JP7364234B2 - Drug sorting equipment and injection drug dispensing system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a drug sorting device and an injection drug dispensing system that include a drug container for collecting drugs.

2. Description of the Related Art A drug sorting device is known that sorts and arranges collected drugs by shape after being once dispensed.
Among such drug sorting devices, devices are known that photograph drugs placed on a tray, determine the shape by image recognition, and then change the placement position according to the shape of each drug (for example, (See Patent Documents 1, 2, etc.).

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2011-10768 Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2018-138199

In such a drug sorting device, when determining the shape of a drug by image recognition, it is required to check whether there is a drug placed in a container and whether the shape is correctly recognized.
However, there are cases where a drug should be managed as a defective product, for example, if the shape is different from the previously registered drug when the shape is correctly recognized, or if the expiration date of the drug does not match. It is well known that
However, when a normal sorting device is used, there is a risk that drugs may collide with the bottom surface of the container when sorting the drugs.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a drug container for storing drugs with an open top, which includes a flat part for storing the drugs and a side wall at the end of the drug container. a drug container that is provided along the line and has a placement part for placing the drug from above, and a gentle slope part that connects the placement part to the flat part, and a plurality of drug shapes. a first reading section that makes a determination; a second reading section that reads information on the drug by photographing the drug; and a first transfer means that transfers the placed drug to the first reading section. and a second transfer means for transferring the drug from the second reading section, and a third transfer means for storing the drug transferred by the second transfer means into a storage container, When the drug does not meet the predetermined conditions in either the storage section or the second reading section, the third transfer means transfers the drug as a defective product to the storage section of the drug container, and also transfers the drug to the storage section of the drug container. It is characterized in that it is placed so that its longitudinal direction runs along the side wall .

According to the present invention, drugs can be sorted more accurately.

It is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a medicine sorting device. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a shape determining section in the medicine sorting device. It is a figure showing an example of composition of a drug sorting device seen from the top side. It is a figure showing an example of composition of a time limit reading part. It is a figure showing an example of composition of a control part. It is a figure which shows an example of the operation|movement when a medicine is returned. It is a figure which shows an example of movement of a container to a shape determination part. It is a figure which shows the comparative example of the shape determination in a shape determination part. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example in which the shape is correctly determined for the comparative example illustrated in FIG. 8; It is a figure which shows an example of the operation|movement when a medicine is returned. It is a figure which shows an example of the reading operation in a time limit reading part. It is a figure which shows an example of operation|movement of a 2nd transfer means and a 3rd transfer means. It is a figure which shows an example of operation|movement of a 3rd transfer means. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the shape of a medicine placement section of the storage tray. It is a figure showing an example of the shape of a drug. 16 is a diagram illustrating an example of the operation of the expiration date reading unit in the medicine having the shape shown in FIG. 15. FIG. It is a figure showing an example of composition of a collection tray. 18 is a diagram showing an example of the operation of the collection tray shown in FIG. 17. FIG. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of an injection drug dispensing system. 20 is a diagram showing an example of the operation of the medicine sorting device in the embodiment shown in FIG. 19. FIG.

Embodiments according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a medicine sorting device 100 that sorts medicines by transporting medicines 1 placed in containers 50 to destinations according to predetermined shapes.
The medicine sorting device 100 includes a container 50 in which a plurality of medicines 1 are placed, a shape determination unit 10 that is a first reading unit that determines the shape of the medicine 1 when the container 50 is moved to the position, and a medicine an expiration reading section 20 which is a second reading section that reads information such as the expiration date of the medicine 1 when the medicine 1 is moved to the relevant position; It has a transfer means 60 and a swinging means 51 that swings the container 50 in the shape determining section 10 as described later.
The drug sorting device 100 also includes a pusher section 30 that is disposed near the expiration date reading section 20 and is driven to abut and push out the drug 1 placed on the deadline reading section 20; a second transfer means 70 for transferring the medicine 1 transferred by the second transfer means 70, a third transfer means 80, which is a robot arm, for placing the medicine 1 transferred by the second transfer means 70 on the storage tray 110, which is a transfer destination, and each of these parts. It has a control unit 90 as a control device that is a control board for controlling.

