A full-automatic multi-station traditional Chinese medicine particle dispensing system and a dispensing method

Abstract

The application discloses a kind of full-automatic multi-station traditional Chinese medicine granule dispensing system, the system includes dispensing platform, medicine device, medicine cabinet, mechanical arm, supply box device, load box carousel, sealing device, supply box device, weighing device and dose visual monitoring device.Wherein, dispensing system and medicine cabinet are regular polygon layout, medicine cabinet is set around dispensing system;Mechanical arm can automatically grab medicine bottle from medicine cabinet and place on dispensing station of dispensing system, or, grab medicine bottle from dispensing station and return to medicine cabinet;Supply box device can separate and convey stacked medicine box to load box carousel, and load box carousel sequentially conveys medicine box to dispensing station.In addition, the application also discloses a kind of full-automatic multi-station traditional Chinese medicine granule dispensing method, and the dispensing method is applied to traditional Chinese medicine granule dispensing system.Wherein, the dispensing method includes continuously uninterrupted medicine and medicine box synchronous placement according to prescription requirements, immediately start medicine dispensing operation after each medicine is placed in dispensing station, and multiple prescription medicine dispensing is processed in parallel in water flow mode.The application realizes the rapid automation of traditional Chinese medicine granule medicine and the parallel dispensing of multiple prescriptions in water flow mode by the integration of medicine cabinet and dispensing system regular polygon layout and continuous uninterrupted medicine, medicine box placement and medicine dispensing, significantly reduces the complex repetitive mechanical and manual operation, and improves the dispensing efficiency of medicine.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of automated material dispensing and supply technology, and in particular to a fully automated multi-station traditional Chinese medicine granule dispensing system and dispensing method. Background Technology

[0002] With the rapid development of society and modern TCM science, traditional decoction of Chinese medicine can no longer meet and adapt to people's increasingly fast-paced life. More and more medical staff and patients are choosing to use Chinese medicine granules, also known as ready-to-drink Chinese medicine, as a way of taking Chinese medicine. Each granulated Chinese medicine is prepared and combined according to the prescription requirements to form a Chinese medicine decoction that patients can directly take.

[0003] To improve the efficiency of dispensing traditional Chinese medicine granules, major hospitals and pharmacies typically use dispensing machines to automatically dispense granules according to prescriptions. During the dispensing process, each pre-granulated traditional Chinese medicine is usually pre-stored in standardized containers such as medicine bottles, which are placed on a medicine cabinet. The bottle openings are equipped with adjustable on / off measuring devices to control the dispensing dosage. When dispensing, the medicine bottles containing the specified medicines are first removed from the medicine cabinet according to the prescription and placed on the dispensing station of the dispensing machine. After the bottles are placed, the dispensing machine reads the position information of each bottle station and begins the dispensing operation. During the dispensing process, a medicine box containing the medicine is placed below each dispensing station. All medicine boxes are fixedly placed on a medicine box tray. The medicine box tray can be rotated or moved linearly to place the medicine boxes under different dispensing stations to receive different medicines. During actual dispensing, the dispensing machine calculates the required volume of Chinese herbal granules for each herb based on the ratio of its prescribed weight to its theoretical density. Using this volume as the theoretical dispensing value, the machine controls the opening and closing of the measuring device to release the stored herbs from the medicine bottle into the medicine box according to the prescribed amount. After each medicine box is fully filled with the prescribed herbs, the medicine box tray transports the box to the sealing station for sealing, completing the dispensing of the prescribed Chinese herbal granules.

[0004] Existing Chinese herbal granule dispensing machines require pharmacy staff to remove the previously prescribed medication from the dispensing station and return it to the medicine cabinet before each dispensing. Then, based on the current prescription, the corresponding medicine bottle is retrieved from the cabinet and placed on the dispensing station of the machine in a specific order or other pre-set method, thus processing each prescription sequentially. Each time a medicine bottle is placed or removed, it is weighed on a weighing platform to monitor the actual weight of each medicine. This allows for timely correction of the theoretical density value of the medicine based on the error between the actual and theoretical dosage, improving the accuracy of the dispensing.

