Drug feeder

Abstract

This drug feeder enables the production of drug calendars using a drug calendar production device, by supplying a wide variety of medications to each compartment of the drug calendar tray according to the prescription, thereby creating drug calendars in which medications are correctly sorted according to the number of doses. [Solution] (a) an alignment tray 16 having a drug storage section 12, a drug passage section 13 communicating with the front of the drug storage section 12 and having a drug dispensing opening 14 formed at its tip, and a dispensing flap 15 held on the front of the drug passage section 13 so as to be able to move up and down; (b) an alignment tray mounting section 19 on which the alignment tray 16 is inserted and removed; (c) a dispensing shutter 20 for opening and closing the drug dispensing opening 14; and (d) a dispensing control unit 21 that raises the dispensing flap 15 in conjunction with the closing of the drug dispensing opening 14 by the dispensing shutter 20 and lowers the dispensing flap 15 in conjunction with the opening of the drug dispensing opening 14 by the dispensing shutter 20.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a medicine feeder used in a feeder-type medicine calendar production apparatus. [Background Art]

[0002] Conventionally, dispensing pharmacies deliver medicines dispensed based on prescription information issued by medical institutions to each patient. At this time, for elderly patients and the like who have difficulty managing medication intake, it is widely practiced to arrange medicines in the form of a "medicine calendar". Various types of such medicine calendars currently exist, and as disclosed in Patent Document 1, a common medicine calendar is one in which medicines are grouped or packaged separately according to 1 to 4 doses per day, and the daily doses are grouped in weekly units and arranged like a calendar. Such a medicine calendar is extremely effective for proper medication management for elderly patients and the like, but there have been problems that the production process is complicated, manual production takes time, places a large burden on pharmacists, and lacks efficiency. In order to solve these problems, Patent Document 2, which was invented, filed and patented by the present applicant, discloses an apparatus and method for producing a medicine calendar, in which loose tablets that are not originally individually packaged are stored in advance in respective predetermined containers without needing to be unpacked from a medicine sheet, the stored loose tablets are sequentially supplied into respective storage sections of a medicine calendar tray, and the medicine calendar tray is sequentially moved in accordance with the supply timing. [Prior Art Documents] [Patent Documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent No. 7049071 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent No. 7493692 [Summary of the Invention] [Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

[0004] The drug calendar manufacturing apparatus and method described in Patent Document 2 have excellent effects and benefits, such as eliminating the need to remove drugs from PTP sheets, thus preventing drug breakage during removal, and preventing aluminum fragments from the PTP sheet from getting mixed into each compartment of the drug calendar tray along with the drugs, thereby streamlining the drug calendar manufacturing process, enabling the continuous production of a large number of drug calendars in a short time, significantly reducing the burden on pharmacists, and lowering the cost of drug calendars. However, it is difficult to reliably supply a wide variety of drugs to each compartment of the drug calendar tray in the correct amount according to the prescription, and there has been a desire to improve the reliability and stability of the drug supply operation.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of these circumstances, and aims to provide a drug feeder that can supply a wide variety of drugs to each storage compartment of a drug calendar tray according to the prescription when a drug calendar is made using a drug calendar making device, thereby enabling the creation of a drug calendar in which drugs are correctly sorted according to the number of doses. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] A drug feeder according to the present invention, which is in line with the aforementioned purpose, is a drug feeder built into a drug calendar making device that can create a drug calendar by storing the medications to be taken by a patient in a drug calendar tray according to the number of doses, (a) A sorting tray having a drug storage section in which the drug is stored in loose tablets that are not individually packaged, a drug passage section communicating with the front of the drug storage section, a drug dispensing opening formed at the tip of the drug passage section, and a dispensing flap held vertically movable on the front of the drug passage section for dispensing the drug as it passes through the drug passage section, (b) an alignment tray mounting section into which the alignment tray is inserted and removed, (c) A dispensing shutter is provided on the front side of the drug dispensing opening of the alignment tray, which is positioned opposite to the drug dispensing opening and opens and closes the drug dispensing opening, (d) The device includes a dispensing control unit that raises the dispensing flap in conjunction with the closing of the drug dispensing opening by the dispensing shutter, and lowers the dispensing flap in conjunction with the opening of the drug dispensing opening by the dispensing shutter, thereby supplying the drug dispensed by the dispensing flap one tablet at a time from the drug dispensing opening to the drug calendar tray.

