JPH06315520A - Medicine bag printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simultaneously operate two sets or more of printers as necessary so as to enhance the printing processing efficiency by providing plural sets of printers, and selecting the printer corresponding to the contents of a prescription slip and allowing it to execute the printing processing, at the time of the medicine bag printing processing in accordance with the prescription slip. CONSTITUTION:This medicine bag printer A controlled through a controller C by a computer Cp of a pharmacist's office, based on data related to a prescription slip outputted from terminal computers T1-Tn of each medical examination department in a hospital is constituted by mounting plural sets of printers P (P1-Pn) on a shelf of a printer containing case 2. To a paper discharge part of each printer P, an initial end of each carrying path in a carrying device H is connected, and each carrying path passes through a chute, etc., and is joined on the way, and thereafter, its final end is connected to a medicine bag taking-out part. Also, when two pieces or more of medicine bags of the same size are required for the same patient, two sets or more of printers P are operated simultaneously to shorten the printing processing time for the medicine bags per one patient, is shortened.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a drug bag printing device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a pharmacy of a hospital, a drug prepared according to a prescription prescribed by each doctor is stored in a medicine bag and then administered to a patient. And in the medicine bag, necessary items such as patient name and usage are
It was filled in by handwriting by a pharmacist.

[0003]

By the way, in many hospitals including large hospitals, due to lack of manpower and various other causes, the waiting time from the completion of medical treatment in the examination room to the reception of medication is extremely low. The problem is that it is long. In particular, recently, the number of types of medication has increased, which has resulted in an increase in the size of the medicine bag, and it takes time and effort to enter the patient name, usage, etc. in the medicine bag, which further extends the waiting time.

Further, the handwriting work on the medicine bag increases the burden on the pharmacist, which hinders the dispensation work which is the pharmacist's original work.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art and to provide a medicine bag printing apparatus which saves labor for writing a medicine bag and frees the pharmacist from handwriting work on the medicine bag. Is.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention is an apparatus comprising a plurality of printers and performing a medicine bag printing process according to a prescription, and selecting the printer according to the content of the prescription, The printer is made to print a predetermined content.

[0007]

By adopting the above means, the present invention saves labor for writing a medicine bag, frees the pharmacist from handwriting work on the medicine bag, and simultaneously operates two or more printers as necessary. Two or more kinds of medicine bags can be processed in parallel at the same time.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a medicine bag printing apparatus A according to the present invention, in which T1 to Tn are terminal computers installed in each medical department, and Ch is a host computer installed in a computer room. , Cp are computers arranged in the pharmacy, C is a controller, P1 to Pn are printers, and the host computer Ch is the main component. That is, the terminal computers T1 to Tn are connected to one side of the host computer Ch, and the plurality of printers P1 to Pn are connected to the other side via the computer Cp of the pharmacy and the controller C.
m is a communication modem.

Then, the contents of the medical care and the data such as the prescription inputted from the terminal computers T1 to Tn of each medical department are transferred to the host computer Ch for processing. The host computer Ch is a general-purpose computer and performs a plurality of tasks such as paperwork based on the above-mentioned data. However, the description will be limited to the medicine bag printing task.

Of the various data input to the host computer Ch, the data relating to the prescription is output to the computer Cp of the pharmacy. Upon receiving the data, the pharmacy computer Cp displays the content of the prescription on its display and outputs the data to the controller C. The controller C has the following functions.

A function of determining the size and number of medicine bags required for each patient based on the prescription data input from the host computer Ch.

A function of selecting, from the plurality of printers P1 to Pn, a printer in which a medicine bag of the above size is supplied to the paper feed unit and outputting print data such as a patient name and usage to the printer.

When two or more printers of the same size are supplied to two or more printers, a function of operating one of the printers that has the most unprinted medicine bags remaining in the paper feed unit.

When the same size medicine bag is supplied to the printer more than once, and one patient needs two or more medicine bags of the same size, the function of operating these printers at the same time.

The controller C has a built-in register for storing prescriptions for 300 patients,
By inputting the input data first in first out, the number of prescriptions input from the host computer Ch is reduced to the printer P1.
~ A function to buffer traffic congestion that occurs when the processing capacity of Pn is exceeded.

When a plurality of medicine bags are required for preparation of one patient, a function of simultaneously operating the printers supplied with these medicine bags.

