EP3173343A1 - Automatic medicine packing machine - Google Patents
Automatic medicine packing machine Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- EP3173343A1 EP3173343A1 EP16199798.6A EP16199798A EP3173343A1 EP 3173343 A1 EP3173343 A1 EP 3173343A1 EP 16199798 A EP16199798 A EP 16199798A EP 3173343 A1 EP3173343 A1 EP 3173343A1
- Authority
- EP
- European Patent Office
- Prior art keywords
- medicines
- medicine
- discharge
- cassettes
- hopper
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Withdrawn
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Classifications
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
- B65B57/00—Automatic control, checking, warning, or safety devices
- B65B57/10—Automatic control, checking, warning, or safety devices responsive to absence, presence, abnormal feed, or misplacement of articles or materials to be packaged
- B65B57/14—Automatic control, checking, warning, or safety devices responsive to absence, presence, abnormal feed, or misplacement of articles or materials to be packaged and operating to control, or stop, the feed of articles or material to be packaged
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
- B65B65/00—Details peculiar to packaging machines and not otherwise provided for; Arrangements of such details
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
- B65B35/00—Supplying, feeding, arranging or orientating articles to be packaged
- B65B35/02—Supply magazines
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
- B65B5/00—Packaging individual articles in containers or receptacles, e.g. bags, sacks, boxes, cartons, cans, jars
- B65B5/10—Filling containers or receptacles progressively or in stages by introducing successive articles, or layers of articles
- B65B5/101—Filling containers or receptacles progressively or in stages by introducing successive articles, or layers of articles by gravity
- B65B5/103—Filling containers or receptacles progressively or in stages by introducing successive articles, or layers of articles by gravity for packaging pills or tablets
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- G—PHYSICS
- G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
- G07F—COIN-FREED OR LIKE APPARATUS
- G07F11/00—Coin-freed apparatus for dispensing, or the like, discrete articles
- G07F11/02—Coin-freed apparatus for dispensing, or the like, discrete articles from non-movable magazines
- G07F11/44—Coin-freed apparatus for dispensing, or the like, discrete articles from non-movable magazines in which magazines the articles are stored in bulk
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- G—PHYSICS
- G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
- G07F—COIN-FREED OR LIKE APPARATUS
- G07F17/00—Coin-freed apparatus for hiring articles; Coin-freed facilities or services
- G07F17/0092—Coin-freed apparatus for hiring articles; Coin-freed facilities or services for assembling and dispensing of pharmaceutical articles
Definitions
- the present invention relates to an automatic medicine packing machine and, more particularly, to an automatic medicine packing machine which controls timings of discharge of medicines from cassettes so that respective points of time of dropping of the medicines discharged from the cassettes into a hopper coincide with each other and may thus increase a prescription filling speed and pack selected medicines without error so as to secure reliability.
- an automatic medicine packing machine is used to automatically pack medicines prescribed by a doctor or a pharmacist based on a prescription.
- a conventional automatic medicine packing machine includes a main body in which a plurality of cassette supports is installed, a hopper to gather medicines discharged from the main body, a packing unit to pack the medicines transmitted from the hopper and then to discharge the packed medicines to the outside, and cassettes installed on the cassette supports and accommodating medicines.
- the cassette includes a container provided with a medicine discharge port formed at the lower part thereof, and a driving unit installed on the body to discharge a dose of medicine through rotation of a rotary body.
- the cassettes which are installed at the same height, are located at different installation positions but have the same timing of discharge of medicines, thus, it take a long time to pack the medicines.
- Korean Patent Laid-open Publication No. 10-1991-0004426 (Publication Date: March 28, 1991) discloses a medicine packing machine.
- the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide to an automatic medicine packing machine which controls timings of discharge of medicines from cassettes so that respective points of time of dropping of the medicines discharged from the cassettes into a hopper coincide with each other and may thus increase a prescription filling speed and pack selected medicines without error so as to secure reliability.