[0007] In the drug feeder according to the present invention, it is preferable that the dispensing control unit includes a shutter drive unit that slides the dispensing shutter to open and close the drug dispensing opening, and a flap drive unit that moves the dispensing flap up and down in conjunction with the sliding operation of the dispensing shutter by the shutter drive unit.

[0008] In the drug feeder according to the present invention, the flap drive unit may include a flap-side magnet attached to the dispensing flap, a shutter-side first magnet attached to the dispensing shutter which acts a repulsive force on the flap-side magnet to raise the dispensing flap when the dispensing shutter is in a position to close the drug dispensing opening, and a shutter-side second magnet attached to the dispensing shutter which acts an attractive force on the flap-side magnet to lower the dispensing flap when the dispensing shutter is in a position to open the drug dispensing opening.

[0009] In the drug feeder according to the present invention, it is preferable to have a vibration mechanism that vibrates the alignment tray mounted on the alignment tray mounting section to move the drug contained in the drug storage section toward the front end of the drug passage section, a load sensor that detects whether or not the drug is present at the front end of the drug passage section of the alignment tray, and a drug passage sensor that detects the passage of the drug supplied from the drug dispensing opening of the alignment tray to the drug calendar tray.

[0010] In the drug feeder according to the present invention, it is preferable to have a jam prevention mechanism equipped with a rotating bar that is mounted above the connection position between the drug storage section and the drug passage section of the alignment tray, and which rotates inside the alignment tray from the drug passage section side toward the drug storage section side when the drug is not detected by the load sensor within a certain period of time, thereby loosening the drug near the connection position.

[0011] In the drug feeder according to the present invention, the alignment tray mounting section can accommodate alignment trays with different shapes in the drug storage section and / or drug passage section, depending on the size and / or shape of the drug stored in the drug storage section, and it is preferable that each of the multiple alignment trays that can be mounted on the alignment tray mounting section has a different identification mark.

[0012] In the drug feeder according to the present invention, it is preferable that the alignment tray is capable of identifying the drugs that can be stored in the drug storage section by the identification marks.

[0013] In the drug feeder according to the present invention, it is preferable that the information of the drugs stored in the drug storage section of the alignment tray is linked to the identification mark of the alignment tray and registered in the drug calendar making device. [Effects of the Invention]

[0014] The drug feeder according to the present invention can reliably dispense tablets one by one from loose tablets stored in the alignment tray and supply them to the drug calendar tray by having a dispensing flap provided on the alignment tray and a dispensing shutter that opens and closes the drug dispensing opening of the alignment tray work in conjunction. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0015] [Figure 1] This is a perspective view of a drug feeder according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] This is a rear view of the drug feeder. [Figure 3]It is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A in FIG. 2. [Figure 4] It is a front view showing a state where the cutting shutter of the medicine feeder closes the medicine cutting opening of the alignment tray. [Figure 5] It is a front view showing a state where the cutting shutter of the medicine feeder opens the medicine cutting opening of the alignment tray. [Figure 6] It is a cross-sectional view taken along line B-B in FIG. 2. [Figure 7] It is a perspective view showing a medicine calendar preparation apparatus incorporating the medicine feeder. MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

[0016] Next, embodiments embodying the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings to facilitate understanding of the present invention. The medicine feeder 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention shown in FIGS. 1 to 6 is used by being incorporated in a feeder-type medicine calendar preparation apparatus 50 shown in FIG. 7. The feeder-type medicine calendar preparation apparatus 50 prepares a medicine calendar by storing medicines to be taken by a patient in a medicine calendar tray for each dosage.

[0017] As shown in FIGS. 1, 3 and 6, the medicine feeder 10 includes: a medicine storage portion 12 in which medicines 11 are stored in the form of loose tablets that are not individually packaged; a medicine passage portion 13 communicating with the distal side of the medicine storage portion 12; a medicine cutting opening 14 formed at the distal end of the medicine passage portion 13; and an alignment tray 16 having a cutting flap 15 that is held movably up and down on the distal side of the medicine passage portion 13 and cuts the medicines 11 passing through the medicine passage portion 13. The medicine storage portion 12 has a substantially triangular shape in plan view, and is formed so as to taper from the proximal side toward the medicine passage portion 13 on the distal side. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, a cover 18 that covers the medicine storage portion 12, the medicine passage portion 13 and the medicine cutting opening 14 is detachably (openably / closably) attached to the alignment tray 16.

