medicine discharge port 103, and the pocket portion 108 is emptied. Since the upper opening 106 is sealed by the partition member 100, no new tablet will fall into the pocket portion 108 in the vicinity of the medicine discharge port 103.
Therefore, only a specific number of tablets initially held in the pocket portion 108 are discharged from the medicine discharge port 103. In the example shown in FIG. 20, only one tablet A held in the pocket portion 108 is discharged from the medicine discharge port 103, and the tablet C just above the tablet A is placed on the partition member 100. Remain.

  Patent Documents 3, 4, 5, and 6 disclose drug feeders that employ a rotor having two upper and lower pocket regions. In the case of adopting an upper and lower two-stage rotor, a partition member is disposed between the lower pocket area and the upper pocket area. The partition member prevents a predetermined number or more of tablets from entering the lower pocket.

Patent Documents 3 and 4 disclose examples in which the opening of the upper pocket portion is provided with an inclination and has an uneven shape.
The unevenness of the rotor disclosed in Patent Documents 3 and 4 is on the partition member and does not contact the partition member.
Patent Document 5 discloses a configuration in which a block portion is provided on a side surface of a rotor and a protrusion is provided on an upper surface of the block portion.
The protrusion disclosed in Patent Document 5 is on the partition member and does not contact the partition member.

Japanese Patent No. 4805585 Japanese Patent No. 4914615 Japanese Patent No. 34472018 Japanese Patent No. 4312859 US Pat. No. 7,258,248 B2 Japanese Patent No. 4621020

  In a medicine feeder provided with a one-stage rotor as disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2, when the residual amount of the tablet inside decreases, the tablet does not fall into the pocket part but remains in the storage part There is. That is, in a medicine feeder that employs a one-stage rotor as disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2, it may not be possible to completely discharge tablets.

That is, in the medicine feeder that employs a one-stage rotor, as shown in FIG. 20, a row of medicine containing grooves 101 is arranged above the medicine discharge port 103, and a partition member 100 is further provided thereon. Therefore, the number of tablets exceeding a predetermined number is prevented from falling into the pocket portion 108. More specifically, the tablet to be dropped is received by the partition member 100.
Here, when there are a large number of tablets in the container, as shown in FIGS. 20C and 20D, the large amount of tablets swirls greatly as the rotor 105 rotates, so Thus, the tablet C on the partition member 100 also moves in the rotation direction of the rotor 105. Finally, the tablet B is pushed out of the partition member 100 as shown in FIG.
Therefore, when a large amount of tablets remain in the housing portion, the tablets do not stop on the partition member 100.

  However, as shown in FIG. 21 (a), when the residual amount of the tablet in the storage portion is reduced, the entire tablet is not swung even if the rotor 105 is rotated as shown in FIGS. 21 (a), (b), and (c). Absent. Therefore, the tablet C on the partition member 100 is in an isolated state and does not leave the place. Therefore, in the medicine feeder provided with the one-stage rotor 105, when the residual amount of the tablet inside is reduced, the tablet may not fall into the pocket part 108, and some tablets may remain in the storage part.

  On the other hand, in the medicine feeder that employs the rotor having the pocket region of the upper and lower two-stage structure disclosed in Patent Documents 3, 4, 5, and 6, as shown in FIG. 22, the upper pocket region 110 and the lower pocket Since the partition member 100 is provided between the region 111 and the partition member 100, there is no space where the tablet remains, and there is no concern that the tablet may stop on the partition member 100.

However, a medicine feeder having a two-stage upper and lower rotor may cause a problem when it is dispensed for an elliptical tablet such as an “elliptical type” or a “football type” or a capsule.
In other words, tablets have a circular shape when viewed from the front, referred to as “flat” or “meteorite”, and are elliptical when viewed from the front, such as “elliptical” or “football”. And exist.

And the medicine feeder provided with the rotor of 2 steps | paragraphs of upper and lower structures may produce a malfunction, when paying out for an elliptical tablet.
That is, when the elliptical tablets A and B are individually accommodated in the upper and lower pockets 120 and 121 as shown in FIG. 23A, the tablets A can be discharged without any problem (FIG. 23). 24).
However, as shown in FIG. 23 (b), when the elliptical tablets A and B enter the pockets 120 and 121 in the two upper and lower stages, the tablets A and B are fitted to each other. A and B do not move. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 25, the rotor 105 is rotated so that the parts of the tablets A and B reach the position of the partition member 100. Even if the tablets A and B collide with the partition member 100, the tablets A and B do not escape. , B may be destroyed or the partition member 100 may be damaged.
Further, since the tablets A and B fit into the pockets 120 and 121 and do not move, when the rotor 105 is rotated, the tablets A and B are pressed between the rotor 105 and the inner wall of the housing portion, and an abnormal noise is generated. May occur. If you bite more firmly. In some cases, the rotation of the rotor 105 is stopped.