[0005] However, existing conventional Chinese medicine granule dispensing machines require processing each prescription sequentially, and involve a lot of repetitive and manual operations, resulting in low dispensing efficiency and difficulty in meeting the growing drug dispensing needs of hospitals and pharmacies.

[0006] Therefore, it is desirable to provide an automatic, efficient, fully automated multi-station Chinese medicine granule dispensing system and method. Summary of the Invention

[0007] Existing Chinese herbal granule dispensing machines suffer from low efficiency and cumbersome operation, failing to meet the dispensing needs of hospitals and large pharmacies. To address these problems, this invention proposes a fully automated multi-station Chinese herbal granule dispensing system. The system includes a dispensing platform, a dispensing device, a medicine cabinet, a robotic arm, a box-feeding device, a box-carrying turntable, a sealing device, a box-dispensing device, a weighing device, and a dosage visual monitoring device.

[0008] The dispensing platform has a regular hexagonal layout and serves as the working platform for the dispensing system.

[0009] The dispensing devices are arranged in a ring around the center of the dispensing platform. They are used to drive the measuring device on the medicine bottle to release the medicine in the medicine bottle into the medicine box according to the prescription requirements. Each dispensing device corresponds to a dispensing station.

[0010] Furthermore, the dispensing device includes a drive mechanism for driving the medicine bottle metering device, the drive mechanism being horizontally positioned on the side of the dispensing station.

[0011] The medicine cabinet is located on the five sides of the dispensing platform, and has an array of medicine bottle slots for placing medicine bottles. The side of the dispensing platform without the medicine cabinet is used for manual monitoring and operation.

[0012] The robotic arm is positioned at the center of the dispensing platform and is used to grasp and place medicine bottles.

[0013] The box feeding device is located below the dispensing platform and is used to separate a single medicine box from a stack of multiple stacked medicine boxes and transfer it to the box carrier turntable.

[0014] The medicine box carrier turntable is located below the dispensing platform and has slots corresponding to the dispensing device for placing and fixing medicine boxes. The medicine box carrier turntable can be rotated to transport the medicine boxes placed on it to each dispensing station.

[0015] The sealing device is located below the dispensing platform and is used to seal the medicine boxes after dispensing. The medicine box carrier turntable conveys the medicine boxes after dispensing to the sealing device.

[0016] The dispensing device is located below the dispensing platform and is used in conjunction with the sealing device to transport the sealed medicine box to the dispensing area.

[0017] The weighing device is positioned at an appropriate location on the dispensing platform to accurately weigh and measure the medicine in the medicine bottle; preferably, the weighing device is positioned on the side of the dispensing platform where the medicine cabinet is not located.

[0018] The dose visual monitoring device is installed on the dispensing platform and is used to perform real-time dynamic measurement monitoring of the medicines placed at the dispensing station.

[0019] Furthermore, the dispensing platform can be laid out as any regular polygon, and one side of the dispensing platform is used for manual monitoring and operation, without a medicine cabinet.

[0020] Furthermore, the present invention also proposes a fully automated multi-station traditional Chinese medicine granule dispensing method, the method comprising: a robotic arm automatically picking up a medicine bottle containing the required traditional Chinese medicine granules from a medicine cabinet according to a first prescription and placing it at a dispensing station; a box dispensing device separating the required medicine box from a stack of medicine boxes according to the first prescription and placing it on a box carrier turntable; the box carrier turntable sequentially conveying the medicine box to each dispensing station where the required medicine is placed; and a dispensing device driving a measuring device on the medicine bottle to release the required dose of medicine into the medicine box at the dispensing station according to the first prescription.

