Medicine sorting device

Abstract

This medicine sorting device is capable of sorting, from a state in which a large amount of medicines are mixed, each of the medicines into a container, the medicine sorting device making it possible to easily take out a container containing a designated medicine corresponding to identification information. A medicine sorting device according to the present invention is characterized by comprising: a storage unit that stores a plurality of medicines to be sorted; a sorting unit that sorts each of the plurality of medicines stored in the storage unit into one of a plurality of containers; a plurality of support devices that respectively support some of the plurality of containers; a movement mechanism that moves the support devices, along a fixed path, in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction; a container take-out unit that is located partway along the path of the movement mechanism and from which a container can be taken out by an operator; a reading unit with which it is possible to read identification information upon placing a medicine cassette having the identification information; and a control unit that registers the medicines sorted in the containers, the control unit discriminating the medicine corresponding to identification information in a medicine cassette and the container into which the medicine is sorted, and moving the support device that includes the container to the container take-out unit.

Description

Drug sorting device

[0001] The present invention relates to a drug sorting device.

[0002] Mainly in hospital pharmacies, etc., there may be cases where drugs dispensed in large quantities by a packaging machine, etc. are returned without being used as a result of shortages, packaging mistakes, or other reasons. For the identification of drugs, it is generally done by using the identification code of the drug written on the outer package of the drug. However, especially for packaged drugs, it is difficult to confirm by matching with the outer package. Also, for a pharmacist to manually identify an unknown prescribed drug based on clues such as the size, shape, color, etc. of the drug involves a very large burden. For the purpose of collecting and reusing such drugs, a drug sorting device is used, for example, to identify the type of drug based on an image of the drug and return it to a predetermined storage location (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 to 3, etc.). However, the problem with conventional drug sorting devices is that there is only one that allows a person to distinguish the containers after sorting the drugs and take out a specific container, and it was also difficult to cooperate with other tablet packaging machines, etc.

[0003] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2022-049484, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2024-091950, Patent No. 6750732

[0004] The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and in a drug sorting device capable of sorting each drug into a container from a state where a large number of drugs are mixed, it is an object to provide a novel drug sorting device that can easily take out the container containing the designated drug corresponding to the identification information.

[0005] The present invention comprises: a storage unit for storing a plurality of drugs to be sorted; a sorting unit for sorting each of the plurality of drugs stored in the storage unit into one of a plurality of containers; a plurality of support devices for supporting some of the containers among the plurality of containers; a moving mechanism for moving the support devices along a fixed path in the vertical and horizontal directions; a container removal unit located along the path of the moving mechanism, where the containers can be removed by an operator; a reading unit on which a drug cassette containing identification information is placed, thereby enabling the reading of the identification information; and a control unit for storing the drugs sorted into the containers. The control unit distinguishes between a drug corresponding to the identification information on the drug cassette and the container in which the drug has been sorted, and moves the support device including the container to the container removal unit.

[0006] According to the present invention, in a drug sorting device capable of sorting individual drugs into containers from a mixture of large quantities of drugs, it is possible to easily retrieve containers containing designated drugs corresponding to identification information.

[0007] Figure 1 shows an example of the configuration of a drug sorting device. Figure 1 shows an example of the front view of the drug sorting device shown in Figure 1. Figure 1 shows an example of the internal configuration of the drug sorting device shown in Figure 1. Figure 2 shows an example of drugs in the input section. Figure 2 shows an example of the configuration of the upper structure of the drug sorting device. Figure 1 shows an example of the configuration of the guide section of the drug sorting device. Figure 7 shows an enlarged view showing an example of the configuration near the tip of the transfer section shown in Figure 7. Figure 8 shows an example of the operation of the transfer section shown in Figure 8. Figure 1 shows an example of the configuration of the second imaging section. Figure 2 shows an example of the operation of the second imaging section. Figure 1 shows an example of the configuration of the buffer chute. Figure 3 shows an example of the operation of the buffer chute. Figure 4 shows an example of the configuration of the storage container. Figure 5 shows an example of the configuration of the moving mechanism. Figure 15 shows a schematic diagram showing an example of the operation of the moving mechanism shown in Figure 15. Figure 6 shows an example of the positional relationship between the support device and the storage container in the container removal section. Figure 7 shows an example of the operation of the locking mechanism shown in Figure 17. Figure 7 shows an example of the functional configuration of the control section of the drug sorting device. Figure 8 shows an example of the operation of the shape determination section in the first imaging section. Figure 9 shows an example of the operation when opening and closing the lid of the storage container in the buffer chute. Figure 10 shows an example of the screen configuration of the user interface of the drug sorting device. Figure 11 shows an example of the screen configuration of the visual inspection function of the drug sorting device. This figure shows an example of the sorting operation of a drug sorting device. This figure shows an example of the operation when there is a misidentified drug in the storage container to be removed. This figure shows an example of the operation when a storage container is attached to the support device. This figure shows an example of the configuration when storage containers are attached to all of the support devices. This figure shows an example of another configuration of the container removal section. This figure shows a modified example of another configuration of the container removal section.

[0008] Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Figures 1 to 3 show the basic configuration of the drug sorting device 100 used in the present invention.

[0009] The drug sorting device 100 includes a hopper-shaped input section 10 into which multiple drugs M can be input in a mixed state, a first imaging section 20 for determining the shape of the drugs M from images taken of them, and a guide section 30 positioned below the input section 10 and forming a path connecting the input section 10 to the first imaging section 20. The drug sorting device 100 also includes a second imaging section 40 for determining the type of drug M from the images taken, a transfer section 50 for holding and transporting the drugs M one by one, a buffer chute 60 for temporarily storing the transported drugs M, and a control section 90 for controlling each operating part. The drug sorting device 100 also includes a support device 80, which is a plurality of container holding sections that support a plurality of storage containers 71 as described later, and a moving mechanism 70 for moving the support device 80 along a fixed path in the vertical and horizontal directions. A container removal section 73 is provided in part of the path of the moving mechanism 70, from which the storage container 71 can be removed. To allow the operator to access the container removal section 73, an openable and closable shutter 74 is provided on the front side of the drug sorting device 100. In front of the container removal section 73, an openable and closable work table 104 is provided, which opens forward from the housing of the drug sorting device 100, and a printer 105 is provided, which can print information on sorted or returned drugs.

[0010] The drug sorting device 100 also includes a front camera 103, which is a reading means for reading container-specific information such as QR codes (registered trademarks) set on each of the storage containers 71, and a cassette base 120, which functions as a reading unit that can read the identification information of the tablet cassette 110 when the tablet cassette 110 containing the identification information is placed on it. A touch panel 102 is provided on the front of the drug sorting device 100, which functions as a display unit that shows the operation of the drug sorting device 100 in progress, as well as an operation unit that allows various operations. The tablet cassette 110 functions as a drug cassette that holds drugs according to their respective identification information, but in this embodiment, since we are specifically dealing with tablets, we will use the term tablet cassette 110.

[0011] In this embodiment, drug M is described in particular as a tablet, but it is not limited to this configuration; any drug that can be identified by the captured image is acceptable. For example, drug M may be in various shapes such as disc-shaped, cylindrical, ellipsoidal, or capsule-shaped. Furthermore, unless there is a particular need to distinguish between them, the drugs in this embodiment will be uniformly referred to as drug M, but drug M may be the same type of drug or different types of drugs.

[0012] Furthermore, on the front side of the drug sorting device 100, as shown in Figure 2, there is an input port 11 for introducing multiple drugs M in a mixed state, located above the input section 10 in the vertical direction. The tablet cassette 110 and cassette base 120 are positioned above the container removal section 73 and below the input port 11.

[0013] As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the input section 10 has an openable input port 11 for inputting the chemicals M in a mixed state, an outlet 12 located below the input port 11, i.e., in the -Z direction, and a hopper 13 located between the input port 11 and the outlet 12. Figure 3 is a YZ cross-section of the chemical sorting device 100, showing the positional relationship between the hopper 13 and the lower guide section 30.

[0014] The input port 11, when in the open state, rotates to tilt towards the front side of the chemical sorting device 100 as shown in Figure 4, and is held in a position where it can stop while maintaining a certain incline so that the introduced chemical M slides down. Furthermore, since the hopper 13 is located behind the input port 11, in order to prevent interference with the hopper 13, the rear end wall surface 11b of the input port 11 in Figure 4 is a wall surface that is rounded with a predetermined radius of curvature. With this configuration, interference with the input port 11 is less likely when removing the hopper 13, improving replaceability and maintainability. In addition, the input port 11 in the open state has an inclined portion 11a that is inclined so that the introduced chemical M slides down, and the front side of the hopper 13 of the chemical sorting device 100 also forms an inclined portion 13a that is inclined so that the chemical M slides down. Thus, the input section 10 is designed so that the chemicals M, which are introduced into the input port 11 in a mixed state of various types, slide down towards the discharge port 12 and further towards the guide section 30 beyond it.