  In addition, in a medicine feeder that employs a rotor having a pocket region with a two-step upper and lower structure disclosed in Patent Documents 3, 4, 5, and 6, when dispensing a tablet with a large outer shape or a tablet with a poor surface slip In some cases, the tablet does not fall into the pocket portion, and several tablets remain in the storage portion. That is, even if the tablet is a circular tablet with a frontal view as called “flat type” or “meteorite type”, several tablets are needed when paying out large tablets or tablets with poor slipping. It may remain in the housing.

  As will be described below, in the medicine feeder employing the rotor 130 having the pocket region 131 having the upper and lower two-stage structure, the overall height of the pocket region 131 must be increased as shown in FIG. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 26, the height difference between the inclined surface 132 of the rotor 130 and the block 133 constituting the pocket portion 135 is small. When the tablet A is large or the tablet A is not slippery, the tablet A stops at a portion between the upper surface 136 of the block 133 and the end portion of the inclined surface 132, and the tablet does not fall into the pocket portion 131. It may remain in the housing.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 27, a pin 131 is provided on the side surface of the rotor 130, and a method of exposing the upper surface of the partition member 100 as the rotor 130 rotates is examined. However, as shown in FIG. Further, there is a concern that the pin 131 may collide with the tablet and damage the tablet.

  Therefore, the present invention focuses on the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and develops a drug feeder that can completely discharge all tablets and has few defects even when used for an elliptical tablet. It is to be an issue.

  The invention described in claim 1 for solving the above-described problem includes a container housing space for storing a large number of solid drugs, a container provided with a drug discharge port for discharging drugs, and a drug container groove on a side surface. And a partition member, the rotor is rotatably disposed inside the housing portion, and a pocket portion is configured by the inside of the housing portion and the medicine housing groove of the rotor, The upper part of the pocket part is open to the medicine storage space side so that the medicine in the medicine storage space can fall, and the partition member is in the vicinity of the opening of the pocket part above the medicine discharge port and is a constant area in plan view The medicine that exceeds the predetermined number is prevented from falling into the pocket portion, the rotor is rotated in a state where the medicine in the storage portion is held by the pocket portion, and the pocket portion is sequentially connected to the medicine discharge port as the rotor rotates. Communication In the medicine feeder that performs the discharging operation of sequentially discharging the medicine held in the pocket portion from the medicine discharge port, a part of the rotor hits a part of the partition member as the rotor rotates, and the partition member is moved to move the partition. It is a medicine feeder characterized by being able to move medicine on a member.

In the present invention and the invention shown below, “solid drug” refers to all solid drugs such as tablets and capsules.
In the medicine feeder of the present invention, as in the prior art, the rotor is rotated to sequentially discharge the medicine held in the pocket portion from the medicine discharge port. For example, it discharges at intervals of one by one. In the medicine feeder of the present invention, a partition member is provided, and the partition member suppresses discharge of a predetermined number or more of medicines from the pocket portion. That is, since the partition member is in the vicinity of the opening of the pocket portion, no new medicine falls on the lower side of the partition member, and only the medicine on the lower side of the partition member is discharged from the medicine discharge port.
Since the partition member occupies a certain area in a plane, the medicine is placed. However, in the medicine feeder of the present invention, a part of the rotor hits a part of the partition member as the rotor rotates, and the medicine on the partition member can be moved by moving the partition member. For this reason, even if the remaining amount of the medicine in the storage portion is reduced, the medicine does not stay on the partition member, and one medicine can be discharged without remaining.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a medicine storage space for storing a large number of solid medicines, a storage part provided with a medicine discharge port for discharging medicines, a rotor provided with a medicine storage groove on a side surface, and a partition And the rotor is rotatably disposed inside the housing portion, and a pocket portion is formed by the inside of the housing portion and the medicine housing groove of the rotor, and the upper portion of the pocket portion is a medicine housing space. The medicine in the medicine storage space can be dropped, and the partitioning member is in the vicinity of the opening of the pocket portion above the medicine discharge port and occupies a certain area in a plane, and more than a predetermined number of medicines are present. The rotor is prevented from falling into the pocket part and the medicine in the container is held in the pocket part, and the pocket part is sequentially communicated with the medicine discharge port as the rotor rotates, and is held in the pocket part. Medicine In a medicine feeder that performs a discharging operation of sequentially discharging the medicine from the medicine outlet, a member that is a part of the medicine feeder and rotates together with the rotor or a part of the medicine feeder that is rotatable separately from the rotor rotates. The medicine feeder is characterized in that it hits a part of the partition member and can move the medicine on the partition member by moving the partition member.

  The medicine feeder of the present invention has a member that rotates together with the rotor or a member that can rotate separately from the rotor. These rotate to hit a part of the partition member, and can move the partition member by moving the partition member. For this reason, even if the remaining amount of the medicine in the storage portion is reduced, the medicine does not stay on the partition member, and one medicine can be discharged without remaining.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the medicine feeder according to any one of the first to fifth aspects , the partition member is installed so as to extend substantially in the horizontal direction, and the medicine can be placed on the upper surface thereof. is there.

