Medicine packaging equipment

Abstract

To provide a medicine packaging apparatus that implements high work efficiency.SOLUTION: A medicine packaging apparatus 1 includes: a plurality of medicine containers 20, inside each of which medicine is filled; a distribution tray 30; and a plurality of container placing means 32, where the plurality of medicine containers 20 includes two or more medicine containers 20 filled with the same type of medicine. When a scheduled amount of use of medicine of a predetermined type to be used in folding operation exceeds a dischargeable amount of medicine of one medicine container 20 storing medicine of the predetermined type, the medicine packaging apparatus executes first multiple discharge operation of making each of two or more medicine containers 20 discharge medicine of the predetermined type. Prior to the first multiple discharge operation, first discharge amount assignment operation of determining a discharge amount of medicine from each of the two or more medicine containers 20 is executed.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a medicine packaging device for packaging medicines such as tablets and powder medicines. [Background technology]

[0002] There is known a medicine packaging device that packages medicines such as tablets or powder medicines into individual doses based on a prescription. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses such a medicine packaging device (medicine dispensing device).

[0003] The medicine packaging device disclosed in Patent Document 1 is provided with a container storage unit that holds multiple medicine containers (automatic medicine containers) within a housing. The operation of packaging medicines one dose at a time is capable of fully automatic packaging operation and manual packaging operation. In the fully automatic packaging operation, the medicine containers stored in the container storage unit are moved to the container holder, and the medicine containers are placed on the container holder to form a medicine feeder, which then supplies the medicine to the distribution tray. After this, the medicine is supplied dose by dose from the distribution tray to the packaging device, which then packages the supplied medicine. At this time, the operations of moving the medicine containers from the container storage unit to the container holder and placing them on the container holder, and supplying a specified amount of medicine from the medicine container to the distribution tray (weighing the medicine) are performed automatically. In other words, the fully automatic packaging operation involves selecting the medicine container, weighing the medicine to be used (measuring the amount to be supplied), and packaging the medicine into individual doses, all completely automatically.

[0004] In the manual packaging operation, a user manually weighs the medicines in advance and fills a specified amount (the amount to be ultimately supplied to the distribution tray) into a medicine container (manual medicine container).The user then manually places the medicine container on a container holder to form a medicine feeder.As described above, the medicines are supplied from the medicine feeder to the distribution tray, and then the medicines are supplied one dose at a time from the distribution tray to the packaging device, which then packages the supplied medicines.In other words, in the manual packaging operation, an operator manually weighs the medicines to be used, transports the medicine containers to the container holder, and places the medicine containers on the container holder. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2016-202909 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] However, conventional medicine packaging devices have room for improvement in terms of quickly performing packaging operations and increasing work efficiency.

[0007] Therefore, the present invention (Related invention) The object of the present invention is to provide a medicine packaging device with high work efficiency. Furthermore, the above-mentioned conventional medicine packaging device has room for improvement in terms of preventing human errors by users. An object of the present invention is to provide a medicine packaging device that can prevent human error by a user. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] One aspect to solve the above problem (Related invention) a drug packaging device having a plurality of drug containers each filled with a drug, a distribution tray, and a plurality of container mounting means, the container mounting means being located near the distribution tray and capable of mounting the drug containers and acting on the mounted drug containers to discharge the drug, the plurality of drug containers including two or more drug containers filled with the same type of drug, the device being capable of performing a packaging operation in which a predetermined type of drug is discharged from the drug containers and the discharged drug is packaged into individual packets, and when the planned amount of the predetermined type of drug to be used in the packaging operation exceeds the drug dischargeable amount of one of the drug containers containing the predetermined type of drug, the device performs a first multiple discharging operation in which the predetermined type of drug is discharged from each of the two or more drug containers, and prior to the first multiple discharging operation, a first discharge allocation operation is performed in which the amount of drug to be discharged from each of the two or more drug containers is determined.

[0009] According to this aspect, when the packaging operation cannot be performed using only the drugs contained in one drug container, it is possible to improve the drug discharge (supply) speed, and the packaging operation can be sped up, thereby improving the work efficiency of work using the drug packaging device.

[0010] In the above aspect, it is preferable that the first multiple discharging operation is an operation of simultaneously discharging medicines from the plurality of medicine containers.

[0011] According to this preferable aspect, the drug discharge (supply) rate can be further improved.

[0012] In the above aspect, it is preferable that the dischargeable amount is an amount obtained by subtracting a predetermined set amount from the amount of medicine stored in one of the medicine containers before the medicine is discharged.

[0013] According to this preferable aspect, it is possible to prevent (suppress) the occurrence of discharge errors when discharging (supplying) the medicine.

[0014] In the above aspect, it is preferable that in the first discharge allocation operation, the dischargeable amount is the amount of drug discharged from one of the drug containers whose dischargeable amount is less than the planned usage amount, and the total amount of drug discharged from one or more other drug containers is the planned usage amount minus the dischargeable amount.

[0015] According to this preferred aspect, it is possible to improve the drug discharge (supply) speed while using up the drug in one drug container. By using up the drug in one drug container, it is possible to quickly fill the drug in that drug container, thereby improving overall work efficiency.

[0016] In the above aspect, it is preferable that the first discharge amount allocation operation is an operation for determining a discharge amount of the drug from each of the two drug containers.

[0017] The above-mentioned aspect involves executing a second multiple discharging operation to discharge the specified type of drug from each of the two or more drug containers when the planned amount of the drug to be used in the packaging operation is equal to or exceeds a specified amount, and it is preferable that prior to the second multiple discharging operation, a second discharge allocation operation is executed to determine the amount of drug discharged from each of the two or more drug containers, and that in the second discharge allocation operation, the amount of drug discharged from each of the two or more drug containers is set to the same or approximately the same amount.

[0018] The above-mentioned preferred aspect is further preferably such that, when the dischargeable amount of drug in one of the drug containers is less than the drug discharge amount of one of the drug containers determined in the second discharge allocation operation, the dischargeable amount of drug in one of the drug containers is set to the dischargeable amount, and the total of the drug discharge amounts of one or more of the other drug containers is set to the planned usage amount minus the dischargeable amount.

[0019] According to these preferable aspects, when a large amount of medicine needs to be supplied from the medicine container, it is possible to improve the discharge (supply) speed of the medicine.

[0020] In the above-described aspect, it is preferable that the amount of medicine to be used in the packaging operation is determined to be large or small, and if it is determined that the amount of medicine is large, the medicine is discharged while maintaining the vibration amount even if it is detected that the medicine has been discharged from the medicine container, and if it is determined that the amount of medicine is small, the vibration amount is reduced and the medicine is discharged, provided that it is detected that the medicine has been discharged from the medicine container.

[0021] According to this preferable aspect, it is possible to improve the drug discharge speed and discharge accuracy throughout the entire dispensing process.

[0022] However, the above-mentioned conventional medicine packaging device has room for improvement in terms of preventing human errors by users.

[0023] Therefore, one aspect of a related invention of the present invention is a drug packaging device that has a distribution tray and multiple container mounting means, the container mounting means being located near the distribution tray and acting on the placed drug container to discharge the drug, each of the multiple container mounting means having an alarm member, and is capable of performing a manual packaging operation using a manual drug container into which a pre-weighed amount of drug has been introduced, at least one of the multiple container mounting means serving as a manual container mounting means on which the manual drug container is mounted when performing the manual packaging operation, and if a malfunction occurs in the manual container mounting means, an operation is performed to use another of the container mounting means as an alternative manual container mounting means, and an alarm operation is performed to alert that the alternative manual container mounting means will be the mounting location for the manual drug container.

[0024] According to the medicine packaging device of this aspect, it is possible to suppress (prevent) the occurrence of human error during manual packaging operations.

[0025] In the above aspect, it is preferable that in the notification operation, the notification member of the alternative manual container placement means performs an operation different from that of the notification members of the other container placement means.

[0026] In the above aspect, it is preferable that one of the notification elements has one or more lamps, and the notification action is an action of causing one or more of the notification elements to perform a light-emitting action in a predetermined lighting pattern. In the above-mentioned aspect, it is preferable that a confirmation operation is performed to check whether the manual drug container is correctly placed on the container placement means, and the placement location notification operation is terminated on the condition that the confirmation operation determines that the manual drug container is correctly placed. In the above aspect, it is preferable that the operation of the alternative manual container placing means is automatically performed when a malfunction is detected in the original manual container placing device. In the above aspect, it is preferable that the operation of the alternative manual container placing means is performed by a user performing a predetermined operation. In the above aspect, it is preferable that it is possible to specify in advance which container mounting device is to be used as the alternative manual mounting device.

[0027] However, conventional medicine packaging devices have room for improvement in terms of quickly performing packaging operations and increasing work efficiency.

[0028] Therefore, one aspect of a related invention of the present invention is a drug packaging device having a drug container filled with drug, a distribution tray, and a container mounting means, wherein the drug container has a drug storage section for storing drug and a drug discharge section forming a drug discharge outlet, the container mounting means is located near the distribution tray and is capable of placing the drug container and acts on the placed drug container to discharge the drug, the drug container has an air supply hole formed in it to supply air to the drug storage section, the air supply hole being located in a position different from the drug discharge outlet and being formed in a position that is above the drug container when the drug container is placed on the container mounting means.

[0029] According to this aspect, powdered medicine with small powder size can be smoothly discharged, and the supply speed of powdered medicine can be improved.

[0030] In the above aspect, it is preferable that the drug container is a cylindrical member having a length in a predetermined direction, and the air supply hole is formed in a side wall portion.

[0031] The above aspect preferably has a closing member that can open and close the air supply hole.

[0032] The preferred aspect described above is that the drug container is stored in a vertical position and placed on the container placing means in a horizontal position, and it is more preferable that by changing the position from the vertical position to the horizontal position, the blocking member transitions from a state in which the air supply hole is closed to a state in which the air supply hole is open.

[0033] The preferred aspect described above is that the device has a lid member that can open and close the drug outlet, and more preferably, when the lid member opens the drug outlet, the blocking member opens the air supply hole, and when the lid member closes the drug outlet, the blocking member blocks the air supply hole.

[0034] Another aspect of the above-mentioned related invention is a drug feeder comprising a drug container capable of storing a drug contained therein, and a container mounting means combined with the drug container, wherein the drug container has a drug storage section for storing the drug and a drug discharge section forming a drug discharge outlet, the container mounting means acts on the drug container when mounted to discharge the drug, and the drug container is formed with an air supply hole for supplying air to the drug storage section, the air supply hole being located in a position different from the drug discharge outlet and being formed in a position that is above the drug container when the drug container is mounted on the container mounting means.

[0035] Another aspect of the above-mentioned related invention is a drug container capable of containing a drug inside, which has a drug storage section that contains the drug and a drug discharge section that forms an outlet for the drug, and which has an air supply hole formed at a position different from the drug discharge outlet that supplies air to the drug storage section.

[0036] The above-mentioned aspect preferably has a cover member that can open and close the drug outlet and a blocking member that blocks the air supply hole, and by keeping the drug outlet closed and blocking the air supply hole, the drug storage section is sealed.

[0037] However, conventional medicine packaging devices have room for improvement in terms of improving the durability of the members used in the cleaning operation.

[0038] Therefore, one aspect of a related invention of the present invention is a drug packaging device capable of packaging drugs introduced into an introduction hopper as one packet of drugs, the drug packaging device having a hopper closing member that closes the opening portion of the introduction hopper, and a suction means having a suction port within the introduction hopper, the hopper closing member having a lid main body portion and a plate member provided on the back side of the lid main body portion, and when the hopper closing member is brought close to the opening portion, the suction means performs a suction operation, causing the plate member to change position and close the opening portion.

[0039] According to this aspect, the hopper closing member can be manufactured with a simple structure, and the durability of the hopper closing member can be improved, thereby improving the durability of the member for cleaning operation.

[0040] In the above aspect, it is preferable that the plate member is attached to the lid main body portion in a cantilevered manner, and the suction action draws the free end side of the plate member in a direction approaching the hopper closing member.

[0041] The above-mentioned aspect makes it possible to perform a hopper cleaning operation to clean the introduction hopper, and it is preferable that during the hopper cleaning operation, the hopper blocking member blocks the opening portion and the suction means creates a negative pressure inside the introduction hopper, thereby sucking up any residual medicine inside the introduction hopper.

[0042] In the above aspect, it is preferable that the plate member has a portion that does not overlap with either the lid main body portion or the opening portion in the close proximity state.

[0043] In the above aspect, it is preferable that the base end side portion and the free end side portion of the plate member are positioned so as not to overlap with the opening portion in the proximity state.

[0044] Conventional drug packaging devices are sometimes operated with a sealing member attached to the scraping device. However, if the user forgets to attach this sealing member or if the sealing member deteriorates over time, the drug packaging device may not operate properly. In other words, conventional drug packaging devices have room for improvement in terms of preventing (suppressing) malfunctions caused by accessories not being properly attached to the internal device.

[0045] Therefore, one aspect of a related invention of the present invention is a drug packaging device that includes a distribution tray that is provided with a ring-shaped drug insertion groove and rotated by power, and a scraping device, wherein the scraping device includes a scraping arm that moves up and down at its tip, and a scraping mechanism provided at the tip of the scraping arm, and is capable of a scraping action that scrapes and collects powdered medicine inserted into the distribution tray, and a scraping action that scrapes the powdered medicine collected by the scraping action out of the drug insertion groove, and a sealing member is attached to the scraping mechanism, and prior to a series of operations consisting of the scraping action and the scraping action, the drug packaging device performs a seal discrimination operation that determines whether the sealing member is properly attached.

[0046] According to this aspect, it is possible to prevent (suppress) the occurrence of problems caused by the seal member not being properly attached.

[0047] In the above aspect, it is preferable that the seal discrimination operation executes a first discrimination operation to discriminate whether the seal member is attached or not, and if it is determined as a result of the first discrimination operation that the seal member is attached, executes a second discrimination operation to detect whether the seal member is worn or not.

[0048] In the above-mentioned aspect, it is preferable that the scraping operation comprises a scraping mechanism lowering operation that moves the scraping mechanism downward and an operation that moves the scraping plate and the distribution tray relative to each other, and that the first discrimination operation is an operation that accompanies the scraping mechanism lowering operation.

