JP4357366B2 - Automatic dispensing device - Google Patents

Description

  TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an automatic dispensing device that stores various drugs and automatically discharges a desired drug for packaging and the like in accordance with a prescription or a dispensing instruction. The present invention relates to an automatic dispensing device that performs collation when attached to and detached from a base portion.

  In automatic dispensing devices such as tablet dispensing machines and injection drug dispensing devices, various drugs are classified and stored in drug cassettes such as tablet feeders, and only the desired amount of drugs are stored according to prescriptions and dispensing instructions based on them. It can be taken out. In many models, the medicine cassette can be attached and detached so that the medicine cassette can be easily replenished. A means for limiting to is added.

  As such means, there is a mechanical method using the alignment of the key (projection) and the groove (hole), but from the viewpoint of cost, flexibility, expandability, miniaturization, etc. Information reading methods are becoming mainstream. That is, a different identification number is assigned to each medicine cassette, it is read electrically or magnetically, the result of reading is compared with preset collation data, and an alarm is issued when there is a mismatch. It is like that. Furthermore, there is a dispensing system in which proper arrangement of the medicine cassette is more reliably maintained even when the identification information reading method is adopted by performing wide and narrow multiple checks when collating (for example, Patent Document 1). reference).

  A tablet packaging machine 10, which is a typical example of an automatic dispensing device, is illustrated, and will be further described with reference to it. FIG. 9 shows the mechanical structure of the tablet packaging machine 10 and the drug feeder 13 incorporated therein. (A) is an external perspective view of the tablet packaging machine 10, and (b) is the internal structure of the tablet packaging machine 10. 4C is a left side view of the medicine feeder 13, FIG. 4D is a front view, FIG. 5E is a longitudinal left side view, and FIG. 5F is a control block diagram for the operation unit of the medicine feeder 13. FIG. FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the overall structure of the control system of the automatic dispensing apparatus, FIG. 11 shows the structure of control data, (a) is a record structure diagram in the medicine master table, and (b) is a record structure diagram. It is a message structure figure of medicine discharge directions.

  This tablet packaging machine 10 (see FIGS. 9 (a) and 9 (b)) contains a large number of various drugs 1 (disc-shaped drugs, balls, capsules, cylindrical drugs, tablets, etc.) classified and stored. Medicine feeder 13, medicine collection mechanisms 14 and 15 for collecting medicine 1 discharged from these medicine feeders 13, packaging device 17 for packaging medicine 1 received from the medicine collection mechanisms 14 and 15, and microprocessor A controller 18 (tablet packaging machine main controller, main controller of the packaging machine main body) comprising a system or the like is provided. Then, under the control of the controller 18, the required number of medicines 1 are discharged from the corresponding medicine feeder 13 in accordance with prescription data, derived dispensing instruction data, etc., and collected by the medicine collecting mechanisms 14 and 15, and the lower medicines are collected. The product is fed into the input unit 16 (collected medicine input port) and further packaged by the packaging device 17. The sachets are packaged by the wrapping band 2 (packaging paper) while being divided into dosage units and application units.

  More specifically, in the case of the tablet packaging machine 10, a medicine container 11 (medicine shelf part, medicine container storage part) is provided on the upper side, and a packaging device 17 is provided on the lower side. Between these, a conduit 14 (duct, chute, guide path, upper drug collecting path) and a collecting member 15 (hopper-like member, funnel-shaped member, lower drug collecting path) as a drug collecting mechanism communicate with each other. A plurality of medicine feeder storages 12 (medicine storages) that can be slid individually are arranged side by side in the storage 11, and each medicine feeder storage 12 has several to several tens of detachable medicine feeders. 13 are stored side by side vertically and horizontally. Therefore, the storage position of each medicine feeder 13 in the medicine cabinet 11, that is, the feeder storage address, is determined by a triple combination of a column address, a column address, and a plate address. The column address is a horizontal arrangement position, and is specifically the number of the medicine feeder storage 12. The column address is the position in the vertical direction, and specifically, the number of the shelf board on which the medicine feeder 13 is equipped. The board address is an arrangement position in the front-rear direction, that is, in the depth direction, and specifically the order of the medicine feeders 13 on the shelf board of the equipment destination. Although illustration is omitted, even when the medicine feeder 13 has a cylindrical arrangement, the feeder storage address is similarly determined if the number of the medicine feeder storage 12 is unique.

  Each drug feeder 13 (see FIGS. 9C to 9E) includes a drug cassette 20 that accommodates a large number of drugs 1 so as to be discharged, and a base that detachably supports the drug cassette 20 and discharges the drug cassette 20. The medicine 30 is roughly divided into parts 30 and the medicine 1 is discharged by the designated number of tablets. Among them, the base unit 30 (see FIG. 9 (f)) incorporates a motor 13j as a drive source, a discharge sensor 33 as a drop detection unit for discharged medicine, an attachment / detachment sensor 34 as a cassette attachment / detachment detection unit, and the like. Since these are connected to the shelf control circuit 61 by individual intra-shelf wirings 62, they are fixedly attached to the shelf board of the medicine feeder storage 12 in a normal state. On the other hand, the medicine cassette 20 of the medicine feeder 13 is a detachable type for facilitating medicine replenishment work.

  The tablet packaging machine 10 (see FIGS. 9 (a) and 9 (b)) includes a hand handling unit 10a configured to be able to be pulled forward from the housing, and a medicine disposed from the hand handling unit 10a in the housing. A drug handing device comprising an actuating member (not shown) for receiving the is incorporated. Since the hand handling unit 10a is formed with a plurality of compartments divided vertically and horizontally, when the medicine for each day is divided into a plurality of times, It is also suitable to divide each batch in a day through the number of days. This is used when a medicine that is not assigned to the medicine feeder 13 is packaged together with a medicine that is assigned to the medicine feeder 13, and the sequential handing of medicines is performed by intermittent driving of the conveyor in the hand handling unit 10a. The discharge is performed (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

  In order to manage the automatic dispensing operation of such a tablet packaging machine 10 in an integrated manner, it is arranged along with or close to the tablet packaging machine 10 (see FIG. 9 (a)), and the upper table 9 (dispensing control device). Will also be installed. Since the upper table 9 is one-to-one if the tablet packaging machine 10 is a single minimum system, it is often installed integrally with the tablet packaging machine 10, but there are a plurality of tablet packaging machines 10. In the case of a large-scale system, a single upper table 9 manages a plurality of and many tablet sachets 10, that is, a one-to-many or a few-to-many management system. Often (see FIG. 10). In a stand-alone system in which an automatic dispensing device is used alone, prescription data obtained by converting the contents of the prescription into electronic data and derived dispensing data are simply input to the upper desk 9 by an attached input device (not shown). For example, in a so-called prescription order entry system of a medical office or a network using system in which a host table 9 is connected to a host computer of a pharmacy (see the wavy line in FIG. 10), for example, prescription data created by the prescription order entry system However, the data format conversion is performed by the prescription telegram converter in the middle, and further converted into dispensing data consisting of data that can be automatically dispensed by data analysis in the pharmacy host computer, of which the tablet dispenser 10 under the control of the upper table 9 Only those related to the upper table 9 can be sent.

  In order to create a medicine discharge command based on the prescription data or the derived dispensing data, the upper table 9 (see FIG. 10) is composed of a computer storing a medicine master table such as a so-called notebook personal computer or desktop personal computer. The medicine discharge command created in a telegram format is distributed and transmitted to the tablet packaging machine 10 via an appropriate communication adapter. The medicine master table (see FIG. 11 (a)) consists of a large number of records searched with the medicine code as the main key, and each record contains medicine information such as medicine name and dosage form, “Matching machine ID” for identifying the tablet packaging machine 10 and “collation data” allocated to each base unit 30 for collation with the cassette identification information attached to the medicine cassette 20 containing the corresponding medicine, as described above. Items such as a “feeder storage address” composed of a column address, a column address, and a plate address, and “cassette status” indicating whether or not a cassette is mounted and whether or not the cassette is operable are included. Furthermore, an unused area for expansion that is not used while being cleared to zero for future function expansion is also secured.