A function for reporting troubles such as running out of a medicine bag, jamming, and breakdown.

Then, the controller C having such a function judges and sorts the contents of the prescription and outputs the print data to the corresponding printers P1 to Pn.

The printers P1 to Pn are general ones having a built-in buffer of a slight capacity, and various types of printers such as a dot impact printer, a thermal transfer printer, a laser printer, etc. can be used.

As shown in FIG. 2, each of the printers P1 to Pn
Are placed on the shelves of the printer storage case 2, and the paper feed units 1 of the printers P1 to Pn are supplied with medicine bags Y1 to Yn of different sizes. Each printer P1 to Pn from which the printed medicine bags y1 to yn are discharged
In the paper discharge section 3 of each of the conveyance paths H1 to H that constitute the conveyance device H.
The respective start ends of n are connected, and the respective transport paths H1 to Hn join together on the way, and the end thereof reaches the medicine bag taking-out section 4 provided at a predetermined height on one side of the printer storage case 2.

The paper discharge section 3 of each of the printers P1 to Pn
As shown in FIG. 3, the printed medicine bag y1 is provided between the chute 5 at the leading end of each of the transport paths H1 to Hn connected thereto.
A paper feed roller 6 that rotates in the discharge direction is provided to assist the discharge of .about.yn. In the figure, 20 is a platen, 2
1 is a print head.

At the lower end of each chute 5, a horizontal conveyor 7 and a vertical conveyor 8 for conveying the printed medicine bags y1 to yn to the medicine bag take-out section 4 are connected, and the printer P1 is connected.
Since the printed medicine bags y1 to yn are discharged from the paper discharge unit 3 of Pn to Pn with the printed surface up, the printed medicine bags y1 to yn are accumulated in the medicine bag take-out unit 4 with the printed surface down. It will be.

The medicine bag take-out section 4 can be folded and stored upward through a hinge 9, 10 in the drawing is a front door of the printer storage case 2, 11 is a storage shelf for storing spare medicine bags, and the like. 12 is a door of the storage rack 11, and 13 is a caster for movement.

FIG. 4 shows a modified example of the printer storage case. The printer storage case 2'is discharged from a plurality of printers P1 to Pn which are stored frontward on the shelves, with their print surfaces facing up. The printed medicine bags y1 to yn are
The printer bag 2'is stacked in the medicine bag take-out section 4 provided on the lower front side with the printing surface facing down.

The unprinted medicine bags Y1 to Yn used in the printers P1 to Pn are the medicine bags Y formed by adhering the three sides of two substantially rectangular front and back sheets of paper and opening one side. Common notations such as hospital name and general precautions are printed in advance on the front and back sides, and the blanks are printed with the date, patient name, usage, and other special notes on the printers P1 to Pn. The drug is stored and provided to the patient.

Next, the operation of the medicine bag printing apparatus A configured as described above will be described. First, in the medical department that examined a patient, the prescription data input to the terminal computers T1 to Tn is input to the controller C via the host computer Ch in the computer room.

The controller C, which has received the prescription data, determines the size and the number of medicine bags required for one patient by the above-mentioned function, and selects the medicine bags of the above size from the printers P1 to Pn arranged in the pharmacy. Select a printer supplied to the paper feed section, output print data such as patient name and usage to the printer,
The medicine bags to be stored in the buffers 1 to Pn and supplied to this patient are printed all at once.

In addition, when the same size medicine bag is supplied to two or more printers, the frequency of the medicine bag supply can be reduced by operating the printer with the most unprinted medicine bag remaining. Further, when two or more medicine bags of the same size are required for the same patient, these printers can be operated at the same time to shorten the time required for medicine bag printing per patient.

Further, when the number of prescriptions exceeds the processing capability of the printers P1 to Pn from each medical department, the data of the prescriptions are temporarily stored in the register incorporated in the controller C, and the data is stored in the first-in first-out basis to cause a traffic jam. Can be buffered.

During the printing of the above-mentioned medicine bag, the medicine bag runs out,
When troubles such as jamming and breakdown occur, this can be notified.

The printed medicine bags y1 to yn thus printed are transferred from the paper discharge section 3 of each of the printers P1 to Pn to each chute 5 by the rotation of the paper feed roller 6 at each of the transport path start ends h1 to hn. It is surely conveyed, is conveyed from each chute 5 to the medicine bag taking-out section 4 via the horizontal conveyor 7 and the vertical conveyor 8, and is stacked with the printed surface down.

