Oscillating device and medicine transportation and dispensing device

Abstract

To provide an oscillating device for resolving clogging in a cassette that can sequentially dispense tablets in a tablet packaging machine using the cassette.SOLUTION: An oscillating device includes: a body part of a container that can store tablets; an alignment plate that can axially rotate within the body part; and a rotating shaft for the alignment plate. When the rotating shaft is axially rotated, the alignment plate axially rotates to resolve clogging in a cassette that sequentially discharges the tablets from the container part. The oscillating device also includes: a cassette mounting part in which the cassette can be attached to the upper surface thereof; and a rotation drive mechanism which rotates the cassette and cassette mounting part integrally until the upper surface of the cassette mounting part reaches an angle equal to or greater than 90 degrees while maintaining such a state that the cassette is attached to the cassette mounting part.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 19

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a rocking device for removing jams in a cassette capable of successively dispensing tablets, and to a medicine delivery and dispensing device including the rocking device. [Background technology]

[0002] There is a widely known tablet packaging machine which includes a container body that holds tablets, a rotor that rotates on an axis inside the container, a rotor shaft, a cassette that rotates in conjunction with the rotor as the shaft is rotated, thereby sequentially discharging tablets from the container, and a packaging device that packages the tablets dispensed from the cassette one by one in accordance with prescription data (see, for example, Patent Document 1, etc.). In such tablet packaging machines, tablets may become clogged when dispensing one tablet at a time. In order to resolve such tablet clogging, methods such as reversing the rotation direction of the rotor or applying an impact to vibrate the tablets inside have been considered (see, for example, Patent Documents 2 and 3).

[0003] Furthermore, with the recent growing trend toward automation, fully automatic tablet packaging machines that use such cassettes are also being considered, which are equipped with a storage shelf for storing a large number of cassettes and a mechanism for dispensing tablets from the storage shelf (see, for example, Patent Document 4). In such a fully automatic tablet dispensing machine, it is advantageous to have many cassettes on the storage shelves so that it can handle a variety of prescriptions. However, when a cassette placed on the storage shelves becomes clogged, how to clear the clog has also been an issue. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2023-022428 A [Patent Document 2] JP 2006-232357 A [Patent Document 3] JP 2016-172007 A [Patent Document 4] Patent Publication No. 2022-059035 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] The present invention has been made to solve the above technical problem, and has an object to provide a rocking device for removing jams in a cassette capable of successively dispensing tablets. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to solve the above problems, the rocking device of the present invention is a rocking device that comprises a main body of a container capable of containing tablets, an alignment plate that can rotate on an axis within the main body, and a rotation axis of the alignment plate, and is used to clear clogging of a cassette that sequentially discharges tablets from the main body by rotating the alignment plate on its axis when the rotation axis is rotated, and is characterized by having a cassette mounting portion to which the cassette can be attached on its upper surface, and a rotation drive mechanism that rotates the cassette and the cassette mounting portion together while maintaining the cassette attached to the cassette mounting portion until the upper surface of the cassette mounting portion is at an angle of 90 degrees or more. Effect of the Invention

[0007] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a rocking device that can unclog a cassette capable of sequentially dispensing tablets. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a medicine delivering and dispensing device. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a side view showing an example of the configuration of the medicine transporting and dispensing device shown in FIG. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a front view showing an example of the configuration of a medicine delivering and dispensing device. [Figure 4]FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a cassette mounted on the medicine delivery and dispensing device. [Diagram 5] 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of an incoming transport unit and an outgoing transport unit that perform incoming and outgoing transport of cassettes. FIG. [Figure 6] 13A and 13B are diagrams illustrating an example of a cassette receiving operation in the receiving transport section. [Figure 7] 13A and 13B are diagrams illustrating another example of the storing operation of the cassette in the storing transport section. [Figure 8] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a failure in the storing operation shown in FIG. 6. [Figure 9] 13 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a gap adjustment unit for adjusting the gap between cassettes to be stored; FIG. [Figure 10] 10A and 10B are diagrams illustrating an example of the operation of the interval adjusting unit illustrated in FIG. [Figure 11] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a transport unit for transporting a cassette. [Figure 12] 13A and 13B are diagrams illustrating an example of a configuration for gripping a cassette in a transport section. [Figure 13] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a configuration of a second storage shelf in the present invention. [Figure 14] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a configuration of a first storage shelf according to the present invention. [Figure 15] 13 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a transport path for transporting medicines from a second storage shelf to a packaging device. FIG. [Figure 16] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a configuration of a packaging device according to the present invention. [Figure 17] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of individually packaged medicine. [Figure 18] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a control unit of the medicine transport and dispensing device. [Figure 19] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a configuration of a rocking device according to the present invention. [Figure 20] 1A to 1C are diagrams illustrating an example of a shaking operation of the rocking device of the present invention. [Figure 21] 11A and 11B are diagrams illustrating an example of a lid pressing mechanism of the rocking device. [Figure 22] 22A to 22C are diagrams illustrating an example of the operation of the lid pressing mechanism illustrated in FIG. 21. [Figure 23] 1 is a diagram showing an example of a configuration of a cassette placement section of the present invention; [Figure 24] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a comparative example of a fall path. [Diagram 25] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the falling path of a jammed tablet in the present invention. [Figure 26] 11A and 11B are diagrams illustrating an example of a control method when performing a shaking operation in a rocking device. [Figure 27] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of removing jammed tablets using a rocking device. [Figure 28] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of clearing a jammed tablet when the rocking device is tilted 90 degrees. [Figure 29] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of clearing a jammed tablet when the rocking device is tilted at 135 degrees. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the drawings described below, each direction will be described according to a three-axis orthogonal coordinate system of XYZ as shown in FIG. 1, but the present invention is not limited to such a configuration. In addition, in this embodiment, only an aspect in which the rocking device is mounted on a drug transport and dispensing device having a cassette and a transport section that grasps the cassette is described, but the present invention is not limited to this configuration and may be mounted on other tablet packaging machines.

[0010] FIG. 1 shows a perspective view from the upper right direction of a medicine delivering and dispensing device 500 including a rocking device 50, which will be described later, as an embodiment of the present invention. The medicine conveying and dispensing device 500 is a series of units that are connected and arranged in a line, in order from the +Z direction side, which is the front side where the operator stands, to the -Z direction side, including a front unit 100 having a packaging device 130 at the bottom, a collector shelf 200 that is a first storage shelf capable of storing a plurality of tablet cassettes 20 and dispensing tablets from the tablet cassettes 20, a storage shelf 300 that is a second storage shelf on which the tablet cassettes 20 can be placed, and a power unit 400 that powers the electrical system. The medicine conveying and dispensing device 500 also has a control unit 550 as a central computing unit for controlling each part. The control unit 550 may be located anywhere inside the medicine conveying and dispensing device 500, but in this embodiment, the control unit 550 is described as being located at the top of the main body of the medicine conveying and dispensing device 500. In this embodiment, as the most basic form of the drug delivery and dispensing device 500, a configuration is described in which a collector shelf 200 and a storage shelf 300 are provided in pairs on the left and right sides, but it is also possible to provide multiple collector shelves 200 and multiple storage shelves 300.

[0011] As shown in FIG. 2, the medicine delivering and dispensing device 500 stores therein a plurality of tablet cassettes 20 for dispensing medicines, and has a transport arm unit 110 which is a transport section capable of gripping and transporting the tablet cassette 20. The transport arm units 110 are arranged in a pair, one on each side of the drug transporting and dispensing device 500, and each moves independently of the other in the ±Z and ±Y directions outside the collector shelf 200 and the storage shelf 300, thereby functioning as a transport means that allows tablet cassettes 20 to be transferred between the collector shelf 200, the storage shelf 300 and the front unit 100. The transport arm unit 110 has a catcher unit 112 that operates along a rail unit 111, which is an endless belt stretched in a pair above and below in the Z direction, and in the vertical Y direction, the catcher unit 112 moves a grip unit 113 up and down, allowing the transport arm unit 110 to move freely in the YZ plane. As shown in FIG. 2, an intermediate gear 114 is fixed to the housing in the middle of the rail unit 111, and by pressing the rail unit 111 in the X direction opposite the side where the catcher unit 112 abuts, tension is maintained so that the rail unit 111 extends linearly along the Z direction.