In the medicine discharge command message transmitted from the upper table 9 to the tablet packaging machine 10 (see FIG. 11B), in addition to the number of tablets discharged by the prescription, the medicine containing the medicine In order to cause the feeder 13 to discharge the medicine, the n-unit ID (n is one of integers 1 to N) for specifying the tablet packaging machine 10 and the medicine feeder in the tablet packaging machine 10 as the destination of the message 13 is included in the feeder storage address (the medicine feeder storage address related to the medicine feeder storage described above).
In order to receive this medicine discharge command, the tablet packaging machine 10 (see FIG. 10) has the in-device communication means 60 extended outside and connected to the communication adapter of the upper desk 9. The intra-apparatus communication means 60 is, for example, a LAN compliant with the IEEE RS485 standard. For this, the operation control of the plurality of medicine feeders 13 is performed via the controller 18 described above and the intra-shelf wiring 62 as described above. A shelf control circuit 61 and a hand control circuit 64 for controlling the operation of the hand unit 10a are connected. Since the shelf control circuit 61 is usually provided for each shelf in the medicine cabinet 11, there are a plurality and a plurality of each of the tablet packaging machines 10.

JP 2002-272812 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 06-080103

[Unpublished Patent Application 1] Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-000408 By the way, if there are many kinds of medicines, the number of medicine feeders stored will increase, and if it exceeds several hundreds, initial setting / preparation of collation data is not easy. There is also an automatic dispensing device that has been improved so that it is easy to prepare collation data and establish conformity to a dosage form even if there are many and various drug feeders (unpublished patent application 1). This includes a medicine cassette for detachably storing a medicine, a base part that supports the medicine cassette so as to be detachable and drives to eject the medicine cassette, a medicine feeder storage that stores a large number of the base parts, and each of the base parts. In the automatic dispensing apparatus provided with a reader for reading the identification information attached to the medicine cassette and a collating means for comparing the read result with the collation data stored in advance, a microprocessor is provided in each of the base portions. And a memory or a microprocessor with a built-in memory, and the collation means and collation data are distributed and incorporated therein. In this way, since the matching of the medicine cassette can be processed in the base unit for each medicine feeder, the correspondence of the object to be collated can be confirmed directly by visual observation or the like. Preparation is easier.

  However, because preparation of collation data becomes easier, the use of feeder storage addresses is completely stopped, and the identification and identification of drug cassettes can be performed using only collation data, or drug cassettes are mounted on the base unit. Only allowing drug discharge in the dispensing field where safety is important cannot be denied, and there is a risk of compromising the operation performance of the apparatus and compatibility with existing systems. That is, as for safety, the drug discharge and packaging operations are automated, and even the verification of the drug cassette is automated, but the error check of the supplemented drug is not automated, and the drug cassette is attached and detached. Since the medicine replenishment operation is still entrusted manually, it is safer to fix the base portion of the medicine cassette mounting destination in the case of a medicine cassette that is frequently replenished and easily spilled.

As for the operation performance of the device, the feeder storage address can be used to estimate the drop time of the drug in detail, but since it cannot be done only with the verification data, the maximum time must be taken into account at any time. In many cases, a wasteful waiting time is introduced from the discharge to the start of packaging, and the packaging speed and efficiency decrease accordingly.
Furthermore, as for the compatibility with the existing system, as described above, in the existing system, a feeder storage address is used as a destination in a message transmitted from the upper table (dispensing control device) to the tablet packaging machine (drug packaging machine) instead of the collation data. Since it is used, it is difficult to ensure compatibility if the use of feeder storage addresses is completely stopped.

On the other hand, in the conventional tablet packaging machine, the above-described manual handling unit is used when automatically packaging the medicine not stored in the medicine cabinet. However, the manual handling work is cumbersome and time-consuming, and should be avoided if possible. And as a technique to reduce the frequency of manual work, several medicine cassettes are prepared outside the medicine cabinet, and in those cases, medicines that were conventionally targeted for handing are stored for each type. It is conceivable to replace the base part of the tablet packaging machine as necessary. For such a medicine cassette (medicine feeder), unlike the above-described frequently used medicine cassette (medicine feeder), the replacement frequency to the base portion is higher than the replenishment frequency. It is important to be able to easily and accurately update the correspondence relationship between the unit and the medicine cassette (hereinafter referred to as commutability).
Therefore, while maintaining both safety and commutability based on the matching of the medicine cassettes, it is possible to minimize the sacrifices related to the operation performance of the equipment and compatibility with existing systems, and the medicines that are not stored in the medicine cabinet. Making it easy to perform automatic packaging is an important technical issue.

  The automatic dispensing device of the present invention (Solution means 1) has been devised to solve such a problem, and includes a medicine cassette that accommodates the medicine so that the medicine can be discharged, and detachably supports the medicine cassette. A base part that performs the discharge drive, a medicine feeder storage equipped with a large number of the base parts, a reading device that reads identification information attached to each of the base parts and attached to the medicine cassette, and the reading result are stored in advance. In the automatic dispensing device comprising the matching means for comparing the matching data, and the dispensing control device for creating the medicine discharge command based on the prescription data or the derived dispensing data and for controlling the discharge drive of the base part, The dispensing control device divides the base portion into a first group consisting of a large number and a second group consisting of a small number when creating the medicine discharge command. A command addressed to one group includes a medicine feeder storage address related to the medicine feeder storage as a destination, and a command addressed to the second group includes the matching data as a destination. And

  The automatic dispensing apparatus of the present invention is (Solution means 2), which is the automatic dispensing apparatus of the above-mentioned Solution means 1, wherein a microprocessor and a memory or a microprocessor with a built-in memory are mounted on each of the base parts, and the collation is performed on them. And the collation data are incorporated in a distributed manner, and the superscript means for overwriting the collation data with the identification information read by the reader is incorporated in the microprocessor attached to the second group. The overwriting means is operated, and the one attached to the first group of the microprocessors is not incorporated or does not operate even if it is incorporated.

  Furthermore, the automatic dispensing device of the present invention (Solution 3) is an automatic dispensing device of the above Solution 1 and 2, wherein each base unit is provided with an indicator that can be turned on, and a desired one of these indicators is provided. When any one of them is turned on, several neighboring indicators are also turned on.

  In such an automatic dispensing device of the present invention (solution 1), the medicine feeder storage address is included in the telegram of the medicine discharge command addressed to the base portion of the first group as in the conventional manner, Unlike the conventional case, collation data is included in the telegram of the medicine discharge command addressed to the base portion of the second group, so that the medicine is frequently used and safety is important based on the collation of the medicine cassette. The feeders are assigned to the first group, and the drug feeders that are used infrequently and the exchangeability based on the verification of the drug cassette is important are allocated to the second group. Can be achieved.

Also, since the feeder storage address is utilized for most drug discharges, there is only a slight degradation in the operating performance of the device. Furthermore, since the present invention can be realized by partially changing or expanding a system that uses feeder storage addresses, it is easy to ensure compatibility with existing systems.
Therefore, according to the present invention, an automatic dispensing device that can easily perform automatic packaging of a medicine that is not stored in a medicine cabinet, while achieving both safety and commutability based on collation of the medicine cassette, This can be realized in a manner that minimizes the sacrifice of operation performance and compatibility with existing systems.

  Further, in the automatic dispensing apparatus of the present invention (Solution 2), a distributed installation method using microprocessors that enables the collation function to be processed by the base unit for each medicine feeder is also used for the overwriting means of the collation data. As a result of the extended application, not only the collation function but also the collation data used for collation can be updated by the base unit for each medicine feeder. This further improves the commutability of the second group of medicine feeders that receive a message containing collation data as a destination and discharge the medicine. However, since the overwriting means is limited to the microprocessor attached to the medicine feeder belonging to the second group where commutability is regarded as important, many of them belong to the first group where safety is regarded as important. Since the medicine feeder is not affected and receives a message containing the feeder storage address as a destination and discharges the medicine, safety is maintained.

  Further, in the automatic dispensing device of the present invention (Solution means 3), when guiding the base part of the medicine cassette mounting destination, the indicator attached to the desired base part is turned on, In addition, since some of the nearby indicators are also lit, the display is conspicuous, making it easy to find the cassette mounting destination.

