JP7510639B2 - Medicine dispensing device, medicine dispensing program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a drug dispensing device that automatically dispenses drug from multiple drug cassettes.

Generally, there is known a drug dispensing device that is provided with a plurality of drug cassettes that contain predetermined types of drugs and automatically dispenses the drugs contained in each drug cassette. There is also known a drug dispensing device that is provided with a variable cassette that can dispense any type of drug by changing the drive conditions according to the shape of the drug (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Patent No. 5812228

In a drug dispensing device equipped with unspecified cassettes capable of dispensing any type of drug, a user may select from a number of unspecified cassettes an unspecified cassette to which the drug to be dispensed is to be assigned. The user then fills the assigned unspecified cassette with the drug to be dispensed.

The object of the present invention is to provide a drug dispensing device and a drug dispensing program that can assist in the use of unspecified cassettes.

The drug dispensing device of the present invention is a drug dispensing device equipped with a plurality of drug cassettes capable of dispensing any type of drug, and comprises a display processing unit that displays a selection screen in which a plurality of selection areas for selecting each of the drug cassettes are displayed in the same arrangement as each of the drug cassettes in the drug dispensing device, a reception processing unit that accepts a selection operation of the selection areas on the selection screen, an allocation processing unit that assigns drug information to be dispensed to the drug cassette corresponding to the selection area accepted by the reception processing unit, and a drive processing unit that drives the drug cassette in accordance with preset drive conditions corresponding to the drug information assigned by the allocation processing unit, and brings the drug cassette into a state in which the drug corresponding to the drug information can be dispensed.

The drug dispensing program of the present invention is a drug dispensing program for causing a processor controlling a drug dispensing device equipped with multiple drug cassettes capable of dispensing any type of drug to execute the following steps: a display step of displaying a selection screen in which multiple selection areas for selecting each of the drug cassettes are displayed in the same arrangement as each of the drug cassettes in the drug dispensing device; a reception step of receiving a selection operation of the selection areas on the selection screen; an assignment step of assigning drug information to be dispensed to the drug cassette corresponding to the selection area received in the reception step; and a drive step of driving the drug cassette in accordance with preset drive conditions corresponding to the drug information assigned by the assignment step, thereby bringing the drug cassette into a state in which the drug corresponding to the drug information can be dispensed.

According to the present invention, the selection areas are displayed on the selection screen in the same arrangement as the drug cassettes in the drug dispensing device, so that the user can intuitively select a desired unspecified cassette from the multiple unspecified cassettes on the selection screen. Even after the drug information is assigned to the unspecified cassette, the user can intuitively identify the unspecified cassette arranged at the position selected on the selection screen and perform the task of filling the drug corresponding to the drug information. Thus, the drug dispensing device and the drug dispensing program can support the use of the unspecified cassettes, and can provide effects such as improved work efficiency and reduced human error.

According to the present invention, a drug dispensing device and a drug dispensing program are provided that can support the use of unspecified cassettes.

FIG. 1 is an external view of a medicine dispensing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of the medicine dispensing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a perspective view for explaining a configuration of a fixed cassette of the medicine dispensing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a perspective view for explaining a configuration of an unspecified cassette of the medicine dispensing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a perspective view for explaining a configuration of an unspecified cassette of the medicine dispensing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a perspective view for explaining a configuration of an unspecified cassette of the medicine dispensing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a perspective view for explaining a configuration of a mounting portion for the unspecified cassette of the medicine dispensing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a result of packaging tablets in the medicine dispensing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of allocation information used in the medicine dispensing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of driving correspondence information used in the medicine dispensing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a flowchart for explaining one example of procedures of a medicine dispensing process and a packaging control process executed by the medicine dispensing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 12 is an external view showing another example of the medicine dispensing device according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a selection screen displayed on the medicine dispensing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 14 is an external view showing another example of the medicine dispensing device according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a main part of an unspecified cassette of the medicine dispensing device according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram of a recovery unit of the medicine dispensing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram of a recovery unit of the medicine dispensing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 18 is a flowchart for explaining another example of the procedure of the medicine dispensing process and the packaging control process executed in the medicine dispensing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 19 is a schematic diagram of a recovery unit of the medicine dispensing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 20 is a schematic diagram of a recovery unit of the medicine dispensing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the attached drawings to facilitate understanding of the present invention. Note that the following embodiment is an example of the present invention and is not intended to limit the technical scope of the present invention.

[First embodiment]
First, a schematic configuration of a medicine dispensing apparatus 100 according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Figs. 1 and 2.

As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the medicine dispensing device 100 includes a prescription control unit 1, a tablet supply unit 2, a powdered medicine supply unit 3, a manual dispensing unit 4, a packaging unit 5, a packaging control unit 6, and a barcode reader 7.

The prescription control unit 1, the tablet supply unit 2, the powder supply unit 3, the manual distribution unit 4, the packaging unit 5, and the packaging control unit 6 are connected by an internal bus N1. Furthermore, the prescription control unit 1 and the barcode reader 7 are capable of wireless communication according to a communication standard such as wireless LAN or Bluetooth (registered trademark). The medicine dispensing device 100 is controlled by the prescription control unit 1 and the packaging control unit 6, and the medicines such as tablets and powders supplied from the tablet supply unit 2, the powder supply unit 3, and the manual distribution unit 4 are packaged by the packaging unit 5 in packaging units such as the time of administration, and dispensed.

[Tablet supply unit 2]
The tablet supply unit 2 includes:
It is equipped with a plurality of fixed cassettes 21 capable of dispensing a predetermined specific type of tablet one tablet (unit amount), and a plurality of unspecified cassettes 22 (an example of a medicine cassette) capable of dispensing any type of tablet one tablet (unit amount) by changing the driving conditions.

1, a total of 54 fixed cassettes 21 are provided, each being 6 vertically and 9 horizontally, and a total of four unspecified cassettes 22 are provided below each of the fixed cassettes 21, being 1 vertically and 4 horizontally. The tablets that can be dispensed by the fixed cassettes 21 and the unspecified cassettes 22 include solid medicines in various shapes, such as disks, spheres, or capsules.

In addition, as another embodiment, the tablet supply unit 2 may not have the fixed cassette 21, but may have only a plurality of the unspecified cassettes 22. Specifically, the unspecified cassette 22 may be provided instead of the fixed cassette 21. Also, as shown in FIG. 12, a plurality of shelves 20 may be formed above the unspecified cassette 22 on which medicines to be filled into the unspecified cassette 22 are placed. In this case, the control unit 11, which will be described later, provided in the prescription control unit 1 may be capable of registering the types of medicines placed on the shelves 20, and may be capable of displaying the types of medicines corresponding to each of the shelves 20 on the monitor 13 in the same area as the placement locations.

Each of the fixed cassettes 21 is configured to be detachably attached to each of the mounting sections 211 provided in the tablet supply unit 2. Each of the mounting sections 211 is provided with a first drive section 23 that drives the fixed cassette 21 individually. Each of the first drive sections 23 is provided with a drive motor 231 and an RFID reader/writer 232. The drive motor 231 supplies driving force to the drive mechanism of the fixed cassette 21. The RFID reader/writer 232 is an information reading means that reads and writes information from an RFID tag (not shown) provided in the fixed cassette 21 using RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) wireless communication technology.

The installation locations of the RFID tag (not shown) and the RFID reader/writer 232 need only be determined relatively within a range in which the RFID reader/writer 232 can read and write information from and to the RFID tag (not shown) when the fixed cassette 21 is attached to the mounting portion 211.

The RFID tag (not shown) is a non-volatile recording medium that stores cassette identification information for identifying each of the fixed cassettes 21, and the cassette identification information is written by the prescription control unit 1 during initial setting of the medicine dispensing device 100.

Each of the unspecified cassettes 22 is configured to be detachable from each of the mounting sections 221 provided in the tablet supply unit 2. In another embodiment, each of the unspecified cassettes 22 may be configured to be removable from the mounting section 221. Each of the mounting sections 221 is provided with a second drive section 24 that drives the unspecified cassette 22 individually.

Each of the second drive units 24 includes drive motors 241 to 244 and an RFID reader/writer 245. The drive motors 241 to 244 supply drive force to the drive mechanism of the unspecified cassette 22. The RFID reader/writer 245 is an information reading means that reads and writes information from the RFID tag 26 (see FIG. 6) provided on the unspecified cassette 22 using RFID wireless communication technology.

The installation locations of the RFID tag 26 and the RFID reader/writer 245 may be determined relatively within a range in which the RFID reader/writer 245 can read and write information from the RFID tag 26 when the unspecified cassette 22 is attached to the mounting section 221. Specifically, the RFID reader/writer 245 and the RFID tag 26 are arranged in a positional relationship in which the RFID reader/writer 245 of each mounting section 221 can communicate only with the RFID tag 26 of the unspecified cassette 22 attached to each mounting section 221. In other words, the RFID reader/writer 245 and the RFID tag 26 are arranged in a positional relationship in which the RFID reader/writer 245 of the mounting section 221 cannot communicate with the RFID 26 of the unspecified cassette 22 attached to another mounting section 221 adjacent to the mounting section 221. Furthermore, an electromagnetic wave shielding member for shielding electromagnetic waves may be provided between each of the mounting parts 221 .

The RFID tag 26 is a non-volatile recording medium on which is recorded cassette identification information for identifying each of the unspecified cassettes 22, and drug information assigned to the unspecified cassettes 22 in the drug dispensing process described below (see Figure 11).

The drug information is information that can identify the type of tablet (drug), such as drug name, drug ID, drug code, JAN code, RSS code, QR code (registered trademark), etc. The JAN code and the RSS code are numerical or textual information expressed in one-dimensional codes (barcodes, GS1 codes), and the QR code (registered trademark) is numerical or textual information represented in two-dimensional codes.

However, the number of the unspecified cassettes 22 and the number of the mounting units 221 do not have to be the same. For example, it is conceivable that a user can select any of the unspecified cassettes 22 from the unspecified cassettes 22, the number of which is greater than the number of the mounting units 221, and mount it in the mounting unit 221. In particular, a configuration is conceivable in which a plurality of the unspecified cassettes 22 that can be mounted in each mounting unit 221 are provided. This also applies to the fixed cassettes 21 and the mounting units 211.

[Fixed cassette 21]
Here, an example of the specified cassette 21 will be described with reference to Fig. 3. Note that the structure of the specified cassette 21 described here is merely an example, and other structures may be used as long as they have the same function. Note that Fig. 3 is a diagram in which a cover member covering the upper part of the specified cassette 21 is omitted.

Since the type of tablets contained in each of the fixed cassettes 21 is predetermined, for example, the front of each of the fixed cassettes 21 has drug information about the tablets contained in the fixed cassette 21 written on it in advance.

As shown in Figure 3, the fixed cassette 21 has a tablet storage section 212 in which a large number of tablets are stored, and a tablet discharge section 213 that individually discharges the tablets stored in the tablet storage section 212. The tablet discharge section 213 is provided in a recess formed in approximately the center of the tablet storage section 212, and the tablets in the tablet storage section 212 sequentially descend toward the tablet discharge section 213.

The tablet discharge section 213 includes a rotor 214 rotatably supported by the housing of the fixed cassette 21, and an inner wall 214A covering the outer periphery of the rotor 214. When the fixed cassette 21 is mounted in the mounting section 211, the rotor 214 is connected to the drive motor 231 of the first drive section 23 via a drive transmission system (not shown) such as various gears. In addition, ribs 215 and ribs 216 are formed at predetermined intervals on the outer periphery of the rotor 214. As a result, gaps 217 surrounded by the ribs 215, the ribs 216, and the inner wall 214A are intermittently formed on the outer periphery of the rotor 214. The width of the gap 217 is determined according to the type of tablet that is predetermined as the tablet to be stored in the fixed cassette 21, and corresponds to the width of one tablet.

Furthermore, a gap 218 is formed between the ribs 215 and 216 over the entire outer circumferential surface of the rotor 214. Here, the height of the upper end of each of the ribs 215 and 216 is determined according to the type of tablet that is predetermined to be contained in the fixed cassette 21. Specifically, the height of the upper end of the rib 215 shown in FIG. 3 corresponds to the height of three tablets, and three tablets are inserted into each of the gaps 217 of the rotor 213. Furthermore, the height of the upper end of the rib 216 corresponds to the height of one tablet.

On the other hand, the inner wall 214A is formed with an outlet 219 for discharging tablets from the rotor 214, and the outlet 219 is provided with a partition plate 220 that is inserted into the gap 218. As a result, of the three tablets inserted into the gap 217 at the outlet 219, the upper two tablets are restricted from falling by the partition plate 220, and only the lower tablet is discharged. Therefore, in the fixed cassette 21, the rotor 214 is driven by the drive motor 231, and the tablets contained in the tablet storage section 212 are dispensed one tablet at a time.

[Unspecified cassette 22]
Next, an example of the unspecified cassette 22 will be described with reference to Figures 4 to 7. Note that the structure of the unspecified cassette 22 described here is merely an example, and other structures may be used as long as any tablets can be dispensed one by one. For example, JP-T-2010-535683 or JP-A-2010-115493 discloses other examples of the unspecified cassette 22.

As shown in Figures 4 to 6, the unspecified cassette 22 includes a tablet storage section 222 that stores a large number of tablets, and a first rotating body 223 and a second rotating body 224 that dispense tablets from the tablet storage section 222. Note that Figures 4 to 6 are views in which a cover member that covers the upper part of the unspecified cassette 22 is omitted. In addition, the unspecified cassette 22 only needs to be capable of dispensing tablets in predetermined unit amounts, and may be configured to be capable of dispensing, for example, multiple tablets at a time rather than one tablet at a time.

