Medicine picking device

Abstract

To perform a pharmacy work in a short time.SOLUTION: A medicine picking device comprises: a storage module including a plurality of storage parts arranged vertically and horizontally; a plurality of trays to be respectively stored in the storage parts so as to be taken in / out; a taking-out module for supporting the tray at a taking-out position to take out a medicine in the tray; a movement mechanism for moving the trays between the storage parts and the taking-out positions; a control section for controlling an action of the movement mechanism; and a storage section for storing a table where the storage positions of the trays are associated with medicine identification information in the trays. The storing section stores re-arrangement information to change at least one storage position of the trays. The control section controls the movement mechanism so as to allow at least the one storage position of the trays based on the table and the rearrangement information.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 9

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a technology for picking medicines. [Background technology]

[0002] Non-Patent Document 1 discloses an automatic medicine picking device that includes a main body that stores medicines and a picking table. [Prior art documents] [Non-patent literature]

[0003] [Non-Patent Document 1] Yuyama Manufacturing Co., Ltd. "Automatic drug picking device Drug Station" [online], [searched on Wednesday, May 8, 2024], Internet (https: / / www.yuyama.co.jp / product / products / drugstation.html) Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] According to Non-Patent Document 1, if medicines are stored in a location far away from the picking device, it takes a long time to move the medicines from the storage location to the picking table, which may result in longer dispensing work.

[0005] Therefore, an object of the present disclosure is to enable dispensing work to be completed in a short time. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] This drug picking device comprises a storage module including a plurality of storage sections arranged vertically and horizontally, a plurality of trays stored in a removable manner in each of the plurality of storage sections, a removal module supporting the trays at a removal position for removing drugs from the trays, a moving mechanism for moving the trays between the plurality of storage sections and the removal position, a control unit for controlling the operation of the moving mechanism, and a memory unit for storing a table that associates the storage positions of the plurality of trays with drug-specific information in the plurality of trays, wherein the memory unit stores rearrangement information for changing the storage position of at least one of the plurality of trays, and the control unit controls the moving mechanism to change the storage position of at least one of the plurality of trays based on the table and the rearrangement information. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] This allows the storage position of the tray to be changed so that dispensing work can be completed in a short time. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic front view showing a medicine picking device according to an embodiment. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view showing the medicine picking device. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the dispensing module and the dispensing module. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration of the medicine picking device. [Figure 5] FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of notation of the storage position and the removal position. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the table. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of the extraction process. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the rearrangement information. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an example of the relocation process. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of history information. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an example of a process for generating relocation information. [Figure 12] FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of rearrangement information by season. [Figure 13] FIG. 13 is a functional block diagram showing the process of generating a take-out priority list based on a learning model. [Figure 14] FIG. 14 is a functional block diagram showing an example of a process for generating a learning model. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] {Embodiment} Hereinafter, the medicine picking device according to the embodiment will be described.

[0010] <Overall structure> The overall configuration of the medicine picking device will be described below. Fig. 1 is a schematic front view showing the medicine picking device 20, and Fig. 2 is a schematic plan view showing the same medicine picking device 20.

[0011] The medicine picking device 20 includes a storage module 30, a plurality of trays 40, a removal module 60, and a moving mechanism 50. In this embodiment, the medicine picking device 20 further includes a dispensing module 70. The dispensing module 70 may be omitted.

[0012] In this medication picking device 20, a plurality of trays 40 are stored in a storage module 30. Each tray 40 stores medications. A moving mechanism 50 moves the trays 40 stored in the storage module 30 toward a removal module 60. The trays 40 moved to the removal module 60 can be pulled outward. The medications stored in the trays 40 are removed in the removal module 60. A dispensing module 70 serves as work equipment for dispensing the medications removed from the trays 40 for a specific patient.

[0013] More specifically, the medicine picking device 20 has a housing 22 in which a storage module 30, a take-out module 60, a moving mechanism 50, and a dispensing module 70 are assembled.

[0014] The housing 22 is formed in the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped box with at least one open side. For ease of explanation, the open side of the housing 22 may be referred to as the front side, and the opposite side as the rear side.

[0015] The storage module 30, the removal module 60, and the dispensing module 70 are located on the front side within the housing 22. That is, when the medicine picking device 20 is viewed from the front, the arrangement area of ​​the storage module 30, the arrangement area of ​​the removal module 60, and the arrangement area of ​​the dispensing module 70 can be observed.

[0016] If the storage module 30 is located near the front of the drug picking device 20, the trays 40 stored in the storage module 30 can be easily accessed from the front of the device 20. If the removal module 60 and the dispensing module 70 face forward in the drug picking device 20, a person positioned in front of the device 20 can easily remove drugs from the removal module 60 and dispense them using the dispensing module 70.

[0017] The moving mechanism 50 is located at the rear side within the housing 22. The moving mechanism 50 operates behind the storage module 30 and the removal module 60, and can move the tray 40 in and out of the storage module 30 and the removal module 60. Note that a storage module may be provided behind the moving mechanism 50. In this case, the moving mechanism 50 may be configured to move the tray 40 in and out of the storage modules in front and behind it.

[0018] The storage module 30 includes a plurality of storage sections 32 arranged vertically and horizontally. In this embodiment, the storage module 30 is provided in a first area 30A, a second area 30B, and a third area 30C. In each of the areas 30A, 30B, and 30C, the plurality of storage sections 32 are arranged vertically and horizontally.

[0019] Each storage section 32 is a section that can store an individual tray 40. For example, the storage section 32 may be a section that corresponds to one tray 40 on a shelf 32S on which trays 40 can be arranged side by side in the left-right direction. In this case, the shelf 32S may have a groove or partition that allows the tray 40 to slide forward and backward. The storage section may be a section that has a pair of support rails that support both sides of the tray 40 so that the tray 40 can slide, or may be a section that supports the tray 40 by suspending it.

[0020] The first area 30A is set to extend across the entire storage space in the vertical direction on one widthwise side of the housing 22. For example, the first area 30A is set with seven storage sections 32 in the horizontal direction and sixteen rows in the vertical direction. A tray 40 is stored in each storage section 32 so that it can be inserted and removed.