[0015] As shown in Figures 3 and 4, the input section 10 is positioned such that the discharge port 12 is located on the guide section 30, and the mixed chemicals M that are input are gradually transported through the space between the discharge port 12 and the guide section 30, thus functioning as a storage section. That is, when the chemicals M accumulate in the lower part of the input section 10, between the discharge port 12 and the guide section 30, they will not fall from the top to the bottom of the input section 10. However, when the chemicals M that the guide section 30 is in contact with are moved in the lateral direction in Figure 4, i.e., in the -X direction in Figure 2, different chemicals M above will successively move between the discharge port 12 and the guide section 30 due to their own weight. In this way, the chemicals M stored inside the hopper 13 move downward along with the transport by the guide section 30.

[0016] Furthermore, the amount of chemical agent M supplied to the guide section 30 varies depending on the distance between the guide section 30 and the discharge port 12, and this distance h1 can be adjusted by the height of the hopper 13. However, it was found that if the amount of chemical agent M that falls is to be controlled solely by adjusting the height of the hopper 13, problems arise such as the chemical agent M not being supplied to the guide section 30 if the distance is too narrow, and conversely, if the distance is too wide, a large amount of chemical agent M moving to the guide section 30.

[0017] In this embodiment, a flexible resin cover 14 is attached around the discharge port 12. Because this cover 14 is located between the discharge port 12 and the guide portion 30, the chemical M is prevented from falling to some extent. However, when a certain amount of weight is applied, the cover 14 bends and deforms, making it easier for the chemical M to fall. By surrounding the discharge port 12, which is the opening at the bottom of the hopper 13, with this flexible cover 14, the chemical M is prevented from falling while still being discharged smoothly from the hopper 13.

[0018] As already mentioned, the height h1, which is the distance between the discharge port 12 of the input section 10 and the surface of the guide body 31 of the guide section 30, can be finely adjusted according to the size of the drug M. When viewed from above, the input section 10 has a tapered shape in which at least the wall surface on the -X direction side of the wall surface forming the discharge port 12 widens from the input port 11 to the discharge port 12. By making it tapered, the number of drug units that can be stored in the input section 10 can be increased, and the discharge port 12 is located on the upstream side in the transport direction of the guide section 30, so that alignment by vibration is more evenly performed due to the increased transport distance.

[0019] Furthermore, as already mentioned, the input port 11 is located above the cassette base 120 on which the tablet cassette 110 is placed, and the tablet cassette 110 is positioned in a dead space created by the inclination of the inclined portion 13a of the hopper 13. With this configuration, the tablet cassette 110 can be placed near the container removal portion 73, improving the work efficiency when replenishing the tablet cassette 110 with the drug removed from the container removal portion 73. In addition, sufficient height can be secured from the input port 11 to the guide portion 30, which allows for a larger storage capacity and extends the operating time of the drug sorting device 100.

[0020] In this embodiment, the guide section 30 is a transport path that functions as a vibratory feeder. The guide section 30 includes a guide body 31 on which the transport surface to which the drug M is transported is formed on the +Z direction side, a vibration drive unit 32 positioned below the guide body 31, and chute guides 33 positioned on both sides of the guide body 31 and attached to cover at least both sides of the discharge port 12 in the ±Y direction, forming a guide wall surface. The chute guides 33 are magnetic and detachably attached to the guide body 31, preventing them from coming off the guide section 30 due to unintended bouncing or the like when the drug M falls from the input section 10 through the discharge port 12, and preventing the drug M from falling out during transport. The vibration drive unit 32 is an electromagnetic vibrator that vibrates the guide body 31 by, for example, 7200 vibrations per minute, thereby transporting the drug M located on the upper surface of the guide body 31 in the -X direction.

[0021] In this embodiment, the guide unit 30 also has a vibration drive unit 32 which acts as a vibration feeder that vibrates the guide body unit 31. With this configuration, the vibration of the guide body unit 31 causes the drug M to move along the transport path surrounded by the guide body unit 31 and the chute guide 33.

[0022] In this embodiment, the guide section 30 has a detachable chute guide 33 that forms the side wall of the guide section 30. By making the chute guide 33 detachable, it is possible to prevent it from coming off the guide section 30 due to unintended splashing or the like when the drug M falls through the discharge port 12, and to prevent the drug M from falling out during transport. Furthermore, since it is attached to the guide body section 31 by magnets and is easy to attach and detach, it is possible to easily clean the guide body section 31 and the chute guide 33 which form the transport path.

[0023] As shown in Figure 5, a passage sensor 36 is provided as a detection unit between the first imaging unit 20 and the guide unit 30, that is, at the downstream end in the -X direction which is the transport direction of the guide unit 30. The passage sensor 36 is a detection unit for detecting when the drug M has moved from the guide unit 30 to the first imaging unit 20, and when a predetermined quantity, for example, one or more drugs M have passed through, the vibration of the vibration drive unit 32 is stopped via the control unit 90. With this passage sensor 36, it is possible to confirm whether the drug M is moving when it is transported from the guide unit 30 to the first imaging unit 20, and to prevent the problem of too large a quantity of drug M being transported to the first imaging unit 20 at the same time.

[0024] Let me explain this point in a little more detail. As already mentioned, the guide unit 30 is a vibrating feeder, so the drug M that falls from the input unit 10 reaches the first imaging unit 20 at a predetermined speed determined by the vibration frequency of the vibration drive unit 32, etc. However, as will be described later, the transfer unit 50 is a transfer unit that picks up and transfers the drug M one by one, and its operation requires a certain amount of time. In other words, if the guide unit 30 were to carry a large amount of drug M at once, a large amount of drug M would be placed on the first imaging unit 20, and there is a concern that the overlapping and sticking of the drugs may affect the accuracy of image capture. Therefore, when the passage sensor 36 detects that more than a predetermined amount of drug M has been transported, the vibration of the vibration drive unit 32 is temporarily limited to temporarily suppress the movement of the drug M moving from the guide unit 30 to the first imaging unit 20. Specifically, for example, the passage sensor 36 is an infrared sensor that outputs infrared light in the Y direction, and when the passage sensor 36 detects that one or more drug M have passed, the vibration drive unit 32 is temporarily stopped, and resumes after waiting for the first imaging unit 20 to take an image. In this way, by limiting the amount of drug M that flows from the guide unit 30 to the first imaging unit 20 using the passage sensor 36, the imaging accuracy of the first imaging unit 20 can be improved.

[0025] As shown in Figures 5 and 6, the first imaging unit 20 has a black imaging stage 21. A first camera 23 is positioned above the imaging stage 21. In this embodiment, it is attached to the transport unit 50 as described later, but the configuration is not limited to this, and any imaging device that includes the imaging stage 21 within its field of view can be configured as desired. The imaging stage 21 has a bottom surface 22 and side wall portions 24 formed to surround three directions of the bottom surface 22, excluding the +X direction side to which the guide portion 30 is connected. Both the bottom surface 22 and the side wall portions 24 that constitute the imaging stage 21 are molded from a resin material such as rubber. The imaging stage 21 is also detachably attached to the imaging vibration unit 25 below, and it is desirable to make it easy to clean. Furthermore, the bottom plate 26 of the imaging vibration unit 25 that supports the imaging stage 21 has a circular hollow hole formed in the center, and with this configuration, the imaging stage 21 can be easily removed from the hollow hole.

[0026] The imaging vibration unit 25 is a vibration unit having a drive source 25a independent of the vibration drive unit 32 of the guide unit 30, and is located below the imaging stage 21. After the passage sensor 36 operates and the first camera 23 acquires an image of the imaging stage 21, the control unit 90 performs a simplified determination of the shape of each drug M from the acquired image by image recognition. In this simplified determination, if drug M1 and drug M2 overlap and are recognized as a single tablet, and do not match an existing type shape, the imaging vibration unit 25 vibrates to resolve the overlap between these drugs M, and an image of them separated can be acquired on the imaging stage 21.

[0027] Furthermore, it is known that if the drug M gets too close to the side wall 24, image recognition may fail and the drug M and the side wall may be recognized as a single shape. Therefore, if the control unit 90 determines that the side wall 24 and the drug M are too close together when the first camera 23 takes a picture from above and the shape cannot be accurately recognized, it may vibrate the shooting vibration unit 25 to spread the drug M appropriately and then take another picture.