[0012] As shown in FIG. 3, the front unit 100 has a manual distribution section 120 provided for an operator to manually distribute medicine, a packaging device 130 located at the bottom, and a storage section 140 for storing large-capacity cassettes 40. The front unit 100 has an incoming transport section 150 for storing the tablet cassette 20 inside the front unit 100, and an outgoing transport section 160 for discharging the tablet cassette 20 from the front of the front unit 100. Here, the incoming and outgoing conveying sections 150 and 160 are each provided symmetrically in a pair at positions that are linearly symmetrical about the center line of the front unit 100, and a partition wall 101 is provided at the end of the incoming and outgoing conveying section 150 in the +Z direction to prevent the tablet cassettes 20 placed thereon from falling forward.

[0013] The front unit 100 is provided with a touch panel type monitor 102, and the monitor 102 can be used to check and operate the operating state of the medicine delivering and dispensing device 500. In this way, the monitor 102 can be used as both an operating means and a display means of the medicine delivering and dispensing device 500.

[0014] Next, the basic structure and operation of the tablet cassette 20, which is a cassette for storing medicines in this embodiment, will be described. As shown in FIG. 4, the tablet cassette 20 is a medicine containing container that includes a rotor 21, a container body 22 for containing tablets, a handle portion 29, a lid portion 23, and a tablet discharge port 24. The tablet cassette 20 has a base portion 25 that fits into a cassette base 30 provided in plurality on the collector shelf 200, thereby enabling the rotor 21 to rotate and the tablets contained therein to be discharged one by one from the tablet discharge port 24. The handle portion 29 is a curved, thin-plate-like handle, and an operator can easily carry the tablet cassette 20 by gripping the handle portion 29 .

[0015] The cassette base 30 has a transmission drive unit 31 that transmits driving force by engaging with the lower part of the rotor 21 of the tablet cassette 20 from below, and when the transmission drive unit 31 is rotated by a pulse motor, the rotor 21 also rotates in sync. At this time, a large number of wing-shaped partitions 26 are formed at equal pitch on the outer peripheral surface of the rotor 21, and the tablets line up and enter each compartment separated by these partitions 26, so that the tablets are discharged one by one from the tablet discharge port 24 as the rotor 21 rotates. In this way, in tablet cassette 20, the space separated by rotor 21 and partition 26 functions as an alignment plate, and when rotor 21 is rotated on its axis, partition 26 rotates on its axis in accompaniment, thereby enabling tablets to be discharged sequentially from main body 22 of tablet cassette 20.

[0016] An identification member 27 for identifying the type of tablets stored inside is attached to the base 25 of the tablet cassette 20. A commercially available thin flexible RFID tag (Radio Frequency Identifier) ​​is adopted as the identification member 27, and identification information assigned to each tablet cassette 20 is written in advance and stored as data. An identification member sensor 28 is provided on the cassette base 30 side for recognizing the identification member 27 on its upper surface 33, and this configuration makes it possible to identify the tablet cassette 20 fitted in the cassette base 30. The combination of the identification member 27 of the tablet cassette 20 and the medicine stored in the tablet cassette 20 is stored in the control unit 550, and the information can be confirmed via the monitor 102, for example.

[0017] Fig. 5 shows a part of the configuration of the incoming transport section 150 and the outgoing transport section 160 of the front unit 100 shown in Fig. 3. The incoming transport section 150 and the outgoing transport section 160 are provided symmetrically in the front unit 100, but since the structures are similar, the incoming transport section 150 and the outgoing transport section 160 arranged on the +X direction side will be described in particular.

[0018] The outgoing conveying section 160 is attached above the front unit 100 and functions as a belt-type conveying means composed of an outgoing conveying belt 161, which is two endless belts wound along the -Z direction, and a drive roller 162 for driving the outgoing conveying belt 161. The outgoing conveying section 160 is capable of moving the tablet cassette 20 placed on the outgoing conveying belt 161 in the +Z direction by rotating the outgoing conveying belt 161.

[0019] In this embodiment, the outgoing conveying section 160 has an outgoing storage section 164, which is a loading area provided at the end of the outgoing conveying belt 161 on the -Z direction side, which is the upstream side in the conveying direction, an outgoing management sensor 165, and an end position detection sensor 166 attached to the rear end of the outgoing conveying belt 161. When the tablet cassette 20 is placed on the outgoing storage section 164 from the catcher unit 112, the outgoing management sensor 165 detects the presence of the tablet cassette 20, and the outgoing conveying belt 161 is rotated in the +Z direction to convey the tablet cassette 20. In this manner, the delivery storage section 164 is provided within the movable range of the catcher unit 112.

[0020] The output management sensor 165 is a light detection sensor in which the optical axis of the irradiated light is adjusted so as to diagonally cross the output storage section 164. When no tablet cassette 20 is placed in the output storage section 164, the irradiated light is reflected by a reflector 167 provided opposite to the output storage section 164 and returns to the output management sensor 165. On the other hand, when the tablet cassette 20 is placed in the output storage section 164, the tablet cassette 20 blocks the irradiated light somewhere on the optical path, so that the irradiated light cannot be detected, and it can be detected that the tablet cassette 20 is located in the output storage section 164. In this embodiment, the delivery management sensor 165 uses an optical detection sensor that is paired with a reflector 167, but the present invention is not limited to this configuration, and other existing detection means may be used.

[0021] When the tablet cassette 20 is transported in the +Z direction by the outgoing conveyor belt 161 and approaches the terminal position, the terminal position detection sensor 166 detects the tablet cassette 20 directly above and stops the operation of the outgoing conveyor belt 161. 1 and 2, the terminal end portion of the outgoing conveying section 160 protrudes in the +Z direction forward of the front unit 100, so that the operator can remove the tablet cassette 20 placed at this terminal end position. In this manner, the terminal end position is the outgoing position when the tablet cassette 20 is discharged from the outgoing conveying section 160, and the terminal end position detection sensor 166 operates as an outgoing detection section that detects that the tablet cassette 20 has reached the outgoing position.

[0022] The incoming conveying section 150 functions as a belt-type conveying means composed of an incoming conveying belt 151, which is two endless belts wrapped around the rear side of the partition wall 101 along the -Z direction, and a drive roller 152 for driving the incoming conveying belt 151.

[0023] The tablet cassette 20 can be placed on the upstream end of the incoming conveyor belt 151 in the rotation direction, and an incoming detection sensor 157, which is an optical sensor, is provided as detection means for detecting whether the tablet cassette 20 is placed at the upstream end position. In this embodiment, the incoming detection sensor 157 is provided in such a manner that it directs irradiation light diagonally upward to reflect the light on a reflecting plate (not shown) located near the drive roller 162. With this configuration, when the irradiation light from the incoming detection sensor 157 is blocked by the tablet cassette 20 or the like, the incoming detection sensor 157 detects that the tablet cassette 20 is placed at the upstream end position.

[0024] When the incoming detection sensor 157 detects the tablet cassette 20, the incoming conveying section 150 rotates the incoming conveying belt 151 to move the tablet cassette 20 placed on the incoming conveying belt 151 in the -Z direction. The operator places the tablet cassette 20 to be stored on the incoming conveying belt 151 on the back side of the partition wall 101, and moves the tablet cassette 20 into the medicine delivering and dispensing device 500.

[0025] In this embodiment, three interval adjustment means 153 are provided on the downstream side in the movement direction of the incoming conveying section 150, i.e., on the -Z direction side, and when the tablet cassette 20 moving to the -Z direction side passes above the interval adjustment means 153, the movement is restricted by the interval adjustment means 153, thereby appropriately adjusting the interval between two adjacent tablet cassettes 20. The specific operation and configuration of the interval adjustment means 153 will be described later. Furthermore, the number of interval adjustment means 153 to be provided is arbitrary, but it is preferable that there be more than one.

[0026] An incoming storage section 154 for arranging and arranging the tablet cassettes 20 is provided on the -Z direction side of the interval adjustment means 153. Since the incoming storage section 154 is within the movable range of the transport arm unit 110, the tablet cassettes 20 that have reached the incoming storage section 154 are held by the transport arm unit 110 in a state in which they can be transported to the collector shelf 200, the storage shelf 300, or other locations of the medicine transporting and dispensing device 500. An identification member sensor 28 for recognizing the identification member 27 of the tablet cassette 20 is provided below the incoming storage section 154, and the identification information of the tablet cassette 20 moved to the incoming storage section 154 is stored in the control section 550. Note that the incoming storage section 154 may be provided with a plurality of identification member sensors 28, for example, four.