- an automatic medicine packing machine including a main body provided with a hopper installed at the lower portion thereof to allow medicines to be dropped thereinto and a plurality of cassette supports installed therein, cassettes, each cassette being installed on any one of the cassette supports and provided with a medicine storage space and a medicine discharge port formed therein, and a controller configured to sense points of time of discharge of medicines from the cassettes, to detect the positions of the cassettes accommodating the corresponding medicines if one or more medicine selection signals are transmitted to the controller, and to vary timings of discharge of the medicines through the medicine discharge ports of the detected cassettes so that points of time of dropping of the medicines into the hopper may coincide with each other.
- the controller may first discharge medicine from the cassette located at a relatively long distance from the hopper so that timing of collection of the medicine discharged from the cassette may coincide with timing of collection of medicine discharged from the cassette located at a relatively short distance from the hopper.
- Lower sensors to sense the points of time of dropping of the medicines into the hopper so as to open the hopper may be installed in the hopper.
- An upper sensor to sense a point of time of discharge of the medicine and then to transmit the sensed point of time to the controller may be installed on the cassette support or in the medicine discharge port of the cassette.
- the controller may predetermine reference discharge times to discharge the medicines from the respective cassettes to the hopper according to the positions of the cassettes, and control the timings of discharge of the medicines through the medicine discharge ports based on the reference discharge times.
- the reference discharge times may be predetermined by the controller via a discharge test process of the medicines.
- FIG. 1 is a front view illustrating an automatic medicine packing machine in accordance with the present invention
- FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically illustrating the automatic medicine packing machine in accordance with the present invention
- FIG. 3 is a flowchart exemplarily illustrating a method of mounting cassettes in the automatic medicine packing machine in accordance with the present invention.
- an automatic medicine packing machine in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention includes a main body 100, cassettes 200 and a controller 300.
- an installation space 110 in which the cassettes 200 are installed is formed within the main body 100, and a hopper 130 into which medicines 10 are dropped is installed in the lower portion of the installation space 110.
- a lower case 140 provided with a packed medicine outlet 141 formed on the front surface thereof may be further installed under the main body 100, as exemplarily shown in FIG. 1 .
- a medicine packing unit 150 which packs the medicines 10 discharged from the hopper 130 within medicine packets and discharges the medicine packets to the outside through the packed medicine outlet 141 may be further installed in the lower case 140.
- the medicine packing unit 150 may be installed under the hopper 130, as exemplarily shown in FIG. 1 , continuously packs the medicines 10, discharged from the hopper 130, in the medicine packets and discharges the medicine packets to the outside through the packed medicine outlet 141.
- a medicine packet supply unit (not shown) to supply medicine packets (not shown) may be installed in the lower case 140.
- a transparent window may be formed on the front surface of the main body 100 so that a worker may easily observe the installation space 110 from the outside.
- lower sensors 160 which sense a point of time of discharge of the medicines 10 and transmit a signal to the controller 300, which will be described later, may be installed in the hopper 130 of the main body 100.
- the lower sensors 160 sense a point of time of dropping of the medicines 10 into the hopper 130 so as to open the hopper 130. That is, the lower sensors 160 sense a point of time of dropping of the medicines 10 into the hopper 130, and then transmit the sensed point of time to the controller 300, which will be described later.
- FIG. 1 illustrates the lower sensors 160 as being installed at the edge of the hopper 130, the installation position of the lower sensors 160 may be variously modified.
- an upper sensor 170 which senses a point of time of discharge of the medicine 10, may be installed at a medicine discharge port of the cassette 200.
- the above-described lower sensors 160 and upper sensors 170 sense a point of time of dropping of the medicines 10 into the hopper 130 and points of time of discharge of the medicines 10 through the medicine discharge ports of the cassette 200 and then transmit drop sensing signals to the controller 300, which will be described later.
- the controller 300 may predetermine reference discharge times of selected medicines 10 using the lower sensors 160 and the upper sensors 170.
