Medicine packaging device

Abstract

To provide a medicine packaging apparatus capable of efficiently performing an operation for medicine packaging and an operation related thereto.SOLUTION: An upper cleaning device 24 and a lower cleaning device 23 are provided in a medicine packaging apparatus that packs a dose of medicine supplied from the outside and discharges the packed dose. The upper cleaning device 24 automatically performs a predetermined cleaning operation in a state in which at least part of the upper cleaning device is located over a distributor tray 20. The lower cleaning device 23 performs a predetermined cleaning operation with rotation of the distributor tray 20 in a state in which at least part of the lower cleaning device is located below the distributor tray 20.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a powder medicine supplying device that can be used as a part of a medicine packaging device for packaging medicines such as tablets and powder medicines. [Background technology]

[0002] BACKGROUND ART Medicine packaging devices that package medicines such as tablets or powder medicines in individual doses based on a prescription are known. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses one such medicine packaging device.

[0003] The medicine packaging device disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes a powder medicine dispensing unit and a powder medicine packaging unit, and the powder medicine dispensing unit divides the input powder medicine into single doses and sequentially supplies them to the powder medicine packaging unit. Then, in the powder medicine packaging unit, the single doses of powder medicine are divided and placed in packaging paper, which is then sealed to form a medicine pack. The medicine packaging device disclosed in Patent Document 1 has a distribution tray in the powder medicine distribution section, and is configured so that powder medicine is put into a groove in the distribution tray. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-162240 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] In the medicine packaging device having the above-described configuration, when packaging powdered medicine, the powdered medicine is dropped onto the distribution tray, and therefore it may be necessary to clean the distribution tray and its surroundings. If the cleaning work (or operation) is complicated, it will undesirably delay the start of the next packaging operation. Furthermore, because medicine packaging equipment handles medicines that people take, it is required to be cleaner than general equipment. In other words, to ensure that the powder medicine being packaged does not get mixed with other powder medicines (so-called contamination), it is necessary to reliably remove even the smallest amount of powder remaining.

[0006] Conventional medicine packaging devices have room for improvement in terms of making cleaning easier and performing cleaning more accurately. Furthermore, conventional medicine packaging devices have room for improvement in terms of smoothly transporting the formed medicine packs to the discharge position and in terms of improving the efficiency of cleaning work during maintenance. Furthermore, conventional medicine packaging devices have room for improvement in terms of efficiently supplying tablets from the outside when packaging tablets.

[0007] An object of the present invention is to provide a technique for enabling efficient execution of operations for packaging medicines and operations related thereto. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] One aspect of the present invention for solving the above problem is a powdered medicine supply device having a supply device main body and a trough member, wherein the supply device main body and the trough member each have an engagement structure formed by a pair of a first main body side engagement portion and a first trough side engagement portion, the engagement structure having an elastic member, the trough member being attached to the supply device main body with the first main body side engagement portion and the first trough side engagement portion engaged, and when the first main body side engagement portion and the first trough side engagement portion are engaged, the trough member is biased by the elastic restoring force of the elastic member. In the above-described aspect, the supply device main body and the trough member each have a pair of a second main body side engaging portion and a second trough side engaging portion, one of the second main body side engaging portion and the second trough side engaging portion is a hooking piece and the other is a receiving portion on which the hooking piece can be hooked, the hooking piece is hooked on the receiving portion, and the first main body side engaging portion and the first trough side engaging portion are engaged, and the hooking piece and the receiving portion are released from their hooked state by moving one of the hooking piece and the receiving portion relative to the other in a predetermined disengagement direction, and it is preferable that when the first main body side engaging portion and the first trough side engaging portion are engaged, a force is applied to the trough member in a direction including a downward directional component and a directional component opposite to the disengagement direction. In the above aspect, it is preferable that the engagement structure comprises a first component, a second component, and a connecting body, the connecting body being rotatably attached to the second component, and the first component being rotatably attached to the connecting body, the first component having an internal storage space, and when the first main body side engaging portion and the first trough side engaging portion engage and the first main body side engaging portion moves to an engaged position, the first component covers the elastic member, the connecting body, and the second component from above, and the elastic member, the connecting body, and the second component are stored in the storage space. The above-mentioned aspect preferably has a supply device lid portion rotatably attached to the supply device main body portion, and is capable of transitioning from a closed state to an open state, and when the supply device lid portion is in the closed state, the supply device lid portion covers the first main body side engaging portion from above, and when the supply device lid portion is in the open state, the first main body side engaging portion is exposed to the outside. In the above aspect, it is preferable that the trough member comprises a tray main body portion and a fixing member, the fixing member has a lock piece forming portion extending upward at a position away from the tray main body portion, the first trough side engaging portion is formed in the upper end portion of the lock piece forming portion, and when the first main body side engaging portion and the first trough side engaging portion are engaged, a portion of the lock piece forming portion is accommodated within the storage space. In the above-mentioned aspect, a hopper member is arranged above the trough member, and the powdered medicine supply device is provided with a hopper movement regulating unit that regulates the movement of the hopper member, and it is preferable that the hopper movement regulating unit has a first movement regulating unit that engages with the hopper member and regulates the movement of the trough member in a direction that includes a flow direction component of the powdered medicine. Another aspect of the present invention is a powdered medicine supply device having a supply device main body and a trough member, wherein the supply device main body and the trough member each have an engagement structure formed by a pair of a first body side engaging portion and a first trough side engaging portion, the trough member is attached to the supply device main body by engaging the first body side engaging portion with the first trough side engaging portion, the supply device main body and the trough member each have a pair of a second body side engaging portion and a second trough side engaging portion, one of the second body side engaging portion and the second trough side engaging portion is a hooking piece and the other is a receiving portion on which the hooking piece can be hooked, the hooking piece is hooked to the receiving portion and the first body side engaging portion is engaged with the first trough side engaging portion, and the hooking piece and the receiving portion can be released from their hooked state by moving one of the hooking piece and the receiving portion relative to the other in a predetermined disengagement direction, this is a powdered medicine supply device. An aspect related to the present invention is a powdered medicine supply device that includes a supply device main body, a vibration application device, and a trough member, and vibrations are applied to the trough member by the vibration application device, wherein the supply device main body has a tray mounting portion, the trough member has a tray main body and a fixing member, and is detachable from the tray mounting portion, the fixing member has a fixing plate portion, a portion of which is located below the tray main body, and the tray mounting portion and the fixing member each have a pair of second main body side engaging portion and second trough side engaging portion, and when the trough member is attached to the tray mounting portion, the second main body side engaging portion and the second trough side engaging portion engage, and a gap is formed between the underside of the fixing plate portion and the upper surface of the tray mounting portion due to a structure that does not allow surface contact between the underside of the fixing plate portion and the upper surface of the tray mounting portion over the entire area, in this powdered medicine supply device. Another aspect related to the present invention is a powdered medicine supply device comprising a supply device main body, a vibration application device, and a trough member, wherein vibrations are applied to the trough member by the vibration application device, wherein the supply device main body has a tray mounting portion, the trough member has a tray main body and a fixing member and is detachable from the tray mounting portion, the fixing member has a fixing plate portion, a portion of which is located below the tray main body, the tray mounting portion and the fixing member each have a pair of second main body side engaging portion and second trough side engaging portion, and when the trough member is attached to the tray mounting portion, the second main body side engaging portion and the second trough side engaging portion engage, forming a gap between the lower surface of the fixing plate portion and the upper surface of the tray mounting portion, and the fixing plate portion has a protrusion that protrudes downward. In the above-mentioned aspect, one of the second main body side engaging portion and the second trough side engaging portion is a hooking piece and the other is a receiving portion on which the hooking piece can be hooked, and the hooking piece and the receiving portion are released from their hooked state by moving one of the hooking piece and the receiving portion relative to the other in a predetermined disengagement direction, and it is preferable that the supply device main body portion and the trough member each have an engaging structure formed by a pair of a first main body side engaging portion and a first trough side engaging portion, and when the first main body side engaging portion and the first trough side engaging portion are engaged, a force is applied to the trough member in a direction including a directional component that is opposite to the disengagement direction. In the above-mentioned aspect, it is preferable that when the trough member is attached to the tray mounting portion, the hanging piece is hung on the receiving portion, and the gap is narrower in the portion close to the hanging piece and the receiving portion than in the portion away from the hanging piece and the receiving portion. In the above aspect, it is preferable that the fixing plate portion has a protrusion that protrudes downward. In the above aspect, it is preferable that the first main body side engaging portion has an elastic member, and when the first main body side engaging portion and the first trough side engaging portion are engaged, the trough member is biased by the elastic restoring force of the elastic member. In the above aspect, it is preferable that the fixing member has a lock piece forming portion extending upward at a position away from the tray main body portion, and the first trough side engagement portion is formed in the upper end portion of the lock piece forming portion. In the above aspect, it is preferable that the first main body side engaging portion comprises a first component, a second component, and a connecting body, the connecting body is rotatably attached to the second component, and the first component is rotatably attached to the connecting body, the first component has a storage space therein, and when the first main body side engaging portion and the first trough side engaging portion are engaged, a part of the lock piece forming portion is accommodated within the storage space. In the above aspect, it is preferable that a curved surface that is curved so as to be convex upward is formed on the upper portion of the lock piece forming portion. An aspect related to the present invention is a drug packaging device that packages and discharges single doses of drug, and is equipped with a distribution tray that rotates by power and has an annular groove, and an upper cleaning device that cleans the upper surface of the distribution tray, the upper cleaning device having a tip nozzle portion with a suction port portion, a portion of the suction port portion formed in a position adjacent to a dam plate portion having an elastically deformable spatula-shaped portion, and the spatula-shaped portion has a curved shape that is convex toward the downstream side in the rotation direction of the distribution tray when in the suction position. In the above-mentioned aspect, it is preferable that the suction port portion is formed between the dam plate portion and the suction port forming plate portion, the suction port forming plate portion is a portion having a greater elastic modulus than the spatula-shaped portion, and in the suction posture, the portion located on the lower end side of the spatula-shaped portion is in close contact with the annular groove, and the suction port forming plate portion is in a position where it does not come into contact with the annular groove. In the above-mentioned aspect, it is preferable that the suction port forming plate portion extends so as to protrude outward from a part of the side wall portion of the tip nozzle portion, and that the suction port forming plate portion has a curved portion that is convex toward the downstream side in the rotational direction of the distribution plate when in the suction position. In the above aspect, it is preferable that a recessed portion is formed in the spatula-shaped portion, and in the suction position, a portion of the distribution plate that forms part of the edge portion of the annular groove is inserted into the recessed portion. The above aspect preferably includes a rotation mechanism, and the rotation mechanism rotates the tip nozzle around the tip nozzle. The above-mentioned aspect is preferably provided with a suction device, the tip nozzle portion having an internal space that forms a suction path connected to the suction device, the suction port portion communicating the inside and outside of the tip nozzle portion, and the suction path in the tip nozzle portion having a smaller cross-sectional area at the tip end side of the tip nozzle portion than at the base end side. In the above aspect, it is preferable that the suction path in the tip nozzle portion has a cross-sectional area larger at an upper portion than at a lower portion of the tip nozzle portion in the suction posture. A related aspect of the present invention is a drug packaging device that packages and discharges drug supplied from outside in single doses, and is equipped with a distribution tray that rotates by power and has an annular groove, and an upper cleaning device and a lower cleaning device that clean the upper and lower surfaces of the distribution tray, respectively, wherein the upper cleaning device automatically performs a predetermined cleaning operation while at least a portion is positioned above the distribution tray, and the lower cleaning device performs a predetermined cleaning operation that involves rotation of the distribution tray while at least a portion is positioned below the distribution tray.

[0009] According to the medicine packaging device of this aspect, it is possible to clean not only the upper surface of the distribution tray (hereinafter also simply referred to as "above the tray") but also the lower surface (hereinafter also simply referred to as "below the tray"). Therefore, it is possible to remove not only powdered medicine remaining on the tray, but also powdered medicine that has scattered to the underside of the tray during the packaging operation and adhered to the underside of the tray due to static electricity, etc. This makes it possible to more reliably remove remaining powdered medicine and further reduce the occurrence of contamination caused by remaining powdered medicine. Furthermore, unlike manual cleaning devices (cleaning devices that the user holds by hand), cleaning the underside of the tray while rotating the distribution tray makes cleaning easier.

[0010] The lower cleaning device is arranged at a position adjacent to the radial end of the distribution plate, and is equipped with a scatter prevention plate extending circumferentially around the distribution plate, a powder receiving tray member that forms a receiving space in which powder can be stored, and a contact body that is arranged in the receiving space and contacts the distribution plate from below, and the powder receiving tray member is arranged on the distribution plate side of the scatter prevention plate and adjacent to the lower end portion of the scatter prevention plate, and it is preferable that the cleaning operation performed by the lower cleaning device is an operation of rotating the distribution plate with the contact body contacting the distribution plate from below.

[0011] In this manner, the powder scattered during cleaning can be collected and disposed of all at once. This prevents the powder scattered during cleaning under the dish from adhering to other parts, and also makes it easy to dispose of the powder collected during cleaning.

[0012] In each of the above aspects, it is preferable that the upper cleaning device is equipped with a suction device, and the upper cleaning device is equipped with a tip nozzle portion, at least a portion of which is located above the annular groove, and a rotation mechanism portion, the tip nozzle portion having an internal space that forms a suction path connecting to the suction device, a suction port portion that communicates the inside and outside is formed by a portion of the side wall portion located between the tip side and the base side of the tip nozzle portion, the rotation mechanism portion rotates the tip nozzle portion around the periphery of the tip nozzle portion, and the position can be switched between a suction position in which the suction port portion faces downward and a standby position in which the suction port portion faces in a direction different from the suction position.

[0013] According to this aspect, when switching between a standby posture when no cleaning operation is performed and a suction posture when a cleaning operation is performed, the posture can be switched without moving the tip nozzle portion significantly. Therefore, there is no need to secure a large area for the tip nozzle portion to move, and it can be placed in a small space, and the time required for changing the position can be shortened.

[0014] In each of the above aspects, the tip nozzle portion comprises a dam plate portion with an elastically deformable spatula-shaped portion, and a suction port forming plate portion having a greater elastic modulus than the spatula-shaped portion, the suction port forming plate portion extending so as to protrude outward from a portion of the side wall portion of the tip nozzle portion, the suction port portion having a portion formed between the spatula-shaped portion and the suction port forming plate portion, the spatula-shaped portion having a curved shape so that it is convex toward the downstream side in the rotation direction of the distribution plate when viewed from above in the suction position, and in the suction position, it is preferable that the portion located on the lower end side of the spatula-shaped portion is in close contact with the annular groove, and the suction port forming plate portion is in a position where it does not come into contact with the annular groove.

[0015] Furthermore, in each of the above aspects, it is preferable that the cleaning operation performed by the upper cleaning device is performed in the following order: a first operation of transitioning the upper cleaning device from the standby position to the suction position; a second operation of rotating the distribution plate while causing the upper cleaning device to perform a suction operation; a third operation of transitioning the upper cleaning device from the suction position to the standby position; a fourth operation of rotating the distribution plate in the same direction as the second operation while the upper cleaning device maintains the standby position; and a fifth operation of transitioning the upper cleaning device from the standby position to the suction position again, and causing the upper cleaning device to perform a suction operation while rotating the distribution plate in the same direction as the second operation.

[0016] According to this aspect, the cleaning operation can be performed without rotating the distribution tray in the reverse direction, which is preferable since there is no need to provide a control mechanism for the reverse rotation. Furthermore, in this aspect, by performing the third to fifth actions after the second action, it is possible to more reliably prevent the occurrence of residual powdered medicine when inhaling. Specifically, when a suction operation for cleaning is performed on a conventional medicine packaging device, there was a problem in that powdered medicine remained in a line along the radial direction of the distribution plate at the point where the distribution plate and the part that blocks the powdered medicine come into contact. In this aspect, even if a line of powdered medicine remains due to the second operation, by performing the third to fifth operations, the part that blocks the powdered medicine can be brought into contact with the part of the distribution tray where no powdered medicine remains, and the suction operation can be performed again. In other words, even if residual powdered medicine occurs due to the second operation, this residual powdered medicine can be sucked in, and the occurrence of residual powdered medicine can be more reliably prevented.

[0017] In each of the above aspects, the device is provided with a scraping device for scraping out the powdered medicine supplied to the distribution tray, and a scraping cleaning device for cleaning the scraping device, and the scraping device is provided with a scraping plate that can move toward or away from the annular groove, and the scraping plate is capable of assuming a standby position in which it is on standby at a position away from the annular groove, and the scraping cleaning device is provided with a plate insertion hole that opens to the downward side and a scraping contact body, and when the scraping device assumes the standby position, the scraping plate is inserted into the plate insertion hole from the downward side and comes into contact with the scraping contact body, and it is preferable that when the scraping plate and the scraping contact body are in contact, one moves relative to the other while maintaining contact, thereby cleaning the scraping plate.

[0018] In this aspect, the scraping device as well as the distribution tray can be automatically cleaned, so that any remaining powdered medicine adhering to the scraping device (scraping plate) can be more reliably removed, making it possible to more reliably prevent contamination from occurring. In addition, when the scraping device assumes a standby position, the scraping plate is inserted into the plate insertion hole from below, so that when the scraping device transitions to a standby state after performing the powdered medicine scraping operation, the scraping device can be cleaned immediately. In other words, by providing a cleaning device around the standby position of the scraping device, cleaning can be performed without having to bring the cleaning device close to the scraping device or move the scraping device significantly. Furthermore, according to this aspect, the scraping device can be cleaned with a relatively simple structure.

[0019] In each of the above aspects, it is preferable that the scraping contact body is a plurality of brushes that protrude outward from the side portion of the rotating body, the side portion of the rotating body has one area and another area that are continuous in the circumferential direction of the rotating body, the brushes are attached to only one of the areas, or the brushes are attached more densely to one of the areas than to the other, and as the rotating body rotates, the brushes intermittently move while coming into contact with the scraping plate.

[0020] The term "brush" as used herein includes a tuft of brush bristles, i.e., a member formed only by brush bristles, excluding a so-called handle portion. In this aspect, scattering of brush bristles during the cleaning operation can be suppressed, and foreign matter caused by the cleaning operation can be prevented from remaining inside the medicine packaging device.

[0021] In each of the above aspects, a medicine pack is formed by packaging a single dose of medicine, and is provided with a conveying device that forms a conveying path for conveying the medicine pack to a predetermined position, and the conveying device has a primary conveying section that forms at least a part of the conveying path and a power generating means, the primary conveying section having a conveyor section and a pressure roller section, the conveyor section being driven by a conveying surface forming member to convey the medicine pack that comes into contact with it downstream in the conveying direction, the power generating means generating power to be supplied to at least the pressure roller section and the conveyor section, the pressure roller section having at least one pressure roller that rotates around an axis extending in a direction intersecting the conveying direction by the power supplied from the power generating means, at least a part of the medicine pack passes between the conveyor section and the pressure roller section, and it is preferable that the pressure roller section presses the medicine pack toward the conveyor section and applies a force to the medicine pack that comes into contact with it downstream in the conveying direction.

[0022] According to this aspect, it is possible to prevent the medicine pack from becoming wrinkled when the medicine pack is transported. That is, in this aspect, power is supplied from the power generating means to the pressure roller unit and the conveyor unit. As a result, a force directed downstream in the conveyance direction can be further applied from the pressure roller to the medicine packs being conveyed by the conveyor unit. Therefore, the medicine packs can be more reliably conveyed downstream, and the medicine packs are less likely to clog, thereby suppressing the occurrence of wrinkles in the medicine packs due to clogging.

[0023] In each of the above aspects, the formed drug pack is partitioned into a storage area for storing the supplied drug and a non-storage area adjacent to the edge portion of the storage area, and is provided with a second transport section that forms at least a part of the transport path, and the second transport section has a clamping section that clamps the non-storage area of ​​the drug pack, and it is preferable that the drug pack is transported upward while clamping the non-storage area with the clamping section.

[0024] In this aspect, damage to the medicine contained in the medicine pack during transportation can be prevented. Furthermore, since the non-storage area is sandwiched, when information about the medicine, such as the timing of taking it, is printed on the storage area, the printing does not become faint, which is preferable.

[0025] In each of the above aspects, the powdered medicine supply device has at least a supply device main body, a vibration application device, and a trough member, and when vibration is applied to the trough member by the vibration application device, the powdered medicine on the trough member falls and is supplied to the distribution tray, and the supply device main body and the trough member each have an engagement structure formed by a pair of a first main body side engagement portion and a first trough side engagement portion, and the trough member is detachable from the supply device main body, and the trough member is attached to the supply device main body by engaging the first main body side engagement portion and the first trough side engagement portion, and when and / or while the first main body side engagement portion and the first trough side engagement portion are engaged, it is preferable that the trough member is urged in a direction approaching the supply device main body by the engagement structure portion.

[0026] In this aspect, the trough member of the powder medicine supply device is detachable from the supply device main body, making it easy to clean. Furthermore, when attaching the trough member, a force is applied to the trough member in a direction that brings it closer to the supply device main body, making it less likely to come off unexpectedly.

[0027] Another aspect related to the present invention is a medicine packaging unit comprising a medicine packaging device of each of the above aspects and a medicine shelf device for supplying tablets to the medicine packaging device, wherein the medicine shelf device is capable of mounting multiple tablet containers and has a tablet transport device for transporting tablets supplied from each tablet container to a predetermined position, the tablet transport device having a primary transport section and a secondary transport section, the primary transport section being a section that transports tablets in a direction intersecting the direction from the medicine shelf device side to the medicine packaging device side, and the secondary transport section transports tablets in the direction from the medicine shelf device side to the medicine packaging device side, and the medicine packaging unit is capable of both transporting tablets by the primary transport section and then by the secondary transport section, and transporting tablets by the secondary transport section without transporting them by the primary transport section.

[0028] The term "tablet" as used herein includes not only medicines compressed into a certain shape, but also solid medicines in granular form such as capsules, and the same applies to the following descriptions. According to this aspect, even if the medicine shelf device is enlarged and tablet containers are arranged in various positions, the tablets stored in each tablet container can be supplied to the medicine packaging device through appropriate transport operations.

[0029] In the above-mentioned aspect, it is more preferable that the primary conveying section is provided with a receiving section that receives the supplied tablets and a tablet pushing piece section, the tablet pushing piece section being movable in the tablet conveying direction in the primary conveying section, and the tablet conveying operation in the primary conveying section is an operation in which the tablet located in the receiving section is pushed and conveyed by the tablet pushing piece section.

[0030] An aspect related to the present invention is a medicine shelf device that discharges a desired number of medications at a time and supplies them to other equipment, and has a container mounting portion to which multiple tablet containers can be attached, a tablet transport device that transports tablets to a predetermined position, and multiple tablet supply paths, each of which forms a path for supplying tablets supplied from a corresponding tablet container to the tablet transport device, and the tablet transport device has a tablet pushing piece portion that pushes and moves the tablets, and performs a container identification operation to identify the tablet container containing the tablets to be supplied based on prescription data, and changes the waiting position of the tablet pushing piece portion according to the tablet supply path corresponding to the identified tablet container.

[0031] This aspect is preferable because it can speed up the operation of supplying tablets to the medicine packaging device. The "other device" referred to here may be the medicine packaging device described above.

