JPH02205523A - Tablet feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To detect mounting of a cassette onto a drive without sending tablet discharge signal to the driver by providing an operating member on the cassette and a detecting member for detecting the operating member when the cassette is mounted on the driver. CONSTITUTION:When a cassette 1 with numerous tablets stored is positioned and mounted on a base 2, 2 tip 33 of an operating member 27 interrupts a light path of a photo interrupter 36 allowing the photo interrupter 36 to detect mounting of the cassette 1 onto the base 2. When the cassette 1 is removed from the base 2, the light path of the photo interrupter 36 is not interrupted by the tip 33 of the operating member 27 so that the photo interrupter 36 detects that the cassette 1 is not mounted on the base 2. Whether or not cassette is mounted on a driver can be thus detected without sending tablet discharge signal to the driver.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a tablet feeder that stores a large number of tablets (including capsules, the same applies hereinafter) and sequentially discharges them as needed.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, this type of tablet feeder has a structure in which a cassette that accommodates a large number of tablets and a drive device that rotates a tablet alignment plate arranged in the cassette are detachably attached. .

In order to operate such a tablet feeder, it is only necessary to send an appropriate tablet ejection signal to the drive device. When the tablet ejection signal is transmitted, the drive device rotates the alignment plate and picks up the tablets in the cassette. It is designed to be discharged sequentially from the supply port.

Therefore, while the drive device is fixedly installed on a predetermined support, when replenishing the feeder with tablets, only the cassette is removed from the drive device and replenishment is performed, and once replenishment is completed, the cassette is returned to the drive device. It is designed to be installed.

[Problem M to be Solved by the Invention] However, such conventional tablet feeders cannot detect whether or not the cassette is attached to the drive device. In such a case, the tablet cannot be ejected even if a tablet ejection signal is sent to the drive device.Moreover, if the tablet cannot be ejected due to the cassette not being installed, the tablet ejection signal cannot be sent to the drive device. It cannot be detected unless the tablet is ejected by sending a tablet ejection signal and confirming that the tablet is not ejected.Furthermore, even if the tablet ejection signal is sent to the drive device and the tablet is confirmed not to be ejected, the tablet ejection is not possible. There was some confusion, such as whether it was due to the cassette not being installed, simply because there were no tablets in the cassette, or whether it was due to some other cause.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems of the conventional devices and provide a tablet feeder that can detect whether a cassette is attached to a drive device without sending a tablet ejection signal to the drive device. That is.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is configured such that a cassette that accommodates a large number of tablets and a drive device that rotates a tablet alignment plate arranged in the cassette are detachably configured. In the tablet feeder, the tablets are sequentially discharged from the supply port when the drive device rotates the alignment plate in response to a tablet ejection signal, and the cassette is provided with an actuating member, and the drive device is configured to rotate the arranging plate. A detecting member is provided for detecting the actuating member when the actuating member is attached.

[Operation] By employing the above means, the present invention directly detects whether or not the cassette is attached to the drive device by the actuating member provided on the cassette and the detection member provided on the drive device. .

[Example] Embodiments of the invention shown in the drawings will be described below.

1 to 5 show an embodiment of the present invention, and this tablet feeder has a hollow container-like cassette 1 that accommodates a large number of tablets.
and a base 2 (ie, a driving device) on which the cassette 1 is removably placed.

The cassette 1 includes a rectangular bottom plate 5 around which a frame plate 4 is formed, which is positioned by fitting into a step 3 of the base 2 when the cassette 1 is placed on the base 2. A through hole 6 extending downward in a cylindrical shape is formed in a predetermined position of the bottom plate 5, and a cylindrical portion 7 of a size that is approximately inscribed in the bottom plate 5 with the through hole 6 as the center is provided upward in the bottom plate 5. Therefore, the bottom surface of the cylindrical portion 7 is formed by the bottom plate 5.
An enlarged portion 8 having a cross-sectional area approximately equal to the size of the bottom plate 5 is provided in series, and the bottom plate 5 is provided with a handle 9 used for attaching and detaching the cassette 1 from the base 2, such as when replenishing tablets. .

The alignment board 10 disposed within the cylindrical portion 7 has an alignment section 11 and an insertion section 12 integrally molded from synthetic resin. The alignment part 11 has an upper surface that slopes downward from the center 13, and is divided into three parts in the circumferential direction, each of which has sloped surfaces 14, 14, and 14 that slope in the same direction along the circumferential direction, each having a step between them. 15, and around the recesses 16, 16, 16, .
are formed in large numbers at equal intervals in the circumferential direction, separated by partition walls 17, 17, . . . , respectively.

On the other hand, the insertion part 12 has a cylindrical shape extending downward from the upper surface of the alignment part 11 along its central axis, and has a spline 18 formed on the inner periphery of the lower part, and a groove 19 on the outer periphery near the lower end.
is formed.

