JP7460084B2 - drug packaging machine - Google Patents

Description

This invention relates to a drug packaging machine equipped with multiple drug feeders that automatically supply granular solid drugs such as tablets and ampoules in order to automate the dispensing process carried out in hospitals, pharmacies, etc. More specifically, it relates to an expansion of the function that supports the manual work of feeding and refilling drugs into the drug feeders.

The drug feeder consists of an upper container section (driven section) that accommodates the drug, and a lower base section (drive section) that sequentially discharges the drug from there.
A so-called specialized drug feeder that uses a removable drug cassette in its container (special drug type drug feeder) is limited in the number of drugs it can handle, but it is widely used due to the convenience of attaching and detaching the cassette. (See Background Art 1 described below).
On the other hand, so-called general-purpose drug feeders (multi-drug compatible drug feeders), in which the container part and base are integrated, are highly rated for their convenience in handling a variety of drugs, and as improvements continue, the frequency of use is decreasing. (See Background Technology 3 below).

[Background technology 1: Specialized drug feeder (specific drug-only type drug feeder)]
Some drug packaging machines that are equipped with a large number of drug cassettes (see Patent Documents 1 and 2) have machine-readable container identification information on the removable drug cassettes, and the base portion on which the drug cassettes are attached and detached has individual identification information. A reader is built into the base, and when a drug cassette is attached to the base, the container identification information of the drug cassette is read by the reader in the base and verified based on the correspondence table, so that the cassette can be attached to the base. There are some products that automatically determine suitability.

As a dispensing system including such a medicine packaging machine (see Patent Document 1), there is known one equipped with one or more medicine packaging machines and a dispensing server capable of communicating with their control units via a wired LAN, etc. Such a dispensing server is connected to an external prescription ordering system via a network for inputting prescription data, or is equipped with a prescription reading device.
The dispensing server may be a programmable general-purpose computer provided it is equipped with a hard disk or other device with sufficient storage capacity to hold data. This computer stores prescription data received from the prescription ordering system, the drug packaging machine status received from the drug packaging machine, and a drug master that compiles drug information for each drug handled by the system.

In addition, such a dispensing server is also installed with a program for inputting prescription data and issuing dispensing instructions to the drug packaging machine based on that data, a replenishment instruction creation program that creates replenishment instructions based on stock-out notifications from the drug packaging machine (specifically, status reports that a drug cassette is empty) and inventory management status and displays these on a mobile terminal, and a work data recording program that records the progress of work, such as sending replenishment instructions to the mobile terminal and receiving replenishment completion notifications from the mobile terminal.

The drug packaging machine is equipped with a plurality of drug storages that can be pulled out individually in the upper part of the housing, and inside each drug storage, pairs of drug cassettes and base parts are arranged vertically and horizontally. A packaging device is stored in the lower part of the body, and a control device (control unit) is placed in the electrical space inside the housing. The drug cassette is removable and stores a large number of tablets or the like (medicines) of any one of various drugs, and can be discharged one after another. The base part is a fixed part to which drug cassettes can be attached and detached one by one, and the attached drug cassettes can be driven to discharge the drug. A drug collection mechanism is also provided that sequentially guides the discharged drugs to the packaging device below, of which the upper drug collection mechanism is attached to or incorporated in the drug storage, and the lower drug collection mechanism is connected to the upper drug collection mechanism and the packaging device. installed between the device and the device.

In such a drug packaging machine, the control device controls the operation of the drug cassettes and packaging device according to the dispensing instructions received from the dispensing server, so that the appropriate drug is discharged from each drug cassette, and the packaging device divides and packages it. It is supposed to be done. Furthermore, when it is detected that the drug cassette is empty and the drug cannot be discharged, a notification of the occurrence of a shortage is sent to the dispensing server. Further, identification information is assigned to each drug cassette, and when the correspondence between the identification information and the drug cassette is registered in the control device, it is transferred to the dispensing server and registered in the drug master.

In addition, in such a drug packaging machine (see Patent Document 1), all drug cassettes are housed in a drug feeder storage in a housing, and when replenishing drugs, the drug to which the cassette is to be removed is removed from the housing. I had to take the feeder storage in and out.
On the other hand, there is also a medicine packaging machine in which the medicine feeder located at the forefront of the medicine feeder storage is equipped with the front side exposed (see Patent Document 2).
In this medicine packaging machine, medicines can be refilled without pulling out the medicine feeder storage from the housing, as long as the medicine cassette is in a front-exposed state.

[Background Art 2: Manual drug spraying device]
Next, (see Patent Document 3), in many medicine packaging machines, a medicine manual dispensing device is built in between the medicine feeder storage and the lower medicine collecting mechanism or in the vicinity thereof. The medicine manual dispensing device has a main body part to which a spare dispensing cassette can be attached and detached, which can be pulled out or pushed in from the housing of the medicine packaging machine, and by manually dispensing medicine in the spare dispensing cassette, it is possible to include medicines that are not contained in the medicine feeder of the medicine feeder storage in the automatic packaging. In addition to such built-in medicine manual dispensing devices, there are also stationary medicine manual dispensing devices that are configured separately from the medicine packaging machine, and by using them in combination, the work of manually dispensing medicine in the spare dispensing cassette can be carried out in parallel with the advance preparation work for the so-called subsequent packaging that is scheduled after the currently ongoing packaging.

[Background Art 3: General-purpose drug feeder (drug feeder applicable to multiple drugs)]
Furthermore, (see Patent Documents 4 to 12), a type of drug feeder in which the container and the base are integrated will be described. A typical example of this type of drug feeder is an alignment-feeding type drug feeder that conveys tablets or the like (medicines) of the same shape while aligning them in a line. As an example of the configuration, a drug feeder has been developed and is in practical use, which includes an outer annular rotor that can rotate around a vertical line, an inclined rotor that is mounted inside the annular rotor and can rotate around an inclined line inclined from the vertical line to close the hollow of the annular rotor, and a regulating member that aligns the solid medicines that are conveyed from above the inclined rotor to the upper peripheral edge of the annular rotor when the annular rotor rotates.

JP 2013-146443 A JP 2018-196709 A Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2007-209600 JP 2018-108277 A Patent No. 6736074 Patent No. 6736075 JP 2021-029378 Publication Patent Application No. 2020-021938 (Application) Patent Application No. 2020-205592 (Application) Patent Application No. 2020-214571 (Application) Patent Application No. 2021-001647 (Application) Patent Application No. 2021-015626 (Application)

In such a general-purpose drug feeder (multi-drug adaptable drug feeder), there is no need to provide a fixed rectifying guide in the rotating body, and the range of common use for drugs of various shapes and sizes has expanded (as described in Background Art 3). and Patent Document 4), and in addition to that (see Background Art 3 and Patent Documents 5 to 11 above), the later regulation mechanism that regulates the width of the drug is also given a height regulation function, and then the mechanism located upstream thereof By loosening the height regulation function of the sorting member, it is possible to handle drugs on the upper edge of the annular rotating body, from hard and durable drugs to brittle drugs, and from drugs that are difficult to roll such as plates to drugs that are easy to roll such as balls and spindles. The solid medicines can be arranged in a line along the transport route without any difficulty.

However, general-purpose drug feeders in which the drug storage unit and drive unit are integrated (see Patent Documents 4 to 11) are different from specialized drug feeders in which the drug storage cassette can be attached and detached (see Patent Documents 1 and 2), and also from manual drug distribution devices in which a spare distribution cassette can be attached and detached (see Patent Document 3).Since they do not have a detachable cassette, cassette replacement is not possible.
However, since general-purpose drug feeders require much more frequent drug replacement than specialized drug feeders, there is a demand for reducing the burden of drug replacement and associated work.

To give a specific example of such a situation, a general-purpose drug feeder is required to handle drugs of different sizes and shapes, from small to large, in the same feeder. However, due to restrictions on the drug capacity, when trying to feed the prescribed amount per patient into the drug feeder all at once before starting to package larger drugs or small drugs prescribed in large quantities, a single drug feeder may not be enough, or may feel like it is not enough, which is a situation where the drug capacity is insufficient.

In such a situation where there is a shortage of drug storage capacity, it is desirable to divide the drugs to be added into a basic amount to be added to the initially selected drug feeder and a supplementary amount to be added to additionally selected drug feeders, and to perform a so-called ``split replenishment'' in which the drugs are added to multiple drug feeders in advance before the packaging operation begins.
However, if such partial replenishment were to be carried out in an inconsistent manner, the mental burden placed on the human workers who carry out the partial replenishment to prevent operational errors could become excessive.
Therefore, it is necessary to improve a drug packaging machine equipped with a drug feeder that can accommodate multiple types of drugs so as to reduce the burden on the operator who feeds drugs into the drug feeder during ``split replenishment'' before packaging begins (first technical issue).

