A medicine automatic sorting device

Abstract

This invention discloses an automatic pharmaceutical sorting device for use in pill-to-bottle dispensing scenarios. The device includes a frame, a storage bin, a chute, a sorting plate, a feeding chamber, a limiting plate, a sorting nozzle, a conveying device, and auxiliary components. Pills in the storage bin are conveyed to the sorting plate via the chute. Single-pill through-holes and independent sorting channels on the sorting plate enable precise pill distribution. The limiting plate, in conjunction with a photoelectric sensor, controls the feeding timing to ensure controllable quantity per feeding. After being collected in the feeding chamber, the pills are loaded into bottles through the sorting nozzle. A counting module and the bottle conveying device work together to automatically switch between bottles. The conveying device can collect excess pills from the sorting plate back to the storage bin for recycling. This device solves the pain points of existing pill-to-bottle dispensing methods, such as low efficiency, poor accuracy, drug waste, and weak adaptability. It achieves fully automated and precise sorting and dispensing, possessing advantages such as high accuracy, high efficiency, recyclability, wide adaptability, and structural stability.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of pharmaceutical processing technology, and more specifically to an automatic pharmaceutical sorting device. Background Technology

[0002] In the process of pill processing, the sorting of pills into medicine bottles is a crucial step. The sorting accuracy, sorting efficiency and standardization of the process directly determine the quality of the finished drug, the packaging qualification rate and the overall capacity of the production line.

[0003] Currently, in the pharmaceutical processing field, the packaging of pills into bottles mainly relies on two methods: manual packaging and semi-automatic packaging. Manual packaging requires operators to manually grab the pills, count them, and then put them into the bottles. This is not only extremely labor-intensive and difficult to adapt to the continuous production needs of pharmaceutical processing lines, but also prone to problems such as over-packing, under-packing, and missing items due to fatigue and operational negligence. This does not meet the standardization and regulation requirements of pharmaceutical processing, and may also cause pill contamination due to hand contact, affecting drug safety.

[0004] While semi-automatic dispensing devices can replace some manual operations, they still have significant shortcomings in the precise sorting and dispensing of pills into bottles. For example, the device's structural design does not meet the precise counting requirements of bottle dispensing, and pill congestion and uneven distribution are prone to occur during the sorting process, resulting in deviations in the number of pills dispensed in a single batch. Unsorted pills cannot be effectively recycled back to the sorting stage, and the connection between sorting and bottle dispensing is not smooth. There is a lack of precise automated control mechanisms, making it impossible to achieve integrated continuous operation of "sorting-counting-bottling," resulting in low sorting and dispensing efficiency.

[0005] Therefore, developing an automated drug sorting device that is suitable for the scenario of dispensing pills into medicine bottles in drug processing, has a reasonable structure, a high degree of automation, and is accurate and efficient in sorting and dispensing, has become an urgent technical problem to be solved in the current drug processing field. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The purpose of this invention is to provide an automatic drug sorting device to solve the technical problem of low efficiency in dispensing pills into medicine bottles in the prior art.

[0007] To solve the above-mentioned technical problems, the present invention specifically provides the following technical solution: An automatic pharmaceutical sorting device includes: a frame for supporting and fixing various functional components; a storage bin disposed at the highest point of the frame, the storage bin for storing pills, the top of the storage bin having a feed inlet and the bottom of the storage bin having a discharge outlet; a slide rail disposed at an incline on the frame, the feed end of the slide rail being connected to the discharge outlet; a sorting plate disposed at an incline on the frame, the feed end of the sorting plate being connected to the discharge end of the slide rail; wherein, the sorting plate has multiple through holes arranged in a matrix in the vertical direction along the length and width directions, each through hole can only accommodate a single pill, and the depth of the through hole is less than the diameter of the pill; the sorting plate has partitions between adjacent through holes along the rolling direction of the pills, and the partitions divide all the through holes into multiple independent sorting channels; and a feeding chamber for the sorting plate. Each sorting channel at the bottom is provided with a feeding chamber, and the discharge ends of all the feeding chambers converge to form a feeding terminal. A limiting plate is provided along the axis of each feeding chamber, and the two are movably coupled. The limiting plate can move to fit against the bottom of the sorting plate to restrict the pills from falling from the bottom of the through-hole, and the limiting plate can also move away from the sorting plate to release the restriction on the pills, allowing the pills to fall from the through-hole into the feeding chamber. A sorting nozzle is vertically positioned at the feeding terminal, through which pills fall into the medicine bottle to be dispensed, and the number of pills dispensed into the medicine bottle is an integer multiple of the number of through-holes in a single sorting channel. A conveying device is mounted on the frame, with its inlet end connected to the outlet end of the sorting plate and its outlet end connected to the inlet of the storage box.

[0008] Furthermore, the storage box is provided with multiple discharge ports, and two sets of first guide bars are symmetrically arranged at the discharge end of the slide. A rotating shaft is provided in the middle of the first guide bar and is rotatably connected to the slide. A servo motor drives the rotating shaft to rotate. The two first guide bars rotate symmetrically and synchronously to guide the pills to the two side areas and the middle area of ​​the sorting plate, respectively, and the side areas and the middle area overlap.

[0009] Furthermore, taking the rolling direction of the pill as a reference, the discharge end of the chute is provided with multiple sets of second guide bars in the downstream direction of the first guide bar, and each partition is provided with a second guide bar; wherein, a rotating shaft is provided in the middle position of the second guide bar and is rotatably connected relative to the sorting plate, and a servo motor drives the rotating shaft to rotate; so that two adjacent second guide bars can switch between the two forms of " / " and "\ / ", so as to guide the pills to the through holes located in the odd-numbered channels and the through holes located in the even-numbered channels, respectively.

