Automated system for the delivery, grouping and distribution of articles connected to one another by a restraining loop

An automatic system for the delivery and distribution of articles in groups comprises a store of articles, a unit for the collection and delivery of articles from the store and a controller associated with the collection and delivery unit in order to control the selective collection of articles from the store and their output as sets of articles logically grouped together. The system further comprises a grouping device which receives the sets of articles logically grouped together as inputs and outputs corresponding packs, groups or bundles of articles physically connected to one another by a restraining loop or strip.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an automated system and to a method for the delivery and distribution of articles in groups, as well as to a device and to a method for grouping articles together.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A particularly important, but non-limiting, field of application of the present invention is that of the management of stores of drugs and other pharmaceutical or medical products, with particular reference to the selective distribution of these products within hospital establishments in accordance with requirements for the administration of the products to individual patients. There is an ever greater need to provide automatic systems and stores in which medical products are stored in individual doses and from which these products can be withdrawn, grouped together in various ways, on the basis of instructions or orders which reflect the specific prescriptions for the use of medical products and for the administration of drugs to the various patients under treatment.

For simplicity and clarity of explanation, reference will be made below to the grouping-together of medical products but, naturally, the present invention may equally well be applied to other fields which have similar problems such as, for example, for fulfilling orders for spare parts for motor vehicles or other machines, for the grouping-together of components for the manufacture of industrial products such as, for example, electronic components, small metal parts, and the like.

Many known systems for the automated withdrawal of medical products from a store, in which the products are preferably stored in individual doses, provide for the selection of all of the product doses which make up the individual orders and for their delivery in groups at the output by depositing them in cases, boxes, trays, bags or other similar containers, each of which corresponds to a particular order which represents, for example, the prescription for the daily administration of drugs to a specific patient.

These known systems have several disadvantages, amongst which the most obvious is the need to provide a sufficient number of containers into which the automated withdrawal and delivery system can discharge the various products which make up the various orders. This method of operation leads to a complex organization, which can usually be managed only manually, if the containers, for example, the cases or boxes, have to be reused. In fact, once the prescribed drugs have been administered to the patients, the empty containers have to be collected from each patient and returned to the automated withdrawal and delivery system. If, on the other hand, disposable containers, for example, paper or plastics envelopes or bags, are used, the overall running cost of the automated system may become particularly high because of the large number of disposable containers which have to be provided and used purely to keep the products physically grouped together. In this connection, it will suffice to consider the large numbers of orders for the administration of medical products which an automated system of the type indicated above is required to fulfill daily, even in small hospital establishments.

The above-mentioned disadvantage is aggravated in situations in which the individual prescriptions for drugs or medical products involve a small number of products in individual doses. Clearly, the burden of the management of the empty containers, or the cost of the disposable containers, is less if the larger is the number of products included in each individual order and grouped together in each individual container. In general, however, and in particular for the daily administration of pharmaceutical and medical products to patients in hospital establishments, it is possible to increase the number of products to be grouped together for each individual order only at the expense of the efficacy and overall usefulness of the automated system for the withdrawal and delivery of products for the final purposes for which it is intended.

There is a risk that the disadvantages indicated above will greatly limit the spread of automated systems for the management or orders for medical prescriptions, which could otherwise contribute enormously to the reduction of the management costs of hospital establishments, increasing their overall efficiency, enabling the personnel employed in the manual selection and distribution of drugs and of medical products in general to be assigned to more skilled activities.

The object of the present invention is therefore to overcome the disadvantages described above by providing a device and a method for the grouping-together of articles, which device and method are simple, economical and efficient, particularly but not exclusively when used for grouping together drugs and medical products to be distributed within automated systems used in hospital establishments.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In order to achieve the object indicated above, the subject of the invention is an automated system and a method for the delivery and distribution of articles in groups, as well as a device and a method for grouping articles together, having the characteristics indicated in the appended claims.

According to an advantageous characteristic of the invention, the groups or bundles of articles grouped together are identified individually by respective labels connected to the bundles and preferably generated at the moment when the products are grouped together.