The container 50 is, for example, a tray-shaped plastic container in which a plurality of medicines 1 are arranged in a miscellaneous manner, as shown in FIG. 2(a).
The drug 1 is, for example, an ampoule of an injection drug or the like that was once dispensed but returned without being used. The user can arrange a plurality of returned medicines 1 in the containers 50 on each shelf from the front side of the medicine sorting device 100 as shown in FIG.
The shape determination section 10 includes a camera 11 as a photographing means for photographing the medicine 1 placed on the container 50, and an image recognition section 12 for determining the shape of the medicine 1 from the image photographed by the camera 11. have.
The camera 11 is arranged above a predetermined mounting position of the container 50 as shown in FIG. 1, and functions as a photographing means capable of photographing the drug 1 placed in the container 50.
The image recognition unit 12 is a control unit connected to the camera 11, and reads the shape of the medicine 1 from the image taken by the camera 11, and also recognizes the shape of the medicine 1 from a plurality of pre-registered shape patterns ( For example, it is determined by examining which of the ampoule shapes and plastic ampoule shapes used for syringes matches. For example, the image recognition unit 12 identifies the area of the drug 1 as shown by the broken line in FIG. 2(b) from an image of the container 50 taken from above, as shown in FIG. 2(b), taken by the camera 11. A method may be used in which the drug 1 is extracted and the match rate between the extracted drug 1 and the shape pattern registered in advance is examined, and when the match rate exceeds a threshold, it is determined that the drug 1 has the shape. An image recognition method may be used.

The swinging means 51 is a swinging means for rolling and moving the medicine 1 by vibrating or rotating the container 50, thereby making it easier for the image recognition unit 12 to grasp the shape of the medicine 1. The swinging means 51 may be a plate-like member equipped with a motor as a driving member that swings parallel to the surface on which the medicine 1 is placed, for example, parallel to the XY plane in FIG. Alternatively, the rocking means 51 may be rocked by moving up and down in the Z direction.
Even if the image recognition unit 12 cannot grasp the correct shape due to overlapping of the medicines 1, etc., by rocking the container 50 by the rocking means 51, the overlapping medicines 1 can be separated from each other and separated into individual medicines. or the medicine 1, which was outside the photographing range of the camera 11, moves into the photographing range of the container 50 due to the rocking and becomes recognizable.
Here, for example, the case where the drug 1 is outside the photographing range of the camera 11 includes a case where the drug 1 is near the side wall surface of the container 50 and the image recognition unit 12 cannot correctly recognize the boundary between the container 50 and the drug 1.

The first transfer means 60 is an adsorption-type pickup unit for taking out and transferring the drug 1 whose shape has been correctly recognized by the image recognition unit 12 from the container 50, and in this embodiment, it includes a nozzle 61 and a solenoid valve 62. have.
When the first transfer means 60 determines the position of the medicine 1 on the container 50 from the image recognition unit 12 as shown in FIG. . The first transfer means 60 transfers and arranges the drug 1 to a predetermined position of the expiration date reading section 20, with the drug 1 adsorbed at the tip of the nozzle 61.

The expiration reading section 20 is arranged above a pair of rollers 21 and 22 extending in the front-rear direction of the medicine sorting device 100, as shown in FIG. 3, and above the rollers 21 and 22, as shown in FIG. It has two cameras 23 and 24 that read text information such as expiry date from the surface.
The deadline reading section 20 is also arranged on the rollers 21 and 22, with a rear reading position 25 provided at the rearmost side, and a rear reading position 25 located in front of the rear reading position 25, and arranged on the same straight line with each other. It has a front reading position 26.
An extrusion part 30 is provided at the rearmost end of the rollers 21 and 22 so as not to interfere with the rollers 21 and 22 and to press the medicine 1 while being pushed forward and in contact with the medicine 1. There is.
The push-out unit 30 moves the drug 1 placed at the rear reading position 25 by pushing it toward the front reading position 26 by pressing it from the rear side. In this way, the linear direction from the rear reading position 25 to the front reading position 26 is the extrusion direction, which is the direction in which the extrusion section 30 moves.
A camera 23 is arranged above the rear reading position 25 so as to face the rear reading position 25 so as to focus on the side surface of the drug 1 placed at the rear reading position 25.
A camera 24 is disposed above the front reading position 26 so as to face the front reading position 26 so as to focus on the side surface of the drug 1 placed at the front reading position 26.