[0032] In the above-mentioned related aspect, the tablet conveying device is equipped with a primary conveying unit, which is a part that conveys tablets in a direction intersecting the direction from the medicine shelf device side to the other equipment side, and has a receiving unit that receives the supplied tablets and the tablet pushing piece unit, and the primary conveying unit moves the tablet pushing piece unit in the conveying direction and pushes the tablets with the tablet pushing piece unit to convey them, and each of the tablet supply paths supplies tablets to different positions on the receiving unit, and it is further preferable that the waiting positions of the tablet pushing piece unit include a standard waiting position upstream of the movement direction of the tablet pushing piece unit and an altered waiting position located downstream of the standard waiting position.

[0033] Another aspect related to the present invention is a medicine packaging unit equipped with a packaging device that packages and / or sorts medicines and a medicine shelf device that supplies tablets to the packaging device, and the medicine packaging unit has a display device for displaying various information, the container attachment unit has a plurality of individual installation units in which the tablet containers are individually installed, and is capable of performing a tablet usage prediction operation that identifies tablets that are likely to be used during a specified period and the tablet containers that store those tablets based on prescription data, the display device is capable of displaying a recommended container presentation screen, and the recommended container presentation screen includes at least an installation status display unit that shows the installation status of the tablet containers in the container attachment unit, and the installation status display unit schematically shows the container attachment unit, and highlights the individual installation units in which the tablet containers that store the tablets identified in the tablet usage prediction operation are not installed.

[0034] According to this aspect, the user can appropriately replace the tablet container, which is preferable. The packaging device referred to here may be the medicine packaging device described above.

[0035] In the above aspect, the recommended container presentation screen further includes a planned tablet display section that displays a list of tablets identified in the tablet usage prediction operation, and is a screen that visually displays the installation status display section and the planned tablet display section simultaneously, and it is further preferable that the planned tablet display section highlights tablets that are not contained in the tablet container installed in the container mounting section. [Effects of the Invention]

[0036] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a technique that enables efficient execution of operations for packaging medicines and operations related thereto. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0037] [Figure 1]1A and 1B are diagrams showing a drug packaging device according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which (a) is an oblique view of the main body portion and a separately enlarged view of the surrounding area when a portion of the small lid is in an open state, and (b) is an explanatory diagram showing the nozzle portion. [Figure 2] 2 is a plan view showing a powder medicine dividing area built into the medicine packaging device of FIG. 1, with a portion enlarged and a distribution tray shown in a see-through manner in the enlarged portion. [Figure 3] 2A and 2B are perspective views showing a tablet supply unit built into the medicine packaging device of FIG. 1, where (a) shows the state as seen from above and (b) shows the state as seen from below. [Figure 4] FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the under-dish cleaning device of FIG. 2. [Figure 5] FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view showing the suction port forming portion of FIG. 4. [Figure 6] 3A and 3B are perspective views showing the on-plate cleaning device of FIG. 2, in which (a) shows a state in which the suction port faces upward, and (b) shows a state in which the suction port faces downward. [Figure 7] 7A to 7C are diagrams showing the tip nozzle part of FIG. 6, in which (a) is a perspective view, (b) is a side view, and (c) is a plan view seen from below. [Figure 8] 7(b) are cross-sectional views showing the tip nozzle portion of FIG. 7(b), where (a) is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA, (b) is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB, and (c) is a cross-sectional view taken along line CC. [Figure 9] FIG. 4(a) is a perspective view showing the cleaning mechanism main body of FIG. 3, and FIG. 4(b) is a development view showing the rotary brush main body of FIG. [Figure 10] 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic view of the brush bristles of the under-tray cleaning device of FIG. 2 coming into contact with the distribution tray. FIG. [Figure 11] (a) is an explanatory diagram showing the state in which the tray cleaning device of Figure 2 is in the cleaning position, and (b) is an explanatory diagram showing the state in which the dam plate portion is in contact with the upper surface of the powdered medicine injection groove in the state of (a). [Figure 12] 11(b) is an explanatory diagram showing a suction operation performed while rotating the distribution plate in the state of FIG. 11(a). FIG. [Figure 13] 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which a scraping device is inserted into the scraping cleaning device of FIG. 3.

[0023] FIG. [Figure 14] 10A and 10B are diagrams showing an under-dish cleaning device according to a different embodiment from the under-dish cleaning device described above, in which (a) is a perspective view and (b) is an explanatory diagram showing the state of the device attached near the distribution dish. [Figure 15] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the medicine pack transport device of FIG. [Figure 16] FIG. 16 is a perspective view showing a main part of the primary conveying unit in FIG. [Figure 17] 16 is a perspective view of the medicine pack transport device of FIG. 15 seen from another direction, with the cover member of the secondary transport unit in an open state and part of the outer shell member omitted. FIG. [Figure 18] 17 is an explanatory diagram showing how the medicine pack is transported by the primary transport section in FIG. 16, seen from a different direction than FIG. 16. FIG. [Figure 19] 16 is an explanatory diagram showing how a medicine pack is transported by the medicine pack transport device of FIG. 15, where (a) shows how the medicine pack is transported by part of the primary transport section and the secondary transport section, and (b) schematically shows how the bulging portion of the medicine pack passes under some of the pressure rollers. [Figure 20] 10 is an explanatory diagram showing how a medicine pack is transported in a section where a primary transport section and a secondary transport section are connected, with a portion of the medicine pack being shown in a see-through manner. FIG. [Figure 21] 1A and 1B are explanatory diagrams showing a schematic view of a medicine pack being transported inside the secondary transport section, where (a) shows the state as seen from the primary transport section side, and (b) shows the state as seen from a different direction than (a). [Figure 22] 2A and 2B are explanatory diagrams showing how an operation to change the supply rate of powdered medicine is performed on the operation panel shown in FIG. 1, and (a) and (b) show different speed change operations. [Figure 23] 3 is a perspective view showing the powdered medicine supplying device of FIG. 2 and a hopper disposed above it, with the hopper shown in a see-through manner. FIG. [Figure 24] 24 is a perspective view of the powdered medicine dispenser shown in FIG. 23 with the dispenser lid in an open position and the dispensing trough removed. FIG. [Figure 25] 24A and 24B are perspective views showing the supply trough shown in FIG. 23, where (a) shows the state as seen from above and (b) shows the state as seen from below. [Figure 26] 10A and 10B are diagrams showing how the hooking piece of the supply trough is hooked into the hooking hole, where FIG. 10A shows the state before hooking and FIG. 10B shows the state after hooking. [Figure 27] 27 is an explanatory diagram following FIG. 26 showing how the supply trough is locked by the locking mechanism, and is locked in the order of (a) to (c). [Figure 28] FIG. 24 is a cross-sectional view showing the powdered medicine supplying device and hopper of FIG. 23. [Figure 29] 2 is a perspective view showing a packaging device with a medicine shelf in which a tablet cassette shelf is attached to the medicine packaging device of FIG. 1, and shows the medicine packaging device in a schematic and see-through manner. FIG. [Figure 30] FIG. 30 is a perspective view showing the tablet supplying device of FIG. 29. [Figure 31] FIG. 31 is a perspective view showing the internal mechanism of the one-sided tablet receiving portion of FIG. 30. [Figure 32] An explanatory diagram showing how the rotating plate portion rotates inside the one-sided tablet receiving portion of Figure 30, where (a) shows the state in which the lower side of the tablet introduction space is blocked by the rotating plate portion, and (b) shows the state in which the lower side of the tablet introduction space is open. [Figure 33] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the horizontal conveying section, with a portion of a wall-like portion located on the upper front side thereof omitted. [Figure 34] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an internal mechanism of a horizontal conveying unit. [Figure 35] An explanatory diagram showing the internal structure of the fall path forming section of Figure 30 and its surroundings, in which the wall-like portion located on the front side of the fall path forming section is omitted, and (a) and (b) show the appearance as seen from different directions. [Figure 36] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the main parts of the internal structure of the tablet pushing section. [Figure 37] An explanatory diagram showing how tablets are transported in the tablet extrusion section, where (a) shows the tablet transport device taking the first waiting position, (b) shows the entire tablet transport device moving from the state in (a) toward the tablet discharge outlet section, and (c) shows the transport body section alone moving from the state in (b) toward the tablet discharge outlet section. [Figure 38](a) is an oblique view showing the upper part of the medicine pack conveying device with the upper lid portion in the open position and the tablet supply unit rotated upward, and (b) is an explanatory diagram showing the area around the powder medicine shielding plate portion of (a). [Figure 39] 4A and 4B are diagrams showing a cleaning device unit that can be attached to a tablet supply unit different from that shown in FIG. 3, where (a) is a perspective view and (b) is a cross-sectional view. [Figure 40] 1(a) is a perspective view showing the hopper member forming the medicine introduction port as viewed from the back side, and FIG. 1(b) is a cross-sectional view showing the hopper member of (a) placed on a placing plate portion. [Figure 41] 26(a) is a perspective view showing a part of a supply trough different from that in FIG. 25, and (b) is an explanatory view showing the supply trough in (a) placed on a tray placement section. FIG. [Figure 42] This is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic view of the upper part of the tablet cassette shelf in Figure 29 as seen from the back, with some transparency, and (a) and (b) each show the tablet extrusion piece waiting in different positions. [Figure 43] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a recommended cassette presentation screen. [Figure 44] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a target information adjustment screen. [Figure 45] 10 is a flowchart showing the procedure of a cleaning operation that can be performed by the medicine packaging device of FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0038] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described. Note that the following embodiments are examples of specific embodiments of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to these examples. Furthermore, unless otherwise specified, the front-back, up-down, and left-right directions will be described based on the posture shown in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 1, the medicine packaging device 1 of this embodiment includes a device main body 2 and an operation display unit 3 (display device). 1, the device main body 2 includes a housing 4 and an upper cover 5 rotatably attached to the upper side of the housing 4. A manual cleaning device 6 is attached to a portion of the front side of the housing 4 near the side edge. An operation panel 7 is also provided on the top of the device main body 2.

[0039] The operation display unit 3 is a so-called touch panel, which is formed by combining a display device such as a liquid crystal panel with a position input device such as a touch pad, and is operable to perform various operations described below. The housing 4 incorporates a control device (not shown) for controlling the various operations. Furthermore, a powder medicine dividing area 10 (see FIG. 2) is formed in the upper part of the housing 4, and a tablet supply unit 11 (see FIG. 3) is disposed above the powder medicine dividing area 10.

[0040] Powder medicine dividing area 10 is a part for dividing the supplied powder medicine into individual doses. Specifically, as shown in Fig. 2, it is structured to include distribution tray 20, powder medicine supply device 21, scraping device 22, under-tray cleaning device 23 (lower side cleaning device), above-tray cleaning device 24 (upper side cleaning device), and medicine introduction port 25. In the powder medicine dividing area 10, two distribution trays 20 are arranged in parallel, and each distribution tray 20 is associated with one powder medicine supplying device 21, one scraping device 22, and one tray cleaning device 24. A medicine inlet 25 for supplying medicine to a medicine packaging unit (not shown) below is formed around the distribution tray 20 and between the two distribution trays 20. An under-tray cleaning device 23 is provided at a position adjacent to the medicine inlet 25.

[0041] The distribution plate 20 is a disk-shaped member, and has a powder medicine input groove 20a (annular groove) formed in the upper surface thereof, which is continuous in an annular shape. The distribution plate 20 can be rotated at a predetermined pitch by a rotation mechanism (not shown) such as a drive motor. The powder medicine supply device 21 supplies the powder medicine that has been put in little by little to the powder medicine putting groove 20a.

[0042] As shown in FIG. 13, the scraping device 22 includes an arm member 30 and a disk-shaped scraping plate 31, and a sealing material 32 made of rubber or resin is provided on the periphery of the scraping plate 31. This scraping device 22 is capable of moving the scraping plate 31 up and down by operating the arm member 30, and is capable of changing its position between a distribution position in which the scraping plate 31 is positioned on the lower side and a standby position in which it is positioned on the upper side. The distributing position is the position taken when dividing powdered medicine into single doses (the action of collecting one dose of powdered medicine around scraper plate 31) or when inserting one dose of powdered medicine into medicine inlet 25. In the distributing position, the edge of scraper plate 31 is in contact with powdered medicine insertion groove 20a.

[0043] On the other hand, in the standby position, scraping plate 31 is disposed at a position above and away from powder medicine injection groove 20a. In the standby position, part of scraping plate 31 is inserted from below into scraping cleaning device 43 (described in detail later). In the medicine packaging device 1 of this embodiment, when one dose of powdered medicine is inserted into the medicine inlet 25, the distribution tray 20 is rotated with the powdered medicine being supplied to the powdered medicine insertion groove 20a. Then, the scraping device 22 moves from the standby position to the distribution position, and the distribution tray 20 rotates by an angle corresponding to the number of divisions, so that one dose of powdered medicine is collected around the collecting plate 31. Then, the collecting plate 31 rotates, and the collected powdered medicine is inserted into the medicine inlet 25.

[0044] As shown in FIG. 3, the tablet supply unit 11 includes a manual tablet distribution section 40 and a tablet transport path 41. Manual tablet distribution section 40 is exposed to the outside when small lid section 5a is flipped open (see Figure 1, etc.), and has tablet insertion holes arranged in a grid pattern. The upper surface of manual tablet distribution section 40 is an inclined surface that slopes upward toward the rear, so that all the grids are visible when viewed from the front. The tablet transport path 41 (FIGS. 3 and 30) is a section for feeding tablets supplied from the manual tablet distribution section 40 or from the outside into the medicine introduction port 25 (see FIG. 2).

[0045] The tablet supply unit 11 is provided with two scraping-out cleaning devices 43. One of the scraping-out cleaning devices 43 is located closer to one end of the tablet conveying path 41 in the left-right direction, and the other is located closer to the other end of the tablet conveying path 41.

[0046] The drug packaging device 1 of this embodiment is equipped with a cleaning device group consisting of a manual cleaning device 6 (see FIG. 1), an under-tray cleaning device 23, an over-tray cleaning device 24 (see FIG. 2), and a scraping cleaning device 43 (see FIG. 3), allowing cleaning of each part. All of these are connected to a suction device (not shown). Then, by switching a switching valve (not shown), such as a three-way valve, the suction paths between each cleaning device and the suction device are opened.

[0047] As shown in FIG. 1, the manual cleaning device 6 has a structure including a nozzle part 55 having a suction port 55a formed at the tip side, and a hose part . The nozzle portion 55 is a portion having a roughly "F" shape, and has a structure in which a nozzle body 60 and a grip portion 61 are integrally formed.

[0048] Nozzle body 60 is a cylindrical part with suction port 55a formed at the tip and a part for connecting to hose part 56 formed at the rear end. Suction port 55a at the tip is shaped like a cylinder cut diagonally. The inside of nozzle body 60 forms part of the suction path during use. Grip part 61 is the part that the user holds in their hand.

[0049] As shown in FIG. 4, the under-dish cleaning device 23 is provided with an extended path forming portion 65 and a suction port forming portion 66, which are connected together to form a unit. The extension path forming portion 65 is a generally box-shaped member with an open lower side, extending in the front-to-rear direction, and has a bifurcated front end, which is one end in the longitudinal direction. The extension path forming portion 65 is placed on the mounting plate portion 10a of the powder medicine dividing region 10 and is closed at the lower end, with an internal space 70 forming an air flow path. The internal space 70 of the extension path forming portion 65 also has a portion that extends linearly along the front-to-rear direction over most of the rear end side, and a bifurcated portion that branches left and right at the front end side. An opening is formed at the front end side of each of the bifurcated portions, which communicates with the internal space 83 (described in detail below) of the suction port forming portion 66.

[0050] As shown in FIG. 5, the suction port forming portion 66 is a member formed by attaching a brush body 81 to a forming portion main body 80. The forming portion main body 80 is a portion in which a first suction port forming piece 80a, a forming piece connecting portion 80b, and a second suction port forming piece 80c are integrally formed, and are arranged in this order from one end side in the left-right direction. Here, since the first suction port forming piece 80a and the second suction port forming piece 80c are bilaterally symmetrical members, only the shape of one of them, the first suction port forming piece 80a, will be described.

[0051] The first suction port forming piece 80a is a bottomed box-shaped portion that is open at the top, and an internal space 83 is formed above the bottom plate portion located at the lower end, with the sides surrounded by an inner circumferential surface that is continuous in an approximately square ring shape. The upper end surface of the first suction port forming piece 80a is an inclined surface that slopes downward outward in the left-right direction. Therefore, the opening surface (suction opening) of the internal space 83 formed in the top surface is also an inclined surface that slopes downward outward in the left-right direction.

[0052] A brush engagement portion 84 protruding inward is formed on each of the inner wall surfaces of the internal space 83 that are spaced apart and facing each other in the left-right direction. A connecting hole 85 is formed in the upright wall portion located on the rear side of the internal space 83, penetrating this upright wall portion in the thickness direction. The brush engagement portion 84 is a raised portion that is roughly concave in side view, and a recessed portion that is recessed downward is formed on part of the upper surface of the raised portion. Therefore, by fitting part of the lower end side of the brush body 81 into this recessed portion, it is possible to support the brush body 81.

[0053] When the extension path forming portion 65 and the suction port forming portion 66 are connected via the connecting hole 85 (see Figure 4), the internal space of the extension path forming portion 65 is connected to the internal spaces 83 of the first suction port forming piece 80a and the second suction port forming piece 80c of the suction port forming portion 66. 5, the brush body 81 is formed by integrally attaching brush bristles (a bundle of brush bristles, a contact body) to the top surface side of a substantially rectangular parallelepiped base portion 81a. The brush body 81 is detachable from the forming portion main body 80, and only the brush body 81 can be replaced.

[0054] As shown in FIG. 2, under-tray cleaning device 23 is provided on flat mounting plate portion 10a located on the lower end side of powder medicine dividing area 10. Here, a piping connection hole (not shown) that penetrates the mounting plate portion 10a in the vertical direction and is connected to a suction device (not shown) is formed in the mounting plate portion 10a, so that a series of spaces (lower suction paths) is formed that extend from the suction device (not shown) through the internal spaces of the piping and the internal space 70 of the extension path forming portion 65 to the opening of the internal space 83 of the suction port forming portion 66.

[0055] 2, the free end of the tray cleaning device 24 is located above the powder medicine insertion groove 20a of the distribution tray 20, and the base end is located radially inside the powder medicine insertion groove 20a. The base end of the powder medicine insertion groove 20a is housed inside the decorative plate member 96. As shown in Figure 6, the plate cleaning device 24 includes a tip nozzle portion 98, a nozzle rotation device 100 (rotation mechanism portion) for rotating the tip nozzle portion 98, and a support portion 101 that supports these in a vertically parallel position. The nozzle rotating device 100 includes a motor 100a and a gear portion 100b integrally attached to the motor 100a.

[0056] The tip nozzle part 98 extends in a direction transverse to the powder medicine insertion groove 20a (in a direction intersecting the extension direction of the groove) and protrudes radially outward from the powder medicine insertion groove 20a (see FIG. 2). As shown in FIG. 6, an upper plate hose part 102 that is connected to a suction device (not shown) inside the housing 4 is attached to the base end side of the tip nozzle part 98. The tip nozzle part 98 is structured to be rotatable around a rotation axis that extends along the protruding direction.

[0057] 7, the tip nozzle portion 98 has a structure including, from the base end side, a connecting tubular portion 105, a base end tubular portion 106, an external gear forming portion 107, and a tip side hollow body 108. Furthermore, a dam plate portion 109 and a suction port forming plate portion 110 are provided on the tip nozzle portion 98 at a position that is below the tip side hollow body 108 during cleaning operation. In the following description of the tip nozzle portion 98, unless otherwise specified, the description will be based on the posture during cleaning operation (the posture in FIG. 6(b), which is the posture during suction).

[0058] The tip-side hollow body 108 is a portion formed so as to protrude from the front surface of the external gear forming portion 107 toward the tip side. The tip-side hollow body 108 has a hollow body internal space 114 (see FIG. 8) formed inside, and is connected to the outside on the lower side (the lower side during cleaning operation).

[0059] As shown in FIG. 7(b), the blocking plate portion 109 is a wall-like portion formed so as to protrude further downward (outward) from the lower side of the tip nozzle portion 98 (the lower side during cleaning operation). The blocking plate 109 has a structure including a spatula-shaped portion 109a made of an elastic material such as rubber, and a splice portion 109b attached to the upper portion (the base end portion in the protruding direction) of the spatula-shaped portion 109a. The spatula-shaped portion 109a has a smaller elastic modulus than the suction port forming plate 110.

[0060] As shown in FIG. 7(b), the spatula-shaped portion 109a is divided into a tip side portion 115, a connecting portion 116, and a base side portion 117 in that order from the tip side of the tip nozzle portion 98. The tip side portion 115 has a curved surface formed on its protruding end surface (the lower end surface in FIG. 7(b)) that curves convexly outward in the protruding direction (the lower side in FIG. 7(b)). The curvature of the curved surface is approximately the same as the curvature of the upper surface of the cross-sectional shape of the powdered medicine injection groove 20a (the cross-sectional shape cut along a plane perpendicular to the circumferential direction). A recessed portion is formed on the lower end side of the connecting portion 116.

[0061] The protruding length of the portion of the splice portion 109b located on the tip side of the tip nozzle portion 98 (right side in Figure 7(b)) is longer than the protruding length of the portion located on the base end side (left side in Figure 7(b)). When the blocking plate portion 109 is viewed from below (the lower side in the cleaning posture) in a plan view, as shown in FIG. 7(c), the spatula-shaped portion 109a and the splice plate portion 109b both have a curved and extending shape. That is, when viewed from above, the spatula-shaped portion 109a and the splice plate portion 109b are both curved so as to be convex toward the downstream side in the rotation direction of the distribution plate 20.

[0062] Specifically, the spatula-shaped portion 109a and the splice portion 109b are curved so that the central portion in the extension direction (longitudinal direction of the tip-side hollow body 108) is located downstream in the rotation direction of the distribution plate 20 relative to each of the two end portions in the same direction. A part of the surface of the spatula-shaped portion 109a located downstream in the rotation direction of the distribution plate 20 and a surface of the splice plate portion 109b located upstream in the same direction are in close contact with each other.

[0063] As shown in FIG. 7(c), the suction port forming plate 110 is divided into a tip side portion 120 located on the tip side of the tip nozzle portion 98 (left side of FIG. 7(c)), and a base side portion 121 located on the base side. This suction port forming plate portion 110 is made of a material such as synthetic resin and is a portion molded integrally with the tip side hollow body 108. As shown in FIG. 7(b), it extends so as to protrude further downward (outward) below the tip nozzle portion 98 (the downward side during cleaning operation). Each portion of the suction port forming plate portion 110 has a shorter protruding length than each portion of the dam plate portion 109 adjacent to it in the rotation direction of the distribution plate 20. Furthermore, the lower end portion of the tip side portion 120 is closer to the blocking plate portion 109 than the upper end portion.

[0064] The suction port forming plate 110 and the blocking plate 109 have their ends connected to each other at the tip side (left side in FIG. 7(c)) of the tip nozzle 98, forming an open end wall 125. The portion closer to the base end of the tip nozzle portion 98 than this opening end wall portion 125 (to the right of Figure 7(c)), and between the dam plate portion 109 and the suction port forming plate portion 110, forms a suction port portion 126 that functions as a suction port during cleaning operation.

[0065] As shown in FIG. 8, the suction port 126 has a shape that has portions with a relatively wide interval (width) and portions with a relatively narrow interval (width) at each portion in the longitudinal direction of the distal end side hollow body . In addition, the portion extending from the suction port portion 126 to the hollow body internal space 114 also has a shape having a portion with a relatively large cross-sectional area (cross-sectional area cut on a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the tip nozzle portion 98) and a portion with a relatively small cross-sectional area. That is, the shape of the portion extending from the suction port 126 to the hollow body internal space 114 varies from portion to portion in the longitudinal direction of the tip-side hollow body 108 (tip nozzle portion 98). At the same time, the cross-sectional area of ​​the upper portion is larger than that of the lower portion in each portion.