Then, insert the insertion part 12 into the through hole 6 from above, arrange the alignment part 11 in the cylindrical part 7, and with the lower surface of the alignment part 11 in contact with the bottom plate 5 of the cylindrical part 7, insert the insertion part 12 into the through hole 6. A washer 20 is loosely fitted into the insertion portion 12 protruding downward from the elastic ring 2.1. By fitting into the spring 19, the alignment plate 10 is attached to the cassette 1 without play and rotatably.

The bottom plate 5 of the cassette 1 has a recess 1 at a predetermined location.
A supply port 22 communicating with 6 is formed. Furthermore, a plurality of slits 23, 23, . The partition plate 24 is inserted into the slit 23 and screwed into the slit 23, which has a height that is suitable for This prevents the unaligned tablets above the tablets in the recess 16 from being ejected together with the tablets in the recess 16.

An appropriate motor 25 is attached to the base 2, and a spline shaft 26 is fixed to the rotating shaft of the motor 25. When the cassette 1 is positioned and placed on the base 2, the spline 18 of the alignment plate 10 is connected to the spline shaft 26. It is adapted to be engaged with the shaft 26.

Then, when the motor 25 is driven in this state, the alignment board 10 moves to the second (2I) recess 16, 16,
..., and as the alignment plate 10 rotates, the tablets in the cassette 1 are aligned with the inclined surface 14.1.
4.14, while being stirred in one direction, the tablets are arranged and housed in the recesses 16.16, . The tablets are designed to fall and be ejected one by one.

As shown in FIG. 3, an intermediate portion of a bent actuating member 27 is pivotally attached to the bottom plate 5 of the cassette 1 by a support shaft 28. As shown in FIG. Placed above the bottom plate 5! One side of the actuating member 27 passes from the support shaft 28 through a long groove 29 formed in the side surface of the cylindrical portion 7 below the lowest slit 23 to the opposite side of the supply port 22 from the support shaft 28. The distal end portion 30 thereof is adapted to enter the recess 16 of the alignment plate 10 at a position immediately in front of the supply port 22 with respect to the rotation direction of the alignment plate 10 . The alignment board 10 has partition walls 17.
17, . . ., the tip portion 30 of the actuating member 27
131, 31, . . . are formed, respectively.

On the other hand, the other side piece of the actuating member 27 that extends from the support shaft 28 through the bottom plate 5 and along the back surface has a spring 3 between it and the frame plate 4.
2 is attached and biased to rotate the actuating member 27 counterclockwise around the support shaft 28, and its tip 33 is attached to the base 2 when the cassette 1 is attached to the base 2. It is designed to enter a slot 34 provided in 2. The slot 34 includes a photointerrupter 35 that detects only when the tip end 33 of the actuating member 27 is in a part of the slot 34, and a photointerrupter 35 that is activated no matter where the tip 33 is in the slot 34. A photointerrupter 36 for detecting the tip end 33 of the member 27 is provided.

As shown in FIG. 4, no tablet is accommodated in the recess 16 at the position just before the supply port 22, so that one tip 30 of the actuating member 27 is pushed into the recess 16 or the groove 3 by the biasing force of the spring 32. When entering the photointerrupter 35, the other tip 33 is in the slot 34 and does not block the optical path of the photointerrupter 35.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, a tablet is housed in the recess 16 at a position immediately before the supply port 22, so that one tip 30 of the actuating member 27 rides on the tablet in the recess 16 and comes out. When the other tip 33 is displaced in the slot 34 and blocks the optical path of the photointerrupter 35, the photointerrupter 35 inserts the tablet into the recess 16 of the supply port 22 at the previous value 1. is designed to detect that it is being accommodated.

Furthermore, in both cases in FIG. 4.5, the other tip 33 of the actuating member 27 blocks the optical path of the photointerrupter 36, so that the photointerrupter 36 and the cassette 1 are mounted on the base 2. It is designed to detect this.

Next, the operation of the above will be explained.

First, when the cassette 1 containing a large number of tablets is positioned and placed on the base 2, the other tip 3 of the actuating member 27
Since the photointerrupter 3 blocks light from the optical path of the photointerrupter 36, the photointerrupter 36 detects that the cassette 1 is attached to the base 2.

In this state, when an appropriate tablet ejection signal is sent to operate the motor 25, the alignment plate 10 rotates, and as the alignment plate 10 rotates, the tablets in the cassette 1 are transferred to the inclined surface 14.
．． 14.14, and are arranged and accommodated in the recesses 16.16, . . . while being stirred in one direction.

When the tablets are stored in the recess 16 that comes to the position just before the supply port 22 due to the rotation of the alignment plate 10,
Since one tip 30 of the actuating member 27 rides on the tablet and is displaced outward, the other tip 33 blocks the optical path of the photo-interrupter 35, thereby moving the photo-interrupter 35 to a position immediately before the supply port 22. It is detected in advance that a tablet is accommodated in the recess 16 in the recess 16, and therefore, by the subsequent rotation of the alignment plate 10, the tablet will reach a position directly below the partition plate 24 and be discharged from the supply port 22. This will be confirmed.

