Medicine dispensing device

Abstract

To provide a small-sized medicine dispensing device which does not have a robot mechanism.SOLUTION: A medicine dispensing device 1 according to the present disclosure comprises: a medicine container which stores one prescription or more of medicines; a medicine feeder on which the medicine container is placed; a powder feeder in which one prescription of medicine is input to a hopper and the input medicine is discharged from a trough communicating to the hopper; and a distribution plate having a medicine input groove to which the medicines discharged from the medicine feeder and the powder feeder are input.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a medicine dispensing device having a built-in medicine feeder that measures and dispenses a predetermined amount of medicine. [Background technology]

[0002] 2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, powdered medicine packaging devices or medicine dispensing devices equipped with a powdered medicine packaging function have been introduced in large hospitals and large pharmacies.

[0003] Prior art drug dispensing devices are disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2. Prior art drug dispensing devices employ a drug feeder that is a combination of a drug container and a container mounting device. The container mounting device has a horizontally oriented vibration member and a weight measuring means for measuring the weight of the drug container. The drug container is mounted on the vibration member of the container mounting device, and the vibration member is vibrated to discharge the drug little by little from the powdered drug discharge section on the side of the drug container into a distribution tray, and the amount of drug discharged is detected by the weight measuring means.

[0004] The conventional medicine dispensing device is equipped with a medicine container storage shelf capable of storing a large number of medicine containers. The conventional medicine dispensing device uses a robot mechanism to hold one medicine container based on prescription information from the medicine container storage shelf storing a plurality of medicine containers, move the medicine container three-dimensionally, and place the medicine container on a container placement device of a medicine feeder. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] JP 2018-35001 A [Patent Document 2] WO2015 / 076267 / A1 publication Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] Conventional drug dispensing devices use a robotic mechanism to move drug containers in three dimensions, which means the entire device is large and the number of parts increases, making it difficult to introduce into small pharmacies and other facilities, leaving room for improvement.

[0007] The present disclosure provides a compact medication dispensing device that does not have robotics mechanisms. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] One aspect of the present disclosure for solving the above-mentioned problems is a drug dispensing device comprising a drug container in which one or more prescription amounts of drug are stored, a drug feeder on which the drug container is placed, a powder feeder into which one prescription amount of drug is loaded into a hopper and from which the loaded drug is discharged from a trough communicating with the hopper, and a distribution tray having a drug feeder and a drug feeding groove into which the drug discharged from the powder feeder is loaded. Effect of the Invention

[0009] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a small medicine dispensing device that does not have a robotic mechanism can be provided. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a medicine dispensing device in a first embodiment with a top cover open. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of the vicinity of a distribution tray in the medicine dispensing device of FIG. 1. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of the drug feeder of FIG. 2. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a drug feeder according to a first embodiment. [Diagram 5] FIG. 2 is a schematic front view of the drug feeder according to the first embodiment. [Figure 6] This is an oblique view showing a drug container of embodiment 1 observed from a direction different from that of the above-mentioned embodiment, where (a) shows the state in which the lid member is in a closed state, and (b) shows the state in which the lid member is in an open state. [Figure 7]FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the medicine container of FIG. 6(a) as viewed from another direction. [Figure 8] FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a drug container according to a first embodiment, where (a) is a cross-sectional view showing the entire drug container of the first embodiment, and (b) is an enlarged view of the bottom wall. [Figure 9] FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a drug container according to one aspect of embodiment 1. [Figure 10] FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the partition member of FIG. 8. [Figure 11] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a feeder body of the medicine feeder with medicine containers removed from a holding member. [Figure 12] FIG. 2 is a front view of the feeder body of the medicine feeder with the medicine container removed from the holding member. [Figure 13] 12 is a perspective view of a feeder body of the medicine feeder, with the medicine containers removed from the holding member, observed from a different direction than that of FIG. 11. FIG. [Figure 14] FIG. 14 is a perspective view of the feeder body, with the drug containers removed from the holding member, observed from a different direction than in FIG. 13, and showing an enlarged outline of the shutter opening / closing mechanism. [Figure 15] FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of the process of discharging medicine from a medicine container, in which (a), (b), and (c) are explanatory diagrams showing the process from attaching the medicine container to the feeder body to discharging the medicine, and an enlarged cross-sectional view of a portion thereof. [Figure 16] 13 is an operational diagram showing the movement of the engagement piece, in which (a) is a perspective view showing the engagement member of the feeder body on the left and the engagement piece holding part of the shutter opening / closing mechanism on the right, and (b) is an explanatory view showing the state where the engagement piece of the feeder body is immersed in the opening on the left and the engagement piece of the feeder body is protruding from the opening on the right. [Figure 17] 1A and 1B are explanatory views showing the operation of the shutter of the medicine container, in which (a) is a perspective view when the shutter is closed, and (b) is a perspective view when the shutter is open. [Figure 18]Schematic diagram showing the positional relationship between the drug feeder and the distribution plate, where (a) is an oblique view showing the state in which the engagement portion of the transmission member of the drug container engages with the engagement portion of the shutter opening / closing mechanism, and (b) is an explanatory diagram showing the positional relationship between the drug feeder and the distribution plate. [Figure 19] FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a shutter of a drug container according to one aspect of embodiment 1. [Figure 20] 1A is a schematic diagram showing the operation of the shutter member in embodiment 1, where (a) is a bottom view of the drug container when the shutter is fully open, (b) is a bottom view of the drug container when the shutter is half open, and (c) is a bottom view of the drug container when the shutter is closed. [Figure 21] FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a powder feeder according to a first embodiment. [Figure 22] FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of the powder feeder of the first embodiment in the vicinity of the distribution tray with the hopper removed. [Diagram 23] 1 is a schematic diagram showing the positional relationship between a powdered medicine discharge section and a distribution tray of one aspect of a medicine feeder in a plan view of the first embodiment. FIG. [Figure 24] 13 is a schematic diagram showing the positional relationship between a powdered medicine discharge portion and a distribution tray of a medicine feeder of another aspect in a plan view of the first embodiment. FIG. [Diagram 25] 1 is a schematic diagram showing the positional relationship between a powdered medicine discharge section and a distribution tray of one aspect of a powder feeder in a plan view of embodiment 1. FIG. [Figure 26] 1 is a schematic diagram showing the positional relationship between a powdered medicine discharge section and a distribution tray of a powder feeder of another aspect in a plan view of the first embodiment. FIG. [Figure 27] 5A to 5C are schematic operation diagrams illustrating the operation of the scraping device of the first embodiment. [Figure 28] 2 is a perspective view showing a state in which the manual tablet distribution device of FIG. 1 has been changed in position. FIG. [Figure 29] FIG. 11 is a schematic perspective view of the medicine dispensing device of the second embodiment, showing the state in which the top cover is open. [Diagram 30] FIG. 30 is a schematic perspective view of the vicinity of a distribution tray in the medicine dispensing device of FIG. 29. [Diagram 31]FIG. 11 is a schematic perspective view of the periphery of a positioning member according to a second embodiment. [Diagram 32] FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing a drug feeder of embodiment 2, in which (a) is a front view showing a model of the drug feeder of embodiment 2, and (b) is an exploded perspective view of a shutter opening / closing mechanism thereof. [Diagram 33] 10A, 10B, and 10C are diagrams showing the mounting of a medicine container in the medicine feeder of the second embodiment, and are explanatory diagrams showing a state in which the medicine container is mounted on the feeder body of the medicine feeder of the second embodiment; [Diagram 34] 10A, 10B, and 10C are explanatory views showing a state in which a drug container is removed from a feeder body of the drug feeder of the second embodiment; [Diagram 35] FIG. 11 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a drug container of a second embodiment, in which (a) is a cross-sectional view showing the entire drug container of the second embodiment, and (b) is a cross-sectional view of the vicinity of a shutter when the shutter is in an open state. [Diagram 36] FIG. [Figure 37] Schematic diagrams of a drug container of variant example 2, where (a) is a schematic oblique view of the drug container, (b) is a diagram illustrating the operation of releasing the lid member, (c) is a diagram illustrating the state in which the lid side locking portion is closed, and (d) is a diagram illustrating the state in which the lid side locking portion is open. [Figure 38] FIG. 11 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a drug container according to a third modified example. [Figure 39] FIG. 13 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a drug container according to a fourth modified example. [Diagram 40] FIG. 13 is a schematic perspective view of a drug container according to a fifth modified example. [Diagram 41] 13(a) and (b) are schematic perspective views of a drug container according to a fifth modified example. [Diagram 42] FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a medicine dispensing system including a medicine dispensing device of embodiment 1. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] Hereinafter, more specific embodiments of the present disclosure will be described. However, more detailed explanations than necessary may be omitted. For example, detailed explanations of already well-known matters and duplicate explanations of substantially identical configurations may be omitted. This is to avoid the following explanation becoming unnecessarily redundant and to facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art. In the following description, identical or similar components are designated by the same reference numerals. Furthermore, the inventors provide the accompanying drawings and the following description so that those skilled in the art can fully understand the present disclosure. The following embodiments merely represent one aspect, and are not intended to limit the subject matter described in the claims. Furthermore, a comprehensive or specific aspect of the present disclosure may be realized as any one of an apparatus, a system, a method, an integrated circuit, a computer program, or a recording medium, or may be realized as any combination of an apparatus, a system, a method, an integrated circuit, a computer program, and a recording medium.

[0012] (Embodiment 1) A medicine dispensing device 1 according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure will be described. For ease of understanding, an overview of the medicine dispensing device 1 will be described first, and then each member and device will be described in detail. In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the drug may be a powder, a tablet crushed into a powder, or a mixture thereof. In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the drug may be simply referred to as a powder.

[0013] Fig. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a medicine dispensing device 1. The medicine dispensing device 1 in Fig. 1 shows a state in which an upper cover 3 is open. As shown in FIG. 1, a medicine dispensing device 1 is surrounded by a housing 2, the inside of which is divided into a tablet manual distribution area 300, a powdered medicine dividing area 301, and a medicine packaging area 302. 1, the housing 2 has a top cover 3. The top cover 3 is attached to the main body of the housing 2 by a hinge (not shown). A display device 35 is attached to the top cover 3. The tablet manual distribution area 300 is provided with a tablet manual distribution device 303. Since the tablet manual distribution device 303 is well known, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0014] FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of the distribution tray 6 and its periphery in the medicine dispensing device 1 of FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the powdered medicine dividing area 301 is an area where the distribution tray 6 is installed, and around it, the medicine feeders 5 (5a to 5e), the powder feeder 900, and the cleaning device In addition, a scooping device 8 is provided in powder medicine dividing area 301. The distribution dish 6 and the scraping device 8 are known and will only be described briefly. The distribution dish 6 is a disk-shaped member provided with a drug insertion groove 13 (input groove), also called a "concave groove." The drug insertion groove 13 surrounds the outer edge of the distribution dish 6 in an annular shape. The distribution dish 6 is provided with an equipment storage opening 15 in the center. Note that in FIG. 2, most of the opening is covered with a lid. The powdered medicine feeding hopper 310 described above is installed at the equipment storage opening 15. The distribution plate 6 can be rotated at a constant speed or by a predetermined angle.

[0015] 2, in the medicine dispensing device 1, five medicine feeders 5 (5a to 5e) and one powder feeder 900 are arranged in a high density around a distribution dish 6 in a counterclockwise direction at the front side, at a distance shorter than half the circumference of the distribution dish 6. The distribution dish 6 has a medicine input groove 13 and rotates counterclockwise. The five drug containers 420a to 420e store more than one prescription of frequently used drugs so that they can be used by a number of patients in a small pharmacy, for example. The number of drug containers 420 may be one or more.

[0016] The powdered medicine feeding hopper 310 is a device in which the medicine is scraped out from the medicine feeding groove 13 by the scraping device 8 and fed. As shown in Fig. 2, the powdered medicine input hopper 310 is disposed at a position opposite to a position between the plurality of medicine feeders 5. In the case of Fig. 2, the powdered medicine input hopper 310 is disposed at a position opposite to a position between the medicine feeder 5c and the medicine feeder 5d (the position of the rotating plate 12 of the scraping device 8). The powder feeder 900 is disposed at a position around the distribution tray 6 that is farthest from the powdered medicine input hopper 310. In the case of Fig. 2, the powder feeder 900 is disposed to the right of the medicine feeder 5e. The powder feeder 900 may be disposed at the position of the medicine feeder 5a. As a result, when the medicine is fed into the hopper 910 of the powder feeder 900, the medicine can be prevented from scattering and contaminating the powder medicine feeding hopper 310 (see FIG. 21). Also, when the powder feeder 900 is vibrated, the medicine can be prevented from scattering from the hopper 910 or the trough 920 and contaminating the powder medicine feeding hopper 310.

[0017] FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of the periphery of the distribution tray 6 in the medicine dispensing device 1 of FIG. 3, the center of rotation of the distribution dish 6 is P3. The five drug feeders 5a to 5e and the one powder feeder 900 are arranged radially around the center of rotation P3 of the distribution dish 6.

[0018] Here, the meaning of radially arranged will be explained. First, the drug feeder 5a will be described. 3, the central axis of the drug container 420a of the drug feeder 5a in the longitudinal direction is designated as P5a, and the intersection of the central axis P5a and the outer periphery of the distribution plate 6 is designated as Xa. The drug feeder 5a is disposed so that a normal line Ha of the distribution tray 6 at the intersection point Xa overlaps with the central axis P5a.

[0019] Similarly, the drug feeders 5b to 5e are arranged such that normals Hb to He of the distribution dish 6 at intersections Xb to Xe between the central axes P5b to P5e of the drug containers 420b to 420e and the outer periphery of the distribution dish 6 overlap with the central axes P5b to P5e. In this manner, the drug feeders 5a-5e of the present disclosure are arranged radially around the rotation center P3 of the distribution dish 6. Each of the drug feeders 5a-5e discharges drugs from each of the drug containers 420a-420e into the drug input groove 13 of the distribution dish 6.

[0020] Next, the powder feeder 900 will be described. Powder feeder 900 has a hopper 910 and a trough 920 (FIG. 21). P9a denotes the central axis in the longitudinal direction of trough 920 of powder feeder 900. Xf denotes the intersection of P9a and the outer periphery of distribution dish 6. The powder feeder 900 is disposed so that a normal line Hf of the distribution dish 6 at the intersection point Xf overlaps with the central axis P9a. In the powder feeder 900 , a prescription amount of the medicine is charged into the hopper 910 , and the prescription amount of the medicine charged into the hopper 910 is discharged from the trough 920 into the medicine charging groove 13 of the distribution plate 6 . As in the above embodiment, the drug feeder 5 and powder feeder 900 are oriented normal to the distribution dish 6, so that as many drug feeders 5 as possible can be installed in a specified area on the outer periphery of the distribution dish 6, and the drug feeders 5 and powder feeders 900 installed on the outer periphery of the distribution dish 6 can be arranged so that the conditions for the drugs dispensed from them to fall into the drug insertion groove 13 are all the same.

[0021] (1) Drug feeder Fig. 4 is a schematic perspective view of the drug feeder 5 in the embodiment 1. Fig. 5 is a schematic front view of the drug feeder 5 in the embodiment 1. As shown in FIG. 4, the drug feeder 5 has a feeder portion 22 and a container support portion . Feeder section 22 has drug container 420 and feeder body 10 that holds drug container 420. Feeder body 10 is mechanically divided into container support section 23, weight measuring section 24, and base section 26, as shown in FIG. 5, the container support part 23 has a support base 27, a vibration member 16 (container holding part), and vibration means 30a, 30b. The vibration means 30a, 30b are piezoelectric elements and have a plate shape. The vibration member 16 and the vibration means 30a, 30b are also vibration devices that vibrate the medicine container 420.