[0027] In the receiving storage section 154, a first direction detection sensor 155 is disposed along the receiving conveyor belt 151 in the Z direction. The first direction detection sensor 155 is a laser-type detection means that is passed in the +Z direction as shown in Figure 6, and the light emitted from the first direction detection sensor 155 passes through the gaps in the tablet cassettes 20, in this case the space between the handle portion 29 and the main body of the tablet cassette 20, making it possible to detect that each tablet cassette 20 placed on the input / output transport section 150 is placed in the correct orientation. Also disposed above the incoming conveyor section 150 are second direction detection sensors 156 for detecting whether or not both ends of the tablet cassette 20 are positioned directly above the incoming conveyor belt 151 . The second direction detection sensor 156 is a laser-type detection means that is arranged at both ends of the conveying path of the input conveying section 150 and passes directly downward, and when the tablet cassette 20 passes directly below it, if the passage is detected simultaneously (both are ON), it can detect that the tablet cassette 20 is moving perpendicular to the conveying direction as shown in Figure 6. Conversely, as shown in Figure 7, if the tablet is placed incorrectly, the light emitted by the first direction detection sensor 155 is blocked by the tablet cassette 20 and turns OFF, making it possible to detect the incorrect placement direction.

[0028] 8, the first direction detection sensor 155 is likely to be blocked by the tablet cassette 20 and turn OFF. On the other hand, even if the first direction detection sensor 155 happens to be tilted only to the extent that it can pass, by arranging a pair of second direction detection sensors 156 on both sides of the incoming conveyor belt 151, it is possible to determine whether or not the tablet cassette 20 is moving parallel to the conveyor direction based on whether or not each of the second direction detection sensors 156 turns ON within a predetermined time interval. Note that, although FIG. 8 is a schematic example of a case where the inclination with respect to the conveying direction is large, in reality, the difference in timing at which the two second direction detection sensors 156 are blocked may not be as large as the inclination shown in the figure.

[0029] As described above, if tablet cassette 20 is placed on incoming conveyor belt 151 with handle portion 29 not facing outward, either first direction detection sensor 155 or second direction detection sensor 156 will be turned OFF, detecting that tablet cassette 20 is not being conveyed in the correct posture. Conversely, when both the first direction detection sensor 155 and the second direction detection sensor 156 are ON, the control unit 550 determines that the tablet cassette 20 placed on the incoming conveyor belt 151 is placed in the correct position.

[0030] As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the transport arm units 110 are arranged on both sides of the drug transporting and dispensing device 500 with their respective grip units 113 facing inward, so that when the tablet cassette 20 is transported to the input / output storage section 154 in the correct position with the handle portion 29 facing outward in the input / output transport section 150, the grip unit 113 can grasp and move the handle portion 29 of the tablet cassette 20.

[0031] At this time, in order for the grip unit 113 to accurately grip the handle portion 29, a space is required that allows the grip unit 113 of the transport arm unit 110 to enter the tablet cassettes 20 placed side by side in the receiving and storing section 154. Therefore, in this embodiment, a gap adjusting means 153 is provided for adjusting such a gap while the input conveyor belt 151 conveys the tablet cassette 20.

[0032] As shown in Figure 9, the gap adjustment means 153 has an L-shaped plate-shaped member 1531 which is a regulating means for regulating movement of the tablet cassette 20 in the -Z direction by abutting against the base 25 of the tablet cassette 20, and a gap adjustment sensor 1532 which is a gap adjustment detection unit for detecting that the tablet cassette 20 has reached a predetermined position. Multiple spacing adjustment means 153, three in this embodiment, are arranged side by side in the Z direction between the two incoming conveying belts 151, and as the tablet cassettes 20 pass above each of them, each spacing adjustment means 153 operates to adjust the spacing of the tablet cassettes 20 before they reach the incoming storage section 154 downstream.

[0033] 9, the plate-like member 1531 is an L-shaped plate-like member supported so as to rotate about a rotation shaft 1533 aligned in the X direction. When the gap adjustment sensor 1532 detects the passage of the tablet cassette 20, the driving source 1534 rotates the plate-like member 1531 about the rotation shaft 1533, so that a tip end 1531a of the plate-like member 1531 comes into contact with the base portion 25, which is the bottom surface of the tablet cassette 20. At this time, since the incoming conveyor belt 151 continues to rotate, the tablet cassette 20 tries to be conveyed in the -Z direction, but the leading end 1531a abuts against the bottom surface and gets caught, thereby restricting the conveyance of the tablet cassette 20.

[0034] FIG. 10 shows a schematic diagram of the operation of such interval adjustment means 153. As shown in FIG. 10(a), a plurality of tablet cassettes that are transported side by side will be referred to as tablet cassettes 20a, 20b, and 20c. First, it is assumed that in an initial state, tablet cassettes 20a, 20b, and 20c are packed tightly together without any adjustment of the gaps on the incoming conveyor belt 151. When the gap adjustment sensor 1532 detects the passage of the first tablet cassette 20a, the plate-like member 1531 rotates a predetermined time after the tablet cassette 20a has passed and comes into contact with the bottom surface of tablet cassette 20b. Since the incoming conveying belt 151 continues to be driven, as shown in Figure 10(b), the tablet cassette 20a will move forward for the period of time that the tip end 1531a abuts and gets caught on the bottom surface of the tablet cassette 20b, and in this way the gap La between tablet cassette 20a and tablet cassette 20b can be adjusted by the contact time of the plate-shaped member 1531. In this embodiment, the plate-like member 1531 is L-shaped and is shaped to abut by fitting into a recess in the bottom surface of the tablet cassette 20, but this is not limited to a configuration, and any structure may be used as long as it abuts against the tablet cassette 20 to regulate and temporarily stop the transport by the input conveyor belt 151.

[0035] When the gap La between the tablet cassettes 20a and 20b is thus opened, the abutting state is released again by the rotation of the plate-like member 1531 as shown in FIG. 10(c), and the tablet cassette 20b moves with the gap La remaining opened. Next, when the gap adjustment sensor 1532 detects that the tablet cassette 20b has reached a predetermined position, the plate member 1531 similarly rotates a predetermined time after the tablet cassette 20c has passed and comes into contact with the bottom surface of the tablet cassette 20b.

[0036] At this time, for example, it is also possible to adjust the gap Lb between tablet cassette 20b and tablet cassette 20c by rotating the plate-shaped member 1531 located most upstream in the conveying direction as shown in Figure 10 (d) and adjusting the time at which it contacts tablet cassette 20c. However, in general, there is a concern that differences in the conveying speed of the entrance conveyor belt 151 and the time required for the plate member 1531 to rotate may result in differences in the intervals.

[0037] Therefore, in this embodiment, each of the multiple lined up plate-like members 1531 may be rotated and inserted into the bottom surfaces of the tablet cassettes 20a, 20b, and 20c as shown in FIG. 10(e). With the plate-shaped member 1531 inserted into each of the tablet cassettes 20a, 20b, 20c in this manner, when the input conveying belt 151 rotates, the conveying of the tablet cassette 20 is restricted as shown in Figure 10(f) when the side wall upstream in the conveying direction at the bottom of each of the tablet cassettes 20a, 20b, 20c abuts against the tip portion 1531a of the plate-shaped member 1531. Therefore, when the input conveying belt 151 continues to rotate, the spacing La, Lb between the tablet cassettes 20a, 20b, 20c is automatically adjusted to a predetermined spacing L1 based on the spacing L2 between the tip ends 1531a when the plate-shaped members 1531 rotate and the width of the tablet cassette 20. In this way, by using multiple spacing adjustment means 153 to regulate the movement of multiple lined up tablet cassettes 20 in the conveying direction, it is possible to automatically adjust the spacing between each tablet cassette 20 without being affected by the drive timing or control of the plate-shaped member 1531.

[0038] As described above, the aligned tablet cassettes 20 are transported to the warehousing storage section 154 located downstream of the interval adjusting means 153 in the transport direction while maintaining the interval L1 at a constant value by the interval adjusting means 153. In the input / output storage section 154, the tablet cassette 20 is placed with the handle portion 29 facing outward and at a distance L1 between them, so that the grip unit 113 of the transport arm unit 110 can enter into this distance L1 to securely grasp the tablet cassette 20.

[0039] The configuration of the transfer arm unit 110 will be described. As already mentioned, the transport arm unit 110 has a catcher unit 112 that operates along the rail unit 111, which is an endless belt stretched in the Z direction, and in the vertical direction, the catcher unit 112 moves the grip unit 113 up and down via a support rod stretched between the upper and lower rail units 111, thereby allowing the transport arm unit 110 to move freely in the YZ plane. FIG. 11 shows the operation of the catcher unit 112 and the grip unit 113.