[0049] In the above-mentioned aspect, the scraping mechanism has a scraping plate and a scraping plate, the scraping plate is located outside one main surface of the scraping plate and is formed integrally with the scraping plate, the scraping operation is a scraping plate rotation operation that rotates the scraping plate while keeping the scraping plate in contact with the drug injection groove so that the scraping plate moves in a direction transverse to the circumferential direction of the groove-shaped portion, and the second discrimination operation is preferably an operation that accompanies the scraping plate rotation operation.

[0050] In the above aspect, it is preferable that the scraping mechanism has a scraping plate, the sealing member is detachable from the scraping plate, and when attached to the scraping plate, extends along the edge portion of the scraping plate.

[0051] However, conventional medicine packaging devices have room for improvement in terms of facilitating the replacement of consumables.

[0052] Therefore, one aspect of a related invention of the present invention is a drug packaging device that has a medicine packaging paper holding means for attaching a sheet roll formed by rolling up packaging paper into a roll, and a packaging paper detection means that can detect when the starting end portion of the sheet roll has passed a predetermined point, wherein the medicine packaging paper holding means has a shaft that rotates together with the core of the sheet roll, and when the packaging paper detection means detects that the starting end portion of the sheet roll has passed a predetermined point, a braking operation is performed that applies a load to the shaft to prevent the sheet roll from rotating in the unwinding direction.

[0053] According to this aspect, the sheet roll installation (replacement) can be facilitated.

[0054] In the above aspect, it is preferable that the packet paper detection means is capable of detecting whether or not there is a remaining amount of the sheet roll.

[0055] In the above aspect, the braking operation is preferably performed by a motor brake mechanism having a small motor, and the braking force can be varied in the braking operation.

[0056] However, conventional medicine packaging devices have room for improvement in terms of facilitating user operations when the medicine packaging device is used together with another host control device or dispensing equipment.

[0057] Therefore, one aspect of a related invention of the present invention is a dispensing support system that has a plurality of drug packaging means that can produce drug packages in which one packet of drug is packaged based on prescription data, and further has an information reading means, wherein the information reading means executes an information reading operation so that one of the drug packaging means can acquire the read information, and wherein, on the condition that production of drug packaging has been discontinued at a drug packaging means other than the one drug packaging means, an output operation can be executed to output cancellation-related information, which is information regarding the discontinuation of production of drug packaging, and the output operation outputs the cancellation-related information in a state that can be read by the information reading means.

[0058] According to this aspect, when one medicine packaging means is to package medicines that have been discontinued by another medicine packaging means, the operation can be facilitated.

[0059] In the above aspect, the output operation preferably outputs the cancellation-related information to a medium that can be carried by the user.

[0060] In the above aspect, it is preferable that the discontinuation-related information is information that identifies a prescription corresponding to a drug that was to be included in the drug package whose production has been discontinued.

[0061] In the above aspect, at least one of the medicine packaging means is an automatic powder medicine dispensing and packaging device, and at least another is a manual powder medicine dispensing and packaging means constituted by a separate medicine weighing device and powder medicine dispensing machine, and the automatic powder medicine dispensing and packaging machine has a container storage section for storing a plurality of medicine containers containing powder medicine, a distribution tray, and a packaging device therein, and discharges powder medicine from the medicine containers stored in the container storage section while weighing it, and puts the discharged powder medicine directly or temporarily into another container and then puts it from the other container into the distribution tray. It is preferable that the operation of feeding powder medicine packets one by one from the distribution tray into the packaging device and individually packaging them can be automatically performed, the drug weighing device weighs the target drug, the powder medicine packaging machine packages and discharges the weighed powder medicine packets one by one, and the output operation is an operation that is performed on the condition that the automatic powder medicine packaging machine has stopped producing drug packages, and the drug weighing device obtains the stoppage-related information by reading the stoppage-related information with the information reading means.

[0062] In the above aspect, it is preferable that the output operation is an operation of printing and outputting a code indicating the cancellation-related information on a paper medium. [Effects of the Invention]

[0063] The present invention can provide a medicine packaging device with high work efficiency. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0064] [Figure 1] 1 is a perspective view showing a medicine packaging device according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the medicine packaging device of FIG. 1, with the housing shown in perspective. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the divided regions of FIG. 2. [Figure 4] FIG. 3(a) is a perspective view showing the scraping device of FIG. 2, and FIG. 3(b) is an enlarged perspective view showing the periphery of the scraping mechanism of FIG. [Figure 5] 3 is a perspective view showing a state in which a medicine container is placed on the container placing device of FIG. 2 to form a medicine feeder. FIG. [Figure 6] 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an enlarged view of a part of the medicine divided region of FIG. 2. FIG. [Figure 7] FIG. 6(a) is a cross-sectional view showing the drug container of FIG. 5, and FIG. 6(b) is a cross-sectional view showing a drug container according to an embodiment different from that shown in FIG. 5(a). [Figure 8] 3 is an explanatory view showing the packaging device and a hopper closing member of FIG. 2. FIG. [Figure 9] 8A is a perspective view showing the introduction hopper and hopper blocking member of FIG. 8, showing the state in which the hopper blocking member is brought close to the introduction hopper, and FIG. 8B is a perspective view showing the hopper blocking member of FIG. 8A as viewed from below. [Figure 10] 2A to 2C are diagrams schematically showing the state in which the hopper cleaning operation is being performed in the medicine packaging device of FIG. 1, and are performed in the order of (a) to (c). [Figure 11] 11A and 11B are diagrams showing how the introduction hopper is closed by the hopper closing member in the hopper cleaning operation of FIG. 10, and are executed in this order. [Figure 12] 4 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing a state in which a medicine container is placed on a container placing device in the divided area of ​​FIG. 3. FIG. [Figure 13] 13A to 13C are explanatory diagrams showing how the scraping operation and the scraping operation are performed in order in the divided area of ​​FIG. 12, and are performed in this order (a) to (c). [Figure 14] 1A is an explanatory diagram showing a state before the execution of the scraping device confirmation operation, FIG. 1B is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which the scraping plate is rotated after the scraping mechanism is lowered in the scraping device confirmation operation, and FIG. 1C is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which the scraping mechanism is lowered in the scraping device confirmation operation without the seal member attached. [Figure 15] 2 is a block diagram showing a dispensing support system including the medicine packaging device of FIG. 1. FIG. [Figure 16]9, and shows a state in which the hopper closing member is brought close to the introduction hopper. (b) is an explanatory diagram showing, on the left, how powdered medicine is introduced into the introduction hopper, and on the right, how a hopper closing member and introduction hopper are provided in a medicine packaging device according to an embodiment different from the above-mentioned embodiment, and how tablets are introduced from the opposite side to the powdered medicine. [Figure 17] 17A and 17B are explanatory diagrams showing the movement of the hopper blocking member shown in FIG. 16, where (a) shows the movement in the direction approaching the introduction hopper, (b) shows the state in which the rotating part is positioned above the introduction hopper following (a), and (c) shows the movement in the direction away from the introduction hopper. [Figure 18] This figure shows how the hopper blocking member shown in Figure 17(b) is transitioned from a closed state to an open state, where (a) is an oblique view of the closed state on the left and a cross-sectional view of the closed state on the right, and (b) is an oblique view of the open state on the left and a cross-sectional view of the open state on the right. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0065] 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. In the following description, "powdered medicine" includes medicine that has been made into powder by crushing solid medicine such as tablets.

[0066] As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the drug packaging device 1 of this embodiment includes a main body device 2 and an operation display unit 3. The operation display unit 3 is a so-called touch panel, and is formed by combining a display device such as a liquid crystal panel with a position input device such as a touchpad. In other words, various operations can be performed by performing various operations on the operation display unit 3.

[0067] The drug packaging device 1 has various devices built into a housing 10. Specifically, as shown in Fig. 2, the interior of the housing 10 is divided into a container placement area 12, a drug division area 13, and a drug packaging area 14. A control device (not shown) for controlling various operations is also built into the housing 10. This control device includes a calculation unit such as a CPU, a storage unit (storage means) having a main storage device such as a ROM and a RAM, and a communication unit such as an I / O port.

[0068] As shown in Fig. 1, two door sections 15 are provided in the portions of the housing 10 that form the outer wall surfaces of the container placement area 12 and the drug dividing area 13. These two door sections 15 are double-hinged (double-door) doors that can be opened and closed individually. One of the door sections 15 is provided with an upper small door 16 and a first lower small door 17, and the other door section 15 is provided with a second lower small door 18. That is, in the medicine packaging device 1, in addition to opening and closing the door unit 15, the three sub-doors can be opened and closed while keeping the door unit 15 closed. When the sub-doors are opened, the inside and outside of the housing 10 communicate with each other. The upper small door 16 is formed at a position away from the container storage device 21 on the front side (see FIG. 2). The first lower small door 17 is formed below the upper small door 16. The second lower small door 18 is formed at a position away from the first lower small door 17 in the left-right direction (horizontal direction).

[0069] As shown in Fig. 2, the container placement area 12 (container storage section) is provided with a container storage device 21 that holds drug containers 20. For convenience of drawing, only some of the drug containers 20 are labeled with reference numerals, and the reference numerals for the other drug containers 20 are omitted. Similarly, in the following description, when multiple identical items or items with the same main parts are depicted in each drawing, some of the reference numerals will be omitted as necessary. Note that a shelf member may be provided instead of the container storage device 21.

[0070] The container storage device 21 has a plurality of container mounting sections provided on the outer peripheral surface of a drum member that rotates around a vertically extending rotation axis. Each of the container mounting sections can hold a drug container 20 by mechanical engagement.

[0071] The plurality of drug containers 20 stored inside the housing 10 by the container storage device 21 are each capable of individually storing powdered medicines (medicines). Here, in the container storage device 21, multiple types of powdered medicines are stored in n (n is an integer of 1 or more) drug containers 20 for each type. For example, of the plurality of drug containers 20 held in the container storage device 21, two drug containers 20 each store drug A, another drug container 20 stores drug B, and three other drug containers 20 each store drug C, and so on.

[0072] That is, the plurality of drug containers 20 held in the container storage device 21 are divided into a plurality of container groups. One or a plurality of drug containers 20 belong to one container group, and drug containers 20 belonging to the same container group contain powdered medicine of the same type (same drug name). In this way, in container storage device 21, one type of powdered medicine is stored in one medicine container 20. The stored medicine containers 20 may contain the same type of powdered medicine. The number of medicine containers 20 containing the same type of powdered medicine may be determined, for example, based on the frequency of provision. In detail, of the multiple types of powdered medicine, powdered medicines with a high provision frequency may be stored in multiple medicine containers 20, and powdered medicines with a low provision frequency may be stored in one medicine container 20.

[0073] The medicine packaging device 1 also stores information about the type and amount of medicine (powdered medicine) contained in each medicine container 20 stored in the container storage device 21. Furthermore, information about the container groups stored in the container storage device 21 is also stored. That is, information about the type of medicine contained in each container group and information about the number of medicine containers 20 belonging to each container group is stored.

[0074] A container moving means 25 is provided in the area extending from the container placement area 12 to the drug dividing area 13. The container moving means 25 is a type of robot, and has an arm 25a, an elevating mechanism 25b for raising and lowering the arm 25a, and a hand 25c provided at the tip of the arm 25a. An electromagnet (not shown) for attracting the drug container 20 is provided in the hand 25c.

[0075] Devices for dividing medicine into a desired number of pieces using a distribution tray system are arranged in medicine dividing area 13. That is, as shown in Fig. 3, a distribution tray 30, a scraping device 31, a container mounting device 32 (container mounting means), and a medicine input section 33 are provided.

[0076] The distribution plate 30 is formed with a continuous annular medicine insertion groove 38, and is a member that can be rotated by a rotation mechanism (not shown). This rotation mechanism includes a motor.

[0077] In this embodiment, a plurality of (two) distribution trays 30a, 30b are arranged in parallel. Each of the distribution trays 30a, 30b is associated with one scraping device 31 and a plurality of (three) container placement devices 32. The scraping device 31 and the container placement device 32 associated with one distribution tray 30 are arranged around that one distribution tray 30.

[0078] Specifically, three container mounting devices 32, consisting of a first mounting device 32a, a second mounting device 32b, and a third mounting device 32c, are associated with one distribution tray 30a, in order from the side closest to the first small lower door 17 (see FIG. 2). These are arranged adjacent to the outer edge of the medicine insertion groove 38 of this distribution tray 30a. In addition, a scraping device 31 associated with this distribution tray 30a is arranged inside the medicine insertion groove 38 of this distribution tray 30b. Similarly, the other distribution tray 30b is associated with three container mounting devices 32, consisting of a first mounting device 32d, a second mounting device 32e, and a third mounting device 32f, in order from the device furthest from the second small lower door 18 (see FIG. 2). These are arranged adjacent to the outer edge of the medicine insertion groove 38 of this distribution tray 30b. In addition, a scraping device 31 associated with this distribution tray 30b is arranged inside the medicine insertion groove 38 of this distribution tray 30b.

[0079] As shown in FIG. 4, the scraping device 31 includes a scraping arm 45, a support member 46 that supports the scraping arm 45, and a scraping mechanism 47 provided at the tip of the scraping arm 45.

[0080] The scraping arm 45 is provided swingably relative to the support member 46, and the tip portion can be raised and lowered. Specifically, when the tip portion rises, the base portion lowers, and when the tip portion lowers, the base portion rises. In other words, when the tip portion rises and lowers, the base portion rises and lowers in the opposite direction. An attachment detection sensor 48 is provided at the base end portion of the scraping arm 45. The attachment detection sensor 48 is a contact sensor, and by coming into contact with a protrusion 46a that is part of the support member 46, it detects that the tip side of the scraping arm 45 (scraping mechanism 47) has descended to a height below a predetermined height. In other words, when the tip side descends, it can detect that the amount of movement has exceeded a certain level.

[0081] The scraping mechanism 47 includes an integrally formed scraping plate 50 and a scraping-out plate 51. The scraping plate 50 is a disk-shaped member (disk) made of a thin plate that rotates by power. The scraping-out plate 51 is located outside one main surface of the scraping plate 50 and is composed of a plate-shaped scraping portion 51a and a partition plate portion 51b.

[0082] Here, a sealing member 52 is attached to the circumferential portion of the scraper plate 50. The sealing member 52 is detachable from the scraper plate 50, attached to the peripheral portion of the scraper plate 50, and covers the end face of the scraper plate 50. When attached to the scraper plate 50, the sealing member 52 is continuous in an annular shape along the edge portion (end face) of the scraper plate 50. In other words, the sealing member 52 is an annular elastic body made of a resin such as rubber, a high-friction material such as silicone rubber, a synthetic resin, or the like, and is in close contact with the medicine injection groove 38 (see FIG. 13, which will be described in detail later).