The first rotating body 223 is a disk-shaped member that constitutes the bottom surface of the tablet storage section 222. The rotation axis of the first rotating body 223 is inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the vertical direction, and the upper surface of the first rotating body 223 is inclined at the predetermined angle with respect to the horizontal plane. In addition, radial ribs 223A are formed at predetermined intervals on the upper surface of the first rotating body 223. The first rotating body 223 is rotatably supported by the housing of the unspecified cassette 22 and is connected to a drive gear 223B shown in Figures 5 and 6.

The second rotating body 224 is a hollow annular member arranged around the first rotating body 223 in a plan view, and is an example of a conveying member that conveys the tablets in the tablet storage section 222 to the dispensing outlet 225 and dispenses them from the dispensing outlet 225. The upper end of the first rotating body 223 is located on the same horizontal plane as the second rotating body 224. The second rotating body 224 is rotatably supported by the housing of the unspecified cassette 22, and a drive gear 224A shown in FIG. 6 is formed on the outer circumferential surface.

7, the mounting unit 221 includes a drive gear 221A that is connected to the drive gear 223B of the first rotating body 223 when the unspecified cassette 22 is mounted, and a drive gear 221B that is connected to the drive gear 224A of the second rotating body 224. The drive gear 221A is connected to the drive motor 241 of the second driving unit 24, and the drive gear 221B is connected to the drive motor 242 of the second driving unit 24.

Furthermore, as shown in Figures 4 and 5, the unspecified cassette 22 is provided with a height regulating member 226 and a width regulating member 227 arranged on the dispensing path of the tablet transported to the dispensing outlet 225 by the second rotating body 224.

The height regulating member 226 regulates the height size of the tablet that can be transported to the dispensing outlet 225 by the second rotating body 224, and the width regulating member 227 regulates the width size of the tablet that can be transported to the dispensing outlet 225 by the second rotating body 224. As a result, in the unspecified cassette 22, only tablets that fit within the height h1 regulated by the height regulating member 226 and the width w1 regulated by the width regulating member 227 among the tablets placed on the second rotating body 224 are dispensed from the dispensing outlet 225. Therefore, in the unspecified cassette 22, when the height h1 and the width w1 are equal to or greater than the height and width of one tablet contained in the tablet storage section 222 and smaller than the height and width of at least two tablets, the tablets can be dispensed one by one. More specifically, in the unspecified cassette 22, if the center of gravity of a tablet is located on the second rotating body 224, there is a possibility that the tablet will remain on the second rotating body 224, so it is considered that the width w1 regulated by the width regulating member 227 is set to be greater than or equal to the width of one tablet and smaller than the width of 1.5 tablets.

The unspecified cassette 22 includes a height adjustment unit 226A for changing the height h1 regulated by the height regulating member 226, and a width adjustment unit 227A for changing the width w1 regulated by the width regulating member 227. A pinion gear is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the width adjustment unit 227A, which is engaged with a rack (gear) formed on the inner peripheral surface of a long hole 227B formed in the width regulating member 227.

The height adjustment unit 226A is rotatably supported by the housing of the unspecified cassette 22 and is connected to a drive gear 226B shown in Fig. 6. The height adjustment unit 226A is driven to rotate, thereby moving the position of the lower end of the height restriction member 226 up and down, and changing the height h1 restricted by the height restriction member 226.

The width adjustment unit 227A is rotatably supported by the housing of the unspecified cassette 22 and is connected to a drive gear 227C shown in FIG. 6. The width adjustment unit 227A changes the amount of protrusion of the width restriction member 227 toward the tablet storage unit 222 side by driving the drive gear 227C to rotate, and changes the width w1 restricted by the width restriction member 227. Specifically, the amount of protrusion of the width restriction member 227 toward the tablet storage unit 222 side is changed by the relative movement of the width adjustment unit 227A and the long hole 227B in the direction of the arrow R3 (see FIG. 4) by the rotation of the drive gear 227C.

7, the mounting unit 221 includes a drive gear 221C that is connected to the drive gear 226B when the unspecified cassette 22 is mounted, and a drive gear 221D that is connected to the drive gear 227C. The drive gear 221C is connected to the drive motor 243 of the second drive unit 24, and the drive gear 221D is connected to the drive motor 244 of the second drive unit 24.

6 and 7, the unspecified cassette 22 and the mounting section 221 are provided with a drive gear 228A and a drive gear 228B that are connected when the unspecified cassette 22 is mounted on the mounting section 221. The drive gear 228A is connected to an elevating mechanism (not shown) that raises and lowers the first rotating body 223 in the vertical direction, and the drive gear 228B is connected to a drive motor (not shown). As a result, when the drive motor is driven, a driving force is transmitted from the drive gear 228B to the drive gear 228A, and the first rotating body 223 can be raised and lowered by the elevating mechanism. Therefore, in the medicine dispensing device 100, the volume in the tablet storage section 222 can be changed by raising and lowering the first rotating body 223, and the number of tablets that can be stored in the tablet storage section 222 can be adjusted arbitrarily. Therefore, the unspecified cassette 22 can be used both in applications where a small number of tablets are stored and in applications where a large number of tablets are stored.

In the unspecified cassette 22, when the first rotor 223 rotates in a rotation direction R1 (see FIGS. 4 and 5), the tablets in the tablet storage section 222 are discharged from the first rotor 223 to the second rotor 224. In the unspecified cassette 22, when the second rotor 224 rotates in a rotation direction R2 (see FIGS. 4 and 5), the tablets on the second rotor 224 are transported toward the dispensing outlet 225.

However, among the tablets transported by the second rotating body 224, tablets stacked in the height direction come into contact with the height regulating member 226 and are returned to the tablet storage section 222. Also, among the tablets transported by the second rotating body 224, tablets that are lined up in the width direction come into contact with the width regulating member 227 and are returned to the tablet storage section 222.

As a result, in the unspecified cassette 22, tablets of a size corresponding to the height h1 regulated by the height regulating unit 226 and the width w1 regulated by the width regulating member 227 are transported to the dispensing outlet 225 in a state where they are lined up one tablet at a time in the circumferential direction on the second rotating body 224. Therefore, in the unspecified cassette 22, it is possible to dispense tablets stored in the tablet storage unit 222 one tablet at a time, and it is possible to control the amount of tablets dispensed.

In this way, by using the variable cassette 22, the height h1 regulated by the height regulating member 226 and the width w1 regulated by the width regulating member 227 can be changed, making it possible to dispense any type of tablet individually.

In addition, each of the unspecified cassettes 22 is provided with a display unit 25 whose display contents can be changed, as shown in Figures 1 and 4. Here, the display unit 25 is electronic paper in which the display contents are written by applying electricity and the display of the display contents is maintained even in a non-energized state.

Specifically, the unspecified cassette 22 and the mounting section 221 are each provided with a contact-type connector (not shown) that is connected when the unspecified cassette 22 is mounted in the mounting section 221. Here, the display section 25 is connected to the connector on the unspecified cassette 22 side, and the prescription control unit 1 is connected to the connector on the mounting section 221 side. Then, when the unspecified cassette 22 is mounted in the mounting section 221, the display section 25 and the prescription control unit 1 are electrically connected by the connector. This makes it possible for the prescription control unit 1 to change the display of each of the display sections 25. The display section 25 is not limited to electronic paper, and may be other display means such as a liquid crystal display. In addition, the display section 25 may be provided in the mounting section 221 in which the unspecified cassette 22 is mounted in correspondence with each of the unspecified cassettes 22.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 6, each of the unspecified cassettes 22 has an RFID tag 26 built in for storing various information. The RFID tag 26 is a non-volatile recording medium whose stored information can be rewritten by the RFID reader/writer 245, and is used to store the cassette identification information of each of the unspecified cassettes 22 and the drug information assigned to each of the unspecified cassettes 22, as described above. The RFID tag 26 is mounted on a control board provided in each of the unspecified cassettes 22, and the control board also has a function of changing the display of the display unit 25 of the unspecified cassette 22 according to a control signal from the prescription control unit 1. The control board is equipped with an electric circuit that is driven by power supplied through the connector, power supplied from a power storage unit such as a battery mounted on the control board, or power supplied when writing information to the RFID tag 26. In addition, as another embodiment, each of the unspecified cassettes 22 may have, instead of the RFID tag 26, another recording medium such as an EEPROM from which the prescription control unit 1 can read and write information via the connector.

[Powdered Medicine Supply Unit 3]
As shown in FIG. 1, the powdered medicine supply unit 3 has two input sections 31, 32, and supplies the powdered medicine input into each of the input sections 31, 32 to the packaging unit 5 in package units based on the time of taking the medicine, etc., that are preset by the prescription control unit 1.

Specifically, the powdered medicine supply unit 3 has two sets of dispensing sections: a dispensing section that spreads the powdered medicine input into the input section 31 evenly on a disk and scrapes it out at a predetermined angle corresponding to the package unit, and a dispensing section that spreads the powdered medicine input into the input section 32 evenly on a disk and scrapes it out at a predetermined angle corresponding to the package unit. The powdered medicine input into the powdered medicine supply unit 3 is previously weighed using a weighing device as the total amount of prescription medicine to be prescribed to the patient.

[Manual Spreading Unit 4]
The manual dispensing unit 4 includes a manual dispensing unit having a plurality of cells in which tablets are inserted in a package unit such as a preset time of administration, and a manual dispensing unit that dispenses the tablets accommodated in each of the cells to the packaging unit 5 for each cell. In the manual dispensing unit, the cells are arranged in a matrix. The manual dispensing unit may be configured to dispense the tablets accommodated in the cells by individually opening and closing the bottoms of the cells of the manual dispensing unit. In the medicine dispensing device 100, the manual dispensing unit 4 is used to dispense tablets such as half tablets that are smaller than one tablet, and is well known in the art, so a description thereof will be omitted here. Conventionally, the manual dispensing unit 4 has also been used to dispense any tablets that are not previously accommodated in the fixed cassette 21, but in the medicine dispensing device 100, any tablets can be dispensed using the unspecified cassette 22. Of course, the manual dispensing unit 4 can also be used to dispense any tablets that are not accommodated in the fixed cassette 21.

[Packaging unit 5]
The packaging unit 5 stores the medicines supplied from the tablet supply unit 2, the powdered medicine supply unit 3, and the manual dispensing unit 4 in a single packaging paper in a package unit according to the time of administration, etc. For example, the packaging unit 5 packages the medicines in the package unit using a transparent or semi-transparent roll-shaped medicine packaging sheet and seals it by welding, etc. As a result, the medicine packaging sheet in which the medicines are stored in the package unit is discharged from the packaging unit 5.

8 is a diagram showing an example of a medicine packaging sheet 51 discharged from the packaging unit 5. As shown in FIG. 8, a plurality of packaging papers 52 in which a plurality of tablets are packaged in the packaging unit are continuously formed on the medicine packaging sheet 51, and a cut-out dotted line 52A (perforation) is formed between each of the packaging papers 52 for easily separating each of the packaging papers 52. If the prescription data includes powdered medicine, the packaging unit 5 can package the powdered medicine supplied from the powdered medicine supply unit 3 in the packaging paper 52. The packaging unit 5 is also provided with a printing unit (not shown) that prints information on each of the packaging papers 52, and prescription information such as the patient's name, the time of taking the medicine, the prescribed medicine, or the prescribed amount can be printed on the surface of each of the packaging papers 52 by the printing unit (not shown).

[Packaging control unit 6]
2, the packaging control unit 6 includes a control unit 61 and a storage unit 62, and controls the tablet supply unit 2, the powdered medicine supply unit 3, the manual distribution unit 4, the packaging unit 5, etc., to cause the medicine dispensing apparatus 100 to execute a packaging operation. The packaging control unit 6 is built into the medicine dispensing apparatus 100.

The control unit 61 is a control means having a CPU, RAM, ROM, and EEPROM. The control unit 61 executes various processes by the CPU according to various programs prestored in storage means such as the ROM, the EEPROM, or the storage unit 62. The RAM and the EEPROM are used as temporary storage memories (work areas) for the various processes executed by the CPU. The control unit 61 may be an integrated circuit such as an ASIC or DSP.

The storage unit 62 is a storage means such as a hard disk device or SSD (Solid State Drive) that stores various data. Specifically, the storage unit 62 prestores a first medicine dispensing program for causing a computer such as the control unit 61 to execute the packaging control process (see the right side of FIG. 11) described below. The first medicine dispensing program is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD, DVD, or semiconductor memory, and is read from the recording medium by a reading device such as a disk drive (not shown) and installed in the storage unit 12. The present invention can be understood as an invention of the computer-readable recording medium on which the first medicine dispensing program is recorded.

[Barcode Reader 7]
The barcode reader 7 is a portable terminal such as a PDA that reads a code for identifying a drug and reads a JAN code, an RSS code, or a QR code (registered trademark) written on a tablet container (box, bottle, etc.) or a PTP sheet provided on a drug shelf in a pharmacy. The barcode reader 7 may be a conventionally known picking assistance device used by a pharmacist or the like to pick up a drug. The picking assistance device is used when a pharmacist or the like manually dispenses a drug by taking it out of a drug shelf according to a prescription, and, for example, reads the drug from the JAN code written on the container and compares the read drug with prescription data.

The information read by the barcode reader 7 is input to the prescription control unit 1 by wireless communication from the barcode reader 7. By using wireless communication in this way, the barcode reader 7 can be freely carried to the medicine dispensing device 100 or the medicine shelf, etc., and the operation of putting tablets into the unspecified cassette 22 can be performed at any location. Of course, it is also possible that the barcode reader 7 is connected to the prescription control unit 1 by wire. When a plurality of the medicine dispensing devices 100 are provided in a pharmacy, the barcode reader 7 that is pre-associated with each of the medicine dispensing devices 100 is provided individually.

[Prescription control unit 1]
The prescription control unit 1 is a computer that comprehensively controls the medicine dispensing apparatus 100. As shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, the prescription control unit 1 includes a control unit 11, a storage unit 12, a monitor 13, an operation unit 14, a communication IF 15, and the like.