In addition, when unforeseen situations occur, such as when there are not enough drug feeders available for "split replenishment" before starting the packaging operation, or when it was assumed that "split replenishment" would not be necessary, but it turned out to be a mistake. There is a high possibility that drugs will run out during the packaging process based on the current dispensing instructions and will need to be refilled even before the packaging is complete, so the drug packaging machine may be required to There is also a need to realize so-called "mid-way replenishment," in which the packaging process is interrupted and the drug is refilled manually. In addition, it is required to be able to easily and accurately perform "midway replenishment" (second technical problem).

The medicine packaging machine of the present invention (Solution 1) has been invented to solve the first technical problem described above,
A medicine packaging machine including a plurality of medicine feeders each having a container section for randomly storing a large number of medicines and a sequential discharge mechanism section for dropping each medicine one by one from the container and discharging it downward, and a packaging device for receiving the discharged medicines and packaging them,
a plurality of the drug feeders are general-purpose drug feeders in which the container portion and the sequential discharge mechanism portion are integrated, the drug feeders are capable of detecting an empty state after an attempt to discharge the drug, and are mounted on a drawer mechanism that can be drawn forward;
The system is characterized in that it includes a dispensing instruction receiving means for receiving dispensing instructions, and a discharge execution allocation means for allocating a drug discharge execution target to the drug feeder based on any one of the dispensing instructions, and the discharge execution allocation means is capable of receiving a divided replenishment request requesting permission for a divided replenishment operation in which a large number of identical drugs are divided and fed into a plurality of drug feeders, and upon receiving the divided replenishment request, it checks whether a plurality of the general-purpose drug feeders mounted on a single one of the pull-out mechanisms can be allocated, and only when a plurality of the general-purpose drug feeders have been allocated, the system guides the drug feeder to be the divided replenishment target.

Further, the medicine packaging machine of the present invention (solution means 2) is the medicine packaging machine of the above-mentioned solution means 1, in which a locking mechanism for selectively blocking the forward withdrawal operation is attached to the withdrawal mechanism,
When a drug discharge execution target is assigned to the general-purpose drug feeder, means for causing the lock mechanism to prevent the pull-out mechanism in which the drug feeder is mounted before the drug discharge is executed; and the lock mechanism. When an empty state is detected in the general-purpose drug feeder whose withdrawal is prevented by the above-described device, the locking mechanism temporarily releases the blocking of the drug feeder and prompts replenishment of the drug into the drug feeder; It is characterized by the fact that it is provided with.

Furthermore, the drug packaging machine of the present invention (Solution 3) is the drug packaging machine of Solution 2, characterized in that the mid-way replenishment promotion means is configured to temporarily release the withdrawal prevention and prompt the user to replenish the drug after detecting an empty state for all of the multiple drug feeders that are the subject of partial replenishment.

The drug packaging machine of the present invention (Solution 4) is the drug packaging machine of Solution 3, characterized in that when the mid-way replenishment promotion means prompts the user to replenish the drug, it limits the number of drug feeders for which the mid-way replenishment promotion means prompts the user to replenish the drug to one.

The drug packaging machine of the present invention (Solution 5) is the drug packaging machine of Solution 4, characterized in that when the mid-way replenishment promotion means repeats the temporary release of the withdrawal prevention and the prompt to replenish the drug, it limits the drug feeders for which the prompt to replenish the drug is to be limited to the same drug feeder.

In the drug packaging machine of the present invention (Solution 1), in preparation for the case where one general-purpose drug feeder is not enough, it has been improved to be able to perform "split replenishment", in which a large number of the same drugs are divided and fed into multiple drug feeders in advance. In this case, not only is it improved so that a split replenishment request requesting permission for split replenishment work can be accepted when allocating drug discharge execution targets to drug feeders based on the accepted dispensing instruction, but it is also improved so that, rather than simply allocating multiple drug feeders in response to a split replenishment request, allocation and guidance for split replenishment are suppressed or avoided when it is impossible to select multiple general-purpose drug feeders mounted on a single drawer mechanism to meet the request. This simplifies the work to be performed by the dispensing worker, making it clear and easy to understand, without compromising necessary functions.

Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the mental burden on the operator who puts medicine into the medicine feeder during "split replenishment", and the above-mentioned first technical problem is solved.
Moreover, since it has become possible to refill in parts, the division replenishment work and the container extension body (see Fig. 6 of Patent Documents 5 and 6 It is possible to use the attachment/detachment operations (see (e.g., et al.)) separately or in combination depending on the situation, which has the added effect of contributing to the diversification and facilitation of dispensing operations.

In addition, in the medicine packaging machine of the present invention (Solution 2), while the packaging process is in progress, the target medicine feeder is basically prevented from being pulled out by the locking mechanism of the installation site, so that the occurrence of an undesirable situation in which the packaging process is impaired by an erroneous operation or the like is suppressed. However, when a general-purpose medicine feeder becomes empty and this is detected, the installation site pull-out mechanism is temporarily unlocked, so that the corresponding medicine feeder can be "mid-way refilled" by refilling medicine with medicine. Moreover, since the prompting implementation means, such as a display or sound, prompts the dispensing worker or the equipment manager to refill the medicine feeder, the necessary medicine refill is promptly performed, so that the work of refilling medicine during the packaging process can be performed quickly and accurately, and therefore the workload is often light even if mid-way refilling occurs frequently.
Therefore, according to the present invention, the burden on the operator who puts medicines into the medicine feeder even during "mid-course refill" can be reduced, and the second technical problem described above is also solved.

Furthermore, in the drug packaging machine of the present invention (solution means 3), in a situation where "split replenishment" is allowed and the same drug is fed into multiple drug feeders before the start of the packaging operation, The work of "midway replenishment" after the start of packaging or in the middle of packaging operation is postponed until all the divided drug feeders are empty and it becomes difficult to continue packaging, resulting in highly efficient automatic packaging. will run as long as possible.
Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to further reduce the burden on the dispensing worker by cooperating and harmonizing "split replenishment" and "midway replenishment".

Furthermore, in the drug packaging machine of the present invention (Solution 4), when mid-way replenishment is performed after all of the drug feeders that have been partially replenished have become empty, there are multiple drug feeders that can be selected as targets for mid-way replenishment. However, by limiting the target drug feeder for which drug replenishment is encouraged to be performed to one, the destination for replenishment is fixed, thereby reducing the opportunity for judgment when manual mid-way replenishment is performed, and thus effectively preventing the occurrence of undesirable situations such as the dispensing worker selecting the wrong destination for replenishment.
The effect is greater when intermediate replenishment is repeated (Solution 5).

1 is a schematic diagram showing a general configuration of a dispensing system including a medicine packaging machine according to a first embodiment of the present invention; 1A and 1B show the overall structure of a medicine packaging machine, with FIG. 1A being a front view of the exterior and FIG. (a) to (d) are all left side views of the medicine packaging machine, and (e) is a front perspective view of the medicine storage section. 1A to 1C are perspective views of a shelf having drug feeders arranged thereon. 1A and 1B are left side views of the medicine packaging machine, and 1C to 1E are perspective views of a multi-stage medicine collection mechanism. Main parts of the drawer locking mechanism are shown, with (a) being a front view, (b) being a plan view, and (c) and (d) being front views. 1A shows different types of drug feeders, with (a) being a front view of a drug feeder for specific drugs (specialized drug feeder) with the cassette removed, and (b) being a left side view, front view, and right side view of a drug feeder for multiple drugs (general-purpose drug feeder). 1A is a schematic functional block diagram of a control unit of a medicine packaging machine and a control unit of a medicine feeder, and FIGS. 1B to 1E are examples of screen displays of a touch panel. FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram related to a control section of the medicine packaging machine. 13A to 13C are examples of touch panel screen displays relating to replenishing medicines to a multi-medication compatible medicine feeder (general-purpose medicine feeder), and FIG. 13D is a perspective view of a shelf with medicine feeders arranged in a row. This is related to the refilling of drugs into a drug feeder that can be used for multiple drugs (a general-purpose drug feeder), and (a) and (b) are examples of the screen display of a touch panel, (c) is an oblique view of a shelf with drug feeders installed, and (d) is an example of the screen display of a touch panel.

[Embodiment 1]
The medicine packaging machine of the first embodiment is the medicine packaging machine of any one of the above-mentioned solutions 1 to 5, and each of the plurality of pull-out mechanisms is provided with a pull-out state detection member that detects the pull-out state of the pull-out mechanism, and a locking mechanism that selectively prevents the pull-out mechanism from being pulled out forward.
The device is characterized in that it is provided with a means for accepting a dispensing instruction, and a means for accepting a remaining drug drawer/recovery instruction which instructs the general-purpose drug feeder to release remaining drugs in a pulled-out forward state, and that after it is confirmed that the general-purpose drug feeder is pulled out forward based on the detection state of the pull-out state detection member and the locking state of the locking mechanism, the corresponding drug feeder is caused to perform a drug discharge operation in accordance with the remaining drug drawer/recovery instruction.