[0083] As shown in FIG. 5, the container mounting device 32 and the drug container 20 constitute a drug feeder 60.

[0084] As shown in Figure 5, the container mounting device 32 has a vibration table 66 equipped with a vibration means 65 and a weight measuring means 67 (a weighing means and a discharge amount detection means), and the vibration table 66 vibrates when electricity is applied to the vibration means 65.

[0085] Vibration table 66 has a trough-shaped container holding portion 68. As shown in Fig. 6, container holding portion 68 is provided with container holding means 68a for holding drug container 20. In this embodiment, a magnet (electromagnet) is used as container holding means 68a. Weight measuring means 67 measures the weight of drug container 20 directly or indirectly. The container holding means 68a may be a fitting type holding means in which at least a part of the medicine container is fitted into the container holding portion, instead of using a magnet or an electromagnet.

[0086] An alert member 69 is provided on the rear end side (the front side in FIG. 6) of the container holding portion 68. The alert member 69 is configured by a lamp such as an LED, and in this embodiment, a multi-colored lamp is used. More specifically, red, green, and blue lamps are used as the alert member 69.

[0087] This informing member 69, which will be described in detail later, is capable of performing an informing operation of the container mounting device 32 on which the medicine container 20 should be mounted during the manual packaging operation. The notification member 69 uses lamps of multiple colors, and when performing a light emitting operation, each lamp can be operated individually in various lighting patterns. For example, different light-emitting operations are performed for the alarm operation indicating the container placement device 32 on which the above-mentioned drug container 20 should be placed and the alarm operation indicating the container placement device 32 that has experienced a malfunction such as a breakdown.

[0088] In this embodiment, medicine container 20 is placed on container mounting device 32 and vibrated, so that the powdered medicine contained in medicine container 20 can be discharged onto distribution tray 30. The change in weight of medicine container 20 accompanying this discharge of the powdered medicine can be detected by weight measuring means 67. In this embodiment, weight measuring means 67 functions as a discharge amount detection means, and the discharged amount of powdered medicine is detected by the change in weight of medicine container 20.

[0089] Drug container 20 is a cylindrical container having an approximately rectangular parallelepiped outer shape and a length in a predetermined direction, and as shown in Fig. 5, has container body 72 and lid 73. Lid 73 is detachable from container body 72. In this embodiment, when filling drug container 20 with powdered medicine, lid 73 is removed from container body 72, and one end of container body 72 is opened widely to fill the powdered medicine.

[0090] This medicine container 20 is capable of containing (storing) medicine in powder medicine containing section 75, which is an internal space. Here, as shown in Fig. 7, lid section 73 has lid plate section 73b attached to lid main body section 73a so as to be swingable. Then, by swinging lid plate section 73b, medicine container 20 can be switched between an open state and a closed state.

[0091] In the open state, powdered medicine storage section 75 communicates with the outside via medicine discharge section 76. Medicine discharge section 76 is an opening formed by opening lid section 73. In other words, by opening lid section 73, a part of one end side of container body 72 becomes open (a state in which the inside and outside are in communication). On the other hand, in the closed state, medicine discharge portion 76 is closed by cover plate portion 73b, and powdered medicine storage portion 75 becomes a sealed space. That is, cover plate portion 73b is closed, and one end side of container body 72 is closed. In this way, medicine discharge portion 76 is provided at one end side of medicine container 20 in the longitudinal direction.

[0092] In this embodiment, the posture of drug container 20 when it is stored in container storage device 21 (see FIG. 2) is different from the posture of drug container 20 when it is placed on container placement device 32 (see FIG. 5). The posture of drug container 20 when it is stored (storage posture) is a posture in which drug container 20 is upright (vertical posture) and lid portion 73 (drug discharge portion 76) faces upward. In contrast, the posture when placing the medicine container 20 on the container placing device 32 (posture when placed) is a posture in which the medicine container 20 is laid down (horizontal posture), and the lid portion 73 (medicine discharge portion 76) faces to the side.

[0093] When this medicine container 20 is moved between container storage device 21 and container mounting device 32 by container moving means 25, the posture of the medicine container 20 is changed by container moving means 25 during the movement. In other words, when medicine feeder 60 is configured and medicine container 20 is vibrated to discharge powdered medicine into distribution tray 30, medicine container 20 is in the posture at the time of mounting.

[0094] Here, the size of the powder (particle size) of the powdered medicine contained in medicine container 20 varies depending on the type of powdered medicine, and medicine container 20 may contain powdered medicine with a small powder size. When medicine feeder 60 is configured to discharge powdered medicine into distribution tray 30, if the powder size of the contained powdered medicine is small, the powdered medicine may clog medicine discharge portion 76 when attempting to discharge a large amount in a short period of time. In this case, air may not enter medicine container 20, and the amount of powdered medicine discharged per hour may decrease.

[0095] Therefore, in this embodiment, to prevent such problems from occurring, air hole 78 (air supply hole) is provided in medicine container 20. This air hole 78 is a hole that communicates between the inside and outside of medicine container 20 (powdered medicine storage section 75 and the outside). Furthermore, air hole 78 is formed in the upper part when medicine container 20 is in the position when placed on the table. Note that the "upper part" here refers to the part that is located above the center part in the up-down direction when medicine container 20 is in the position when placed on the table. That is, the air hole 78 is a hole that penetrates the side wall portion of the medicine container 20, which forms the top surface when the medicine container 20 is in the placed posture.

[0096] Drug container 20 of this embodiment has a blocking member 79 that blocks air hole 78. As shown in Figure 7(a), blocking member 79 of this embodiment is a plug member that is detachable (separable) from drug container 20 (air hole 78). This blocking member 79 may be attached and detached by a robot arm such as container moving means 25, or may be attached and detached manually by an operator as needed.

[0097] 7(b), a blocking member 179 may be provided, which is a flat plate-shaped member that is integral with drug container 20 and is rotatably (possibly changeable) attached to drug container 20. This blocking member 179 maintains a blocking position that blocks air hole 78 when drug container 20 is in an upright position (storage position), and maintains an open position that opens air hole 78 when drug container 20 is in a lying position. Alternatively, the closing member may be structured to move in conjunction with the lid portion 73 (not shown). That is, a power transmission member may be provided between the closing member and the lid portion 73, and the closing member may open and close the air hole 78 by swinging the lid plate portion 73b. In this case, the closing member swings the lid plate portion 73b to open the medicine discharge portion 76, thereby maintaining an open position in which the air hole 78 is open. Then, the medicine discharge portion 76 is blocked by the lid plate portion 73b, thereby maintaining a closed position in which the air hole 78 is blocked. The closing member may be configured to close medicine discharge portion 76 and maintain a closed position that closes air hole 78 when medicine container 20 is sealed and the internal space of medicine container 20 becomes negative pressure. In this case, when medicine discharge portion 76 is opened and the internal space of medicine container 20 is no longer under negative pressure, the closing member no longer maintains the closed position and transitions to an open position that opens air hole 78.

[0098] That is, when a blocking member is provided, it is preferable that the blocking member be provided so that the air hole 78 is open when the medicine discharge portion 76 is opened, and the air hole 78 is closed when the medicine discharge portion 76 is closed.

[0099] Iron plates 80 and 81 are attached to two different sides of drug container 20. Iron plate 80 attached to one side is a part for attracting drug container 20 to the magnet of arm portion 25a when drug container 20 is held by arm portion 25a. Iron plate 81 attached to the other side is a part for attracting drug container 20 to the electromagnet of container mounting device 32 when drug container 20 is placed on container mounting device 32. 5, drug container 20 is provided with an RFID tag 83 as information storage means. RFID tag 83 stores information about the drug contained therein, and by reading the information, it is possible to identify the type and amount of the drug contained therein and the container group to which drug container 20 belongs.

[0100] As shown in Figures 2 and 8, an internal packaging device 85 is provided in the medicine packaging area 14. This internal packaging device 85 (packaging device) is a machine for packaging medicines one packet at a time, and as shown in Figure 8, has an introduction hopper 90 and a packaging unit 91.

[0101] Introduction hopper 90 is a funnel-shaped member located below medicine injection section 33 (see FIG. 3). That is, introduction hopper 90 is a member into which unpackaged medicines that have been injected into medicine injection section 33 are introduced.

[0102] This introduction hopper 90 has an upper introduction side opening 90a with a large opening area and a lower discharge side opening 90b with a smaller opening area. Discharge side opening 90b is located at the lower end of introduction hopper 90 and is provided with an opening / closing plate 95. Opening / closing plate 95 can be opened and closed by power, and can open and close discharge side opening 90b. Discharge side opening 90b also leads to packaging section 91 and serves as a discharge port for the medicine when powdered medicine is introduced into folded packaging paper 116 (described in detail below).

[0103] In this embodiment, a suction device 96 is connected to the middle of the introduction hopper 90. The suction device 96 (suction means) is a known vacuum suction machine, and is composed of a negative pressure generating device such as a blower and a vacuum hose. In this embodiment, the vacuum hose is connected to the middle of the introduction hopper 90. In other words, the introduction hopper 90 has a suction port inside.

[0104] The medicine packaging device 1 of this embodiment also has a hopper closing member 98, which is a lid member that closes the introduction-side opening 90a of the introduction hopper 90. The hopper closing member 98 is a movable member that can be switched between a state in which it is close to the introduction-side opening 90a and a state in which it is on standby at a position away from the introduction-side opening 90a.

[0105] As shown in FIG. 9, the hopper closing member 98 has a closing member main body 98a (lid main body) and a thin plate portion 98b (plate member) fixed to the back side of the closing member main body 98a.

[0106] The blocking member main body 98a is a cover member having a flat plate-shaped portion, and is formed so that its size in plan view is larger than the introduction side opening 90a of the introduction hopper 90 (see FIG. 8). The thin plate portion 98b is a metal plate-like member that is thin and approximately flat, with a thickness of a certain level (1 mm or less). Although not particularly limited, the thin plate portion 98b in this embodiment is made of stainless steel and has a thickness of approximately 0.1 mm. Note that the term "approximately" includes an error of several percent.

[0107] The thin plate portion 98b is attached in a cantilever manner to the blocking member main body portion 98a. That is, one end of the thin plate portion 98b in a predetermined direction is a free end portion, and a part of the free end side is a protruding portion 100 that does not overlap with the blocking member main body portion 98a in a plan view. The protruding portion 100 is a portion that extends at an angle relative to the base end portion of the thin plate portion 98b, and extends diagonally upward (diagonally downward in FIG. 9(b)). In other words, the protruding portion 100 is a portion that is formed by bending a part of the thin plate portion 98b diagonally upward. In this embodiment, a cutout portion 100a is formed in part of the protruding portion 100, extending from the tip end side to the base end side in the extension direction.

[0108] The thin plate portion 98b also has a fixing portion 101, which is a portion that is fixed to the blocking member main body portion 98a, on the other end side in the predetermined direction. The portion located between the fixed portion 101 and the protruding portion 100 becomes the blocking plate portion 102 that covers the introduction side opening 90a (see FIG. 8) when the hopper blocking member 98 and the introduction hopper 90 are brought close to each other (see FIG. 9(a)). The fixed portion 101 and the blocking plate portion 102 are entirely (almost entirely) located below the blocking member main body portion 98a.

[0109] In the above-mentioned predetermined direction, the direction in which the fixed portion 101, the closing plate portion 102, and the protruding portion 100 are arranged is defined as the longitudinal direction, and the direction intersecting the longitudinal direction in a plan view is defined as the width direction. In this case, the longitudinal lengths are longest in the order of the closing plate portion 102, the fixed portion 101, and the protruding portion 100. Furthermore, the width lengths of the closing plate portion 102 and the protruding portion 100 are the same, and the width length of the fixed portion 101 is shorter than these. When the hopper blocking member 98 and the introduction hopper 90 are brought close to each other (see FIG. 9(a)), the protruding portion 100 and the fixed portion 101 are positioned so as not to overlap the introduction side opening 90a (see FIG. 8) in a plan view. Meanwhile, at this time, the blocking plate portion 102 covers the entire introduction side opening 90a from above. That is, in a plan view, the blocking plate portion 102 overlaps both the introduction side opening 90a of the introduction hopper 90 and the peripheral edge portion of the introduction side opening 90a.

[0110] Here, a hopper cleaning operation that can be performed by the medicine packaging device 1 of this embodiment will be described. The hopper cleaning operation is an operation for cleaning the introduction hopper 90. 10, the medicine packaging device 1 of this embodiment is provided with a cleaning agent injection device 105 near the inlet opening 90a of the inlet hopper 90. In addition, an air nozzle 106 is provided near the outside of the opening / closing plate 95.

[0111] 10(a), the opening and closing plate 95 is closed and the cleaning agent is poured into the introduction hopper 90. Then, the introduction side opening 90a is closed with the hopper closing member 98.

[0112] Specifically, as shown in FIG. 11(a), the hopper blocking member 98 is moved to a position above the introduction hopper 90 and close to the introduction hopper 90. Then, in this state (close state), the suction device 96 is caused to perform a suction operation. As a result, the position of the blocking member main body 98a remains the same, and the thin plate portion 98b is sucked toward the introduction hopper 90. In other words, the position of the thin plate portion 98b is changed so that the blocking plate portion 102 and the protruding portion 100, which are the free end portions of the thin plate portion 98b, move downward. Then, as shown in FIG. 11(b), the lower surface of the blocking plate portion 102 comes into contact (close contact) with the upper portion of the introduction hopper 90, i.e., the edge portion located around the introduction side opening 90a. As a result, the introduction side opening 90a is blocked by the thin plate portion 98b.

[0113] When the introduction side opening 90a is closed, a gap (portion indicated by reference numeral 108) is formed between the lower surface of the closing member main body 98a and the thin plate portion 98b (closing plate portion 102). If a gap is formed between the closing member main body 98a and the thin plate portion 98b before the thin plate portion 98b moves, the gap between them will become larger.

[0114] 10(b), by continuing to operate the suction device 96 even after the introduction side opening 90a is blocked by the hopper blocking member 98, the suction device 96 performs a suction operation with the introduction side opening 90a blocked. This causes a negative pressure to be created inside the introduction hopper 90, generating a strong airflow inside the introduction hopper 90 and causing the cleaning agent to swirl violently. The cleaning agent then collides with the inner wall of the introduction hopper 90, causing the powdered medicine adhering to the inner wall to be peeled off.