[0021] In this embodiment, a portion of the storage section 32 is omitted from the first area 30A, and a slide table 38 is provided in the omitted portion. For example, the slide table 38 is provided in a vertically intermediate portion of the first area 30A, adjacent to the take-out module 60. The slide table 38 may be movable between a storage position on the same plane as the forefront of the drug picking device 20 or further back, and an extended position extending forward of the drug picking device 20. The slide table 38 may be located adjacent to the take-out module 60 or the drug picking device 20. The slide table 38 may be located at a height corresponding to the top surface of the dispensing table 72 of the dispensing module 70. For example, the height position of the top surface of the slide table 38 may be set to within ±5 cm, more preferably within ±2 cm, of the height position of the top surface of the dispensing table 72.

[0022] The second area 30B is set to extend over a partial space above the storage space on the other widthwise side of the housing 22. For example, in the second area 30B, five rows of storage sections 32 are set in the left-right direction and six rows in the up-down direction.

[0023] The third area 30C is set to extend into a partial space below the storage space on the other widthwise side of the housing 22. For example, in the third area 30C, five rows of storage sections 32 are set in the left-right direction and two rows in the up-down direction.

[0024] The sum of the height dimension of the second area 30B and the height dimension of the third area 30C is smaller than the height dimension of the first area 30A. Because the sum of the height dimension of the second area 30B and the height dimension of the third area 30C is smaller than the height dimension of the first area 30A, there is an excess space in the vertical direction in the housing 22. The take-out module 60 and the dispensing module 70 are disposed in the excess space in the vertical direction.

[0025] The tray 40 is a case that can be moved while storing medicines. For example, the tray 40 may be box-shaped with an opening at the top. The upper opening of the tray may be closed with an openable lid. In this embodiment, the tray 40 is a rectangular box-shaped box that is long in the front-to-rear direction and flat in the vertical direction, and has an opening at the top (see FIG. 3). Medicines can be put in and taken out of the tray 40 through the upper opening of the tray 40.

[0026] The tray 40 is stored in the storage section 32 and the removal module 60 so as to be removable from the rear. The tray 40 supported by the removal module 60 can be pulled out to the front of the removal module 60.

[0027] The front of each of the areas 30A, 30B, and 30C in the housing 22 is preferably open, allowing access to each storage section 32 from the front of the device 20. This allows drugs to be stored in and removed from each storage section 32 without going through the removal module 60.

[0028] The front opening of the housing 22 may be covered by a door 23 that can be opened and closed. When the front opening is covered by the door 23, unintentional insertion and removal of medicines is prevented. The door 23 may be a lockable door. The door 23 may be transparent to the extent that the presence or absence of medicine and the type of medicine can be identified.

[0029] The moving mechanism 50 is a mechanism for moving the trays 40 from the storage sections 32 to the removal position in the removal module 60 .

[0030] For example, the movement mechanism 50 includes a horizontal movement mechanism 52 , a vertical movement mechanism 54 , and an entrance / exit mechanism 56 .

[0031] The loading / unloading mechanism 56 is a mechanism for loading and unloading the tray 40 into and from the storage section 32 and the take-out module 60. For example, the loading / unloading mechanism 56 has a loading surface 56f on which the tray 40 is placed and supported, and a retractable arm 56a. The arm 56a can be driven to move in and out by driving an actuator such as a motor. The arm 56a is advanced toward the storage section 32 to engage with the tray 40, and in this state, the arm 56a is retracted. This allows the tray on the storage section 32 to be retracted onto the loading surface 56f. The arm 56a is also advanced to push the tray 40 on the loading surface 56f into the storage section 32. This allows the tray on the loading surface 56f to be transferred to and loaded into the storage section 32. The loading / unloading mechanism 56 also loads and unloads the tray 40 into and from the take-out module 60 in the same manner as described above.

[0032] The vertical movement mechanism 54 moves the access mechanism 56 up and down. For example, the vertical movement mechanism 54 includes a column 54a that supports the access mechanism 56 so that it can be raised and lowered. The access mechanism 56 is driven to move up and down along the column 54a by driving an actuator such as a motor. By moving the access mechanism 56 up and down along the column 54a, the access mechanism 56 moves to a vertical position corresponding to a predetermined removal position in any of the storage sections 32 or removal modules 60.

[0033] The horizontal movement mechanism 52 moves the column 54a along the horizontal direction. For example, the horizontal movement mechanism 52 includes upper and lower rails 52a. The upper and lower ends of the column 54a are supported by the upper and lower rails 52a so as to be horizontally movable. The column 54a is driven to move along the rails 52a by driving an actuator such as a motor. As the column 54a moves horizontally along the rails 52a, the loading / unloading mechanism 56 supported by the column 54a moves to a left-right position corresponding to a predetermined removal position in one of the storage sections 32 or removal module 60.

[0034] The medicine picking device 20 may further include an additional storage module 100. The additional storage module 100 includes a plurality of additional storage sections 112 arranged in a row vertically and horizontally. The additional storage sections 112 may have the same configuration as the storage section 32. The additional storage section 112 is arranged inside the housing 110. The additional storage module 100 does not need to be provided with the above-mentioned retrieval module 60 and dispensing module 70. Therefore, a large number of storage sections 32 are arranged vertically and horizontally. In this embodiment, six columns of storage sections 32 are set in the left-right direction and 16 rows in the up-down direction.

[0035] Since the movement mechanism 50 also moves the tray 40 in and out of the expansion storage sections 112, the upper and lower rails 52a may extend into the expansion storage module 100. For example, the side of the housing 22 facing the expansion storage module 100 may be omitted, and the space inside the housing 22 and the space inside the expansion storage module 100 may be connected. The upper and lower rails 52a extend from the space inside the housing 22 to the inside of the expansion storage module 100, and the column 54a and the entry / exit mechanism 56 supported by the column 54a can move back and forth between the inside of the housing 22 and the space inside the expansion storage module 100. This allows the column 54a and the entry / exit mechanism 56 supported by the column 54a to move to a rear position of each expansion storage section 112, allowing the tray 40 to be moved in and out of each expansion storage section 112. The moving mechanism 50 can then move the trays 40 from each additional storage section 112 towards the removal position of the removal module 60 .