A receiving portion 71, which is a support portion that supports the drug 1 from below, is provided at the lower portion of the front reading position 26 that contacts the drug 1.
As will be described later, on the condition that the medicine 1 pushed out by the extrusion section 30 reaches the receiving section 71, the second transfer means 70 moves freely in the XZ plane around the Y direction axis after reading the deadline. This is a pickup module that moves the medicine 1 within the reach of the robot arm of the third transfer means 80 by moving the medicine 1 to the position where the robot arm of the third transfer means 80 can reach. In other words, the second transfer means 70 includes a receiving section 71 that supports the medicine 1 from below at the front reading position 26, and a rotating means that rotates the receiving section 71.
The third transfer means 80 is a robot arm that, after the receiving section 71 of the second transferring means 70 rotates, grabs the drug 1 placed on the receiving section 71 and carries it to the storage tray 110.
For example, the third transfer means 80 controls the control unit 90 to transfer the medicine 1 to one of the plurality of storage trays 110 based on the information on the expiration date and shape of the medicine 1 read by the expiration date reading unit 20 and the shape determination unit 10. It controls how many rows and where to place it.

The control unit 90 is a control unit that controls each part of the medicine sorting device 100, and functions as a control terminal for performing computer control, for example.
In this embodiment, the control unit 90 includes an image recognition unit 12 that determines the shape of the medicine 1 as shown in FIG. 5, and an NG determination unit 91 that processes the medicine 1 as an NG product based on the expiration date and shape. , and an alignment determination unit 92 that determines in which storage tray 110 the medicine 1 within the deadline is to be placed.

Using such a configuration, the operation when placing the dispensed medicine 1 placed in the container 50 on a desired storage tray 110 will be described based on the flowchart of FIG. 6.

First, with a plurality of medicines 1 placed in the container 50, the container 50 is placed at a predetermined position of the medicine sorting device 100 (step S101).
In step S101, as shown in FIGS. 7(a) to 7(d), an elevator unit 52 equipped with a swinging means 51 and provided on the back side of the sorting device 100 extends the arm 53 to move the sorting device 100. A configuration was used in which the container 50 placed on the front side is pulled in while being held and moved to a position corresponding to the shape determining section 10 by rising. However, the configuration is not limited to this, and any moving method may be used as long as the container 50 is held and moved within the photographing range of the camera 11.
Under the condition that the container 50 is in the shape determining section 10, the camera 11 photographs the container 50 and the medicine 1 (step S102), and the image recognition section 12 determines the medicine from the first image data acquired in step S102. 1 is determined (step S103).
In step S103, if the shape is known, the image recognition unit 12 tentatively determines the shape of the medicine 1 based on the shape determination result in step S103, and then uses the swinging means 51 to determine the shape of the medicine 1. The container 50 is rocked (step S104).
After swinging in step S104, the camera 11 is used again to acquire the second image data (step S105).

The image recognition unit 12 determines whether the shape determination result acquired from the second image data acquired at step S105 is the shape determination result at step S103 acquired from the first image data photographed at step S102. It is examined whether they match (step S106).
In this manner, step S106 verifies whether the shape determination results match before and after step S104 in which the swinging was performed.

In step S106, the case where the shape determination results match before and after the swing means that the image recognition result obtained from the first image data and the image recognition result obtained from the second image data are equal. It means that. That is, there is a high possibility that the shape of the medicine 1 can be recognized correctly.
On the other hand, for example, if the image recognition unit 12 cannot determine the shape of the drug 1, the shapes of the drug 1 in the first and second images should not match.
Further, for example, in step S102, as illustrated by a broken line as a comparative example in FIG. 8, drugs may overlap and two drugs may be recognized as one drug. Note that the broken line in FIG. 8 virtually indicates the recognition range of the drug 1 by the image recognition unit 12. If the two overlapping medicines 1 are recognized as one as shown in FIG. 8, it is expected that the medicines 1 will separate from each other due to the rocking in step S104. Therefore, it can be assumed that the second image data acquired in step S105 does not completely match the first image data because the two medicines 1 are recognized as separate bodies, as illustrated in FIG.

In this way, the image recognition unit 12 compares the image data before and after the rocking or the shape determination result of the medicine 1 recognized from the image data in step S106, and if they match, the temporarily determined medicine 1 The shape determination result is determined to be correct, and if they do not match, the process is repeated again from the swinging step of step S104.
At this time, the second image data is the "first image data", that is, the "image data before rocking", and the third image data is the "second image data", that is, "the rocking image data". By handling the image data as "later image data," it is possible to compare the image data before and after the repeated swing step.