[0115] Furthermore, after a certain period of time has elapsed, the opening and closing plate 95 is opened as shown in Fig. 10(c). More preferably, the opening and closing of the opening and closing plate 95 is repeated. When the opening / closing plate 95 is opened, air is introduced through the discharge-side opening 90b. As a result, the airflow moves from the bottom to the top, swirling along the inner wall of the introduction hopper 90. As a result, the introduced cleaning agent peels off the powdered medicine adhering to the inner wall of the introduction hopper 90, and the powdered medicine is lifted up together with the cleaning agent and discharged by the suction device 96. When the opening and closing plate 95 is repeatedly opened and closed, the cleaning agent is repeatedly stirred while the cleaning agent is kept in the introduction hopper 90, and stirred while air is introduced to discharge part of the cleaning agent.

[0116] Additionally, medicine adhering to the outer surface of opening / closing plate 95 is removed by blowing air from air nozzle 106. Air nozzle 106 is positioned so that the jetted air hits opening / closing plate 95 when opening / closing plate 95 is in the open position. Additionally, since packaging paper 116 is present near opening / closing plate 95, the medicine peeled off by the air is collected in packaging paper 116.

[0117] That is, in the hopper cleaning operation, cleaning agent is put into the introduction hopper 90 and suction begins, and in the latter half of the suction, the opening and closing plate 95 begins to open and close, and at that time, air is blown directly from the air nozzle 106 toward the outside of the opening and closing plate 95. Then, after 5 to 10 seconds, the suction and air blowing are stopped.

[0118] As shown in Figure 8, packaging unit 91 is a device that packages powder medicine introduced through introduction hopper 90 into individual doses. This packaging unit 91 has medicine packaging paper holding means 110, feed roller 111, end sensor 112 (packaging paper detection means), printing means 113, triangular plate 114, heating roller 115, and cutting means (not shown).

[0119] Medicine packaging paper holding means 110 is a member that rotatably holds sheet roll R, which is made of packing paper 116 (medicine packaging paper) wound into a roll. This medicine packaging paper holding means 110 has a support shaft portion 110a on which sheet roll R is attached. Support shaft portion 110a has a central shaft and a hollow shaft (shaft portion) that is rotatably attached to the outside of the central shaft via a bearing (detailed illustration is omitted). Then, by attaching (fixing integrally) the core of sheet roll R to the hollow shaft of support shaft portion 110a, sheet roll R and the hollow shaft become rotatable about the central shaft. This medicine wrapping paper holding means 110 has a brake mechanism (not shown) that applies a load to the rotation of the sheet roll R and the hollow shaft. The brake mechanism is a motor brake mechanism and has a small AC motor. That is, the brake mechanism applies a braking force by applying a DC voltage as a power supply, and the braking force can be varied by changing the applied voltage.

[0120] The brake mechanism may be a mechanical brake mechanism, such as a brake mechanism that presses a rubber plate or the like against a shaft (hollow shaft) that rotates together with the core of the sheet roll R, or a brake mechanism that clamps the shaft that rotates together with the core of the sheet roll R.

[0121] The feed roller 111 functions as a sheet feed means for feeding and feeding the rolled packing paper 116, and also functions as a tension roller for applying a certain tension to the fed packing paper 116.

[0122] End sensor 112 is capable of detecting whether or not there is any remaining amount of sheet roll R by passing packaging paper 116 pulled out from sheet roll R through it. It is also capable of detecting the trailing end of sheet roll R. End sensor 112 is located downstream of first feed roller 111a, which is the first roller located most upstream in the payout direction of packaging paper 116, and upstream of second feed roller 111b, which is the second roller from the upstream side. In other words, it is located downstream of first feed roller 111a, which is located closest to sheet roll R.

[0123] Here, end sensor 112 of this embodiment is capable of not only detecting the end of sheet roll R, but also detecting that the starting end portion of sheet roll R has passed through (hereinafter also referred to as starting end detection operation). In other words, end sensor 112 also functions as a packaging paper detection sensor that detects packaging paper 116 (the starting end portion of packaging paper 116) paid out from sheet roll R. Therefore, when a new sheet roll R is held by medicine packaging paper holding means 110, packaging paper 116 is paid out from sheet roll R, and the paper passes through the detection area of ​​end sensor 112, it is detected that the starting end portion of sheet roll R has passed through. The start end detection operation may determine that the start end of the sheet roll R has been passed, for example, on the condition that the packing paper 116 has not yet passed through the end sensor 112, and then the packing paper 116 passes through the end sensor 112 and the end of the sheet roll R has not been detected.

[0124] Printing means 113 is a machine for printing predetermined information onto medicine packaging 120 (sachet). Specifically, printing is performed on packaging paper 116 before it is made into a pouch. Triangular plate 114 is a member for folding sent packing paper 116 in half at approximately the center in the width direction. Heating roller 115 is a sealing device that includes a heater roller or the like and heat-seals overlapping packing paper 116 by thermal fusion. Triangular plate 114 and heating roller 115 function as a bag-forming means for forming medicine packages 120 (packaging bags). That is, after medicine is poured from introduction hopper 90 into the gap between the inner surfaces of folded packing paper 116, the area around the medicine is sealed to form medicine packages 120. Note that instead of heating roller 115, a sealing device that seals packing paper 116 by crimping or the like may be used. The sealing device need only be able to tightly seal packing paper 116 so that it does not separate and form a bag shape.

[0125] The cutting means is equipped with a cutter (cutting blade) capable of cutting the packing paper 116, which has been formed into a bag shape by containing medicine inside, to form medicine packages 120 or a medicine packaging band made up of a series of medicine packages 120.

[0126] In the medicine packaging device 1 of this embodiment, as a characteristic operation, when a new sheet roll R is attached to the inner packaging device 85, an attachment support operation is executed to prevent excessive unwinding of the sheet roll R. That is, when the operator holds a new sheet roll R in the medicine packaging paper holding means 110, unrolls the packaging paper 116 from the sheet roll R, and passes (introduces) the starting end portion of the unrolled sheet roll R through the end sensor 112, the starting end detection operation is performed. When the start-end detection operation detects that the packing paper 116 (the start-end portion of the sheet roll R) has passed through the end sensor 112, the medicine packaging paper holding means 110 performs a braking operation to apply a load to the rotation of the sheet roll R in the unwinding direction. Note that the unwinding direction of the sheet roll R is the direction in which the core rotates in response to the unwinding of the packing paper 116 when the packing paper 116 is unwound (pulled out) from the sheet roll R. This applies resistance to the rotation of the sheet roll R in the unwinding direction, suppressing rotation in the same direction. In this way, the attachment support operation is an operation that sequentially performs the start-end detection operation and the braking operation. The attachment support operation prevents (suppresses) the occurrence of problems such as excessive rotation of the sheet roll R when pulling and unwinding the packing paper 116 during installation of a new sheet roll R, resulting in unnecessarily unwinding of the packing paper 116.

[0127] Next, operations that can be performed by the medicine packaging device 1 of this embodiment will be described. The medicine packaging device 1 of this embodiment receives prescription information from an external device and can perform a packaging operation (packaging operation) to package powder medicine one packet at a time (for example, one dose) based on that information. The medicine packaging device 1 is capable of both automatic and manual packaging operations.

[0128] [Automatic packaging operation] In the automatic packaging operation, the medicine packaging device 1 automatically performs the following operations: remove medicine containers 20 from the container storage device 21; move the removed medicine containers 20 to the vicinity of the distribution tray 30; place the medicine containers 20 on the container mounting device 32 to form the medicine feeder 60; pour a predetermined amount of medicine into the distribution tray 30; supply the medicine from the distribution tray 30 to the internal packaging device 85 one package at a time; and return the medicine containers 20 to the container storage device 21. Each of these operations is controlled by a control device (not shown).

[0129] That is, in the automatic packaging operation, container moving means 25 removes medicine container 20 containing medicines to be packaged from container storage device 21. Then, container moving means 25 moves the removed medicine container 20 to the vicinity of distribution tray 30 and places it on container mounting device 32 (see FIG. 12). Then, when medicine container 20 is placed on container mounting device 32, a confirmation operation is performed to confirm whether medicine container 20 containing the medicine to be used has been correctly selected and transported. Note that in this confirmation operation, information reading means provided near container mounting device 32 reads information from RFID tag 83 of medicine container 20, and an operation is performed to identify the type of medicine contained in medicine container 20.

[0130] Here, the medicine packaging device 1 can simultaneously discharge powdered medicine from a plurality of medicine containers 20 onto one distribution tray 30. In this case, as shown in Fig. 12, the medicine containers 20 are placed on a plurality of container mounting devices 32 associated with one distribution tray 30. The above-mentioned confirmation operation is performed every time a medicine container 20 is placed on a container mounting device 32.

[0131] For example, when three types of medicine are to be contained in one medicine package 120, three medicine containers 20 each containing a different type of powdered medicine are placed on different container placement devices 32 one by one.

[0132] Before or after (for example, before) placing the medicine container 20 on the container placing device 32, an operation of rotating the distribution tray 30 is performed. After placing the medicine container 20 on the container placing device 32, the container moving means 25 opens the lid 73 of the medicine container 20. Then, a medicine discharging operation is performed to discharge the medicine from the medicine container 20.

[0133] The medicine discharging operation is an operation in which the vibration table 66 of the container mounting device 32 starts vibrating, vibrating the mounted medicine container 20, and discharging powdered medicine from the medicine discharging section 76 of the medicine container 20. Here, while the medicine discharging operation is being performed, the weight of the medicine container 20 from which the medicine is being discharged is constantly detected, and when the discharged amount reaches a specified amount, the vibration operation is stopped and the medicine discharging operation is terminated. The discharged amount is obtained by comparing the original weight of the medicine container 20 obtained before the start of the medicine discharging operation with the current weight of the medicine container 20, which is continuously obtained during the medicine discharging operation. In other words, during the medicine discharging operation, the medicine packaging device 1 continuously calculates the discharged amount of medicine.

[0134] When the supply (discharge) of powdered medicine from all medicine containers 20 (one or more medicine containers 20) to distribution tray 30 is completed, rotation of distribution tray 30 is stopped. At this time, the medicine supplied is spread evenly throughout medicine input groove 38 of distribution tray 30 (see Figure 13). In this state, the scraping operation and scraping operation described below are performed, and the powdered medicine on distribution tray 30 is inserted into medicine input section 33 one packet at a time. The inserted medicine is then packaged one packet at a time by internal packaging device 85. When this series of operations is completed, all of the medicine supplied to distribution tray 30 is supplied to internal packaging device 85, and packaging is completed, thereby completing the automatic packaging operation.

[0135] When a specified amount of powdered medicine is supplied to distribution tray 30 and the vibration operation is stopped, the weight of medicine container 20 at the time when the supply of medicine to distribution tray 30 is completed is measured, and an information writing operation is performed to store the measured weight in RFID tag 83. Then, medicine container 20 is returned to container storage device 21 by container moving means 25. This makes it possible to obtain the amount of medicine contained in medicine container 20 at the time when the supply of medicine is completed.

[0136] In the scraping operation described above, as shown in FIG. 13, a scraping mechanism lowering operation is performed to lower the scraping mechanism 47 of the scraping device 31, and a rotation operation is performed to rotate the distribution tray 30 by an angle corresponding to the number of divisions while the seal member 52 of the scraping plate 50 is in contact with (close to) the distribution tray 30. As a result, a predetermined amount (one packet's worth) of medicine is gathered around the scraping mechanism 47. In other words, the scraping operation is an operation in which the scraping plate 50 and the distribution tray 30 are moved relative to each other to scrape the powdered medicine on the distribution tray 30 near the scraping plate 50. Note that the scraping operation performed following the scraping operation described below is an operation in which a rotation operation is performed while the scraping mechanism 47 is in a lowered state.

[0137] The scraping operation described above is an operation in which, as shown in FIG. 13(c), the scraping plate 50 is rotated while the scraping plate 50 is in contact with the medicine input groove 38 while the medicine is gathered around the scraping mechanism 47. Specifically, a scraping plate rotation operation is performed in which the scraping plate 50 is rotated so that the scraping plate 51 (scraping portion 51a) moves in a direction transverse to the circumferential direction of the medicine input groove 38. That is, the scraping plate 50 is rotated so that the scraping plate 51 moves in a direction along the arc direction of the cross section of the medicine input groove 38, from the inside to the outside of the distribution plate 30 (from left to right in FIG. 13(c)). As a result, the scraping portion 51a comes into contact with the powdered medicine gathered from the radially inner side of the distribution plate 30, pushing the gathered powdered medicine out of the distribution plate 30 and dropping it into the medicine input portion 33. That is, the scraping operation is an operation in which the scraping plate 51 scrapes out the medicines scraped near the scraping plate 50 from the distribution tray 30. When the medicine input section 33 is formed inside the medicine input groove 38, the rotation direction of the scraping portion 51a is reversed.

[0138] Here, in the drug packaging device 1 of this embodiment, when there are multiple drug containers 20 belonging to the same container group, a priority is assigned to each drug container 20 belonging to the same container group when used in normal automatic packaging operations. For example, suppose that drug container A1 and drug container A2 belong to a container group containing drug A. It is also assumed that the order of use in normal automatic packaging operations is drug container A1, followed by drug container A2. In this case, drug container A1 is used each time the automatic packaging operation for packaging drug A is performed (the operation of placing drug container A1 on container mounting device 32 and discharging the drug is performed). When the amount of drug contained in drug container A1 becomes equal to the allocated amount (set amount), drug container A2 is used in place of drug container A1.

[0139] The allocated amount is a predetermined specified amount, such as a minute amount like 0.5 g. This allocated amount can be changed by operating the operation display unit 3, for example. The medicine packaging device 1 of this embodiment can be switched between an allocated amount setting mode and an allocated amount non-setting mode. The allocated amount setting mode is a mode in which various operations are performed (the medicine packaging device 1 is operated) without using up all the medicine contained in the medicine container 20, and when the amount of medicine contained in the medicine container A1 reaches the allocated amount, the medicine supply operation (discharge operation) from the medicine container A1 is not performed. In contrast, the allocated amount non-setting mode is a mode in which the medicine contained in the medicine container 20 can be used up all the way to the end.

