JP2807939B2 - Powder take-out device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a powder dispensing device for extracting a required amount of a desired type of powder from a plurality of types of powder.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, there are many types of powdered medicines handled in hospital pharmacies and the like. These powdered powders are separately stored for each type in a relatively large amount in a storage container called an apparatus bottle. In addition, they are arranged side by side on the shelf of the dispensing table. When dispensing any kind of powder stored in such a device bottle for dispensing to a patient based on a doctor's prescription, the required amount of the powder must be removed from the device bottle first. Must. That is, in general, a powder of the type indicated in the prescription is taken out of the device bottle by an amount corresponding to one prescription indicated in the prescription, and then divided into single doses. It has been practiced to divide a single dose into one packet, and to administer such a package to a patient. As described above, the dispensing operation of the powdered medicine is generally roughly divided into the work of taking out the powdered medicine for one prescription from the device bottle, the work of dividing the prescription for one dose, and the work of packaging for each dose. However, among these, as for the dividing operation and the packaging operation, various dividing apparatuses and packaging apparatuses have been developed in accordance with the demand for automation, and some of them have been put to practical use.

[0003]

However, since the device bottle does not originally have a function of taking out a predetermined amount of powder, it is impossible to automatically take out the powder from the device bottle. Even if the amount for one prescription to be taken out varies depending on the prescription, for example, instead of the device bottle, an appropriate container equipped with a function to take out a certain amount of the contents is prepared, and the powder is taken. Even if it is stored, it is impossible to automatically remove any required amount of the powder from the container, and therefore, in the past, in the dispensing of powder, at least the powder removal from the device bottle has been performed by a pharmacist. Must be done manually, which is not only a major burden for pharmacists, but also in automating powder dispensing operations. Is a Joteki inhibitory factor, was a very serious problem.

[0004] The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and provides a powdered medicine take-out device capable of automatically taking out a desired amount of a desired kind of powder from a plurality of kinds of powders. It is intended to do so.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a plurality of powder discharge devices accommodating each type of powder dischargeably, and a type designating any one of the powder discharge devices. Designated part and its designated powder discharge equipment
Necessary amount instruction to any required amount to be discharged to the location
There in the powdered medicine is taken out device equipped with a control device having a section
To check that the required amount of powder has been discharged.
An exit completion confirmation unit is provided in the control device, and
Disperse only the required amount in response to the instruction from the required
Means for performing drug discharge and the end of the discharge operation
A control unit having a means for notifying the discharge completion confirmation unit of the control device.
A controller is provided in the powder discharge device .

[0006]

According to the present invention, by employing the above-mentioned means, the powder stored in each powder discharging device is of a type arbitrarily set in the control device without any manual operation by a pharmacist. Only the required amount set arbitrarily is automatically discharged and taken out. Moreover, that
When controlling powder discharge, specify the type and required amount of powder.
And that the discharge is complete is controlled by the control unit.
However, the control during the discharge operation is
This is performed by the controller of the discharge device.

