Medicine packaging machine

Abstract

To reduce a burden on manpower when collecting remaining medicines from a general-purpose medicine feeder.SOLUTION: A medicine packaging machine 10 comprises a plurality of medicine feeder row shelves 20, 20, etc. with their being able to be pulled out from a housing. Each medicine feeder row shelf 20 includes general-purpose medicine feeders 52, 52, etc. mounted thereon, each general-purpose medicine feeder formed by integrating a container part and a sequential discharge mechanism part. A shelf plate 23 (a pull-out mechanism) includes a pulled-out state detecting member and a remaining medicine collecting container detecting member (27) attached thereto, and when pull-out of a medicine feeder row shelf 20 and mounting of a remaining medicine collection container 100 on the medicine feeder row shelf 20 are detected, remaining medicines are discharged from the corresponding medicine feeder. The remaining medicine collection container 100 is configured to expose a part of an opening 102 thereof when being mounted thereon. Alternatively, positioning marks (26 and 105) are attached thereto. Further, a positioning member (28) is provided in the pull-out mechanism.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 11

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] This invention relates to a medicine dispensing machine equipped with multiple medicine feeders that automatically supply granular solid medicines such as tablets and ampoules to automate dispensing in hospitals, pharmacies, etc. More specifically, it relates to an expansion and enhancement of the function related to the recovery of remaining medicines from medicine feeders. More specifically, it relates to the recovery of remaining medicines from multi-drug compatible medicine feeders (general-purpose medicine feeders in which the container and base are integrated, feeders with fixed containers), which will be described in detail later. [Background technology]

[0002] The medicine feeder is composed of an upper container portion (follower portion) that stores medicines, and a lower base portion (drive portion) that sequentially discharges the medicines from the container portion. Specialized drug feeders (drug feeders for specific drugs, feeders with detachable containers) that use detachable drug cassettes in the container section are limited in the drugs they can handle, but are widely used because of the convenience of being able to attach and detach the cassette (see Background Art 1 below). In contrast, so-called general-purpose drug feeders (multi-drug compatible drug feeders, fixed container feeders) in which the container and base are integrated are highly regarded for their convenience in handling a variety of drugs, and as improvements have been made, their use has become more frequent (see Background Art 3 below).

[0003] [Background Technology 1: Specialized drug feeders (drug feeders dedicated to specific drugs, feeders with detachable containers)] Among the drug packaging machines equipped with a large number of drug cassettes (see Patent Documents 1 and 2), the detachable drug cassettes have machine-readable container identification information, and a reading device is built into each base part to which the drug cassettes are attached and detached.When the drug cassette is attached to the base part, the container identification information of the drug cassette is read by the reading device in the base part and compared with a correspondence table, automatically determining whether the cassette is suitable for attachment.

[0004] As a dispensing system including such a medicine packaging machine, one that is known (see Patent Document 1) is equipped with one or more medicine packaging machines and a dispensing server that can communicate with their control units via a wired LAN, etc. Such a dispensing server is connected to an external prescription ordering system via a network or is equipped with a prescription reading device for inputting prescription data. The dispensing server can be a programmable general-purpose computer, provided it is equipped with a hard disk or other device with sufficient storage capacity to hold data. This computer stores prescription data received from the prescription ordering system, the status of the drug packaging machine received from the drug packaging machine, and a drug master that compiles drug information for each drug handled by this system.

[0005] In addition, such dispensing servers are installed with a program for inputting prescription data and issuing dispensing instructions to the drug packaging machine based on that data, a replenishment instruction creation program that creates replenishment instructions based on stockout notifications from the drug packaging machine (specifically, status reports that a drug cassette is empty) and inventory management status and displays these on a reading device, and a work data recording program that records work progress, such as sending replenishment instructions to the reading device and receiving replenishment completion notifications from the reading device.

[0006] The medicine packaging machine is equipped with multiple medicine storage cabinets in the upper part of the housing that can be individually withdrawn, and each medicine storage cabinet contains pairs of medicine cassettes and base units arranged vertically and horizontally. The lower part of the housing houses a packaging device, and a control device (control unit) is placed in the electrical space within the housing. The medicine cassettes are detachable and contain a large number of tablets (medicines) of any one type of medicine, which can be sequentially discharged. The base unit is a fixed part that can detachably mount and dismount the medicine cassettes one by one, and is capable of driving the mounted medicine cassettes to discharge the medicine. A medicine collection mechanism is also provided that guides the sequentially discharged medicines to the packaging device below. Of these, the upper medicine collection mechanism is attached to or incorporated into the medicine storage cabinet, and the lower medicine collection mechanism is installed between the upper medicine collection mechanism and the packaging device.

[0007] In this type of drug packaging machine, the control device controls the operation of the drug cassettes and packaging device in accordance with dispensing instructions received from the dispensing server, thereby dispensing the appropriate drugs from each drug cassette and packaging them in the packaging device. Furthermore, when it detects that a drug cassette is empty and can no longer dispense drugs, it sends a notice of a shortage to the dispensing server. Furthermore, each drug cassette is assigned identification information, and when the correspondence between the identification information and the drug cassette is registered in the control device, it is transferred to the dispensing server and registered in the drug master.

[0008] Furthermore, in such a drug packaging machine (see Patent Document 1), all drug cassettes are housed in a drug feeder storage cabinet within the housing, and when replenishing drugs, the drug feeder storage cabinet into which the cassette is to be attached or detached must be inserted or removed from the housing in order to attach or detach the cassette. In contrast to this, there is also a medicine packaging machine (see Patent Document 2) in which the medicine feeder located at the forefront of the medicine feeder storage cabinet is equipped in a state where it is exposed at the front. In this medicine packaging machine, medicines can be replenished without pulling out the medicine feeder storage from the housing, provided that the medicine cassette is in a front-exposed state.

[0009] [Background Technology 2: Hand-spreading device for pesticides] Next, (see Patent Document 3) many medicine packaging machines incorporate a manual medicine dispensing device between the medicine feeder storage and the lower medicine collection mechanism or in the vicinity thereof. The manual medicine dispensing device has a main body, to which a spare dispensing cassette can be attached or detached, that can be pulled out or pushed in from the housing of the medicine packaging machine. By manually dispensing medicines into the spare dispensing cassette, it is possible to include medicines that are not contained in the medicine feeders of the medicine feeder storage in the automatic packaging. In addition to such built-in manual medicine dispensing devices, there are also stationary manual medicine dispensing devices that are configured separately from the medicine packaging machine. By using these devices together, the work of manually dispensing medicines into the spare dispensing cassette can be carried out in parallel with the advance preparation work for subsequent packaging scheduled after the current packaging.

[0010] [Background Technology 3: General-purpose drug feeders (multi-drug compatible drug feeders, fixed container feeders)] Furthermore, (see Patent Documents 4 to 13) a type of drug feeder in which the container portion and the base are integrated will be described. A typical example of this type of drug feeder is an alignment-feeding drug feeder that conveys tablets (medicines) of the same shape while aligning them in a single line. For example, a drug feeder has been developed and is in practical use, which includes an outer annular rotor that can rotate about a vertical line, an inclined rotor that is mounted inside the annular rotor and can rotate about an inclined line inclined from the vertical line, blocking the hollow of the annular rotor, and a regulating member that aligns solid drugs transported from the inclined rotor to the upper peripheral edge of the annular rotor as the annular rotor rotates. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0011] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2013-146443 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2018-196709 [Patent Document 3] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-209600 [Patent Document 4] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2018-108277 [Patent Document 5] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2021-029378 [Patent Document 6] Patent No. 6736074 [Patent Document 7] Patent No. 6736075 [Patent Document 8] Patent Application No. 2020-021938 (Application) [Patent Document 9] Patent Application No. 2020-205592 (Application) [Patent Document 10] Patent Application No. 2020-214571 (Application) [Patent Document 11] Patent Application No. 2021-001647 (Application) [Patent Document 12] Patent Application No. 2021-015626 (Application) [Patent Document 13] Patent Application No. 2021-043054 (Application) Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0012] Such general-purpose drug feeders (drug feeders suitable for multiple drugs, fixed container feeders) eliminate the need to install fixed straightening guides within the rotating body and have a wider range of compatibility with drugs of various shapes and sizes (see Background Art 3 and Patent Document 4 above).In addition (see Background Art 3 and Patent Documents 5 to 13 above), the downstream regulating mechanism that regulates the width of the drug is given the height regulating function as well, and the height regulating function of the sorting member located upstream is relaxed, making it possible to effortlessly align a variety of solid drugs in a row on the drug transport path at the upper periphery of the annular rotating body, from hard and durable drugs to brittle drugs, and even from plate-shaped drugs that are difficult to roll to spherical or spindle-shaped drugs that roll easily.

[0013] However, general-purpose drug feeders in which the drug storage unit and drive unit are integrated (see Patent Documents 4 to 13) do not have a detachable cassette, unlike specialized drug feeders in which the drug storage cassette can be attached and detached (see Patent Documents 1 and 2), and also unlike manual drug dispensing devices in which the spare dispensing cassette can be attached and detached (see Patent Document 3).As a result, cassette replacement is not possible. Therefore, to collect remaining medication from a general-purpose medication feeder installed in a medication packaging machine, either the medication must be packaged in packaging paper and collected, which is known as ``remaining medication collection using packaging paper,'' or the medication must be released into a collection container below and collected, which is known as ``remaining medication collection using a container.''