[0010] Furthermore, each of the feeding ends of the sorting channel is movably fitted with a baffle, which moves synchronously with the sorting plate. When the limiting plate releases the restriction on the pills, the baffle moves to the feeding end of the sorting channel to restrict the pills from entering the sorting channel. When the limiting plate is in contact with the bottom of the sorting plate, the baffle moves away from the direction in which the pills enter the sorting channel, allowing the pills to enter the sorting channel.

[0011] Furthermore, the frame is located below the unloading chamber, and a first hydraulic telescopic rod is provided for each unloading chamber. The telescopic end of the first hydraulic telescopic rod passes through the unloading chamber and is connected to the limiting plate to drive the limiting plate to conform to the sorting plate and move away from the sorting plate.

[0012] Furthermore, symmetrical sliding rods are arranged on both sides of the baffle. The end of the sliding rod passes through the sorting plate and connects to the limiting plate, and slides with the sorting plate. The sliding rods are arranged parallel to the extension and retraction direction of the first hydraulic telescopic rod. The length of the sliding rod is set such that when the limiting plate is in contact with the sorting plate, the distance between the bottom of the baffle and the sorting plate is greater than the diameter of the pill, and the distance between the two sliding rods is greater than the diameter of the pill.

[0013] Furthermore, a photoelectric sensor is provided on the side of the limiting plate that is in contact with the sorting plate, corresponding to each through hole, and the sensing end of the photoelectric sensor is facing the through hole; and the photoelectric sensor is electrically connected to the first hydraulic telescopic rod so as to control the first hydraulic telescopic rod to drive the limiting plate away from the sorting plate when all through holes contain pills; The sliding rod is an elastic telescopic structure. An auxiliary limiting plate is provided on the side of the limiting plate that is in contact with the sorting plate. The auxiliary limiting plate and the limiting plate are arranged in parallel and are connected by multiple sets of vertically arranged spring telescopic rods. The auxiliary limiting plate has a hole corresponding to the sensing end of the photoelectric sensor. The spring telescopic rod is configured such that when the baffle closes the sorting channel, the auxiliary limiting plate is still in contact with the sorting plate; and when the sliding rod extends to its maximum stroke, the distance between the auxiliary limiting plate and the sorting plate is greater than the diameter of the pill.

[0014] Furthermore, it also includes a counting module and a bottle conveying device, wherein the conveying route of the bottle conveying device passes directly below the sorting nozzle; the counting module is used to count the number of extensions and retractions of all the first hydraulic telescopic rods, and when the number of extensions and retractions of the first hydraulic telescopic rods is exactly the number of times required for dispensing medicine, the counting module sends a control signal to move the conveyor belt of the bottle conveying device forward by one bottle position, so that the next bottle to be dispensed is located directly below the sorting nozzle.

[0015] Furthermore, the sorting nozzle includes a telescopic sleeve, and a second telescopic rod is provided at the bottom of the feeding terminal along the telescopic direction parallel to the telescopic sleeve. The telescopic end of the second telescopic rod is connected to the telescopic end of the telescopic sleeve via a connecting rod so as to telescopically extend and retract synchronously.

[0016] Furthermore, the sorting plate has a collection chute inclined at its discharge end along its own direction, and the end of the collection chute is connected to the inlet end of the conveying device; the storage box has an inlet chute, and the two ends of the inlet chute are connected to the discharge end of the conveying device and the inlet of the storage box, respectively.

[0017] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following advantages: The pills are sorted using through holes on the sorting plate, with the hole depth being smaller than the pill diameter. This effectively avoids multiple pills in a single hole, structurally ensuring the accuracy of single-pill sorting. At the same time, the limit plate, in conjunction with photoelectric sensors, can detect in real time whether each through hole is full of pills. Only when all through holes are full of pills will the limit plate be opened, ensuring that the number of pills dispensed each time is accurate and controllable. This completely solves the problems of missed or overfilled pills in manual sorting and traditional equipment, ensuring the accuracy of pill dispensing.

[0018] In addition, the counting module can accurately count the number of times the first hydraulic telescopic rod extends and retracts. Combined with the coordinated action of the medicine bottle conveying device, it realizes automatic switching of medicine bottles, further improving the accuracy and standardization of dispensing. Through the coordinated operation of the storage box, slide, sorting plate, feeding chamber and sorting nozzle, the device realizes a fully automated process of pills from storage, diversion, sorting to dispensing, without manual intervention, which greatly reduces the labor intensity of operators, reduces labor input, and effectively solves the problems of low efficiency and high labor cost of manual sorting. Attached Figure Description

[0019] To more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are merely exemplary, and those skilled in the art can derive other embodiments based on the provided drawings without creative effort.

[0020] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of an automatic drug sorting device. Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the sorting board structure; Figure 3 This is one embodiment of the distribution of guide strips on the slide rail; Figure 4 This is another embodiment of the distribution of guide strips on the slide; Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the internal structure of the feeding chamber; Figure 6 A schematic diagram showing the state of the elastic buffer structure sealing and supporting the pill; Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the state where the elastic buffer structure begins its downward movement. Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram showing the state of the pill falling inside the elastic buffer structure.

[0021] The labels in the diagram represent the following: 1-Rack; 2-Storage bin, 21-Inlet, 22-Outlet; 3-Slide rail, 31-First guide bar, 32-First servo motor, 33-Second guide bar, 34-Second servo motor; 4-Sorting plate, 41-Baffle, 42-Sorting channel, 43-Baffle, 44-Slide bar, 45-Summary chute 5-Through hole; 6-Discharge chamber, 61-Discharge terminal; 7-Limit plate, 71-First hydraulic telescopic rod, 72-Photoelectric sensor, 73-Auxiliary limit plate, 74-Spring telescopic rod; 8-Sorting nozzle, 81-Telescopic sleeve, 82-Second hydraulic telescopic rod, 83-Connecting rod; 9-Transmission device; 91-Feed chute; 10 - Medicine bottle transfer device. Detailed Implementation

[0022] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0023] like Figure 1 As shown, the present invention provides an implementation method of an automatic drug sorting device, which mainly completes the graded and quantitative sorting of single pills by setting up special sorting through holes 5 on the sorting plate 4; the pills that meet the standards after compliant sorting are collected and aggregated through each group of independent feeding chambers 6, and finally accurately packaged into the medicine bottle through the sorting nozzle 8. The whole process is a closed-loop dust-free operation with simultaneous counting and sorting, which is suitable for the needs of pharmaceutical companies for large-scale aseptic mass production.

