JP7600500B2 - Powdered medicine weighing device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a powdered medicine weighing device capable of weighing powdered medicine.

In recent years, large-scale pharmacies have introduced powder medicine packaging machines that automatically package powder medicines. Known examples of such powder medicine packaging machines include the V-cup system powder medicine packaging machine disclosed in Patent Document 1 and the distribution tray system powder medicine packaging machine disclosed in Patent Document 2.

When using these powder medicine packaging machines to package medicine, it is necessary to weigh the powder medicine beforehand. One device that simplifies the weighing work performed by pharmacists is the powder medicine weighing device disclosed in Patent Document 3.

Patent Document 3 discloses a powdered medicine weighing device that has a medicine container installation stand with a vibration table and that can install medicine containers on the medicine container installation stand. This powdered medicine weighing device is a device that vibrates the medicine container placed on it to discharge powdered medicine from the medicine container onto a weighing dish.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 10-258111 JP 2010-247841 A International Publication No. 2019/13836

However, conventional powdered medicine weighing devices have room for improvement in terms of preventing or suppressing the unintended discharge of powdered medicine and discharging powdered medicine more accurately.

Therefore, an object of a related invention of the present invention is to provide a powdered medicine weighing device that can more accurately discharge powdered medicine.
However, conventional powdered medicine weighing devices have room for improvement in terms of speeding up the operation of weighing powdered medicine.

One aspect of the present invention for solving the above problems is a powdered medicine weighing device having a drug container installation section and a weighing container mounting section, a drug container is installed in the drug container installation section, and powdered medicine is automatically discharged from the drug container to a weighing container placed on the weighing container mounting section, and the drug container installation section is provided with a first weight measuring means capable of measuring the weight of the drug container, and the weight of the drug container is monitored to measure the amount of powdered medicine discharged, and a target amount of powdered medicine is discharged into the weighing container. The powdered medicine weighing device has a plurality of drug container installation sections, each of which is located near the drug container installation section, and the plurality of drug container installation sections and the plurality of weighing container mounting sections are in one-to-one correspondence. The powdered medicine weighing device has one second weight measuring means, and the weighing container with the powdered medicine placed on it is transported to the second weight measuring means and the powdered medicine placed on the weighing container is weighed, thereby making it possible to confirm whether the target amount of powdered medicine has been correctly discharged into the weighing container.
The above aspect preferably comprises manually or automatically transporting the weighing container to the second weight measuring means .
In the above-mentioned aspect, it is preferable that the drug container is surrounded by a front wall, a back wall, two side walls, a top wall and a bottom wall, and has an openable and closable drug discharge portion at a position on the bottom wall near the front wall, and that the drug discharge portion is opened and closed by a shutter member.
In the above-mentioned aspect, the drug container has a partition member therein, which divides the internal space of the drug container and is a flat portion arranged at the boundary between the storage space and a powdered medicine passageway through which the powdered medicine passes when it is discharged, and it is preferable that the partition member has a plurality of small holes which penetrate the partition member in the vertical direction.
One aspect of the present invention (related invention) for solving the above problem is a powdered medicine weighing device that has a drug container installation section and a case member having an openable and closable lid, a drug container is installed in the drug container installation section, and powdered medicine is automatically discharged from the drug container to a weighing container placed on a weighing container mounting section, the drug container installation section and the weighing container mounting section are accommodated in the case member, and further has a second weight measuring means capable of measuring the weight of the drug discharged from the drug container to the weighing container, and a sensor member capable of automatically distinguishing between the closed state and the open state of the lid section, and when the drug container is placed on the drug container installation section and the lid section is closed, the device is automatically locked, and the locked state is released on the condition that the measured value measured by the second weight measuring means after discharging a predetermined amount of powdered medicine into the weighing container becomes stable.
In the above-mentioned aspect, it is preferable that the locked state is automatically released when the powdered medicine discharge operation is completed and the measurement value measured by the second weight measuring means with the weighing container with the powdered medicine loaded thereon placed on the weighing container mounting section becomes stable.
In the above-mentioned aspect, the drug container discharges powdered medicine from a powdered medicine discharge section, the main body section has a first weight measuring means capable of measuring the weight of the drug container, and a discharge blocking member, which moves between a fall blocking position below the powdered medicine discharge section when discharging the powdered medicine and a retracted position which is a position away from the fall blocking position, and it is preferable that when the powdered medicine discharge operation is completed and the measurement value measured by the first weight measuring means and the measurement value measured by the second weight measuring means have become stable, the discharge blocking member moves from the retracted position to the fall blocking position, and further the locked state is automatically released.
In the above aspect, when the lid portion is in a closed state, it is preferable that the lid portion covers the upper and sides of the medicine container and the weighing container.
It is preferable that the above-mentioned aspect enables, when the lid portion is in the open state, the drug container to be installed in the drug container installation portion, the drug container to be removed from the drug container installation portion, the weighing container to be placed on the weighing container mounting portion, and the drug container and the weighing container to be moved to the outside and to the inside.
Aspects related to the present invention include a medicine container installation section and a discharge blocking member, a medicine container is installed in the medicine container installation section, and powdered medicine is automatically discharged from the medicine container to a weighing container placed on a weighing container mounting section, the medicine container discharges powdered medicine from the powdered medicine discharge section, and at least a part of the discharge blocking member is positioned between the powdered medicine discharge section and the weighing container to block the powdered medicine from falling from the medicine container to the weighing container, and a blocking member moving mechanism is provided for moving the discharge blocking member, and the discharge blocking member is moved between a fall blocking position below the powdered medicine discharge section and a retracted position that is a position away from the fall blocking position when discharging powdered medicine. and further comprising a second weight measuring means that is installed in the drug container installation section and is capable of measuring the weight of the drug on the weighing container, wherein after an operation of discharging powdered medicine from the drug container to the weighing container is performed, the drug container is removed from the drug container installation section with the discharge stopper member positioned at the fall stopper position, and thereafter, when the drug container is not placed on the drug container installation section, the discharge stopper member moves from the fall stopper position to the retracted position on the condition that the measurement value measured by the first weight measuring means becomes stable and the measurement value measured by the second weight measuring means becomes stable.

According to this aspect of the powdered medicine weighing device, the discharge blocking member is positioned between the powdered medicine discharge section and the weighing container, so that the unintended discharge of powdered medicine into the weighing container can be blocked. As a result, it becomes possible to more accurately discharge powdered medicine into the weighing container.

This aspect has a cutoff member moving mechanism that moves the discharge cutoff member, and the discharge cutoff member moves between a fall cutoff position that is below the powdered medicine discharge section when discharging powdered medicine, and a retracted position that is away from the fall cutoff position.

This aspect is preferable because the discharge blocking member does not get in the way, for example, when moving the weighing container.

In the preferred aspect described above, it is more preferable that after the drug container is placed in the drug container placement section and the operation of measuring the weight is performed by the first weight measuring means, the discharge cutoff member moves from the drop cutoff position to the retracted position on the condition that the measured value measured by the first weight measuring means becomes stable.

In this manner, the discharge blocking member automatically moves to the appropriate position, reducing the burden on the user during operation compared to when it is moved manually.

In the preferred aspect described above, it is more preferable that, after the operation of discharging the powdered medicine from the medicine container to the weighing container is started, the discharge blocking member moves from the retracted position to the drop blocking position on the condition that the measured value measured by the first weight measuring means becomes stable and the measured value measured by the second weight measuring means becomes stable.

This aspect makes it possible to prevent the powdered medicine from unintentionally spilling into the weighing container after the powdered medicine is discharged. In addition, because the discharge blocking member automatically moves to the appropriate position, the burden on the user during operation can be reduced compared to when it is moved manually.

An aspect related to the above aspect is a second weight measurement device that has a medicine container installation section and a discharge blocking member, a medicine container is installed in the medicine container installation section, and powdered medicine is automatically discharged from the medicine container to a weighing container placed on a weighing container mounting section, the medicine container discharges powdered medicine from the powdered medicine discharge section, and by positioning at least a part of the discharge blocking member between the powdered medicine discharge section and the weighing container, the powdered medicine is prevented from falling from the medicine container to the weighing container, the device has a blocking member moving mechanism that moves the discharge blocking member, and the discharge blocking member moves between a fall blocking position that is below the powdered medicine discharge section when discharging powdered medicine and a retracted position that is a position away from the fall blocking position, and The powdered medicine weighing device further has a second weight measuring means capable of measuring the weight of the medicine on the weighing container, and after an operation of discharging the powdered medicine from the medicine container to the weighing container is performed, the discharge cutoff member moves from the fall cutoff position to the retracted position under one of the conditions that the measured value measured by the second weight measuring means has become stable after the operation of discharging the powdered medicine from the medicine container to the weighing container is performed, and after the medicine container is removed from the medicine container installation section with the discharge cutoff member positioned at the fall cutoff position, the discharge cutoff member moves from the fall cutoff position to the retracted position under one of the conditions that the measured value measured by the second weight measuring means has become stable.

This aspect is preferable because it makes it easier to move the weighing container containing the powdered medicine. In addition, because the discharge blocking member automatically moves to the appropriate position, the burden on the user during operation can be reduced compared to when it is moved manually.