[0007]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a powder dispensing apparatus according to the present invention. This powder dispensing apparatus accommodates each type of powder in such a manner that it can be expelled appropriately, and discharges only a required amount. , And a plurality of powder discharge devices 1, 1,...
A control device 3 for designating an arbitrary necessary amount to be discharged by designating any one of 1,. Each powder discharge device 1 causes the powder container 11 to appropriately discharge the powder, and causes the powder container 11 to perform a discharging operation. When the discharge amount of the powder reaches the required amount, the powder container 11 And a controller 12 for terminating the discharge operation of. The control device 3 includes a type designation unit 31 that designates the powder discharge device 1 containing the type of powder to be discharged from the powder discharge devices 1, 1,..., And a powder discharge device 1 designated by the type designation unit 31. When the required amount of the powdered medicine indicated by the required amount indicating unit 32 has been discharged from the required amount indicating unit 32 for specifying the required amount of the powdered medicine to be discharged and the powdered medicine discharging device 1 specified by the type specifying unit 31 And a discharge end confirmation unit 33 for confirming this. In other words, when the type of powder to be discharged is specified by the type specifying unit 31 and the required amount specifying unit 32 of the control device 3 and the required amount is specified, it is transmitted to the controller 12 of the specified powder discharging device 1. On the other hand, when the required amount of the powdered medicine has been discharged, this is transmitted to the discharge completion confirmation unit 33 of the control device 3, and after confirming this discharge completion, the control device 3 executes the next powder discharge operation. The required type and required amount are transmitted to the designated powder discharge device 1. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the powder discharge device 1. The powder container 11 includes a stock unit 13 having an internal volume capable of storing a sufficient amount of powder of an arbitrary type.
A discharge unit 15 for discharging the stock powder little by little;
In order to continuously discharge the powder from the discharge unit 15, the supply unit 14 supplies the powder from the stock unit 13 to the discharge unit 15. On the other hand, the controller 12 includes a weighing unit 16 that weighs the powder discharged from the discharge unit 15 in accordance with the discharging operation of the powder container 11, and a setting unit 18 that arbitrarily sets a required amount of the powder to be discharged. By comparing the weighed value of the weighing unit 16 with the set value of the setting unit 18, when the weighed value, that is, the discharge amount of the powder reaches the set value, that is, the required amount of the powder, the discharge operation of the powder container 11 is ended. And a control unit 17 for performing the control. FIG. 3 shows a schematic configuration of one embodiment of the powdered medicine container 11,
3. Each of the supply unit 14 and the discharge unit 15 has a cavity having a required internal volume and shape, and the cavity of the stock unit 13 and the cavity of the supply unit 14 communicate at least partially. And the empty space of the supply unit 14 and the discharge unit 15
Although at least a part of the space is communicated, the internal volume, shape, communication location, form, and the like of the space can be variously designed, so that specific illustration is omitted. It is. For example, as an example, the stock unit 13
The supply unit 14 is disposed below the supply unit 14, and the discharge unit 15 is disposed further below the supply unit 14. The lower end of the empty space of the stock unit 13 communicates with the upper end of the empty space of the supply unit 14, and The lower end of the empty space of the supply unit 14 and the upper end of the empty space of the discharge unit 15 are configured to communicate with each other, so that the powdered medicine in the empty space of the stock unit 13 drops as long as the powder drops smoothly. Can be designed to pass through the space of the supply unit 14 and into the space of the discharge unit 15 as long as it only falls into the space of the discharge unit 15. An appropriate discharge member 21 is provided in the empty space of the discharge section 15, and an appropriate shutter 22 is provided in an exhaust port formed in an appropriate place of the empty space. The discharging member 21 is, for example,
It can be constituted by a screw formed with a helical flange projecting around the support shaft. In this case, the cavity is formed in a cylindrical shape, and the screw-shaped discharge member 21 is formed in the cylinder. It is preferable to arrange the shutter, and it is preferable to form a discharge port at the tip of this cylinder, and to arrange the shutter 22 here. And the discharging member 2
1 is connected to an appropriate motor 23 for rotating the discharge member 21 to move the powder in the cylindrical cavity toward the discharge port, and the shutter 22 is opened and closed. Accordingly, an appropriate operating member 24 that opens and closes the discharge port of the cylindrical space is connected in advance. Therefore, the discharge member 21 is driven by the motor 23.
Is rotated and the shutter 22 is opened by the operation member 24, the powder in the cylindrical cavity of the discharge portion 15 moves toward the discharge port and is discharged from the discharge port, while stopping the rotation of the discharge member 21. With the shutter 22
Is closed, the movement and discharge of the powder in the discharge unit 15 are stopped. In addition, an appropriate stirring member 25 is provided in the space of the supply unit 14. The stirring member 25 can be constituted by, for example, a scraper formed by projecting a plurality of arm members around the spindle around the support shaft, and the stirring member 25 is configured to rotate the stirring member 25. Suitable motor 26
Is connected. Therefore, if the stirring member 25 is rotated by the motor 26, the powdered medicine in the empty space of the supply unit 14 is
While being agitated, the mixture is smoothly supplied into the cylindrical space of the discharge unit 15 and the stock unit 1 is moved into the space of the supply unit 14.
3 to supply powder. Also,
The powder in the vacant space of the stock unit 13 gradually moves toward the vacant space of the supply unit 14 according to the powder discharge operation of the discharge unit 15 and the powder supply operation of the supply unit 14 accompanying the powder discharge operation. In order to smoothly perform the above, it is desirable that the cross-sectional area of the space of the stock portion 13 is gradually increased from the upstream to the downstream, or at least the same from the upstream to the downstream. But,
For the purpose of stocking as much powder as possible with the limited outer dimensions of the stock unit 13 and the purpose of suppressing the installation space of the powder container 11, it is required to make the upstream side larger than the downstream side. In this case, it is indispensable to provide a suitable stirring member 27 in the stock section 13 itself, separately from the stirring member 25 of the supply section 14. Such a stirring member 27 may be rotated by an independent dedicated motor.
And the stirring member 27 is rotated by the motor 26 together with the stirring member 25. The installation of such a stirring member 27 is not limited to the case where the cross-sectional area of the space of the stock portion 13 is larger on the upstream side than on the downstream side, and is not limited to the case where the cross-sectional area is the same from upstream to downstream. Is effective even when it gradually increases from upstream to downstream.