[0021] Furthermore, the dispensing method further includes, after all the medicines specified in the first prescription have been placed, a robotic arm automatically grasps the medicine bottle containing the required medicine according to the second prescription and places it in an empty dispensing station; the box dispensing device separates the required medicine box from the stacked medicine box stack according to the second prescription and places it on the box carrier turntable; the box carrier turntable sequentially conveys the medicine box to each dispensing station where the required medicines are placed; and the dispensing device drives the meter mounted on the medicine bottle to release the required dose of medicine into the medicine box in the dispensing station according to the second prescription. Preferably, the second prescription includes some or all of the medicines already placed in the dispensing station.

[0022] Furthermore, the dispensing method also includes, after the medication required for the currently dispensing prescription has been placed, checking whether there are any dispensing stations without medication. If there are any dispensing stations without medication, the required medication is retrieved and placed according to the next prescription; if all dispensing stations have medication, the medication that has been dispensed is replaced with the medication required for the next prescription. Preferably, the next prescription includes some or all of the medications already placed in the dispensing stations. Preferably, replacing the medication that has been dispensed with the medication required for the next prescription also includes prioritizing the replacement of uncommon medications.

[0023] Furthermore, the dispensing method also includes the carrier turntable conveying the dispensed medicine box to the sealing station for sealing.

[0024] Furthermore, the dispensing method also includes automatically monitoring the remaining drug dosage in the medicine bottle when it is placed or removed from the dispensing station; preferably, the automatic monitoring of the remaining drug dosage in the medicine bottle includes using optical imagery to obtain the actual remaining quantity of the medicine in the medicine bottle, and monitoring and correcting the dispensing measurement control parameters based on the error between the actual remaining quantity and the theoretical remaining quantity of the medicine.

[0025] The fully automated multi-station Chinese medicine granule dispensing system and method provided by this invention achieves rapid automated grasping of Chinese medicine granules and parallel, streamlined dispensing of multiple prescriptions through an integrated regular polygonal layout of the medicine cabinet and dispensing platform. This reduces cumbersome repetitive mechanical and manual operations and significantly improves dispensing efficiency. Attached Figure Description

[0026] Figure 1a A schematic diagram of a fully automated multi-station traditional Chinese medicine granule dispensing system provided in one embodiment of the present invention;

[0027] Figure 1b A schematic diagram of a fully automated multi-station traditional Chinese medicine granule dispensing system provided in one embodiment of the present invention;

[0028] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of a drug dispensing device provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0029] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of a robotic arm provided in one embodiment of the present invention;

[0030] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of a feeding device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0031] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of a carrier turntable provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0032] Figure 6 A flowchart illustrating a method for dispensing traditional Chinese medicine granules according to another embodiment of the present invention;

[0033] Figure 7 A flowchart illustrating a method for dispensing traditional Chinese medicine granules is provided in another embodiment of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0034] To enable those skilled in the art to better understand the technical solutions of this invention, the technical solutions of this invention are clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the following specific embodiments are only some embodiments of this invention. Other embodiments or combinations thereof obtained by those skilled in the art based on their understanding of the following specific embodiments without creative effort are all within the scope of the technical concept and protection of this invention.

[0035] refer to Figure 1a , 1b An embodiment of the present invention provides a fully automated multi-station traditional Chinese medicine granule dispensing system 1. The dispensing system 1 includes: a dispensing platform 100, a medicine cabinet 110, a dispensing device 120, a robotic arm 130, a box-feeding device 140, a box-carrying turntable 150, a sealing device 160, and a box-dispensing device 170.