The above aspect preferably has a case member with an openable and closable lid, and the operation of discharging the powdered medicine from the medicine container is initiated when the lid is in a closed state.

According to this preferred aspect, when the operation of dispensing powdered medicine is performed, the case member can prevent the dispensing operation from being hindered by external disturbances such as the wind from an air conditioner. It can also prevent problems caused by forgetting to close the lid of the case member.

The above-mentioned aspect also has a case member with an openable and closable lid, and when the lid is in a closed state, it is possible to set the lid in a locked state that prevents the lid from moving to an open state. It is preferable that the locked state is released when the measured value measured by the second weight measuring means becomes stable after a predetermined amount of powdered medicine is discharged into the weighing container.

This preferred aspect also has a case member, which can prevent disturbances from interfering with the powdered medicine ejection action. It can also prevent problems caused by the lid of the case member opening unintentionally.

However, conventional powdered medicine weighing devices have room for improvement in terms of making it easier to weigh multiple types of powdered medicine in succession.

The aspect related to the present invention based on such findings is that, in the aspect described above, the weighing container has a container body and a lid, the container body is provided with multiple drug storage sections, the lid is provided with an opening, opens the drug storage section that overlaps with the opening and closes the other drug storage sections, and the drug storage section that overlaps with the opening can be changed by changing the relative position of the opening with respect to the container body.

This aspect makes it easier to weigh multiple types of powdered medicine in succession.

In the above aspect, it is more preferable that, with the lid attached to the container body, the container body can rotate relative to the lid, and the medicine storage section that overlaps with the opening is changed by the rotation.

In this manner, it is possible to switch the medicine storage section that is open to the outside with a simple structure.

A related aspect of the present invention is that in the above aspect, the operation of discharging powdered medicine from the medicine container to the weighing container is performed based on information regarding the angle of repose of the powdered medicine being discharged.

In this manner, it is possible to improve the precision (accuracy) of the powdered medicine dispensing operation and increase the speed at which the powdered medicine is completely dispensed, for example when dispensing only a very small amount of a specified powdered medicine.

An aspect related to the present invention is that in the above aspect, the drug container has a drug container body and one drug container lid selected from multiple types, and the operation of discharging the powdered medicine from the drug container to the weighing container is an operation that is executed based on the result of a discrimination operation that discriminates the drug container lid attached to the drug container body.

This aspect makes it possible to improve the precision (accuracy) of the powdered medicine discharge operation and to increase the speed at which the powdered medicine is discharged.

However, conventional powdered medicine weighing devices have room for improvement in terms of speeding up the process of weighing powdered medicine.

An aspect related to the present invention based on such findings is that in the above aspect, in the operation of discharging powdered medicine from the medicine container to the weighing container, a comparison operation is performed to compare the planned amount of powdered medicine to be discharged with the amount of powdered medicine contained in the medicine container used in the operation, and, on condition that the comparison operation shows that the planned amount of powdered medicine exceeds the amount contained, the powdered medicine is discharged at maximum output.

In this manner, in cases where the final amount of medicine in the medicine container is insufficient for the amount required for the powdered medicine discharge operation and powdered medicine is discharged from multiple medicine containers to a weighing container, it is possible to speed up the weighing operation while maintaining the accuracy of the discharge operation.

The present invention allows for more accurate dispensing of powdered medicine.

1 is a perspective view showing a schematic diagram of an automatic powdered medicine dispensing device according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a schematic outline of the internal structure of the automatic powdered medicine dispensing device of FIG. 1 , with the housing member omitted. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the automatic powdered medicine dispensing device of FIG. 2 as viewed from the rear. 3 is a perspective view showing a state in which a medicine container is placed on a container placement stand of the automatic powdered medicine dispensing device of FIG. 2, with a portion of the container placement stand being omitted. FIG. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing the drug container of FIG. 4. 5 is a perspective view showing the container mounting base unit of FIG. 4, with some parts omitted. FIG. 3A is a perspective view that shows a schematic diagram of the fall interceptor of FIG. 2 , and FIG. 3B is a perspective view that shows a schematic diagram of a fall interceptor according to an embodiment different from that shown in FIG. 2 . 1A and 1B are explanatory diagrams showing the state when a medicine container is placed on a container mounting base and powdered medicine is discharged, in which (a) shows the state when the medicine container is attached to the container mounting base, (b) shows the state when the medicine receiving member moves after (a), and (c) shows the state when the powdered medicine is discharged. (a) is an explanatory diagram showing how the medicine receiving member moves after the operation of discharging powdered medicine is completed, (b) is an explanatory diagram showing how the medicine container is removed from the container mounting base, and (c) is an explanatory diagram showing how the medicine receiving member moves after (b). 3 is a plan view showing the medicine container and the medicine receiving member of FIG. 2, illustrating the periphery of the medicine discharge portion. FIG. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a weighing container according to an embodiment different from that shown in FIG. 2, with a portion being see-through. FIG. 12 is an exploded perspective view of the weighing container shown in FIG. 11 . FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing a drug container and a container mounting base according to an embodiment different from the above-described embodiment. 14A and 14B are diagrams showing a state in which the lid member of the medicine container shown in FIG. 13 is opened, where FIG. 14A is a perspective view and FIG. 14B is a side view. FIG. 13 is a side view showing a model of a drug container and a container mounting base according to an embodiment different from the above-described embodiment. 1A and 1B are perspective views showing a drug container according to an embodiment different from the above-described embodiment, in which (a) shows the state in which the lid member is in a closed state, and (b) shows the state in which the lid member is in an open state. 16(b) is a cross-sectional view showing the drug container shown in FIG. 16(a), in which the cover member and other portions are cut along different cut planes.

The following describes in detail an automatic powdered medicine distribution device 1 (powdered medicine weighing device) according to an embodiment of the present invention, with reference to the drawings. In the following description, unless otherwise specified, the vertical positional relationship is described based on the normal installation state (the state shown in FIG. 1).

As shown in Fig. 1, the automatic powdered medicine dispensing device 1 according to this embodiment is a device in which a main body 10 and a part of a weighing member 12 (second weight measuring means) are housed inside a housing member 2 (case member). The housing member 2 is provided with a lid portion 3 formed to be freely swingable, and when the lid portion 3 is in a closed state, the lid portion 3 covers the upper and sides of the medicine container 13 and the weighing container 14. When the lid portion 3 is in an open state, the medicine container 13 can be attached and detached, the weighing container 14 can be placed on a balance stand 25 (weighing container placement portion), and the medicine container 13 and the weighing container 14 can be moved from the inside to the outside and from the outside to the inside. Furthermore, the automatic powdered medicine dispensing device 1 has a sensor member (not shown) that detects that the lid portion 3 is in a closed state, and can automatically determine whether the lid portion 3 is in a closed state or an open state. In addition, in the closed state, it is possible to set the lid portion 3 to a locked state in which the lid portion 3 is prevented from being opened, and it is possible to switch between the locked state and an unlocked state (a state in which the lid portion 3 can be opened).
The housing member 2 has an opening 2a in part of the side wall that connects the inside and outside. The weighing member 12 is disposed inside the housing member 2 such that the part where the display unit 26 is formed is disposed outside the opening 2a, and the part where the balance platform 25 is formed is disposed inside the opening 2a. A part of the housing member 2 is located around the balance platform 25, and also functions as a windshield.

As shown in Figures 2 and 3, this automatic powdered medicine dispensing device 1 places the medicine container 13 on the container mounting stand 20 (medicine container installation section) of the main body 10, and with the weighing container 14 placed on the weighing member 12, performs a discharge operation to discharge powdered medicine from the medicine container 13 to the weighing container 14.

The weighing member 12 is an electronic balance having a balance platform 25 and a display unit 26. That is, the weighing member 12 is a device formed by including a balancing circuit, a force coil, a current/voltage conversion circuit, an A/D conversion circuit, a control device, etc. The control device is formed of a calculation unit, a storage unit, and a communication unit by a CPU, a main storage device, an auxiliary storage device, an I/O port, etc., and is capable of transmitting and receiving information to and from an external device (member).
The display unit 26 is a touch panel and serves as both a display device and an input device. Information can be transmitted and received with an external device via wired communication or wireless communication such as a wireless LAN, or both. That is, the communication unit may include a device for wireless communication.

The weighing member 12 is capable of weighing the medicine placed on the balance platform 25. That is, it functions as a weight measuring means for measuring the weight of the medicine.
Specifically, when weighing powdered medicine (medicine), the powdered medicine is placed in the weighing container 14 and weighed with the weighing container 14 placed on the balance platform 25. At this time, the weight of the powdered medicine is determined as the weight of the powdered medicine minus the weight of the weighing container 14, which is a preset weight. The measured weight value (weight of the powdered medicine) is input to the control device of the weighing member 12 as digital data.
It should be noted that the "weight of the weighing container 14" mentioned here includes the weight of accessories to the weighing container 14 (such as an RFID tag).

