Patent ID: 12195219

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the appended drawings to such an extent that the present disclosure can be readily implemented by one of ordinary skill in the art.

Detailed descriptions of parts irrelevant to the present disclosure will be omitted for the purpose of more clearly describing the present disclosure. Throughout the specification, the same components will be described using same reference numerals. In addition, the shapes and sizes of the respective components shown in the drawings are arbitrarily shown for the sake of convenience in description, and hence the present disclosure is not necessarily limited to the shapes and sizes shown. That is, it should be understood that specific shapes, configurations, and characteristics described in the specification may be modified in various embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the prevent disclosure, and positions or arrangements of individual components may be modified without departing from the spirit and scope of the prevent disclosure. Therefore, detailed descriptions to be described below should be construed as non-limitative senses, and the scope of the prevent disclosure should be understood to include appended claims and their equivalents.

First, referring toFIGS.2to4, an overall configuration of an automatic medicine packing machine100according to one embodiment of the present disclosure is exemplarily shown (inFIGS.2to4, an outer housing is omitted to more clearly show an internal configuration of the automatic medicine packing machine100according to one embodiment of the present disclosure).

The automatic medicine packing machine100according to one embodiment of the present disclosure may be configured to collect and pack medicines on a dose basis according to prescription information, like in a conventional automatic medicine packing machine. Further, the automatic medicine packing machine100is configured such that when all medicines accommodated in a medicine cassette have been used, the medicine cassette can be automatically replaced with a new medicine cassette to more rapidly perform the collection and packing of medicines in large quantities, as described below.

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the automatic medicine packing machine100may be configured to comprise a medicine cassette mounting part200on which a medicine cassettes110for supplying medicines are mounted; a medicine collecting part300configured to collect medicines according to prescription information and deliver the collected medicines to a medicine packing part; a medicine packing part400for packing and discharging the medicines collected by the medicine collecting part300on a dose basis; a medicine cassette storage part500in which a plurality of medicine cassettes are placed and stored; a medicine cassette replacement system600configured to replace the medicine cassette110with a new medicine cassette between the medicine cassette mounting part200and the medicine cassette storage part500; and the like.

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the medicine cassette mounting part200may be configured such that the medicine cassette mounting part200is mounted on one side thereof, and may perform a function of delivering the medicines accommodated in the medicine cassette110to the medicine collecting part300according to the prescription information.

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the medicine cassette mounting part200may be formed in a plate structure in which the medicine cassette110is mounted on a top surface of the medicine cassette mounting part200. A plurality of mounting holders210may be provided on the top surface of the plate structure that forms the medicine cassette mounting part200such that the medicine cassette110may be mounted on the top surface.

For example, the medicine cassette mounting part200may be configured such that the mounting holders210for mounting the medicine cassette110are arranged on the top surface of the plate structure in a matrix pattern. Further, the medicine cassette mounting part200may be configured such that a through-hole220is formed in a bottom surface of each mounting holder210and the medicines are discharged downward from the medicine cassette110disposed in each mounting holder210via the through-hole220(seeFIG.6). In particular, the through-hole220may be aligned with a through-hole (not shown) formed in a lower portion of the medicine cassette110mounted on the medicine cassette mounting part200so as to discharge the medicines accommodated in the medicine cassette110in a downward direction according to an operation of a shutter member, similar with a conventional medicine cassette.

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the medicine cassette mounting part200may be as a single plate structure, or may have a configuration in which a plurality of plate structures are combined.

For example, in the embodiment shown in the drawings, medicine cassette mounting parts (a first row of medicine cassette mounting part230and a second row of medicine cassette mounting part240) may be arranged in two rows at both sides of a guide rail610of the medicine cassette replacement system600(to be described later). The medicine cassette mounting part of each row may be configured to have a plurality of plate structures (three plate structures are provided in each raw of the embodiment shown inFIGS.2to4).

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the medicine collecting part300may be disposed below the medicine cassette mounting part200, and may include a medicine collecting tray310of receiving the medicines discharged from the medicine cassette110.

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the medicine collecting tray310may be configured to receive and transfer the medicines discharged from the medicine cassette110mounted on the medicine cassette mounting part200while moving relative to the medicine cassette mounting part200below the medicine cassette mounting part200through a conveyor belt320rotated by an electric motor (not shown).