- the cassettes 200 are installed at the cassette mounting positions 121 of cassette supports 120, and a medicine storage space is formed in the cassette 200.
- the medicine discharge port (not shown) to discharge the medicine 10 in the downward direction may be formed at the lower end of the cassette 20.
- a driving unit 210 to discharge the medicine 10 through the medicine discharge port may be installed in the cassette 20.
- the driving unit 210 may include a motor (not shown) driven by power supplied from the outside and a rotary body (not shown) rotated by rotating force of the motor.
- a dose of the medicine 10 may be discharged to the hopper 130 through the medicine discharge port.
- a communication module (not shown) may be further installed in the cassette 200, and the controller 300, which will be described later, may transmit an operating signal to the communication module of the cassette 200 and thus operate the driving unit 210 of the cassette 200.
- the controller 300 controls the driving unit 210 of the cassette 200. Particularly, the controller 300 may sense a point of time of discharge of the medicine 10 from the cassette 200.
- the controller 300 if a plurality of signals to select medicines 10 is transmitted to the controller 300 from a separate operating unit (not shown), detects the positions of the cassettes 200 accommodating the medicines 10.
- the controller 300 drives the driving units 210 of the detected cassettes 200.
- the controller 300 varies timings of discharge of the medicines 10 through medicine discharge ports of the detected cassettes 200 so that points of time of dropping of the discharged medicines 10 into the hopper 130 may coincide with each other.
- the controller 300 may predetermine reference discharge times of the medicines 10 via a test process using the upper sensors 170 and the lower sensors 160.
- the reference discharge times are times at which the medicines 10 are discharged from the respective cassettes 200 to the hopper 130, and the controller 300 controls timings of discharge of the medicines 10 from the cassettes 200.
- an input unit 310 to select kinds of the medicines 10 may be electrically connected to the controller 300.
- the input unit 310 may display a list of the medicines 10 predetermined by the controller 300 and include a selection switch to select the medicines 10 and a power control switch (not shown) to control power of the automatic medicine packing machine.
- a separate display unit 320 to display various pieces of information regarding the medicines 10 to the outside may be installed in the input unit 310.
- the controller 300 may first discharge medicine 10 through the medicine discharge port of the cassette 200 located at a relatively long distance from the hopper 130 so that timing of collection of the medicine 10 discharged from such a cassette 200 coincides with timing of collection of medicine 10 discharged from the cassette 200 located at a relatively short distance from the hopper 130.
- the method of mounting cassettes in the automatic medicine packing machine in accordance with the present invention may include selecting medicines (Operation S100), selecting an automatic medicine packing machine (Operation S200), installing sensors (Operation S300), setting discharge times (Operation S400), deducing positions (Operation S500), and discharging the medicines (Operation S600)
- the medicines 10 may be classified according to information on the medicines 10. That is, the medicines 10 may be classified according to various characteristics of the medicines 10 including types, such as tablets or capsules, sizes, whether or not coating is carried out, or images.
- reference discharge times of the standard medicines 10 may be predetermined by the controller 300 (Operation S420).
- the method of mounting cassettes in the automatic medicine packing machine in accordance with the present invention may further include designing a database (DB) to store the reference discharge times of the medicines 10, prior to Operation S400.
- DB database
- the optimal positions of the medicines 10 predetermined by the controller 300 may be the reference mounting positions, i.e., the cassette mounting positions 121 of the cassette supports 120 closest to the hopper 130.
- the controller 300 controls operation of the cassettes 200 and, if one or more medicine selection signals are transmitted to the controller 300, respectively selects the positions of the cassettes 200 accommodating the medicines 10.
- timings of discharge of the medicines 10 through the medicine discharge ports vary according to the detected positions of the cassettes 200 so that points of time of dropping of the discharged medicines 10 into the hopper 130 may coincide with each other.
- timings of discharge of medicines 10 from the cassettes 200 are controlled so that respective points of time of dropping of the medicines 10 discharged from the cassettes 200 into the hopper 130 coincide with each other and thus a prescription filling speed may be increased and selected medicines may be packed without error, thereby securing reliability.