[0040] As shown in Figure 12, the grip unit 113 has a mounting table 1131 wide enough to hold six tablet cassettes 20, three on the top and three on the bottom, an advancing / retreating mechanism 1133 that moves back and forth in the ±X directions, and an engaging claw 1132 attached to the front of the advancing / retreating mechanism 1133. The mounting table 1131 has a shelf position detection sensor 1134 which emits light in the forward and backward directions shown by dashed lines in Figure 12 to confirm and fine-tune the position of the collector shelf 200 or the storage shelf 300 in addition to the position coordinates of the catcher unit 112 and the grip unit 113, and a cassette detection sensor 1135 which emits light diagonally upward from the mounting table 1131 to detect the presence or absence of a tablet cassette 20 in front of the advancing / retracting mechanism 1133.

[0041] The fitting claws 1132 are arranged in a pair on the left and right sides and are held by the advance / retract mechanism 1133 so as to be rotatable about a connection portion 1136 . The engaging claws 1132 advance and retreat together with the advancing and retreating mechanism 1133, and rotate about a connection part 1136 with the advancing and retreating mechanism 1133 at a position where they can grip the handle portion 29 of the tablet cassette 20, and perform an operation to retract the handle portion 29. The space required for the engaging claws 1132 to fit between the tablet cassettes 20 is the distance L1 described in FIG.

[0042] When the engaging claws 1132 grip the tablet cassette 20 in this manner, a plate-shaped member, the cassette holder 1137, is present in front of the advancing / retreating mechanism 1133. When the engaging claws 1132 act to clamp and surround the handle portion 29 and pull it in, the main body 22 of the tablet cassette 20 abuts against the cassette holder 1137, thereby fixing the position. In such a gripping state, a force that pulls in the fitting claws 1132 acts on the main body 22 via the handle portion 29, and a reaction force that pushes out acts from the cassette holder 1137, so that the posture is stable. Such a cassette holder 1137 may be provided in two places, for example, vertically around the handle portion 29, or may be provided only on one side, for example, only on the upper side.

[0043] In this state, the advancing / retracting mechanism 1133 draws in the tablet cassette 20 together with the engaging claws 1132 , and places the tablet cassette 20 on the placement table 1131 . As mentioned above, the mounting table 1131 can hold up to six tablet cassettes 20 in the same manner, so by moving the catcher unit 112 with the tablet cassette 20 placed on the mounting table 1131, the catcher unit 112 can transport the tablet cassette 20 from the front unit 100 to the collector shelf 200 or the storage shelf 300. At this time, an identification member sensor 28 for reading the identification member 27 of the tablet cassette 20 is placed on the mounting table 1131, and can read the identification member 27 of the tablet cassette 20 transported to the storage shelf 300. Therefore, the control unit 550 stores the YZ coordinates in the storage shelf 300 on which the tablet cassette 20 is mounted by the transport arm unit 110 in association with the identification information of the medicine stored in the identification member 27. In this way, by linking and storing the identification information of the medicine by the identification member 27 with the YZ coordinates, the control unit 550 can instruct the transport arm unit 110 of the necessary YZ coordinates when retrieving the necessary medicine according to the prescription data.

[0044] As shown in FIG. 13, the storage shelf 300 is a shelf having a shelf main body 302 and a base plate 301. In this embodiment, in order to uniquely determine the position at which the tablet cassette 20 is arranged on the storage shelf 300, 12 flat base plates 301 that fit with the base portion 25 are arranged in one row and 10 vertical rows, but for simplicity, only a part of them is shown in the figure. The tablet cassette 20 placed on the storage shelf 300 is held in a state where it is fitted with the base plate 301, but this configuration is not limited to this. In addition, the base plate 301 is a simple plate-like member and does not need to have a mechanism that is particularly linked to the operation of the tablet cassette 20.

[0045] As already shown and described in FIG. 4, a cassette base 30 for fitting the tablet cassette 20 is arranged on the collector shelf 200, and the tablet cassette 20 arranged on the collector shelf 200 can eject the medicine stored inside the tablet cassette 20 one tablet at a time via the cassette base 30.

[0046] As shown in Fig. 14, the collector shelf 200 has a shelf body 202 in which the cassette bases 30 are arranged side by side, and a tablet drop path 201 which is a space formed between the shelf body 202 and an opening / closing plate 203 on the back side of the shelf body 202. Note that the cross-sectional view of the part indicated by the line A-A' in Fig. 14(a) corresponds to Fig. 14(b). Here, as shown in FIG. 14(b), the collector shelf 200 is formed so that the tablet drop path 201 and the tablet discharge port 24 communicate with each other by fitting the tablet cassette 20 and the cassette base 30 together. In this embodiment, the collector shelf 200 is configured such that eight cassette bases 30 are provided in each row in the horizontal direction and two shelves are provided in the vertical direction, but the number of shelves and the like can be changed as appropriate.

[0047] A rocking device 50 is provided on the rear side of the collector shelf 200 in the -Z direction, within the movable range of the transport arm unit 110. As shown in FIG. 1, the collector shelves 200 are arranged back to back in a pair on the left and right, with the shelf main body 202 facing the movable range of the transport arm unit 110, so that two rocking devices 50 are also provided, one on each side of the medicine transport and dispensing device 500. When it is detected that no tablets are discharged from one of the multiple tablet cassettes 20 placed on the collector shelf 200 even by the rotation of the transmission drive unit 31, the tablet cassette 20 is transported to the rocking device 50 by the transport arm unit 110. The specific configuration of the rocking device 50 will be described later.

[0048] The tablet drop path 201 is formed between a shelf main body 202 and an opening / closing plate 203, and a shutter mechanism 204 is provided at the lower end portion. The shutter mechanism 204 is normally kept in a closed state and functions as a shutter that blocks the falling path of the tablets discharged from the tablet cassette 20 so that they fall at the correct timing.

[0049] As shown in FIG. 15, below the shutter mechanism 204, there are provided a funnel-shaped hopper portion 205 and a conveyor device 210 which rotates in the direction of the arrow A in the figure. The conveyor device 210 is known as a medicine transport section having a structure including a plurality of tablet containers 211 and a conveyor 212 composed of rollers and belts for moving the tablet containers 211 . The tablets that have fallen from the tablet drop path 201 through the hopper section 205 into the tablet container 211 are carried in the +Z direction by the conveyor device 210, and are finally transported from the input hopper 70 arranged at the bottom of the front unit 100 to the packaging device 130. In this way, the collector shelf 200 is composed of the tablet drop path 201, the shutter mechanism 204, the hopper section 205, and the conveyor device 210, and is provided with a drug transport path connecting the collector shelf 200 and the packaging device 130.

[0050] The tablets dropped into the input hopper 70 are packaged in packaging paper 131 by a packaging device 130 as shown in FIG. The packaging device 130 is provided with, in order along a feed path for the packing paper 131, a packing strip feed section 132 which holds a roll of packing paper 131 and applies appropriate tension to send it out in sequence starting from the tip, a printer 133 which prints on the packing paper 131, a vertical seal section 134 which has a heating element extending in the width direction of the packing paper 131, i.e., in the front-to-depth direction of Figure 16 in this embodiment, and heats and fuses the seal section 131a of the packing paper 131, two feeding hoppers 70 on the left and right which move up and down to insert and remove the tip of the packing paper 131 which has been folded in half, a horizontal seal section 135 which has a heating element extending laterally and heats and fuses the packing paper 131, a roller section 136 which pulls the packing paper 131, and a cutter 137 which perforates and cuts the packing paper 131.

[0051] With this configuration, the packet paper 131 is filled with medications such as tablets or powdered medicine in sections of a specified length as shown in Figure 17, and is discharged in a continuous manner to the downstream discharge outlet 139 with the seal portions 131a shown in shaded areas fused by heat. Packaging paper 131 is folded in half with its upper end open and is pulled out from packaging strip feeder 132. Here, packaging strip feeder 132 is a packaging strip holder that feeds out packaging paper 131 wound up in a roll, for example, in a reel shape. The packet paper 131 sent out from the wrapping belt feeding section 132 is printed by the printer 133, moves to the bottom of the input hopper 70, and is sealed at the front and rear in the conveying direction by the vertical sealing section 134. After that, the input hopper 70 inputs the medicine, the top is sealed, and the paper is cut or perforated by the cutter 137 before being discharged.

[0052] Since the amount of tablets that falls into the input hopper 70 is equivalent to one packet, one packet of medicine is enclosed inside each of the packaging papers 131.