[0022] The support base 27 and the vibration member 16 are both L-shaped members having a horizontal portion and a vertical wall portion. That is, the support base 27 has a support-side horizontal portion 30 and a support-side vertical wall portion 31 as shown in FIG. The vibration member 16 also functions as a container holder, and has a vibration-side horizontal portion 32 and a vibration-side vertical wall portion 33 (vertical wall). The vibration-side vertical wall portion 33 has two engaging portions, an engaging portion (trapezoidal engaging portion 47) that engages with the drug container 420, and an engaging piece 50, as shown in FIG.

[0023] The support base 27 and the vibration member 16 are connected by two vibration means 30a and 30b. There is substantially no contact between the vibration-side horizontal portion 32 and the support-side horizontal portion 30. Therefore, when electricity is applied to the vibration means 30a, 30b, the vibration member 16 vibrates.

[0024] As shown in Fig. 5, the weight measuring unit 24 is disposed below the container support unit 23. The weight measuring unit 24 includes a weight measuring means 25 and a vibration isolating means 18. The weight measuring means 25 is a known load cell. The vibration isolating means 18 includes a vibration isolating member 28. The container support part 23 (support stand 27, vibrating member 16, and vibrating means 30a, 30b) is connected to the detection part of the weight measuring means 25. The base part 26 supports the upper members (support stand 27, vibrating member 16, and vibrating means 30a, 30b) via the vibration-proof member 28 of the weight measuring part 24. The weight of the container support part 23 is detected by weight measuring means 25. The weight of the vibration isolation means 18 is applied to the base part 26, but is not applied to the weight measuring means 25. Therefore, the weight of the container support part 23 (support stand 27, vibrating member 16, vibration means 30a, 30b) is detected by weight measuring means 25.

[0025] Drug container 420 is a container filled with a drug, and has a rectangular parallelepiped shape with a substantially square side surface. The drug container 420 is surrounded by a front wall 435 , a rear wall 436 , left and right side walls 437 , a top wall 438 , and a bottom wall 440 . On bottom wall 440 of drug container 420, near front wall 435, there is an openable / closable powdered drug discharge portion 411. Further, there are engagement portions (engagement groove 130, engagement recess 131, see FIG. 11) on the vertical side and the lower part of rear wall 436.

[0026] The drug container 420 is filled with a drug and fixed to the feeder body 10 as shown in Figures 4 and 5. That is, the back wall 436 of the drug container 420 contacts the vibration-side vertical wall 33 (vertical wall) of the vibration member 16 serving as the container holder, and the back wall 436 side of the bottom wall 440 of the drug container 420 contacts the vibration-side horizontal part 32, and most of the drug container 420 is fixed to the feeder body 10 in a cantilevered state. That is, the vibration-side horizontal part 32 also serves as a mounting member (mounting table) on which at least a part of the drug container 420 is placed. Also, the engaging portions of the drug container 420 are engaged with two engaging portions of the vibration member 16 (the groove-shaped engaging portion 48 and the engaging piece 50 as shown in FIG. 14). Therefore, the drug container 420 is integrated with the vibration member 16 and vibrates together with the vibration member 16.

[0027] Here, information storage means 65 is provided on one of the two left and right side walls 437 (see FIG. 4). Information on the medicine container 420 (information on the medicine contained in the medicine container 420) is stored in the information storage means 65. For example, identification information for identifying the contained medicine (information on the medicine name, various codes, etc.) and remaining amount information on the current remaining amount of the contained medicine are stored. The information stored in the information storage means 65 is information that can be used in association with prescription data, etc., and by acquiring the information stored in the information storage means 65, an operation for identifying the type of medicine contained in the medicine container 420, etc., can be performed. This information storage means 65 may be a memory such as an IC tag. Also, it may be a code such as a one-dimensional code (barcode) or a two-dimensional code, and when a code is adopted, it may be attached to a label.

[0028] The medicine feeder 5 has an information read / write means 66 (not shown) capable of reading and writing information from and to the information storage means 65. In the first embodiment, an RFID reader / writer is used as the information read / write means 66, and information can be read from and written to the information storage means 65 by wireless communication. The information storage means 65 is capable of reading cassette information and writing (rewriting) the remaining amount of medicine after the medicine is dispensed from the medicine container 420. The cassette information is information related to the medicine container 420, such as the name of the medicine and the remaining amount. This information reading / writing means 66 is located outside the information storage means 65 when the drug container 420 is attached to the feeder body 10, and is disposed at a position slightly away from the information storage means 65. Instead of the information reading / writing means 66, it is also possible to provide information reading means and information writing means that are capable of reading and writing information.

[0029] In the first embodiment, five medicine feeders 5 are installed around the distribution plate 6. The front wall 435 side of the medicine container 420 protrudes toward the distribution plate 6, and the powdered medicine discharge part 411 (also called the first powdered medicine discharge part) is located directly above the medicine input groove 13.

[0030] In the medicine dispensing device 1 of the first embodiment, the medicine containers 420 of the medicine feeders 5 are filled with different medicines in advance. Based on the prescription, a specific medicine feeder 5 is driven and medicines are dispensed into the distribution tray 6. Specifically, a signal from the control device 960 arranged in Fig. 1 causes a current of a constant frequency to flow through the vibration means 30a, 30b of the specific medicine feeder 5 to generate vibrations, which in turn vibrate the vibration member 16 (container holding section). The control device 960 may be arranged at any position in the medicine dispensing device 1. Also, around the time when the vibration starts, the distribution plate 6 is rotated.

[0031] Also, around the time when vibration starts, the weight of the drug container 420 is measured. The weight of the drug container 420 is obtained by subtracting a fixed value from the weight detected by the weight measuring means 25. More specifically, the weight of the drug container 420 is obtained by subtracting the weight of the container support part 23 from the weight detected by the weight measuring means 25. The weight of the medicine container 420 before the powdered medicine is discharged is stored as the original weight G. The weight of the medicine container 420 is constantly monitored. That is, the current weight of the medicine container 420 is monitored as the current weight g.

[0032] When the vibration member 16 starts vibrating, the medicine container 420 vibrates together. Here, in the first embodiment, the medicine container 420 is firmly joined to the vibration side vertical wall portion 33 (vertical wall) of the vibration member 16 by the engagement portions (two portions, the engagement portion 48 and the engagement piece 50, as shown in FIG. 14) provided at two places, and the degree of adhesion with the vibration member 16 is also high, so that the medicine container 420 vibrates at the same frequency as the vibration member 16. As a result, the medicine stored in the medicine container 420 moves slowly toward the powdered medicine discharge portion 411 side.

[0033] The medicine then falls from powdered medicine discharge portion 411 and enters medicine input groove 13 in distribution tray 6 below.

[0034] The fact that the medicine is falling is confirmed by a decrease in the weight of the medicine container 420. That is, in the first embodiment, even when the medicine is falling from the medicine container 420, the current weight of the medicine container 420 continues to be monitored as the current weight g. The original weight G of the medicine container 420 immediately after it is placed on the vibration member 16 is compared with the current weight g, and the amount of the medicine that has fallen H (G minus g) is constantly calculated. When the total amount H of the medicines dropped reaches a desired weight, the vibration of the vibrating member 16 is stopped.

[0035] The subsequent operation is to drop the rotating plate 12 of the scraping device 8 into the medicine insertion groove 13 of the distribution tray 6 (see FIG. 2). After that, the distribution tray 6 is rotated by an angle corresponding to the number of drugs to be distributed, and one dose of the drugs is collected on the front side of the rotating plate 12. The rotating plate 12 is then rotated, and the drugs are scraped out of the distribution tray 6 and placed in the powdered medicine input hopper 310. The drugs that fall from the powdered medicine input hopper 310 are packaged in doses by the medicine packaging device 305.

[0036] As shown in Figs. 12 to 14, the vibration-side vertical wall portion 33 has a main body portion 63 made of metal and a lining member 46 made of resin provided on the main body portion 63. As shown in FIG. 14, the lining member 46 has a generally rectangular plate shape overall, and is provided with an engagement portion 47 on the front surface side. Engagement portion 47 is a trapezoid close to a rectangle when viewed from the front, except that one of the oblique sides has a bulge 58 at the bottom. And dovetail-shaped engagement portion (holding portion side engagement portion) 48 is provided on the side corresponding to the oblique side of the trapezoid.

[0037] The rear surface of the vibration side vertical wall portion 33 is provided with two rectangular recesses, one at the top and one at the bottom. The bottom side of each recess is inclined so that the bottom side is deeper than the top side. The inclined surface functions as a seat for mounting the vibration means 30a and 30b.

[0038] 14 and 15, a substantially rectangular engagement piece opening 51 is provided on the front and lower part of the engagement portion 47. An engagement piece 50 protrudes from the engagement piece opening 51.

[0039] The vibration-side horizontal portion 32 is a plate-like member made of metal. 14 and 15, a shutter opening / closing mechanism 55 (opening / closing mechanism portion) is provided on one side of the vibration-side horizontal portion 32. The shutter opening / closing mechanism 55 is an opening / closing mechanism for discharging a fixed amount of medicine from the medicine container 420. 14-17, the shutter opening / closing mechanism 55 is composed of an engagement piece holding portion 56 and an arm 57. It also has a power unit that operates (linearly moves) the arm 57. This power unit is composed of a motor, etc. The engagement piece holding portion 56 has a generally rectangular parallelepiped shape, and a recess that serves as an engagement portion 60 is provided on the upper surface. One end of the arm 57 is connected to the engagement piece holding portion 56 , and the other end is housed within the vibration side vertical wall portion 33 .

[0040] In the first embodiment, the feeder body 10 of the first embodiment has an engaging member 210 (see the left diagram in FIG. 16(a)), the upper part of which constitutes the engaging piece 50. That is, the engaging member 210 has an upper engaging piece forming part 210a which forms the engaging piece 50, a lower abutting part 210b, and an intermediate part 210c which connects these. The engaging member 210 is constantly biased in the direction from the support side vertical wall part 31 to the vibration side vertical wall part 33 by a biasing member such as a coil spring. Moreover, the engagement piece holding portion 56 has a pressing protrusion 56a (see the right diagram in FIG. 16(a)) on the side surface. When the engaging piece holding portion 56 is positioned near the vibration-side vertical wall portion 33, as shown in the left diagram of Fig. 16(b), the pressing protrusion portion 56a presses the contact portion 210b in the direction toward the vibration-side vertical wall portion 33. As a result, the engaging member 210 is pressed against the biasing force, and the engaging piece 50 is immersed in the engaging piece opening 51. On the other hand, when the engaging piece holding portion 56 has moved to a position away from the vibration-side vertical wall portion 33, as shown in the right diagram of Fig. 16(b), the engaging member 210 is pressed by the biasing member and moves, so that the engaging piece 50 protrudes from the engaging piece opening 51. In this manner, the engaging member 210 moves within the groove (recess) formed in the vibration-side horizontal portion 32.

[0041] 15 and 16, the external shape of the support base 27 is substantially "L" shaped. That is, the support base 27 has a support-side horizontal portion 30 and a support-side vertical wall portion 31. The front side of the support-side vertical wall portion 31 also has an inclined surface (not shown), which functions as a seat for mounting the vibration means 30a and 30b.

[0042] The vibrating member 16 is placed on a support base 27, and a vibration-side horizontal portion 32 is placed on a support-side horizontal portion 30. The convex side of a vibration-side vertical wall portion 33 faces the concave side of a support-side vertical wall portion 31. Two vibration means 30a, 30b are connected between the concave side of the support side vertical wall portion 31 and the convex side of the vibration side vertical wall portion 33. Both vibration means 30a, 30b are attached at an incline so that the support side vertical wall portion 31 side is upward and the vibration side vertical wall portion 33 side is downward. There is substantially no contact between the vibration-side horizontal portion 32 and the support-side horizontal portion 30 .

[0043] The base portion 26 is a plate-like member made of metal and has a recess in the center. The container support part 23 is fixed to the upper surface of the weight measuring means 25 of the weight measuring part 24 . In addition, the vibration isolation member 28 of the weight measuring unit 24 is installed on the base portion 26 . In embodiment 1, the container support part 23 (support stand 27, vibrating member 16, vibration means 30a, 30b) is placed on the upper surface of the weight measuring means 25, and the weight measuring means 25 can accurately measure the weight of these.

[0044] The feeder body 10 of the present disclosure has a container holding section for holding a drug container 420 and an upright support section (support side vertical wall section 31), the container holding section having a vertical member (vibration side vertical wall section 33), and vibration means 30a, 30b are provided between the support section and the vertical member.

[0045] In the feeder body 10 of the present disclosure, the vibration means 30a, 30b are provided on one side surface of the drug container 420. That is, the drug container 420 and the vibration means 30a, 30b are arranged side by side. Therefore, compared to a layout in which the vibration means 30a, 30b are located below the drug container 420, the drug container 420 can be placed at a lower position, and the powdered drug discharge portion 411 of the drug container 420 can be brought closer to the distribution dish 6, thereby reducing splashing of the drug.

[0046] (2) Drug containers Next, a description will be given of the drug container 420. In the following description, the length and width directions are based on the posture of the drug container 420 when it is installed in the feeder body 10. The drug container 420 has a sealable container body 70 . As shown in FIG. 6, the drug container 420 has a container body 70 surrounded by a front wall 435 , a rear wall 436 , left and right side walls 437 , a top wall 438 and a bottom wall 440 . The front wall 435 and the back wall 436 are small area side surfaces 62 and are vertically long rectangles. The left and right side walls 437 are rectangular, close to a square, and are large area side surfaces 61. The top wall 438 and the bottom wall 440 are rectangular. The drug container 420 has therein a partition plate 68 (partition member) and a shutter structure portion 473 (see FIG. 8).

[0047] The external shape of container body 70 is a long and narrow box-like member when viewed from front wall 435 side (powdered medicine discharging portion 411 side) based on the posture attached to container support portion 23 of feeder body 10. The container body 70 is a rectangular parallelepiped with a substantially square side shape. That is, the drug container 420 has a large area side 61 and a small area side 62, and the height Hi is large relative to the width W (see FIG. 11).

[0048] As shown in Fig. 6, the cover member 475 constitutes the top wall 438 of the drug container 420. The cover member 475 is attached to the box portion 471 having an open top, and the cover member 475 can be swung by the hinge 421. By opening the cover member 475, powdered medicine can be filled from above, and by closing the cover member 475, the drug container 420 can be sealed. The drug container 420 can be filled with powdered medicine while being held in the feeder body 10.

[0049] 8, the lid member 475 has a lid main body part 475a and a small lid part 475b. The small lid part 475b is attached to the underside of the lid main body part 475a (the underside when in the closed state) and is capable of swinging by a hinge 421a. Here, lid member 475 has lid internal storage section 527, which is a space capable of storing a desiccant or the like. A humidity control agent is stored in lid internal storage section 527. Then, lid internal storage section 527 can be opened and closed by swinging small lid section 475b. That is, lid internal storage section 527 is a space formed between lid main body section 475a and small lid section 475b. In detail, when lid member 475 is in a closed state and small lid section 475b is in a closed state, it is a space located above most of small lid section 475b.