About the chemical | medical agent feeder and automatic dispensing apparatus of such this invention, the specific form for implementing this is demonstrated by the following Examples 1-2.
The first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 6 embodies all of the above-described solving means 1 to 3 (claims 1 to 3 as originally filed), and the second embodiment shown in FIGS. This is a modified example.
In the drawings, for the sake of simplicity, fasteners such as bolts, coupling tools such as hinges, flow passage opening and closing members such as shutters, detailed circuits such as motor drivers, etc. are not shown, and the description of the invention is omitted. The figure mainly shows what is necessary and related. In addition, since the same reference numerals are given to the same components as those in the prior art in the illustration, the following description will focus on differences from the prior art.

  About the Example 1 of the chemical | medical agent feeder and automatic dispensing apparatus of this invention, the specific structure is demonstrated with reference to drawing. FIG. 1 shows the overall mechanical structure of an automatic dispensing device, where (a) is a perspective view of the appearance thereof, (b) is a right side view of the tablet packaging machine 100, and (c) is an internal structure of the tablet packaging machine 100. It is a schematic diagram shown. 2 shows the structure of the drug feeders 13 and 130 incorporated in the tablet packaging machine 100 in a large number, (a) is a left side view, (b) is a front view, and (c) is a longitudinal left side view, (D) is a bottom view of the medicine cassette 20, (e) is a plan view of the base portion 30, and (f) and (g) are block diagrams showing the main functions of the microprocessors 40 distributedly installed on the base portion 30. is there.

  2 (f) is a functional block diagram of a microprocessor attached to a large number of base portions 30 belonging to the first group (that is, the base portion 30 of the medicine feeder 13 in the medicine storage 11). ) Is a functional block diagram of the microprocessor 40 attached to a small number of base units 30 belonging to the second group (that is, the base unit 30 of the medicine feeder 130 in the replaceable feeder storage 110). 3 is a block diagram showing the overall structure of the control system of the automatic dispensing apparatus, FIG. 4 shows the structure of control data, (a) is a record structure diagram in the medicine master table, (b) and (C) is a message structure diagram of a medicine discharge command. Among them, FIG. 3B is a command addressed to the first group and includes a medicine feeder storage address. FIG. 5C shows a command addressed to the second group, which includes verification data. FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram of the shelf control circuits 161 and 163 (tablet packaging machine sub-controller) in the control system.

  The main difference between the automatic dispensing apparatus of the first embodiment and the conventional automatic dispensing apparatus described above is that a replaceable feeder hangar 110 and a storage shelf 120 are added to a tablet packaging machine 100 instead of the tablet packaging machine 10. In addition, the microprocessor 40 is mounted on each base portion 30 of the medicine feeder 13 and collation means and collation data are distributed and incorporated in each microprocessor 40, and an upper table 190 (instead of the upper table 9). The dispensing control device) has been partially expanded in function and adapted to the grouping of the base portion 30 of the medicine feeder 13. Accordingly, the shelf control circuit 61 is partly modified to become a shelf control circuit 161 and a new shelf control circuit 163 is added. The controller 18 is also partially modified to be a controller 180 so as to be suitable for the grouping.

  First (see FIG. 1), an additional portion of the tablet packaging machine 100 will be described. The replaceable feeder storage 110 is incorporated in a window-like opening formed on the right side surface of the medicine storage 11. Normally, the door is closed with a transparent door, but when the transparent handle is pushed up by placing a hand on the door handle 111, the opening is released so that the medicine cassette 20 can be taken in and out of the replaceable feeder storage 110. . A large number of, for example, several hundreds of drug feeders 13 are stored in the medicine feeder storage 12, but a small number of, for example, several tens of drug feeders 130 are stored in the replaceable feeder storage 110. It has become. The base part 30 of the medicine feeder 13 equipped with a large number in the medicine feeder storage 12 is classified into the first group, and the base part 30 of the medicine feeder 130 equipped with only a few in the replaceable feeder storage 110 is the second part. It is classified into a group.

  Since the medicine feeder 130 has the same mechanical structure and basic functions as the medicine feeder 13, hereinafter, when it is not necessary to distinguish, the medicine feeder 130 is put together with reference numeral “13”, and when distinguished, the reference numeral “13” and reference numeral “130”. To distinguish. That is, the medicine feeder 130 is provided with a medicine cassette 20 that removably accommodates medicine, and a base portion 30 that detachably supports the medicine cassette 20 and drives its discharge. The medicine 1 is discharged from the medicine cassette 20 by the designated number of tablets in accordance with the medicine discharge command of the above, and dropped into the collecting member 15 via the conduit 140 similar to the conduit 14. The difference between the medicine feeder 13 and the medicine feeder 130 is that the program of the additional function related to the collation function is different as will be described in detail later.

  The storage shelf 120 is a simple shelf separate from the tablet packaging machine 100, and can store a large number of, for example, tens to hundreds of drug cassettes 20. These medicine cassettes 20 are used by being attached to the base part 30 equipped in the replaceable feeder storage 110, and in the sense that they are attached to the base part 30 to constitute the second group of medicine feeders 130. Although belonging to the second group, when it is removed from the base portion 30, it is stored in the storage shelf 120 and waits. Therefore, in the second group, when not only the replaceable feeder storage 110 but also the storage shelf 120 is viewed, the number of drug cassettes 20 is greater than the number of base portions 30. On the other hand, in the first group, when looking at the medicine cabinet 11, the number of medicine cassettes 20 is the same as or less than the number of base portions 30. In many cases, the storage shelf 120 also serves as a table for the upper table 190 and other work tables. A small number or a large number may be provided.

Next (see FIG. 2), each of the medicine feeders 13 and 130 includes a detachable medicine cassette 20 and a fixed base portion 30, which will be described in detail even if there is some overlap.
The drug cassette 20 includes a container 13b (cup, drug container, drug container) with a lid 13a and an alignment board 13c (rotor, alignment member) provided with a partition 13d (molded blade, wing-like protrusion, alignment member). , The discharge member) is attached to the frame plate 13e (the detachable coupling portion), and when the alignment plate 13c is rotated via the cylinder portion 13g (detachable transmission member), the medicine in the container portion 13b 1 enters one after another between the partition walls 13d and is aligned, and falls one by one from the discharge port 13f.

  The base unit 30 includes a base 13k (basic fixing member) attached to the medicine feeder storage 12, a motor 13j (drive source) fixed thereto, and a spline shaft 13i (detachable) connected to the rotation shaft thereof. The spline shaft 13i is fitted into the cylindrical portion 13g with the attachment so that the medicine cassette 20 can be easily attached and detached. In this state, the rotation of the motor 13j is cylindrical via the spline shaft 13i. It is transmitted to the part 13g. The base 13k is also formed with a through-hole 13h (medicine drop path), which communicates with the discharge port 13f when the drug cassette 20 is mounted.

  In the tablet packaging machine 100 equipped with a large number of such base portions 30 (see FIG. 1 (c)), the drug feeder storage 12 incorporates a vertically extending conduit 14, and the replaceable feeder storage 110 also moves up and down. An extended conduit 140 is incorporated, and the discharge port 13f of each of the drug feeders 13 and 130 communicates with the nearby conduits 14 and 140 via the through-hole 13h of the base 13k and an appropriate extension line, respectively. . Then, the medicine 1 discharged from the medicine feeders 13 and 130 is guided to the conduits 14 and 140 through the through-holes 13h, spontaneously falls in the conduits 14 and 140, and is guided to the collecting member 15. Yes. The collecting member 15 is incorporated below the chemical container 11 and above the packaging device 17, and opens wide enough that the upper opening covers the lower ends of all the conduits 14, while the lower opening is the packaging device 17. It is squeezed toward the medicine charging section 16, and the medicine 1 guided by any of the conduits 14 and 140 is collected toward the lower opening and sent to the packaging device 17.