Now, in step S106, which is the determination step, when the shape determination results of the medicine 1 before and after rocking match, the NG determination unit 91 checks whether the shape of the medicine 1 can be correctly determined (step S107). . Specifically, it is determined whether the shape determination result of the drug 1 ascertained by the image recognition unit 12 matches shape data stored in advance.
When it is determined in step S107 that the image recognition unit 12 has correctly determined the shape of the medicine 1, the medicine 1 is transported to the rear reading position 25 of the expiration date reading unit 20 using the first transport means 60 ( Step S200), the process is repeated sequentially from step S101 for the next drug. Alternatively, if there are medicines 1 whose shape determination results have not yet been determined in the container 50, processing is continued for those medicines 1.

On the other hand, in step S106, even though the shape determination results of the drug 1 before and after rocking match, if the shape of the drug 1 does not match the shape data stored in advance, the drug 1 is judged as NG. The unit 91 determines that the product is an NG product (No in step S107), and the product is transported to the NG tray 120 (step S108). The transfer of the drug 1 in the case where such an NG determination is made will be described later.

Now, the case where the medicine 1 is transported to the expiration date reading section 20 in step 200 will be explained with reference to FIG. 10.
In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4 and described above, the expiration date reading section 20 is arranged above the pair of rollers 21 and 22 extending in the front-rear direction of the drug sorting device 100 and the rollers 21 and 22. It has two cameras 23 and 24 that read text information including expiry date etc. from the surface of the paper.
First, the control unit 90 determines whether the drug 1 transported by the first transfer means 60 has a shape that is easy to rotate (step S201). Specifically, if the drug 1 is in the shape of a vial or ampoule that is easy to rotate, the process proceeds to step S202, and if it is a plastic ampoule shape that is difficult to rotate due to a catch, the process proceeds to step S210.
First, a case where the drug 1 is in the shape of an ampoule that is easy to rotate will be described.
The drug 1 is placed between the rollers 21 and 22 at the rear reading position 25 by the first transfer means 60 as shown in FIG. The camera 23 then photographs the circumferential side surfaces of the drug 1 as a composite panoramic image (photographing step S202).
In step S202, when the rollers 21 and 22 rotate as shown in FIG. 11(b), the medicine 1 is driven to rotate by this rotation. At this time, since the side surface of the drug 1 appears to be rotating to the camera 23, information Q such as the barcode and expiration date of the drug 1 written on an arbitrary position on the side surface is read (reading step S203). . Note that although a method of reading the barcode and expiration date written on the drug 1 using image recognition using the camera 23 was used here, the present invention is not limited to such a method. Further, the control unit 90 extracts the drug data in the drug master data stored in the drug sorting device 100 or outside the drug sorting device 100 from the barcode of the drug 1 read by the expiration date reading unit 20 in the reading step S203. The type of drug 1 can be identified by comparing with the above.

When the barcode and expiration date of the medicine 1 are read in the reading step S203, the control unit 90 uses the extrusion unit 30 to push the medicine 1 in the extrusion direction as shown in FIG. from there toward the front reading position 26 (step S204).
In this embodiment, the extrusion direction is along the direction in which the rollers 21 and 22 extend, that is, the direction toward the front of the drug sorting device 100.
At the lower part of the front reading position 26, a receiving part 71 of the second transfer means 70 is provided approximately on the extension line of the rollers 21 and 22, and as shown in FIG. When pushed out to the front, the medicine 1 will be located on the receiving part 71.

The second transfer means 70 moves the receiving part 71 as shown in FIGS. 12(a) to 12(c) on the condition that the medicine 1 is placed on the receiving part 71 as shown in FIG. 11(d). Then, the drug 1 is transferred into the movable range of the third transfer means 80 (step S300).
The alignment determination unit 92 of the control unit 90 determines where on the storage tray 110 the medicine 1 should be placed based on information such as the barcode read in the reading step S203 (step S301).
In step S301, the alignment determination unit 92 selects, for example, the type of medicine 1 identified from the barcode of medicine 1 read by the expiration date reading unit 20, and the sizes of S, M, and L arbitrarily set for each medicine. Based on this, the destination of medicine 1 is determined. The identification of the drug 1 from the reading step S203 and the transfer of the drug 1 as described in steps S204 and S300 are internally performed in parallel, and the order may be changed, but for the purpose of simplifying the explanation. For this purpose, the explanation was given in the order shown in FIG.
The third transfer means 80 is a robot arm, which picks up the medicine 1 on the receiving part 71 as shown in FIGS. The medicine 1 is placed at a predetermined position on the storage tray 110 (step S302).
The "predetermined position" of the storage tray 110 is read, for example, by comparing the barcode of the drug 1 with drug data in a drug master stored in the alignment determination unit 92 or outside the drug sorting device 100. The location may be determined based on the size of the drug 1, for example, S, M, or L, or the location may be changed depending on the type or shape of the drug 1.