[0050] 7 and 8, lid member 475 has lid side locking piece 476 on the side opposite to the connection portion with box portion 471. Lid side locking piece 476 is connected to the end portion on the front side of lid main body portion 475a in a state in which it can swing by a hinge. As shown in FIG. 8, the cover side locking piece 476 has a locking protrusion 476a on the surface that faces inward when the cover member 475 is in the upright position. This locking protrusion 476a is a protrusion that extends from the front side to the back side when the cover member 475 is in the closed state, and is a protrusion that can be engaged with a protrusion 600 formed on the box part 471. In other words, the locking protrusion 476a and the protrusion 600 are a pair of engaging parts that engage with each other. When these are engaged, the cover member 475 is in a locked state (a state in which the closed state is firmly maintained). Note that the box part 471 is formed with an operation cutout 601 (see FIG. 7)) for operating the cover member 475. This operation cutout 601 is located on the side of the cover member 475 (on one side in the width direction) when the cover member 475 is in the locked state.

[0051] As shown in FIG. 9, box section 471 is formed by inserting partition member 606 into box body 605 from the opening on the front side, attaching pressing plate member 607, and further attaching shutter structure section 473. The partition member 606 has a flat body portion 606a, a pressed plate portion 606b protruding upward from the upper surface of the body portion 606a, and a straightening member 472 (see FIG. 10) formed on the lower surface side of the body portion 606a. The lower side of partition member 606 constitutes powdered medicine passage 517. Powdered medicine passage 517 is a passage leading to powdered medicine discharge portion 411, and is surrounded by the bottom of box portion 471, the lower side wall, and partition member 606 (see FIG. 8).

[0052] The main body 606a has a communication hole forming portion 546 on the rear wall 436 side. The communication hole forming portion 546 is a portion in which a large number of small holes (openings) 547 are provided, and a row of long holes is formed. Note that this row of long holes is formed by forming a plurality of long holes lined up in the front-rear direction. Each of the long holes penetrates the main body 606a in the thickness direction.

[0053] 8 and 9, the pressing plate member 607 has two mounting operation parts 610. The mounting operation parts 610 are knobs that are elastically deformed when operated by a user. The two mounting operation parts 610 are formed at positions spaced apart in the width direction, and each has a protrusion that protrudes outward in the width direction. 9, a box-side engaging portion 612 is formed on each of the left and right side walls of the box main body 605. The box-side engaging portion 612 is a hole penetrating the side wall, and engages with a protruding portion of the mounting operation portion 610. In other words, the two mounting operation portions 610 and the two box-side engaging portions 612 engage with each other, whereby the presser plate member 607 is attached to the box main body 605.

[0054] 8, the pressing protrusion 611 is a protrusion extending from the front side to the rear side, and is a part that abuts against the pressed plate portion 606b of the partition member 606 from the front. Specifically, the surface of the protruding end is in surface contact with the front surface of the pressed plate portion 606b. This makes it possible to prevent unintended displacement of the partition member 606.

[0055] 8(a), inside the medicine container 420, the communication hole forming part 546, which is a flat part, becomes a partition plate part (partition member). That is, the partition plate part (partition member) is arranged at the boundary between the storage space 613 that stores the powdered medicine and the powdered medicine passage 517. The powdered medicine passage 517 is a part through which the powdered medicine passes when the powdered medicine is discharged, and is a space located below the communication hole forming part 546, and is a space including a part between the communication hole forming part 546 and the bottom wall 440.

[0056] The bottom portion of powdered medicine passage 517 (the upper surface of bottom wall 440) is inclined. Details will be described below. Fig. 8(b) is an enlarged view of a cross section of the bottom wall 440. The dashed line in the enlarged view of Fig. 8(b) is a line parallel to the bottom surface (lower surface) of the bottom wall 440. As shown in the enlarged view of Fig. 8(b), the upper surface of the bottom wall 440 is inclined at an angle θ with respect to the dashed line. In other words, point M2 at the left end of the upper surface of the bottom wall 440 is located at a position higher by about the angle θ than point M1 at the right end of the upper surface of the bottom wall 440. The angle θ is about 1 degree. With the above configuration, when small amounts need to be dispensed at a time, it is more accurate to control the amount dispensed by having the medicine fall in a line from one point on bottom wall 440 as in opening 547 in Figure 9, rather than providing opening 547 across the entire width of powdered medicine passage 517 and having the medicine fall like a waterfall from the entire width of the bottom of the cassette into medicine insertion groove 13. Furthermore, when dispensing a small amount, the vibration applied to the drug container 420 is made weaker than that for normal dispensing, thereby taking advantage of the effect of the above-mentioned inclination, and the drug is dispensed into the drug insertion groove 13 from one point on the inclined bottom wall 440. On the other hand, when dispensing a normal amount, the vibration given to the medicine container 420 is stronger than the above, so that the medicine is dispensed in a waterfall shape without being affected by an inclination of the bottom wall 440 of about 1 degree.

[0057] The communication hole forming portion 546 is a portion that assumes a horizontal position when the drug container 420 is held by the feeder body 10. In addition, a large inclination portion 543 and a small inclination portion 545 are provided in a portion adjacent to the communication hole forming portion 546 that serves as a partition plate.

[0058] When the drug container 420 is held in the feeder body 10, the large inclined portion 543 and the small inclined portion 545 together form an inclined surface that inclines toward the communication hole forming portion 546. The large inclined portion 543 is longer than the small inclined portion 545, and the inclination angles of the large inclined portion 543 and the small inclined portion 545 are equal to each other. In other words, the space between the large inclined portion 543 and the small inclined portion 545 (the lower portion of the storage space 613) converges toward the communication hole forming portion 546.

[0059] When discharging the medicine from the medicine container 420, the powdered medicine discharge part 411 is opened while the medicine container 420 is held by the feeder body 10, and the medicine container 420 is vibrated. At this time, when the amount of the powdered medicine in the powdered medicine passage 517 decreases due to discharge, the powdered medicine in the medicine container 420 moves from the storage space 613, which is the space above the communication hole forming part 546, to the powdered medicine passage 517 and proceeds toward the powdered medicine discharge part 411. Then, the powdered medicine is discharged from the powdered medicine discharge part 411. By vibrating medicine container 420, the powdered medicine is stirred in storage space 613. At this time, a part of the stored medicine moves in an upward direction up large inclination portion 543, and moves toward communication hole forming portion 546 in a direction above communication hole forming portion 546. In other words, as in the above, the powdered medicine is unlikely to exert a pressing force on communication hole forming portion 546, and the powdered medicine falls appropriately from the communication hole to the powdered medicine passage side, and the medicine that has passed around straightening member 472 and been clarified can be smoothly discharged.

[0060] The rear wall 436 is provided with a pair of engagement grooves 130 and one engagement recess 131, as shown in FIGS. The engagement grooves 130 are vertical grooves that are provided along the left and right vertical sides of the rear wall 436 and open inward. The engagement recess 131 is a depression provided in the lower part of the rear wall 436 .

[0061] 19, there is a missing portion 77 in the region from the lower portion of the front wall 435 to the front wall 435 side of the bottom wall 440. The portion of the bottom wall 440 on the front wall 435 side is missing at an angle. Therefore, the end of the bottom wall 440 on the front wall 435 side forms an oblique side as shown in FIG.

[0062] FIG. 19 is a schematic exploded perspective view of the shutter member 491 of the drug container 420 of the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 19, the shutter structure 473 is made up of a guide member 90, a shutter member 491 (opening / closing member), a transmission member 492, and a biasing member 93. The guide member 90 is a member having a concave side shape, and has an upper horizontal wall 95, a lower horizontal wall 96, and a back wall 97 connecting the two.

[0063] 17, the shutter member 491 has a closing wall 110, a guide wall portion 111, a connecting wall 112, and a guide wall portion 113. In addition, a seal member (packing) is attached to a position that will be the upper side of the closing wall 110. The closure wall 110 is in a horizontal position when installed. The closure wall 110 has an inclined side 138 as shown in FIG. The guide wall portion 111 is a wall surface that is parallel to the closing wall 110. The connecting wall 112 is a vertical wall that connects the guide wall portion 111 and the closing wall 110. The closing wall 110, the connecting wall 112 and the guide wall portion 111 form a concave shape. The guide wall portion 113 is a small wall that rises vertically from the free end side of the guide wall portion 111 .

[0064] The transmission member 492 is a stick-shaped member, and in the first embodiment, is made of a thin metal plate. A shutter side attachment portion 118 is provided at one end of the transmission member 492. A notch portion 115 is provided at the other end of the transmission member 492, and the portion beyond the notch portion 115 serves as an engagement portion . The transmission member 492 is attached to the shutter member 491 at the shutter side attachment portion 118 , and is integrated with the shutter member 491 .

[0065] The biasing member 93 is a spring.

[0066] The partition plate 68 (partition member) is housed within the container body 70. Most of the shutter structure 473 is within the container body 70, and only the transmission member 492 extends along the outer surface of the container body 70.

[0067] The partition plate 68 (partition member) has a contact wall portion 142 fixed to the inside of the front wall 435 of the container body 70 (see FIG. 18(b)). 18(b), the contact wall portion 142, the inclined portions 543, 545 and the communication hole forming portion 546 of the partition plate 68 (partition member) form a continuous wall from the front wall 435 to the rear wall 436 of the container body 70. The large inclined portion 543 of the partition plate 68 (partition member) is located at a position that reaches from the front wall 435 to the center of the container body 70. Communication hole forming portion 546 is located near bottom wall 440 of container body 70, but is not in contact with bottom wall 440, and a powdered medicine passage 517 through which the medicine passes is formed between them.

[0068] As shown in FIG. 19, the shutter structure 473 is accommodated on the lower side of the large inclination portion 543 . The guide member 90 of the shutter structure 473 is disposed with the back wall 97 facing the rear wall 436 side. The shutter member 491 is oriented so that the concave portion formed by the closing wall 110, the connecting wall 112, and the guide wall portion 111 engages with the recess of the guide member 90. In other words, the lower surface of the guide wall portion 111 of the shutter member 491 contacts the lower horizontal wall 96 of the guide member 90. Further, the closing wall 110 of the shutter member 491 is in contact with the outside of the bottom wall 440 of the container body 70 .

[0069] The biasing member 93 is located between the inner surface of the front wall 435 of the container body 70 and the guide wall portion 113 of the shutter member 491 , and biases the shutter member 491 toward the back wall 97 of the guide member 90 . The transmission member 492 is located outside the container body 70 and extends along the side wall toward the rear wall 436 .

[0070] The transmission member 492 is integral with the shutter member 491, and when the transmission member 492 is slid in the front-rear direction of the container body 70, the shutter member 491 also moves linearly. The shutter member 491 has a recessed portion that contacts the guide member 90 and the container body 70, and moves linearly while being restricted by these. When the transmission member 492 is closest to the rear wall 436, the closing wall 110 of the shutter member 491 covers the missing portion 77 at the bottom of the container body 70, sealing off the missing portion 77, which is the opening through which the medicine is discharged. When the transmission member 492 is closest to the front wall 435, the closing wall 110 of the shutter member 491 leaves the inclined side (the oblique side on the rear wall 436 side) of the missing portion 77 at the bottom of the container body 70, and the bottom of the container body 70 opens. FIG. 20 is a schematic diagram showing the operation of the shutter member 491. As shown in FIG. The opening end of the missing portion 77 of the container body 70 (the portion of the missing portion 77 on the front wall 435 side of the bottom wall 440) is inclined, and the free end of the shutter member 491 is also the inclined edge 138, so that the opening which becomes the powdered medicine discharge portion 411 becomes a slit 148 in an oblique position as shown in Figures 20(a) and (b). In the drug feeder 5 of the present disclosure, the opening degree of the width of the slit 148 can be adjusted, and the opening degree can be changed (control for adjusting the opening degree) based on a signal from the control device 960. This control also controls the moving distance of the transmission member 492. Note that the opening degree of the slit 148 may be changed according to (based on) the type of drug to be discharged from the drug container 420 (type of drug, flowability, particle size, etc.) and the amount of drug discharged. The shutter member (opening / closing member) 491 is pressed by the biasing member 93 in a direction in which the powdered medicine discharging portion 411 is closed, and the powdered medicine discharging portion 411 is opened by moving the transmission member 492 to the front wall 435 side.

[0071] In the medicine feeder 5 of the first embodiment, the powdered medicine discharge portion 411 has a slit shape and is inclined with respect to the medicine container 420.

[0072] Next, the operation of the drug feeder 5 will be described. In the medicine dispensing device 1 of the first embodiment, as described above, the medicine containers 420 of the medicine feeders 5 are filled with different medicines in advance.

[0073] Next, the drug container 420 is attached to the feeder body 10 as shown in FIG. At that time, the feeder body 10 is in a standby state as shown in Fig. 15(a). Specifically, the insertion / removal mechanism of the feeder body 10 is in a stored position, and the engagement piece 50 of the vibration-side vertical wall portion 33 protrudes from the engagement piece opening 51. In addition, the arm 57 of the shutter opening / closing mechanism 55 is drawn toward the vibration-side vertical wall portion 33 , and the engagement piece holding portion 56 is in the vicinity of the vibration-side vertical wall portion 33 . On the other hand, in the drug container 420, the transmission member 492 is pulled toward the rear wall 436, and the opening at the bottom of the container body 70 is kept closed.

[0074] In this state, the rear wall 436 of the drug container 420 is inserted from above along the vibration side vertical wall portion 33 of the feeder body 10 as shown in FIG. 15(a). Here, the vibration-side vertical wall portion 33 has a trapezoidal engagement portion 47, and on the side corresponding to the oblique side of the trapezoid, there is a dovetail-shaped engagement portion (holding portion side engagement portion) 48. Meanwhile, the rear wall 436 of the container body 70 has a pair of engagement grooves 130 (see FIG. 14). Therefore, by inserting the rear wall 436 of the drug container 420 from above along the vibration side vertical wall portion 33 of the feeder body 10, the engagement groove 130 of the container body 70 can be engaged with the engagement portion 48 of the vibration side vertical wall portion 33. The engagement piece 50 of the vibration side vertical wall portion 33 is usually biased by a spring to protrude. When the back wall 436 of the drug container 420 is inserted from above along the vibration side vertical wall portion 33 of the feeder body 10, the engagement piece 50 temporarily sinks into the vibration side vertical wall portion 33. When the insertion of the drug container 420 into the engagement portion 48 is completed, the engagement piece 50 fits into the drug container 420 by the biasing force of the spring.

[0075] At this time, the engaging portion 116 of the transmission member 492 is engaged with the engaging piece holding portion 56 of the feeder body 10 as shown in FIG. 15(b). In the first embodiment, when the drug container 420 is attached, the dovetail-shaped engaging portion 48 functions as a guide that regulates the moving direction of the drug container 420 as described above. Therefore, the drug container 420 can be attached by simply moving the drug container 420 along the engaging portion 48, and the engaging portion 116 of the transmission member 492 can be engaged with the engaging piece holding portion 56. In other words, the engaging portion 116 of the transmission member 492 can be naturally engaged with the engaging piece holding portion 56 by simply attaching the drug container 420 without finely aligning the engaging portion 116 of the transmission member 492 with the engaging piece holding portion 56 (without being aware of the work required for engagement). As described above, a particular drug feeder 5 is selected and driven based on the prescription. In addition, when the insertion / removal mechanism assumes the protruding position, as shown in Figure 15(c), the engagement piece holding portion 56 moves toward the front wall 435, the transmission member 492 slides forward, moving the shutter member 491, and the powdered medicine discharge portion 411 at the bottom of the container body 70 opens.