  Although illustration is omitted, a shutter member for temporarily storing the dropped drug is incorporated in the drug collection paths in the conduits 14 and 140 and the collection member 15, which are discharged from several drug feeders 13 and 130 together. The medicines 1 to be packaged are arranged at the same timing when they fall into the collecting member 15 from the respective conduits 14 and 140 and when they are put into the medicine feeding part 16 of the packaging device 17 from the outlet below the collecting member 15. It is possible. Through such a medicine collection route, the medicine 1 is packaged into the packaging band 2 by the packaging device 17. The packaging device 17 delivers the packaging band 2 by a predetermined length and performs packaging while heating and sealing. As described above, when the medicine is automatically packaged, the medicine 1 is supplied from the appropriate medicine feeder 13 through the collecting mechanisms 14 and 15 to the packaging device 17 in one tablet or multiples thereof.

  Each of the drug feeders 13 and 130 (see FIG. 2) is further provided with a verification means for reading and verifying the identification information in order to confirm whether or not the drug cassette 20 mounted on the base unit 30 is appropriate. Has been. That is, an identification information carrier 21 that holds identification information is attached to the medicine cassette 20, and a reading device 31 that reads the identification information from the identification information carrier 21 and a one-chip type micro that has a memory built in the base portion 30. A processor 40 is attached. The identification information carrier 21 is a seal having a reading surface in which, for example, 11 white or black marks are arranged in a line, and is attached to the lower surface of the medicine cassette 20. The reading device 31 has the same number of reflective photosensors as the marks on the identification information carrier 21 arranged in a row, and is provided on the upper surface of the base portion 30. In a state where the medicine cassette 20 is mounted on the base portion 30, the reading device 31 and the identification information carrier 21 face each other so as to be readable.

  In order to perform collation using the reading result of the reading device 31 in each medicine feeder 13, 130, specifically, in the base unit 30, the reading device 31 is connected to a microprocessor 40 attached together, Collation data 51 is stored in the memory 50 of the microprocessor 40, and a collation routine 47 for comparing the collation data 51 with the reading result of the reading device 31 is installed in the microprocessor 40 (FIG. 2 (f), ( g)). Further, an IO routine 41 is installed in the microprocessor 40 in order to perform signal transmission / reception with the shelf control circuits 161 and 163 via the in-shelf wiring 162 obtained by extending the in-shelf wiring 62.

  Furthermore, the base unit 30 (see FIG. 2) is provided with a display 32 that is made of, for example, a green LED and can be turned on easily. The display 32 is used to indicate a communicable state, a medicine discharge impossible state, and the like in the base part 30 of the first group of medicine feeders 13, but in the base part 30 of the second group of medicine feeders 130, the medicine to be replaced is used. It is used to guide the mounting location of the cassette 20. The number of the display devices 32 shown in the figure is one for each base unit 30. However, for example, a plurality of display devices 32 having different colors may be attached to the base unit 30 and used depending on the function. In addition, the base unit 30 includes a discharge sensor 33 that detects passage of the medicine 1 through the through-hole 13h, and an attachment / detachment sensor 34 such as a mechanical switch that detects whether or not the medicine cassette 20 is mounted on the base part 30. It is attached. A manual switch 35 that is operated when the extended function of the collation function is activated is also provided in a state of being hidden in a small hole or the like.

  These (32, 33, 34, 35) are also connected to the microprocessor 40 and are controlled by them, like the reading device 31 and the motor 13j. Among them, the display 32, the discharge sensor 33, the attachment / detachment sensor 34, and the motor 13j have not only the in-shelf wiring 162 but also the microprocessor 40 between them and the shelf control circuits 161 and 163. As in the case of receiving the direct control of the shelf control circuit 61 by the in-shelf wiring 62, the signal transfer process in FIG. 3 sends and receives signals to and from the shelf control circuits 161 and 163 so as to follow the control of the shelf control circuits 161 and 163. It has become. The reading result of the reading device 31 is delivered to the collation routine 47 as described above, and the operation state of the manual switch 35 is delivered to an evacuation recovery routine 47a and an overwriting routine 47b described later. .

  The function of the microprocessor 40 will be described in detail (see FIGS. 2 (f) and 2 (g)). The collation routine 47 is performed when the medicine cassette 20 is mounted on the base 30 in the medicine feeder 13 or the medicine feeder 130, or The collation data 51 stored in the collation data 51 in advance and the reading result of the reading device 31 are appropriately compared with each other during the mounting and during the mounting. The collation data 51 is, for example, 11-bit data that is the same as the mark of the identification information carrier 21 so that it can be immediately determined whether or not they match if compared with the reading result of the reading device 31. When the comparison result does not match, the matching routine 47 sends a notification signal to that effect to the shelf control circuits 161 and 163 via the IO routine 41 and the in-shelf wiring 162 in order to stop the discharge driving of the corresponding base unit 30. It is supposed to be sent out. On the other hand, when the comparison result between the reading result of the identification information carrier 21 and the comparison data 51 of the memory 50 matches, the IO base 41 sends a notification signal to that effect in order to enable the corresponding base unit 30 to be discharged. In addition, the information is sent to the shelf control circuits 161 and 163 via the in-shelf wiring 162.

  The verification data 51 is written to the memory 50 using a data writing jig composed of a general-purpose ROM writer or a dedicated writer, and a single memory 50 is temporarily mounted on the jig and the specified data is written to a specified address. However, the verification data registered in the medicine master table of the upper desk 190 can be downloaded from the upper desk 190 to the microprocessor 40. Further, in the case of the medicine feeder 130 belonging to the second group where commutability is regarded as important, it is convenient and error-free if the medicine cassette 20 is attached to the base portion 30 and the identification information can be transferred to the memory 50. In addition to the above-described collation routine 47, an overwriting routine 47b is also installed in the microprocessor 40 of the 130 base unit 30 (see FIG. 2G), and the manual switch 35 is operated by the program processing. Then, the identification information is read by the reading device 31 from the identification information carrier 21 of the medicine cassette 20 mounted on the base 30 at that time, and the read identification information is overwritten and stored in the collation data 51.

  On the other hand, in the case of the medicine feeder 13 belonging to the first group where safety is important, the microprocessor 40 of the base unit 30 (see FIG. 2 (f)), in addition to the above-described verification routine 47, verification A save / recovery routine 47a as a check avoidance means for temporarily stopping the function of the means is installed, and an area of save data 52 used by the save / recovery routine 47a is also secured in the memory 50. When the manual switch 35 is operated, the evacuation recovery routine 47a transfers the current value of the collation data 51 to the evacuation data 52 and then clears the collation data 51 to zero. When the manual switch 35 is further operated again, the evacuation data The value saved in 52 is written back to the collation data 51. Correspondingly, the collation routine 47 does not perform comparison processing / collation processing while the collation data 51 is cleared to zero.

  As described above, in the tablet packaging machine 100, the collation avoidance means in addition to the collation means are included in the ones attached to the first group among the microprocessors 40 attached to the respective base units 30 equipped in large numbers. Are incorporated and these can operate, but no overriding means are incorporated. Further, in the microprocessor 40 attached to the second group, the overwriting means is incorporated in addition to the collating means, and these can operate but the collation avoiding means is not incorporated. Further, the collation avoiding means includes collation data saving means and recovery means, and the overwriting means overwrites and stores the identification information read by the reader on the collation data.

  On the other hand (see FIG. 3), the upper desk 190 uses different medicine discharge commands corresponding to the grouping of the base unit 30, but it is limited to the case of only the above-described tablet packaging machine 100 when expanding its function. It is devised so that it can be integratedly managed even when it is mixed with the above-described tablet packaging machine 10. Specifically, in each record of the medicine master table (see FIG. 4A), a part of the unused area for expansion that has been reserved and unused in the past is an item “AC flag” for the extended function. The AC flag is turned off when the corresponding medicine cassette 20 belongs to the first group of medicine feeders 13, and the AC flag is turned off when the corresponding medicine cassette 20 belongs to the second group of medicine feeders 130. Turned on. This medicine master table expansion work is performed using a table editing program or the like as an initialization work when the tablet packaging machine 100 is installed, but the AC flag is turned off for the existing tablet packaging machine 10 so that the table updating work can be omitted. The value is the same as the zero clear value of the unused area for expansion.