[0036] <Removal module and dispensing module> The take-out module 60 and the dispensing module 70 will now be described in more detail. FIG.

[0037] 1 to 3, the removal module 60 is configured to support the tray 40 in a removal position for removing the medications 10 in the tray 40. For example, the removal module 60 has a removable drawer 62 at the front of the device 20. In this embodiment, the removal module 60 has multiple drawers 62.

[0038] More specifically, the removal module 60 has a plurality of drawer openings 61. For example, the drawer openings 61 are formed so as to be aligned vertically and horizontally. Here, the plurality of drawer openings 61 are formed so as to be aligned in four rows in the left-right direction and two rows in the up-down direction.

[0039] A drawer section 62 is arranged in each drawer opening 61. The drawer section 62 has a drawer main body section 62a in which the tray 40 can be placed, and a front door section 62b. The drawer main body section 62a is formed in the shape of a shallow box on which the tray 40 can be placed. The rear of the drawer main body section 62a is preferably open so that the tray 40 can be inserted and removed. The drawer main body section 62a may have a locking section that can be locked onto the bottom or side of the tray 40 to prevent the tray 40 from shifting.

[0040] The front door portion 62b protrudes upward from the front of the drawer main body portion 62a, and is formed in the shape of a plate that can close the drawer opening 61.

[0041] With the drawer section 62 disposed in the take-out module 60, the tray 40 is pushed into the drawer section 62 by the moving mechanism 50 so that the front door section 62b closes the drawer opening 61. When the drawer section 62 is taken out, the tray 40 placed in the drawer section 62 is taken out together with the drawer section 62. Because the top of the drawer section 62 is open, the drugs 10 in the tray 40 can be taken out from above the drawer section 62.

[0042] In each of the drawer openings 61, the position where the drawer 62 receives the tray 40 is the extraction position for extracting the medicines 10. Therefore, in this embodiment, the extraction module 60 includes a plurality of extraction positions. The moving mechanism 50 can move the tray 40 from the plurality of storage sections 32 toward the plurality of extraction positions.

[0043] At least a portion of the removal module 60 is located between the plurality of storage sections 32. "At least a portion of the removal module 60 is located between the plurality of storage sections 32" means that at least a portion of the removal module 60 is located between the plurality of storage sections 32 in at least two directions. If at least a portion of the removal module 60 is located between the plurality of storage sections 32, it is easy to reduce the amount of protrusion of the removal module 60 from the device 20.

[0044] In this embodiment, the removal module 60 is located between the storage section 32 located in the second area 30B as the upper storage section and the storage section 32 located in the third area 30C as the lower storage section. Therefore, the removal module 60 can be easily located at a height suitable for work by a standing person, rather than being located at an extremely low or extremely high position.

[0045] At least a portion of the removal module may be located between the upper storage section and the side storage section, or between the lower storage section and the side storage section.

[0046] When storing the drugs 10 in the tray 40 of the storage section 32, the drawer section 62 may be pulled out while the tray 40 is placed in the drawer section 62, and the drugs 10 may be placed in the tray 40, and then the tray 40 may be pushed back. Thereafter, the moving mechanism 50 moves the tray 40 in the drawer section 62 to one of the storage sections 32, whereby the drugs 10 are stored in the tray 40 of the storage section 32. In other words, the removal position is used as the storage position.

[0047] The take-out module 60 may include a display unit 66. The display unit 66 displays various visually recognizable information. For example, the display unit 66 is a light-emitting unit such as a light-emitting diode, and displays various information by lighting up or not, flashing or not, the flashing pattern, the light color, etc.

[0048] For example, a plurality of display units 66 are provided corresponding to a plurality of removal positions, respectively. When a tray 40 storing drugs 10 is transferred to the drawer unit 62 at the removal position, the display unit 66 corresponding to that removal position may be illuminated. Furthermore, when prescriptions for a plurality of patients are processed simultaneously or consecutively, the removal positions of the drugs 10 prescribed for each patient may be distinguished by the illuminated color of the display unit 66.

[0049] The display unit 66 may be a liquid crystal display device that displays text information.

[0050] The display unit 66 can be configured to display various types of information, for example, it may be possible to distinguish between when the tray 40 arrives and when it is waiting, or to distinguish between when the drug 10 is removed and when it is stored.

[0051] The dispensing table 72 includes a dispensing table 72. The dispensing table 72 is a table that provides a work surface 72f for dispensing medication. The work surface 72f is a surface on which, for example, medications 10, medicine bags, prescriptions, etc. can be temporarily placed. The work surface 72f is an upward-facing surface. The work surface 72f may be a horizontal surface or an inclined surface.

[0052] At least a portion of the dispensing module 70 is located between the plurality of storage sections 32. As with the description of the removal module 60, at least a portion of the dispensing module 70 being located between the plurality of storage sections 32 means that at least a portion of the dispensing module 70 is located between the plurality of storage sections 32 in at least two directions.

[0053] In this embodiment, the dispensing module 70 is located above the take-out module 60. The dispensing module 70 is located between the take-out module 60 and the storage section 32 of the upper second area 30B.

[0054] In a plan view, the dispensing module 70 is positioned so as to overlap the take-out module 60. In this embodiment, on the other widthwise side of the device 20, the group of storage units 32 of the second area 30B, the dispensing module 70, the take-out module 60, and the group of storage units 32 of the second area 30B are arranged in this order from top to bottom.

[0055] The dispensing module 70 has a work space 72S that opens forward and extends from the front opening to the rear. The work space 72S extends further rearward than the front surface of the storage module 30 in the front-rear direction. The work space 72S also extends above the work surface 72f. The work space 72S is partitioned on the left, right, rear, and upper sides by both side surfaces, the rear surface, and the ceiling. The work space 72S is a space formed between the take-out module 60 and the storage section 32 of the second area 30B.

[0056] The work surface 72f and the work space 72S are located above the take-out module 60. This makes it easy to take out the drugs 10 from the tray 40 of the drawn-out drawer 62 and move the drugs 10 into the work space 72S to perform various tasks. Furthermore, the storage section 32 can be omitted above the take-out module 60, and the work space 72S can be secured instead. This makes it easy to secure the work space 72S while reducing the amount of projection of the dispensing module 70 from the device 20.

