Patent Publication Number: US-6705487-B2

Title: Assistance tray for manual distribution used in medicine sharing and packing device

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to an assistance tray for manual distribution which is used in a medicine sharing and packing device designed to automatically pack pills contained in a plurality of tablet cassettes automatically controlled and ones manually distributed to a disk-type tray for manual distribution dose by dose, and more particularly, an assistance tray for manual distribution which is designed to exactly distribute pills manually distributed, facilitate seeing the distributed pills, and quickly supply them to a medicine sharing and packing device. 
     In general, many kinds of pills are used to treat various diseases, and a plurality of different pills are prescribed mixedly due to complexity of a disease. As the development of technology will bring about the development of more medicines in the future, in addition to tablet cassettes mounted in a limited space disk-type trays for manual distribution are needed. 
     For conventional medicine sharing and packing devices, a plurality of tablet cassettes containing various pills are arranged, and medicine is packed dose by dose through control of the table cassettes. Since there are difficulties in containing more kinds of medicines being developed continuously into tablets cassettes, rearranging the cassettes, and supplying and packing pills prescribed to use half of each pill, a tray for manual distribution is additionally mounted on a medicine sharing and packing device. 
     A conventional tray for manual distribution is of disk type with a plurality of spaces for containing pills on the rim portion of its upper surface, in which half of a pill or pills which cannot be contained in tablet cassettes and are difficult to supply and pack automatically are distributed manually. 
     Once a pharmacist distributes pills, which are to be supplied manually out of prescribed ones, to a tray for manual distribution, and sees pills distributed to the tray, pills contained in tablet cassettes and ones distributed to the tray are supplied and packed together dose by dose by actuating the medicine sharing and packing device. 
     However, there is a disadvantage that for a conventional tray for manual distribution, packing remains stopped while pills are distributed to the tray and it takes much time to distribute and pack pills according to prescription, since pills are supplied from the tablet cassettes and tray after they are distributed manually to the tray. 
     Therefore, a doctor or pharmacist can reduce the whole packing time by continuously performing control of tablet cassettes and packing work while continuously distributing pills to the tray manually. 
     However, there is another disadvantage that since pills may be distributed incorrectly when a doctor or pharmacist continuously distributes pills to the tray, wrong packing of pills may occur. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is contrived to overcome the conventional disadvantages described above. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an assistance tray for manual distribution which is designed to exactly distribute pills manually distributed, facilitate seeing the distributed pills, and quickly supply them to a medicine sharing and packing device. 
     To achieve the above-described object, an assistance tray for manual distribution used in a medicine sharing and packing device with a disk-type tray for manual distribution of pills mounted in the front side is provided. The assistance tray includes an assistance tray body at the rim portion of which a plurality of auxiliary pill containing portions are formed which correspond in number to a plurality of pill containing portions formed at the rim of the upper surface of a disk-type tray for manual distribution, and on both sides of which handle portions are formed having openings therethrough. An opening/closing plate is mounted on the lower surface of the assistance tray body so as to be rotated, at the rim portion of which holes are formed, a number of the holes corresponding in number to the number of the auxiliary pill containing portions of the assistance tray body. On one side of the opening/closing plate a protruding control handle portion is formed, movement of which opens the bottom of the auxiliary pill containing portions of the assistance tray body and accordingly enables pills distributed to each auxiliary pill containing portion of the assistance tray body to be fed into the pill containing portions of the disk-type tray for manual distribution at the same time. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a medicine sharing and packing device to which an assistance tray for manual distribution according to the present invention applies; 
     FIG. 2 is a plan view of an assistance tray for manual distribution used in medicine sharing and packing device according to the present invention; 
     FIG. 3 is a bottom view of an assistance tray for manual distribution used in medicine sharing and packing device according to the present invention; 
     FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A—A of FIG. 3; 
     FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line B—B of FIG. 3; and 
     FIG. 6 is a view showing layered assistance trays for manual distribution used in medicine sharing and packing device according to the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     With reference to the accompanying drawings, the present invention will now be described. 
     FIG. 1 shows a medicine sharing and packing device to which an assistance tray for manual distribution according to the present invention applies. The medicine sharing and packing device, like conventional ones, is designed to arrange a plurality of tablet cassettes( 1 ) containing pills and pack medicine dose by dose through control of the tablet cassettes  1 . A disk-type tray  2  for manual distribution, which can manually distribute half of a pill or pills which cannot be contained in tablet cassettes  1  and therefore packed automatically, is mounted on the front side of the medicine sharing and packing device, thereby allowing pills contained in the tablet cassettes  1  and ones contained in the tray  2  for manual distribution to be packed together dose by dose. 