[0076] Next, vibration of the vibration member 16 is started, and as described above, the medicine container 420 vibrates together. Here, in the first embodiment, the medicine container 420 is firmly joined to the vibration member 16 by the engagement parts provided at two places, and the degree of adhesion with the vibration member 16 is also high, so that the medicine container 420 vibrates at the same frequency as the vibration member 16. 18, in the drug container 420 of the first embodiment, a partition plate 68 (partition member) is provided inside, and the inside of the container body 70 is divided into upper and lower parts. And, below the partition plate 68, a space (powdered medicine passage 517) through which the powdered medicine passes is secured. Therefore, the weight of the powdered medicine on the upper side is less likely to be exerted on the powdered medicine in powdered medicine passage 517, and the powdered medicine can move easily.

[0077] The medicine container 420 of the first embodiment is narrow, and therefore tall because of the need to ensure a volume for storing powdered medicine. The pressure applied to the powdered medicine is a function correlated with the height, and the higher the powdered medicine is stacked, the stronger the force with which the powdered medicine at the bottom is pressed. Therefore, without partition plate 68 (partition member), the powdered medicine near bottom wall 440 would be pressed against the powdered medicine above and harden, which could cause the powdered medicine to move less easily. In the first embodiment, the weight of the powdered medicine on the upper side is supported by the partition plate 68, so that the powdered medicine near the bottom wall 440 is not pressed, and the flow due to vibration is smooth. Furthermore, by vibrating the medicine container 420 during the powdered medicine discharge operation, the powdered medicine in the medicine container 420 is stirred in the storage space, which is the space above the partition plate 68 (communication hole forming part 546). At this time, a part of the stored powdered medicine moves in the upward direction of the large inclination part 543, and moves toward the communication hole forming part 546 in a direction above the communication hole forming part 546. Therefore, on the small hole (slit) 547 of the communication hole forming part 546, a force pressing from above to below by the powdered medicine is unlikely to be applied, and the powdered medicine flowing due to stirring falls appropriately from the small hole (slit) 547, so that the powdered medicine can be discharged smoothly. When the powdered medicine in powdered medicine passage 517 runs short, the powdered medicine falls into powdered medicine passage 517 through small hole 547 provided in communication hole forming portion 546, and the powdered medicine is replenished in powdered medicine passage 517.

[0078] In addition, in the first embodiment, powdered medicine passage 517 is replenished with powdered medicine only through communication hole forming portion 546. Communication hole forming portion 546 is located closer to rear wall 436 than front wall 435 in the horizontal direction, and is away from the discharge portion. In addition, since there is a large inclined portion 543 between the communication hole forming portion 546 and the front wall 435, the space is wider on the front side in the direction of movement of the powdered medicine. Specifically, the height of the space is higher. Therefore, a space is created above the powdered medicine flowing through the powdered medicine passage 517. Therefore, as the powdered medicine moves through the powdered medicine passage 517, the flow of the powdered medicine is rectified, and the laminar flow progresses, resulting in a highly laminar flow.

[0079] In the first embodiment, the end face of the closing wall 110 is configured to have an inclined edge 138, so that the effective opening degree can be adjusted (see FIG. 20). That is, in the medicine feeder 5 of the first embodiment, the powdered medicine discharging portion 411 has a slit shape, and the powdered medicine discharging portion 411 is inclined with respect to the container body . Therefore, as described above, the powdered medicine discharge portion 411 has a spread in the width A direction of the medicine input groove 13. Since the powdered medicine falls with a spread in the width A direction of the medicine input groove 13, it falls evenly in the width A direction of the medicine input groove 13 (see FIG. 18(b)). Therefore, when the powdered medicine is gathered together in a later process, the gathered powdered medicine is less likely to fall apart.

[0080] Moreover, the ends (150, 151) of the cutout portion 77 of the container body 70 are inclined (see FIG. 20). Therefore, as shown in FIG. 20( a ), by increasing the amount of movement of the closing wall 110 , the medicine can be allowed to fall from the entire width of the bottom wall 440 . On the other hand, when the amount of movement of the closing wall 110 is small as in FIG. 20(b), only the area between the inclined side 138 of the closing wall 110 and the oblique side 150 of the bottom wall 440 is open, so that the effective opening width is narrowed. When a large amount of drug needs to be discharged, the amount of movement of the closing wall 110 is increased to allow the drug to fall from the bottom wall 440, as shown in Figure 20(a), and when the amount of drug to be discharged is small, the amount of movement of the closing wall 110 is decreased to allow the drug to fall from a narrow width, as shown in Figure 20(b). FIG. 20(c) is a bottom view of the drug container 420 when the shutter member 491 is closed.

[0081] When a predetermined amount of the drug has been discharged, the vibration of the vibrating member 16 is stopped. The transmission member 492 slides rearward to move the shutter member 491, and the opening at the bottom of the container body 70 is closed.

[0082] (3) Powder feeder FIG. 21 is a schematic perspective view of the powder feeder 900 in the first embodiment. 21, the powder feeder 900 has a hopper 910 having an opening at the top, and a trough 920 provided below the hopper 910. Two piezoelectric elements 930 are disposed below the trough 920. The two piezoelectric elements 930 vibrate the hopper 910 and the trough 920.

[0083] A user puts medicine into the opening of hopper 910. When the user (operator) puts the medicine in, piezoelectric element 930 vibrates and the medicine falls from hopper 910 into trough 920. Furthermore, the medicine that has fallen into trough 920 moves to the tip of trough 920 and falls from the tip of trough 920 into distribution dish 6.

[0084] FIG. 22 is a schematic perspective view of the powder feeder 900 in the vicinity of the distribution tray with the hopper of the first embodiment removed. 22, the tip of the trough 920 is disposed above the distribution dish 6. Therefore, the medicine that has fallen into the trough 920 can move to the tip of the trough 920 and fall into the distribution dish 6. The main configuration of the powder feeder 900 can be the same as that of a conventional powder feeder.

[0085] (4) Positional relationship between the drug feeder and powder feeder and the distribution tray FIG. 23 is a schematic diagram showing, as one embodiment, the positional relationship between the powdered medicine discharging portion 411 of the medicine feeder 5e and the distribution dish 6 in a plan view. The drug feeder 5e faces the normal line H1 of the distribution tray 6. In other words, the central axis P5e in the longitudinal direction of the medicine container 420e coincides with the normal line H1. 23 shows a state in which the partition plate 68 and the flow rectifying member 472 of FIG. 8 have been removed and the bottom wall 440 is visible. The tip of bottom wall 440 in the direction of arrow A is powdered medicine discharge portion 411 where medicine falls into medicine input groove 13 of distribution tray 6. The tip of medicine container 420e is closing wall 110 of shutter member 491. Powdered medicine discharging portion 411 and closing wall 110 form slit 148. 23 is a diagram showing a case where the powdered medicine discharge portion 411 (first powdered medicine discharge portion) is parallel to the tangent line S1 of the distribution dish 6 in the medicine feeder 5e as one embodiment. That is, the line segment of the right end 411a of the powdered medicine discharge portion and the left end 411b of the powdered medicine discharge portion and the tangent line S1 are parallel to each other. In the case of Fig. 23, the medicine moves on the bottom wall 440 in the direction of the arrow A. Then, in the powdered medicine discharge section 411, the medicine falls into the medicine input groove 13. In this case, as shown in Fig. 23, the width of the medicine that has fallen into the medicine input groove 13 is W1, and the medicines are piled up in a narrow width.

[0086] FIG. 24 shows another embodiment, in which the powdered medicine discharging portion 411 is inclined at an acute inclination angle α with respect to the tangent line S1. In the case of Fig. 24, since the powdered medicine discharge part 411 is inclined at an inclination angle α, the medicine falls into the medicine input groove 13 from the right end 411a of the powdered medicine discharge part to the left end 411b of the powdered medicine discharge part. In this case, the width of the medicine that has fallen into the medicine input groove 13 is W2. Width W2 is wider than width W1, and the height of the medicine in the medicine input groove 13 in Fig. 24 is lower than that in Fig. 23, and the medicine is formed uniformly.

[0087] As described above, in the embodiment of Figure 24, the medicines are piled up over a wide width, so that scraping errors due to the medicines collapsing can be reduced, and therefore it is preferable that the powdered medicine discharge section 411 is inclined with respect to the tangent line S1.

[0088] FIG. 25 is a schematic diagram showing the positional relationship between a trough 920 and a distribution dish 6 of one embodiment of a powder feeder 900 in a plan view. Powder feeder 900 in FIG. 25 is shown with hopper 910 removed to reveal trough 920. The powder feeder 900 faces in the direction of a normal line H2 of the distribution dish 6. In other words, the central axis P9a in the longitudinal direction of the trough 920 coincides with the normal line H2. The tip of the trough 920 in the direction of the arrow A is a trough discharge portion 940 (also called a second powdered medicine discharge portion) where the medicine falls into the medicine input groove 13 of the distribution plate 6. 25 is a diagram showing, as an example, a case where the trough discharge portion 940 is parallel to a tangent line S2 of the distribution dish 6 in the powder feeder 900. In other words, the line segment of the right end 940a of the trough discharge portion and the left end 940b of the trough discharge portion and the tangent line S2 are parallel to each other.

[0089] In the case of Fig. 25, the medicine moves on the trough 920 in the direction of arrow A. Then, at the trough discharge section 940, the medicine falls into the medicine input groove 13. In this case, as shown in Fig. 25, the width of the medicine that has fallen into the medicine input groove 13 is W3, and the medicines are piled up in a narrow width.

[0090] FIG. 26 shows another embodiment, in which the trough discharge portion 940 is inclined at an acute inclination angle β with respect to the tangent line S2. In the case of Figure 26, the trough discharge portion 940 is inclined at an inclination angle β, so that the drug falls into the drug input groove 13 from the left end 940a of the trough discharge portion to the right end 940b of the trough discharge portion. In this case, the width of the drug that has fallen into the drug input groove 13 is W4. Width W4 is wider than width W3, and the height of the drug in the drug input groove 13 in Figure 26 is lower than in the case of Figure 25, so that the drug is formed uniformly.

[0091] As described above, in the embodiment of FIG. 26, since the medicines are piled up over a wide width, it is preferable that the trough discharge portion 940 is inclined with respect to the tangent line S2, since this can reduce scraping errors due to the medicines collapsing.

[0092] A commonly used operation is to discharge medicine from any or all of the medicine feeders 5a-5e onto the distribution tray 6 to form a medicine of width W2 as shown in Figure 24, and then discharge medicine from the powder feeder 900 onto the distribution tray 6 and layer it on top of the medicine of width W2 to form a medicine of width W4 as shown in Figure 26.

[0093] In this manner, it is preferable that the width W2 of the drug by the drug feeder 5 is the same as the width W4 of the drug by the powder feeder 900. Therefore, it is preferable that the inclination angle α of the drug feeder 5 and the inclination angle β of the powder feeder 900 are the same angle.

[0094] Here, the operation of the powder feeder 900 will be described. The drug containers 420 each have a predetermined amount of drug stored therein for each drug type, and the drug to be used based on the prescription information is displayed and indicated on a display screen or the like provided on the drug packaging device 305. The operator then takes out the corresponding drug container 420 from a shelf or the like and attaches it to the drug feeder 5. In addition, some prescribed medicines are not stored in the medicine container 420 beforehand, such as medicines that are used in small amounts, are consumed infrequently, need to be stored in a cool place, or are toxic drugs. When such medicines are prescribed, the display screen instructs the operator to feed the medicine to the powder feeder 900. At this time, the operator takes out and weighs the amount based on the prescription information from the medicine bottle, etc., using a powder medicine inspection system equipped with a medicine weighing device separate from the medicine packaging device 305. By feeding the weighed prescribed amount of medicine into the hopper 910 of the powder feeder 900, the medicine packaging device 305 can pack the medicine together with the medicine feeder 5 to which the medicine container 420 is attached.

[0095] (5) Scraping device 27, the scraping device 8 has a rotating plate 12 at the tip of a scraping arm 950. Specifically, a mounting base (not shown) that can be rotated by a motor is provided at the tip of the scraping arm 950, and the rotating plate 12 having a scraper plate and the like (not shown) is attached to this mounting base. That is, the rotating plate 12 rotates by the power of the motor. The base of the scraping device 8 is installed in the equipment storage opening 15 of the distribution tray 6. A scraping arm 950 of the scraping device 8 protrudes from the inside of the distribution tray 6. The scraping device 8 may not be provided with a turntable, may not rotate as a whole, and may have a swingable scraping arm. Here, in the medicine dispensing device 1 of the first embodiment, the upper opening serving as the medicine inlet of the powdered medicine input hopper 310 is located inside the distribution plate 6. That is, the distribution plate 6 is continuous in an annular shape outside the powdered medicine input hopper 310, and the powdered medicine input hopper 310 is located in an area surrounded by the distribution plate 6 in a plan view. The scraping device 8 is also located inside the distribution plate 6. When the scraping device 8 scrapes out the medicine on the distribution dish 6 and puts it into the powdered medicine input hopper 310, the medicine is scraped out toward the inside of the distribution dish 6. That is, the rotating plate 12 is rotated to move the scraper so as to move the medicine on the distribution dish 6 to the inside of the distribution dish 6 (the rotating plate 12 is rotated so that the scraper moves in a direction crossing from the outer edge side to the inner edge side of the distribution dish 6). In the first embodiment, the scraping device 8 is provided inside the distribution dish 6, and the number of components outside the distribution dish 6 is reduced by scraping the medicine toward the inside of the distribution dish 6. In other words, a large space is secured outside the distribution dish 6 around the medicine feeder 5, which makes it easier to manually attach and detach the medicine container 420 to and from the feeder body 10 and contributes to the miniaturization of the entire medicine dispensing device 1.

[0096] FIG. 27 is a schematic operation diagram showing the operation of the scraping device 8 in the first embodiment. 27, the scraping device 8 includes a rotating plate 12 at the tip of a scraping arm 950. The scraping device 8 includes a control device 960 somewhere inside the medicine dispensing device 1, the control device 960 performing the following operations.

[0097] As a prerequisite, medicine is stored in medicine input groove 13 of distribution tray 6 by medicine feeder 5 or powder feeder 900.

[0098] (STEP 1) First, as shown in Fig. 27(a), in STEP 1, the control device 960 causes the rotating plate 12 at the tip of the scraping arm 950 to wait above the distribution tray 6. At this time, the rotating plate 12 has not yet come into contact with the medicine input groove 13. The scraping plate 955 is in a waiting position (for example, the 9 o'clock position in Fig. 27(a)) where it does not touch the medicine even if the rotating plate 12 descends and comes into contact with the medicine.

[0099] (STEP 2) 27(b), when a signal to start the operation of the scraping device 8 is given, the control device 960 lowers the rotating plate 12 to the distribution tray 6. At this time, the rotating plate 12 comes into contact with the medicine stored in the medicine input groove 13 and descends while pressing it against the bottom surface of the medicine input groove 13. The scraping plate 955 maintains a standby position where it does not touch the medicine.

[0100] (STEP 3) 27(c), the control device 960 rotates the rotating plate 12 in the direction of arrow B without rotating the distribution plate 6. On the left side of the medicine insertion groove 13, the medicine under the rotating plate 12 is moved, and the rotating plate 12 and the medicine insertion groove 13 are brought into close contact with each other. At this time, the scraping plate 955 moves from the standby position to the scraping start position (a position where the medicine has not yet been scraped out but can be scraped out in the next operation), so that the rotating plate 12 firmly contacts the bottom of the medicine input groove 13. The maximum rotation angle of the scraping plate 955 from the standby position to the scraping start position is 180 degrees.