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the medicine collecting tray310may be configured to include a plurality of medicine reception pockets330arranged along a longitudinal direction of the conveyor belt320and to receive the medicines dropped from the medicine cassette110in the medicine reception pockets330. To do this, each of the medicine reception pocket330may have one opened surface (for example, opened upper surface).

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, in the case in which a plurality of medicine cassettes110are arranged on the medicine cassette mounting part200in a widthwise direction of the conveyor belt320as in the embodiment shown in the drawings, the medicine reception pockets330may be formed in a structure having a long length in the widthwise direction of the conveyor belt320to receive all medicines dropped from the plurality of medicine cassettes110.

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, a medicine collecting hopper340may be disposed on one side of the medicine collecting tray310. As shown inFIG.5, the medicine collecting hopper340may be disposed below the medicine collecting tray310at one end portion of the medicine collecting tray310so as to collect the medicines collected and moved by the medicine reception pocket330of the medicine collecting tray310.

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the medicine collecting part300may be configured to further include a powdery-medicine supply part350for supplying medicines (for example, powdery medicine) other than the form of a tablet, capsule or the like, and the like. For example, the powdery-medicine supply part350may be formed in the form of a tray having partitions, similar with the conventional automatic medicine packing machine, and may be configured to supply the powdery medicine to the medicine collecting hopper340through a powdery-medicine transfer part360.

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the medicine packing part400may perform a function of receiving the medicines from the medicine collecting hopper340to automatically pack and discharge the medicines on a dose basis according to the prescription information. According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the medicine packing part400may be configured identically or similarly to a medicine packing part of the conventional automatic medicine packing machine. The medicine packing part400may be provided with a printing part configured to print information about a patient and/or medicines on the surface of a medicine packet.

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, a plurality of medicine collecting parts300and/or a plurality of medicine packing parts400may be provided in the automatic medicine packing machine100. For example, in the embodiment shown in the drawings, the medicine cassette mounting parts200are configured to be arranged at both sides of the guide rail610of the medicine cassette replacement system600. The medicine collecting parts300and the medicine packing parts400are configured to be arranged according to each of the medicine cassette mounting parts200. Thus, it is possible to more quickly collect and pack the medicines with the plurality of medicine collecting parts300and the plurality of medicine packing parts400.

Further, according to one embodiment of the present disclosure, an inspection system450may be further provided on one side of the medicine collecting part300and/or the medicine packing part400to check whether or not medicines are accurately collected/packed on a dose basis according to the prescription information by capturing an image of the collected or packed medicines.

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the inspection system450may be configured with a vision system or the like configured to capture an image of the collected or packed medicines using a camera, and may be configured identically or similarly to a medicine inspection system used in the conventional automatic medicine packing machine.

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the medicine cassette storage part500in which a plurality of medicine cassettes110are arranged and stored, may be provided at one side of the medicine cassette mounting part200on which a plurality of medicine cassettes110are mounted.

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the medicine cassette storage part500may be provided above the medicine cassette mounting part200, and may be formed in a shelf-like structure having a plurality of storage regions510in which the medicine cassettes110are disposed and stored.

For example, according to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the medicine cassette storage part500may be configured such that a plurality of medicine cassettes110are disposed and stored in the medicine cassette storage regions510which are tightly formed in plural rows and plural columns, as shown in the drawings.

In the embodiment shown in the drawings, the medicine cassette storage part500is provided on side surface portions of the main body of the automatic medicine packing machine100above the cassette mounting part200. However, the medicine cassette storage part500is not limited to the above-described configuration, and the medicine cassette storage part500may be provided only on a portion of the side surface portion or may be further provided on a wall surface or the like.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the medicine cassette storage part500may be provided to have a configuration in which storage shelves520on which a plurality of storage regions510are formed in plural rows and plural columns are arranged in plural rows so as to be able to store a larger number of medicine cassettes110.

Referring toFIGS.2to4, there is exemplarily shown the embodiment in which the medicine cassette storage parts500arranged at both sides of the main body of the automatic medicine packing machine100are formed in a shelf-like structure of double rows. For example, the medicine cassette storage part500may be configured to include a first row of medicine cassette storage part530having one or more storage shelves520arranged in one direction, and a second row of medicine cassette storage part540disposed at the rear side of the first row of medicine cassette storage part530and having one or more storage shelves520arranged in one direction.