The device of the present invention provides for the various articles to be grouped together in a bundle held together by a restraining means, preferably of elongate shape, such as, for example, a thread or a strip, connected to each product of an individual group, for example, by means of a glue, clips, or other similar means. In a preferred embodiment, the thread or strip is inserted through holes provided in the articles before being closed into a loop. In particular, the restraining means may be a thread or strip of plastics material or other material which can be welded to form the closed loop, or may be a notched band or other member provided with similar closure means.

In a preferred embodiment, the automatic device comprises a load-bearing structure for supporting the various members of the machine, including guide means for providing the restraining means with an obligatory path to be followed during its application, comprising at least one fixed guide member and one guide member which is movable relative to the load-bearing structure, and feed means for supplying the restraining means, the feed means being operable in a direct-feed mode in order to urge the restraining means through the guide means, and in a reverse-feed mode in order to return the restraining means, and means for retaining the restraining means. The guide means form a path for the restraining means through the packages of products.

A particular advantage of this device is that the grouping-together of the articles can be achieved by the insertion of the restraining means through holes which already exist in the packages or which may possibly be created automatically when the articles are grouped together. There is thus no need to squeeze the products into close contact with one another, possibly damaging them. Moreover, the device is usable particularly advantageously with packages such as bags or blister packs which are already provided with respective slots, eyelets, or the like for the insertion of the guide means. In this case, the device can easily be incorporated in a system for the storage and withdrawal of the packages in which bags or the like, suspended on suitable supports by means of the slots, are slipped onto the guide means in order to form groups to be held together.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1shows schematically an automatic system for the withdrawal and delivery or distribution of articles1, comprising a store2in which the articles1are stored in an orderly manner in accordance with a predetermined physical and logical structure, for example, in locations identified by three-dimensional coordinates x, y, z, so that they can be identified and collected by a collection and delivery device3provided with collecting means4. An electronic processor5is programmed to know the location of the individual products1with reference to the coordinates x, y and z, and is connected or otherwise associated with the collecting device3in order to control it and address it selectively for the collection of products forming part of orders G1, G2, G3entered and stored in the processor5in known manner. The collection and delivery device3outputs the products1, grouped together logically in sets6a,6b,6c, corresponding to the orders G1, G2, G3. Systems of this type, which are particularly suitable for the storage of packages of individual doses of pharmaceutical products, are known, for example, from the documents U.S. Pat. No. 5,468,110, U.S. Pat. No. 5,880,443 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,217,273 and will not therefore be discussed in further detail. It may, however, be useful to mention that the above-mentioned documents of the prior art describe storage systems in which the various products are stored in an orderly manner in locations disposed on one level and hence identified by two Cartesian coordinates x, y, or disposed on a cylinder, and hence identified by two polar coordinates α, z. Although the present invention is described and illustrated with reference to the three-dimensional store2ofFIG. 1, it may also be applied, with functionally similar results, to the two-dimensional stores of the prior art, as well as to simpler one-dimensional systems, for example, belt conveyors and the like.

The logical sets of products6a,6b,6care supplied in succession to a grouping device10which, as will be described further below, outputs packs, groups, or bundles7a,7b,7cof articles1physically connected to one another by restraining means8, and corresponding to the sets of articles6a,6b,6cinput and to the orders G1, G2, G3stored in the electronic processor5. A corresponding identification label9, prepared beforehand and supplied as an input to the grouping device10, or generated on the spot, for example, by means of a printer (not shown) operatively connected to the electronic processor5, may be associated with each group or bundle7a,7b,7cof articles, and preferably restrained on the restraining means8.

The restraining means8is preferably of elongate shape and comprises, for example, a thread or strip which is connected to each product of a single group by means of a glue, clips, or other similar means.FIGS. 6 and 7show a particular embodiment in which the articles grouped together are constituted by bags101each of which contains medical or pharmaceutical products102,103,104,105. The bags101are fixed, at least by a portion thereof, to one face108aof the strip108of fabric, paper, rubber, or other material, so as to form a group of articles grouped together. The bags101may be fixed to the strip108by means of a glue or mechanically by means of clips, staples, or the like.