[0024] Specifically, all relevant functional components are fixedly installed on the frame 1. The frame 1 is made of one-piece carbon steel bent and welded, and the surface is treated with food-grade anti-corrosion and anti-rust spraying, which meets the standards for use in pharmaceutical clean production workshops. The bottom of the frame 1 is equipped with adjustable horizontal support pads and anti-slip shock-absorbing pads, which can be adapted to the leveling and fine adjustment of the workshop floor, avoiding problems such as pill displacement and sorting misalignment caused by high-frequency vibration during equipment operation.

[0025] The storage box 2 is fixedly mounted at the top of the frame 1. The storage box 2 is a closed food-grade PP one-piece injection molded box structure, which is suitable for centralized and sealed temporary storage of large batches of clean pills, completely isolating the workshop from dust, bacteria and human contact contamination, and consolidating the bottom line of clean drug production.

[0026] The storage bin 2 has a standardized sealed inlet 21 on the top center of the vertical top, which is connected to the front-end pill forming and discharging production line for directional feeding, eliminating the need for frequent manual opening of the lid to add material; the bottom of the storage bin 2 has multiple sets of discharge ports 22, which can divert and relieve pressure, avoid single-port congestion and bridging, and pill stacking and jamming, regulate the feeding rhythm from the source, and adapt to the subsequent uniform speed sorting operation.

[0027] Corresponding to the bottom discharge port 22 of each group of storage bins 2, a slide rail 3 is fixedly mounted on the frame 1 at an angle. The slide rail 3 adopts a streamlined groove structure with rounded chamfers. The inner side is polished without burrs or protruding jamming points, which completely avoids the problems of pill rolling, bumping and breaking, jamming and blocking.

[0028] Relying on the gravity potential energy of the pills themselves, the entire process is achieved through unpowered, uniform, and self-flowing feeding. There is no need to install additional forced pushing power components, which simplifies the overall structure, reduces maintenance energy consumption and the probability of failure. The slide 3 is precisely connected to the storage box 2 and the discharge port 22 for sealed alignment and assembly, eliminating material spillage gaps and preventing pill loss and workshop material contamination hazards.

[0029] The frame 1 is equipped with a sorting plate 4 at the discharge end of the slide 3. The overall tilt angle of the sorting plate 4 is seamlessly and precisely connected with the natural sliding angle of the discharge end of the slide 3. The slope is smoothly connected without drop or inflection point obstruction, ensuring that the pills flow smoothly and continuously from the slide 3 to the sorting plate 4 without jamming, stagnation, or batch accumulation and congestion, and ensuring that the feeding and sorting sequence is highly coordinated and synchronized.

[0030] The sorting plate 4 has several standard sorting through holes 5 arranged in a bidirectional matrix along its horizontal width and vertical length. The diameter of the through holes 5 is strictly matched to the outer diameter of a single mass-produced pill. Each hole can stably accommodate only one independent pill, eliminating the potential risks of multiple pills being stacked. At the same time, the depth of the through holes 5 is limited to be less than the diameter of the pill body throughout the entire area, accurately limiting the pill's posture and avoiding sorting failures such as pills being tilted and stacked, embedded in holes, or two pills being squeezed into the same hole. This solidifies the core structural foundation for precise quantitative sorting of single pills.

[0031] Meanwhile, along the rolling flow direction of the pills, an integrally raised partition 41 is formed between two adjacent sorting through holes 5 on the upper part of the sorting plate 4. The partition 41 is set vertically, and the sorting plate 4 is divided into multiple independent and non-contaminating closed sorting channels 42 by dividing the through holes 5 of the sorting plate 4. This completely eliminates the cross-positioning, mixing, and cross-interference of pills in adjacent channels from a physical perspective, ensuring that each sorting channel 42 independently discharges a quantitative amount of material, and improving the accuracy of the dispensing and metering.

[0032] The bottom of the sorting plate 4 is equipped with a closed feeding chamber 6 corresponding to each independent sorting channel 42. The feeding chamber 6 has a straight cavity structure with a smooth inner wall and a flow guiding design, so that there are no dead corners for material accumulation or sharp corners for bumping.

[0033] All independent feeding chambers 6 have their bottom discharge ends uniformly converged and collected, and are centrally connected to the integrated feeding terminal 61. After multi-channel synchronous sorting and collection, the materials are uniformly discharged, the discharge flow is standardized, and it is convenient to connect to the bottle packaging process at the back end, making the production line connection smoother.

[0034] Each set of feeding chambers 6 has a vertically movable limiting plate 7 of matching size. The outer edge of the limiting plate 7 slides with the inner wall of the feeding chamber 6 with high precision clearance, without jamming or offset shaking, and can smoothly slide back and forth vertically along the feeding chamber 6.

[0035] Under normal sorting and feeding conditions, the limit plate 7 moves upward to fit and press tightly against the bottom surface of the sorting plate 4, fully covering and blocking the bottom discharge ports of all sorting through holes 5, and precisely and temporarily lifting the single pills stuck inside the through holes 5 for temporary storage until unified feeding; when the entire area of ​​a single sorting channel 42 is filled to the standard and the system triggers the feeding command, the limit plate 7 moves downward under control and moves away from the bottom surface of the sorting plate 4, simultaneously releasing the bottom sealing limit of the entire area through holes 5, and all the neatly waiting pills in the channels fall vertically at the same time, accurately falling into the corresponding feeding chamber 6, realizing quantitative centralized feeding.