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, when the medicine cassette storage part500is formed in a plural-row structure as described above, at least storage shelves other than the rearmost storage shelves may be configured to be movable along a movement rail550, and at least storage shelves other than the rearmost storage shelves may be configured to have an empty space560formed between the storage shelves.

For example, the medicine cassette storage part500may be provided to have a configuration in which a plurality of storage shelves are arranged in one direction, as the medicine cassette storage parts shown in both sides inFIGS.2to4. In this embodiment, the number of storage shelves disposed at the front side is smaller than that of the storage shelves disposed at the rear side by at least one or more to form the empty space560between the front-side storage shelves. Through the empty space560, a transfer robot620(to be described later) of the medicine cassette replacement system600can easily approach and grip the medicine cassette of the rear-side storage shelf.

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the medicine cassette replacement system600is provided between the medicine cassette mounting part200and the medicine cassette storage part500to automatically replace the medicine cassette110between the medicine cassette mounting part200and the medicine cassette storage part500.

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the medicine cassette replacement system600may perform a function of gripping and moving the medicine cassette110between the medicine cassette mounting part200and the medicine cassette storage part500.

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the medicine cassette replacement system600may be configured to be able to approach and grip a plurality of medicine cassettes110, which are disposed in the medicine cassette mounting part200and the medicine cassette storage part500, using the transfer robot620.

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the transfer robot620of the medicine cassette replacement system600may be formed as a multi-joint robot so as to access various positions. For example, the transfer robot620may be configured to have one or more joints630to access various positions and in various directions. Further, the transfer robot620may have a gripper640provided at the end thereof to grip the medicine cassette110.

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the transfer robot620of the medicine cassette replacement system600may be configured to be movable within the automatic medicine packing machine100via the guide rail610so that the transfer robot620can access various positions. For example, as shown inFIGS.2to6, the medicine cassette replacement system600is configured such that the transfer robot620is mounted on a mounting base650which is provided on the guide rail610disposed on one side of the medicine cassette mounting part200. Thus, by changing a position of the transfer robot620through the guide rail610, it is possible for the transfer robot620to access various positions in the medicine cassette mounting part200and the medicine cassette storage part500.

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the medicine cassette replacement system600may include a temporary stage660configured to temporarily locate the medicine cassette110in the vicinity of the transfer robot620.

As described above, by providing the temporary stage660on one side of the transfer robot620constituting the medicine cassette replacement system600and moving the transfer robot620to the vicinity of the medicine cassette110to be replaced on the medicine cassette mounting part200in a state in which a new medicine cassette110is placed on the temporary stage660, it is possible to perform a medicine cassette replacement operation of replacing the medicine cassette110to be replaced disposed on the medicine cassette mounting part200with the new medicine cassette110on the temporary stage660. This makes it possible to replace the medicine cassette with a new one using only one transfer robot having a multi-joint, and perform the medicine cassette replacement in a faster and easier manner. Although, in the embodiment shown in the drawings, the medicine cassette mounting parts200are provided in two rows, the medicine collecting part300and the medicine packing part400are provided in two rows below the medicine cassette mounting parts200, and the transfer robots620are provided at both sides of the medicine cassette mounting parts200for the purpose of a faster packing operation, the automatic medicine packing machine100configured as above according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may perform the medicine cassette replacement operation using the single transfer robot620.

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the medicine cassette110may be arranged in a same upward-downward orientation on the medicine cassette mounting part200, the medicine cassette storage part500, and the temporary stage660of the medicine cassette replacement system600, and the transfer robot620of the medicine cassette replacement system600may be configured to transfer the medicine cassette110without changing the upward-downward orientation of the medicine cassette110.

When the medicine cassette110gripped by the transfer robot620is moved while being obliquely oriented or greatly swing, there is a concern that medicines such as tablets, or the like stored in the medicine cassette110may be damaged. However, in the automatic medicine packing machine100according to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the medicine cassette110gripped by the transfer robot620is configured to be moved while maintaining the upward-downward orientation. This prevents the medicine cassette110gripped and moved by the transfer robot620from drastically shaking, thus suppressing damage of the medicines such as tablets stored in the medicine cassette110.

To do this, the medicine cassette110used in the automatic medicine packing machine100according to one embodiment of the present disclosure may be configured to have one or more grip grooves into which the grippers640of the transfer robot620are inserted and coupled.

