JPH0490761A - Monitoring apparatus for automatic dispensing - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To rationalize the monitoring of medicine preparation in large quantities by arranging a lift mechanism between a conveyor line and a monitoring table to move a carrier to be monitored vertically. CONSTITUTION:A monitoring apparatus 10 is so unitized that roller conveyors 11, 12 and 13 are arranged in three stages from top to bottom to be connected to a conveyor line. A monitoring table 20 is arranged at a required interval with the conveyors and a carrier lift mechanism 30 is provided between the monitoring table 20 and the roller conveyors 11, 12 and 13. A carrier fetching mechanism 40 is provided to fetch a carrier between the upper stage roller conveyor 11 and an upper part of a lift base 31 of the lift mechanism 30, and a carrier delivery mechanism 50 to deliver the carrier onto the lower stage roller conveyor 13 from the upside of the lift base 31 with the lift base 31 located at the lowest position. A stopper 55 identical to that provided on the upper stage roller conveyor 11 is provided at an upstream position where the carrier of the lower stage roller conveyor 13 is delivered. When the carrier 80 holding a drug monitored is delivered, the carrier 80 sent from the upstream side is stopped before a delivery position.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application: The present invention relates to an inspection device that is incorporated into an automatic dispensing system that automatically processes dispensing in relatively large-scale pharmacies such as hospitals, and performs a final inspection of dispensing.

Background of the invention: In recent years, relatively large hospital pharmacies administer a large amount of medication to patients and a wide variety of types. , there is a trend toward automating these tasks.

However, due to the nature of the work, it is difficult to automate everything, and of course the work of dispensing prescriptions must be done manually.

For this reason, when systemizing dispensing work, there are many methods in which the forms of medicines handled are processed separately, such as powders, tablets, and capsules, as well as liquid medicines and patch medicines, and these are combined. When it is necessary to dispense drugs, each department will dispense the drugs according to the prescriptions in separate departments.

The medicines prepared in this department are
The box-shaped carrier that moves within the system checks the medicine instructions and picks up the medicine in one predetermined manner, where it is finally sent to the medication station.

However, it is necessary to confirm at the final stage whether the individual prescriptions in each book are in line with the prescriptions.
For this purpose, a department that conducts final dispensing audits is required. This final dispensing audit has traditionally been an important task carried out by qualified personnel, and a large quantity of dispensings must be processed, so in order to be able to audit this efficiently, a carry-on containing the dispensings transported by the auditing department is used. required to operate.

Problem to be solved: In order to efficiently carry out the above-mentioned final dispensing audit, it is necessary for the inspection worker to be able to sort the inspected items sent by the conveyor to multiple workers without stagnation, and also for the worker to It is conceivable that efficiency can be improved by allowing a carrier who has received a prescription while seated to enter the auditing state and process it.

In the present invention, it is incorporated into the line of an automatic dispensing system,
The object of the present invention is to provide a WFf inspection device that can rationally conduct open cut inspection at the final position and improve efficiency.

Means for Solving the Problems: In the present invention, an audit table is disposed on one side of a conveyor line arranged in at least two stages, upper and lower, and between the conveyor line and the audit table, a carry to be audited is placed between the upper and lower stages. An elevating mechanism is provided to move the conveyor in the direction, and the elevating platform of the elevating mechanism can be tilted downward toward the audit table at a position corresponding to the audit table and stopped at an incline, so that either the upper or lower conveyor A carry take-in mechanism crosses the flow direction of the conveyor from the upper side of the line to the lifting table, and a carry take-in mechanism crosses the flow direction of the conveyor from the upper side of the line to the lifting table. This inspection device is characterized in that a carry delivery mechanism is provided for each carry.

On the conhair line along the inspection table in the device of the present invention, there are two positions before and after the position where the inspected carry is taken in by the carry-in mechanism, and at an upstream position in the direction of the flow of the conhair at the position where the inspected carry is sent out by the carry delivery mechanism. It is preferable to provide a stomper that can be selectively operated to protrude from below onto the conveying surface.

Further, it is preferable that a plurality of inspection devices of the present invention are connected in series so as to control the operation of stoppers attached to the conveyor line.

Operation: The inspection device of the present invention configured as described above is used by being installed in the middle of the final return journey from the dispensing section to the dosing station of an automatic dispensing system.