The control unit 11 is a control means having a CPU, RAM, ROM, and EEPROM. The control unit 11 executes various processes by the CPU according to various programs pre-stored in storage means such as the ROM, the EEPROM, or the storage unit 12. The CPU is a processor that executes various processes, and the RAM and the EEPROM are used as temporary storage memory (work area) for the various processes executed by the CPU. The control unit 11 may be an integrated circuit such as an ASIC or DSP.

The storage unit 12 is a storage means such as a hard disk device or SSD (Solid State Drive) that stores various data. Specifically, the storage unit 12 prestores a second medicine dispensing program for causing a computer such as the control unit 11 to execute the medicine dispensing process (see the left side of FIG. 11) described below.

Specifically, the control unit 11 includes a display processing unit 111, a reception processing unit 112, and an allocation processing unit 113. The control unit 11 functions as the display processing unit 111, the reception processing unit 112, and the allocation processing unit 113 by executing various processes in accordance with the second medicine dispensing program.

As will be described later in the drug dispensing process (see FIG. 11), the display processing unit 111 is capable of displaying a selection screen in which a plurality of selection areas for selecting each of the unspecified cassettes 22 are displayed in the same arrangement as the arrangement of each of the unspecified cassettes 22 in the drug dispensing device 100. The reception processing unit 112 is capable of accepting a selection operation of the selection areas on the selection screen. The reception processing unit 112 is also capable of accepting an input operation of drug information to be dispensed. The allocation processing unit 113 is capable of assigning drug information to be dispensed to the unspecified cassette 22 corresponding to the selection area accepted by the reception processing unit 112.

The second medicine dispensing program is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD, DVD, or semiconductor memory, and is read from the recording medium by a reading device such as a disk drive (not shown) and installed in the memory unit 12. The present invention can be seen as an invention of the computer-readable recording medium on which the second medicine dispensing program is recorded. In this embodiment, the first medicine dispensing program and the second medicine dispensing program are examples of medicine dispensing programs for causing the medicine dispensing device 100 to execute various processes.

It is also conceivable that the medicine dispensing device 100 does not have the packaging control unit 6, and the prescription control unit 1 also functions as the packaging control unit 6. Specifically, it is conceivable that a medicine dispensing program that integrates the first medicine dispensing program and the second medicine dispensing program is stored in the memory unit 12, and the control unit 11 executes the medicine dispensing process and the packaging control process described below in accordance with the medicine dispensing program. The present invention can also be seen as an invention of the computer-readable recording medium on which the medicine dispensing program is recorded.

The storage unit 12 also stores various databases, such as a pharmaceutical master, a patient master, a cassette master, and a pharmacy master. The control unit 11 can update the various databases stored in the storage unit 12 based on data read by a reading device, such as a disk drive (not shown), from a recording medium, such as a CD, a DVD, or a semiconductor memory. The control unit 11 can also change the contents of the various databases in response to a user operation on the operation unit 14.

The pharmaceutical master includes information about each pharmaceutical, such as the pharmaceutical ID, pharmaceutical code, pharmaceutical name, JAN code (or RSS code), pharmaceutical bottle code, classification (dosage form: powder, tablet, liquid, topical medicine, etc.), tablet size (height and width), specific gravity, pharmaceutical type (ordinary medicine, poison, narcotic, powerful drug, antipsychotic, therapeutic drug, etc.), compounding change, excipient, and precautions. The patient master includes information about the patient, such as the patient ID, name, sex, age, medical history, prescription drug history, family information, medical department, ward, and hospital room. The pharmacy master includes information about the pharmacy, such as the pharmacy name, pharmacist name, and pharmacist ID. The cassette master is information indicating the correspondence between the cassette identification information of each of the fixed cassettes 21 and the pharmaceutical information assigned to each of the fixed cassettes 21. The cassette master is registered by the control unit 11 in response to a user operation of the operation unit 14 during the initial setting of the pharmaceutical dispensing device 100, for example.

Furthermore, the memory unit 12 stores allocation information 121 indicating an allocation state between the unspecified cassette 22 and the drug information, and drive correspondence information 122 indicating a correspondence relationship between the drug information and the drive conditions of the unspecified cassette 22. The allocation information 121 and the drive correspondence information 122 are used in the drug dispensing process executed by the control unit 11, which will be described later.

Here, Figure 9 is a diagram showing an example of the allocation information 121, and Figure 10 is a diagram showing an example of the drive correspondence information 122.

9, in the allocation information 121, a medicine ID indicating the type of tablet currently assigned to each of the unspecified cassettes 22 is stored as medicine information. Of course, instead of the medicine ID, medicine information such as a tablet name, medicine code, JAN code (or RSS code) or the like may be stored. Also, here, it is assumed that cassette numbers "C1" to "C4" are preset as the cassette identification information for the four unspecified cassettes 22 arranged in order from left to right in the tablet supply unit 2. The cassette identification information is also stored in the RFID tag 26 of each of the unspecified cassettes 22. In the allocation information 121, the unspecified cassettes 22 to which medicine information is not currently assigned are stored as being unassigned. Specifically, the allocation information 121 shown in Fig. 9 indicates that among the unspecified cassettes 22, cassette number "C1" is assigned drug information of drug ID "M1", cassette number "C3" is assigned drug information of drug ID "M2", and cassette numbers "C2" and "C4" are assigned no drug information. Note that the data structure of the allocation information 121 shown in Fig. 9 is merely an example, and the allocation information 121 may be stored in the storage unit 12 as, for example, one item of the drug master. In this case, the cassette identification information of the unspecified cassettes 22 assigned to each drug included in the drug master is stored in association with that drug.

10, the drive correspondence information 122 stores drive conditions that are preset in correspondence with each of the medicine information. The drive conditions include three types of conditions: pre-drive conditions related to adjustment of the unspecified cassette 22 before starting dispensing of tablets from the unspecified cassette 22, drive conditions related to drive control during dispensing of tablets from the unspecified cassette 22, and drive stop conditions related to drive control when dispensing of tablets from the unspecified cassette 22 is stopped.

10, information on each of the items of the height of the dispensing path, the width of the dispensing path, the dispensing speed, the first slowdown, the second slowdown, and the reverse rotation operation is stored as the driving conditions corresponding to each tablet with the drug ID of "M1", "M2", "M3", and "M4". Note that the driving conditions are merely examples, and for example, if the unspecified cassette 22 dispenses tablets one by one by vibration, the vibration frequency or amplitude of the vibration may be defined as the driving conditions.

The height of the dispensing path and the width of the dispensing path are examples of the pre-driving conditions, and are the values of the height h1 and the width w1 (see Figure 5) that are preset as values that allow the second rotating body 224 of the variable cassette 22 to dispense tablets one by one from the dispensing outlet 225.

The dispensing speed is an example of the driving condition, and is a rotation speed of the second rotating body 224 suitable for each medicine information when dispensing tablets from the unspecified cassette 22. For example, if the size of the tablet is small, and the rotation speed of the drive motor 242 is fast, the tablet is likely to be dispensed in excess before the drive motor 242 stops. On the other hand, if the size of the tablet is large, even if the rotation speed of the drive motor 242 is fast, the tablet is not dispensed in excess before the drive motor 242 stops. Therefore, for example, the tablet dispensing speed set as the driving condition, that is, the tablet conveying speed by the second rotating body 224, may differ depending on the size of the tablet. Specifically, the dispensing speed when the tablet size is large may be set to a value faster than the dispensing speed when the tablet size is small. 10, the dispensing speed may be stored in a format such as the rotation speed of the second rotating body 224 or the rotation speed of the drive motor 242. Furthermore, it is also conceivable that not only the rotation speed of the second rotating body 224 but also the rotation speed of the first rotating body 223 is set as the drive condition.

The first slowdown and the second slowdown are examples of the drive stop condition, and are information regarding the execution timing of the slowdown to gradually decelerate the rotation speed of the second rotating body 224 when the dispensing of tablets from the unspecified cassette 22 is stopped. The first slowdown specifies the timing to decelerate the rotation speed of the second rotating body 224 to a predetermined first rotation speed. The second slowdown specifies the timing to decelerate the rotation speed of the second rotating body 224 from the first rotation speed to a second rotation speed that is slower. For example, if the shape of the tablets contained in the unspecified cassette 22 is round and easy to roll, there is a risk that the tablets will roll and be dispensed after the drive of the second rotating body 224 is stopped. Therefore, for tablets that are easy to roll, such as spherical, the start timing of each of the first slowdown and the second slowdown is set earlier. In this embodiment, the start timing of the first slowdown and the second slowdown is set according to the remaining number of tablets to be dispensed from the unspecified cassette 22. This prevents excessive dispensing of tablets when dispensing of tablets from the unspecified cassette 22 is stopped. On the other hand, for tablets having a shape that is difficult to roll when the driving of the second rotating body 224 is stopped, the start timings of the first slowdown and the second slowdown are set late, so that delays in dispensing time due to unnecessary slowdowns are suppressed.

In this embodiment, the start timing of the first slowdown and the second slowdown is set as the drive stop condition, but it is also possible to set the deceleration of the rotational speed of the second rotating body 224 as the drive stop condition. For example, for tablets that are easy to roll, such as spherical tablets, if the second rotating body 224 is suddenly stopped, there is a risk that the tablets will continue to roll and be dispensed in excess. Therefore, for tablets that are easy to roll, it is possible to set the deceleration to a small value.

The reverse rotation operation item is an example of the drive stop condition, and is information regarding whether or not to perform a reverse rotation operation in which the second rotating body 224 switches the tablet conveying direction to the reverse direction when the dispensing of tablets from the unspecified cassette 22 is stopped. For example, if the drive of the second rotating body 224 is simply stopped, the reverse rotation operation is set to "Yes" for tablets with a shape that is easy to roll, such as a spherical shape, which may cause tablets remaining on the second rotating body 224 to roll and be dispensed in excess. This prevents tablets from being dispensed in excess when the dispensing of tablets from the unspecified cassette 22 is stopped. Note that when the drive of the second rotating body 224 is stopped, the reverse rotation operation is set to "No" for tablets with a shape that is difficult to roll, and the unnecessary reverse rotation operation is not performed.

Note that the data structure of the drive correspondence information 122 shown in FIG. 10 is merely an example, and the drive conditions defined in the drive correspondence information 122 may be stored in the memory unit 12, for example, as one item of the drug master.

In this embodiment, the driving correspondence information 122 includes the items of the height of the dispensing path, the width of the dispensing path, the dispensing speed, the first slowdown, the second slowdown, and the reverse rotation operation as driving conditions (see FIG. 10) corresponding to each of the medicine information. On the other hand, another embodiment is also considered in which the medicine dispensing device 100 uses one or more of the items of the height of the dispensing path, the width of the dispensing path, the dispensing speed, the first slowdown, the second slowdown, and the reverse rotation operation as the driving conditions. That is, in the medicine dispensing device 100, one or more of the pre-driving conditions, the driving conditions, and the driving stop conditions are pre-set as the driving conditions corresponding to each of the medicine information. In addition, a number of conditions, such as the pre-driving condition, the driving condition, and the driving stop condition, are set in advance as the driving condition corresponding to each drug information, and the drug dispensing device 100 may be configured to be able to select one or more of the conditions, such as the pre-driving condition, the driving condition, and the driving stop condition, as the driving condition to be used.

The monitor 13 is a display means such as a liquid crystal monitor that displays various information and operation screens in accordance with control instructions from the control unit 11. For example, the monitor 13 displays various information such as a prescription data input screen, a prescription data selection screen, and a non-standard cassette 22 selection screen.

The operation unit 14 is an operation means such as a keyboard, mouse, or touch panel that accepts user operations and inputs operation signals corresponding to user operations to the control unit 11. The operation unit 14 is a touch panel that accepts various operation inputs, such as an input operation of prescription data on the input screen displayed on the monitor 13, a selection operation of prescription data on the selection screen, a selection operation of unspecified cassette 22 on the selection screen, and an issuing operation of prescription data that requests the start of packaging of the prescription data.

The communication IF 15 is a communication interface for connecting the medicine dispensing device 100 to a communication network N3 such as a LAN, and performs data communication with a higher-level system such as a prescription input terminal 200 connected via the communication network N3. The prescription input terminal 200 is, for example, an electronic medical record system installed in a hospital or elderly care facility, or a dispensing management system installed in a pharmacy inside or outside the hospital. The communication IF 15 also has a wireless communication interface such as a wireless communication card that performs wireless data communication with various wireless communication devices such as the barcode reader 7.

Then, the communication IF 15 acquires prescription data from the prescription input terminal 200 and inputs the prescription data to the control unit 11. For example, the communication IF 15 monitors whether or not prescription data has been stored in a predetermined storage area of a storage means provided in the prescription input terminal 200, and when the prescription data has been stored in the predetermined storage area, reads the prescription data from the predetermined storage area. Of course, the communication IF 15 may receive the prescription data transmitted from the prescription input terminal 200.

[Medicine dispensing process and packaging control process]
An example of the procedure of the medicine dispensing process executed by the control unit 11 of the prescription control unit 1 and the packaging control process executed by the control unit 61 of the packaging control unit 6 in the medicine dispensing device 100 will be described below with reference to Fig. 11. Here, the processing procedures (steps) executed by the control unit 11 are referred to as steps S1, S2, ..., and the processing procedures (steps) executed by the control unit 61 are referred to as steps S21, S22, .... It is also possible that a series of processing steps that obtains the same processing results as the medicine dispensing process and the packaging control process are executed by either one of the control unit 11 and the control unit 61.

(Prescription control unit 1 side: step S1)
First, in step S1, the control unit 11 judges whether or not a prescription data issuance request has been made. Specifically, the control unit 11 judges that a prescription data issuance request has been made when an issuance operation for issuing preregistered prescription data has been performed on the operation unit 14. The prescription data is acquired from a higher-level system such as the prescription input terminal 200.