[0057] Medicine picking device 20 may be equipped with inspection devices 78, 79 for medicines dispensed on dispensing table 72. Here, dispensing refers to the act of preparing medicines based on a prescription, and includes, for example, an adjustment act of preparing the specified amount of medicine based on the prescription, and a dispensed medicine inspection act of checking whether the prepared medicine is correct against the prescription.

[0058] The inspection devices 78 and 79 are devices for inspecting the dispensed drugs. For example, the inspection device 78 may be a display device that displays the type and amount of the drug 10 for each patient. The display device may be a tablet equipped with a touch panel function for accepting various inputs. The inspection device 79 may be a barcode reader that reads the barcode attached to the drug 10. The inspection device may also be an input device that accepts a prescription, an electronic scale for checking the type and amount of the dispensed drug by weight, a printer for printing the inspection results on paper, or a camera for recording image data of the prescribed drug 10 as the dispensing result.

[0059] It is not essential that the take-out module 60 and the preparation module 70 be disposed at the above positions. The take-out module 60 and the preparation module 70 may be disposed at positions that protrude forward relative to the storage module 30. The preparation module 70 may be omitted.

[0060] <Block diagram> FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration of the drug picking device 20. The drug picking device 20 includes a control unit 80. The control unit 80 controls the operation of the moving mechanism 50. The control unit 80 is configured by a computer including a processor 81 and a memory unit 82. The processor 81 includes an electric circuit that executes arithmetic processing in accordance with a program 82a stored in the memory unit 82. The memory unit 82 is a non-volatile memory such as a magnetic recording medium or a flash memory. The memory unit 82 stores a program 82a for extracting drugs 10 from each storage unit 32.

[0061] The processor 81 executes arithmetic processing according to the procedures described in the program 82a, thereby executing the removal processing, rearrangement processing, and rearrangement information generation processing. The removal processing is processing for controlling the moving mechanism 50 to remove the tray 40 from the storage section 32 and move it toward the removal position. The rearrangement processing is processing for controlling the moving mechanism 50 to change the storage position of at least one of the multiple trays 40. The rearrangement information generation processing is information that specifies the storage position of the tray 40 after rearrangement, for the rearrangement processing.

[0062] The processing performed by the control unit 80 may be realized by one computer or by multiple computers. For example, the computer that executes the retrieval processing and the rearrangement processing and the computer that executes the rearrangement information generation processing may be separate computers. Furthermore, the retrieval processing may be realized by cooperative processing of multiple computers. The rearrangement processing may be realized by cooperative processing of multiple computers. Some or all of the processing of the control unit 80 may be realized by a cloud server.

[0063] For example, table 82b, rearrangement information 82c, and removal history information 82d are stored. Table 82b is a table that associates the storage positions of multiple trays 40 with drug-specific information in each tray 40. Rearrangement information 82c is information for changing the storage position of at least one of the multiple trays 40. Removal history information 82d is history information of drugs 10 removed from drug picking device 20. These pieces of information may be stored in an external server, a cloud server, etc.

[0064] The control unit 80 is connected to the moving mechanism 50 and can control the moving mechanism 50. The control unit 80 is also connected to inspection devices 78 and 79. The control unit 80 can obtain information necessary for inspections and provide information for inspections through the inspection devices 78 and 79. The control unit 80 is connected to the display unit 66. When the tray 40 moves to the removal position, the control unit 80 may light up the display unit 66, for example, to notify the user that the tray containing the medicine is located at the removal position.

[0065] The control unit 80 can execute the take-out process based on the prescription data and the table 82b. The control unit 80 can execute the rearrangement process based on the table 82b and the rearrangement information 82c. The control unit 80 can generate the rearrangement information 82c based on the table 82b and the take-out history information 82d.

[0066] Each process will be described in more detail.

[0067] <Removal process> The removal process will now be described. Fig. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of notation of storage positions and removal positions. Fig. 5 also shows the priority order for each storage position.

[0068] Multiple storage locations arranged vertically and horizontally can be identified, for example, by a combination of an address in the X direction (horizontal direction) and an address in the Y direction (vertical direction). For example, the nth storage location from the left and the mth storage location from the top can be identified by the position (n, m).

[0069] The removal positions may be identified, for example, by symbols such as i, ii, iii...vii, vii, etc. based on the physical order.

[0070] Each storage location is assigned a priority, for example, the lower the priority number the more convenient it is for the tray 40 to be moved to the retrieval location. In general, the shorter the distance to the retrieval module 60, the lower the priority number assigned.

[0071] However, the priority is not necessarily set simply according to the distance to the take-out module 60. For the convenience of human management and for the convenience of human understanding of the order of priority, the priority may be assigned to blocks grouped together by physical location, or according to the physical order of arrangement.

[0072] In this embodiment, the storage locations located in the block below the take-out module 60 are assigned priorities of 1 to 10, the storage locations located in the block to the side are assigned priorities of 11 to 41, and the storage locations located in the block above them in the vertically central position are assigned priorities of 42 to 76. The storage locations located in blocks higher than the dispensing module 70 are assigned priorities of 77 to 148. The storage location priorities are also stored in the memory unit 82.

[0073] In addition, by adding the above-mentioned X-direction (horizontal) address, the multiple storage locations in the expansion storage module 100 can be identified by a combination of the X-direction (horizontal) address and the Y-direction (vertical) address, as described above.

[0074] Similarly, priorities may or may not be assigned to the multiple storage locations in the expansion storage module 100. In the latter case, trays 40 stored in multiple storage locations in the expansion storage module 100 are not subject to rearrangement.

[0075] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a table 82b in which the storage positions of a plurality of trays 40 are associated with the medicine-specific information in each tray 40. As shown in FIG.

[0076] As described above, the storage location is specified, for example, as a location (n, m) by a combination of an address (e.g., n) in the X direction (horizontal direction) and an address (e.g., m) in the Y direction (vertical direction). The drug specification information may be, for example, the name of the drug.

[0077] In the table 82b, the storage position is associated with the medicine 10 in the tray 40 stored at the storage position. For example, the medicine "abc" is associated with the position (01,01), the medicine "def" is associated with the position (01,02), and the medicine "ghi" is associated with the position (01,03).

