Patent ID: 7131554

Claim:
A tablet feeder comprising: a case support base; a motor provided in the case support base and having a rotatable shaft; a tablet housing case having a discharge section; a rotor disposed in the tablet housing case and having a plurality of pocket sections for receiving and transporting tablets housed in the tablet housing case; and a drive transmission for transmitting power from the motor to the rotor such that tablets housed in the tablet housing case can be moved by operation of the motor to the discharge section of the tablet housing case via the pocket sections of the rotor, and then discharged from the discharge section, wherein the drive transmission comprises: a driven gear that is interlocked with the rotor; a worm gear that gears with the driven gear; a slide shaft that is disposed slidably along a shaft center of the worm gear and rotates integrally with the worm gear, wherein the worm gear and slide shaft are supported in the tablet housing case; and a drive section provided in the case support base, the drive section being integrated with a rotating shaft of the motor and engagable with, and/or disengagable from, one end portion of the slide shaft in an axial direction.