Incidentally, when the weighing container 14 is provided with information storage means such as an RFID tag, the ID of the weighing container 14 to which the information storage means is attached may be stored. The "ID of the weighing container 14" here is information that can uniquely identify a specific one of the multiple weighing containers 14. When the automatic powdered medicine dispensing device 1 is used as a dispensing operation support system together with an external packaging machine (powdered medicine packaging machine), the following operation may be executed.
That is, after weighing is completed by the weighing member 12 of the automatic powdered medicine dispensing device 1, the information on the ID stored in the information storage means is associated with the information on the weighed medicine and the information on the prescription, and these pieces of information are transmitted from the weighing member 12 to the packaging machine. Then, when the medicine is fed from the weighing container 14 to the packaging machine, a discrimination operation is performed to discriminate (match) whether or not the medicine on the weighing container 14 (or the medicine fed from the weighing container 14) is the same as the medicine that the packaging machine is to package. This discrimination operation is an operation to match the ID of the weighing container 14 stored in the information storage means of the weighing container 14 with the ID of the weighing container 14 transmitted to the packaging machine, and may be an operation performed by bringing the information storage means of the weighing container 14 close to the information reading means of the packaging machine.
Furthermore, the weighing container 14 may be provided with a display medium such as electronic paper whose display content can be electrically rewritten. This display medium displays information identifying the weighed drug (such as the name of the drug), information regarding the prescription, the packaging machine into which the weighed drug is dispensed, and information identifying the place where the powdered drug is dispensed into the packaging machine (hopper information of the packaging machine), etc.

The weighing member 12 may have an RFID reader/writer or a barcode reader. In other words, it may have an information reading means or information reading means capable of reading or writing information from an information storage medium (RFID tag, IC tag, etc.) provided on the weighing container 14, etc. It may also have an information reading device that reads information from codes attached to medicine bottles, prescriptions, etc. It may also have a printer (printing device) that can print and output various information on paper media.

As shown in Figures 4 and 5, the drug container 13 is a sealed container made of resin and has a container body 30 and a lid member 31.

The container body 30 is a cylindrical member with a bottom and an open end in the longitudinal direction. That is, the container body 30 has a peripheral wall portion 30a that is continuous in an annular shape between both longitudinal ends, and a side wall portion 30b that closes one longitudinal end. When the container body 30 is placed horizontally as shown in FIG. 4, the peripheral wall portion 30a forms the upper surface, the lower surface, and both side surfaces in the short direction.
As shown in FIG. 5, the container body 30 has an internal storage space 32 (medicine storage section) capable of storing powdered medicine (medicine).

The lid member 31 has a lid main body portion 31a and a movable lid portion 31b, and is attached to the container body 30 by inserting a part of the lid main body portion 31a from an open portion (one end portion in the longitudinal direction) of the container body 30.
The movable lid portion 31b is provided so as to be able to swing with respect to the lid body portion 31a. The movable lid portion 31b changes its position to switch between an open state and a closed state of the drug container 13. That is, when the drug container 13 is in a closed state, pressing a part of the movable lid portion 31b, such as a knob portion, causes the movable lid portion 31b to change from a closed state to an open state, and further maintains the open state.

In addition, the lid member 31 is attached to the container body 30 to form a medicine discharge section 33 (powdered medicine discharge section). The medicine discharge section 33 is a section that serves as an outlet when discharging powdered medicine (medicine) from the inside (storage space 32) of the medicine container 13. In other words, the medicine discharge section 33 is a section that is blocked by the movable lid section 31b when the medicine container 13 is in a closed state, and is opened to communicate between the inside and outside of the medicine container 13 when the medicine container 13 is in an open state.

In addition, as shown in Fig. 4, an information recording member 40 capable of storing various information is attached to the drug container 13. The information recording member 40 may be any member capable of reading information by RFID or the like, and in this embodiment, an RFID tag (RF tag) is used. In other words, the information recording member 40 is capable of reading information without contact and is capable of writing (rewriting) information. Note that a plurality of information recording members 40 may be provided, and in the case where a plurality of information recording members are provided, different formats such as an RFID tag and a barcode may be used.
A specific powdered medicine is contained (filled) in the medicine container 13, and various information regarding the name, expiration date, amount, etc. of the powdered medicine contained therein is recorded in the information recording member 40. Note that the term "powdered medicine" includes medicine that has been made into a powder form by grinding a solid medicine such as a tablet.

The above-mentioned information on the expiration date is the expiration date information (information such as date, etc., information attached to a barcode, etc.) attached to the original bottle and original box of the medicine delivered by the pharmaceutical manufacturer. In addition, this information on the expiration date is used when filling the medicine container 13 with medicine (powdered medicine) using an external device to check whether the expiration date has expired by comparing with the current date. The check performed when filling the medicine may be performed automatically by the external device, or may be confirmed by the user, i.e., a pharmacist. In addition, the external device may automatically determine whether the expiration date has expired (determine whether the medicine may be filled), and if the result of the determination is that the medicine has expired (must not be filled), perform a notification operation to notify (warn) this fact. Then, if the result of the determination is that the medicine is within the expiration date, information on the expiration date of the expiration date is recorded in the information recording member 40.
The automatic powdered medicine dispensing device 1 of this embodiment reads the information about the expiration date stored in the information recording member 40 of the medicine container 13 placed on the container mounting base 20, and performs a determination operation to determine whether the medicine (powdered medicine) to be discharged is within the expiration date. This determination operation is an operation to compare the information about the expiration date with the current date (the date of use of the automatic powdered medicine dispensing device 1) and determine whether the expiration date is within the expiration date. Then, if it is determined that the expiration date has passed, a notification operation may be performed to notify (notify) the user of that fact.
This notification operation may be an operation of displaying a message or an operation of generating a warning sound or voice by providing a display device such as a display or a sound output device such as a speaker in the main body 10. Also, it may be an operation of displaying a message on the display unit 26 of the weighing member 12, or an operation of the weighing member 12 generating a warning sound or voice. This also applies to other notification operations described below.

As shown in Fig. 3 and other figures, the main body 10 is formed by attaching a container mounting base 20 and a fall blocking device 21 to a fixing member 10a. The main body 10 also has a control device and information reading means (in this embodiment, an RFID reader/writer) (not shown). The information reading means is capable of reading information from an information recording member 40 of the drug container 13 mounted on the container mounting base 20.
Like the control device of the weighing member 12 described above, the control device of the main body 10 also has a calculation unit, a storage unit, and a communication unit formed by a CPU, a main storage device, an auxiliary storage device, an I/O port, etc., and is capable of transmitting and receiving information with an external device (member) by wired communication and/or wireless communication. The control device of the main body 10 and the control device of the weighing member 12 are capable of transmitting and receiving signals, and information can be exchanged between the main body 10 and the weighing member 12.

As shown in FIG. 6, the container mounting base 20 has a vibration table 43. The vibration table 43 is provided with a container holding means 44 used to temporarily fix the drug container 13. In this embodiment, an electromagnet is used as the container holding means 44, and the drug container 13 is fixed by attracting an iron plate provided on one of the outer surfaces of the drug container 13. The fixing structure for fixing the drug container 13 to the container mounting base 20 is not limited to this, and may be a locking method in which a part of one surface of the drug container 13 (the surface that is the lower side when installed on the container mounting base 20) and a part of the container mounting base 20 are engaged with each other to mechanically fix the drug container 13. That is, the drug container 13 and the container mounting base 20 may each be provided with a pair of engaging parts that engage with each other.
Further, vibration means 45 are attached in an inclined position to both ends of the vibration table 43. In this embodiment, a piezoelectric element is used as the vibration means 45.

Here, a weight measuring means (first weight measuring means) (not shown) is provided below the vibration table 43. The weight measuring means is specifically a load cell, and will also be referred to as table-side weight measuring means in the following description.
That is, container mounting base unit 20 places drug container 13 on vibration table 43 and vibrates vibration table 43, thereby discharging and removing the powdered medicine from drug container 13. That is, container mounting base unit 20 has a drug container installation section and drug discharging means, and vibration table 43 functions both as the drug container installation section and as the drug discharging means.

In addition, the weight of all the members above the weight measuring means (not shown) of the container mounting table 20 is measured by a weight measuring means. Therefore, in this embodiment, when the drug container 13 is placed on the vibration table 43, the weight of the drug container 13 is indirectly measured.
In this embodiment, when powdered medicine is discharged from the medicine container 13, the amount of powdered medicine discharged is obtained by measuring the weight of the medicine container 13, and the powdered medicine discharge operation is completed when the amount of powdered medicine discharged reaches the planned amount to be discharged.

To be more specific, when the drug container 13 is placed on the container mounting base 20, the weight of the drug container 13 is measured. The weight of the drug container 13 is the weight measured by the base-side weight measuring means minus a fixed value, more specifically, the weight of the components above the base-side weight measuring means of the container mounting base 20 minus.