  In the medicine feeder according to the present invention, the partition member is installed so as to extend substantially in the horizontal direction, so that excessive medicine can be prevented from entering the pocket portion. On the other hand, it is easy for the medicine to ride on the partition member, and the present invention is effective.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, a block portion is provided at an interval in a side surface portion of the rotor, the drug containing groove is formed by a gap between the block portions, and a part or all of the upper surface of the block portion is a rotor. The medicine feeder according to claim 1, wherein the medicine feeder hits the lower surface of the partition member with rotation of the medicine.

  In the medicine feeder of the present invention, a part or all of the upper surface of the block portion hits the lower surface of the partition member as the rotor rotates. Here, the block portion is a portion constituting the pocket portion, and is provided with a gap in the side surface portion of the rotor. Therefore, the lower surface of the partition member is intermittently pressed. Further, the pressing portion moves according to the rotation of the rotor. Therefore, the medicine placed on the partition member moves.

The invention according to claim 4, the projection on the rotor is provided, a tablet feeder of claim 1 in which the projection is characterized by striking the lower surface of the partition member with the rotation of the rotor.

  In the medicine feeder of the present invention, the lower surface of the partition member is intermittently pressed. Further, the pressing portion moves according to the rotation of the rotor. Therefore, the medicine placed on the partition member moves.

In the fifth aspect of the present invention, a block portion is provided on the side surface portion of the rotor with a space therebetween, and a block portion provided with a projection that contacts the lower surface of the partition member and a block portion provided with no projection are mixed. The drug feeder according to claim 1 .

  According to the present invention, the number of times the partition member is pressed can be reduced. Therefore, the lifetime of the partition member is long.

  The invention according to claim 7 is the medicine feeder according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the protrusion has an inclined surface before and after the rotation direction of the protrusion.

In the present invention, since the inclined surface is provided in front of the rotation direction of the protrusion, when the rotor rotates in the forward direction, the force pressing the partition member and the displacement applied to the partition member can be gradually increased. It is hard to give an impact to the partition member. Therefore, the lifetime of the partition member is long.
In addition, the medicine feeder sometimes removes the medicine sandwiched by rotating the rotor reversely when the medicine is clogged. In the present invention, since the inclined surface is provided also in the rear in the rotation direction, the protrusion is not caught when the rotor is reversed.

  The invention according to claim 8 is the medicine feeder according to claim 7, wherein the inclination toward the leading side in the rotation direction is gentler than the inclination toward the tail side in the rotation direction.

  The inclination toward the leading side in the rotation direction becomes a surface toward the partition member when using the medicine feeder, and there are many opportunities to rub against the partition member with a strong force. On the other hand, the inclination toward the rear side in the rotation direction rubs against the partition member with a strong force when the rotor rotates in the reverse direction. The case where the rotor rotates in the reverse direction is limited to the case where the medicine is clogged as described above, and the frequency is low. Therefore, in the present invention, the slope toward the top side, which is frequently rubbed with a strong force, is defined as a gentle slope.

  The invention according to claim 9 is the medicine feeder according to any one of claims 5 to 8, wherein the protruding end portion of the protrusion has a round cross-sectional shape.

  In the medicine feeder according to the present invention, the protruding end portion of the protrusion has a round cross-sectional shape, so that it is difficult to damage the partition member.

In the invention according to claim 10, the partition member allows partial displacement, and either one of the rotor or a member that rotates separately from the rotor hits the partition member, and the contacted portion is larger than the other. The medicine feeder according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the medicine feeder is displaced, and the displaced portion moves and pushes out medicine as the rotor rotates.

  According to the present invention, the upper surface of the partition member undulates when a part of the rotor hits the partition member. And the wave advances in the rotation direction of the rotor according to the rotation of the rotor. Therefore, the medicine on the partition member moves by being pushed by the wave, and finally comes off the partition member.

  According to the medicine feeder of the present invention, the medicine in the container can be discharged without delay. In addition, the discharging operation can be performed on an elliptical medicine.