[0014] The former, "recovery of leftover medication using paper packets," does not require the addition of any mechanical components and can be achieved simply by expanding the control function. However, because a series of packets contains a mixture of packets containing prescription medication and packets for collecting non-prescribed leftover medication, careful attention is required when handling the packets, including separating them, and it also tends to take a long time to collect the leftover medication and make it available for the next prescription. In contrast, the latter "remaining drug collection using a container" involves pulling out a general-purpose drug feeder from the housing of the drug packaging machine on which it is installed, positioning a collection container directly below it, and then releasing the drug from the target drug feeder into the collection container below for collection (see Patent Documents 12 and 13).As a result, no collection packets containing remaining drugs not intended for prescription are generated in the first place, eliminating the need for the above-mentioned separation work and shortening the time required to collect the remaining drugs.

[0015] However, when a "container-based residual drug collection" system was tested, in which a general-purpose drug feeder was pulled out of its housing and the drugs were released into a collection container below, it received fairly positive feedback, but further improvements were also required. Specifically, residual drug collection is performed on a single drug feeder, and the collection container must be held manually, tying up the worker during collection. Furthermore, when multiple drug feeders are to be collected, the sequential work increases the workload and burden on the worker. If it is necessary to keep track of the correspondence between the drug feeder from which the drugs are collected and the collected residual drugs, as well as the type of collected residual drugs, in order to avoid waste and reuse the collected residual drugs, this also increases the burden on the worker.

[0016] Therefore, for medicine packaging machines that can perform "container-based residual drug collection," in which a general-purpose medicine feeder is pulled out of the housing and the medicine is released into a collection container below, the technical challenge is to improve the functionality and operability of the medicine packaging machine's residual drug collection so as to further reduce the labor burden required for residual drug collection. [Means for solving the problem]

[0017] The medicine packaging machine of the present invention (Solution 1) was invented to solve these problems, A medicine packaging machine comprising: a plurality of medicine feeders each having a container section for randomly storing a large number of medicines and a sequential discharge mechanism section for dropping and discharging each medicine one by one from the container section; a packaging device for receiving and packaging the discharged medicines; and a housing capable of housing the medicine feeders and the packaging device, A plurality of the medicine feeders are general-purpose medicine feeders in which the container unit and the sequential discharge mechanism unit are integrated, and can be pulled out forward from the housing. Nabiki Output mechanism Nito It is listed, before Notes departure In structurea drawer state detection member for detecting the drawer state, and a remaining medicine collection container detection member for detecting whether a detachable remaining medicine collection container is attached to the medicine discharge destination of the general-purpose medicine feeder, Regarding the general-purpose drug feeder mentioned above, The extraction mechanism of the loading destination is When it is confirmed that the remaining medicine collection container is pulled out forward based on the detection state of the pull-out state detection member and that the remaining medicine collection container is attached to a medicine ejection destination based on the detection state of the remaining medicine collection container detection member, a medicine feeder mounted on the pull-out mechanism of the attachment destination of the remaining medicine collection container among the general-purpose medicine feeders is caused to perform a medicine ejection operation. And, a plurality of the general-purpose medicine feeders are mounted on the drawer mechanism, and a plurality of remaining medicine storage sections are formed in the remaining medicine collection container corresponding to each of the general-purpose medicine feeders; It is characterized by:

[0018] Furthermore, the drug packaging machine of the present invention (Solution 2) is the drug packaging machine of Solution 1 above, characterized in that alignment marks corresponding to the marks on the remaining drug collection container are attached to the pull-out mechanism, and when the remaining drug collection container is attached to the pull-out mechanism with these marks aligned, the opening of the remaining drug collection container is positioned at the drug discharge destination of the general-purpose drug feeder, and the attachment of the remaining drug collection container is detected by the remaining drug collection container detection member.

[0019] Furthermore, the drug packaging machine of the present invention (Solution 3) is the drug packaging machine of Solution 2 above, characterized in that when the remaining drug collection container is attached to the pull-out mechanism with the markers aligned, a part of the remaining drug collection container interferes with a part of the pull-out mechanism, thereby preventing the two from shifting positions.

[0020] Furthermore, the drug packaging machine of the present invention (Solution 4) is the drug packaging machine of Solution 2 above, characterized in that when the remaining drug collection container is attached to the withdrawal mechanism with the markers corresponding to each other, a portion of the opening of the remaining drug collection container is exposed.

[0022] In addition, the medicine packaging machine of the present invention (solution means 5), the above-mentioned solution 1~4 The medicine packaging machine is characterized in that the means for attaching and detaching the remaining medicine collection container to the withdrawal mechanism is a permanent magnet, so that iron or other magnetic material is used in the attachment and detachment portion of the withdrawal mechanism for the permanent magnet, and iron or other magnetic material is also used in the holding portion of the remaining medicine collection container when not in use, such as the side surface of the outer surface of the housing.

[0023] In addition, the medicine packaging machine of the present invention (solution means 6 ), the above-mentioned solution 1~5 The medicine packaging machine is characterized in that it comprises a data storage means for storing record data of the general-purpose medicine feeder having discharged medicine based on a dispensing instruction and record data of the medicine having been discharged for the purpose of recovering remaining medicine, and by referring to the record data, it limits the general-purpose medicine feeders that are to perform the medicine discharge operation toward the remaining medicine recovery container to those that have discharged medicine based on a dispensing instruction but have not subsequently discharged medicine for the purpose of recovering remaining medicine. [Effects of the Invention]

[0024] The medicine packaging machine of the present invention (Solution 1) is equipped with multiple general-purpose medicine feeders, which are mounted in multiple drawer mechanisms, and detects whether they are drawn forward from the housing and whether a detachable remaining medicine collection container is attached to the medicine discharge destination of the drawn general-purpose medicine feeder. For a general-purpose medicine feeder, if it is automatically confirmed that the corresponding medicine feeder is drawn forward from the housing and that a remaining medicine collection container is attached to the medicine discharge destination, the corresponding medicine feeder is discharged. This automatically confirms whether the remaining medicine collection operation is possible, and automatically executes the remaining medicine collection operation once it has started. This significantly reduces the labor required for remaining medicine collection.

[0025] Furthermore, in the drug packaging machine of the present invention (Solution 2), when the remaining drug collection container is attached to the withdrawal mechanism with the markers corresponding to each other, the opening of the remaining drug collection container is positioned at the drug discharge destination of the general-purpose drug feeder, and the attachment of the remaining drug collection container is detected by a remaining drug collection container detection member, making the attachment of the remaining drug collection container easier.

[0026] Furthermore, in the drug packaging machine of the present invention (Solution 3), when the remaining drug collection container is attached to the pull-out mechanism by matching the markers, a part of the remaining drug collection container and a part of the pull-out mechanism interfere with each other, preventing misalignment between the two, making the attachment of the remaining drug collection container easy and accurate.

[0027] Furthermore, in the drug packaging machine of the present invention (Solution 4), when the remaining drug collection container is attached to the pull-out mechanism with the markers corresponding to each other, part of the opening of the remaining drug collection container is exposed in this state, so that the remaining drug collection status can be visually confirmed from the exposed part of the opening, and therefore it is possible to easily tell visually whether or not there is any remaining drug collected, without having to wait for the remaining drug collection container to be removed.

[0028] Furthermore, in the drug packaging machine of the present invention (Solution 5), multiple residual drug storage sections are formed in the residual drug collection container to correspond to the number and arrangement of general-purpose drug feeders mounted on the drawer mechanism. Therefore, by attaching one residual drug collection container to one drawer mechanism, it is possible to immediately collect residual drugs from multiple drug feeders, so that even if multiple general-purpose drug feeders are mounted on each drawer mechanism, residual drugs can be collected easily and accurately.

[0029] Furthermore, in the drug packaging machine of the present invention (Solution 6), a permanent magnet is used as the attachment / detachment means for the residual drug collection container, and a magnetic material such as iron is used for the attachment / detachment part of the withdrawal mechanism, making it possible to realize the attachment / detachment means easily and inexpensively. In addition, by using magnetic materials such as iron on the outer surfaces of the housing, the remaining medicine collection container can be held in place by magnetic force on the outer surfaces of the housing when not in use. Therefore, even though the remaining medicine collection container is detachable, it can be stored out of the way when not in use, and can be easily and quickly picked up when in use.

