JP6937360B2 - Storage container for equipment that automatically formulates individual drug parts - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a storage container for individual drug portions, and more particularly to a storage container for an apparatus that automatically formulates individual drug portions.

Individual drug portions, such as devices that automatically formulate individual pills, are used specifically in blister packaging machines used in hospitals and blister facilities, where the blister packaging machine prepares the drug portion according to the time / combination indicated by the physician. It can be made into a blister. Corresponding blister packaging machines help optimize drug management and drug logistics. With modern blister packaging machines, individual drug portions are blistered by a very small number of operators, depending on the patient, in a minimum amount of time.

The various drug parts that are blistered by the blister packaging machine are stored in multiple devices that automatically formulate the individual drug parts, and the individual blister packaging machine has hundreds of such devices as required by the installation site. Can be prepared.

A device that automatically formulates individual drug portions typically comprises two main components, which are a storage container for storing the individual drug portion and a container inlet on which the container is mounted. The storage container comprises, among other things, at least a portion of the separation device required to formulate the individual drug portion. Such container inlets may also include components of the separation device (eg, motors and / or control devices). In general, the two main components of a device that formulates an individual drug portion are individual components, but it is also conceivable to implement the device integrally.

The device for formulating the individual drug portion is generally attached to the blister packaging machine via the container inlet. If the storage container needs to be refilled, or if the drug should be replaced within the storage container, generally only the storage container is removed from the container inlet and new drug is filled at the filling station.

While filling the receiving space of the storage container with the medicine part and separating the storage container itself, the smallest particles are separated from the individual medicine parts and become unnecessary contaminated particles in the storage container together with other medicines carried in. Frequently settles or is carried out during formulation, causing contamination.

On the other hand, the contaminated particles impair the mechanism in the storage container and settle in the storage container. In particular, while changing the type of drug portion in the storage container, such a container is thoroughly washed and the drug residue previously stored in the storage container is separated into different drug storage containers to be stored next. It must be ensured that it is not brought in through the device and, in extreme cases, is not further blistered.

The formation of contaminated particles in the storage container is virtually unavoidable, especially if such drugs are frequently required. In general, the introduction of contaminated particles while replenishing the drug portion is also unavoidable.

An object of the present invention is to provide a storage container for an apparatus for automatically formulating individual drug moieties, which reduces exposure to contaminated particles.

This object is solved according to the present invention by the storage container for the device for automatically formulating the individual drug portion according to claim 1.

The storage container according to the present invention comprises a housing that surrounds the receiving space and has a bottom surface, and the individual drug portion is stored in the receiving space. The separation device is placed on a bottom surface having at least one passage for receiving at least one drug portion, the at least one passage having an opening facing the receiving space and an opening facing the bottom surface, and the contact area Associated with an opening facing the bottom surface, the drug portion is guided across the contact area while the separation device moves.

The separation device in the storage container can include all of the components necessary to separate the drug portion stored in the receiving space. Depending on the exact configuration of the storage container and the container inlet that supports the storage container, the storage container separation device according to the invention may also include only one separation device component component and other components (eg, drive and). The control component) is placed in the container inlet. Within the scope of this application, the term separation device includes "complete" separation devices and partial separation-only devices, where partial separation-only separation devices include all the components required for separation. Not.

The storage container according to the present invention further comprises at least one recess, which is located in the bottom surface outside the contact surface to receive contaminated particles present in the container.

During separation, the drug portion reaches the passage through the opening facing the receiving space and further through the passage to the opening of the passage facing the bottom surface, where the medicine portion is within the contact area. Stay on the bottom surface. When an individual drug portion is requested, the drug portion that remains in the passageway with an opening facing the bottom surface and remains on the contact area of the bottom surface is routed through the contact area / bottom surface of the housing by a separation device. , Guided towards the opening (which may be part of the separation device), through the opening, the drug portion leaves the storage container.