[0028] The image recognition performed on the captured images is a simplified method that allows for the determination of the center of gravity of the drug M and its approximate shape. Therefore, even if the drug M rolls before and after the vibration and moves to a position significantly different from the initial capture position, the number of tablets in the image, i.e., the number of center of gravity positions, will remain the same if there is no overlap, and the number of center of gravity positions will increase if there is overlap. In this way, if the number of center of gravity positions does not change before and after the capture vibration unit 25, the control unit 90 determines that there was no overlap, determines the center of gravity position of the drug M from the image captured by the capture stage 21 after the vibration, and transmits this information to the transfer unit 50.

[0029] As shown in Figure 7, the transfer unit 50 is a pickup unit that can move along the XYZ three axes. The transfer unit 50 is equipped with a belt 52 wrapped around a plurality of pulleys 53 in an H shape, and motors 54a and 54b whose rotation direction can be controlled independently. By controlling the rotation direction and amount of rotation of motors 54a and 54b, the operating unit 51 is provided to move freely in the XY direction. The operating unit 51 is fitted with a nozzle 55 that can move up and down and adsorb the drug M, and a fall prevention shutter 58 that opens and closes in accordance with the vertical movement of the transfer unit 50. The operating unit 51, nozzle 55, and fall prevention shutter 58 operate together as the transfer unit 50. In this embodiment, a first camera 23 is attached to the operating unit 51, and the optimal lowering position of the nozzle 55 can be determined by acquiring the center of gravity position from the image captured by the first camera 23 through image recognition.

[0030] The nozzle 55 is a nozzle for adsorbing the drug M by air pressure, and adsorbs the drug M by suction of air by a pump and a solenoid valve. The tip of the nozzle 55 is equipped with a suction pad 55a, and as the transfer unit 50 descends, the suction pad 55a comes into contact with the drug M and the drug M is adsorbed.

[0031] The transfer unit 50 moves the operating unit 51 to a predetermined position and lowers the nozzle 55 to adsorb the drug M on the imaging stage 21 and transfer the drug M to the second imaging unit 40 while holding it. Similarly, since the movable range of the transfer unit 50 also includes the position of the buffer chute 60 shown in Figure 5, the transfer unit 50 also performs the transfer from the second imaging unit 40 to the buffer chute 60.

[0032] Figure 8 is an enlarged view of a portion of the operating unit 51 near the nozzle 55. The nozzle 55 is provided within the operating unit 51 so as to be able to move up and down by a nozzle driving means 56. The operating unit 51 also includes a fall prevention cover 57 and a fall prevention shutter 58, which are positioned to surround the suction pad 55a when the nozzle 55 moves to its uppermost position. The fall prevention shutter 58 is a plate-shaped member supported so as to be able to rotate horizontally with respect to the XY plane, and as shown in Figure 8, when the nozzle 55 is descending, it retracts to a position that does not hinder the vertical movement of the nozzle 55. Furthermore, as shown in Figure 9, when the nozzle 55 has risen all the way up, the fall prevention shutter 58 rotates and comes into contact with the lower end of the fall prevention cover 57, so that the fall prevention cover 57 and the fall prevention shutter 58 surround the drug M at least below and to the side, thereby preventing the drug M from falling. Since the fall prevention shutter 58 is set to close whenever the nozzle 55 moves upward, this fall prevention function can keep the drug M in place even if the power supply to the transport unit 50 is cut off. With this configuration, even if the power supply is interrupted due to a momentary power outage during transport, the drug M can be held regardless of the position of the transport unit 50, thus preventing the drug M from falling unintentionally.

[0033] The second imaging unit 40 shown in Figure 10 is the part that photographs the drug M in order to identify the type of drug M. The second imaging unit 40 includes an imaging table 41 on which the drug M is placed for imaging (see also Figure 5), an actuator 42 such as a motor that rotates the imaging table 41, a second camera 43 that photographs the drug M placed on the imaging table 41, an illumination device 44 that illuminates the drug M, and a camera movement mechanism 45 that moves the second camera 43 and the illumination device 44.

[0034] As shown in Figure 5, the imaging table 41 is equipped with four placement platforms 41A to 41D on which the drug M is placed. In this embodiment, the imaging table 41 is disc-shaped as shown in Figure 5, but it may also be configured with a partition at the top to make each of the placement platforms 41A to 41D easier to see, or it may be cross-shaped with the placement platforms 41A to 41D supported at each end of the cross and rotated by an actuator 42.

[0035] The mounting tables 41A and 41B are positioned opposite each other across the rotational axis O1 of the imaging table 41, and the mounting tables 41C and 41D are also positioned opposite each other across the rotational axis O1 in a direction perpendicular to the opposing direction of mounting tables 41A and 41B. The mounting tables 41A and 41B are formed in a dish shape and are transparent. The mounting tables 41C and 41D have two opposing rollers R1 and R2, and the drug M in the capsule is placed between the rollers R1 and R2. The drug M in the capsule placed on the mounting table 41C or 41D rotates around a central axis extending in the longitudinal direction of the drug M by the rotation of the rollers R1 and R2. The rotation of the rollers R1 and R2 is performed by actuators 42 connected to the mounting tables 41C and 41D, respectively. The number of mounting tables provided on the imaging table 41 is arbitrary and may be other than four.

[0036] In this embodiment, the imaging table 41 is positioned on a base plate 101 which is on the same plane as the first imaging unit 20 and the like inside the drug sorting device 100. The actuator 42 rotates the imaging table 41 around a rotational axis O1 that extends in the vertical direction, causing the mounting tables 41A to 41D to also rotate. Any of the rotating mounting tables 41A to 41D is positioned on a through hole 101A provided in the base plate 101. The mounting table located on the through hole 101A will also be referred to as mounting table 41X below. Mounting table 41X is a mounting table positioned at the imaging location, as described later.

[0037] A second camera 43 and an illumination device 44 are positioned above the through-hole 101A. The illumination device 44 is formed in a ring shape surrounding the optical axis of the second camera 43, and the second camera 43 photographs the drug M placed on the mounting table 41X through the hollow space surrounded by the illumination device 44. When the drug M is placed on any of the mounting tables 41A to 41D by the transfer unit 50, the imaging table 41 rotates, and the mounting table on which the drug M is placed moves to the position above the through-hole 101A (i.e., the imaging position) and becomes mounting table 41X. This movement allows the drug M to be placed on any of the mounting tables 41A to 41D at a location other than the imaging location where the second camera 43 is positioned, thus preventing interference between the transfer unit 50 (especially the nozzle 55) and the second camera 43.

[0038] As shown in Figures 10 and 11, the camera movement mechanism 45 rotates the unit of the second camera 43 and the lighting device 44 around the rotation axis O2 and around the mounting base 41X. The camera movement mechanism 45 comprises an actuator 45A such as a motor, and a camera arm 45B connected to the drive shaft 45C of the actuator 45A, extending in a direction perpendicular to the drive shaft 45C, and to which the second camera 43 and the lighting device 44 are fixed.

[0039] The camera movement mechanism 45 rotates the second camera 43 and lighting device 44 as a unit, allowing the second camera 43 and lighting device 44 to move between a first shooting position, shown by a solid line in Figure 11, which photographs the mounting table 41X from above, and a second shooting position, shown by a dashed line, which photographs the mounting table 41X from below. This allows the second camera 43 to photograph the drug M in tablet form placed on the transparent mounting table 41X from both above and below, when the mounting table 41X is either mounting table 41A or 41B. This configuration enables shooting from multiple directions, both vertically and horizontally, with a single camera.

[0040] Once the captured drug M has been identified from the image data, as described later, it is further transferred from the second imaging unit 40 to the buffer chute 60 by the transfer unit 50.

[0041] Here, the buffer chute 60 is transferred from the second imaging unit 40 by the transfer unit 50 and holds the drug M to be contained in one of the multiple storage containers 71 until the storage container 71 containing the drug M is moved to the desired position by the movement mechanism 70. When the storage container 71 to be transferred is moved to the range of movement of the uppermost buffer chute 60, the buffer chute 60 moves in the Y direction to the position of the storage container 71 into which the drug M should be placed and dispenses the drug M into the storage container 71.

[0042] As shown in Figure 5, the buffer chute 60 has an opening 61 on the base plate 101. Also, as shown in Figures 12 and 13, the buffer chute 60 has a temporary storage section 62 located below the base plate 101 and movable in the Y-axis direction on the XY plane, a push bar 63 that pushes down the lid of the storage container 71 to open and close the lid of the storage container 71, an opening / closing section 64 that forms one of the walls of the temporary storage section 62 and can rotate to drop the drug M from the temporary storage section 62 downward, and an empty detection camera 65 (not shown) positioned to photograph the inside of the storage container 71 when the push bar 63 is opened or closed. The temporary storage section 62 and the opening / closing section 64 are in contact when the opening / closing section 64 is in the closed state, and when the opening / closing section 64 rotates around the rotation axis O3, the wall of the temporary storage section 62 opens and the drug M placed in the temporary storage section 62 is held in a manner that it slides out.