[0030] Furthermore, in the drug packaging machine of the present invention (Solution 7), the general-purpose drug feeders that perform drug discharge operations in response to remaining drug collection instructions are limited to those that have discharged drugs based on dispensing instructions but have not yet discharged drugs for remaining drug collection, thereby preventing the unnecessary operation of drug feeders that clearly do not hold any remaining drugs. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0031] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the general configuration of a dispensing system including a medicine packaging machine according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] The overall structure of the medicine packaging machine is shown, with (a) being a front view of the exterior and (b) being a front view of the interior. [Figure 3] (a) to (d) are all left side views of the medicine packaging machine, and (e) is a perspective view of the front of the medicine storage section. [Figure 4] 1(a) to 1(c) are perspective views of shelves with medicine feeders arranged thereon. [Figure 5] (a) and (b) are left side views of the medicine packaging machine, and (c) to (e) are perspective views of the multi-stage medicine collection mechanism. [Figure 6] 1A and 1B show the main parts of the drawer lock mechanism, where (a) is a front view, (b) is a plan view, and (c) and (d) are front views. [Figure 7] 1A and 1B show different types of drug feeders, where (a) is a front view of a drug feeder for specific drugs with the cassette removed, and (b) is a left side view, front view, and right side view of a drug feeder for multiple drugs. [Figure 8](a) is a functional block diagram relating to the control unit of the medicine packaging machine and the control unit of the medicine feeder, and (b) to (e) are examples of screen displays on the touch panel. [Figure 9] 1A is a perspective view of the remaining medicine collection container, (a) is a perspective view of the exterior, (b) is a perspective view of the detachable permanent magnet and mark, and (c) is a two-point perspective view as seen from the arrow C. [Figure 10] This shows the situation when attempting to attach a remaining medicine collection container to a medicine feeder shelf, where (a) is a perspective view of the remaining medicine collection container just before attachment and the medicine feeder shelf waiting for it, (b) is a perspective view of an enlarged view of the part relating to the mark on the remaining medicine collection container and the mark on the medicine feeder shelf, and (c) is a two-point perspective view of the contact part between the remaining medicine collection container and the medicine feeder shelf before attachment. [Figure 11] 1A and 1B show a state in which a remaining medicine collection container is attached to a medicine feeder row shelf, where (a) is an external perspective view of the corresponding medicine feeder row shelf, and (b) is an external perspective view of the medicine dispensing and packaging machine 10. [Figure 12] (a) to (d) are examples of touch panel screen displays, and (e) is an external perspective view of a used residual medicine collection container attached to the side of the housing of the medicine dispensing and packaging machine. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0032] A specific embodiment for carrying out the medicine packaging machine of the present invention will be described below with reference to Example 1. The first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 12 embodies all of the above-mentioned solutions 1 to 7 (claims 1 to 7 as originally filed). In addition, when illustrating these, for the sake of simplicity, fastening devices such as bolts, connecting devices such as hinges, drive sources such as electric motors, transmission members such as timing belts, electric circuits such as motor drivers, electronic circuits such as controllers, etc. have been omitted, and only those necessary for explaining the invention and those related thereto have been illustrated. [Example]

[0033] The specific configuration of a medicine packing machine according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the general configuration of a dispensing system including a medicine packing machine 10. 2 and 3 show the overall structure of the medicine packaging machine 10, and FIG. 2(a) shows the outer Fig. 2(b) is a front view of the interior, and Fig. 3(a) to (d) are the left side of the exterior. FIG.

[0034] FIG. 3(e) is a perspective view of the front of the medicine storage section 13, and FIGS. 4(a) to 4(c) are perspective views of the medicine feeder-mounted shelves 20. As shown in FIG. 5(a) and (b) are left side views of the medicine packing machine 10, and FIGS. 5(c) to 5(e) are perspective views of the multi-stage medicine collecting mechanism 30. FIG. FIG. 6 shows the main part of the drawer lock mechanism 40, with (a) being a front view, (b) being a plan view, and (c) and (d) being front views.

[0035] Figure 7 shows two different types of drug feeders, Figure 7(a) is a front view of a drug feeder 51 for specific drugs with a detachable cassette (feeder with detachable container part, specialized drug feeder), and Figure 7(b) is an external view of a drug feeder 52 for multiple drugs (feeder with fixed container part, general-purpose drug feeder), which are shown from top to bottom as a left side view, a front view, and a right side view. Figure 8(a) is a functional block diagram of the controller 80 (control unit) of the medicine packaging machine 10 and the controller 53 (control unit) of the medicine feeder 52, and Figures 8(b) to (e) are all examples of screen displays on the touch panel 15.

[0036] Figure 9 is an external perspective view of the remaining medicine collection container 100, where (a) is an external perspective view looking down from diagonally above, (b) is an enlarged view of the detachable permanent magnet 104 and the mark 105, and (c) is a two-point perspective view looking up from diagonally below as seen by arrow C. Figure 10 shows the situation when a remaining drug collection container 100 is about to be attached to a drug feeder row shelf 20, where (a) is an oblique view of the container 100 just before attachment and the shelf 20 on which it awaits, (b) is an enlarged oblique view of the portion relating to the mark 105 on the remaining drug collection container 100 and the mark 26 on the drug feeder row shelf 20, and (c) is a two-point perspective view of the abutment areas 107, 28 between the remaining drug collection container 100 and the drug feeder row shelf 20 before attachment.

[0037] 11A and 11B show a state in which the remaining medicine collecting container 100 is attached to the medicine feeder row shelf 20, where (a) is an external perspective view of the corresponding medicine feeder row shelf 20, and (b) is an external perspective view of the medicine packaging machine 10. 12(a) to (d) are examples of screen displays on the touch panel 15, and FIG. 12(e) is an external perspective view of the medicine packaging machine 10 when a used remaining medicine collecting container 100 is attached to the side of the housing of the medicine packaging machine 10.

[0038] The medicine packaging machine 10 (see FIG. 1) may be used alone in small pharmacies, but in large dispensing departments, multiple machines are often used under the control of a dispensing server 200. The dispensing server 200 is capable of transmitting and receiving data to a higher-level prescription ordering system and a lower-level drug packaging machine 10 via a LAN or the like, and by executing the program described above in Background Art 1, receives and stores prescription data from the prescription ordering system, and based on that data, issues dispensing instructions to the drug packaging machine 10 and, if there is another drug packaging machine (not shown), to any appropriate one. The dispensing server 200 also stores the operating status of the drug packaging machine 10 as packaging machine status data, and also stores a drug master in which known drug information for various drugs is registered in advance.

[0039] The drug packaging machine 10 (see Figures 1 and 2(a)) comprises a packaging device 11 at the bottom, a drug manual distribution device equipment section 12 above that, a drug storage section 13 above that, a touch panel 15 (operation input section, display section) supported by an arm so that its position can be easily changed, and a controller 80 (control section of the drug packaging machine) housed inside the housing, and the drug storage section 13 has multiple drug feeder storage sections 14 and multiple drug feeder row shelves 20 built in so that each can be pulled out forward. The drug feeder storage cabinet 14 is shown in two rows, two on the left and two on the right, but it may be three or more rows, or a single row, or each row may be further divided into upper and lower sections so that each can be pulled out forward as desired.

[0040] Although the medicine feeder-mounted shelves 20 are shown as being arranged in three vertical rows and one horizontal row, the arrangement is not limited to this and other arrangements are also possible. Inside medicine feeder storage 14 in medicine storage section 13, which occupies the upper part of medicine packaging machine 10 (see FIGS. 1 and 2(b)), there are provided medicine feeder row shelves 18, six levels high and low, arranged in two rows on the left and right, on which multiple specific-medicine-dedicated medicine feeders 51 (specialized medicine feeders, detachable container feeders, see FIG. 7(a)) can be arranged front to back, and an upper medicine collection mechanism 17 is provided running vertically between the two rows on the left and right (see FIG. 2(b)). Medicines discharged from medicine feeders 51 are guided by upper medicine collection mechanism 17 to lower medicine collection mechanism 16 below.

[0041] Also (see FIGS. 1 and 2(b)), a multi-stage medicine collection mechanism 30 is also provided (see FIGS. 1, 2(b) and 5) inside the arrangement area of ​​medicine feeder row shelves 20, 20, 20 that occupy a corner of medicine storage section 13, hidden behind front panels 25 (described later) of the medicine feeder row shelves (see FIGS. 3(d) and (e)). Handle 33 provided on the front of multi-stage medicine collection mechanism 30 is also hidden behind front panel 25. Similar to the upper drug collection mechanism 17, this multi-stage drug collection mechanism 30 guides drugs discharged from the feeder to the lower drug collection mechanism 16 below, but it does not accept drugs discharged from a specific drug-dedicated drug feeder 51 (a specialized drug feeder, a feeder with a detachable container, see Figure 7(a)) on the drug feeder row shelf 18, but rather accepts drugs discharged from a multi-drug compatible drug feeder 52 (a general-purpose drug feeder, a feeder with a fixed container, see Figure 7(b)) on the drug feeder row shelf 20. The drug feeder row shelf 20 that receives the drugs is not just one, but multiple ones 20, 20, 20 connected vertically.

[0042] The illustrated drug feeder-mounted shelf 20 (see FIG. 3) has a handle 21 on its front (see FIG. 3(a)) and is supported by a drawer member 22 (drawer mechanism) (see FIG. 3(b)), allowing each feeder to be individually pulled forward or pushed backward (see FIGS. 3(a)-(d)). Furthermore, (see FIGS. 3(d), (e), and 4) four multi-drug compatible drug feeders 52 (general-purpose drug feeders, fixed-container feeders) can be mounted in a line front to back on a shelf plate 23 (drawer mechanism) supported by the drawer member 22. Furthermore, in addition to the handle 21, a front plate 25 at the front end of the drug feeder-mounted shelf 20 (see FIGS. 3(e) and 4(a)) is also provided with a swing plate 24, a manual lock 43, and an LED indicator (not shown).

[0043] Unlike specialized drug feeder 51 (specialized drug feeder, detachable container), which rarely changes the drugs it contains, multi-drug drug feeder 52 (general-purpose drug feeder, fixed container feeder) can be easily adjusted to accommodate drugs of various shapes and sizes, as described above, by, for example, changing the sample drug or obtaining drug dimension data from dispensing server 200 (see also Patent Documents 4-12). Therefore, to minimize errors such as mis-pickup during drug refilling, multi-drug drug feeder 52 employs a fully fixed unit, in which the drug container is fixed under normal conditions except during maintenance work. Although not required, multi-drug drug feeder 52 (see FIG. 8(a)) incorporates controller 53 (controller) and cooperates with controller 80 by sending and receiving data.

