Drug-Supplying Device Rotational Speed Control
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional medicine-supplying devices face issues with clogging at the inlet of the guiding part due to multiple medicines passing through simultaneously, leading to inefficient discharge of medicines of different shapes and sizes.
Innovation Solution
A medicine-supplying device with a cylindrical frame, disc-like first rotator, and annular second rotator, equipped with a medicine shape-specifying unit, height-restricting body, width-restricting body, and a control unit that adjusts the rotational speed of the second rotator based on the medicine shape and interval to ensure reliable and efficient discharge of medicines one by one.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the second rotator rotates at a constant speed to discharge medicines, then the discharge process is simple and efficient, but multiple medicines may pass through simultaneously causing clogging at the guiding part inlet
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the rotational speed of the second rotator variable rather than constant. The control unit adjusts the rotational speed based on detected medicine shapes and intervals, allowing the system to adapt its discharge rate to prevent clogging while maintaining efficiency. This resolves the contradiction by enabling the rotator to rotate faster when medicines are spaced apart and slower when they are close together.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements feedback by using a detection unit to monitor the interval between discharged medicines and feeding this information back to the control unit, which then adjusts the rotational speed of the second rotator. This closed-loop control ensures that the discharge process maintains reliability by preventing clogging while preserving productivity through optimized speed adjustment.
2Productivity
If the rotational speed of the second rotator is increased to improve discharge efficiency, then more medicines can be discharged per unit time, but medicines of different shapes may not be discharged smoothly causing clogging
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by dynamically adjusting the rotational speed parameter of the second rotator based on the detected shape of discharged medicines. Different medicine shapes (e.g., tablets, capsules, pills) have different discharge characteristics, and the control unit selects appropriate rotational speeds from a speed table to ensure smooth discharge for each shape while maintaining high productivity.
3Device complexity
If a single rotational speed is used for all medicine types, then the control system is simple, but medicines of different shapes and sizes cannot be discharged optimally
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-storing multiple rotational speed values in a speed table, each corresponding to different medicine shapes. When a medicine shape is detected, the control unit quickly retrieves the appropriate pre-determined speed from the table, avoiding complex real-time calculations. This maintains relatively simple control system complexity while achieving optimized discharge efficiency for different medicine types.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
This drug-supplying device is provided with: a rotator (35) that discharges drugs towards the outer diameter by being rotated; a drug shape-specifying unit (84) for specifying the shape of the drug; and a control unit (83) that rotates the rotator (35) at a rotational speed specified, on the basis of a speed table that correlates drug shape to rotator (35) rotational speed, by the shape that has been specified by a drug-detecting unit (70).