[0078] For example, when the tray 40 containing the medicine 10 is stored in any of the storage positions, the specific information of the medicine 10 is specified. When the control unit 80 stores the tray 40, the control unit 80 may create a table 82b that associates the specified medicine specific information with the storage position.

[0079] By referring to the table 82b, the storage location of the drug 10 is identified based on the drug identification information.

[0080] The extraction process will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

[0081] In step S1, it is determined whether prescription data has been input. Prescription data is information that specifies drug-specific information prescribed to a patient and the amount of each drug. Prescription data may be data provided from another terminal, for example. Prescription data may also be data obtained by the auditing devices 78 and 79 reading a prescription. If it is determined that prescription data has not been input, step S1 is repeated, and if it is determined that prescription data has been input, the process proceeds to the next step S2.

[0082] In step S2, the control unit 80 refers to the prescription data to identify the drug 10 to be taken out. If multiple drugs are identified in the prescription data, the control unit 80 identifies the drug to be taken out according to the drug ranking listed in the prescription data.

[0083] In the next step S3, the storage location of the drug 10 to be taken out is identified based on the identification information of the drug 10 to be taken out and the table 82b.

[0084] In the next step S4, the control unit 80 issues a command to the moving mechanism 50 to remove the drug 10. This designation is made, for example, by designating the storage position of the drug 10 to be removed. The moving mechanism 50 moves the tray 40 stored in the designated storage position to an empty removal position among the multiple removal positions. As a result, the tray 40 storing the drug 10 to be removed is placed at the removal position in the removal module 60.

[0085] In the next step S5, the control unit 80 issues a notification command to the display unit 66 corresponding to the removal position to which the tray 40 has been moved. As a result, the display unit 66 at which the tray 40 storing the drug 10 to be removed is located notifies the user by emitting light or the like. The user can know that the drug 10 to be removed is in a waiting state at the removal position notified by the display unit 66. The user can remove the drug 10 from the tray 40 by pulling out the drawer unit 62 at that removal position.

[0086] In the next step S6, the control unit 80 refers to the prescription data and determines whether or not there is another drug 10 to be taken out. If it is determined that there is another drug 10 to be taken out, the process returns to step S2 and repeats the processes from step S2 onwards for the other drug 10 to be taken out. If it is determined that there is no other drug 10 to be taken out, the process proceeds to step S7.

[0087] In step S7, control unit 80 determines whether or not drug removal from tray 40 has been completed. For example, whether or not drug removal from tray 40 has been completed may be determined based on whether an audit using auditing devices 78 and 79 has been passed. Whether or not the audit has been passed may be input by the user, or may be determined by auditing devices 78 and 79 themselves. The process of step S7 is repeated until it is determined that drug removal from tray 40 has been completed, and when it is determined that drug removal has been completed, the process proceeds to step S8.

[0088] In step S8, the control unit 80 issues a command to the movement mechanism 50 to return the tray 40 to its original position. The movement mechanism 50 refers to the past movement history and the like, and returns the tray 40 from the removal position to its original storage position.

[0089] The removal history of the drug 10 may be stored in the storage unit 82 as history information together with the specific information of the drug 10, the date and time, etc.

[0090] <Relocation processing> The relocation process will now be described.

[0091] 8 is a diagram showing an example of rearrangement information 82c. The rearrangement information 82c is information for changing the storage position of at least one tray 40. For example, the rearrangement information 82c may be information including at least one rearrangement list element a(0), a(1), a(2), ...

[0092] Each rearrangement list element a(0), a(1), a(2), ... may include, for example, information on two storage locations to be swapped. In Fig. 8, for example, rearrangement list element a(0) represents swapping the location of tray 40 at storage location (p1, q1) with that at storage location (p2, q2).

[0093] The rearrangement list elements a(0), a(1), a(2), ... may be data in which three or more storage positions are linked together in a daisy chain. In this case, it is advisable to sequentially swap the three or more storage positions based on the rearrangement list elements a(0), a(1), a(2), ...

[0094] In the above example, the rearrangement information 82c defines the relationship for switching the storage positions of the trays 40. The rearrangement information may be a post-rearrangement table that directly defines the storage positions of the drugs 10 after rearrangement. In this case, the control unit 80 may control the moving mechanism 50 to switch the trays 40 by comparing and referring to the table 82b indicating the current storage positions of the drugs 10 and the table indicating the storage positions of the drugs 10 after rearrangement.

[0095] The control unit 80 controls the moving mechanism 50 to change the storage position of at least one of the plurality of trays 40 based on the table 82b and the rearrangement information 82c.

[0096] FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the relocation process.

[0097] In step S11, the control unit 80 acquires a rearrangement list element. If the rearrangement information 82c includes a plurality of rearrangement list elements, it is preferable to acquire the rearrangement list element that is at the top before the rearrangement process.

[0098] In the next step S12, the control unit 80 issues a command to the moving mechanism 50 to move the tray 40 from the first position to the removal position. The first position is, for example, one of the two storage positions included in the rearrangement list element, and the second position is the other storage position.

[0099] As a result, the moving mechanism 50 moves the tray 40 from the first position to the removal position. At the first position, the tray 40 has been removed and is therefore empty.

[0100] In the next step S13, the control unit 80 issues a command to the moving mechanism 50 to move the tray 40 from the second position to the first position.

[0101] As a result, the moving mechanism 50 moves the tray 40 from the second position to the first position, which was previously an empty position. At the second position, the tray 40 has been removed, so the second position is empty.

[0102] In the next step S14, the control unit 80 issues a command to the moving mechanism 50 to move the tray 40 from the removal position to the second position.

[0103] As a result, the moving mechanism 50 moves the tray 40 at the removal position to the second position. That is, the tray 40 at the first position is temporarily moved to the removal position, and then moved to the second position. The control unit 80 controls the moving mechanism 50 to change the storage position of at least one tray 40, using the removal position as a temporary evacuation position.

[0104] After the rearrangement, the table 82b should be updated in accordance with the change in storage location.