[0044] Furthermore, (see FIGS. 3(d), (e) and 4), the medicine feeder row shelf 20 is provided with a lid 52a and a lid open / closed state detection means 29 for each of the medicine feeders 52 mounted thereon. The lid 52a is used to open and close the medicine inlet on the top surface of the corresponding multi-medicine compatible medicine feeder 52, and its rear end (the upper right part in the figure) is pivotally supported so as to be swingable. Moreover, when the device is in a horizontal position, the drug inlet is closed (see Figure 4(a)), and when the device is in a vertical or nearly vertical position, the drug inlet is opened to the extent that drug can be added (see Figure 4(b)), and the device transitions between these two states via an inclined position.

[0045] The lid open / closed state detecting means 29 (see FIG. 4(a)) mainly comprises, for example, a magnetic sensor, and is attached to the back panel of the shelf 23 (drawer mechanism) of the drug feeder-mounted shelf 20, located behind the corresponding multi-drug compatible drug feeder 52, to detect the open / closed state of the corresponding lid 52a. The detecting means 29 not only detects whether the lid 52a is open enough to allow drug insertion (see FIG. 4(b)), but also whether the lid 52a is closed enough to prevent drug spillage (see FIG. 4(c)). The detection can be realized by using multiple magnetic sensors with different sensitivity levels, or by comparing the output value of a single magnetic sensor with multiple threshold levels.

[0046] The detection result of the lid open / close state detection means 29 is notified to the controller 80 of the medicine dispensing and packaging machine 10 via the controller 53 of the medicine feeder 52. Then, when the controller 80, which is responsible for managing the drug injection, etc., receives these and determines that drug injection has begun for the corresponding drug feeder 52, based on the detection value of the lid opening / closing state detection means 29, that the corresponding lid 52a has opened from a fully closed state (see Figure 4(a)) to a state where drug injection is possible (see Figure 4(b)). Furthermore, when the controller 80 determines based on detection by the lid open / close state detection means 29 that the lid 52a has been closed sufficiently to prevent spillage of the medicine (see the change from Figure 4(b) to Figure 4(a)), it determines that the feeding of the medicine into the corresponding medicine feeder 52 has been completed.

[0047] The lower end of the swinging plate 24 is connected to the lower end of the front surface of the front plate 25 via a swinging support shaft (see Figures 3(d), (e), and 4), and can be gently swung with a hand or finger. When the free end / swinging end is raised (see Figures 3(a) to (c)), the swinging plate 24 assumes a vertical position, as if attached to the front plate 25. On the other hand, when the free end / swinging end is lowered (see Figures 3(d), (e), and 4), the swinging plate 24 assumes a horizontal position, like a small table, on which small items such as medicine bottles and dispensing instruction sheets can be placed.

[0048] As mentioned above, multi-stage medicine collection mechanism 30 (see FIG. 5) is disposed immediately beside three medicine feeder-mounted shelves 20, 20, 20, and guides medicines discharged from these shelves downward to drop them, and is also supported by multi-stage drawer mechanism 37 inside medicine storage section 13 (see FIGS. 5(a) and (b)), so that it can be drawn forward from medicine storage section 13 (see FIG. 5(b)). Furthermore, the length of multi-stage medicine collection mechanism 30 in the front-to-rear direction is shorter than that of medicine feeder-mounted shelves 20, and it is always located behind the left end of front panels 25, 25, 25 of the right-side medicine feeder-mounted shelves 20 (see FIGS. 2 and 5(a) and (b)).

[0049] Each of the front plates 25, 25, 25, whose left ends protrude forward of the multi-stage medicine collecting mechanism 30, serves as a relative draw-out position restricting means for preventing the multi-stage medicine collecting mechanism 30 from being drawn forward from the medicine feeder-arranged shelf 20, and also serves as a member for restricting the multi-stage medicine collecting mechanism 30 from being drawn forward from the medicine storage section 13. Furthermore, each of the medicine feeder-arranged shelves 20 equipped with such a front plate 25 is provided only on the right side of the multi-stage medicine collecting mechanism 30 (see FIG. 2(b)), and there is no restricting member such as the front plate 25 on the left side of the multi-stage medicine collecting mechanism 30. Therefore, when the multi-stage medicine collecting mechanism 30 is drawn forward from the medicine storage section 13 (see FIG. 5(b)), the left side of the multi-stage medicine collecting mechanism 30 is released.

[0050] Furthermore, the multi-stage medicine collection mechanism 30 (see FIGS. 5(c) to (e)) mainly comprises a shallow box-shaped main body 31 and a removable side plate 35 disposed on the left open side of the main body 31, which is the side farthest from the medicine feeder shelves 20, 20, 20, and closes that side when attached. Medicine receiving ports 32, 32, 32 are formed in the right side plate of the main body 31 to receive medicines discharged from the medicine feeder shelves 20, 20, 20, and a handle 33 is provided at the front end of the main body 31, and a side plate holding member 34 is provided at the lower end of the main body 31, located below the open side, to receive the lower end of the side plate 35 from below.

[0051] The top of the side plate 35 is equipped with a small latching member 36, for example, operated by a lever. When the lower end of the side plate 35 is placed on the side plate holding member 34 and then the side plate 35 is raised and the latching member 36 is latched onto the main body 31, the open side of the main body 31 is closed (see FIG. 5(c)). When all of the latching members 36, 36 are removed, the upper part of the side plate 35 separates from the open side of the main body 31 (see FIG. 5(d)). However, since the side plate holding member 34 is made of, for example, a hooking member, it receives the lower end of the side plate 35 with a small amount of play, so that the side plate 35 is held in a slightly tilted position. Furthermore, when the side plate 35 is lifted by placing hands on either end of the side plate 35, for example, the side plate 35 separates completely from the main body 31, exposing the interior of the main body 31 (see FIG. 5(e)).

[0052] As described above, the manual lock 43 is provided on the front panel 25 of the medicine feeder row shelf 20 (see FIGS. 3(e) and 4(a)), and the drawer lock mechanism 40 (see FIG. 6) including this manual lock 43 is attached to the front end of the medicine feeder row shelf 20 and the front end of the medicine storage section 13. Specifically, the drawer lock mechanism 40 includes a swinging member 44 that is provided on the medicine feeder row shelf 20 together with the manual lock 43, an electromagnetic drive unit 41 that is provided on the frame of the medicine storage section 13, and an advancing / retreating member 42 that can be moved forward and backward from the electromagnetic drive unit 41 toward the swinging member 44. The advancing / retreating member 42 is always biased forward (to the left) by a spring or the like (not shown), and protrudes from the frame of the medicine storage section 13 toward the medicine feeder row shelf 20. When its tip is in front of the swinging member 44 (see Figure 6(a)), the medicine feeder row shelf 20 is locked and cannot be pulled forward from the medicine storage section 13.

[0053] Furthermore (see Figure 6(b)), a slope is formed at the tip of advancing / retreating member 42, and when oscillating member 44 abuts against this, the resulting force causes advancing / retreating member 42 to retreat toward electromagnetic drive unit 41 (move to the right in the figure). Therefore, when pulled-out drug feeder row shelf 20 is pushed into drug storage section 13, oscillating member 44 temporarily retreats advancing / retreating member 42 and moves it backward (see the two-dot chain line and the one-dot chain line in Figure 6(b)). Therefore, while the pull-out of drug feeder row shelf 20 is normally locked, drug feeder row shelf 20 can be pushed in at any time. In addition, although the illustration is omitted to avoid complication since it can be configured with a magnetic sensor or the like, a drawer state detection member is also provided corresponding to each drug feeder row shelf 20 to detect whether the drug feeder row shelf 20 is located within the lockable range of the drawer lock mechanism 40.

[0054] Furthermore (see FIG. 6(c)), when the electromagnetic drive unit 41 is excited under the control of the controller 80, the retractable member 42 retreats toward the electromagnetic drive unit 41 (moves rightward in the figure) due to the electromagnetic force that exceeds the spring force, so that the medicine feeder-arranged shelves 20 are in a state where they can be pulled out as well as pushed in. In other words, electric unlocking is possible. Furthermore, (see Figure 6(d)), when the key 45 is inserted into the manual lock 43 and turned to the unlocking side, the swinging member 44 also rotates accordingly, and the swinging member 44 assumes a position / state in which it does not engage with the advancing / retreating member 42, making manual unlocking also possible.

[0055] Furthermore, when the controller 80 determines that the lid 52a of the drug feeder 52 mounted on the drug feeder row shelf 20 is tightly closed based on detection by the lid open / closed state detection means 29 and notification from the controller 53 (see Figure 4(a)), it determines that the drug feeder row shelf 20 is normal even if it is pushed into the housing. However, if this is not the case, for example, when the lid 52a is closed in an incomplete state that is not detected by the lid open / closed state detection means 29 (see Figure 4(c)), and the above-mentioned drawer state detection member detects that the corresponding drug feeder row shelf 20 has been pushed into the housing and is located within the lockable range of the drawer lock mechanism 40, an alarm is issued.

[0056] To summarize, although this is a repetition, drug feeder 51 (see FIG. 7(a)) is the aforementioned dedicated drug feeder for specific drugs (specialized drug feeder, detachable container feeder), and is a detachable cassette type consisting of a fixed base 51b (drive unit) and a cassette 51a (container unit). When the motor of base 51b is operated under the control of controller 80 while the cassette is attached, the movable member of cassette 51a is driven, causing the drugs to drop and be discharged one by one.