[0008] Next, the operation of the powdered medicine take-out device configured as described above will be described. First, the powder container 1
A predetermined type of powdered medicine is charged in a sufficiently large amount and stocked in one stock unit 13. Next, the stirring member 27 of the stock unit 13 and the supply unit 1 are driven by the motor 26.
By rotating the stirring member 25 of No. 4, the powdered medicine in the stock unit 13 is supplied to the supply unit 14 while stirring,
The powdered medicine in the supply section 14 is supplied to the discharge section 15 while being stirred, and is filled in the discharge section 15. At this time, if necessary, the discharge member 21 is rotated by a desired amount by the motor 23, so that the discharge section 15 is reliably filled with the powdered medicine. Of course, such a discharge unit 15
The filling operation of the powdered medicine into the medicine can be performed according to the instruction of the controller 12, but since it is effective only for the first time, it may be omitted. On the other hand, the type designation unit 3 of the control device 3
1 designates the powder discharge device 1 containing the type of powder to be discharged from the powder discharge devices 1, 1,..., And specifies the required amount of the powder to be discharged by the required amount indicator 32. . Then, the type and the required amount of the powder to be discharged are transmitted to the controller 12 of the specified powder discharge device 1, and the type instructs the control unit 17 to start the operation and the required amount is set. Set in the section 18. In response to this, the powder discharge device 1 drives the motor 23 to rotate the discharge member 21 and activates the operation member 24 to open the shutter 22 according to an instruction from the controller 12. Then, the discharge operation of the powder starts, and the powder in the cylindrical cavity of the discharge portion 15 gradually moves toward the discharge port, and is continuously discharged from the discharge port. At this time, the discharge unit 1 is rotated by the rotation of the discharge member 21.
The amount of the powder that is substantially equivalent to the amount discharged from the supply unit 5 is smoothly supplied from the supply unit 14 into the discharge unit 15 by the rotation of the stirring member 25, and the amount supplied from the supply unit 14 to the discharge unit 15 is approximately As a result of the appropriate amount of powder being smoothly moved from the stock unit 13 into the supply unit 14 by the rotation of the stirring members 25 and 27, the discharge of the powder from the discharge unit 15 is performed continuously without interruption. Become. When the discharge amount of the powder discharged from the discharge unit 15 (that is, the weighed value by the weighing unit 16) reaches the required amount to be discharged (that is, the set value by the setting unit 18), the powder discharge device 1 is controlled by the controller. In accordance with the instruction of 12, the motor 23 is stopped to stop the rotation of the discharge member 21, and the operating member 24 is operated to close the shutter 22. Then
When the operation of discharging the powder is completed, the discharge of the powder from the discharge unit 15 is stopped, and the rotation of the stirring member 25 and the stirring member 27 by the motor 26 is also stopped. As a result, the removal of the powder is completed. Will be done. Also,
The end of the process is transmitted from the controller 12 of the powdered medicine discharging device 1 to the discharge completion confirmation unit 33 of the control device 3. Then, the required amount (for example, for one prescription) of the powdered medicine discharged from the discharge part 15 of the powdered medicine container 11 is divided into single doses by an appropriate dividing device, and then divided by an appropriate packaging device. Can be packaged so that each dose is one packet.