[0036] The dispensing platform 100 serves as the working platform of the dispensing system 1, and all dispensing operations for traditional Chinese medicine granules are completed on the dispensing platform 100. In some embodiments, the dispensing platform 100 has a hexagonal layout, including a regular hexagonal operation panel 101. The operation panel 101 can prevent drug residues from entering and contaminating the interior of the dispensing platform 100, and also facilitates the arrangement and indication of each workstation, improving the visual appearance of the dispensing system 1. To better illustrate the technical solution of the present invention, this embodiment uses the dispensing platform 100 including the operation panel 101 as an example, but the present invention is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the dispensing platform 100 may not have an operation panel. The operation panel 101 is provided with dispensing workstations 102, which are arranged in a ring around the center of the operation panel 101. Based on the number and types of ingredients in a typical traditional Chinese medicine prescription, and to achieve parallel dispensing of three or more prescriptions and improve dispensing efficiency, the number of dispensing stations 102 can be reasonably determined according to actual business needs and the size of the pharmacy space. Preferably, in this embodiment, the number of dispensing stations 102 is 10 or more, but this invention is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the dispensing platform 100 can be arranged in other regular polygonal layouts according to actual needs.

[0037] The medicine cabinet 110 and the dispensing platform 100 have the same regular polygonal layout; in this embodiment, a regular hexagon is used as an example. The medicine cabinet 110 is arranged around the dispensing platform 100; specifically, the medicine cabinet 110 is located along each edge of the operation panel 101. The medicine cabinet 110 is provided with an array of medicine bottle slots 111 for placing medicine bottles 112. Each medicine bottle 112 has a measuring device 113 at its opening, which can precisely control its opening and closing to quantitatively release the medicine contained therein. Preferably, the medicine bottle 112 is also labeled with the medicine it contains, such as a tag or RFID tag. In some embodiments, a sleeve is provided inside the medicine bottle slot 111 for limiting and fixing the medicine bottle 112. Preferably, the medicine cabinet 110 is not located along one edge of the operation panel 101 to facilitate manual monitoring and operation when necessary. In other embodiments, depending on actual application needs or objective limitations, the medicine cabinet 110 may be selectively located along part or all of the edges of the operation panel 101. In embodiments of the present invention, the medicine cabinet 110 adopts a regular polygonal layout, which allows for the storage of more medicine bottles within a limited dispensing system space. Furthermore, compared to existing circular medicine cabinet layouts, the regular polygonal layout is more conducive to the positioning and retrieval of medicine bottles, thereby significantly improving the efficiency and accuracy of medicine dispensing.

[0038] Combination Figure 2 The dispensing device 120 includes a drive mechanism 121, a transmission mechanism 122, a control mechanism 123, and a medicine bottle inlet 124. The drive mechanism 121 is connected to the control mechanism 123 via the transmission mechanism 122. The control mechanism 123 is located in the medicine bottle inlet 124, with each inlet 124 corresponding to a dispensing station 102. The metering device 113 is inserted into the medicine bottle inlet 124, and the drive mechanism 121 drives the control mechanism 123 to control the opening and closing of the metering device 113, quantitatively dispensing the medicine in the medicine bottle 112 according to volume. In this embodiment of the invention, the horizontal arrangement of the dispensing device 120 allows for a tight, horizontally ring-shaped arrangement within a limited space, enabling the placement of a larger number of dispensing devices and dispensing stations, achieving parallel processing of multiple prescriptions, and significantly improving the efficiency of medicine dispensing.

[0039] Combination Figure 3The robotic arm 130 is located at the center of the operation panel 101 and includes a motion mechanism 131 and a gripping mechanism 132. The motion mechanism 131 drives the gripping mechanism 132 to move to a designated position to grasp or place the target medicine bottle 112. Specifically, a three-dimensional coordinate system is constructed with the center of the operation panel 101 as the origin, and this three-dimensional coordinate system is used as the reference coordinate system for the entire dispensing system 1 to obtain the position coordinates of each medicine bottle slot 111 on the medicine cabinet 110 and the dispensing station 102. According to system instructions, the robotic arm 130 grasps the target medicine bottle 112 from the designated medicine bottle slot 111 and places it in the designated dispensing station 102, or grasps the target medicine bottle 112 from the designated dispensing station 102 and places it back in the designated medicine bottle slot 111. Since both the operation panel 101 and the medicine cabinet 110 adopt a regular polygonal layout, it has the following advantages compared to a circular layout:

[0040] 1. A regular polygonal layout saves more space than a circular layout, and is also easier and cheaper to design and manufacture.