On the one hand, contaminated particles are generated while filling the receiving space with the individual drug moiety, and on the other hand, contaminated particles are produced, for example, when the individual drug moiety collides with the contact area on the bottom surface during separation, or the individual drug. It is generated during the separation itself, such as when the portions are guided along the contact area.

During operation of the blister packaging machine, especially during separation, the storage container is constantly exposed to micro-vibrations, which ensure that contaminated particles are constantly moving on the bottom surface. By inducing the movement of the contaminated particles by vibration, the contaminated particles inevitably reach at least one recess in the bottom surface and retain the contaminated particles in the recess. Therefore, the use of recesses ensures that they "capture" contaminated particles that are inevitably produced during operation. The contaminated particles held in the recesses are no longer carried out or impair the mechanism. Therefore, it effectively prevents the mechanism from being totally exposed to contaminated particles.

Separation devices operate according to principles known to those of skill in the art and can be configured accordingly. Thus, for example, it is conceivable that the separation device has only one passage for receiving the individual drug portion, whereby the passage can be moved to and received in the receiving portion with the opening of the passage facing the bottom surface removed. The opening of the passage facing the space can be moved into the closed compounding position, and the opening facing the bottom surface opens towards the compounding opening in the housing / bottom surface.

Indeed, the separation devices constructed in this way maintain considerable simplicity from a structural point of view, but the speed required during the formulation of the individual drug portions can be achieved with such separation devices. I can't. Therefore, in the preferred embodiment of the storage container according to the present invention, it is realized that the separation device includes a rotor arranged on the bottom surface together with a plurality of passages, and the rotor.
Arranged so that a gap is provided between the bottom of the rotor and the bottom surface, contaminated particles can pass through this gap. Due to the multiple passages in the rotor, the individual drug portions are always placed in several passages, and the formulation of the individual drug portions can be achieved by rotating the rotor by a specific angle to the compounding position. At the compounding position, the individual drug portions are compounded from their respective passages through the compounding opening in the housing.

The configuration of the in-rotor passage depends on the exact structural design of the separation device. However, it is preferable that the passage is arranged on the outer circumference of the rotor and opens to the outside, that is, the passage is formed on the outer circumference of the rotor by a plurality of webs. In such cases, the housing is adapted to the rotor to form a housing specific cross section for receiving the rotor, which specific cross section has a corresponding cylindrical cross section, and the diameter of the cylindrical cross section is: Slightly larger than the outer diameter of the rotor. Corresponding passages can be cleaned more easily. Further, access to the passage of the drug portion is simplified by correspondingly forming the upper side of the rotor.

Further, as shown above, the contaminated particles are subjected to at least one of the bottom surfaces due to the vibration of the storage container.
Move to one recess. Assisting or guiding such movement in the direction of at least one recess,
To ensure that more contaminated particles move to at least one recess more quickly, one preferred embodiment comprises at least one funnel-shaped bottom surface section and the rotor of the separation device has a funnel-shaped section. At least one recess formed in the bottom surface is located between the center of the funnel-shaped section and the contact area. For the present embodiment, at least one recess is thus formed in the circular contact area and the contaminated particles are not moved or guided only by the vibration of the storage container, but the inclination of the funnel shape division of at least one recess. Is attracted by gravity to move or guide.

Use a large area of the bottom surface to receive as many contaminated particles as possible
One preferred embodiment includes at least one recess formed as a groove coaxial with the rotor shaft. In doing so, the exact design of one or more recesses will vary depending on the particular configuration of the isolation device. For example, the recesses can be formed in a circular shape, i.e., the recesses formed as grooves surround the entire center of the funnel-shaped compartment and thus ensure that they receive as much contaminated particles as possible. For other embodiments of the separation device, it may be necessary to form the recesses only as circular compartments without arranging the recesses and leaving a certain angular range open.