[0101] (STEP4) Finally, as shown in Fig. 27(d), the control device 960 rotates the rotating plate 12 and the distribution plate 6 simultaneously to feed one packet of medicine into the powder medicine feeding hopper 310. The rotating direction of the rotating plate 12 is the direction of arrow B. The rotating direction of the distribution plate 6 is counterclockwise.

[0102] Repeat steps 1 to 4 to package one prescription. Conventionally, when scraping plate 955 scrapes out the first package of medicine from medicine input groove 13, distribution plate 6 and rotating plate 12 are rotated simultaneously, so the medicine is scraped out before rotating plate 12 has completely descended into medicine input groove 13. As a result, an error occurs in which the amount of medicine scraped out of the first package is less than the amount of medicine scraped out of the last package. According to the above embodiment, in STEP 3, only the rotating plate 12 is rotated without rotating the distribution plate 6, so that the rotating plate 12 and the medicine input groove 13 are brought into close contact with each other. As a result, the rotating plate 12 does not slip, and the amount of medicine in the first packet can be accurately input into the powder medicine input hopper 310, and the error between the amount of medicine in the first packet and the amount of medicine in the final packet can be reduced.

[0103] (6) Drug packaging equipment The medicine packaging area 302 has a medicine packaging device 305 built in, as conceptually shown in Fig. 2. The medicine packaging device 305 is a machine that packages medicines into individual doses, and has a packaging paper supply device 306 (packaging paper supply section) and a packaging device 308 (sealing section). The medicine packaging device 305 also has a powdered medicine input hopper 310 above the packaging device 308, into which medicines are input. For ease of drawing, the powdered medicine hopper 310 is shown at a position away from the distribution tray 6, but in reality, the upper end of the powdered medicine hopper 310 is within the equipment storage opening 15 of the distribution tray 6.

[0104] The medicine packaging device 305 is used by mounting the medicine packaging sheet 370 on a cylindrical mounting portion of the main body (not shown) of the packaging paper supply device 306. The medicine packaging sheet roll is a roll of a band-shaped medicine packaging sheet 370 (packaging paper, wrapping paper) wound around a tubular medicine packaging core tube 360. The tubular portion of the roll is inserted into the cylindrical mounting portion, and the packaging paper is fed while a predetermined tension is controlled by the control device of the medicine packaging device 305, and the roll rotates to convey the medicine from the powdered medicine input hopper 310 to a position where it receives the medicine. Although not particularly limited, the medicine packaging sheet 370 of the present disclosure is a packaging paper folded in two and formed into a band, and the tip of the powdered medicine input hopper 310 is inserted between the folded portions, and the medicine is input into the packaging paper. The drug packaging core tube 360 ​​has a through hole passing through in the axial direction at its center in order to supply a strip-shaped drug packaging sheet 370 to be attached to the drug packaging device 305, and is a core tube for winding the drug packaging sheet 370 in a roll shape around its outer circumference. Furthermore, the medicine packaging device 305 has a printing mechanism (printing unit) not shown. In the medicine packaging device 305, the packing paper fed from the medicine packing sheet 370 is introduced into a printing mechanism, and information such as the patient's name, medicine name, and the date and time of taking the medicine (information about the prescription, and information about the medicine to be provided) is printed. After that, the packing paper with the predetermined information printed on it is opened upward. In this state, it receives the medicine dropped (supplied) from the powder medicine input hopper 310. The packaging paper containing the medicine is then introduced into the sealing section (packaging device 308), where the paper is sealed in the vertical direction (width direction) and horizontal direction (length direction) of the packaging paper as each dose of medicine is added, and the medicines received are packaged one by one. This forms a medicine package containing one dose of medicine, and the medicine package is transported to the outside of the device. At this time, a plurality of consecutive drug packages are formed into a drug package band and transported to the outside of the device. However, instead of forming a drug package band, one or more individual drug packages may be formed and transported to the outside of the device.

[0105] Furthermore, the medicine packaging core tube of the medicine packaging sheet 370 may be provided with an identifier. The identifier is a storage means in which one or more pieces of information capable of individually identifying the medicine packaging sheet 370 (information on the manufacturer (such as the manufacturer's name), information on the date of manufacture, the type of medicine packaging sheet 370 wound around the core tube, order number, shipping date, customer information on the delivery destination, the model name, model code, other ID, etc. of the packaging machine to which the medicine packaging sheet 370 is attached) are stored, and may be, for example, a memory such as an IC tag. Furthermore, the identifier may be a code such as a one-dimensional code (barcode) or a two-dimensional code, and when a code is employed, it may be attached to a label. When the medicine packing sheet 370 is attached to the packaging paper supplying device 306, a comparison with the device to be attached, that is, an operation of determining whether or not the predetermined medicine packing sheet 370 is to be correctly attached to the device may be performed. Also, information for identifying that the medicine packing sheet 370 is unused may be stored in the identifier, and an operation of determining whether or not the medicine packing sheet 370 is unused may be performed when the medicine packing sheet 370 is attached. Furthermore, information regarding the remaining amount of packaging paper when the medicine packing sheet (packing paper roll) 370 is attached to the main body of the packaging paper supplying device 306 may be stored. Also, when a packaging operation for packaging medicines is performed, the remaining amount at an appropriate time during the packaging operation may be stored. The information regarding the remaining amount may be stored, for example, during the packaging operation. In addition, the remaining amount at the end of the packaging operation may be stored after the packaging operation. That is, when the medicine dispensing device 1 is operated, information regarding the remaining amount may be stored at an appropriate timing. As a result, after the entire roll of packaging paper has been used, it is possible to record information that the remaining amount of packaging paper wound around medicine packaging core tube 360 ​​has reached zero, i.e., that the roll has been used up.

[0106] As described above, the medicine dispensing device 1 of the first embodiment does not have a robot mechanism for three-dimensionally moving the medicine container, which is a conventional technology. In addition, by providing the powder feeder 900, the medicine dispensing device 1 can respond in a variety of ways, even if the medicine listed on the prescription is not in the medicine container 420, by feeding the medicine not in the medicine container 420 into the powder feeder 900. Furthermore, since the drug feeders 5a to 5e are arranged on the front side of the drug dispensing device 1, the drug containers 420a to 420e can be detached and attached by the operator's actions at his / her own timing. Furthermore, since a powder feeder 900 is placed on the front side of the drug dispensing device 1 separately from the drug feeder, there is no need to constantly store the drug in the drug feeder, and when a prescription requires a drug that cannot be stored all the time, the user can insert the target powdered drug based on the prescription, weighed by a separate powdered drug inspection system, into the hopper 910, so there is no risk of the completion of the entire prescription being delayed because the drug is not available to hand.

[0107] FIG. 9 is a schematic perspective view of a shutter structure 473 according to one aspect of the first embodiment. As shown in Fig. 9, the shutter structure 473 has a shutter member 491 (opening / closing member) and a transmission member 492. That is, the shutter structure 473 in Fig. 9 does not mainly have the guide member 90, the biasing member 93, and the guide wall portion 113 in Fig. 19. Then, as in the above-mentioned embodiment, the transmission member 492 moves linearly, so that the shutter member 491 moves and the powdered medicine discharge portion 411 opens and closes. That is, as in the above-mentioned embodiment, a part of the rear wall 436 side of the transmission member 492 is exposed to the outside, and the medicine container 420 is held by the feeder body 10, so that the transmission member 492 engages with the shutter opening / closing mechanism 55.

[0108] As shown in Fig. 7, drug container 420 has holding protrusion 525 for holding the middle part of transmission member 492, and locking protrusion 526. This locking protrusion 526 is a part forming a lock mechanism for maintaining powdered drug discharge part 411 (shutter) in a closed state so that it does not open accidentally when drug container 420 is removed from feeder body 10 and carried (see Fig. 7). The holding protrusion 525 is a pair of protrusions extending in a direction approaching each other from above and below. A part of the transmission member 492 is inserted into a groove-shaped portion formed on the inside of the holding protrusion 525. The locking protrusion 526 is a protrusion formed integrally with the flat plate portions of the leaf spring member 520 located at the front and rear, and is a plate-like portion extending in a generally V-shape in a side view between the two flat plate portions. The locking protrusion 526 protrudes in a cantilever shape outward in the width direction of the medicine container 420 together with the front and rear flat plate portions, and elastically deforms together with the flat plate portions. The locking protrusion 526 engages with a notch portion (locking portion) formed above the transmission member 492 (above the engagement portion 116), thereby restricting unintended movement of the transmission member 492.

[0109] Then, by attaching the drug container 420 to the feeder body 10, the engagement (locked state) between the locking protrusion 526 and the transmission member 492 is released, and the transmission member 492 becomes movable. Specifically, by attaching the drug container 420 to the feeder body 10, the engagement portion 60 (see Figs. 15, 16, etc.) of the engagement piece holding portion 56 and the engagement portion 116 of the transmission member 492 are engaged with each other as described above (a part of the transmission member 492, which is a part of the transmission member 492, which is on the rear side of the engagement portion 116, is inserted from above into the engagement portion 60 of the engagement piece holding portion 56). That is, at this time, the flat portion on the rear side (the rear wall 436 side) of the locking protrusion 526 is lifted from below. As a result, the locking protrusion 526 and the flat portion are elastically deformed so as to bend together, and the engagement between the locking protrusion 526 and the transmission member 492 is released.

[0110] (Embodiment 2) A drug feeder 700 of the second embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 29-30 and Figures 32-35. The drug feeder 700 has a drug container 701 of the second embodiment and a feeder body 702 of the second embodiment that holds the drug container 701. Since the basic configuration and functions of the drug container 701 and the feeder body 702 are the same as those of the drug container 420 and the feeder body 10 described above, only the improvements will be described. Fig. 29 is a schematic perspective view of the medicine dispensing device 1 of embodiment 2 with the top cover open. Fig. 30 is a schematic perspective view of the periphery of the distribution tray 6 in the medicine dispensing device 1 of Fig. 29. The feeder body 702 of the second embodiment is provided with a removal assisting member 705 used when removing the drug container 701. The feeder body 702 also has a shutter opening / closing mechanism 706 with a function of locking the shutter 707 added thereto. On the other hand, drug container 701 of embodiment 2 is provided with engagement portion 710 with which detachment assist member 705 described above engages. Drug container 701 also has a lock mechanism for maintaining powdered drug discharge portion (shutter) 711 in a closed state so that it does not open inadvertently, but the structure thereof is different from that of drug container 420 described above. 35, the structures of powdered medicine discharge portion 711 and shutter structure portion 713 of medicine container 701 are different from those of medicine container 420 described above.

[0111] In the feeder body 702 of the second embodiment, a removal assisting member 705 used when removing the drug container 701 is provided on the vibration side vertical wall portion 33 (vertical wall) of the vibration member 16 (container holding portion). As shown in FIGS. 32, 33 and 34, the removal assisting member 705 is a lever that rotates about a horizontally provided shaft 720 , and has an operating portion 721 and an acting portion 722 . The operating portion 721 is shaped like an upward arch, and has an engagement pressing portion 723 and a release pressing portion 725 . The action portion 722 is a claw.

[0112] The operation unit 721 and the action unit 722 are connected by a substantially "L"-shaped connecting unit 726. The connecting unit 726 has a vertical side portion 727 that is in a vertical position and a horizontal side portion 728 that is in a horizontal position based on the state in which the drug container 701 is attached to the vibration member 16 (container holding unit). A shaft 720 is passed through the connection portion between the vertical side portion 727 and the horizontal side portion 728. The outer portion of the connecting portion between the vertical side portion 727 and the horizontal side portion 728 functions as a seating portion 731 and is a flat surface.

[0113] A biasing member 732 such as a spring is provided on the vibration side vertical wall portion 33 (vertical wall) and constantly biases the removal assisting member 705. Specifically, the biasing member 732 presses the horizontal side portion 728 upward, and biases the removal assisting member 705 in the rotation direction.

[0114] Similarly to the above-described embodiment, the shutter opening / closing mechanism 706 of the feeder body 702 is composed of an engagement piece holding portion 735 and an arm 57. Similarly to the above-described embodiment, a recess serving as an engagement portion 60 is provided on the upper surface of the engagement piece holding portion 735. In addition, in the second embodiment, a protrusion 737 is provided on the upper surface of the engagement piece holding portion 735. The protrusion 737 has an inclined surface 738. The inclination direction of the inclined surface 738 is such that, with respect to the protruding direction side of the arm 57, the front side is lower and the rear side is higher.

[0115] Similar to the drug container 420 of the first embodiment described above, the drug container 701 has a lid member 475 attached to a box portion 471 having an open top, and the lid member 475 is swingable by a hinge 421 . As described above, the drug container 701 is provided with the engagement portion 710 with which the removal assisting member 705 described above engages. The engagement portion 710 is a protrusion provided on the rear wall 436. The position of the engagement portion 710 is arbitrary, and it may be on the side wall 437 or the bottom wall 440.

[0116] 32, the shutter structure 713, like the first embodiment, has a shutter 707, a shutter member 740 (opening / closing member), and a transmission member 741. The transmission member 741 moves linearly, whereby the shutter member 740 moves, and the powdered medicine discharge portion 711 opens and closes. 32(b), a notch 742 is provided on the upper side of the transmission member 741, similar to the drug container 420 of the embodiment 1. A front side inclination 743 of the notch 742 is gentle, and a rear side inclination 745 is steep. Moreover, the drug container 701 of the second embodiment also has a leaf spring member 748 and a locking protrusion 747 . The leaf spring member 748 is attached in a cantilever manner on the outer side in the width direction of the medicine container 701. The locking protrusion 747 is a roughly triangular member, and is fixed integrally with the leaf spring member 748. 32(b), the lower surface of the locking protrusion 747 has a front side incline 750 and a rear side incline 751. The front side incline 750 of the locking protrusion 747 is a gentle incline, and the rear side incline 751 is a steep incline.

[0117] As shown in FIG. 35, the shutter member 740 (opening / closing member) has a protruding portion 760 that protrudes towards the medicine container 701 when the powdered medicine discharging portion 711 is closed. 35, the cross-sectional shape of the protruding portion 760 is substantially triangular, with an upper surface 761 being substantially horizontal and a lower surface 762 being an inclined surface. The inclination angle of lower surface 762 is 30 degrees or less. The inclination angle of lower surface 762 is desirably smaller than the angle of repose of the powdered medicine contained in medicine container 701.

[0118] Within medicine container 701 there is powdered medicine passage 517 connected to powdered medicine discharge section 711 , and the medicine moves through powdered medicine passage 517 and is discharged from powdered medicine discharge section 711 . In the second embodiment, partition member 620 corresponding to the ceiling wall of powdered medicine passage 517 has partition portion 766 protruding toward powdered medicine passage 517 (downward) (see FIG. 35). The height (hanging amount) of partition portion 766 is 1.2 mm to 3.0 mm, or 1 / 5 to 3 / 5 of the passage height. When the shutter member 740 (opening / closing member) closes the powdered medicine discharging portion 711 , the tip end 763 of the protruding portion 760 comes extremely close to the partition portion 766 . Furthermore, upper surface 761 of protruding portion 760 comes extremely close to partition member 620 which corresponds to the ceiling wall of powdered medicine passage 517 . Angle D between lower surface 762 of protrusion 760 and the bottom surface of powdered medicine passage 517 is an angle less than or equal to the angle of repose of the powdered medicine.