[0066] Inside the tip nozzle portion 98, a series of spaces is formed, from the suction port portion 126 through the hollow body internal space 114, and consisting of spaces located inside the connecting tube portion 105 and the base end side tube portion 106. This series of spaces is connected to the internal space of the dish upper hose portion 102 (see FIG. 6) and forms part of a series of spaces (upper suction path) that extends to a suction device (not shown).

[0067] As shown in Figure 3, the scraping cleaning device 43 is composed of a disk insertion hole 130 (plate insertion hole) formed in the box body of the tablet supply unit 11, which connects the inside and outside, and a cleaning mechanism main body 131 located inside the box body. The disk insertion hole 130 is a hole having an opening in a portion of the box body of the tablet supply unit 11 that straddles the front wall portion 11a and the bottom wall portion 11b.

[0068] Here, an inner partition wall portion 133 is formed on the rear side of the opening of the disc insertion hole 130 formed in the front wall portion 11a. This inner partition wall portion 133 is continuous with the inner end portion in the left-right direction of the opening of the disc insertion hole 130 formed in the front wall portion 11a, and is a standing wall-like portion that extends outward in the left-right direction as it moves toward the rear side.

[0069] The position further back than the opening formed in the front wall portion 11a of the disc insertion hole 130 and adjacent to the inner partition wall portion 133 is a plate storage area 134 into which the scraping plate 31 (see Figure 13) of the scraping device 22 is inserted. The cleaning mechanism main body 131 is located at the rear side of the plate storage area 134.

[0070] 9(a), the cleaning mechanism main body 131 includes a motor 137, a motor connecting gear 138 attached integrally to the motor 137, and a rotating brush unit 139. When the motor 137 serving as a drive source rotates, the motor connecting gear 138 rotates, and the rotating brush unit 139 rotates accordingly. The rotary brush unit 139 includes a gear unit 140 and a rotary brush main body 141 (rotating body), and the gear unit 140 is in mesh with the motor connecting gear 138 .

[0071] The rotating brush body 141 is formed by integrally attaching brush bristles (a bundle of brush bristles) to a portion of the side surface of a substantially cylindrical main body. The rotating brush body 141 protrudes from one main surface of the gear part 140 in a direction substantially perpendicular to the main surface and toward the outside. The brush bristles attached to the rotary brush body 141 are also formed by closely gathering a plurality of elastic stiff bristles to form a bristle bundle (brush), with the plurality of bristle bundles attached at different positions. These bristle bundles form a scraping contact body that comes into contact with the scraping plate 31 during cleaning operation. For ease of drawing, each bristle bundle is depicted as a cylinder.

[0072] As shown in Figure 9(b), when the side of the rotating brush body 141 is unfolded, the brush bristles (tufts of bristles) are attached only within a single continuous area (the area within the thick line in the figure), which area is approximately 30% of the total area. When the side of the rotary brush body 141 is unfolded, it is divided into two areas, one area being an area for attaching brush bristles and the other area being an area where brush bristles are not attached. It is preferable that the area of ​​the region to which the brush bristles are attached be greater than 0% and not more than 50% of the total area, from the viewpoint of preventing the brush bristles from scattering during operation. As a modified example, there is also a configuration in which the brush bristles are densely arranged in some areas and very sparsely arranged in other areas.

[0073] The drug packaging device 1 of this embodiment is capable of performing the first to fourth cleaning operations by operating each of the devices that make up the cleaning device group described above (manual cleaning device 6, under-tray cleaning device 23, above-tray cleaning device 24, scraping cleaning device 43). The first to fourth cleaning operations will be described in detail below.

[0074] The first cleaning operation is a cleaning operation that is performed by operating the manual cleaning device 6. In the first cleaning operation, the user operates the operation display unit 3, etc., to perform the switching operation of the three-way valve, etc., as necessary. In the first cleaning operation, the user holds the nozzle portion 55 (see FIG. 1, etc.) of the manual cleaning device 6 and performs cleaning by bringing the suction port 55a close to or in contact with the area to be cleaned.

[0075] The second cleaning operation is a cleaning operation performed by operating the under-dish cleaning device 23, and the third cleaning operation is a cleaning operation performed by operating the above-dish cleaning device 24. These cleaning operations can be performed automatically based on preset conditions. For example, they can be performed automatically before (or after) packaging only when a specific powdered medicine is packaged. They can also be performed automatically before or after each packaging operation, regardless of the type of powdered medicine. Furthermore, cleaning can be started on the condition that the user operates the operation display unit 3.

[0076] When the second cleaning operation is started, a suction path is formed between the suction device (not shown) and the under-dish cleaning device 23. Then, at least one of the plurality of (two) distribution trays 20 is rotated, and the under-tray cleaning device 23 performs a suction operation. Here, the brush bristles (tufts of bristles) attached to the brush body 81 of the under-dish cleaning device 23 are attached so as to protrude upward from below, as shown in FIG. For this reason, by arranging the suction port forming pieces (first suction port forming piece 80a, second suction port forming piece 80c) of the under-dish cleaning device 23 below the distribution dish 20, at least a portion of the brush bristles come into contact with the underside of the distribution dish 20 in a deformed state.

[0077] The brush bristles come into contact with a position on the underside of the distribution dish 20 near the radially outer end, with a portion of the bristles coming into contact with the distribution dish 20 from below. More specifically, the brush bristles come into contact with a curved portion of the underside of the distribution dish 20 that is formed near the radially outer end, and that increases in height as it goes radially outward. Also, another part of the plate comes into contact with the outer edge portion in the radial direction from the side. In this state, the distribution plate 20 is rotated, and the under-plate cleaning device 23 performs a suction operation.

[0078] When the third cleaning operation is started, a suction path is formed between the suction device (not shown) and the on-plate cleaning device 24. Meanwhile, the on-plate cleaning device 24 transitions from a standby position in which the opening of the suction port 126 faces upward (a position in which the suction port faces in a direction other than downward, see FIG. 6(a)) to a suction position in which the opening faces downward (see FIG. 6(b)). That is, the tip nozzle 98 rotates, and the blocking plate 109 rotates together with the suction port forming plate 110.

[0079] When changing the position, the dam plate 109 rotates together with the suction port forming plate 110. The rotation of the tip nozzle 98 is defined as the rotation axis, with the protruding direction of the tip nozzle 98 as the rotation direction. This rotation direction is such that, of the dam plate 109 and the suction port forming plate 110 arranged in parallel in the circumferential direction of the rotation axis, the suction port forming plate 110 side is the leading side and the dam plate 109 is the trailing side.

[0080] When the cleaning posture is shifted to, as shown in FIG. 11, the lower end portion (projecting end portion) of the blocking plate portion 109 comes into contact with the upper surface of the powdered medicine feeding groove 20a. In this embodiment, as described above, the tip nozzle portion 98 is rotated to move to the suction position. This structure has the advantage that powdered medicine is less likely to get between the lower surface of the blocking plate portion 109 and the upper surface of the powdered medicine input groove 20a.

[0081] Here, let us consider a case in which the dam plate portion 109 is lowered vertically downward from above and comes into contact with the upper surface of the powdered medicine input groove 20a. In this case, the lower surface of the dam plate portion 109 descends from above the small amount of powdered medicine and dust (hereinafter simply referred to as dust, etc.) remaining on the upper surface of the powdered medicine input groove 20a and comes into contact with the upper surface of the powdered medicine input groove 20a. As a result, the dust, etc. becomes sandwiched between the dam plate portion 109 and the upper surface of the powdered medicine input groove 20a. In contrast, in this embodiment, the dam plate portion 109 rotates together with the tip nozzle portion 98, and therefore moves from the downstream side in the rotation direction of the distribution plate 20 toward the position where it is arranged in the cleaning posture. At this time, a part of the dam plate portion 109 moves to the position where it is arranged in the cleaning posture while maintaining a state of contact with the upper surface of the powdered medicine injection groove 20a. In this way, by moving the blocking plate portion 109 in a direction that includes not only a vertical component but also a circumferential component of the powdered medicine feeding groove 20a, it is made difficult for dust and the like to get in between the blocking plate portion 109 and the underside thereof.

[0082] In the inhalation posture, the tip side portion 115 of the blocking plate portion 109 is fitted into the powdered medicine injection groove 20a. Therefore, the curved surface formed on the lower end side of the tip side portion 115 is in close contact with the powdered medicine injection groove 20a. On the other hand, a part of the edge portion of powdered medicine feeding groove 20a located on the inside in the radial direction and its vicinity enters into a recessed portion formed on the lower end side of connecting portion 116.

[0083] The powdered medicine injection groove 20a is a recessed portion that extends in a circular ring shape in a plan view, and the cross-sectional shape of the powdered medicine injection groove 20a cut along a cross section perpendicular to the circumferential direction is a recessed shape that is rounded and convex downward. That is, the edge end located on the outer side in the radial direction and the edge end located on the inner side in the radial direction are positioned at high positions, and a recess is formed between them. The edge end portions of the powdered medicine injection groove 20a located on the inner and outer sides in the radial direction are all continuous in a circular ring shape in a plan view. Therefore, the recessed portion formed on the lower end side of the connecting portion 116 is a portion that is located radially inside the powder medicine injection groove 20a and at a relatively high position, and is fitted with a circular, continuous portion.

[0084] After the tray cleaning device 24 transitions to the suction position, the distribution plate 20 is rotated. At this time, the rotation direction of the distribution plate 20 is such that the scraping device 22 is upstream and the tray cleaning device 24 is downstream (the direction shown by the arrow in Figure 11(a)). Therefore, the dam plate portion 109 in the cleaning position is positioned downstream of the suction port forming plate portion 110 in the rotation direction of the distribution plate 20 (see Figure 11(b)).

[0085] 12, in the cleaning position, the lower end of the suction port forming plate 110 is positioned higher than the lower end of the blocking plate 109 and is not in contact with the upper surface of the powdered medicine insertion groove 20a. Therefore, dust and other particles that have accumulated on the upper surface of the powdered medicine insertion groove 20a are collected upstream of the blocking plate 109 (upstream in the direction of rotation of the distribution plate 20) as the distribution plate 20 rotates. At the same time, the dust and other particles are sucked into the tip-side hollow body 108 through the suction port 126.

[0086] In the third cleaning operation of this embodiment, the on-plate cleaning device 24 is shifted from the standby position to the suction position (first operation), and the suction operation is performed while rotating the distribution plate 20 one or more times (second operation). Next, the on-plate cleaning device 24 is temporarily shifted to the standby position (third operation), and the distribution plate 20 is rotated by a predetermined angle (fourth operation). Furthermore, the on-plate cleaning device 24 is shifted again to the suction position, and the suction operation is performed while rotating the distribution plate 20 by a predetermined angle (fifth operation), and then the on-plate cleaning device 24 is shifted to the standby position. In this way, the third cleaning operation is an operation in which these series of operations are performed sequentially.

[0087] In the third cleaning operation of this embodiment, when the distribution plate 20 is rotated in each of the series of operations, the distribution plate 20 is rotated in the same direction. In other words, the distribution plate 20 does not rotate in the opposite direction during the series of operations. This configuration is preferable from the viewpoint of minimizing the scattering of collected dust and the like during cleaning.

[0088] The fourth cleaning operation is performed using the scraping cleaning device 43 (see FIG. 3). The fourth cleaning operation can also be performed automatically based on set conditions. The fourth cleaning operation may be performed in parallel with another cleaning operation, or may be performed independently.

[0089] In this embodiment, when the powdered medicine dispensing operation is not being performed, the scraping device 22 is in a standby position in which the scraping plate 31 is positioned upward. By taking the standby position, a part of the scraping plate 31 is inserted into the disk insertion hole 130 on the tablet supply unit 11 side (see FIG. 13). The fourth cleaning operation is an operation carried out in this state, in which both the scraper plate 31 and the rotary brush body 141 of the cleaning mechanism body 131 (see FIGS. 9 and 13) are rotated.

[0090] Specifically, during cleaning operation, the rotating brush body 141 is disposed so that its extension direction is the same as the thickness direction of the scraper plate 31. The rotating brush body 141 is disposed at a position spaced outward from the side surface (the side surface continuing in the circumferential direction) located between the two main surfaces of the scraper plate 31. As described above, the brush bristles (tufts of bristles) are attached to part of the side surface of the rotating brush body 141 so as to protrude outward. Therefore, when the rotating brush body 141 is rotated, the brush bristles come into contact with the scraper plate 31 when approaching the scraper plate 31, and do not come into contact with the scraper plate 31 when moving away from the scraper plate 31. In other words, the brush bristles come into contact with the scraper plate 31 intermittently.

[0091] Here, the rotation directions of the scraper plate 31 and the cleaning mechanism main body 131 during cleaning may be the same or opposite. That is, both may rotate clockwise or counterclockwise in a plan view (plan view with the line of sight aligned with the extension direction of the rotating brush main body 141). Alternatively, one of the scraper plate 31 and the cleaning mechanism main body 131 may rotate clockwise and the other may rotate counterclockwise.

[0092] Furthermore, in this fourth cleaning operation, a cleaning operation may be performed in which the rotating brush body 141 is rotated without rotating the scraper plate 31. In this case, the rotating brush body 141 may be rotated and then stopped, and the scraper plate 31 may be rotated in the circumferential direction in that state, and then the rotating brush body 141 may be rotated again without rotating the scraper plate 31. In other words, the cleaning operation may be performed while changing the cleaning position of the scraper plate 31.

[0093] In the above embodiment, the distribution dish 20 is rotated in the same direction in the second and fourth actions, but the second and fourth actions are not limited to this. A mechanism for rotating the distribution dish 20 in the opposite direction may be provided, and the distribution dish 20 may be rotated in the opposite direction to the second action in the fourth action. Specifically, when the second operation is performed, there is a possibility that fine powdered medicine may remain in a line along the radial direction of the distribution plate 20 between the dam plate portion 109 and the distribution plate 20. Therefore, after the third operation, a fourth operation may be performed in which distribution plate 20 is rotated in the opposite direction to that of the second operation, and the plate may be shifted to the suction position again. Then, when shifting to the suction position again and bringing stopper plate 109 into contact with the upper surface of distribution plate 20, the stopper plate may be brought into contact with a position different from that at the end of the second operation, and a fifth operation may be performed.

[0094] In the above embodiment, an example has been described in which the on-plate cleaning device 24 is shifted from the standby position to the suction position and then the suction operation is performed when the cleaning operation is performed by the on-plate cleaning device 24. However, the cleaning operation performed by the on-plate cleaning device 24 is not limited to this. For example, a cleaning operation may be performed in which the tray cleaning device 24 performs a suction operation while remaining in a standby position. Here, when the upper lid portion 5 is closed, a space surrounded by the upper lid portion 5 and the powder medicine dividing area 10 is formed above the powder medicine dividing area 10. Then, for some reason (as a result of some operation), the powder medicine supplied to the distribution tray 20 during the packaging operation may fly up into this space. In other words, this cleaning operation is a cleaning operation that sucks up the powder medicine floating in the space above the powder medicine dividing area 10.

[0095] Furthermore, in the third cleaning operation described above, a first operation was performed in which the on-plate cleaning device 24 was shifted from the standby position to the suction position, and a second operation was performed in which the suction operation was performed while rotating the distribution plate 20 one or more times. However, the operations performed in the first and second operations, i.e., the operation of shifting the on-plate cleaning device 24 from the standby position to the suction position, the operation of rotating the distribution plate 20, and the operation of performing the suction operation, do not necessarily have to be performed in this order. For example, the suction operation may be performed first by the on-plate cleaning device 24, followed by the operation of shifting the on-plate cleaning device 24 to the suction position. In this case, the distribution tray 20 may be rotated before the suction operation, or after the suction operation and before the operation of shifting to the suction position, or after the shift to the suction position. In other words, the order in which these three operations are performed may be changed as appropriate; any operation may be performed first, and either of the remaining two operations may be performed second. The number of rotations of the distribution dish 20 in the second operation may be changed as appropriate. For example, it may be rotated only once, or multiple times, such as two or three times, or may be rotated half a revolution or one-third of a revolution. In other words, it may be rotated less than one revolution, as long as it is rotated a predetermined amount. Similarly, when the amount of rotation is greater than one revolution, for example, one and a half revolutions, two revolutions, or two-thirds of a revolution, n revolutions may be performed, where n is not limited to an integer.

[0096] Furthermore, the above-mentioned third cleaning operation (the operation of cleaning the distribution plate 20 by the on-plate cleaning device 24) may be an operation in which the fourth and fifth operations are performed from a state in which the on-plate cleaning device 24 is in a standby position. In other words, with the on-plate cleaning device 24 in a standby position, an operation (fourth operation) is performed to rotate the distribution plate 20 by a predetermined angle, and then the on-plate cleaning device 24 is moved to a suction position, and the suction operation is performed while rotating the distribution plate 20 by the predetermined angle. Note that the rotation direction of the distribution dish 20 is the same in both the fourth and fifth actions. In other words, if the distribution dish 20 is rotated clockwise in a plan view in the fourth action, the distribution dish 20 is also rotated clockwise in a plan view in the fifth action. Conversely, if the distribution dish 20 is rotated counterclockwise in a plan view in the fourth action, the distribution dish 20 is also rotated counterclockwise in a plan view in the fifth action.

[0097] The above-described under-dish cleaning device 23 is disposed between two distribution trays 20 and performs a suction operation during the cleaning operation (second cleaning operation), but the lower cleaning device of the present invention is not limited to this. For example, it may be an under-dish cleaning device 145 (lower cleaning device) as shown in FIG. 14. As shown in FIG. 14(a), under-tray cleaning device 145 is a member formed by integrally fixing scattering prevention plate 146 and powdered medicine receiving tray member 147 together.

[0098] The anti-scattering plate 146 is a curved, upright plate-like member, and more specifically, when attached (FIG. 14(b)), it extends while curving so as to be convex toward the radially outward direction of the distribution dish 20. In this case, it is preferable that the anti-scattering plate 146 is formed so as to fit along the outer periphery of the distribution dish 20. In other words, it is preferable that the curvature of the curved portion and the curvature of the outer periphery of the distribution dish 20 are approximately the same. Powdered medicine receiving tray member 147 has a bottom plate portion and a side wall portion, which form a receiving space 148, which is a space surrounded by these. In other words, powdered medicine receiving tray member 147 is a bottomed box-shaped member, and receiving space 148 is a space that is open at the top and recessed downward. The bottom plate portion of powdered medicine receiving tray member 147 is curved so that it is convex downward, and its upper surface is concave.

[0099] This powdered medicine receiving tray member 147 is formed at a position adjacent to the lower end portion of the scattering prevention plate 146, and is disposed at a position adjacent to the distribution tray 20 side as shown in FIG. 14(b). Further, brush body 81 is attached to receiving space 148, with brush bristles (tufts of bristles) protruding upward. That is, brush body 81 is attached above the bottom plate portion of powdered medicine receiving tray member 147.

[0100] As shown in FIG. 14(b), this under-tray cleaning device 145 is attached to a position close to the radially outer end of the distribution tray 20. At this time, most of the powdered medicine receiving tray member 147 is positioned below the lower surface of the distribution tray 20. As a result, the brush bristles (tufts of bristles) of the brush body 81 come into contact with the lower surface of the distribution tray 20 from below. Furthermore, the anti-scattering plate 146 extends along the circumferential direction of the distribution plate 20, and the inner surface of the anti-scattering plate 146 (the surface facing the distribution plate 20) and the edge portion of the distribution plate 20 are arranged close to each other with a small gap between them. In addition, a part of the powdered medicine receiving tray member 147 is also positioned below the space formed between the anti-scattering plate 146 and the edge portion of the distribution tray 20.

[0101] Moreover, it is preferable that under-tray cleaning device 145 is attached to a position close to supply port 282 (described in detail later) of powdered medicine supply device 21. In other words, it is preferable that supply port 282 is attached so as to be located inside a part of anti-scattering plate 146. Here, the under-dish cleaning device 145 is equipped with a magnetic member (not shown) formed by a permanent magnet, and can be attached to the mounting plate portion 10a (see FIG. 2) via this magnetic member. Therefore, the under-dish cleaning device 145 can be easily attached to and detached from the mounting plate portion 10a, and the attachment position can be easily adjusted.

[0102] The second cleaning operation by the under-tray cleaning device 145 is a cleaning operation that is performed by rotating the distribution tray 20 with the brush bristles in contact with the underside of the distribution tray 20 . Therefore, the cleaning operation can be performed in parallel while various operations for rotating distribution tray 20 are being performed, i.e., the operation of dividing powdered medicine into individual doses and the operation of supplying powdered medicine to medicine inlet 25. In addition, this second cleaning operation can be performed in parallel with the cleaning operation (third cleaning operation) by tray cleaning device 24 described above.

[0103] In the above embodiment, an example was shown in which a plurality of bristle bundles (brush bristles) was used as the contact body, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a foam such as a reinforced sponge may be used as the contact body. Felt, nonwoven fabric, etc. may also be used. However, from the viewpoints of durability in long-term use, cost, and efficient removal of powdered medicine, it is preferable to form the contact body with brush bristles.

[0104] As shown in Figures 1 and 15, medicine pack transport device 13 forms a transport path for transporting medicine packs 14 (see Figure 18, etc.) to extraction container 15. This medicine pack transport device 13 roughly comprises a primary transport section 160 located on the upstream side and a secondary transport section 161 located on the downstream side. In addition, extraction container 15 is provided so as to be rotatable toward the front of the device.

[0105] The primary transport section 160 is formed by arranging various members inside an outer shell member 160a. As shown in Fig. 16, the primary transport section 160 has a structure including a first transport conveyor 165 (conveyor section), a second transport conveyor 166 (conveyor section), a pressure roller section 167, and a transport guide section 168 as main members.

[0106] The first transport conveyor 165 is a belt conveyor formed by wrapping a belt member (transport surface forming member) around two conveyor rollers consisting of a first roller 165a and a second roller 165b as shown in Figure 16, and forms a transport path that goes diagonally downward. That is, a conveying path is formed from a portion of the medicine pack conveying device 13 that serves as an inlet for the medicine pack 14 (the right end side in FIGS. 15 and 16) toward the secondary conveying section 161.

[0107] The second transfer conveyor 166 is a belt conveyor located downstream of the first transfer conveyor 165. This second transfer conveyor 166 is a belt conveyor formed by winding a belt member (transfer surface forming member) around two conveyor rollers consisting of a first roller 166a and a second roller 166b as shown in Figure 16, and forms a transfer path that slopes gently upward. The second transfer conveyor 166 forms a transfer path from the first transfer conveyor 165 side toward the secondary transfer section 161. Reference numeral 169 denotes a tension roller.

[0108] As shown in FIG. 16, the pressure roller portion 167 has a structure including an attachment arm portion 173, a power supply pulley 174, and a connecting roller portion 175 formed by connecting a plurality of rollers.

[0109] The mounting arm portion 173 is a long plate-shaped member, one end of which in the extension direction is rotatably attached to the outer casing member 160a (see FIG. 15), and the other end is attached to a part of the connecting roller portion 175. More specifically, one end of the mounting arm portion 173 in the extension direction is configured to rotate around an axis extending in the thickness direction of the mounting arm portion 173 as the rotation axis, so that the other end of the mounting arm portion 173 in the extension direction can move up and down. As a result, the connecting roller portion 175, which is connected to the other end of the mounting arm portion 173 in the extension direction, can also rotate upward from its natural state (a state in which no external force is applied), and can rotate downward from the state in which it has rotated upward.