The drug packaging machine of the first embodiment is equipped with a plurality of general-purpose drug feeders, and these are mounted in a plurality of drawer mechanisms so that they can move forward without being prevented from being drawn out. In addition, for general-purpose drug feeders, if it is known that the drug feeder is being pulled out forward, the corresponding drug feeder will be activated in response to the remaining drug drawer recovery instruction. As a result, for general-purpose drug feeders that are not being used for packaging processing based on dispensing instructions and are being pulled out from the housing of the drug packaging machine, the drug drawer recovery instruction is executed. This means that even if packaging processing based on a later dispensing instruction is started before the collection of leftover medicines from a previous dispensing, or even during packaging processing based on a later dispensing instruction, the drug packaging based on the previous dispensing instruction will be accepted. The remaining medicine can be recovered from the medicine feeder after it has been discharged without any inconvenience.

[Embodiment 2]
The medicine packaging machine of the second embodiment is the medicine packaging machine of any one of the above-mentioned solutions 1 to 5, and each of the plurality of pull-out mechanisms is provided with a pull-out state detection member that detects the pull-out state of the pull-out mechanism, and a locking mechanism that selectively prevents the pull-out mechanism from being pulled out forward.
The system is characterized in that it is provided with: means for receiving a plurality of dispensing instructions in parallel; means for allocating a drug discharge execution target to the drug feeder based on any one of the dispensing instructions; means for, when the drug discharge execution target is allocated to the general-purpose drug feeder, causing the locking mechanism to prevent the pull-out mechanism mounting the drug feeder from being pulled out prior to drug discharge execution; and means for allowing the other pull-out mechanisms to be pulled out and allocating the general-purpose drug feeders mounted thereon to any other one of the dispensing instructions.

In the medicine packaging machine of embodiment 2, a general-purpose medicine feeder is installed in each of a number of individually lockable drawer mechanisms, and purposeful improvements are made to the control method, etc.
That is, a plurality of prescription instructions can be received in parallel from a higher-level device, etc., and if there are other prescription instructions before one prescription instruction is completed, the other prescription instructions are also received.
First, in order to ensure that appropriate dispensing is performed for a particular dispensing order, the general-purpose drug feeder that is to process that particular dispensing order is locked with the drawer in the unpulled state, providing simple yet precise protection from external disturbances.

On the other hand, for other dispensing instructions, when allocating a general-purpose drug feeder, the drug feeder installed in the unlocked drawer is selected, so it overlaps with the drug feeder that is already responsible for processing the first dispensing instruction. This eliminates the undesirable situation of dispensing, and regardless of the progress of processing for a single dispensing instruction, the medicine can be pulled forward from the casing and put in the exposed state, so the work of putting in medicine is easy and You can proceed accurately.
Therefore, in one drug packaging machine, preparation for subsequent packaging based on the next dispensing instruction can be carried out in parallel during packaging processing based on the current dispensing instruction.

Regarding the drug packaging machine of the present invention and the drug packaging machine of the above embodiments as described above, a specific form for implementing the same will be explained with reference to Example 1 below.
Embodiment 1 shown in FIGS. 1 to 11 embodies all of the above solutions 1 to 5 (claims 1 to 5 as originally filed) plus the above embodiments 1 and 2. .
In addition, for the sake of clarity, fasteners such as bolts, connectors such as hinges, drive sources such as electric motors, transmission members such as timing belts, electric circuits such as motor drivers, etc. are not shown in the diagrams. The illustrations mainly focus on those necessary for explaining the invention and those related to the invention.

The specific configuration of Example 1 of the drug packaging machine of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the general configuration of a dispensing system including a medicine packaging machine 10. As shown in FIG.
2 to 3 show the overall structure of the drug packaging machine 10, of which FIG. 2(a) is a front view of the exterior, FIG. 2(b) is a front view of the inside, and FIG. (a) to (d) are left side views of the exterior.

FIG. 3(e) is a perspective view of the front of the medicine storage section 13, and FIGS. 4(a) to 4(c) are perspective views of the medicine feeder row shelves 20. As shown in FIG.
5(a) and (b) are left side views of the medicine packing machine 10, and FIGS. 5(c) to (e) are perspective views of the multi-stage medicine collecting mechanism 30. FIG.
6A, 6B, and 6C show the main part of the drawer lock mechanism 40, with (a) being a front view, (b) being a plan view, and (c) and (d) being front views.

Figure 7 shows two different types of drug feeders: Figure 7(a) is a front view of a detachable cassette-type drug feeder 51 (a specialized drug feeder) for specific drugs, and Figure 7(b) is an external view of a drug feeder 52 (a general-purpose drug feeder) for multiple drugs, showing, from top to bottom, a left side view, a front view, and a right side view.
Figure 8 (a) is a functional block diagram of the controller 80 (control unit) of the drug packaging machine 10 and the controller (control unit) of the drug feeder 52, Figures 8 (b) to (e) are all examples of screen displays of the touch panel 15, and Figure 9 is a specific functional block diagram of the controller 80 (control unit) of the drug packaging machine 10.

The medicine packaging machine 10 (see FIG. 1) may be used alone in small-scale pharmacies, but in large-scale dispensing departments, a plurality of machines are often used under the dispensing server 100.
The dispensing server 100 is capable of transmitting and receiving data with the upper-level prescription ordering system and the lower-level drug packaging machine 10 via a LAN, etc., and performs prescription ordering by executing the program as already described in Background Art 1. It receives prescription data from the system and holds it, and based on the prescription data, it issues dispensing instructions to the medicine packaging machine 10 or other medicine packaging machines (not shown), if any. Further, the dispensing server 100 holds data indicating the operating state of the medicine packaging machine 10 as a packaging machine status, and also holds a medicine master in which known medicine information related to various medicines is registered in advance.

The drug packaging machine 10 (see FIGS. 1 and 2(a)) includes a lower packaging device 11, a drug manual dispensing device equipment section 12 above it, and a drug storage section 13 above it, which are positioned by an arm. It is equipped with a touch panel 15 (operation input section, display section) that can be easily changed, and a controller 80 (control section of the medicine packaging machine) housed inside the housing. A plurality of drug feeder storages 14 and a plurality of drug feeder array racks 20 are incorporated in a state that they can each be pulled out forward.
Although the drug feeder storage 14 is shown as having two horizontal rows arranged on the left and right, it may be three or more horizontal rows, or it may be a single row. It may be possible to pull it out.

Although the drug feeder array shelves 20 are illustrated in which three shelves are arranged in three vertical stages and one horizontal row, other arrangements may be used as long as a plurality of shelves are provided.
Inside the drug feeder storage 14 in the drug storage section 13 that occupies the upper part of the drug packaging machine 10 (see FIGS. 1 and 2(b)), there are a plurality of specific drug-only type drug feeders 51 (specialized drug The drug feeder row racks 18, in which feeders (see FIGS. 1 and 7(a)) can be arranged in rows in front and back, are installed in six rows above and below and in two rows on the left and right, and between the two rows on the left and right. An upper drug collection mechanism 17 is installed vertically through the body (see FIG. 2(b)). The medicine discharged from the medicine feeder 51 is guided by the upper medicine collection mechanism 17 to the lower medicine collection mechanism 16 below.

In addition, inside the location where the drug feeder row shelves 20, 20, 20 occupying a corner of the medicine storage section 13 (see FIGS. 1 and 2(b)), the drug feeder row shelves 20, 20, 20, which will be described later, are provided. Hidden behind the front plate 25 (see FIGS. 3(d) and 3(e)), a multi-stage drug collection mechanism 30 is also installed (see FIGS. 1, 2(b), and 5). A handle 33 provided on the front side of the multi-stage drug collection mechanism 30 is also hidden behind the front plate 25. This multi-stage medicine collection mechanism 30 guides the medicine discharged from the feeder to the lower medicine collection mechanism 16 in the same way as the upper medicine collection mechanism 17, but it also guides the medicine discharged from the feeder to the lower medicine collection mechanism 16 below. Instead of the medicine discharged from the specialized medicine feeder), the medicine discharged from the multi-drug adaption type medicine feeder 52 (general-purpose medicine feeder, FIG. 7(b)) of the medicine feeder array shelf 20 is accepted. There is not only one drug feeder array shelf 20 for receiving the drug, but a plurality of drug feeder row shelves 20, 20, 20 arranged vertically.

The illustrated drug feeder row shelf 20 (see FIG. 3) is provided with a handle 21 on the front surface (see FIG. 3(a)), and is supported by a drawer member 22 (drawer mechanism) (see FIG. 3(b)). ), and can be individually pulled forward or pushed backward from the upper to the lower row (see Figs. 3(a) to 3(d)). In addition, four drug feeders 52 (general-purpose drug feeders) are placed in a row in the front and back on the drug feeder row shelf 23 supported by the pull-out mechanism 22 (see FIGS. 3(d), (e), and 4). They can be installed side by side. Furthermore, on the front plate 25 at the front end of the drug feeder row shelf 20 (see FIGS. 3(e) and 4(a)), in addition to the handle 21, there is a swing plate 24, a manual lock 43, and an LED display (not shown). Utensils are also included.