[0119] Therefore, immediately after the shutter member 740 (opening / closing member) is opened, the angle E of the inclined surface at the leading end in the traveling direction of the medicine P is equal to or smaller than the angle of repose as shown in FIG. 35(b), and the medicine P is unlikely to spill out. In addition, since the space for the powdered medicine to enter is small between the upper surface 761 of the protrusion 760 of the shutter member 740 and the ceiling wall of the powdered medicine passage 517, the powdered medicine is less likely to get on the upper surface 761 of the protrusion 760, and the powdered medicine is less likely to spill out from the upper surface 761 of the protrusion 760 when the shutter member 740 is opened. Since the space into which the powdered medicine can enter is small between tip 763 of protrusion 760 of shutter member 740 and partition 766, the powdered medicine is less likely to adhere to tip 763 of protrusion 760, and the powdered medicine is less likely to spill out from tip 763 of protrusion 760 when shutter member 740 is opened.

[0120] Next, the operation of mounting the drug container 701 on the feeder body 702 will be described. When the drug container 701 is not attached, the feeder body 702 is in a standby state as shown in Fig. 33(a). Specifically, the horizontal side portion 728 of the detachment assisting member 705 is pressed by the biasing member 732, and the detachment assisting member 705 is in an inclined position as a whole.

[0121] In this state, the rear wall 436 of the drug container 701 is inserted from above along the vibration side vertical wall portion 33 of the feeder body 702 as shown in FIG. 33(b). At this time, it is desirable to first tilt the powdered medicine discharge part 711 of the medicine container 701 so that it faces upward, and then insert it into the vibration-side vertical wall part 33. By doing so, the powdered medicine in the powdered medicine passage 517 of the medicine container 701 is separated from the powdered medicine discharge part 711, and the powdered medicine is less likely to spill out when the shutter member 740 is opened.

[0122] The method of inserting the drug container 701 into the vibration side vertical wall portion 33 is the same as in the first embodiment.

[0123] As the drug container 701 is inserted, the action portion 722 of the removal assist member 705 comes into contact with the engagement portion 710 of the drug container 701 . As drug container 701 is further inserted, action portion 722 of removal assist member 705 is pushed by drug container 701 and rotates, so that vertical side portion 727 assumes a vertical position and horizontal side portion 728 assumes a horizontal position, and removal assist member 705 assumes a stable position. As described above, the removal assisting member 705 can be rotated by inserting the drug container 701, but the removal assisting member 705 may also be rotated by additionally pressing the engagement pressing portion 723 of the operating portion 721. In any case, when the drug container 701 is correctly attached to the feeder body 702, the horizontal side portion 728 of the detachment assist member 705 assumes a horizontal position as shown in Fig. 33(c). Therefore, by visually checking that the operation portion 721 is horizontal when viewed from above, it is possible to recognize that the drug container 701 is reliably attached to the feeder body 702.

[0124] 31, the detachment assisting member 705 is provided on the vibration-side vertical wall portion 33. The operation portion 721 of the detachment assisting member 705 has an engagement pressing portion 723, a release pressing portion 725, and a connecting portion 724 that connects the engagement pressing portion 723 and the release pressing portion 725. The connecting portion 724 has a pointed protrusion 990 at approximately the center. A positioning member 991 is arranged at one end of the vibration-side vertical wall portion 33 in the width direction. The positioning member 991 has an inclined portion 992 and a flat portion 993. A position marker 994 (e.g., blue), which is a fixed colored area, is disposed on a part of the flat portion 993. When the drug container 701 is pushed in and the removal assist member 705 rotates so that the protrusion 990 enters the area of ​​the position marker 994, the drug container 701 is firmly attached to the vibration-side vertical wall portion 33. This position marker 994 is an indicator to the user to firmly push the drug container 701 in until it is moved to the fixed colored area.

[0125] When removing the drug container 701 from the feeder body 702, the release pressing portion 725 of the operation portion 721 is pressed as shown by the arrow in FIG. 34. As a result, the detachment assisting member 705 rotates in the opposite direction, and the action portion 722 of the detachment assisting member 705 rises. Therefore, since the action portion 722 is engaged with the engagement portion 710 of the drug container 701, the drug container 701 is pushed up, and the drug container 701 moves upward and is removed from the feeder body 702.

[0126] According to the second embodiment, the drug container 701 can be easily removed from the feeder body 702. That is, in the medicine dispensing device 1 of the present disclosure, the medicine feeders 5, 700 are arranged closely together, so that there are few gaps between the medicine containers 701, making it difficult to insert fingers. According to the medicine feeder 700 of the second embodiment, there is no need to insert fingers between the medicine containers 701, so that the medicine containers 701 can be easily removed.

[0127] Next, a mechanism for locking the shutter 707 of the drug container 701 will be described with reference to FIG. 32. In the drug container 701, when the shutter member 740 is closed, the transmission member 741 is retracted, and the locking protrusion 747 attached to the leaf spring member 748 is engaged with the notch 742 of the transmission member 741. Here, the rear side inclination 745 of the notch 742 and the rear side inclination 751 of the locking protrusion 747 are both steeply inclined. Therefore, even if the transmission member 741 tries to move in the direction to open the shutter 707, the steeply inclined surfaces of the notch 742 and the locking protrusion 747 engage with each other, and the movement of the transmission member 741 in the direction to open the shutter 707 is prevented. Therefore, the shutter 707 of the medicine container 701 is in a locked state, and the shutter 707 does not open.

[0128] On the other hand, when engaging piece holding portion 735 is moved toward front wall 435 in order to discharge powdered medicine from medicine container 701, engaging piece holding portion 735 moves and protrusion 737 abuts against locking protrusion 747 of medicine container 701. At this time, the abutting surface on the protrusion 737 side is inclined surface 738, and as protrusion 737 advances, it pushes up locking protrusion 747 of medicine container 701 against leaf spring member 748. As a result, the locking protrusion 747 attached to the leaf spring member 748 leaves the notch 742 of the transmission member 741, and the engagement between the locking protrusion 747 attached to the leaf spring member 748 and the notch 742 of the transmission member 741 is released. In this manner, when engaging piece holding portion 735 moves towards front wall 435, transmission member 741 slides forward to move shutter 707, and powdered medicine discharging portion 711 of medicine container 701 opens.

[0129] In all of the above-described embodiments, the drug container 420 (701) is attached to the feeder body 10 (702) for use. Here, it is preferable to provide a sensor for checking whether the drug container 420 (701) is correctly attached to the feeder body 10 (702). The structure of the sensor is arbitrary, but it is preferable to use a sensor that can detect objects, such as a photoelectric sensor or a proximity sensor. The mounting position of the sensor is arbitrary, but the vibration side vertical wall part 33 or the vibration side horizontal part 32 of the feeder body 10 are possible mounting positions.

[0130] In the embodiment described above, an RFID tag is attached to the medicine container 420 as the information storage means 65. Instead of or in addition to the RFID tag, an AR marker may be provided. The AR marker is a photograph, illustration, or other figure that is registered in advance. A label on which the AR marker is printed is attached to a visible position of the medicine container 420. The AR marker can be recognized by a camera. In recent years, there is a tendency to install multiple cameras in the device so that the medicine dispensing process can be monitored and confirmed later. For example, a camera for monitoring dispensing may be installed near the medicine feeder 5. For example, the camera is used to photograph the AR marker and identify the medicine container 420. This makes it possible to verify whether the drug container is set correctly by comparing it with the drug information based on the prescription information. While RFID tags require a certain detection distance, AR markers have fewer such restrictions. Also, surveillance cameras can be used to capture AR markers, so using AR markers instead of RFID tags can reduce the number of parts required to read RFID tags.

[0131] In the above-mentioned medicine dispensing device 1, as shown in Fig. 1, Fig. 2, etc., a plurality of medicine feeders 5 (5a to 5e) are fixed around a distribution tray 6. The plurality of medicine feeders 5 are arranged radially. That is, as shown in Fig. 3, each medicine feeder 5 is arranged so that its own widthwise center overlaps with an imaginary line extending in the same direction as its own longitudinal direction in a plan view, and overlaps with the rotation center of the distribution tray 6 (point indicated by P3 in the figure). In the above-mentioned medicine dispensing device 1, one type of powdered medicine is stored in the medicine container 420 of one medicine feeder 5. That is, the medicine container 420 of one medicine feeder 5 and a predetermined powdered medicine are assigned one-to-one. In this case, the medicine container 420 may store one or more doses of the powdered medicine. When performing the above-mentioned operation of discharging the powdered medicine, the medicine feeder 5 to which the powdered medicine to be discharged is assigned is selected from the multiple medicine feeders 5, and the powdered medicine in an amount equivalent to one dose can be discharged from the selected medicine feeder 5. Furthermore, when one or more types of powdered medicine are discharged from one or more medicine feeders 5, a predetermined amount of powdered medicine may be discharged (dispensed) into the distribution tray 6 from one or more selected medicine feeders 5.

[0132] When the medicine dispensing device 1 of the above embodiment is continuously used, the powdered medicine in the medicine container 420 may run out in any of the medicine feeders 5. That is, the powdered medicine, which is a consumable item, may run out. In such a case, in the medicine dispensing device 1 of this embodiment, a user (such as a pharmacist) removes the medicine container 420 from the feeder body 10, fills the medicine container 420 with powdered medicine, and then reattaches the medicine container 420 to the feeder body 10. In other words, when the powdered medicine runs out (or is predicted to run out) in any of the medicine feeders 5, the user who is notified by a notification operation or the like performs the above-mentioned operations. Here, in the drug dispensing device 1 of this embodiment, when the drug container 420 is reattached, it can be attached to other feeder bodies 10 in addition to the feeder body 10 to which the drug container 420 was originally attached. That is, if there is a feeder body 10 to which the drug container 420 is not attached other than the original feeder body 10, it can be attached to that feeder body 10. That is, when reattaching, the drug container 420 can be attached to any one selected from all feeder bodies 10 that do not hold the drug container 420 at that time. This makes it possible for the user to easily perform the above operation, as he does not need to think about where to attach the drug container 420.

[0133] Incidentally, the medicine dispensing device 1 described above is designed to be compact. Here, if the entire device is made compact, the housing 2 (the entire device) may tilt even if the impact it receives is small. If the housing 2 tilts when the medicine dispensing device 1 is moved or receives an impact when it is installed, and the medicine dispensing device 1 is operated with the housing 2 tilted, there is a risk of malfunction occurring in various operations (for example, an operation of measuring the weight of powdered medicine). Therefore, the medicine dispensing device 1 may be provided with a gyro sensor (a tilt detection means, a level). Also, a tilt notification operation may be performed to notify the tilt of the housing 2 based on information detected by the gyro sensor (a signal transmitted from the gyro sensor). This tilt notification operation is an operation to notify the user that the tilt of the entire device detected by the gyro sensor exceeds a specified value. This operation may be an operation executed on the condition that the power supply of the medicine dispensing device 1 is turned on. In addition, for example, the operation may be an operation in which a sound generating means such as a speaker is provided in the medicine dispensing device 1 to output a warning sound (alert) or a message.

[0134] It is also recommended to use a three-axis acceleration sensor as the tilt detection means. For example, a board on which a three-axis acceleration sensor is mounted is attached to a partition or plate supported horizontally inside the housing 2. A 3-axis acceleration sensor is an inertial sensor designed to measure acceleration and can detect three-dimensional inertial motion (translational motion in three orthogonal axes). A 3-axis acceleration sensor can measure gravity, motion, vibration, and shock. For example, the medicine dispensing device 1 is installed at a predetermined position, and output values ​​for each axis of the three-axis acceleration sensor are stored after the horizontal adjustment of the housing 2. The three-axis acceleration sensor can detect gravitational acceleration, and since gravitational acceleration is always applied in the vertical direction, when the housing 2 is tilted, the detection values ​​of each of the three axes change. Based on the change in the detection value, the degree of inclination of the housing 2 is calculated to detect the inclination of the housing 2. It may also be possible to display how the attitude should be corrected to return to a horizontal attitude. Conversely, when the change in each of the detection values ​​along the three axes is less than a certain level, it can be determined that the medicine dispensing device 1 is not tilted and its posture is stable.

[0135] Incidentally, the powdered medicine discharge operation in the medicine feeder 5 described above may be an operation of vibrating the medicine container 420 while keeping the powdered medicine discharge unit 411 in a closed state (keeping the shutter closed), and then opening the powdered medicine discharge unit 411 and vibrating the medicine container 420 to discharge the medicine. That is, prior to an operation of vibrating the medicine container 420 with the powdered medicine discharge unit 411 in an open state (hereinafter also referred to as an open state vibration operation), an operation of vibrating the medicine container 420 with the powdered medicine discharge unit 411 in a closed state (hereinafter also referred to as a closed state vibration operation) may be executed. Here, the closed state vibration operation may be an operation that vibrates the medicine container 420 more strongly than the open state vibration operation. That is, the medicine feeder 5 may be configured to be able to change the vibration number (frequency) or the amplitude. The closed state vibration operation may be an operation that has a larger vibration amount (vibration magnitude) than the open state vibration operation, or may be an operation that has a larger number of vibrations per unit time. The closed state vibration operation may also be an operation that vibrates the medicine container 420 with the strongest vibration, that is, an operation that has a maximum vibration or a maximum number of vibrations per unit time. In more detail, immediately after filling the medicine container 420 with medicine, there may be no powdered medicine near the powdered medicine discharge section 411. If a normal powdered medicine discharge operation is performed in such a state, it may take a long time to discharge a small amount of powdered medicine. That is, if the powdered medicine discharge section 411 is opened and the medicine container 420 is vibrated with strong vibration, a large amount of powdered medicine may fall at once when the powdered medicine actually starts to be discharged. For this reason, it is difficult to vibrate the medicine container 420 with strong vibration when discharging a small amount. Also, if the vibration is weakened, a long time is required before the powdered medicine actually starts to be discharged. Therefore, by performing the above-mentioned closed state vibration operation and open state vibration operation to discharge powdered medicine, the time required to discharge powdered medicine can be shortened even when discharging a small amount of powdered medicine as described above.

[0136] 1 and 28, the above-mentioned manual tablet distribution device 303 is a member whose overall shape is roughly a rectangular parallelepiped, and is attached in a swingable state. That is, the position can be changed between a normal position (see FIG. 1) in which the opening of the box-shaped part on the upper surface faces upward, and an inclined position (see FIG. 28) in which the opening faces forward and upward. As shown in Figs. 1 and 28, the cleaning device 7 is disposed below the tablet manual distribution device 303 (see Fig. 1). The cleaning device 7 has a suction port 7a connected to a suction device (not shown), and is a device that generates negative pressure to suck in dirt (residual powdered medicine, dust, etc.) together with air. In detail, the cleaning device 7 has an extension 7b that extends from the outside to the inside of the distribution plate 6, and the suction port 7a is formed in this extension 7b. The cleaning device 7 cleans the distribution plate 6, and during cleaning, the suction port 7a faces downward.

[0137] Here, the operation of the cleaning device 7 will be described. The cleaning device 7 automatically performs a rotation operation. Specifically, this rotation operation is an operation in which the extension portion 7b rotates once, and the rotation axis at this time is in the same direction as the extension direction of the extension portion 7b. As a result, the suction port 7a goes from a state facing downward to a state facing side (sideways based on normal times), a state facing upward, and then returns to a state facing downward. As a result, when not in use, that is, during a packaging operation such as when powdered medicine is inserted into the distribution groove, the suction port 7a faces upward, so even if there is residual medicine attached to the entrance of the cleaning device 7, it will not fall into the insertion groove.