For example, as shown inFIG.8, the medicine cassette110, which may be used in the automatic medicine packing machine100according to one embodiment of the present disclosure, may be configured to have a first grip groove120formed to extend in a first direction (for example, a vertical direction) and a second grip groove130formed to extend in a second direction (for example, a lateral direction) different from the first direction.

With this configuration, when the transfer robot620of the medicine cassette replacement system600grips and moves the medicine cassette110mounted on the medicine cassette mounting part200, the grippers640of the transfer robot620may be inserted into the first grip grooves120of the medicine cassette110in the vertical direction (i.e., a direction that the first grip grooves120is formed) to grip the medicine cassette110, as shown inFIG.9A. Further, when the transfer robot620grips and moves the medicine cassette110disposed in the medicine cassette storage part500, the grippers640of the transfer robot620may be inserted into the second grip grooves120of the medicine cassette110in the lateral direction (i.e., a direction in which each of the second grip grooves120is formed) to grip the medicine cassette110, as shown inFIG.9B.

More specifically, the medicine cassette replacement system600of the automatic medicine packing machine100according to one embodiment of the present disclosure may be configured such that, in the case of moving the medicine cassette110between the medicine cassette mounting part200and the temporary stage660, the grippers640of the transfer robot620are inserted into the first grip grooves120of the medicine cassette110to move the medicine cassette110while gripping the medicine cassette110from the top, and in the case of moving the medicine cassette110between the medicine cassette storage part500and the temporary stage660, the grippers640of the transfer robot620are inserted into the second grip grooves130of the medicine cassette110to move the medicine cassette110while gripping the medicine cassette110from the lateral side.

Although not shown in the drawings for the sake of convenience in illustration, the medicine cassette110may have a lid provided on one side thereof. When the lid is opened, medicines can be supplied to the medicine cassette110through the opened lid portion.

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, an interface unit configured to recognize a type, quantity and the like of medicines stored in the medicine cassette110, information on a position at which the medicine cassette is mounted, and the like, may be provided in the medicine cassette110, the medicine cassette mounting part200, the medicine cassette storage part500, the temporary stage660of the medicine cassette replacement system600, and the like.

For example, the medicine cassette110may include an identification information storage part that stores information on a type, quantity and the like of medicines stored in the medicine cassette110. The medicine cassette mounting part200, the medicine cassette storage part500, the temporary stage660, and the like may include an identification information storage part that stores position information on a position. The identification information may be transmitted and received through the interface unit so that the information on the type, quantity and the like of medicines stored in the medicine cassette110, and the position information of the medicine cassette mounting part200, the medicine cassette storage part500, and the temporary stage660on which the medicine cassette110is mounted may be transmitted and received with respect to each another.

With such a configuration, the automatic medicine packing machine100according to one embodiment of the present disclosure is capable of identifying the position where the medicine cassette110accommodating particular medicines is disposed on the medicine cassette mounting part200, the medicine cassette storage part500or the temporary stage660. Thus, the automatic medicine packing machine100can be automatically operated while automatically replacing the medicine cassette110according to an operational instruction provided from a controller (not shown).

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the interface unit provided in the medicine cassette110, the medicine cassette mounting part200, the medicine cassette storage part500, the temporary stage660, and the like may be implemented through a typical communication method such as Near Field Communication (NFC), Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), an electrical connector, or the like.

Further, according to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the automatic medicine packing machine100may be configured such that a medicine cassette which are frequently used and needs to be frequently replaced, or a medicine cassette to be placed soon among the medicine cassettes mounted on the medicine cassette mounting part200may be controlled to be placed in advance on the temporary stage660of the medicine cassette replacement system600, thus performing replacement of the medicine cassette in a faster manner and further enhancing the efficiency of the automatic medicine packing machine100.

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, a plurality of automatic medicine packing machines100may be provided in a factory-type configuration to perform the automatic medicine packing operation more efficiently, as shown inFIG.10.

In such a case, the automatic medicine packing machines100according to one embodiment of the present disclosure may be configured to be operated while automatically replacing an empty medicine cassette110in the medicine cassette storage part500with a medicine-filled cassette110by a medicine cassette refill system700.