[0105] In the next step S15, the control unit 80 refers to the relocation information 82c and determines whether there are any relocation list elements that have not been relocated. If it is determined that there are other relocation list elements, the process returns to step S11 and repeats the processes from step S11 onwards. If it is determined that there are no other relocation lists, the relocation process ends.

[0106] In this embodiment, the first area 30A, the second area 30B, and the third area 30C in the storage module 30 are the first compartment, and the storage compartment in the expansion storage module 100 is the second compartment, and the control unit 80 controls the moving mechanism 50 to change the storage position of the tray 40 in the first compartment, excluding the second compartment.

[0107] Therefore, the additional storage module 100 is excluded from the target for rearrangement. Therefore, drugs that are used infrequently and for which there is little benefit in rearranging, or drugs that are preferably stored in a fixed location, may be stored in the additional storage module 100. The second compartment that is not the target for rearrangement may be the compartment that includes the storage position that is located farthest from the removal module 60.

[0108] <Relocation information generation process> The above-mentioned relocation process is performed based on relocation information, which can be generated by various processes.

[0109] For example, the control unit 80 may automatically generate the rearrangement information 82c.

[0110] For example, the control unit 80 may generate the rearrangement information 82c according to the take-out frequency of the plurality of medicines 10.

[0111] For example, suppose that a first drug and a second drug that is taken out more frequently than the first drug are stored in the storage module 30, and the first drug is stored closer to the take-out module 60 than the second drug. In this case, the control unit 80 may generate rearrangement information 82c so that the second drug is stored closer to the take-out module 60 than the first drug. The distance of the storage position relative to the take-out module 60 may be a position based on any one of the take-out modules 60, or may be the shortest distance among the distances to multiple take-out ports.

[0112] A specific example of processing in which the control unit 80 generates the rearrangement information 82c in accordance with the takeout frequency will be described.

[0113] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the history information 82d. The history information 82d includes frequency information for each drug-specific information. The frequency is the number of times each drug is dispensed during a target period common to each drug. The target period may be a year, month, week, or any period immediately prior to the process of creating the rearrangement information.

[0114] 10, the frequency of the drug "ghi" is 210 times, the frequency of the drug "pqr" is 198 times, the frequency of the drug "xyz" is 3 times, and the frequency of the drug "def" is 1 time. The history information 82d is sorted in descending order of frequency.

[0115] FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an example of processing in which the control unit 80 generates rearrangement information based on the frequency of extraction of rearrangement processing.

[0116] First, in step S21, an initial setting of i=1 is performed.

[0117] In the next step S22, the control unit 80 refers to the history information 82d to identify the drug 10 with the i-th frequency.

[0118] In the next step S23, the control unit 80 refers to the table 82b to identify the storage location of the drug 10 identified in step S22.

[0119] In the next step S24, the tray 40 is replaced with the storage position of the medicine 10 and the storage position with the i-th priority.

[0120] As described above, priorities are assigned to the multiple storage locations in consideration of the distance to the take-out module 60, and the priorities are stored in the memory unit 82. The storage location with the ith priority is identified by referring to the priorities.

[0121] In step S24, it is determined that the tray 40 storing the drug 10 with the i-th frequency is to be swapped with the tray 40 stored in the storage position with the i-th priority. That is, rearrangement information is generated so that the drug with the highest frequency is stored in the storage position with the highest priority. Since the priority is determined to some extent according to the distance between the storage modules 30, it is expected that the rearrangement information will be generated so that the drug with the highest frequency is stored in the storage position with the highest priority.

[0122] In the next step S25, the rearrangement information 82c is generated or updated so as to generate a rearrangement list element including the storage position of the tray 40 in which the medicine 10 with the i-th frequency is stored and the storage position with the i-th priority.

[0123] At the same time, table 82b is used to generate or update a temporary table indicating the temporary storage position of drug 10, assuming that the position of drug 10 has been swapped in accordance with the determination content of step S24. The temporary table is used as a table for identifying the storage position of drug 10 in the steps that are repeated thereafter.

[0124] In the next step S26, it is determined whether or not to rearrange the frequencies of the next order. If rearrangement of the frequencies of the next order is to be performed, the process proceeds to step S27, where i is incremented. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S22, and the subsequent processes are repeated. If rearrangement of the frequencies of the next order is not to be performed, the process ends.

[0125] Whether or not to rearrange the next-ranked frequency may be determined based on a preset frequency ranking. For example, if it is preset to rearrange the drugs 10 up to a given frequency ranking, the above process is repeated until the drug reaches that frequency ranking. If it is preset to rearrange the frequency rankings of all drugs 10 stored in the storage module 30, rearrangement is performed for all drugs 10 stored in the storage module 30.

[0126] As a result, rearrangement information 82c is generated in which the storage locations of the drugs 10 are preliminarily assigned to storage locations with higher priorities in order of frequency.

[0127] Based on this rearrangement information 82c, as shown in Figure 9, the tray 40 is rearranged so that when a first drug with a low removal frequency is stored closer to the removal module 60 than a second drug with a relatively high removal frequency, the tray 40 is rearranged so that the second drug with a higher removal frequency than the first drug with a low removal frequency is stored closer to the removal module 60.

[0128] As shown in FIG. 12, the relocation information 82c may be set according to the season or the time of illness.

[0129] The seasons may be, for example, the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn, and winter. The illness period may be, for example, the period when a seasonal illness such as influenza (which is prevalent in winter) is prevalent, or the period when a seasonal illness such as allergies (which occur in spring) is likely to occur.

[0130] For example, the reallocation information 82c may include, as reallocation information according to the season, reallocation information 82c1 for spring, reallocation information 82c2 for summer, reallocation information 82c3 for autumn, and reallocation information 82c4 for winter. The reallocation information 82c1, 82c2, 82c3, and 82c4 may be generated based on the frequency up to the previous year.

[0131] For example, colds, influenza, allergies, etc. become prevalent and occur depending on the season. By setting relocation information according to the season or the time of illness, medicines that are likely to be prescribed according to the season or the time of illness can be relocated near the removal module 60.

[0132] Furthermore, the control unit 80 may generate the rearrangement information 82c based on a machine-learned learning model.

[0133] FIG. 13 is a functional block diagram showing the process of generating a takeout priority list based on the learning model 202.