[0036] The vertically mounted integrated sorting nozzle 8 is located directly below the feeding terminal 61. The sorting nozzle 8 guides the flow of pills vertically throughout the entire process, preventing pills from drifting, shifting, or leaking during packaging. The pills fall precisely vertically through the sorting nozzle 8 and directly into the empty medicine bottle below, which is precisely aligned and ready for use.

[0037] The whole machine uses a closed-loop linkage matching logic for quantitative sorting. The number of pills dispensed into the medicine bottle is an integer multiple of the number of through holes in a single sorting channel 42. Only a fixed number of sorting and unloading operations are required for any number of sorting channels 42 to complete the dispensing of pills into a single medicine bottle, which conforms to the unified bottled quantitative standards of pharmaceutical companies and eliminates the need for manual secondary verification and counting.

[0038] The frame 1 is equipped with an integrated conveyor device 9 on the side. The conveyor device 9 adopts a food-grade anti-slip conveyor belt structure, which operates with low noise and uniform speed. The low-position feeding end of the conveyor device 9 is precisely connected to the residual material discharge area at the end of the sorting plate 4, and the high-position discharge end is connected in the opposite direction to the top feeding port 21 of the storage box 2.

[0039] During the sorting process, excess pills that fail to embed in the through hole 5, overflow, or remain on the surface of the sorting plate 4 can automatically slide down and be collected at the feed end of the conveying device 9. They are then sent back to the storage box 2 for secondary sorting via a closed-loop conveying system. There is no material waste or manual return of materials throughout the process, achieving closed-loop recycling of pill sorting, improving raw material utilization, and adapting to continuous mass production operations.

[0040] To further optimize the uniformity of pill distribution and ensure that pills flow equally, at a constant speed, and in an orderly manner to each independent sorting channel 42, avoiding issues such as localized clustering, single-sided material shortages, and uneven filling across the entire area, such as... Figure 3 and Figure 4 As shown, this embodiment provides the following examples.

[0041] Two sets of first guide bars 31 are symmetrically arranged at the discharge end of the slide 3. A rotating shaft is provided in the middle of the first guide bar 31 and is rotatably connected to the slide 3. A servo motor drives the rotating shaft to rotate.

[0042] In actual operation, the two sets of symmetrically arranged first guide strips 31 work together and dynamically adjust the guide angle to evenly distribute the batch of pills delivered by the slide 3 to the sorting plate 4 on both sides of the sorting area and the central core sorting area. The material is evenly distributed in multiple areas, and a small overlap of the guide coverage area is reserved at the same time. There are no sorting blind spots or local material accumulation. The material is evenly replenished throughout the entire area, which greatly improves the fullness of the holes 5 of the sorting plate 4 and the operation efficiency.

[0043] Furthermore, taking the rolling direction of the pill as a reference, multiple sets of second guide bars 33 are set at the discharge end of the slide 3 downstream of the first guide bar 31, and each partition 41 is provided with a corresponding second guide bar 33; wherein, a rotating shaft is set at the middle position of the second guide bar 33 and is rotatably connected relative to the sorting plate 4, and the servo motor drives the rotating shaft to rotate.

[0044] This allows the two adjacent second guide strips 33 to quickly and orderly switch between the " / " convergence and convergence pattern and the " / " dispersion and diversion pattern, dynamically and accurately directing the flowing pills to the odd-numbered independent sorting channels 42 and the even-numbered independent sorting channels 42 as needed. This forces a balance in the overall material flow, completely avoiding abnormalities such as excessive material accumulation in local channels and insufficient material supply in remote channels, thus ensuring that the pills flow to all sorting channels 42 in equal quantity, at a uniform speed, and smoothly.

[0045] To enhance precise control of the feeding sequence and prevent excessive mixing of new and old pills, the feeding end of the sorting channel 42 is equipped with a movable and enclosed baffle 43. The baffle 43 moves smoothly and slides vertically, and the baffle 43 is rigidly linked with the corresponding limit plate 7 for synchronous vertical displacement, ensuring precise and synchronized action without deviation.

[0046] During the standard sorting and filling operation, the limit plate 7 moves upward to fit and seal the bottom surface of the sorting plate 4, simultaneously lifting the pills. The baffle 43 moves upward to avoid and retract, fully opening the feed port of the sorting channel 42, ensuring that the pills roll smoothly into the channel and are embedded in the through hole 5. When the through hole 5 in a single sorting channel 42 is filled to the standard and the equipment triggers the feeding command, the limit plate 7 moves downward to release the pills. The baffle 43 moves downward simultaneously to seal and compact the feed port of the sorting channel 42, immediately blocking the influx of new pills into the channel. This completely avoids the mixing of new and old pills and excessive secondary feeding during the feeding process. From the perspective of timing actions, it ensures the absolute accuracy of the number of pills dispensed in a single batch, and prevents the production of substandard bottles due to over-measurement or shortage.

[0047] Regarding the linkage between limit plate 7 and baffle 43, such as Figure 2 and Figure 5 As shown, this embodiment provides the following examples.

[0048] The frame 1 is located below the unloading chamber 6. A first hydraulic telescopic rod 71 is provided for each unloading chamber 6. The telescopic end of the first hydraulic telescopic rod 71 passes through the unloading chamber 6 and is connected to the limiting plate 7 to drive the limiting plate 7 to fit against the sorting plate 4 and move away from the sorting plate 4.

[0049] The baffle 43 has symmetrical, integrally formed smooth guide rods 44 on both sides. The guide rods 44 penetrate vertically downward through the pre-reserved guide holes in the sorting plate 4, and the ends are rigidly locked and fixed to the corresponding points on the side wall of the limit plate 7 on the same side. The guide rods 44 and the first hydraulic telescopic rod 71 are arranged in strict parallel directions of extension and retraction, and the guide limit does not deviate.