The multi-drug compatible type drug feeder 52 (general-purpose drug feeder) differs from the specific drug-specific type drug feeder 51 (specialized drug feeder), in which the filling drugs are almost never changed, and can be easily adjusted as described above. By applying this method, specifically, for example, changing the sample drug or acquiring drug size data from the dispensing server 100, it is possible to use it for drugs of various shapes and sizes (Patent Documents 4 to 12). (See also), in order to minimize the occurrence of mistakes such as drug mix-ups during drug replenishment work, a so-called fully fixed unit type, in which the drug storage section is normally fixed except during maintenance work, has been adopted. There is. Although not essential, the drug feeder 52 (see FIG. 8(a)) has a built-in controller 53 (control unit) and cooperates with the controller 80 by transmitting and receiving data.

Further (see FIGS. 3(d), (e), and 4), the drug feeder array shelf 20 is provided with a lid 52a and a lid open/close state detection means 29 corresponding to each of the drug feeders 52 mounted thereon. ing.
The lid 52a is for opening and closing the medicine inlet on the top surface of the corresponding multi-drug compatible type medicine feeder 52 (general-purpose medicine feeder), and its rear end (upper right part in the figure) is pivoted and swings. It is possible to move. Furthermore, in a horizontal state, the drug inlet is closed (see Figure 4(a)), in a vertical or nearly vertical state, the drug inlet is opened to the state where medicine can be injected (see Figure 4(b)), and in an oblique state between them. It is designed to transition between both states via .

The lid opening/closing state detection means 29 (see FIG. 4(a)) is mainly composed of, for example, a magnetic sensor, and is attached to the back plate of the drug feeder array shelf 23 to detect the corresponding multi-drug applicable type drug feeder. 52, and detects the open/closed state of the corresponding lid 52a, but it does not only detect whether the lid 52a is sufficiently opened to the state where medicine can be inserted (see FIG. 4(b)). (see FIG. 4(c)), it is also detected whether the lid 52a is sufficiently closed to a state where medicine can be prevented from spilling. The detection can be realized by using a plurality of magnetic sensors having different sensitivity levels, or by comparing the output value of a single magnetic sensor with a plurality of threshold values having different levels.

The detection result of the lid opening/closing state detection means 29 is notified to the controller 80 of the medicine packaging machine 10 via the controller 53 of the medicine feeder 52.
In response to these, the controller 80, which manages drug injection, etc., changes the state from the state in which the corresponding lid 52a is fully closed (see FIG. 4(a)) to the state in which the drug can be introduced (see FIG. 4(b)). When it is determined that the lid has been opened based on the detection value of the lid opening/closing state detection means 29, it is determined that drug feeding into the corresponding drug feeder 52 has started.
Further, when the controller 80 determines based on the detection by the lid opening/closing state detection means 29 that the lid 52a has been sufficiently closed to the point where it can prevent the drug from spilling from that state (FIG. 4(b) to FIG. (see change to a)), it is determined that the drug feeding into the corresponding drug feeder 52 has been completed.

The lower end of the oscillating plate 24 is connected to the lower end of the front surface of the front plate 25 via a oscillating support shaft (see Figs. 3(d), (e), and 4), allowing it to be gently oscillated with the hand or fingertips. When the free end/oscillating end is raised (see Figs. 3(a)-(c)), it assumes a vertical position as if it were attached to the front plate 25. In contrast, when the free end/oscillating end is lowered (see Figs. 3(d), (e), and 4), it assumes a horizontal position, like a small table, on which small items such as medicine bottles and dispensing instruction sheets can be placed.

As mentioned above, the multi-stage drug collection mechanism 30 (see FIG. 5) is disposed immediately beside the three drug feeder rows of shelves 20, 20, 20, and guides the drugs discharged from them downward and drops them. This mechanism is also supported by a multi-stage drawer mechanism 37 inside the drug storage section 13 (see FIG. 5(a) and (b)), and can be drawn forward from the drug storage section 13 (see FIG. 5(b)). In addition, the length of the multi-stage drug collection mechanism 30 in the front-to-rear direction is shorter than that of the drug feeder rows of shelves 20, 20, 20, and it is always located behind the left end of the front panel 25, 25, 25 of the right drug feeder rows of shelves 20, 20, 20 (see FIG. 2, FIG. 5(a) and (b)).

The front plates 25, 25, 25, whose left ends protrude forward of the multi-stage medicine collection mechanism 30, serve as relative pull-out position restricting means that prevent the multi-stage medicine collection mechanism 30 from being pulled forward from the medicine feeder row shelf 20, and also serve as a member that restricts the multi-stage medicine collection mechanism 30 from being pulled forward from the medicine storage section 13. In addition, all of the medicine feeder row shelves 20 equipped with such front plates 25 are provided only on the right side of the multi-stage medicine collection mechanism 30 (see FIG. 2(b)), and there is no restricting member such as the front plate 25 on the left side of the multi-stage medicine collection mechanism 30, so that when the multi-stage medicine collection mechanism 30 is pulled forward from the medicine storage section 13 (see FIG. 5(b)), the left side of the multi-stage medicine collection mechanism 30 is released.

Furthermore, the multi-stage drug collection mechanism 30 (see Figs. 5(c)-(e)) mainly comprises a shallow box-shaped main body 31 and a removable side plate 35 that is disposed on the left open side of the main body 31, which is the side farthest from the drug feeder rows 20, 20, 20, and closes the side when attached. The right side plate of the main body 31 has drug receiving openings 32, 32, 32 that receive drugs discharged from the drug feeder rows 20, 20, 20, and a handle 33 is provided at the front end of the main body 31, and a side plate holding member 34 that receives the lower end of the side plate 35 from below is provided at the lower end of the main body 31, located below the open side.

The upper part of the side plate 35 is equipped with a small latching member 36, which can be operated by a lever, and when the lower end of the side plate 35 is placed on the side plate holding member 34 and received, and then the side plate 35 is raised and the latching member 36 is latched to the main body 31, the open side of the main body 31 is closed (see FIG. 5(c)). When all the latching members 36, 36 are removed, the upper part of the side plate 35 separates from the open side of the main body 31 (see FIG. 5(d)), but since the side plate holding member 34 is made of, for example, a hook member and receives the lower end of the side plate 35 with a little play, the side plate 35 is held in a slightly tilted state. Furthermore, when the side plate 35 is lifted by placing hands on both the left and right ends of the side plate 35, the side plate 35 separates completely from the main body 31, and the inside of the main body 31 is largely exposed (see FIG. 5(e)).

As mentioned above, the manual lock 43 is provided on the front plate 25 of the drug feeder row shelf 20 (see Figs. 3(e) and 4(a)), and the drawer lock mechanism 40 (see Fig. 6) including this manual lock 43 is attached to the front end of the drug feeder row shelf 20 and the front end of the drug storage section 13. Specifically, the drawer lock mechanism 40 comprises a swinging member 44 that is provided on the drug feeder row shelf 20 together with the manual lock 43, an electromagnetic drive unit 41 that is provided on the frame of the drug storage section 13, and an advancing and retreating member 42 that can move forward and backward from the electromagnetic drive unit 41 toward the swinging member 44. The forward/backward member 42 is constantly biased forward (to the left) by a spring or the like (not shown) and protrudes from the frame of the medicine vault 13 toward the medicine feeder row shelf 20. When its tip is in front of the swinging member 44 (see FIG. 6(a)), the medicine feeder row shelf 20 is locked and cannot be pulled forward from the medicine vault 13.

Moreover (see FIG. 6(b)), a slope is formed at the tip of the reciprocating member 42, and when the swinging member 44 comes into contact with the slope, the retracting member 42 retreats toward the electromagnetic drive section 41 due to the force. When the medicine feeder row shelf 20 that has been pulled out is pushed into the medicine storage section 13, the swinging member 44 temporarily retracts the advancing/retracting member 42 and moves rearward (in Figure 6(b). (See the two-dot chain line and the one-dot chain line in ), whereas the drawer of the drug feeder row rack 20 is normally locked, the drug feeder row rack 20 can be pushed in at any time.
In addition, although not shown in the diagram as it is complicated because it can be configured with a magnetic sensor or the like, a drawer state detection means for detecting whether or not the medicine feeder row shelf 20 is located within the lockable range of the drawer locking mechanism 40 is also included. They are provided corresponding to the respective drug feeder row shelves 20.

Furthermore (see FIG. 6(c)), when the electromagnetic drive unit 41 is excited under the control of the controller 80, the reciprocating member 42 retreats toward the electromagnetic drive unit 41 (moves to the right in the figure) due to the electromagnetic force that is greater than the spring force, so that the drug feeder row shelves 20 are in a state in which they can be pulled out as well as pushed in. In other words, electric unlocking is possible.
Furthermore, (see FIG. 6(d)), when the key 45 is inserted into the manual lock 43 and turned to the unlocking side, the oscillating member 44 also rotates accordingly, and the oscillating member 44 assumes a position and state in which it is not engaged with the advancing/retreating member 42, making manual unlocking also possible.