When the carrier containing the medicines that have been dispensed in each dispensing department is sent by the return conveyor line, it is taken onto the lift platform of the carrier by the carry take-in mechanism.
Move to the corresponding position in the audit table. The carry lift mechanism allows the carry lift to become an audit table↓
At this corresponding position, the lift table lowers the inspection table side, making it easy for an audit worker to take out the drug to be inspected from inside the carry carried on the lift table onto the table. Once the audit of the medication taken out on the table is complete, return the audited medication to the tilted carrier.
The lift mechanism is operated to move the carry to a position adjacent to the feed conveyor line to the dispensing station, and the feed mechanism is then interlocked to feed the carrier. These operations can be performed by an inspection worker seated at the inspection position, from receiving the carrier to the inspection position to sending it out after the inspection, by operating a switch at hand.

If multiple inspection devices are installed in series so that multiple workers can perform the inspection, it is possible to
The carry may be moved to a take-in position at which the inspection worker has given an inspection instruction, and at that position, the carry may be stopped by, for example, a stopper, and taken into the audit table.

When taking in carries at a plurality of inspection positions, the carries may be placed on standby at a portion of the conveyor line in front of the inspection positions, and the carries may be controlled to be sent one by one to the position where the inspection instruction has been given.

Moreover, when sending out audited carries in each inspection device, control may be performed so that priority is given to the carry that has been sent out first.

Effects of the invention: According to the auditing device of the present invention, a dispensing audit worker takes the audited dispensation from the conveyor line to the audit table while seated at the audit table position, performs the audit, and carries out the audit after the audit. It is configured so that it can be sent back to the conveyor line, allowing inspection work to be carried out under conditions that eliminate waste in handling operations, making it possible to streamline audits of large quantities of pharmaceutical preparations.

Embodiment: Hereinafter, one embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention will be explained based on the drawings.

What is shown in FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of a single inspection device, and the inspection device 10 of this specific example has coke conveyors ILI2.13 arranged in three stages in the vertical direction and connected to a conveyor line. The inspection table 20 is arranged at a required interval from these conveyors, and the inspection table 20 and the roller conveyor 11.12.1
3, a carry lifting mechanism 30 is provided between the upper roller conveyor 11 and the lifting platform 3 of the lifting mechanism 30.
1. The carry take-in mechanism 40 operates to take in the carry between the upper part of the lift table 31 and the lift table 31 is located at the lowest position. Mechanism 5
0 is provided in each case.

The upper roller conveyor 11 is connected to a conveyor line that transports the carries to the inspection position. The middle roller conveyor 12 is not directly involved in the inspection device 10, and is connected to the conveyor line of the carry feed process. The lower roller conveyor 13 is adapted to be connected to a conveyor line that transports the inspected medication to the dispensing station. These roller converters If, 12, 13 are arranged at a height that can accommodate the movement of the box-shaped carrier 80 (see FIG. 3).

The audit table 20 is equipped with a top plate having the space necessary for audit work, a measuring device 22 for drug quantity testing is placed at an appropriate location on the table (in the right corner in the specific example), and a partition is provided on the conveyor side. vi, 23 is provided with an inclination.

The carry lifting mechanism 30 is configured such that the carry lifting platform 31 is configured such that the position at which the carry 80 is taken in from the roller conveyor 11 for inspection is approximately at the center of the inspection table 20 (not necessarily limited to this). Between the roller conveyor 11, 12, 13 arrangement position and the inspection table 20, a well-known elevating drive means (for example, a rotating screw shaft and a moving nut screwed thereto) is installed along a guide rail 32 erected on the side. It can be raised and lowered freely by the interlocking drive between the rack gear and the pinion, and the drive chain that is wrapped around the top and bottom. This elevating table 31 is provided with side Ni 31' on three sides excluding the conveyor side to prevent the carrier 80 from coming off after being inserted. It is attached to and supported by an arm (not shown) that projects from an upright box-shaped drive support 35. When going up and down, the upper limit is a position where the conveyance surface of the roller conveyor 11 and the support surface of the lifting table 31 almost match, as shown in FIG. 1, and then, as shown in FIG. The stopping positions during the downward drive by the driving means are set in advance so that it stops at the side position and the lowest position. Furthermore, the lifting table 31 is supported by a bin 36 at the tip end on the inspection table side of the support plate 33 attached to the support arm, and has a guide plate 31a with a side plate 31'' on the drive support 35 side bent laterally. The tilting guide piece 37 is attached to the guide Fi 31a so that the lifting platform tilting guide piece 37, which is attached to the guide Fi 31a so as to be able to come in and out from the inside of the drive support 35, is engaged at a desired position. A driver 38 is provided.The tilting guide piece 37 is preferably a rotor such as a roller for smooth operation.