[0140] That is, even if the dispensing operation is performed until the theoretical amount of medicine stored in medicine container 20 reaches 0 g, a small amount of medicine may actually remain in medicine container A1. That is, even if the theoretical inventory amount, which is the theoretical inventory amount (capacity) of medicine container A1, is set to 0 g, the actual inventory amount, which is the actual inventory amount (capacity), may not be 0 g, resulting in a difference between the theoretical inventory amount and the actual inventory amount. To prevent problems caused by such an unintended difference between the theoretical inventory amount and the actual inventory amount, it is preferable to operate medicine packaging device 1 in the allocation amount setting mode. That is, the allocation amount is an amount intentionally allocated to a medicine container in advance to achieve more reliable and stable dispensing after predicting a difference between the theoretical inventory amount and the actual inventory amount, and is the amount of medicine intentionally left in the medicine container at the time of dispensing.

[0141] When all the medicine in the medicine container A1 is used, new medicine will be filled into the medicine container A1. Now, consider the case where a medicine of the same type remains in the medicine container A1 and the medicine to be newly filled may have different manufacturer lots (including expiration dates). Since it is not desirable to mix medicines of different lots in the same medicine container A1, it may be possible to operate the system in a no-allocation-amount setting mode.

[0142] In other words, after a specified amount (planned amount to be used) of medicine is discharged from medicine container A1 into distribution tray 30 during the automatic packaging operation, if the amount of medicine (remaining amount) stored in medicine container A1 reaches the allocated amount (or runs out), medicine container A2 will be used in the next automatic packaging operation to package medicine A.

[0143] On the other hand, when one automatic packaging operation starts discharging medicine from medicine container A1 to distribution tray 30, if the amount of medicine in medicine container A1 reaches the allocated amount (or runs out) before the specified amount of medicine is discharged to distribution tray 30, the medicine container is replaced and one automatic packaging operation is continued. For example, suppose the planned amount of drug A to be discharged in one automatic packaging operation is 10 g, the amount of drugs in drug container A1 before the start of the first automatic packaging operation is 4.5 g, and the allocated amount for drug container A1 is 0.5 g. In this case, when the first automatic packaging operation is started, drug container A1 is placed on container mounting device 32, and an operation is performed to discharge drugs from drug container A1 to distribution tray 30. Then, when 4 g of drugs have been discharged from drug container A1, an operation is performed to stop the drug discharge (vibration operation), and return drug container A1 to container storage device 21. Next, an operation is performed to move drug container A2 from container storage device 21 to the vicinity of container mounting device 32, an operation is performed to mount drug container A2 on container mounting device 32, and an operation is performed to discharge drugs from drug container A2. Then, when 6 g of drugs have been discharged from drug container A2, the drug discharge is stopped, and the discharge of drug A to distribution tray 30 is completed. If there are three or more drug containers 20 belonging to the same container group, the second and subsequent drug containers are used in the order of priority.

[0144] Here, the medicine packaging device 1 of this embodiment is capable of executing a characteristic operation of high-speed supplying, which increases the speed at which medicines are supplied to the distribution tray 30. In the high-speed supplying operation, when medicines are supplied to the distribution tray 30 in the automatic packaging operation, an operation (discharge amount allocation operation) is executed to predetermine the amount of medicine to be supplied (discharge amount) for each of the plurality of medicine containers 20. Then, an operation is executed to discharge the predetermined amount of medicine from each of the plurality of medicine containers 20.

[0145] Specifically, when prescription-related information (prescription data) is input, a storage status confirmation operation is executed prior to the execution of the automatic packaging operation. The storage status confirmation operation is an operation for confirming the storage status of medicines in container storage device 21, and the number of medicine containers 20 containing medicines to be packaged in the upcoming automatic packaging operation (medicines to be used) is confirmed. Furthermore, the amount of medicine stored in each medicine container 20 containing the medicine to be used is confirmed. If the medicine to be used is stored in multiple medicine containers 20, the amount of medicine stored in each container is confirmed. In other words, a container group containing the medicine to be used is identified, and the number of medicine containers 20 belonging to the container group and the amount of medicine stored in each medicine container 20 belonging to the container group are confirmed. Furthermore, the amount of medicine to be used in the upcoming automatic packaging operation (planned amount to be used) is identified based on the prescription data. Furthermore, a comparison operation is executed to compare the planned amount to be used with the amount of medicine stored in the medicine container 20 with the highest priority among the container groups.

[0146] Then, if the result of the storage status confirmation operation is that there are multiple drug containers 20 belonging to a container group containing the drug to be used and the drug storage capacity of the entire container group is equal to or greater than the planned amount, a supply amount allocation operation is performed. Note that if there is only one drug container 20 belonging to a container group containing the drug to be used, the high-speed supply operation is not performed, and the automatic packaging operation is performed using the normal supply operation. Furthermore, if the drug storage capacity of the entire container group is less than the planned amount, a notification operation is performed to notify this fact.

[0147] The supply amount allocation operation is an operation for determining the number of medicine containers 20 from which the same type of medicine will be discharged, the plurality of medicine containers 20 to be used for discharging (supplying) medicine, and the amount of medicine to be discharged from each medicine container in a target automatic packaging operation. In this embodiment, an allocation operation for when there is a shortage (first discharge amount allocation operation) and an allocation operation for when there is a large quantity (second discharge amount allocation operation) are executed as the supply amount allocation operation. Below, an example will be described in which there are two medicine containers 20 (medicine containers A1 and A2) from which the same type of medicine will be supplied (discharged) and the allocation amount setting mode is in effect.

[0148] The allocation operation in the event of a stockout is an operation that is performed when, as a result of the above-mentioned comparison operation, the amount of medication contained in the medication container A1 with the highest priority is less than the amount planned to be used, i.e., when it is predicted that there will be a shortage of medication if medication is supplied using the medication container A1 with the highest priority. In the allocation operation when there is a shortage, the maximum amount that can be discharged (dischargeable amount) is allocated to drug container A1, which has the highest priority, and the remaining amount is allocated to drug container A2. For example, assume that the planned amount of drug A to be used is 6g and the amount of drug A held in drug container A1 is 3g. In this case, 2.5g (the value obtained by subtracting the allocated amount from the drug capacity) is allocated to drug container A1, and the remaining amount of 3.5g is allocated to drug container A2.

[0149] When the out-of-stock allocation operation is completed, a first multiple discharge operation is executed. In the first multiple discharge operation, the multiple medicine containers A1 and A2 to which the discharge amounts have been allocated in the out-of-stock allocation operation are placed on separate container mounting devices 32, and a discharge operation (supply operation) is executed to discharge medicines from the medicine containers A1 and A2 to the distribution tray 30.

[0150] At this time, it is preferable to simultaneously execute the drug discharging operation from one drug container (e.g., drug container A1) and the drug discharging operation from the other drug container (e.g., drug container A2). For example, two drug discharging operations may be started simultaneously. Alternatively, the drug discharging operation from one drug container and the drug discharging operation from the other drug container may be started sequentially. In this case, the drug discharging operation from the drug container that started first is started between the start and end of the other drug discharging operation. In other words, after the other drug discharging operation is started, the two drug discharging operations are executed simultaneously. According to this configuration, the time required to supply medicines to distribution tray 30 can be shortened compared to the above-described operation in which the medicine container is replaced and the automatic packaging operation is continued.

[0151] It is also possible that after the drug discharging operation from one drug container is completed, the drug discharging operation from the other drug container is started continuously or substantially continuously. In this case, the operation of placing one drug container on the container mounting device 32 is completed before the drug discharging operation from the other drug container is completed. Note that "substantially continuous" includes cases where there is a short interval of about a few seconds.

[0152] Even with this configuration, it is possible to speed up the operation of supplying medicines to the distribution tray 30 compared to the operation of replacing medicine containers and continuing one automatic packaging operation as described above. Specifically, in the operation of performing replacement as described above, after the dispensing operation using one medicine container is completed, time is required to move the container for replacement, and it takes a long time before the dispensing operation using the other medicine container can be started. In contrast, in the high-speed supply operation (discharge operation after stockout allocation operation) of this embodiment, the supply time can be shortened because the medicine container is not replaced after the medicine supply from one medicine container is completed.

[0153] Furthermore, when the allocation amount non-setting mode is selected and all of the medicine contained in one medicine container is to be discharged, an operation is required to confirm that all of the medicine has been discharged from the medicine container. This operation determines that all of the medicine contained in the medicine has been discharged when a predetermined time (e.g., 5 seconds or more) has passed since the medicine container stopped being discharged while continuing to vibrate. Therefore, if the medicine container is replaced after this operation, an especially long time is required from the start to the completion of supply of one medicine (completing the discharge of the medicine from each of the two medicine containers). Therefore, when operating in the non-allocation amount setting mode, it is preferable to perform a high-speed supply operation to shorten the drug supply time.

[0154] The large-quantity allocation operation is an operation that is executed when the planned amount to be used is equal to or greater than the specified amount, and is an operation that is executed when it is predicted that it will take a long time to supply using one drug container 20. Note that the specified amount in this case is a preset amount that is much greater than the planned amount to be used in a normal packaging operation, for example, 100 g.

[0155] In the large-quantity allocation operation, the supply amount (discharge amount) is allocated equally to each of the multiple drug containers A1 and A2. For example, if the planned amount of drug A to be used is 100 g, 50 g is allocated to each of the two drug containers A1 and A2. In this case, if the amount of drug held in one drug container is less than the planned allocation amount of 50 g, the maximum amount that can be discharged is allocated to one drug container, as in the above-mentioned stockout allocation operation.

[0156] Then, when the large-amount allocation operation is completed, a second multiple-discharge operation is executed. In the second multiple-discharge operation, the multiple medicine containers A1, A2 to which the discharge amounts have been allocated in the large-amount allocation operation are respectively placed on separate container mounting devices 32, and a discharge operation is executed to supply medicines from medicine containers A1, A2 to distribution tray 30. The specific procedures for this second multiple-discharge operation are the same as those for the first multiple-discharge operation described above, and therefore a redundant explanation will be omitted.

[0157] In the above example, the medicine supply amount is allocated to two medicine containers A1 and A2 in the stockout allocation operation and the large quantity allocation operation, but the present invention is not limited to this. The number n1 of medicine containers to which the medicine supply amount is allocated in the stockout allocation operation and the large quantity allocation operation is plural (an integer of 2 or more) and is a number equal to or less than the number of container mounting devices 32 associated with the distribution tray 30 to be used (3 in this embodiment). In the medicine packaging device 1 of this embodiment, n1 is 2 or 3.

[0158] In the allocation operation when there is a shortage, when allocating the supply amount of medicine to three or more medicine containers, the maximum amount that can be discharged is allocated to the medicine container 20 with the highest priority, and the remaining amount is allocated to the remaining medicine containers 20. In this case, the remaining amount may be divided equally, approximately equally, or unevenly.

[0159] In the above-described large-amount allocation operation, an example was shown in which the drug supply amount was equally allocated to each of the multiple drug containers, but the drug amounts allocated to each drug container may be unequal. However, in order to shorten the drug supply time, it is preferable to allocate the drug supply amount equally or approximately equally to each drug container and start the drug discharge operation from each drug container simultaneously or approximately simultaneously in succession. Note that "approximately equally" includes cases in which, when the amount cannot be divided evenly, the remainder is allocated to one of the drug containers, or the remainder is divided and allocated to multiple drug containers.

[0160] [Manual packaging operation] In the manual packaging operation, at least one of the first small lower door 17 and the second small lower door 18 is opened by operating the operation display unit 3 (see FIGS. 1 and 2). That is, when using one distribution tray 30a (see FIG. 3), the first small lower door 17 is opened, and when using the other distribution tray 30b, the second small lower door 18 is opened.

[0161] Then, the operator inserts a manual medicine container (not shown) into the housing 10 through the opened lower sub-door and manually places it on the container placing device 32. Prior to this, the operator places medicine weighed in advance in the manual medicine container. In this embodiment, one of the multiple container mounting devices 32 associated with one distribution tray 30 is a container mounting device 32 (manual container mounting means, hereinafter also referred to as a manual mounting device) on which a manual medicine container can be mounted for manual packaging operation. Specifically, the manual mounting device when performing manual packaging operation using one distribution tray 30a is the first mounting device 32a, and the manual mounting device when performing manual packaging operation using the other distribution tray 30b is the third mounting device 32f.

[0162] Furthermore, in this embodiment, when the lower sub-door is opened, a placement location notification operation is performed to indicate which container placement device 32 is the manual placement device. For example, when a manual packaging operation is performed using one distribution tray 30a, the notification member 69 (see FIG. 6) of the first placement device 32a, which is the manual placement device, may be illuminated in a predetermined color, while the notification members 69 of the second placement device 32b and the third placement device 32c may remain unlit. Conversely, the notification member 69 of the first placement device 32a may remain unlit, while the others may remain lit. Alternatively, the notification member 69 of the manual placement device may emit light with predetermined content (content not implemented by other notification operations). In other words, the placement location notification operation is an operation in which the notification member 69 of a manual placement device, among multiple container placement devices 32 associated with the same distribution tray 30, performs an operation different from the notification members 69 of the other container placement devices 32. The placement location notification operation may be performed by the notification member 69 of the manual placement device alone, or may be performed together with the notification members 69 of the container placement devices 32 associated with the same distribution tray 30.

[0163] When a manual medicine container is placed on the container placement device, a confirmation operation is performed to confirm whether the manual medicine container is placed correctly. In this confirmation operation, an operation is performed to read information from the information storage means of the manual medicine container, as described above. If it is determined that the manual medicine container is placed correctly, the lower sub-door is closed by operating the operation display unit 3 (or automatically). Note that the placement location notification operation may be terminated on the condition that it is determined that the manual medicine container is placed correctly in the confirmation operation.

[0164] Then, an operation of rotating the distribution tray 30 is performed, and a medicine discharging operation is performed in which medicines are dropped from the manual medicine containers onto the distribution tray 30. In the medicine discharging operation, similar to the automatic packaging operation described above, the vibration table 66 of the container mounting device 32 begins vibrating. This causes the manual medicine containers to vibrate, and the powdered medicine is discharged from the manual medicine containers. Here, unlike the automatic packaging operation described above, the manual packaging operation does not perform an operation to measure the amount of medicine discharged (supplied), and all of the medicine contained in the manual medicine containers is supplied to the distribution tray 30.