[0041] 2. The medicine cabinet with a regular polygonal layout has all sides that are regular quadrilateral planes, which allows for a larger number of medicine bottles to be arranged in a close array, and makes it easier for robotic arms or other similar automated equipment to grab the target medicine bottles.

[0042] 3. Coordinate positioning of regular polygon layout is simpler, and the coordinates of the target position can be obtained more quickly and accurately.

[0043] Combination Figure 4 , Figure 5 The box feeding device 140 is located below the operation panel 101. The operation panel 101 has a box feeding station 103, and the box feeding device 140 corresponds to the box feeding station. Specifically, the box feeding device 140 includes a drive mechanism 141, a transmission mechanism 142, and a dividing mechanism 143. A stack of stacked medicine boxes 144 is inserted into the box feeding device 140 through the box feeding station 103. The drive mechanism 141 drives the dividing mechanism 143 to rotate through the transmission mechanism 142, separating individual medicine boxes from the stack of stacked medicine boxes 144 and conveying them to the box carrier turntable 150.

[0044] The box carrier turntable 150 is positioned below the box supply device 140. The turntable has a box slot 151 for placing and securing medicine boxes, the position of which corresponds to the positions of the dispensing station 102 and the box supply station 103. When the turntable 150 rotates an empty box slot 151 below the box supply station 103, the box supply device 140 separates a single medicine box from the medicine box stack 144 and transfers the separated medicine box to the empty box slot 151 below it. When the turntable rotates a box slot 151 containing a medicine box to the target dispensing station 102, the dispensing device 120 controls the opening and closing of the metering device on the medicine bottle placed at that dispensing station, releasing a specified dose of medicine into the medicine box according to the prescription requirements, thus completing the dispensing of the medicine.

[0045] The sealing device 160 and the dispensing device 170 are located below the operation panel 101. They are used to seal the medicine boxes conveyed by the box carrier turntable 150, and are linked with the dispensing device 170 so that the dispensing device 170 conveys the sealed medicine boxes to the medicine box collection point of the dispensing system 1.

[0046] In some embodiments, the dispensing system 1 further includes a weighing device 180, and the operation panel 101 is further provided with a weighing station 104, with the weighing device 180 corresponding to the weighing station 104. The weighing device includes a weight sensing unit, which can weigh the medicine bottle or medicine box placed at the weighing station 104 to detect the actual dosage of the medicine contained therein.

[0047] In some embodiments, the dispensing system 1 further includes a dose visual monitoring device 190, which is disposed on the operation panel 101. More specifically, the dose visual monitoring device 190 includes an optical scanning unit that can acquire optical images of the medicine bottle placed at the dispensing station 102, and the dose visual monitoring device 190 obtains the actual dose of the medicine contained in the medicine bottle by analyzing and processing the optical images.

[0048] Another embodiment of the present invention provides a fully automated multi-station method for dispensing traditional Chinese medicine granules, wherein the method is applied to a traditional Chinese medicine granule dispensing system. It should be noted that those skilled in the art are familiar with the basic functions and workflows of conventional traditional Chinese medicine granule dispensing systems; therefore, unless necessary, these will not be elaborated upon here.

[0049] like Figure 6 As shown, the method for dispensing traditional Chinese medicine granules includes:

[0050] S11. Obtain the medicine required for the first prescription according to the first prescription and place it on the dispensing station of the dispensing system. At the same time, place a medicine box or medicine bag for carrying the medicine according to the first prescription.

[0051] Dispensing traditional Chinese medicine granules requires placing multiple pre-granulated Chinese medicine ingredients into containers such as medicine boxes or medicine bags according to the prescription and distributing them to the patient. Therefore, it is first necessary to obtain all the required medicines according to the prescription and place each medicine at the dispensing or dispensing station of the traditional Chinese medicine granule dispensing system. In some embodiments of this invention, the medicines are typically stored in medicine bottles or medicine bags adapted to the dispensing system. During actual dispensing, the medicine box or medicine bag passes through each dispensing station sequentially, and the dispensing system can release the medicines from the medicine bottles or medicine bags placed at the corresponding dispensing station into the medicine box or medicine bag according to the prescription dosage requirements.