[0050] Synchronous and precise calibration of the effective assembly length of slide bar 44: When the limit plate 7 moves upward and presses against the bottom surface of the sorting plate 4, and the equipment is in the normal filling position, the through gap between the bottom edge of the baffle 43 and the surface of the sorting plate 4 is strictly greater than the maximum outer diameter of the pill. At the same time, the net gap between the inner sides of the symmetrical slide bars 44 on both sides is also greater than the outer diameter of the pill. This will not interfere with the normal rolling feeding of the pill and its embedding into the through hole 5. It takes into account both the linkage guidance stability of the baffle 43 and the normal sorting passage requirements, and maximizes the reliability of the structural linkage.

[0051] To more accurately control the first hydraulic telescopic rod 71, such as Figure 5 As shown, this embodiment provides the following examples.

[0052] The upper surface of the limiting plate 7 is attached to one side of the sorting plate 4. A high-sensitivity micro photoelectric sensor 72 is precisely embedded in each through hole 5. The sensor 72 probe is vertically aligned with the center point inside the through hole 5, and can accurately detect the position of the pill inside the single hole in real time, without any blind spots or false or missed detections.

[0053] All photoelectric sensors 72 are connected in parallel to form an integrated electrical control circuit, which is centrally electrically connected to the whole machine controller and each group of first hydraulic telescopic rods 71 ​​to form a closed-loop intelligent control logic. Only when all through holes 5 in a single sorting channel 42 accurately detect the pills in place and the filling of the holes is fully met will the system output a feeding electrical control command to drive the corresponding first hydraulic telescopic rod 71 to move down synchronously.

[0054] In the actual continuous batch sorting and packaging process, the automatic drug sorting device disclosed in any of the aforementioned preferred embodiments may have the following technical defects: when all the through holes 5 arranged in a single independent sorting channel 42 have been accurately filled with a single pill and the full-area photoelectric sensor 72 has synchronously fed back a full-material qualified signal, there will still be excess pills in the sorting channel 42 that are in a state of rolling and sliding under their own weight; if the limit plate 7 is driven down directly and instantaneously at this time, the excess pills in the channel are very likely to instantly squeeze the upper position of the through hole 5, and fall into the feeding chamber 6 along with the original quantitative pills inside the through hole 5, causing the number of pills in a single bottle to exceed the limit.

[0055] To overcome the above-mentioned defects, as shown in the appendix Figures 6-8 As shown, this embodiment also provides an example of an elastic buffer structure.

[0056] The slide bar 44 adopts an integrated built-in damping elastic telescopic composite structure, which can adaptively and elastically buffer the extension and retraction along the axial direction without rigid impact or jamming. On the working end surface of the limiting plate 7 facing the bottom surface of the sorting plate 4, auxiliary limiting plates 73 are arranged in parallel. In the space between the two, multiple sets of spring telescopic rods 74 are arranged in a vertical array at equal intervals as elastic linkage buffer connecting parts.

[0057] Meanwhile, on the auxiliary limiting plate 73, each set of photoelectric sensors 72 vertically senses the corresponding point and coaxially and precisely opens the alignment and light transmission detection hole. The hole diameter does not block the sensor sensing light path and does not interfere with the original point-to-point full material detection accuracy. The original full-area through hole 5 in-place verification electrical control logic remains unchanged throughout the process.

[0058] The spring telescopic rod 74 is configured such that during the process of the baffle 43 closing the sorting channel 42, the auxiliary limiting plate 73 always remains in a locked state pressed against the bottom surface of the sorting plate 4, and does not detach from the contact surface as the limiting plate 7 initially moves downward; and when the elastic telescopic slide rod 44 is stretched to its rated maximum limit stroke, the vertical net distance between the auxiliary limiting plate 73 and the bottom surface of the sorting plate 4 is greater than the diameter of the pill.

[0059] With the sorting channel 42 kept clear, the spring telescopic rod 74 is in a compressed state, and the auxiliary limiting plate 73 is in contact with the limiting plate 7 to support the pills in the through hole 5; the slide rod 44 is in a normal state without pressure, and the bottom of the baffle 43 and the surface of the sorting plate 4 have a passage distance that is larger than the diameter of the pills, ensuring that the sorting channel 42 is unobstructed throughout the entire process.

[0060] When the main control system of the whole machine issues the unloading command, the first hydraulic telescopic rod 71 drives the limit plate 7 to start to descend. Relying on the initial elastic force of the spring telescopic rod 74, the auxiliary limit plate 73 is not affected by the descent of the limit plate 7 and continues to be tightly pressed against the end face of the bottom through hole 5 of the sorting plate 4, and continues to maintain the sealed lifting and locking state; while the baffle 43 descends until it is in contact with the sorting plate 4 to close the sorting channel 42.

[0061] The pills in the slide 3 will not enter the sorting channel 42 due to the obstruction of the baffle 43. At this time, the auxiliary limiting plate 73 continues to maintain a sealed lifting and locking state. Utilizing this elastic buffer delay interval, the remaining rolling excess pills inside the sorting channel 42 continue to roll towards the discharge end of the sorting channel 42 to empty the excess pills in the sorting channel 42.

[0062] As the limiting plate 7 continues to descend, the slide bar 44 extends accordingly. Once the limiting plate 7 descends to the preset travel point, the spring telescopic rod 74 is in a normal state without external force, allowing the auxiliary limiting plate 73 to descend synchronously. This continues until the auxiliary limiting plate 73 descends to the point where the distance between itself and the bottom of the limiting plate 7 is greater than the diameter of the pill, at which point the pill falls smoothly. During this process, the baffle 43 remains in contact with the sorting plate 4.