[0043] The operation of the buffer chute 60 will be described with reference to FIG. 13. When a predetermined storage container 71 reaches the uppermost stage and moves to the row on the innermost side of the medicine dispensing device 100 by a gondola-shaped moving mechanism 70 described later, the buffer chute 60 moves in the Y direction toward the storage container 71. At this time, since the control unit 90 stores the position in the moving mechanism 70 of each storage container 71 as described later, the moving destination is controlled based on the instruction of the control unit 90.

[0044] The buffer chute 60 moves above a predetermined storage container 71 while holding the medicine M dropped from the transfer unit 50 into the opening 61 in the temporary storage unit 62. As shown in FIG. 13, a pressing bar 63 is provided in the temporary storage unit 62 so as to be movable up and down. When the temporary storage unit 62 stops above a predetermined storage container 71X, the pressing bar 63 moves up and down to press a part of the hinge 713 at the base of the lid 712 of the storage container 71, opening the lid 712. The configuration of the storage container 71 is shown enlarged in FIG. 14. The storage container 71 is a plastic container in which the lid 712 rotates when a part of the hinge 713 is pressed down, and a plurality of medicines M can be arranged inside. Further, a recognition member 714 for holding container-specific information is attached to the upper surface of the lid 712.

[0045] With the storage container 71 opened, when the opening / closing part 64 rotates about the rotation axis O3, the medicine M placed on the temporary storage unit 62 slides down and is put into the storage container 71. Also, at this time, since the control unit 90 grasps the individual positions of the storage containers 71 into which the medicine M should be dropped, it may photograph the inside of the opened storage container 71 with the empty detection camera 65. When the storage container 71 is used for the first time, the inside of the opened storage container 71 is considered to be empty. Even if it is not, by displaying the image obtained by the empty detection camera 65 on the touch panel 102, it is useful because foreign matters and the like can be quickly detected even when they are mixed in.

[0046] As shown in FIGS. 15 and 16, the moving mechanism 70 is a moving device provided at the lower part of the drug sorting device 100 for circulating and moving a plurality of support devices 80. As shown in FIG. 17, the moving mechanism 70 includes a pair of annular members 72 facing each other in the left-right direction with a plurality of support devices 80 interposed therebetween, and a plurality of rotating members 721 to 727 around which the annular members 72 are wound to support and rotate the annular members 72. Since the rotating members 721 to 727 basically all have the same movement, they are collectively treated as the rotating member 721. The annular member 72 is an endless member made of, for example, a chain or a belt. When a chain is adopted, the rotating members 721 to 727 are gears. When a belt is adopted, the rotating members 721 to 727 are pulleys. An enlarged view near the storage container 71 surrounded by the dotted line in FIG. 16 illustrates the case where a chain is adopted.

[0047] The rotating members 721 to 727 are arranged in a pair on both lower sides of the drug sorting device 100 so as to face each other in the left-right direction. Each of the rotating members 721 to 727 is rotatable around a central axis parallel to the longitudinal direction of the support device 80, and the annular member 72 is wound around it. The moving mechanism 70 further includes a driving device 75 as a driving source for rotating the lowermost rotating member 726 on the left and right respectively. When the left and right rotating members 726 are rotated independently, a plurality of driving devices 75 may be provided. The driving device 75 may be a driving mechanism including an actuator such as a motor and a plurality of gears for transmitting the rotation of the actuator to the rotating member 726.

[0048] The annular member 72 is provided with columnar pins 729 protruding toward the center direction of the drug sorting device 100 at regular intervals, and both ends of the support device 80 are attached to the annular member 72 in a manner of being attached to such pins 729. Therefore, together with the movement of the annular member 72, the support device 80 also moves along the path of the annular member 72 within the movement range of the moving mechanism 70. FIG. 16 is a diagram schematically showing such a movement path.

[0049] As shown in Figures 15 and 16, a container removal section 73 and a shutter 74 are located along the movement path. Guide rails 77 are also provided along the movement path, running parallel to the annular member 72, to restrict the movement of the support device 80. The guide rails 77 are supported away from the side wall of the housing so as to be located on the central side (inside) of the drug sorting device 100 than the annular member 72, and by contacting the rotating rollers 82 provided at both ends of the support device 80 as will be described later, the swinging of the support device 80 that occurs when the annular member 72 moves can be prevented.

[0050] In particular, at the uppermost stage of the moving mechanism 70, the buffer chute 60 will dispense the drug M, and the operator may also remove the storage container 71 from the container removal section 73. In such cases, if the support device 80 swings around the pin 729 due to vertical force, it may interfere with the removal of the storage container 71 or the dispensing of the drug M into the storage container 71. Therefore, although it is not essential that the guide rail 77 is formed along the entire length of the moving path so as to run parallel to the annular member 72 as in this embodiment, it is preferable to provide the guide rail 77 at least at the uppermost stage of the moving mechanism 70, particularly near the container removal section 73, and near the drug dispensing position Q where the drug M is dispensed from the buffer chute 60, as shown in Figure 16. Furthermore, such a guide rail 77 may be a movement restricting member that prevents the swinging of the support device 80 or the storage container 71 caused by the movement of the annular member 72, and is not limited to a rail shape.

[0051] The support device 80 will be explained using Figure 17. Figure 17 shows the support device 80 when it has moved to the container removal section 73, and as will be described later, in addition to the support device 80, the annular member 72, the pin 729, and the position detection sensor 76 are also shown. As already mentioned, the support device 80 is supported so as to be movable by the moving mechanism 70 by being attached to the pin 729 that extends from the annular member 72 toward the inside of the drug sorting device 100, and supports eight storage containers 71. The support device 80 comprises a support device body 81 in which eight frames are formed to accommodate the storage containers 71, a right end 83 and a left end 84 which are receiving parts connected to the pin 729 of the annular member 72, and a rotating roller 82 mounted below the right end 83 and the left end 84. In this embodiment, eight storage containers 71 are attached, but the support device 80 may support one or more storage containers 71. Also, the number of storage containers 71 supported may differ among multiple support devices 80. Furthermore, the names "right end" and "left end" are merely convenient designations based on Figure 17; here, the end of the support device 80 on the -Y direction side is referred to as the left end 84, and the end on the +Y direction side is referred to as the right end 83. The frame-shaped opening portions 85 formed on the support device body 81 are all the same shape, and are formed so that the storage container 71 can fit into any position. Also, since the shape of the storage container 71 is basically uniform, the storage container 71 can be freely fitted into any position of the opening portion 85 of the support device 80.

[0052] Furthermore, openings 83A and 84A are provided at the right end 83 and left end 84, respectively, which engage with the pin 729, and both are located near the center in the longitudinal direction of the support device body 81. The rotating roller 82 is positioned off-center from the openings 83A and 84A, i.e., towards the back of the drug sorting device 100. With this arrangement, the support device body 81 is supported on a virtual straight line passing through the center of gravity when supported by the pin 729, and the supported storage container 71 does not tilt downwards when the annular member 72 moves, especially when it moves downwards along a curve according to the curvature of the rotating members 721 to 727. Now, since the right end 83 and left end 84 are supported by the annular member 72, the support device body 81 and the supported storage container 71 do not rotate in the so-called roll direction or yaw direction, but they may rotate in the pitch direction. In particular, at the drug dispensing position Q shown in Figure 13, the push bar 63 comes into contact with the storage container 71, and the position being pushed down at this time is the pressing portion 713a on the +X side of the hinge 713. Therefore, a rotational force acts in the pitch direction at this time, but since the rotating roller 82 is positioned off-center to the -X direction of the storage container 71, even if rotation in the pitch direction occurs on a virtual axis of rotation connecting the left and right pins 729, for example, the rotating roller 82 comes into contact with the guide rail 77, thereby suppressing such oscillation. Thus, in this embodiment, the rotating roller 82 is positioned vertically offset from the pin 729 which is the support axis, and functions as a rotation suppressing member that suppresses oscillation around the support axis of the storage container 71 by coming into contact with the guide rail 77 of the moving mechanism 70.