- an automatic medicine packing machine in accordance with the present invention controls timings of discharge of medicines from cassettes so that respective points of time of dropping of the medicines discharged from the cassettes into the hopper coincide with each other and may thus increase a prescription filling speed and pack selected medicines without error so as to secure reliability.
Abstract
An automatic medicine packing machine is disclosed. The automatic medicine packing machine includes a main body provided with a hopper installed at the lower portion thereof to allow medicines to be dropped thereinto and a plurality of cassette supports installed therein, cassettes, each cassette being installed on any one of the cassette supports and provided with a medicine storage space and a medicine discharge port formed therein, and a controller configured to sense points of time of discharge of medicines from the cassettes, to detect the positions of the cassettes accommodating the corresponding medicines if one or more medicine selection signals are transmitted to the controller, and to vary timings of discharge of the medicines through the medicine discharge ports of the detected cassettes so that points of time of dropping of the medicines into the hopper may coincide with each other.
Description
- The present invention relates to an automatic medicine packing machine and, more particularly, to an automatic medicine packing machine which controls timings of discharge of medicines from cassettes so that respective points of time of dropping of the medicines discharged from the cassettes into a hopper coincide with each other and may thus increase a prescription filling speed and pack selected medicines without error so as to secure reliability.
- In general, an automatic medicine packing machine is used to automatically pack medicines prescribed by a doctor or a pharmacist based on a prescription.
- A conventional automatic medicine packing machine includes a main body in which a plurality of cassette supports is installed, a hopper to gather medicines discharged from the main body, a packing unit to pack the medicines transmitted from the hopper and then to discharge the packed medicines to the outside, and cassettes installed on the cassette supports and accommodating medicines.
- Further, the cassette includes a container provided with a medicine discharge port formed at the lower part thereof, and a driving unit installed on the body to discharge a dose of medicine through rotation of a rotary body.
- However, in the conventional automatic medicine packing machine, the cassettes, which are installed at the same height, are located at different installation positions but have the same timing of discharge of medicines, thus, it take a long time to pack the medicines.
- As prior art documents related to the present invention, Korean Patent Laid-open Publication No.
10-1991-0004426 - Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide to an automatic medicine packing machine which controls timings of discharge of medicines from cassettes so that respective points of time of dropping of the medicines discharged from the cassettes into a hopper coincide with each other and may thus increase a prescription filling speed and pack selected medicines without error so as to secure reliability.
- In accordance with the present invention, the above and other objects can be accomplished by the provision of an automatic medicine packing machine including a main body provided with a hopper installed at the lower portion thereof to allow medicines to be dropped thereinto and a plurality of cassette supports installed therein, cassettes, each cassette being installed on any one of the cassette supports and provided with a medicine storage space and a medicine discharge port formed therein, and a controller configured to sense points of time of discharge of medicines from the cassettes, to detect the positions of the cassettes accommodating the corresponding medicines if one or more medicine selection signals are transmitted to the controller, and to vary timings of discharge of the medicines through the medicine discharge ports of the detected cassettes so that points of time of dropping of the medicines into the hopper may coincide with each other.
- If the positions of selected cassettes are different, the controller may first discharge medicine from the cassette located at a relatively long distance from the hopper so that timing of collection of the medicine discharged from the cassette may coincide with timing of collection of medicine discharged from the cassette located at a relatively short distance from the hopper.
- Lower sensors to sense the points of time of dropping of the medicines into the hopper so as to open the hopper may be installed in the hopper.
- An upper sensor to sense a point of time of discharge of the medicine and then to transmit the sensed point of time to the controller may be installed on the cassette support or in the medicine discharge port of the cassette.
- The controller may predetermine reference discharge times to discharge the medicines from the respective cassettes to the hopper according to the positions of the cassettes, and control the timings of discharge of the medicines through the medicine discharge ports based on the reference discharge times.
