Patent ID: 8245483

Claim:
A medicine packaging apparatus, comprising: a medicine supply means for supplying a medicine according to a prescription data; a medicine standby means for temporarily holding the medicine supplied by the medicine supply means and having the medicine stand by; a printing means for printing a relevant data on a packaging paper according to the prescription data; a packaging paper conveyance means for conveying the packaging paper; a medicine packaging means for packaging the medicine supplied by the medicine supply means into the packaging paper in a packaging position; and a control means for allowing the packaging paper conveyance means to convey a relevant portion of the packaging paper, on which the relevant data is printed by the printing means, to the packaging position and allowing the medicine packaging means to package the corresponding medicine standing by in the medicine standby means, wherein the medicine standby means includes a passage opening and closing means for opening and closing a medicine passage extending from the medicine supply means to the medicine packaging means at any position, wherein the medicine supply means includes: medicine accommodating portions, each of the medicine accommodating portions configured to accommodate one kind of a medicine; and a medicine collecting portion configured to collect the medicines supplied from each of the medicine accommodating portions to one place, and wherein the passage opening and closing means is provided at the medicine collecting portion, wherein the apparatus further comprises a memory means for storing a data correlating to a position information of each of the medicine accommodating portions and a medicine information of the medicine accommodated in each of the medicine accommodating portions, wherein the medicine information includes lot numbers inherent to the medicines accommodated in the medicine accommodating portions, and wherein the control means specifies the medicine accommodating portion accommodating the relevant medicine with reference to the data of the memory means based on the prescription data and begins supply of the medicine while allowing the printing means to print the lot number of the medicine on the packaging paper.