[0063] This structure completely isolates the risk of excess pills falling simultaneously, eliminates the problem of excessive material mixing and dispensing after the holes are full, and further improves the accuracy of batch drug sorting and measurement and the stability of the whole machine operation.

[0064] Further adaptation to full-domain time-series linkage optimization: When a single independent sorting channel 42 receives a real-time feeding electronic control command issued by the system, the two sets of second guide bars 33 corresponding to the downstream of the slide 3 are synchronously closed-loop linked and controlled, instantly switching to a " / \" convergence and diversion form, guiding the real-time pills to be sorted to the adjacent empty sorting channels 42 on both sides in advance, avoiding pills from crowding and waiting for feeding during the feeding period.

[0065] Once the current quantitative feeding process is completed and the first hydraulic telescopic rod 71 reverses and drives the limit plate 7 to move upward and reset, the corresponding second guide bar 33 synchronously reverses and switches to a " / " material flow guiding form, accurately guiding the subsequent pills to be sorted back to the entrance of the sorting channel 42 that has been reset.

[0066] At this time, the feed end of the channel is still locked and blocked by baffle 43, and the pills are orderly lined up and waiting for material. Until the subsequent baffle 43 rises and opens the feed port of sorting channel 42, the lined pills roll smoothly and orderly into the channel to carry out the next round of regular filling and precise sorting operations. The whole process is closely connected in time and the division of labor is clear, and the overall sorting efficiency is greatly improved.

[0067] This device also integrates an intelligent counting module and a medicine bottle conveying device 10. The medicine bottle conveying device 10 is horizontally mounted at the bottom of the frame 1, directly below the sorting nozzle 8. The conveyor belt travels in a straight line, accurately covering the vertical material drop point area of ​​the sorting nozzle 8, thus achieving automatic alignment of empty bottles and automatic displacement of full bottles.

[0068] The intelligent counting module collects and records the number of reciprocating extension and retraction movements of the first hydraulic telescopic rod 71 in real time at high frequency, accurately and synchronously calculating the total number of pills filled in the corresponding bottle. During mass production in the workshop, a threshold number of extension and retraction movements of the first hydraulic telescopic rod 71 corresponding to the number of pills per standard bottle is preset in advance. The counting module counts the extension and retraction frequency of the first hydraulic telescopic rod 71 in real time. When the number of extension and retraction movements of the first hydraulic telescopic rod 71 reaches the threshold, it immediately outputs a shift control electrical signal to quickly drive the 10-step start-stop and precise translation of the bottle conveying device, quickly moving the full bottle out of the unloading station. At the same time, the next empty clean bottle is accurately moved to the position directly below the sorting nozzle 8 for waiting. The fully automatic and uninterrupted bottle changing is carried out without manual placement or verification, and the production line operates continuously without interruption.

[0069] For sorting nozzle 8, such as Figure 2 As shown, this embodiment also provides the following examples.

[0070] The sorting nozzle 8 is integrated with a wear-resistant and anti-jamming telescopic sleeve 81, which is suitable for positioning and dispensing medicine bottles of different heights and specifications, making it more versatile. When dispensing pills, the end of the sorting nozzle 8 is located inside the medicine bottle. After the medicine bottle is filled, the end of the sorting nozzle 8 moves upward to avoid obstructing the movement of the medicine bottle.

[0071] Specifically, a second hydraulic telescopic rod 82 is provided on the bottom side of the unloading terminal 61. The telescopic direction of the second hydraulic telescopic rod 82 is strictly parallel and coaxial with the vertical telescopic trajectory of the telescopic sleeve 81. The telescopic end of the second hydraulic telescopic rod 82 is rigidly connected to the outer wall of the telescopic sleeve 81 through the connecting rod 83, and moves synchronously.

[0072] Furthermore, the discharge end of the sorting plate 4 is provided with a collection chute 45 inclined along its own direction, and the end of the collection chute 45 is connected to the inlet end of the conveying device 9.

[0073] The collection chute 45 collects all excess pills that have not entered the hole and the rolling residual material. The end of the collection chute 45 is precisely connected to the starting feed end of the return material transmission device 9 at a low position. The storage box 2 is equipped with a feeding chute 91 at a high position on the side. The two ends of the feeding chute 91 are respectively connected to the high discharge end of the transmission device 9 and the top feed port 21 of the storage box 2 to realize closed-loop material return.

[0074] Surplus pills are automatically returned in a closed system and put into secondary storage for sorting, with no dust pollution and no material spillage or loss, further improving the cleanliness of the workshop and the comprehensive utilization rate of pill raw materials, and meeting the high-standard clean production control requirements of pharmaceutical companies.

[0075] Complete working process of the device After the automatic drug sorting device is powered on and debugged, it enters routine aseptic mass production sorting and packaging operations. The entire process is automated and operates in a closed loop, requiring no real-time manual intervention. The specific linkage operation steps are as follows: Step 1: In advance, a large batch of compliant and clean pills are sealed and placed into the storage box 2 through the inlet 21 for centralized temporary storage. After the equipment is started, multiple sets of outlets 22 at the bottom of the storage box 2 discharge the pills simultaneously and evenly. The pills slide down smoothly by their own gravity. The whole process is without power assistance and without squeezing or damage. The pills are precisely connected to the inclined slide 3 and are uniformly guided and transported throughout the entire area. This avoids the problems of pills piling up and bridging from the source and regulates the feeding rhythm of the entire area.

[0076] Step 2: After the pills are stably conveyed to the discharge end area along the slide 3, the first servo motor 32 synchronously drives the two sets of first guide bars 31 to rotate symmetrically and adjust the angle, so that the batch of pills are evenly diverted and guided to the central area and the entire side area of ​​the sorting plate 4, with no blind spots in the entire area; at the same time, the second servo motor 34 drives multiple sets of second guide bars 33 to alternately switch between the two guiding modes of " / \" gathering and "\ / " dispersing, so as to accurately guide the pills into each independent sorting channel 42, balance the feed flow of each channel, and prevent the phenomenon of material shortage on one side and local material accumulation.

