Patent ID: 8925434
Filing Date: 2015-01-06
Classification: A61J,B26D,Y10T

Abstract:
1. A tablet splitting apparatus comprising: a holding mechanism capable of holding a tablet to be split at a cutting position; a cutting mechanism capable of cutting the tablet held at the cutting position; a falling tablet guiding member including a groove-shaped tablet falling path operable to guide the tablet falling by gravity and having an upper-end opening portion, a lower-end opening portion, and a side-surface opening portion located between the upper-end opening portion and the lower-end opening portion, wherein the cutting position is located in a middle of the tablet falling path; a groove depth regulating member capable of covering a part of or the entire side-surface opening portion of the tablet falling path, the side-surface opening portion including a portion of the tablet falling path upstream of the cutting position; a path thickness adjusting mechanism capable of changing a relative distance between a groove bottom of the tablet falling path opposite to the side-surface opening portion and a groove bottom facing surface of the groove depth regulating member; and a control device including cutting operation regulating section for regulating operating steps of the cutting mechanism and the holding mechanism, wherein: the cutting mechanism includes a pair of opposed blades each displaceable between a movement stand-by position and a movement completion position, and is configured to cut the tablet located at the cutting position by displacing both of the opposed blades in the pair from the movement stand-by position to the movement completion position; the cutting operation regulating section regulates the operating steps such that when both of the opposed blades in the pair are displaced from the movement stand-by position to the movement completion position, the holding mechanism continuously holds the tablet until the tablet is caught between the pair of opposed blades, and after the tablet has been caught between the pair of opposed blades, the holding mechanism releases the tablet and only the pair of opposed blades hold the tablet to cut into the tablet; and the control device acquires thickness information on a thickness of the tablet to actuate the path thickness adjusting mechanism to adapt the relative distance to the thickness of the tablet.