[0053] Furthermore, at the drug input position Q, the storage container 71 is positioned so that it can be seen from the transparent plate 67 shown in Figure 5. With this configuration, when the push bar 63 pushes down the pressing portion 713a of the storage container 71 and rotates the lid portion 712, the opened storage container 71 comes within the field of view of the first camera 23. Therefore, it is possible to further check whether the storage container 71 is empty using the first camera 23, which performs a simple shape determination. At this time, the first camera 23 in Figure 13 operates as an empty detection camera 65. In other words, by providing a transparent plate 67 above the drug input position Q, it is possible to check whether the storage container 71X located at the drug input position Q is empty from the position of the transfer unit 50 when the drug M is put into the opening 61 using the first camera 23, thus contributing to cost reduction.

[0054] If there is insufficient brightness at the drug loading position Q, for example, an LED light 66 may be attached near the push bar 63 of the buffer chute 60 and illuminated when the push bar 63 is lowered. By providing an LED light 66 that can be illuminated when the lid 712 of the storage container 71 is opened, brightness can be ensured and clear imaging by the first camera 23 is possible even at the drug loading position Q, which is located inside the housing of the drug sorting device 100 and where it is difficult to secure sufficient light. In this embodiment, the first camera 23 attached to the transfer unit 50 is configured to also check for empty storage containers 71, but of course, an empty detection camera 65 may also be provided.

[0055] In the container removal section 73, below the shutter 74, as shown in Figures 17 and 18, eight position detection sensors 76 are provided to detect the position of each storage container 71. That is, the position detection sensors 76 are container position detection means attached to each position capable of supporting the storage container 71. These position detection sensors 76 are each positioned in front of the eight frames of the opening frame section 85 when the support device body 81 reaches the container removal section 73. When a storage container 71 is attached to the opening frame section 85, as will be described later, the control unit 90 stores which of the position detection sensors 76 detected the storage container 71, thereby storing where the storage container 71 is placed within the eight frames of the opening frame section 85.

[0056] The container removal section 73 is provided with a locking mechanism 87 that drives a part of the guide rail 77 to contact the rotating roller 82 of the support device 80. While the moving mechanism 70 is moving along the support device 80, the locking mechanism 87 maintains a position where the projection 87A is in a downward state, as shown by the solid line, separated from the rotating roller 82, and forms part of the guide rail 77. On the other hand, when the support device 80, including the designated storage container 71X, reaches the container removal section 73, the locking mechanism 87 rotates the projection 87A upward, as shown by the dashed line, to bring the rotating roller 82 into contact with the projection 87A. At this time, the projection 87A has an inclined portion that curves toward the +Z direction and also contacts the rotating roller 82 from the -Z direction. Therefore, the storage container 71X can be inserted and removed without any problems in the +Z direction, but its movement is restricted in the -Z direction and it is also locked in the +X direction. Thus, the locking mechanism 87 is a movement-restricting means that indirectly restricts the movement of the storage container 71X by contacting the rotating roller 82 of the support device 80 and restricting its movement when the desired storage container 71X reaches the container removal section 73. With this configuration, when removing the storage container 71 from the container removal section 73, the storage container 71 can be easily inserted and removed, and its movement in the X and -Z directions is restricted, making it easy for the operator to remove it.

[0057] The control unit 90 is a computer having a CPU (Central Processing Unit), main memory (MEM-P), HD (Hard Disk), HDD (Hard Disk Drive), PCI bus, network I / F, etc. However, it is not limited to this configuration, and any computer that is mounted on a so-called control board and capable of controlling programmed operations is acceptable. In this embodiment, the control unit 90 is described as an information processing unit provided inside the drug sorting device 100, but it may also be a separate information processing terminal that can run drug sorting software. In the case where the control unit 90 is provided as a separate unit, it is preferable to connect the control unit 90, which is an information processing terminal, and the drug sorting device 100 via a network. Alternatively, the control unit 90 may be implemented as part of a higher-level device that manages information on hospital-adopted drugs and inventory, for example. As shown in Figure 19, the control unit 90 mainly includes a shape determination unit 91 that determines the shape of the drug M from images captured by the first imaging unit 20, and an image recognition unit 92 that identifies the drug M from images captured by the second imaging unit 40. The control unit 90 also includes a position determination unit 93 for determining the placement position of the storage container 71 detected by the position detection sensor 76, a sorting result storage unit 94 that stores the type and quantity of drug M put into each storage container 71 at the drug input position Q, and a storage rate calculation unit 95 that calculates the storage rate from the quantity of drug M stored in the sorting result storage unit 94, based on the volume of drug M in each storage container 71 and the volume of the storage container 71.

[0058] The touch panel 102 displays an operating means with a user interface for operating each part of the control unit 90, and a display means for displaying information from each part to the operator. The operator can use the touch panel 102 to access various information stored in the control unit 90, or to control the operation of the drug sorting device 100 using the control unit 90. Although the drug sorting device 100 is shown with the touch panel 102 mounted on the main unit, it is not limited to this configuration. Alternatively, a display means such as a regular liquid crystal monitor or organic EL monitor may be used in combination with an operating means such as a mouse or keyboard.

[0059] The shape determination unit 91 is a determination unit for determining the size and shape of the drug M based on images captured by the first imaging unit 20 or the second imaging unit 40. The shape determination unit 91 functions as a shape determination unit that determines the shape of the drug M by roughly determining the shape and center of gravity of the drug M from the image captured by the first camera 23. The image recognition unit 92 determines the type of drug M based on the image captured by the second imaging unit 40. Specifically, it performs pattern matching using the markings and character information written on the surface of the drug M, the size of the drug M, etc., from the image captured on the imaging table 41 to identify the type of drug M. The position determination unit 93 determines the position of the storage container 71 to which the drug M should be transported based on the type of drug M determined by the image recognition unit 92. The sorting result storage unit 94 stores the type and quantity of drug M that were put into each storage container 71 using the buffer chute 60 at the drug input position Q. The storage rate calculation unit 95 calculates the storage rate for each storage container 71 using the known volume of the storage container 71, the volume of the drug M registered in a database such as a drug master, and the number of drug M stored in the sorting result storage unit 94.

[0060] Now, in conventional drug sorting devices, such as those described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2024-091950, there are known devices that sort drugs into their respective containers according to their type using image recognition or the like. On the other hand, the main operation of the sorted containers has been to display the location of each container and identification information such as the name of the drug on a display device, allowing the operator to reuse them or transfer them to a desired drug storage container by referring to this information.

[0061] In this invention, in order to facilitate the organization of the drugs M after sorting, the storage containers 71 are held vertically below the drug sorting device 100 during sorting, and when removing the storage containers 71, they are moved to the container removal section 73, thereby eliminating mix-ups and making it possible to easily remove the containers containing the designated drugs corresponding to the identification information.

[0062] In other words, in the embodiment of the present invention, the drug sorting device 100 has a container removal section 73 located along the path of the moving mechanism 70, which is a part from which an operator can remove the storage container 71; a reading section on which a tablet cassette 110 with identification information is placed and which can read the identification information; and a control unit 90 that stores the drugs M sorted into the storage container 71. The control unit 90 is configured to distinguish between the drug M corresponding to the identification information of the tablet cassette 110 and the storage container 71 in which the drug has been sorted, and to move the support device 80 including the storage container 71 to the container removal section 73.

[0063] The operation of this drug sorting device 100 will now be explained in detail. First, when returning drugs, multiple types of drugs M are introduced into the input section 10 of the drug sorting device 100 in a mixed state. All of the drugs M introduced into the input section 10 pass through the guide section 30 and are transported to the first imaging section 20. At this time, when the passage sensor 36 detects the passage of drug M1, the vibration drive unit 32 stops, and drug M1 and a small number of drugs M2, M3, etc. that fell at the same time as drug M1 are on the imaging stage 21 of the first imaging section 20. Note that, for example, if the total number of drugs M passing through the guide section 30 is not large, it is possible that only drug M1 may be on the imaging stage 21.

[0064] As already described in Figure 5, the first imaging unit 20 uses the first camera 23 to photograph the imaging stage 21. The shape determination unit 91 uses these images to determine the center of gravity and general shape of drugs M1, M2, and M3. Furthermore, the shape determination performed by the shape determination unit 91 is a simplified determination that allows for the determination of the center of gravity and general shape of drugs M1 to M3.