To further assist in the movement of contaminated particles towards at least one recess, one preferred embodiment of the invention comprises a plurality of cleaning means on the bottom side of the rotor facing the bottom surface, the cleaning means contaminating. Send the particles to at least one recess. Such cleaning means can be formed, for example, as a small brush, which is formed on the bottom side of the rotor depending on the direction of rotation of the rotor.

The rotor can be mounted on a rotor shaft penetrating the bottom surface, provided that the storage container according to the invention has a separation device with a rotor. One preferred embodiment provides a circular protrusion on the bottom surface so that the contaminated particles do not reach the axial region and cause mechanical malfunction, the circular protrusion is formed coaxially with respect to the rotor, at least. One recess is located outside the bottom surface surrounded by the protrusion.

In order to further accelerate the movement of contaminated particles on the bottom surface into the recesses and prevent precipitation of contaminated particles on the bottom surface itself, one embodiment of the storage container according to the invention provides an anti-adhesion coating on the bottom surface. It comprises at least one compartment coated with.

As mentioned above, the contaminant particles are at least one due to the vibrations generated during operation, among other things.
Reach one recess. For example, in order to actively support the operation when the blister packaging machine is not actively performing blister activity, one preferred embodiment comprises a storage container for accommodating the vibrating device, which vibrates the storage container. It is effectively exposed to vibration and actively moves contaminated particles generated during operation to at least one recess.

Next, the present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings according to preferred embodiments.

It is a perspective view from the top of the embodiment of the storage container according to the present invention. It is a perspective view from the bottom of the embodiment of the storage container according to the present invention. It is a further perspective view of the embodiment of a storage container without a lid. It is a top view with respect to the housing of an embodiment. It is sectional drawing of embodiment. It is sectional drawing of embodiment. It is sectional drawing of embodiment. It is a further cross-sectional view rotated 180 ° with respect to FIG. FIG. 7 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of FIG. It is a detailed view of the component of a separation device, and the component which engages with a separation device. It is a detailed view of the component of a separation device, and the component which engages with a separation device.

FIG. 1A shows a perspective view of an embodiment of a storage container 1 according to the present invention for an apparatus for automatically blending individual drug portions. The illustrated storage container is only part of the device already described, which includes a container inlet as an additional major component. However, the container inlet is not part of this application.
Not described in detail herein.

The storage container 1 according to the present invention includes a housing having several housing sections, that is, an upper storage section 3a, an intermediate cylindrical cross section 3b that receives a part of a separation device, a lower bottom section 3c, and a handle section 3d. Has. For the illustrated embodiment, the upper section 3a is closed with a lid 5.

In the perspective view from the bottom according to FIG. 1B, it can be seen that the shaft 106 is arranged in the lower housing division 3c, and the lower housing division 3c guides the shaft 106 into the bottom surface 4 of the housing through the opening. Coaxial with 106,
The protruding portion 7 is arranged along the arc portion. When the storage container is viewed from above, this "protruding portion" is indicated as a recess 7 in the bottom surface 4.

FIG. 2 shows another perspective view of the embodiment, which omits the lid for a better view of the inside of the storage container.

In this figure, the rotor 101 has a cylindrical cross section 3b of a housing that is part of the separation device 100.
Can be seen inside. The rotor 101 includes a plurality of passages 102 (see in particular FIG. 9B).
The passage 102 is arranged on the outer circumference of the rotor so as to be opened outward by the web 108, separated from each other, and has an upper opening 103 and a lower opening 104. The rotor 101 itself is assembled on the rotor shaft 106-as can be seen in FIG. 9B-the rotor shaft 106 is the bottom surface 1
It extends through 04 (see FIG. 1B).

The perspective view shown in FIG. 2 further shows another housing division 3e formed by tilting toward the rotor 101. The housing compartments 3a and 3e and the rotor 101 define a receiving space 2 in which the individual drug portion is stored in the operating state.