[0053] When the feeding hopper 70 detects that tablets have been placed into the packaging paper 131, the horizontal seal section 135 seals the top of the packaging paper 131, and the roller section 136 pulls in the packaging paper 131 a predetermined amount, so that the packaging paper 131 is transported the length of one packet. By repeating this operation, the packaging paper 131 is conveyed to the discharge port 139 as a series of medicine bags, each of which contains one packet of medicine.

[0054] Packaging device 130 is a packaging device capable of packaging various medicines including tablets into individual packets in packaging paper 131 by using the configuration of each part as described above. In this embodiment, the configuration of the packaging device 130 is described only in terms of a type in which the packaging paper 131 is transported horizontally, but any other configuration may be used as long as the packaging machine is capable of dividing the packaging paper into sections of a predetermined width and sealing medicine in the divided chambers, and is not limited to this configuration.

[0055] Now, a specific operation of the automatic medicine delivering and dispensing device 500 equipped with a plurality of such tablet cassettes 20 will be described.

[0056] First, inside the medicine delivering and dispensing device 500, a plurality of tablet cassettes 20 are arranged on the collector shelf 200 and the storage shelf 300 as already described. Each tablet cassette 20 stores one type of tablet therein. When an operator wishes to dispense prescribed medicines based on specific prescription data, the operator selects the prescription data using monitor 102. Based on the prescription data, control unit 550 checks whether the required medicines and the number of medicines per package can be covered by the tablet cassettes 20 stored inside medicine conveying and dispensing device 500. If there are medicines in short supply at this point, the operator may be prompted to place a tablet cassette 20 containing the required medicines on storage and conveyance unit 150, for example, by displaying a message indicating that the medicines are out of stock on monitor 102. In addition, since there is no effect on the specific configuration of the invention in this embodiment, the explanation will be omitted, but the operator may manually distribute the medicine using the manual distribution section 120 provided in the front unit 100, and the packaging device 130 may then divide the medicine into individual packets.

[0057] When the control unit 550 confirms the necessary medicine, the transport arm unit 110 moves in response to an instruction from the control unit 550 to a position in front of the necessary medicine, for example, the tablet cassette 20 storing tablet D. At this time, the control unit 550 grasps the storage position of the tablet cassette 20 containing tablet D by the identification member 27, and moves the transport arm unit 110 based on the YZ coordinates (Yd, Zd) of the storage position of the tablet cassette 20 containing tablet D.

[0058] Needless to say, in order for the transport arm unit 110 to grip the tablet cassette 20, it is necessary to grasp the position of the tablet cassette 20 with high accuracy. However, in a drug transport and dispensing device 500 equipped with such a storage shelf 300 and collector shelf 200 and incorporating a large number of tablet cassettes 20, even if attempts are made to improve accuracy using the YZ coordinates, there is a concern that errors will occur due to the extension or movement of the rail unit 111. Furthermore, it is expected that such errors will become more pronounced as the number of storage shelves 300 and collector shelves 200 is increased and the overall length of the medicine delivering and dispensing device 500 becomes longer.

[0059] Therefore, in this embodiment, when the grip unit 113 moves to the YZ coordinates, the shelf position detection sensor 1134 detects the shelf position of the shelf main body 202, 302 of the collector shelf 200 or the storage shelf 300, and the YZ coordinates are fine-tuned based on the shelf position. Specifically, when the transport arm unit 110 moves to such a YZ coordinate (Yd, Zd), the shelf position detection sensor 1134 checks whether the shelf main body 202 is located in the correct position when the correct YZ coordinate is reached. If the shelf position detection sensor 1134 is unable to detect the shelf main body 202, 302, the grip unit 113 moves up and down to estimate the location of the correct shelf position, and then adjusts its position again based on the actual shelf position of the shelf main body 202, 302.

[0060] Furthermore, when the control unit 550 determines that the shelf position is correct, it uses a cassette detection sensor 1135 corresponding to the advancing / retreating mechanism 1133 to confirm whether the tablet cassette 20 is correctly positioned at the destination where the advancing / retreating mechanism 1133 has moved forward or backward. At this time, if the tablet cassette 20 is not in the desired position (ie, in front of the advancing and retracting mechanism 1133 that is being extended), the cassette detection sensor 1135 moves again until it can detect the tablet cassette 20 in front.

[0061] When the advancing / retreating mechanism 1133 reaches the tablet cassette 20 containing the tablets D correctly in this manner, the control unit 550 then extends the advancing / retreating mechanism 1133 to grip the handle portion 29 with the engaging claws 1132, and then retracts the advancing / retreating mechanism 1133 to place the tablet cassette 20 on the mounting table 1131.

[0062] The grip unit 113, in contrast to when removing the tablet cassette 20 onto the mounting table 1131, confirms that there is no other tablet cassette 20 in front of the advancing / retreating mechanism 1133, then moves the advancing / retreating mechanism 1133 back and forth to release the engagement of the handle portion 29 with the engaging claw 1132, thereby engaging the tablet cassette 20 containing tablets D into the cassette base 30 of the collector shelf 200. By repeating these operations, the transport arm unit 110 completes the movement of the tablet cassettes 20 required for the packaging operation based on the prescription data. At this time, since the grip unit 113 can simultaneously transport up to six tablet cassettes 20, the control unit 550 may determine the order of reciprocating movements so as to minimize the total moving distance of the transport arm unit 110. Incidentally, the operation from discharging the tablets D from the tablet cassette 20 after being placed on the collector shelf 200 until packaging has already been described, and therefore the description thereof will be omitted.

[0063] Discharge of the tablets D from the tablet cassettes 20 placed on the collector shelf 200 in this manner is performed by a drop detection sensor 32 installed below a discharge port provided in the cassette base 30. The drop detection sensor 32 is an optical detection sensor, and when a tablet D is discharged from the tablet cassette 20, the drop detection sensor 32 detects the drop of the tablet D by utilizing the fact that the irradiated light is blocked.

[0064] At this time, in the cassette base 30, when the encoder provided in the transmission drive unit 31 for detecting the rotation of the rotor 21 detects that the rotation of the rotor 21 has stopped and the drop detection sensor 32 does not detect the discharge of the tablets, the control unit 550 determines that the tablet cassette 20 is jammed. In this way, the control unit 550 judges whether the tablet cassette 20 in the medicine delivering and dispensing device 500 is jammed or not. That is, the control unit 550 functions as a determination unit that determines whether the tablet cassette 20 is jammed based on whether the rotation shaft of the tablet cassette 20 placed on the cassette base 30 is rotating or not.

[0065] When such a "clogging" occurs, the rotor 21 stops and tablets can no longer be ejected from the tablet cassette 20, which in turn causes the tablet dispensing operation from the medicine transport and dispensing device 500 to stop. It is also conceivable that the clogged tablet cassette 20 may be replaced, or that the operator may retrieve and manually remove the tablet cassette 20 in order to clear the clog, but it is desirable to minimize the so-called downtime of such a drug delivery and dispensing device 500, and therefore a method for easily clearing such clogs is needed.

[0066] In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 18, the control unit 550 has a cassette control unit 551, a transport control unit 552, a swing control unit 553, and a packaging control unit 554. The cassette control unit 551 controls whether the tablet cassette 20 is correctly discharging tablets based on signals from various sensors provided on the cassette base 30 or the tablet cassette 20, such as the drop detection sensor 32 and the transmission drive unit 31. Furthermore, based on signals from the identification member 27 and the identification member sensor 28, the cassette control unit 551 recognizes at what position in the medicine transporting and dispensing device 500 the tablet cassette 20 equipped with the corresponding identification member 27 is located.

[0067] The transfer control unit 552 is a control unit for controlling the transfer arm unit 110 and the conveyor device 210. The transport control unit 552 moves the transport arm unit 110 based on the position coordinates of the tablet cassette 20 stored in the cassette control unit 551, thereby enabling the movement of the tablet cassette 20. In addition, the conveying control unit 552 controls the tablets to fall into a designated tablet container 211 by matching the timing of the movement of the conveyor device 210 with the timing at which the tablets discharged from the tablet cassette 20 pass through the hopper section 205 by opening the shutter mechanism 204.

[0068] The packaging control unit 554 controls the operation of each part of the packaging device 130, including controlling the timing of pulling out the packaging paper 131.