[0077] Step 3: The pills roll smoothly along the inclined sorting channel 42, precisely embedding one by one into the matrix-arranged through holes 5. Relying on the matching structure of the diameter and depth of the through holes 5, the precise positioning and arrangement of one pill per hole is strictly achieved, eliminating the problems of stacking, jamming, and mixing of multiple pills. Under this condition, the first hydraulic telescopic rod 71 remains extended throughout the process, pushing the limiting plate 7 to tightly fit and press against the bottom surface of the sorting plate 4, fully covering and sealing the bottom of the through holes 5, temporarily and stably supporting all the positioned pills. At the same time, the sliding rod 44 is linked to the baffle 43 to move upward to avoid it, completely opening the feeding port of the sorting channel 42, ensuring that subsequent pills can be continuously and smoothly replenished and filled into the holes.

[0078] Step 4: When all the through holes 5 inside a single sorting channel 42 are accurately filled with a single pill, the photoelectric sensor 72 synchronously transmits a full-material electrical signal to the central control module of the whole machine. After the central control closed-loop judgment meets the standard, it immediately and accurately issues a feeding command and synchronously controls the first hydraulic telescopic rod 71 of the corresponding workstation to retract and descend synchronously.

[0079] Step 5: During the retraction of the first hydraulic telescopic rod 71, the limiting plate 7 is simultaneously driven to descend smoothly away from the bottom surface of the sorting plate 4, quickly releasing the bottom sealing limit of all through holes 5. The single pills, which are neatly arranged and ready in the entire area, fall vertically and freely, accurately falling into the corresponding closed feeding chamber 6. Simultaneously, the sliding rod 44 pulls the baffle 43 to descend quickly and block the feeding port of the sorting channel 42, immediately preventing the influx of new pills and completely avoiding the problems of mixing new and old pills and exceeding the packaging quantity. All pills inside the feeding chamber 6 are uniformly collected and gathered into the feeding terminal 61, and the discharge flow is regulated.

[0080] Step Six: Adapting to Bottle Flow and Fully Automated Rotation and Packaging Operation. Before operation, a threshold number of extension / retraction operations for the first hydraulic telescopic rod 71 corresponding to a single bottle is preset according to the pharmaceutical company's bottled quantity standards. After the pills are collected, they are directed and vertically guided down through the feeding terminal 61 and the sorting nozzle 8. At the same time, the second hydraulic telescopic rod 82, in conjunction with the height of different sized bottles, adjusts the extension / retraction length of the telescopic sleeve 81 through the linkage 83 to adapt to close-range feeding at the bottle mouth, preventing pill splashing, leakage, and damage. The synchronous counting module counts the frequency of hydraulic telescopic operations in real time. Once the target is reached, a signal is triggered to start and stop the bottle conveying device 10, automatically moving full bottles out of the feeding station and precisely aligning empty bottles under the sorting nozzle 8 for uninterrupted and continuous rotation and packaging.

[0081] Step 7: During the entire sorting process, excess pills that fail to fit into the through hole 5, overflow, or remain on the surface of the sorting plate 4 automatically slide down and collect into the collection chute 45. The collection chute 45 guides the excess pills into the low-position feed end of the conveying device 9. The conveying device 9 delivers the excess pills in a uniform closed-loop manner, sending them back to the storage box 2 via the feed chute 91 for a secondary cycle in the sorting process. There is no material waste or manual return of materials throughout the entire process, making it suitable for pharmaceutical companies' long-term, uninterrupted, large-scale mass production operations.

[0082] The above embodiments are merely exemplary embodiments of this application and are not intended to limit this application. The scope of protection of this application is defined by the claims. Those skilled in the art can make various modifications or equivalent substitutions to this application within its substance and scope of protection, and such modifications or equivalent substitutions should also be considered to fall within the scope of protection of this application.

Claims

1. An automatic medicine dispensing apparatus, characterized by comprising: include: The frame (1) is used to support and fix the various functional components; Storage box (2) is located at the highest point of the frame (1). The storage box (2) is used to store pills. The top of the storage box (2) is provided with a feed inlet (21) and the bottom of the storage box (2) is provided with a discharge outlet (22). The slide (3) is inclinedly arranged on the frame (1), and the inlet end of the slide (3) is connected to the outlet (22) of the storage box (2); A sorting plate (4) is inclinedly arranged on the frame (1), and the inlet end of the sorting plate (4) is connected to the outlet end of the slide (3); wherein, the sorting plate (4) has a plurality of through holes (5) arranged in a matrix in the vertical direction along the length and width directions, and each through hole (5) can only accommodate a single pill, and the depth of the through hole (5) is less than the diameter of the pill; a partition (41) is provided on the sorting plate (4) between two adjacent through holes (5) along the rolling direction of the pill, and the partition (41) divides all the through holes (5) into a plurality of independent sorting channels (42); The bottom of the sorting plate (4) is provided with a feeding chamber (6) corresponding to each sorting channel (42), and the discharge ends of all the feeding chambers (6) are combined to form a feeding terminal (61). A limiting plate (7) is provided along the axis in each feeding chamber (6). The two are movable and cooperate. The limiting plate (7) can move to fit against the bottom of the sorting plate (4) to restrict the pill from falling from the bottom of the through hole (5). The limiting plate (7) can also move away from the sorting plate (4) to release the restriction on the pill, so that the pill can fall from the through hole (5) into the feeding chamber (6). The sorting nozzle (8) is set vertically downward at the feeding terminal (61). The pills fall through the sorting nozzle (8) into the medicine bottle to be packaged, and the number of pills packaged in the medicine bottle is an integer multiple of the number of through holes (5) in a single sorting channel (42). A conveying device (9) is installed on the frame (1). The inlet end of the conveying device (9) is connected to the outlet end of the sorting plate (4), and the outlet end of the conveying device (9) is connected to the inlet (21) of the storage box (2).