FIG. 3 shows a top view of the storage container according to the present invention with respect to the housing of the first embodiment, and the parts of the separation device 100, particularly the rotor 101 and the rotor shaft 106, are omitted from the present embodiment. It can be seen in FIG. 3 that the cylindrical cross section 3b of the housing comprises a bottom surface 4 having a central rotor shaft opening and a drug formulation opening 109. The recess 7 can also be seen in the bottom surface, and the recess 7
It has a groove shape and is formed coaxially with the rotor shaft opening.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the storage container according to the present invention. In FIG. 4, the housing division 3e inclined toward the rotor 101 can be seen. The bottom surface 4 is aligned with the cylindrical housing section 3b toward the bottom, and the bottom surface is formed in a funnel shape toward the rotor shaft opening in the illustrated embodiment. The rotor 101 and the rotor shaft 106 are the bottom portion and the bottom surface 4 of the rotor.
Arranged so that a gap 11 is formed between the upper side and the contaminated particles, the contaminated particles can move toward the recess 7, and the recess is formed in the funnel-shaped bottom surface 4 with respect to the rotor shaft opening. Coaxially
Formed as a circumferential groove.

On the left side of the rotor 101, a "cut" is indicated by a passage, and on the right side, the web 1
Indicated by 08. The passage 102, the opening 103 facing the receiving space 2, and the opening 104 facing the bottom surface can be seen, and the opening 104 is aligned with the opening 109 in the bottom surface 4. The position of the rotor 101 shown in FIG. 4 indicates a compounding position, i.e., at this position, the individual drug portion is fed to the opening 109 through the correspondingly aligned passages and through the opening 109.
The individual drug portion exits the automatic compounding device for the individual drug portion.

In the interrupted web on the right, it can be seen that the web area grabs over a section of the bottom surface 4 exposed within the aisle area. In the illustrated rotor embodiment, any position of the rotor 101 provides a circular region on the outer bottom surface 4, which region is interrupted only by the opening 109. Through such a contact area 10, the drug portion in the passage moves towards the opening 109 (for separation). During such movement, a minimum amount of drug particles may detach from the individual drug portion, which can contribute to contamination of the storage container. Such contaminated particles will eventually move to the recess 7 and be retained in the recess 7 due to the constant vibration of the storage container alone. However, in the illustrated embodiment, the bottom surface is formed in a funnel shape, and the formation of such a bottom surface helps contaminated particles reach the recess 7 (attracted by gravity).

On the left side, the holding means 105 is illustrated, and a section of such holding means penetrates the opening 6 in the housing and partially engages the opening 6 in a passage aligned with the opening 109. .. By doing so, it is also prevented that another drug portion slides from top to bottom and the other drug portion is prepared at the moment when the individual drug portion is prepared through the opening 109. If two drug portions should be compounded, two rotor rotation steps would be required.

A vibrating device 12 is arranged under the contact region 10 of the housing, and the vibrating device 12 can move the contaminated particles to the recess 7 by exposing the housing to vibration.

FIG. 5 is a further cross-sectional view of the embodiment of the storage container according to the present invention, the rotor is omitted in this figure. FIG. 5 shows a circular contact area 10 on the bottom surface. FIG. 5 shows the opening 6 in the housing division 3b.
Also shown.

Regarding the cross-sectional view shown in FIG. 6, it was found that the rotor shaft 106 was also omitted, and the protrusion 9 was formed coaxially with the central rotor shaft opening in the bottom surface 4, and the protrusion 9 was formed with the rotor shaft opening and the recess. It is between 7 and 7. In the case of such protrusions, even if contaminated particles move over the recesses
It is possible to prevent such particles from reaching the mechanically vulnerable region of the rotor shaft 106.

