Rotatable Medicine Unit Container with Segmented Storeys
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current medicine unit delivery devices are inefficient and costly when handling fragile, seldomly used, or short-shelf-life medicines, as they require manual handling and are not compatible with automated systems, leading to bottlenecks in dispensing multiple units.
Innovation Solution
A medicine unit container with rotatable compartment housings and separating planes allows for gentle handling and automated processing, enabling the creation of a shift-register mechanism that aligns with bulk container compatibility, using a central axis for rotation and modular compartment designs to accommodate different medicine types.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If manual handling is used for fragile medicine units, then the medicine units are handled with care, but the process becomes time consuming and expensive
Solution Approach 1:
The container is divided into multiple storeys with separating planes between them. Each storey contains individual compartments that can hold single medicine units. This segmentation allows automated handling while protecting fragile units through controlled, individual movement paths between storeys via passages in the separating planes.
2Productivity
If specialized containers are used for fragile medicines, then the handling becomes automated and efficient, but the compatibility with existing bulk container systems is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The container design incorporates a modular structure with a container body, separating planes, and rotatable compartment housings that can accommodate different medicine unit types. The standardized interface and rotation mechanism allow the same container design to handle both fragile individual units and bulk medicines, making it universally compatible with existing delivery devices while enabling automated handling of specialized medicines.
3Quantity of substance
If multiple medicine units are stacked in the same space, then the storage density increases, but the fragile medicine units collide and are damaged
Solution Approach 1:
Each medicine unit is placed in its own compartment within a storey, and compartments are positioned such that medicine units do not contact each other during rotation or transfer. The separating planes with passages provide controlled transfer paths where units move individually, eliminating collisions while maintaining high storage density through vertical stacking of multiple storeys.
Data Source
Figure 1
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Figure 5A~5B
AI summary
The present invention relates to a medicine unit container for use in a medicine unit delivery device comprising a container body, divided into a number of storeys by means of separating planes; wherein each storey is provided with a rotatable compartment housing, the compartments of which each cover at least a position equidistant in radial direction from a centre of the compartment housing and wherein all compartment housings are rotatable about a central axis extending through their centres and each of the separating planes comprises at least one passage between adjacent storeys, which passage covers the same radial position as the compartments so that there is a rotation angle of a compartment housing in which a compartment is aligned with the passage.