[0065] In this case, the general shape of drug M is mostly one that is easy to pattern, such as a round tablet, oval, lens-shaped, or capsule. Conversely, if the shape does not fit into these patterns, it may be because the drugs are close together and appear as one, or it may be a foreign object. Therefore, the shape determination unit 91 may refer to the drug master to determine which of the above-mentioned patterned general shapes it corresponds to, and for those for which shape determination is possible, it may grasp the center of gravity. Also, if, as shown by the dashed line in Figure 20(a), the shape determination unit 91 is unable to properly recognize the boundary between drug M1 and drug M2 and is unable to determine the shape, the shape determination unit 91 may mistakenly recognize drug M1 and drug M2 as a single object and set the center of gravity P1 to an incorrect position as shown in the figure. If such a situation is a concern, after the first camera 23 has taken a picture, the imaging vibration unit 25, as already described in the explanation of Figure 5, may vibrate the imaging stage 21, and the shape determination unit 91 may check whether the shape of the drugs M1 to M3 captured by the first camera 23 has changed before and after the vibration. For example, if drugs M1 and M2 move apart before and after the vibration from the state shown in Figure 20(a), the number of center of gravity positions recognized by the shape determination unit 91 will increase from two to three, as shown in Figure 20(b). Conversely, the number of center of gravity positions will not decrease, so when the number no longer increases due to vibration, each center of gravity position P1 to P3 and the approximate shape of the object can be matched to the approximate shape of drug M.

[0066] In this case, as an example, Figures 20(a) and (b) show a hypothetical dashed line illustrating how the shape determination unit 91 recognizes the drugs M1 to M3. However, any configuration that can recognize objects on the shooting stage 21 and identify their center of gravity positions P1 to P3 is acceptable. In this case, the shape determination unit 91 only determines the general shape and center of gravity position of the drugs M1 to M3, which are objects on the shooting stage 21. It is not necessary for the unit to specifically recognize these as drugs M1 to M3. Furthermore, as long as the center of gravity position can be determined from the geometric shape of each object, the transfer unit 50 can attract the drugs by moving the position of the nozzle 55 to the center of gravity position.

[0067] When the shape determination unit 91 determines the shape and grasps the center of gravity of the drug M1, the transfer unit 50 moves to the center of gravity of the drug M1, uses the nozzle 55 to pick it up, and transfers it to the second imaging unit 40. If the shape of the drug M1 determined by the shape determination unit 91 is a capsule, the transfer unit 50 moves to a capsule-specific mounting platform such as mounting platform 41B or mounting platform 41D. If the shape is a tablet such as a lens-shaped, spherical, or circular tablet, the transfer unit 50 moves to a tablet-specific mounting platform such as mounting platform 41A or mounting platform 41C. In the second imaging unit 40, the transfer unit 50 places the drug M on one of the mounting platforms 41A to 41D, the imaging platform 41 rotates, and the mounting platform on which the drug M is placed moves to a position above the through hole 101A (i.e., the imaging position) and becomes mounting platform 41X. Alternatively, the transfer unit 50 may remain in the same position, and the imaging table 41 may rotate so that the mounting tables 41A, 41B, 41C, and 41D are always in the appropriate positions. In such a case, for example, the transfer unit 50 will move so that the mounting table 41A, 41B, 41C, and 41D of the appropriate shape are always in the position where mounting table 41B is in Figure 5, place the drug M1, rotate the imaging table 41 90 degrees, and move the mounting table that was in the position (for example, mounting table 41B) to the imaging position S of the second camera 43, and this operation will be repeated.

[0068] When drug M1 is photographed on the mounting platform 41X, the image recognition unit 92 checks the drug name and other information against the drug master to identify drug information such as the type and size of drug M1.

[0069] The position determination unit 93 determines the storage container 71 into which the drug M1 should be placed, based on the identified drug information and the storage in the sorting result storage unit 94. For example, if there is a storage container 71X that already contains drug M1, that storage container 71X is designated, and if it is a new drug, an empty storage container 71 is designated.

[0070] Once the drug M1 is identified, the storage container 71X designated by the position determination unit 93 moves to the uppermost drug input position Q of the moving mechanism 70. Simultaneously, the drug M1 moves to the extraction position U, for example, as the imaging table 41 rotates, and the transfer unit 50 picks up the drug M1 and moves it to the opening 61 of the buffer chute 60. The drug M1 placed in the opening 61 is held in the temporary storage unit 62 until the storage container 71X designated by the position determination unit 93 rises. At this time, the opening / closing unit 64 is in the closed state. When the storage container 71X moves upward by the operation of the moving mechanism 70 and reaches the drug input position Q, the rotating roller 82 of the support device 80 comes into contact with the guide rail 77, restricting the support device 80 from rotating around the pin 729 in the XZ plane.

[0071] In this way, the guide rail 77 and the rotating roller 82 come into contact with each other so that the storage container 71 does not swing in the front-to-back direction at the drug dispensing position Q, so that the drug M1 can be accurately dropped from the buffer chute 60 into the storage container 71 at the drug dispensing position Q. Also, at this time, the temporary storage section 62 is mounted to be movable in the Y direction, so the temporary storage section 62 moves together with the push bar 63 to the position specified by the position determination section 93, and the push bar 63 moves in the -Z direction, pushing down the pressing part 713a and opening the lid section 712. With this operation, for example, when the storage container 71X specified by the position determination section 93 is at the fourth position from the left in Figure 21, the temporary storage section 62 slides in the Y direction to the position of the storage container 71X, and then the opening / closing section 64 rotates and the drug M1 falls into the storage container 71X. Note that in Figure 21, for the purpose of explaining the operation of the push bar 63, the storage container 71 is shown from the back side, so the part of the temporary storage section 62 that holds the tablets M1 is omitted. At this time, the push bar 63 opens the lid 712, and at the same time, the LED light 66 illuminates the inside of the storage container 71X, and the first camera 23 may photograph the storage container 71X. By photographing the inside of the storage container 71X at the same time as opening the lid 712 in this way, there is an advantage in being able to confirm, for example, that a drug other than drug M1 is inside, or that no foreign matter has been mixed in.

[0072] When the drug M1 safely falls into the storage container 71X, the sorting result storage unit 94 stores that the drug M1 has been sorted into the storage container 71X. At this time, the control unit 90 knows the volume of drug M1 from the drug master, and also knows the volume of the storage container 71X and the amount of drug M1 currently inside, so it can calculate the current fullness of the storage container 71X. Therefore, when drug M1 is dropped from the drug input position Q, the control unit 90 may calculate this fullness as the filling rate of the storage container 71 and display it on the touch panel 102 as shown in Figure 22. The drug sorting device 100 repeats this operation for all drugs that are put into the input unit 10, including drugs M2 and M3, so that the put-in drugs can be stored in the storage containers 71 sorted according to the type of drug.

[0073] In this sorting operation, there is a possibility that a different drug M4 may be put into the storage container 71X, which is intended to contain only drug M1, due to a failure in identifying drug M1. Therefore, the sorting result storage unit 94 stores the image captured by the second imaging unit 40 when drug M1 is sorted into the storage container 71X, linking it to the storage container 71X. After the automatic sorting operation is completed, or even during the sorting operation, the operator can perform a visual inspection by referring to the images captured by the second imaging unit 40 that have been sorted using the touch panel 102. If a misidentification occurs, the operator can register in the sorting result storage unit 94 that there is a misidentified drug in the image. Such a visual inspection function may take the form of, for example, the touch panel 102 screen when a storage container 71X is selected, as illustrated in Figure 23, where selecting a storage container 71X displays a master image 941 and drug name 942 of the stored drug M1, and below that, a captured image 943 of the drug M1 taken by the second imaging unit 40 and a selection button 944 for selecting the audit result are displayed. Furthermore, the UI is not limited to these examples.

[0074] With this configuration, the operator can visually audit whether each drug is correctly identified as drug M1 by referring to the captured image 943 and pressing the selection button 944. For example, if a different drug M4 is found, as shown in the third row of images from the top in Figure 23, the operator can press the × button on the selection button 944 to indicate that it is a misidentified drug. In this visual inspection function, if a drug is stored as a misidentified drug, it is desirable that the sorting result storage unit 94 stores this misidentification result and displays a message indicating the presence of a misidentified drug during the dispensing operation described later.

[0075] Next, we will describe the dispensing operation of the sorted drugs. Figure 24 shows the sequence of operations for this dispensing operation. First, the operator places a tablet cassette 110 containing a specific drug M1 onto the cassette base 120 as shown in Figure 2 (step S101). An identification IF code 111 is attached to the tablet cassette 110, and the cassette base 120 reads this IF code 111 (step S102). Here, the IF code 111 is associated with drug information such as the drug M1 that should be placed in the tablet cassette 110. Therefore, when the control unit 90 reads the drug information of drug M1 from the IF code 111 of the tablet cassette 110 placed on the cassette base 120, it reads the storage container 71X corresponding to the read drug M1 from the sorting result storage unit 94. At this time, the control unit 90 treats the storage container 71X as the container to be dispensed.

