Patent Description:
In daily life, automated medicine sorting and medicine dispensing systems are often used to help people, such as the elderly or people with chronic diseases, take their medicines on time. Existing automated medicine sorting and medicine dispensing system generally include a medicine storage box and a picking up mechanism for pick up medicines from the medicine storage box.

However, there are still many areas for improvement in the existing medicine storage boxes, such as insufficient portability, large size, complex structure, and so on.

<CIT> discloses an automatic pill dispenser, which includes a chassis, a pill dispensing box located on the chassis, a pill box located on the chassis for a plurality of pills, and a pill fetching assembly. The pill fetching assembly is located on the chassis. The pill fetching assembly includes a driving device and a fetching device. The fetching device includes a boom and an arm assembly. The arm assembly is located on an end of the boom to fetch the plurality of pills from the pill box. The driving device includes a cam adjacent to the boom. The fetching device rotates relative to the chassis in a horizontal plane. The cam urges the fetching device to rotate within a vertical plane.

<CIT> discloses an apparatus for dispensing medications, which includes: a portable cassette including with a body portion including a plurality of cassette compartments and at least one lid displaceable with respect to the body portion to enable access to the cassette compartments in a predetermined sequence; and a pill-dispenser including at least one dispensing compartment arranged to store respective pills of at least one respective medication; a dispensing element configured to release the respective pills from the at least one dispensing compartment; and a cassette element arranged to receive the portable cassette and displace the portable cassette so that at least one of the in respective pills falls into each cassette compartment. After the at least one of the respective pills fall into said each cassette compartment: the portable cassette is removable from the pill-dispenser; and the lid is displaceable to control access to the cassette compartments.

The technical problem to be solved by the embodiments of the present invention is to provide a novel automated medicine sorting and medicine dispensing system in view of the above-mentioned at least one defect of the existing automated medicine sorting and medicine dispensing system.

In order to solve the above mentioned technical problems, the embodiment of the present invention provides an automated medicine sorting and medicine dispensing system characterized by comprising: a medicine storage mechanism for storing a plurality of types of medicine; a medicine picking up mechanism for picking up medicine from said medicine storage mechanism; and a rotating base comprising a housing chamber, a rotating pad that is set within said housing chamber and an electrical motor that drives said rotating pad to rotate, wherein said housing chamber is in communication with a medicine discharging passage.

Said automated medicine sorting and medicine dispensing system further comprises: a portable medicine box for receiving medicines sorted and dispensed, said portable medicine box couples with said rotating pad, said portable medicine box comprises a plurality of medicine storage slots, said plurality of medicine storage slots are able to rotate around the axis of said portable medicine box.

Said automated medicine sorting and medicine dispensing system further comprises a cup for receiving medicines sorted and dispensed, said cup couples with said rotating pad.

Morover, the rotating pad comprises a medicine box coupling portion and a cup coupling portion, said medicine box coupling portion couples with said portable medicine box, said cup coupling portion couples with said cup, said medicine box coupling portion at least partly overlaps with said cup coupling portion.

Preferably, said medicine picking up mechanism comprises a first foldable machine arm, a second foldable machine arm, a suction nozzle and a driving mechanism, in idle status, said first foldable machine arm and second foldable machine arm are folded in the horizontal direction, in working status, said first foldable machine arm and said second foldable machine arm cooperate mutually to move in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction under the action of the driving mechanism, said suction nozzle is connect at one end of said second foldable machine arm, and sucks medicines by negative pressure.

Preferably, said medicine picking up mechanism further comprise a pump and a suction tube, said suction tube connects said pump and said suction nozzle, said pump is used for delivering the generated vacuum to said suction nozzle through said suction tube.