[0110] However, a rotation restricting portion 177 is formed on one end of the mounting arm portion 173, and rotation of the mounting arm portion 173 beyond a certain limit is restricted. That is, when the other end of the mounting arm 173 is rotated upward from its natural position, a portion of one end of the mounting arm 173 comes into contact with the rotation restricting portion 177, preventing further rotation.

[0111] The connecting roller section 175 is a section formed by connecting multiple rollers (three in this embodiment). The connecting roller section 175 is configured to include a first pressure roller 180 (pressure roller), a second pressure roller 181 (pressure roller), and a third pressure roller 182 (pressure roller). It also includes a first connecting arm 185 and a second connecting arm 186 for connecting the multiple rollers.

[0112] The first pressing roller 180 has two roller main bodies arranged in series, one of which has a larger diameter than the other. The two roller bodies belonging to this first pressure roller 180 are both made of an elastically deformable material such as foamed resin, as are the roller bodies belonging to the second pressure roller 181 and the third pressure roller 182 below. The first pressure roller 180 is attached integrally to the power supply pulley 174, and as the power supply pulley 174 rotates, the roller body of the first pressure roller 180 rotates.

[0113] The second pressure roller 181 and the third pressure roller 182 also have two roller main bodies arranged in series. The diameters of the two roller main bodies are the same.

[0114] Here, first pressure roller 180 and second pressure roller 181 are connected via first connecting arm 185, and one of first pressure roller 180 and second pressure roller 181 can be moved upward relative to the other. Therefore, first pressure roller 180 and second pressure roller 181 are in a state where they can rotate freely in the up and down direction relative to each other while maintaining the state in which their roller main bodies are rotated. Similarly, the second pressure roller 181 and the third pressure roller 182 are connected via a second connecting arm 186, and are capable of rotating freely in the vertical direction relative to each other while maintaining the roller main body portion rotated.

[0115] Further, each of the first pressure roller 180, the second pressure roller 181, and the third pressure roller 182 is provided with a belt winding portion (detailed illustration omitted) on which a belt member can be wound. One belt member is wound around the belt winding portion of each of the first pressure roller 180 and the second pressure roller 181, and another belt member is wound around the belt winding portion of each of the second pressure roller 181 and the third pressure roller 182. That is, the first pressure roller 180 and the second pressure roller 181 are connected to each other so that power can be transmitted between them, and the second pressure roller 181 and the third pressure roller 182 are also connected to each other so that power can be transmitted between them. As a result, when the roller body part belonging to the first pressure roller 180 rotates in conjunction with the rotation of the power supply pulley 174, the roller body parts belonging to the second pressure roller 181 and the third pressure roller 182 also rotate.

[0116] 16 and 17, the transport guide portion 168 is disposed near the downstream end of the second transport conveyor 166 and is a member having an inclined surface that increases in height toward the downstream side in the transport direction. This inclined surface forms part of the transport surface. In addition, this inclined surface has a missing portion 171 formed by removing a portion near the upper end, and a portion of the vertical conveying belt member 218 (described in detail later) is arranged in this missing portion 171.

[0117] The secondary conveying section 161 is a member that forms a conveying path that extends vertically, and as shown in Figure 17, has a structure that includes a main body member 210 (main body portion) and a lid member 211 (lid portion) that is rotatably attached to the main body member 210. In the secondary conveying section 161, the cover member 211 is rotatably connected to the main body member 210 at one end in the width direction of the conveying path, and the other end of the cover member 211 can be switched between an open state and a closed state by moving the cover member 211 closer to or farther away from the main body member 210.

[0118] Main body member 210 has a conveying surface forming portion 162 disposed in a substantially vertical position, and a main body side clamping portion 215 (clamping portion). Conveying surface forming portion 162 is a metal band, and serves to reduce friction with medicine pack 14. The main body side clamping section 215 (clamping section) is located near an end of the conveying surface forming section 162 in the width direction. The main body side clamping section 215 has an upper pulley 216 and a lower pulley 217. The two pulleys 216, 217 are both double pulleys, each with two grooves for suspending a belt, and a vertical conveying belt member 218 is suspended on each of them. The vertical conveying belt member 218 is a round belt with a circular cross section. The shape of the vertical conveying belt member 218 is arbitrary, and may be any of a square, a triangle, a V-belt, etc. In any case, the vertical conveying belt member 218 is a narrow belt.

[0119] A lid-side clamping section 220 (clamping section) is formed in a position near the end of the width direction of the conveying path on the lid member 211. This lid-side clamping section 220 is a part that pairs with the above-mentioned main body-side clamping section 215, and is a part that forms a clamping section together with the main body-side clamping section 215. This lid-side clamping portion 220 is a portion formed by attaching a plurality of roller members 220a (clamping rollers) to a predetermined region extending in the vertical direction. Each of the roller members 220a is an idling roller and is arranged in parallel with a gap in the vertical direction. The shafts of the roller members 220a extend in the same direction as the width of the conveying path. The roller bodies are formed of an appropriate elastic material such as rubber. That is, they are elastically deformable, but are formed of a material that is less likely to deform than the roller bodies belonging to the above-mentioned connecting roller unit 175.

[0120] When the cover member 211 is closed, the roller members 220a of the cover-side clamping portion 220 come into contact with the vertical conveying belt member 218. Here, as shown in FIG. 16, the medicine pack transport device 13 is provided with a motor 225 (power generating means) as a power source, and all of the drive parts are driven by one motor 225. In other words, the power supplied from the motor 225 rotates and drives the rollers belonging to the first conveying conveyor 165, the second conveying conveyor 166, and the pressure roller section 167 of the primary conveying section 160, and the vertical conveying belt member 218 of the secondary conveying section 161.

[0121] More specifically, when the motor 225 rotates, the motor connecting gear 228 rotates, and the interlocking gear 229 meshing with the motor connecting gear 228 rotates. This interlocking gear 229 is attached integrally with the lower pulley 217 of the secondary transfer section 161 and the second roller 166b of the second transfer conveyor 166. Therefore, as the interlocking gear 229 rotates, the second roller 166b rotates, and the second transfer conveyor 166 operates. In addition, the lower pulley 217 rotates, and the vertical transfer belt member 218 runs between the lower pulley 217 and the upper pulley 216 (see FIG. 17).

[0122] When the second transfer conveyor 166 starts operating, the first roller 166a of the second transfer conveyor 166 rotates. This causes the first interlocking pulley 230 (FIG. 17), which is attached integrally with the first roller 166a and is rotatable on the same rotation axis, to also rotate. Then, power is transmitted to the second interlocking pulley 231, which is connected to the first interlocking pulley 230 via a belt member, causing the second interlocking pulley 231 to rotate. At this time, the second interlocking pulley 231 is attached integrally and rotatably on the same rotation axis as the second roller 165b of the first transfer conveyor 165. As a result, the second roller 165b rotates in conjunction with the rotation of the second interlocking pulley 231, and the first transfer conveyor 165 operates.

[0123] A belt support pulley 232 is formed at a position a predetermined distance away from the second interlocking pulley 231. The belt support pulley 232 is connected to the second interlocking pulley 231 via the belt member 163. A part of the upper portion of the belt member that runs between the second interlocking pulley 231 and the belt support pulley 232 is fitted into a groove formed on the side surface of the power supply pulley 174, and is engaged with the power supply pulley 174. This belt member rotates the power supply pulley 174. As the power supply pulley 174 rotates, each roller body portion belonging to the connecting roller portion 175 rotates.

[0124] Medicine pack transport device 13 of this embodiment can make it difficult for the tablets inside medicine pack 14 to be damaged during transport. Furthermore, it can also suppress the occurrence of wrinkles on the surface of medicine pack 14 and clogging of medicine pack 14 during transport. First, the medicine pack 14, which is the object to be transported, will be described. In the drug packaging device 1 of this embodiment, drugs (tablets and / or powder) inserted into the drug inlet 25 (see Figure 2) are packaged in single doses, which form a strip-like drug pack 14 (see Figure 18), which can be supplied to the drug pack conveying device 13. As shown in Figure 18, the formed medicine pack 14 is divided into a bag-shaped storage area 52, which has an internal space for storing a single dose of medicine, and a non-storage area 53, which is a portion where no medicine is stored.

[0125] Non-storage area 53 is a portion formed by sealing the periphery of storage area 52 by means of heat sealing or the like, and has a structure including horizontal seal portions 53a extending in the widthwise direction of medicine pack 14 and vertical seal portions 53b extending along the lengthwise direction. Specifically, non-storage area 53 has a structure including a row of vertical seal portions 53b and a plurality of horizontal seal portions 53a. As shown in Figure 18, when the medicine pack 14 is introduced into the medicine pack conveying device 13, at least a portion of it is placed on the belt member (conveying surface) of the first conveyor 165, and the medicine pack 14 is conveyed downstream as is. Then, the medicine packs are moved onto the belt member (transport surface) of the second transport conveyor 166 in order from the part that was introduced into the medicine pack transport device 13 first.

[0126] 19, at this time, in the downstream portion of the first transport conveyor 165, the lower portion of the first pressure roller 180 comes into contact with the medicine pack 14 from above. Furthermore, in the downstream portion of the second transport conveyor 166, the second pressure roller 181 and the third pressure roller 182 come into contact with the medicine pack 14 from above at positions spaced apart in the transport direction.

[0127] Here, as described above, the first pressure roller 180, the second pressure roller 181, and the third pressure roller 182 are configured to rotate at the same (or approximately the same) speed together with the respective conveyors (first transport conveyor 165, second transport conveyor 166). That is, the pressure rollers not only press the medicine pack 14 downward, but also apply a force to the medicine pack 14 toward the downstream side in the transport direction. Therefore, compared to a structure in which the pressing rollers belonging to the connecting roller portion 175 are rotated idly, this structure makes it difficult for wrinkles to form in the medicine pack 14 being conveyed.

[0128] More specifically, as described above, the medicine packaging device 1 of this embodiment is capable of packaging not only powdered medicine but also tablets. As described above, medicine pack 14 is partitioned into storage area 52 where medicines are stored and non-storage area 53 where no medicines are stored. When multiple tablets are stored in one storage area 52, depending on how they are stacked, a bulge may be formed in storage area 52 (see Figure 19(b)).

[0129] If the pressing rollers are designed to rotate freely, there may be cases where the rollers do not rotate normally due to being caught on the bulging portion of the medicine pack 14 or other reasons. In this case, the roller creates resistance, so the lower part of the medicine pack 14 that comes into contact with the belt member of the second conveyor 166 moves ahead of the upper part of the medicine pack 14 that comes into contact with the roller, which may cause wrinkles to form on the surface of the medicine pack 14. Furthermore, if only the lower portion advances, the medicine pack 14 may not be able to maintain its normal posture during normal transport and may become twisted. Such twisting may cause clogging during transport.

[0130] In contrast, in the drug packaging device 1 of this embodiment, each roller belonging to the connecting roller section 175 is designed to rotate by the supplied power, making it difficult for one side of the drug pack 14 to get ahead of the other side in the vertical direction. Furthermore, as described above, each roller belonging to the connecting roller section 175 is attached in a state in which it can rotate vertically relative to the other rollers, so that each roller moves up and down according to the bulging portion of the medicine pack 14, as shown in Figure 19(b). That is, when the bulging portion of medicine pack 14 passes below each roller, the rollers move upward (away from the upper surface of medicine pack 14) according to the size of the bulging portion. This also makes it difficult for each roller to provide resistance during transport, and wrinkles are less likely to occur in medicine pack 14.

[0131] In other words, this embodiment is structured so that the medicine pack 14 is transported not only by a conveyor consisting of the first transport conveyor 165 and the second transport conveyor 166, but also by a conveyor and multiple rollers (a first pressure roller 180, a second pressure roller 181, and a third pressure roller 182). With this structure, it is possible to efficiently apply a force to the medicine pack 14 toward the downstream side in the transport direction, thereby enabling efficient transport.

[0132] Then, when a part of the medicine pack 14 reaches the downstream end of the second transport conveyor 166, the part that has reached the end rides up onto the inclined surface (curved surface) of the transport guide portion 168, as shown in FIG. At least the vertical seal portion 53 b of the medicine pack 14 is placed on the conveying guide portion 168 , and the vertical seal portion 53 b comes into contact with the vertical conveying belt member 218 disposed in the missing portion 171 .

[0133] Here, when the two vertical conveying belt members 218 are running, a part of their lower end that extends in the vertical direction is arranged in the missing portion 171 and is always moving from the bottom side to the top side. Therefore, the vertical seal portion 53b that has come into contact with parts of the two vertical conveying belt members 218 moves upward together with these parts of the two vertical conveying belt members 218. Then, it enters between the roller member 220a and the two vertical conveying belt members 218.

[0134] Here, as described above, when the lid side clamping portion 220 (see Figure 17) is closed, the roller members 220a formed on the lid side clamping portion 220 come into contact with the two vertical conveying belt members 218. At this time, since the two vertical conveying belt members 218 (and in this embodiment the roller members 220a as well) are formed of elastic materials, the medicine package body 14 is pushed between them, and the medicine package body 14 gets caught between them (see Figure 21).

[0135] That is, vertical seal portion 53b moves upward and reaches a position where roller member 220a is in contact with two vertical conveying belt members 218. Then, while maintaining contact with two vertical conveying belt members 218, vertical seal portion 53b enters between roller member 220a and two vertical conveying belt members 218. Thereafter, medicine pack 14 passes between them and continues to move upward. That is, the secondary conveying unit 161 is a device that conveys the medicine pack 14 upward while sandwiching the non-storage region 53 of the medicine pack 14 between the roller members 220a and the two vertical conveying belt members 218. More specifically, the secondary conveying unit 161 is a device that conveys the medicine pack 14 upward while sandwiching multiple locations of the non-storage region 53 that are separated in the vertical direction.

[0136] This structure of clamping and conveying non-storage area 53 of medicine pack 14 is preferable because it prevents tablets packed inside medicine pack 14 from being pinched and damaged by roller member 220a and vertical conveying belt member 218. It is also preferable because it prevents bulging portions formed on medicine pack 14 from being pinched between roller member 220a and vertical conveying belt member 218. Then, the medicine pack 14 that has been transported to the upper end side of the secondary transport section 161 is supplied from the secondary transport section 161 to the take-out container 15 (see FIGS. 15, 21, etc.).

[0137] In the above embodiment, a belt conveyor is used as the conveyor unit, but the present invention is not limited to this and may be, for example, a roller conveyor formed by combining a drive roller and a driven roller. The conveyor unit may be any conveyor in which the members forming the conveying surface are operated by supplied power.

[0138] In this embodiment, the formed drug pack is partitioned into a storage area for storing the supplied drug and a non-storage area adjacent to the edge portion of the storage area, and is provided with a secondary conveying section that forms at least a part of the conveying path, and the secondary conveying section has a clamping section that clamps the non-storage area of ​​the drug pack, and conveys the drug pack upward while clamping the non-storage area with the clamping section.

[0139] Furthermore, the secondary conveying section has a main body section and a lid section, a part of the clamping section is formed on one of the main body section and the lid section, and another part of the clamping section is formed on the other of the main body section and the lid section, the part of the clamping section is one or more belt members, the belt members are formed of an elastic material and have a circular or cylindrical cross-sectional shape, and the other part of the clamping section is one or more clamping rollers, which rotate around an axis extending in a direction intersecting the conveying direction.

[0140] Furthermore, the power generating means also supplies power to the conveyor unit and the clamping unit.

[0141] As described above, the medicine packaging device 1 of this embodiment is configured to include the operation panel 7 (see FIG. 1). This operation panel 7 is a so-called touch panel, which is formed by combining a display device such as a liquid crystal panel with a position input device such as a touch pad.

[0142] As shown in Fig. 22, the operation panel 7 is divided into a plurality of areas, and these areas include areas that function as various buttons when pressed with a finger or the like. In detail, areas that function as operation buttons include a start button section 250, a stop button section 251, a set plate open / close button section 252, and a tablet supply start button section 253. In addition, a remaining number display section 254 that displays the number of remaining packets, and two speed change sections 255 are provided.

[0143] The start button section 250 is an area to be pressed when starting the medicine packaging operation, and the stop button section 251 is an area to be pressed when it becomes necessary to stop the packaging operation in progress for some reason. The set plate opening / closing button portion 252 is an area that is pressed when opening or closing a predetermined portion of the tablet manual distribution portion 40 of the tablet supply unit 11 (see FIG. 1). The tablet supply start button section 253 is a section that is pressed when starting the packaging operation for tablets.

[0144] The remaining quantity display unit 254 displays the number of single doses of medicine that are currently unpackaged when the medicine is packaged one dose at a time during the packaging operation currently in progress, ultimately forming a medicine pack 14 that contains one or more doses of medicine.

[0145] The two speed change units 255 correspond to different powdered medicine supply devices 21 (see FIG. 2, which will be described in detail later). The speed change unit 255 serves both as a unit that indicates the current supply speed (amount of vibration) when powdered medicine is supplied from the powdered medicine supply device 21 to the distribution tray 20, and as a unit that performs an operation to change the supply speed.

[0146] More specifically, the speed change section 255 is a section that displays the supply speed using a bar graph. That is, a plurality of bar-shaped sections arranged in parallel with a gap are displayed, and as the supply speed increases, the display color of each bar-shaped section changes from one end to the other in the parallel direction. For example, when no powdered medicine supply operation is being performed, all of the rod-shaped portions are displayed in the normal color (first color). Furthermore, when the supply speed is set to the slowest, only one rod-shaped portion located at one end in the parallel direction is displayed in the changed color (second color), and the other rod-shaped portions are displayed in the normal color. Then, when the supply speed is set to the fastest, all of the rod-shaped portions are displayed in the changed color.

[0147] When changing the supply speed, as shown in FIG. 22(a), the speed can be changed by touching the speed changer 255 with a finger or the like and moving it in the direction of the parallel arrangement of the rod-shaped portions. That is, by moving a finger or the like from one end to the other end in the parallel direction of the rod-shaped portion, the supply speed increases as the finger or the like moves, and by moving the finger or the like in the opposite direction, the supply speed decreases as the finger or the like moves.

[0148] As another speed change operation, as shown in FIG. 22(b), the speed can be changed by touching the screen for a short time with a finger or the like once or multiple times. When the supply speed is neither maximum nor minimum, the part showing the current speed is used as the reference position, and touching a position on one end side of the rod-shaped parts in the parallel direction from the reference position decreases the speed by a specified value from the current speed. Conversely, touching a position on the other end side increases the speed by a specified value from the current speed (Figure 22(b) shows the speed increase operation).

[0149] Furthermore, when the supply speed is at its minimum, the rod-shaped portion (or its vicinity) located at the end furthest from the parallel direction of the rod-shaped portions is set as the reference position, and by touching the portion on the other end side of the reference position with a finger or the like, the speed increases from the current speed by a specified value. It should be noted that when a finger or the like touches a position away from the reference position on the opposite side (a position further away from one end in the direction in which the rod-shaped portions are aligned), the speed does not change.

[0150] Furthermore, when the supply speed is at its maximum, the rod-shaped portion (or its vicinity) located at the farthest end in the parallel direction of the rod-shaped portions is set as the reference position, and by touching the portion on the one end side of the reference position with a finger or the like, the speed decreases from the current speed by a specified value. Similarly, when a position away from the reference position on the opposite side (a position further away from the other end in the direction in which the rod-shaped portions are aligned) is touched with a finger or the like, the speed does not change. As described above, the speed change unit 255 of this embodiment is capable of two speed change operations, and the user can select and execute an appropriate speed change operation.

[0151] The medicine packaging device 1 of this embodiment has a structure in which the small lid portions 5a, 5b, and 5c (see FIG. 1) formed on the upper lid portion 5 can be opened and closed individually. Of these, the two small lid portions 5b and 5c are opened when supplying powdered medicine to be packaged to the medicine packaging device 1, and each corresponds to a different powdered medicine supply device 21 (see FIG. 2). When these are opened, the hopper arrangement area 260 located below them can be exposed to the outside, as shown in FIG. 1 (FIG. 1 shows an enlarged view of the inside when small lid portion 5c is open).

[0152] The hopper arrangement area 260 is a space surrounded by a lower plate portion 260a and a side wall portion 260b erected near the edge of the lower plate portion 260a. The hopper arrangement area 260 is an area for arranging the upper portion of a hopper 261 (described in detail later).

[0153] An information reader 263 is attached to one of the side walls 260b. This information reading device 263 is capable of reading information stored in an RFID tag (information storage means). That is, it is possible to read information stored in an RFID tag attached to a container (not shown, hereinafter simply referred to as a transport container) for transporting powdered medicine, such as a weighing dish.

[0154] Here, an information reading device 263 is attached to each of the two hopper placement areas 260 (the hopper placement areas 260 located inside the small lid portions 5b and 5c). Since the two hopper arrangement areas 260 correspond to different powdered medicine supply devices 21, powdered medicine put into the hopper 261 of one hopper arrangement area 260 is supplied from one powdered medicine supply device 21 to one distribution tray 20 (details will be described later). Also, powdered medicine put into the hopper 261 of the other hopper arrangement area 260 is supplied from the other powdered medicine supply device 21 to the other distribution tray 20.

[0155] Therefore, when a specified powdered medicine contained in a transport container is put into one of the hoppers 261, the transport container can be brought close to the information reading device 263, thereby enabling an information reading operation to read the information stored in the RFID tag of the transport container. This information reading operation makes it possible to read information about the powdered medicine contained in the transport container, and to perform a discrimination operation to determine whether the distribution tray 20 from which the specified powdered medicine is about to be supplied is correct or not.

[0156] Although not particularly limited, after the above-mentioned determination operation is performed, if the distribution tray 20 from which powdered medicine is to be dispensed is incorrect, a notification operation may be performed to notify the user of this fact. This notification operation may be an operation of displaying a message or an image on the operation display unit 3, an operation of providing a speaker device or the like and playing a sound, or an operation of performing both of these.

[0157] In addition, by storing information about the packaging operation using the powdered medicine contained in the transport container in the RFID tag, it is possible to obtain information about packaging operations that have not yet been performed by the information reading operation. Therefore, after the information reading operation is performed, an operation may be performed to transition the dispensing tray 20 to which the powdered medicine will be supplied and the devices that operate when the packaging operation is performed on this dispensing tray 20 to a standby state before the packaging operation is performed. For example, it is possible to display on the operation display unit 3 prescription information for starting the packaging operation and information indicating that an operation instruction has been obtained for the dispensing tray 20 corresponding to the information reading device 263. Then, when each device is in a standby state, a preparatory operation that these devices perform before performing the packaging operation may be performed as necessary. Furthermore, after the information reading operation is performed, a cleaning operation (the above-mentioned cleaning operation) may be performed to clean the distribution tray 20 to which powdered medicine will be supplied and the scraping device 22 associated with this distribution tray 20.

[0158] In this embodiment, the information reading device 263 is provided on one of the side wall portions 260b adjacent to the hopper placement area 260, but the information reading device 263 may be attached at a position spanning a plurality of side wall portions 260b. Furthermore, although the information reading device 263 is provided on the side wall portion 260b and the RFID tag is provided on the transport container, it is also possible to provide an RFID tag on the side wall portion 260b and an information reading device on the transport container. That is, the information reading device 263 may be provided on either the portion adjacent to the hopper placement area 260 or the transport container, and an RFID tag may be provided on the other.