[0052] In other embodiments, to improve the overall efficiency of drug dispensing, the placement of medicine boxes or bags is synchronized with the placement of the medicines, so that the dispensing operation can begin immediately after each medicine is placed, and the dispensing station operates in a continuous flow mode. The required number of medicine boxes or bags is determined based on the number of Chinese herbal medicines required by the prescription and the specifications of the medicine boxes or bags.

[0053] S12. After the medicine required for the first prescription is placed, monitor in real time whether there is an empty dispensing station. If there is an empty dispensing station, obtain the medicine required for the next prescription according to the next prescription and place it on the empty dispensing station. If all dispensing stations have medicines placed, replace the medicines that have been dispensed with the medicines required for the next prescription according to a preset strategy. The medicines required for the next prescription do not include the medicines that have been placed in the dispensing stations.

[0054] Unlike existing single-prescription, continuous dispensing methods for traditional Chinese medicine granules, the dispensing method proposed in this invention enables parallel continuous dispensing of multiple prescriptions. Specifically, the dispensing method includes immediately starting the dispensing of the next prescription after the first prescription or the prescription currently being dispensed has completed its dispensing. This continues in a continuous, uninterrupted manner according to the prescription requirements. Since dispensing can begin immediately after each medicine is placed at the dispensing station, the dispensing system can continuously process new prescriptions while simultaneously handling the dispensing of multiple prescriptions, thus achieving continuous dispensing of multiple prescriptions.

[0055] Since prescriptions for different diseases with the same diagnostic criteria often use some of the same medications, and some of these medications are commonly used, there may be instances where some of the medications required for a new prescription are already placed in the dispensing station. Therefore, the dispensing system only needs to place the medications from the new prescription that are not yet in the dispensing station. Furthermore, when placing medications for a new prescription, if there is an available dispensing station without medication, the required medication can be directly retrieved and placed in the available station. If there is no available dispensing station, or if there are not enough available stations to hold all the medications required for the new prescription, then some of the already dispensed medications need to be replaced. Generally, less commonly used medications are preferred for replacement to improve overall dispensing efficiency.

[0056] In some embodiments, unprocessed prescriptions can be dispensed sequentially according to their order of appearance; in other embodiments, prescriptions with the largest number of the same drugs already placed at the dispensing station are preferentially selected to shorten the time required for drug exchange when dispensing new prescription drugs.

[0057] Common Chinese herbal granule prescriptions typically include 10-20 herbs. To enable parallel dispensing of multiple prescriptions and improve dispensing efficiency, in some embodiments, the dispensing system has at least 10 dispensing stations. Given sufficient space, the more dispensing stations, the more prescriptions can be processed in parallel. In other embodiments of the invention, the number of dispensing stations is set to 30, allowing for the simultaneous dispensing of 5-6 prescriptions, but the invention is not limited to this.

[0058] In embodiments of the present invention, the dispensing method may further include:

[0059] S13. Seal the medicine boxes or bags that have been fully dispensed and transfer them to the dispensing point of the dispensing system.

[0060] At any point during the drug dispensing process, the dispensing system will deliver the medicine boxes or bags containing all the drugs for the corresponding prescription to the sealing station for sealing. The sealed medicine boxes or bags will then be delivered to the collection point for collection by medical staff or system operators.

[0061] Furthermore, in order to achieve parallel dispensing of multiple prescriptions, in any embodiment of the dispensing method provided by the present invention, once the required medicine is placed at the dispensing station, the dispensing operation is immediately started according to the prescription requirements.

[0062] Preferably, the dispensing method further includes: obtaining the actual remaining dose of the drug when the drug is placed into or removed from the dispensing station.