Preferably, said medicine storage mechanism comprises a rotating table and a plurality of medicine storage containers that engage within said rotating table, a protruding hollow passage is set in the middle of said rotating table, said rotating table is able to rotate around said hollow passage under the driving of an electrical motor, said hollow passage is in communication with the medicine discharging opening of said automated medicine sorting and medicine dispensing system which is aligned with the overlapping portion of said medicine box coupling portion and said cup coupling portion.

Preferably, said medicine picking up mechanism further comprises a cover plate, a horizontal slide rail provided on said cover plate, and a first opening and a second opening opened on said cover plate, said cover plate rotatably couples with said rotating table, said first opening is in communication with said hollow passage, and said second opening is in communication with said medicine storage container.

Preferably, said first foldable machine arm comprises a first upper arm and a first lower arm, said second foldable machine arm comprises a second upper arm and a second lower arm, one end of said first upper arm is slidingly connected with said horizontal slide rail, said medicine picking up mechanism further comprises first, second, and third hinges, one end of said first upper arm and one end of said second upper arm are connected with said first hinge, the other end of said first upper arm and the other end of said second upper arm, as well as one end of said first lower arm and one end of said second lower arm are connected with said second hinge, the other end of said first lower arm and the other end of said second lower arm are connected with said third hinge, said third hinge is connected with said suction nozzle.

Preferably, said automated medicine sorting and medicine dispensing system further comprises a medicine loading door which opens under the control of a electromagnetic valve.

Preferably, said medicine storage container has a curved bottom surface on which at least one slope is provided.

Preferably, said automated medicine sorting and medicine dispensing system further comprises a sensing system for sensing location, temperature, and humidity information.

Preferably, said automated medicine sorting and medicine dispensing system further comprises a control system for controlling each controllable element.

Implementation of that embodiment of the present invention has the following beneficial effects: the automated medicine sorting and medicine dispensing system provided by the present invention not only can realize automated medicine sorting and medicine dispensing, but also has the advantages of small volume, full functions and better user experience. Moreover, a portable medicine box is also provided, which is easy for a user to carry.

In order to illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art more clearly, a brief description of the drawings to be used in the description of the embodiment or the prior art will be given below. It is obvious that, the drawings in the following description are merely some embodiments of the present invention.

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be explained clearly and fully in the following text in conjunction with the drawing in the embodiments of the present invention. It's obvious that the described embodiments are merely a part of the embodiments and not all the embodiments of the present invention.

In the specification and the appended figures, like numbers represent like parts. The parts in the present invention may be singular and may also be plural, the specific number is not limited, unless specifically indicated.

As shown in <FIG>, the automated medicine sorting and medicine dispensing system comprises: a medicine storage mechanism <NUM> which is for storing a plurality of types of medicine; a medicine picking up mechanism <NUM> for picking up medicines from the medicine storage mechanism <NUM>; and a rotating base <NUM> comprising a housing chamber <NUM>, rotating pad (i.e. medicine box coupling portion <NUM> and cup coupling portion <NUM>) that is set within the housing chamber <NUM> and an electrical motor <NUM> that drives the rotating pad to rotate. The housing chamber <NUM> is in communication with a medicine discharging passage.

As shown in <FIG> and <FIG> and <FIG>, the automated medicine sorting and medicine dispensing system further comprises a portable medicine box <NUM> and a cup <NUM>, which are used for receiving medicines sorted and dispensed. The portable medicine box <NUM> and the cup <NUM> may located within the housing chamber <NUM>, coupling with the rotating pad. As shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, the portable medicine box <NUM> couples with the medicine box coupling portion <NUM>. The portable medicine box <NUM> comprises a box lid <NUM>, a box body that forms a medicine storage chamber in cooperation with the box lid, and a separating plate <NUM> located within the medicine storage chamber. The separating plate <NUM> separates the medicine storage chamber into a plurality of medicine containing slots <NUM>. As the medicine box coupling portion <NUM> rotates, the plurality of medicine containing slots may rotate around the axis <NUM> of the portable medicine box <NUM>.