The weight of the drug container 13 immediately after installation is stored as the original weight G. The weight of the drug container 13 is constantly monitored. That is, the current weight of the drug container 13 is monitored as the current weight g.
When the vibration table 43 starts to vibrate, the medicine container 13 vibrates at the same frequency as the vibration table 43 , and the powdered medicine contained in the storage space 32 is discharged from the medicine discharge portion 33 .
The fact that the powdered medicine is being discharged is confirmed by the weight of the medicine container 13 decreasing.
That is, in this embodiment, even while the powdered medicine is being discharged, the current weight (current weight g) of the medicine container 13 is continuously monitored by the table-side weight measuring means. Then, the original weight G of the medicine container 13 is compared with the current weight g, and the discharge amount H of the powdered medicine (H = G - g) is constantly calculated.
When the total discharge amount H of the powdered medicine reaches the desired weight, the vibration of the vibration table 43 is stopped. In other words, when the current weight g coincides with the value obtained by subtracting the planned discharge amount (target amount based on the prescription) from the original weight G, the discharge of the powdered medicine is stopped.

With regard to the measurement of the weight of the drug container 13, the weight of the drug container 13 may be measured directly or indirectly. In other words, the weight of only the drug container 13 may be measured directly, or the weight including the weight of the equipment such as the vibration table 43 may be measured. Therefore, the above operation only needs to determine the amount of drug to be discharged based on the measured value before the drug is discharged and the current measured value from the time the drug is being discharged until the discharge is stopped.

As shown in FIG. 7(a), the fall interruption device 21 includes a drug receiving member 50 and a movement mechanism 51 (a blocking member movement mechanism) that moves the drug receiving member 50.

The medicine receiving member 50 is formed integrally with a connecting portion 50a and a receiving tray portion 50b (discharge blocking member).
The connecting portion 50a is a portion that is fixed to a part of the moving mechanism portion 51, and has an outer shape of a substantially rectangular parallelepiped.
The receiving tray 50b is a plate-like portion that protrudes outward from a part of the connecting portion 50a. A protruding protrusion 52 is provided on the upper side of the receiving tray 50b and extends along the edge. As a result, a recess that is recessed deeper than the surrounding area is formed on the upper part of the receiving tray 50b at a position inside the protrusion 52.
In this embodiment, the shape of the receiving tray portion 50b in a plan view is generally rectangular with rounded corners on the protruding end side.

The moving mechanism 51 has a motor 55 as a power source and a conversion mechanism 56 that converts the rotational motion of the motor 55 into linear motion. In the example shown in FIG. 7A, a rack and pinion is used as the conversion mechanism 56, which has a pinion attached to the motor 55 and a rack fixed to the connecting portion 50a of the medicine receiving member 50.
The conversion mechanism is not limited to the rack and pinion, but may be a belt mechanism 57 driven by a motor 55, as shown in Fig. 7B. It is sufficient if the rotational motion of the motor 55 can be converted into linear motion.
In addition, the belt mechanism 57 has two pulleys 57a and a belt member 57b suspended between the two pulleys 57a, and one of the pulleys 57a rotates together with the output shaft of the motor 55. In addition, a connecting portion 50a of the medicine receiving member 50 is fixed to a part of the belt member 57b, and the medicine receiving member 50 moves linearly in response to the movement of the belt member 57b.

Next, the operation of the fall interrupter 21 will be explained with reference to Figures 8 and 9.

First, the lid 3 (see FIG. 1) of the housing member 2 is opened, and as shown in FIG. 8(a) and FIG. 8(b), the weighing container 14 is placed on the weighing member 12 in advance, and the receiving tray 50b is placed in the fall blocking position, and the medicine container 13 is placed on the container mounting base 20. This makes it possible to prevent powdered medicine from unintentionally falling into the weighing container 14 when the medicine container 13 is attached.
Here, the "fall blocking position" refers to a position that is below the drug discharge section 33 (see Figure 5) when the drug container 13 is placed on the container mounting base 20, and is a position at which the powdered medicine discharged from the drug container 13 can be received.

That is, when the receiving tray 50b is disposed in the fall blocking position, as shown in FIG. 10 etc., the medicine discharge portion 33 and a part of the receiving tray 50b overlap in a plan view.
Here, as shown in Fig. 2, the protruding length of the receiving tray 50b is longer than the short-side length (width-side length) of the medicine container 13. When the receiving tray 50b is disposed in the fall blocking position, as shown in Fig. 10, the receiving tray 50b extends from a position away from one end of the medicine container 13 on the outside in the short-side direction (to the left of the left end in Fig. 10) to a position away from the other end of the medicine container 13 on the opposite side (to the right of the right end in Fig. 10).
Furthermore, the receiving tray portion 50b is positioned between a position that is outer than the drug discharge portion 33 (upper side in Figure 10) in the longitudinal direction of the drug container 13, and a position that is inner than the drug discharge portion 33 (lower side in Figure 10), based on the drug discharge portion 33.
In other words, the receiving tray portion 50b is located at a position spaced downward from the medicine discharge portion 33 and is disposed in a region that extends in a planar manner to include a position directly below the medicine discharge portion 33.

After placing the drug container 13 on the container mounting base 20, the lid 3 (see FIG. 1) of the housing member 2 is closed. Also, by closing the lid 3, the housing member 2 is automatically locked. Then, as shown in FIG. 8(b), the weight measuring means of the container mounting base 20 starts measuring the weight of the drug container 13 around the time of placing the drug container 13 on the container mounting base 20. At this time, the measured value acquired by the base-side weight measuring means is unstable for a while immediately after placing the drug container 13. Then, as time passes, the measured value acquired by the base-side weight measuring means becomes stable.
In this case, "the measured value becomes unstable" refers to a state in which the measured value fluctuates and is not fixed, whereas "the measured value becomes stable" refers to a state in which the measured value does not fluctuate and is fixed.

Then, the automatic powdered medicine dispensing device 1 of this embodiment executes a first moving operation to move the receiving tray portion 50b to a retracted position when the medicine container 13 is placed on the container mounting base portion 20 and the measurement value of the base-side weight measuring means has transitioned from an unstable state to a stable state.
Specifically, the medicine container 13 is placed on the container mounting base 20, and the medicine container 13 is in an open state (lid is open). At this time, the weight of the medicine container 13 is measured by the weight measuring means (base side weight measuring means) of the container mounting base 20 (the weight of the medicine container 13 to be measured is no longer 0 g), and it is determined that the medicine container 13 is in a placed state. Then, after the medicine container 13 is placed, the measured value of the base side weight measuring means becomes stable, and the receiving tray 50b automatically moves from the fall blocking position to the evacuation position as shown in FIG. 8(b). Then, as shown in FIG. 8(c), the powdered medicine is discharged from the medicine container 13 to the weighing container 14. As described above, this powdered medicine discharge operation is performed until the discharge amount of the powdered medicine becomes the planned discharge amount.

Here, from when the medicine container 13 is placed on the container mounting base 20 until the powdered medicine discharge operation is started, the measurement value of the weighing member 12 (the measured value, the weighed value of the powdered medicine) is stable at 0 g. In other words, the automatic powdered medicine dispensing device 1 is capable of a determination operation to determine that no medicine is placed in the weighing container 14, provided that the weight of the powdered medicine measured by the weighing member 12 is 0 g.
Therefore, the above-mentioned first moving operation may be an operation that is executed under the condition that no powdered medicine is placed in the weighing container 14, the medicine container 13 is placed on the container mounting base 20, and the measurement value of the base-side weight measuring means has transitioned to a stable state.

The determination operation for determining that the measurement value has stabilized may be an operation of continuing to measure the weight, and determining that the state has stabilized if the obtained measurement value has maintained a constant value for a predetermined period of time. Alternatively, the condition may simply be that a certain period of time (predetermined time) has passed. This also applies to the measurement value of the weighing member 12 (weighed value of powdered medicine) described below.

In this embodiment, the above-mentioned evacuation position is a position horizontally away from the fall blocking position, as shown in Figure 8 (c), and is a position where the receiving tray portion 50b does not hinder the discharge of powdered medicine from the drug container 13 to the weighing container 14.
In this embodiment, when the drug container 13 is placed on the container mounting base 20, a part of the drug container 13 is placed so as to protrude in a cantilever manner. When the receiving tray 50b is disposed in the retracted position, the entire receiving tray 50b is disposed below the protruding part of the drug container 13 and closer to the container mounting base 20 than the drug discharge portion 33.

As shown in FIG. 8(c), while the powdered medicine is being discharged from the medicine container 13 to the weighing container 14, the measurement value of the weighing member 12 (weighed value of the powdered medicine) and the measurement value measured by the weight measuring means of the container mounting base 20 are unstable.

9(a), the powdered medicine discharge operation is completed, and after a certain period of time has elapsed since completion, the measured value of the weighing member 12 and the measured value of the weight measuring means of the container mounting platform 20 become stable. Then, the automatic powdered medicine dispensing device 1 executes a second moving operation to move the receiving tray 50b from the retracted position to the fall blocking position. In addition, the housing member 2 automatically becomes unlocked.
In other words, the second movement operation is an operation that is executed on the condition that the measurement value of the weighing member 12 is stable (the weighing value is stable at 0 g or more) when powdered medicine is placed in the weighing container 14, and the measurement value of the base-side weight measuring means is stable when the medicine container 13 is placed on the container loading platform 20.
In addition, in this embodiment, the housing member 2 automatically becomes unlocked when the powdered medicine discharge operation is completed and the measurement value of the weighing member 12 (the measurement value when the powdered medicine is placed on the weighing container 14) has stabilized.