[0165] When the supply (discharge) of powdered medicine to distribution tray 30 is completed, similar to the automatic packaging operation described above, the operations are performed to stop the rotation of distribution tray 30, to feed the powdered medicine on distribution tray 30 one packet at a time into medicine feed section 33, and to package the fed medicine one packet at a time in internal packaging device 85. When this series of operations is completed, the manual packaging operation is completed.

[0166] However, when attempting to perform a manual packaging operation using one distribution tray 30a, the first placement device 32a may malfunction for some reason. In this case, it is possible to perform the manual packaging operation using the other distribution tray 30b. However, if another packaging operation is currently being performed on the other distribution tray 30b, it is necessary to wait for the completion of that packaging operation. Furthermore, even if the manual packaging operation can be performed on the other distribution tray 30b, if the manual packaging operation is performed using the other distribution tray 30b, the other packaging operation cannot be performed using the other distribution tray 30b until the manual packaging operation is completed. In other words, if a malfunction occurs in the first placement device 32a, performing a manual packaging operation that was scheduled to be performed on one distribution tray 30a on the other distribution tray 30b is undesirable because it reduces the work efficiency when multiple packaging operations are performed consecutively on the medicine packaging device 1.

[0167] Therefore, in the medicine packaging device 1 of this embodiment, if a malfunction occurs in the manual placement device, a placement destination change operation can be performed to enable a container placement device 32 that is not normally used to place manual medicine containers to be used as a manual placement device. The placement destination change operation is an operation to select one of the other container placement devices 32 associated with the same distribution tray 30 as the original manual medicine container that has malfunctioned as an alternative manual medicine container.

[0168] The placement destination change operation may be an operation that is automatically executed when a malfunction is detected in the original manual placement device, or an operation that is executed by the user operating the operation display unit 3. In other words, after an operation that notifies the user of a malfunction in the manual placement device is executed, the operation may be an operation that is executed by the user operating the operation display unit 3 after the user becomes aware of the malfunction. The configuration may be such that the user can specify which container mounting device 32 is to be used as the alternative manual mounting device. When the process is executed automatically, which container mounting device 32 is to be used as the manual mounting device is specified in advance, and information for identifying the container mounting device 32 to be used as the alternative manual mounting device is stored as setting information. On the other hand, when the process is executed by operating the operation display unit 3, the user operates the operation display unit 3 to specify the container mounting device 32 before starting.

[0169] For example, if a malfunction occurs in the first placement device 32a and a placement destination change operation is performed, either the second placement device 32b or the third placement device 32c becomes the alternative manual placement device. The placement location notification operation described above is an operation to notify that the alternative manual placement device will become the placement location for the manual medicine container. For example, if the second placement device 32b becomes the alternative manual placement device automatically or by user designation, the notification member 69 of the second placement device 32b performs an operation different from the notification members 69 of the first placement device 32a and the third placement device 32c in the placement location notification operation. Naturally, if a problem occurs in the third placement device 32f, the placement destination can be changed in the same manner as described above.

[0170] Here, the medicine packaging device 1 of this embodiment is capable of performing a scraping device confirmation operation (seal discrimination operation) to detect whether the scraping device 31 (see Figure 4) can be used normally before performing the above-mentioned packaging operation.

[0171] Specifically, the scraping device checking operation includes a first determining operation for determining whether or not the seal member 52 (see FIG. 4) is attached to the scraping plate 50. Furthermore, if it is determined in the first determining operation that the seal member 52 is attached, a second determining operation for determining whether or not the seal member 52 is worn is also included. That is, in the scraping device checking operation, the first determining operation is first executed, and the second determining operation is executed depending on the result. In the following description of the scraping device checking operation, a state in which the seal member 52 attached to the scraping plate 50 is normal is referred to as a normal state, and a state in which the seal member 52 attached to the scraping plate 50 is worn is referred to as a worn state. Furthermore, a state in which the seal member 52 is not attached to the scraping plate 50 is referred to as an unattached state.

[0172] In the first determination operation, as shown in Figures 14(a) and 14(b), a scraping mechanism lowering operation is performed to move the scraping mechanism 47 downward. Here, in the unattached state (see Figure 14(c)), the scraping plate 50 can move further downward than in the normal state (see Figure 14(b)).

[0173] That is, in the normal state, as shown in Figure 14(b), the scraper plate 50 can be lowered until the seal member 52 contacts the distribution plate 30 (drug insertion groove 38). The height at which the scraper plate 50 is positioned is the height at which the scraper plate 50 is positioned when performing the scraping or scraping operation (hereinafter also referred to as the operating height). When the scraper plate 50 is positioned at the operating height, the lower end portion of the scraper plate 50 is positioned above the lowest portion of the drug insertion groove 38 of the distribution plate 30.

[0174] 14(c), when the scraper plate 50 is set at the operating height, a gap (the portion indicated by the reference numeral 125) is formed between the peripheral portion of the scraper plate 50 and the drug injection groove 38. This gap provides a movement margin for the scraper plate 50, allowing the scraper plate 50 to move further downward.

[0175] Therefore, in the first determination operation, the scraping mechanism 47 is moved downward, and when the arrangement height of the scraping plate 50 is lowered to a specified height or less, it is determined that the sealing member 52 is not attached to the scraping plate 50. At this time, the attachment detection sensor 48 (see FIG. 4) comes into contact with the protrusion 46a, thereby detecting that the scraping mechanism 47 (scraping plate 50) has lowered to a certain height or less.

[0176] The "prescribed height" here is a height lower than the operating height, and is a height equal to or higher than the placement height (hereinafter also referred to as the minimum placement height) when the scraper plate 50 is lowered until it contacts the medicine injection groove 38. The minimum placement height is the placement height when the scraper plate 50 is moved to the lowest position within its movable range. It is also preferable that the "prescribed height" be set to a height higher than the minimum placement height, and that the lowering of the scraper plate 50 be stopped when the placement height of the scraper plate 50 reaches the prescribed height. This configuration can prevent damage to the scraper plate 50 or the distribution plate 30 due to contact between the scraper plate 50 and the distribution plate 30.

[0177] If it is determined that the sealing member 52 is attached to the scraper plate 50, a scraper plate rotation operation is performed in which the scraper plate 50 is rotated in a lowered state, as shown in Fig. 14(b). Specifically, the scraper plate 50 is rotated once clockwise or counterclockwise in a plan view with the thickness direction of the scraper plate 50 as the line of sight.

[0178] Then, in the scraper plate rotation operation, the time required for one rotation of the scraper plate 50 is acquired. That is, in a worn state, there is less (or no) resistance compared to when the seal member 52 is not worn and is in close contact with the medicine injection groove 38, so the time required for one rotation is shorter. Therefore, it is determined that the seal member 52 is worn when the time required for one rotation is equal to or less than a predetermined time.

[0179] As described above, in the scraping device checking operation, a first determination operation is performed to determine whether or not the sealing member 52 is attached to the scraping plate 50. If it is determined as a result of the first determination operation that the sealing member 52 is attached, a second determination operation is performed to determine whether or not the sealing member 52 is worn. The scraping device checking operation of this embodiment can determine whether or not the sealing member 52 is attached correctly by the operation of moving the scraping mechanism 47 downward (scraping mechanism lowering operation) performed in the scraping operation and the operation of rotating the scraping plate 50 (scraping plate rotating operation) performed in the scraping operation.

[0180] When the first determination operation determines that the sealing member 52 is attached, or when the second determination operation determines that the sealing member 52 is worn, an alarm operation is executed to notify the user of this. The alarm operation is an operation of displaying a message on the operation display unit 3, or an operation of generating a sound (error announcement) or a warning sound from a sound generating device such as a speaker device provided in the medicine packaging device 1.

[0181] In the above-described second determination operation, the example in which the scraper plate 50 is rotated one full rotation has been described. However, the amount of rotation of the scraper plate 50 to be rotated in the second determination operation may be changed. For example, it may be one and a half rotations, or even two rotations. The time required to rotate the scraper plate 50 by a specified amount in a normal state may be compared with the time required to rotate the scraper plate 50 by the same amount. Whether the scraper plate 50 has rotated by the specified amount of rotation can be determined by obtaining the number of pulses of the motor that rotates the scraper plate 50.

[0182] Furthermore, instead of comparing the time required to rotate the scraper plate 50 at a specified rotational speed, the second determination operation may be an operation of comparing the current value of the motor (the motor that rotates the scraper plate 50) when the scraper plate 50 is rotated at a specified rotational speed. In other words, as the resistance when rotating the scraper plate 50 decreases, the current value of the motor tends to decrease. Therefore, the current value of the motor when rotating the scraper plate 50 at a specified rotational speed in a normal state may be compared with the current value of the motor when rotating the scraper plate 50 at the same rotational speed, and it may be determined that the seal member 52 is worn if the current value is equal to or less than the specified value.

[0183] Next, a description will be given of a dispensing support system 130 configured to include the above-described medicine packaging device 1. As shown in Fig. 15, the dispensing support system 130 includes a host control device 131, a medicine weighing device 132 (powder medicine weighing device), a powder medicine packaging machine 133, a journal printer 134, and the above-described medicine packaging device 1 (drug packaging means, automatic powder medicine packaging device). These devices are connected to each other via an in-house communication network (LAN) or the like so as to be able to send and receive data (signals) to and from each other.

[0184] The upper control device 131 includes an arithmetic unit such as a CPU, a memory unit for storing various programs and data, a communication unit such as an I / O port, a display device such as an LCD or organic EL display, and input devices such as a mouse and keyboard.

[0185] The drug weighing device 132 is equipped with a balance unit formed by including a balance platform, a balancing circuit, a force coil, etc. This drug weighing device 132 has an operation display means for displaying various information and accepting various inputs, and an information reading / writing means. Specifically, the operation display means is a touch panel. The information reading / writing means is a reader / writer capable of reading and writing information from an information storage medium (RFID tag or IC tag) provided in a weighing container (not shown), and in this embodiment, it is an RFID reader / writer. Note that the above-mentioned manual drug container may also be used as the weighing container.

[0186] The powder medicine packaging machine 133 is a type of packaging machine that does not have a container placement area 12 or a container moving means 25, and by inputting powder medicine from a supply hopper, the input powder medicine is divided into individual doses (each packet) and packaged.

[0187] The journal printer 134 is a printing device that prints and outputs various information such as the history of packaging operations and prescription records on a medium such as paper.

[0188] Furthermore, the dispensing support system 130 of this embodiment has an information reading device (information reading means) that is integrated with the drug weighing device 132 or that is formed so as to be capable of transmitting and receiving signals. The information reading device is a reader device (e.g., a barcode reader) that reads information from codes such as one-dimensional codes and two-dimensional codes. That is, the information reading device executes an information reading operation, thereby enabling the information read by the drug weighing device 132 to be obtained.

[0189] In the dispensing support system 130 of this embodiment, a manual powder medicine packaging means 138 (one medicine packaging means) is configured by a medicine weighing device 132 and a powder medicine packaging machine 133. In addition to carrying out the packaging operation with the medicine packaging device 1, the manual powder medicine packaging means 138 can also perform packaging. When packaging is performed using manual powder medicine packaging means 138, the pharmacist places the powder medicine in a weighing container (not shown) and weighs it using medicine weighing device 132, then moves the weighing container with the weighed powder medicine placed therein to powder medicine packaging machine 133 and puts the powder medicine into powder medicine packaging machine 133. Then, the put-in powder medicine is divided into single doses (packages) and packaged by powder medicine packaging machine 133.

[0190] Here, in the dispensing support system 130, the packaging operation that was scheduled to be performed by the medicine packaging device 1 can be stopped, and the medicine packages that were scheduled to be produced in the stopped packaging operation can be produced by the manual powder medicine packaging means.

[0191] That is, assume that information based on a predetermined prescription is input to the medicine packaging device 1, and it is decided that the medicine packaging device 1 will perform a packaging operation based on the predetermined prescription. In this state, the user can cancel the scheduled packaging operation by operating the operation display unit 3 before the packaging operation is actually performed. When the packaging operation is canceled, a signal indicating this is sent from the medicine packaging device 1 to the journal printer 134, and the journal printer 134 performs a printing operation. In this embodiment, information capable of identifying the prescription corresponding to the canceled packaging operation (cancellation-related information) is sent to the journal printer 134. Then, an operation is performed to print the cancellation-related information as a code (output operation). Specifically, the code is printed and output on a paper medium. The information capable of identifying the prescription is, for example, a recipe number.

[0192] Then, when the user receives the output paper medium and reads the code printed on the paper medium with an information reading device, the medicine weighing device 132 acquires the discontinuation-related information. Normally, when packaging is performed using the manual powder medicine packaging means 138, it is necessary to manually operate the operation and display means of the medicine weighing device 132 and specify the prescription corresponding to the weighing to be performed from a list or the like displayed on the operation and display means. After specifying the prescription, the medicine weighing device 132 performs weighing. In contrast, in this embodiment, the code printed on the paper medium can be read by an information reading device and weighed directly, making it easy to identify the prescription (the prescription for which the packaging operation has been stopped) and facilitating the weighing operation.

[0193] In the above example, an output operation is performed in which a code (one-dimensional code) is printed and output on a paper medium, but the medium for outputting information is not limited to a paper medium. For example, an output operation may be performed in which a code is displayed on a portable terminal that a user can carry, such as a smartphone. The output may be readable by an information reading means.

[0194] The dispensing support system 130 in the above-described embodiment is assumed to include two packaging machines (packaging devices), namely, the medicine packaging device 1 and the powder medicine packaging machine 133, but the dispensing support system 130 may include three or more packaging machines. In addition, the dispensing support system may perform the following operations when it cancels a packaging operation that was scheduled to be performed by one of the packaging machines (e.g., the medicine packaging device 1) belonging to the system and executes the canceled packaging operation by another packaging machine belonging to the system or the manual powder medicine packaging means 138. In other words, provided that a cancellation operation is performed on any of the packaging machines, a list of other dispensing equipment such as other packaging machines and other manual powder packaging means 138 (drug weighing device 132) is displayed on the display device of that packaging machine (operation display unit 3, monitor, etc.).

[0195] The dispensing devices displayed in the list here are packing machines that can perform the discontinued packing operation and dispensing devices that can perform the tasks (weighing, etc.) required to produce the drug packages that were scheduled to be produced in the discontinued packing operation. The list display also displays information that can identify each dispensing device individually, such as the name of the dispensing device, such as a packing machine, and the number assigned to the dispensing device (information indicating the model number of the device).