[0138] The inside of the drug container 420 can be cleaned by pouring water, a cleaning solution, or the like into the inside of the drug container 420, attaching the drug container to the feeder body 10 in this state, and vibrating the drug container 420.

[0139] Next, a description will be given of the top cover 3. The top cover 3 is provided with an electric light display 800 as shown in FIG. The electric light display 800 has a plurality of light emitting groups 801a to 801f in which a plurality of light emitting units 802 are arranged in a row. Each of the light emitting groups 801a to 801f corresponds to a medicine feeder 5 and a powder feeder 900 in the powder medicine dividing area 301. That is, six medicine feeders 5 are installed in the powder medicine dividing area 301. The light-emitting group 801a corresponds to the medicine feeder 5a, the light-emitting group 801b corresponds to the medicine feeder 5b, the light-emitting group 801c corresponds to the medicine feeder 5c, the light-emitting group 801d corresponds to the medicine feeder 5d, the light-emitting group 801e corresponds to the medicine feeder 5e, and the light-emitting group 801f corresponds to the powder feeder 900. In this embodiment, the light-emitting groups 801a-801f are arranged in a fan shape. The light emitting units 802 belonging to the light emitting group 801 are a mixture of units with different colors and / or brightness, and are arranged in stages so that the colors change gradually from the center to the outside. In this embodiment, the center side emits a light color, and the color becomes darker toward the outside.

[0140] The light emitting group 801 emits electric light to inform the user of the operating status of the medicine dispensing device 1 so that the user can easily grasp the operating status. When the medicine dispensing device 1 is started and in the preparation stage, the light-emitting parts of the light-emitting group sequentially emit light according to the preparation status. The brightness and color may change. For example, they emit light sequentially according to the temperature rise of the heat seal heater. Similarly, when the tablet manual distribution device 303 is in the preparation stage, the light-emitting state changes according to the preparation stage. When the medicine dispensing device 1 is stopped, a fan for cooling the heater is driven, and the light-emitting parts of the light-emitting group are turned off depending on the cooling state. When there are multiple light-emitting groups, each light-emitting group may be turned off.

[0141] Moreover, the light emission state changes depending on the mounting state of the medicine container 420 in each medicine feeder 5. Furthermore, a warning is given if the medicine container 420 is left unattached. After the work for the day is completed, the drug container 420 is removed from the feeder body 10. If any drug container 420 is forgotten to be removed, the light emitting unit 802 of the corresponding light emitting group 801 is illuminated to warn the user. It is desirable to reduce the number of light emitting units 802 and light emitting groups 801 that are illuminated over time. The color and brightness of the light may be changed.

[0142] When powdered medicine is dispensed from medicine container 420, light emitting units 802 of corresponding light emitting group 801 emit light in a predetermined order. For example, light may be emitted from the back to the front, or from a light color to a dark color. When the amount of medicine held in the medicine container 420 is insufficient for the requested amount to be dispensed, the light emitting unit 802 of the corresponding light emitting group 801 displays differently from usual. For example, the light emitting unit 802 may emit light from the front to the back, or from the dark side to the light side, which is the opposite of the usual case. When all the medicine in the medicine container 420 has been dispensed and the medicine container 420 becomes empty, the corresponding light emission group 801 goes into a specific light emission state.

[0143] If there is an error, a clearly different display is made, for example, all the light-emitting parts 802 are made to emit red light. The type of error is not limited, and possible errors include an abnormality in the drug container 420, an abnormality in the feeder body 10, and other abnormalities. The other abnormalities also include an abnormality in the manual tablet distribution device 303.

[0144] It is desirable to make the light emitting group 801 emit light in accordance with the mounting state of the medicine container 420. The light emission states shown below are merely examples and are not limiting. For example, when the drug container 420 is not attached, the corresponding light emitting group 801 is in a predetermined light emitting state, and when the drug container 420 is attached, the light emitting group 801 is in a different light emitting state. For example, when the drug container 420 is not attached, the corresponding light emitting group 801 is turned off, and when the drug container 420 is attached, the light emitting group 801 emits light in a pale color or with low brightness. When a drug is being dispensed from the drug container 420, the corresponding light-emitting group 801 is in a predetermined light-emitting state, and when dispensing from the drug container 420 is temporarily stopped, the light-emitting state is different from the above. For example, when a drug is being dispensed from the drug container 420, the light-emitting unit 802 of the corresponding light-emitting group 801 is continuously lit, and when dispensing from the drug container 420 is temporarily stopped, the light-emitting unit 802 of the corresponding light-emitting group 801 flashes. When dispensing of the medicine container 420 is completed, the light emitting unit 802 that had been emitting light is turned off. When a drug container 420 is to be placed in a particular feeder body 10, the corresponding light emitting group 801 is in a predetermined light emitting state.

[0145] Also, the light emitting groups 801 may be illuminated in sequence in accordance with the rotation of the distribution dish 6. For example, the arc-shaped light-emitting portion 802a closest to the Yuyama logo is divided into small segments in the same direction as the rotation direction and lights up and flashes. The medicine dispensing device 1 may be illuminated in a predetermined light state according to the state of the medicine dispensing device 1 by a maintenance personnel performing a predetermined operation. The above embodiment is also applied to the drug container 701. (Variation 1)

[0146] The first modification will be described. In the first embodiment shown in FIG. 14, the lining member 46 is made of a single plate material. The lining member 46 of variant example 1 is configured so that the single lining member 46 in Figure 14 is separated into two members at approximately the center of the lining member 46, and is composed of, from top to bottom in the vertical direction, a first lining member and a second lining member.

[0147] A pivot shaft for pivoting the first lining member is provided at the upper end of the vibration-side vertical wall portion 33. The entire first lining member pivots like a pendulum around the pivot shaft. The second lining member is fixed to the vibration-side vertical wall portion 33.

[0148] By using a coil spring provided on the rotating shaft, the first lining member is usually maintained in a state inclined diagonally forward with respect to the vibration side vertical wall portion 33, preferably in a state inclined 45 degrees or more with respect to the vibration side vertical wall portion 33. With the first lining member inclined, the drug container 420 is inserted from the upper end portion of the first lining member by engaging the engagement groove 130 of the drug container 420 with the engagement portion 47 of the lining member 46. At this time, the drug container 420 is inclined with the powdered drug discharge portion 411 of the drug container 420 facing upward, so that the drug gathers backward.

[0149] When the drug container 420 is inserted into the first lining member, the first lining member approaches the vibration-side vertical wall portion 33, rotates so as to come into contact with the vibration-side vertical wall portion 33, and comes to rest in contact with the vibration-side vertical wall portion 33. At this time, the surface of the first lining member and the surface of the second lining member are substantially flush with each other. Then, the drug container 420 is further moved downward to insert the drug container 420 into the second lining member.

[0150] According to the above embodiment, when the medicine container 420 is attached to the feeder body 10, the back wall 436 of the medicine container 420 is aligned along the first lining member in the tilted state, so that the medicine in the medicine container 420 naturally moves in a direction away from the powdered medicine discharge section 411. Then, the layer of the medicine near the slit 148 of the powdered medicine discharge section 411 becomes thin. In this state, when the medicine container 420 is vibrated, the medicine is dispensed in a state where the layer of the medicine is thin, so that the operator does not need to perform an operation of tilting the medicine container 420 to intentionally move the medicine near the powdered medicine discharge section 411 of the medicine container 420 in a direction away from the powdered medicine discharge section 411 before attaching the medicine container 420 to the feeder body 10, but can achieve this by the guidance of this mounting method. As a result, when the powdered medicine discharge section 411 is opened and closed to start actual discharge after attachment to the feeder body 10, the medicine stored near the powdered medicine discharge section 411 is not discharged all at once, and can be dispensed stably and accurately from the beginning. (Variation 2)

[0151] The second modification will be described. The lid member 475 of the first and second embodiments is closed by engaging the locking projection 476a of the lid side locking piece 476 with the projection 600 of the front wall 435 (see Figs. 8 and 32). As shown in Figs. 7 and 32, the lid member 475 of the first and second embodiments is adapted to be opened by pinching and lifting the lid side locking piece 476 with both sides with hands to disengage the locking projection 476a from the projection 600.

[0152] FIG. 37 is a schematic diagram showing a drug container 1010 of the second modification. As shown in Fig. 37(a), the lid-side locking piece 476 of the medicine container 1010 has a substantially quadrangular pyramid shape. Also, as shown in Fig. 37(c), in the medicine container 1010, an engagement recess 1110 provided on the lid-side locking piece 476 and a protrusion 1120 provided on the front wall 435 engage with each other to close the lid member 475. There is a small gap between the front wall 435 of the drug container 1010 and the lid side locking piece 476. The small gap in the drug container 1010 is designed so that a human hand cannot enter, and the lid member 475 cannot be opened by human hands.

[0153] As shown in Figure 37(b), lid member release pin 1020 is a dedicated tool with a sharp tip, shaped like a chisel. When lid member release pin 1020 is inserted through the gap on the right side of lid side locking piece 476, as the lid member release pin 1020 advances, the lid side locking piece 476 lifts up in accordance with the increase in the slope angle of lid member release pin 1020, and engagement recess 1110 disengages from protrusion 1120, opening lid member 475 (see Figure 37(d)). Although the lid member release pin 1020 is inserted from the gap on the right side of the lid side locking piece 476, the lid member release pin 1020 may be inserted from the gap on the left side of the lid side locking piece 476. According to the above embodiment, the lid member 475 cannot be opened unless the dedicated lid member release pin 1020 is used, so that filling the wrong drug into the drug container 1010 can be prevented. (Variation 3)

[0154] The third modification will be described. Drug container 420 of embodiment 1 and drug container 701 of embodiment 2 are assumed to have a compact shape. If drug containers 420 and 701 are made compact, as shown in Fig. 8, the height of powdered drug passage 517 is lowered, limiting the flow rate of the drug, and drug containers 420 and 701 take time to dispense the drug, which leaves room for improvement.

[0155] FIG. 38 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a drug container 1030 of the third modification. 38, compared with FIGS. 8 and 35, in drug container 1030, the height of scattered drug passage 517 is made higher, and second opening 547b is also provided in large inclination portion 543. Thus, opening 547 of drug container 1030 is composed of first opening 547a in communication hole forming portion 546 and second opening 547b in large inclination portion 543. As a result, the total opening area of ​​openings 547 (547a, 547b) in FIG. 38 is larger than the total opening area of ​​openings 547 in FIGS. 8 and 35.

[0156] According to the above embodiment, by increasing the height of powdered medicine passage 517 and increasing the total opening area of ​​openings 547 (547a, 547b), the speed of the medicine in powdered medicine passage 517 can be improved and it can be prevented from taking a long time to dispense the medicine. (Variation 4)

[0157] The fourth modification will be described. In the third modification, the height of the powdered medicine passage 517 is increased and the total opening area of ​​the openings 547 (547a, 547b) is increased, thereby improving the speed of the medicine in the powdered medicine passage 517. However, when the height of the powdered medicine passage 517 is increased, there is room for improvement in that uneven distribution occurs.

[0158] FIG. 39 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a drug container 1040 of the fourth modification. 39, powdered medicine passage 517 is composed of two stages, first powdered medicine passage 517a and second powdered medicine passage 517b from the bottom in the vertical direction. In addition, protrusion 760 is also composed of two stages, and protrusion 760 is composed of first protrusion 760a that prevents leakage of medicine from first powdered medicine passage 517a from the bottom, and second protrusion 760b that prevents leakage of medicine from second powdered medicine passage 517b from the bottom. The first powder passage 517a is provided with a first opening 547a, and the second powder passage 517b is provided with a second opening 547b.

[0159] According to the above embodiment, by forming powdered medicine passage 517 in two stages, the speed at which medicine is dispensed can be improved and uneven distribution can be prevented. (Variation 5)

[0160] The fifth modification will be described. In each of the above-mentioned drug containers 420 and the like, a partition plate 68 (partition member) is built into the inside of the container body 70. The partition plate 68 is made of a hard resin. Therefore, when the feeder body 10 holds the medicine container 420 and vibrates, the vibration is directly transmitted to the powdered medicine inside, causing the powdered medicine to vibrate as a whole. There is a concern that the powdered medicine inside the barrel will sink as a whole, narrowing the gaps between the powdered medicine particles and causing the lower part to become lumpy. In contrast, in the drug container 1050 of the fifth modification, the member corresponding to the partition plate 68 is made of a resin film 1051, which is relatively soft and easily deforms elastically. Therefore, even if the container body 70 vibrates, the vibration is mitigated by the resin film. Therefore, the vibration of the powdered medicine is smaller than that of the main container 70, and the powdered medicine does not sink as much.

[0161] FIG. 40 is a schematic perspective view showing a drug container 1050 of the fifth modification. The drug container 1050 of this embodiment has a main container 70 that is substantially square in front view, and a partition member 1052 that is separately molded is disposed within the main container 70. The partition member 1052 of the present embodiment is formed by bending and plastically deforming a thin resin plate, and has a first vertical wall portion 1053 , an inclined portion 1055 , a communication hole forming portion 1056 , and a second vertical wall portion 1057 .

[0162] The first vertical wall portion 1053 is a portion that is installed along the inner surface of the front wall (small area side surface 62) 435 of the main container 70, and has a flat shape. A lower portion of the first vertical wall portion 1053 is connected to an inclined portion 1055. Furthermore, the other end of the inclined portion 1055 is connected to a communication hole forming portion 1056. The communication hole forming portion 1056 has a curved shape and is downwardly convex. A rear half region of the communication hole forming portion 1056 is warped upward.

[0163] The communication hole forming portion 1056 is a portion in which a large number of small holes (openings) 1058 are provided, and a row of long holes is formed. The second vertical wall portion 1057 is a portion that is installed along the inner surface of the rear wall (small area side surface 62) 436 of the main container 70, and has a flat shape. In the drug container 1050 of this embodiment, the partition member 1052 is separate from the main container 70 and is not directly joined thereto.

[0164] Drug containers 1060 and 1061 shown in FIG. 41 have a double-structure container, and inner box portions 1063 and 1065 are provided with a portion corresponding to partition member 1052. That is, drug containers 1060, 1061 shown in Figures 41(a) and (b) have the above-mentioned main container 70 as an outer box, and have inner box portions 1063, 1065 made of resin film built in therein. As described above, the main container 70 has a front wall 435 , a rear wall 436 , left and right side walls 437 , and a bottom wall 440 . The inner box parts 1063, 1065 have an inner box front wall 1070 in contact with the front wall 435, an inner box rear wall 1071 in contact with the rear wall 436, and inner box left and right side walls 1072 in contact with the left and right side walls 437. The bottoms of the inner box parts 1063, 1065 are sealed with members corresponding to the inclined portion 1055 and the communication hole forming portion 1056. The top surfaces of the inner box parts 1063, 1065 are open.

[0165] An inner box part 1063 of a medicine container 1060 shown in Figure 41 (a) is made by folding a sheet of film. That is, the inner box part 1063 is a box made by folding a film in an unfolded shape. In contrast, an inner box part 1065 of a medicine container 1061 shown in FIG. 41(b) is molded using a metal mold.

[0166] Drug containers 1056, 1060, and 1061 shown in FIGS. 40 and 41 have a rigid container body 70 in which an elastic partition member 1052 is disposed. Moreover, drug containers 1060, 1061 shown in Figure 41 have a rigid outer box, and inner box parts 1063, 1065 made of a material less rigid than the outer box, and inner box parts 1063, 1065 are provided with partition members 1052.