Carry intake machine JJi40! , t, 'N, a slider operation box 41 whose base end is supported by the top of the dynamic support 35 and which straddles the flow n and force direction of the roller conveyor 11 on the upper stage, and this slider operation box. By driving a motor 42 attached to the fourth member, for example, the winding is constituted by a slider 43 that traverses over the roller conhair 11 by a driving means or the like. The slider 43 has an arm 4 protruding from a long open hole 41 provided in the slider operation box 41.
A downward push 144 is attached at 3°. This push plate 44 moves the carry on the roller conveyor 11 to the first position.
The function is to move the elevator to the top of the three waiting platforms as shown in the figure.

In addition, the upper roller conveyor 11 is provided with stoppers 45 and 46 that selectively move up and down from the lower side of the conveyance surface at the front and back positions of the carry take-in position.

The carry delivery mechanism 50 is disposed between the front surface of the inspection table 20 and the lower roller conveyor 13, and is normally located on the inspection table 20 side.
When sending the carry 80 upward, the arm 51 moves forward, and the push Fi 52 attached to the arm 51 moves the carry 8o on the lifting platform 3I, and immediately returns to the original position. There is. This arm 51
For advancing and retracting drive, winding drive, linear actuator, etc. can be used.

In addition, a stopper 55 similar to that provided on the upper roller conveyor 11 is provided at a position upstream of the carry delivery position of the lower roller conveyor 13, so that when the carrier 80 containing the inspected medicine is sent out, , serves to stop the carry 80 sent from the upstream side before the delivery position. Therefore, in principle, the stopper 55 should be associated so as to protrude above the conveyance surface when the carry delivery mechanism 50 is activated.

Each stopper 45, 46 or 55 provided on the upper roller conveyor 11 and the lower roller conveyor 13 is operated by a link mechanism, an electric cylinder, a fluid pressure cylinder, or the like.

An operation panel 25 is provided on the side of the driving support 35 of the lifting mechanism 30 facing the inspection table 20, and the operation of the lifting mechanism 30, the carrying mechanism 4o, and the feeding mechanism 50 is controlled by this operation panel 25. It is configured to support selection.

Although it depends on the scale of the dispensing system, a plurality of inspection devices 1o of the present invention configured in this manner are preferably arranged in a connected manner as shown in FIG. 5.

In the dispensing system, medicines dispensed based on a prescription are placed in a carry that goes around each dispensing department and transported to the inspection position, and then proceed on the upper roller conveyor 11 and move to a position where the inspection receipt can be placed. Then, the carry 8° is stopped from moving at a point where the stopper 46 on the downstream side of the position protrudes directly from the conveying surface (see FIGS. 1 and 6). The inspection worker A corresponding to the stop position of the carry 80 first operates the lifting mechanism 30 by operating a switch on the operation panel 25, so that the lifting platform 31 moves relative to the upper roller conveyor 11 as shown in FIG. Set to standby state. Next, the carry take-in machine 140 is operated to move the slider 43 from the standby position to the inspection table 2o side. Then, the carrier 80 is drawn and transferred from the roller conveyor 11 onto the lifting platform 3I by the pusher 44 of the slider 43 (see FIG. 7).

When the carrier 80 is transferred onto the elevating table 31, the elevating mechanism 30 is activated to lower the elevating table 31. At the same time, the linear drive unit 38 is operated to move the tilting guide piece 37 forward. Then, as the lifting table 3I descends, the guide plate 31a on the side thereof comes into contact with the tilting guide piece 37. When the descent continues further, the lifting platform 31 uses the connecting portion of the bin 36 with the support plate 33 connected to the lifting drive side as a fulcrum, and the rear (conveyor side) moves between the tilting guide piece 37 and the guide plate 3.
1a, it is scooped up (actually, the movement of the rear side is delayed), and the original lifting platform 3 set in advance is lifted up.
When the top surface of the inspection table 20 reaches a position slightly below the top plate of the inspection table 20, its descent is stopped. The carry 80 mounted on the lifting platform 31 is gradually tilted toward the inspection table 20 side, and is kept in a state where the front side is received by the partition plate 23 of the inspection table 20. In this state, it is easy for the inspection worker to directly take out the preparation to be inspected from inside the carry 80, so that it can be taken out onto the inspection table 2o (see FIG. 8).