The strip108may itself act as an informative label for the group of articles, by virtue of the fact that the data109characterizing the order or instructions for the various products contained in the bags101, as well as possibly the destination of the order, for example, the department and/or the patient to whom the products are to be administered, may be printed on the other face108bof the strip, opposite that to which the bags101are fixed. In the variant ofFIG. 8, the bags101are fixed to the strip108by means of adhesive labels110, each of which may give informative data specific to each product102,103,104,105and/or general data relating to the order or instructions corresponding to the grouping of the articles.

In a preferred embodiment, the thread or strip is inserted through holes provided in the articles, before being closed into a loop. In the embodiment ofFIG. 9, a notched band111of generally known type is used to group together and restrain a set of bags112, in each of which there is a hole or opening113which can usefully also be used for suspending the bags in the store2mentioned above with reference toFIG. 1.

In particular, as shown inFIG. 10, the restraining means may be a thread or strip114of plastics material or other material suitable for being welded at the point115to form the closed loop116which groups the bags112together. An informative label117, also provided with a hole or opening118, may be associated with the group of bags112.

With regard to this latter solution for the grouping-together of articles and with reference now toFIG. 2, a particular embodiment of the device10for grouping together and restraining the articles1, in particular but not exclusively individual packages or bags of products, comprises a load-bearing structure12, preferably formed by profiled sections14of various shapes, assembled to form a frame. A unit16for supporting and moving the means for restraining the products, in particular a thread18, is disposed on the load-bearing structure12. The unit16comprises a motor20, preferably an electric motor, and means for holding the thread18, in particular a reel22. Naturally, for the purposes of the implementation of the device10, the thread18may be replaced by functionally similar elements such as strings or bands of material that can be welded, for example, thermoplastic material.

A feed unit24is also mounted on the frame12in a position such as to receive the thread18output from the reel22. The feed unit24comprises a motor26, at least one drive roller28for the thread18, and a thrust roller30, disposed opposite the drive roller28and mounted, together with an idle roller32, on a pivoting arm34. A linear actuator36mounted on the frame12by means of a support bracket37, is connected to the pivoting arm34by means of a rod38provided with a collar40which slides in a tubular body42so as to compress a spring44.

A guide for the thread18, generally indicated46, is mounted on the frame12at the output of the feed unit24and comprises a fixed portion48and a movable portion52which can be closed selectively onto the fixed portion48to form, as a whole, a closed guide path. The guide46preferably has an open ring-shaped cross-section (seeFIG. 5) in which a channel46ahas an opening46bfacing towards the inside of the guide path formed by the fixed and movable portions48and52of the guide46.

A lead-in input bush47for the thread18is positioned at one end of the fixed guide portion48. The fixed guide portion48also comprises a fixed guide member50which, preferably but in non-limiting manner, extends in a horizontal direction.

The movable guide portion52is articulated to the frame12so as to be pivotable about a horizontal axis X-X as indicated by the arrow A inFIG. 2. The movable guide portion52, preferably but in non-limiting manner, comprises a guide portion54which, in the closed configuration of the guide46shown inFIG. 2, is substantially parallel to the fixed guide member50of the fixed guide portion48and is extended by a connecting portion56. The fixed guide member50has an end58by which it is connected to the connecting portion56and in which a locating abutment60is formed for the movable guide portion52. The movable guide portion52has, at the end remote from the connecting portion56, a shaped portion62having the function of a jaw, the purpose of which will become clearer from the following description. An actuator unit64is mounted on the frame12in order to move the movable guide portion52selectively and comprises, in the non-limiting embodiment ofFIG. 2, a linear actuator66fixed to the frame12by means of a bracket68and an articulated system70preferably comprising a ball joint72and a hinge74fixed to the movable guide portion52.

The device10also comprises means76for cutting the thread18, comprising a blade78fitted in the manner of a guillotine, in a compartment80formed at the outlet of the lead-in bush47, transverse the feed axis of the thread18, and a linear actuator82fixed, for example, to the base of the frame12by means of a bracket84, and connected to the blade78by means of a ball joint86.