[0069] The rocking control section 553 is a control means for controlling each section of the rocking device 50 . When the cassette control unit 551 detects a jam in the tablet cassette 20 , the transport control unit 552 grips the jammed tablet cassette 20 with the transport arm unit 110 and transports it to the swinging device 50 on the collector shelf 200 . As shown in Figure 19, the oscillating device 50 has a cassette base 30 which is a cassette mounting portion to which the tablet cassette 20 can be attached, a rotating housing 51 which holds the cassette base 30 and the tablet cassette 20 together, an oscillating rotation shaft 52 connected to the rotating housing 51, a flat belt 53 which is wound around the oscillating rotation shaft 52, and a rotating drive shaft 54 ​​for rotating the oscillating rotation shaft 52 by rotating the flat belt 53. Both the rotary drive shaft 54 ​​and the oscillating rotary shaft 52 are supported by having bearings fixed to the housing of the oscillating device 50, and furthermore, the rotating housing 51 is attached to the oscillating rotary shaft 52. With this configuration, the rotating housing 51 can rotate within the XY plane with the oscillating rotary shaft 52 as the central axis, independently of the housing body of the oscillating device 50.

[0070] The rocking device 50 also has a jammed tablet discharge path 55 that communicates with the tablet discharge port 24 and is provided within the rotating housing 51, a trapezoidal receiving portion 56 that is fixed to the housing main body side of the rocking device 50 and forms a tablet drop path together with the jammed tablet discharge path 55, and a discharge tray 57 that holds the discharged tablets. The rotating housing 51 is supported by a oscillating rotation shaft 52 so that it can rotate together with the cassette base 30 and the tablet cassette 20 placed thereon, and the rotation of the rotary drive shaft 54 ​​rotates the oscillating rotation shaft 52 via a flat belt 53 as shown in Figure 20, thereby rotating the rotating housing 51.

[0071] The rocking device 50 also has an origin sensor 58 for confirming that the tablet cassette 20 and the rotating housing 51 are in the correct positions when the rotating housing 51 is in the upright position, which is the initial state, and a lid pressing mechanism 60 for pressing the lid portion 23 of the tablet cassette 20 placed on the cassette base 30 to prevent the lid portion 23 from being opened.

[0072] The lid pressing mechanism 60 has a pressing member 61 which is a wide rod-shaped member with a tip protruding downward as shown in Figure 21, a pressing drive unit 62 which moves the pressing member 61 up and down to bring the tip of the pressing member 61 into contact with the lid portion 23 of the tablet cassette 20, and a linear slider 63 which is a guide unit formed along the direction in which the pressing drive unit 62 moves the pressing member 61.

[0073] The pressing drive unit 62 is attached in such a manner that the pressing member 61 is supported sideways at the tip of a protruding portion 62a that protrudes upward. In this embodiment, the protrusion 62a is tapped for a screw, and a rotary motor in the presser drive unit 62 rotates the protrusion 62a to move up and down in the axial direction of the protrusion 62a. At this time, the other end of the presser member 61 that does not contact the lid unit 23 engages with the linear slider 63, so the presser member 61 also moves along the Y direction in which the linear slider 63 extends. In this manner, the presser member 61 and the presser drive unit 62 function as a vertical drive unit that moves the presser member 61 up and down by the operation of the presser drive unit 62 to press down the upper portion of the tablet cassette 20 . The pressing drive unit 62 is not limited to this configuration, and may be configured to move the pressing member 61 up and down by moving the protruding portion 62a like a piston.

[0074] When the pressing member 61 is at the uppermost position and not in contact with the lid portion 23, the origin detection dog 64, which is the detected part at the position of the pressing member 61, detects that it is at the origin position at the upper end because it is between the dog detection parts 65. The dog detection parts 65 are, for example, optical sensors that detect members placed between opposing flat plates. Furthermore, when the presser drive portion 62 lowers the presser member 61, the tip of the presser member 61 comes into contact with the lid portion 23 at some position.

[0075] When a driving member such as a motor is driven a predetermined amount so that lid portion 23 and pressing member 61 come into contact or are close to contacting each other, lid pressing mechanism 60 will not move upward until the jam in tablet cassette 20 is cleared. At this time, since protrusion 62a is threaded, lid portion 23 will not be opened even if a slight upward force is generated from the lid portion 23 side. In this manner, the tablet cassette 20 arranged on the cassette base 30 inside the rotating housing 51 maintains a pressed state in which the opening of the lid portion 23 is restricted by the lowering of the pressing member 61.

[0076] In this embodiment, the cassette base 30 has a similar configuration to that provided in the collector shelf 200. Note that, in the cassette base 30 of the rocking device 50, the rotor 21 can also be rotationally driven by the transmission drive unit 31 fitting into the base part 25 of the tablet cassette 20 as shown in Fig. 23. Therefore, the transmission drive unit 31 is an axial rotation unit that rotates the rotor 21, which is the rotation axis of the partition wall 26. The cassette base 30 of the rocking device 50, which is the cassette placement section in the present invention, is fixed to a rotating housing 51, and rotates together with the tablet cassette 20 placed thereon when the rotating housing 51 rotates. Therefore, the upper surface 33 of the cassette base 30 is a substantially horizontal plane parallel to the ground surface of the rocking device 50 or the ground surface of the medicine delivery / dispensing device 500 when the rotating housing 51 is in the upright position, which is the initial state of the rotating housing 51. In addition, beyond the discharge outlet 24, a jammed tablet discharge path 55 that rotates together with the rotating housing 51 is provided, and the tablets discharged by the rotation of the rotor 21 fall through the jammed tablet discharge path 55 from the trapezoidal receiving portion 56 to the discharge tray 57.

[0077] Here, in this embodiment, as shown in Figures 21 and 22, the jammed tablet discharge path 55 is formed by an extension portion 55a extending from the discharge outlet 24 toward the -Y direction, a guide portion 55c formed on the +Z direction side so as to rise up relative to the rotational direction of the rotating housing 51, and a bent portion 55b formed between the extension portion 55a and the guide portion 55c. In this way, by making the jammed tablet discharge path 55 not linear but bent once along the falling path (in a so-called "L" shape), the momentum of the falling tablet is suppressed at the bent portion 55b, and the discharge direction is changed from the downward direction to the +Z direction.

[0078] Now, if the jammed tablet discharge path 55 is simply provided linearly, the tablets will be discharged in the -Y direction. In such a case, as shown in a comparative example in Fig. 24, depending on the rotation angle of the rotating housing 51, the tablets may roll vigorously in an oblique direction, and there is a concern that a receiving member 59 capable of covering a rotation angle of 0° to 90° will be required so that the tablets are correctly guided to the discharge tray 57. When such a receiving member 59 is provided, it is undesirable that the coverage range of the receiving member 59 becomes large since it is arranged away from the rotating housing 51 so as not to interfere with the rotatable range of the rotating housing 51. On the other hand, if a bent portion 55b is provided in the jammed tablet discharge path 55, the falling tablet changes its discharge direction to the Z direction, and the momentum of the tablet discharge is suppressed by the bent portion 55b in the first place. Furthermore, since the trapezoidal receiving portion 56 having an opening facing the -Z direction as shown by the black diagonal lines in Fig. 25 can cover the tablet discharged toward the front in the figure at a position relatively close to the guide portion 55c, it is preferable that the size of the trapezoidal receiving portion 56 itself does not need to be increased.

[0079] The operation of the rocking device 50 having such a configuration will be described with reference to the flow chart of FIG. First, when the cassette control unit 551 detects a jam in the tablet cassette 20, the transport control unit 552 grips the jammed tablet cassette 20 with the transport arm unit 110 and transports it to the swinging device 50 on the collector shelf 200 (step S101). When the tablet cassette 20 is placed on the cassette base 30, the pressing member 61 of the lid pressing mechanism 60 descends and comes into contact with the lid portion 23 at a position where the pressing member 61 can press the lid portion 23 of the tablet cassette 20, and then stops (step S102).

[0080] At this time, around the time when the tablet cassette 20 is placed on the cassette base 30 attached to the rotating housing 51, the origin sensor 58 confirms that the tablet cassette 20 is in the initial state, that is, in the upright state (step S103). On the condition that the pressing member 61 comes into contact with the lid portion 23 in step S102, in other words, on the condition that the lid of the tablet cassette 20 is in a pressing state so as not to be opened, the rotation drive shaft 54 ​​is rotated by an instruction from the swing control unit 553. The rotating housing 51 rotates the cassette base 30 and the tablet cassette 20 about the swing rotation shaft 52 in the XY plane from an upright state to a tilted state of 135 degrees as shown in Figures 20(a) and (b) (step S104). At this time, the swing control unit 553 counts the number of feeds of the stepping motor that rotates the rotation drive shaft 54, thereby controlling it to be 135 degrees.