- The reference discharge times may be predetermined by the controller via a discharge test process of the medicines.
- The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
-
FIG. 1 is a front view illustrating an automatic medicine packing machine in accordance with the present invention; -
FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically illustrating the automatic medicine packing machine in accordance with the present invention; and -
FIG. 3 is a flowchart exemplarily illustrating a method of mounting cassettes in the automatic medicine packing machine in accordance with the present invention. - Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
- Advantages and features of the present invention and a method of achieving the same will be more clearly understood from the following detailed embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
- However, the present invention is not limited by the embodiments which will be described hereinafter but may be variously modified. The embodiments are provided to those skilled in the art only to completely understand the scope and spirit of the present invention, and the present invention is defined only by the claims of the present invention.
- In addition, in the following description of the present invention, a detailed description of known functions and configurations incorporated herein will be omitted when it may make the subject matter of the present invention rather unclear.
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FIG. 1 is a front view illustrating an automatic medicine packing machine in accordance with the present invention,FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically illustrating the automatic medicine packing machine in accordance with the present invention, andFIG. 3 is a flowchart exemplarily illustrating a method of mounting cassettes in the automatic medicine packing machine in accordance with the present invention. - With reference to
FIGS. 1 to 3 , an automatic medicine packing machine in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention includes amain body 100,cassettes 200 and acontroller 300. - First, an
installation space 110 in which thecassettes 200 are installed is formed within themain body 100, and ahopper 130 into whichmedicines 10 are dropped is installed in the lower portion of theinstallation space 110. - Further, a
lower case 140 provided with a packed medicine outlet 141 formed on the front surface thereof may be further installed under themain body 100, as exemplarily shown inFIG. 1 . - A
medicine packing unit 150 which packs themedicines 10 discharged from thehopper 130 within medicine packets and discharges the medicine packets to the outside through the packed medicine outlet 141 may be further installed in thelower case 140. - The
medicine packing unit 150 may be installed under thehopper 130, as exemplarily shown inFIG. 1 , continuously packs themedicines 10, discharged from thehopper 130, in the medicine packets and discharges the medicine packets to the outside through the packed medicine outlet 141. - For this purpose, a medicine packet supply unit (not shown) to supply medicine packets (not shown) may be installed in the
lower case 140. - Further, a transparent window may be formed on the front surface of the
main body 100 so that a worker may easily observe theinstallation space 110 from the outside. - In addition,
lower sensors 160, which sense a point of time of discharge of themedicines 10 and transmit a signal to thecontroller 300, which will be described later, may be installed in thehopper 130 of themain body 100. - The
lower sensors 160 sense a point of time of dropping of themedicines 10 into thehopper 130 so as to open thehopper 130. That is, thelower sensors 160 sense a point of time of dropping of themedicines 10 into thehopper 130, and then transmit the sensed point of time to thecontroller 300, which will be described later. - Although
FIG. 1 illustrates thelower sensors 160 as being installed at the edge of thehopper 130, the installation position of thelower sensors 160 may be variously modified. - Further, an
upper sensor 170, which senses a point of time of discharge of themedicine 10, may be installed at a medicine discharge port of thecassette 200. - The above-described
lower sensors 160 andupper sensors 170 sense a point of time of dropping of themedicines 10 into thehopper 130 and points of time of discharge of themedicines 10 through the medicine discharge ports of thecassette 200 and then transmit drop sensing signals to thecontroller 300, which will be described later. - That is, the
controller 300, which will be described later, may predetermine reference discharge times of selectedmedicines 10 using thelower sensors 160 and theupper sensors 170. - The