[0076] When the storage container 71X is designated as the container to be removed, the support device 80 including the container to be removed is moved to the container removal section 73 (step S103). When the support device 80 reaches the container removal section 73, the shutter 74 opens, and as shown in Figure 17, the operator is able to remove the storage container 71X from the container removal section 73 (step S104).

[0077] When the shutter 74 opens, the touch panel 102 displays a message prompting the user to remove the storage container 71X, and an indicator 86, such as an LED lamp on the corresponding storage container 71X attached to the support device 80, lights up. Note that the indicator 86 only needs to illuminate the area around the support device 80, and is therefore not limited to being located on the container removal section 73 or on the support device 80. For example, the indicator 86 flashes green on the front of the storage container 71X so that the operator can easily remove the correct storage container 71X when viewing the container removal section 73 from above (step S105).

[0078] When the shutter 74 is open, the control unit 90 constantly monitors whether there is a storage container 71 using the position detection sensor 76. When the operator takes out the correct storage container 71X, the position detection sensor 76, as mentioned earlier, detects that the storage container 71X has been removed (step S106). The sorting result storage unit 94 determines the result of the visual inspection from the sorting result of the taken-out storage container 71X and checks whether there is any misidentified drug (step S107). If the taken-out storage container 71X is correct and there is no misidentified drug, the touch panel 102 displays that the correct storage container 71X has been taken out (step S109). Also, if the sorting result storage unit 94 has stored information about the misidentified drug, it displays a warning about the misidentified drug in the storage container 71X, as shown in Figure 25 (step S108).

[0079] In this embodiment, the tablet cassette 110 is placed on the cassette base 120, so the replenishment of the tablet cassette 110 is completed by taking out the storage container 71X and putting the drug M1 into the tablet cassette 110 in front of it (step S110). By attaching the tablet cassette 110 to the cassette base 120 in this way, the corresponding storage container 71X moves to the container removal section 73, making it easy to replenish the tablet cassette 110.

[0080] After replenishment is complete, when the operator returns the removed storage container 71X to the support device 80, they hold the lid 712 of the storage container 71X up to the front camera 103 to allow the camera to read the container-specific information from the recognition member 714, such as a QR code (registered trademark), provided on the lid 712 (step S111). After the front camera 103 reads the container-specific information of the storage container 71X from the lid 712, the control unit 90 reads the position where the storage container 71X is installed using the position detection sensor 76 and determines whether it has been returned to the correct position (step S112).

[0081] Now, if a storage container 71 different from the storage container 71X is removed, or if the removed storage container 71X is returned to the support device 80 without being held up to the front camera 103, the notification means 86 will light up, for example, in red, to display such an error (step S113). In this way, when attaching the storage container 71 to the support device 80, the front camera 103 first reads the container-specific information from the lid 712, and immediately afterward, the position detection sensor 76 detects where the storage container 71 is installed on the support device 80. With this configuration, the control unit 90 stores where the storage container 71 with the container-specific information read by the front camera 103 is placed on the support device 80. With this configuration, the control unit 90 can know where the storage container 71 is fitted into the support device 80, so it is possible to reduce the manufacturing cost of the storage container 71 compared to a configuration in which the fitting position into the support device 80 is determined by the shape difference of the storage container 71.

[0082] In this example, we have described a storage container 71X that was already stored in the support device 80. However, when attaching a new, empty storage container 71 to the support device 80, the user selects to store the new storage container 71 using the touch panel 102. Then, as schematically shown in Figure 26, the new storage container 71X is placed immediately after the lid 712 is held up to the front camera 103, similar to steps S111 and S112. Since one position detection sensor 76 is attached to the front of each opening frame 85, a reaction from the position detection sensor 76 is equivalent to the storage container 71X being placed in the opening frame 85 in front of it. With this configuration, even when storing a new storage container 71, the control unit 90 can similarly determine the position of the empty storage container 71 using the position detection sensor 76.

[0083] When the control unit 90 determines that replenishment using the storage container 71X is complete and the removed storage container 71X has been returned to its correct position, the notification means 86 lights up blue and displays a confirmation screen on the touch panel 102 indicating whether the storage container 71X that was just returned to the support device 80 is empty. In this step, the operator may use the touch panel 102 to input the remaining number of tablets M1 if any remain in the storage container 71X, or, in the standard case, to input that the remaining number is 0 and the storage container 71X is empty.

[0084] Furthermore, when attaching a new storage container 71Y to the support device body 81, by positioning it immediately after holding the lid 712 over the front camera 103, the position detection sensor 76 can similarly determine the position of the storage container 71Y. By repeating this process and placing the storage containers 71 at each position, the moving mechanism 70 will be fully loaded with the support device 80 and the storage containers 71, as shown in Figure 27.

[0085] When the input is finished, the touch panel 102 outputs a shutter closing request signal to the shutter 74, and the shutter 74 is closed.

[0086] As described above, in this embodiment, immediately before attaching the storage container 71 to the support device 80, a process is performed in which the front camera 103 reads container-specific information from the recognition member 714 attached to the lid 712. With this configuration, when the position detection sensor 76 reacts after the front camera 103 has read the container-specific information, it is possible to determine whether the storage container 71 has been placed in the correct position.

[0087] Furthermore, if, for example, the front camera 103 reads the container-specific information and then the multiple storage containers 71 are attached to the support device 80, even if, for example, one of the multiple storage containers 71 is placed in the correct position (storage container 71X), the position of the other storage container 71Y that is placed incorrectly can be determined. In this case, for example, the notification means 86 indicating the position of storage container 71Y in Figure 26 can be lit red, making it easy to handle errors in operation.

[0088] Conversely, even if a storage container 71 is attached to the support device 80 without its container-specific information being read by the front camera 103, the notification means 86 can display an error message to show the position of the incorrectly placed storage container 71Y. Thus, the control unit 90 has a determination means to determine whether the placement position of a storage container 71X whose container-specific information has been read by the front camera 103 is correct. Furthermore, it is desirable that the control unit 90 displays an error message using the notification means 86 for any storage container 71 that is attached to the support device 80 without its container-specific information being read. With this configuration, even if the position of the frame on which the storage container 71 is attached to the support device 80 is free-address, the position detection sensor 76 can manage the position of the storage container 71 in the support device 80 in conjunction with its container-specific information.

[0089] Furthermore, as another modification, Figure 28 shows a restrictive movable frame 88 attached to the upper part of the support device 80 to restrict the removal of anything other than the designated storage container 71X. The restrictive movable frame 88 has a movable frame body 881 of a size necessary and sufficient for removing the storage container 71, bellows-shaped link mechanisms 882 and 883, one end of which is attached to the side of the housing of the container removal section 73 and the other end of which is attached to the movable frame body 881, and a link drive source 886 for driving the link mechanisms 882 and 883. That is, the movable frame body 881 is held in the container removal section 73 in a manner in which the link mechanisms 882 and 883 are attached to its left and right ends, respectively. The link mechanisms 882 and 883 are drive mechanisms that combine multiple arms 884 and arm connecting parts 885 that connect the arms 884 together, and by rotating the arm connecting parts 885, the angle between the arms 884 is changed, allowing the movable frame body 881 to be moved to any position in the Y direction.

[0090] With this configuration, the rotation of the arm connection part 885 causes the arm 884 to change its angle, and the movable frame 881 moves to a position where only the designated storage container 71X can be removed. As a result, as shown in Figure 28, the arm 884 or the arm connection part 885 will be positioned in the removal path for storage containers 71 other than storage container 71X, thus restricting the removal of storage containers 71. In this way, by using the restricting movable frame 88, it becomes impossible to remove storage containers 71 other than the required storage container 71X, so it is possible to determine which storage container 71 to remove when removing storage container 71X, thereby preventing removal errors.

[0091] It should be noted that the form shown in this modified example is merely one example, and any drive mechanism can be used as long as the movable frame 881 moves in the ±Y direction and the retrieval is moved onto any designated storage container 71X.

[0092] Alternatively, as shown in Figure 29, the cassette base 120 may be placed on the upper surface of the shutter 74. In that case, the operator first places the tablet cassette 110 on the cassette base 120 when the shutter 74 is closed, as shown in Figure 29. When the cassette base 120 reads the IF code 111 of the tablet cassette 110, the control unit 90 moves the storage container 71 inside the drug sorting device 100 that corresponds to the IF code 111, as already described. At the same time, or after the storage container 71 has moved to the lower part of the container removal section 73, the shutter 74 moves to the open state (see Figure 29(b)), and the required storage container 71X becomes available for removal.