Further, the controller 80 determines that the lid 52a of the drug feeder 52 mounted on the drug feeder array shelf 20 is firmly closed based on the detection by the lid open/close state detection means 29 and the notification from the controller 53. (see FIG. 4(a)), it is determined that it is normal even if the drug feeder row shelf 20 is pushed into the housing. However, if it is not, for example, it is determined that the medicine feeder array shelf 20 is not detected by the lid opening/closing state detection means 29. In this state, the lid 52a is closed (see FIG. 4(c)), and the corresponding drug feeder array shelf 20 is pushed into the housing and positioned within the lockable range of the drawer locking mechanism 40, as described above. When detected by the drawer state detection means, an alarm is issued.

To summarize the explanation although it is repeated, the drug feeder 51 (see FIG. 7(a)) is the above-mentioned specific drug exclusive type drug feeder (specialized drug feeder), and has a fixed base 51b (drive section). ) and a cassette 51a (container part). When the motor of the base 51b is operated under the control of the controller 80 while the cassette is attached, the cassette 51a is driven and the medicines are dropped and discharged one by one. On the other hand, the drug feeder 52 (see FIG. 7(b)) is the multi-drug applicable type drug feeder (general-purpose drug feeder) described above, and the container portion and the base are integrated (Patent Document 4). - 12), and is normally fixed to the drug feeder array shelf 20. This 52 also drops and discharges medicines one by one under the control of the controller 80.

Furthermore, in the medicine packaging machine 10, the controller 80 controls the touch panel 15, so that the controller 80 exhibits a function of inputting operations in addition to displaying information on the screen (see FIG. 1, etc.).
When the controller 80 of the medicine packaging machine 10 receives a dispensing instruction from the dispensing server 100, it automatically processes the instruction to the extent possible, but if necessary, it displays a guide for the dispensing worker on a screen and receives instructions from the dispensing worker. For example, when the dispensing instruction includes a drug that is not held in the drug feeder 51 and drug feeder 52 is selected as the dispensing destination, if the dispensing worker's assistance is required, an instruction to feed the drug into the corresponding drug feeder 52 is displayed on the touch panel 15.

Then, when the data necessary for automatic discharge is collected and preparations for automatic discharge are completed, an instruction for automatic discharge is transmitted from the controller 80 of the medicine packaging machine 10 to the controller 53 of the target medicine feeder 52 (Fig. 1 , FIG. 8(a)), if the corresponding drug feeder 52 is pushed into the housing of the drug packaging machine 10 (see FIG. 1, FIG. 3(e) (see feeder row shelves 20), from which drugs are automatically discharged. The medicine discharged from the medicine feeder 52 (see FIGS. 2(b) and 5) is sent to the lower medicine collection mechanism 16 via a multi-stage medicine collection mechanism 30 shared by the upper and lower medicine feeder array shelves 20. Furthermore, it is fed into a packaging device 11.

Further, when there is an excess drug remaining in the drug feeder 52 after the automatic discharge of the drug, the remaining drug is collected.This drug packaging machine 10 collects the remaining drug from the target drug feeder 52 There are two types of means for doing this (see FIG. 8(a)). Both means are performed by cooperation between the controller 80 of the medicine packaging machine 10 and the controller 53 of the medicine feeder 52 from which the remaining medicines are collected. The discharge operation mode selection program 81 of the controller 80 of the packaging machine 10 selects either the automatic discharge program 54 or the remaining drug collection program 55 from the program group of the controller 53 of the medicine feeder 52 as a partner. .

The automatic discharge program 54 performs the aforementioned "remaining drug recovery using packaging paper" in which the remaining drugs are discharged and packaged while the drug feeder row shelf 20 on which the target drug feeder 52 is mounted is pushed into the housing of the drug packaging machine 10 and locked by the drawer lock mechanism 40. In this case, the drug name can be printed on the portion of the packaging paper that will package the remaining drugs, which offers the advantage of making it easier to manage the collected drugs. Such an automatic discharge program 54 can be easily adapted or used in conjunction with a program used for normal packaging in which the number of drugs to be discharged is specified, by simply manipulating the number of drugs to be discharged, etc.

The remaining medicine collection program 55 executes the previously described "remaining medicine collection using containers", and specifically, the program 55 executes the above-mentioned "remaining medicine collection using containers". , when the corresponding drawer locking mechanism 40 is unlocked and it is detected that it has come out of the locked position based on the detection by the above-mentioned drawer state detection means, the drug feeder array shelf 20 is removed from the housing of the drug packaging machine 10. The medicine packaging machine 10 is determined to be in the previously pulled out state, and in that state (see the lower medicine feeder row shelf 20 of the three upper and lower stages illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3(e)), the medicine packaging machine 10 When receiving an instruction to discharge the remaining medicine from the controller 80, the medicine feeder 52 from which the remaining medicine is to be collected is made to continue discharging until it becomes empty.

Having explained the outline of the discharge control by the controller 80 of the medicine packaging machine 10, the explanation has moved on to the functions of the controller 53 of the medicine feeder 52, which operates according to the control of the controller 80. Return to the explanation of the emission control function.

In addition to the discharge operation mode selection program 81 described above, the controller 80 (see Figs. 8(a) and 9) is installed with a dispensing instruction reception program 91 (dispensing instruction reception means), a discharge execution allocation program 92 (basic part of the discharge execution allocation means), a discharge reservation allocation program 93 (extension part of the discharge execution allocation means), a withdrawal prevention program 94 (withdrawal prevention means), a release prompting program 95 (release prompting means), and a discharge control program 96 (discharge control means). In addition, a data area capable of holding multiple dispensing instruction data (shown as "dispensing instruction data" in the figure) and a data area capable of holding allocation data for each stage showing the allocation status to the drug feeder row shelves 20 by the above two types of allocation means (shown as "upper drawer allocation", "middle drawer allocation", and "lower drawer allocation" in the figure) are secured.

In this example, one dispensing instruction reception program 91, one discharge execution allocation program 92, and one discharge reservation allocation program 93 are provided.
The withdrawal prevention program 94, the cancellation reminder program 95, and the discharge control program 96 form a set, and three drug feeder array shelves 20 are provided in the upper, middle, and lower tiers. Three groups have been established to correspond to the number of students.
Three sets of allocation data are also secured based on the same correspondence.

The dispensing instruction reception program 91 receives dispensing instructions transmitted from the dispensing server 100, which is the host device of the drug packaging machine 10, and stores the data. When a dispensing instruction is received, the program stores the data. Even if the processing related to the previous dispensing instruction (i.e., the processing related to the previous dispensing instruction) is not yet completed, if a subsequent dispensing instruction is transmitted as data, the program also receives the subsequent dispensing instruction. By storing multiple/multiple dispensing instructions as data in a manner that indicates the order of receipt or priority, dispensing instructions can be received in parallel.

The discharge execution allocation program 92 selects one appropriate dispensing instruction from among the received dispensing instructions, such as the one received first or the one designated as the highest priority, as the drug discharge execution target, and the prescribed medicine is loaded into and removed from the cassette. If the designated drug is stored in the specific drug-dedicated type drug feeder 51 (specialized drug feeder), it will be assigned preferentially, but if not, the indicated drug will be stored in the fully fixed multi-drug applicable type drug feeder 52. (general-purpose drug feeder). In the example of FIG. 9, four or fewer types of drugs are allocated to the four drug feeders 52 in the upper drug feeder array shelf 20. In this case, the upper drawer allocation data includes information instructing to block/cancel the drawer and discharge control information such as the number of medicines to be discharged per time for each assigned medicine feeder 52. ing.

The discharge reservation allocation program 93 selects another appropriate dispensing instruction as a drug discharge reservation target, such as one ranked next to the one that has already been selected as a drug discharge execution target, from among the received dispensing instructions, and further instructs it. When the designated medicine is not stored in the medicine feeder 51, the designated medicine is allocated to the medicine feeder 52 of the medicine feeder array shelf 20 to which it has not yet been allocated. In the example shown in FIG. 1, four or less types of drugs are allocated to the drug feeders 52 of the middle or lower drug feeder row shelves 20.
In this case, the allocation data related to the four drug feeders 52 in each of the middle and lower tiers includes information instructing permission for withdrawal and discharge control information such as the number of drugs to be discharged from each assigned drug feeder 52. It is also set.

The withdrawal prevention program 94 is capable of immediately checking whether or not the drug feeder 52 on the relevant tier is the target for drug discharge execution by referring to the allocation data of the drug feeder row shelf 20 on the relevant tier, either the upper, middle or lower tier, and is configured to prevent the withdrawal of the drug feeder 52 that is the target for drug discharge execution, by controlling the withdrawal lock mechanism 40 of the drug feeder row shelf 20 that carries the drug feeder 52 that is the target for drug discharge execution to be placed in a locked state prior to drug discharge execution.
In addition, for the drug feeder row shelf 20 that is equipped with the drug feeder 52 that is the subject of the drug discharge reservation, the drawer lock mechanism 40 is controlled to be in an unlocked state, thereby allowing the drug feeder 52 that is the subject of the drug discharge reservation to be drawn out.