In the portable medicine box <NUM>, the number of the medicine containing slots <NUM> may be <NUM>-<NUM>, and may also be other suitable number which is not limited herein.

A rotating door <NUM> is provided on the box lid <NUM>. The rotating door <NUM> corresponds to the medicine containing slots <NUM>. The rotating door <NUM> may rotate around the axis <NUM> of the portable medicine box <NUM>, and thus open or close the medicine containing slots, making it easier to pick and place medicines.

As shown in <FIG>, a magnetic component <NUM> is provided at the bottom of the box body <NUM>. The magnetic component <NUM> interacts with a magnetic switch <NUM> set at the bottom of the rotating base <NUM>, for detecting whether the portable medicine box <NUM> is located on the medicine box coupling portion <NUM> (<FIG>).

As shown in <FIG>, a plurality of medicine containing slots <NUM> may be evenly set around the axis <NUM>, and thus make the whole portable medicine box <NUM> take on shapes similar to cylinder. Of course, shapes of the plurality of medicine containing slots <NUM> may also vary from each other. The overall shape of the portable medicine box <NUM> may also be other shapes, e.g. cuboid, star shape, heart shape, sphere, or other irregular shape, and is not limited herein.

As shown in <FIG>, the bottom of the portable medicine box <NUM> is provided with a round projection <NUM> and a linear projection <NUM>. Accordingly, as shown in <FIG>, an annular groove <NUM> and a linear groove <NUM> are provided on the medicine box coupling portion <NUM> correspondingly, to couple with the round projection <NUM> and the linear projection <NUM>, respectively. After the round projection <NUM> is fitted with the annular groove <NUM>, the portable medicine box <NUM> may be fixed on the medicine box coupling portion <NUM>, rotating along with the rotation of the medicine box coupling portion <NUM>. The fitting of the linear projection <NUM> and the linear groove <NUM> may, on one hand, fix the portable medicine box <NUM> on the medicine box coupling portion <NUM>, and on the other hand, limit the initial position of the portable medicine box <NUM> on the medicine box coupling portion <NUM>, to ensure that the medicine containing slots <NUM> in the portable medicine box <NUM> are in correct and fixed order. Of course, the coupling manner of the portable medicine box <NUM> with the medicine box coupling portion <NUM> may be other manner, e.g. snap-fitting, which is not limited herein insofar as the tight fit between the portable medicine box <NUM> and the medicine box coupling portion <NUM> can be guaranteed.

As shown in <FIG>, the rotating pad comprises the medicine box coupling portion <NUM> and the cup coupling portion <NUM>. The medicine box coupling portion <NUM> couples with the portable medicine box <NUM>. The cup coupling portion <NUM> couples with the cup <NUM>. The medicine box coupling portion <NUM> at least partly overlaps with the cup coupling portion <NUM>. This kind of overlapping structure may ensure that there is only one kind of container (the portable medicine box <NUM> or the cup <NUM>) present on the rotating pad, rather than more than one kind of containers present on the rotating pad, as shown in <FIG> and <FIG>.

As shown in <FIG>, the medicine picking up mechanism <NUM> comprises: a first foldable machine arm <NUM>, a second foldable machine arm <NUM>, a suction nozzle <NUM> and a driving mechanism <NUM>. The driving mechanism <NUM> comprises a first electrical motor <NUM> that drives the first and second foldable machine arms <NUM> and <NUM> to move in the horizontal direction and a second electrical motor <NUM> that drives the first and second foldable machine arms <NUM> and <NUM> to move in the vertical direction. So-called vertical direction is the depth direction of the medicine storage mechanism <NUM>.

As shown in <FIG>, in idle status, the first foldable machine arm <NUM> and the second foldable machine arm <NUM> are folded in the horizontal direction. As shown in <FIG>, in working status, the first foldable machine arm <NUM> and the second foldable machine arm <NUM> cooperate mutually to move in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction under the action of the driving mechanism <NUM>. The suction nozzle <NUM> is connect at one end of the second foldable machine arm <NUM>, and sucks medicines by negative pressure.

