Fixed Blade Tablet Division Rotor Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional tablet division feeders require manual sorting of half-size tablets, are prone to operational complexity, and suffer from issues like rotor backlash, incomplete tablet detection, and tablet fragmentation, leading to inaccuracies in counting and packaging.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus that divides tablets using a fixing blade without moving a cutter, allowing for continuous or intermittent feeding of half-size tablets, includes a rotor with concave recesses for stable tablet division, and employs sensors and guides to ensure precise detection and counting, while preventing fragmentation from adhering to the tablets.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a moving cutter is used to divide tablets, then tablet division is achieved, but operational complexity increases and rotor smoothness deteriorates due to backlash
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of moving the cutter to divide tablets, the invention inverts the approach by keeping the cutter fixed and moving the rotor with tablets past the cutter. This eliminates the complexity of moving the cutter while maintaining tablet division capability, and improves rotor smoothness by using a fixed cutter without backlash issues.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention segments the tablet division function from the rotor movement function. The fixed cutter handles the cutting function independently, while the rotor handles only the transport and positioning of tablets. This segmentation simplifies the overall system operation and eliminates the need for complex coordinated movements.
2Productivity
If half-size tablets are simultaneously dropped down, then division efficiency is improved, but manual sorting is required increasing labor intensity
Solution Approach 1:
The invention performs preliminary action by positioning only the required number of half-size tablets on the rotor before rotation begins. The sensor detects and counts tablets, and the system prepares the exact quantity needed for the prescription, eliminating the need for manual sorting after division.
Solution Approach 2:
The sensor provides feedback on the number of tablets present on the rotor, allowing the control system to adjust the rotation and dropping sequence to match the prescription requirements exactly. This feedback mechanism eliminates manual sorting by automatically providing the correct quantity of half-size tablets.
3Device complexity
If tablet detection is performed without sensors, then device simplicity is maintained, but counting accuracy deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The invention replaces manual mechanical counting with an optical or electronic sensor system that automatically detects and counts tablets. This substitution maintains relatively simple device structure while dramatically improving counting accuracy for prescription fulfillment.
Data Source
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AI summary
A tablet T is divided without moving a cutter and divided tablets T1, T2 are fed one by one. A rotor 24 is installed in a container 21 receiving the tablets T. A rotor receiving part of the container has a barrel shape with a bottom section formed with a discharge port 27, and a fixing blade 33 is installed outside the rotor receiving part. Recesses 25 are formed on an entire lateral side of the rotor at a regular interval to receive a tablet. A peripheral groove is formed on the entire lateral side of the rotor and a fixing blade and a support plate are inserted into the peripheral groove. The fixing blade divides the tablet, which is accommodated in the recess and move while being guided along an inner wall of the rotor receiving part as the rotor rotates. A lower divided tablet T1 is discharged to the discharge port 27 and an upper divided tablet T2 is kept on the fixing blade. The upper divided tablet is discharged as the rotor further rotates.