[0093] When the shutter 74 is open, as shown in Figure 29(b), the cassette base 120 is held in a manner that it is pulled towards the depth side of the drug sorting device 100, along with the tablet cassette 110 placed on top of it. At this time, since the shutter 74 is open, the operator can easily remove the desired storage container 71X. The operator then shows the removed storage container 71 to the front camera 103, reads the container-specific information on the top of the lid 712, and the sorting result storage unit 94 determines that the appropriate storage container 71X has indeed been removed. In this modified example, provided that the container-specific information has been read by the front camera 103 from the state shown in Figure 29(b), the shutter 74 moves back to the closed state as shown in Figure 29(a). Therefore, with the storage container 71X removed, the top of the tablet cassette 110 can be opened, making it very easy to put the storage container 71X into the tablet cassette 110.

[0094] Furthermore, with this configuration, the shutter 74 remains closed when refilling the tablet cassette 110. For example, even if the operator accidentally drops tablets or other items from the storage container 71, they can be recovered without falling inside the shutter 74. Moreover, in order to refill the tablet cassette 110 with the storage container 71X removed, the shutter 74 must always be closed. In other words, if the storage container 71X is removed without holding it up to the front camera 103, the shutter 74 will not be closed. Therefore, when the storage container 71 is removed from the drug sorting device 100, the storage container 71 must always be held up to the front camera 103, preventing operator errors.

[0095] After refilling the tablet cassette 110 with the drug M1 from the storage container 71X, holding the storage container 71X up to the front camera 103 again will open the shutter 74, allowing the now empty storage container 71X to be reattached to the designated support device 80. The operation of the position detection sensor 76 and other components at this time is the same as in the previously described embodiment, so a description will be omitted.

[0096] <1> The present invention includes a storage unit 13 for storing a plurality of drugs M to be sorted, sorting units 50 and 60 for sorting each of the plurality of drugs M stored in the storage unit 13 into one of a plurality of storage containers 71, a plurality of support devices 80 for supporting some of the containers 71 among the plurality of storage containers 71, and a moving mechanism 70 for moving the support devices 80 along a certain path in the vertical and horizontal directions. The drug sorting device 100 also includes a container removal unit 73 located along the path of the moving mechanism 70, which is a part from which an operator can remove the storage containers 71, a cassette base 120 on which a tablet cassette 110 containing identification information is placed and on which the identification information can be read, and a control unit 90 for storing the drugs M sorted into the storage containers 71. The control unit 90 identifies the drug M1 corresponding to the identification information of the tablet cassette 110 and the storage container 71X in which the drug M1 has been sorted, and moves the support device 80 including the storage container 71X to the container removal unit 73. With this configuration, in a drug sorting device that can sort each drug into containers from a state in which a large amount of drugs are mixed together, the container containing the designated drug corresponding to the identification information can be easily removed.

[0097] <2> In addition to the configuration described in <1>, the drug sorting device 100 of the present invention has a recognition member 714 for each storage container 71 to individually recognize the storage container 71. With this configuration, the recognition member 714 makes it easy to grasp the position in which each storage container 71 is placed, and the necessary support device 80 can be moved quickly by reading the recognition member 714.

[0098] <3> In addition to the configuration described in <2>, the drug sorting device 100 of the present invention has a support device 80 that includes a position detection sensor 76, which is a container position detection means attached to each of the positions where the storage containers 71 can be supported. The control unit 90 stores the position of the storage container 71 on the support device 80 in association with the recognition member 714. With this configuration, the recognition member 714 makes it easy to grasp the position where each storage container 71 is placed, and the necessary movement of the support device 80 can be performed quickly by reading the recognition member 714.

[0099] <4> In addition to the configurations described in <1> to <3>, the drug sorting device 100 of the present invention also has a moving mechanism 70 which includes an annular member 72 equipped with a chain or belt that supports both sides of a plurality of support devices 80, a plurality of rotating members 721 to 727 that are rotatable around a central axis parallel to the longitudinal direction of the support device 80 and around which the annular member 72 is wrapped, and a drive device 75 that rotates at least one of the plurality of rotating members. With this configuration, the support device 80 equipped with a plurality of storage containers 71 can move freely along the path of the annular member 72 in the vertical and horizontal directions, so that any storage container 71 can be moved and removed.

[0100] <5> In addition, the drug sorting device 100 of the present invention has, in addition to the configuration described in <1> to <4>, a support device 80 which includes a pin 729 supported by an annular member 72 at both ends in the longitudinal direction Y direction, and a rotating roller 82 which is positioned vertically offset from the pin 729 and contacts the guide rail 77 to suppress the swinging of the storage container 71 with the support axis as the center of rotation. With this configuration, the rotation of the storage container 71 can be suppressed, so that the storage container 71 does not wobble at the container removal section 73 and the drug input position Q, and the container can be removed stably.

[0101] <6> In addition, the drug sorting device 100 of the present invention, in addition to the configuration described in <1> to <5>, has a rotating roller 82 that, at least while the storage container 71 is located in the container removal section 73 and the storage container 71 is removable, contacts the guide rail 77 to suppress swaying. With this configuration, the storage container 71 is prevented from wobbling in the container removal section 73, so that the container can be removed stably.

[0102] <7> In addition, the drug sorting device 100 of the present invention has, in addition to the configuration described in <1> to <6>, an input port 11 into which multiple drugs M are introduced in a mixed state is located above the hopper 13, which is the storage section, in the vertical direction and on the front side of the drug sorting device 100, the input port 11 is equipped with an inclined portion 11a that is inclined to such an extent that the introduced drugs M slide down, and the cassette base 120 is provided so as to be located above the container removal section 73 and below the input port 11. With this configuration, the workability when replenishing the drug taken out from the container removal section 73 into the tablet cassette is improved, and sufficient height can be secured from the input port 11 to the guide section 30, so the storage capacity can be increased and the operating time of the drug sorting device 100 can be extended.

[0103] Although the present invention has been described above with reference to the embodiments described above, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and modifications can be made to the contents described in the claims as appropriate.

[0104] 11...Inlet 11a, 13a...Inclined section 13...Hopper (storage section) 20...First imaging section 23...First camera 30...Guide section 40...Second imaging section 50...Transfer section 60...Buffer chute 61...Opening 63...Pressing bar 65...Empty detection camera 70...Movement mechanism 72...Chain (annular member) 73...Container removal section 75...Drive device 76...Position detection sensor (container position detection means) 80...Support device 82...Rotating roller (rotation suppression member) 90...Control unit 100...Pharmaceutical sorting device 103...Front camera 110...Tablet cassette (pharmaceutical cassette) 120...Cassette base (reading section) 111...IF code (identification information) 714...Recognition member 721-727...Rotating member 729...Pin (support shaft) X direction, Y direction...Horizontal direction Z direction: Up and down direction; Y direction: Longitudinal direction

Claims

1. A drug sorting device comprising: a storage unit for storing multiple drugs to be sorted; a sorting unit for sorting each of the multiple drugs stored in the storage unit into one of a plurality of containers; a plurality of support devices for supporting some of the containers among the plurality of containers; a moving mechanism for moving the support devices along a fixed path in the vertical and horizontal directions; a container removal unit located along the path of the moving mechanism, where the containers can be removed by an operator; a reading unit on which a drug cassette containing identification information is placed, thereby enabling the reading of the identification information; and a control unit for storing the drugs sorted into the containers, wherein the control unit distinguishes between a drug corresponding to the identification information on the drug cassette and the container into which the drug has been sorted, and moves the support device including the container to the container removal unit.

2. A drug sorting device according to claim 1, wherein each container has a recognition member for individually recognizing the container.

3. A drug sorting device according to claim 2, wherein the support device has container position detection means attached to each of the positions capable of supporting the container, and the control unit stores the position on the support device in which the container is supported and the recognition member in association.

4. A drug sorting device according to claim 1, wherein the moving mechanism comprises an annular member having a chain or belt that supports both sides of the plurality of support devices; a plurality of rotating members that are rotatable about a central axis parallel to the longitudinal direction of the support devices and around which the annular member is wound; and a drive device that rotates at least one of the plurality of rotating members.

5. A drug sorting device according to claim 1, wherein the support device comprises a support shaft supported by the annular member at both ends in the longitudinal direction, and a rotation suppression member located at a position offset vertically from the support shaft and in contact with the moving mechanism to suppress the oscillating motion of the container with the support shaft as the center of rotation.

6. A drug sorting device according to claim 5, wherein the rotation suppressing member is in contact with the moving mechanism to suppress the oscillation at least while the container is located in the container removal section and the container is removable.

7. A drug sorting device according to claim 1, wherein an input port for introducing multiple drugs in a mixed state is located above the storage section in the vertical direction and on the front side of the drug sorting device, the input port is provided with an inclined portion that is inclined to such an extent that the introduced drugs slide down, and the reading section is provided so as to be located above the container removal section and below the input port.

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