[0063] Traditional Chinese medicine granule dispensing calculates the required drug volume by comparing the prescription weight of each granule with its theoretical density value, using this volume as the theoretical dosage. However, unavoidable errors in the dispensing system, and unpredictable changes in the theoretical density of the medicine due to moisture absorption or vibration during transportation or use, lead to errors in the dosage, reducing dispensing accuracy. Long-term accumulated errors can cause serious problems such as insufficient or excessive inventory. Therefore, it is necessary to monitor the actual weight of each medicine dispensed and promptly correct the theoretical density value and related system parameters based on the error between the actual and theoretical dosage to improve the accuracy of drug dispensing. In embodiments of this invention, the actual remaining dosage of the medicine can be obtained through automatic or manual weighing.

[0064] Furthermore, another embodiment of the present invention provides a fully automated multi-station method for dispensing traditional Chinese medicine granules. The basic functions and workflows of conventional traditional Chinese medicine granule dispensing systems known to those skilled in the art, as well as the descriptions and explanations already provided in this invention regarding the same content, will not be repeated here unless necessary.

[0065] refer to Figure 7 The adjustment method includes:

[0066] S21. Obtain the required medicines according to the current prescription and place them sequentially on the dispensing station of the dispensing system. At the same time, place the medicine box or medicine bag to hold the medicines according to the current prescription. While obtaining and placing the medicines required by the current prescription, monitor in real time whether there are any vacant dispensing stations available for placing the medicines.

[0067] The number of dispensing stations in a medication dispensing system needs to be determined reasonably based on actual application requirements. Generally, the number of dispensing stations should be sufficient to meet the medication needs of most routine prescriptions. However, since the methods and quantities of medication used in various traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions may vary significantly, it is difficult for the dispensing stations to meet the needs of all prescriptions. There may be situations where the dispensing system cannot hold all the medications required for a single prescription. Therefore, it is necessary to monitor the availability of dispensing stations in real time when placing medications.

[0068] S22. If there is an available dispensing station, the next required medicine will be obtained and placed according to the current prescription; if all dispensing stations have medicines placed, the medicines that have been dispensed at the dispensing stations will be replaced with the next required medicines according to a preset strategy.

[0069] As described in other embodiments of the present invention, since prescriptions for different diseases with the same diagnosis usually use some of the same drugs, and some of the drugs are commonly used drugs, under normal circumstances, it is preferable to replace the unused drugs that have been dispensed so as to improve the overall dispensing efficiency of the system.

[0070] Those skilled in the art will understand that some or all of the technical solutions provided by this invention can be implemented by computer program instructions and / or corresponding hardware facilities, and the aforementioned computer program instructions can be stored on any type of computer-readable storage medium.

[0071] The above description is merely an illustration of the technical solution or preferred embodiments of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the present invention. For those skilled in the art, based on a full understanding of the inventive concept and technical solution of the present invention, any modifications of any kind can be made without departing from the essence of the present invention, or equivalent substitutions can be made to some or all of the technical features. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc., made thereby should be included within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A traditional Chinese medicine granule dispensing system, comprising: The dispensing platform, medicine cabinet, medicine dispensing device, robotic arm, box supply device, and box carrier turntable are characterized in that... The dispensing platform includes an operation panel with multiple dispensing stations, each corresponding to a drug dispensing device, wherein there are 10-30 dispensing stations. The medicine cabinet is located on part or all of the edge of the dispensing platform, and the medicine cabinet is also provided with a medicine bottle slot for placing medicine bottles containing Chinese herbal medicine granules. The dispensing device is used to dispense the medicine in the medicine bottle into a medicine box for holding the dispensed Chinese herbal medicine granules according to a preset dosage. Multiple dispensing devices are arranged around the center of the dispensing platform. The robotic arm is positioned in the center of the dispensing platform and is used to grasp and place the medicine bottle; The box-feeding device is used to place an empty medicine box to be loaded with medicine onto the box-carrying turntable; The box carrier turntable is located below the box supply device and the medicine dispensing device, and is used to transport the medicine box to each of the medicine dispensing devices; The traditional Chinese medicine granule dispensing system monitors in real time whether there are any vacant dispensing stations. If there are available dispensing stations, then according to the number of available dispensing stations, some or all of the medicines required for the prescription to be dispensed will be placed at each of the available dispensing stations. If there are no available dispensing stations, then according to a preset strategy, the drugs that have been dispensed at the multiple dispensing stations will be replaced with some or all of the drugs required for the prescription to be dispensed. in, The preset strategy includes prioritizing the replacement of unused drugs that have already been dispensed at the dispensing station.