[0018] As shown in Figures 1 to 5, the drug feeder 10 has an alignment tray mounting section 19 into which the alignment tray 16 with the cover 18 attached can be inserted and removed. Since the alignment tray 16 can be carried with the cover 18 attached and then mounted directly into the alignment tray mounting section 19, it is possible to prevent the drugs 11 contained in the alignment tray 16 (drug storage section 12) from falling out of the drug storage section 12 or the drug dispensing opening 14 during transport.

[0019] As shown in Figures 3 to 6, the drug feeder 10 has a dispensing shutter 20 positioned opposite the drug dispensing opening 14 of the alignment tray 16 and opening and closing the drug dispensing opening 14. When the alignment tray 16 is mounted on the alignment tray mounting section 19, the cover 18 lifts up as shown in Figures 2 to 5, but in the initial state, as shown in Figure 4, the drug dispensing opening 14 is closed by the dispensing shutter 20, so the drug 11 does not fall out.

[0020] As shown in Figures 3 to 6, the drug feeder 10 has a dispensing control unit 21 that raises the dispensing flap 15 in conjunction with the closing of the drug dispensing opening 14 by the dispensing shutter 20, and lowers the dispensing flap 15 in conjunction with the opening of the drug dispensing opening 14 by the dispensing shutter 20, supplying the drug 11 dispensed by the dispensing flap 15 one tablet at a time from the drug dispensing opening 14 to the drug calendar tray.

[0021] As shown in Figures 5 and 6, the dispensing control unit 21 preferably includes a shutter drive unit 22 that slides the dispensing shutter 20 to open and close the drug dispensing opening 14, and a flap drive unit 23 that moves the dispensing flap 15 up and down in conjunction with the sliding operation of the dispensing shutter 20 by the shutter drive unit 22. However, the configuration of the dispensing control unit 21 is not limited to this.

[0022] In this embodiment, as shown in Figures 4 and 5, a dispensing shutter 20, which has an opening 20b of approximately the same size as the drug dispensing opening 14 on one longitudinal side of a horizontally elongated rectangular shutter plate 20a, is slid laterally (horizontally) by a shutter drive unit 22 to open and close the drug dispensing opening 14. Note that the structure of the dispensing shutter is not limited to this embodiment and can be selected as appropriate.

[0023] A solenoid is preferably used as the shutter drive unit 22, but it is not limited to this, and any device that can slide the dispensing shutter 20 to open and close the drug dispensing opening 14 can be appropriately selected. The flap drive unit 23 includes a flap-side magnet 25 (see Figures 3, 5, and 6) attached to the dispensing flap 15, a shutter-side first magnet (not shown) attached to the dispensing shutter 20 which acts a repulsive force on the flap-side magnet 25 to raise the dispensing flap 15 when the dispensing shutter 20 is in a position to close the drug dispensing opening 14, and a shutter-side second magnet (not shown) attached to the dispensing shutter 20 which acts an attractive force on the flap-side magnet 25 to lower the dispensing flap 15 when the dispensing shutter 20 is in a position to open the drug dispensing opening 14.

[0024] If the flap-side magnet 25 is mounted with its north pole facing downwards, the shutter-side first magnet is mounted with its north pole facing upwards, and the shutter-side second magnet is mounted with its south pole facing upwards. Conversely, if the flap-side magnet 25 is mounted with its south pole facing downwards, the shutter-side first magnet is mounted with its south pole facing upwards, and the shutter-side second magnet is mounted with its north pole facing upwards.

[0025] Therefore, as shown in Figure 4, when the dispensing shutter 20 is in a position that closes the drug dispensing opening 14, the drug 11 can be moved to the tip of the drug passage 13 (immediately before the drug dispensing opening 14) without being obstructed by the dispensing flap 15, and prepared for the supply of the drug 11. Then, as shown in Figure 5, when the dispensing shutter 20 is in a position that opens the drug dispensing opening 14, only the first drug 11 in the drug passage 13 is dispensed by the dispensing flap 15, blocking the second and subsequent drugs 11, so that only one tablet of drug 11 can be supplied from the drug dispensing opening 14.

