Universal Supply Module for Fast Pharmacy Picker Installation
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Solution Overview
Problem
The installation and setup of modern pharmacy picking devices are time-consuming and disruptive to normal pharmacy operations, requiring at least five days of disruption due to complex construction and equipping processes.
Innovation Solution
A pharmacy picking device with a universal supply and control module that pre-connects and calibrates essential electrical components at the factory, allowing for quick assembly and minimizing on-site electrical connections, featuring a housing with movable operating devices and a conveyor system integrated with the supply and control module for efficient storage and retrieval of medication.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a pharmacy picking device is installed with separate distributed components, then the device can be fully functional, but the installation time and disruption to pharmacy operations increases to at least five days
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple separate components (control device, tablet feed device, tablet storage device, labeling device, closing device, removal device) into a single integrated housing. This merging eliminates the need to install and coordinate multiple separate devices, reducing installation time from five days to a fraction thereof while maintaining full functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The housing serves multiple functions simultaneously: it houses the control device, provides tablet storage, enables tablet feeding, performs labeling, executes closing operations, and facilitates removal. This multi-functionality within a single structure achieves full device capability without requiring multiple separate installations.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple separate devices are used for pharmacy picking operations, then each device can perform its specific function, but the overall system complexity and installation difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
By merging all necessary pharmacy picking functions into a single housing, the patent reduces system structural complexity. Instead of coordinating multiple separate devices, the integrated structure simplifies the overall system while maintaining adaptability and versatility of individual functions within the unified design.
3Quantity of substance
If large picking devices are installed in pharmacies, then storage capacity and operational efficiency improve, but the installation time extends beyond five days
Solution Approach 1:
The housing is designed as a self-contained modular unit that can be manufactured with full storage capacity pre-configured. This segmentation allows the entire storage system to be installed as one piece rather than assembling multiple storage components on-site, maintaining large storage capacity while dramatically reducing installation time.
Data Source
Figure 1A~1B
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
The present invention relates to a pharmacy order picking device with a housing (10) having a plurality of shelves arranged one above the other (11), at least one operating device (12), a conveying device (14), a housing coupling interface (15) and a universal supply and control module (20).The universal supply and control module (20) comprises a dispensing device (21), an identification and measuring device (22), operator input/output devices (23), control electronics (24) and a power supply assembly (25) as well as a housing coupling interface (15) and an electrical interface (27), wherein the supply and control module (20) is arranged adjacent to the housing (10) in such a way that a mechanical coupling is established via the housing coupling interface (15) and the module coupling interface (26), so that drug packages to be stored in or on the supply and control module (20) are transferred to the conveying device (14) at a position known to the control electronics.