Here, if there is no request to issue the prescription data (No side of S1), the control unit 11 shifts the process to step S11. On the other hand, if the control unit 11 determines that there is a request to issue the prescription data (Yes side of S1), the control unit 11 shifts the process to step S2. Note that, in another embodiment, when the control unit 11 receives the prescription data from a higher-level system such as the prescription input terminal 200, it may determine that there is a request to issue the prescription data without requiring the issuance operation and shift the process to step S2.

(Prescription control unit 1 side: step S2)
Next, in step S2, the control unit 11 judges whether or not there are fixed cassettes 21 corresponding to all the medicine information input as medicine information indicating tablets to be dispensed by the prescription data. Specifically, the control unit 11 judges whether or not tablets not included in each of the fixed cassettes 21 are included as prescription medicines in the prescription data based on the cassette master stored in the storage unit 12. The cassette master is updated by the control unit 11 based on medicine information read from an RFID tag (not shown) provided in each of the fixed cassettes 21 by a reading device such as the RFID reader/writer 232 provided in each of the mounting units 211. The control unit 11 can also display an editing screen for editing the cassette master on the monitor 13 and update the cassette master in response to a user operation of the operation unit 14 on the editing screen.

Here, if it is determined that the fixed cassette 21 corresponding to the drug information to be dispensed does not exist (No side of S2), i.e., if the prescription drug included in the prescription data includes a type of tablet that is not contained in the fixed cassette 21, the control unit 11 transitions the processing to step S3.

On the other hand, if it is determined that the fixed cassettes 21 corresponding to all of the drug information to be dispensed exist (Yes side of S2), that is, if all types of tablets included as prescription drugs in the prescription data are contained in the fixed cassettes 21, the control unit 11 transitions the process to step S7. In this case, in step S7, a request to start a packaging operation similar to the conventional method is sent to the control unit 61 using each of the fixed cassettes 21, and the control unit 61 executes a process to execute the packaging operation.

In addition, when the drug dispensing device 100 is configured not to have the fixed cassette 21, it is possible to omit the processing of step S2 and transition the processing to step S3 when the control unit 11 determines in step S1 that a request for issuance of the prescription data has been made.

It is also conceivable that the storage unit 12 stores pre-set non-allocation drug information as drug information that is not to be allocated to the unspecified cassette 22. Then, when the fixed cassette 21 corresponding to the drug information to be dispensed does not exist and the drug information to be dispensed corresponds to the non-allocation drug information, the control unit 11 may display on the monitor 13 that the manual distribution unit 4 should be used without performing allocation to the unspecified cassette 22. For example, if a tablet that is likely to have colored powder attached to it in the unspecified cassette 22 is set as the non-allocation drug information, it is possible to prevent the colored powder from adhering to the tablet to be next contained in the unspecified cassette 22. It is also conceivable that the monitor 13 may display that the manual distribution unit 4 should be used for drugs that are not suitable for dispensing from the unspecified cassette 22. It is also conceivable that the control unit 11 may determine whether the drug information to be dispensed corresponds to the non-allocation drug information without determining whether the fixed cassette 21 corresponding to the drug information to be dispensed exists as another embodiment. In this case, another possible embodiment is that the control unit 11 displays on the monitor 13 a message indicating that the manual distribution unit 4 should be used without performing allocation to the unspecified cassette 22 when the drug information to be dispensed corresponds to the non-allocation drug information.

(Prescription control unit 1 side: step S3)
In step S3, the control unit 11 assigns, among the medicine information to be dispensed that is input by the prescription data, medicine information for which the corresponding fixed cassette 21 does not exist, to the unallocated unspecified cassette 22. When the prescription data includes a plurality of pieces of medicine information for which the corresponding fixed cassette 21 does not exist, the control unit 11 executes the assignment of the unspecified cassette 22 for each piece of medicine information.

Specifically, the control unit 11 executes a process of identifying the unspecified cassettes 22 that are currently capable of communication (controllable) among the unspecified cassettes 22. For example, the control unit 11 determines that the unspecified cassettes 22 from which the RFID reader/writer 245 has successfully read information from the RFID tag 26 are in a state capable of communication.

The control unit 11 then determines whether or not current medicine information is assigned to each of the unspecified cassettes 22 with which communication is currently possible, based on the assignment information 121 (see FIG. 9), and assigns the medicine information to be dispensed to the unspecified cassettes 22 that have not been assigned. At this time, when the control unit 11 determines the unspecified cassette 22 to which the medicine information is assigned, it updates the contents of the assignment information 121 according to the assignment result. The unspecified cassettes 22 assigned to the medicine information in this manner are capable of communication with the control unit 11, and the control unit 11 can write information to the electronic paper 25. Note that the control unit 11 may set each of the unspecified cassettes 22 as a candidate for assignment without determining whether or not communication is possible with each of the unspecified cassettes 22.

Here, it is considered that there are a plurality of candidates for the unspecified cassette 22 to which the drug information is assigned. In this case, the control unit 11 may determine whether or not the drug information is assigned based on a preset priority order for each of the unspecified cassettes 22, and may assign the drug information to the unspecified cassette 22 that is initially determined to be unassigned. The control unit 11 may also determine whether or not the drug information is assigned to the unspecified cassette 22 in ascending order of the number of times of use so that the number of times each of the unspecified cassettes 22 is equal, and may assign the drug information to the unspecified cassette 22 that is initially determined to be unassigned. Furthermore, the control unit 11 may select the unspecified cassette 22 whose drug information previously assigned to each of the unspecified cassettes 22 is the same as or has a tablet size close to that of the drug information to be assigned this time. If there is no unspecified cassette 22 that is unassigned, the control unit 11 may notify the user by displaying that fact on the monitor 13.

In step S3, the control unit 11 controls the RFID reader/writer 245 to record the drug information assigned to the unspecified cassette 22 in the RFID tag 26 of each of the unspecified cassettes 22 to which the drug information is assigned. At this time, the control unit 11 may also record various information, such as the amount of tablets dispensed indicated by the drug information, the patient name, the allocation date and time, the name of the pharmacist in charge, and prescription identification information, based on the prescription data, together with the drug information.

On the other hand, another embodiment may be considered in which the drug information is not recorded in the RFID tag 26 of the unspecified cassette 22. Specifically, the cassette identification information may be pre-recorded in the RFID tag 26, and the RFID reader/writer 245 may be an RFID reader that can only read information. Even in this case, the control unit 11 can recognize the drug information assigned to the unspecified cassette 22 based on the cassette identification information read from the RFID tag 26 and the assignment information (see FIG. 9).

(Prescription control unit 1 side: step S11)
On the other hand, if a request for issuing the prescription data has not been made, in the next step S11, the control unit 11 judges whether or not a request operation has been made to start manual input of prescription data using the operation unit 14. For example, the control unit 11 judges that the request operation has been made when a prescription input start key displayed on the display screen of the monitor 13 has been operated. If it is judged that the request operation has been made (S11: Yes), the process proceeds to step S12, and if it is judged that the request operation has not been made (S11: No), the process returns to step S1.

(Prescription control unit 1 side: step S12)
In step S12, the control unit 11 displays an input screen for inputting the prescription data on the monitor 13, and accepts the input of the prescription data in response to a user operation on the operation unit 14. Note that this reception process is executed by the reception processing unit 112 of the control unit 11.

The prescription data entered here includes information about one drug to be dispensed, as well as the dosage and usage of that drug information. That is, in steps S12 to S15, processing is carried out separately for each piece of drug information. The drug information may be read by the barcode reader 7 from a tablet container or a PTP sheet. Once the prescription data has been entered, processing proceeds to step S13.

(Prescription control unit 1 side: step S13)
In step S13, the control unit 11 causes the monitor 13 to display a selection screen P1 for selecting a cassette to be used for dispensing the drug to be dispensed corresponding to the drug information from the plurality of the fixed cassettes 21 and the unspecified cassettes 22. Note that this display processing is executed by the display processing unit 111. Here, Fig. 13 is a diagram showing an example of the selection screen P1.

13, the specific areas A1 corresponding to each of the fixed cassettes 21 and the selection areas A2 corresponding to each of the unspecified cassettes 22 are displayed in the same arrangement as the arrangement of each of the fixed cassettes 21 and the unspecified cassettes 22 when the medicine dispensing device 100 is viewed from the front. Specifically, a total of 54 specific areas A1 corresponding to the fixed cassettes 21 are displayed, which are 6 vertical x 9 horizontal, and below them, a total of four selection areas A2 corresponding to the unspecified cassettes 22 are displayed, which are 1 vertical x 4 horizontal. The selection areas A2 are larger in size than the specific areas A1. Each of the specific areas A1 displays drug information such as the drug name of the drug contained in the fixed cassette 21 corresponding to each of the specific areas A1. The control unit 11 may display information for identifying the drug currently being allocated, such as the drug name of the drug corresponding to the drug information input in step S12, on the selection screen P1.

The number of the specific areas A1 and the selection areas A2 displayed on the selection screen P1 in FIG. 13 is the maximum number of display. For example, the display of the specific areas A1 and the selection areas A2 corresponding to the mounting parts 211 and 221 in which the fixed cassette 21 or the unspecified cassette 22 is not mounted may be omitted. In addition, it is also possible that a specific pattern such as a display frame is displayed instead of the specific area A1 or the selection area A2 even when the fixed cassette 21 or the unspecified cassette 22 is not mounted. That is, the specific areas A1 and the selection areas A2 may be displayed in the same arrangement as the arrangement of the mounting parts 211 and the mounting parts 221. In this case, it is considered that the control unit 11 does not display the drug information and does not accept a selection operation for the specific areas A1 or the selection areas A2 corresponding to the mounting parts 211 or the mounting parts 221 in which the fixed cassette 21 or the unspecified cassette 22 is not mounted.

In addition, the control unit 11 displays the selection area A2 corresponding to the unspecified cassette 22 and the specific area A1 corresponding to the fixed cassette 21 in a distinguishable manner by displaying an encircling line L1 around the selection area A2 corresponding to the unspecified cassette 22 on the selection screen P1. The manner in which the unspecified cassette 22 (selection area A2) and the fixed cassette 21 (specific area A1) can be distinguished is not limited to the encircling line L1, and may be distinguished, for example, by differences in background color or size. Information for identifying whether the unspecified cassette 22 or the fixed cassette 21 is displayed in association with the selection area A2 and the specific area A1. Furthermore, information indicating whether the cassette type is the unspecified cassette 22 or the fixed cassette 21 may be displayed in the individual display areas corresponding to the unspecified cassette 22 and the fixed cassette 21 on the selection screen P1.

Meanwhile, the selection screen P1 may not display the specific area A1 corresponding to the fixed cassette 21, and only the selection area A2 corresponding to the unspecified cassette 22 may be displayed. That is, when the prescription data is manually input, the unspecified cassette 22 may always be selected. The control unit 11 may be capable of switching between a first display state in which both the selection area A2 and the specific area A1 are displayed on the selection screen P1, and a second display state in which only the selection area A2 is displayed, in response to a user operation. Furthermore, the control unit 11 may display both the selection area A2 and the specific area A1 when the fixed cassette 21 from which the drug of the drug information input in step S12 can be dispensed exists, and may display only the selection area A2 when the fixed cassette 21 from which the drug of the drug information input in step S12 can be dispensed does not exist. It is also possible that the control unit 11 omits steps S13 to S15 when there is a fixed cassette 21 capable of dispensing the drug of the drug information input in step S12. That is, when there is a fixed cassette 21 capable of dispensing the drug corresponding to the drug information input in step S12, the fixed cassette 21 may be automatically selected as the cassette to be used for dispensing the drug. In this case, it is also possible that the control unit 11 accepts the selection of any of the unspecified cassettes 22 by a user operation and assigns the drug information to the selected unspecified cassette 22.

In addition, when the fixed cassette 21 or the unspecified cassette 22 from which the drug of the drug information input in step S12 can be dispensed exists, the control unit 11 may highlight and display the specific area A1 or the selection area A2 corresponding to the fixed cassette 21 or the unspecified cassette 22 on the selection screen P1. For example, it is possible to change the text color or background color of the specific area A1 or the selection area A2 corresponding to the fixed cassette 21 or the unspecified cassette 22 to a predetermined red color. This allows the user to easily understand whether or not the fixed cassette 21 or the unspecified cassette 22 from which the drug corresponding to the drug information can be dispensed exists. The mode of highlighting is not limited to a difference in display color as long as it is a mode that can be distinguished from other fixed cassettes 21 or unspecified cassettes 22.

The control unit 11 also displays an allocation status indicating the allocation status of drug information for each of the selection areas A2 in each of the selection areas A2. Specifically, "unassigned" is displayed in the selection area A2 corresponding to the unspecified cassette 22 to which drug information has not been assigned. The selection area A2 may be blank to indicate that drug information has not been assigned. Furthermore, it is also possible to display the state identifiable by color, such as blue for assigned areas of the selection area A2 and red for unassigned areas. In addition, the selection area A2 corresponding to the unspecified cassette 22 to which drug information has been assigned displays the drug name corresponding to the assigned drug information, thereby indicating that drug information has already been assigned and the type of the assigned drug. Of course, "allocated" may be displayed in the selection area A2 corresponding to the assigned unspecified cassette 22.

(Prescription control unit 1 side: step S14)
In step S14, the control unit 11 accepts a selection operation of the selection area A2 or the specific area A1 on the selection screen P1. The reception process is executed by the reception processing unit 112. Specifically, when the operation unit 14 is a touch panel provided on the monitor 13, the control unit 11 accepts a touch operation of the selection area A2 or the specific area A1 on the monitor 13 as a selection operation of the selection area A2. When the operation unit 14 is a mouse, the control unit 11 accepts a movement and click operation of the mouse pointer to the selection area A2 or the specific area A1 on the monitor 13 as a selection operation of the selection area A2 or the specific area A1. In addition, in the selection screen P1, it is possible to select not only the unspecified cassette 22 to which the medicine information is not currently assigned, but also the unspecified cassette 22 to which the medicine information has already been assigned. On the other hand, it is also possible to select only the unspecified cassette 22 to which the medicine information is not currently assigned as another embodiment.