Then, with the lid 3 of the housing member 2 in the open state and the receiving tray 50b in the fall blocking position as shown in FIG. 9(b), the drug container 13 is closed (with the lid closed), and the drug container 13 is removed from the container mounting base 20. This prevents the powdered medicine from unintentionally falling into the weighing container 14 when the drug container 13 is removed.

When the drug container 13 is removed from the container mounting base 20, the measured value of the weighing member 12 remains stable, while the measured value of the weight measuring means of the container mounting base 20 becomes unstable. Then, after the passage of time from this state, the measured value of the weight measuring means of the container mounting base 20 becomes stable.
Then, on the condition that the measured value of the weight measuring means of the container mounting base 20 becomes stable with no drug container 13 placed on the container mounting base 20, a third moving operation is executed to move the receiving tray 50b from the fall blocking position to the retracted position. This prevents the receiving tray 50b from getting in the way when the weighing container 14 with the powdered medicine placed thereon is moved from above the weighing member 12.
At this time, the weight measuring means of the container mounting base 20 measures a weight value lower than the specified value (a value lower than the preset weight of the drug container 13 itself) and therefore it is determined that no drug container 13 is placed on the container mounting base 20.

The third movement operation may be an operation that is executed on the condition that the measurement value of the weighing member 12 is stable (the weighing value is stable at 0 g or more) when the drug is placed on the weighing member 12, and the measurement value of the weight measuring means of the container mounting base 20 is stable when no drug container 13 is placed on the container mounting base 20.

When the weighing container 14 with the medicine loaded thereon is moved from above the weighing member 12, the measured value of the weighing member 12 becomes unstable. Then, as time passes, the measured value of the weighing member 12 stabilizes. At this time, the automatic powdered medicine dispensing device 1 of this embodiment executes a fourth movement operation to move the receiving tray 50b from the retracted position to the fall blocking position, on the condition that the measured value of the weighing member 12 has stabilized. This fourth movement operation is an operation to prepare for the subsequent powdered medicine discharge operation.

More specifically, the fourth moving operation is executed on the condition that the measurement value of the platform-side weight measuring means has stabilized when no drug container 13 is placed on the container mounting platform 20, and the measurement value of the weighing member 12 has stabilized when nothing is placed on the weighing member 12 (or when an empty weighing container 14 is placed).
That is, if the weighing container 14 with the powdered medicine placed thereon is moved from above the weighing member 12 and time passes without anything being placed on the weighing member 12, the measured value of the weighing member 12 transitions from an unstable state to a stable state. Also, if the weighing container 14 with the powdered medicine placed thereon is moved from above the weighing member 12 and time passes after an empty weighing container 14 is placed on the weighing member 12, the measured value of the weighing member 12 transitions from an unstable state to a stable state. Then, on the condition that the measured value of the weighing member 12 has thus stabilized, the fourth moving operation is executed.

The above-mentioned powdered medicine discharging operation is an operation that is executed under one of the conditions that the lid portion 3 of the housing member 2 is in a closed state. Specifically, the operation is executed under the condition that the lid portion 3 of the housing member 2 is in a closed state and the first moving operation is completed. In other words, the powdered medicine discharging operation is an operation that is not executed when the lid portion 3 of the housing member 2 is in an open state.
In the above example, the housing member 2 is automatically unlocked on condition that the powdered medicine discharging operation is completed and the measured value of the weighing member 12 is stabilized. However, the housing member 2 may be configured to automatically unlock on condition that the powdered medicine discharging operation is completed, regardless of the measured value of the weighing member 12.
In addition, the above-mentioned powdered medicine discharge operation is performed under one of the conditions that the lid 3 of the housing member 2 is in a closed state, but this is not necessarily limited to this. For example, when a work speed is required, such as when different medicine containers 13 are placed in succession and weighed, the discharge operation may be performed even when the lid 3 is in a closed state by setting. In other words, the first mode in which the discharge operation is performed when the lid 3 is in a closed state by the user's operation and the second mode in which the discharge operation can be performed regardless of the state of the lid 3 may be switched, and the above condition may be released in the second mode.

The above-mentioned transportation of the drug container 13, attachment of the drug container 13 to the container mounting base 20, removal of the drug container 13 from the container mounting base 20, and opening and closing of the lid of the drug container 13 may be performed automatically.
That is, the automatic powdered medicine dispensing device 1 may swing the movable lid portion 31b by a driving member (not shown) to open and close the lid of the medicine container 13. The opening and closing of the lid of the medicine container 13 may be performed in a state where the medicine container 13 is placed on the container mounting base portion 20. In addition, the operation of opening the lid of the medicine container 13 may be performed immediately before the medicine container 13 is placed on the container mounting base portion 20.

The weighing container that can be used with the automatic powdered medicine dispensing device 1 of this embodiment is not limited to the weighing container 14 described above, but may be a weighing container 60 capable of containing multiple types of medicine, as shown in FIG. 11. This weighing container 60 will be described in detail below.

As shown in Figures 11 and 12, the weighing container 60 has a weighing container lid 61 (lid), a weighing container body 62 (container body), and a weighing container base 63. The weighing container lid 61 is formed so as to be detachable from the weighing container body 62, and the weighing container body 62 is also detachable from the weighing container base 63.

As shown in FIG. 12, the weighing vessel lid 61 has a main body plate 61a and a vertical hanging wall 61b extending downward from the edge of the main body plate 61a, and has an opening 65 formed by cutting out a part of the main body plate 61a and the hanging wall 61b. The main body plate 61a also has an axial hole 66.

The main body plate portion 61 a is a generally circular plate-shaped portion with a portion removed to form the opening 65 and the shaft hole portion 66 .
The hanging wall portion 61b extends along the outer edge of the main body plate portion 61a, and extends in an annular shape while being interrupted at the portion where the opening 65 is formed.

The opening 65 is formed so as to connect the upper and lower spaces of the main body plate portion 61a. The shape of the opening 65 in plan view is substantially the same as the opening shape of the small container portion 71 (medicine container portion) described later.
The shaft hole 66 is formed at the center of the main body plate 61a, has a substantially circular opening shape, and is a through-hole that penetrates the main body plate 61a in the thickness direction.

The weighing container main body 62 has four small storage sections 71 separated by partition plate sections 70. That is, the space for storing the medicine surrounded by the bottom plate section 72 and the peripheral wall section 73 is partitioned (divided) into multiple sections by the partition plate sections 70. Each small storage section 71 is surrounded on all four sides with a closed bottom, has an opening at the top, and forms a space that is open on the upper side.
In this embodiment, four small storage sections 71 are provided, but the weighing container main body 62 may have multiple small storage sections 71, for example, two or five small storage sections 71 may be provided.

The multiple (four in this embodiment) partition plate sections 70 of the weighing container body section 62 extend radially from a column section 74 that extends in the vertical direction at the center of the weighing container body section 62. A protrusion section 75 that extends upward is formed on the upper end of the column section 74. In other words, the partition plate section 70 extends from the portion where the protrusion section 75 is formed toward the peripheral wall section 73.

The weighing container base 63 is a plate-shaped member and is provided with an engagement hole 63a.

11, when the weighing container 60 is assembled, the protrusion 75 of the weighing container body 62 is inserted into the axial hole 66 of the weighing container lid 61. Also, a protrusion (not shown) formed on the lower part of the weighing container body 62 is inserted into the engagement hole 63a (see FIG. 12) of the weighing container base 63.
Further, the inner surface of the hanging wall portion 61b contacts the outer portion of the small storage portion 71, which is the portion located outermost in the radial direction of rotation. In detail, when the opening 65 overlaps with one small storage portion 71 (the state shown in FIG. 11 ), the inner surface of the hanging wall portion 61b contacts the outer portions of the other small storage portions 71.

This makes it possible to rotate the weighing container body 62 relative to the weighing container lid 61 and the weighing container base 63. By rotating the weighing container body 62, the small storage section 71 located below the opening 65 can be changed. That is, after pouring powdered medicine into one small storage section 71, the weighing container body 62 can be rotated to pour powdered medicine into another small storage section 71. At this time, the openings of the other small storage sections 71 different from the small storage section 71 into which the powdered medicine is poured are blocked by the weighing container lid 61, so that powdered medicine will not be poured in by mistake.

This weighing container 60 can automatically dispense medicine using the automatic powdered medicine dispensing device 1 described above, or can also be manually dispensed with medicine.
Furthermore, the weighing container 60 capable of containing a plurality of types of medicines can facilitate the task of continuously weighing medicines. To explain in detail, when weighing a plurality of types of medicines using the weighing container 14 described above, the weighing container 14 is placed on an electronic balance, a tare is subtracted, and then medicines are poured into the weighing container 14. Then, the weighing container 14 containing the powdered medicine is moved from the electronic balance, a new weighing container 14 is placed on the electronic balance, a tare is subtracted again, and the medicines are poured into the weighing container 14. This task is repeated. In other words, it becomes necessary to subtract the tare weight every time the weighing container 14 is placed.