In the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, a weighing unit 16 and a setting unit 18 are provided in the controller 12 to control the discharge amount of the powdered medicine discharged from the powdered medicine container 11 by weighing. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the discharge amount of the powder discharged from the powder container 11 can be controlled according to, for example, the rotation angle or the driving time of the motor 23 that rotates the discharge member 21. It is also possible to adopt a control method that does not depend on weighing. Further, in the above embodiment, the discharging member 21 is constituted by a screw formed by projecting a helical rim around the support shaft, but the present invention is not limited to this. Can be used. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the stirring member 25 is constituted by a scraper formed by projecting a plurality of arm members around the support shaft around the support shaft. However, the present invention is not limited to this. It is possible to use a stirring member 25 made of. In the above embodiment, the motor for the stirring member 27 of the stock unit 13 is used as the motor for the stirring member 27 of the supply unit 14.
Although the motor 26 is commonly used and the stirring member 27 is rotated by the motor 26 together with the stirring member 25, the present invention is not limited to this. Can be provided independently. In the above embodiment, the discharge unit 15
The motor 26 for the stirring member 25 of the supply unit 14 is provided separately from the motor 23 for the discharge member 21 of the above. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, only the motor 23 is provided, and the motor 23 The discharge member 21 of the discharge unit 15 can be rotated, the stirring member 25 of the supply unit 14 can also be rotated, and the stirring member 27 of the stock unit 13 can also be rotated.
Alternatively, when it is necessary to selectively and independently rotate any one of the stirring members 25 and 27, the motor 23 and the discharge member 21 or the stirring member 25,
27 may be configured to be separably coupled.
Further, in the above-described embodiment, the required amount (for example, one prescription) of powdered medicine discharged and taken out from the powdered medicine container 11 by the operation of the controller 12 is divided into single doses by an appropriate dividing device. In addition, an appropriate packaging device is used to divide a single dose into one packet, but the present invention is not limited to this. It is also possible to instruct the setting unit 18 to instruct the amount of one dose instead of the amount of one prescription as the required amount of.
In this way, the required amount of the discharged powdered medicine can be packaged as a single packet without being divided.

[0010]

The present invention is configured as described above.
The powder stored in each powder discharge device automatically discharges the type specified by the control device by any required amount specified by the control device without any manual operation of the pharmacist. Can be taken out, and
During the powder discharge control, the control during the discharge operation is
It is left to the controller of the dispensing device, so that any kind of powder can be automatically taken out of a plurality of kinds of powder in any necessary amount, instead of the conventional device bottle. It is extremely useful in automating the dispensing work of, and can play an indispensable role in the realization of an automatic powder dispensing and packaging machine that automatically performs from powder picking up to packaging. It has an excellent effect.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of a powder dispensing device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a powder ejection device of the powder ejection device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a powdered medicine container of the powdered medicine discharging device of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1: powder discharge device 3: control device 11: powder container 12: controller 13: stock unit 14: supply unit 15: discharge unit 16: weighing unit 17: control unit 18: setting unit 21: discharge member 22: shutter 23 : Motor 24: Actuating member 25: Stirring member 26: Motor 27: Stirring member 31: Type designation unit 32: Required amount instruction unit 33: Discharge completion confirmation unit

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A plurality of powder discharge devices accommodating each type of powder dischargeably, and a type designation section for designating an arbitrary one of the powder discharge devices.
And a control device having a required amount indicating unit for instructing an arbitrary required amount to be discharged to the designated powder discharge device , wherein the required amount of powder is discharged. End of discharge for confirmation processing
A confirmation unit is provided in the control device, and the required amount is received in response to an instruction from the required amount instruction unit of the control device.
Means to discharge only the powder and the end of the discharge operation
Means for notifying the discharge completion confirmation unit of the control device.
And a controller for controlling the dispensing of the powdered medicine.