It is a perspective view of the medicine feeder of the embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view which shows the state which isolate | separated the medicine feeder shown in FIG. 1 into the medicine cassette and the support stand. It is the perspective view which looked at the chemical | medical agent cassette from the chemical | medical agent discharge port side. It is a perspective view which shows schematic structure at the time of seeing a chemical | medical agent cassette from the chemical | medical agent discharge port side. It is sectional drawing of a chemical | medical agent cassette. It is a perspective view which shows the relationship between the partition member of a chemical | medical agent cassette, a chemical | medical agent discharge port, and a rotor. It is a perspective view of the rotor with which the chemical | medical agent cassette is provided. It is an enlarged front view of a protruding block part. It is a perspective view of the partition member with which the chemical | medical agent cassette is provided. It is explanatory drawing which shows the effect | action of the chemical | medical agent feeder of FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the operation | movement when the residual amount of a tablet decreases in the chemical | medical agent feeder of FIG. It is explanatory drawing which expanded a part of FIG. It is a perspective view which shows other embodiment of a partition member. It is a perspective view which shows other embodiment of a partition member. It is a top view which shows other embodiment of a partition member. It is a perspective view which shows other embodiment of a partition member. It is a top view which shows other embodiment of a partition member. It is an enlarged view of the AA cross section of FIG. It is sectional drawing of the chemical | medical agent feeder of other embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the effect | action of the chemical | medical agent feeder of a prior art. It is explanatory drawing which shows operation | movement when the residual amount of a tablet decreases in the chemical | medical agent feeder of a prior art. It is explanatory drawing of the chemical | medical agent feeder which is a chemical | medical agent feeder of a prior art, and employ | adopts the rotor provided with the pocket area | region of the upper and lower two steps. It is explanatory drawing which shows the effect | action of the medicine feeder of a prior art, (a) shows the case where a tablet enters a pocket part with a normal attitude | position, (b) shows the case where a tablet enters a pocket part with an abnormal attitude | position. Show. It is explanatory drawing which shows the effect | action of the chemical | medical agent feeder of a prior art, and shows the relationship between a tablet and a partition member when a tablet enters a pocket part with a normal attitude | position. It is explanatory drawing which shows the effect | action of the chemical | medical agent feeder of a prior art, and shows the relationship between a tablet and a partition member at the time of a tablet entering a pocket part with an abnormal attitude | position. It is explanatory drawing which shows the effect | action of the chemical | medical agent feeder of a prior art, (a) shows the case where a tablet stops on a block part, (b) shows the case where a rotor rotates in the state of (a). It is explanatory drawing which shows the effect | action of the chemical | medical agent feeder which the present inventors examined. It is explanatory drawing explaining the problem of the chemical | medical agent feeder shown in FIG.

Embodiments of the present invention will be further described below. In the following description, the vertical positional relationship is based on the posture shown in FIG. 1 unless otherwise specified.
1 and 3, reference numeral 1 denotes a medicine feeder according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the medicine feeder 1 is roughly composed of a medicine cassette 2 and a support base 3 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 50 to the rotor 10 is completed in a state where both are coupled, and the rotor 10 is rotated by receiving power from the motor 50.
Hereinafter, each member will be described.

The medicine cassette 2 is composed of a housing part 5, a rotor 10, and a partition member 35. The accommodating part 5 is shape | molded by the synthetic resin.
The storage unit 5 functions as a container for storing a large number of tablets, and has a large medicine storage space 32 therein. The container 5 is made of a transparent resin so that the remaining amount of the tablet inside can be seen.
A lid 7 that closes the opening is detachably mounted on the top surface side of the accommodating portion 5. A concave portion 8 that is recessed downward is provided at a substantially central portion of the bottom surface of the housing portion 5 as shown in FIG. The planar cross-sectional shape and opening shape of the recess 8 are circular.
The rotor 10 is housed in the recess 8 in a rotatable state. The recess 8 has a bottom as shown in FIG.

As shown in FIGS. 4, 5, and 6, a medicine discharge port 18 is provided in the lower portion of the storage portion 5.
A partition insertion port 21 extending in the circumferential direction of the recess 8 is provided above the medicine discharge port 18 as shown in FIGS.
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.

Next, the rotor 10 will be described. As shown in FIG. 7, the rotor 10 has an inclined surface with a conical top surface, and drug containing grooves 31 extending in the axial direction are formed at a plurality of positions at equal angles. In other words, the rotor 10 has a block forming region 15 on the outer peripheral surface and has a plurality of block portions 12 and 13 extending in the vertical direction. And the chemical | medical agent accommodation groove | channel 31 extended | stretched to an up-down direction is formed in the circumferential direction intermediate position of the adjacent block parts 12 and 13. FIG. Both ends of the medicine storage groove 31 are open in the top-to-bottom direction of the rotor 10. That is, the medicine containing groove 31 has an upper side opening 16 and a lower side opening 17.
In the present embodiment, the open surface of the medicine containing groove 31 is sealed with the inner wall of the containing portion 5, and the pocket portion 11 in which the four surfaces are sealed with the three faces of the medicine containing groove 31 and the inner wall of the containing portion 5 is configured. The Accordingly, both ends of the pocket portion 11 are opened in the vertical direction of the rotor 10. That is, the pocket 11 has the upper side opening 16 and the lower side opening 17 described above.
The tablets accumulated above the rotor 10 sequentially slide downward along the inclined surface of the rotor 10 and flow into the pocket portion 11 constituted by the inner wall of the recess 8 of the storage portion 5 and the medicine storage groove 31 of the rotor 10.

The pocket portion 11 has a width and depth that can hold only one tablet, and further has a length (height) that can hold one or more tablets.
In the present embodiment, the protruding block portion 12 provided with a protrusion on the top surface and the smooth block portion 13 having a flat top surface are mixed.

  As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the protruding block portion 12 is provided with a protrusion 25 on the top surface 23. The protrusion 26 of the protrusion 25 is provided with a radius, and the tip portion is rounded.