cassettes 200 are installed at thecassette mounting positions 121 ofcassette supports 120, and a medicine storage space is formed in thecassette 200. - Here, the medicine discharge port (not shown) to discharge the
medicine 10 in the downward direction may be formed at the lower end of the cassette 20. - Further, a
driving unit 210 to discharge themedicine 10 through the medicine discharge port may be installed in the cassette 20. - The
driving unit 210 may include a motor (not shown) driven by power supplied from the outside and a rotary body (not shown) rotated by rotating force of the motor. - For example, as the rotary body is rotated by driving force of the motor, a dose of the
medicine 10 may be discharged to thehopper 130 through the medicine discharge port. - Further, a communication module (not shown) may be further installed in the
cassette 200, and thecontroller 300, which will be described later, may transmit an operating signal to the communication module of thecassette 200 and thus operate thedriving unit 210 of thecassette 200. - The
controller 300 controls thedriving unit 210 of thecassette 200. Particularly, thecontroller 300 may sense a point of time of discharge of themedicine 10 from thecassette 200. - The
controller 300, if a plurality of signals to selectmedicines 10 is transmitted to thecontroller 300 from a separate operating unit (not shown), detects the positions of thecassettes 200 accommodating themedicines 10. - Thereafter, the
controller 300 drives thedriving units 210 of the detectedcassettes 200. Here, thecontroller 300 varies timings of discharge of themedicines 10 through medicine discharge ports of the detectedcassettes 200 so that points of time of dropping of the dischargedmedicines 10 into thehopper 130 may coincide with each other. - Here, the
controller 300 may predetermine reference discharge times of themedicines 10 via a test process using theupper sensors 170 and thelower sensors 160. - The reference discharge times are times at which the
medicines 10 are discharged from therespective cassettes 200 to thehopper 130, and thecontroller 300 controls timings of discharge of themedicines 10 from thecassettes 200. - Further, an
input unit 310 to select kinds of themedicines 10 may be electrically connected to thecontroller 300. - The
input unit 310 may display a list of themedicines 10 predetermined by thecontroller 300 and include a selection switch to select themedicines 10 and a power control switch (not shown) to control power of the automatic medicine packing machine. - A
separate display unit 320 to display various pieces of information regarding themedicines 10 to the outside may be installed in theinput unit 310. - For example, if the positions of the
selected cassettes 200 are different, thecontroller 300 mayfirst discharge medicine 10 through the medicine discharge port of thecassette 200 located at a relatively long distance from thehopper 130 so that timing of collection of themedicine 10 discharged from such acassette 200 coincides with timing of collection ofmedicine 10 discharged from thecassette 200 located at a relatively short distance from thehopper 130. - Hereinafter, with reference to
FIG. 3 , a method of mounting cassettes in the automatic medicine packing machine in accordance with the present invention will be exemplarily illustrated. - The method of mounting cassettes in the automatic medicine packing machine in accordance with the present invention may include selecting medicines (Operation S100), selecting an automatic medicine packing machine (Operation S200), installing sensors (Operation S300), setting discharge times (Operation S400), deducing positions (Operation S500), and discharging the medicines (Operation S600)
- First, in Operation S100, information on
medicines 10 is collected and analyzed and, thus,standard medicines 10 to be input to the automatic medicine packing machine are selected. - Further, in Operation S100, the
medicines 10 may be classified according to information on themedicines 10. That is, themedicines 10 may be classified according to various characteristics of themedicines 10 including types, such as tablets or capsules, sizes, whether or not coating is carried out, or images. - Moreover, in Operation S100, after selection of the
standard medicines 10 based on information on themedicines 10, designated quantities of the selectedstandard medicines 10 may be purchased. - Thereafter, in Operation S200, the automatic medicine packing machine to pack the
standard medicines 10 selected in Operation S100 is selected. - Thereafter, in Operation S300, the
lower sensors 160 are installed in thehopper 130 and theupper sensors 170 are installed on the cassette supports 120 or the medicine discharge ports of thecassettes 200. - Thereafter, in Operation S400, via a discharge test process of the standard medicines 10 (Operation S410), reference discharge times of the