[0196] The operator selects the desired dispensing device to be used for packaging from the displayed list of dispensing devices. When the dispensing device is selected, prescription information regarding the discontinued packaging operation is transmitted to the selected dispensing device, and information regarding the received prescription information is displayed on the display device (display screen) of the selected dispensing device. For example, assume that drug weighing device 132 is selected. In this case, information regarding the received prescription information, such as information that can identify the prescription, such as a prescription number, is displayed on the screen of drug weighing device 132. The operator then selects the displayed prescription, enabling weighing. In other words, when the operator selects a prescription at the dispensing device to which the prescription information was transmitted, a packaging operation based on that prescription or an operation for preparing a drug package based on that prescription is executed (or becomes executable).

[0197] The high-speed supply operation described above is an operation for increasing the speed at which medicines are supplied to the distribution tray 30, but the target to which medicines are supplied is not limited to the distribution tray 30. Specifically, the medicine packaging device may use different containers for storing powdered medicine (hereinafter also referred to as a powdered medicine storage container) and for dispensing powdered medicine to a distribution tray (hereinafter also referred to as a temporary powdered medicine storage container) instead of the same container. That is, a predetermined amount based on prescription data may be discharged from the powdered medicine storage container to the temporary powdered medicine storage container, and then the temporary powdered medicine storage container may be placed on a mounting unit (vibration device) associated with the distribution tray (disk), and all of the medicine (powdered medicine) stored in the temporary powdered medicine storage container may be discharged to the distribution tray. In such a medicine packaging device, medicines may be discharged from multiple powder medicine containers into a single temporary powder medicine storage container. In such a case, the high-speed supply operation may be an operation for speeding up the supply of medicines from the powder medicine containers to the temporary storage container, or the supply amount may be allocated before the medicines are supplied to the temporary storage container.

[0198] Incidentally, when performing a discharge operation (drug discharge operation) to discharge (supply powdered medicine) medicine from a medicine container 20 (automatic medicine container) or a manual medicine container to a distribution tray 30, the following operation may be performed in order to improve the discharge speed of the powdered medicine while also improving the discharge accuracy.

[0199] First, prior to the execution of the dispensing operation, a usage amount determination operation is executed to determine whether the powdered medicine (medicine) to be dispensed is a small amount or a large amount. Specifically, if the planned amount to be used is equal to or greater than a predetermined amount X, it is determined that a large amount will be dispensed, and if it is less than the predetermined amount X, it is determined that a small amount will be dispensed. Depending on the type of powdered medicine to be dispensed, some are easily dispensed from the medicine container (those with high fluidity) while others are difficult to dispense. Therefore, in this embodiment, the predetermined amount X is set to a different amount depending on the type of powdered medicine. For example, for medicine A, if the planned amount to be used is 50 g or more, it is determined that a large amount has been dispensed, and for medicine B, if the planned amount to be used is 100 g or more, it is determined that a large amount has been dispensed. That is, the usage amount determination operation is an operation for determining whether the amount of medicine to be discharged is large or small based on the type of powdered medicine (medicine) used in the discharge operation and the planned amount to be used.

[0200] When it is determined that the amount of discharge is large, even if it is detected that the powdered medicine has started to be discharged from the medicine container (the powdered medicine has started to fall), the vibration is not reduced and the discharge is carried out while maintaining the magnitude of the vibration amount. On the other hand, if the discharge amount is determined to be small, when it is detected that the powdered medicine has started to be discharged from the medicine container (the powdered medicine has started to fall), an operation to reduce the vibration, i.e., an operation to reduce the vibration amount, is performed. In this embodiment, an operation to reduce the vibration is performed once, specifically, an operation to reduce the vibration amount significantly and then gradually increase the vibration amount.

[0201] When a large amount is dispensed, it takes time to dispense the target amount (planned amount) based on the prescription, so by using a strong vibration to dispense an amount close to the target amount, the dispense speed can be increased.When a small amount is dispensed, by temporarily reducing the vibration, it is possible to prevent too much powder medicine from falling (dispensing more than the target amount).

[0202] The above-described operation of gradually increasing the vibration amount may be performed by increasing the vibration amount every time a predetermined time has elapsed, or by increasing the vibration amount each time the discharge of a predetermined amount of powdered medicine is detected. When the operation of increasing the vibration amount is performed multiple times, the vibration amount increased each time (the amount of increase in the vibration amount) may be the same or different. When the operation of increasing the vibration amount after decreasing the vibration amount is performed one or more times, the final vibration amount may be higher or lower than the vibration amount before the decrease. However, from the perspective of improving accuracy, it is preferable to lower the final vibration amount. Furthermore, in the above example, the predetermined amount X was set to a different amount depending on the type of powdered medicine, but it is also possible to set the predetermined amount X to the same amount for all powdered medicines. The vibration amount is increased or decreased by changing the number of vibrations per unit time (frequency) or the amplitude.

[0203] In the above-described medicine packaging device 1, a confirmation operation is performed to check whether the correct amount of medicine has been dispensed during the packaging operation. This operation is also a failure detection operation to determine whether the weight measuring means 67 has malfunctioned when discharging powdered medicine from the medicine container 20 to the distribution tray 30 during the packaging operation. In the normally performed confirmation operation, first, the weight of the medicine container 20 after the medicine has been discharged is measured by the weight measuring means 67 of the container mounting device 32. Next, the medicine container 20 is moved to the vicinity of a small door (either the upper small door 16, the first lower small door 17, or the second lower small door 18). Furthermore, the weight of the moved medicine container 20 is measured by another weight measuring means (not shown) located near the small door. Then, if the weight value of the medicine container 20 measured in advance by the weight measuring means 67 and the weight value of the medicine container 20 measured by the weight measuring means (not shown) located near the small door are identical, it is determined that the correct amount of medicine has been discharged. On the other hand, if these values ​​are not identical, it is determined that the correct amount of medicine has not been discharged (the weight measuring means 67 was malfunctioning at the time of discharge).

[0204] Here, in pharmacies and the like, pre-packaging is sometimes carried out in which the same medicine packages are prepared in large quantities and stored, and the medicine packaging device 1 may be used for this pre-packaging. At this time, the medicine packaging device 1 continues to perform the packaging operation endlessly using one of the two distribution trays 30 (for example, distribution tray 30a). Then, in the confirmation operation performed at this time, the medicine container 20 is moved to another container mounting device 32 associated with the other of the two distribution trays 30 (for example, distribution tray 30b), and the medicine container 20 is placed on the other container mounting device 32. Then, the weight of the medicine container 20 is measured by the weight measuring means 67 of the other container mounting device 32.

[0205] That is, the weight of the medicine container 20 after the medicine has been discharged is measured by the weight measuring means 67 of one container mounting device 32 that was placed when the medicine (powdered medicine) was discharged. Then, the weight of the medicine container 20 after the medicine has been discharged is measured by the weight measuring means 67 of another container mounting device 32 associated with a dispensing tray 30 different from the dispensing tray 30 used when the medicine (powdered medicine) was discharged. Then, if the weight values ​​of the medicine container 20 measured respectively are the same, it is determined that the correct amount of medicine has been discharged.

[0206] The drug packaging device 1 of this embodiment performs the above-mentioned confirmation operation, thereby speeding up the entire packaging operation performed by the drug packaging device 1 and the series of operations from placing the drug container 20 on the container loading device 32 to supplying the powdered medicine to the distribution tray 30. Specifically, for example, when one dispensing tray 30a is used to perform a packaging operation for pre-packaged packaging and the other dispensing tray 30b is used to perform another packaging operation, a predetermined medicine container 20 used in the packaging operation for pre-packaged packaging may also be used in the other packaging operation. In other words, the same powdered medicine (powdered medicine contained in the same medicine container 20) may be used in the packaging operation for pre-packaged packaging and the other packaging operation. In such a case, after supplying powdered medicine for pre-packaging from a specific medicine container 20 to one distribution tray 30a, the specific medicine container 20 is placed on the container mounting device 32 associated with the other distribution tray 30b, and the above-mentioned confirmation operation is performed. That is, it is determined whether the amount of powdered medicine for pre-packaging supplied to one distribution tray 30a is correct. Then, an operation to discharge the powdered medicine from the specific medicine container 20 is performed, and the powdered medicine is supplied to the other distribution tray 30b. That is, when supplying powdered medicine from one medicine container 20 to one distribution tray 30a and then to another distribution tray 30b in sequence, an operation to determine whether the amount of powdered medicine supplied to one distribution tray 30a is correct is performed using the container mounting device 32 associated with the distribution tray 30b to which the powdered medicine is next supplied. This operation eliminates the need to move the medicine container 20 to the vicinity of the small door to perform the confirmation operation, and then move the medicine container 20 to the container mounting device 32 associated with the other distribution tray 30. This makes it possible to speed up the entire packaging operation performed by the medicine packaging device 1, and to speed up a series of operations related to other packaging operations that are performed simultaneously with or following the packaging operation for pre-packaged packaging.

[0207] Furthermore, in a configuration in which the above confirmation operation is performed, a pre-packaging determination operation may be performed to determine whether the packaging operation to be performed is pre-packaged or not. If the pre-packaging determination operation determines that pre-packaging is to be performed, the above operation may be performed. The pre-packaging determination operation may also be an operation that makes a determination based on the number of drug packages to be produced. That is, it may be an operation that determines that pre-packaging is to be performed on the condition that the number of drug packages to be produced is a predetermined number (e.g., 50 packages) or more. The determination may also be based on the planned amount of drug to be used in the production. For example, it may be determined that pre-packaging is to be performed when the planned amount is a predetermined amount or more. It may also be determined that pre-packaging is to be performed on the condition that the user has made a predetermined input on the operation display unit 3. In the above example, a container mounting device 32 associated with a different distribution tray 30 was used for the preceding measurement and the subsequent measurement. However, it is also possible to use two different container mounting devices 32 associated with the same distribution tray 30. For example, the preceding measurement is performed by placing the medicine container 20 on the first mounting device 32a and discharging the powdered medicine, and then measuring the weight of the medicine container 20. Then, the medicine container 20 is moved to and placed on the third mounting device 32c, and the subsequent measurement is performed, and so on.

[0208] In the above-described embodiment, an example was shown in which a hopper closing member 98 having a thin plate portion 98b was provided. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a hopper closing member 298 shown in Fig. 16(a) may be used as the hopper closing member. As shown in FIG. 16, the hopper closing member 298 has a closing member main body portion 298a and a rotating portion 298b.

[0209] Closing member main body 298a is a plate-shaped member and has through-hole 200. Through-hole 200 penetrates closing member main body 298a in the thickness direction. Rotating portion 298b is a plate-shaped member and is rotatably supported on closing member main body 298a.

[0210] The hopper closing member 298 can be switched between a closed position and an open position by rotating the rotating part 298b to change the position. The rotation of the rotating part 298b is supplied with power from a power source such as a motor (not shown), and can be performed automatically. In the closed position, as shown in FIG. 16(a), the thickness direction of the blocking member main body 298a and the thickness direction of the pivoting portion 298b are the same. A large portion of the pivoting portion 298b is disposed within the through-hole 200, blocking the entire or substantially entire area of ​​the through-hole 200. In other words, the medicine cannot pass through the through-hole 200. In the closed position, the two main surfaces of the pivoting portion 298b are horizontal (parallel to the horizontal plane). The pivoting portion 298b has a guide surface 201, and in this embodiment, the main surface located on the lower side in the closed position is the guide surface 201 (see the right diagram of FIG. 18(a)). In other words, the guide surface 201 faces downward (toward the introduction opening 90a) in the closed position.

[0211] In the open position, for example, as shown in the left diagram of FIG. 16(b), the two main surfaces of the pivoting portion 298b are inclined (inclined relative to the horizontal plane). At this time, the pivoting portion 298b is in a position in which the guide surface portion 201 faces the drug introduction direction (the drug introduction source side). That is, as shown in the left diagram of FIG. 16(b), if the drug is introduced from diagonally upward to the right, the pivoting portion 298b is in a position facing diagonally upward to the right. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the guide surface portion 201 is inclined downward as it approaches the drug introduction side (the drug introduction source). That is, as shown in the left diagram of FIG. 16(b), if the drug is introduced from diagonally upward to the right, the lower side of the pivoting portion 298b is positioned closer to the right side (the drug introduction side) than the upper side. In the open position, a larger portion of the through-hole portion 200 is in vertical communication with the closure member 298 than in the closed position. That is, the medicine introduced from above the hopper closing member 298 can pass through the through-hole portion 200. In this embodiment, a portion of the pivoting portion 298b is located below the introduction-side opening 90a and inside the introduction hopper 90, and another portion is located above the top surface of the closing member main body 298a (above the upper opening of the through-hole portion 200). The open position may be a position in which the two main surfaces of the rotating portion 298b are in a vertical position (a position perpendicular to the horizontal plane).

[0212] 17, the hopper closing member 298 is located below the intermediate plate member 205 and is movable above the introduction hopper 90. That is, the hopper closing member 298 is supplied with power from a power source such as a motor (not shown), and the entire member moves automatically horizontally (linearly). The middle plate member 205 is a metal plate-like member that is located below the distribution dish 30 and supports the distribution dish 30. The middle plate member 205 has a medicine introduction hole 205a above the introduction-side opening 90a. The medicine introduction hole 205a is a through-hole that penetrates the middle plate member 205 in the vertical direction (thickness direction).

[0213] 17(a) and 17(b), the hopper closing member 298 is moved and positioned above the introduction hopper 90. That is, the rotating portion 298b is positioned between the medicine introduction hole 205a of the middle plate member 205 and the introduction-side opening 90a of the introduction hopper 90 (see FIG. 17(b)). When introducing a medicine into introduction hopper 90 from this state, as shown in FIG. 18, hopper closing member 298 is shifted from the closed state (see FIG. 18(a)) to the open state (see FIG. 18(b)) to introduce the medicine. At this time, a portion of pivoting portion 298b is positioned above the upper opening of medicine introduction hole 205a, and another portion is positioned within medicine introduction hole 205a. Furthermore, as described above, another portion is positioned within through-hole 200, and a lower portion is positioned within introduction hopper 90. This ensures (forms) an introduction path for the medicine that passes through medicine introduction hole 205a and through-hole 200 and leads to introduction hopper 90. At this time, as described above, guide surface portion 201 faces the introduction direction of the medicine (see the left diagram in FIG. 16(b)). Guide surface portion 201 serves as a contact surface against which the medicine comes into contact when the medicine is introduced. In other words, pivoting portion 298b functions as a guide member when the medicine is introduced. More specifically, for example, when powdered medicine is dispensed as shown in the left diagram of FIG. 16(b), as described above, the rotation of scraper plate 50 causes scraper plate 51 (scraper portion 51a) to rotate, scraping the powdered medicine from distribution tray 30 to the outside of distribution tray 30 and dispensing it into medicine dispenser 33 (see FIGS. 4, 13, etc.). At this time, the powdered medicine that attempts to exceed introduction hopper 90 (medicine dispenser 33) due to the momentum of the rotation comes into contact with guide surface portion 201 and is guided inside introduction hopper 90. In other words, rotating portion 298b functions as a guide member that blocks the movement of the powdered medicine that has flown out with force and guides it into introduction hopper 90.