The periphery of the projecting end portion 26 is inclined surfaces 24 and 27. That is, with reference to the rotational direction of the roller 10, the inclined surface 24 on the front side 28 in the rotational direction of the roller is a gentle slope. On the other hand, the inclined surface 27 on the rear side 30 in the rotation direction of the roller is slightly steep.
Since the heights of both ends 31 and 32 in the rotation direction on the upper surface of the protruding block 12 are the same, the inclined surface 24 on the front side is longer than the protruding end portion 26 and the inclined surface 27 on the rear side is shorter.
The total height H of the protruding block portion 12 is higher than the smooth block portion 13 by the height of the protrusion 25.

  As shown in FIG. 5, 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 22 of the recess 8. A rotor gear 14 is attached to the tip (lower end) of the rotating shaft 20 as shown in FIG.

Next, the partition member 35 will be described. As shown in FIG. 9, the partition member 35 includes a main body portion 36 and a support portion 37.
The main body 36 has a comb shape. That is, the main body portion 36 is constituted by a trunk portion 38 and a number of branch portions 40. The trunk portion 38 is a portion bent in an arcuate shape. That is, the trunk portion 38 has an arc shape. The many branch portions 40 protrude in a cantilevered manner from the inner peripheral surface side of the trunk portion 38. Each branch portion 40 is parallel to each other, but is inclined to one side as a whole. The inclination direction is a direction along the rotation direction of the rotor 10.

The plurality of branch portions 40 are independent from the adjacent branch portions, respectively, and bend independently regardless of the amount of displacement of the adjacent branch portions 40.
In the present embodiment, the branch portion 40 includes a single-line branch portion 40a and a “U” -shaped branch portion 40b like a hairpin.
That is, among the plurality of branch portions 40, both end portions and branch portions 40a provided in the vicinity thereof are linear. On the other hand, the middle branch portion 40b has a shape in which the tips of the lines 41 provided in parallel are combined.

  The support portion 37 of the partition member 35 includes a plate-like arm portion 42 provided on the outer peripheral side of the trunk portion 38 and an attachment plate portion 43 provided on the other end side of the arm portion 42. The attachment plate portion 43 is provided with a through hole 45, and the partition member 35 is attached to the accommodating portion 5 by inserting a screw (not shown) into the through hole 45.

  That is, in the present embodiment, the comb-shaped partition member 35 is horizontally inserted into the partition insertion port 21 of the housing portion 5. The length of the partition member 35 is larger than the width 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.

In the present embodiment, the main body portion 36 of the partition member 35 is in the vicinity of the upper side opening 16 of the rotor 10 and occupies a certain area in a plane. In other words, the main body 36 of the partition member 35 extends in the vicinity of the upper side of the block forming region 15. Therefore, the main body 36 of the partition member 35 is in the vicinity of the upper side of each of the blocks 12 and 13.
That is, while the rotor 10 is in a substantially vertical posture, the main body portion of the partition member 35 projects in a substantially horizontal direction in the housing portion. The height of the partition member 35 is substantially equal to the average height of all the block portions 12 and 13.
More specifically, as described above, the position of the highest height of the protruding block portion 12 is higher than the position of the highest height of the smooth block portion 13, and the lower surface of the main body portion 36 of the partition member 35 is It is at an intermediate height between the position of the highest height of the protruding block portion 12 and the position of the highest height of the smooth block portion 13.

That is, the lower surface of the main body portion 36 of the partition member 35 is a position higher than the highest height position of the smooth block portion 13 and a position lower than the highest height position of the protruding block portion 12.
Therefore, the protruding end portion 26 of the protruding block portion 12 is at a position higher than the lower surface of the main body portion 36 of the partition member 35, and the protruding end portion 26 of the protruding block portion 12 is connected to the lower surface of the main body portion 36 of the partition member 35. Can touch.
Even in the upper surface of the protruding block portion 12, the region having a low height cannot contact the lower surface of the main body portion 36 of the partition member 35.
The smooth block portion 13 cannot contact the lower surface of the main body portion 36 of the partition member 35 at any part.

As described above, the protruding end portion 26 of the protruding block portion 12 has a height that can come into contact with the lower surface of the main body portion 36 of the partition member 35. Therefore, when the rotor 10 rotates, the protruding end portion 26 of the protruding block portion 12 is The lower surface of the main body 36 of the partition member 35 is boiled. That is, when the rotor 10 rotates and the protruding block 12 reaches below the partition member 35, it contacts the lower surface of the partition member 35 in the middle of the inclined surface 24. Then, the contact amount gradually increases, and the main body portion 36 of the partition member 35 is pressed most strongly at the protruding end portion 26.
Since the rotor 10 further rotates, the protruding end portion 26 of the protruding block portion 12 moves in the rotation direction. Along with the movement, the position where the projecting end portion 26 contacts is shifted in the rotation direction.

Next, the operation of the medicine feeder of this embodiment will be described.
The function when a large amount of tablets are filled in the drug cassette 2 of the present embodiment is the same as that of the prior art. That is, when the motor 50 accommodated in the support base 3 is driven with the medicine cassette 2 mounted on the support base 3, the rotational force is transmitted from the drive gear 51 to the rotor gear 14, and the rotor 10 is moved to the arrow (FIGS. 4 and 7). ), And the medicine receiving groove 31 provided on the outer peripheral surface of the rotor 10 is rotated as shown in FIG. Then, as the rotor 10 rotates, the tablet in the storage portion 5 is stirred and enters the pocket portion 11 from the upper side opening 16 of the pocket portion 11.