standard medicines 10 may be predetermined by the controller 300 (Operation S420). - Here, the method of mounting cassettes in the automatic medicine packing machine in accordance with the present invention may further include designing a database (DB) to store the reference discharge times of the
medicines 10, prior to Operation S400. - Further, in Operation S400, reference mounting positions of the
standard medicines 10 are deduced using the predetermined reference discharge times - Thereafter, in Operation S500, optimal discharge positions of the
standard medicines 10 are deduced using the reference discharge times predetermined in Operation S400. - Here, the optimal positions of the
medicines 10 predetermined by thecontroller 300 may be the reference mounting positions, i.e., thecassette mounting positions 121 of the cassette supports 120 closest to thehopper 130. - Finally, in Operation S600, the
controller 300 controls operation of thecassettes 200 and, if one or more medicine selection signals are transmitted to thecontroller 300, respectively selects the positions of thecassettes 200 accommodating themedicines 10. - Thereafter, in Operation S600, timings of discharge of the
medicines 10 through the medicine discharge ports vary according to the detected positions of thecassettes 200 so that points of time of dropping of the dischargedmedicines 10 into thehopper 130 may coincide with each other. - Consequently, in the automatic medicine packing machine in accordance with the present invention, timings of discharge of
medicines 10 from thecassettes 200 are controlled so that respective points of time of dropping of themedicines 10 discharged from thecassettes 200 into thehopper 130 coincide with each other and thus a prescription filling speed may be increased and selected medicines may be packed without error, thereby securing reliability. - Although the automatic medicine packing machine in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention has been described, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.
- As apparent from the above description, an automatic medicine packing machine in accordance with the present invention controls timings of discharge of medicines from cassettes so that respective points of time of dropping of the medicines discharged from the cassettes into the hopper coincide with each other and may thus increase a prescription filling speed and pack selected medicines without error so as to secure reliability.
- Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.
Claims (6)
- An automatic medicine packing machine comprising:a main body provided with a hopper installed at the lower portion thereof to allow medicines to be dropped thereinto and a plurality of cassette supports installed therein;cassettes, each cassette being installed on any one of the cassette supports and provided with a medicine storage space and a medicine discharge port formed therein; anda controller configured to sense points of time of discharge of medicines from the cassettes, to detect the positions of the cassettes accommodating the corresponding medicines if one or more medicine selection signals are transmitted to the controller, and to vary timings of discharge of the medicines through the medicine discharge ports of the detected cassettes so that points of time of dropping of the medicines into the hopper may coincide with each other.
- The automatic medicine packing machine according to claim 1, wherein, if the positions of selected cassettes are different, the controller first discharges medicine from the cassette located at a relatively long distance from the hopper so that timing of collection of the medicine discharged from the cassette may coincide with timing of collection of medicine discharged from the cassette located at a relatively short distance from the hopper.
- The automatic medicine packing machine according to claim 1, wherein:lower sensors to sense the points of time of dropping of the medicines into the hopper so as to open the hopper are installed in the hopper.
- The automatic medicine packing machine according to claim 1, wherein:an upper sensor to sense a point of time of discharge of the medicine and then to transmit the sensed point of time to the controller is installed on the cassette support or in the medicine discharge port of the cassette.
- The automatic medicine packing machine according to claim 1, wherein the controller predetermines reference discharge times to discharge the medicines from the respective cassettes to the hopper according to the positions of the cassettes, and controls the timings of discharge of the medicines through the medicine discharge ports based on the reference discharge times.
- The automatic medicine packing machine according to claim 5, wherein the reference discharge times are predetermined by the controller via a discharge test process of the medicines.