As shown in <FIG>, the medicine picking up mechanism <NUM> further comprises a pump <NUM> and a suction tube <NUM>. The suction tube <NUM> connects the pump <NUM> and the suction nozzle <NUM>. The suction tube <NUM> is further connected to a pressure sensor. The pressure sensor is used for detecting whether the suction nozzle <NUM> is sucking any object. When the nozzle <NUM> sucks an object, the pressure of the suction tube <NUM> changes, then the pressure sensor may determine whether the object is sucked by the change in the pressure. The pump <NUM> is used for delivering the generated vacuum to the suction nozzle <NUM> through the suction tube <NUM>.

As shown in <FIG>, <FIG>, the medicine storage mechanism <NUM> comprises a rotating table <NUM> and a plurality of medicine storage containers <NUM> that engage within the rotating table <NUM>. A protruding hollow passage <NUM> is set in the middle of the rotating table <NUM>. The rotating table <NUM> is able rotate around the hollow passage <NUM> under the driving of the electrical motor <NUM>. The hollow passage <NUM> is in communication with the medicine discharging opening <NUM>(<FIG>) of the automated medicine sorting and medicine dispensing system which is aligned with the overlapping portion of the medicine box coupling portion <NUM> and the cup coupling portion <NUM>. Therefore, regardless of whether the portable medicine box <NUM> or the cup <NUM> is placed on the rotating pad, medicines discharged from the medicine discharging opening <NUM> can drop exactly into the portable medicine box <NUM> or the cup <NUM>.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the number of medicine storage containers <NUM> is <NUM>. The number of medicine storage containers may be designed according to the size and the actual requirements of the automated medicine sorting and medicine dispensing system, and is not limited herein. In the present invention, each medicine storage container <NUM> has its own number, and the number is printed on the rotating table <NUM> so that it is easy for users to identify.

Furthermore, as shown in <FIG>, the medicine picking up mechanism <NUM> further comprises: a cover plate <NUM>, a horizontal slide rail <NUM> provided on the cover plate, and a first opening <NUM> and a second opening <NUM> opened on the cover plate <NUM>. The cover plate <NUM> rotatably couples with the rotating table <NUM>. The first opening <NUM> is in communication with the hollow passage <NUM>, and the second opening <NUM> is in communication with the medicine storage container <NUM>.

In the present invention, the first opening <NUM>, the hollow passage <NUM>, and the medicine discharging opening <NUM> constitute the medicine discharging passage. As shown in <FIG>, in operation, the first foldable machine arm <NUM> and the second foldable machine arm <NUM> protrude into the medicine storage container <NUM> through the second opening <NUM>, and exit from the second opening <NUM> after sucks medicines by negative pressure, then protrude into the first opening1271, lower the medicines. The medicines are sorted and dispensed from the medicine discharging passage, and enter into the portable medicine box <NUM> or the cup <NUM> located with the housing chamber <NUM>.

Furthermore, as shown in <FIG>, the first foldable machine arm <NUM> comprises a first upper arm <NUM> and a first lower arm <NUM>. The second foldable machine arm <NUM> comprises a second upper arm <NUM> and a second lower arm <NUM>. One end of the first upper arm <NUM> is slidingly connected with the horizontal slide rail <NUM>. The medicine picking up mechanism <NUM> further comprises first, second, and third hinges <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>. One end of the first upper arm <NUM> and one end of the second upper arm <NUM> are connected with the first hinge <NUM>, the other end of the first upper arm <NUM> and the other end of the second upper arm <NUM>, as well as one end of the first lower arm <NUM> and one end of the second lower arm <NUM> are connected with the second hinge <NUM>, the other end of the first lower arm <NUM> and the other end of the second lower arm <NUM> are connected with the third hinge <NUM>, the third hinge <NUM> is connected with the suction nozzle <NUM>.

As shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, the medicine storage container <NUM> has a curved bottom surface <NUM> on which at least one slope <NUM> is provided. Through this type of unique design, medicines gather within a fixed range of area under the force of gravity, so that they are easy for the suction nozzle <NUM> to suck.

As shown in <FIG>, the rotating base <NUM> further comprises a valve <NUM>. In the medicine sorting and dispensing state, the valve <NUM> is opened, so that it is connected with the medicine discharging passage. In the standby state, the valve <NUM> is closed to prevent insects from entering the sorting and medicine dispensing system and controlling its internal environment. Under the driving of the electrical motor <NUM>, the valve <NUM> may rotate around a pivot <NUM>, and thus to open or close.

As shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, the automated medicine sorting and medicine dispensing system further comprises a medicine loading door <NUM> which opens under the driving of a electromagnetic valve <NUM>. When the medicine loading door <NUM> is opened, a user can load medicines into the medicine storage container <NUM>, and when the loading is completed, the medicine loading door <NUM> can be closed. As shown in <FIG>, the user can activate the electromagnetic valve <NUM>, thereby releasing the locking mechanism <NUM> that locks the medicine loading door <NUM>. An infrared sensor <NUM> for detecting the opening or closing of the medicine loading door is provided at one side below the medicine loading door <NUM>. A movable joint <NUM> is provided at the other side below the medicine loading door <NUM> for assisting the medicine loading door <NUM> to open outward.

As shown in <FIG>, the automated medicine sorting and medicine dispensing system further comprises a sensing system <NUM>. As shown in <FIG>, the sensing system <NUM> may include an origin infrared sensor <NUM> provided on the lower surface of the rotating table <NUM>, a right-turn infrared sensor <NUM> provided on the lower surface of the rotating table <NUM>, and a left-turn sensor <NUM> provided on the lower surface of the rotating table <NUM>. The medicine storage container <NUM> is provided on the upper surface of the rotating table <NUM>. The left-turn and right-turn infrared sensors <NUM> and <NUM> are also used for detecting the number of rotating steps, thus to enable obtaining the specific position of the rotating table <NUM>. In this case, it is not necessary to rotate the rotating table <NUM> to the initial(home) position every time the power is turned on, which saves a lot of machine operation time, for example, it is possible to save time for the picking up mechanism <NUM> to pick up medicines from different medicine storage containers <NUM>.

As shown in <FIG>, the sensing system <NUM> further comprises a valve opening infrared sensor <NUM> for sensing the opening of the valve <NUM> and a valve closing infrared sensor <NUM> for sensing the closing of the valve <NUM>.

As shown in <FIG>, the sensing system <NUM> further comprises a cup infrared sensor (<NUM> is a signal receiver in the infrared sensor, while the signal transmitter is on the other side) for sensing whether a cup is placed in the cup coupling portion <NUM>. The sensing system <NUM> further comprises a medicine box origin infrared sensor <NUM> and a medicine box position infrared sensor <NUM> for sensing the specific position of the medicine containing slot <NUM> in the portable medicine box <NUM>.

As shown in <FIG>, and as described above, the sensing system <NUM> further comprises an infrared sensor <NUM>, for sensing the opening or closing of the medicine loading door <NUM>.

As shown in <FIG>, a magnetic switch <NUM> is further provided on the rotating base <NUM>. The magnetic component <NUM> interacts with the magnetic switch <NUM> set at the bottom of the rotating base <NUM> for detecting whether the portable medicine box <NUM> is located on the medicine box coupling portion <NUM>. When it is detected that the portable medicine box <NUM> is loaded on the medicine box coupling portion <NUM>, the electrical motor <NUM> is started, thereby rotating the portable medicine box <NUM>.

In some embodiments provided by the present invention, the sensing system <NUM> further comprises a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, for sensing temperature and humidity information.