[0167] R5-290 Powdered Medicine Cassette Shared R5-289 Cassette Master Shared R5-373: Mode that does not take in two or more types of hand-spreading mixture R5-373: Mode that does not take in two or more types of hand-spreading mixture

[0168] The medicine dispensing apparatus 1 can be used alone as shown in Fig. 1, but a shelf device (container storage device) 220 for storing medicine containers 420 may be added as shown in Fig. 42. The shelf device 220 is independent from the medicine dispensing apparatus 1. The shelf device 220 may be included in the medicine dispensing apparatus 1. The operator takes out the corresponding medicine container 420 from the shelf device 220 and attaches it to the medicine feeder 5. 42, a medicine dispensing system 230 may be constructed by a plurality of medicine dispensing devices 1, a container storage device 220, and a general control device 223. The medicine dispensing system 230 shown in FIG. 42 has two medicine dispensing devices 1 and further includes other powdered medicine packaging devices 231 and 232.

[0169] The shelf device 220 has compartments 235 divided in a matrix, and each compartment 235 contains one drug container 420. Each compartment 235 is provided with an information reading device (not shown) such as an RFID reader, which can obtain information from the RFID of the contained drug container 420 and identify which drug container 420 is in the compartment 235. Then, information regarding which medicine container 420 is accommodated in which section 235 of the shelf device 220 is transmitted to the general control device 223 and the medicine dispensing device 1 by a communication means or the like.

[0170] The overall control device 223 or an external storage device has a medicine master table, and a common medicine master table is used in the medicine dispensing system 230. That is, in the medicine dispensing system 230, a common medicine container 420 is used for a plurality of medicine dispensing devices 1, so that the medicine master table is shared.

[0171] The overall control device 223 has a communication function and can communicate with an external server, the medicine dispensing device 1, and the container accommodating member (shelf device) 220. In this embodiment, a prescription is transmitted from the general control device 223 to the medicine dispensing device 1, and prescription information is stored in the control device 960 of the medicine dispensing device 1. Furthermore, by performing a predetermined operation, the unprocessed prescription is displayed on the screen of the display device 35 of the medicine dispensing device 1. The following display methods are available. You can also sort and rearrange the displayed prescriptions or display them in a specific way.

[0172] (1) Full list of unprocessed prescriptions A display screen can be displayed listing all outstanding prescriptions. Then, they can be sorted or specifically marked based on the following criteria: (a) Sorting by Ease of Preparation In this embodiment, prescriptions for which drug dispensing can be performed immediately can be selected and moved to the front of the list. In addition, prescriptions for which drug dispensing can be performed immediately can be marked with a specific symbol such as a circle or color-coded to make them stand out. Here, a "prescription for which drug dispensing can be performed immediately" refers to a case where the only drugs written on the prescription are those currently contained in drug container 420 attached to drug feeder 5 of drug dispensing device 1. In addition, "a prescription for which drug dispensing can be performed immediately" also includes a case where the drugs written on the prescription are only drugs contained in drug containers 420 attached to the above-mentioned drug feeder 5 and drugs contained in drug containers 420 that have not been used in other drug dispensing devices 5 and are currently remaining on the shelf device (container storage device) 220. Furthermore, "a prescription for which drug dispensing can be performed immediately" also includes a case where the drug listed on the prescription has not been used in any other drug dispensing device and is the only drug contained in the drug container 420 currently remaining on the shelf device (container storage device) 220. Of course, the above three patterns may be displayed separately.

[0173] In this embodiment, among the devices included in the medicine dispensing system 230, for devices using the medicine container 420, a plurality of devices cooperate to check the medicine container 420 being used. In other words, whether or not a drug container 420 is in use can be determined by setting a flag indicating the usage status of each drug container 420 on a master table that shares the mounting information of the drug container 420 in the drug dispensing device 1, and extracting prescriptions in the unprocessed list that do not include a drug container 420 in use.

[0174] In addition, information regarding these unprocessed prescriptions may be provided on the display screen, for example, by providing a button meaning "update," and by pressing this button, a list of unprocessed prescriptions that always takes into account the latest usage status of the drug container 420 can be checked. As a result, even if a plurality of medicine dispensing systems 230 share the same medicine container 420, it is possible to immediately check at a glance whether or not the prescription can be packaged, thereby making the work more efficient.

[0175] As described above, if a configuration is adopted in which whether the medicine container 420 is in use or not is confirmed on a master table that shares mounting information of the medicine container 420 in the medicine dispensing device 1, for example, Even if the system does not include a container storage member (shelf device) 220, it is possible to distinguish whether the drug container 420 to be used in the prescription information is in, for example, drug dispensing device 1, machine No. 1 or No. 2, or whether it is not attached to either and placed somewhere else.

[0176] (b) Distinguishing between prescriptions that must be filled by a pharmacist and those that may be filled by others. In this embodiment, a prescription that should be processed by a pharmacist can be selected and moved to the front of the list. In addition, a specific symbol such as a circle can be attached to a prescription that should be processed by a pharmacist, or a specific color can be used to make it stand out. Conversely, a prescription that can be processed by a non-pharmacist such as a technician can be selected and moved to the front of the list. In addition, a specific symbol such as a circle can be attached to a prescription that can be processed by a non-pharmacist such as a technician, or a specific color can be used to make it stand out.

[0177] One type of prescription that a pharmacist must process is one that requires the use of powder feeder 900 described above, and that requires a combination of multiple powdered medications to be fed into hopper 910 of powder feeder 900. In the drug dispensing device 1 of this embodiment, a powder feeder 900 is provided in addition to the drug feeder 5, so that when the prescription includes a drug that is not contained in the drug container 420, the user manually puts the powdered drug, which has been weighed and inspected separately, into the hopper 910.

[0178] However, since the drug dispensing device 1 of this embodiment has only one powder feeder 900, if there are two types of drugs not contained in the drug container 420, it is necessary to mix the multiple powdered drugs and feed them into the hopper 910 of the powder feeder 900. However, mixing can be problematic depending on the compatibility of the powdered medicines. For example, if the particle sizes of the powdered medicines differ significantly, it can be difficult to disperse them uniformly. Therefore, in this embodiment, a prescription that includes two types of medicine that are not contained in medicine container 420 is classified as a prescription that should be processed by a pharmacist. Conversely, if there is one type of medicine not contained in medicine container 420, the prescription is classified as one that can be processed by a non-pharmacist such as a technician.

[0179] Prescriptions that can be processed by non-pharmacists such as technicians are limited to easy-to-process prescriptions, and the prescription acquisition mode is set to acquire only prescriptions that do not include the powder feeder 900 as follows. A: When the only medication listed on the prescription is the powdered medication contained in medication container 420. A: When the medicines written on the prescription are only a powder medicine contained in the medicine container 420 and one type of powder medicine not contained in the medicine container 420. C: The prescription contains only one type of powdered medicine that is not contained in the medicine container 420. D: When the above items A, B, and C include solid medicines that require the use of a manual tablet distribution device 303. E: When only solid drugs are used, using the manual tablet dispensing device 303. Furthermore, as an auxiliary device of the medicine dispensing device 1, a tablet dispensing device that automatically dispenses solid medicine such as tablets may be provided. Prescriptions that can be processed using only a tablet dispensing device, or prescriptions that can use a tablet dispensing device in addition to the requirements listed above (a), (b), (c), (d), and (e), are also classified as prescriptions that can be processed by non-pharmacists such as technicians.

[0180] (2) Only prescriptions that are pending and for which medication can be dispensed immediately are displayed. It is possible to select and display only prescriptions in which the medicine contained in the prescription can be dispensed using only the medicine contained in the medicine container 420 currently attached to the medicine feeder of the medicine dispensing device 1 and the medicine in the medicine container 420 currently contained in the container storage device. (3) Only prescriptions that can be processed by non-pharmacists, such as technicians, are displayed. Only those that satisfy the above conditions A to E can be displayed. (4) Only prescriptions that can be processed by non-pharmacists with low levels of skill are displayed. Only the simplest prescription is displayed. For example, only the case "A: The medicine listed on the prescription is only the powder medicine contained in the medicine container 420" is displayed.

[0181] In this embodiment, the display mode of the display device 35 can be selected from the above-mentioned (1) to (4) by a predetermined operation. That is, in this embodiment, it is also possible to display only "unprocessed prescriptions for which drug dispensing can be performed immediately" by a predetermined operation.

[0182] In the above explanation, it has been explained that all prescriptions sent from the central control device are first imported into the drug dispensing device 1, where they are selected in a predetermined manner and displayed, but it is also possible to configure the device to import only prescriptions that satisfy each condition.

[0183] In the drug dispensing device 1 of this embodiment, there is a method in which the powdered medicine is weighed using the drug container 420 and then poured into the distribution tray 6, or a method in which the powdered medicine is weighed using an external weighing device and then introduced into the hopper 910 of the powder feeder 900 and poured into the distribution tray 6. Of course, using a drug container 420 would be more efficient. However, in consideration of the number of drug containers 420, the storage locations of drug containers 420, the frequency of use of the drug, the expiration date, and the like, it is not appropriate to store all the powdered medicine in drug containers 420.

[0184] Therefore, in the drug dispensing device 1 of this embodiment, the frequency of use of powdered medicine and the frequency of use of drug container 420 are recorded, and the records can be used as reference material to consider whether it is appropriate to keep the drug in drug container 420 or to select new drugs to be placed in drug container 420. In this embodiment, a list of the least frequently used medication containers 420 may be displayed as "Worst."

[0185] Also, powdered medicines that are not contained in medicine container 420 and that are used frequently can be displayed as "top". Here, the original data for determining the frequently used powdered medicine may depend only on the usage status of the medicine dispensing device 1, but is preferably based on the usage frequency of powdered medicines in the entire system. For example, a large pharmacy has a plurality of powdered medicine dispensing devices and packaging machines, which are connected to a network to form a system. For example, a medicine dispensing system 230 as shown in FIG. 42 has been constructed. The powdered medicine dispensing devices and packaging machines included in the medicine dispensing system 230 are models other than the medicine dispensing device 1 of this embodiment, and include ones that automatically discharge powdered medicine from a medicine container into a distribution tray, ones that do not have a medicine container and instead feed powdered medicine weighed by an external weighing device into a distribution tray using a powdered medicine feeder, and ones that are of a type known as the buoy measure system. It is desirable to use the frequency of use of powdered medicines in all of these devices as raw data and display the powdered medicines that are most frequently used as the "top" ones.

[0186] In the medicine dispensing device 1 of the present embodiment, the medicine container 420 is attached to the feeder body 10 and vibrated to dispense the medicine. Here, the amount of medicine discharged per unit time correlates with the vibration strength, and the stronger the vibration, the greater the amount of medicine discharged per unit time. Therefore, when powdered medicine that does not flow well is contained in the medicine container, the vibration strength during discharge is increased. In this embodiment, the drug container 420 is vibrated while the weight of the drug container 420 is monitored, but if it is determined that the change in weight of the drug container 420 is small and the amount of powdered medicine discharged per unit time is small, a control is adopted that gradually increases the vibration strength.

[0187] However, when the vibration is made stronger, the noise generated by each device becomes louder. In particular, when the amount of powdered medicine remaining in the medicine container 420 becomes small, the medicine container 420 vibrates, and the powdered medicine container 42 resonates, which tends to increase the noise. Therefore, in this embodiment, the total weight of the drug container 420 is monitored, and when the total weight is light, strong vibration is not applied to the drug container 420.

[0188] That is, in this embodiment, when the total weight of the medicine container 420 is light and the remaining amount of the medicine is small, the vibration strength is not increased excessively. That is, in this embodiment, when the total weight of the drug containers 420 is equal to or less than a certain value, the upper limit of the vibration strength is controlled to be lower than in the normal case. [Industrial Applicability]

[0189] The present invention is a device for dispensing medicines, which can achieve the third Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), which is to "Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages." The drug dispensing device of the present disclosure is a device that can be performed by non-pharmacists such as technicians by eliminating powdered drug audit work such as powdered drug weighing that should be performed by qualified personnel such as pharmacists. Specifically, the worker can reliably perform and complete the packaging work required for the prescription by simply taking out the drug container number specified based on the prescription information, or the drug container specified by a lamp or the like if placed on a shelf, without being aware that it is a drug, and placing it on the drug dispensing device. This allows qualified pharmacists to shift from object-oriented work such as dispensing work to person-oriented work that faces patients, and since the necessary dispensing work can be performed by non-pharmacists, the third goal of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which is to "ensure healthy lives and promote welfare for all at all ages." This disclosure can also reduce labor costs and improve economic productivity, which will also contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). [Explanation of symbols]

[0190] 1;drug dispensing device, 5,700;drug feeder, 6;distribution plate, 8;scraping device, 10,702;feeder body, 411,711;powder discharge section (first discharge section), 13;drug input groove, 16;vibration member (container holding section), 420,701;drug container, 22;feeder section, 23;container support section, 24;weight measuring section, 25;weight measuring means, 26;base section, 27;support stand, 28;vibration isolation member, 30;support side horizontal section, 30a;vibration means, 30b;vibration means, 31;support side vertical wall section, 32;vibration side horizontal section, 33;vibration side vertical wall section (vertical wall), 440;bottom wall, 5 6; engagement piece holding portion, 61; large area side surface, 62; small area side surface, 68; partition plate, 70; container body, 471; box portion, 72; straightening member, 473; shutter structure portion, 475; lid member, 91, 491, 740; shutter member (opening / closing member), 110, 510; closing wall, 148; slit, 301; powdered medicine dividing area, 302; medicine packaging area, 310; powdered medicine input hopper, 305; medicine packaging device, 360; medicine packaging core tube, 370; medicine packaging sheet, 900; powder feeder, 910; hopper, 920; trough, 940; trough discharge portion (second discharge portion)

Claims

1. A drug dispensing device comprising a drug container storing more than one prescription's worth of drug, a drug feeder on which the drug container is placed, a powder feeder from which one prescription's worth of drug is fed into a hopper and discharged from a trough communicating with the hopper, and a dispensing tray having a drug input groove into which the drug discharged from the drug feeder and the powder feeder is fed.

2. The drug dispensing device according to claim 1, wherein one powder feeder and multiple drug feeders are arranged around a distribution tray.

3. It further has a powder dispensing hopper from which the pesticide is scraped out and dispensed, The powder dispensing hopper is positioned opposite to the position between the multiple drug feeders. The drug dispensing device according to claim 2, wherein the powder feeder is positioned around the distribution tray at the position furthest from the powder dispensing hopper.

4. The drug container has a first powder discharge section on its bottom wall for discharging the drug into a drug input groove. The trough has a second powder discharge section at its tip that discharges the drug into the drug input groove. The first powder dispensing section is inclined at a first acute angle with respect to the tangent to the distribution tray at the position of the drug feeder, and the second powder dispensing section is inclined at a second acute angle with respect to the tangent to the distribution tray at the position of the powder feeder. The drug dispensing device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first inclination angle and the second inclination angle are the same.

5. The drug dispensing device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the drug feeder is oriented in the direction normal to the dispensing tray, and the powder feeder is oriented in the direction normal to the dispensing tray.

6. A drug packaging device further comprising a drug packaging device for packaging drugs dispensed from a drug dispensing device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a strip-shaped drug packaging sheet is wrapped around a drug packaging core tube attached to the drug packaging device.

7. A drug packaging device further comprising a drug packaging device for packaging drugs dispensed from a drug dispensing device according to claim 1 or 2, the drug packaging core tube having a through hole that penetrates axially through its center and for winding the drug packaging sheet into a roll shape around its outer circumference, for supplying a strip-shaped drug packaging sheet to be attached to the drug packaging device.

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