In the drug dispensing device 100, the control unit 11 can assign drug information of the same drug to the unspecified cassette 22 as a drug corresponding to one of the multiple fixed cassettes 21, and set it as a parent-child cassette. In this case, the drug is dispensed preferentially from one of the fixed cassettes 21 and the unspecified cassette 22, which is predetermined. The control unit 11 can also assign the same drug information to multiple unspecified cassettes 22 in response to a user operation, and set the multiple unspecified cassettes 22 as parent-child cassettes. In the drug dispensing device 100, it is also possible that multiple fixed cassettes 21 capable of dispensing the same drug are arranged as parent-child cassettes, and in this case, the drug is dispensed preferentially from one of the multiple fixed cassettes 21, which is predetermined, or the fixed cassettes 21 are switched in order on a prescription basis to dispense the drug.

In this embodiment, a case is described in which the input operation of the drug information to be dispensed is accepted in step S12 before the selection of the fixed cassette 21 or the unspecified cassette 22 is accepted in step S14, but in other embodiments, the input operation of the drug information to be dispensed is accepted after the selection of the fixed cassette 21 or the unspecified cassette 22 is accepted.

(Prescription control unit 1 side: step S15)
In step S15, when the unspecified cassette 22 is selected in step S14, the control unit 11 assigns the medicine information input in step S12 to the unspecified cassette 22 selected in step S14, and moves the process to step S16. Here, the assignment process is executed by the assignment processing unit 113. Specifically, the control unit 11 updates the contents of the assignment information 121, and associates the medicine information with the unspecified cassette 22. For example, when other medicine information has already been assigned to the unspecified cassette 22, the medicine information input in step S12 is assigned in place of the other medicine information. Note that, when the fixed cassette 21 is selected in step S14, step S15 is omitted.

(Prescription control unit 1 side: step S16)
In step S16, the control unit 11 judges whether a request operation for terminating the manual input of the prescription data has been performed. For example, the control unit 11 judges that the request operation has been performed when a prescription input end key displayed on the display screen of the monitor 13 has been operated. If it is judged that the request operation has been performed (S16: Yes), the process proceeds to step S4. On the other hand, if the request operation has not been performed and, for example, a prescription input continuation key displayed on the display screen of the monitor 13 has been operated (S16: No), the process returns to step S12 and the same process is repeatedly executed. This makes it possible to input the prescription data for a plurality of pieces of drug information and to assign the unspecified cassette 22.

In the present embodiment, the processing of steps S12 to S16 is repeatedly executed according to the number of the drug information. However, in another embodiment, the prescription data for a plurality of the drug information is input in step S12. In this case, the fixed cassette 21 or the unfixed cassette 22 corresponding to each of the drug information is selected on the selection screen P1. Specifically, the control unit 11 may display a list of a plurality of the drug information together with the selection screen P1, and alternately accept the selection of the drug information to be assigned and the selection of the fixed cassette 21 or the unfixed cassette 22 to be assigned. In particular, the control unit 11 may display, in a distinguishable manner, in the list of a plurality of the drug information, drug information for which the fixed cassette 21 capable of dispensing the drug corresponding to the drug information exists and drug information for which the fixed cassette 21 does not exist and the unfixed cassette 22 needs to be assigned. For example, in the list of the drug information, the display color or background color of the drug information may be changed depending on whether the unfixed cassette 22 needs to be assigned. In addition, the medicine information to be assigned may be displayed in order on the selection screen P1 for a plurality of pieces of medicine information, and the user may select the fixed cassette 21 or the unspecified cassette 22 to which the medicine information is to be assigned.

In addition, the control unit 11 may be able to assign the fixed cassette 21 or the unspecified cassette 22 to other drug information not input in step S12 on the selection screen P1. For example, the control unit 11 displays a drug addition button on the selection screen P1, and when the drug addition button is selected by the user, displays an additional drug information input field for inputting drug information, dosage, and usage. Then, when the user selects a specific area A1 or a selection area A2 for selecting the fixed cassette 21 or the unspecified cassette 22 with this information input, the control unit 11 assigns the drug information input in the additional drug information input field to the fixed cassette 21 or the unspecified cassette 22 corresponding to the specific area A1 or the selection area A2 selected on the selection screen P1. After that, the drug corresponding to the drug information input in the additional drug information input field is packaged according to the dosage and usage input in the additional drug information input field. With this, while the selection screen P1 is displayed, the user can continuously execute the input operation of a plurality of pieces of drug information and the selection operation of the fixed cassette 21 or the unspecified cassette 22. In addition, in consideration of a case where the drug information or the like is input erroneously in the step S12, the control unit 11 can also correct the input drug information or the like while the selection screen P1 is displayed.

(Prescription control unit 1 side: step S4)
In step S4, the control unit 11 specifies the driving conditions corresponding to the medicine information of the dispensing target based on the driving correspondence information 122 (see FIG. 10), and transmits the driving conditions and cassette identification information of the unspecified cassette 22 to which the medicine information is assigned to the control unit 61. As a result, the control unit 61 drives the unspecified cassette 22 in accordance with the driving conditions. The control unit 11 when driving the unspecified cassette 22 in accordance with the driving conditions by executing the process of step S4 in this manner may be regarded as a drive processing unit.

In addition, another embodiment is also conceivable in which the control unit 11 displays the cassette identification information of each of the unspecified cassettes 22 and the setting contents of the driving conditions corresponding to each of the unspecified cassettes 22 on the monitor 13, and changes the setting contents of the driving conditions in response to a user operation on the operation unit 14. The change contents of the driving conditions are notified from the control unit 11 to the control unit 61. This makes it possible to change the driving conditions of the unspecified cassette 22 when dispensing tablets from the unspecified cassette 22 by an arbitrary operation input by the user. In addition, the user can check the setting contents of the driving conditions corresponding to the drug information to be dispensed by referring to the monitor 13.

In addition, in step S4, if the driving conditions corresponding to the medicine information are not stored in the driving correspondence information 122, the control unit 11 may execute a process for setting the driving conditions in response to a user operation, and then transition to step S5. This allows tablets corresponding to the medicine information not stored in the driving correspondence information 122 to be dispensed using the unspecified cassette 22.

In the medicine dispensing device 100, it is considered that each of the mounting units 221 is provided with a cassette lock unit capable of locking the removal of each of the unspecified cassettes 22. For example, the cassette lock unit includes a drive unit such as a solenoid or a motor and a restriction unit that is driven by the drive unit to restrict the removal of the unspecified cassette 22. Here, an example of the attachment/detachment control of the unspecified cassette 22 when the cassette lock unit is provided in the mounting unit 221 will be described. The control unit 61 can individually control whether or not each of the unspecified cassettes 22 is locked by controlling the drive unit of the cassette lock unit of each of the mounting units 221 based on a control instruction from the control unit 11. Specifically, when medicine information is assigned to the unspecified cassette 22 in step S3 or step S15, the control unit 11 transmits a lock instruction for the unspecified cassette 22 to the control unit 61. As a result, the control unit 61 drives the cassette lock unit of the mounting unit 221 in which the unspecified cassette 22 to which the medicine information is assigned is mounted, thereby restricting removal of the unspecified cassette 22. The transmission of the drive condition in step S4 may also serve as the lock instruction. After that, when a specific operation for identifying the unspecified cassette 22 to be refilled with medicines is performed, the control unit 11 transmits an instruction to unlock the unspecified cassette 22 to the control unit 61. As a result, the control unit 61 drives the cassette lock unit of the mounting unit 221 in which the unspecified cassette 22 to which the input medicine information is assigned is mounted, thereby releasing the restriction on removal of the unspecified cassette 22. That is, when the unspecified cassette 22 to be refilled with medicines is selected, the unspecified cassette 22 can be removed, and the unspecified cassette 22 can be refilled with medicines. With this configuration, erroneous refilling of medicines to the unspecified cassette 22 to which the medicine information is assigned is suppressed, and the unspecified cassette 22 to which the medicine information is not assigned can be freely attached and detached. The specific operation may be, for example, reading by the barcode reader 7 drug information indicating the same drug as the drug information assigned to the unspecified cassette 22, or inputting the drug information using the operation unit 14. In addition, a predetermined operation unit such as an operation button may be provided corresponding to each of the mounting units 221, and when an operation such as a long press operation is performed on the predetermined operation unit, the control unit 61 may unlock the unspecified cassette 22 in the mounting unit 221.

(Packaging control unit 6 side: step S21)
Meanwhile, in the packaging control unit 6, the control unit 61 determines in step S21 whether or not the driving conditions have been received from the control unit 11. If the driving conditions have been received (Yes in S21), the control unit 61 shifts the process to step S22, and if the driving conditions have not been received (No in S21), the control unit 61 shifts the process to step S23. The control unit 61 stores the driving conditions received from the control unit 11 in the memory unit 62 in association with the cassette identification information of the unspecified cassette 22 to which the medicine information is assigned.

(Packaging control unit 6 side: step S22)
In step S22, the control unit 61 drives the unspecified cassette 22 to which the medicine information is assigned according to the drive conditions, and makes the unspecified cassette 22 ready to dispense medicines corresponding to the medicine information. Specifically, the unspecified cassette 22 corresponding to the cassette identification information received together with the drive conditions is driven according to the preliminary drive conditions among the drive conditions, and the height and width of the dispensing path are changed. In this way, in the medicine dispensing device 100, when the drive conditions include the preliminary drive conditions, the control unit 61 drives the unspecified cassette 22 according to the preliminary drive conditions (height and width of the dispensing path), and then executes dispensing of tablets from the unspecified cassette 22 (S24).

Specifically, the control unit 61 controls the height adjustment unit 226A and the width adjustment unit 227A according to the driving conditions to change the type of tablets that can be dispensed one tablet at a time from the unspecified cassette 22 to the tablets indicated by the medicine information assigned in step S3 or S15. First, the control unit 61 drives the drive motor 233 and the drive motor 234 to return the positions of the height restriction member 226 and the width restriction member 227 to their initial states. Then, the control unit 61 drives the height adjustment unit 226A by the drive motor 233 to change the height h1 restricted by the height restriction member 226 of the unspecified cassette 22 to the height of the dispensing path determined by the driving conditions. In addition, the control unit 61 drives the width adjustment unit 227A by the drive motor 234 to change the width w1 restricted by the width restriction member 227 of the unspecified cassette 22 to the width of the dispensing path determined by the driving conditions. Of course, if the current states of the height regulating member 226 and the width regulating member 227 can be detected, the control unit 61 may drive the drive motor 233 and the drive motor 234 based on the detection result.

When the height h1 and width w1 of the dispensing path are changed in accordance with the drive conditions in this manner, the unspecified cassette 22 can dispense tablets indicated by the medicine information assigned in step S3 or S15 one tablet at a time, and the amount of tablets dispensed can be controlled. Here, the control unit 61 when executing the process of step S22 (drive control step) is an example of a drive processing unit.

It is also possible that the unspecified cassette 22 is not mounted in the mounting unit 221 when the medicine information is assigned to the unspecified cassette 22. In this case, in step S22, the unspecified cassette 22 cannot be driven according to the advance driving conditions. Therefore, the control unit 61 stores flag information indicating whether the driving conditions received from the control unit 11 are reflected in the unspecified cassette 22 in the storage unit 62 and updates it as needed. Then, the control unit 61 refers to the flag information at the start of a packaging operation in step S24 described later, and if the driving conditions are not reflected for the unspecified cassette 22 used in the packaging operation, drives the unspecified cassette 22 according to the advance driving conditions before performing the packaging operation, and changes the height h1 and width w1 of the dispensing path.

In addition, another embodiment may be considered in which the driving conditions do not include the pre-driving conditions, and the height h1 and width w1 of the dispensing path can be adjusted arbitrarily by manually operating the height adjustment unit 226A and the width adjustment unit 227A of the unspecified cassette 22. In this case, the user adjusts the height h1 and width w1 of the dispensing path of the unspecified cassette 22, and then mounts the unspecified cassette 22 on the mounting unit 221 of the tablet supply unit 2. Note that the height adjustment unit 226A and the width adjustment unit 227A may be configured to be operable by a rotation operation using a tool such as a screwdriver.

(Prescription control unit 1 side: step S5)
Next, in step S5, the control unit 11 causes the display unit 25 of the unspecified cassette 22 to which the medicine information has been assigned in step S3 or S15 to display the medicine information assigned to the unspecified cassette 22. That is, the control unit 11 displays, in each of the unspecified cassettes 22, the allocation state of the medicine information to the unspecified cassette 22.

For example, the control unit 11 extracts information of preset display items from the prescription data and displays it on the display unit 25. Specifically, the display unit 25 displays the drug name (drug ID), dispensed amount, and JAN code (barcode) of the tablets assigned to the unspecified cassette 22. In addition, various information such as the patient's name, the assignment date and time, or the person in charge of assignment may be displayed on the display unit 25.

Here, since the display unit 25 is electronic paper, even if the unspecified cassette 22 is removed from the mounting unit 221 after the medicine information is displayed in step S5, the display state of the display unit 25 is maintained. Therefore, even if the user moves the unspecified cassette 22 to a medicine shelf, for example, the user can check the medicine information to be inserted into the unspecified cassette 22 by the display of the display unit 25. Therefore, it is possible to suppress human error of the user when inserting tablets into the unspecified cassette 22. In addition, the control unit 11 may be configured to prohibit removal of the unspecified cassette 22 by a lock mechanism provided in the mounting unit 221 until the medicine information is displayed on the display unit 25 of the unspecified cassette 22. It is also possible that the control unit 11 executes step 5 on the condition that the adjustment of the height of the dispensing path and the width of the dispensing path in the unspecified cassette 22 has been completed according to the pre-driving condition in the unspecified cassette 22.