As a result of the above operation, the printed medicine bags y1 to yn on which the data such as the patient name and the usage are printed are collected in the medicine bag take-out section 4 for each patient at a time. The work of storing the medicine and the work of supplying the drug to each patient can be collectively performed for each patient, so that the work can be streamlined and errors can be prevented.

Further, in the medicine bag take-out section 4, the printed medicine bags y1 to yn are stacked with the printing surface facing downward, so that the printed medicine bags y1 to yn for several patients can be printed even if they are taken out together. When the side is turned up, the patient's previously printed medicine bags y1 to yn are turned up, which is convenient for storing and supplying medicines in the order of printing.

It should be noted that at least one of the printers P1 to Pn may be printed with a label for a liquid medicine bottle or any other purpose to save labor in writing the label.

The controller C controls the feeding timing of the printed medicine bags y1 to yn in the paper discharge section 3 of the printers P1 to Pn and the carrying device H so that the printed medicine bags y1 to yn are in the order described in the prescription. By printing on the medicine bags in the order of the prescriptions inputted to the host computer, the medicine bags can be accumulated in the order of receiving the prescriptions and the medicines can be administered in the order of receiving the patients.

As described above, the handwriting work of the medicine bag, the work of taking out the medicine bag from the printer, and the work of collecting the medicine bag are labor-saving, and the dispensing for one patient can be efficiently carried out at a time. By shortening, the waiting time for the medication of the patient can be greatly shortened, and the burden on the pharmacist is lightened, so that the pharmacist can concentrate on the original dispensing work.

When one prescription describes two or more kinds of medicines having the same usage and using the same size medicine bag, by printing on one medicine bag of the above size, the number of medicine bags used can be increased. Can also be saved.

Further, the prescription of the patient can be printed on at least one of the printers P1 to Pn. By doing so, the prescription content can be confirmed without looking at the display of the computer Cp of the pharmacy one by one. In addition, the pharmacist carries the above prescription and the printed medicine bags y1 to yn, and by dispensing while watching this, a plurality of pharmacists are in charge of one patient each, and a plurality of patients can be dispensed. It is possible to perform in parallel at the same time, or multiple pharmacists can be in charge of different fields of dispensation, and dispensation in multiple fields of one patient can be performed at the same time, thus improving the efficiency of dispensation work. Further, it is possible to check the medication for the patient by the above prescription.

In this case, the computer Cp of the pharmacy can display the troubles such as running out of the medicine bag, jamming, and trouble, and the operating states of the printers P1 to Pn such as the traffic jam condition.

When a trouble occurs in a part of the medicine bag printing apparatus A, unless the host computer Ch goes down, the host computer Ch directly controls each printer to maintain at least the prescription printing function. You can also do so.

Further, a tablet packing machine, a powder medicine packing machine, and other various medicine packing machines are connected to the medicine bag printing device A, and these are controlled by the controller C or the computer Cp of the pharmacy, and the contents described in the prescription are used. It is also possible to operate a tablet packing machine, powdered medicine packing machine, or the like.

[0042]

Since the present invention is constructed as described above,
The work of writing a medicine bag can be saved, which frees the pharmacist from handwriting work on the medicine bag, and
Multiple types of medicine bags can be used, and a printer is selected according to the content of the prescription, and the specified content is printed by the printer. Therefore, if necessary, two or more printers can be used. It has an excellent effect such that two or more kinds of drug bags can be simultaneously operated in parallel by operating them simultaneously.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the overall configuration of an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a front view of a printer storage case.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the paper feed roller.

FIG. 4 is a side view of a modified printer storage case.

[Explanation of symbols]

 C ... Controller Ch ... Host computer H ... Conveying device P1 to Pn ... Printer T1 to Tn ... Terminal computer Y1 to Yn ... Medicine bag y1 to yn ... Printed medicine bag 1 ... Paper feeding section 3 ... Paper discharging section 4 ... Medicine bag removing section

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An apparatus comprising a plurality of printers and performing a drug bag printing process according to a prescription, wherein the printer is selected according to the contents of the prescription and the printer is made to print the predetermined contents. A drug bag printing device characterized by.