     An assistance tray  10  according to the present invention, which is designed to put pills, which are distributed beforehand, into the tray  2  for manual distribution of the medicine sharing and packing device at a time, is so structured that, as illustrated in FIGS. 2,  3 ,  4  and  5 , an opening/closing plate  12  is mounted on the lower surface of an assistance tray body  11  having a plurality of auxiliary pill containing portions so as to be rotated, thereby allowing the auxiliary pill containing portions of the assistance tray body  11  to be opened and closed by the opening and closing plate  12 . 
     That is, the assistance tray body  11  has a plurality of the auxiliary pill containing portions  11   a  having openings therethrough at its rim portion corresponding in number to a plurality of pill containing portions  11   a  formed at the rim portion of the upper surface of the disk-type tray  2  for manual distribution, and handle portions  11   b  on both sides. 
     Further, as illustrated in FIG. 6, two projections  11   d  are formed on both sides of the upper surface of the handle portions  11   b  of the assistance tray body  11 , which fit onto grooves  11   c  formed on the lower parts of the handle portions  11   b,  thereby allowing a plurality of the assistance tray bodies to be placed in layers as well. 
     The opening/closing plate  12  is mounted on the lower surface of the assistance tray body  11  so as to be rotated, and has holes  12   a  at its rim portion corresponding in number to the auxiliary pill containing portions  11   a  of the assistance tray body  11  and a protruding control handle portion  12   b  on one side, thereby opening the bottom of the auxiliary pill containing portions  11   a  of the assistance tray body  11  and accordingly enabling pills distributed to each auxiliary pill containing portion  11   a  of the assistance tray body  11  to be fed into the pill containing portions  2   a  of the disk-type tray  2  for manual distribution at the same time. 
     On the other hand, it is desirable that to facilitate the rotation of the opening/closing plate  12 , a plurality of supporting rollers  13 , which support the circumferential surface of the opening/closing plate  12 , be mounted in the spaced state at the rim portion of the assistance tray body  11 , an inside diameter portion  12   c  be formed at the central portion of the opening/closing plate  12 , a plurality of circular slots  12   d  be formed in the spaced state near the inside diameter portion  12   c , and screws  14  be inserted into the slots  12   d  for fastening to the assistance tray body  11 . 
     Further it is desirable that stoppers  15  for stopping the opening/closing plate  12  at a specific rotary angle by supporting one side of two grooves  12   e  formed at the inside diameter portion  12   c  of the opening/closing plate  12  be fixed to the assistance tray body  11 , in order to maintain a uniform rotary angle of the opening/closing plate  12 . 
     To return the opening/closing plate  12  to its initial state, two elastic members  16  for rotating the opening/closing plate  12  in the direction of closing the auxiliary pill containing portions  12  of the assistance tray body  11  are connected between the assistance tray body  11  and the opening/closing plate  12 . 
     An assistance tray for manual distribution used in a medicine sharing and packing device according to the present invention works as follows. 
     If pills not contained in tablet cassettes  1  or half-pills are prescribed, a pharmacist distributes them manually to auxiliary pill containing portions  11   a  of an assistance tray body  11  of an assistance tray  10 . 
     Then, the pharmacist matches the assistance tray body  11  with a tray  2  for manual distribution by gripping and lifting handles  11   b  of the assistance tray body  11 , and rotates an opening/closing plate  12  by means of a control handle portion  12   b  to match holes  12   a  of the opening/closing plate  12  with the auxiliary pill containing portions  11   a  of the assistance tray body  11 . 
     Then, pills contained in the auxiliary pill containing portions  11   a  of the assistance tray body  11  are dropped into pill containing portions  2   a  of the tray  1 , and the opening/closing plate  12  is returned to the initial state by elastic members  16  and closes the auxiliary pill containing portions  11   a  of the assistance tray body  11  by releasing the control handle portion  12   b  of the opening/closing plate  12 . 
     After the assistance tray  10  is spaced from the tray  1 , pills in the pill containing portions  2   a  of the tray are packed dose by dose with pills dropped from tablet cassettes  1  by the operation of the medicine sharing and packing device. 
     Of course, it is desirable that a plurality of assistance trays  10  be used, thereby facilitating exact check of pills distributed in advance according to prescription and quick standby of the assistance tray  10  before pills distributed to the tray  2  are packed, so that quick packing can be realized. 
     As illustrated in FIG. 6, it is possible to distribute pills another assistance tray  10  after distributing them into one assistance tray  10 , and to place many assistance trays  10 , to which pills are distributed, in layers. 
     Accordingly, if the assistance trays  10  in layers are used, pills distributed to the assistance trays  10  can be supplied more quickly than in the state of having been distributed to the tray  2 . 
     As discussed above, an assistance tray for manual distribution allows pills distributed separately to be quickly supplied to a tray for manual distribution of a medicine sharing and packing device by means of a control handle of an opening/closing plate. Therefore, pills distributed manually can be distributed quickly and checked easily. The use of additional assistance trays enables pills distributed manually to be supplied quickly to a medicine sharing and packing device.