Then, the rotor 10 further rotates and the pocket portion 11 sequentially reaches the medicine discharge port 18, and the tablets held in the pocket portion 11 are sequentially discharged from the drug discharge port 18.
More specifically, in this embodiment, the tablets held in the pocket portion 11 are discharged one by one with a time interval.
That is, although the medicine containing groove 31 is a groove that opens up and down as described above, the partition member 35 is provided above the medicine discharge port 18 and further above the medicine containing groove 31, so that the pocket portion When 11 reaches the medicine discharge port 18, the opening 16 on the upper side of the pocket portion 11 is closed by the partition member 35. The partition member 35 is above the medicine discharge port 18 and further above the opening 16 on the upper side of the pocket portion 11 and occupies a certain area in a plane. Accordingly, the tablets held in the pocket portion 11 are sequentially discharged from the medicine discharge port 18 and the pocket portion 11 is emptied as shown in FIG. 10B, but a new tablet is near the drug discharge port 18. It does not fall into the pocket portion 11.
Accordingly, only a specific number of tablets initially held in the pocket portion 11 are discharged from the medicine discharge port 18.

In the example shown in FIG. 10, only one tablet A held in the pocket portion 11a is discharged from the medicine discharge port 18 as shown in FIG. Remains on the partition member 35.
When the rotor 10 further rotates, only one tablet B held in the following pocket portion 11b as shown in FIG. 10 (d) is discharged from the medicine discharge port 18, and the tablet just above the tablet A is partitioned. It remains on the member 35.

Here, when there are a large number of tablets in the storage section, as shown in FIGS. 10 (a) and 10 (b), the large amount of tablets swirls greatly as the rotor 35 rotates, so that the front and rear tablets are pushed. Thus, the tablet C on the partition member 35 also moves in the rotational direction of the rotor 10. Finally, as shown in FIG. 10C, the tablet C is pushed out of the partition member 35.
Therefore, when a large amount of tablets remain in the storage portion, the tablets do not stop on the partition member 35.

Next, operations unique to the present embodiment will be described. The drug feeder 1 according to the present embodiment is effective when the number of tablets in the drug cassette 2 is reduced.
That is, when the number of tablets in the medicine cassette 2 decreases, the overall rotation of the tablets disappears, and the tablets placed on the partition member 35 cannot be pushed out by the moving force of other tablets.
However, the medicine feeder 1 of the present embodiment can displace the partition member 35 when a part of the rotor 10 comes into contact with the partition member 35, and can push out the tablet by moving the displacement portion. The medicine feeder 1 according to the present embodiment can move the partition member 35 and push out the tablet by part of the rotor 10 coming into contact with the partition member 35.
That is, as described above, the protruding end portion 26 of the protruding block portion 12 has a height that can come into contact with the lower surface of the main body portion 36 of the partition member 35, so that when the rotor 10 rotates, the protruding end portion of the protruding block portion 12. 26 strokes the lower surface of the main body 36 of the partition member 35. That is, when the rotor 10 rotates and the protruding block portion 12 reaches under the partition member 35, the main body portion 36 is pressed in the vicinity of the protruding end portion 26 (FIG. 11).
Ideally, it comes into contact with the partition member 35 from the lower part of the gentle slope as the inclined surface 24 on the front side 28 in the rotation direction, and gradually presses the partition member 35 upward.
Here, the main body portion 36 of the partition member 35 has a comb shape, and the plurality of branch portions 40 are independent from the adjacent branch portions 40, respectively, and independently of the displacement amount of the adjacent branch portions 40. Bend.
Therefore, as shown in FIG. 12, only the branch portion 40 in contact with the protruding end portion 26 of the protruding block portion 12 and the vicinity thereof among the many branch portions 40 is bent and displaced upward. However, the other branch part 40 is not displaced and maintains the original height.

  Since the rotor 10 further rotates, the protruding end portion 26 of the protruding block portion 12 moves in the rotation direction as shown in FIGS. 11B and 12B. Along with the movement, the position where the projecting end portion 26 contacts is shifted in the rotation direction. That is, the branch portions 40 that are displaced upward are sequentially replaced, and proceed as if the waves travel. Then, the tablet placed on the main body 36 of the partition member 35 is pushed by this wave and proceeds forward in the rotational direction. Finally, it leaves the partition member 35, falls, and enters the medicine containing groove 31 (pocket portion 11) of the rotor 10. When the rotor 10 rotates once and the pocket portion 11 holding the tablet reaches the medicine discharge port 18, the tablet is discharged out of the drug discharge port 18.

  Therefore, according to the medicine feeder 1 of the present embodiment, tablets or the like can be discharged without leaving one tablet.