In contrast, with this weighing container 60, it is possible to place it on an electronic balance, perform a tare, then pour powdered medicine into the first small storage section 71, rotate the weighing container main body 62, and pour powdered medicine into the second small storage section 71. In other words, there is no need to repeatedly perform tare, making the work easier.

In the above embodiment, an example is shown in which the small storage section 71 into which the drug is dispensed is switched by rotating the weighing container body section 62 without rotating the weighing container lid section 61 and the weighing container base section 63. However, the small storage section 71 may be switched by rotating the weighing container lid section 61 without rotating the weighing container body section 62. That is, the weighing container lid section 61 and the weighing container body section 62 may rotate relative to each other, and the small storage section 71 that overlaps with the opening 65 may be changed.

In the above embodiment, an example has been described in which the protrusion 75 of the weighing container body 62 is inserted into the axial hole 66 of the weighing container lid 61 and these are rotatably engaged with each other. However, a protrusion may be provided on the underside of the body plate 61a of the weighing container lid 61, and a hole or recess that can engage with this protrusion may be provided in the weighing container body 62 to engage them.
That is, the weighing container body 62 and the weighing container lid 61 may each be provided with an engaging portion and an engaged portion that engage with each other, and may be structured to engage with each other so as to be rotatable relative to each other. Similarly, the weighing container body 62 and the weighing container base 63 may each be provided with an engaging portion and an engaged portion that engage with each other, and may be structured to engage with each other so as to be rotatable relative to each other.

In the above embodiment, an example of a weighing container 60 consisting of a weighing container lid 61, a weighing container main body 62, and a weighing container base 63 is shown. However, the weighing container 60 does not necessarily require the weighing container base 63, and may be composed of a lid and a main body that are capable of relative rotation. However, from the viewpoint of smoothly rotating the main body when rotating, it is preferable that the weighing container base 63 is provided.

In the above-mentioned automatic powdered medicine distribution device 1, it is assumed that multiple types of powdered medicine are stored in separate medicine containers 13, and one medicine container 13 selected from the multiple medicine containers 13 is placed and used. For example, when discharging medicine A into the weighing container 14, the medicine container 13 containing medicine A is placed on the container mounting base 20, and when discharging medicine B into the weighing container 14, the medicine container 13 containing medicine B is placed on the container mounting base 20.

Here, the powdered medicines contained in the medicine container 13 have different characteristics (hereinafter also referred to as powdered medicine characteristics) depending on the type. The characteristics referred to here include the angle of repose, viscosity, particle shape, particle size, compressibility, spatula angle, degree of compaction, etc.
Powdered medicines include those with low fluidity that are less likely to solidify, and those with high fluidity that are more likely to solidify. For this reason, for example, when dispensing a very small amount of powdered medicine that is more likely to solidify, if the powdered medicine solidifies and falls, there is a risk that more powdered medicine than expected will be dispensed.

Therefore, the automatic powdered medicine dispensing device 1 of this embodiment changes the powdered medicine dispensing operation according to the powdered medicine characteristics, making it possible to accurately dispense an appropriate amount of powdered medicine and shorten the time required to complete dispensing.
More specifically, information regarding the powdered medicine characteristics of the powdered medicine contained in the information recording member 40 of the medicine container 13 is stored. In this embodiment, the angle of repose of each powdered medicine is obtained in advance by measurement or the like, and information regarding this angle of repose is stored.
The "angle of repose" is the angle of repose when each powdered medicine is piled up in the same pile shape.

When the drug container 13 is placed on the container placement stage 20, the information reading means of the main body 10 acquires information relating to the angle of repose from the information recording member 40 of the placed drug container 13.
Next, a determination operation is performed to determine whether the acquired angle of repose is equal to or larger than a predetermined angle θ1. If the result of the determination operation indicates that the angle of repose is equal to or larger than the predetermined angle θ1, a first discharge operation is performed, and if the angle of repose is less than the predetermined angle θ1, a second discharge operation is performed.
The first discharging operation is an operation in which the drug container 13 is vibrated in a state in which the vibration of the vibration table 43 is made stronger than that in the second discharging operation.

As an example, the vibration level is divided into multiple stages depending on the vibration frequency and amplitude, called "vibration level 1, vibration level 2," and can be changed from vibration level 1 (minimum vibration) to vibration level 10 (maximum vibration).
The first discharge operation is an operation for vibrating the vibration table 43 at a higher vibration level than the second discharge operation. For example, the second discharge operation is an operation for vibrating the vibration table 43 at a vibration level of 5, and the first discharge operation is an operation for vibrating the vibration table 43 at a vibration level of 8. The vibration levels of the first discharge operation and the second discharge operation can be appropriately changed depending on the magnitude of the predetermined angle θ1.

In the above embodiment, two different types of operations are executed depending on whether the angle of repose is equal to or greater than the predetermined angle θ1 or less than the predetermined angle θ1. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and three or more types of discharge operations may be executed depending on the angle of repose.
For example, the repose angle of the powdered medicine is divided into a plurality of stages, such as less than 10 degrees, 10 degrees or more but less than 30 degrees, 30 degrees or more but less than 40 degrees, and 50 degrees or more. At this time, the angles belonging to each category are, for example, category 1, category 2, ... in ascending order of the angle of repose of the powdered medicine to be discharged. Then, a discrimination operation is performed to determine which category the repose angle of the powdered medicine to be discharged will be. Then, as a result of this discrimination operation, if the repose angle is category 1, the vibration table 43 is vibrated at vibration level 2, and if the repose angle is category 2, the vibration table 43 is vibrated at vibration level 4, and so on, a different (different vibration) powdered medicine discharge operation is performed according to the determined category. At this time, as the angle belonging to each category increases, the vibration amount of the corresponding discharge operation increases. That is, the vibration amount of category 2 is greater than that of category 1, and the vibration amount of category 3 is greater than that of category 2, and so on.

In the above example, the first discharge operation is an operation in which the vibration of the vibration table 43 is made larger than that of the second discharge operation, but this is not limited to this. For example, the first discharge operation may be an operation in which the vibration amount is temporarily increased, and the second discharge operation may be an operation in which the powdered medicine is discharged with a constant vibration amount.
Specifically, for example, the first discharge operation may be an operation in which the vibration table 43 is vibrated at vibration level 8 for a predetermined time from the start of discharge, and thereafter the vibration table 43 is vibrated at vibration level 5. In this case, the second discharge operation may be an operation in which the vibration table 43 is vibrated at vibration level 5 from the start of discharge to the completion of discharge.

In the above example, the powdered medicine discharge operation is changed according to the angle of repose, but this is not limiting, and the powdered medicine discharge operation may be changed according to other powdered medicine characteristics. For example, the powdered medicine discharge operation may be changed according to the "viscosity" value, and powdered medicines with a high viscosity may be discharged with a larger amount of vibration.

In the automatic powdered medicine dispensing device 1 of this embodiment, the medicine container placed on the container mounting base 20 is not limited to the above-mentioned medicine container 13. It is possible to place various types of medicine containers on the container mounting base 20 and discharge powdered medicine.

For this reason, the automatic powdered medicine dispensing device 1 can, for example, select one from a plurality of medicine containers each having a different lid shape and place it on the container mounting base 20. Here, depending on the shape of the lid of the medicine container, there are lids suitable for a very small amount of dispensing operation and lids suitable for a dispensing operation that quickly dispenses a large amount of powdered medicine.
Therefore, the automatic powdered medicine dispensing device 1 of the present embodiment changes the powdered medicine dispensing operation in accordance with the shape of the lid of the medicine container, thereby enabling accurate dispensing of the powdered medicine.
This will be described in detail below. In the following example, an example will be described in which either a medicine container having a lid suitable for discharging a very small amount (hereinafter also referred to as an A-type lid) or a medicine container having a lid suitable for discharging a large amount of powdered medicine quickly (hereinafter also referred to as a B-type lid) is placed and used.

Specifically, in this case, the medicine container is capable of storing information about the type of its own lid in its own information recording member 40 .
At this time, the medicine container may be capable of storing information regarding its own empty weight (weight when no medicine container is contained inside) in its own information recording member 40. The registration operation for storing this information in the information recording member 40 may be performed using an external device or the like used when filling the powdered medicine, and information regarding the type of lid may be stored together with information regarding the empty weight.
In addition, when storing information regarding the type of lid, the item for the type of lid may be displayed on a display device such as a display, and one item may be selected from multiple items, so that the information regarding the lid is stored in the information recording member 40.

When the drug container 13 is placed on the container mounting base 20, the information reading means of the main body 10 acquires information about the type of lid from the information recording member 40 of the placed drug container 13. Furthermore, a discrimination operation is performed to discriminate the type of lid from the acquired information. In other words, it is determined whether the lid of the drug container 13 placed on the container mounting base 20 is a type A lid or a type B lid.

If the lid is determined to be a type A lid as a result of the discrimination operation, an operation is performed in which the vibration table 43 is vibrated normally to vibrate the medicine container 13. Conversely, if the lid is determined to be a type B lid, an operation is performed in which the vibration table 43 is vibrated less than normal to vibrate the medicine container 13.
That is, in the case of the B-type lid, there is a possibility that the powdered medicine will be discharged excessively if the vibration table 43 is vibrated in the usual manner. Therefore, the vibration of the vibration table 43 is made smaller than when discharging the powdered medicine from a medicine container having an A-type lid, thereby preventing the excessive discharge of the powdered medicine.