(Prescription control unit 1 side: step S6)
Thereafter, in step S6, the control unit 11 judges whether or not a filling completion operation indicating that the filling of the unspecified cassette 22 with tablets has been completed has been performed on the operation unit 14. Specifically, when the medicine information is assigned to the unspecified cassette 22 in step S3 or S15 and the medicine information is displayed on the display unit 25 of the unspecified cassette 22, the user removes the unspecified cassette 22 from the tablet supply unit 2. Then, the user puts the required number of tablets into the unspecified cassette 22 while referring to a prescription corresponding to the prescription data or the medicine information displayed on the display unit 25. Thereafter, the user mounts the unspecified cassette 22 on the tablet supply unit 2 and performs the filling completion operation on the operation unit 14. For example, the filling completion operation is an operation of pressing a filling completion operation button provided on the medicine dispensing device 100, or an operation of mounting the unspecified cassette 22 to the mounting unit 221, or the like. In addition, if multiple pieces of drug information are assigned to multiple unspecified cassettes 22 in step S3 or S15, in step S6, it is determined whether the operation of filling all of the unspecified cassettes 22 corresponding to each piece of drug information has been completed.

Here, the control unit 11 keeps the process on hold at step S6 until the filling completion operation is performed (No side of S6). On the other hand, when it is determined that the filling completion operation has been performed (Yes side of S6), the control unit 11 transitions the process to step S7.

(Prescription control unit 1 side: step S7)
In step S7, the control unit 11 transmits a request to start a packaging operation based on the prescription data to the control unit 61. In step S7, when a user performs an operation to request the start of a packaging operation, the request to start the packaging operation may be transmitted to the control unit 61. The request to start the packaging operation is an example of a dispensing start request.

In particular, for the packaging operation of tablets that are not present in the fixed cassette 21 and that are indicated by the drug information included in the prescription data as tablets to be dispensed, the control unit 11 sends a start request, for example, in the following manner.

First, the control unit 11 reads the cassette identification information of the unspecified cassette 22 from the RFID tag 26 of the unspecified cassette 22 mounted in each of the mounting units 221, and identifies the unspecified cassette 22 currently mounted in each of the mounting units 221. This allows the control unit 11 to identify the unspecified cassette 22 mounted in each of the mounting units 221, so that the user can mount each of the unspecified cassettes 22 in any of the mounting units 221. For example, even if multiple pieces of drug information are assigned to multiple unspecified cassettes 22 in step S3 or S15, and the unspecified cassettes 22 are removed and then mounted in a swapped mounting location, the control unit 11 can determine the mounting unit 221 in which each of the unspecified cassettes 22 is mounted.

Then, the control unit 11, based on the prescription data, identifies each of the unspecified cassettes 22 that contains tablets indicated by each piece of drug information, based on the allocation information 121. After that, the control unit 11 transmits to the control unit 61, for each piece of drug information indicated in the prescription data, cassette identification information of the unspecified cassette 22 to which the drug information is assigned, identification information of the mounting unit 221 to which the unspecified cassette 22 is mounted, and information necessary for packaging operation, such as the amount of tablets to be dispensed.

(Packaging control unit 6 side: step S23)
Meanwhile, in the packaging control unit 6, the control section 61 determines in step S23 whether or not there is a request to start the packaging operation from the control section 11. Here, when the request to start the packaging operation is received (Yes side of S23), the control section 61 shifts the process to step S24, and while the request to start the packaging operation is not received (No side of S23), the control section 61 shifts the process to step S24.

(Packaging control unit 6 side: step S24)
In step S24, the control unit 61 executes a packaging operation in which the tablet supplying unit 2, the powdered medicine supplying unit 3, and the manual packaging unit 4 dispense the necessary medicine in accordance with the request to start the packaging operation, and the packaging unit 5 packages the medicine in units of packages according to the time of administration, etc. Here, the control unit 61 when executing this process is an example of a dispensing execution unit. Note that since the control of the powdered medicine supplying unit 3, the manual packaging unit 4, and the packaging unit 5 is the same as in the conventional case, the description thereof will be omitted here, and only the tablet dispensing operation by the tablet supplying unit 2 will be described.

The control unit 61 changes the rotation speed of the drive motor 242 of the second drive unit 24, which is driven when dispensing tablets from the unspecified cassette 22, in accordance with the drive conditions corresponding to the medicine information assigned in step S3 or S15 for the tablet supply unit 2. That is, the rotation speed of the second rotating body 224 when dispensing the tablets from the unspecified cassette 22 is changed, and the dispensing speed of the tablets from the unspecified cassette 22 is changed according to the type of the tablets.

Specifically, the control unit 61 drives the drive motor 241 and the drive motor 242 corresponding to the unspecified cassette 22 to which the drug information to be dispensed is assigned, and rotates the first rotating body 223 and the second rotating body 224 to dispense tablets. At this time, the control unit 61 drives the drive motor 242 according to the dispensing speed defined as the driving condition corresponding to the drug information in the drive correspondence information 122. As a result, in the unspecified cassette 22, the dispensing speed of the tablets by the second rotating body 224 is changed to a speed suitable for the tablets. In this way, in the drug dispensing device 100, when the driving conditions include the driving condition, the control unit 61 drives the unspecified cassette 22 according to the driving condition (dispensing speed) to dispense tablets from the unspecified cassette 22.

If the variable cassette 22 does not have the height regulating member 226 and the width regulating member 227, it is also possible to change only the dispensing speed of the tablets from the variable cassette 22. The driving speed of the drive motor 241 may be constant or may be changed according to the type of tablets. In the packaging operation, the number of tablets dispensed from the variable cassette 22 is counted by a counter having an optical sensor (not shown) provided at the dispensing outlet 225 of the variable cassette 22 and input to the control unit 61 as the number of tablets discharged. As a result, the control unit 61 controls the drive of the variable cassette 22 based on the number of tablets discharged input from the counter, and dispenses only the preset amount of tablets (prescription amount) from the variable cassette 22.

The control unit 61 also executes control to stop dispensing of tablets from the unspecified cassette 22 in accordance with the set values of the first slowdown and the second slowdown defined as the driving conditions corresponding to the medicine information in the driving correspondence information 122. Here, the control unit 11 when executing such processing is an example of a driving processing unit. Thus, in the medicine dispensing device 100, when the driving conditions include the driving stop condition, the control unit 61 stops driving of the unspecified cassette 22 in accordance with the first slowdown and the second slowdown, which are the driving stop conditions, when dispensing of the prescribed amount defined in the prescription data is completed.

Specifically, consider a case where the first slowdown is set to "6 tablets" and the second slowdown is set to "1 tablet" in the drive correspondence information 122. In this case, when the control unit 61 determines that the remaining number of tablets in the dispensing amount has reached "6 tablets" based on the number of tablets counted by the counter using the optical sensor (not shown) provided at the dispensing outlet 225, the control unit 61 decelerates the rotation speed of the drive motor 242 to the first rotation speed. Thereafter, when the control unit 61 determines that the remaining number of tablets in the dispensing amount has reached "1 tablet" based on the number of tablets counted by the counter using the optical sensor (not shown) provided at the dispensing outlet 225, the control unit 61 further decelerates the rotation speed of the drive motor 242 to the second rotation speed. This prevents tablets that are easy to roll from being dispensed in excess from the dispensing outlet 225 when they are placed on the second rotating body 224.

The control unit 61 also executes control to stop dispensing of tablets from the unspecified cassette 22 according to the presence or absence of the reverse rotation operation defined as the drive condition corresponding to the medicine information in the drive correspondence information 122. Here, the control unit 11 when executing such processing is an example of a drive processing unit. Thus, in the medicine dispensing device 100, when the drive conditions include the drive stop condition, the control unit 61 drives the unspecified cassette 22 according to the presence or absence of the reverse rotation operation, which is the drive stop condition, when dispensing of the prescribed amount defined in the prescription data is completed, and then stops driving the unspecified cassette 22.

Specifically, when the reverse rotation operation is set to "Yes" in the drive correspondence information 122, the control unit 61 executes a reverse rotation operation to switch the conveying direction of the second rotating body 224 to the reverse direction when stopping the dispensing of tablets from the unspecified cassette 22. For example, when the number of tablets counted by the counter using the optical sensor (not shown) provided at the dispensing outlet 225 reaches the dispensing amount, the control unit 61 reverses the drive motor 242 for a predetermined time set in advance. This prevents tablets that tend to roll from being dispensed in excess from the dispensing outlet 225 when they are placed on the second rotating body 224. Note that the dispensing outlet 225 may be provided with an opening/closing shutter, which is closed when the number of tablets counted by the counter reaches the dispensing amount.

On the other hand, when the reverse rotation operation is set to "none" in the drive correspondence information 122, the control unit 61 does not execute the unnecessary reverse rotation operation when stopping the dispensing of tablets from the unspecified cassette 22. The timing to start the reverse rotation operation may also be when the number of tablets counted by the counter reaches a value that is a predetermined number less than the dispensing amount. When starting the reverse rotation operation at such a timing, the predetermined number corresponding to each of the medicine information may be stored in advance in the drive correspondence information 122. This makes it possible to start the reverse rotation operation, for example, before the number of tablets counted by the counter reaches the dispensing amount, and to prevent excess dispensing of tablets from the dispensing outlet 225. Furthermore, after the number of tablets counted by the counter reaches a value that is a predetermined number less than the dispensing amount, it is possible to start the reverse rotation operation every time one tablet is dispensed.

In the present embodiment, the height h1 of the height regulating member 226 and the width w1 of the width regulating member 227 in the unspecified cassette 22 are changed in accordance with the driving conditions in step S4. Another embodiment is also possible in which the control unit 61 changes the height h1 of the height regulating member 226 and the width w1 of the width regulating member 227 immediately before the start of the packaging operation in step S7. In other words, the reflection of the advance driving conditions in the unspecified cassette 22 may be performed at any timing before the packaging operation is started.

(Packaging control unit 6 side: step S25)
Thereafter, when the packaging operation in step S24 is completed, the control section 61 transmits a packaging operation completion notification to the control section 11 in the following step S25.

(Prescription control unit 1 side: step S8)
On the other hand, in the prescription control unit 1, the control unit 11 waits for a notification of the completion of the packaging operation from the control unit 61 (No in S8). Then, when the notification of the completion of the packaging operation is received (Yes in S8), the control unit 11 shifts the process to step S9.

(Prescription control unit 1 side: step S9)
In the following step S9, the control unit 11 displays the fact that dispensing has been completed on the display unit 25 of the unspecified cassette 22 from which dispensing has been completed. For example, in step S9, it is considered that the words "Dispensing Completed" are displayed on the display unit 25, or the display of the medicine information on the display unit 25 is erased.

As described above, in the medicine dispensing device 100, the user can automatically dispense any tablets that are not previously stored in each of the fixed cassettes 21 by simply feeding the tablets together into the unspecified cassette 22. This reduces the user's workload compared to the conventional method of manually feeding tablets into each of the compartments of the dispensing unit 4, and also prevents users from making feeding errors.

In addition, since the medicine dispensing device 100 is provided with a plurality of the unspecified cassettes 22, it is possible to assign different medicine information to each of the unspecified cassettes 22. Therefore, in the medicine dispensing device 100, even if the prescription data includes a plurality of tablets to be dispensed that are not included in the fixed cassette 21, the medicine dispensing device 100 can execute a packaging operation based on the prescription data using a plurality of the unspecified cassettes 22. In addition, in the medicine dispensing device 100, it is also possible to execute packaging operations based on a plurality of the prescription data continuously using a plurality of the unspecified cassettes 22.

[Second embodiment]
A second embodiment of the present invention will be described below. In this embodiment, the same components as those of the medicine dispensing apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment will be described using the same reference numerals.

After the medicine dispensing device 100 has completed dispensing the required tablets using the unspecified cassette 22, tablets may remain in the unspecified cassette 22, and a user such as a pharmacist may collect the tablets and return them to a medicine container such as a medicine bottle. In this embodiment, a medicine dispensing device 100A that can easily collect tablets from the unspecified cassette 22 is described.

14 is an external view showing an example of a drug dispensing device 100A according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 14, the drug dispensing device 100A according to this embodiment differs from the drug dispensing device 100 according to the first embodiment in that it includes a recovery unit 8 arranged below the tablet supply unit 2.

The recovery unit 8 includes a plurality of recovery ports 71 corresponding to the mounting sections 221, and a mounting table 72 for mounting a medicine storage section 73 that stores tablets dispensed from the recovery ports 71. In the medicine dispensing device 100A, tablets stored in the unspecified cassettes 22 mounted on the mounting sections 221 can be dispensed from the recovery ports 71. The medicine storage section 73 is a container such as a medicine bottle, medicine box, or medicine bag in which tablets are stored.

14, each of the recovery ports 71 is disposed directly below the corresponding mounting portion 221. In this manner, the recovery ports 71 and the mounting portions 221 are disposed side by side in the vertical direction, so that the user can easily grasp the corresponding relationship between the recovery ports 71 and the mounting portions 221.

15 to 17 are schematic diagrams for explaining an example of the structure of the collection unit 8. Fig. 15 is a schematic diagram showing the main configuration of the connection between the dispensing outlet 225 of the unspecified cassette 22 and the collection unit 8, Fig. 16 is a schematic diagram showing a side cross section of the collection unit 8, and Fig. 17 is a schematic diagram of the collection unit 8 as viewed in the XVII-XVII direction in Fig. 16. Note that in Fig. 17, the wall portion 710 (see Fig. 16) provided on the back side of the mounting portion 221 in the tablet supply unit 2 is omitted.