[0081] In step S104, the cassette base 30 and the tablet cassette 20 rotate together from the upright position to a position tilted at 135 degrees, so it is clear that the upper surface 33 of the cassette base 30, which was a horizontal plane parallel to the contact surface of the rocking device 50, is also now tilted at 135 degrees from the upper surface 33 when it was in the upright position. In other words, the oscillating rotation shaft 52, the rotation drive shaft 54, and the flat belt 53 function as a rotation drive mechanism for rotating the tablet cassette 20 and the cassette base 30 together until the top surface of the cassette base 30 is at an angle of 90 degrees or more, and the rotation drive shaft 54 ​​mainly serves as the drive section for rotating the rotating housing 51. In this embodiment, the inclination is set to 135 degrees, but it may be set to any angle greater than 90 degrees.

[0082] A little additional explanation will be given regarding the angle at which this rotation drive mechanism rotates the tablet cassette 20. In many cases, the cause of a "jam" in the tablet cassette 20 is that tablet D interferes with the rotor 21 or the tablet discharge port 24, as shown in Figure 27, causing the axial rotation of the rotor 21 to stop. Here, as shown diagrammatically in Figure 28, by tilting the tablet cassette 20 by 90 degrees, tablet D, which was the cause of the "jam," is removed from the interference of the rotor 21, but is still maintained between the rotor 21. Even in such a state, there is a high possibility that the "jam" will be cleared by operating the rotor 21 again, but if the rotating housing 51 is returned to the upright position in this state, there is a possibility that the tablets D will "jam" again. Therefore, it is considered that the jam can be cleared more reliably if the tablets D move to the side of the main body 22. In Fig. 28, the plane of upper surface 33 of cassette base 30 in the upright state is indicated by a dashed line, and the plane of upper surface 33 of cassette base 30 in the inclined state is indicated by a dashed line. In this way, rotating rotatable housing 51 by 90 degrees is equivalent to rotating tablet cassette 20, which is normally placed on a substantially horizontal plane, by 90 degrees.

[0083] Now, based on the structure of the hopper section 205 described above and knowledge gained when designing the tablet drop path 201, it is known that the majority of tablets will slide or roll downward on a slope with a downward inclination of 45 degrees. Therefore, in this embodiment, by setting the inclination angle to 135 degrees as shown in Figure 29, the container side surface of the tablet cassette 20 is inclined at an angle of 45 degrees downward from the position of the rotor 21, so that the tablet D that has caused the "jam" is more likely to fall off onto the main body portion 22 or lid portion 23 side. As already mentioned, since the lid portion 23 is held down by the lid holding mechanism 60 in step S103, the lid portion 23 is prevented from being accidentally opened by being pointed downward. In this manner, with a configuration in which the inclination angle is 135 degrees, the tablets are more likely to move within the tablet cassette 20, so that tablet jamming can be more reliably cleared.

[0084] 29, similarly to FIG. 28, the upper surface 33 of the cassette base 30 in the upright position is shown imaginarily by a dashed line, and the upper surface 33 of the cassette base 30 in the inclined position is shown imaginarily by a dashed line. As described above, while maintaining tablet cassette 20 attached to cassette base 30, rotating tablet cassette 20 and cassette base 30 together until top surface 33 of cassette base 30 is at an angle of 135 degrees or more is equivalent to rotating rotating housing 51 by 135 degrees, which in other words is equivalent to the inner wall of main body 22 of the container of tablet cassette 20 being inclined downward at 45 degrees. By rotating the rotary drive shaft 54 ​​so as to satisfy these conditions, it is possible to more stably eliminate the "clogging" of tablets D.

[0085] Furthermore, the swing control unit 553 rotates the rotary drive shaft 54 ​​to tilt the tablet cassette 20, and also rotates the transmission drive unit 31 to rotate the rotor 21. At this time, by rotating the tablet cassette 20 in a direction opposite to the direction of rotation when the tablet cassette 20 is normally discharged, it is possible to make it even easier to remove the jammed tablets D (step S105).

[0086] After rotating the transmission drive unit 31 in the reverse direction in step S105, the swing control unit 553 rotates the transmission drive unit 31 in the forward direction this time, and determines whether the rotor 21 rotates without any problems (step S106).

[0087] In step S106, if the rotor 21 is still not rotating (i.e., the encoder does not detect the rotation of the transmission drive unit 31), i.e., if the jammed state exists, the rotary drive shaft 54 ​​is rotated in the opposite direction, that is, counterclockwise, to return it to the upright state, and then the operations of steps S103 to S106 are repeated again. It should be noted that the operations may simply be repeated, or the operating speed may be increased, or forward / reverse rotation by the transmission drive unit 31 may be repeated, so that the control mode may be changed from the initial operations of steps S103 to S106. In any case, by repeating the rotation of the rotating housing 51 by the rotating drive shaft 54 ​​and the rotation of the rotor 21 by the transmission drive unit 31, such shaking action is repeated until the "jam" of tablets D is eliminated.

[0088] In this way, in step S106, the swing control section 553 functions as a determination section that determines whether or not the jamming of the tablets D has been resolved based on the presence or absence of rotation when the transmission drive section 31 rotates the rotor 21. In step S106, if the forward rotation of the rotor 21 is not a problem and the swing control section 553 determines that the clogging of the tablets D has been cleared, the rotating casing 51 is returned to the upright state (step S107).

[0089] When returning to the upright state, depending on the position of the rotor 21, the tablet D that was stuck due to the shaking action may be naturally discharged from the tablet discharge port 24. In such a case, the tablet D discharged from the tablet discharge port 24 falls from the clogged tablet discharge path 55 through the trapezoidal receiving portion 56 onto the discharge tray 57.

[0090] When the origin sensor 58 detects that the upright state has been reached in step S107, the lid pressing mechanism 60 unlocks the pressing member 61 and raises the origin detection dog 64 until it is between the dog detection portions 65 (step S108). This makes the tablet cassette 20 removable from the cassette base 30, so the control unit 550 instructs the transport arm unit 110 to move the tablet cassette 20 from the oscillating device 50 to another position, such as the collector shelf 200 where the tablet cassette 20 was originally placed (step S109).

[0091] By having such a rocking device 50, even if the tablet cassette 20 becomes clogged midway, the control unit 550 can automatically clear the clog in the tablet cassette 20, thereby shortening the time that the drug transport and dispensing device 500 is stopped from dispensing.

[0092] <1> The present invention relates to an oscillating device 50 for clearing clogging of a tablet cassette 20 which comprises a main body 22 of a container capable of containing tablets, a rotor 21 which can rotate on its axis within the main body 22, and a rotating shaft for the rotor 21, and which successively discharges tablets from the main body 22 by causing the rotor 21 to rotate on its axis when the rotating shaft is rotated. The device has a cassette base 30 to which the tablet cassette 20 can be attached on its upper surface 33, and an oscillating rotating shaft 52, a rotating drive shaft 54, and a flat belt 53 which function as a rotation drive mechanism for rotating the tablet cassette 20 and the cassette base 30 together until the upper surface 33 of the cassette base 30 is at an angle of 90 degrees or more while maintaining the tablet cassette 20 attached to the cassette base 30. With this configuration, even when a so-called “jam” occurs in which tablets interfere with the rotor 21 of the tablet cassette 20 , the jam in the tablet cassette 20 can be easily cleared by the rocking device 50 .

[0093] <2> In addition, in the rocking device of the present invention, <1> In addition to the configuration described above, it has a pressing member 61 that presses the upper part of tablet cassette 20, and a pressing drive unit 62 that drives pressing member 61 up and down, and rotating drive shaft 54 ​​rotates when the tip of pressing member 61 abuts against the upper part of tablet cassette 20. With this configuration, when the rocking device 50 rotates the tablet cassette 20, the lid portion 23 rotates while being pressed down, so that it is possible to prevent the lid portion 23 from opening accidentally during the shaking operation.

[0094] <3> In addition, in the rocking device 50 of the present invention, <1> or <2> In addition to the configuration described above, the cassette base 30 has a transmission drive unit 31 that is connected to the rotor 21 to rotate the rotor 21 about its axis, and the rocking device 50 drives the rotor 21 by the transmission drive unit 31 after the rotary drive shaft 54 ​​rotates the cassette base 30. With this configuration, after tablet cassette 20 is inclined, rotor 21 is rotated in the reverse or forward direction, whereby tablet jamming can be easily cleared.