[0159] Here, when the hopper 261 is placed in each hopper placement area 260, the powdered medicine supply device 21 (see FIG. 2) is positioned below the hopper 261. Then, as shown in FIG. 23, the hopper 261 into which the powdered medicine is poured and the powdered medicine supply device 21 are placed adjacent to each other. Powdered medicine supply device 21 is configured to include a supply trough 270 (trough member) and a vibration device (vibration applying device) disposed below hopper 261. Supply trough 270 vibrates when the vibration device is operated. It is preferable that the vibration device controls the number of vibrations according to the value of a hygrometer (not shown) provided in the device. When powdered medicine is put into the hopper 261, the powdered medicine falls onto the supply trough 270. Then, as the supply trough 270 vibrates, the powdered medicine moves on the supply trough 270 toward the supply opening 282 (described in detail later), and falls from the supply opening 282 into the powdered medicine input groove 20a of the distribution plate 20.

[0160] The supply trough 270 of this embodiment has a structure that is detachable from the main body of the powdered medicine supply device 21 (hereinafter also referred to as supply device main body 21a). More specifically, as shown in FIG. 24, powdered medicine supply device 21 has a structure including supply device main body 21a and supply device cover 21b. The supply device main body 21a has a tray placement portion 271 for placing a supply trough 270 (see FIG. 23) thereon, and a locking mechanism portion 272 (first main body side engaging portion). On the other hand, as shown in Figures 23 and 24, the supply device lid portion 21b is rotatably attached to the supply device main body portion 21a, and can be transitioned from a closed state to an open state by moving the end portion located closer to the supply port portion 282 upward. As shown in FIG. 24, when the supply device cover 21b is opened, the locking mechanism 272 is exposed to the outside. That is, by opening the supply device cover 21b and unlocking the locking mechanism 272, the supply trough 270 can be removed from the tray placement portion 271. This is explained in more detail below.

[0161] As shown in FIG. 25, the supply trough 270 includes a tray main body 275 and a fixing member 276, which are fixed together as an integral member. The tray main body 275 has a tray bottom plate 280 that is substantially rectangular in plan view, and a tray side wall 281 that is formed to protrude upward from the edge of the tray bottom plate 280. The tip of the tray main body 275 forms a supply port 282. On the upper surface of the tray bottom plate portion 280, a plurality of (three in this embodiment) raised portions 280a are formed in a portion closer to the downstream end in the longitudinal direction of the flow of the powdered medicine. Furthermore, the portion of the underside of the tray bottom plate portion 280 that is closer to the upstream side in the direction of flow of the powdered medicine serves as a portion for fixing the fixing member 276. In the following description, the upstream side and downstream side in the flow direction of the powdered medicine will also be simply referred to as the upstream side and downstream side.

[0162] The fixing member 276 includes a fixing plate portion 276a in the shape of a substantially rectangular flat plate, and a hooking piece portion 276b (second trough side engaging portion, hooking piece) formed by bending one end side of the fixing plate portion 276a in the longitudinal direction back toward the upstream side. Furthermore, the fixing plate portion 276a has a structure including a locking piece forming portion 276c formed by bending the other end side of the fixing plate portion 276a in the longitudinal direction upward. The fixed plate portion 276a is a plate-like portion extending in the longitudinal direction of the supply trough 270, and its length in the lateral direction is shorter on the downstream end side, which is one end side in the longitudinal direction. The hook piece 276b has a shape in which a portion of the downstream end of the fixed plate 276a is folded back toward the upstream side. That is, it has a portion that is continuous with the downstream end of the fixed plate 276a, a portion that extends while curving in a rounded convex shape toward the downstream side, and a portion that extends from the downstream end of the fixed plate 276a toward the upstream side.

[0163] The lock piece forming portion 276c is formed by bending the upstream end side of the fixing plate portion 276a upward, and has a shape that protrudes upward from the upstream end side portion of the fixing plate portion 276a. That is, the lock piece forming portion 276c is a plate-like portion that protrudes obliquely upward toward the upstream side (upward and outward in the longitudinal direction of the fixing plate portion 276a). The upper end portion of the lock piece forming portion 276c is shorter in length in the short side direction (the width direction, which is perpendicular to the protruding direction and the thickness direction) than the lower end portion. A hook piece insertion hole 283 (first trough side engagement portion) is formed in the upper end portion of the lock piece forming portion 276c. This hook piece insertion hole 283 is a through hole that penetrates the lock piece forming portion 276c in the thickness direction and has a rectangular opening.

[0164] This fixing member 276 is fixed integrally to the bottom of the tray main body 275. A portion of the upstream end of the fixing plate 276a protrudes further upstream than the portion where the upstream end of the tray bottom plate 280 is located. A lock piece forming portion 276c that is continuous with the protruding end is located at a position further upstream from the standing wall portion (part of the tray side wall 281) located on the upstream side of the tray main body 275. As shown in Figure 24, the tray placement portion 271 has a shape that includes a placement base forming plate portion 271a for placing the supply trough 270 on, and a mechanism mounting plate portion 271b for mounting the locking mechanism portion 272.

[0165] 24, the mounting base forming plate portion 271a is a plate-like portion that extends along the longitudinal direction (flow direction of the powdered medicine) of the supply trough 270 when attached. The mounting base forming plate portion 271a has a hooking hole 284 (second main body side engaging portion, receiving portion). The hook hole 284 is a hole that penetrates the mounting base forming plate portion 271a in the thickness direction, and has an opening that is substantially concave-shaped in plan view. The mechanism mounting plate portion 271b is a flat plate-shaped portion that is continuous with the upstream end of the mounting table forming plate portion 271a and protrudes diagonally downward from this upstream end. The upper surface of the mechanism mounting plate portion 271b is an inclined surface that is inclined relative to the upper surface of the mounting table forming plate portion 271a.

[0166] 26(b), the locking mechanism 272 has a structure including an attachment piece forming portion 290 (second component), an intermediate connecting portion 291 (connecting body), and a hooking piece forming portion 292 (first component). The locking mechanism 272 is pivotally secured between the attachment piece forming portion 290 (second component) and the intermediate connecting portion 291 (connecting body), and is also pivotally secured between the intermediate connecting portion 291 and the attachment piece forming portion 290. The locking mechanism 272 is a toggle mechanism that links the intermediate connecting portion 291 and the hook piece forming portion 292, and when the intermediate connecting portion 291 is rotated as shown in Figure 26, the attachment piece forming portion 290 is forced to move. In this embodiment, the intermediate connector 291 has a structure including a sliding piece 301 and a spring member 302 (elastic member). The sliding piece 301 is attached in a state in which it can move in the front-rear direction, and when the sliding piece 301 moves forward, the sliding piece 301 is constantly biased rearward by the spring member 302.

[0167] The hook piece forming portion 292 is a box-shaped portion that is open on the rear side and the bottom side, and a member storage space 313 (storage space) is formed inside (below the top surface) thereof. The member storage space 313 is a space capable of storing substantially the entire intermediate connecting portion 291 and the hook piece forming portion 292, and is a space surrounded above, in front, and on both left and right sides. Furthermore, a hook projection 315 is formed on the front side of the hook piece forming portion 292 . The hook projection 315 is a portion formed at the lower end of the upright wall located in front of the hook piece forming portion 292, and is a projection with at least a portion projecting rearward.

[0168] The procedure for attaching the supply trough 270 to the tray placement portion 271 will be described. In this embodiment, the locking mechanism 272 (first main body side engaging portion) and the hook piece insertion hole 283 (first trough side engaging portion) constitute an engaging structure 278. 26(a), the hooking piece 276b is inserted from above into the hooking hole 284. Then, the supply trough 270 is moved rearward to hook the hooking piece 276b onto the edge of the hooking hole 284. In this state, as shown in Figure 27(a), the hook piece forming portion 292 is moved in a direction approaching the fixing member 276, and as shown in Figure 27(b), the hook piece forming portion 292 is brought close to the lock piece forming portion 276c from above, and the hook protrusion 315 is engaged with the lock piece forming portion 276c. Then, as shown in FIG. 27(c), the latch piece forming portion 292 is pushed in to change its position, and the lock mechanism portion 272 is shifted to the engaged position (the state shown in FIG. 27(c)).

[0169] In the engaged position, the latch piece forming portion 292 is moved slightly forward (upward in the inclination direction of the mechanism mounting plate portion 271b) compared to the standby position (see FIG. 26(a) etc.). In this state, the hook forming portion 292 is constantly biased rearward. That is, the hook forming portion 292 is constantly biased downward and rearward when the hook protrusion 315 is inserted into the hook insertion hole 283. In this way, by shifting the locking mechanism 272 to the engaged position, the supply trough 270 is locked. As described above, in powdered medicine supply device 21 of this embodiment, as shown in Fig. 28, one engagement portion (first engagement portion) is formed by hook protrusion 315 and hook piece insertion hole 283. Furthermore, hook piece portion 276b and hook hole 284 form another engagement portion (second engagement portion). In this way, supply trough 270 engages with members on supply device main body 21a at the rear side of receiver main body 275 and the front side of receiver main body 275.

[0170] When the locking mechanism 272 assumes the engaged position and the supply trough 270 is locked, the latching protrusion 315, which is part of one of the engaging parts, and the latching piece 276b, which is part of the other engaging part, are both constantly biased in the direction opposite to the direction in which they are moved when the engagement is released. In other words, since the hook forming portion 292 is biased in a direction opposite to the direction in which it is moved when disengaging, the force applied from the hook forming portion 292 causes the entire supply trough 270 to be constantly pulled downward toward the upstream side (the left side of Figure 27(c)). This allows supply trough 270 to be firmly attached to tray placement portion 271. In other words, it has a structure that prevents it from unexpectedly coming off even when subjected to vibration and allows it to remain attached. Furthermore, by making supply trough 270 and tray placement portion 271 separate and detachable, supply trough 270 can be easily cleaned.

[0171] 28, the mounting table forming plate portion 271a is fixed to the supply device main body portion 21a in an inclined position so that the slope becomes downward as it approaches the downstream side (the right side in FIG. 28). Therefore, when the supply trough 270 is attached to the tray mounting portion 271, it is fixed to the tray mounting portion 271 in that inclined position.

[0172] Here, as shown in Figure 25, the rear surface of the fixing plate portion 276a, i.e., the portion that becomes the underside when the tray mounting portion 271 is attached (see Figure 26), is provided with a protrusion portion 286 that protrudes outward (downward when attached). Therefore, when the supply trough 270 is attached to the tray mounting portion 271, a gap is formed between the lower surface of the fixing plate portion 276a and the upper surface of the mounting base forming plate portion 271a, at least around the protrusion portion 286. In this way, by adopting a structure in which the lower surface of the fixing plate portion 276a and the upper surface of the mounting table forming plate portion 271a are not in surface contact over the entire area, it is possible to suppress the generation of noise when the supply trough 270 is vibrated. Furthermore, even if a small foreign object gets between the fixing plate portion 276a and the mounting table forming plate portion 271a when the supply trough 270 is attached, a structure can be achieved in which the foreign object is not kept firmly sandwiched between them when the supply trough 270 is vibrated. In other words, it is possible to prevent changes in vibration (adverse effects on vibration at a specified vibration) caused by vibration while the foreign object is firmly sandwiched.

[0173] Furthermore, in powdered medicine supply device 21 of this embodiment, a vibrating device is disposed inside supply device cover portion 21b, and vibration is transmitted to hopper 261 from supply device cover portion 21b. Here, as shown in FIG. 23, the supply device cover 21b is structured to include a hopper movement restricting portion 287 for preventing unintended movement of the hopper 261 during vibration.

[0174] Specifically, the hopper movement restricting portion 287 is a portion made up of a first movement restricting portion 295 and a second movement restricting portion 296 (crossing direction restricting portion). The first movement restricting portion 295 is a raised portion that rises outward (upward when the supply device lid portion 21b is closed) from the upper portion of the supply device lid portion 21b (the upper portion when the supply device lid portion 21b is closed). The top surface of the first movement restricting portion 295 is curved. The first movement restricting portion 295 is a portion that engages with a part of the hopper 261 (in this embodiment, a notched portion formed in a protruding portion that protrudes outward from the side surface of the hopper 261). That is, it is a portion that restricts movement of the hopper 261 toward the supply port portion 282 (movement in a direction that includes a longitudinal component of the supply trough 270 when attached).

[0175] The second movement restricting portion 296 is a rod-shaped portion formed to protrude outward from the surface of the supply device lid portion 21b on the supply opening portion 282 side when the supply trough 270 is attached and the supply device lid portion 21b is closed. Specifically, the second movement restricting portion 296 is a rod-shaped portion with a part of the tip side bent downward. More specifically, two second movement regulating parts 296 are arranged in parallel so as to be spaced apart and face each other in a direction intersecting (orthogonal to) the flow direction of the powdered medicine, and each extends toward the supply port part 282. The structure is such that the hopper 261 is attached between the two second movement regulating parts 296, and when the hopper 261 is attached, each second movement regulating part 296 is in contact with a different side surface of the hopper 261. That is, the second movement restricting portion 296 is a portion that restricts the movement of the hopper 261 in a direction that includes a width direction component of the supply trough 270.

[0176] Here, the two second movement regulating portions 296 are formed at positions that do not overlap with the supply trough 270 in a planar view (do not overlap with the supply trough 270 in the vertical direction) when the supply trough 270 is attached and the supply device lid portion 21b is closed. As a result, even if powdered medicine that has fallen from above accumulates on the upper side of the second movement regulating section 296, the powdered medicine above the second movement regulating section 296 will not fall into the supply trough 270.

[0177] In the above-described embodiment, an example is shown in which the fixing member 276 is attached to the tray main body portion 275 and the hook piece insertion hole 283 is formed in a part of the fixing member 276 (lock piece forming portion 276c), but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a structure may be adopted in which a protruding portion that protrudes upward is provided on a part of the tray main body 275 (for example, a part of the tray side wall 281 located on the upstream side), and a hook insertion hole is provided. Furthermore, instead of the structure in which the hook piece insertion holes 283 are directly formed in the fixing member 276, a connecting member (for example, a plate-shaped member) may be fixed to the fixing member 276, and the hook piece insertion holes may be formed in this connecting member. In other words, the structure may be such that, when locked, force is applied to the supply trough 270 from the hook protrusions 315 via another member.

[0178] In the above embodiment, the supply trough 270 is provided with the hooking piece 276b, which is hooked into the hooking hole 284 of the tray placement portion 271 (see FIG. 28), but the present invention is not limited to this. Instead of the hook piece 276b, a plate-like portion protruding downward may be provided, and a through-hole serving as a receiving portion may be provided in this plate-like portion. In this case, a protrusion may be provided on the opening edge of the hook hole 284, and this protrusion may be inserted into the through-hole of the plate-like portion to engage with it. That is, a receiving portion may be provided on the supply trough 270 side, and a hooking piece may be provided on the receiving tray placement portion 271 side. In the above embodiment, the locking mechanism 272 is provided on a part of the tray placement portion 271, but the present invention is not limited to this. The locking mechanism 272 may not be attached to the tray placement portion 271, but may be attached directly to another part of the supply device main body 21a.

[0179] In this embodiment, the supply device main body and the trough member each have a pair of second main body side engaging portion and second trough side engaging portion, one of which is a hooking piece and the other is a receiving portion on which the hooking piece can be hooked, and when the trough member is attached to the supply device main body, the trough member is placed on a part of the supply device main body, the hooking piece is hooked on the receiving portion, and the first main body side engaging portion and the first trough side engaging portion are engaged, and the hooking piece and the receiving portion are released from their hooked state by moving one of the hooking piece and the receiving portion relative to the other in a predetermined disengagement direction, and when the first main body side engaging portion and the first trough side engaging portion are engaged, a force is applied to the trough member in a direction including a downward directional component and a directional component in the opposite direction to the disengagement direction. The connecting body includes an elastic member, and a force in a predetermined direction acts on the first component due to the elastic restoring force of the elastic member, and the force is applied to the trough member via the first component. Furthermore, a hopper member is arranged above the trough member, and the powdered medicine supply device is provided with a hopper movement regulating section that regulates the movement of the hopper member, and the hopper movement regulating section includes a cross-direction regulating section that regulates movement in a direction that intersects with the flow direction of the powdered medicine in the trough member, and the cross-direction regulating section is located in a position that does not overlap with the trough member when viewed in a plane.

[0180] The medicine packaging device 1 of this embodiment can be used with a tablet cassette shelf 350 (medicine shelf device) attached, as shown in Figure 29. That is, it also forms part of a packaging device with medicine shelf 351 (medicine packaging unit) that includes the medicine packaging device 1 and the tablet cassette shelf 350. The tablet cassette shelf 350 has a structure including a container attachment portion 361 for holding a plurality of tablet containers 360 , and a tablet supply device 362 (tablet transport device) located below the container attachment portion 361 . The tablet cassette shelf 350 of this embodiment holds different types (two types) of tablet containers 360. In the packaging device with medicine shelf 351, a part of the front side of the tablet supply device 362 is inserted into a connecting port (not shown) formed on the back side of the medicine packaging device 1. Furthermore, the front end side of a tablet extrusion path 484 (described in detail later) of the tablet supply device 362 is connected to the rear end side of a tablet conveying path 41 (see FIG. 3) which is part of the tablet supply unit 11, forming a series of flow paths.

[0181] When tablets are supplied from the tablet cassette shelf 350 to the medicine packaging device 1, the tablets that have dropped from the tablet container 360 are introduced into the tablet supply device 362 located below. Then, the tablets are transported to the tablet extrusion path 484 inside the tablet supply device 362, and then pushed out from the tablet extrusion path 484 to the tablet conveying path 41 (see FIG. 3). The tablet supply device 362 will be described in detail below.

[0182] As shown in Fig. 30, the tablet supply device 362 is broadly configured to include a tablet receiving section 365 (introduction section) located on the upper side, and two horizontal conveying sections 366 (primary conveying sections) located on the left and right below the upper section, and a drop path forming section 367 (path forming section). Below the drop path forming section 367, a tablet pushing section 368 (secondary conveying section) is formed. Therefore, the tablet supply device 362 has a three-tiered structure in which a tablet receiving section 365 (introduction section) which extends horizontally, a horizontal conveying section 366 (primary conveying section) which also extends horizontally, and a tablet extrusion section 368 (secondary conveying section) which extends vertically are stacked vertically. The uppermost tablet receiving portion 365 is a portion for receiving tablets that have fallen from above, and functions as an introduction portion for tablets in the entire tablet supplying device 362. This tablet receiving portion 365 has a structure including a one-side tablet receiving portion 365a located at one end in the left-right direction (width direction of the tablet cassette shelf 350) and an other-side tablet receiving portion 365b located at the other end.

[0183] As shown in FIG. 30, the one-side tablet receiving portion 365a is a substantially rectangular parallelepiped portion extending in the left-right direction, and has three tablet introduction spaces 370 (storage spaces) formed therein. In detail, three tablet introduction spaces 370a, 370b, and 370c are provided in parallel with a gap between them, and between these spaces are positioned a connecting member arrangement portion 371 and a partition member 372. In other words, the three tablet introduction spaces 370 are formed by dividing a space extending in the left-right direction by the connecting member arrangement portion 371 and the partition member 372, thereby forming a plurality of spaces. The connecting member arrangement section 371 is a space for arranging various members. The partition member 372 is a member formed integrally with a flat top plate portion located on the upper side and two upright plate-like portions located on both ends in the left and right direction. Each of the three tablet introduction spaces 370 is a space that communicates with the outside at the top and bottom, and has an opening on the top that serves as an inlet for the tablet. By rotating a rotating plate part 384 (movable receiving member) shown in Figure 31, it is possible to switch between a state in which the lower side is closed and a state in which the lower side is open to the outside.

[0184] As shown in Figure 31, the one-sided tablet receiving section 365a (see Figure 30) has a structure including, as components arranged therein, a motor 378, a power transmission section 379, and a rotation / swing conversion section 380. Furthermore, as shown in Figure 31, the one-sided tablet receiving section 365a has a structure including a first shaft 381, a coupling member 382, ​​a second shaft 383, two rotating plate sections 384, and a rotation restriction mechanism 385. The one-sided tablet receiving portion 365a is configured so that when the motor 378 is operated and the shaft of the motor 378 continues to rotate in one direction around the axis (circumferential direction), the rotating plate portion 384 swings. In other words, the rotating plate portion 384 can be swung without rotating the motor 378 in the reverse direction. For this reason, as shown in Figure 32, the one-sided tablet receiving portion 365a can be switched between a tablet receiving position (see Figure 32(a)) in which the lower side of the tablet introduction space 370 is blocked by the rotating plate portion 384, and a tablet discharge position (see Figure 32(b)). In the tablet discharge position, the lower side of the tablet introduction space 370 is in communication with the space further below. That is, the portion located below the tablet introduction space 370 and connected to the outside serves as an outlet portion for discharging tablets to the outside.

[0185] The one-sided tablet receiving section 365a waits in the tablet receiving position and receives tablets dropping from the tablet container 360 (see FIG. 29, etc.). Then, by shifting to the tablet discharge position with the tablets placed inside the tablet introduction space 370, the tablets are supplied further downward (to the horizontal conveying section 366 and the drop path forming section 367, see FIG. 30). In other words, the tablets are temporarily stored inside the tablet introduction space 370 and then supplied downward. 32(a), when in the tablet receiving position, the rotating plate 384 has a portion that is inclined relative to the horizontal plane and forms an inclined surface that slopes downward toward the front. This portion is located above the tablet outlet and serves as the portion that receives tablets supplied to the one-sided tablet receiving portion 365a. In other words, tablets that fall onto the rotating plate 384 slide down the inclined surface and are collected at the lower side. Of the three tablet introduction spaces 370, tablets introduced into two specified tablet introduction spaces 370a, 370b are supplied to one of the horizontal conveying sections 366 in the middle stage, pushed horizontally, supplied to the drop path forming section 367, and introduced into the tablet extrusion section 368 (secondary conveying section) in the lowest stage. Tablets introduced into the other tablet introduction space 370c fall directly into the drop path forming section 367 without passing through the intermediate horizontal conveying section 366 and are introduced into the lowest tablet pushing section 368 (secondary conveying section). The other-side tablet receiving section 365b has the same basic structure as the one-side tablet receiving section 365a, so a detailed description thereof will be omitted. Note that the tablets introduced into this other-side tablet receiving section 365b are supplied to the other horizontal conveying section 366.

[0186] Next, a description will be given of the intermediate-stage horizontal conveying section 366. Two horizontal conveying sections 366 are arranged linearly in the intermediate stage. The two horizontal conveying sections 366 have the same structure, so only one will be described. As shown in Figure 33, the horizontal conveying section 366 has a structure including a medicine receiving groove section 410 (receiving section), a wheel running section 411, a guide arrangement section 412, and a lower box section 413. More specifically, from the front of the drawing, wheel running section 411, medicine receiving groove section 410, and guide arrangement section 412 are arranged in parallel and integrally formed. Lower box section 413 is disposed below these.

[0187] The drug receiving groove portion 410 is the portion into which tablets that have fallen from the above-mentioned tablet receiving portion 365 are introduced, and is a groove-shaped portion recessed downward, forming a space with an approximately rectangular cross-sectional shape extending in the left-right direction. A tablet discharge outlet 418, which is an opening that communicates the inside and outside, is formed at an end portion located on one longitudinal end side of the medicine receiving groove 410 (the end portion on the near side in Figure 33). The end portion where this tablet discharge outlet 418 is formed is the end portion located on the center side in the left-right direction of the tablet supply device 362 (see Figure 30, etc.). Two horizontal conveying units 366 are arranged linearly in the middle stage, and the tablet discharge outlet 418 is located at the opposing portion of the two horizontal conveying units 366.