In the embodiment described above, the protruding block portions 12 provided with the protrusions 25 and the flat blocks 13 without the protrusions 25 are alternately provided. This configuration has an effect of preventing the projection 25 from excessively contacting the partition member 35 and is recommended. However, the present invention is not limited to this configuration, and the protrusions 25 may be provided on all the blocks 12 and 13. In addition, the protrusions 25 are not particularly provided, and the heights of all the block portions 12 and 13 may be aligned to a height at which the block members 12 and 13 can be in contact with each other.
Moreover, the structure which makes parts other than the block parts 12 and 13 contact the partition member 35 is also considered. Furthermore, another member that rotates together with the rotor 10 may be provided, and a part of the member may be brought into contact with the partition member 35.

For example, the medicine cassette 52 shown in FIG. 19 has an agitation member 55 for agitating the medicine at the upper portion of the rotor 53. The rotor 53 is rotated by the rotor gear 14, and the stirring member 55 is rotated by the stirring member rotating gear 56. When the rotor gear 14 and the stirring member rotating gear 56 are directly rotated by the same motor (not shown), the stirring member 55 rotates together with the rotor 53. Further, the agitating member 55 can be rotated separately from the rotor 53 by rotating the rotor gear 14 and the agitating member rotating gear 56 with separate motors or by interposing a clutch mechanism.
And in the chemical | medical agent cassette 52 of this embodiment, the protrusion-shaped contact part 57 is provided in the side surface of the stirring member 55. FIG.
In the medicine cassette 52 shown in FIG. 19, the contact portion 57 of the stirring member 55 is located above the smooth block portion 13 and above the upper side opening 16 of the pocket portion 11. The height of the abutment portion 57 of the stirring member 55 from the ground is lower than that of the partition member 35. In addition, the height from the ground of the contact part 57 of the medicine cassette 52 shown in FIG.

In this embodiment, the position of the contact portion 57 of the protrusion is the same as that of the previous embodiment. Therefore, although the contact portion 57 rotates as the rotor 53 rotates, the contact portion 57 is accommodated in the pocket portion 11. It passes between the formed tablet and the tablet on the pocket 11 (both not shown), and does not collide with the tablet excessively.
That is, as the rotor 53 rotates, the contact portion 57 contacts the upper portion of the tablet in the pocket portion 11 and the lower portion of the other tablet, and moves so as to partition the upper portion and the lower portion. Therefore, the excessive collision as shown in FIG. 28 does not occur and the tablet is not damaged.

In the medicine cassette 52 shown in FIG. 19, the stirring member 55 rotates together with the rotor 53 when the medicine is discharged, and the contact portion 57 contacts the partition member 35.
Here, it is desirable that the stirring member 55 rotate simultaneously with the rotation of the rotor 53. The number of rotations of the agitating member 55 and the number of rotations of the rotor 53 do not necessarily match.
In the present embodiment, the stirring member 55 is illustrated as an example of “a member that rotates together with the rotor 53 as the rotor 53 rotates” and an example of “a member that can be rotated separately from the rotor 53”. You may provide a contact part in the rotation member which does not have. When the abutting portion is provided on the rotating member that does not have the stirring function, it is not necessary to simultaneously rotate the rotating member when the rotor 53 rotates. That is, the contact portion may rotate at a timing different from that of the rotor. For example, prior to the rotation of the rotor 53, only the contact portion may be rotated, or after the tablet is no longer discharged, the contact portion may be rotated to move the tablet on the partition member 35.

In the above-described embodiment, the inclined surface 24 is provided on the front side of the protrusion 25. This configuration can relieve the impact on the partition member 35 and is recommended. However, providing the inclined surface 24 is not essential. In addition, the inclined surface 27 provided on the rear side of the protrusion 25 has an effect of preventing the rotor 10 from being caught when the rotor 10 is rotated in the reverse direction, but is similarly not an essential configuration.
In the present embodiment, one protrusion 25 is provided on the block portion 12, but a plurality of protrusions may be provided.

Moreover, although the partition member 35 mentioned above was comprised by the trunk part 38 and many branch parts 40, and illustrated the comb-shaped thing by which the branch part 40 was located in the same plane, this invention is not limited to this structure. Absent. For example, like the partition member 70 shown in FIG. 13, a configuration in which a large number of branch portions 72 are arranged in two vertical planes with respect to the trunk portion 71 may be employed. Furthermore, as in the partition member 73 of FIG. 14, a structure in which a large number of branch portions 72 are arranged in a plurality of stages with respect to the trunk portion 71 and have a flat plate shape as a whole. That is, the partition member 35 is not limited to a comb shape, and may be a brush shape.
When the branch part 40 is arranged in two upper and lower stages like the partition member 70, or when the structure in which the branch part 40 is arranged in a plurality of stages like the partition member 73 is adopted, the thickness of the partition members 70 and 73 is increased. Therefore, it is desirable that the heights of the protrusions 25 and the like that come into contact with the partition members 70 and 73 be higher than those in the previous embodiment.

  Further, for example, a ladder-like object such as a partition member 60 shown in FIG. 15 may be used. In the partition member 60, a large number of branch portions 62 are passed in parallel between two parallel main body portions 61. Also in the ladder-like partition member 60, a displacement amount different from that of the branch part 62 adjacent to each branch part 62 can be given.