The release reminder program 95 (“release/reminding” in the figure) is a general-purpose program that is selected as a drug ejection target by the ejection execution allocation program 92 and whose withdrawal is prevented by the drawer locking mechanism 40 under the control of the drawer prevention program 94. When it is detected that the medicine feeder 52 has become empty even though it has not yet finished discharging the medicine, due to expiration of the waiting time for detecting a dropped medicine (time-out, time-out), etc., the system cooperates with the withdrawal prevention program 94. By controlling the drawer locking mechanism 40 to the unlocked state by moving the drawer locking mechanism 40, the blocking of the empty drug feeder 52 and the drug feeder row rack 20 on which it is mounted is temporarily released. Further, the controller 80 displays appropriate guidance on the touch panel 15 to prompt the dispensing operator to replenish the medicine into the medicine feeder 52.

The discharge control program 96 stops drug discharge for the drug feeders 52 that have been targeted for drug discharge by allocation by the discharge execution allocation program 92 until the preparations and conditions are met. The drug is discharged using the automatic discharge program 54. Furthermore, for the drug feeder 52 that is no longer a target for drug ejection after the drug ejection process is completed, the drug is ejected using the above-mentioned remaining drug collection program 55. Further, the drug feeder 52 that has been targeted for drug filling by the allocation of the discharge reservation allocation program 93 is prevented from discharging the drug in preparation for drawing out the drug feeder row shelf 20 to which it is loaded or loading the drug. It has become.

For the sake of simplicity, the above explanations of the discharge execution allocation program 92, discharge reservation allocation program 93, release prompting program 95, and discharge control program 96 have been limited to their individual basic functions. Next, we will explain the expanded functions that they perform in conjunction with each other.
First, the discharge execution allocation program 92 and the discharge reservation allocation program 93 can be used to simply allocate the drug feeder 52 and the input drug by specifying each pair for all four drug feeders 52 mounted on one drug feeder row shelf 20, or can be used to automatically allocate the input drug and the drug feeder 52 on a one-to-one basis based on prescription data, and the initial settings and updates can be made using the operation mode selection function.

Moreover, the discharge execution allocation program 92 and the discharge reservation allocation program 93 do not only perform basic drug replenishment in which one type of drug is put into a single drug feeder 52, but also divide a large number of the same drugs into multiple drug feeders. It also supports split replenishment. Specifically, when the touch panel 15 prompts the basic drug replenishment process, a selection item for split replenishment is also displayed on the touch panel 15, and when the touch panel 15 is operated to request permission for split refill work. , split replenishment is allowed if possible. Whether or not split replenishment is possible is determined by whether or not it is possible to allocate a plurality of general-purpose drug feeders 52 mounted on a single target drug feeder row rack 20, and it is possible to allocate a plurality of general-purpose drug feeders 52. When completed, the display on the touch panel 15 guides the drug feeder 52 to which the divided replenishment is to be performed.

Next, the release prompting program 95 and the discharge control program 96 are added with an intermediate replenishment prompting function (intermediate replenishment prompting means).
When both programs 95, 96 exercise this mid-refill promotion function, if an empty state is detected for a drug feeder 52 (general-purpose drug feeder) that is prevented from being pulled forward from the drug storage section 13 by the drawer lock mechanism 40, the corresponding drawer lock mechanism 40 temporarily releases the pull-out prevention for that drug feeder 52, and a display on the touch panel 15, etc. is displayed to encourage the dispensing worker to replenish the drug in that drug feeder 52.

Furthermore, when both programs 95 and 96 perform the intermediate replenishment promotion function, when an empty state is detected for the first or intermediate drug feeder 52 in the series of drug feeders 52 targeted for split replenishment, the above-mentioned drawer is activated. Without temporarily releasing the blocking and prompting for drug replenishment, the above-mentioned withdrawal blocking is not performed until the empty state is detected for the last drug feeder 52 among the series of drug feeders 52 targeted for split replenishment. The system temporarily lifts the drug and prompts for drug refills.

Then, when the last medicine feeder 52 is taken out or taken out of the medicine feeder row shelf 20 or manually replenished with medicine, the withdrawal is blocked and the medicine is discharged accordingly, and when the empty state is detected again. The above-mentioned withdrawal prevention is temporarily canceled and the replenishment of the medicine is encouraged for only the last medicine feeder 52 without returning the medicine discharge target to the first or intermediate medicine feeder 52. As a result, when the above-mentioned temporary release of withdrawal prevention and the above-mentioned prompting for drug replenishment are to be repeated, the drug feeders to which drug replenishment is prompted are limited to the same drug feeder.

The usage and operation of the medicine packaging machine 10 of the first embodiment will be described with reference to the above-mentioned Figures 1 to 11.

In the drug packaging machine 10 equipped with the controller 80 described above (see FIG. 1), when dispensing instructions are sent one after another from the dispensing server 100, the controller 80 (see FIG. 9) processes these dispensing instructions. The data is maintained in an order by the dispensing instruction reception program 91. Regarding the first dispensing instruction data, if a medicine stored in a specialized medicine feeder 51 is specified, that medicine feeder 51 is assigned for medicine discharge, and if the medicine is not stored in the medicine feeder 51. A general-purpose drug feeder 52 is assigned to the drug by the discharge execution allocation program 92 for drug discharge.

At this time, the number of drug feeder row shelves 20 allocated to one patient (prescription) is limited to one from the viewpoint of preventing dispensing errors. The medicines for patients are limited to four or less types, and the medicine feeders 52 in the upper medicine feeder array shelf 20 are allocated to these medicines by the discharge execution allocation program 92, and the medicines for four or less kinds of other patients are allocated to the medicine feeders 52 in the upper medicine feeder row shelf 20. The drug feeders 52 of the drug feeder row shelves 20 are allocated by the discharge reservation allocation program 93.

Based on the allocation, for each pair of drug feeder 52 and drug, the touch panel 15 displays guidance regarding the type of drug, the drug feeder to which the drug is to be input, and the drug feeder row shelf 20 to be loaded/unloaded. At the same time, the assigned medicine feeder row shelf 20 is unlocked, so each time the user moves to the designated medicine feeder 52 while also taking in and out the medicine feeder row rack 20 according to the guidance display on the touch panel 15, if necessary. The specified medicine is injected, and a notification of the completion of the medicine injection work is inputted by operating the screen of the touch panel 15 or the like.

Then, when all the drugs specified in the dispensing instruction are gathered in the drug packaging machine 10 and the drug feeder row shelves 20 on which the target drug feeders 52 are mounted are pushed into the housing, those drug feeder row shelves 20 are locked. In the example of Fig. 1, the upper and middle drug feeder row shelves 20 are locked by the drawer lock mechanism 40 while being accommodated in the housing of the drug packaging machine 10. Therefore, all the drug feeders 52 mounted on those drug feeder row shelves 20 are fixed in position within the housing of the drug packaging machine 10.
Then, various drugs based on the dispensing instructions are discharged one after another from the drug feeders 52 allocated by the discharge execution allocation program 92 and the drug feeders 51 in the drug feeder storage room 14, and these drugs fall downward and are guided to the packaging device 11 where they are packaged.

Furthermore, in parallel with the drug discharge and packaging operations, if the second or third dispensing instruction data specifies a drug stored in a specialized drug feeder 51, the drug feeder 51 is allocated for drug discharge by the discharge reservation allocation program 93, and for drugs not stored in the drug feeder 51, a general-purpose drug feeder 52 that has not yet been allocated is allocated for drug discharge.
In this example (see Figures 1 and 9), the middle drug feeder row shelf 20 has already been allocated and locked and is waiting to be transferred from the management of the discharge reservation allocation program 93 to the management of the discharge execution allocation program 92, so the lower drug feeder row shelf 20 is made the next target for allocation and its drawer is unlocked.

Then, based on this allocation, for each corresponding pair of drug feeder 52 and drug, guidance regarding the type of drug, the drug feeder to which the drug is to be added, and the drug feeder row shelf 20 to which it should be added or removed is displayed on the touch panel 15, and the user follows the display each time to add the specified drug to the specified drug feeder 52, taking the drug feeder row shelf 20 in and out as necessary, and then inputs a notification that the drug addition work is complete by operating the screen of the touch panel 15, etc.
Then, when all the drugs specified in the third dispensing instruction are gathered in the drug packaging machine 10 and the lower drug feeder row shelf 20 into which the drugs were to be fed at that time is pushed into the housing, that drug feeder row shelf 20 is also locked. Note that when feeding the drugs, "partial replenishment" may be performed, and "mid-course replenishment" may be required after that, which will be described later.