  Further, (see FIG. 4B), when the upper desk 190 creates a medicine discharge command addressed to the first group of medicine feeders 13, the feeder storage address extracted from the medicine master table as in the conventional upper desk 9 A command is created by including (drug feeder storage address related to the medicine feeder storage) as a destination, and an off AC flag is added thereto. Further (see FIG. 4 (c)), when creating a medicine discharge command addressed to the second group of medicine feeders 130, the upper table 190, unlike the conventional upper table 9, checks not the feeder storage address from the medicine master table. Data (comparison data with cassette identification information) is extracted, this is included in the destination, a command is created, and an ON AC flag is added thereto.

  Since the AC flag determines whether the medicine cassette 20 containing various medicines belongs to the first group or the second group, the content of the identification information attached to each medicine cassette 20 is not restricted by grouping. However, in order to facilitate the operation check, in this example, identification information of values “1” to “500” is assigned to the first group, and identification information of values “501” to “2000” is assigned to the second group. ing. Since the value “0” overlaps with the zero clear value of the collation data 51 at the time of avoiding collation, it is not used for the identification information of the medicine cassette 20. Further, the base unit 30 has a large number of the first group and a small number of the second group. However, since the medicine cassette 20 is used by replacing the second group, there may be a large number of the second group. Absent.

  The shelf control circuit 161 (see FIG. 5) is also composed of a microprocessor or the like, and controls several to several tens of drug feeders 13 (the first group of base units 30) via individual intra-shelf wirings 162. In addition, a communication routine 42a as a communication means, a discharge detection routine 43 for detecting the presence / absence or suitability of medicine discharge, a table search routine 44 for accessing the port table 44a, a detachment detection routine 45 as a cassette detachment detection means, An information transmission routine 46 as transmission means and a discharge control routine 48 as discharge drive control means are installed.

  The communication routine 42a receives commands from the upper desk 190 or the controller 180 in some cases via the in-device communication means 60, and transmits status and data to the upper desk 190 and the like. The received command includes a drug discharge command and an information upload command. Here, the processing of the drug discharge command will be described in detail. When the communication routine 42a receives the medicine discharge command, it checks the AC flag included therein and ignores the command if the AC flag is on. If the AC flag is off, the command is searched for a table. The routine 44 is handed over.

  The table search routine 44 extracts a feeder storage address from the medicine discharge command received from the communication routine 42a, and searches the port table 44a using it as a key. In the port table 44a, there are records as many as the number of medicine feeders 13 under the control of the shelf control circuit 161, and each record includes items such as a feeder storage address, a cassette detachment state, and an IO port number. . By extracting the IO port number from the record whose feeder storage address matches that of the medicine discharge command in this port table 44a, the table search routine 44 specifies the medicine feeder 13 to be discharged, specifically the signal destination. The in-shelf wiring 162 and the microprocessor 40 are specified. If the medicine cassette 20 is attached to the medicine feeder 13, the medicine discharge command is delivered to the discharge control routine 48. If not, the information transmission routine 46 is instructed to raise a cassette non-attachment report. It has become.

  The attachment / detachment detection routine 45 monitors the attachment / detachment state of the medicine cassette 20 with respect to the base portion 30 of the medicine feeder 13, and updates the corresponding item in the port table 44a every time the state changes. Specifically, the detection output of the attachment / detachment sensor 34 of the base part 30 of the medicine feeder 13 is input via the microprocessor 40, and the base part 30 is supplied based on the change in the detection value or the significant signal output at the time of attachment / detachment. It is detected that the medicine cassette 20 has been attached and that the medicine cassette 20 has been removed from the base portion 30, and information to that effect is written in the item of the cassette removal state in the port table 44a and an instruction is sent to the information transmission routine 46 As a result, reports of cassette removal are raised.

  Upon receiving the medicine discharge command and the IO port number from the table search routine 44, the discharge control routine 48 receives the motor 13j of the corresponding medicine feeder 13 via the in-shelf wiring 162 and the microprocessor 40 specified by the IO port number. And the motor 13j is stopped when it is confirmed by the detection of the discharge sensor 33 that the drug 1 has been discharged by the number and the number of tablets designated by the drug discharge command. The detection of the discharge sensor 33 of the corresponding medicine feeder 13 is input by the discharge detection routine 43 via the microprocessor 40 attached to the base portion 30 and the connected in-shelf wiring 162, and the discharge detection routine 43 To the discharge control routine 48. Further, when the discharge control routine 48 receives a notification that the verification is not established from the verification routine 47 of the microprocessor 40 of the drug feeder 13 via the in-shelf wiring 162, and thereafter, even if a drug discharge command is received, the motor 13j is turned on. It is designed not to rotate. When receiving a notification of verification completion from the verification routine 47 and thereafter, upon receiving a drug discharge command, the rotation of the motor 13j according to the drug discharge command is resumed accordingly.

  Similarly to the shelf control circuit 161, the shelf control circuit 163 is composed of a microprocessor or the like, and includes a communication routine 42b as a communication means, a discharge detection routine 43 for detecting whether or not medicine is discharged, and a port table 44b. A table search routine 44 for accessing the data, a detachment detection routine 45 as a cassette detachment detection means, an information transmission routine 46 as a transmission means, and a discharge control routine 48 as a discharge drive control means are installed. It is the same as the shelf control circuit 161 that it is connected to several to several tens of microprocessors 40 under control so as to be able to send and receive signals via individual in-shelf wirings 162, but unlike the shelf control circuit 161, it is controlled. Since the target is the medicine feeder 130 (second group base unit 30), the communication routine 42b and the port table 44b are partially different from the communication routine 42a and the port table 44a.

  More specifically, the communication routine 42b receives commands from the upper table 190 or the controller 180 in some cases via the in-device communication means 60, and transmits and receives status and data to the upper table 190 and the like. The commands include a medicine discharge command and an information upload command. The process so far is similar to the communication routine 42a, but the medicine discharge command to be processed is different from the communication routine 42a. That is, when the communication routine 42b receives the medicine discharge command, the communication routine 42b checks the AC flag included therein and ignores the command if the AC flag is off. If the AC flag is on, the communication routine 42b It is handed over to the table search routine 44. As a result, the medicine discharge command is distributed to the communication routines 42a / 42b and the first group of medicine feeders 13 / second group of medicine feeders 130 in accordance with ON / OFF of the AC flag.

Corresponding to the fact that collation data is included in the destination of the medicine discharge command for which the AC flag is off, not the feeder storage address, the port table 44b includes collation data, cassette detachment status, and IO port in each record. Items such as numbers are included. There are as many records in the port table 44b as the number of medicine feeders 130 (more specifically, the second group of base units 30) under the control of the shelf control circuit 163.
Then, the table search routine 44 that searches for this extracts the collation data from the medicine discharge command received from the communication routine 42b, and searches the port table 44b using it as a key.

  When the search is successful and the IO port number can be extracted from the record whose collation data matches that of the medicine discharge command in the port table 44b, the table search routine 44, as described above, the medicine feeder 130 to be discharged. (More specifically, the signal transmission destination in-shelf wiring 162 and the microprocessor 40) are specified, and if the medicine cassette 20 is attached to the medicine feeder 130, the medicine discharge command is delivered to the discharge control routine 48. It has become. On the other hand, when the medicine cassette 20 is not attached to the specified medicine feeder 130, the indicator 32 attached to the base portion 30 of the specified medicine feeder 130 is lit to guide the cassette attachment destination base, When the medicine cassette 20 is mounted, the display 32 is turned off, and a medicine discharge command is delivered to the discharge control routine 48.

  When the search of the port table 44b fails, the table search routine 44 selects the record with the oldest update time from each record of the port table 44b, rewrites and updates the collation data with that of the medicine discharge command, and The collation data is sent to the microprocessor 40 of the base unit 30 of the medicine feeder 130 specified by the IO port number included in the corresponding record, and the collation data 51 of the microprocessor 40 is updated. . Further, the indicator 32 attached to the base portion 30 of the specified medicine feeder 130 is turned on for guiding the cassette mounting destination base, and when the desired medicine cassette 20 is attached or replaced with the desired medicine cassette 20, The display 32 is turned off, and the medicine discharge command is delivered to the discharge control routine 48.