In the above example, two types of drug containers, each with a different lid shape, were placed on the container mounting base 20, but this is not limited to the above, and one drug container selected from three or more types of drug containers, each with a different lid shape, may be placed on the container mounting base 20.
In this case, different powdered medicine discharging operations may be executed for three or more types of medicine containers (shapes of lids). For example, the magnitude of vibration of the vibration table 43 during the discharging operation may be different for each type of medicine container.

In addition, for example, any of three or more types of drug containers, each with a different lid shape, may be placed on the container mounting platform 20, and depending on the shape of the lid, either the powdered medicine dispensing operation when the lid is of type A as described above or the powdered medicine dispensing operation when the lid is of type B may be performed.
In this case, the shape of each lid is stored in advance in association with information indicating whether the lid is suitable for dispensing a very small amount of powdered medicine or for dispensing a large amount of powdered medicine quickly. Then, as described above, information is read from the information recording member 40 to identify the shape of the lid, thereby determining which of the two powdered medicine dispensing operations is to be performed.

In the above example, the content of the discharge operation is changed depending on the shape of the lid of the medicine container, but the content of the discharge operation may be changed depending on a characteristic of the medicine container that is different from the shape of the lid. The characteristic of the medicine container referred to here is, for example, one or more selected from the shape of the container itself (overall shape of the container), the presence or absence of a lid, the shape of the lid, the presence or absence of a straightening member, the shape of the straightening member, the size of the medicine discharge part (discharge port for powdered medicine), the shape of the medicine discharge part (discharge port for powdered medicine), etc. For example, the content of the discharge operation may be changed depending on the presence or absence of a lid.

When the automatic powdered medicine dispensing device 1 described above executes a powdered medicine dispensing operation, it may calculate the amount of powdered medicine contained in the medicine container 13 placed on the container mounting base 20 before executing the dispensing operation. Then, it may execute a comparison operation to compare the calculated amount of powdered medicine contained with the planned amount of discharge, and execute the powdered medicine dispensing operation with maximum vibration on the condition that the planned amount of discharge exceeds the powdered medicine amount as a result of this comparison operation.

In other words, if the planned amount of powdered medicine to be discharged exceeds the capacity of the powdered medicine, after all the powdered medicine inside is discharged, the empty medicine container 13 must be moved from the container mounting base 20, another medicine container 13 containing the same powdered medicine must be placed on the container mounting base 20, and the remaining powdered medicine must be discharged.
Here, when the powdered medicine discharge operation is normally performed, the discharge operation is performed with a vibration amount smaller than the maximum vibration in order to prevent excessive discharge of the powdered medicine. On the other hand, when the planned discharge amount exceeds the powdered medicine storage amount, all the powdered medicine inside the medicine container 13 is discharged, so that even if the powdered medicine discharge operation is performed with the maximum vibration, the powdered medicine will not be discharged excessively. In this way, by performing the powdered medicine discharge operation with the maximum vibration, the time until the discharge operation is completed can be shortened.

Specifically, the operation of calculating the amount of powdered medicine may be as follows.
That is, the weight of the drug container 13 itself in an empty state is stored in advance in the information recording member 40 of the drug container 13. Then, when the drug container 13 is placed on the container mounting stand 20, the total weight of the placed drug container 13, i.e., the weight including the weight of the powdered medicine inside, is obtained. After that, the stored weight in an empty state is subtracted from the obtained total weight to calculate the amount of powdered medicine contained.

In addition, after all the powdered medicine inside medicine container 13 has been discharged in the above-mentioned operation, an informing operation may be executed to inform the user that medicine container 13 is empty.
In other words, by shortening the time until all of the powdered medicine inside is discharged, the time from when the discharge of the powdered medicine begins to when the notification operation is performed can be shortened.

The drug container that can be used in the powdered medicine weighing device of the present invention is not limited to the drug container 13 described above, but may be the drug container 80 shown in FIG. 13. In addition, when using this drug container 80, a container mounting base 81 (drug container installation section) as shown in FIG. 13 may be used instead of the container mounting base 20 described above.

The drug container 80 is surrounded by a front wall 91, a back wall 92, two side walls 93, a top wall 94, and a bottom wall 95. In addition, an openable and closable drug discharge section 97 (powdered drug discharge section, see FIG. 14) is located on the bottom wall 95 near the front wall 91. This drug discharge section 97 is formed on an edge of the bottom of the drug container 80 and/or on a side near the bottom.

The front wall 91 and the back wall 92, together with the two side walls 93, form a side wall portion that surrounds all four sides between the top wall 94 and the bottom wall 95. Here, the two side walls 93 are large-area side surfaces that are larger in area than the front wall 91 and the back wall 92. In contrast, the front wall 91 and the back wall 92 are small-area side surfaces. In other words, the drug container 80 is a long, thin box-shaped member when viewed from the front wall 91 side (the drug discharge section 97 side). In other words, the drug container 80 is a vertically long container whose height is high compared to its width W (narrow width and high height). In addition, the side shape is a rectangular parallelepiped that is approximately square.

As shown in FIG. 14, the medicine container 80 is a container capable of storing medicine (powdered medicine) inside, and is composed of a box portion 100 with one side open, and a lid member 101. The container can be sealed by closing the lid member 101, and powdered medicine can be filled by opening it. The lid member 101 constitutes one of the side walls 93 (large area side) of the two walls, and can swing by a hinge. In other words, the medicine container 80 can be filled with powdered medicine by opening the large area side while removed from the container mounting base portion 81.

Moreover, the drug container 80 has therein a partition plate 110 (partition member), and a flow straightening member 111 which is a coil-shaped member.
As shown in FIG. 14(b), the partition plate 110 is formed by bending a strip-shaped plate, and has two contact wall portions 110a, 110b, a large inclination portion 110c, a small inclination portion 110d, and a horizontal portion 110e. The large inclination portion 110c and the small inclination portion 110d are formed on both sides of the horizontal portion 110e located in the center, and the contact wall portions 110a, 110b are formed on both sides of the large inclination portion 110c and the small inclination portion 110d. In other words, when the drug container 80 is held (placed) on the container placement base portion 81, the horizontal portion 110e is a portion that assumes a horizontal posture, and the contact wall portions 110a, 110b are portions that assume a vertical posture. The horizontal portion 110e has a large number of small holes (openings), and each small hole penetrates the horizontal portion 110e in the thickness direction (up and down direction).

When the drug container 80 is held on the container mounting base 81, the large inclination portion 110c and the small inclination portion 110d are both inclined toward the horizontal portion 110e. The large inclination portion 110c is longer than the small inclination portion 110d, and the inclination angles of each are equal. In other words, the space between the large inclination portion 110c and the small inclination portion 110d converges toward the horizontal portion 110e.

The shutter structure 112 has a shutter member 112a with a closing wall, and a transmission member (not shown). The transmission member is a member having a length in the direction from the front wall 91 toward the rear wall 92, and in this embodiment, a long and thin metal plate is used. A portion of the transmission member on the front wall 91 side is attached integrally to the shutter member 112a. In other words, when the transmission member moves linearly in its own longitudinal direction, the shutter member 112a moves linearly in the same direction in conjunction with it.

A portion of the transmission member on the rear wall 92 side is exposed to the outside, and engages with a shutter opening/closing mechanism (not shown) of the container mounting base 81 when the drug container 80 is placed on the container mounting base 81. The shutter opening/closing mechanism then moves the transmission member in a straight line, and the shutter member 112a moves in a straight line, switching the drug discharge portion 97 between an open state and a closed state. In other words, the container mounting base 81 has a shutter opening/closing mechanism that automatically opens and closes the drug discharge portion 97 of the drug container 80.

13, the container mounting base 81 has a weight measuring means (first weight measuring means) (not shown) and a container support 130. The weight measuring means is specifically a load cell. The container support 130 has a support base 131 and a vibrating member 132 that serves as a container holder, which are connected by a piezoelectric element (not shown) that serves as a vibration means.
The support base 131 and the vibration member 132 are both members with an "L"-shaped side surface and have a horizontal portion and a vertical wall portion. The horizontal portion of the support base 131 and the horizontal portion of the vibration member 132 are substantially non-contact with each other, and the vibration member 16 vibrates when electricity is applied to the vibration means. The vibration member 132 has a vibration side horizontal portion 132a, which is a horizontal portion, and a vibration side vertical wall portion 132b, which is a vertical wall portion (vertical wall). The vibration side vertical wall portion 132b has engagement portions at the top and bottom. This engagement portion is an engagement portion that is paired with an engagement portion provided on the back wall 92 of the drug container 80. In other words, it is a portion that engages with the engagement portion of the drug container 80.