2. The pharmaceutical automatic dispensing apparatus according to claim 1, characterized by The storage box (2) is provided with multiple discharge ports (22). Two sets of first guide bars (31) are symmetrically arranged at the discharge end of the slide (3). A rotating shaft is provided in the middle of the first guide bar (31) and is rotatably connected to the slide (3). The first servo motor (32) drives the first guide bar (31) to rotate via the rotating shaft. The two first guide bars (31) rotate symmetrically and synchronously to guide the pills to the two side areas and the middle area of ​​the sorting plate (4) respectively, and the side areas and the middle area overlap.

3. The pharmaceutical automatic dispensing apparatus according to claim 2, characterized by With reference to the rolling direction of the pill, the discharge end of the slide (3) is provided with multiple sets of second guide bars (33) in the downstream direction of the first guide bar (31), and each partition (41) is provided with a second guide bar (33); The second guide bar (33) has a rotating shaft at its middle position and is rotatably connected to the sorting plate (4). The second servo motor (34) drives the second guide bar (33) to rotate via the rotating shaft, so that two adjacent second guide bars (33) can switch between " / " and " / " forms to guide the pills to the sorting channel (42) located in the odd-numbered lanes and the sorting channel (42) located in the even-numbered lanes, respectively.

4. The pharmaceutical automatic dispensing apparatus according to claim 1 or 3, characterized by Each sorting channel (42) has a baffle (43) movably fitted at its inlet end, and the baffle (43) moves synchronously with the sorting plate (4); When the limiting plate (7) releases the restriction on the pill, the baffle (43) moves and closes the feed end of the sorting channel (42) to restrict the pill from entering the sorting channel (42); When the limiting plate (7) is in contact with the bottom of the sorting plate (4), the baffle (43) moves away from the pill entering the sorting channel (42), so that the pill can enter the sorting channel (42).

5. The pharmaceutical automatic dispensing apparatus according to claim 4, characterized by The frame (1) is located below the unloading chamber (6), and a first hydraulic telescopic rod (71) is provided for each unloading chamber (6). The telescopic end of the first hydraulic telescopic rod (71) passes through the unloading chamber (6) and is connected to the limiting plate (7) to drive the limiting plate (7) to fit against the sorting plate (4) and move away from the sorting plate (4).

6. The pharmaceutical automatic dispensing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein The baffle (43) is symmetrically provided with sliding rods (44) on both sides. The end of the sliding rod (44) passes through the sorting plate (4) and is connected to the limiting plate (7), and slides with the sorting plate (4). The sliding rod (44) is parallel to the extension direction of the first hydraulic telescopic rod (71). The length of the slide bar (44) is set such that when the limiting plate (7) is in contact with the sorting plate (4), the distance between the bottom of the baffle (43) and the sorting plate (4) is greater than the diameter of the pill, and the distance between the two slide bars (44) is greater than the diameter of the pill.

7. The automatic drug sorting device according to claim 6, characterized in that, The side of the limiting plate (7) that is in contact with the sorting plate (4) is provided with a photoelectric sensor (72) for each through hole (5), and the sensing end of the photoelectric sensor (72) is facing the through hole (5); and the photoelectric sensor (72) is electrically connected to the first hydraulic telescopic rod (71) so that when all through holes (5) contain pills, the first hydraulic telescopic rod (71) is controlled to drive the limiting plate (7) away from the sorting plate (4); The slide bar (44) is an elastic telescopic structure. An auxiliary limiting plate (73) is provided on the side of the limiting plate (7) that is in contact with the sorting plate (4). The auxiliary limiting plate (73) and the limiting plate (7) are arranged in parallel and are connected by multiple sets of vertically arranged spring telescopic rods (74). The auxiliary limiting plate (74) has a hole corresponding to the sensing end of the photoelectric sensor. The spring telescopic rod (74) is configured such that during the process of the baffle (43) closing the sorting channel (42), the auxiliary limiting plate (73) is continuously in contact with the sorting plate (4); and when the slide rod (44) is stretched to its maximum stroke, the distance between the auxiliary limiting plate (73) and the sorting plate (4) is greater than the diameter of the pill.

8. The automatic drug sorting device according to claim 7, characterized in that, It also includes a counting module and a vial transfer device (10), The transmission route of the medicine bottle conveying device (10) passes directly below the sorting nozzle (8); The counting module is used to count the number of times the first hydraulic telescopic rod (71) extends and retracts. When the number of extensions and retractions of the first hydraulic telescopic rod (71) is exactly the number of times required for dispensing medicine, the counting module sends a control signal to move the conveyor belt of the medicine bottle conveying device (10) forward by one medicine bottle position, so that the next medicine bottle to be dispensed is located directly below the sorting nozzle (8).

9. The pharmaceutical automatic dispensing apparatus according to claim 8, characterized by The sorting nozzle (8) includes a telescopic sleeve (81). The bottom of the unloading terminal (61) is provided with a second hydraulic telescopic rod (82) along the telescopic direction parallel to the telescopic sleeve (81). The telescopic end of the second hydraulic telescopic rod (82) is connected to the telescopic end of the telescopic sleeve (81) via a connecting rod (83) to telescopically extend and retract synchronously.

10. The pharmaceutical automatic dispensing apparatus according to claim 9, characterized by The sorting plate (4) has a collection chute (45) at its discharge end, which is inclined along its own direction. The end of the collection chute (45) is connected to the inlet end of the conveying device (9). The storage box (2) is provided with a feeding chute (91), and the two ends of the feeding chute (91) are respectively connected to the discharge end of the conveying device (9) and the inlet (21) of the storage box (2).

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