  When the table search routine 44 lights any one of the indicators 32 attached to the base unit 30 for guiding the cassette mounting destination base, other neighboring indicators 32 are also lit. It is supposed to let you. Although there are various lighting patterns, in this example, after the indicators 32 on the same shelf are turned on all at once, they are turned off in order from the farther away, and the lighting location is narrowed down to the desired indicator 32. The pattern is repeated. Such lighting of the cassette mounting destination base guide is important for the second group of medicine feeders 130 which are stored in the exchangeable feeder storage 110 and the exchangeability is important, but are stored in the medicine feeder storage 12 for safety. This function is also useful for the first group of medicine feeders 13 where importance is placed on sex when supplementing medicines. When urging the user to attach or change the medicine cassette 20, the table search routine 44 turns on the display 32 and instructs the information transmission routine 46 to send a message requesting the display to the controller 180 or the upper desk 190. It is supposed to let you.

  The controller 180 (tablet packaging machine main controller) monitors the medicine discharge command issued from the high-level console 190. When the AC flag of the medicine discharge command is OFF and the feeder storage address is included in the destination, the controller 18 Similarly, the medicine fall time from the medicine feeder 13 is estimated from the stage address in the feeder storage address, and the shutter opening / closing timing of the medicine collection paths 14 and 15 and the operation timing of the packaging device 17 are varied. Unlike the controller 18, the estimated value of the medicine drop time from the medicine feeder 130 is installed in the replaceable feeder storage 110 when the AC flag is ON and the collation data is included in the destination and the feeder storage address is not included. Each base portion 30 (that is, the base portion 30 of the second group of medicine feeders 130) It is adapted to adopt the longest of the drug fall time.

  About the chemical | medical agent feeder and automatic dispensing apparatus of this Example 1, the use aspect and operation | movement are demonstrated referring drawings. FIGS. 6A to 6G are lighting examples of the indicator in the interchangeable feeder hangar, and show blinking states in time series.

  When prescription data or derived dispensing data related to the tablet packaging machine 10 or the tablet packaging machine 100 under the control of the upper table 190 is input to the upper table 190, the upper table 190 refers to the medicine master table, A medicine discharge command is created and transmitted to the tablet packaging machine 10 and the tablet packaging machine 100 via the in-device communication means 60. When the medicine discharge command is addressed to the tablet packing machine 10 or when the medicine discharge command is addressed to the first group of drug feeders 13 stored in the drug feeder storage 12 in the tablet packing machine 100, the drug discharge command is set to the off AC flag. Is the same as the conventional one, except that the medicine to be packaged is normally stored in the medicine cabinet 11 so that it can be automatically discharged, so that the tablet packaging machine 100 is the same as the tablet packaging machine 10. Tablets are automatically packaged.

  That is, when the medicine discharge command is transmitted from the upper desk 190 to the tablet packaging machine 100, the AC flag is turned off, so that the medicine discharge command is received by the shelf control circuit 161 and the port table 44a by the table search routine 44 is received. Served for search. Then, by the cooperation of the microprocessor 40 of the specified medicine feeder 13 and the discharge control routine 48 of the shelf control circuit 161 and the like, the medicine 1 designated by the medicine discharge command is dropped and discharged from the medicine feeder 13 by the specified number of tablets. The The medicine 1 is put into the medicine feeding section 16 of the packaging device 17 through the medicine collection paths 14 and 15 and is packaged in the packaging band 2 by the packaging device 17. At that time, the medicine discharge command is also monitored by the controller 180, and the drop timing of the medicine 1 due to opening and closing of the shutter and the packaging timing by the packaging device 17 are in accordance with the feeder storage address included as the destination in the medicine discharge command. It is adjusted optimally.

  Further, when the medicine cassette 20 of the medicine feeder 13 to be discharged is empty or not attached, the controller 180 and the upper table are based on the detection result in the attachment / detachment detection routine 45 and the status report in the information transmission routine 46. In 190, an alarm display or the like for prompting drug replenishment or cassette loading is issued. In response to this, when the operator attaches an appropriate medicine cassette 20 to the base portion 30, the identification information carrier 21 of the medicine cassette 20 is read by the reading device 31 in the base portion 30, and the identification information and the microprocessor 40 are read. The collation data 47 is compared with the collation data 51 stored in the memory 50. If they do not coincide with each other, the discharging operation is stopped, so that inappropriate packaging due to erroneous mounting of the medicine cassette 20 is prevented.

  On the other hand, when the medicine discharge command is addressed to the second group of medicine feeders 130 stored in the replaceable feeder storage 110 in the tablet packaging machine 100, an ON AC flag is added to the medicine discharge command. At the same time, collation data to be compared with the identification information of the medicine cassette 20 is included in the destination of the medicine discharge command. In this case, when the medicine discharge command is transmitted from the upper desk 190 to the tablet packaging machine 100, the AC flag is turned on, so that the medicine discharge command is received by the shelf control circuit 163 and the port table by the table search routine 44 is received. 44b is used for the search. If the medicine cassette 20 having the identification information specified by the medicine discharge command is attached to the base portion 30 of the medicine feeder 130 specified by the medicine feeder 130, the microprocessor 40 and the shelf control circuit 163 of the medicine feeder 130 are attached. By the cooperation of the discharge control routine 48 and the like, the medicine 1 designated by the medicine discharge command is dropped and discharged from the medicine feeder 130 by the designated number of tablets. As in the case of the drug feeder 13, the drug 1 is loaded into the drug loading unit 16 of the packaging device 17 through the drug collection paths 140 and 15 and is packaged in the packaging band 2 by the packaging device 17. The adjustment of the drop timing and the packaging timing by the controller 180 is performed on the safe side using the longest drug drop time of the drug feeder 130.

  Further, when the medicine cassette 20 having the identification information matching the collation data included in the medicine discharge command is not attached to any base part 30 in the replaceable feeder storage 110, the table search routine of the shelf control circuit 163 In response to the 44 message transmission, the controller 180 or the upper desk 190 issues an alarm display prompting the user to attach or change the medicine cassette 20. At the same time, the cassette loading destination base guidance is turned on by the table search routine 44 of the shelf control circuit 163. In order to explain with a specific example (see FIG. 6), eight medicine feeders 130 are arranged on the same shelf in the exchangeable feeder storage 110, and the fourth place from the left is the replacement target of the medicine cassette 20. (See the point indicated by the hollow arrow in FIG. 6).

  In this case, first, the indicators 32 of the base unit 30 of all eight drug feeders 130 on the shelf board are turned on all at once (see FIG. 6A), and the farthest rightmost indicator 32 is turned off after a certain time. (See FIG. 6 (b)), the first and seventh displays 32 from the left turn off after the next fixed time (see FIG. 6 (c)), and then the second and sixth displays from the left after a fixed time. The device 32 is turned off (see FIG. 6D), and the third and fifth display devices 32 from the left are turned off after a predetermined time (see FIG. 6E). The fourth display 32 from the left in the place to be replaced continues to be lit without being turned off, and even if an undesired medicine cassette 20 is removed therefrom (see FIG. 6 (f)), the lit location is desired. The lighting pattern narrowed down to the display 32 is repeated.

  When the medicine cassette 20 having the identification information that matches the collation data of the medicine discharge command is taken out from the storage shelf 120 by the operator and attached to the fourth base part 30 from the left that is the replacement target, All the display devices 32 are turned off (see FIG. 6G). Then, when the manual switch 35 of the base unit 30 is operated for confirmation, the verification data 51 is overwritten and updated by the overwriting routine 47b in the microprocessor 40 attached to the base unit 30. In the shelf control circuit 163, the collation data item of the corresponding record in the port table 44b is overwritten and updated. Thus, a large number of medicine cassettes 20 stored in the storage shelf 120 can be automatically discharged. For the medicines not only stored in the medicine cassette 20 of the storage shelf 120 as well as the medicine feeder storage box 12 and the replaceable feeder storage box 110, the hand handling unit 10a is used as usual, but the frequency is extremely low.