[0188] 33, a tablet pushing piece 438 is arranged inside the medicine receiving groove 410. The tablet pushing piece 438 is arranged inside the medicine receiving groove 410 and moves along the longitudinal direction of the medicine receiving groove 410. The mechanism for moving the tablet pushing piece 438 is as shown in Figure 34, and is equipped with a linear guide member 452 composed of a rail member 453 and a slider 454, a belt mechanism 446 driven by a motor 445, and a wheel portion 451. The tablet pushing piece 438 is connected to a slider 454 of the linear guide member 452, and has a degree of freedom only in the linear direction. The tablet pushing piece 438 is also indirectly connected to the belt of the belt mechanism 446 via another member, and moves linearly within the drug receiving groove 410 as the belt runs. The wheel portion 451 supports the load of the tablet pushing piece 438.

[0189] Therefore, by moving the tablet pushing piece 438 inside the medicine receiving groove 410, it is possible to push out the tablet. That is, the tablet extrusion piece 438 is made to wait at one end side of the longitudinal direction of the medicine receiving groove 410, at an end side away from the tablet discharge outlet 418, and a tablet is supplied (dropped) from the above-mentioned tablet receiving portion 365 into the inner space of the medicine receiving groove 410. Thereafter, the tablet pushing piece 438 is moved along the longitudinal direction of the medicine receiving groove 410 to the vicinity of the tablet discharge outlet 418, and the tablet is pushed out from the tablet discharge outlet 418 to the outside.

[0190] The fall path forming part 367 is a part located below one tablet introducing space 370c, as shown in Figures 30 and 35. This fall path forming part 367 is in the shape of a vertical hole, and has a first fall restricting plate 460 (restricting member) and a second fall restricting plate 461 (restricting member, see Figure 35) disposed therein.

[0191] As shown in FIG. 35, the first fall restriction plate 460 is formed by two paired restriction plate pieces 460a, 460b. The upper surfaces of the two regulating plates 460a, 460b are inclined surfaces that slope downward toward the center in the left-right direction. The tablet introduction port 480a of the tablet pushing section 368 is located below the lower ends of the inclined surfaces. That is, where the two regulating plates 460a, 460b are closest to each other, a gap is formed between the two regulating plates 460a, 460b, connecting the upper and lower sides, and the tablet introduction port 480a is located below this gap. The shape of the second fall restriction plate 461 is also substantially the same as the shape of the first fall restriction plate 460 .

[0192] The space adjacent to the upper side of the tablet introduction port 480a is surrounded by the two upright plate-like portions of the drop path forming portion 367 and the two regulating plate pieces 461a and 461b. As shown in Fig. 36, the lowest tablet pushing section 368 is provided with an inlet forming section 470 and an extrusion path forming section 473. Also, as shown in Fig. 36, it is provided with a tablet transport device 474 for transporting tablets supplied inside the extrusion path forming section 473.

[0193] 36, the inlet forming part 470 is a member attached to the upper side of the extrusion path forming part 473, and has a first tablet supply hole 480 that penetrates the interior in the vertical direction. The opening part located above this first tablet supply hole 480 is a part that serves as an inlet (tablet inlet 480a) when tablets are supplied to the tablet extrusion part 368. The extrusion path forming portion 473 has a tablet extrusion path 484 formed therein, which is a space extending in the front-rear direction. This tablet extrusion path 484 has a tablet discharge port 484a, which is an opening that connects the inside and outside, at the front end side. The extrusion path forming section 473 has a tablet transport device 474 built in. 36, the tablet conveying device 474 has a structure including an upper receiving table portion 490 and a conveying body portion 491 located below the upper receiving table portion 490. The conveying body portion 491 moves linearly within the tablet extrusion path 484 by a drive device (not shown). The upper receiving base portion 490 engages with the conveying body portion 491 by an engagement portion not shown, and moves in a straight line following the conveying body portion 491 up to a certain position, but after the certain position the engagement between the two is released, the upper receiving base portion 490 stops at that position, and only the conveying body portion 491 moves. The upper receiving base portion 490 is structured so as to be constantly pressed forward by a power source (not shown), and the conveying body portion 491 is connected to a drive device (conveying body power portion) (not shown).

[0194] The upper receiving platform portion 490 is formed with a tablet drop hole 510, which is a through-hole that penetrates the front side in the vertical direction. The transport body portion 491 is a portion for transporting tablets, and as shown in FIG. 36, a storage hole 520 is formed in a part thereof, penetrating from the top surface to the bottom surface.

[0195] Next, the tablet conveying operation by the tablet pushing unit 368 of this embodiment will be described. The tablet pushing section 368 is capable of performing a first conveying operation for conveying tablets for one dose, and a second conveying operation for conveying tablets for multiple packets each time a dose is supplied. In the first conveying operation, the tablet conveying device 474 waits in a first standby position in which both the upper receiving tray portion 490 and the conveying body portion 491 are positioned on the rear side, as shown in Figure 37(a). In this first standby position, the first tablet supply hole 480, the tablet drop hole 510, and the storage hole 520 form a continuous hole.

[0196] When the tablet conveying device 474 is in the first standby position and a tablet is introduced into the tablet inlet 480a, the tablet falls through the communicating hole and is positioned inside the storage hole 520 at a position above the bottom plate portion of the tablet extrusion path 484. Then, in the first standby position, from a state in which the tablet is stored in the storage position, a motor (not shown) is operated to move the conveying body part 491 forward. At this time, the upper receiving base part 490 also moves forward in accordance with the movement of the conveying body part 491.

[0197] As the upper receiving base 490 and the transport body 491 move forward while maintaining contact, the upper receiving base 490 reaches the frontmost position within its movable range (see FIG. 37(b), etc.). After this, only the transport body 491 moves further forward, and the transport body 491 moves away from the upper receiving base 490 toward the front. Then, as the conveying body section 491 moves forward, the front portion of the conveying body section 491 is positioned further forward than the tablet discharge port section 484a (see Figure 37(c)). At this time, the entire area of ​​the lower opening of the storage hole 520 is positioned forward than the bottom plate portion of the extrusion path forming section 473. As a result, the tablets positioned inside the storage hole 520 fall downward, and the tablets are supplied from the tablet extrusion section 368 to the tablet conveying path 41 (see Figure 3).

[0198] Next, the second transport operation will be described, but detailed descriptions of the same parts as those in the first transport operation described above will be omitted. In the second conveying operation, the tablet conveying device 474 also waits in the first standby position, and starts conveying tablets after the first packet to be supplied is stored inside the storage hole 520. Then, the tablets are conveyed in the same procedure as above, and as shown in Figure 37(b), the upper receiving platform portion 490 moves to the most forward position.

[0199] Then, as described above, the forward movement of the upper receiving portion 490 stops and only the conveying body portion 491 moves forward, but at this time, in the second conveying operation, the second packet of tablets (not shown) to be conveyed next is supplied to the tablet inlet 480a. Specifically, the conveying body 491 moves forward in the same manner as above, and conveys the first packet of tablets that was previously supplied forward. That is, the conveying body 491 moves until the front part of the conveying body 491 is positioned further forward than the tablet discharge port 484a (see FIG. 37(c)), and supplies the first packet of tablets to the tablet conveying path 41 (see FIG. 3). After this, the conveying body part 491 is moved rearward and brought into contact with the upper receiving base part 490 from the front side, so that the conveying body part 491 and the upper receiving base part 490 come into contact with each other again (see Figure 37(b)).

[0200] While conveying body 491 conveys the first packet of tablets, the second packet of tablets supplied to tablet inlet 480a falls onto the rear portion of receiving plate 500, which is part of upper receiving base 490. That is, the second packet of tablets is supplied while conveying body 491 is performing its own conveying operation (the operation of moving only conveying body 491 forward until it comes into contact with upper receiving base 490 again). Then, after conveying body portion 491 comes into contact with upper receiving base portion 490 again, it moves further rearward, causing upper receiving base portion 490, which is pressed rearward by conveying body portion 491, to also move rearward. In other words, conveying body portion 491 and upper receiving base portion 490 move rearward while maintaining their contact state.

[0201] As a result, the receiving plate portion 500 also moves rearward, and the second packet of tablets supplied onto the receiving plate portion 500 falls downward before the tablet conveying device 474 assumes the first waiting position. That is, the second packet of tablets supplied onto the receiving plate 500 at the lower end inside the first tablet supply hole 480 are introduced into the upper opening of the tablet drop hole 510 as the receiving plate 500 moves rearward. Then, the tablets drop downward from the first tablet supply hole 480. Then, in the same procedure as above, the second packet of tablets stored inside the storage hole 520 in the first standby position is transported. When the third packet of tablets or later is to be supplied, that is, when subsequent tablets are to be supplied, they are transported sequentially in the same procedure.

[0202] As described above, the tablets supplied to the one-sided tablet receiving section 365a may be supplied to the tablet pushing section 368 via the horizontal conveying section 366 and the drop path forming section 367, or may be supplied to the tablet pushing section 368 via the drop path forming section 367 without passing through the horizontal conveying section 366. For this reason, when the conveying operation is performed in the tablet extrusion section 368, depending on the prescription, tablets that do not pass through the horizontal conveying section 366 are supplied to the tablet extrusion section 368, and then the conveying operation is performed while waiting until tablets that pass through the horizontal conveying section 366 are supplied to the tablet extrusion section 368. On the other hand, if all the tablets do not pass through the horizontal conveying section 366, after the tablets are supplied to the tablet pushing section 368, such a waiting operation is not performed and a conveying operation is performed.

[0203] In the above embodiment, an example has been shown in which tablets are pushed and conveyed by the tablet pushing piece 438 in the horizontal conveying section 366. However, the primary conveying section of the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the primary conveying section may be provided with a small conveyor device such as a roller conveyor or a belt conveyor, and the tablets may be conveyed by operating this conveyor device. Alternatively, a receiving portion having an inclined surface that slopes toward the outlet side may be formed at the bottom instead of medicine receiving groove 410. A mechanism for vibrating this inclined surface may be further provided, and the tablet that has fallen onto the inclined surface may be moved and transported by the vibration.

[0204] Therefore, the above-mentioned medicine shelf-equipped packaging device is a medicine packaging unit that includes a medicine packaging device that packages and discharges medicine supplied from the outside in single doses, and a medicine shelf device for supplying tablets to the medicine packaging device, wherein the medicine shelf device is capable of holding a plurality of tablet containers and has a tablet conveying device that transports tablets supplied from each tablet container to a predetermined position, and the tablet conveying device has a primary conveying section and a secondary conveying section, wherein the primary conveying section is a section that transports tablets in a direction intersecting the direction from the medicine shelf device side to the medicine packaging device side, and the secondary conveying section transports tablets in a direction from the medicine shelf device side to the medicine packaging device side, and is capable of both transporting tablets by the primary conveying section and then by the secondary conveying section, and transporting tablets by the secondary conveying section without transporting them by the primary conveying section.

[0205] The primary conveying section is equipped with a receiving section that receives the supplied tablets and a tablet pushing piece section, which is movable in the tablet conveying direction in the primary conveying section, and the tablet conveying operation in the primary conveying section is an operation in which the tablet located in the receiving section is pushed and conveyed by the tablet pushing piece section.

[0206] The tablet conveying device further has an introduction section into which tablets supplied from the tablet container are introduced, and after the tablets are supplied to the introduction section, the tablets are temporarily stored inside the introduction section and then discharged to the primary conveying section side or the secondary conveying section side.

[0207] The introduction section has a storage space for temporarily storing the introduced tablets and a movable receiving member, and the storage space has an outlet section for discharging the tablets to the primary conveying section side or the secondary conveying section side, and further, by moving the movable receiving member, the introduction section can switch between a tablet receiving position in which the outlet section is blocked by the movable receiving member and a tablet receiving position in which the outlet section is connected to the outside.

[0208] The movable receiving member has a portion that forms an inclined surface that is inclined relative to the horizontal direction when in the tablet receiving position, and the introduction portion receives the tablet introduced at the inclined surface.

[0209] The tablet conveying device further has a path forming section, which is located downstream in the conveying direction of the introduction section and the primary conveying section and upstream in the conveying direction of the secondary conveying section, and forms a path for supplying tablets supplied from the introduction section or the primary conveying section to the secondary conveying section located below, and a regulating member is formed inside the path forming section to regulate the movement direction of the tablets.

[0210] In the above embodiment, an example has been described in which the medicine pack transport device 13 that transports the medicine pack 14 to the take-out container 15 is provided, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, instead of providing the medicine pack transport device 13, a box-shaped removal container (not shown) may be installed below the discharge port that discharges the medicine pack 14 from the device main body 2 side to the medicine pack transport device 13 side. In this case, wheel members may be provided on the underside of the dispensing container (not shown), so that the dispensing container can be moved by being pushed by the user's hand. Furthermore, a magnetic member formed by a permanent magnet may be attached to the side of the removal container, and the side of this removal container may be brought into close contact with the wall surface of the device main body 2, thereby causing the removal container to be attracted to the device main body 2.

[0211] Furthermore, a suction path extending from the periphery of the scraping cleaning device 43 to a suction device (not shown) is formed in the medicine packaging device 1. Consider the case where a part of this suction path is formed by a resin hose member 575 (see Figures 3(b) and 38(b)). At this time, when the upper lid portion 5 is closed (see FIG. 1), a part of the hose member 575 is located above the powder medicine dividing region 10 (not shown). Specifically, a part of the hose member 575 is disposed at a position above and spaced apart from the distribution dish 20 (not shown).

[0212] For this reason, when powdered medicine is supplied to powdered medicine input groove 20a (see FIG. 2) and the operation of rotating distribution plate 20 (powdered medicine dividing operation) is performed, there is a risk that powdered medicine that has been blown up for some reason may temporarily adhere to hose member 575. If the powdered medicine that has temporarily adhered to hose member 575 falls after a period of time, it may fall onto distribution plate 20 during the dividing operation of another powdered medicine, causing contamination.

[0213] Therefore, as a structure to prevent such contamination, as shown in Figure 38, a powder medicine shielding plate portion 580 may be formed above the distribution plate 20, at a position that is between a part of the hose member 575 and the distribution plate 20 when the upper lid portion 5 is closed. Specifically, this powdered medicine shielding plate portion 580 has a structure including a support frame portion 581 and a shielding plate portion main body 582, and is formed by placing the shielding plate portion main body 582 on a bottom plate portion 581a (described in detail later) of the support frame portion 581.

[0214] The support frame portion 581 is a frame-shaped portion formed to protrude forward from the upright wall portion adjacent to the rear end portion of the powdered medicine dividing area 10, and is a portion whose shape in a plan view is approximately square and annular, and is structured with a bottom plate portion 581a, two side wall portions 581b, and a front wall portion 581c.

[0215] The bottom plate portion 581a is a plate-like portion whose thickness direction is the up-down direction. A through-hole that penetrates the bottom plate portion 581a in the thickness direction and has a substantially rectangular opening is formed in the center of the bottom plate portion 581a. The two side wall portions 581b and the front wall portion 581c are both upright wall portions that protrude upward from the edge portions of the bottom plate portion 581a.

[0216] In this way, by placing powdered medicine shielding plate 580 on frame-shaped support frame 581, the work of attaching and detaching powdered medicine shielding plate 580 becomes easy. Furthermore, since powdered medicine shielding plate 580 is positioned between hose member 575 and distribution plate 20, it is possible to prevent powdered medicine flying up from distribution plate 20 from adhering to hose member 575. Furthermore, even if powdered medicine does adhere to hose member 575 for some reason, shielding plate main body 582 can catch the powdered medicine falling from hose member 575, thereby preventing the powdered medicine from falling onto distribution plate 20.

[0217] Furthermore, the scraping cleaning device 43 (see FIG. 3) of the tablet supply unit 11 is not limited to the structure of the above-described embodiment. For example, a tablet supply unit may be formed in which the scraping cleaning device 43 is unitized and configured to be detachable from the box body. In other words, a tablet supply unit (not shown in its entirety) may be formed that includes a box body portion and a cleaning device unit 590 (see FIG. 39).

[0218] As shown in FIG. 39(a), the cleaning device unit 590 is formed by accommodating each part of the cleaning mechanism main body 131 (see FIG. 9) inside a case member 595. Specifically, case member 595 is roughly divided into a gear storage portion 595a, a brush storage portion 595b, and a connecting cylinder portion 595c, which are integrally formed in a box shape.

[0219] The gear storage section 595a is a section that stores part of the motor 137 and two gears (see Figure 9) consisting of the motor connecting gear 138 and the gear section 140, and the two gears are stored in a state where they can rotate in conjunction with each other.

[0220] Brush storage section 595b is a section that stores rotary brush body 141, and rotary brush body 141 is stored in a rotatable state. The shaft portion of rotary brush body 141, which is connected to gear section 140, is inserted into upright partition section 596 located at the boundary between gear storage section 595a and brush storage section 595b. In other words, partition section 596 has a through-hole formed therein that allows this shaft portion to be inserted therethrough.

[0221] Connecting cylinder portion 595c has a structure that allows connection to an external cylindrical member such as a hose, and the internal space of connecting cylinder portion 595c is in communication with the internal space of brush storage portion 595b. In other words, brush storage portion 595b has suction opening portion 597 (see FIG. 39(b)) formed in part of its inner circumferential surface that is continuous with the internal space of connecting cylinder portion 595c.

[0222] Here, as shown in Figure 39(a), the brush storage section 595b has a structure including the above-mentioned partition section 596, an outer standing wall section 598 having a standing wall shape that faces and separates from the partition section 596 in the axial direction of the rotating brush body 141, and a peripheral wall section 600.

[0223] 39(b), peripheral wall portion 600 is a wall-like portion partitioned into upper wall portion 600a, vertical wall portion 600b, and lower wall portion 600c, which are arranged in this order along the circumferential direction of cylindrical rotating brush body 141.

[0224] The upper wall portion 600a is a portion that extends in an arched shape at a position away from the main body portion of the rotary brush body 141. That is, the front end portion (the right side in FIG. 39(b)) curves downward as it moves forward, and further, the rear end portion (the left side in FIG. 39(b)) curves downward as it moves rearward.

[0225] The standing wall portion 600b is continuous with the rear end portion of the upper wall portion 600a and extends in the vertical direction.

[0226] The lower wall portion 600c is continuous with the lower end portion of the upright wall portion 600b and integrally comprises a plate-like portion that slopes downward from the rear side toward the front side, and a flat plate-like portion that extends forward in the front-to-rear direction. The front end portion of the lower wall portion 600c is formed with a folded portion 605 that is folded upward. The folded portion 605 is a wall-like portion that protrudes upward and extends in the axial direction of the main body of the rotary brush body 141.

[0227] An opening portion is formed in the front portion of brush storage portion 595b, between the front end portion of upper wall portion 600a and the front end portion of lower wall portion 600c, which serves as the boundary between the outside of brush storage portion 595b and the internal space.

[0228] Here, the front portion of the upper wall portion 600a and the front portion of the lower wall portion 600c of the peripheral wall portion 600 are formed so that the distance from the inner circumferential surface to the main body portion of the rotating brush body 141 is greater than that of the majority of the peripheral wall portion 600 located on the rear side. In other words, when the rotating brush body 141 is rotated, the inner peripheral surface (inner side surface) of the standing wall portion 600b comes into contact with the brush bristles (tufts of bristles), whereas in the front portions of the upper wall portion 600a and the lower wall portion 600c, the inner peripheral surface of the peripheral wall portion 600 does not come into contact with the brush bristles.

[0229] 39(b), in a plan view with the axial direction of the main body of the rotary brush body 141 as the line of sight, the brush bristles of the rotary brush body 141 are positioned within the range of an imaginary circle S1 having a radius L1 and a center at the center position of the main body in the radial direction. Note that L1 is the length from the center position of the main body in the radial direction to the protruding end of the longest brush bristles.

[0230] Here, the distance from the center position in the radial direction of the main body of the rotary brush body 141 to the inner circumferential surface of the circumferential wall portion 600 varies at different parts of the circumferential wall portion 600. That is, in both the upper wall portion 600a and the lower wall portion 600c, the distance from the center position to the inner circumferential surface is longer than L1. In addition, in the standing wall portion 600b, the distance from the center position to the inner circumferential surface (inner side surface) of the standing wall portion 600b is shorter than L1.

[0231] For this reason, when the rotating brush body 141 is rotated in a direction in which the brush bristles approach from above toward the front side (clockwise rotation in Figure 39(b)), the brush bristles do not come into contact with the front part of the lower wall portion 600c, but move so as to graze the rear part of the lower wall portion 600c. Next, the brush bristles move while contacting the upright wall portion 600b. At this time, the brush bristles are pressed against the upright wall portion 600b, and the brush bristles move upward with the tip end peripheral portion bent. In other words, the tip end portions of the brush bristles rub against the upright wall portion 600b. Then, the brush bristles move forward without coming into contact with the inner circumferential surface of the upper wall portion 600a.

[0232] This makes it possible to remove powdered medicine adhering to the brush bristles when rotating the rotating brush body 141 for cleaning operation, etc. In other words, by moving the brush bristles while bringing them into contact with the inner wall portion (standing wall portion 600b) of the brush storage portion 595b and simultaneously performing a suction operation, the powdered medicine can be dropped from the brush bristles and sucked up.

[0233] Furthermore, as described above, since the folded portion 605 is formed on the lower wall portion 600c, even if the powdered medicine that has fallen from the brush bristles cannot be sucked in and falls downward, the powdered medicine can be prevented from falling downward from the upper surface of the lower wall portion 600c. In other words, the powdered medicine that moves downward due to its own weight can be prevented from falling from the lower wall portion 600c.

[0234] As described above, a medicine introduction port 25 for supplying medicine is formed in the portion between the two distribution trays 20 of the powder medicine dividing area 10 (see FIG. 2). This medicine introduction port 25 is formed by attaching an introduction hopper to the mounting plate portion 10a. Here, the introduction hopper may be a hopper member 630 shown in FIG. 40(a).

[0235] Hopper member 630 is a member shaped like a powder funnel, and like the introduction hopper shown in Fig. 2, the opening area of ​​the introduction-side opening located on the upper side is larger than the opening area of ​​the discharge-side opening located on the lower side (see Figs. 2 and 40). Between the introduction-side opening and the discharge-side opening, there is a space that narrows toward the bottom, and is surrounded by a peripheral wall, so that the introduced powdered medicine flows along the inner circumferential surface of the peripheral wall and reaches the discharge-side opening.

[0236] Here, looking at the back side of hopper member 630, powdered medicine passing hole 633 that is connected to the discharge side opening is formed in the bottom part of hopper member 630. Then, a surface that is flat and wide is formed around the lower opening of powdered medicine passing hole 633 (upper side in Figure 40(a)).

[0237] Specifically, mounting projection 635, at least the lower portion of which has an outline of a substantially square pillar, is formed on the lower portion of hopper member 630. The lower end portion of mounting projection 635 is configured to be able to fit into powdered medicine inlet 636. The lower opening of powdered medicine passing hole 633 is located in and around the center portion of the bottom surface of mounting protrusion 635. In other words, the flat plate portion is located between the outer side surface of mounting protrusion 635, which contacts the inner peripheral surface of powdered medicine inlet 636, and the lower opening of powdered medicine passing hole 633.