Inside the closed path formed by the guide46, in the vicinity of the shaped portion62, there is a retaining element for selectively restraining the thread18, and preferably comprising a block88suitable for providing an abutment surface. With reference toFIG. 4, the block88is connected, by means of a rod90, to an actuator92which in turn is fixed to the frame12by means of a bracket94. The drive roller28, preferably but in non-limiting manner, has a peripheral groove96for guiding the thread18and is mounted on a shaft98supported, for example, by two plain bearings100fixed to the frame12in a manner not shown. The shaft98is connected to the drive shaft102of the motor26by means of a reduction unit104, for example, an epicyclic unit.

During the normal operation of the device10, the thread18passes between the drive roller28and the thrust roller30whilst the idle roller32ensures that the thread coming from the reel22is not subject to excessive curvature. The thrust roller30has the function of keeping the thread18pressed against the drive roller28so that this roller can selectively transmit to it a forward movement towards the guide46, in a direct-feed mode, or an opposite movement in a reverse-feed mode in which the thread18is returned from the guide46. The actuator36ensures the necessary pressure which is calibrated by the preloading of the spring44. The thread18at the output of the feed means24is received by the lead-in bush47which supplies an input of the guide46. In the configuration described up to now, the device10is arranged for performing a cycle for the grouping-together and tying of articles, an example of which is given below but which should not be considered as limiting of the possibilities for the use of the device10or, more generally, of the present invention.

In an initial step, the movable guide portion52is raised away from the fixed guide portion50, by means of the actuator66. Individual packages of products, not shown, which are to be grouped together and restrained relative to one another, are positioned in a manner such that the at least one fixed guide member50extends through respective slots, eyelets, or the like, suitably provided therein. The movable guide portion52is then closed so that the guide means46form a substantially closed path through the individual packages.

In a subsequent step, the feed means24are operated in direct-feed mode by the drive means26so as to cause the thread18to pass through the guide46until an overlap is created between the free end106of the thread18and the portion of thread18input into the guide46. The movable guide portion54is then raised again by the actuator66so that, by virtue of its pivoting about the axis X-X, the shaped portion62squeezes the free end106of the thread18against the block88, holding it in a clamped position, as shown inFIG. 3. At this point, the feed means24are operated in reverse-feed mode, in order to recover the thread18until the size of the closed loop which it forms through the individual packages is reduced to a predetermined dimensions. During this step, the thread18is free to leave the guide46, by virtue of the opening46bprovided in the channel46a(seeFIG. 5) so that the thread18can be recovered and the individual packages of products can be grouped together in a pack or bundle.

The body of the thread18and its free end106, which are superimposed, are then joined or welded together, for example, by means of a heat-sealing rod which is moved selectively towards the region of intersection and superimposition of the thread18and its end106. The blade78, operated by the actuator82, then separates the loop of thread18restraining the individual packages from the rest of the thread18wound on the reel22. At the end of the cycle, the actuator92removes the block88from the guide46, allowing the restrained packages to be released.

According to a particularly advantageous variant, the heat-sealing rod may also incorporate the separation function of the blade78, or may act simultaneously therewith.

According to another particularly advantageous variant, the device10is associated with the collection and delivery device3ofFIG. 1which may comprise a pin or other member on which the products1of each logical set6a,6b,6cmaking up a specific order G1, G2, G3are suspended. The collecting member4of the collection and delivery device3and/or the guide46of the device10can be inclined selectively, so that the fixed guide portion48can receive the individual packages of products1by gravity. In the preferred situation, in which the guide46is selectively inclinable, an opposite inclination of the guide46to that used for the collection of the individual package from the collection and delivery device3enables the groups or bundles7a,7b,7cof articles physically connected to one another to be released and discharged automatically.

As mentioned above, the cycle for the grouping-together of the articles1by means of the device10described above may also comprise the insertion, in the group or bundle of articles restrained by the thread18, of a label, preferably but in non-limiting manner, generated by printing means connected to the electronic processor5, and giving data useful for the identification of the articles grouped together and/or of their final destination of use within the system for the distribution of the articles1.

Naturally, the principle of the invention remaining the same, the details of construction and forms of embodiment may vary widely with respect to those described and illustrated, without thereby departing from the scope of the present invention.