  The above is an explanation when the automatic packaging is properly performed. However, the first group of drug feeders 13 stored in the drug feeder storage 12 is large in number and has a wide variety of drug types and dosage forms. Therefore, unexpected abnormalities such as delays and cracks may occur in some medicine feeders 13. Such a discharge abnormality is likely to occur during the start-up of the initial operation or the adoption of a new drug, but it may also occur during the operation, in which case there is a problem with the cassette 20 or the base unit 30 or the drug feeder 13 In order to manually perform an abnormality diagnosis to check whether the compatibility with the drug 1 is poor, first, the manual switch 35 of the base unit 30 of the target drug feeder 13 is operated.

  Then, the collation data 51 is saved in the save data 52 and the collation data 51 is cleared to zero by the save / recovery routine 47 a of the microprocessor 40 attached to the base unit 30. The collation function is stopped, the collation of the medicine cassette 20 is avoided, and the indicator 32 of the corresponding base unit 30 is lit to report the source of the abnormality. When collation of the medicine cassette 20 is avoided, an alarm is issued from the upper desk 190 or the like for the operation check of the cassette 20 or the base unit 30 by manual operation, or the upper desk 190 or the like erroneously collects data. Can be done while avoiding.

  Further, when it is desired to temporarily check the operation by mounting the medicine cassette 20 in which an abnormality has occurred on another base unit 30, the manual switch 35 of the base unit 30 at the temporary mounting destination is operated to avoid collation there. So that Even in the base unit 30 at the temporary mounting destination, when the collation of the medicine cassette 20 is avoided, the indicator 32 there lights up in order to report that manual operation is possible outside the management of the upper desk 190 or the like. . Also in this case, the collation data 51 is temporarily saved in the save data 52 with respect to the collation function of the base unit 30 at the temporary mounting destination, and the collation data 51 is read by the reading device 31 with respect to the identification information carrier 21 of the medicine cassette 20. Verification by the routine 47 is not performed. For this reason, while the indicator 32 of the base part 30 as the temporary attachment destination is lit, the same medicine cassette 20, that is, the medicine cassette 20 in which an abnormality has occurred, can be temporarily attached to the base part 30 whose indicator 32 is lit.

When the abnormality diagnosis is completed, the manual switch 35 of the target base unit 30 is operated again. Then, the value saved in the saved data 52 is returned to the collation data 51 by the save / recovery routine 47 a of the microprocessor 40 attached to the base unit 30. The collation function is restored, and collation of the medicine cassette 20 is resumed.
Thus, for the first group of medicine feeders 13 where safety is important, a medicine cassette replacement test or the like can be easily and safely performed without rewriting the medicine master table.

  Here, to add that it is necessary to avoid collation even in the base part 30 at the temporary attachment destination, the medicine cassette placement and movement operation is performed from the base part 30 at the abnormality occurrence source to the base part 30 at the other temporary attachment destination. In order to obtain the final proper placement, the movement check work with changing the temporary attachment destination is often repeated several times. In order to carry out more easily and reliably and quickly, it is useful to be able to avoid collation only by an operation on the base portion 30 at the temporary attachment destination. Further, the collation avoiding means is configured by saving the collation data 51 to the save data 52 and recovering the save data 52 to the collation data 51, so that the save data at the temporary mounting destination can be easily returned to the original collation data. This is a useful function.

  In general, examples of tablets that are easy to bounce in proportion to the drop height include tablets with a hard surface such as sugar-coated tablets, and tablets with low-pressure compression molding that are bare tablets compressed into a certain shape. In many cases, the occurrence of abnormality can be suppressed by mounting and arranging the medicine cassette 20 at a relatively low drop height. Tablets with the opposite characteristics are less likely to cause abnormalities even when placed at a relatively high drop height. The abnormality diagnosis accompanied by the movement of the medicine cassette is trial and error in consideration of the characteristics of such medicine.

  Furthermore, the medicines accommodated in the medicine feeder 13 for automatic discharge are different for each hospital, and among such drugs, the drugs adopted for each hospital that are adopted for automatic discharge only at a specific or some hospitals are Even if data can be set in the master table, the manufacturer responsible for setting up a dispensing system such as a tablet packing machine may need to install or start up a tablet packing machine without a tablet-shaped chemical sample. is there. In this case, the manufacturer registers the feeder storage address, collation data, and the like in the medicine master table while arranging the medicine feeder 13 for accommodating the medicines adopted for each hospital in the medicine feeder storage 12 in the order of “Aiueo”, for example. Then, the initial setting of the tablet packaging machine is performed. And at the time of delivery of the tablet packaging machine, etc., it is necessary to make local fine adjustments to speed up and change the position appropriately and appropriately while looking at the tablet shape and the frequency of occurrence of abnormalities. I needed it. However, in the medicine feeder and the automatic dispensing device according to the present invention, it is possible to easily perform the abnormality diagnosis confirmation work by the medicine cassette arrangement moving work in the state of avoiding collation as described above.

  About the Example 2 of the chemical | medical agent feeder and automatic dispensing apparatus of this invention, the specific structure is demonstrated with reference to drawing. FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the overall structure of the control system, and FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the main functions of the microprocessors 40 distributedly installed in the base unit 30 in both (a) and (b). (A) is a functional block diagram of the first group of microprocessors 40 attached to the base part 30 of the medicine feeder 13 in the medicine storage 11, and (b) is the base part of the medicine feeder 130 in the replaceable feeder storage 110. FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of a second group of microprocessors 40 attached to 30;

  This automatic dispensing apparatus is different from that of the first embodiment described above in that the shelf control circuits 161 and 163 are omitted and the tablet packaging machine 100 is changed to a tablet packaging machine 200 (see FIG. 7). The collation avoiding means in the microprocessor 40 of the base unit 30 of the group of medicine feeders 13 changes from the save recovery routine 47a and the save data 52 to the flag update routine 47c and the switch flag 53, which are update means for the operation content switching flag of the collating means. (Refer to FIG. 8A).

  Instead of eliminating the shelf control circuit 161, a communication routine 42a, a discharge detection routine 43, a detachment detection routine 45, an information transmission routine 46, and a discharge control routine 48 are attached to the base portion 30 of the first group of medicine feeders 13. (See FIG. 8A). These routines are slightly modified so as to directly control the operating members such as the motor 13j. However, the same functions as those installed in the shelf control circuit 161 are also exhibited in the microprocessor 40. Since these routines are installed for each microprocessor 40 and selection of the IO port number is not required, the table search routine 44 and the port table 44a are not installed, and the communication routine 42a is used for the corresponding microprocessor 40. Only the medicine discharge command addressed to the feeder storage address of the attachment destination base unit 30 is received and delivered to another routine.

  Instead of eliminating the shelf control circuit 163, a communication routine 42b, a discharge detection routine 43, a detachment detection routine 45, an information transmission routine 46, and a discharge control routine 48 are attached to the base portion 30 of the second group of medicine feeders 130. The microprocessor 40 is relocated (see FIG. 8B). These routines are also slightly modified so as to directly control the operating members such as the motor 13j. However, the same function as that installed in the shelf control circuit 163 is also exhibited by the microprocessor 40. Since these routines are installed for each microprocessor 40 and selection of the IO port number is not required, the table search routine 44 and the port table 44b are not installed, and the communication routine 42b is used for the corresponding microprocessor 40. Only a medicine discharge command that contains collation data matching the collation data 51 is received and delivered to another routine.

Of the functions performed by the table search routine 44, in order to prompt the user to attach or change the medicine cassette 20, a function for requesting the display to that effect to the upper desk 190, or the display of the desired display 32 and its vicinity. The function of turning on the device 32 and guiding the cassette mounting base is transferred to the controller 180.
The flag update routine 47c installed in the first group of microprocessors 40 inverts the switching flag 53 of the memory 50 every time the manual switch 35 is operated. Correspondingly, the collation routine 47 selectively performs comparison processing / collation processing according to the value of the switching flag 53.

In this case, the tablet packaging machine 200 does not have the shelf control circuits 161 and 163, but since the functions are distributed to the microprocessor 40 and the controller 180, the tablet packaging machine 200 has the same function as the tablet packaging machine 100. Although the repeated description is omitted, the tablet packaging machine 200 can perform automatic packaging of various medicines under the control of the upper table 190, similarly to the tablet packaging machine 100 described above.
Further, in this automatic dispensing device, even a system in which the conventional tablet packaging machine 10, the new tablet packaging machine 100, and the tablet packaging machine 200 are mixed, can be integrated and managed by the upper desk 190 without any inconvenience. Can do.