When the audit is completed, the audited medicine is returned to the carry Bo, and when the audit operator presses the end of audit switch on the operation panel 25, the tilting guide piece 37 is activated by the preset lifting mechanism 30. The elevator platform 31 is once raised to a position where the contact between the guide plate 31 and the guide plate 31 is broken, the tilting guide piece 37 is retreated, and then the elevator platform 31 is lowered to the lowest position (see FIG. 9).

When the elevating table 31 reaches the lowest position, the push plate 52 of the sending mechanism 50, which was waiting on the inspection table 20 side, is driven forward together with its support arm 51, and is mounted on the elevating table 31. The carry 80 is transferred onto the lower roller conveyor 13. The roller conveyor 13
The carry 80 transferred to the top is immediately transferred to the roller conveyor 13.
The upper part will be sent to the medication station.

When the inspection worker A at the position where the audit has been completed presses the operation switch to receive the next audited preparation, the stopper 45 at the standby position lowers and the stopper 46 at the inspection position moves up. 801 carries are sent by the roller conhair 11.

Thereafter, carry 80 to the audit table 20 in the above j order.
can move and perform the next audit task.

By using the plurality of inspection devices 1, inspection workers placed at their respective inspection positions can sequentially inspect the carrier 80 and send it to the drug delivery stage without congesting the movement of the carrier 80.

The above explanation has been based on a method in which inspected medicines are sent from the upper roller conveyor 11 to the lower roller conveyor 13 using the carrier 80, but if necessary, the method may be reversed from the lower roller conveyor 13 side to the upper roller conveyor 13. 1
It is also possible to perform an audit during the transition to 1.

Further, since the inspection device of the present invention is configured in a unit type, it is easy to arbitrarily change the number of devices installed according to the scale of the work.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is an overall perspective view of the inspection device of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a portion of the elevating platform of the elevating mechanism, Fig. 3 is an overall perspective view showing the tilting mode of the elevating platform, and Fig. 4 is a feed-out of the carry. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the arrangement of a plurality of inspection devices, and FIGS. 6 to 9 are diagrams showing the movement of the carry at the inspection position. 10... Inspection device 11... Upper roller conveyor 12... Middle roller conveyor 13... Lower roller conveyor 20... Inspection table 23... Partition plate 30.
... Lifting mechanism 31... Lifting platform 31', 31-
...Side plate 31a...Guide plate 32...Guide rail 33...Support plate 35...Drive support body
36... Bin 37... Lifting platform tilting guide piece 38... Straight drive unit 40... Carry take-in mechanism 41... Operation box 43... Slider 44
, 52... Push plate 45, 46. 55... Stopper 50... Carry delivery mechanism 51... Support arm 80... Carry... Inspection worker

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. An inspection table is arranged on one side of a conveyor line arranged in at least two upper and lower stages, and between the conveyor line and the inspection table there is an elevator for moving the carry to be inspected in the vertical direction. A mechanism is provided, and the elevating platform of the elevating mechanism can be tilted and stopped at a downward slope toward the audit table at a position corresponding to the audit table. A carry take-in mechanism crosses the flow direction of the conveyor onto the table, and a carry delivery mechanism from the lift table to the conveyor line is installed between the upper side of the other conveyor line and the elevating table lifting position of the elevating mechanism. , an inspection device in an automatic dispensing system, characterized in that each of them is provided. 2. The conveyor line is a roller conveyor of a predetermined length arranged in at least two upper and lower stages, and an audit table is arranged on one side at a required interval, and between the upper or lower stage of the roller conveyor and the audit table. The system is equipped with an elevating mechanism in which the elevating platform tilts and stops toward the audit table at a position corresponding to the audit table, and a carry take-in mechanism is installed on one of the upper and lower roller conveyors, and a carry delivery mechanism is installed on the other. The inspection device for an automatic dispensing system according to claim 1, wherein the inspection device has a unit structure. 3. On the conveyor along the audit table, the conveyor is selectively operated before and after the take-in position of the audited carry, and at the upstream position in the conveyor flow direction of the carry out position of the inspected carry, and is placed on the conveying surface from below. The inspection device in an automatic dispensing system according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a stopper that protrudes from the stopper. 4. The inspection device in an automatic dispensing system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a plurality of said inspection devices are installed in series.