That is, the container support part 130 has a vibration side vertical wall part 132b, and the drug container 80 is fixed to the vibration side vertical wall part 132b. As a result, most of the drug container 80 is fixed to the container support part 130 in a cantilevered state. At this time, the drug container 80 is firmly joined to the vibration side vertical wall part 132b by engagement parts provided in two places, and the degree of adhesion with the vibration member 16 is also high, so that the drug container 80 vibrates at the same frequency as the vibration member 132. In other words, the vibration side vertical wall part 132b is vibrated by the vibration means, causing the drug container 80 to vibrate in a vertically placed position.

14, inside drug container 80, powdered medicine passage 140 is provided near bottom wall 95. Powdered medicine passage 140 is a portion through which the powdered medicine passes when the powdered medicine is discharged, and is a space located below horizontal portion 110e and including a portion between horizontal portion 110e and bottom wall 95.
When discharging the medicine from the medicine container 80, the medicine container 80 is fixed to the vibration side vertical wall portion 132b, and the medicine discharge portion 97 is opened. Then, the medicine container 80 is vibrated. At this time, when the powdered medicine in the powdered medicine passage 140 in the medicine container 80 decreases due to discharging, the powdered medicine moves from the storage space, which is the space above the horizontal portion 110e, to the powdered medicine passage. Then, the powdered medicine in the powdered medicine passage advances toward the medicine discharge portion 97, passes through the gaps in the coil wire of the rectifying member 111, and is discharged from the medicine discharge portion 97.

According to this embodiment, the flow of the powdered medicine (medicine) can be smoothed by the straightening member 111. In addition, the internal space of the medicine container 80 is divided into upper and lower parts by the partition plate 110, and the partition plate 110 ensures a space through which the powdered medicine passes (powdered medicine passage 140). Therefore, the weight of the powdered medicine on the upper side is supported by the partition plate 110, so that the weight of the powdered medicine on the upper side is not easily applied to the powdered medicine in the powdered medicine passage 140, and the powdered medicine is easily moved by vibration. Furthermore, by vibrating the medicine container 80 during the powdered medicine discharge operation, the powdered medicine in the medicine container 80 is stirred in the storage space, which is the space above the partition plate 110 (horizontal portion 110e). At this time, a part of the stored powdered medicine moves in the upward direction of the large inclination portion 110c, and moves upward above the horizontal portion 110e toward the horizontal portion 110e. As a result, the powdered medicine is less likely to exert a downward pressure on the small hole (slit) of the horizontal section 110e, and the powdered medicine that flows due to stirring falls appropriately from the small hole (slit), allowing the powdered medicine to be discharged smoothly.

In the above embodiment, a partition plate 110 is provided near the bottom of the medicine container 80. In addition to this, or instead, a eaves-shaped temporary receiving plate 210 may be provided in the middle of the height direction of the medicine container as shown in FIG. 15. By providing the temporary receiving plate 210, the weight of the powdered medicine on the upper side can be prevented from being placed on the powdered medicine below. An opening may be provided in the temporary receiving plate 210. With this configuration, the weight of the powdered medicine on the upper layer can be supported by the temporary receiving plate 210, and the powdered medicine on the lower layer is not pressed down. Therefore, the movement of the powdered medicine is less likely to be hindered when the medicine container is vibrated.

The powdered medicine weighing device of the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned automatic powdered medicine distribution device 1, but may be a device having multiple container mounting bases 20 and one weighing member 12. In this case, a weighing container mounting portion for mounting a weighing container 14 is provided near each container mounting base 20. That is, each of the multiple container mounting bases 20 and each of the multiple weighing container mounting portions are in one-to-one correspondence. Then, by placing a medicine container 13 on the container mounting base 20 and discharging powdered medicine, the powdered medicine is discharged to the weighing container 14 placed on the weighing container mounting portion corresponding to that container mounting base 20. At this time, as described above, each container mounting base 20 has a base-side weight measuring means (not shown), and the target amount of powdered medicine can be discharged by measuring the discharge amount. That is, the target amount of powdered medicine is discharged to the weighing container 14.

Then, the weighing container 14 with the target amount of powdered medicine placed therein is transported to the weighing member 12, and the powdered medicine placed in the weighing container 14 is weighed. This allows confirmation of whether the target amount of powdered medicine has been correctly discharged into the weighing container 14. The weighing container 14 may be transported automatically using a driving member (container transport means) not shown, or may be transported manually.
Such an automatic powdered medicine dispensing device makes it possible to dispense powdered medicine at multiple locations, and when dispensing multiple types of medicine or large quantities of medicine, the efficiency of the entire dispensing process can be improved (reduced work time).

In addition, in the powdered medicine weighing device, instead of the above-mentioned medicine container 80, a medicine container 380 shown in FIG. 16 may be used. This medicine container 380 is detachable from the container mounting base 81 in the same way as the above-mentioned medicine container 80. In other words, it can be used together with the above-mentioned container mounting base 81.

The drug container 380 is also surrounded by a front wall 391, a back wall 392, two side walls 393, a top wall 394, and a bottom wall 395. In addition, an openable and closable drug discharge section 397 (powdered drug discharge section, see FIG. 17) is located on the bottom wall 395 near the front wall 391. The drug container 380 also has a shutter structure 412.

The shutter structure 412 has a shutter member 412a with a closing wall and a transmission member (not shown). As in the above embodiment, the transmission member moves linearly, causing the shutter member 412a to move and opening and closing the drug discharge section 397.

As shown in FIG. 16, the drug container 380 of this embodiment differs from the drug container 80 described above in that the lid member 401 constitutes the top wall 394 among the various walls. That is, the drug container 380 has the lid member 401 attached to a box body with an open top, and the lid member 401 can swing by a hinge. By opening the lid member 401, powdered medicine can be filled from above, and by closing the lid member 401, the drug container 380 can be sealed. The drug container 380 of this embodiment can be filled with powdered medicine while still being held on the container mounting base 81.

17, the lid member 401 of this embodiment has a lid main body 402 and a small lid part 403. The small lid part 403 is attached to the lower side of the lid main body 402 (the lower side when in the closed state) and is capable of swinging by a hinge.
Here, the lid member 401 has an in-lid storage section 404 capable of storing a desiccant or the like. In this embodiment, the in-lid storage section 404 is a space in which a humidity control agent is placed. The in-lid storage section 404 can be opened and closed by swinging the small lid section 403. That is, the in-lid storage section 404 is a space formed between the lid main body section 402 and the small lid section 403. In detail, when the lid member 401 is in a closed state and the small lid section 403 is in a closed state, the in-lid storage section 404 is a space located above most of the small lid section 403.

This medicine container 380 has a partition plate portion 410 (partition member) inside. Similar to the horizontal portion 110e described above, the partition plate portion 410 is a flat portion disposed at the boundary between the storage space 439 and the powdered medicine passage 440, and has multiple small holes. These small holes penetrate the partition plate portion 410 in the vertical direction (thickness direction).

The drug container 380 of this embodiment also has a large inclination portion 415 and a small inclination portion 416 adjacent to the partition plate portion 410. In other words, the lower portion of the storage space 439 converges toward the partition plate portion 410.

1; automatic powdered medicine distribution device (powdered medicine weighing device), 2; housing member (case member), 3; lid, 12; weighing member (second weight measuring means), 13, 80, 380; medicine container, 14, 60; weighing container, 20, 81; container mounting base (medicine container installation section), 25; balance table (weighing container mounting section), 33, 97, 397; medicine discharge section (powdered medicine discharge section), 50b; receiving tray section (discharge blocking member), 51; moving mechanism section (blocking member moving mechanism), 61; weighing container lid section (lid section), 62; weighing container main body section (container main body section), 65; opening, 71; small storage section (medicine storage section)

Claims (4)

The drug dispenser has a drug container setting section and a weighing container mounting section, and a drug container is set in the drug container setting section, and powdered medicine is automatically discharged from the drug container to the weighing container mounted on the weighing container mounting section.
The medicine container installation unit is provided with a first weight measuring means capable of measuring the weight of the medicine container, and the weight of the medicine container is monitored to measure the discharge amount of the powdered medicine, and the target amount of the powdered medicine is discharged into the weighing container,
The drug container installation unit includes a plurality of drug container installation units, and the weighing container mounting unit is located near each drug container installation unit, and the drug container installation units and the weighing container mounting units are in one-to-one correspondence with each other;
a second weight measuring means;
A powdered medicine weighing device characterized in that it is possible to confirm whether the target amount of powdered medicine has been correctly discharged into the weighing container by transporting the weighing container containing powdered medicine to the second weight measuring means and weighing the powdered medicine placed in the weighing container. 2. The powdered medicine weighing device according to claim 1, wherein the weighing container is transported to the second weight measuring means manually or automatically. The powdered medicine weighing device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the medicine container is surrounded by a front wall, a back wall, two side walls, a top wall, and a bottom wall, and has an openable medicine discharge section at a position on the bottom wall that is close to the front wall, and the medicine discharge section is opened and closed by a shutter member. The drug container has a partition member therein,
The partition member is a plate-shaped portion that divides the internal space of the medicine container and is disposed at the boundary between the powder medicine passageway through which the powder medicine passes when the powder medicine is discharged and the storage space,
4. The powdered medicine weighing device according to claim 1, wherein the partition member is provided with a plurality of small holes which pass through the partition member in the vertical direction.

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