[0134] That is, the control unit 80 may predict parameters corresponding to the frequency of each type of drug from the actual dispensing environment based on the pre-trained learning model 202, and generate rearrangement information based on the predicted parameters.

[0135] As shown in FIG. 14, the learning model 202 is trained using the dispensing environment for each type of drug 10 as training data 210. For example, data associating drug identification information of the actually dispensed drug 10 with dispensing information at the time of dispensing the drug is used as training data. The drug identification information is information that identifies the type of drug. It is preferable that a large number of data sets are prepared for each type of drug 10. The environmental information includes, for example, at least one of the date, season, temperature, hours of sunlight, infectious disease information (e.g., infectious disease epidemic information issued by a public health center), and buzzword information related to the disease on the Web.

[0136] The learning device 220 is a computer and includes a learning model 222 and a model generation unit 224. Training data 210 is provided to the model generation unit 224. The model generation unit 224 outputs parameters according to the degree of association of each type of drug 10 with the dispensing environment based on the training data 210. It can be said that the higher the degree of association of a drug with the dispensing environment, the more frequently the drug is dispensed in that dispensing environment. Therefore, the parameters according to the degree of association of each type of drug 10 with the dispensing environment can be considered to be parameters according to the frequency of each type of drug. As a result, the learning device 220 generates a learning model 202 so as to output parameters according to the frequency of each type of drug from the dispensing environment.

[0137] The learning model 202 learned by the learning device 220 is applied to the control unit 80 .

[0138] The actual dispensing environment is input to the control unit 80. The actual dispensing environment includes environmental information at the time of the intended rearrangement, such as at least one of the following: date, season, temperature, hours of sunlight, infectious disease information (e.g., infectious disease epidemic information issued by public health centers), and buzzword information related to diseases on the Web.

[0139] The control unit 80 outputs parameters according to the frequency of each type of drug based on the input actual dispensing environment.

[0140] By sorting the parameters for each type of medication 10 in descending order, a list of medications that are likely to be taken out in the dispensing environment, that is, a priority list of medications 10, is generated.

[0141] The rearrangement information 82c can be generated based on the generated priority list of the drugs 10. For example, as described above with reference to Fig. 11, in the process of generating the rearrangement information 82c based on the take-out frequency, the rearrangement information 82c can be generated by using the priority list of the drugs 10 instead of the take-out frequency.

[0142] The above learning model is an example, and other learning models may be used.

[0143] Furthermore, for example, the rearrangement information 82c may be information generated based on settings made by a person such as a user. For example, if the inspection device 78 is a tablet terminal, the tablet terminal may be used as a man-machine interface that receives the arrangement information of the drug 10.

[0144] For example, a person may use a tablet terminal to directly specify two storage locations to be swapped. In this case, the control unit 80 can generate rearrangement information 82c based on the medicine arrangement information input via the tablet terminal.

[0145] Alternatively, when a person directly inputs the positions where medicines should be stored using a tablet terminal, the control unit 80 may refer to the table 82b, identify the relationship for swapping the storage positions, and generate the rearrangement information 82c.

[0146] In addition, when a person uses a tablet terminal to input information defining the order of frequency of taking out the drug 10, the control unit 80 may refer to the table 82b and the priority of the storage locations, identify the relationship for swapping the storage locations, and generate rearrangement information 82c.

[0147] The man-machine interface may be a terminal other than the one used as the auditing device.

[0148] <Effects, etc.> According to the medicine picking device 20 configured as described above, the control unit 80 controls the moving mechanism 50 to change the storage position of at least one of the plurality of trays 40 based on the table 82b and the rearrangement information 82c. This makes it easier to store medicines so that the dispensing work can be completed in a short time, and the dispensing work can be completed in a short time.

[0149] Furthermore, if the control unit 80 generates the rearrangement information 82c according to the take-out frequency of a plurality of medicines, the storage position of the tray can be set according to the take-out frequency.

[0150] Furthermore, when drugs 10 with a low dispensing frequency are placed closer to the dispensing module 60 than drugs 10 with a high dispensing frequency, the control unit 80 generates rearrangement information 82c so that the drugs 10 with a high dispensing frequency are stored closer to the dispensing module 60. This allows drugs 10 with a high dispensing frequency to be placed closer to the dispensing module 60, and the tray 40 storing the drugs 10 with a high dispensing frequency is moved toward the dispensing module 60 in a short time. For trays storing drugs 10 with a low dispensing frequency, the dispensing time is longer, but the number of times is small. Assuming that a variety of drugs 10 are dispensed, the overall dispensing time for the drugs 10 is shorter.

[0151] As described above, the priority of the storage locations is determined not only by proximity to the take-out module 60 but also by consideration of convenience of management, convenience of understanding the storage locations, etc., and therefore, the higher the take-out frequency, the closer the tray 40 is to be relocated. However, for at least one combination of a drug 10 with a high take-out frequency and a drug 10 with a low take-out frequency, the storage locations of the trays 40 are swapped so that the drug 10 with the high take-out frequency is stored near the take-out module 60.

[0152] Furthermore, if the rearrangement information 82c is information set according to the season or the time of illness, medicines that are likely to be prescribed according to the season or time of year can be efficiently retrieved.

[0153] Furthermore, if the control unit 80 predicts parameters corresponding to the frequency of each type of drug 10 from the actual dispensing environment based on the learning model 202 that has been trained using the dispensing environment for each type of drug 10 as training data 210, and generates rearrangement information 82c based on the predicted parameters, dispensing work can be performed in a short time based on the actual dispensing environment.

[0154] Furthermore, if the control unit 80 generates the rearrangement information 82c based on the position information of the drug 10 input via the man-machine interface, the position of the drug 10 can be changed in accordance with the input of the user or the like.

[0155] Furthermore, the control unit 80 may control the moving mechanism 50 to change the storage position of the tray 40 in the storage positions within the storage module 30, excluding the storage position of the additional storage module 100 as the second compartment. This eliminates the need to move the drugs 10 in the additional storage module 100. Therefore, for example, the drugs 10 can be rearranged so that dispensing work can be completed in a short time, focusing only on drugs 10 that are used relatively frequently.