[0238] As a result, when powdered medicine is poured into the hopper member 630, even if the powdered medicine that falls downward through the powdered medicine passage hole 633 gets airborne for some reason, it can be made to fall by coming into contact with the bottom surface of the mounting protrusion 635, as shown by the arrow in Figure 40(b). That is, unlike a structure in which a gap is formed between the side wall portion of mounting protrusion 635 and the peripheral portion of powdered medicine passing hole 633, the powdered medicine does not get caught in the gap and can reliably drop downward. Note that mounting protrusion 635 may not be sized to be insertable (fitted) inside powdered medicine inlet 636, but may have a width (thickness) that prevents insertion into powdered medicine inlet 636. That is, the sum of the area of ​​the bottom surface of mounting protrusion 635 and the opening area of ​​the lower opening of powdered medicine passing hole 633 (the area of ​​the portion surrounded by the outer periphery at the bottom) may be formed to be larger than the opening area of ​​powdered medicine inlet 636. In this case, the peripheral portion of powdered medicine inlet 636 may be abutted against the bottom surface of mounting protrusion 635b, thereby connecting powdered medicine passing hole 633 and powdered medicine inlet 636.

[0239] In the above embodiment, the lock piece forming portion 276c (see FIG. 25) is a flat plate that protrudes in an oblique direction, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 41, a lock forming piece 650 may be formed by bending the portion on the protruding end side so as to fold back.

[0240] The lock forming piece 650 is formed so that its length in the protruding direction is longer than that of the lock forming piece 276c, and is curved toward the upstream side (the left side in FIG. 41(b)) of the fixed plate 276a. As a result, the upper end portion of the lock forming piece 650 extends obliquely upward (in the overall protruding direction of the lock forming piece 650), then extends toward the upstream side, and further extends slightly obliquely downward.

[0241] Therefore, the lock-forming piece 650 has a curved surface that extends upward and then downward from a position adjacent to the upper side of the hook-piece insertion hole 283 or from a position close to and slightly spaced above the hook-piece insertion hole 283. This curved surface is formed at the upper end of the lock-forming piece 650 and is a surface that curves so as to be convex diagonally upward.

[0242] Here, when the lock mechanism 272 is set to the locked state, as described above, the latch-piece forming portion 292 is brought close to and covers the lock-forming piece 650 from above, and the upper portion of the lock-forming piece 650 is stored inside the member storage space 313. Then, the latch protrusion 315 is inserted into the latch-piece insertion hole 283 to engage them. In this case, with the structure of the lock piece forming portion 276c described above, even though the hook protrusion 315 is not inserted into the hook piece insertion hole 283, the user may mistakenly believe that the hook protrusion 315 has been inserted, and may perform the packaging operation in a state where the hooks are not engaged.

[0243] Therefore, in this embodiment, the lock forming piece portion 650 is shaped as described above, and when the hooking protrusion 315 is not inserted into the hooking piece insertion hole 283, the state in which the upper periphery of the lock forming piece portion 650 is inserted into the component storage space 313 is not maintained (is difficult to maintain). That is, when the hook-forming portion 292 covers the lock-forming piece 650 and the hook protrusion 315 is positioned above the hook-forming piece insertion hole 283 without being inserted into the hook-forming piece insertion hole 283, the hook protrusion 315 comes into contact with the curved surface formed on the upper side of the lock-forming piece 650. Then, the hook protrusion 315 slides along the curved surface, and then, as shown in FIG. 41(b), rests on the upstream portion of the curved surface. This allows the user to immediately determine, when visually inspecting from above, that the hook protrusion 315 and the hook-forming piece insertion hole 283 are not engaged.

[0244] Incidentally, the above-mentioned packaging device with medicine shelf 351 has a structure in which a control device (not shown) such as a board is built into both or one of tablet cassette shelf 350 and medicine packaging device 1. This makes it possible to build a drug provision support system by enabling external devices (mobile phones, PCs (personal computers), tablet PCs, other dispensing equipment) and the built-in control device to send and receive data (signals) via a communication network. The above-mentioned control device and the above-mentioned devices such as mobile phones, PCs, and tablet PCs are structured to include a calculation means consisting of a processing unit such as a CPU, and an information storage means consisting of a storage medium such as a memory or a hard disk, and further include a signal transmission / reception means consisting of an interface circuit or the like for transmitting and receiving data (signals) to and from the outside.

[0245] For this reason, for example, when prescription data is input into an external PC, prescription data (hereinafter simply referred to as prescription data) to be used by the packaging device with medicine shelf 351 may be created, and the packaging device with medicine shelf 351 may be operated based on this prescription data.

[0246] Furthermore, this prescription data may be created by a user of the packaging device with medicine shelf 351, such as a pharmacist, directly inputting data relating to the prescription into the packaging device with medicine shelf 351.

[0247] The prescription data may also include information about the patient to whom the drug is to be provided, information identifying the prescribed drug, information about the date the drug was provided, information about the number of days the drug is to be taken, and information about the timing of taking the drug, or may be information formed by associating these pieces of information. Furthermore, the above-mentioned information about the patient may include data such as a patient ID, a patient name written in kanji or kana characters, a date of birth, an address, and a telephone number. The information specifying the prescribed drug may include data such as the drug ID, drug name, information specifying the tablet container 360 in which the drug is stored (such as the cassette No. or container ID), administration start date (dispensing date), number of days of administration, dosage (amount used), number of packets provided, etc. It may also include data specifying the source of the drug (such as the name of the institution, facility, or department, e.g., the name of the medical institution or department). Furthermore, the prescription may include information specifying whether or not packaging operation has already been performed by packaging device 351 with medicine shelf based on the prescription. The information regarding the timing of administration is information specifying whether the provided medicine should be taken in the morning, afternoon, or evening.

[0248] Note that the storage means of the medicine shelf-equipped packaging device 351 or an external device may store information regarding the inventory amount (capacity of tablets) of each tablet container 360 that can be held in the container attachment part 361. That is, the inventory amount may be calculated based on the prescription data and stored each time a packaging operation is performed.

[0249] As described above, when the packaging device with medicine shelf 351 supplies tablets from the tablet cassette shelf 350 to the medicine packaging device 1, the packaging device supplies tablets from inside the tablet container 360 held by the container mounting part 361 to the tablet supply device 362 located below it (see Figure 29).Then, the tablets are transported inside the tablet supply device 362 and supplied to the medicine packaging device 1 from the tablet extrusion path 484 of the tablet supply device 362 (see Figure 29).

[0250] At this time, in the tablet supply device 362, as described above, the tablet dropping from above is introduced into the tablet receiving section 365 located at the bottom (see Figure 30). Then, depending on the tablet introduction position, the tablet is supplied to the tablet pushing section 368 via a different conveying path. In other words, when a tablet is introduced near the center in the left-right direction, the tablet is supplied to the tablet pushing section 368 via the drop path forming section 367. On the other hand, when a tablet is introduced to a position closer to either of the left-right ends, the tablet is supplied to the tablet pushing section 368 via the inside of one of the two left and right horizontal conveying sections 366 and the drop path forming section 367.

[0251] More specifically, as shown in Fig. 29, the tablet containers 360 are stored in a matrix in the upper part of the container attachment part 361. In detail, eleven rows of tablet containers 360 are formed, each row consisting of six tablet containers 360 lined up in the vertical direction, and these rows of tablet containers 360 are arranged side by side in the left-right direction.

[0252] 42, eleven tablet drop paths 660 (tablet supply paths) corresponding to the rows of the tablet containers 360 are formed on the back surface side of the container attachment part 361. That is, the same number of tablet drop paths 660 as the number of rows of the tablet containers 360 are formed. Each tablet drop path 660 is surrounded by a peripheral wall and forms a space extending in the vertical direction, and corresponds to a different row of tablet containers 360. Each tablet drop path 660 forms a path along which tablets supplied from one or more tablet containers 360 belonging to the corresponding row of tablet containers 360 drop.

[0253] To explain in detail, for example, the column of tablet containers 360 located at the rightmost position (see Figure 29) corresponds to the tablet drop path 660k located at the rightmost position (the leftmost position in Figure 42). Tablets supplied from the tablet containers 360 belonging to this rightmost column are supplied to the tablet supply device 362 via the tablet drop path 660k located at the rightmost position, regardless of which tablet container 360 they are supplied from. Similarly, the column of tablet containers 360 located second from the right corresponds to the tablet drop path 660j located second from the right, and so on, with one-to-one correspondence between the respective columns.

[0254] The tablet drop paths 660b and 660j located at both ends in the left and right direction are provided with drop restriction sections 662 that restrict the movement direction of the tablets dropping inside. The fall restricting portion 662 is a plate-like member attached in an inclined position, and its upper surface is an inclined surface that slopes downward from the end side toward the center in the left-right direction. The upper end portion of the upper surface of the fall restricting portion 662 is located closer to the end side in the left-right direction. In other words, the fall restricting portion 662 is the internal space of the tablet fall paths 660b, 660j or a space located below (the space located below in Figure 42), and extends diagonally across the space through which the tablets fall. As a result, when a tablet that has fallen along the tablet fall paths 660b, 660j falls onto the fall restriction portion 662, its movement direction is changed and it falls at a position closer to the center in the left-right direction.

[0255] The tablets introduced into the tablet supply device 362 via the tablet drop path 660f located in the center are then supplied to the tablet pushing section 368 (not shown in FIG. 42) via the drop path forming section 367. On the other hand, tablets introduced into the tablet supply device 362 via one of the multiple tablet drop paths 660 (tablet drop paths 660a to 660e) located on one side of the central tablet drop path 660f in the left-right direction are introduced into one of the horizontal conveying sections 366. Furthermore, tablets introduced into the tablet supply device 362 via any of the multiple tablet drop paths 660 (tablet drop paths 660g to tablet drop paths 660k) located on the other side in the left-right direction from the central tablet drop path 660f are introduced into the other horizontal conveying section 366.

[0256] As described above, inside the horizontal conveying section 366, the tablet that has fallen into any position in the medicine receiving groove section 410 is pressed by the tablet pushing piece 438 (see FIG. 33). In other words, by moving the tablet pushing piece 438 from the end side in the left-right direction to the center, each tablet that has fallen into different positions in the left-right direction is pressed toward the drop path forming section 367.

[0257] When performing this pressing operation, the tablet extrusion piece 438 waits at a position further towards the left-right end than the drop position of the tablet supplied from the tablet drop path 660 (tablet drop path 660a or tablet drop path 660k) located at the end closest to the left-right end. Specifically, in the horizontal conveying section 366 located at one end of the left-right direction (right side in Figure 42), the reference waiting position is set to a position further to the left-right end than the drop position of the tablets supplied from the tablet drop path 660a located at the extreme left-right end. Then, after the tablet is dropped while the tablet pushing piece 438 is waiting at the standard waiting position, the tablet pushing piece 438 can be moved toward the center in the left-right direction to press the tablet. As for the horizontal conveying section 366 located at the other end in the left-right direction (the left side in Figure 42), the basic structure is the same as that of the horizontal conveying section 366 located at this one end, so duplicate detailed explanations will be omitted.

[0258] Here, in the packaging device with medicine shelf 351 (tablet cassette shelf 350) of this embodiment, by operating based on prescription data as described above, it is possible to make the tablet pushing piece 438 wait at a position different from the reference waiting position, and then press the tablets. This operation will be described in detail below.

[0259] When the operation of supplying tablets to the medicine packaging device 1 is started, the packaging device with medicine shelf 351 of this embodiment performs a container specifying operation of specifying the tablet container 360 that stores the tablets to be supplied. That is, the tablet container 360 storing the tablets to be supplied from the plurality of tablet containers 360 arranged in parallel in a matrix is ​​identified based on the prescription data and the data stored in the RFID tag attached to each tablet container 360. Furthermore, the position of the container mounting part 361 where the tablet container 360 storing the tablets to be supplied is located is identified.

[0260] In this embodiment, information for identifying the contained medicine (medicine name, type, etc.) is stored in the RFID tag attached to each tablet container 360. Then, the control device of the packaging device with medicine shelf 351 refers to the information on this RFID tag, thereby making it possible to identify which tablets are contained in each tablet container 360 housed in the container attachment part 361. Here, the information stored in the RFID may be referenced by the control device before the start of the container identification operation and stored in the storage means of the control device. In this case, the container identification operation may be performed based on the prescription data and the data stored in the control device. Furthermore, when creating prescription data, the information stored in the RFID may be referenced to associate the prescribed tablets (tablet names, etc.) with information identifying the tablet container 360 in which these tablets are stored, and prescription data including both may be created. In this case, the container identification operation may be performed by referring to only the prescription data.

[0261] Furthermore, based on the result of the container specifying operation, the tablet drop path 660 to be used when supplying tablets to the tablet supply device 362 is specified, and further, whether or not to use the horizontal conveying section 366 is specified. That is, whether or not to use the horizontal conveying section 366, and if to use it, which horizontal conveying section 366 to use is specified. That is, whether to use both of the two horizontal conveying sections 366, or if only one, which horizontal conveying section 366 to use is specified.

[0262] Furthermore, when the horizontal conveying section 366 is used, the tablet drop path 660 located at the end side in the left-right direction is also identified among the tablet drop paths 660 that supply tablets to the horizontal conveying section 366 to be used. In other words, the tablet drop path 660 located at the most upstream side in the movement direction of the tablet pushing piece 438 is identified. More specifically, for example, in the horizontal conveying section 366 located on the right side of Fig. 42, the right end side is the upstream side and the left end side is the downstream side in the movement direction of the pushing operation of the tablet pushing piece section 438. In other words, the tablet drop path 660a located on the most upstream side is the tablet drop path 660 located on the most end side in the left-right direction. Conversely, in the other horizontal conveying section 366 located on the left side of Figure 42, the left end side is the upstream side in the movement direction of the tablet pushing piece section 438, and the right end side is the downstream side. In other words, the tablet drop path 660k located on the most upstream side is the tablet drop path 660 located on the most end side in the left-right direction. In other words, the movement directions of the tablet pushing piece section 438 in the pushing operation are opposite on both sides of the drop path forming section 367, and the side of the drop path forming section 367 from which the tablet is pushed out is the downstream side in the movement direction.

[0263] Then, a standby position determining operation is carried out to determine the standby position of the tablet pushing piece portion 438 based on the above-mentioned identification result. For example, as shown in Figure 42(a), if tablets are supplied to the horizontal conveying section 366 from the tablet drop path 660a located at the end most in the left-right direction, the reference standby position becomes the standby position of the tablet pushing piece section 438.

[0264] In contrast, as shown in Figure 42(b), if tablets are not supplied from the tablet drop path 660a located at the end most in the left-right direction, but are supplied from tablet drop paths 660c, 660e located further towards the center in the left-right direction, the waiting position of the tablet extrusion piece 438 is changed. That is, the tablet drop path 660c located at the end side in the left-right direction (upstream side in the movement direction of the tablet pushing piece section 438) is specified among the tablet drop paths 660 through which tablets to be supplied to the horizontal conveying section 366 pass. Then, a position that is closer to the end side in the left-right direction than the specified tablet drop path 660c and closer to the center in the left-right direction than the reference standby position becomes the standby position (changed standby position) of the tablet pushing piece section 438. That is, it is determined whether or not a tablet is being supplied from the tablet drop path 660a located at the end furthest to the left and right, and based on the result of the determination, an operation is performed to determine the standby position of the tablet pushing piece 438. Then, after the tablet pushing piece 438 is made to wait at the determined standby position, an operation is performed to push and move the tablet.

[0265] Here, in the operation of determining the standby position, a plurality of modified standby positions may be set. For example, the change standby position may be a position slightly closer to the left-right end than each of the tablet drop paths 660b to 660e. In this case, when the most left-right end of the tablet drop paths 660 through which tablets to be supplied to the horizontal conveying section 366 pass is defined as the most upstream flow path, the change standby position is a position slightly closer to the left-right end than the most upstream flow path. In other words, when the tablet drop path 660e located most centrally in the left-right direction is the most upstream flow path, the change standby position is a position slightly closer to the left-right end than this tablet drop path 660e. Similarly, when the tablet drop path 660d located second from the center in the left-right direction is the most upstream flow path, the change standby position is a position slightly closer to the left-right end than this tablet drop path 660d, and the same applies to the third and subsequent tablet drop paths.

[0266] In contrast, only one change standby position may be set. For example, the modified standby position may be a position closer to the end in the left-right direction than the specific tablet drop path 660c. In this case, when the most upstream flow path is the specific tablet drop path 660c or when the most upstream flow path is a tablet drop path 660 (tablet drop paths 660d, 660e) located closer to the center in the left-right direction than the specific tablet drop path 660c, the tablet pushing piece section 438 waits at the modified standby position. On the other hand, when the most upstream flow path is a tablet drop path 660 (tablet drop paths 660a, 660b) located closer to the end in the left-right direction than the tablet drop path 660c, the tablet pushing piece section 438 waits at the standard standby position.

[0267] In this way, only one change standby position may be set, or multiple change standby positions may be set. That is, when a tablet falls between the reference standby position and the change standby position located at the end furthest from the reference standby position in the left-right direction, the rear tablet pushing piece 438 may be made to wait at the reference standby position. Also, when a tablet falls downstream of a specific change standby position, the tablet pushing piece 438 may be made to wait at the change standby position located furthest downstream of the change standby positions located upstream of the tablet drop position. Furthermore, in the above example, the example in which the fall regulating portion 662 is provided on the tablet fall paths 660b and 660j has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the fall regulating portion 662 may be provided on the other tablet fall paths 660 as appropriate. That is, the fall regulating portion 662 may be provided on any of the tablet fall paths 660, or none of the tablet fall paths 660 may be provided with a fall regulating portion 662. The change standby position may be a position upstream of the vicinity of the lowest end of the fall regulating portion 662. The tablet receiving portion 365 may be defined based on the position where the fall regulating portion 662 is provided. That is, the positions at which the connecting member arranging portion 371 and the partition member 372 are formed may be positions shifted in the left-right direction from a position vertically above the fall regulating portion 662.

[0268] Furthermore, the tablet transport operation accompanied by the standby position determination operation may be performed based on information relating to the dosage timing in the prescription data. For example, when the medicines prescribed for a specific patient are packaged in order into medicines to be taken in the morning, midday, and evening using the packaging device with medicine shelf 351, a tablet transport operation accompanied by a standby position determination operation may be performed for each packaging operation. That is, a tablet transport operation accompanied by a standby position determination operation may be performed every time a packaging operation for packaging tablets is performed.

[0269] Conversely, when a packaging operation is performed for each prescription prescribed to multiple patients, such as packaging medication prescribed to one patient and then packaging medication prescribed to another patient, the waiting position determination operation may be performed only once for the operation targeting one prescription. That is, when multiple packaging operations are performed, such as when medications to be taken in the morning, afternoon, and evening are packaged separately in an operation for one prescription, the operation of identifying the most upstream flow path described above is performed for all tablets to be packaged in the multiple packaging operations. Then, the standby position of the tablet pushing piece 438 is determined based on the identified most upstream flow path. Then, when packaging operations are performed sequentially, the standby position of the tablet pushing piece 438 before the pushing operation in each operation can be set to the same determined position. In other words, the standby position determination operation may be performed for multiple packaging operations, and multiple tablet transport operations may be performed based on the results of the standby position determination operation performed in advance.

[0270] As described above, the tablet pushing section 368 is configured to move the tablet conveying device 474 in a straight line while the tablet is placed inside the storage hole 520, thereby conveying the tablet (see Figure 36). Here, when the tablet conveying device 474 is moved forward (to the right in Fig. 36) to convey the tablets toward the medicine packaging device 1, it is preferable to move the tablet conveying device 474 at a high speed and then at a low speed. That is, in order to reliably stop the tablet conveying device 474 at a specified position, it is preferable to set the speed of the tablet conveying device 474 after a predetermined time has elapsed since the start of movement (the speed of the tablet conveying device 474 that has moved a predetermined distance) to be slower than at the start of movement.

[0271] Furthermore, it is preferable to send a temporary stop signal to the drive device (motor, etc.) that drives the tablet transport device 474. Specifically, when the tablet conveying device 474 is moved forward, an operation is performed to temporarily stop the drive device during movement. At this time, the tablet conveying device 474 continues to move due to inertia, so an operation is performed to drive the drive device again at a lower output (so that the tablet conveying device 474 moves at a slower speed) before the tablet conveying device 474 completely stops. This makes it possible for the tablet conveying device 474 to reach a deceleration state more quickly than when an operation is performed to simply reduce the output of the drive device while the tablet conveying device 474 is moving.

[0272] As described above, the packaging device with medicine shelf 351 is capable of supplying a maximum of 66 types of tablets from the tablet containers 360 to the medicine packaging device 1. The container mounting section 361 has a plurality of individual installation sections, each of which is a section for holding (storing) one tablet container 360. In other words, the number of individual installation sections is the same as the number of tablet containers 360 that can be held (66).

[0273] In a pharmacy or the like where the medicine-shelf-equipped packaging device 351 is operated, the tablets provided to patients may vary greatly from day to day or for specific periods. For this reason, from the viewpoint of efficiently operating the medicine-shelf-equipped packaging device 351, it is preferable to appropriately change the tablet containers 360 held in the container attachment part 361. Therefore, in the packaging device with medicine shelf 351 of this embodiment, the recommended cassette screen 670 (recommended container presentation screen) shown in Figure 43 is displayed on the operation display unit 3, making it possible for the user to easily replace the tablet containers 360.

[0274] 43, the recommended cassette screen 670 is a screen that displays an installation status display section 675, a planned tablet display section 676, a target data change section 677, a data adjustment button 678, a list display change button 679, and an end button 680. In other words, it is a screen that displays each of these sections and buttons in a visually visible state at the same time.

[0275] On this recommended cassette screen 670, tablets that are likely to be the subject of packaging within a specified period (described in detail below), which is set by inputting in advance or is automatically set, are displayed in a list in a scheduled tablet display area 676. In detail, for each tablet, information identifying the tablet (tablet name, drug name) and information about the tablet (described in detail below) are displayed in a list as a single piece of related information (one line of data). At this time, the scheduled tablet display area 676 displays a list of tablets in the same number (66 in this embodiment) as the number of tablet containers 360 that can be held in the container attachment portion 361. Furthermore, of the listed tablets, those that are not contained in the tablet containers 360 currently held in the container attachment portion 361 are displayed in a highlighted manner (for example, drug 10 in FIG. 43). In this embodiment, the highlighting is performed by displaying the background in a color different from the other colors.

[0276] At the same time, the installation status display section 675 displays a diagram that schematically shows the current status of the container mounting section 361. This diagram visually displays a plurality of individual installation sections of the container mounting section 361, and shows the overall positional relationship of each individual installation section. That is, it is a diagram showing the individual installation sections that are arranged in a matrix in the container mounting section 361, and rectangular frames that indicate each individual installation section are arranged in a matrix. Furthermore, a number (uniquely assigned number) for identifying the attached tablet container 360 is written within each frame.

[0277] When each individual installation section satisfies a specific condition, the portion corresponding to the individual installation section that satisfies this condition is highlighted in the diagram displayed in the installation status display section 675. Specifically, when the individual installation section is in a replaceable state, an unattached state, or a low quantity state, it is highlighted in a different color.

[0278] To explain each condition, a "replaceable state" means that a tablet container 360 containing tablets that are not listed in the planned tablet display section 676 is attached to the individual installation section in question. Moreover, the "unattached state" refers to a state in which the tablet container 360 is not attached to the individual installation portion in question. Furthermore, a "low quantity state" means that although a tablet container 360 containing the tablets listed in the planned tablet display section 676 is attached to the individual installation section in question, it is predicted that there will be a shortage of tablets in the future. Specifically, this is a state in which the inventory of tablets stored in the attached tablet container 360 is lower than the amount to be used in the packaging operation predicted to be performed during the specified period mentioned above.