In the meantime, before the dispensing based on the previous dispensing instruction is completed, all the drugs specified in the previous dispensing instruction data and put into the drug feeder 52 are discharged, and the drug feeder 52 becomes empty. Then, when this is detected by the controller 53 of the medicine feeder 52 when the waiting time for detecting the dropped medicine has expired, and further notified to the controller 80 of the medicine packaging machine 10, the automatic dispensing operation in the medicine packaging machine 10 is temporarily stopped. The lock of the drug feeder row shelf 20 on which the drug feeder 52 is mounted is temporarily unlocked, and a message or the like prompting the drug feeder 52 to be refilled with the drug is displayed on the touch panel 15.

Therefore, the dispensing worker who knows this pulls out the corresponding drug feeder row shelf 20 from the housing, replenishes the corresponding one of the drug feeders 52 mounted thereon with the drug, and then The drug feeder row shelf 20 is pushed back into the housing, and further, the completion of the drug replenishment work is notified to the controller 80 by operating the screen of the touch panel 15.
Then, under the control of the controller 80, the corresponding drug feeder array shelf 20 is locked again, and the temporarily stopped automatic dispensing operation is restarted.

Then, when the packaging operation based on the previous dispensing instruction data is completed, the next dispensing instruction data is moved to the target of discharge execution allocation, and the next dispensing instruction data is ranked higher among the targets of discharge reservation allocation. , the next dispensing instruction data will be newly targeted for discharge reservation allocation, but all or part of the allocation and drug injection based on the next dispensing instruction data has already been completed, so the next dispensing instruction data The packaging process is started immediately.

When a drug to be automatically dispensed can be handled by any of the drug feeders 51 but happens to not be stored in any of the drug feeders 51, a display is displayed on the touch panel 15 asking the dispensing worker whether to store the target drug in the corresponding drug feeder 51, select one of the drug feeders 52 and store the target drug there, or manually distribute the target drug using the manual drug distribution device 12 (details will be omitted). From the standpoint of convenience and efficiency, the selection is usually made in that order if possible.

After automatic dispensing according to the prescription instructions is completed, if there are any remaining drugs in the drug feeder 52, in many cases, apart from lucky cases, the remaining drugs can be used for subsequent dispensing. The medicine feeder 52 is emptied and the remaining medicine is collected for use in other preparations. When there is no other prescription instruction in the drug packaging machine 10 or when there is no need to immediately start dispensing even if there is another prescription instruction, the remaining drug can be collected from the drug feeder 52 by operating the touch panel 15. After displaying the "UF collection" screen (see FIG. 8(b)) and selecting "Package and collect", the discharge operation mode selection program 81 of the controller 80 of the drug packaging machine 10 By controlling this in conjunction with the automatic discharge program 54 of the controller 53 of the drug feeder 52, the corresponding drug feeder 52 and drug feeder array shelf 20 can be immediately and easily removed from the housing of the drug packaging machine 10. At the end of the day, leftover medicines are wrapped in sachets and collected.

On the other hand, when the dispensing worker needs to have the drug packaging machine 10 quickly dispense another medicine according to another prescription, or when the dispensing worker does not want to use packaging paper to collect the remaining medicine, the dispensing worker operates the touch panel 15 to display the "UF collection" screen for collecting the remaining medicine from the drug feeder 52, and then selects "Collect from drawer" as the remaining medicine collection method (see FIG. 8(b)). Then, a screen requesting the selection of the drug feeder 52 to be collected from is displayed on the touch panel 15 (see FIG. 8(c)), and the dispensing worker operates to specify the target (in the example of FIG. 8(c), "12" is selected, which refers to the second drug feeder 52 from the front on the bottom shelf 20 where the drug feeders are installed).

Then, the lower drug feeder row shelf 20 on which the drug feeder 52 to be collected is mounted is specified ("UF1 shelf" in the example of FIG. 8(d)), and a screen instructing the user to pull it out is displayed on the touch panel 15 (see FIG. 8(d)). The user unlocks the drawer lock mechanism 40 attached to the drug feeder row shelf 20, and then pulls out the drug feeder row shelf 20 from the housing (see the bottommost drug feeder row shelf 20 in FIG. 1 and FIG. 3(a)). When the shelf is unlocked and it is detected that the shelf has been pulled out further forward than the locked position, it is determined that the drug feeder 52 to be collected from is sufficiently pulled out from the housing, and a screen is displayed on the touch panel 15 prompting the dispensing worker to place a collection container under the drug feeder 52 to be collected (see FIG. 8(e)).

Therefore, the dispensing worker can quickly and accurately place a collection container under the medicine feeder 52 from which the remaining medicine is to be collected (not shown).
Then, when the dispensing worker instructs "start" remaining drug collection by operating the screen of touch panel 15 (see the lower right part of the example screen display in Figure 8 (e)), controller 53 executes remaining drug collection program 55 under the control of controller 80, whereby the remaining drugs are discharged downward one after another from the drug feeder 52 to be collected, so that the remaining drugs are quickly transferred into the collection container.

While the remaining medicine is being discharged, the lid 52a of the medicine feeder 52 from which the remaining medicine is to be collected must be kept closed to prevent the medicine from undesirably scattering, etc.; however, once the discharge is completed due to the expiration of the waiting time for detecting fallen medicine, etc., the lid 52a is unlocked. Therefore, to be on the safe side, the dispensing worker should, if possible, open the lid 52a of the medicine feeder 52 from which the remaining medicine is to be collected and visually check whether or not there is any remaining medicine (see Figure 4(b)).
Then, when the dispensing worker confirms that the medicine feeder 52 from which the remaining medicine is to be collected is completely empty, he/she closes the lid 52a and makes the empty medicine feeder 52 available for the next use.

In this way, the remaining medicine can be collected from the medicine feeder 52 after automatic discharge into a collection container. At this time, for the medicine feeders 52 mounted on the medicine feeder row shelves 20 that do not carry the medicine feeder 52 to be collected from (the upper and middle medicine feeder row shelves 20 in the examples of Figures 1 and 3(e)), whether the medicine feeder row shelf 20 carrying the medicine feeder 52 to be collected from (the lower medicine feeder row shelf 20 in the examples of Figures 1 and 3(e)) is contained within the housing of the medicine packaging machine 10 or protrudes forward from the housing, there is no effect on the medicine discharge operation, and therefore the medicine can be simultaneously used for another automatic dispensing according to another prescription instruction.

Here, "allocation and injection of medicines to the general-purpose medicine feeder 52", which was postponed to avoid complication when explaining the above-mentioned operation, will be explained.
Specifically, starting from the point where the above-mentioned convenient automatic allocation has been completed (see FIG. 10(a)), "split replenishment" before the start of the packaging operation will be described in detail (see FIGS. 10 and 11).
"Intermediate replenishment" after the start of the packaging operation will also be briefly explained (not shown).

10(a) to (c) are examples of screen displays on the touch panel 15, and FIG. 10(d) is a perspective view of the medicine feeder row shelf 20. FIG.
11(a) and (b) are both examples of screen display on the touch panel 15, FIG. 11(c) is a perspective view of the medicine feeder row shelf 20, and FIG. 11(d) is an example of screen display on the touch panel 15. In FIG.

First, when prescription data specifying drugs A and B is automatically assigned to the lower drug feeder row shelf 20, the touch panel 15 (see FIG. 10(a)) displays a pair of "UF1-1" indicating the drug feeder 52 closest to the lower drug feeder row shelf 20 and the drug name "Drug A" assigned to it, as well as a pair of "UF1-2" indicating the drug feeder 52 second from the front on the lower drug feeder row shelf 20 and the drug name "Drug B" assigned to it, and also displays a display prompting the dispensing worker to select the input destination and the pair of input drugs.

In response to this prompt, if the dispensing worker first selects "UF1-1 drug A" (see FIG. 10(a)), a message or the like is displayed on the touch panel 15 urging the worker to pull out the targeted lower drug feeder row shelf 20 from the drug storage unit 13 (see FIG. 10(b)). When the dispensing worker manually pulls out the lower drug feeder row shelf 20 in response, a screen is displayed on the touch panel 15 urging the dispensing worker to open the lid of the frontmost drug feeder 52 into which drug A is to be inserted (see FIG. 10(c)). When the dispensing worker opens the lid 52a of the frontmost drug feeder 52 on the lower drug feeder row shelf 20 in response (see FIG. 10(d)), drug A can be inserted into that drug feeder 52.

Further, when the lid 52a of the nearest medicine feeder 52 in the lower medicine feeder array shelf 20 is opened, this is detected by the corresponding lid opening/closing state detection means 29, and the display content on the touch panel 15 is changed to the corresponding medicine. The display changes to prompt the dispensing operator to put medicine A into the feeder 52 (see FIG. 11(a)).
If split replenishment is not to be performed, or if the decision to perform split replenishment has been postponed because it is unclear whether split replenishment is necessary, administration of drug A can be started immediately at this stage.