2. The traditional Chinese medicine granule dispensing system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The dispensing device includes a drive mechanism, a transmission mechanism, a control mechanism, and a medicine bottle inlet, wherein... The drive mechanism is connected to the control mechanism via the transmission mechanism, driving the control mechanism to release the medicine from the medicine bottle into the medicine box according to a preset volume; wherein... The medicine bottle is connected to the dispensing device via the medicine bottle inlet.

3. The traditional Chinese medicine granule dispensing system according to claim 2, characterized in that, The drive mechanism is connected to the control mechanism via the transmission mechanism, and driving the control mechanism to release the medicine in the medicine bottle into the medicine box according to a preset volume includes: The bottle opening is equipped with a measuring device, and the control mechanism controls the opening and closing of the measuring device to release the medicine in the bottle into the medicine box in a preset volume.

4. The traditional Chinese medicine granule dispensing system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The robotic arm includes a motion mechanism and a gripping mechanism, wherein the motion mechanism can drive the gripping mechanism to move to a preset position to grasp or place the medicine bottle.

5. The traditional Chinese medicine granule dispensing system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The aforementioned box-feeding device for placing empty medicine boxes to be carried into the box-carrying turntable further includes: The empty medicine boxes are stacked to form a medicine box stack; The box-feeding device includes a driving mechanism, a transmission mechanism, and a dividing mechanism. The driving mechanism drives the dividing mechanism through the transmission mechanism to separate individual boxes from the box stack inserted into the box-feeding device and place them on the box-carrying turntable.

6. The traditional Chinese medicine granule dispensing system according to claim 5, characterized in that, The operation panel is equipped with a box feeding station, which corresponds to the box feeding device. The stack of medicine boxes is inserted into the box supply device via the box supply station.

7. The traditional Chinese medicine granule dispensing system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The carrier turntable is provided with a plurality of medicine box slots for placing and fixing medicine boxes, and the plurality of medicine box slots for placing and fixing medicine boxes are distributed in a ring on the carrier turntable.

8. The traditional Chinese medicine granule dispensing system according to claim 7, characterized in that, The operation panel is also equipped with a box feeding station, which corresponds to the box feeding device. The carrier turntable can rotate the plurality of medicine box slots used for placing and fixing medicine boxes to positions corresponding to the dispensing station and the supply station.

9. The traditional Chinese medicine granule dispensing system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The dispensing system also includes a sealing device for sealing the medicine boxes after all medicines have been dispensed.

10. The traditional Chinese medicine granule dispensing system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The dispensing system also includes a weighing device, which includes a weight sensing unit for weighing the medicine bottle or medicine box.

11. The traditional Chinese medicine granule dispensing system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The dispensing system also includes a dose visual monitoring device; The dose visual monitoring device includes an optical scanning unit, which can acquire optical images of the medicine bottle; The dose visual monitoring device is used to analyze and process the optical image to obtain the actual dose of the medicine in the vial.

12. The traditional Chinese medicine granule dispensing system according to any one of claims 1-11, characterized in that, The adjustment platform has a regular polygonal layout.

13. The traditional Chinese medicine granule dispensing system according to claim 12, characterized in that, The adjustment platform has a regular polygon layout, specifically, the regular polygon is a regular hexagon.

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