[0057] In contrast, drug feeder 52 (see Figure 7(b)) is the aforementioned multi-drug compatible drug feeder (general-purpose drug feeder, feeder with fixed container portion), in which the container portion and base are integrated (see Patent Documents 4 to 11), and is normally fixed to drug feeder row shelf 20. This drug feeder 52 has an internal motor or the like operating under the control of controller 80 to rotate the outer ring-shaped rotor and inner inclined rotor, and drug feeder 52 also drops and discharges drugs one by one.

[0058] Furthermore, controller 80 controls touch panel 15, so that medicine packing machine 10 exhibits a function of inputting operations in addition to displaying information on the screen (see FIG. 1, etc.). When controller 80 of medicine packaging machine 10 receives a dispensing instruction from dispensing server 200, it processes the instruction automatically to the extent possible, but if necessary, it displays instructions for the dispensing worker on the screen and receives instructions from the dispensing worker. For example, when the dispensing instruction includes a drug that is not held in specialized drug feeder 51 and general-purpose drug feeder 52 is selected as the dispensing destination, if the dispensing worker's assistance is required, instructions for feeding the drug into the corresponding drug feeder 52 are displayed on touch panel 15.

[0059] Once the necessary data for automatic discharge is collected and preparations for automatic discharge are complete, controller 80 of medicine packaging machine 10 sends an automatic discharge command to controller 53 of the target medicine feeder 52 (see FIGS. 1 and 8(a)). If the corresponding medicine feeder 52 is pushed into the housing of medicine packaging machine 10 (see the upper and middle medicine feeder shelves 20 of the upper and lower three shelves shown in FIGS. 1 and 3(e)), medicines are automatically discharged from there. The medicines discharged from medicine feeder 52 (see FIGS. 2(b) and 5) are sent to lower medicine collection mechanism 16 via multi-stage medicine collection mechanism 30 shared by upper and lower medicine feeder shelves 20, and then to packaging device 11.

[0060] Furthermore, each time drugs are dispensed or packaged based on dispensing instructions, the controller 80 stores the drug feeder's identification information, dispense information, and time data as recorded data in a data storage device such as a hard disk (not shown), regardless of whether the drug dispenser is a specific drug-specific drug feeder 51 (a specialized drug feeder, a detachable container feeder) or a multi-drug compatible drug feeder 52 (a general-purpose drug feeder, a fixed container feeder). Additionally, each time drugs are dispensed for remaining drug collection, as described below, the controller 80 also stores the drug feeder's identification information, remaining drug collection execution information, and time data as recorded data, regardless of whether the drug dispenser is a general-purpose drug feeder 51 or a general-purpose drug feeder 52. So-called log data and history data automatically recorded and stored by the controller 80 for abnormality diagnosis, etc., also qualify as recorded data if they contain the above information.

[0061] Furthermore, if excess medicine remains in a multi-drug compatible medicine feeder 52 after automatic medicine discharge, the remaining medicine will be collected, and this medicine packaging machine 10 has four methods for collecting the remaining medicine from the target medicine feeder 52 (see FIG. 8(a)). All of these methods are performed by cooperation between controller 80 of medicine packaging machine 10 and controller 53 of the target medicine feeder 52 from which the remaining medicine is to be collected, but there are also three methods (first to third remaining medicine collection methods) for issuing a remaining medicine collection instruction to instruct multi-drug compatible medicine feeder 52 to discharge the remaining medicine by displaying or operating touch panel 15, and one method (fourth remaining medicine collection method) that does not require such operation.

[0062] Three types of means using touch panel 15 will be described first. In the first to third remaining medicine collection methods, when a remaining medicine collection command instructing multi-drug compatible type medicine feeder 52 to discharge remaining medicines is given by display and operation input via touch panel 15, discharge operation mode selection program 81 of controller 80 of medicine packaging machine 10 selects one of automatic discharge program 54, container-specific collection program 55, or shelf-specific collection program 56 from program group 54-56 of controller 53 of medicine feeder 52 as a cooperating partner. In contrast, in a fourth remaining medicine collection method described below, discharge operation mode selection program 81 selects shelf-specific collection program 56 in response to detection by remaining medicine collection container detection member 27.

[0063] Automatic discharge program 54 (first remaining drug collection method) performs the aforementioned "remaining drug collection using packaging paper," in which remaining drugs are discharged and packaged while drug feeder row shelf 20 equipped with target multi-drug compatible drug feeder 52 is pushed into the housing of drug packaging machine 10 and locked by drawer lock mechanism 40. In this case, the drug name can be printed on the portion of the packaging paper that will package the remaining drugs, which offers the advantage of making it easier to manage the collected drugs. Such automatic discharge program 54 can be easily adapted or used in conjunction with programs used for normal packaging, in which the number of drugs to be discharged is specified, by simply operating the number of drugs to be discharged, etc.

[0064] Container-specific collection program 55 (second residual drug collection method) executes the aforementioned "remaining drug collection using containers" (see Figure 8(a)). Specifically, for drug feeder row shelf 20 that is equipped with multi-drug compatible drug feeder 52 from which residual drugs are to be collected, program 55 unlocks the corresponding drawer lock mechanism 40, and when it detects that the drug feeder row shelf 20 has been released from the locked position based on detection by the above-mentioned drawer state detection member (not shown), program 55 determines that drug feeder row shelf 20 is in a state where it has been pulled out forward from the housing of drug packaging machine 10. In this state (see drug feeder row shelf 20 in the lower of the three upper and lower rows shown in Figures 1 and 3(e)), when it receives an instruction to release residual drugs from controller 80 of drug packaging machine 10, program 55 continues the discharge operation until drug feeder 52 from which residual drugs are to be collected is empty.

[0065] With this "remaining drug collection using containers," it is difficult to collect remaining drugs from multiple drug feeders 52 compatible with multiple drugs at the same time, so the drug feeders 52 from which remaining drugs can be collected are basically limited to one at a time. However, there are less restrictions on the containers that can be used, and general-purpose cups or glasses can also be used as long as they are not damaged or dirty. The collaborative operation between the dispensing worker and both controllers 80, 53 using the container-specific collection program 55, which is performed in response to operation of the touch panel 15, will be explained below with reference to screen display examples (see Figures 8(b) to (e)).

[0066] The shelf-specific collection program 56 as a third remaining drug collection method that is activated by operating the touch panel 15 and the shelf-specific collection program 56 as a fourth remaining drug collection method that is activated in response to detection by the remaining drug collection container detection member 27 have different activation modes (see Figure 8(a)), but in both cases, after activation, they control the simultaneous and parallel collection of remaining drugs from multiple multi-drug compatible drug feeders 52, ..., 52 mounted on one drug feeder-arranged shelf 20, and since it is assumed that a remaining drug collection container 100 corresponding to the drug feeder-arranged shelf 20 is used, the configuration of the remaining drug collection container 100 will be explained before explaining the functions of the shelf-specific collection program 56.

[0067] The remaining medicine collecting container 100 (see FIG. 9) is a separate entity from the medicine packaging machine 10, and has as its base a long plate-like plate 101 that is detachably attached to the underside of the medicine feeder row shelf 20. This plate body 101 has multiple (four in this example) openings 102 formed to correspond to the arrangement of the drug feeders 52 on the drug feeder row shelf 20, and a remaining drug storage section 103 (container section) is connected below each opening 102, so that drugs introduced into the openings 102 from above are divided and stored in the multiple (four in this example) remaining drug storage sections 103.

[0068] A plurality of pairs (three pairs in this example) of permanent magnets 104 and markers 105 are attached to the upper surface of the plate 101 of the remaining medicine collecting container 100 (see FIGS. 9(a) and 9(b)). The permanent magnets 104 are fixed to the upper surface of the plate 101 by screws or the like, and are designed to emit a magnetic force that can hold the remaining medicine collecting container 100 on the underside of the shelf 23 (drawer mechanism) of the medicine feeder row shelf 20. The marks 105 correspond not only in number but also in position and orientation to the marks 26 on the drug feeder-mounted shelf 20 described below. When the remaining drug collection container 100 is placed under the shelf 23 of the drug feeder-mounted shelf 20 with the two marks 105, 26 facing each other, the openings 102 (four in this example) of the remaining drug collection container 100 are positioned one-to-one with the drug discharge destinations of the multi-drug compatible drug feeders 52 (four in this example) mounted on the shelf 23 (see Figure 11(a)).

[0069] Furthermore, on both sides of the remaining medicine collecting container 100, on the side closer to the mark 105 (see FIGS. 9(a) and (b)), a handle 106 useful for carrying the remaining medicine collecting container 100 is attached, and on the opposite side (see FIG. 9(c)), a small protruding alignment portion 107 is formed. The end of this alignment portion 107 is bent toward the remaining medicine storage portion 103 so that it can be smoothly placed on and positioned on a positioning member 28 (see FIG. 10(c)) of the medicine feeder row shelf 20, which will be described later.

[0070] In the drug feeder row shelves 20, to which such residual drug collection containers 100 are attached and detached to their undersides, the means for attaching and detaching the residual drug collection containers 100 to and from the shelf boards 23 (drawer mechanism) is a permanent magnet 104, and accordingly, a magnetic material such as iron is used at least in the attachment and detachment portions of the shelf boards 23 where the permanent magnets 104 are attached and detached. However, since it is common to use iron materials for shelves and housing components, magnetic materials such as iron plates are also used on the exterior surfaces of the housing, such as the sides.