[0279] From the above, the user can easily understand which tablet container 360 should be attached to which individual installation section and which tablets should be pre-loaded, simply by comparing the installation status display section 675 and the planned tablet display section 676.

[0280] Here, the packaging device with medicine shelf 351 of this embodiment performs the above-mentioned display operations in the installation status display unit 675 and the planned tablet display unit 676, and therefore performs a usage tablet prediction operation to identify tablets that are likely to be subject to packaging operations within a specified period. This operation of predicting the tablets to be used will be explained in detail below, along with an explanation of the various buttons.

[0281] The operation of predicting tablets to be used can be broadly divided into data that has been packaged in the past (hereinafter also referred to as packaged data) and data for which the packaging operation has not yet been carried out at the time of displaying the recommended cassette screen 670 (hereinafter also referred to as unpackaged data). In other words, the operation can be carried out on either packaged data or unpackaged data of the prescription data. By operating each button in the target data change section 677, it is possible to change the data that is the target of the tablet use prediction operation.

[0282] Specifically, by pressing the Do data button 677a, one of the two paired buttons, the tablet usage prediction operation is performed using the packaged data as the target. Then, the above-mentioned display operation (hereinafter also referred to as the comparison screen display operation) is performed in the installation status display section 675 and the planned tablet display section 676. On the other hand, by pressing the other button, the packing monitor button 677b, a tablet to be used prediction operation is performed using the unpackaged data as the target, and a comparison screen display operation is performed.

[0283] Furthermore, the data targeted by the tablet usage prediction operation can be narrowed down based on the issuer of the prescription (institution, facility, department, etc., hereinafter simply referred to as the provider) by operating the provider specification button 677c to specify an institution, etc., for either packaged data or unpackaged data.

[0284] In the tablet use prediction operation, when packaged data is the target, an expected date specification operation that specifies the date when tablets are expected to be prescribed to the patient (hereinafter also referred to as the expected date) is performed in advance for all patients, and then an operation is performed to specify patients whose expected date falls within a specified period. Then, based on data linked to the specified patients, tablets that are likely to be subject to packaging within the specified period are specified. When unpackaged data is the target, the expected date specification operation is not performed, and tablets that are subject to packaging and are included in the unpackaged data are specified.

[0285] In the expected date specification operation, the date on which the prescribed tablets will run out from the patient's hands is calculated for each patient based on the administration start date and information on the number of administration days for the tablets prescribed to each patient. That is, the date on which the tablets will run out from the patient's hands is calculated by adding the number of administration days to the administration start date. The expected date is then set to the same day as the date on which the prescribed tablets will run out from the patient's hands or the day obtained by subtracting a predetermined period from this day (for example, the day before the date on which they will run out).

[0286] Then, patients whose expected date falls within the specified period are extracted, and data on the tablets to be provided to each extracted patient on the expected date is obtained. More specifically, the type of tablet, dosage, and number of tablets in packets are obtained or calculated. When targeting packaged data, it is assumed that tablets previously prescribed to each patient will be provided again on the expected date. From this, tablets that are likely to undergo packaging operations during the specified period are identified.

[0287] Then, based on the results of this tablet use prediction operation, the above-mentioned comparison screen display operation is performed. That is, based on the acquired information or values ​​calculated from the acquired information, the comparison screen display operation is performed. In the comparison screen display operation, when the list is displayed in the planned tablet display section 676, in addition to the drug name (medicine name), the cassette No., the number of appearances, the amount used, and the amount in stock are also displayed.

[0288] The "cassette No." is a number assigned to each tablet container 360 that stores tablets and that uniquely identifies the tablet container 360. The "number of appearances" is the number of times that the packaging operation including each tablet is carried out when all tablets provided within the specified period for the extracted data are packaged. "Amount used" is the total amount provided for each tablet within the specified period for the extracted data. "Stock quantity" is the quantity of each tablet currently contained in tablet container 360.

[0289] At this time, it is possible to switch the display of the scheduled tablet display section 676 by pressing the list display change button 679. That is, each time the list display change button 679 is pressed, it is possible to switch between a normal display state and a state in which only highlighted items are displayed.

[0290] Furthermore, on the recommended cassette screen 670, by operating the data adjustment button 678, it is possible to display a screen for changing the specified period described above and adjusting the target data used in the tablet usage prediction operation. In this embodiment, the data adjustment buttons 678 displayed include a change to current day button 678a and a change to estimated date button 678b.

[0291] When the change button 678a for the current day is pressed, the data adjustment screen 700 (see FIG. 44) is displayed. As shown in FIG. 44, the data adjustment screen 700 is a screen on which a period display section 701, a data display section 702, a carryover button 703, a date change button 704, a delete button 705, and a back button 706 are displayed.

[0292] The period display section 701 is a section that displays an automatically set designated period. The designated period displayed here is the designated period used in the above-mentioned tablet use prediction operation and comparison screen display operation.

[0293] The data display section 702 is a section that displays a list of target data for each patient used in the above-mentioned tablet use prediction operation. That is, information that identifies one patient (patient name) and information about this patient (dispensing date, estimated date, etc.) are displayed as a list as one piece of related information (one line of data, also called patient-based data). The data displayed in the data display section 702 is the data that meets the conditions designated in the target data change section 677 when the data adjustment button 678 (see FIG. 43) is pressed.

[0294] The carry-over button 703 is displayed both inside and outside the data display section 702, and in the data display section 702, it is displayed as one item of data for each patient. Then, pressing the carryover button 703 displayed in the data display section 702 changes the items related to the estimated date of the patient-based data including the carryover button 703. The same is true when one or more patient-based data are specified in the data display section 702 (checkboxes are checked) and the carryover button 703 displayed outside the data display section 702 is pressed. Specifically, the value of the estimated date belonging to the patient-based data is automatically changed so that it is after the last day of the specified period displayed in the period display section 701 (in this embodiment, the day after the last day).

[0295] The date change button 704 is a button for changing the value of the estimated date, similar to the carryover button 703.

[0296] Delete buttons 705 are also displayed inside and outside the data display section 702, respectively. This button is used to delete patient-based data, and pressing the delete button 705 displayed in the data display area 702 deletes the patient-based data including the delete button 705. Note that the same effect occurs when the delete button 705 displayed outside the data display area 702 is pressed while one or more patient-based data are specified in the data display area 702.

[0297] The back button 706 is a button that ends the display of the data adjustment screen 700 and displays the recommended cassette screen 670. When this back button 706 is pressed, the operation on the data adjustment screen 700 is reflected, and the operation of predicting the tablets to be used and the operation of displaying the comparison screen are performed.

[0298] The screen that is displayed by pressing the estimated date change button 678b (see Figure 43) is similar to the data adjustment screen 700, except that the specified period can be manually entered in the section corresponding to the period display section 701 (see Figure 44), so a detailed explanation will be omitted. Note that the data adjustment button 678 may display only one button instead of the two buttons, the change current day target button 678a and the change estimated date button 678b. In this case, a screen that allows manual input of the designated period may be displayed in the period display section 701 of the data adjustment screen 700. In this case, the displayed screen may initially display the automatically set designated period, and the designated period may be changed by user operation.

[0299] In the above example, each screen is displayed on the operation display unit 3, but each of the above screens may also be displayed on a display device such as a liquid crystal display that does not have a position input device such as an external display device. When displayed on a so-called touch panel such as the operation display unit 3, the user touches the button portion with an operating tool such as a finger or a touch pen, thereby performing the operation of pressing the button. On the other hand, when displayed on a display device such as a liquid crystal display that does not have a position input device, a structure may be used in which a cursor pointer that moves in response to the operation of a known input device (such as a mouse) is also displayed. In other words, a structure may be used in which the cursor pointer is aligned with the button portion on the screen, and the button is pressed by pressing a predetermined button on the input device. The same applies to the button portion displayed on the display device described below.

[0300] As described above, powdered medicine supply device 21 of medicine packaging device 1 is configured to include supply trough 270 and a vibrating device (see FIG. 28). Supply trough 270 vibrates when the vibrating device is operated. Incidentally, when the supply trough 270 is not vibrating during the packaging operation, for example, when the distribution plate 20 is rotating after the vibration of the supply trough 270 has stopped, there may be cases where the user wants to vibrate the supply trough 270. That is, if for some reason a small amount of powdered medicine remains on the supply trough 270 and the user finds it, there may be a situation where the user wants to manually drop the powdered medicine onto the distribution plate 20.

[0301] For this reason, a button section may be further displayed on any of the screens (input screen, operation screen, setting screen, etc.) displayed on the operation display unit 3 or the display device (display, etc.) of the external computer, and the vibration device may be operated by operating this button section, causing the supply trough 270 to vibrate. Furthermore, this button section may be operable only during the packaging operation from the time when the vibration of the supply trough 270 stops until the rotation of the distribution tray 20 stops. In other words, the vibration device may be operated by operating the button section only when it is operable, and when it is inoperable, the button section cannot be operated, or the vibration device may not respond to operation of the button section. Furthermore, the operable time may be set as appropriate, and for example, the button may be operable as appropriate even in situations other than those described above, such as before a cleaning operation.

[0302] 7, a nozzle-side magnet member 800 is attached to a portion of the outer circumferential surface of the base-end side cylinder portion 106 of the tip nozzle portion 98. This nozzle-side magnet member 800 is a member formed by a known permanent magnet. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 6, two magnetic sensors 801 are attached to the support member 101 that supports the tip nozzle portion 98. The two magnetic sensors 801 are attached at positions 180 degrees apart in the circumferential direction of the base-end side tubular portion 106, and the base-end side tubular portion 106 rotates in the space between the two magnetic sensors 801.

[0303] When the tip nozzle portion 98 is in the standby position (the position shown in Figure 6(a)) or the cleaning position (the position shown in Figure 6(b)), one of the magnetic sensors 801 and the nozzle side magnet member 800 are positioned so as to overlap radially of the base end side tube portion 106. Here, the tip nozzle part 98 may be removed and reattached after cleaning, etc. In the medicine packaging device 1 of this embodiment, when the device is attached in a position different from the position set by the user as the specified position (a standby position or a cleaning position, which is the cleaning position in this embodiment), a position adjustment operation is possible to automatically shift the device to the specified position.

[0304] More specifically, if the tip nozzle part 98 is not attached in the specified position, the nozzle-side magnet member 800 is attached at a position shifted in the circumferential direction of the base-end cylinder part 106 compared to when the tip nozzle part 98 is attached in the specified position. From this state, the tip nozzle part 98 is moved to the specified position by rotating the tip nozzle part 98 until the one magnetic sensor 801 and the nozzle-side magnet member 800 overlap in the radial direction of the base-end cylinder part 106. This attitude adjustment operation may be performed on the condition that the upper cover 5 has transitioned to a closed state after the tip nozzle part 98 has been attached. Furthermore, the specified attitude in this attitude adjustment operation is not limited to the above-mentioned attitude and may be changed as appropriate.

[0305] The medicine packaging device 1 of this embodiment is capable of performing various cleaning operations for cleaning the above-mentioned distribution tray 20. That is, it is possible to perform a distribution tray cleaning operation that includes at least one of the above-mentioned cleaning operations for cleaning the distribution tray 20. Furthermore, the medicine packaging device 1 is capable of performing various cleaning operations for cleaning the scraping device 22. That is, it is possible to perform a screw cleaning operation that includes at least one of the cleaning operations for cleaning the scraping device 22. In addition, the medicine packaging device 1 of this embodiment is capable of performing a path cleaning operation for cleaning the powder medicine introduction path.

[0306] Here, the powdered medicine introduction path to be cleaned by the path cleaning operation is a path that guides the powdered medicine scraped out by scraping device 22 to the packaging device (an internal device that packages tablets or powdered medicine one packet at a time). Specifically, the path cleaning operation targets at least a portion of this powdered medicine introduction path. That is, the cleaning target may be at least one of the introduction hopper (introduction hopper or hopper member 630 in FIG. 2) that forms medicine introduction port 25 and the member (cylindrical member) that forms powdered medicine introduction port 636. The path cleaning operation may include applying vibrations to the introduction hopper using a vibration member (not shown) disposed in proximity to the introduction hopper, and may also include operating the suction device to suck up any remaining powdered medicine adhering to the powdered medicine introduction path.

[0307] Here, in the medicine packaging device 1 of this embodiment, after the packaging operation is performed, a cleaning operation is performed to clean the distribution tray 20 used in the packaging operation, the scraping device 22 associated with this distribution tray 20, and the powdered medicine introduction path. In other words, a continuous cleaning operation is possible in which the screw cleaning operation, path cleaning operation, and distribution tray cleaning operation are performed in sequence.

[0308] Furthermore, in the medicine packaging device 1 of this embodiment, when packaging operations are performed consecutively, the order of the screw cleaning operation, the path cleaning operation, and the distribution tray cleaning operation can be changed as needed to perform these consecutive cleaning operations. These operations will be described in detail with reference to Figure 45.

[0309] First, when a preceding packaging operation is performed, a determination operation is performed to determine whether or not prescription data for the next packaging operation to be performed has been input before the start of the continuous cleaning operation to be performed after the end of this packaging operation (Step 1). Specifically, it is determined whether or not this prescription data has been input before the start of the screw cleaning operation (operation to clean the scraping device 22), which is the first to be performed in the continuous cleaning operation.

[0310] If no prescription data is entered (No in Step 1), the execution order is not changed (Step 5), and the cleaning operations are performed in the usual order of screw cleaning, path cleaning, and distribution plate cleaning (Step 6).

[0311] On the other hand, if prescription data is input (Yes in Step 1), a discrimination operation is performed to determine whether the previously performed packaging operation is a packaging operation that uses only one of the distribution trays 20 (Step 2).

[0312] Then, if a packaging operation using only one of the distribution trays 20 is performed (Yes in Step 2), it is determined whether the subsequent packaging operation will use either one of the distribution trays 20 in succession (Step 3).

[0313] In other words, if a packaging operation using only one of the distribution trays 20 is performed first, and then a packaging operation using only the same distribution tray 20 is performed (if Yes in Step 2 and Yes in Step 3), the order in which the cleaning operations are performed is changed (Step 4). On the other hand, if a packaging operation using only one of the distribution trays 20 is performed and then a packaging operation using only the other distribution tray 20 is performed (Yes in Step 2 and No in Step 3), the order in which the operations are performed is not changed (Step 5).

[0314] That is, when one of the distribution trays 20 is used continuously, the execution order of the cleaning operations is changed so that the distribution tray 20 is cleaned first so that the subsequent packaging operation can quickly supply powdered medicine to the distribution tray 20 (Step 4). Specifically, the execution order is changed so that the screw cleaning operation, distribution tray cleaning operation, and path cleaning operation are in that order (Step 4), and the cleaning operations are performed (Step 6). On the other hand, when one distribution tray 20 and the other distribution tray 20 are used sequentially, it is preferable to first clean the powder medicine introduction path that will also be used in the subsequent packaging operation, so the cleaning operation is performed without changing the order in which it is performed (Step 5) (Step 6).

[0315] Furthermore, if the previously performed packaging operation is a packaging operation that uses both distribution trays 20 (No in Step 2), the order in which the cleaning operations are performed is also changed (Step 4) and the cleaning operation is performed (Step 6). In either case, the cleaning operation is carried out as described above, thereby cleaning the scraping device 22, distribution tray 20, and powdered medicine introduction path used in the preceding packaging operation.

[0316] Furthermore, the medicine packaging device 1 of this embodiment is capable of automatically rotating the supply device lid 21b of the powder medicine supply device 21 (see FIG. 28). That is, the supply device lid 21b can be automatically rotated by a drive mechanism such as a motor (not shown). Here, as shown in FIG. 23, the hopper 261 is placed on (attached to) the supply device lid 21b. Therefore, by rotating the supply device lid 21b, the size of the gap (see FIG. 28, etc.) formed between the underside of the hopper 261 and the supply trough 270 can be adjusted. That is, the medicine packaging device 1 of this embodiment is capable of a gap adjustment operation that adjusts the flow rate of the powder medicine passing through the gap by adjusting the size of the gap formed between the hopper 261 and the supply trough 270 (hopper opening / closing level).

[0317] This gap adjustment operation may be an operation executed by operating the operation panel 7. That is, the operation panel 7 may be further provided with an area (not shown) that functions as an operation button (hereinafter also simply referred to as an operation button), and this area may be used as a hopper open / close level change button, and the gap adjustment operation may be executed by pressing this button. The speed change section 255 and the hopper open / close level change button may be displayed so as to be switched by pressing a new operation button provided on the operation panel 7 or any part of the operation panel 7. In other words, it may be possible to switch between a state in which one of these buttons is displayed and the other is not, and a state in which one button is not displayed and the other is displayed.

[0318] 28, powdered medicine supply device 21 of this embodiment has piezoelectric element 805 attached to mounting base forming plate portion 271a via an attachment member. That is, supply device main body portion 21a has a structure including piezoelectric element 805 that vibrates when a voltage is applied, and by vibrating piezoelectric element 805, supply trough 270 can be vibrated. Furthermore, a lid-side vibrating member 806 is attached inside the supply device lid portion 21b. In this embodiment, a known solenoid is used as the lid-side vibrating member 806, and the movable iron core of this solenoid repeatedly strikes the inside of the supply device lid portion 21b, thereby vibrating the hopper 261. That is, in the medicine packaging device 1 of this embodiment, by operating the piezoelectric element 805 and the lid-side vibrating member 806, it is possible to perform the vibration operation of the supply device, which vibrates the supply trough 270 and the hopper 261.

[0319] The vibration operation of the supply device may be an operation executed by operating the operation panel 7. That is, a vibration operation button (not shown) that is a new operation button may be provided on the operation panel 7, and the vibration operation of the supply device may be executed by pressing the button when the powdered medicine supply device 21 (supply trough 270 and hopper 261) is not vibrating.

[0320] Furthermore, the various cleaning operations described above may be performed by operating the operation panel 7. That is, one or more new operation buttons (not shown) may be provided on the operation panel 7, and these may be designated as a cleaning button or first to Nth cleaning buttons, and a corresponding cleaning operation may be performed by pressing one of these buttons.

[0321] Furthermore, the operation panel 7 of the above-described embodiment is provided with a first button 807 and a second button 808 that respectively indicate the two distribution trays 20. Here, the first button 807 and the second button 808 may be configured to execute one of a plurality of specified actions when pressed.

[0322] For example, the configuration may be such that, while powder medicine is being supplied to one of the distribution trays 20 associated with the first button 807, the first button 807 is pressed (pressed for a time shorter than a predetermined time) to perform the gap adjustment operation of the powder medicine supply device 21 associated with this distribution tray 20. Similarly, the configuration may be such that, while powder medicine is being supplied to this distribution tray 20, the first button 807 is pressed (pressed and held) for a predetermined time or longer to perform the above-described supply device vibration operation in the powder medicine supply device 21 associated with this distribution tray 20. Furthermore, the configuration may be such that, while a packaging operation using one of the distribution trays 20 associated with the first button 807 is not being performed, one or more of the cleaning operations specified above may be performed. In other words, various cleaning operations may be performed to clean one of the distribution trays 20 associated with the first button 807 or the equipment associated with this distribution tray 20. In other words, depending on the circumstances and time when the first button 807 is pressed, various operations may be performed on the associated distribution tray 20 and / or the device associated with this distribution tray 20. The same applies to the second button 808, and therefore a redundant explanation will be omitted. [Explanation of symbols]

[0323] 1; medicine packaging device, 3; operation display unit (display device), 13; medicine pack conveying device (conveying device), 14; medicine pack, 20; distribution tray, 20a; powder medicine input groove (annular groove), 21; powder medicine supply device, 21a; supply device main body, 22; scraping device, 23, 145; under-tray cleaning device (lower side cleaning device), 24; above-tray cleaning device (upper side cleaning device), 31; scraping plate, 43; scraping cleaning device, 53; non-storage area, 98; tip nozzle portion, 100; nozzle rotation device (rotating mechanism part), 109; stopper plate part, 109a; spatula-shaped part, 110; suction port forming plate part, 126; suction port part, 130; disk insertion hole (plate insertion hole), 141; rotating brush main body (rotating body), 146; anti-scattering plate, 147; powder receiving tray member, 148; receiving space, 160; primary conveying part, 161; secondary conveying part, 165; first conveying conveyor (conveyor part), 166; second conveying conveyor (conveyor part), 167; pressure roller part, 18 0; first pressure roller (pressure roller), 181; second pressure roller (pressure roller), 182; third pressure roller (pressure roller), 210; main body member (main body portion), 211; cover member (cover portion), 215; main body side clamping portion (clamping portion), 218; vertical conveying belt member (belt member), 220; cover side clamping portion (clamping portion), 220a; roller member (clamping roller), 225; motor (power generating means), 270; supply trough (trough trough member), 272; locking mechanism portion (first trough side engaging portion), 276b; hooking piece portion (second trough side engaging portion, hooking piece), 283; hooking piece insertion hole (first trough side engaging portion), 284; hooking hole (second main body side engaging portion, receiving portion), 290; attachment piece forming portion (second component), 291; intermediate connecting portion (connecting body), 292; hooking piece forming portion (first component), 302; spring member (elastic member), 313; component storage space (storage space), 315; hooking protrusion

Claims

1. A medicine dispensing and packaging device comprising two powder medicine supply devices, two distribution trays, two scraping devices, one introduction hopper, and a control device, Each of the two powdered medicine supply devices supplies powdered medicine to each of the two distribution trays; Each of the two scraping devices scrapes out the powder medicine supplied to each of the two distribution trays, and The one introduction hopper is included in a powder introduction path, which is a path for supplying the scraped powdered medicine to a packaging operation, the control device performs the packaging operation, and cleaning operations including a screw cleaning operation for cleaning the scraping device, a distribution tray cleaning operation for cleaning the distribution tray, and a path cleaning operation for cleaning the introduction hopper; The cleaning operation is When the preceding and succeeding packaging operations are performed sequentially using only one of the two distribution trays, In the subsequent packing operation, powdered medicine can be quickly supplied to the one distribution tray also used in the subsequent packing operation, the screw cleaning operation for cleaning the scraping device associated with the one of the distribution trays used in the preceding packaging operation; a distribution tray cleaning operation for cleaning the one distribution tray; The path cleaning operation is performed in the order of cleaning the powdered medicine introduction path used in the preceding packaging operation and the powdered medicine introduction path used in the subsequent packaging operation, When the one and the other dispensing trays constituting the two dispensing trays are used sequentially, and the preceding packing operation is performed using the one dispensing tray and the following packing operation is performed using the other dispensing tray, In order to first clean the powdered medicine introduction path that will also be used in the subsequent packaging operation, a screw cleaning operation for each of the two distribution trays, the screw cleaning operation being for cleaning the scraping device associated with one of the distribution trays used in the preceding packaging operation; the path cleaning operation of cleaning the powdered medicine introduction path used in the preceding packaging operation and to be used in the subsequent packaging operation; The cleaning operation for cleaning one of the two dish plates is performed in the order of the cleaning operation for cleaning the other dish. Drug packaging device.

2. The drug packaging device of claim 1, wherein when the packaging operation for the first formula and the packaging operation for the second formula are performed consecutively using only one of the two distribution trays, the cleaning operation is performed after the packaging operation for the first formula and before the packaging operation for the second formula.

3. Further comprising a suction device; 3. The medicine dispensing and packaging device according to claim 1, wherein each of the screw cleaning operation, the distribution tray cleaning operation, and the path cleaning operation includes suction by the suction device.

4. The suction device has a switching valve, The medicine dispensing and packaging device according to claim 3, wherein the suction for each of the screw cleaning operation, the distribution tray cleaning operation, and the path cleaning operation is switched and performed by the selector valve.

Images