Further, when the tablet is not accommodated in the large recess 16 at the position immediately before the supply port 22 as the alignment plate 10 rotates,
Since one tip 30 of the actuating member 27 does not ride on the tablet, the other tip 33 does not block the optical path of the photointerrupter 35, so that the photointerrupter 35 is placed in the recess 16 at a position immediately before the supply port 22. Detects that the tablet is not accommodated and therefore follows the alignment! 10, it is confirmed in advance that even if the recess 16 reaches the position directly below the partition plate 24, the tablet will not be ejected from the supply port 22.

Furthermore, regardless of whether or not a tablet is housed in the recess 16 at the position immediately before the supply port 22, the other tip 33 of the actuating member 27 blocks the optical path of the photointerrupter 36, so that the base 2 The photointerrupter 36 detects that the cassette 1 is attached.

Then, when the cassette 1 is removed from the base 2 for replenishing tablets, etc., the optical path of the photointerrupter 36 is no longer blocked by the tip 33 of the actuating member 27, so that the photointerrupter 36 moves the cassette 1 to the base 2. It will be detected that it is not attached.

In the above embodiment, the insertion portion 12 of the alignment board IO and the motor 25 are spline-engaged, but the insertion portion 12
The motor 25 or other drive member may be engaged with the motor 25 or other driving member by any suitable means other than spline engagement. In the above embodiment, the washer 20 is loosely fitted into the insertion portion 12 and the elastic ring 21 is inserted into the groove 19. Although the alignment plate 10 is attached to the cassette 1 by fitting the alignment plate 10 to the cassette 1, the alignment plate 10 may be attached to the cassette 1 by other suitable means.
．． 14.14, the distance M17.17, etc. are not limited to the shapes of the above embodiments.

Further, in the above embodiment, the actuating member 27 detects whether or not a tablet is accommodated in the recess 16 at the position immediately before the supply port 22. The presence or absence of a tablet in the recess 16 may be detected, and the actuating member 27 is not limited to the bent shape as shown,
7.17, . . . are not provided with grooves 31, 31, . Furthermore, the detection member for detecting the presence or absence of a tablet based on the position of the tip end 33 of the actuating member 27 may include:
In addition to the photo interrupter 35 as shown in the above embodiment,
Appropriate devices such as reed switches and Hall elements can be used.

Further, in the above embodiment, the actuating member 27 has a function of detecting whether a tablet is stored in the recess 16 at a position immediately before the supply port 22, and a function of detecting whether the cassette 1 is attached to the base 2. However, the tablet storage detection function may be omitted and only the cassette 1 attachment detection function may be provided.
As a detection member for detecting whether or not the cassette 1 is attached to the base 2 based on the position of 3, in addition to the photointerrupter 36 shown in the above embodiment, an appropriate member such as a reed switch or a Hall element may be used. It goes without saying that the present invention can be modified in various ways to the above-described embodiments.

[Effects of the Invention] Since the present invention is configured as described above, the operation member provided on the cassette and the detection member provided on the drive device can
It is possible to directly detect whether the cassette is installed in the drive without sending a tablet ejection signal to the drive, and to detect the non-installation of the cassette, for example, when the cassette is not installed in the drive after replenishing tablets. The condition can be reliably detected and therefore, if a tablet is not ejected even after sending a tablet ejection signal to the drive, is it because the cassette is not inserted or is it due to other causes (e.g. simply the cassette being ejected)? This has excellent effects such as being able to easily determine whether the problem is caused by the lack of tablets.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway exploded vertical sectional view showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the cassette shown in FIG. , FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the operation of the device shown in FIG. 3 when no tablet is stored in the recess at a predetermined position, and FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the operation of the device shown in FIG. It is an explanatory view showing the operation of the one shown in the figure. 1...Cassette 2...Base 3...Step part 4...Frame plate 5...Bottom plate
6...Through hole 7...Cylindrical part 8...
- Enlarged part 9... Handle 10... Aligned part l... Aligned part 3... Center 5... Step 7... Partition wall 9... Groove 1... Elastic ring 3... Slit 5... Motor 7... Operating member 9... Long groove 1... Groove 3... Tip portion 5... Photo interrupter 6... Photo interrupter 12... Insertion part 14... Inclined surface 16... recess 18... spline 20... washer 22... supply port 24... partition plate 26... tin line shaft 28... support shaft 30... tip 32... ...Spring 34...Slot hole

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A cassette that accommodates a large number of tablets and a drive device that rotates a tablet alignment plate arranged in the cassette are configured to be detachable, and when the drive device rotates the alignment plate in response to a tablet ejection signal, In a tablet feeder in which tablets are sequentially discharged from a supply port, the cassette is provided with an actuating member, and the drive device is provided with a detection member that detects the actuating member when the cassette is attached. A tablet feeder featuring: