Medicine transporting and dispensing device

Abstract

The present invention is characterized by having a transportation unit (110) that can hold and transport a cassette (20) in which a medicine is accommodated, a first accommodation shelf (200) that can store a plurality of the cassettes (20) in a form of being attached to a cassette base (30) and that makes it possible to dispense medicine from a stored cassette (20), a second accommodation shelf (300) that can store a plurality of the cassettes (20), a packaging device (130) for packaging the medicine dispensed from the first accommodation shelf (200), and a medicine transportation pathway (210) that connects the first accommodation shelf (200) and the packaging device (130), the present invention furthermore being characterized in that the packaging device (130), the first accommodation shelf (200), and the second accommodation shelf (300) are arranged side by side in the stated order along the direction in which the transportation unit (110) can move.

Description

Medicine delivery and dispensing device

[0001] The present invention relates to a medicine delivering and dispensing device that includes a tablet packaging machine equipped with a cassette and a transport unit that grips and moves the cassette.

[0002] Tablet packaging machines are widely known, each equipped with a cassette for storing tablets and a packaging device for dispensing tablets one by one from the cassette according to prescription data. Conventionally, tablet packaging machines are used by an operator replacing the cassette or replenishing the tablets. However, with the recent trend toward automation, a fully automatic tablet packaging machine equipped with a storage shelf for storing a large number of cassettes and a mechanism for dispensing tablets from the storage shelf has also been considered as one type of such machine (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Alternatively, a fully automatic powdered medicine packaging machine configured to move a cassette used for powdered medicine stored in a storage section to a position where it can be dispensed and then dispense the medicine is also known (see, for example, Patent Documents 2 and 3).

[0003] In a fully automatic tablet dispensing and packaging machine, storing many cassettes on storage shelves is advantageous because it can accommodate a variety of prescriptions. However, it is not desirable to be able to dispense tablets from cassettes placed on all storage shelves, as this would result in a complicated drop path to the packaging device and would increase the cost of the entire machine. Therefore, fully automatic tablet dispensing and packaging machines equipped with a conveying means for moving the cassettes themselves have also been considered (see, for example, Patent Documents 4 and 5).

[0004] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2022-059035 Japanese Patent No. 6406785 Japanese Patent No. 5953471 Japanese Patent Publication No. 2015-532626 Japanese Patent Publication No. 2002-514152

[0005] However, regardless of which method is adopted, it is necessary to ensure the number of cassettes that can be stored and to simplify the tablet dispensing mechanism, and there was a need to develop a new type of medicine delivery and dispensing device that could solve both of these technical challenges.

[0006] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a transport unit capable of grasping and transporting cassettes containing medicines, a first storage shelf capable of storing multiple cassettes attached to a cassette base and dispensing the medicines from the stored cassettes, a second storage shelf capable of storing multiple cassettes, a packaging device for packaging the medicines dispensed from the first storage shelf, and a medicine transport path connecting the first storage shelf and the packaging device, wherein the packaging device, the first storage shelf, and the second storage shelf are arranged in that order along the movable direction of the transport unit.

[0007] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a new type of medicine delivery and dispensing device that ensures a sufficient number of cassettes to be stored and simplifies the tablet dispensing mechanism.

[0008] 11 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a medicine delivering and dispensing device. FIG. 12 is a side view showing an example of the configuration of the medicine delivering and dispensing device shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 13 is a front view showing an example of the configuration of a medicine delivering and dispensing device. FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a cassette mounted on the medicine delivering and dispensing device. FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of an incoming transport unit and an outgoing transport unit that store and retrieve cassettes. FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of the cassette receiving operation in the incoming transport unit. FIG. 17 is a diagram showing another example of the cassette receiving operation in the incoming transport unit. FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of a failure in the receiving operation shown in FIG. 6. FIG. 19 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a spacing adjustment unit for adjusting the spacing between cassettes to be received. FIG. 19 is a diagram showing an example of the operation of the spacing adjustment unit shown in FIG. 1 25. FIG. 26 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a transport path for transporting medicines from a second storage shelf to a packaging device. FIG. 27 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a packaging device of the present invention. FIG. 28 is a diagram showing an example of packaged medicines. FIG. 29 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a control unit of a medicine transporting and dispensing device. FIG. 29 is a diagram showing an example of the control operation of a transport unit in the present invention. FIG. 29 is a diagram showing a modified example of a spacing adjustment unit for adjusting the spacing between cassettes to be stored. FIG. 29 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a rocking device of the present invention. FIG. 29 is a diagram showing an example of an operation of the lid pressing mechanism of the rocking device. FIG. 29 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a cassette placing unit of the present invention. FIG. 29 is a diagram showing a comparative example of a fall path. FIG. 29 is a diagram showing a fall path of jammed tablets in the present invention. FIG. 29 is a diagram showing an example of a control method when performing a shaking operation in the rocking device. FIG. 29 is a diagram showing an example of clearing a jammed tablet by the rocking device. FIG. 29 is a diagram showing an example of clearing a jammed tablet when the rocking device is tilted 90 degrees. FIG. 29 is a diagram showing an example of clearing a jammed tablet when the rocking device is tilted 135 degrees.

[0009] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the drawings described below, each direction will be described along a three-axis Cartesian coordinate system of X, Y, and Z as shown in FIG. 1, but the present invention is not limited to such a configuration.

[0010] FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a drug delivery and dispensing device 500 as an embodiment of the present invention, viewed from the upper right. The drug delivery and dispensing device 500 is a series of units connected and arranged in a row, in order from the +Z direction (the front side where the operator stands) to the -Z direction (the -Z direction) including a front unit 100 having a packaging device 130 at the bottom, a collector shelf 200 serving as a first storage shelf capable of storing multiple tablet cassettes 20 and dispensing tablets from the tablet cassettes 20, a storage shelf 300 serving as a second storage shelf on which the tablet cassettes 20 can be placed, and a power unit 400 that powers the electrical system. The drug delivery and dispensing device 500 also includes a control unit 550 as a central computing unit for controlling each of its components. While the control unit 550 may be located anywhere within the drug delivery and dispensing device 500, this embodiment will be described assuming that it is located at the top of the main body of the drug delivery and dispensing device 500. In this embodiment, the most basic form of the drug delivery and dispensing device 500 is described as having both a collector shelf 200 and a storage shelf 300, one pair on each side, but it is also possible to have multiple collector shelves 200 and multiple storage shelves 300.

[0011] As shown in Fig. 2, the medicine delivering and dispensing device 500 stores therein a plurality of tablet cassettes 20 for dispensing medicines, and has a transport arm unit 110 which is a transport section capable of gripping and transporting the tablet cassettes 20. The transport arm units 110 are arranged in pairs, one on each side of the medicine delivering and dispensing device 500, and each moves independently in the ±Z and ±Y directions outside the collector shelf 200 and the storage shelf 300, thereby functioning as transport means for transferring the tablet cassettes 20 between the collector shelf 200, the storage shelf 300, and the front unit 100. The transport arm unit 110 has a catcher unit 112 which moves along rail units 111 which are endless belts stretched in a pair above and below in the Z direction, and in the vertical direction, the catcher unit 112 moves a grip unit 113 up and down, thereby freely moving in the YZ plane. 2, an intermediate gear 114 is provided in the middle of the rail unit 111 and is fixed to the housing, and by pressing the rail unit 111 in the X direction opposite to the side where the catcher unit 112 abuts, tension is maintained so that the rail unit 111 extends linearly along the Z direction. In this way, the transport arm unit 110 is arranged so that at least the collector shelf 200 and the storage shelf 300 are included within its movable range, with the Z direction being a straight line including an extension of the rail unit 111. Furthermore, as will be described later, the incoming storage unit 154 and the outgoing storage unit 164, which are located on the -Z direction side of the front unit 100, are also located within the movable range of the transport arm unit 110.

[0012] 3, front unit 100 has a manual distribution section 120 provided for an operator to distribute medicines manually, a packaging device 130 arranged at the bottom, and a storage section 140 for storing large-capacity cassettes 40. Front unit 100 has an incoming transport section 150 for storing tablet cassettes 20 inside front unit 100, and an outgoing transport section 160 for discharging tablet cassettes 20 from the front of front unit 100. Here, incoming transport sections 150 and outgoing transport sections 160 are provided symmetrically, one pair each, at positions line-symmetrical with respect to the center line of front unit 100, and a partition wall 101 is provided at the end of incoming transport section 150 on the +Z direction side to prevent placed tablet cassettes 20 from falling forward.

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

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

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

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

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

[0018] Outgoing conveying section 160 is attached above front unit 100, and functions as a belt-type conveying means made up of outgoing conveying belts 161, which are two endless belts wound along the -Z direction, and drive rollers 162 for driving outgoing conveying belts 161. Outgoing conveying section 160 can move tablet cassettes 20 placed on outgoing conveying belts 161 in the +Z direction by rotating outgoing conveying belts 161.

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

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

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

[0022] The in-stock conveying section 150 functions as a belt-type conveying means consisting of two endless belts, in-stock conveying belts 151, wound around the back side of the partition wall 101 in the -Z direction, and a drive roller 152 for driving the in-stock conveying belts 151.

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

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

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

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

[0027] In the receiving storage section 154, a first direction detection sensor 155 is disposed along the Z direction along the receiving conveyor belt 151. This first direction detection sensor 155 is a laser-type detection means that is passed in the +Z direction as shown in Fig. 6, and the light emitted from this first direction detection sensor 155 passes through the gaps between the tablet cassettes 20, in this case the space between the handle portion 29 and the main body of the tablet cassette 20, making it possible to detect that each tablet cassette 20 placed in the receiving conveyor section 150 is placed in the correct orientation. Also disposed above the receiving conveyor section 150 is a second direction detection sensor 156 for detecting whether both ends of the tablet cassette 20 are positioned directly above the receiving conveyor belt 151. These second direction detection sensors 156 are laser-type detection means that are disposed at both ends of the conveyance path of incoming conveyance section 150 and directed directly downward, and when tablet cassette 20 passes directly below them, if they simultaneously detect its passage (both ON), it can detect that tablet cassette 20 is moving perpendicular to the conveyance direction as shown in Fig. 6. Conversely, as shown in Fig. 7, if tablet cassette 20 is placed incorrectly, the light beam emitted by first direction detection sensor 155 is blocked by tablet cassette 20 and turns OFF, making it possible to detect an incorrect placement direction.

[0028] Alternatively, if the tablet cassette 20 is tilted with respect to the conveying direction for some reason as shown in Figure 8, the first direction detection sensor 155 is likely to be blocked by the tablet cassette 20 and turn OFF. On the other hand, even if the first direction detection sensor 155 happens to be tilted only enough to allow tablets to pass, by arranging a pair of second direction detection sensors 156 on both sides of the receiving conveyor belt 151, it is possible to determine whether the belt is moving parallel to the conveying direction by checking whether each second direction detection sensor 156 turns ON within a predetermined time interval. Note that Figure 8 is a schematic example of a case where the tilt with respect to the conveying direction is large, but in reality, the difference in the timing at which the two second direction detection sensors 156 are blocked may not be large enough to be illustrated.

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

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

[0031] At this time, in order for grip unit 113 to accurately grip handle portion 29, a gap is required that allows grip unit 113 of transport arm unit 110 to enter tablet cassettes 20 placed side by side in receiving and storing section 154. For this reason, this embodiment has gap adjustment means 153 for adjusting this gap while receiving and transporting belt 151 transports tablet cassettes 20.

[0032] 9, the gap adjustment means 153 has an L-shaped plate-like member 1531 which is a restricting means for restricting movement of the tablet cassette 20 in the -Z direction by abutting against the base portion 25 of the tablet cassette 20, and a gap adjustment sensor 1532 which is a gap adjustment detection unit for detecting that the tablet cassette 20 has reached a predetermined position. A plurality of gap adjustment means 153 (three in this embodiment) are arranged side by side in the Z direction between the two incoming conveyor belts 151, and when the tablet cassette 20 passes above each of them, each gap adjustment means 153 operates to adjust the gap between the tablet cassettes 20 before they reach the incoming storage unit 154 located downstream.

[0033] 9, the plate-like member 1531 is an L-shaped plate-like member supported so as to rotate about a rotation axis 1533 that extends in the X direction. When the gap adjustment sensor 1532 detects the passage of a tablet cassette 20, the drive source 1534 rotates the plate-like member 1531 about the rotation axis 1533, and the tip end 1531a of the plate-like member 1531 enters so as to abut against the base portion 25, which is the bottom surface of the tablet cassette 20. At this time, since the input conveyor belt 151 continues to rotate, the tablet cassette 20 attempts to be conveyed in the -Z direction, but the tip end 1531a abuts against and gets caught on the bottom surface, restricting the conveyance of the tablet cassette 20.

[0034] Figure 10 schematically shows the operation of such gap adjustment means 153. As shown in Figure 10(a), the multiple tablet cassettes being transported side by side are respectively referred to as tablet cassettes 20a, 20b, and 20c. First, it is assumed that in the initial state, tablet cassettes 20a, 20b, and 20c are closely packed together on input conveyor belt 151 without any gap adjustment. When gap adjustment sensor 1532 detects the passage of tablet cassette 20a, which is passing first, plate-like member 1531 rotates a predetermined time after tablet cassette 20a has passed and abuts against the bottom surface of tablet cassette 20b. 10(b), tablet cassette 20a moves forward for the time that tip 1531a abuts against and is caught on the bottom surface of tablet cassette 20b, and thus, the distance La between tablet cassette 20a and tablet cassette 20b can be adjusted by the contact time of plate-like member 1531. Note that, in this embodiment, plate-like member 1531 is L-shaped and has a shape that abuts by fitting into a recess in the bottom surface of tablet cassette 20, but the present invention is not limited to this configuration and may have any structure as long as it abuts against tablet cassette 20 to restrict and temporarily stop conveyance by input conveyor belt 151.

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

[0036] 10(d), it is possible to adjust the distance Lb between tablet cassettes 20b and 20c by rotating the plate-like member 1531 located most upstream in the conveying direction and adjusting the time for which it contacts tablet cassette 20c. However, there is a concern that differences in the distance may occur due to differences in the conveying speed of receiving conveyor belt 151 and the time required for plate-like member 1531 to rotate.

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

[0038] As described above, the aligned tablet cassettes 20 are transported to the receiving / storage section 154 located downstream in the transport direction from the spacing adjustment section 153 while maintaining the spacing L1 at a constant value by the spacing adjustment section 153. In the receiving / storage section 154, the tablet cassettes 20 are placed with the handle portions 29 facing outward and spaced apart by the spacing L1, so that the grip unit 113 of the transport arm unit 110 can securely grip the tablet cassettes 20 by entering into the spacing L1.

[0039] The configuration of the transport arm unit 110 will be described. As already described, the transport arm unit 110 operates in such a manner that the catcher unit 112 moves along the rail unit 111, which is an endless belt stretched in the Z direction, and the catcher unit 112 moves the grip unit 113 up and down in the Y direction, via a support rod stretched between the upper and lower rail units 111, thereby freely moving in the YZ plane. FIG. 11 shows the operation of the catcher unit 112 and the grip unit 113. An intermediate gear 114 is provided as an intermediate member on the inner periphery of the rail unit 111 and is fixed to the housing of the medicine delivery and dispensing device 500. As shown in FIG. 11 , the intermediate gear 114 presses the inner periphery of the rail unit 111 opposite the side where the catcher unit 112 contacts, thereby maintaining the surface on the opposite side, the catcher unit 112 side, in a straight line. An intermediate gear 114 is provided on each of the transport arm units 110 arranged on both sides of the medicine delivering and dispensing device 500, and each applies tension to the rail unit 111 toward the inside of the device. Even when the length of the medicine delivering and dispensing device 500 in the Z direction increases, the intermediate gears 114 maintain the tension of the rail unit 111, allowing the catcher unit 112 to move in a straight line along the Z direction, which is the direction of movement.

[0040] 12, the grip unit 113 has a mounting table 1131 wide enough to hold six tablet cassettes 20, three on each side, a forward and backward movement mechanism 1133 that moves back and forth in the ±X directions, and a fitting claw 1132 attached to the front of the forward and backward movement mechanism 1133. The mounting table 1131 has a shelf position detection sensor 1134 that emits light in the forward and backward directions shown by the dashed lines in Fig. 12 to confirm and fine-tune the position of the shelf of the collector shelf 200 or the storage shelf 300 in addition to the position coordinates of the catcher unit 112 and the grip unit 113, and a cassette detection sensor 1135 that emits light obliquely upward from the mounting table 1131 to detect the presence or absence of tablet cassettes 20 in front of the forward and backward movement mechanism 1133. In the present embodiment, the tablet cassette 20 has a semi-transparent main body 22 and handle portion 29 so that the interior can be visually confirmed, and the lid portion 23 on the top of the tablet cassette 20 is opaque to the extent that it blocks the irradiated light. Therefore, the cassette detection sensor 1135 detects the opaque lid portion 23 of the tablet cassette 20. Therefore, the irradiated light of the cassette detection sensor 1135 is directed obliquely upward.

[0041] For example, in order to allow an operator to easily view the interior and the tablet cassette 20 itself of a tablet cassette 20 removed from an outgoing loader, it is desirable that at least the handle portion 29 and the main body portion 22 of the tablet cassette 20 are translucent. However, it is difficult to detect the translucent main body portion 22 and the handle portion 29 with the cassette detection sensor 1135, which is an optical detection sensor. Therefore, in this embodiment, the lid portion 23 of the tablet cassette 20 is made opaque and the handle portion 29 and the main body portion 22 are made translucent, so that the lid portion 23 blocks the irradiated light, making it easier to detect the position of the tablet cassette 20.

[0042] 13 and 14, the engaging claws 1132 are arranged in a pair on the left and right, and are held by the advancing / retreating mechanism 1133 so that they can rotate around a connecting portion 1136. The engaging claws 1132 move forward and backward together with the advancing / retreating mechanism 1133, and rotate around the connecting portion 1136 with the advancing / retreating mechanism 1133 at a position where they can grip the handle portion 29 of the tablet cassette 20, and operate to retract the handle portion 29. A space corresponding to the distance L1 described in FIG. 10 is provided so that when one engaging claw 1132 enters between the tablet cassettes 20 and grips the handle portion 29, the adjacent engaging claw 1132 is positioned directly in front of the adjacent tablet cassette 20. With this configuration, when tablet cassette 20 is removed from receiving / storage section 154, the multiple engaging claws 1132 of grip unit 113 each grip tablet cassette 20 frontally, making it possible to hold tablet cassette 20 on mounting table 1131 without requiring fine movement in the Z direction. The space required for such engaging claws 1132 to fit between tablet cassettes 20 is distance L1 described in Figure 10 .

[0043] When the engaging claws 1132 grip the tablet cassette 20 in this manner, a plate-like member, the cassette presser 1137, is present in front of the advancing / retracting mechanism 1133. Therefore, when the engaging claws 1132 act to pinch and surround the handle portion 29, which is the engaged portion, and retract it, the main body 22 of the tablet cassette 20 comes into contact with the cassette presser 1137, thereby fixing the position. In this gripping state, a force that retracts the engaging claws 1132 acts on the main body 22 via the handle portion 29, and a counterforce that pushes it out acts from the cassette presser 1137, thereby stabilizing the posture. Such cassette pressers 1137 may be located, for example, in two positions, vertically centered around the handle portion 29, or may be located on only one side, for example, the upper side.

[0044] In this state, the advancing / retracting mechanism 1133 retracts the tablet cassette 20 together with the engaging claws 1132 in the advancing / retracting direction, and places the tablet cassette 20 on the placing table 1131. In this manner, in this embodiment, the engaging claws 1132 and the advancing / retracting mechanism 1133 function as a plurality of cassette holding units that move together in the ±X directions, which are advancing / retracting directions perpendicular to the ZY directions, which are the moving directions of the transport arm unit 110, and hold the tablet cassettes 20. Since the placing table 1131 can similarly hold up to six tablet cassettes 20 as described above, by moving the catcher unit 112 with the tablet cassette 20 placed on the placing table 1131, the catcher unit 112 can transport the tablet cassette 20 from the front unit 100 to the collector shelf 200 or the storage shelf 300. At this time, an identification member sensor 28 for reading the identification member 27 of the tablet cassette 20 is placed on the mounting table 1131, and can read the identification member 27 of the tablet cassette 20 transported to the storage shelf 300. Therefore, the control unit 550 stores the YZ coordinates, which are the position coordinates in the storage shelf 300 on which the transport arm unit 110 is placed, linked to the identification information of the medicine stored in the identification member 27. In this way, the identification information of the medicine by the identification member 27 and the YZ coordinates are linked and stored, so that the control unit 550 can instruct the transport arm unit 110 on the necessary YZ coordinates when taking out the necessary medicine according to the prescription data.

[0045] As shown in Figure 15, the storage shelf 300 is a shelf having a shelf main body 302 and a base plate 301. In this embodiment, in order to uniquely determine the position at which the tablet cassettes 20 are arranged, the storage shelf 300 is provided with 12 flat base plates 301 that fit into the base portions 25, arranged in 10 vertical rows, although only a portion of these is shown in the figure for simplicity. The tablet cassettes 20 placed on the storage shelf 300 are held in a state where they fit into the base plates 301, but this configuration is not limited to this. Furthermore, the base plate 301 is simply a plate-like member and need not have any particular mechanism that operates in conjunction with the operation of the tablet cassettes 20.

[0046] As already shown and described in Figure 4, a cassette base 30 for fitting the tablet cassette 20 is arranged on the collector shelf 200, and the tablet cassette 20 arranged on the collector shelf 200 can eject the medicine stored inside the tablet cassette 20 one tablet at a time via the cassette base 30.

[0047] As shown in Fig. 16 , the collector shelf 200 has a shelf main body 202 on which cassette bases 30 are arranged side by side, and a tablet drop path 201, which is a space formed between the shelf main body 202 and an opening / closing plate 203 on the back side of the shelf main body 202. Note that Fig. 16(b) is a cross-sectional view of the portion indicated by line A-A' in Fig. 16(a). Here, as shown in Fig. 16(b), the collector shelf 200 is formed so that the tablet drop path 201 and the tablet discharge port 24 communicate with each other when the tablet cassettes 20 and the cassette bases 30 are fitted together. In this embodiment, the collector shelf 200 is configured so that eight cassette bases 30 are provided in each row in the horizontal direction and two shelves in the vertical direction, but the number of cassette bases 30 and the like can be changed as appropriate.

[0048] As shown in Figure 17, a rocking device 50 is provided on the rear side of the collector shelf 200 in the -Z direction, within the movable range of the transport arm unit 110. As shown in Figure 1, the collector shelves 200 are arranged in a pair, left and right, back to back, with the shelf main body 202 facing the movable range of the transport arm unit 110, so a total of two rocking devices 50 are provided, one on each side of the medicine transport and dispensing device 500. When it is detected that no tablets have been discharged from one of the multiple tablet cassettes 20 installed on the collector shelf 200 even after rotation of the transmission drive unit 31, that tablet cassette 20 is transported to the rocking device 50 by the transport arm unit 110. The specific configuration of the rocking device 50 will be described later.

[0049] 17, tablet drop path 201 is formed between shelf main body 202 and opening / closing plate 203, and is provided at its lower end with a shutter mechanism 204. Shutter mechanism 204 is normally in a closed state and functions as a shutter that blocks the drop path so that tablets discharged from tablet cassette 20 fall at the correct timing.

[0050] Below the shutter mechanism 204, there is provided a funnel-shaped hopper section 205 and a conveyor device 210 that rotates in the direction of arrow A in the figure. The conveyor device 210 is known as a medicine transport section having a structure including a plurality of tablet containers 211 and a conveyor 212 composed of rollers and belts that move the tablet containers 211. Tablets that fall from the tablet drop path 201 into the tablet containers 211 via the hopper section 205 are transported in the +Z direction by the conveyor device 210 and are ultimately transported from the hopper 70 located at the bottom of the front unit 100 to the packaging device 130. In this way, the collector shelf 200 is composed of the tablet drop path 201, the shutter mechanism 204, the hopper section 205, and the conveyor device 210, and has a medicine transport path connecting the collector shelf 200 and the packaging device 130.

[0051] The tablets that have fallen into the hopper 70 are packaged in packaging paper 131 by a packaging device 130 as shown in FIG. The packaging device 130 is provided with a wrapping strip feeding section 132 that holds a roll of packaging paper 131 and applies appropriate tension to it to feed it out sequentially from the tip along the feed path of the packaging paper 131; a printer 133 that prints on the packaging paper 131; a vertical sealing section 134 that has a heating element that extends in the width direction of the packaging paper 131, i.e., in the front and depth directions of Figure 18 in this embodiment, and heats and fuses the seal section 131a of the packaging paper 131; two hoppers 70 on the left and right that move up and down to insert and remove the tip into the packaging paper 131 that has been folded in half; a horizontal sealing section 135 that has a heating element that extends horizontally and heats and fuses the packaging paper 131; a roller section 136 that pulls the packaging paper 131; and a cutter 137 that perforates and cuts the packaging paper 131.

[0052] With this configuration, as shown in FIG. 19 , the packing paper 131 is filled with medicines such as tablets or powder medicine in compartments of a predetermined length, and is discharged downstream to a discharge port 139 in a continuous length with the shaded seals 131a heat-fused. The packing paper 131 is folded in half and drawn out from the packing strip feeder 132 with its top end open. The packing strip feeder 132 is a packing strip holder that feeds the packing paper 131, which has been wound up in a roll, in a reel-like fashion. The packing paper 131 fed from the packing strip feeder 132 is printed by the printer 133, moves to the bottom of the hopper 70, and is sealed at the front and rear in the conveying direction by the vertical sealer 134. After the medicines are introduced by the hopper 70, the top is sealed and cut or perforated by the cutter 137 before being discharged.

[0053] Since the amount of tablets that falls into the hopper 70 is equivalent to one packet, each of the packaging papers 131 contains one packet of medicine.

[0054] When hopper 70 detects that tablets have been placed in packing paper 131, horizontal seal unit 135 seals the top of packing paper 131, and roller unit 136 pulls packing paper 131 in by a predetermined amount, thereby transporting packing paper 131 the length of one packet. By repeating this operation, packing paper 131 forms a series of medicine bags, each compartment of which contains one packet of medicine, and is transported to discharge port 139.

[0055] Packaging device 130 is a packaging device that, with the configuration of each part as described above, can individually package various medications, including tablets, into single packets in packaging paper 131. Note that, although the configuration of packaging device 130 in this embodiment describes only a type in which packaging paper 131 is conveyed laterally, any other configuration may be used as long as the packaging machine can divide the packaging paper into sections of a predetermined width and seal medications in the divided chambers, and is not limited to this configuration.

[0056] 20 , the control unit 550 has a cassette control unit 551, a transport control unit 552, a swing control unit 553, and a packaging control unit 554. The cassette control unit 551 controls whether the tablet cassette 20 is correctly discharging tablets based on signals from various sensors provided on the cassette base 30 or the tablet cassette 20, such as the drop detection sensor 32 and the transmission drive unit 31. Furthermore, the cassette control unit 551 recognizes the position within the medicine delivering and dispensing device 500 of the tablet cassette 20 equipped with the corresponding identification member 27, based on signals from the identification member 27 and the identification member sensor 28.

[0057] The transport control unit 552 is part of the control means for controlling the transport arm unit 110 and the conveyor device 210. The transport control unit 552 is a transport control means for moving the transport arm unit 110 to move the tablet cassette 20 based on the position coordinates of the tablet cassette 20 stored in the cassette control unit 551, and for correcting these position coordinates to transport the tablet cassette 20 to the correct position based on signals from the cassette detection sensor 1135 and the shelf position detection sensor 1134. The transport control unit 552 also controls the tablets to fall into the predetermined tablet container 211 by matching the timing of the movement of the conveyor device 210 with the timing at which the tablets discharged from the tablet cassette 20 pass through the hopper unit 205 due to the opening of the shutter mechanism 204.

[0058] The packaging control unit 554 controls the operation of each part of the packaging device 130, including controlling the timing of pulling out the packaging paper 131.

[0059] The swing control unit 553 is a swing control means that controls each part of the swing device 50, which will be described later. When the cassette control unit 551 detects a jam in a tablet cassette 20, the transport control unit 552 grasps the jammed tablet cassette 20 with the transport arm unit 110 and transports it to the swing device 50 located on the collector shelf 200.

[0060] Now, the specific operation of the automatic medicine delivering and dispensing device 500 equipped with a plurality of such tablet cassettes 20 will be described with reference to FIG.

[0061] First, as already described, within the medicine delivering and dispensing device 500, a plurality of tablet cassettes 20 are arranged on the collector shelf 200 and the storage shelf 300. Each tablet cassette 20 stores a single type of tablet. When an operator wishes to dispense prescribed medicines based on specific prescription data, the operator selects the prescription data using the monitor 102. The control unit 550 checks whether the tablet cassettes 20 stored within the medicine delivering and dispensing device 500 can meet the required number of medicines and the number of medicines required per package based on the prescription data (step S101). If there are any medicines missing at this point, the monitor 102 may display a message indicating that there is a shortage, prompting the operator to place a tablet cassette 20 containing the required medicines in the storage and transport unit 150. Furthermore, although explanation will be omitted as it does not affect the specific configuration of the invention in this embodiment, the operator may manually distribute the medicine using the manual distribution section 120 provided in the front unit 100, and the packaging device 130 may then divide the medicine into individual packets.

[0062] When the control unit 550 confirms the necessary medicine, the transport arm unit 110 moves to in front of the position of the tablet cassette 20 storing the necessary medicine, for example, tablet D, based on an instruction from the control unit 550 (step S102). At this time, the control unit 550 knows the storage position of the tablet cassette 20 containing tablet D using the identification member 27, and moves the transport arm unit 110 based on the YZ coordinate (Yd, Zd) of the storage position of the tablet cassette 20 containing tablet D.

[0063] Needless to say, in order for the transport arm unit 110 to grasp the tablet cassette 20, it is necessary to accurately grasp the position of the tablet cassette 20. However, in a medicine delivering and dispensing device 500 that includes such storage shelves 300 and collector shelves 200 and that houses a large number of tablet cassettes 20, even if attempts are made to improve accuracy using YZ coordinates, there is a concern that errors will occur due to the extension and movement of the rail unit 111. Furthermore, it is expected that such errors will become more pronounced as more storage shelves 300 and collector shelves 200 are added and the overall length of the medicine delivering and dispensing device 500 becomes longer.

[0064] Therefore, in this embodiment, when the grip unit 113 moves to the YZ coordinates, the shelf position detection sensor 1134 detects the shelf position of the shelf main body 202, 302 of the collector shelf 200 or the storage shelf 300, and the YZ coordinates are fine-tuned based on the shelf position. Specifically, when the transport arm unit 110 moves to the YZ coordinates (Yd, Zd), the shelf position detection sensor 1134 confirms whether the shelf main body 202 is positioned in the correct position when the correct YZ coordinates are reached (step S103). Here, the shelf position detection sensor 1134 functions as a shelf position detection unit for detecting the positions of the shelves on the collector shelf 200 and the storage shelf 300 where the tablet cassettes 20 are stored. If the shelf position detection sensor 1134 is unable to detect the shelf main body 202, 302, the grip unit 113 moves up and down to estimate the location of the correct shelf position, and then adjusts the position again based on the actual shelf position of the shelf main body 202, 302 (step S104).

[0065] For example, if the transport arm unit 110 moves to a predetermined position on the storage shelf 300 represented by the position coordinates (Yd, Zd) to pick up the tablet cassette 20, and the shelf position detection sensor 1134 is unable to detect the shelf main body 302, the control unit 550 moves upward from the position coordinates (Yd, Zd) by the position coordinates (Yd + Δy, Zd) and again determines whether the shelf position detection sensor 1134 detects the shelf main body 302.

[0066] This operation is repeated until shelf body 302 is detected, thereby determining the correct Y coordinate Yd' (= Yd + nΔy) for detecting the position of shelf body 302. Control unit 550 corrects the Y coordinate of tablet cassette 20 on the condition that shelf position detection sensor 1134 has detected the position of shelf body 302 in this manner.

[0067] Furthermore, if the control unit 550 determines that the shelf position is correct, it uses the cassette detection sensor 1135 corresponding to the advancing / retracting mechanism 1133 to check whether the tablet cassette 20 is correctly positioned at the destination of the advancing / retracting movement of the advancing / retracting mechanism 1133 (step S105). If the tablet cassette 20 is not at the desired position (i.e., directly in front of the advancing / retracting mechanism 1133 being extended), the cassette detection sensor 1135 moves again until it can detect the tablet cassette 20 directly in front of it (step S106).

[0068] Specifically, if the cassette detection sensor 1135 fails to detect the tablet cassette 20 at the position coordinates (Yd', Zd), the control unit 550 moves left or right from the position coordinates (Yd', Zd) by the position coordinates (Yd', Zd + Δz) and determines whether the cassette detection sensor 1135 detects the tablet cassette 20 again. By repeating this operation in the same way as for the shelf position, the correct Z coordinate Zd' (= Zd + nΔz) of the tablet cassette 20 is determined. The control unit 550 corrects the Z coordinate of the tablet cassette 20 on the condition that the cassette detection sensor 1135 has thus detected the position of the tablet cassette 20 containing tablets D.

[0069] When the advancing / retreating mechanism 1133 reaches the tablet cassette 20 containing the tablet D correctly in this manner, the control unit 550 then extends the advancing / retreating mechanism 1133 to grasp the handle portion 29 with the engaging claw 1132, and then retracts the advancing / retreating mechanism 1133 to place the tablet cassette 20 on the loading table 1131.

[0070] 14, when the advancing / retracting mechanism 1133 reaches the tablet cassette 20 placed on the storage shelf 300, it grips the handle portion 29 with the engaging claws 1132 and operates to retract it, thereby gripping the tablet cassette 20. When the advancing / retracting mechanism 1133 retracts while gripping the tablet cassette 20, the tablet cassette 20 moves onto the mounting table 1131 and its lower portion is supported by the mounting table 1131 (step S107).

[0071] When the tablet cassette 20 is retracted, as already shown in Figure 14, as the advancing / retracting mechanism 1133 retracts, a portion of the tablet cassette 20 abuts against the cassette presser 1137. Therefore, when the handle portion 29 receives a force in the direction of retraction by the engaging claws 1132, the main body 22 of the tablet cassette 20 receives a force from the cassette presser 1137 in the opposite direction to the handle portion 29. With this configuration, the tablet cassette 20 is supported at multiple points, including the position where it is gripped by the engaging claws 1132 and the position where the cassette presser 1137 abuts, and the moments generated between the multiple points are balanced, so the tablet cassette 20 is stably supported. At this time, the cassette presser 1137 functions as a posture stabilizing member that stabilizes the posture of the tablet cassette 20 by applying a force in a direction that prevents the tablet cassette 20 from being retracted into the advancing / retracting mechanism 1133.

[0072] While being gripped by gripping unit 113, tablet cassette 20 is carried to collector shelf 200, and gripping unit 113 moves to a predetermined position on collector shelf 200 where tablet cassette 20 is to be placed (step S108). Note that the movement of collector shelf 200 to the correct position at this time is the same as the operations in steps S103 to S106 already described, and therefore will not be described further.

[0073] Contrary to when removing the tablet cassette 20 onto the mounting table 1131, the gripping unit 113 confirms that there is no other tablet cassette 20 in front of the advancing / retracting mechanism 1133, and then moves the advancing / retracting mechanism 1133 back and forth to disengage the handle portion 29 with the engaging claw 1132, thereby fitting the tablet cassette 20 containing tablets D into the cassette base 30 of the collector shelf 200 (step S109). The transport arm unit 110 repeats these operations to complete the movement of the tablet cassettes 20 required for the packaging operation based on the prescription data. Since the gripping unit 113 can transport up to six tablet cassettes 20 simultaneously, the control unit 550 may determine the order of reciprocation of the transport arm unit 110 so as to minimize the total movement distance as much as possible. Note that the operations from when tablets D are discharged from the tablet cassette 20 after being placed on the collector shelf 200 to when they are packaged have already been described, and therefore will not be described here.

[0074] In a tablet packaging machine, in order to correctly grasp and transport the tablet cassette 20, it is necessary to accurately grasp the position of the tablet cassette 20 and transport it stably. However, there is a problem in that methods such as placing each tablet cassette 20 in a predetermined position and checking the position of the cassette from information such as a barcode or RFID tag added to each of the tablet cassettes 20 are costly.

[0075] Therefore, the medicine delivering and dispensing device 500 has a transport arm unit 110 that can accurately manage the position of and grasp the tablet cassette 20 without increasing costs. Specifically, in this embodiment, the transport arm unit 110 is able to move to the position coordinates of the collector shelf 200 and storage shelf 300 on which the tablet cassette 20 to be delivered is stored, in response to instructions from the control unit 550 of the position coordinates. The transport arm unit 110 also has a shelf position detection sensor 1134 for detecting the positions of the shelf main bodies 202 and 302, which are shelves on the collector shelf 200 and storage shelf 300 on which the tablet cassette 20 is stored, and a cassette detection sensor 1135 for detecting that the tablet cassette 20 is in a position where it can be grasped. The control unit 550 corrects the position coordinates and moves to the front of the tablet cassette 20 to be delivered based on the position information of the shelf main bodies 202 and 302 and the position information of the tablet cassette 20 detected by the shelf position detection sensor 1134 and the cassette detection sensor 1135.

[0076] Furthermore, when the transport arm unit 110 transports a tablet cassette 20 from the receiving storage section 154 to the storage shelf 300 or the collector shelf 200, the YZ coordinates corresponding to the identification member 27 of the tablet cassette 20 are stored in the control unit 550. Therefore, when the control unit 550 determines, based on the prescription data, that the tablet cassette 20 storing the required tablets is not on the collector shelf 200, but that the tablet cassette 20 storing the same tablets is on the storage shelf 300, the transport arm unit 110 transports the tablet cassette 20 from the storage shelf 300 to the collector shelf 200. Even when performing such a transport, the transport arm unit 110 moves to the position coordinates instructed by the control unit 550, and then corrects the position coordinates based on the position information of the shelf main bodies 202, 302 detected by the shelf position detection sensor 1134 and the cassette detection sensor 1135, and the position information of the tablet cassette 20, thereby enabling the target tablet cassette to be transported accurately.

[0077] In conventional tablet packaging machines, in order to eject tablets from the tablet cassette 20, it was necessary to provide a cassette base 30 and a tablet drop path 201, and this created the problem that an increase in the number of tablet cassettes 20 stored would lead to increased complexity and cost of the device.

[0078] Therefore, there is a need for the medicine delivering and dispensing device 500 to ensure a sufficient number of tablet cassettes 20 that can be stored and to simplify the tablet dispensing mechanism. Therefore, in this embodiment, the configuration already described is such that a large number of stored tablet cassettes 20 can be transported while being held by the transport arm unit 110, and the device is provided with a collector shelf 200 that can dispense tablets from the tablet cassettes 20, and a storage shelf 300 for storing a large number of tablet cassettes 20. Furthermore, the medicine delivering and dispensing device 500 has a packaging device 130 that packages medicines dispensed from the collector shelf 200, and a medicine transport path connecting the collector shelf 200 and the packaging device 130, and the packaging device 130, the collector shelf 200, and the storage shelf 300 are arranged in this order along the Z direction, which is the movable direction of the transport arm unit 110. With this configuration, a plurality of stored tablet cassettes 20 can be freely transported within the movable range of the transport arm unit 110, and since they are positioned only by the base plate 301, which is merely a plate-like member, the number of tablet cassettes 20 mounted on the medicine transporting and dispensing device 500 can be inexpensively increased by increasing the number of storage shelves 300. Furthermore, by providing the packaging device 130 on a straight line in the Z direction, which is the movable direction, at the outermost side in the +Z direction and outside the movable range, and by arranging the collector shelf 200 and the storage shelf 300 in this order within the movable range of the transport arm unit 110, the distance between the collector shelf 200 and the packaging device 130 can be made relatively short, which also contributes to space-saving of the medicine transporting and dispensing device 500.

[0079] Furthermore, when transport arm unit 110 transports tablet cassette 20 from receiving / storage section 154 to storage shelf 300 or collector shelf 200, control unit 550 stores the YZ coordinates corresponding to identification member 27 of tablet cassette 20. Therefore, when control unit 550 determines, based on the prescription data, that tablet cassette 20 storing the required tablets is not on collector shelf 200, but that tablet cassette 20 storing those tablets is on storage shelf 300, transport arm unit 110 transports that tablet cassette 20 from storage shelf 300 to collector shelf 200.

[0080] Furthermore, in medicine delivering and dispensing device 500 of the present invention, tablet cassettes 20 are transported into and out of the device by incoming transport unit 150 and outgoing transport unit 160. Specifically, when tablets stop falling from tablet cassette 20 placed on cassette base 30 on collector shelf 200 and it is determined that the tablet cassette is out of stock, control unit 550 uses transport arm unit 110 to remove tablet cassette 20 from collector shelf 200 and transport it to outgoing storage unit 164. The operation and sensor detection when tablet cassette 20 placed on outgoing storage unit 164 is transported by outgoing transport unit 160 have already been described in the description of Figure 5, so a description thereof will be omitted.

[0081] When tablet cassette 20 is placed at the terminal end position of output conveyance section 160, output conveyance belt 161 is stopped, so the operator can receive the output tablet cassette 20 from the front of front unit 100, open lid 23, and replenish the tablets inside. At this time, control section 550 may not only display the reason why tablet cassette 20 was output (e.g., out of stock, etc.) on monitor 102, but may also provide the operator with operational instructions such as replenishment. Furthermore, an identification member sensor 28 may be disposed at the terminal end position of output conveyance section 160, making it possible to confirm information such as the type of tablets held in output tablet cassette 20.

[0082] Here, the conditions under which the tablet cassette 20 is transported to the outgoing storage section 164 may include, in addition to the above-mentioned replenishment due to a shortage, when a jam cannot be cleared, when a sufficient amount of time has passed since the last replenishment and the expiration date has passed, etc. In any case, when the tablet cassette 20 is shipped, the monitor 102 preferably displays information obtained from the identification member 27 of the shipped tablet cassette 20, as well as the reason why it was brought to the outgoing transport section 160.

[0083] When it is desired to store new medicines in medicine delivering and dispensing device 500 or when a refilled tablet cassette 20 is to be returned to medicine delivering and dispensing device 500, the operator places the tablet cassette 20 in question in incoming transport section 150 located at the back side of partition wall 101. When tablet cassette 20 is placed at the entrance of incoming transport section 150, as described in Figure 5, incoming detection sensor 157 detects tablet cassette 20, and incoming transport belt 151 rotates.

[0084] As the tablet cassette 20 moves, the orientation and positional relationship of the tablet cassette 20 are detected by a first direction detection sensor 155 and a second direction detection sensor 156 so that the tablet cassette 20 can be easily grasped by the transport arm unit 110. If the tablet cassette 20 is placed in an incorrect orientation, the incoming transport belt 151 is reversed to return the tablet cassette 20 to the upstream end position, and a message is displayed on the monitor 102 indicating that the tablet cassette 20 is not placed in the correct orientation.

[0085] When the first direction detection sensor 155 and the second direction detection sensor 156 detect that the tablet cassette 20 is placed in the correct direction, the incoming conveyor belt 151 continues to rotate and continues to convey the tablet cassette 20 in the -Z direction.

[0086] When tablet cassette 20 is transported in the -Z direction and moved by gap adjustment means 153 to receiving / storing section 154 while maintaining a gap sufficient for grip unit 113 to enter, receiving conveyor belt 151 stops operating and tablet cassette 20 waits in receiving / storing section 154 for the operation of transport arm unit 110. Note that the specific operations of these direction detection units and gap adjustment means 153 have been explained using Figures 6 to 8 and 10, respectively, and therefore will not be explained here.

[0087] In this way, first direction detection sensor 155 and second direction detection sensor 156 are used to detect whether tablet cassette 20 is being transported in the correct direction, thereby uniquely determining the orientation of tablet cassette 20 in receiving and storing section 154. By controlling tablet cassette 20 to face a specific direction using detection means in this way, engaging claw 1132 with handle portion 29 makes it easier to position tablet cassette 20 when gripping it with grip unit 113, which also contributes to increasing the speed of the device.

[0088] Furthermore, in this embodiment, even when multiple tablet cassettes 20 are lined up in the receiving and storing section 154, a spacing adjustment means 153 is provided to maintain a spacing that allows a portion of the grip unit 113 to be inserted between the tablet cassettes 20. By using such spacing adjustment means 153, it becomes easier for the grip unit 113 to grip the tablet cassette 20, and no other mechanism is required to make it easier for the grip unit 113 to hold the tablet cassette 20. With this configuration, the receiving of tablet cassettes 20 can be managed with a simple structure.

[0089] In addition, as a modified example of the spacing adjustment means 153 of the present invention, a case will be described in which the spacing adjustment means 153 adjusts the spacing between a tablet cassette 20 and another adjacent tablet cassette 20 by changing the rotation direction of the in-stock conveying belt 151.

[0090] As shown in Fig. 22, in this modified example, the gap adjustment means 153 also has a rotating L-shaped plate member 1531 arranged between the receiving conveyor belts 151, and a gap adjustment sensor 1532. When the gap adjustment sensor 1532 detects the tablet cassette 20a, the tip 1531a of the plate member 1531 moves in to separate the tablet cassette 20a from the tablet cassette 20b, as shown in Fig. 22(b). In this state, when the direction of rotation of the receiving conveyor belt 151 is changed so as to move it in the opposite direction, i.e., the +Z direction, the tip 1531a restricts the movement of the tablet cassette 20a, as shown in Fig. 22(c), and a gap La is created between the tablet cassette 20a and the tablet cassette 20b. Since this interval La is equal to the amount of rotation of the reversed incoming conveying belt 151, it is rotated in the reverse direction until it becomes twice the interval L1, and then the plate-shaped member 1531 is rotated to move it to a position that does not interfere with downward movement, and the incoming conveying belt 151 is rotated forward to move it in the -Z direction as shown in Figure 22 (d).

[0091] After tablet cassette 20b reaches the position of gap adjustment sensor 1532, plate-shaped member 1531 is then inserted between tablet cassette 20b and tablet cassette 20c, and when the rotation is reversed until distance Lb between tablet cassette 20b and tablet cassette 20c becomes distance L1, as shown in Figure 22 (e), only tablet cassette 20b is held down and tablet cassette 20a and tablet cassette 20c move in the +Z direction, so that the distances between the three tablet cassettes 20a, 20b, and 20c are adjusted to distance L1.

[0092] In this way, if the gap adjusting means 153 adjusts the gap between tablet cassettes 20 by changing the direction of rotation of the incoming conveyor belt 151, such as forward or reverse, it is possible to adjust the gap between a plurality of tablet cassettes 20 to any value without increasing the number of gap adjusting means 153. Furthermore, because there is a partition wall 101 at the starting end of the incoming conveyor belt 151, the movement of the tablet cassettes 20 is restricted by the partition wall 101 even when the belt is reversed, so that even if a tablet cassette 20 is being stored during the reverse rotation, it will not fall toward the operator.

[0093] Before describing the function of the swinging device 50 of the present invention, the discharge of tablets D from the tablet cassettes 20 placed on the collector shelf 200 by the transport arm unit 110 will be described below. The discharge of tablets D from the tablet cassettes 20 placed on the collector shelf 200 is managed by a drop detection sensor 32 installed below the discharge port provided on the cassette base 30. The drop detection sensor 32 is an optical detection sensor, and when tablets D are discharged from the tablet cassette 20, it detects the drop of the tablets D by utilizing the fact that the irradiated light is blocked.

[0094] At this time, when the encoder provided in the transmission drive unit 31 in the cassette base 30 that detects the rotation of the rotor 21 detects that the rotation of the rotor 21 has stopped and the drop detection sensor 32 does not detect the discharge of tablets, the control unit 550 determines that the tablet cassette 20 is jammed. In this way, the control unit 550 determines whether the tablet cassette 20 in the medicine delivering and dispensing device 500 is jammed. In other words, the control unit 550 functions as a determination unit that determines whether the tablet cassette 20 is jammed based on whether the rotation shaft of the tablet cassette 20 placed on the cassette base 30 is rotating.

[0095] When such a "jam" occurs, rotor 21 stops and tablets are no longer ejected from tablet cassette 20, which also stops the tablet dispensing operation from medicine delivering and dispensing device 500. While it is conceivable to replace the jammed tablet cassette 20 or for the operator to manually retrieve and remove the tablet cassette 20 in order to clear the jam, there is a need to minimize the so-called downtime of medicine delivering and dispensing device 500, and therefore a method for easily clearing such jams has been desired.

[0096] Therefore, in this embodiment, a rocking device 50 is provided. As shown in Fig. 23 , the rocking device 50 includes a cassette base 30 serving as a cassette mounting portion to which a tablet cassette 20 can be attached, a rotating housing 51 that integrally holds the cassette base 30 and the tablet cassette 20, a rocking rotation shaft 52 connected to the rotating housing 51, a flat belt 53 wound around the rocking rotation shaft 52, and a rotation drive shaft 54 ​​for rotating the flat belt 53 to rotate the rocking rotation shaft 52. Both the rotation drive shaft 54 ​​and the rocking rotation shaft 52 are supported by bearings fixed to the housing of the rocking device 50, and the rocking rotation shaft 52 is attached to the rotating housing 51. With this configuration, the rotating housing 51 can rotate within the XY plane around the rocking rotation shaft 52 as a central axis, independently of the housing body of the rocking device 50.

[0097] Rocking device 50 also has a jammed tablet discharge path 55 that communicates with tablet discharge port 24 and is provided within rotating housing 51, a trapezoidal receiving portion 56 that is fixed to the housing body side of rocking device 50 and that forms a tablet drop path together with jammed tablet discharge path 55, and a discharge tray 57 that holds the discharged tablets. Rotating housing 51 is supported by a rocking rotation shaft 52 so that it can rotate together with cassette base 30 and tablet cassette 20 placed thereon, and rotation of rotation drive shaft 54 ​​turns rocking rotation shaft 52 via flat belt 53, as shown in Figure 24, thereby rotating rotating housing 51.

[0098] The rocking device 50 also has an origin sensor 58 for confirming that the tablet cassette 20 and the rotating housing 51 are in the correct positions when the rotating housing 51 is in the upright position, which is the initial state, and a lid holding mechanism 60 for holding the lid portion 23 of the tablet cassette 20 placed on the cassette base 30 to prevent the lid portion 23 from being opened.

[0099] As shown in Figures 25 and 26, the lid pressing mechanism 60 has a pressing member 61 which is a wide rod-shaped member with a tip that protrudes downward, a pressing drive unit 62 which moves the pressing member 61 up and down to abut the tip of the pressing member 61 against the lid portion 23 of the tablet cassette 20, and a linear slider 63 which is a guide unit formed along the direction in which the pressing drive unit 62 moves the pressing member 61.

[0100] The presser drive unit 62 is attached such that the presser member 61 is supported laterally at the tip of the protruding portion 62a that protrudes upward. In this embodiment, the protruding portion 62a is threaded, and a rotary motor within the presser drive unit 62 rotates the protruding portion 62a, causing the protruding portion 62a to move up and down in the axial direction of the protruding portion 62a. At this time, the other end of the presser member 61 that does not contact the lid portion 23 engages with the linear slider 63, so the presser member 61 also moves along the Y direction in which the linear slider 63 extends. In this manner, the presser member 61 and the presser drive unit 62 function as a vertical drive unit that moves the presser member 61 up and down by the operation of the presser drive unit 62, thereby pressing down on the upper part of the tablet cassette 20. Note that the presser drive unit 62 is not limited to this configuration, and for example, a mechanism that moves the protruding portion 62a like a piston to move the presser member 61 up and down may be used.

[0101] When the presser member 61 is at the uppermost position and not in contact with the lid portion 23, the origin detection dog 64, which is the detected part located at the position of the presser member 61, is located between the dog detection parts 65, thereby detecting that the presser member 61 is at the origin position at the upper end. The dog detection parts 65 are, for example, optical sensors that detect parts located between two opposing flat plates. Furthermore, when the presser drive part 62 lowers the presser member 61, the tip of the presser member 61 comes into contact with the lid portion 23 at some position.

[0102] When a driving member such as a motor is driven a predetermined amount to bring lid portion 23 and pressing member 61 into contact or close to contact, lid pressing mechanism 60 will not rise until the jam in tablet cassette 20 is cleared. Furthermore, because protrusion 62a is threaded at this time, lid portion 23 will not open even if a slight upward force is generated from the lid portion 23 side. In this way, tablet cassette 20 placed on cassette base 30 inside rotating housing 51 maintains a pressed state in which the opening of lid portion 23 is restricted by the descent of pressing member 61.

[0103] In this embodiment, the cassette base 30 has a similar configuration to that provided in the collector shelf 200. As shown in FIG. 27 , the cassette base 30 in the rocking device 50 also has a transmission drive unit 31 fitted into the base 25 of the tablet cassette 20, thereby rotating the rotor 21. Therefore, the transmission drive unit 31 is an axial rotation unit that rotates the rotor 21, which is the rotation axis of the partition wall 26. The cassette base 30 of the rocking device 50, which is the cassette placement unit in the present invention, is fixed to the rotating housing 51, and rotates together with the placed tablet cassette 20 when the rotating housing 51 rotates. Therefore, the upper surface 33 of the cassette base 30 is a substantially horizontal plane parallel to the contact surface of the rocking device 50 or the contact surface of the medicine delivery and dispensing device 500 when the rotating housing 51 is in the upright position, which is the initial state of the rotating housing 51. In addition, a jammed tablet discharge path 55 that rotates together with the rotating housing 51 is provided beyond the discharge outlet 24, and tablets discharged by the rotation of the rotor 21 fall from the trapezoidal receiving portion 56 to the discharge tray 57 via the jammed tablet discharge path 55.

[0104] 25 and 26, in this embodiment, the jammed tablet discharge path 55 is formed by an extension portion 55a extending from the discharge port 24 in the -Y direction, a guide portion 55c formed on the +Z direction side so as to rise relative to the rotation direction of the rotating housing 51, and a bent portion 55b formed between the extension portion 55a and the guide portion 55c. In this way, by making the jammed tablet discharge path 55 not a linear configuration but a bent once midway along the falling path (so-called "L" shape), the falling momentum of the tablets is suppressed at the bent portion 55b and the discharge direction changes from downward to +Z direction.

[0105] Now, if the jammed tablet discharge path 55 were simply provided linearly, the tablets would be discharged in the -Y direction. In such a case, as shown in a comparative example in FIG. 28 , depending on the rotation angle of the rotating housing 51, the tablets may roll vigorously in an oblique direction. This raises concerns that a receiving member 59 capable of covering a rotation angle of 0° to 90° would be required to properly guide the tablets to the discharge tray 57. If such a receiving member 59 were provided, it would be placed away from the rotating housing 51 so as not to interfere with its rotatable range, which would undesirably increase the coverage range of the receiving member 59. On the other hand, if a bent portion 55b were provided in the jammed tablet discharge path 55, the falling tablets would change their discharge direction to the Z direction, and the bent portion 55b would suppress the tablet's discharge momentum. Furthermore, a trapezoidal receiving portion 56 with an opening facing the -Z direction, as indicated by the black diagonal lines in FIG. 29 , can cover tablets discharged toward the front in the figure at a position relatively close to the guide portion 55c, which is preferable because it does not require an increase in the size of the trapezoidal receiving portion 56 itself.

[0106] The operation of the rocking device 50 having such a configuration will be described with reference to the flow diagram of Fig. 30. First, when the cassette control unit 551 detects a jam in a tablet cassette 20, the transport control unit 552 grasps the jammed tablet cassette 20 with the transport arm unit 110 and transports it to the rocking device 50 on the collector shelf 200 (step S201). When the tablet cassette 20 is placed on the cassette base 30, the pressing member 61 of the lid pressing mechanism 60 descends and comes into contact with the lid portion 23 of the tablet cassette 20 at a position where it can press the lid portion 23, and stops (step S202).

[0107] At this time, just before or after the tablet cassette 20 is placed on the cassette base 30 attached to the rotating housing 51, the origin sensor 58 confirms that the tablet cassette 20 is in its initial state, i.e., upright, position (step S203). On the condition that the pressing member 61 abuts against the lid portion 23 in step S202, in other words, on the condition that the lid of the tablet cassette 20 is in a pressing state so as not to be opened, the rotation drive shaft 54 ​​is rotated in response to a command from the swing control unit 553. The rotating housing 51 rotates the cassette base 30 and the tablet cassette 20 about the swing rotation shaft 52 in the XY plane from the upright position to a 135-degree tilted position, as shown in Figures 20(a) and 20(b) (step S204). At this time, the swing control unit 553 controls the rotation drive shaft 54 ​​to rotate to 135 degrees by counting the number of feeds of the stepping motor that rotates the rotation drive shaft 54.

[0108] In step S204, the cassette base 30 and the tablet cassette 20 have rotated together from the upright state to a state tilted at 135 degrees, and it is therefore clear that the upper surface 33 of the cassette base 30, which was a horizontal plane parallel to the contact surface of the swinging device 50, is also now tilted at 135 degrees from the upper surface 33 when it was in the upright state. In other words, the swinging rotation shaft 52, the rotation drive shaft 54, and the flat belt 53 function as a rotation drive mechanism for rotating the tablet cassette 20 and the cassette base 30 together until the upper surface of the cassette base 30 is at an angle of 90 degrees or more, and the rotation drive shaft 54 ​​mainly functions as a drive unit for rotating the rotating housing 51. Note that, although the tilted state is 135 degrees in this embodiment, it is sufficient if it is at an angle of 90 degrees or more.

[0109] A brief supplementary explanation will be given regarding the angle at which this rotation drive mechanism rotates the tablet cassette 20. A common cause of a jam in the tablet cassette 20 is when a tablet D interferes with the rotor 21 or the tablet outlet 24, causing the rotor 21 to stop rotating about its axis, as shown in FIG. 31 . Here, as shown schematically in FIG. 32 , by tilting the tablet cassette 20 by 90 degrees, the tablet D that was causing the jam remains between the rotor 21 even after it is no longer in contact with the rotor 21. Even in this state, there is a high possibility that the jam will be resolved by operating the rotor 21 again. However, if the rotating housing 51 is returned to its upright position under these circumstances, the possibility of the tablet D becoming jammed again cannot be ruled out. Therefore, it is considered more reliable to allow the tablet D to move toward the main body 22 to resolve the jam. 32, the plane of upper surface 33 of cassette base 30 in the upright state is indicated by a dashed line, and the plane of upper surface 33 of cassette base 30 in the tilted state is indicated by a dashed line. In this way, rotating rotatable housing 51 by 90 degrees is equivalent to rotating tablet cassette 20, which is normally placed on a substantially horizontal plane, by 90 degrees.

[0110] Based on the structure of the hopper 205 and knowledge gained during the design of the tablet drop path 201, it is known that the majority of tablets will slide or roll downward on a slope with a downward 45-degree inclination. Therefore, in this embodiment, by setting the inclination angle to 135 degrees as shown in FIG. 33, the container side of the tablet cassette 20 is inclined 45 degrees downward from the position of the rotor 21, so that tablets D that have caused a jam are more likely to fall off toward the main body 22 or the lid 23. As already mentioned, since the lid 23 is held down by the lid holding mechanism 60 in step S103, the lid 23 is prevented from opening accidentally by being tilted downward. Thus, a 135-degree inclination angle facilitates the movement of tablets within the tablet cassette 20, more reliably clearing tablet jams.

[0111] 33, as in FIG. 32, the upper surface 33 of the cassette base 30 in the upright position is shown imaginarily by a dashed line, and the upper surface 33 of the cassette base 30 in the tilted position is shown imaginarily by a dashed line. As described above, while maintaining the tablet cassette 20 attached to the cassette base 30, rotating the tablet cassette 20 and the cassette base 30 together until the upper surface 33 of the cassette base 30 forms an angle of 135 degrees or more is equivalent to rotating the rotating housing 51 by 135 degrees, which in other words is equivalent to the inner wall of the main body 22 of the container of the tablet cassette 20 being inclined downward at 45 degrees. By rotating the rotary drive shaft 54 ​​so as to satisfy this condition, it is possible to more stably eliminate "jams" of tablets D.

[0112] Furthermore, the swing control unit 553 rotates the rotary drive shaft 54 ​​to tilt the tablet cassette 20, and rotates the transmission drive unit 31 to rotate the rotor 21. At this time, by rotating the tablet cassette 20 in the opposite direction to the rotation direction when the tablet cassette 20 is normally discharged, it is possible to make it even easier to remove the jammed tablets D (step S205).

[0113] After rotating the transmission drive unit 31 in the reverse direction in step S205, the swing control unit 553 rotates the transmission drive unit 31 in the forward direction this time, and determines whether the rotor 21 rotates without any problems (step S206).

[0114] If the rotor 21 is still not rotating in step S206 (i.e., the encoder does not detect the rotation of the transmission drive unit 31), indicating a jammed state, the rotation drive shaft 54 ​​is rotated counterclockwise to return to the upright position, and the operations of steps S203 to S206 are repeated again. Note that the operations of steps S203 to S206 may be simply repeated, or the control mode may be changed from the initial operations of steps S203 to S206, such as by increasing the operating speed or repeating forward and reverse rotation by the transmission drive unit 31. In any case, by repeating the rotation of the rotating housing 51 by the rotation drive shaft 54 ​​and the rotation of the rotor 21 by the transmission drive unit 31, this shaking operation is repeated until the "jam" of the tablet D is resolved.

[0115] In this way, in step S206, the swing control unit 553 functions as a discrimination unit that determines whether or not the jam of tablets D has been cleared based on whether or not the rotor 21 is rotating when the transmission drive unit 31 rotates the rotor 21. In step S206, if there is no problem with the normal rotation of the rotor 21 and the swing control unit 553 determines that the jam of tablets D has been cleared, the rotating housing 51 is returned to the upright state (step S207).

[0116] When returning to the upright position, depending on the position of the rotor 21, the tablets D that were jammed due to the shaking action may be naturally discharged from the tablet discharge outlet 24. In such a case, the tablets D discharged from the tablet discharge outlet 24 fall from the jammed tablet discharge path 55, through the trapezoidal receiving portion 56, and onto the discharge tray 57.

[0117] When origin sensor 58 detects that tablet cassette 20 has reached the upright position in step S207, lid holding mechanism 60 unlocks holding member 61 and raises it until origin detection dog 64 is located between dog detection units 65 (step S208). As a result, tablet cassette 20 becomes detachable from cassette base 30, and control unit 550 instructs transport arm unit 110 to move tablet cassette 20 from swinging device 50 to another position, such as collector shelf 200 where tablet cassette 20 was originally placed (step S209).

[0118] By having such a rocking device 50, even if the tablet cassette 20 becomes clogged during operation, the control unit 550 can automatically clear the blockage in the tablet cassette 20, thereby shortening the time that the drug transport and dispensing device 500 is stopped from dispensing.

[0119] <1> Medicine delivering and dispensing device 500 of the present invention has a transport arm unit 110 that can grip and transport tablet cassette 20 that stores medicines, a collector shelf 200 that can store a plurality of tablet cassettes 20 by attaching them to cassette base 30 and can dispense medicines from the stored tablet cassettes 20, a storage shelf 300 that can store a plurality of tablet cassettes 20, a packaging device 130 that packages the medicines dispensed from collector shelf 200, and a medicine delivery path that connects collector shelf 200 and packaging device 130. Furthermore, packaging device 130, collector shelf 200, and storage shelf 300 are arranged side by side in that order along the movable direction of transport arm unit 110. With this configuration, multiple stored tablet cassettes 20 can be freely transported within the movable range of the transport arm unit 110, and since they are only positioned by the base plate 301, which is simply a plate-shaped member, the number of tablet cassettes 20 that can be mounted on the medicine transport and dispensing device 500 can be increased inexpensively by increasing the number of storage shelves 300.

[0120] <2> Furthermore, in addition to the configuration described in <1>, the medicine delivering and dispensing device of the present invention has an incoming transport unit 150 for supplying tablet cassettes 20 stored in the medicine delivering and dispensing device 500, and an outgoing transport unit 160 for discharging empty tablet cassettes from the medicine delivering and dispensing device 500, and both the incoming transport unit 150 and the outgoing transport unit 160 are disposed above the packaging device 130. With this configuration, the supply and discharge of tablet cassettes 20 to the medicine delivering and dispensing device 500 is managed by the incoming transport unit 150 and the outgoing transport unit 160, thereby reducing the operator's workload.

[0121] <3> Furthermore, in the medicine delivering and dispensing device of the present invention, in addition to the configuration described in <1> or <2>, the receiving and transporting unit 150 has a first direction detection sensor 155 and a second direction detection sensor 156 for detecting that the orientation of the tablet cassette 20 is correct when the tablet cassette 20 is supplied. With this configuration, the receiving and transporting unit 150 can reject tablet cassettes 20 that are oriented incorrectly when they are received, and the transport arm unit 110 can efficiently transport the tablet cassettes 20 from the receiving and storage unit 154 to the storage shelf 300 or the collector shelf 200.

[0122] <4> Furthermore, in the medicine delivering and dispensing device of the present invention, in addition to the configuration described in any one of <1> to <3>, the incoming transport section 150 has an incoming transport belt 151 that transports the supplied tablet cassettes 20 to a position where they can be grasped by the transport arm unit 110, and interval adjustment means 153 that adjusts the intervals between the tablet cassettes 20 lined up on the incoming transport belt 151 when transporting them to the position. With this configuration, the tablet cassettes 20 being transported on the incoming transport belt 151 are lined up in the incoming storage section 154 with appropriate intervals between them by the interval adjustment means 153, so that the tablet cassettes can be efficiently transported from the incoming storage section 154 to the storage shelf 300 or the collector shelf 200 by the transport arm unit 110.

[0123] <5> Furthermore, the medicine delivering and dispensing device of the present invention has the following configuration in addition to the configuration described in any one of <1> to <4>: The gap adjusting means 153 has a gap adjusting sensor 1532 which is a gap adjustment detection unit that detects that the tablet cassette 20 has reached a predetermined position, and a plate-like member 1531 which is a regulating means that regulates the conveyance of the tablet cassette 20 in the receiving conveying section 150 by abutting against the base 25 of the tablet cassette 20, and when the tablet cassette 20 is conveyed by the receiving conveying belt 151, the plate-like member 1531 regulates the conveyance of the tablet cassette 20 until the gap between the tablet cassette 20 and another adjacent tablet cassette 20 becomes equal to or greater than a predetermined value, thereby adjusting the gap between the tablet cassettes 20. According to this configuration, tablet cassettes 20 being transported on the incoming conveying belt 151 are arranged in the incoming storage section 154 with an appropriate spacing between them by the spacing adjustment means 153, so that they can be efficiently transported from the incoming storage section 154 to the storage shelf 300 or collector shelf 200 by the transport arm unit 110.

[0124] <6> Furthermore, the medicine delivering and dispensing device of the present invention has the following configuration in addition to the configuration described in any one of <1> to <5>. The interval adjustment means 153 adjusts the interval between one tablet cassette 20 and another adjacent tablet cassette 20 by changing the rotation direction of the incoming conveyor belt 151. With this configuration, the tablet cassettes 20 being transported on the incoming conveyor belt 151 are lined up in the incoming storage section 154 with an appropriate interval between them by the interval adjustment means 153, so that the transport arm unit 110 can efficiently transport the tablet cassettes 20 from the incoming storage section 154 to the storage shelf 300 or the collector shelf 200.

[0125] <7> Furthermore, the medicine delivering and dispensing device of the present invention has the following configuration in addition to the configurations described in <1> to <6>. Outgoing conveying section 160 has outgoing conveying belt 161, and is characterized in that it has, at the end of outgoing conveying section 160, an end position detection sensor 166 that detects that tablet cassette 20 placed on outgoing conveying belt 161 has reached the end position. With this configuration, the operation of outgoing conveying belt 161 stops when tablet cassette 20 reaches the end of outgoing conveying belt 161, thereby reducing the risk of tablet cassette 20 falling from outgoing conveying section 160.

[0126] <8> The present invention provides a rocking device 50 for clearing jams in a tablet cassette 20, which includes a main body 22 of a container capable of accommodating tablets, a rotor 21 rotatable about its axis within the main body 22, and a rotation shaft for the rotor 21, and which sequentially discharges tablets from the main body 22 by rotating the rotor 21 along with the rotation of the axis of the rotation shaft, the rocking device including a cassette base 30 to which the tablet cassette 20 can be attached on its upper surface 33, and a rocking rotation shaft 52, a rotation drive shaft 54, and a flat belt 53 which function as a rotation drive mechanism that rotates the tablet cassette 20 and the cassette base 30 together until the upper surface 33 of the cassette base 30 forms an angle of 90 degrees or more while maintaining the tablet cassette 20 attached to the cassette base 30. With this configuration, even when a so-called "jam" occurs in which tablets interfere with the rotor 21 of the tablet cassette 20, the rocking device 50 can easily clear the jam in the tablet cassette 20.

[0127] <9> Furthermore, in addition to the configuration described in <8>, the rocking device of the present invention has a presser member 61 that presses down on the top of tablet cassette 20 and a presser drive unit 62 that drives presser member 61 up and down, and rotation drive shaft 54 ​​rotates on the condition that the tip of presser member 61 abuts against the top of tablet cassette 20. With this configuration, when rocking device 50 rotates tablet cassette 20, lid portion 23 rotates in a pressed state, making it possible to prevent lid portion 23 from opening accidentally during the shaking operation.

[0128] <10> Furthermore, in the rocking device 50 of the present invention, in addition to the configuration described in <8> or <9>, the cassette base 30 has a transmission drive unit 31 that is connected to the rotor 21 and rotates the rotor 21 about its axis, and the rocking device 50 drives the rotor 21 by the transmission drive unit 31 after the rotary drive shaft 54 ​​rotates the cassette base 30. With this configuration, by rotating the rotor 21 in the reverse or forward direction after the tablet cassette 20 is in an inclined state, it is possible to easily clear tablet jams.

[0129] <11> Furthermore, in the rocking device 50 of the present invention, in addition to the configuration described in any one of <8> to <10>, the rocking device 50 has a rocking control unit 553 that determines whether the tablet jam has been cleared based on whether or not the transmission drive unit 31 is rotating the rotor 21, and when the rocking control unit 553 determines that the jam has not been cleared, the rotary drive shaft 54 ​​returns the upper surface 33 of the cassette base 30 to an upright position, and then repeats a shaking operation in which the upper surface 33 of the cassette base 30 is rotated again until the angle is 90 degrees or more. With this configuration, it can be determined whether the jam in the tablet cassette 20 has been cleared, and the upright position and the inclined position are automatically and repeatedly transitioned until the jam is cleared, so that the jam in the tablet cassette 20 can be cleared without any special operation.

[0130] <12> Furthermore, in the rocking device 50 of the present invention, in addition to the configuration described in any one of <8> to <11>, the rocking control unit 553 determines whether the blockage has been cleared by rotating the transmission drive unit 31 forward and backward. With this configuration, the rocking control unit 553 can confirm that the rotor 21 is not clogged regardless of the rotation direction of the transmission drive unit 31, and therefore can more accurately determine whether the blockage has been cleared.

[0131] <13> Furthermore, in the rocking device 50 of the present invention, in addition to the configuration described in any one of <8> to <12>, the rotary drive shaft 54 ​​rotates the rotary housing 51 until the upper surface 33 of the cassette base 30 forms an angle of 135 degrees. With this configuration, the inclination angle is set to 135 degrees, which makes it easier for tablets to move within the tablet cassette 20, thereby more reliably clearing tablet jams.

[0132] <14> Furthermore, in addition to the configuration described in <8> to <13>, the rocking device 50 of the present invention has a jammed tablet discharge path 55 connected to the cassette base 30 for recovering tablets discharged from the tablet cassette 20, a trapezoidal receiver 56, and a discharge tray 57 provided at the drop opening of the trapezoidal receiver 56. With this configuration, even if a tablet D that has come off the rotor 21 due to the shaking action of the tablet cassette 20 falls from the tablet discharge opening 24 when the tablet cassette 20 is placed in the upright position, the tablet is recovered into the discharge tray 57 via the jammed tablet discharge path 55 and the trapezoidal receiver 56 within the rocking device 50. This makes it less likely that the tablet will be lost, and the tablet will not be discharged into the rocking device 50.

[0133] <15> Furthermore, the medicine delivering and dispensing device 500 of the present invention includes a tablet cassette 20 including a main body 22 of a container capable of accommodating tablets, a rotor 21 rotatable around its axis within the main body 22, and a rotation axis of the rotor 21, the tablet cassette 20 sequentially discharging tablets from the main body 22 as the rotor 21 rotates around its axis when the rotation axis is rotated, a transport arm unit 110 capable of grasping and transporting the tablet cassette 20, and a cassette base 30 capable of storing a plurality of tablet cassettes 20, the cassette base 30 rotating around its rotation axis to transport the stored tablet cassettes. The medicine transport and dispensing device 500 has a collector shelf 200 capable of sequentially dispensing tablets from the collected tablet cassettes 20, a storage shelf 300 capable of storing a plurality of tablet cassettes 20, a packaging device 130 for packaging the tablets dispensed from the collector shelf 200, a tablet drop path 201, a shutter mechanism 204, a hopper section 205, and a conveyor device 210 constituting a medicine transport path connecting the collector shelf 200 to the packaging device 130, and a cassette control section 551 for determining whether the tablet cassette 20 is jammed based on whether the rotation axis of the tablet cassette 20 placed on the cassette base 30 is rotating. When the cassette control section 551 determines that a jam has occurred, the transport arm unit 110 of the medicine transport and dispensing device 500 grasps and transports the tablet cassette 20 from the collector shelf 200 to the swinging device 50. According to this configuration, in the drug transport and dispensing device 500, which is equipped with a transport arm unit 110 that automatically grasps and transports the tablet cassette 20 and uses the transport arm unit 110 to change the tablet cassette 20 placed on the cassette base 30 of the collector shelf 200, when a jam occurs in the tablet cassette 20, the jam can be automatically cleared without any user operation, thereby minimizing downtime of the drug transport and dispensing device 500.

[0134] <16> The medicine transporting and dispensing device 500 of the present invention comprises a transport arm unit 110 capable of grasping and transporting a tablet cassette 20 containing medicines, a collector shelf 200 capable of storing a plurality of tablet cassettes 20 by attaching them to a cassette base 30 and capable of dispensing medicines from the stored tablet cassettes 20, a storage shelf 300 capable of storing a plurality of tablet cassettes 20, a packaging device 130 for packaging the medicines dispensed from the collector shelf 200, and a medicine transport path connecting the collector shelf 200 and the packaging device 130. The transport arm unit 110 is capable of moving to the position coordinates of the collector shelf 200 and storage shelf 300 where the tablet cassette 20 to be transported is stored in response to instructions from the control unit 550, and has a shelf position detection sensor 1134 for detecting the positions of the shelf main bodies 202, 302 on the collector shelf 200 and storage shelf 300 where the tablet cassette 20 is stored, and a cassette detection sensor 1135 for detecting that the tablet cassette 20 is in a position where it can be grasped. The medicine transporting and dispensing device 500 corrects the position coordinates and moves to the front of the tablet cassette 20 to be transported based on the position information of the shelf main bodies 202, 302 and the position information of the tablet cassette 20 detected by the shelf position detection sensor 1134 and the cassette detection sensor 1135. With this configuration, multiple stored tablet cassettes 20 can be freely transported by the transport arm unit 110, and the control unit 550 corrects the position coordinates of the tablet cassette 20 based on the detection results of the cassette detection sensor 1135 and the shelf position detection sensor 1134, so the position of the tablet cassette 20 can be accurately determined.

[0135] <17> Furthermore, in the medicine delivery and dispensing device of the present invention, in addition to the configuration described in <16>, the transport arm unit 110 has a plurality of engaging claws 1132 and an advancing / retreating mechanism 1133 that move in the X direction perpendicular to the YZ direction, which is the movement direction of the transport arm unit 110, to hold the tablet cassette 20, and the engaging claws 1132 that engage with the handle portion 29 of the tablet cassette 20 and operate to retract the handle portion 29 toward the advancing / retreating mechanism 1133, and a cassette holder 1137 that is located at least above or below the engaging claws 1132 and stabilizes the posture of the tablet cassette 20 by abutting against the tablet cassette 20 and applying a force in a direction that prevents the retraction by the engaging claws 1132. With this configuration, a force that pulls in the engaging claw 1132 acts on the main body 22 via the handle portion 29, and a reaction force that pushes out acts from the cassette holder 1137, so the posture of the tablet cassette 20 is stable when the grip unit 113 transports the tablet cassette 20.

[0136] <18> Furthermore, in the medicine delivering and dispensing device of the present invention, in addition to the configuration described in <16> or <17>, the cassette detection sensor 1135 is an optical detection sensor that is arranged in front of the fitting claw 1132 and the advancing / retracting mechanism 1133, and detects whether the tablet cassette 20 is positioned in the direction of travel of the irradiated light by irradiating light obliquely upward from the position of the cassette detection sensor 1135. With this configuration, the cassette detection sensor 1135 can detect the position of the tablet cassette 20 before operation, making it possible to grip the tablet cassette 20 with greater accuracy.

[0137] <19> Furthermore, in the medicine delivering and dispensing device of the present invention, in addition to the configuration described in any one of <16> to <18>, the handle portion 29 of the tablet cassette 20 is semitransparent, and the lid portion 23 of the tablet cassette 20 is opaque to the extent that it blocks the irradiated light, and the cassette detection sensor 1135 detects the opaque lid portion 23 of the tablet cassette 20. With this configuration, the number of tablets inside the tablet cassette 20 can be easily visually confirmed, while the position can be detected by blocking the irradiated light from the cassette detection sensor 1135.

[0138] <20> Furthermore, the medicine delivering and dispensing device of the present invention has the following configuration in addition to the configuration described in any one of <16> to <19>. The transport arm unit 110 moves to a position coordinate by an endless rail unit 111, and has an intermediate gear 114 that abuts on the side of the rail unit 111 opposite to the side that abuts on the catcher unit 112 to adjust the tension of the rail unit 111, and the intermediate gear 114 is fixed to the housing of the medicine delivering and dispensing device 500. With this configuration, even if the rail unit 111 becomes loose or bent as a result of an increase in the length of the housing of the medicine delivering and dispensing device 500, the surface that abuts on the transport arm unit 110 side is maintained in tension and kept straight, thereby suppressing errors in the position coordinates of the transport arm unit 110.

[0139] <21> In addition to the configuration described in any one of <16> to <20>, in the medicine delivery and dispensing device of the present invention, the rail unit 111 is a flexible timing belt. This configuration reduces wear and tear compared to when a metal or other material is used, and is less likely to spin freely, which reduces the difference in the amount of movement of the delivery arm unit 110 relative to the amount of rotation of the rail unit 111.

[0140] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the claims.

[0141] DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 20...Tablet cassette (cassette) 29...Engaged portion 30...Cassette base 110...Transport arm unit (transport portion) 111...Rail unit (timing belt) 114...Intermediate gear (intermediate member) 120...Manual distribution portion 130...Packaging device 140...Storage portion 150...Incoming transport portion 153...Gap adjustment means 155...First direction detection sensor (direction detection portion) 156...Second direction detection sensor (direction detection portion) 151...Incoming transport belt (belt-type transport means) 161...Outgoing transport belt (belt-type transport means) 160...Outgoing transport portion 166...Outgoing detection portion 200...Collector shelf (first storage shelf) 201...Tablet drop path (part of medicine transport path) 300...Storage shelf (second storage shelf) 500...Medicine transport and dispensing device 1131...Placement table 1132... Engagement claw (claw portion) 1133... Advance / retreat mechanism (part of cassette holding portion) 1134... Shelf position detection sensor (shelf position detection portion) 1135... Cassette detection sensor (cassette position detection portion) 1137... Cassette holder (posture stabilizing member) 1531... Plate-shaped member (regulating means) 1532... Gap adjustment sensor (gap adjustment detection portion) Z direction... Movable direction X direction... Advance / retreat direction

Claims

1. A drug transport and dispensing device comprising: a transport unit capable of grasping and transporting a cassette containing drug; a first storage shelf capable of storing a plurality of the cassettes by attaching them to a cassette base and capable of dispensing the drug from the stored cassette; a second storage shelf capable of storing a plurality of the cassettes; a packaging device for packaging the drug dispensed from the first storage shelf; and a drug transport path connecting the first storage shelf and the packaging device, wherein the packaging device, first storage shelf, and second storage shelf are arranged in that order along the movable direction of the transport unit.

2. A drug transport and dispensing device as described in claim 1, comprising an incoming transport section for supplying the cassettes stored in the drug transport and dispensing device, and an outgoing transport section for discharging the emptied cassettes from the drug transport and dispensing device, wherein the incoming transport section and the outgoing transport section are both positioned above the packaging device.

3. A drug delivery and dispensing device as described in claim 2, characterized in that the storage and transport section has a direction detection section for detecting that the orientation of the cassette is normal when the cassette is supplied.

4. A drug transport and dispensing device as described in claim 2, characterized in that the incoming and outgoing transport section has a belt-type transport means for transporting the supplied cassettes to a position where they can be grasped by the transport section, and a spacing adjustment means for adjusting the spacing between the cassettes arranged on the belt-type transport means when transporting them to said position.

5. A drug transport and dispensing device as described in claim 4, wherein the interval adjustment means comprises a gap adjustment detection unit which detects when the cassette has reached a predetermined position, and a regulating means which regulates the transport of the cassette in the storage and transport section by abutting against the bottom surface of the cassette, and wherein the regulating means adjusts the interval between the cassettes by regulating the transport of the cassettes when the cassette is transported by the belt-type transport means until the interval between the cassette and an adjacent cassette becomes equal to or greater than a predetermined value.

6. A drug delivery and dispensing device as described in claim 4, characterized in that the gap adjustment means adjusts the gap between the cassette and adjacent other cassettes by changing the rotation direction of the belt-type delivery means.

7. A drug transport and dispensing device as described in claim 2, characterized in that the outgoing transport section has a belt-type transport means, and at the end of the outgoing transport section is an outgoing detection section which detects that the cassette placed on the belt-type transport means has reached a outgoing position.

8. A drug transport and dispensing device as described in claim 1, wherein the cassette comprises a main body portion of a container capable of containing tablets, an alignment plate capable of rotating on an axis within the main body portion, and a rotation axis of the alignment plate, and when the rotation axis is rotated, the alignment plate rotates axially in response to the rotation, thereby sequentially discharging tablets from the main body portion, and the drug transport and dispensing device has a rocking device for clearing blockages in the cassette, the rocking device having a cassette mounting portion on the upper surface of which the cassette can be attached, and a rotation drive mechanism for rotating the cassette and the cassette mounting portion together while maintaining the cassette attached to the cassette mounting portion until the upper surface of the cassette mounting portion is at an angle of 90 degrees or more.

9. A drug delivery and dispensing device as described in claim 8, characterized in that the rocking device has an up-down drive unit that presses the upper part of the cassette, and the rotation drive mechanism performs the rotation on the condition that the tip of the up-down drive unit abuts against the upper part of the cassette.

10. A drug delivery and dispensing device as described in claim 8, wherein the cassette mounting section has an axial rotation section connected to the rotating shaft for rotating the rotating shaft, and the rocking device drives the rotating shaft by the axial rotation section after the rotary drive mechanism rotates the cassette mounting section.

11. A drug transport and dispensing device as described in claim 10, wherein the oscillating device has a discrimination section which judges whether the tablet jam has been cleared based on whether or not the shaft rotating section rotates the rotating shaft, and when the discrimination section judges that the jam has not been cleared, the rotation drive mechanism returns the upper surface to its initial state and then rotates the cassette loading section again until the upper surface of the cassette loading section is at an angle of 90 degrees or more.

12. A drug delivery and dispensing device according to claim 11, wherein the discrimination unit rotates the shaft rotating unit in forward and reverse directions to determine whether the blockage has been cleared.

13. A drug delivery and dispensing device as described in claim 8, characterized in that the rotation drive mechanism of the rocking device rotates the upper surface of the cassette mounting portion until it forms an angle of 135 degrees.

14. A drug transport and dispensing device as described in claim 8, wherein the rocking device is connected to the cassette loading section, and has a recovery path for recovering tablets discharged from the cassette, and a recovery container provided at the drop outlet of the recovery path.

15. A drug transport and dispensing device as described in claim 1, comprising: a cassette having a container main body capable of storing tablets, an alignment plate capable of rotating on its axis within the main body, and a rotation axis of the alignment plate, wherein when the rotation axis is rotated, the alignment plate rotates in conjunction with the rotation, thereby sequentially discharging tablets from the main body; a rocking device for clearing a jam of the cassette; and a discrimination unit for determining whether the cassette is jammed based on whether the rotation axis of the cassette placed on the cassette base is rotating or not, wherein when the discrimination unit determines that the cassette is jammed, the transport unit grasps and transports the cassette from the first storage shelf to the rocking device.

16. A drug transport and dispensing device as described in claim 1, wherein the transport unit is capable of moving to position coordinates of the first storage shelf and the second storage shelf where the cassette to be transported is stored when the position coordinates are specified, and the transport unit has a shelf position detection unit for detecting the position of the shelf in the first storage shelf and the second storage shelf where the cassette is stored, and a cassette position detection unit for detecting that the cassette is in a position where it can be grasped, and the drug transport and dispensing device corrects the position coordinates based on the position information of the shelf and the position information of the cassette detected by the shelf position detection unit and the cassette position detection unit, and moves to the front of the cassette to be transported.

17. A drug transport and dispensing device as described in claim 16, wherein the transporting section has a plurality of cassette holding sections which move in a forward and backward direction perpendicular to the movement direction of the transporting section to hold the cassette, and the cassette holding sections have claw sections which engage with the engaged section of the cassette to pull the engaged section toward the cassette holding section, and a posture stabilizing member located at least on either the top or bottom of the claw sections and which abuts against the cassette and applies a force in a direction which prevents the cassette from being pulled in by the claw sections, thereby stabilizing the posture of the cassette.

18. A drug delivery and dispensing device as described in claim 17, characterized in that the cassette position detection unit is an optical detection sensor that is arranged in front of the cassette holding unit and detects whether the cassette is positioned in the direction of travel of the irradiated light by irradiating light diagonally upward from that position.

19. A drug delivery and dispensing device as described in claim 18, wherein the cassette has a translucent engaging portion and an upper portion thereof is opaque to the extent that it blocks the irradiated light, and the cassette position detection portion detects the opaque upper portion of the cassette.

20. A drug delivery and dispensing device as described in claim 19, wherein the transport unit moves to the position coordinates by an endless belt, and the device has an intermediate member that contacts the side of the belt opposite to the side that contacts the transport unit to adjust the tension of the belt, and the intermediate member is fixed to the housing of the drug delivery and dispensing device.

21. A drug delivery and dispensing device according to claim 20, characterized in that the belt is a flexible timing belt.

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