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
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KR1020150165590A KR20170060865A (en) | 2015-11-25 | 2015-11-25 | Automatic medicine packing machine |
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EP3173343A1 true EP3173343A1 (en) | 2017-05-31 |
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Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
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EP16199798.6A Withdrawn EP3173343A1 (en) | 2015-11-25 | 2016-11-21 | Automatic medicine packing machine |
Country Status (5)
Country | Link |
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US (1) | US20170144787A1 (en) |
EP (1) | EP3173343A1 (en) |
KR (1) | KR20170060865A (en) |
CN (1) | CN106864888A (en) |
CA (1) | CA2948934A1 (en) |
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WO2020214985A1 (en) * | 2019-04-19 | 2020-10-22 | Direct Electron, Lp | A system, apparatus, and method for determining elemental composition using 4d stem |
WO2020214966A1 (en) | 2019-04-19 | 2020-10-22 | Direct Electron, Lp | Apparatus and method for high dynamic range counting by pixelated detectors |
Citations (5)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
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US5481855A (en) * | 1994-09-27 | 1996-01-09 | Yuyama; Shoji | Tablet packing device and method for controlling the same |
US5678393A (en) * | 1995-01-10 | 1997-10-21 | Kabushiki Kaisha Yuyama Seisakusho | Drug packing apparatus |
EP1704844A1 (en) * | 2004-01-05 | 2006-09-27 | Tosho Inc. | Automatic dispensation device and medicine feeder |
EP2168875A1 (en) * | 2008-09-30 | 2010-03-31 | Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. | Tablet supply apparatus |
EP2394626A1 (en) * | 2010-06-09 | 2011-12-14 | JVM Co., Ltd. | Medicine dispenser, method of discharging medicine, and automatic medicine packing machine including the dispenser |
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US4318431A (en) * | 1980-12-08 | 1982-03-09 | Rjr Foods, Inc. | Electronic control system for a pouch packaging machine |
JP4357277B2 (en) * | 2003-12-01 | 2009-11-04 | 三洋電機株式会社 | Drug supply device |
JP4713125B2 (en) * | 2004-10-14 | 2011-06-29 | 株式会社湯山製作所 | Drug packaging device |
US20080091299A1 (en) * | 2006-10-13 | 2008-04-17 | Ishida Co., Ltd. | Weighing and packaging system and setting input device for product processing system |
NL2007384C2 (en) * | 2011-09-09 | 2013-03-12 | Ppm Engineering B V | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PACKING DOSED QUANTITIES OF SOLID MEDICINES |
CA2821911C (en) * | 2012-01-20 | 2017-02-14 | Jvm Co., Ltd. | Automatic medicine packing machine |
US9886554B2 (en) * | 2013-09-04 | 2018-02-06 | Meditab Software Inc. | Medical pill dispensing system |
CN104709659B (en) * | 2013-12-16 | 2018-07-20 | 西安信唯信息科技有限公司 | A kind of drug providing gear of digital drug standardized administration |
-
2015
- 2015-11-25 KR KR1020150165590A patent/KR20170060865A/en unknown
-
2016
- 2016-11-18 CA CA2948934A patent/CA2948934A1/en not_active Abandoned
- 2016-11-18 US US15/356,216 patent/US20170144787A1/en not_active Abandoned
- 2016-11-21 EP EP16199798.6A patent/EP3173343A1/en not_active Withdrawn
- 2016-11-24 CN CN201611043889.7A patent/CN106864888A/en active Pending
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US5481855A (en) * | 1994-09-27 | 1996-01-09 | Yuyama; Shoji | Tablet packing device and method for controlling the same |
US5678393A (en) * | 1995-01-10 | 1997-10-21 | Kabushiki Kaisha Yuyama Seisakusho | Drug packing apparatus |
EP1704844A1 (en) * | 2004-01-05 | 2006-09-27 | Tosho Inc. | Automatic dispensation device and medicine feeder |
EP2168875A1 (en) * | 2008-09-30 | 2010-03-31 | Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. | Tablet supply apparatus |
EP2394626A1 (en) * | 2010-06-09 | 2011-12-14 | JVM Co., Ltd. | Medicine dispenser, method of discharging medicine, and automatic medicine packing machine including the dispenser |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
CA2948934A1 (en) | 2017-05-25 |
US20170144787A1 (en) | 2017-05-25 |
KR20170060865A (en) | 2017-06-02 |
CN106864888A (en) | 2017-06-20 |
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