[0026] The dispensing control unit 21, in accordance with the information written on the prescription, repeatedly performs the sliding (opening and closing) operation of the dispensing shutter 20 by the shutter drive unit 22 and the up-and-down movement of the dispensing flap 15 by the flap drive unit 23 a predetermined number of times, thereby supplying the medication 11 to the medication calendar tray according to the number of doses for each administration.

[0027] As shown in Figure 3, the drug feeder 10 includes a vibration mechanism 29 that vibrates the alignment tray 16 mounted on the alignment tray mounting section 19 to move the drugs 11 contained in the drug storage section 12 toward the front end of the drug passage section 13, a load sensor 30 that detects whether or not drugs 11 are present at the front end of the drug passage section 13 of the alignment tray 16, and a drug passage sensor 31 that detects the passage of drugs 11 supplied from the drug dispensing opening 14 of the alignment tray 16 to the drug calendar tray.

[0028] If the load sensor 30 cannot detect the presence of drug 11 at the tip of the drug passage section 13, the vibration mechanism 29 vibrates the alignment tray 16 to move the drug 11 to the tip of the drug passage section 13, preparing it for dispensing. Also, if the drug passage sensor 31 cannot detect the passage of drug 11, the dispensing control unit 21 dispenses the drug 11. By repeatedly operating the vibration mechanism 29 and the dispensing control unit 21 until the load sensor 30 detects the presence of drug 11 and the drug passage sensor 31 detects the passage of drug 11, the required number of drugs 11 can be reliably supplied to the drug calendar tray.

[0029] As shown in Figure 3, the excitation mechanism 29 preferably has a vibrating plate 32 that contacts the lower surface of the alignment tray 16 and a vibrating motor 33 that vibrates the vibrating plate 32 in the vertical direction, but the structure of the excitation mechanism 29 is not limited to this. Furthermore, the intensity of the vibration and the vibration pattern (number of vibrations and intervals, etc.) produced by the excitation mechanism 29 are appropriately selected according to the type (size and shape) of the chemicals 11 contained in the alignment tray 16.

[0030] As shown in Figures 3 and 6, the drug feeder 10 is mounted above the connection point between the drug storage section 12 and the drug passage section 13 of the alignment tray 16. It has a jam prevention mechanism 36 equipped with a rotating bar 35 that rotates inside the alignment tray 16 from the drug passage section 13 side towards the drug storage section 12 side when the drug sensor 30 does not detect the drug 11 within a certain period of time, loosening the drug 11 near the connection point. If a blockage of drug 11 occurs between the drug storage section 12 and the drug passage section 13, the vibration mechanism 29 will not be able to move the drug 11 to the front of the drug passage section 13, and therefore the drug 11 will not be detected by the load sensor 30.

[0031] Therefore, if the drug 11 is not detected by the load sensor 30 within a certain period of time, the jam prevention mechanism 36 rotates a rotating bar 35, which is mounted above the connection point between the drug storage section 12 and the drug passage section 13, inside the alignment tray 16 from the drug passage section 13 side toward the drug storage section 12 side, thereby loosening the drug 11 near the connection point (moving it from the drug passage section 13 side toward the drug storage section 12 side) and resolving the jam of the drug 11. As shown in Figures 3 and 6, the anti-clogging mechanism 36 is equipped with a drive motor 37 that rotates the rotating bar 35, and its rotation speed is selected as appropriate. The shape and mounting position of the rotating bar 35 are also selected as appropriate.

[0032] The alignment tray mounting section 19 can accommodate alignment trays 16 with different shapes of the drug storage section 12 and / or drug passage section 13, depending on the size and / or shape of the drug 11 stored in the drug storage section 12. This allows for the selection and use of the alignment tray 16 with the optimal shape of the drug storage section 12 and / or drug passage section 13 according to the size and / or shape of the drug 11, enabling smooth supply of the drug 11 regardless of its size and / or shape.

[0033] Since multiple types of alignment trays 16 with different shapes of drug storage section 12 and / or drug passage section 13 can be mounted on a single alignment tray mounting section 19, there is no need to prepare a separate alignment tray mounting section 19 for each type of alignment tray 16, resulting in excellent versatility. At this time, each of the multiple alignment trays 16 that can be mounted on the alignment tray mounting section 19 has a different identification mark (not shown), so it is possible to confirm which alignment tray 16 is mounted on the alignment tray mounting section 19.