Moreover, like the partition member 65 shown in FIG. 16, the area | region X which is easy to displace to the part of the width direction may be made, and a protrusion may be contact | abutted and waved on this part.
Also, like the partition member 67 shown in FIGS. 17 and 18, a large number of return portions (reverse travel prevention portions) 68 may be provided on the surface so that the tablet advances only in one direction. When this configuration is employed, the tablet placed on the partition member 67 advances forward simply by applying vibration to the partition member 67.

That is, the partition member 67 shown in FIGS. 17 and 18 is employed in place of the partition member 35 employed in the embodiments of FIGS. 4, 5, and 6.
According to the present embodiment, as the rotor 10 rotates, the protrusion 25 of the protruding block 12 collides with the partition member 35 intermittently, and the partition member 67 vibrates. The partition member 67 is provided with a large number of return portions (reverse prevention portions) 68 on the surface, and the tablet can advance only in one direction, so the tablet advances forward. That is, in this embodiment, the tablet advances by a movement called vibration.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Drug feeder 5 Storage part 10 Rotor 11 Pocket part 12 Protrusion block part 13 Smooth block part 16 Upper side opening 18 Drug discharge port 24 Inclined surface 25 Projection 26 Projection end part 27 Inclined surface 31 Drug storage groove 32 Drug storage space 35 Partition member 40 branch part 60 partition member 65 partition member 67 partition member 70 partition member 73 partition member 72 branch part

Claims (10)

  A container containing a medicine containing space for containing a large number of solid medicines, a medicine containing a medicine discharge port for discharging medicine, a rotor provided with a medicine containing groove on a side surface, and a partition member; The rotor is rotatably disposed in the interior of the housing, and a pocket portion is formed by the inside of the housing portion and the medicine housing groove of the rotor, and the pocket portion is open on the side of the medicine housing space and the medicine housing space. The medicine inside can be dropped, and the partitioning member is in the vicinity of the opening of the pocket part above the medicine discharge port, occupies a certain area in a plane and prevents the medicines exceeding a predetermined number from falling into the pocket part. Then, the rotor is rotated while the medicine in the container is held in the pocket, and the pocket is sequentially communicated with the medicine outlet as the rotor rotates, and the medicine held in the pocket is sequentially discharged from the medicine outlet. In the medicine feeder for performing the discharging operation, a part of the rotor hits a part of the partition member as the rotor rotates, and the medicine on the partition member can be moved by moving the partition member feeder.   A container containing a medicine containing space for containing a large number of solid medicines, a medicine containing a medicine discharge port for discharging medicine, a rotor provided with a medicine containing groove on a side surface, and a partition member; The rotor is rotatably disposed in the interior of the housing, and a pocket portion is formed by the inside of the housing portion and the medicine housing groove of the rotor, and the pocket portion is open on the side of the medicine housing space and the medicine housing space. The medicine inside can be dropped, and the partitioning member is in the vicinity of the opening of the pocket part above the medicine discharge port, occupies a certain area in a plane and prevents the medicines exceeding a predetermined number from falling into the pocket part. Then, the rotor is rotated while the medicine in the container is held in the pocket, and the pocket is sequentially communicated with the medicine outlet as the rotor rotates, and the medicine held in the pocket is sequentially discharged from the medicine outlet. In the medicine feeder that performs the discharging operation, a member that is a part of the medicine feeder and rotates together with the rotor or a part of the medicine feeder that is rotatable separately from the rotor rotates and hits a part of the partition member, A medicine feeder characterized in that a medicine on a partition member can be moved by giving a motion to the partition member. Block portions are provided at intervals on the side surface portions of the rotor, and the medicine containing grooves are formed by gaps between the block portions, and a part or the whole of the upper surface of the block portions is the lower surface of the partition member as the rotor rotates. The medicine feeder according to claim 1, wherein Projections on the rotor is provided, the tablet feeder according to claim 1 in which the projection is characterized by striking the lower surface of the partition member with the rotation of the rotor. Block portions provided at intervals in the side surface portion of the rotor, and a block portion which protrusion corresponds to the lower surface of the partition member is provided, in claim 1 block portion in which the projection is not provided, characterized in that the mixed The medicine feeder described. The medicine feeder according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the partition member is installed so as to project in a substantially horizontal direction, and the medicine can be placed on an upper surface thereof.   The medicine feeder according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the protrusion has an inclined surface before and after the protrusion in the rotation direction.   The medicine feeder according to claim 7, wherein the inclination toward the leading side in the rotation direction is gentler than the inclination toward the tail side in the rotation direction.   The medicine feeder according to any one of claims 5 to 8, wherein the protruding end portion of the protrusion has a round cross-sectional shape. The partition member allows partial displacement, and either one part of the rotor or a member that rotates separately from the rotor hits the partition member, and the contacted part is greatly displaced compared to the other, and as the rotor rotates The medicine feeder according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the displacement portion moves to push out the medicine.

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