As shown in <FIG>, the automated medicine sorting and medicine dispensing system further comprises a control system <NUM> for controlling each controllable element, such as the driving mechanism <NUM>, the pump <NUM>, the electrical motors <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, etc. The control system <NUM> is also connected to the sensing system <NUM> for receiving various sensing information provided by the sensing systems <NUM>, such as location, temperature, and humidity information.

As shown in <FIG>, the automated medicine sorting and medicine dispensing system further comprises an user interface <NUM>. The user interface <NUM> may be used by a user for offline management. In the control system <NUM>, a standby state is set. If the user interface <NUM> does not receive any activation signal from the user, the entire automated medicine sorting and medicine dispensing system will be in the standby state, the power may be minimized.

As shown in <FIG>, the automated medicine sorting and medicine dispensing system may further be connected to a cloud server <NUM>. The cloud server <NUM> may store private information of users, such as a prescription. When a user's portable medicine box <NUM> is placed on the rotating pad, the user may request the automated medicine sorting and medicine dispensing system to automatically retrieve prescriptions from the cloud servers <NUM>, and sort and dispense medicines according to the prescription.

Through the user interface <NUM> and the control system <NUM>, a user can perform various operations such as medicine sorting and dispensing, medicine management, time management, medicine loading, and parameter setting. In the following, taking medicine loading as an example, the operating principle thereof is described.

As shown in <FIG>, in step S801, user may input a "load medicines" instruction through the user interface <NUM>. After receiving the "load medicines" instruction, in step S802, the automated medicine sorting and medicine dispensing system ends the standby state, starts, and rotates the rotating table <NUM> to the origin position.

In cooperation with the sensing system <NUM>, in step S803, the control system <NUM> further controls the electrical motor, to drive the rotating table to rotate, thereby rotating medicine storage containers <NUM> that are empty or to be loaded to the medicine loading door <NUM>.

In step S804, the control system <NUM> controls the electrical motor to rotate, to open the medicine loading door <NUM>. After the medicine loading door <NUM> is opened, in step S805, the user loads medicines into the medicine storage container <NUM>, and closes the medicine loading door <NUM>.

After the medicine loading door <NUM> is closed, in step S806, the control system <NUM> detects whether the medicine storage container <NUM> is rotated to the correct position, and if not, controls the electrical motor to drive the medicine storage container <NUM> to rotate to the correct position.

Subsequently, in step S807, the automated medicine sorting and medicine dispensing system enters the standby state to lower the power consumption of the system.

Claim 1:
An automated medicine sorting and medicine dispensing system comprising:
a medicine storage mechanism (<NUM>) for storing a plurality of types of medicine;
a medicine picking up mechanism (<NUM>) for picking up medicines from said medicine storage mechanism (<NUM>);
a rotating base (<NUM>) comprising a housing chamber (<NUM>), a rotating pad that is set within said housing chamber (<NUM>) and an electrical motor (<NUM>) that drives said rotating pad to rotate, wherein said housing chamber (<NUM>) is in communication with a medicine discharging passage;
a portable medicine box (<NUM>) for receiving medicines sorted and dispensed, said portable medicine box (<NUM>) couples with said rotating pad, said portable medicine box (<NUM>) comprises a plurality of medicine storage slots, said plurality of medicine storage slots are able to rotate around the axis (<NUM>) of said portable medicine box (<NUM>); and
a cup (<NUM>) for receiving medicines sorted and dispensed, said cup (<NUM>) couples with said rotating pad;
wherein the automated medicine sorting and medicine dispensing system, is characterized in that said rotating pad comprises a medicine box coupling portion (<NUM>) and a cup coupling portion (<NUM>), said medicine box coupling portion (<NUM>) couples with said portable medicine box (<NUM>), said cup coupling portion (<NUM>) couples with said cup (<NUM>), said medicine box coupling portion (<NUM>) at least partly overlaps with said cup coupling portion (<NUM>).