15 to 17, the collection unit 8 includes a first path 711, a second path 712, and a path switching section 713. The first path 711 and the second path 712 are connected to the dispensing outlet 225 of the unspecified cassette 22 by the unspecified cassette 22 being mounted in the mounting section 221. Note that a relay path may be provided between the first path 711 and the second path 712 and the dispensing outlet 225 to connect them.

The first path 711 is a path that guides the tablets dispensed from the dispensing outlet 225 of the unspecified cassette 22 toward the packaging unit 5. The second path 712 is a path that guides the tablets dispensed from the dispensing outlet 225 of the unspecified cassette 22 to the recovery port 71. The path switching unit 713 can switch the destination of the tablets dispensed from the dispensing outlet 225 of the unspecified cassette 22 between the first path 711 and the second path 712. For example, the path switching unit 713 is a plate member driven by a driving source such as a solenoid or a motor, and the driving of the path switching unit 713 is controlled by the control unit 61.

Specifically, the control unit 61 executes the collection process when it receives from the control unit 11 a request to execute a collection process for dispensing tablets contained in each of the unspecified cassettes 22 from the collection port 71 in response to a user operation on the operation unit 14. Here, FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing another example of the medicine dispensing process and the packaging control process executed in the medicine dispensing device 100A. Note that a description of the same processes as those described in the first embodiment will be omitted.

(Prescription control unit 1 side: step S31)
After execution of step S9, in the subsequent step S31, the control unit 11 accepts an operation input as to whether or not a recovery process is required to recover tablets from the unspecified cassette 22 used in the packaging operation. Specifically, the operation input as to whether or not the recovery process is required is performed for each unspecified cassette 22 used this time, or collectively for the multiple unspecified cassettes 22 used this time. Here, if an operation is performed to the effect that the recovery process is required (S31: Yes), the process proceeds to step S32, and if an operation is performed to the effect that the recovery process is not required (S31: No), the medicine dispensing process is terminated.

The control unit 11 may be capable of transmitting a request to execute the retrieval process for each of the unspecified cassettes 22 to the control unit 61 in response to a user operation on the operation unit 14 at any timing different from the execution of the medicine dispensing process. It is also possible for the control unit 11 to omit the processes of steps S31 to S32 when the unspecified cassette 22 was not used in the packaging operation. Furthermore, when the unspecified cassette 22 was used in the packaging operation, the control unit 11 may execute the next step S32 without accepting an operation input regarding the need for the retrieval process in step S31.

(Prescription control unit 1 side: step S32)
In step S32, the control unit 11 transmits a request to execute the collection process to the control unit 61. As a result, the collection process is executed by the control unit 61. That is, the control unit 61 can execute the collection process after the dispensing of tablets from the unspecified cassette 22 associated with the tablet packaging operation by the packaging unit 5 is completed in the medicine dispensing process.

(Packaging control unit 6 side: step S26)
In step S26, the control unit 61 determines whether or not there is a request to execute the collection process, and when the request to execute the collection process is received from the control unit 11 (Yes side of S26), the control unit 61 shifts the process to step S27. On the other hand, when the request to execute the collection process is not received from the control unit 11 (No side of S26), the process returns to the step S21.

(Packaging control unit 6 side: step S27)
In step S27, the control unit 61 executes a recovery process for recovering tablets from the unspecified cassette 22. Specifically, the control unit 61 controls the path switching unit 713 to switch the discharge destination of the tablets dispensed from the unspecified cassette 22 from the packaging unit 5 to the recovery port 71, and drives the first rotating body 223 and the second rotating body 224 of the unspecified cassette 22 for a preset predetermined time to dispense the tablets from the unspecified cassette 22. Here, the control unit 61 when executing such a recovery process is an example of a recovery processing unit.

However, when the collection port 71 is open, it is necessary to set the medicine storage section 73 below the collection port 71 before tablets are dispensed from the collection port 71, which limits the procedure of the work. In response to this, it is considered that the collection unit 8 is provided with a discharge switching section 720 that can be switched between a state in which the medicine dispensed from the unspecified cassette 22 to the collection port 71 is stored and a state in which the medicine can be discharged from the collection port 71.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 19, the discharge switching unit 720 includes an opening/closing unit 714 capable of opening and closing the collection port 71, and a biasing unit 715 such as a spring that biases the opening/closing unit 714 in a direction to close the opening/closing unit 714. As a result, when the collection port 71 is closed by the opening/closing unit 714 and dispensing of tablets from the unspecified cassette 22 is executed, the tablets are stored in the collection port 71. After that, when the medicine storage unit 73 is placed below the collection port 71 and the opening/closing unit 714 is opened, the collection port 71 is opened and the tablets are able to be discharged, and the tablets fall from the collection port 71 into the medicine storage unit 73 and are stored therein. Note that the opening/closing unit 714 may be opened by a part of the opening edge of the medicine storage unit 73 coming into contact with the opening/closing unit 714 due to the sliding movement of the medicine storage unit 73, as shown in FIG. 19 and FIG. 20. In another embodiment, the opening/closing unit 714 may be opened and closed by a driving unit such as a solenoid or a motor, and the control unit 11 may open and close the opening/closing unit 714 in response to a user operation. Note that the discharge switching unit 720 may not include the biasing unit 715, and the opening/closing unit 714 may be opened and closed manually.

As described above, the unspecified cassette 22 is provided with the display unit 25 such as electronic paper, and the display unit 25 displays the name of the tablet as the drug information assigned to the unspecified cassette 22. The unspecified cassette 22 and the collection port 71 corresponding to the unspecified cassette 22 are arranged vertically. Therefore, a user such as a pharmacist can easily confirm that the drugs match by looking at the display unit 25 of the unspecified cassette 22 and the drug storage unit 73 set below the unspecified cassette 22, and collection of tablets into the wrong drug storage unit 73 is prevented. In addition, the drug dispensing device 100A may be provided with an image forming device such as a printer or label printing device, or the image forming device may be connected to the device so as to be able to communicate with the device. In this case, the control unit 11 may use the image forming device to print information such as the number of tablets, drug information, and collection operation date and time on a sheet such as paper or a label as information on the tablet collection record using the collection port 71. Further, a configuration may be considered in which a storage medium such as an RFID chip is provided in the medicine container 73, and the recovery unit 8 includes an RFID reader/writer capable of reading and writing information from and to the storage medium of the medicine container 73. In this case, it may be considered that the control unit 11 stores the recovery record information in the storage medium of the medicine container 73.

Furthermore, it is conceivable that, if the drug contained in the unspecified cassette 22 is a powerful drug or a poison, the display unit 25 will display that fact based on the drug information assigned to the unspecified cassette 22. This makes it possible to more reliably recognize that the tablets are powerful drugs or poison when collecting tablets from the unspecified cassette 22, and reduces the risk of performing collection work without knowing that the tablets are powerful drugs or poison.

As described in this embodiment, in the medicine dispensing device 100A, the collection port 71 is provided individually corresponding to each of the mounting units 221, and the tablets of each of the unspecified cassettes 22 can be collected individually, so that the work of sorting the tablets dispensed from the collection port 71 is omitted. On the other hand, it is also possible to provide one collection port 71 corresponding to the mounting units 221 of at least two or more of the unspecified cassettes 22. That is, a configuration in which tablets supplied from a plurality of the mounting units 221 are dispensed from the common collection port 71 via the common second path 712 is also possible. In this case, it is possible to simultaneously dispense tablets from a plurality of the unspecified cassettes 22 through one collection port 71, but multiple types of tablets may be mixed unintentionally. Therefore, it is considered that the control unit 11 can select whether to execute dispensing from each of the unspecified cassettes 22 individually or to execute dispensing from a plurality of the unspecified cassettes 22 simultaneously, depending on the selection operation of the unspecified cassettes 22. This allows the user to collect tablets for each unspecified cassette 22 and also to collect tablets collectively from a plurality of the unspecified cassettes 22, improving convenience. In addition, since the medicine dispensing device 100A is capable of switching between the first path 711 and the second path 712 for each unspecified cassette 22, it is also possible to perform the packaging operation using the unspecified cassettes 22 that are not the target of the test dispensing process while executing a test dispensing process for testing whether or not tablets can be discharged from the unspecified cassette 22 by dispensing tablets from the unspecified cassette 22 to the collection port 71.

[Other features]
Hereinafter, various functions of the medicine dispensing apparatus 100 or the medicine dispensing apparatus 100A will be described. Note that the various functions described here may be functions of the medicine dispensing apparatus 100 or the medicine dispensing apparatus 100A, and may be functions realized by the control unit 61 instead of the control unit 11, or functions realized by cooperation between the control unit 11 and the control unit 61.

[Automatic remaining medication detection function]
In the step S31, the case where the necessity of the collection process is determined in response to a user operation is described. Meanwhile, it is considered that the control unit 11 has a function of automatically determining whether or not there is a remaining medicine in the unspecified cassette 22.

For example, an optical sensor that detects the medicine in the unspecified cassette 22 may be provided in the unspecified cassette 22, and the control unit 11 may determine the presence or absence of the medicine in the unspecified cassette 22 based on the detection result of the optical sensor.

In addition, when the unspecified cassette 22 is turned upside down (flipped over) after the dispensing operation of the medicine from the unspecified cassette 22 is completed, it is possible to determine that the remaining medicine in the unspecified cassette 22 has been removed by the user. Therefore, it is considered that the unspecified cassette 22 is provided with an acceleration sensor capable of detecting the operation of the unspecified cassette 22, a control unit that controls the acceleration sensor, and a power supply circuit including a secondary battery or the like for driving the acceleration sensor and the control unit. Note that the configuration of the control unit and the power supply circuit, etc., may be partly or entirely common to the control board on which the RFID tag 26 provided in the unspecified cassette 22 is mounted.

After the medicine dispensing operation for the unspecified cassette 22 has been performed, the control unit determines whether or not the unspecified cassette 22 has been turned upside down based on the detection result by the acceleration sensor, and records a remaining medicine flag in a non-volatile memory unit such as an EEPROM (registered trademark) in the control unit. As a result, in the medicine dispensing device 100A, the control unit 11 can determine the presence or absence of remaining medicine in the unspecified cassette 22 by reading out the remaining medicine flag stored in the memory unit of the unspecified cassette 22. It is also possible that the remaining medicine flag is stored in the RFID tag 26.

In this way, when the control unit 11 has the automatic remaining medicine determination function, it is considered that the control unit 11 can display whether or not there is remaining medicine in the unspecified cassette 22 for each unspecified cassette 22. For example, it is considered that the presence or absence of remaining medicine is displayed on the display unit 25 of the unspecified cassette 22. This enables the user to easily grasp the presence or absence of remaining medicine in each of the unspecified cassettes 22 and determine whether or not the collection process is necessary.

Furthermore, the control unit 11 may be configured to accept an operation input regarding whether or not the collection process is required if there is remaining medicine in the unspecified cassette 22 in step S31, and not accept an operation input regarding whether or not the collection process is required if there is no remaining medicine in the unspecified cassette 22. For example, the control unit 11 may display a message on the monitor 13 in step S31 to inquire about whether or not the collection process is required if there is remaining medicine in the unspecified cassette 22. In this case, too, the user can easily grasp the presence or absence of remaining medicine in each of the unspecified cassettes 22 and determine whether or not the collection process is required for that unspecified cassette 22.

[Tablet authenticity check function]
It is considered that the medicine dispensing device 100A includes a camera capable of photographing the tablets dispensed from the unspecified cassette 22. Specifically, the camera is disposed at a position where the camera can photograph the tablets accommodated in the tablet accommodation unit 222 of the unspecified cassette 22, or at a position where the camera can photograph the tablets one by one on the dispensing path along which the tablets are conveyed to the dispensing outlet 225 by the second rotating body 224 of the unspecified cassette 22.

The control unit 11 then judges whether the tablets dispensed from the unspecified cassette 22 are appropriate or not based on the captured image (still image or video) taken by the camera and the registered image for each type of tablet registered in advance in the medicine master. The captured image is compared with the registered image based on the shape, color, size, engraved characters, or printed characters of the tablets. For example, if the shape, color, and size of the tablets match, they are judged to be appropriate, and if the engraved or printed characters of the tablets match, they are judged to be appropriate. Here, if the tablets dispensed from the unspecified cassette 22 are incorrect, the control unit 11 stops the dispensing operation from the unspecified cassette 22 and executes a notification process such as a predetermined error message. It is also possible that the information of the tablets cannot be accurately grasped by photographing the tablets contained in the tablet storage unit 222 or the tablets being transported by the second rotating body 224. Therefore, the control unit 11 may determine that a tablet is suitable even if the engraved or printed characters do not match, if the shape, color, and size of the tablet match, and similarly, may determine that a tablet is suitable even if the shape, color, and size of the tablet do not match, if the engraved or printed characters match.

In addition, as a configuration capable of determining whether a tablet is genuine after it has been dispensed, it is possible to photograph and verify the tablet after it has been discharged from the dispensing outlet 225. In contrast, with the tablet genuineness determination function, the tablet is photographed and verified at a position leading up to the dispensing outlet 225, making it possible to confirm whether the tablet is genuine before it is dispensed.

[Parallel withdrawal function]
The control unit 11 may be provided with a parallel dispensing function for allocating one type of medicine information to a plurality of the unspecified cassettes 22 and dispensing one type of tablets in parallel by simultaneously using each of the unspecified cassettes 22. This makes it possible to dispense tablets in parallel from the unspecified cassettes 22, so that the tablets can be efficiently dispensed and the medicine dispensing time can be shortened.

Specifically, in step S3 or S15, when the control unit 11 assigns the drug information included in the prescription data to the unspecified cassettes 22, if the total number of tablets dispensed corresponding to the drug information exceeds a predetermined number of tablets, the control unit 11 assigns the drug information to multiple unspecified cassettes 22. Note that the control unit 11 may also assign the drug information to multiple unspecified cassettes 22 if the product of the volume per tablet of a tablet registered in the pharmaceutical master or the like corresponding to the drug information and the total number of tablets dispensed based on the prescription data exceeds a predetermined specific value.