[0156] Furthermore, the control unit 80 controls the moving mechanism 50 to temporarily use the removal position of the removal module 60 to change the storage position of at least one tray 40. Therefore, the removal position can be used to swap the trays 40 and change the storage positions of the trays 40.

[0157] It should be noted that trays may be replaced using empty storage positions.

[0158] The configurations described in the above embodiment and modifications can be combined as appropriate as long as they are not mutually contradictory.

[0159] <Additional Notes> This disclosure discloses various aspects of the present invention.

[0160] A first aspect is a drug picking device comprising: a storage module including a plurality of storage sections arranged vertically and horizontally; a plurality of trays stored in a removable manner in each of the plurality of storage sections; a removal module supporting the trays at a removal position for removing drugs from the trays; a moving mechanism for moving the trays between the plurality of storage sections and the removal position; a control unit for controlling the operation of the moving mechanism; and a memory unit for storing a table that associates the storage positions of the plurality of trays with drug-specific information in the plurality of trays, wherein the memory unit stores rearrangement information for changing the storage position of at least one of the plurality of trays, and the control unit controls the moving mechanism to change the storage position of at least one of the plurality of trays based on the table and the rearrangement information.

[0161] According to this medicine picking device, the control unit controls the movement mechanism to change the storage position of at least one of the trays based on the table and rearrangement information, which makes it easier to store medicines so that the medicine dispensing work can be completed in a short time.

[0162] A second aspect is the medicine picking device according to the first aspect, wherein the control unit generates the rearrangement information according to the takeout frequencies of the plurality of medicines.

[0163] In this case, by generating rearrangement information according to the take-out frequency, the storage location can be set according to the take-out frequency.

[0164] A third aspect is a drug picking device according to the second aspect, in which when a first drug and a second drug that is taken out more frequently than the first drug are stored and the first drug is stored closer to the take-out module than the second drug, the control unit generates the rearrangement information so that the second drug is stored closer to the take-out module than the first drug.

[0165] In this way, by placing medicines that are frequently dispensed near the dispenser module, the dispensing work can be completed in a short time.

[0166] A fourth aspect is the medicine picking device according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein the rearrangement information is information set according to a season or a time of illness.

[0167] This allows for efficient extraction of medicines that are likely to be prescribed depending on the season or time of year.

[0168] A fifth aspect is a drug picking device according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, wherein the control unit predicts parameters corresponding to the frequency of each type of drug from the actual dispensing environment based on a learning model trained using the dispensing environment for each type of drug as training data, and generates the rearrangement information based on the predicted parameters.

[0169] This allows dispensing work to be carried out in a short time based on the actual dispensing environment.

[0170] A sixth aspect is a drug picking device according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, further comprising a man-machine interface that receives the drug placement information, and the control unit generates the rearrangement information based on the drug placement information input via the man-machine interface.

[0171] This allows the position of the medicine to be changed in response to input from the user or the like.

[0172] A seventh aspect is a drug picking device according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, wherein the storage module includes a first compartment and a second compartment, each of the first compartment and the second compartment including a plurality of the storage sections, and the control unit controls the moving mechanism to change the storage position of at least one of the plurality of trays in the first compartment based on the table and the rearrangement information, excluding the second compartment.

[0173] In this case, it is not necessary to move the medicines in the second compartment. Therefore, for example, medicines that are used relatively frequently can be rearranged so that the preparation work can be completed in a short time.

[0174] An eighth aspect is a drug picking device according to any one of the first to seventh aspects, wherein the control unit controls the moving mechanism to temporarily use the removal position of the removal module to change the storage position of at least one of the plurality of trays.

[0175] This allows the tray storage position to be changed by exchanging the trays using the removal position.

[0176] Although the present invention has been described in detail as above, the above description is merely illustrative in all respects and does not limit the present invention. It is understood that countless variations not illustrated can be envisioned without departing from the scope of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0177] 10 Drugs 20. Drug picking device 30 Storage Module 30A Area 1 30B Area 2 30C Third Area 32 Storage area 40 trays 50 Moving mechanism 60 Extraction module 70 Pharmacy Module 78, 79 Auditing equipment 80 Control Unit 81 processors 82 Memory section 82a Program 82b Table 82c, 82c1, 82c2, 82c3, 82c4 relocation information 82d Extraction history information 100 Expansion Storage Module 202 Learning Model 210 training data

Claims

1. a storage module including a plurality of storage sections arranged vertically and horizontally; a plurality of trays removably stored in each of the plurality of storage sections; a removal module supporting the tray in a removal position for removing medications from the tray; a moving mechanism that moves the tray between the plurality of storage sections and the removal position; a control unit that controls the operation of the movement mechanism; a storage unit that stores a table that associates the storage positions of the plurality of trays with drug-specific information in the plurality of trays; Equipped with the storage unit stores rearrangement information for changing the storage position of at least one of the plurality of trays; The control unit controls the moving mechanism to change the storage position of at least one of the plurality of trays based on the table and the rearrangement information.

2. The drug picking device according to claim 1, The control unit generates the rearrangement information according to the frequency of taking out the plurality of medicines.

3. The drug picking device according to claim 2, When a first drug and a second drug that is taken out more frequently than the first drug are stored, and the first drug is stored closer to the take-out module than the second drug, The control unit generates the rearrangement information so that the second drug is stored closer to the take-out module than the first drug.

4. The drug picking device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, The relocation information is information set according to the season or the time of illness.

5. The drug picking device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, The control unit of the drug picking device predicts parameters corresponding to the frequency of each type of drug from the actual dispensing environment based on a learning model trained using the dispensing environment for each type of drug as training data, and generates the rearrangement information based on the predicted parameters.

6. The drug picking device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, Further comprising a man-machine interface that receives the drug placement information, The control unit generates the rearrangement information based on the medicine arrangement information input via the man-machine interface.

7. The drug picking device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, the storage module includes a first compartment and a second compartment; The first compartment and the second compartment each include a plurality of the storage sections, The control unit controls the moving mechanism to change the storage position of at least one of the plurality of trays in the first section based on the table and the rearrangement information, excluding the second section.

8. The drug picking device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, The control unit controls the moving mechanism to temporarily use the removal position of the removal module to change the storage position of at least one of the plurality of trays.

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