FIG. 7 shows a view showing FIG. 6 rotated 180 °, which shows section 105b of the holding means 105 that engages the passage. The section 105b that engages with the passage is elastically engaged so that the passage is deformed by the web (for example, the engaging portion 105b is formed in a brush shape).
Alternatively, the holding means 105 is provided with an elastic section such that the section 105b that engages with the passage can be pushed out of the passage while the rotor is moving.

As can be seen from FIG. 7, the recess 7 coaxial with the central opening on the bottom surface is not completely circular, that is, it is not formed without interruption, and there is no recess on a part of the bottom surface 4. ..
The reason for this is that a stop mechanism 107 that engages with the rotor shaft 106 is formed in that region. FIG. 7 shows only the stopping means 107 of such a mechanism that engages the region where the rotor shaft is typically located.

FIG. 8 shows the details already described in an enlarged cross section.

9A and 9B show a detailed view of the separation device and the components operably engaged with the separation device. The separation device comprises, among other things, a rotor 101 having a plurality of passages 102, the plurality of passages 102 being separated from each other by a web 108. A plurality of cleaning means 110 are arranged on the bottom portion 111 of the rotor 101, and the cleaning means 110 contributes to move contaminated particles between the circular contact region 10 and the recess 7 on the bottom surface 4 to the recess. , Cleaning means 1
The alignment of 10 depends on the rotation direction of the rotor.

FIG. 9A further shows a stop mechanism 107 that operably engages with the rotor shaft 106. By doing so, the stop mechanism 107 includes, among other things, at least piecewise elastic arms 107c, which can engage the recesses of the teeth 106b formed within the rotor shaft 106 (FIG. 9B). reference). Such a stop mechanism helps determine the particular operating conditions of the rotor and allows it to prevent unintended rotation of the rotor. By doing so,
It is possible to prevent unintended formulation of the drug part. For example, the stop mechanism can stop the rotor when the storage container is removed from the container inlet. By doing so, for example
While the storage container is fitted onto the container intake, the stop mechanism 107 is separated from the tooth 106b at least piecewise via the elastic arm 107c, but while the storage container is being removed.
It can be achieved to re-engage with the teeth and thus stop the rotor.

Claims (5)

A storage container (1) for a device that automatically prepares individual medicines.
A housing (3a, 3b, 3c, 3d, 3e) that surrounds the receiving space (2) and has a bottom surface (4).
A separation device (100) with a rotor (101) having at least one passage (102) for receiving at least one individual drug, located on the bottom surface (4).
Said rotor (101) is disposed on the bottom surface (4) of the inner side than the contact region (10) in contact with the bottom surface (4), accept the contaminant particles present in the storage container, the separation At least one recess (7) that holds contaminated particles in operation during operation of the device (100).
With
It said rotor (101), between the said bottom of the rotor (101) bottom surface (4), so as to provide a gap capable of passing said contaminant particles, the bottom surface of the funnel shape is formed Placed in the center of (4)
Wherein the at least one recess (7), the formed as a coaxial circumferential groove relative to the axis of the rotor (101), so as to surround the center of the pre-Symbol bottom surface (4), arranged inside the said funnel-shaped ,
The at least one passage (102) has an opening (103) facing the receiving space (2) and an opening (104) facing the bottom surface (4).
The opening (104) facing the bottom surface (4) is aligned with the opening (109) of the bottom surface (4) as the separation device (100) moves, and the individual medicines are placed in the opening (10). Storage container (1) guided to 109). The rotor (101) is provided with a plurality of cleaning means (110) on the side facing the bottom surface, and the cleaning means (110) sends contaminated particles to the at least one recess (7). The storage container (1) according to claim 1. The circular protrusion (9) coaxial with the axis of the rotor is formed on the bottom surface (4), and the at least one recess (7) is the bottom surface (9) surrounded by the circular protrusion (9). The storage container (1) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the storage container (1) is arranged outside the 4). The storage container (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein at least one section of the bottom surface (4) is coated with an anti-adhesion coating. The storage container (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the storage container includes a vibration device (12).

Images