The control unit 11 then causes the control unit 61 of the packaging control unit 6 to execute a process for dispensing tablets in parallel using multiple unspecified cassettes 22. This makes it possible to shorten the time required for dispensing tablets when the number of tablets is large. In addition, when the number of tablets is small, the allocation of medicine information to multiple unspecified cassettes 22 is prevented, and the occurrence of the wasteful work of refilling tablets into multiple unspecified cassettes 22 can be prevented. Note that, since a user may wish to do so even when the number of tablets is small, the control unit 11 may be able to assign the medicine information to multiple unspecified cassettes 22 in response to a user operation.

Furthermore, the control unit 11 may assign drug information corresponding to tablets contained in the fixed cassette 21 to the unspecified cassette 22 when the total number of tablets to be dispensed based on the prescription data exceeds a predetermined number of tablets set in advance. The control unit 11 then causes the control unit 61 of the packaging control unit 6 to execute a process for dispensing tablets in parallel using multiple cassettes including the fixed cassette 21 and the unspecified cassette 22. As a result, even if the tablets are contained in the fixed cassette 21, when the number of tablets to be dispensed is large, it is possible to shorten the time required for dispensing the tablets by using the unspecified cassette 22.

[Tablet counting function]
The control unit 11 may be provided with a tablet counting function for counting the number of tablets contained in the fixed cassette 21 or the unspecified cassette 22. Specifically, when the fixed cassette 21 or the unspecified cassette 22 is designated by a user operation and execution of a process for counting the number of tablets is requested, the control unit 11 causes the control unit 61 to execute a process for counting the tablets contained in the fixed cassette 21 or the unspecified cassette 22.

Then, the control unit 61 executes a packaging operation to count the number of tablets in the fixed cassette 21 or the unspecified cassette 22. In the packaging operation, the tablets contained in the fixed cassette 21 or the unspecified cassette 22 are packed into one or more of the packaging papers 52 for each preset allowable number. Note that the allowable number is a number that is preset as the number of tablets that can be packed into the packaging paper 52, and may be set for each type of tablet.

As a result, the control unit 61 can count the number of tablets dispensed from the unspecified cassette 22 during the packaging operation using a counter having an optical sensor (not shown) provided at the dispensing outlet 225 of the unspecified cassette 22. The number of tablets counted by the control unit 61 is notified to the control unit 11 from the control unit 61, for example, and is displayed on the monitor 13 by the control unit 11. The control unit 61 may also display the number of tablets contained in the unspecified cassette 22 on the display unit 25 of the unspecified cassette 22.

In this way, the tablet counting function makes it possible to count the number of tablets contained in the fixed cassette 21 or the variable cassette 22, and also makes it possible for the user to count the number of tablets without touching them. When the tablets contained in the packaging paper 52 are to be used as they are, the tablets are returned from the packaging paper 52 to the fixed cassette 21 or the variable cassette 22 by a user such as a pharmacist.

[Distributed use function]
The control unit 11 may be provided with a distributed use function capable of uniformly adjusting the frequency of allocation or the cumulative number of allocations of medicine information to each of the unspecified cassettes 22. Specifically, when the control unit 11 allocates medicine information to each of the unspecified cassettes 22, the control unit 11 stores history information such as the allocation date and time, the tablet type, and the number of dispensed tablets in the storage unit 12. Then, in step S3, the control unit 11 preferentially selects an unspecified cassette 22 that has a low frequency of use in a predetermined period of time that is set in advance based on the history information stored in the storage unit 12 from among the unspecified cassettes 22, and allocates the medicine information. Also, in step S3, the control unit 11 may preferentially select an unspecified cassette 22 that has a low cumulative number of times medicine information has been allocated from among the unspecified cassettes 22, and allocate the medicine information. Furthermore, in step S3, the control unit 11 may preferentially select from among the unspecified cassettes 22 those which have been used less frequently within a predetermined period and to which drug information has been assigned a smaller cumulative number of times, based on the history information stored in the memory unit 12, and assign the drug information to those unspecified cassettes 22.

[Abnormal Wearing Notification Function]
The control unit 11 may be provided with an abnormal mounting determination function capable of determining whether the correspondence between the unspecified cassette 22 and the mounting unit 221 is appropriate.

As described in the first embodiment, the drug information is assigned in step S15 only to the unspecified cassette 22 mounted in the mounting unit 221. Here, the control unit 11 may store in the memory unit 12 correspondence information that associates the identification information of the unspecified cassette 22 to which the drug information is assigned with the identification information of the mounting unit 221 in which the unspecified cassette 22 is mounted.

Thereafter, the control unit 11 determines an abnormality in the correspondence relationship between the medicine cassette and the mounting unit based on the correspondence information. Specifically, the control unit 11 determines an abnormality when an unspecified cassette 22 different from the unspecified cassette 22 corresponding to the mounting unit 221 is mounted in the mounting unit 221. When the control unit 11 detects the abnormality, it executes, for example, an error notification process or prohibits a packaging operation using the unspecified cassette 22.

When the packaging operation using the unspecified cassette 22 is completed, the control unit 11 erases the correspondence information for the unspecified cassette 22 and cancels the correspondence with the mounting unit 221. In addition, for the mounting units 221 for which a correspondence with the unspecified cassette 22 is not determined, any unspecified cassette 22 may be mountable.

As a result, only the unspecified cassette 22 to which the medicine information is assigned can be attached to each of the attachment sections 221. Therefore, after the unspecified cassette 22 attached to the attachment section 221 is removed and filled with tablets, the unspecified cassette 22 is prevented from being attached to another attachment section 221. Also, for example, it is possible to prevent a situation in which the unspecified cassette 22 to be used in a packaging operation to be executed after the packaging operation to be executed cannot be attached by attaching the unspecified cassette 22 to the attachment section 221 in advance.

[Appendix 1]
A medicine dispensing device including a plurality of medicine cassettes capable of dispensing any type of medicine,
a display processing unit that displays a selection screen in which a plurality of selection areas for selecting each of the medicine cassettes are displayed in the same arrangement as the arrangement of each of the medicine cassettes in the medicine dispensing device;
a reception processing unit that receives a selection operation of the selection area on the selection screen;
an allocation processing unit that allocates medicine information to be dispensed to the medicine cassette corresponding to the selection area accepted by the reception processing unit;
a drive processing unit that drives the medicine cassette in accordance with a preset drive condition corresponding to the medicine information assigned by the assignment processing unit, and sets the medicine cassette in a state in which the medicine corresponding to the medicine information can be dispensed;
A medicine dispensing device comprising:

[Appendix 2]
the display processing unit displays an allocation status of each of the medicine cassettes on the selection screen or on the medicine cassette.
2. The medicine dispensing device according to claim 1.

[Appendix 3]
a plurality of specific medicine cassettes capable of dispensing a predetermined specific type of medicine;
the display processing unit displays, on the selection screen, the selection areas corresponding to each of the medicine cassettes and the specific areas corresponding to each of the specified medicine cassettes in the same arrangement as an arrangement of the medicine cassettes and the specified medicine cassettes in the medicine dispensing device.
3. The medicine dispensing device according to claim 1 or 2.

[Appendix 4]
the display processing unit is capable of switching between a first display state in which both the selection area and the specific area are displayed on the selection screen and a second display state in which only the selection area is displayed in response to a user operation.
4. The drug dispensing device according to claim 3.

[Appendix 5]
The display processing unit displays the selected area and the specific area in a distinguishable manner.
5. The drug dispensing device according to claim 3 or 4.

[Appendix 6]
The medicine dispensing device according to any one of appendices 1 to 5, wherein the reception processing unit receives an input operation of the medicine information to be dispensed after the selection operation is received.

[Appendix 7]
The medicine dispensing device according to any one of appendices 1 to 5, wherein the reception processing unit receives an input operation of the medicine information to be dispensed before the selection operation is received.

[Appendix 8]
a plurality of specific medicine cassettes capable of dispensing a predetermined specific type of medicine;
the display processing unit, when there is the specified drug cassette from which a drug corresponding to the drug information to be dispensed can be dispensed, highlights the specified drug cassette on the selection screen.
8. The medicine dispensing device according to claim 7.

[Appendix 9]
a dispensing execution unit that dispensing, in response to a dispensing start request including the drug information allocated to the drug cassette as a dispensing target, the drug corresponding to the drug information by using the drug cassette corresponding to the drug information,
The medicine dispensing device according to any one of appendix 1 to 8.

[Appendix 10]
a packaging unit that packages the medicine dispensed from the medicine cassette;
a collection port for discharging the medicine dispensed from the medicine cassette to the outside;
a path switching unit that switches a supply destination of the medicine dispensed from the medicine cassette between a first path leading to the packaging unit and a second path leading to the collection port;
The medicine dispensing device according to any one of claims 1 to 9, comprising:

[Appendix 11]
The recovery port is disposed immediately below the mounting portion in which the medicine cassette is mounted.
11. The drug dispensing device according to claim 10.

[Appendix 12]
a recovery processing unit that switches a supply destination of the medicine to the second path by the path switching unit and executes a recovery process of driving the medicine cassette,
12. The drug dispensing device according to claim 10 or 11.

[Appendix 13]
the collecting processing unit is capable of executing the collecting process after the dispensing of the medicine from the medicine cassette associated with the packaging operation of the medicine by the packaging unit is completed.
13. The medicine dispensing device according to claim 12.

[Appendix 14]
a discharge switching unit that is switchable between a state in which the drug dispensed from the drug cassette to the collection port is stored and a state in which the drug can be discharged from the collection port,
The medicine dispensing device according to any one of appendixes 10 to 13.

[Appendix 15]
The allocation processing unit,
a method for allocating the drug information to a drug cassette mounted in any one of a plurality of mounting parts in which the drug cassette is mounted, storing correspondence information that associates identification information of the drug cassette to which the drug information is assigned with identification information of the mounting part in which the drug cassette is mounted, and determining whether or not the correspondence relationship between the drug cassette and the mounting part is appropriate based on the correspondence information;
A medicine dispensing device according to any one of appendix 1 to 14.

[Appendix 16]
A processor for controlling a medicine dispensing device including a plurality of medicine cassettes capable of dispensing any type of medicine,
a display step of displaying a selection screen in which a plurality of selection areas for selecting each of the medicine cassettes are displayed in the same arrangement as the arrangement of each of the medicine cassettes in the medicine dispensing device;
a receiving step of receiving a selection operation of the selection area on the selection screen;
an allocation step of allocating medicine information to be dispensed to the medicine cassette corresponding to the selection area accepted in the acceptance step;
a driving step of driving the medicine cassette in accordance with a driving condition preset in accordance with the medicine information assigned in the assignment step, so as to set the medicine cassette in a state in which the medicine corresponding to the medicine information can be dispensed;
A drug dispensing program to execute the above.

Claims (9)

A medicine dispensing device including a plurality of medicine containers that are detachable from a mounting portion of the medicine dispensing device and can dispense tablets of any size ,
a display processing unit that displays a selection screen in which a plurality of selection areas for selecting each of the medicine containers are displayed in the same arrangement as that of each of the medicine containers in the medicine dispensing device;
a reception processing unit that receives a selection operation of the selection area on the selection screen;
an allocation processing unit that allocates drug information to be dispensed, which is included in prescription data input to the drug dispensing device, to the drug container unit corresponding to the selection area accepted by the reception processing unit;
Equipped with
The display processing unit displays an allocation state of the medicine information to each of the medicine containers on the selection screen of the medicine dispensing device. the display processing unit displays, in an identifiable manner, that the medicine container unit is unallocated, to which the medicine information has not been allocated by the allocation processing unit.
The medicine dispensing device according to claim 1. a drive processing unit that drives the medicine container unit according to a preset drive condition corresponding to the medicine information assigned by the assignment processing unit, and dispenses tablets corresponding to the medicine information from the medicine container unit,
The medicine dispensing device according to claim 1 or 2. The device is provided with a plurality of specific drug storage units capable of dispensing tablets of a predetermined specific size ,
the display processing unit displays, on the selection screen, the selection areas corresponding to each of the medicine containers and the specific areas corresponding to each of the specific medicine containers in the same arrangement as an arrangement of the medicine containers and the specific medicine containers in the medicine dispensing device.
The medicine dispensing device according to any one of claims 1 to 3. the display processing unit is capable of switching between a first display state in which both the selection area and the specific area are displayed on the selection screen and a second display state in which only the selection area is displayed in response to a user operation.
The medicine dispensing device according to claim 4. The drug dispensing device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the reception processing unit receives an input operation of the drug information to be dispensed before the selection operation is received. The device is provided with a plurality of specific drug storage units capable of dispensing tablets of a predetermined specific size ,
When the specific medicine containing unit from which tablets corresponding to the medicine information to be dispensed can be dispensed is present, the display processing unit highlights and displays the specific medicine containing unit on the selection screen.
The medicine dispensing device according to claim 6 . a dispensing execution unit that dispenses tablets corresponding to the medicine information by using the medicine container corresponding to the medicine information in response to a dispensing start request including the medicine information assigned to the medicine container in a dispensing target,
The medicine dispensing device according to any one of claims 1 to 7 . A processor for controlling a medicine dispensing device having a plurality of medicine storage units that are detachable from a mounting unit of the medicine dispensing device and can dispense tablets of any size,
a display step of displaying a selection screen in which a plurality of selection areas for selecting each of the medicine containers are displayed in the same arrangement as that of each of the medicine containers in the medicine dispensing device;
a receiving step of receiving a selection operation of the selection area on the selection screen;
an allocation step of allocating drug information of a dispensing target included in prescription data input to the drug dispensing device to the drug container corresponding to the selection area accepted in the acceptance step;
A medicine dispensing program for executing
In the display step, an allocation state of the medicine information to each of the medicine containers is displayed on the selection screen.
Drug disbursement program.

Images