[0034] Preferably, the alignment tray 16 is capable of identifying the drugs 11 that can be stored in the drug storage section 12 using identification marks. By reading the identification marks on the alignment tray 16 in advance and confirming the drugs 11 that can be stored in the drug storage section 12, it is possible to prevent drugs 11 that are not suitable in size and / or shape from being mistakenly stored.

[0035] Furthermore, by configuring the system so that information on the medications 11 stored in the medication storage section 12 of the alignment tray 16 is linked to the identification marks on the alignment tray 16 and registered in the medication calendar making device, the medication calendar making device can determine which medications 11 are stored in each of the alignment trays 16 mounted on the multiple alignment tray mounting sections 19, and can supply the necessary medications 11 in the required quantities to the medication calendar trays according to the prescription to create a medication calendar.

[0036] Barcodes are preferably used as identification marks, but are not limited to them; QR codes (registered trademarks) or other two-dimensional codes may also be used. Furthermore, while it is preferable to place the identification marks on the side of the sorting tray 16, they are not limited to this, and can be placed on the bottom of the sorting tray 16 or at any other desired location. The identification marks may be printed directly onto the sorting tray 16, or they may be printed on paper or the like and affixed to the sorting tray 16.

[0037] Next, we will describe the feeder-type medication calendar manufacturing device 50 shown in Figure 7. The drug feeder 10 is housed in a drug feeder housing 51 located at the top of the feeder-type drug calendar making device 50. The feeder-type drug calendar making device 50 has two drug feeder housings 51, one above the other, and each drug feeder housing 51 houses six drug feeders 10. Therefore, this feeder-type medication calendar making device 50 can handle up to 12 types of medications 11. The number and arrangement of medication feeders built into the feeder-type medication calendar making device can be selected as appropriate.

[0038] The feeder-type medication calendar making device 50 is equipped with a reader (for example, a barcode reader) that reads the identification marks on the sorting trays 16. By reading the identification marks on the sorting trays 16 with the reader, it is possible to confirm whether or not a drug 11 can be stored in that sorting tray 16, and to store the appropriate drug 11. Then, by linking the identification marks of each sorting tray 16 with the information of the drug 11 stored in each sorting tray 16 and registering (storing) this information in the feeder-type medication calendar making device 50, it is possible to keep track of (manage) the drug 11 stored in each sorting tray 16.

[0039] Therefore, various medications 11 can be pre-packaged in multiple alignment trays 16 in preparation for creating a medication calendar, thereby improving work efficiency. Furthermore, when attaching the alignment tray 16 to the alignment tray mounting section 19 of the drug feeder 10, the reading device can identify (confirm) the drug 11 contained in the alignment tray 16 simply by reading the identification mark on the alignment tray 16, and the predetermined drug 11 can be accurately supplied from each drug feeder 10.

[0040] Inside the feeder-type medication calendar making device 50 (below the medication feeder housing section 51), there is a supply path (not shown) through which the medication 11 dispensed from each medication feeder 10 passes (falls). Below the supply path (outlet), a medication calendar tray (not shown) is set.

[0041] Furthermore, the feeder-type medication calendar manufacturing device 50 is equipped with a tray moving mechanism (not shown) that moves the medication calendar tray forward and backward (vertically) and left and right (horizontally) in a horizontal plane using an XY table or the like. The tray moving mechanism can move the medication calendar tray forward and backward (vertically) and left and right (horizontally) by a predetermined distance in accordance with the timing of the supply of medication 11 from the medication feeder 10. Therefore, the medications 11 dispensed from each medication feeder 10 pass through the supply path and are sequentially supplied to and stored in each compartment of the medication calendar tray, which moves back and forth (vertically) and left and right (horizontally).

[0042] As shown in Figure 7, the lower part of the feeder-type medication calendar manufacturing device 50 houses empty medication calendar trays, and a supply-side tray changer 52 is located in the tray moving mechanism section to sequentially supply new (empty) medication calendar trays. A recovery-side tray changer 53 is also located there to temporarily store used empty medication calendar trays collected from patients or unused (newly manufactured) empty medication calendar trays, and to add (supply) empty medication calendar trays to the supply-side tray changer 52 as needed. The configuration of the feeder-type medication calendar making device 50 described above is just one example, and the configuration of the feeder-type medication calendar making device, which incorporates a drug feeder 10, can be selected as appropriate.