In contrast, when splitting the refill into portions, either from the beginning or during the refilling process (see FIG. 11(a)), the "Split refill" item is selected on the above-mentioned drug A injection prompting screen on the touch panel 15 (see FIG. 11(a)).
In response to this, one of the drug feeders 52 mounted on the lower drug feeder row shelf 20 to which a drug to be fed has not yet been allocated is selected.
In this example, the second drug feeder 52 from the front, "UF1-2," to which drug B has already been automatically assigned, is removed from the selection list, and the third drug feeder 52 from the front, "UF1-3," is automatically selected and added to the drug input list, and a screen is displayed on the touch panel 15 prompting the dispensing worker to open the lid of that drug feeder 52 (see Figure 11 (b)).

Then, when the dispensing operator opens the lid 52a of the third drug feeder 52 from the front on the lower drug feeder array shelf 20 (see FIG. 11(c)), the drug feeder 52 also opens. A state is reached where it is possible to inject and replenish medicine A.
Furthermore, when the lid 52a of the third medicine feeder 52 from the front in the lower medicine feeder array shelf 20 is also opened, this is detected by the corresponding lid opening/closing state detection means 29, and the display contents on the touch panel 15 are as follows. The display changes to prompt the dispensing operator to put medicine A into the corresponding medicine feeder 52 (see FIG. 11(d)).

Therefore, on the lower shelf 20 with drug feeders, appropriate amounts of drug A are fed into the first and third drug feeders 52, 52 from the front. Further detailed explanation will be omitted, but appropriate amounts of drug B are fed into the second or second and fourth drug feeders 52 from the front on the lower shelf 20 with drug feeders, and the lower shelf 20 with drug feeders is pushed back into the drug feeder storage 14. After that, automatic dispensing of drugs A and B is performed automatically based on the dispensing instruction. At that time, when one drug feeder 52 becomes empty, the discharge of the drugs divided and replenished into the multiple drug feeders 52, 52 is automatically switched to and continued from the other drug feeders 52. Then, if the input amounts (replenishment amounts) of both drug A and drug B are sufficient, the automatic dispensing is completed.

On the other hand, whether it is medicine A or B, if the input amount (replenishment amount) before the start of the packaging operation is insufficient, "midway replenishment" is performed after the start of the packaging operation to complete dispensing. . For example, regarding drug A, the first drug feeder 52 in the lower drug feeder array shelf 20 has finished discharging drug A and is empty, and the third drug feeder 52 that has taken over the discharge of drug A also discharges drug A. Once the medicine has been discharged and is empty, automatic dispensing of medicine A cannot be continued, so the automatic dispensing operation up to that point is temporarily interrupted under the control of the controller 80, and midway replenishment is performed by the release reminder program 95 and the discharge control program 96. The promotion function will be demonstrated.

Specifically, the lower row of drug feeder shelves 20 are temporarily made drawable, and a guide is provided to the dispensing worker to replenish drug A to the third drug feeder 52 from the front. displayed on the touch panel 15. Then, in response to this, the dispensing operator pulls out the designated drug feeder row shelf 20 from the medicine storage section 13, replenishes the designated drug feeder 52 with the designated drug A, and then removes the designated drug feeder row rack 20. When pushed back to the medicine storage section 13, the automatic dispensing including medicine A can continue, so the automatic dispensing operation is restarted under the control of the controller 80. If the third drug feeder 52 from the front becomes empty before the completion of dispensing, the same process is repeated every time, and only the last drug feeder 52 that becomes empty is refilled midway. Although a repetitive and complicated explanation will be omitted, the same applies to drug B.

[others]
In the above embodiment, the drug packaging machine 10 is equipped with the controller 80, and each drug feeder 52 is equipped with an individual controller 53, but it is not essential that each drug feeder 52 is equipped with an individual controller 53.
For example, the control units of multiple or numerous drug feeders 52 may be combined into a single or small number of controllers, or the function of the control unit of the drug feeder 52 may be combined into the control unit of the drug packaging machine 10 by, for example, installing a program that performs the functions of the controller 53 in the controller 80 of the drug packaging machine 10.

In the above embodiment, when automatically packaging a large number of the same medicines that are not stored in the medicine feeder 51 (specific medicine-only type, specialized medicine feeder), the medicine manual dispensing device of the equipment section 12 is used. Although not mentioned, in addition to selectively using the drug feeder 52 (multi-drug compatible type, general-purpose drug feeder) and the drug manual dispensing device from the beginning, it is also possible to use the drug manual dispensing device and the drug feeder 52 in combination. For example, the medicine feeder 52 may be used to initially pack the medicine, and at the timing of "midway replenishment" after the start of the packaging operation, the use of the medicine dispensing device can be switched to by operating the touch panel 15 or the like. You can do it like this.

The drug packaging machine of the present invention may be a stand-alone type that does not require linkage with a higher-level device such as a drug dispensing server, as long as it is equipped with a means for acquiring dispensing instruction data.

10...Drug packaging machine,
11...Packaging device, 12...Medicine manual dispensing device equipment section, 13...Drug storage section,
14...Drug feeder storage (specific drug-only type drug feeder storage),
15...Touch panel (operation input section, display section of drug packaging machine),
16, 16a...Lower drug collection mechanism, 17...Upper drug collection mechanism,
18...Drug feeder row rack (for specific drug type drug feeder),
20...Drug feeder row rack (for multi-drug compatible type drug feeder),
21...Handle, 22...Drawer member (drawer mechanism),
23... Drug feeder array shelf, 24... Rocking plate body,
25...Front plate (relative drawer position regulating means, member regulating front drawer of the multi-stage drug collection mechanism),
29...Lid opening/closing state detection means (magnetic sensor),
30...Multi-stage drug collection mechanism,
31... Main body, 32... Drug receiving port, 33... Handle,
34...Side plate holding member, 35...Side plate, 36...Latching member, 37...Multi-stage drawer mechanism,
40...Drawer lock mechanism,
41... Electromagnetic drive unit, 42... Advance/retreat member (engaging member),
43... Manual lock, 44... Swinging member (engaging member), 45... Key,
51...Drug feeder (specific drug-only type, specialized drug feeder),
51a...cassette (container part), 51b...base (drive part),
52... Drug feeder (multi-drug applicable type, general-purpose drug feeder), 52a... Lid,
53... Controller (control unit for multi-drug applicable type, general-purpose drug feeder),
54...Automatic discharge program, 55...Remaining drug collection program,
80... Controller (control unit of drug packaging machine),
81...Discharge operation mode selection program, 91...Dispensing instruction reception program,
92...Emission execution allocation program, 93...Emission reservation allocation program,
94... Withdrawal prevention program, 95... Cancellation reminder program, 96... Emission control program,
100...Dispensing server

Claims (5)

A medicine packaging machine including a plurality of medicine feeders each having a container section for randomly storing a large number of medicines and a sequential discharge mechanism section for dropping each medicine one by one from the container and discharging it downward, and a packaging device for receiving the discharged medicines and packaging them,
a plurality of the drug feeders are general-purpose drug feeders in which the container portion and the sequential discharge mechanism portion are integrated, the drug feeders are capable of detecting an empty state after an attempt to discharge the drug, and are mounted on a drawer mechanism that can be drawn forward;
a drug packaging machine including a drug dispensing instruction receiving means for receiving drug dispensing instructions, and a drug discharge execution allocation means for allocating a drug discharge execution target to the drug feeder based on any one of the drug dispensing instructions, wherein the discharge execution allocation means is capable of accepting a split replenishment request for permission to perform a split replenishment operation in which a large number of identical drugs are divided and fed into a plurality of drug feeders, and when the split replenishment request is received, the drug dispensing machine checks whether a plurality of the general-purpose drug feeders mounted on a single one of the pull-out mechanisms can be allocated, and only when a plurality of the general-purpose drug feeders have been allocated, guides the user to the drug feeder that is the target for split replenishment. A lock mechanism is provided on the drawer mechanism to selectively prevent the drawer mechanism from being pulled out forward,
The drug packaging machine of claim 1, further comprising: a means for causing the locking mechanism to prevent the pull-out of the pull-out mechanism mounting the drug feeder when the drug discharge execution target is assigned to the general-purpose drug feeder prior to drug discharge execution; and an intermediate replenishment promotion means for causing the locking mechanism to temporarily release the pull-out prevention and promoting the refilling of the drug feeder when an empty state is detected for the general-purpose drug feeder that has been prevented from being pulled out by the locking mechanism. With respect to a plurality of drug feeders targeted for split replenishment, the intermediate replenishment promoting means temporarily releases the withdrawal prevention and prompts for drug replenishment after the empty state is detected for all the drug feeders. 3. The medicine packaging machine according to claim 2, wherein the medicine packaging machine is adapted to perform the following. 4. The drug packaging machine according to claim 3, wherein when the intermediate replenishment promoting means prompts for drug replenishment, the drug feeder to which drug replenishment is urged is limited to one. . The drug packaging machine according to claim 4, characterized in that when the mid-way replenishment promotion means repeats the temporary release of the withdrawal prevention and the prompt to replenish the drug, it limits the drug feeders for which the prompt to replenish the drug is to be limited to the same one.

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