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the medicine cassette refill system700may be configured to include a rail system710provided at one side of the automatic medicine packing machine100, a refill cassette stage720mounted on the rail system710and configured to be movable along the rail system710, a refill cassette transfer device (a first refill cassette transfer device730) located between the rail system710and the automatic medicine packing machine100to transfer the medicine cassette110between the automatic medicine packing machine100and the refill cassette stage720, a refill station740provided at one side of the rail system710to refill medicines to an empty cassette, another refill cassette transfer device (a second refill cassette transfer device750) configured to transfer the medicine cassette110between the refill cassette stage720and the refill station740, and the like.

The medicine cassette refill system700configured as above may be operated in the following manner.

First, an empty medicine cassette110stored in the medicine cassette storage part500of the automatic medicine packing machine100may be delivered to the refill cassette stage720on the rail system710through the first refill cassette transfer device730. To this end, the automatic medicine packing machine100may include a buffer station760provided at one side thereof to move the empty medicine cassette110to be refilled onto the buffer station760. The first refill cassette transfer device730may be configured to grip and deliver the medicine cassette110placed on the buffer station760to the refill cassette stage720. At this time, the operation of moving the empty medicine cassette110stored in the medicine cassette storage part500to the buffer station760may be performed by the transfer robot620provided in the automatic medicine packing machine100, the refill cassette transfer device (for example, the first refill cassette transfer device730) provided in the medicine cassette refill system700, or another additional transfer device, and the like.

As described above, when the medicine cassette110to be refilled is delivered to the refill cassette stage720, the refill cassette stage720is moved to the refill station740along the rail system710. Subsequently, when the refill cassette stage720is moved to the refill station740, the second refill cassette transfer device750grips the empty medicine cassette110placed on the refill cassette stage720and delivers the same to the refill station740. The empty medicine cassette110delivered to the refill station740may be filled with medicines by a pharmacist or manager working at the refill station740.

When the medicine refill of the empty medicine cassette110is completed in the above manner and the medicine-filled cassette110is placed on the refill station740, the medicine-filled cassette110may be supplied to each automatic medicine packing machine100in an order opposite the above order and may be stored in the medicine cassette storage part500of the automatic medicine packing machine100.

For implementation of such an automation system, the refill cassette state720, the refill station740, the buffer station760and the like may include a mounting holder configured to hold the medicine cassette. The mounting holder may include the identification information storage part for identifying the position information and/or the interface unit for exchanging the identification information with the medicine cassette therethrough, like the medicine cassette mounting part200, the medicine cassette storage part500, the temporary stage660, and the like described above.

With such a configuration, since the empty medicine cassette110located in the medicine cassette storage part500of the aforementioned automatic medicine packing machine100can be automatically replaced with the medicine-filled cassette110, it is possible to more quickly and stably perform the operation of collecting and packing the medicines using the automatic medicine packing machine100.

Although the present disclosure has been described above by way of particular matters such as specific components and the like, specific embodiments and the accompanying drawings, such descriptions are merely provided for the sake of easier understanding of the present disclosure. However, the present disclosure is not limited to the above embodiments, but various modifications and variations may be made by those skilled in the art.

A While the present disclosure has been described with reference to specific items such as particular components, exemplary embodiments, and drawings, these are merely provided to help understanding the present disclosure, and the present disclosure is not limited to these embodiments, and those skilled in the art to which the present disclosure pertains can variously alter and modify from the description of the present disclosure.

Therefore, the spirit of the present disclosure should not be limited to the above-described embodiments, and it should be construed that the appended claims as well as all equivalents or equivalent modifications of the appended claims will fall within the scope of the present disclosure.

DESCRIPTION OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

100: automatic medicine packing machine110: medicine cassette120: first grip groove130: second grip groove200: medicine cassette mounting part210: mounting holder220: through-hole230: first row of medicine cassette mounting part240: second row of medicine cassette mounting part300: medicine collecting part310: medicine collecting tray320: conveyor belt330: reception pocket340: medicine collecting hopper350: powdery-medicine supply part360: powdery-medicine transfer part400: medicine packing part500: medicine cassette storage part510: storage region520: storage shelf530: first row of medicine cassette storage part540: second row of medicine cassette storage part550: movement rail560: space (formed between adjacent storage shelves)600: medicine cassette replacement system610: guide rail620: transfer robot630: joint (of the transfer robot)640: gripper (of the transfer robot)650: mounting base660: temporary stage700: medicine cassette refill system710: rail system720: refill cassette stage730: first refill cassette transfer device740: refill station750: second refill cassette transfer device760: buffer station