In this embodiment, for example, as shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, the storage tray 110 has a V-shaped valley shape in cross section to match the ampoule-shaped size (S, M, and L sizes) of the drug 1. It has a receiving portion in which receiving blades 111 and notches 112 are alternately formed.
Note that FIG. 14 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion A surrounded by a dashed line in FIG. 13(a).
When placing the medicine 1 on the upper left of the S-sized storage tray 110, the alignment determination unit 92 selects a third one holding the medicine 1 at a position sandwiched by the notches 112, as shown in FIG. 13(b). Insert the transfer means 80, open the arm-shaped chuck 81, and return to the predetermined position.
In this way, the ampoule-shaped medicine 1 is placed in the storage tray 110 at a position sandwiched between the notches 112. In this embodiment, the notch 112 is a gap provided so that the chuck 81 of the third transfer means 80 can easily fit therein.
Naturally, when picking the medicine 1 with the chuck 81, it is more stable to hold the part near the center of gravity of the medicine 1 with the chuck 81. It is preferable that it be placed between the notches 112 of. Note that the shape of the storage tray 110 is not limited to this configuration. However, it is more desirable that the shape of the storage tray 110 is such that it can prevent the medicine 1 from rolling during storage.

Next, a case will be described in which it is determined in step S201 that the drug 1 has a plastic ampoule shape that is difficult to rotate.
At this time, the first transport means 60 transports the medicine 1 toward the rear reading position 25 similarly to the case of the ampoule shape (step S210).
The plastic ampoule shape is a shape cut out from a series of blocks as shown in FIG. 15, and it is known that it is difficult to follow the rotation of the rollers 21 and 22 because burrs etc. on the cut out part get stuck. It is being
Therefore, when the image recognition unit 12 determines that the medicine 1 is in the shape of a plastic ampoule, the control unit 90 pushes out the medicine 1 in the plastic ampoule shape placed at the rear reading position 25 as shown in FIG. 16(a). 30 toward the front reading position 26 (step S211).
At this time, the drug 1 naturally passes through the rear reading position 25, but there is no need to operate the camera 23.

The tip of the drug 1 pushed out to the front reading position 26 by the pushing section 30 is abutted against the abutment section 31 as shown in FIG. 16(b). Further, FIG. 16(c) is a diagram showing an example of an image photographed by the camera 24 in step S212.
When the medicine 1 comes into contact with the abutment part 31, the pressure applied to the extrusion part 30 naturally changes. It is possible to detect that it is held between the extrusion section 30 and the extrusion section 30 .
As shown in FIG. 16(c), the extrusion part 30 rotates the part that has come into contact with the medicine 1 in the circumferential direction with the extrusion direction as the central axis, thereby pinching the medicine 1 between it and the abutting part 31. At the same time, an image of the circumferential side surface is photographed using the camera 24 (step S212).
As shown in step S212, the push-out section 30 fixes the drug 1 by sandwiching the drug 1 between it and the abutment section 31, and the drug 1 written on the side surface of the drug 1 by the rotation of the push-out section 30. information can be read.

In step S212, when the extrusion section 30 rotates, the medicine 1 rotates due to this rotation. At this time, since the side surface of the drug 1 appears to be rotating to the camera 24, information Q such as the barcode and expiration date of the drug 1 written on the side surface is read (reading step S213). In addition, although the method of reading the barcode and expiration date written on the medicine 1 by image recognition with the camera 24 similarly to step S203 was used here, the method is not limited to this method.

When the barcode, expiration date, etc. of the drug 1 are read at the front reading position 26, the second transfer means 70 rotates together with the receiving portion 71 as described above, and transfers the drug 1 to the third transfer means 80. The object is moved within the movable range (step S300).
From step S300 onward, regardless of whether the shape is an ampoule, a plastic ampule, or a vial, there is no change in the configuration in which the third transfer means 80 is used to place the container on the predetermined storage tray 110. The explanation will be omitted.