[0071] In addition, a mark 26 is attached to the side of the shelf 23 above the side on which the remaining drug collection container 100 is attached (see Figures 10(a) to (c)). As described above, when the mark 26 on the drug feeder row shelf 20 and the mark 105 on the drug packaging machine 10 are aligned so that the arrows face each other (see Figure 10(b)), and the remaining drug collection container 100 is attached under the shelf 23 (drawer mechanism) of the drug feeder row shelf 20, the position of the opening 102 of the remaining drug storage section 103 of the remaining drug collection container 100 (see Figure 11(a)) corresponds one-to-one with the drug discharge outlet 23a (see Figure 10(c)), which is the drug discharge destination of the multi-drug compatible drug feeder 52 mounted on the drug feeder row shelf 20. These medicine discharge ports 23a are for sending medicines discharged from the medicine feeders 52 to the medicine receiving ports 32 of the multi-stage medicine collecting mechanism 30 when the medicine feeder row shelf 20 is pushed into the housing.

[0072] Furthermore, as described above (see Figure 10), the remaining medicine collection container 100 is attached to the shelf 23 (drawer mechanism) of the medicine feeder row shelf 20 with the marks 105 and 26 aligned, and the alignment portion 107 is placed on the positioning member 28 to stabilize it, and then the remaining medicine collection container 100 is moved toward or pressed against the medicine feeder row shelf 20, and further the alignment portion 107 is moved toward the remaining medicine collection container detection member 27 (see Figure 10(c)). This ensures that the alignment portion 107 of the remaining medicine collection container 100 is securely positioned at the detection point of the remaining medicine collection container detection member 27, and a portion of the opening 102 of the remaining medicine storage portion 103 is exposed (see Figure 11(a)), allowing the collection status of the remaining medicine to be visually confirmed.

[0073] Moreover, in such an attached state, a part of the remaining medicine collection container 100 interferes with a part of the medicine feeder row shelf 20, suppressing misalignment between the two, and even in a situation where the remaining medicine collection container 100 is about to come off the shelf 23 due to the action of an unexpected external force exceeding the magnetic force of the permanent magnet 104, the occurrence of an undesirable situation such as the remaining medicine collection container 100 falling to the floor can be prevented with high certainty by the interference between the alignment part 107 and the positioning member 28. In addition, since the remaining medicine collection container 100 is located in front of the multi-stage medicine collection mechanism 30 (see FIG. 11(b)), inadvertent drawing out of the multi-stage medicine collection mechanism 30 can be reliably prevented.

[0074] Each of these medicine feeder-mounted shelves 20 (see FIG. 10(c)) is provided with a remaining medicine collection container detection member 27 that detects whether a detachable remaining medicine collection container 100 is attached from below to the medicine discharge destination (23a) of the multi-drug compatible medicine feeder 52 mounted on the shelf 23 (drawer mechanism). When the remaining medicine collection container 100 is attached below the shelf 23 (drawer mechanism) of the medicine feeder-mounted shelf 20 with the mark 105 corresponding to the mark 26, the opening 102 of the remaining medicine collection container 100 is positioned at the medicine discharge destination of the multi-drug compatible medicine feeder 52, and the attachment of the remaining medicine collection container 100 is detected by the remaining medicine collection container detection member 27.

[0075] Now that we have explained the remaining medicine collection container 100 and the components of the medicine feeder-mounted shelves 20 related to its attachment and detachment, we will explain the functions of the shelf-specific collection program 56 that controls the "shelf-specific collection" performed by temporarily attaching the remaining medicine collection container 100 to the medicine feeder-mounted shelves 20 (see FIG. 8(a)). This shelf-specific collection program 56 (third and fourth remaining medicine collection methods) cooperates with the controller 80 to perform control when remaining medicines are simultaneously collected from a plurality of medicine feeders 52 mounted on one medicine feeder-mounted shelf 20, and is premised on the temporary attachment of the remaining medicine collection container 100 equipped with a plurality of remaining medicine storage units 103 aligned in correspondence with the arrangement of the plurality of medicine feeders 52. In response to this attachment, the remaining medicines are automatically discharged from the medicine feeders 52 of the medicine feeder-mounted shelves 20, thereby allowing the remaining medicines to be collected in the remaining medicine collection container 100.

[0076] Specifically, when "Collect by shelf-specific container" is selected by operating the touch panel 15 (see FIG. 12(a)), the controller 80 executes the discharge operation mode selection program 81, and the controller 53 executes the shelf-specific collection program 56, and the cooperation of the two programs 80 and 53 realizes the "third remaining medicine collection method." In this case, a remaining medicine collection instruction for discharging remaining medicines is given from the controller 80 to a plurality of general-purpose medicine feeders 52 in units of medicine feeder-lined shelves 20, and for medicine feeder-lined shelves 20 that are in a state where withdrawal is permitted due to completion of drug discharge, etc., the corresponding drawer lock mechanism 40 is unlocked, allowing the medicine feeder-lined shelves 20 to be manually drawn forward from the housing. When a drawable medicine feeder-lined shelf 20 is drawn forward from the housing, the controller 80 can determine and confirm this based on the detection state of a drawer state detection member (not shown).

[0077] Moreover, the touch panel 15 is also configured to display a message urging the user to attach a remaining medicine collection container 100 under the drug feeder row shelf 20 that is in the pulled-out state (see FIG. 12(b)). When the user is prompted by the message to properly attach an empty remaining medicine collection container 100 to the drug feeder row shelf 20 to be collected (see FIGS. 10 and 11), the fact that the container has been attached and the location where the container has been attached are detected by the remaining medicine collection container detection member 27 of the drug feeder row shelf 20 to which the container has been attached, and the remaining medicine collection operation for the corresponding drug feeder 52 automatically proceeds accordingly (see FIG. 12(c)). When all the drug feeders 52 to be collected are emptied, it is determined that the remaining medicine collection has been completed, and the user is prompted to remove the remaining medicine collection container 100 (see FIG. 12(d)).

[0078] Furthermore, when the above-mentioned drawer state detection member (not shown) detects that the medicine feeder row shelf 20 has been drawn out from the housing, and the remaining medicine collection container detection member 27 detects that the remaining medicine collection container 100 has been attached to the medicine feeder row shelf 20 (see FIGS. 10(a), 10(c), 11(a), and 8(a)), the shelf-specific collection program 56 functions as a "fourth remaining medicine collection method" under the discharge operation mode selection program 81. In this case, unlike the above-mentioned third remaining medicine collection method, the selection of a collection method (see FIG. 12(a)) and the prompt to attach the remaining medicine collection container 100 (see FIG. 12(a)) are not performed, and the remaining medicine collection operation for the corresponding medicine feeder 52 is automatically and immediately performed (see FIG. 12(c)). When all the medicine feeders 52 to be collected are emptied, it is determined that the remaining medicine collection has been completed, and the user is prompted to remove the remaining medicine collection container 100 (see FIG. 12(d)).

[0079] Furthermore, with respect to a plurality (four in the illustrated example) of general-purpose drug feeders 52 that are targets for collecting remaining drugs using remaining drug collection container 100, this drug packaging machine 10 does not always cause all drug feeders 52 to perform the remaining drug collection operation, regardless of whether it is operated as the third remaining drug collection method by operating touch panel 15 or as the fourth remaining drug collection method in response to detection by remaining drug collection container detection member 27 without operating touch panel 15. Rather, it causes only drug feeders 52 that have already discharged drugs based on dispensing instructions but have not yet performed the remaining drug collection operation to perform the remaining drug collection operation. Whether or not a drug feeder 52 corresponds to a drug feeder 52 that has discharged drugs but has not yet performed the remaining drug collection operation can be easily determined by referring to the above-mentioned recorded data.

[0080] In addition, the completion of remaining drug collection can be determined when the drug feeder 52 becomes empty, which can be detected relatively easily by the expiration of the waiting time for detecting fallen drugs (time-out, timeout) etc. (see, for example, Patent Document 13). In this type of "remaining drug collection using a remaining drug collection container 100," it is necessary to prepare a remaining drug collection container 100 as the container to be used, but it is efficient because remaining drugs can be collected in parallel from multiple drug feeders 52, and the correspondence between the arrangement of drug feeders 52 on the drug feeder row shelf 20 and the remaining drug storage section 103 in the remaining drug collection container 100 is maintained, making it easy to manage the drugs after collection.

[0081] In addition, the cooperative operation between the two controllers 80, 53 and the dispensing worker using the shelf-specific collection program 56, which is performed in response to operation of the touch panel 15 (third remaining drug collection method), as well as the cooperative operation between the two controllers 80, 53, which is performed in response to container detection by the remaining drug collection container detection member 27 without requiring operation of the touch panel 15 by the dispensing worker (fourth remaining drug collection method), will be briefly explained in the following operation explanation, with reference to screen display examples (see Figures 12(a) to (d)).

[0082] The manner of use and operation of the medicine dispensing and packaging machine 10 of the first embodiment will be described with reference to the above-mentioned FIGS. 1 to 12. FIG.

[0083] Dispensing instructions are sent from dispensing server 200 to medication packaging machine 10 by operating touch panel 15, etc. (see Figure 1). When these instructions are received by controller 80 of medication packaging machine 10, the contents of the dispensing instructions are displayed on touch panel 15 for confirmation. If the medication to be automatically dispensed is contained in medication feeder 51 of medication feeder storage 14, controller 80 automatically allocates it appropriately, and preparations are then complete. Once the dispensing worker has confirmed this by operating touch panel 15, the medication to be dispensed is automatically discharged from medication feeder 51, collected as it falls, and delivered to packaging device 11, where it is sorted and stored in packaging paper.