[0043] Although embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited in any way to the configurations described in the embodiments described above, and includes other embodiments and modifications that can be considered within the scope of the matters described in the claims. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0044] 10: Drug feeder, 11: Drug, 12: Drug storage section, 13: Drug passage section, 14: Drug dispensing opening, 15: Dispensing flap, 16: Alignment tray, 18: Cover, 19: Alignment tray mounting section, 20: Dispensing shutter, 20a: Shutter plate, 20b: Opening, 21: Dispensing control unit, 22: Shutter drive unit, 23: Flap drive unit, 25: Flap-side magnet, 29: Vibration mechanism, 30: Load sensor, 31: Drug passage sensor, 32: Vibration plate, 33: Vibration motor, 35: Rotating bar, 36: Jam prevention mechanism, 37: Drive motor, 50: Feeder-type drug calendar making device, 51: Drug feeder storage section, 52: Supply-side tray changer, 53: Collection-side tray changer

Claims

1. A drug feeder built into a drug calendar making device that can create a drug calendar by placing the medications to be taken by a patient into a drug calendar tray according to the number of doses, (a) A sorting tray having a drug storage section in which the drug is stored in loose tablets that are not individually packaged, a drug passage section communicating with the front of the drug storage section, a drug dispensing opening formed at the tip of the drug passage section, and a dispensing flap held on the front of the drug passage section so as to be vertically movable for dispensing the drug as it passes through the drug passage section, (b) an alignment tray mounting section into which the alignment tray is inserted and removed, (c) A dispensing shutter is provided on the front side of the drug dispensing opening of the alignment tray, which is positioned opposite to the drug dispensing opening and opens and closes the drug dispensing opening, (d) A drug feeder comprising a dispensing control unit that raises the dispensing flap in conjunction with the closing of the drug dispensing opening by the dispensing shutter, and lowers the dispensing flap in conjunction with the opening of the drug dispensing opening by the dispensing shutter, thereby supplying the drug dispensed by the dispensing flap one tablet at a time from the drug dispensing opening to the drug calendar tray.

2. The drug feeder according to claim 1, characterized in that the dispensing control unit includes a shutter drive unit that slides the dispensing shutter to open and close the drug dispensing opening, and a flap drive unit that moves the dispensing flap up and down in conjunction with the sliding operation of the dispensing shutter by the shutter drive unit.

3. The drug feeder according to claim 2, characterized in that the flap drive unit comprises a flap-side magnet attached to the dispensing flap, a shutter-side first magnet attached to the dispensing shutter which acts a repulsive force on the flap-side magnet to raise the dispensing flap when the dispensing shutter is in a position to close the drug dispensing opening, and a shutter-side second magnet attached to the dispensing shutter which acts an attractive force on the flap-side magnet to lower the dispensing flap when the dispensing shutter is in a position to open the drug dispensing opening.

4. The drug feeder according to claim 1, further comprising: a vibration mechanism that vibrates the alignment tray mounted on the alignment tray mounting section to move the drug contained in the drug storage section toward the front end of the drug passage section; a load sensor that detects whether or not the drug is present at the front end of the drug passage section of the alignment tray; and a drug passage sensor that detects the passage of the drug supplied from the drug dispensing opening of the alignment tray to the drug calendar tray.

5. The drug feeder according to claim 4, characterized in that it has a clogging prevention mechanism equipped with a rotating bar that is mounted above the connection position between the drug storage section and the drug passage section of the alignment tray, and which rotates inside the alignment tray from the drug passage section side toward the drug storage section side when the drug is not detected by the load sensor within a certain period of time, thereby loosening the drug near the connection position.

6. The drug feeder according to claim 1, wherein the alignment tray mounting section can accommodate alignment trays of different shapes in the drug storage section and / or drug passage section, depending on the size and / or shape of the drug stored in the drug storage section, and each of the multiple alignment trays that can be mounted on the alignment tray mounting section has a different identification mark.

7. The drug feeder according to claim 6, characterized in that the alignment tray can identify the drugs that can be stored in the drug storage section by the identification marks.

8. The drug feeder according to claim 6, characterized in that the information of the drugs stored in the drug storage section of the alignment tray is linked to the identification mark of the alignment tray and registered in the drug calendar making device.

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