[0214] 17(b), at least a portion of the hopper closing member 298 is moved downward, and a portion of the lower surface of the hopper closing member 298 comes into contact with the introduction hopper 90. As described above, a portion of the hopper closing member 298 may be moved by suction. That is, the hopper closing member 298 functions as a lid member that covers and closes the introduction-side opening 90a from above. In the closed position, the pivoting portion 298b closes the through-hole portion 200, and therefore the introduction path for the medicine described above is not formed (it is interrupted (blocked) midway). In this embodiment, the same cleaning operation as above may also be performed with introduction hopper 90 closed. After the medicine introduction operation into introduction hopper 90 has been performed, hopper closing member 298 is changed from the open position to the closed position, introduction hopper 90 is closed, and the cleaning operation is performed, whereby the medicine (powdered medicine) and the like that have adhered to guide surface portion 201 during the medicine introduction operation can be cleaned.

[0215] In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 17, a lid cleaning member 210 is provided at a position horizontally spaced apart from the introduction hopper 90. The lid cleaning member 210 has a plate-shaped portion formed of an elastic body (rubber), and is disposed at a position where the plate-shaped portion contacts the underside of the hopper closing member 298. That is, as shown in FIG. 17(c), by bringing the underside of the hopper closing member 298 into contact with the lid cleaning member 210 and moving the hopper closing member 298 in parallel, powdered medicine and the like adhering to the underside of the hopper closing member 298 (rotating portion 298b) can be cleaned. As a result, powdered medicine adhering to the underside of the hopper closing member 298 that could not be removed by the above cleaning operation can be removed as if scraped off.

[0216] According to the above-mentioned configuration, it is not necessary to provide a guide member for introducing the medicine separately from the cover member that closes the introduction hopper 90, thereby reducing the number of parts. Furthermore, it is not necessary to remove and clean the separately provided guide member, which reduces the effort required for cleaning. The above-described medicine packaging device 1 may also be provided with a manual tablet dispenser that dispenses tablets into the medicine dispenser 33, or a tablet dispenser that dispenses tablets stored in a cassette. That is, the device may be capable of producing medicine packages that package powdered medicine and / or tablets. In this case, as shown in FIG. 16(b), the medicine may be introduced from the opposite direction when introducing powdered medicine into the introduction hopper 90 and when introducing tablets into the introduction hopper 90. In this case, the orientation of the guide surface 201 when the hopper closing member 298 is in the open state may be reversed when introducing powdered medicine and when introducing tablets.

[0217] In the above example, in the closed position, most of the rotating portion 298b is disposed within the through-hole 200. However, the rotating portion provided in the hopper blocking member may be disposed such that the lower surface of the rotating portion, which assumes a horizontal position when in the closed position, is disposed adjacent to the upper side of the upper opening of the through-hole 200. In this case, the shaft portion of the rotating portion is also disposed above the upper surface of the blocking member main body. That is, it is sufficient that the rotating portion is disposed in a position overlapping the entire or substantially entire through-hole 200 in a plan view. Therefore, at least a portion of the rotating portion, which assumes a horizontal position, may be disposed inside the through-hole 200, or the entire portion may be disposed above the through-hole 200.

[0218] The medicine packaging device 1 of this embodiment executes a packaging result output operation to output a packaging result (dispensing result) after executing a packaging operation. In the packaging result output operation, information such as prescription information and the actual discharge amount of powdered medicine (hereinafter simply referred to as the actual discharge amount) calculated based on the actual measurement value acquired by the weight measurement means during the packaging operation is displayed in a visible state on an output medium such as a paper medium or a display means. Here, when the medicine packaging device 1 performs the packaging operation, as described above, it discharges the target amount (planned amount to be used) based on the prescription, but for some reason, there is a possibility that an error will occur in the amount of powdered medicine discharged onto the distribution tray 30. In other words, it is possible that the actual amount of powdered medicine discharged will be a value different from the target amount (target amount to be discharged) based on the prescription. Therefore, in the packaging result output operation, if the target discharge amount and the actual discharge amount of powdered medicine differ, the error rate is displayed in percentage notation. For example, if the target discharge amount is 0.2 g and the actual discharge amount of powdered medicine is 0.18 g, information indicating a -10% "error rate" is displayed. Furthermore, if the target discharge amount is 0.2 g and the actual discharge amount of powdered medicine is 0.21 g, information indicating a +5% "error rate" is displayed. In other words, information indicating whether the actual discharge amount of powdered medicine is more or less than the target discharge amount and information indicating the degree to which the actual discharge amount of powdered medicine differs from the target discharge amount are displayed in a manner that can be grasped at a glance. While not particularly limited, the percentage notation is preferred as described above because the percentage notation is used to display errors as stipulated in the dispensing guidelines and is an easy-to-check notation for pharmacists in their daily dispensing work.

[0219] The packing result output operation may be an operation in which information is displayed on a paper medium output by the drug packaging device 1 having a printing means. In this case, the printing means may be, for example, a printer device integrated with the main device 2. The printing means may also be a printer device provided separately from the main device 2, capable of transmitting and receiving information to and from the main device 2 via wired or wireless communication. The printing means may also be a printer device provided in the internal packaging device 85. In this case, the packing result output operation may be an operation in which information is printed on drug packaging paper. For example, when preparing drug packages, a blank portion (an empty portion of the package containing no drug) may be provided adjacent to the drug packages, and information may be printed on the blank portion. Information may also be printed on the drug packages being prepared. The packing result output operation may also be an operation in which information is displayed on the operation display unit 3. It may also be an operation in which information is displayed on an external device having a display means such as a display (for example, a mobile terminal carried by the user).

[0220] Incidentally, the above-mentioned medicine container 20 may contain medicines that have been made into powder form by crushing solid medicines such as tablets (crushed medicines, hereinafter also referred to simply as powdered medicines). In this case, depending on the type of medicine, there are some medicines that should not be stored in a crushed (powdered) state for a long period of time (there are some medicines for which it is preferable to limit the number of days they can be stored). Therefore, in the drug packaging device 1 of this embodiment, a storage period confirmation operation is performed when the drug packaging device 1 is turned on at the start of work for the day, or after it has been decided to perform the packaging operation and before the operation begins.

[0221] Specifically, the storage period confirmation operation acquires pre-stored information regarding the storage period of the powdered processed medicine and determines whether the powdered processed medicine has been stored beyond the storage period. If the storage period has been exceeded, an alarm operation is executed to notify the user of this. The alarm operation may be an operation of displaying a message on the display means of the operation display unit 3, or an operation of generating a sound (error announcement) or a warning sound from a sound generating device such as a speaker device provided in the medicine packaging device 1.

[0222] The information regarding the shelf life of the powdered medicine may be manually entered by the user, including the actual crushing date, or may be stored in advance (stored as a database) in association with the type of medicine and the shelf life, including the actual crushing date. The information regarding the shelf life of the powdered medicine may be stored in the RFID tag 83 of the medicine container 20, or may be stored in the memory of the control device of the medicine packaging device 1. For example, the information may be stored when the medicine is crushed and placed in the medicine container 20, or the medicine container 20 containing the weighed powdered medicine may be placed on the medicine weighing device 132 and the medicine weighing device 132 may be operated to manually store the information in the RFID tag 83 of the medicine container 20. That is, the information may be stored by operating an external device other than the medicine packaging device 1. Alternatively, when the medicine container 20 containing the powdered medicine is stored in the container storage device 21, the information may be stored in the memory unit manually by operating the operation display unit 3. In these cases, the information regarding the shelf life may be stored in association with information regarding the ID of the medicine container 20 (information that uniquely identifies the medicine container 20). Alternatively, the database described above may be created in advance and stored in the memory unit of the control device. Then, when the shelf life confirmation operation is performed, the information regarding the shelf life of the powdered medicine is obtained by referring to the RFID tag 83 or the memory unit of the control device.

[0223] In the above example, the weight measuring means 67 is used as the discharge amount detecting means. That is, the discharge operation (medicine discharge operation) detects that the medicine has started to be discharged from the medicine container 20 by measuring the change in weight of the medicine container 20. However, the configuration for detecting that the medicine has started to be discharged in the discharge operation is not limited to this. For example, a sensor member for detecting whether or not a medicine is present at a predetermined position may be provided near the container mounting device 32 (medicine feeder 60). As this sensor member, an ultrasonic sensor, an optical sensor, or the like may be used. That is, the sensor member detects whether or not a drug (powdered drug) is present below drug discharge portion 76 of drug container 20 placed on container mounting device 32. Then, if the presence of the drug is detected, it is determined that the drug has started to be discharged. As an example, a sensor member may be placed immediately below drug discharge portion 76 so that the presence or absence of drug discharge from drug container 20 can be immediately detected.

[0224] This configuration allows for earlier detection of the start of drug discharge compared to a configuration that detects the start of drug discharge based on a change in weight. That is, when the start of drug discharge is detected based on a change in weight, the discharge of a predetermined amount of drug has already been completed (a predetermined amount of drug has been supplied to the distribution tray 30) by the time the start of drug discharge is detected. In contrast, when the configuration is provided with the sensor member described above, the presence of the powdered drug that falls first among the powdered drug discharged in the drug discharge operation can be detected, allowing for earlier detection of the start of drug discharge.

[0225] Therefore, when the discharging operation is performed in the configuration provided with the sensor member described above, the vibration amount may be reduced on the condition that it is detected that the medicine has started to be discharged. That is, the vibration amount is relatively large from the time when the medicine container 20 starts to be vibrated until the medicine starts to be discharged, thereby shortening the time until the start of discharge. Then, after the start of discharge, the vibration amount is reduced to prevent excessive discharge of the medicine.

[0226] Here, the time until the vibration amount is reduced and / or the vibration amount by which the vibration amount is reduced when the vibration amount is reduced (the amount by which the vibration amount is reduced) may be determined (changed) based on the amount of drug contained in the drug container 20 and / or the type of drug contained in the drug container 20. For example, if the amount of medicine contained in medicine container 20 is large, it is conceivable that a large amount of medicine will be discharged (fall) immediately after discharge begins. For this reason, it is preferable to reduce the vibration amount more quickly or to reduce the vibration amount significantly. Conversely, if the amount of medicine contained in medicine container 20 is small, the amount discharged (falls) immediately after discharge begins will be very small, and it will take time for full discharge to begin (for the discharge amount per unit time at the same vibration amount to increase from an excessively small state to a certain amount or more). For this reason, it is preferable to lengthen the time until the vibration amount is reduced or to reduce the vibration amount significantly.

[0227] Also, for example, as described above, depending on the type of medicine, some are easily discharged (those with high fluidity) and some are difficult to discharge. Therefore, if the medicine is easily discharged, it is preferable to shorten the time until the vibration amount is reduced or to significantly reduce the vibration amount. On the other hand, if the medicine is difficult to discharge, it is preferable to lengthen the time until the vibration amount is reduced or to significantly reduce the vibration amount.

[0228] In addition, when changing the time until the vibration amount is reduced based on the type of drug, the drug's flowability (ease of discharge) can be tested in advance through experiments, etc., and all drugs that can be discharged can be classified into multiple stages. For example, this can be called the "flow coefficient," and drugs can be classified into flow coefficients from "1" to "3." Each flow coefficient classification can then be associated with a time until the vibration amount is reduced and a reduction in the vibration amount. For example, for a drug with a flow coefficient of "1," the time until the vibration amount is reduced can be X seconds, and for a drug with a flow coefficient of "2," the time until the vibration amount is reduced can be Y seconds. Similarly, the amount of storage may be divided into stages when the time until the amount of vibration is reduced is changed based on the amount of medicine stored in medicine container 20. When the time until the amount of vibration is reduced is changed based on both the type of medicine (ease of flow) and the amount of medicine stored, one of them may be used as the discrimination criterion with priority, or each may be divided into stages and then both may be used as the discrimination criterion in combination. [Explanation of symbols]

[0229] 1; drug packaging device, 20; drug container, 30; distribution tray, 32; container mounting device

Claims

1. a medicine packaging device having a distribution tray and a plurality of container placing means, the container placing means being located near the distribution tray and acting on placed medicine containers to discharge the medicine, each of the plurality of container placing means having an alarm member and capable of manual packaging operations using manual medicine containers containing pre-weighed medicine, at least one of the plurality of container placing means serving as manual container placing means on which the manual medicine containers are placed when the manual packaging operation is performed, and, provided that a malfunction occurs in the manual container placing means, a placing destination change operation is performed to enable another of the container placing means not used to place manual medicine containers to be used as an alternative manual container placing means, and an alarm operation is performed to notify that the alternative manual container placing means will be the placing location for the manual medicine container.

2. The medicine packaging device according to claim 1 , wherein in the notification operation, the notification member of the alternative manual container placement means performs an operation different from that of the notification members of the other container placement means.

3. The drug packaging device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein one of the notification members has one or more lamps, and the notification operation is an operation of causing one or more of the notification members to perform a light emitting operation in a predetermined lighting pattern.

4. A drug packaging device as described in any one of claims 1 to 3, in which a confirmation operation is performed to confirm whether a manual drug container is correctly placed on a container placing means, and the placing location notification operation is terminated on the condition that the confirmation operation determines that the manual drug container is correctly placed.

5. 5. The medicine packaging device according to claim 1, wherein the operation of using the alternative manual container placing device is automatically performed when a malfunction is detected in the original manual container placing device.

6. 5. The medicine packaging device according to claim 1, wherein the operation of the alternative manual container placing means is performed by a user performing a predetermined operation.

7. 7. The medicine packaging device according to claim 1, wherein it is possible to specify in advance which container mounting device is to be used as the alternative manual mounting device.

Images