[0084] In addition, if the drug to be automatically dispensed can be handled by one of the specific drug-specific drug feeders 51 but happens to be stored in none of the drug feeders 51, a display will appear on the touch panel 15 (not shown) asking the dispensing worker whether to store the target drug in the appropriate drug feeder 51, select one of the multi-drug compatible drug feeders 52 and store the target drug there, or manually distribute the target drug using the manual drug distribution device 12.From the standpoint of convenience and efficiency, the worker will usually select in that order if possible. When the dispensing worker selects drug feeder 51, he or she loads the target drug into drug feeder 51 and then operates the panel for confirmation, and automatic dispensing is carried out as described above.

[0085] In contrast, if drug feeder 51 is unavailable, and drug feeder 52 is available and available for use, drug feeder 52 is selected instead of drug manual distribution device 12 (in the following references, this will be referred to as "selection of drug filling into multi-drug compatible drug feeder 52"). Then, the touch panel 15 of the medication packaging machine 10 displays the name of the medication, the prescribed quantity, and a list of available medication feeders 52, and the appropriate medication feeder 52 can be selected by operating the screen. This releases the drawer lock mechanism 40 of the medication feeder row shelf 20 containing the selected medication feeder 52, making the corresponding medication feeder row shelf 20 available for withdrawal. This information is then displayed on the screen, etc., so the dispensing worker withdraws the medication feeder (see FIG. 3(e)), opens and closes the lid 52a, and dispenses medications into the corresponding medication feeder 52 (see FIG. 4(a)) indicated on the screen, etc. At this time, the dispensing worker may dispense the number of medications specified in the dispensing instructions, or a number exceeding this number.

[0086] The dispensing worker then pushes back into the housing of the drug packaging machine 10 the drug feeder-mounted shelf 20 containing the multi-drug drug feeder 52 after drug loading, confirms that the drawer lock mechanism 40 has been locked, and then operates the touch panel 15 or other screen operation to cause the drug packaging machine 10 to start automatic drug dispensing. After automatic drug dispensing begins, in either case, the appropriate number of drugs is discharged from the appropriate drug feeder 51, 52 according to the prescription instructions, and then packaged by the packaging device 11. If there are any drugs remaining in the multi-drug drug feeder 52 after the prescription instructions have been dispensed in this way, the multi-drug drug feeder 52 will often be emptied and the remaining drugs collected for use in another drug dispense, unless fortunately the remaining drugs can be used for a subsequent drug dispense.

[0087] When there are no other prescriptions in the drug packaging machine 10, or when there are other prescriptions but dispensing of the drugs does not need to be started immediately, the touch panel 15 is operated to display the "UF recovery" screen for recovering the remaining drugs from the multi-drug compatible drug feeder 52 (see Figure 8(b)), and then "Package and recover" is selected.Then, through control by the coordinated operation of the discharge operation mode selection program 81 of the controller 80 of the drug packaging machine 10 and the automatic discharge program 54 of the controller 53 of the drug feeder 52 (first remaining drug recovery method), the remaining drugs are immediately and easily wrapped in packaging paper and recovered without having to pull out the corresponding drug feeder 52 or drug feeder row shelf 20 from the housing of the drug packaging machine 10.

[0088] On the other hand, when it is necessary to have the drug packaging machine 10 quickly dispense another drug automatically in accordance with another prescription, or when it is not desired to use packaging paper to collect remaining drugs, the dispensing worker operates the touch panel 15 to display the "UF Collection" screen for collecting remaining drugs from the multi-drug compatible drug feeder 52, and then selects either "Collect in containers by container" or "Collect in containers by shelf" as the remaining drug collection method.Here, we will first explain the case where "Collect in containers by container" (second remaining drug collection method) is selected, which does not require special containers and can be used with general-purpose cups or glasses (see Figure 8(b)).

[0089] Then, a screen prompting the user to select the drug feeder 52 from which the remaining drugs are to be collected is displayed on the touch panel 15 (see FIG. 8(c)), and the dispensing worker performs an operation to specify the target (in the example of FIG. 8(c), "12" is selected, which indicates the second drug feeder 52 from the front on the bottommost drug feeder shelf 20). Then, the user specifies the lower drug feeder shelf 20 on which the drug feeder 52 from which the remaining drugs are to be collected is mounted (in the example of FIG. 8(d), "UF1 shelf"), and a screen instructing the user to pull it out is displayed on the touch panel 15 (see FIG. 8(d)). reference).

[0090] Then, the drawer lock mechanism 40 attached to the drug feeder row shelf 20 is unlocked, and then the drug feeder row shelf 20 is pulled out forward from the housing (see the bottommost drug feeder row shelf 20 in Figures 1 and 3(a)). In this way, when the lock on the relevant shelf is released and it is detected that the shelf has been pulled out further than the locked position, it is determined that the drug feeder 52 to be collected for remaining medication has been sufficiently pulled out from the housing, and a screen is displayed on the touch panel 15 urging the dispensing worker to place a collection container under the drug feeder 52 to be collected for remaining medication (see Figure 8(e)).

[0091] Therefore, the dispensing worker can quickly and accurately place a collection container under the medicine feeder 52 from which the remaining medicine is to be collected (not shown). Then, when the dispensing worker operates the touch panel 15 to give the command to "start" collection of remaining medicines (see the lower right part of the example screen display in Figure 8(e)), the controller 53 executes the container-specific collection program 55 under the control of the controller 80, and through their cooperative control, the remaining medicines are discharged downward one after another from the medicine feeder 52 that is the target for collection, so that the remaining medicines are quickly transferred into the collection container.

[0092] While the remaining medicine is being discharged, the lid 52a of the medicine feeder 52 from which the remaining medicine is to be collected must be closed to prevent the medicine from undesirably scattering, etc. However, once the discharge is complete, this is detected by the expiration of the waiting time for detecting fallen medicine, etc., and the lid 52a is unlocked. Therefore, as a precaution, the dispensing worker should, if possible, open the lid 52a of the medicine feeder 52 from which the remaining medicine is to be collected and visually check for the presence or absence of remaining medicine (see Figure 4(b)). Then, once the dispensing worker confirms that the medicine feeder 52 from which the remaining medicine is to be collected is completely empty, he or she closes the lid 52a and makes the empty medicine feeder 52 available for the next use.

[0093] In this way, remaining medication can be collected from medication feeder 52 after automatic discharge into a general-purpose collection container. At this time, for medication feeders 52 mounted on medication feeder rows 20 that do not have medication feeder 52 from which remaining medication is to be collected (the upper and middle medication feeder rows 20 in the examples of Figures 1 and 3(e)), whether the medication feeder rows 20 from which medication is to be collected (the lower medication feeder rows 20 in the examples of Figures 1 and 3(e)) is mounted is within the housing of medication packaging machine 10 or protrudes forward from the housing does not affect the medication discharge operation, and therefore it can be used simultaneously for another automatic dispensing according to another prescription instruction.

[0094] Furthermore, when the dispensing worker operates the touch panel 15 to display the "UF collection" screen for collecting remaining medication from the multi-drug compatible medication feeder 52 (see Figures 8(b) and 12(a)), the case where "Collect by shelf container" is selected as the remaining medication collection method instead of "Collect by container by vessel" will be explained (see Figure 12(a)). In this case (third remaining drug recovery method), the configuration has already been described in detail, so to make it easier to understand how to use and operate it, the dispensing worker first selects "recover by container on each shelf" on the touch panel 15 (see Figure 12(a)), and then pulls out the corresponding drug feeder row shelf 20, whose drawer lock has been released, from the housing forward.

[0095] Then, a message prompting the dispensing worker to install the remaining medicine collection container 100 under the pulled-out medicine feeder row shelf 20 will be displayed on the touch panel 15 (see Figure 12 (b)), and the dispensing worker will then install the empty remaining medicine collection container 100 accordingly. Thereafter, the drug packaging machine 10 automatically detects whether the remaining drug collection container 100 has been properly installed on the drug feeder row shelf 20, and collects the remaining drugs from drug feeders 52 that have already discharged drugs but have not yet performed the remaining drug collection operation (see Figure 12(c)).Once the collection of the remaining drugs is complete, the user is prompted to remove the remaining drug collection container 100 (see Figure 12(d)).

[0096] In this way, the dispensing worker is involved in selecting the collection method and installing the remaining medicine collection container 100, but since the subsequent remaining medicine collection operation is performed automatically, the dispensing worker is quickly released from the remaining medicine collection work and can quickly move on to other dispensing work, etc. For example, while remaining medicines are being collected from the medicine feeders 52, ..., 52 on the lower medicine feeder row shelf 20 into the remaining medicine collection container 100, once the remaining medicine collection operation enters an automatic continuation state, the dispensing worker can perform preparations for the next automatic dispensing operation, such as feeding medicines into the medicine feeders 52, ..., 52 on the upper or middle medicine feeder row shelf 20, and then return to the operation of removing the remaining medicine collection container 100 from the lower medicine feeder row shelf 20 at an appropriate time.