[Others]
Note that the microprocessor 40 is not limited to the one-chip type, and the memory 50 may be externally attached. The memory 50 is preferably non-volatile, but it may not be, for example, a battery-equipped memory.
In-device communication means 60 and other communication means such as inter-device communication means can be used for general communication such as Ethernet (registered trademark) and TCP / IP as long as data can be transmitted and received between a plurality of devices and units. It may be in accordance with the regulations or other proprietary standards, may be wired or wireless, and may or may not be multidrop.

Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the replaceable feeder storage 110 is provided on the right side of the tablet packaging machines 100 and 200. However, the replaceable feeder storage 110 may be provided on other parts such as the left side and the front.
In the above embodiment, the tablet packaging machines 10, 100, and 200 perform only automatic packaging of tablets. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and other drugs such as capsules are packaged. It's okay. It is also possible to combine the powder packing mechanism with the tablet packing machine 10, 100, 200.

1 shows the overall mechanical structure of an automatic dispensing device according to Example 1 of the present invention, where (a) is an external perspective view, (b) is a right side view of a tablet packaging machine, and (c) is the inside of a tablet packaging machine. It is a schematic diagram which shows a structure. The structure of the medicine feeder incorporated in many tablet packing machines is shown, (a) is a left side view, (b) is a front view, (c) is a longitudinal left side view, (d) is a bottom view of the medicine cassette, (E) is a plan view of the base part, (f) and (g) are block diagrams showing the functions of the main parts of the respective microprocessors distributed and installed in the base part, and (f) is a large number belonging to the first group. FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of a microprocessor attached to a base portion, and FIG. 4G is a functional block diagram of a microprocessor attached to a small number of base portions belonging to a second group. It is a block diagram which shows the whole structure of the control system of an automatic dispensing apparatus. The structure of the control data is shown, (a) is a record structure diagram in the medicine master table, (b) and (c) are message structure diagrams of the medicine discharge command, and (b) is a medicine to be addressed to the first group. A command including a feeder storage address and a command (c) including collation data to be addressed to the second group. It is a functional block diagram of the tablet packing machine sub-controller in the control system. (A)-(g) are all the lighting examples of the indicator in the interchangeable feeder hangar. It is a block diagram which shows the whole structure of a control system about Example 2 of this invention. (A), (b) is a block diagram which shows the principal part function of each microprocessor distributedly installed in the base part, (a) is a functional block diagram of the first group of microprocessors, (b) is the first It is a functional block diagram of two groups of microprocessors. The mechanical structure of the conventional chemical | medical agent feeder and an automatic dispensing apparatus is shown, (a) is an external appearance perspective view of a tablet packaging machine, (b) is a schematic diagram which shows the internal structure of a tablet packaging machine, (c) is the left side of a chemical | medical agent feeder. (D) is a front view, (e) is a longitudinal left side view, and (f) is a control block diagram for the operating part of the medicine feeder. It is a block diagram which shows the whole structure of the control system of an automatic dispensing apparatus. The structure of the data for control is shown, (a) is the record structure diagram in the medicine master table, (b) is the message structure diagram of the medicine discharge command.

Explanation of symbols

1 drugs (disc-shaped drugs, balls, capsules, cylindrical drugs, tablets)
2 Wrapping band (wrapping paper)
9 Host table (Dispensing control device in automatic dispensing device)
10 Tablet packaging machine (main part, dispensing equipment in automatic dispensing equipment)
10a Handmade unit 11 Chemical storage (medical shelf, drug storage compartment)
12 Drug feeder storage (drug storage)
13 Drug feeder (drug cassette and base)
13a Lid (drug cassette lid)
13b Container part (cassette, cup, medicine container, medicine container)
13c Alignment board (cassette, rotor, alignment member, discharge member)
13d Bulkhead (cassette, molding blade, wing projection, alignment member)
13e Frame plate (attachment / detachment part to base part in cassette)
13f Discharge port (drug drop port in cassette)
13g Tube part (detachable transmission member in the cassette)
13h Through-hole (drug path of drug at base)
13i spline shaft (detachable transmission member at base)
13j motor (drive source in base)
13k base (basic fixing member at base)
14 Conduit (duct, chute, guideway, upper drug collection route)
15 Collection member (hopper-like / funnel-like member, lower drug collection route)
16 Drug input part (collected drug input)
17 Packaging device 18 Controller (Tablet main machine controller)
19 Operation panel 20 Drug cassette (drug feeder)
21 Identification information carrier (affixing member printed with identification information)
30 Base part (medicine feeder)
31 Reader (Reflective photo sensor group)
32 Display (Multiple LEDs with different colors)
33 Discharge sensor (Dropping medicine fall detection means)
34 Attaching / detaching sensor (cassette attaching / detaching detection means)
35 Manual switch (operation member for starting collation avoidance means and overwriting means)
40 Microprocessor 41 IO routine (input / output means such as signals)
42a, 42b Communication routine (communication means)
43 Discharge detection routine (Drug detection / presence detection means)
44 Table search routine (history information storage means)
45 Attachment / detachment detection routine (cassette attachment / detachment detection means)
46 Information transmission routine (transmission means)
47 Verification routine (verification means)
47a Evacuation recovery routine (verification avoidance means)
47b Overwriting routine (overwriting means)
47c Flag update routine (collation avoidance means)
48 Discharge Control Routine (Discharge Drive Control Unit)
50 memory (internal memory, external memory)
51 Verification data (verification means)
52 Evacuation data (verification avoidance means)
53 switching flag (collation avoidance means)
60 In-device communication means (LAN, wired / wireless communication means)
61 Shelf control circuit (Tablet sub-controller for the base of the medicine feeder)
62 Shelf wiring (star connection, individual wiring)
64 Hand-wound control circuit (Tablet sub-controller for hand-wound unit)
100 Tablet packaging machine (main body part, dispensing equipment in automatic dispensing equipment)
110 Exchangeable feeder hangar (equipment point of base part belonging to the second group)
111 Door handle (Operator for opening and closing the transparent door)
120 Storage shelf (standby place for medicine cassettes belonging to the second group)
130 Drug feeder (drug cassette and base part belonging to the second group)
140 Conduit (duct, chute, guideway, upper drug collection route)
161 Shelf control circuit (tablet sub-controller for the first group base)
162 In-shelf wiring (star connection, individual wiring)
163 Shelf control circuit (tablet sub-controller for second group base)
180 controller (main controller for tablet packaging machine)
190 Host table (Dispensing control device in automatic dispensing device)
200 Tablet packaging machine (main body part, dispensing device in automatic dispensing device)

Claims (3)

  A medicine cassette that removably accommodates medicine, a base part that detachably supports the medicine cassette, and a discharge drive thereof, a medicine feeder storage equipped with a large number of the base parts, and a base part attached to each of the base parts A reading device that reads the identification information attached to the medicine cassette, collation means that compares the reading result with the collation data stored in advance, and a medicine discharge command based on prescription data or derived dispensing data, In an automatic dispensing device provided with a dispensing control device for controlling the discharge drive of the base portion, the dispensing control device comprises a first group consisting of a large number of the base portions and a small number of the base portions when creating the medicine discharge command. The medicine feeder storage address related to the medicine feeder storage as a destination for commands addressed to those of the first group divided into the second group Automatic dispensing apparatus, characterized in that the command was addressed to those of the second group include those which contain the matching data as the destination.   A microprocessor and a memory or a microprocessor with a built-in memory are mounted on each of the base units, and the verification unit and the verification data are distributed and incorporated therein, and the microprocessor is attached to the second group. Incorporates an overwriting means for overwriting and storing the identification information read by the reading device in the collation data, and operates the overwriting means, and the one attached to the first group among the microprocessors 2. The automatic dispensing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the overwriting means is not incorporated or is not operated even if incorporated.   2. An indicator that can be lit is attached to each of the base portions, and when any desired one of these indicators is lit, several neighboring indicators are also lit. Or the automatic dispensing apparatus described in Claim 2.

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