Now, in step S106, even though the shape determination results of drug 1 before and after rocking match, the shape of drug 1 does not match the shape data stored in advance, or in steps S203 and S212, drug 1 If the expiration date has been exceeded, the medicine 1 is determined to be an NG product by the NG determination unit 91.
Such NG determination will be explained.

As shown in FIG. 17, the NG tray 120 has a loading section 121 onto which the drug 1 is dropped, a flat section 123 that is connected to the loading section 121 by a gentle slope 122, and a sloped section. 122 and a cushioning material 124 attached to the lower part of the drug container.
The NG tray 120 is a box-shaped container with an open top, and a placing section 121, an inclined section 122, and a flat section 123 are surrounded by the side walls of the NG tray 120.

When transporting the medicine 1 as an NG product to the NG tray 120 in step S108, the first transport means 60 first moves the medicine 1 to the rear reading position 25.
If the drug 1 is determined to be NG, the control section 90 moves the drug 1 using the extrusion section 30 as shown in FIGS. 11 and 16, and moves the drug 1 using the second transfer means 70 to the third transfer means. 80 range of motion.
During this transfer, the control unit 90 slides the NG tray 120 in the -X direction as shown in FIG. 18.
The third transfer means 80 places the medicine 1 judged as NG on the placing section 121 .
At this time, it is preferable to slow down the transfer of the third transfer means 80 in the Z direction near the placement part 121, since this can further prevent damage to the medicine 1.
As shown in FIG. 17, the placing section 121 is provided at the right end of the NG tray 120, and is located above the flat section 123 when looking at the cross section of the NG tray 120. .
The medicine 1 placed on the placement part 121 is guided to the flat part 123 along the slope part 122, and is held on the flat part 123 as shown in FIG. 17.

The flat part 123 is a part of a member constituting the bottom surface of the NG tray 120, and functions as a medicine storage part that stores the medicine 1 that rolls down when the medicine 1 moves from the slope part 122.
In this embodiment, the inclined part 122 is a slope formed of a linear soft material that connects the flat part 123 and the placing part 121. A sheet-like cushioning material 124 is arranged between the lower surface and the lower surface. Note that the cushioning material 124 may be made of a rubber material, for example, in addition to a silicone sheet or other resin material. Furthermore, the cushioning material 124 may also be provided on the flat portion 123.
If the cushioning material 124 is arranged in this way, the medicine 1 transferred by the first transfer means 60, the second transfer means 70, and the third transfer means 80 and dropped onto the mounting section 121 will be transferred to the flat section 124. It has the effect of softening the impact when it rolls over and preventing damage to the medicine 1.
Further, the shape of the inclined portion 122 may be a smooth curved slope instead of a straight line.
When the drug 1 transferred to the NG tray 120 in step S108 separates from the third transfer means 80 on the placing section 121 and falls, it passes through the placing section 121 and the inclined section 122 and reaches the flat section 123. is stored.
In this way, the operator can transfer the drug 1 whose expiration date has expired or whose shape is unknown to the NG tray 120 as an NG product. Since the NG tray 120 can be removed from the drug sorting device 100, when an NG product is found, the operator takes out the NG tray 120, checks the contents, and takes appropriate measures such as disposal or storage. .
Note that in this embodiment, due to the configuration of the medicine sorting device 100, the medicine 1 is transported to the NG tray 120 using three transport means, the first transport means 60, the second transport means 70, and the third transport means 80. However, it is not limited to this configuration.
In this way, in this embodiment, the NG tray 120 as a medicine container, the shape reading unit 10 that determines the shape of a plurality of medicines 1, and the expiration date reading unit 20 that reads medicine information by photographing the medicines 1. , a first transfer means 60 for transferring the drug 1 placed in the container 50 to the shape reading section, a second transfer means 70 for transferring the drug 1 from the expiration date reading section 20, and a second transfer means 70 for transferring the drug 1 placed in the container 50 to the shape reading section; and a third transfer means 80 for storing the drug in the storage tray 110, and when the drug 1 does not meet predetermined conditions such as expiration date and shape in either the shape reading section or the expiration date reading section, the third transfer means 80 stores the drug in the storage tray 110. 3 transfer means 80 transfers the drug 1 to the NG tray 120 as a defective product.
With this configuration, if there is any abnormality in the returned medicine 1, it is stored in the NG tray 120.

Now, the drug sorting device 100 can also be operated as part of an injection drug dispensing system that dispenses the drug 1 placed on the storage tray 110 using the third transfer means 80.

A schematic configuration of an injection drug dispensing system 300 according to FIG. 19 is shown.
The injection drug dispensing system 300 functions as an automatic dispensing device that dispenses necessary medicines to a dispensing tray 310 according to information such as prescription data and electronic medical records sent via communication from the host device 500, for example.
In this embodiment, the injection drug dispensing system 300 includes, from right to left, a tray supply device 320, a form issuing device 330, a medicine sorting device 100, and an infusion solution dispensing device arranged in a line along the transfer route of the dispensing tray 310. 350 and a tray storage device 360 are arranged side by side.
While the dispensing tray 310 is being transferred from the tray supply device 320 to the tray storage device 360, a form 331, a medicine 1 such as an injection drug, and an infusion solution 2 are sequentially put into the dispensing tray 310. In order to automatically control such a series of operations, a controller 390 consisting of a microprocessor or the like is also provided. The controller 390 obtains prescription data or dispensing instruction data or injection instruction data derived from the prescription data from an appropriate input device or other computer, such as a prescription order entry system as shown in the host device 500, and performs processing based on such data. The system generates control commands, extracts data, etc., and sends commands and data to each device constituting the injection drug dispensing system 300.

The delivery tray 310 is, for example, a box-shaped container made of metal or hard plastic with an open top, and is normally mounted in the tray supply device 320 in an empty state. When the dispensing tray 310 is discharged from the tray supply device 320, it is conveyed to the tray storage device 360 through a conveying path 340 that is disposed below the injection dispensing system 300 and connected to each other so as to penetrate each device. The dispensing tray 310 is placed in a predetermined position in the tray storage device 360 after the medicine 1, infusion 2, prescription data, dispensing instruction sheet data, injection instruction sheet data, etc. are input into the dispensing tray 310. be done.

The form issuing device 330 includes a printer 332 for outputting the form 331, and a sending device 333 for sending the form 331 printed/outputted from the printer 332 to the corresponding payout tray 310. When the payout tray 310 corresponding to the form 331 arrives, the form 331 is sent out so as to be placed on the payout tray 310 located below.

As already described in the first embodiment, in the medicine dispensing device 100, the returned medicines 1 are arranged in a line on the storage tray 110, and the positions of the medicines 1 are managed by the control unit 90. .
Therefore, for example, if there is a medicine 1 in one of the storage trays 110 among the returned medicines 1 which is still within the expiration date and is required for the newly received prescription data, the third The transport means 80 can dispense the drug 1 toward the dispensing tray 310.

Such a specific operation will be explained.
FIG. 20 shows an example of the operation of the medicine dispensing device 100 when the medicine 1 to be dispensed is stored in the fourth row from the top.
First, when the control unit 90 confirms the position of the medicine 1 from the stored data as shown in FIG. 20(a), as shown in FIG. The stacked storage trays 110 are vertically divided between the third and fourth stages from the top and lifted. In this embodiment, in order to move the storage tray 110 in the Z direction, a mode is shown in which a lifter 113 is provided that inserts a pin into the lower part of the third stage storage tray 110 and lifts it up, but the structure is not limited to this. do not have.
The third transport means 80 moves to the predetermined XY coordinates where the drug 1 is located in the fourth storage tray 110 from the top in the opened state, and moves the drug 1 between the chucks 81. do.
When the arm portion of the third transfer means 80 comes out of the operating range of the storage tray 110, the lifter 113 descends and the storage trays 110 return to the stacked state, and the third transfer means 80 returns to the state in which the drug 1 is gripped. to descend to the bottom again.

A tray elevating unit 341 for lifting the dispensing tray 310 upward is provided in a portion of the drug sorting device 100 that constitutes a part of the transport path 340.
The tray lifting unit 341 raises the dispensing tray 310 to a height such that the medicine 1 enters the dispensing tray 310 when the third transport means 80 moves to the lower end again, and the third transport means 80 dispels the medicine 1. This increase has been maintained throughout the period.
In other words, if a plurality of medicines 1 written in the form 331 are stored in the medicine dispensing device 100, the third transfer means 80 will pay all the necessary medicines 1 in the state shown in FIG. 20(c). It remains in an elevated state until it is released.

When all medicines have been dispensed, the tray lifting unit 341 lowers the dispensing tray 310 and transports it along the conveyance path 340. In addition, based on a command from the host device 500, if there is medicine 1 stored in the dispensing tray 310 that has flown, the dispensing is repeated as described above, and the medicine 1 is transferred to the dispensing tray 310. can be supplied.

In this embodiment, the second reading section 20 includes a front reading position 26 and a rear reading position 25 that are arranged in the same linear shape. Further, the drug sorting device 100 of this embodiment includes a push-out section 30 that is driven to push out the drug 1 placed at the rear reading position 25 by coming into contact with the drug.
Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the second reading unit 20 reads information such as a barcode of the medicine 1 at the front reading position 26 or at the rear reading position based on the shape of the medicine 1 determined by the image recognition unit 12. 25, change whether to read.
With this configuration, when the drug 1 has a shape that is easy to rotate, information such as a bar code can be read by the driven rotation of the rollers 21 and 22, so information such as a bar code of the drug 1 can be read at high speed.

Further, in this embodiment, the second reading section 20 includes rollers 21 and 22 that contact the medicine 1 from below at the rear reading position 25 and rotate the medicine 1.
According to this configuration, information such as a bar code can be read by the driven rotation of the rollers 21 and 22, so information such as a bar code of the medicine 1 can be read at high speed.

Further, in the present embodiment, the second reading section 20 has an abutting section 31 against which the drug 1 abuts at the front reading position 26, and the pushing section 30 holds the drug 1 between the abutting section 31 and the abutting section 31. While the medicine 1 is fixed, the medicine information written on the side of the medicine 1 is read by the rotation of the extrusion part 30.
With this configuration, when the medicine 1 is in a shape that is easy to rotate, information such as a bar code can be read by the driven rotation by the rollers 21 and 22, and when the medicine 1 is in a shape that is difficult to rotate, the extrusion part 30 and the abutment part 31 can be read. It can be rotated at the front reading position 26 where it can be held in place.
By using the two reading positions in this way, accurate information can be read regardless of the shape of the drug 1.

Further, in this embodiment, the front reading position 26 has a receiving part 71 that supports the lower part of the drug 1, and the receiving part 71 transfers the drug 1 by moving in a direction perpendicular to the advancing direction of the extrusion part 30. A second transporting means 70 is configured.
With this configuration, after information such as a barcode is read at the front reading position 26, it can be quickly transferred to the storage tray 110 by the third transfer means 80, contributing to faster drug sorting.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be appropriately modified within the scope of the claims.
For example, the information Q read by the expiration date reading unit 20 is information such as a barcode including a GS1 code and an expiration date in the above-mentioned embodiment, but it may also read other stamps, text information including a drug name, etc. It may be.
Further, regarding reading of character information by image recognition, OCR or the like is used in the embodiment, but other methods may be used.

10 First reading section (shape determination section)
20 Second reading section (time limit reading section)
21, 22 Rollers 23, 24 Camera 25 Rear reading position 26 Front reading position 50 Container 51 Swinging means 60 First transfer means 70 Second transfer means 71 Support part (receiving part)
80 Third transfer means 81 Chuck 100 Drug sorting device 120 Drug container (NG tray)
121 Placing part 122 Slanted part 123 Flat part 124 Cushioning material

Claims (4)

A drug container for storing drugs with an open top,
a flat part for storing the drug;
a placing part provided along the side wall at an end of the drug container for placing the drug from above;
a gentle slope connecting the mounting portion to the flat portion;
a drug container having ;
a first reading unit that determines the shape of the plurality of drugs;
a second reading unit that reads information on the drug by photographing the drug;
a first transfer means for transferring the loaded medicine to the first reading section;
a second transfer means for transferring the drug from the second reading section;
a third transfer means for storing the drug transferred by the second transfer means in a storage container;
has
When the drug does not satisfy a predetermined condition in either the first reading section or the second reading section, the third transfer means transfers the drug as a defective product to the storage section of the drug container. In addition, a drug sorting device characterized in that the drug is placed so that the longitudinal direction of the drug is along the side wall . The drug sorting device according to claim 1,
A drug sorting device comprising a cushioning material attached to a lower part of the inclined portion of the drug container . The drug sorting device according to claim 1 or 2,
The drug container is slidably held inside the drug sorting device,
A drug sorting device characterized in that when the drug does not satisfy a predetermined condition in either the first reading section or the second reading section, the drug container slides to a movable range of the third transfer means. . An injection drug dispensing system comprising the drug sorting device according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

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