[0097] Furthermore, remaining drug collection, which is performed by attaching the remaining drug collection container 100 to the drug feeder row shelf 20, is automatically started as described above when it is detected that the drug feeder row shelf 20 has been drawn out from the housing and that the remaining drug collection container 100 has been attached to the drug feeder row shelf 20. In this case (fourth remaining drug collection method), remaining drug collection is started without manual operation of the touch panel 15 or the like, and the only conditions for starting are that the drug feeder row shelf 20 has been drawn out sufficiently forward and the remaining drug collection container 100 has been properly attached thereto. Therefore, this method can be used in many situations, not only in anticipated situations but also in unexpected situations.

[0098] A typical example of an expected situation is to perform residual drug collection using the residual drug collection container 100 (fourth residual drug collection method) after the above-mentioned ``selection of drug filling into the multi-drug compatible type drug feeder 52'' and before the drug filling is performed. Specifically, the dispensing worker selects the drug filling into the multi-drug compatible drug feeder 52 by operating the touch panel 15 as described above, and after the drawer lock mechanism 40 of the corresponding drug feeder row shelf 20 is unlocked accordingly, the corresponding drug feeder row shelf 20 is manually pulled forward from the housing. Then, only when it is desired to collect remaining drugs prior to drug filling, the dispensing worker simply attaches the remaining drug collection container 100 to the drug feeder row shelf 20 to automatically collect remaining drugs, and then removes the remaining drug collection container 100 after collection. Then, the drug filling operation into the multi-drug compatible drug feeder 52 can be performed.

[0099] In this way, the dispensing worker can decide at his own discretion whether or not to use the residual drug collection container 100 to collect residual drugs prior to filling the multi-drug compatible drug feeder 52 with drugs, and the timing of this decision can be delayed until just before filling the drug feeder 52 with drugs, which reduces the burden on the dispensing worker and is highly practical. Furthermore, when a command is issued to collect remaining medicines from medicine feeders 52 of medicine feeder row shelves 20, whether using remaining medicine collection container 100 or other individual containers, even though the collection has already been completed, recorded data is referenced prior to the execution of remaining medicine collection, and based on that data, the medicine feeders 52 that are the targets for the execution of remaining medicine collection are limited to those that have "discharged medicines based on dispensing instructions but have not subsequently discharged medicines for remaining medicine collection." Therefore, even when it is desired to check whether remaining medicines have been collected, the user can easily do so without having to spend time on the check. Attempts can be made to recover remaining medication.

[0100] Finally, to explain how to handle the remaining medicine collection container 100 after use, as mentioned above, the side panels of the housing of the medicine packaging machine 10 also use a magnetic material such as iron, so when the remaining medicine collection container 100 is not in use, the remaining medicine collection container 100 can be temporarily attached to the medicine packaging machine 10 by abutting the permanent magnet 104 of the remaining medicine collection container 100 against the side panel of the housing of the remaining medicine collection container 100 (see Figure 12(e)), so that it can be stored easily and unobtrusively, and can also be removed and used immediately when necessary.

[0101] [others] In the above embodiment, the medicine packaging machine 10 is equipped with the controller 80, and each medicine feeder 52 is equipped with an individual controller 53. However, it is not essential that each medicine feeder 52 is equipped with an individual controller 53. For example, the control units of a plurality of medicine feeders 52 may be combined into a single or small number of controllers, or the function of the control unit of the medicine feeder 52 may be combined into the control unit of the medicine packaging machine 10 by installing a program that performs the function of the controller 53 in the controller 80 of the medicine packaging machine 10. The functions of the container-specific collection program 55 and the shelf-specific collection program 56 may also be installed in the controller 80.

[0102] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, even when shelf-specific collection program 56 functions as the third remaining drug collection method or even as the fourth remaining drug collection method under discharge operation mode selection program 81, the progress is displayed on touch panel 15 to inform the dispensing worker (see Figures 12(c) and (d)). However, since the time required for remaining drug collection is usually only a few tens of seconds, and if all of the targeted multi-drug compatible drug feeders 52 have already collected remaining drugs, the process is completed in an instant, there is no significant inconvenience in omitting the progress display and notification as shown in the figure. [Industrial Applicability]

[0103] The medicine packaging machine of the present invention may be a stand-alone type that does not require cooperation with a higher-level device such as a medicine dispensing server, as long as it is equipped with a means for acquiring medicine dispensing instruction data. [Explanation of symbols]

[0104] 10...Medicine packaging machine, 11...packaging device, 12...medicine manual dispensing device equipment section, 13...medicine storage section, 14...Medicine feeder storage (medicine feeder storage for specific drugs), 15...Touch panel (operation input unit and display unit of the medicine packaging machine), 16, 16a...lower drug collection mechanism, 17...upper drug collection mechanism, 18...Medicine feeder row shelf (for specific drug dedicated type drug feeders), 20...Medicine feeder row shelf (for multi-drug compatible drug feeders), 21... handle, 22... drawer member (drawer mechanism), 23... shelf board (drawer mechanism), 23a... medicine discharge port, 24... swing plate body, 25... Front plate (relative withdrawal position regulating means, member regulating forward withdrawal of the multi-stage medicine collecting mechanism), 26... Mark (alignment mark), 27... Remaining medicine collection container detection member, 28... Positioning member, 29... Cover open / close state detection means (magnetic sensor), 30...Multi-stage drug collection mechanism, 31...main body portion, 32...medicine receiving port, 33...handle, 34...side plate holding member, 35...side plate, 36...hooking member, 37...multi-stage drawer mechanism, 40...Drawer locking mechanism, 41...electromagnetic drive unit, 42...advancing and retreating member (engaging member), 43... manual lock, 44... swing member (engagement member), 45... key, 51...Drug feeder (specialized drug feeder, specialized drug feeder), 51a... cassette (container part), 51b... base (drive part), 52...medicine feeder (multi-drug compatible type, general-purpose drug feeder), 52a...lid, 53...Controller (multi-drug compatible type, general-purpose drug feeder control unit), 54...Automatic discharge program, 55... Collection program by device (remaining medicine collection program, remaining medicine collection instruction reception means), 56...Shelf-specific collection program (remaining drug collection program, remaining drug collection instruction reception means), 80... Controller (controller of medicine packaging machine), 81... Discharge operation mode selection program, 100...Remaining medicine collection container, 101...plate body, 102...opening, 103...remaining medicine storage section, 104... permanent magnet (attachment / detachment means), 105... mark (alignment mark), 106...handle, 107...alignment portion (detection target portion) 200...Pharmacy server

Claims

1. A medicine packaging machine comprising: a plurality of medicine feeders each having a container section for randomly storing a large number of medicines and a sequential discharge mechanism section for dropping and discharging each medicine one by one from the container section; a packaging device for receiving and packaging the discharged medicines; and a housing capable of housing the medicine feeders and the packaging device, a plurality of the medicine feeders are general-purpose medicine feeders in which the container unit and the sequential discharge mechanism unit are integrated, and are mounted on a drawer mechanism that can be drawn forward from the housing; The drawer mechanism is provided with a drawer state detection member for detecting the drawer state, and a remaining medicine collection container detection member for detecting whether a detachable remaining medicine collection container is attached to the medicine discharge destination of the general-purpose medicine feeder installed therein, With regard to the general-purpose drug feeder, when it is confirmed that the draw-out mechanism on which the feeder is mounted is drawn forward based on the detection state of the draw-out state detection member, and when it is confirmed that the remaining drug collection container is attached to the drug discharge destination based on the detection state of the remaining drug collection container detection member, the drug feeder of the general-purpose drug feeder mounted on the draw-out mechanism on which the remaining drug collection container is attached is caused to perform a drug discharge operation, A medicine packaging machine characterized in that a plurality of the general-purpose medicine feeders are mounted on the drawer mechanism, and a plurality of remaining medicine storage sections are formed in the remaining medicine collection container corresponding to each of the general-purpose medicine feeders.

2. The medicine packaging machine of claim 1, characterized in that the pull-out mechanism has alignment marks corresponding to the marks on the remaining medicine collection container, and when the remaining medicine collection container is attached to the pull-out mechanism with these marks aligned, the opening of the remaining medicine collection container is positioned at the medicine discharge destination of the general-purpose medicine feeder and the attachment of the remaining medicine collection container is detected by the remaining medicine collection container detection member.

3. The medicine packaging machine of claim 2, characterized in that when the remaining medicine collection container is attached to the withdrawal mechanism with the marks corresponding to each other, a part of the remaining medicine collection container interferes with a part of the withdrawal mechanism, thereby preventing the two from shifting positions.

4. 3. The medicine packaging machine according to claim 2, wherein when the remaining medicine collection container is attached to the drawing mechanism with the marks corresponding to each other, a portion of the opening of the remaining medicine collection container is exposed.

5. A drug packaging machine as described in any of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that, in correspondence with the fact that the means for attaching and detaching the residual drug collection container to the withdrawal mechanism is a permanent magnet, iron or other magnetic material is used in the attachment and detachment portion of the permanent magnet in the withdrawal mechanism, and iron or other magnetic material is also used in the portion of the outer surface of the housing, such as the side, that holds the residual drug collection container when not in use.

6. A drug packaging machine as described in any of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that it is equipped with a data retention means for retaining record data of drug discharge based on dispensing instructions and record data of drug discharge for remaining drug recovery for the general-purpose drug feeder, and by referring to the record data, the general-purpose drug feeders that are to perform the drug discharge operation toward the remaining drug recovery container are limited to those that have discharged drug based on dispensing instructions but have not subsequently discharged drug for remaining drug recovery.

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