[0095] <4> In addition, in the rocking device 50 of the present invention, <1> ~ <3> In addition to any of the configurations described above, the rocking device 50 has a rocking control unit 553 which judges whether the tablet jam has been cleared based on whether or not the transmission drive unit 31 rotates the rotor 21, and when the rocking control unit 553 judges that the jam has not been cleared, the rotating drive shaft 54 ​​returns the upper surface 33 of the cassette base 30 to an upright state, and then repeats the shaking operation of rotating the upper surface 33 of the cassette base 30 until it is at an angle of 90 degrees or more. With this configuration, it is possible to determine whether the jam in the tablet cassette 20 has been cleared, and the tablet cassette 20 automatically and repeatedly transitions between the upright state and the inclined state until the jam is cleared, so that the jam in the tablet cassette 20 can be cleared without any special operation.

[0096] <5> In addition, in the rocking device 50 of the present invention, <1> ~ <4> In addition to the configuration described above, the swing control section 553 rotates the transmission drive section 31 in the normal and reverse directions to determine whether the blockage has been cleared. According to this configuration, the swing control unit 553 can confirm that the rotor 21 is not clogged regardless of the rotation direction of the transmission drive unit 31, so that it is possible to more accurately determine whether the clog has been cleared.

[0097] <6> In addition, in the rocking device 50 of the present invention, <1> ~ <5> In addition to the configuration described above, the rotary drive shaft 54 ​​rotates the rotary housing 51 until the upper surface 33 of the cassette base 30 forms an angle of 135 degrees. According to this configuration, with the inclination angle set to 135 degrees, the tablets are more likely to move within the tablet cassette 20, so that tablet jamming can be more reliably cleared.

[0098] <7> In addition, in the rocking device 50 of the present invention, <1> ~ <6> In addition to the configuration described above, it has a jammed tablet discharge path 55 connected to cassette base 30 for recovering tablets discharged from tablet cassette 20, a trapezoidal receiving portion 56, and a discharge tray 57 provided at the drop opening of trapezoidal receiving portion 56. With this configuration, even if a tablet D that has come off the rotor 21 due to the shaking action of the tablet cassette 20 falls from the tablet discharge outlet 24 when the tablet cassette 20 is in the upright position, the tablet is collected into the discharge tray 57 via the jammed tablet discharge path 55 and trapezoidal receiving portion 56 within the rocking device 50, so that the tablet is less likely to get lost and the tablet will not be discharged into the rocking device 50.

[0099] Furthermore, the medicine delivering and dispensing device 500 of the present invention includes a tablet cassette 20 which is provided with a main body 22 of a container capable of accommodating tablets, a rotor 21 which can rotate about its axis within the main body 22, and a rotation axis of the rotor 21, and which successively discharges tablets from the main body 22 as the rotor 21 rotates about its axis when the rotation axis is rotated, a transport arm unit 110 which can grasp and transport the tablet cassette 20, and a cassette base 30 which can store a plurality of tablet cassettes 20, and which rotates the rotation axis of the cassette base 30 to transport the stored tablet cassettes. The storage shelf 300 is capable of sequentially dispensing tablets from the collected tablet cassettes 20, a storage shelf 300 capable of storing a plurality of tablet cassettes 20, a packaging device 130 for packaging the tablets dispensed from the collector shelf 200, a tablet drop path 201, a shutter mechanism 204, a hopper section 205, a conveyor device 210 which constitute a drug transport path connecting the collector shelf 200 to the packaging device 130, and a cassette control section 551 which determines whether the tablet cassette 20 is clogged based on whether the rotation axis of the tablet cassette 20 placed on the cassette base 30 is rotating or not. Furthermore, in the medicine conveying and dispensing device 500, when the cassette control unit 551 determines that a blockage has occurred, the conveying arm unit 110 grasps and conveys the tablet cassette 20 from the collector shelf 200 to the swinging device 50. According to this configuration, in the drug transporting and dispensing device 500 which is equipped with a transport arm unit 110 which automatically grasps and transports the tablet cassette 20 and uses the transport arm unit 110 to change the tablet cassette 20 placed on the cassette base 30 of the collector shelf 200, when a jam occurs in the tablet cassette 20, the jam can be automatically cleared without any user operation, thereby minimizing downtime of the drug transporting and dispensing device 500.

[0100] Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and appropriate modifications and variations are possible within the scope of the claims. For example, the rocking device of the present invention has been described only as being provided within medicine delivering and dispensing device 500, but such a rocking device may also be mounted on a general tablet packaging device. [Explanation of symbols]

[0101] 20...Tablet cassette (cassette) 21...Rotor (rotating shaft) 22…Main body 26…Bulkhead (alignment board) 30...Cassette base (cassette placement section) 31...Transmission drive unit (shaft rotation unit) 50...Oscillating device 54...Rotation drive shaft (rotation drive mechanism) 55…Clogged tablet discharge route (part of collection route) 56… Trapezoidal receiving part (part of the collection path) 57…Discharge tray (collection container) 60... Lid holding mechanism (up and down drive part) 61...Pressing member (part of the vertical drive unit) 62...Pressure drive unit (part of the up / down drive unit) 110...Transport arm unit (transport unit) 120…Hand-spreading section 130...Packaging equipment 140…Storage section 150…Storage and transportation section 153…Interval adjustment means 160…Shipping and handling section 166…Delivery detection unit 200…Collector shelf (first storage shelf) 201...Tablet drop path (part of drug transport path) 300…Storage shelf (second storage shelf) 500...Medicine delivery and dispensing device 550...Control unit (discrimination unit) 551...Cassette control unit (discrimination unit) 553... Swing control unit (discrimination unit)

Claims

1. A rocking device for removing jams in a cassette that sequentially discharges tablets from the main body, the rocking device comprising: a container body that can accommodate tablets; an alignment plate that can rotate around its axis within the main body; and a rotation shaft for the alignment plate, the alignment plate rotating around its axis in conjunction with the rotation of the rotation shaft, a cassette placement portion on an upper surface of which the cassette can be attached; a rotation drive mechanism that rotates the cassette and the cassette mounting portion together while maintaining the cassette attached to the cassette mounting portion until the upper surface of the cassette mounting portion is at an angle of 90 degrees or more.

2. 2. The rocking device according to claim 1, A vertical drive unit that presses the upper portion of the cassette, The rotary drive mechanism performs the rotation when a tip of the vertical drive part abuts against an upper portion of the cassette.

3. 2. The rocking device according to claim 1, the cassette placement unit has a shaft rotation unit that is connected to the rotating shaft to rotate the rotating shaft, The rocking device is characterized in that, after the rotation drive mechanism rotates the cassette placement portion, the rotation shaft is driven by the shaft rotation portion.

4. The rocking device according to claim 3, The rocking device has a determination unit that determines whether or not the tablet jam has been resolved based on the presence or absence of rotation when the shaft rotating unit rotates the rotating shaft, When the discrimination unit determines that the jam has not been cleared, the rotation drive mechanism returns the upper surface to its initial state and then rotates the upper surface of the cassette loading unit again until it is at an angle of 90 degrees or more.

5. The rocking device according to claim 4, The rocking device according to claim 1, wherein the determining unit determines whether the blockage has been eliminated by rotating the shaft rotating unit in a normal direction and a reverse direction.

6. 2. The rocking device according to claim 1, The rocking device is characterized in that the rotation drive mechanism rotates the upper surface of the cassette placement portion until the upper surface forms an angle of 135 degrees.

7. 2. The rocking device according to claim 1, a rocking device including a recovery path connected to the cassette placement portion for recovering tablets discharged from the cassette, and a recovery container provided at a drop opening of the recovery path;

8. A rocking device according to any one of claims 1 to 7; a cassette including a container body capable of accommodating tablets, an alignment plate capable of rotating about its axis within the container body, and a rotation shaft of the alignment plate, the alignment plate rotating about its axis in association with the rotation of the rotation shaft, thereby sequentially discharging tablets from the container body; a conveying unit capable of gripping and conveying the cassette; a first storage shelf capable of storing a plurality of cassettes by attaching the cassettes to a cassette base, and capable of sequentially dispensing the tablets from the stored cassettes by rotating the rotation shaft of the cassette base; a second storage shelf capable of storing a plurality of the cassettes; a packaging device for packaging the tablets dispensed from the first storage shelf; a medicine transport path connecting the first storage shelf to the packaging device; a determination unit that determines whether the cassette is jammed based on whether a rotation shaft of the cassette placed on the cassette base is rotating or not, A medicine delivering and dispensing device, wherein when the discrimination unit determines that the clogging has occurred, the transport unit grasps and transports the cassette from the first storage shelf to the rocking device.

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