Medicine packaging apparatus

• US 10,640,241 B2
• Filed: 03/16/2016
• Issued: 05/05/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 03/27/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Yuyama Manufacturing Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Yuyama Manufacturing Company Limited
• Inventors: Koike, Naoki
• Primary Examiner(s): Stinson, Chelsea E
• Application Number:
  US15/561,505
• Publication Number:
  US 20180065765A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,511 Days
• Field of Search: 53 53, 53475, 53244, 53 52, 53 54
• CPC Class Codes: A61J 3/00 Devices or methods specially adapted for bringing pharmaceutical products into particular physical or administering forms
• CPC Class Codes: A61J 7/0084 for multiple medicaments
• CPC Class Codes: B65B 1/30 Devices or methods for controlling or determining the quantity or quality or the material fed or filled
• CPC Class Codes: B65B 5/103 for packaging pills or tablets
• CPC Class Codes: B65B 51/10 Applying or generating heat or pressure or combinations thereof welding of plastics per se B29C65/02; closing plastic tube ends in general B29C57/10
• CPC Class Codes: B65B 51/28 Rollers for producing longitudinal and transverse seams simultaneously
• CPC Class Codes: B65B 57/10 responsive to absence, presence, abnormal feed, or misplacement of articles or materials to be packaged
• CPC Class Codes: B65B 57/18 causing operation of audible or visible alarm signals
• CPC Class Codes: B65B 59/00 Arrangements to enable machines to handle articles of different sizes, to produce packages of different sizes, to vary the contents of packages , to handle different types of packaging material, or to give access for cleaning or maintenance purposes
• CPC Class Codes: B65B 9/073 the web having intermittent motion B65B9/08 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B65B 9/087 the web advancing continuously

Abstract

A medicine packaging apparatus 10 has a packaging paper supplying part 42; a sealing device 50 for forming a packaging bag; a medicine introducing part 80 for introducing the medicines M from an opening portion of the packaging bag P in an unsealed-state; a detecting part 90 for detecting presence of the medicines M in an introducing path for the medicines M by the medicine introducing part 80 and a determining part which can determine that a packaging failure occurs under a condition that the presence of the medicines M is detected by the detecting part 90 within a time period after a timing of starting to seal the packaging bag P in which the medicines M have been introduced and before a timing of introducing the medicines M to be packaged in a subsequent packaging bag P through the medicine introducing part 80.

Claims

1. A medicine packaging apparatus, comprising:

a packaging paper supplying part for supplying a packaging paper for packaging medicines;

a sealing part for sealing the packaging paper supplied from the packaging paper supplying part in a short direction of the packaging paper;

a medicine introducing part for introducing the medicines into the packaging paper on an upper stream side of a carrying direction of the packaging paper than the sealing part; and

a detecting part for detecting presence of the medicines which are inside the packaging paper and on the upper stream side of the carrying direction than the sealing part;

wherein after the packaging paper is sealed, the detecting part can detect whether or not the medicines are present in a part of the packing paper at a head position of the carrying direction where the medicines are introduced before the medicines are introduced.

2. The medicine packaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sealing part is used to form a half-bag shaped packaging paper in which a portion of the packaging paper on a downstream side of a travelling direction of the packaging paper which is used for forming the packaging bag is closed by a first vertical seal in a short direction of the packaging paper, form a horizontal seal extending in a lengthwise direction at the opening portion of the half-bag shaped packaging paper, form a second vertical seal and close the packaging paper in the short direction thereof.

3. A medicine packaging apparatus, comprising:

a packaging paper supplying part for supplying a packaging paper for packaging medicines;

a sealing part for forming a packaging bag from the packaging paper supplied from the packaging paper supplying part;

a medicine introducing part for introducing the medicines into a half-bag shaped packaging paper on an upper stream side of a carrying direction of the packaging paper than the sealing part,

a detecting part for detecting presence of the medicines which are inside the packaging paper and on the upper stream side of the carrying direction than the sealing part; and

a determining part for determining a packaging condition,

wherein the sealing part is used to form the half-bag shaped packaging paper in which a portion of the packaging paper on a downstream side of a travelling direction of the packaging paper which is used for forming the packaging bag is closed by a first vertical seal in a short direction of the packaging paper, form a horizontal seal extending in a lengthwise direction at the opening portion of the half-bag shaped packaging paper, form a second vertical seal and close the packaging paper in the short direction thereof;

wherein the medicine packaging apparatus uses the detecting part to perform a sealing detection for detecting the presence of the medicines within a time period after a timing of starting to seal the half-bag shaped packaging paper in which the medicines have been introduced by the second vertical seal which is formed by the sealing part and before a timing of introducing the medicines should be packaged into a subsequent packaging bag through the medicine introducing part, and

wherein an event that the presence of the medicines is not detected in the sealing detection, is set as a determination condition for determining that the medicines are normally packaged.

4. The medicine packaging apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the sealing detection is performed after a timing of starting to form a first vertical seal of the packaging bag formed subsequently to the packaging bag in which the medicines have been introduced.

5. The medicine packaging apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the sealing detection is performed after a timing of starting to form a horizontal seal of the packaging bag formed subsequently to the packaging bag in which the medicines have been introduced.

6. A medicine packaging apparatus, comprising:

a packaging paper supplying part for supplying a packaging paper for packaging medicines;

a sealing part for sealing the packaging paper supplied from the packaging paper supplying part in a short direction of the packaging paper;

a medicine introducing part for introducing the medicines into the packaging paper on an upper stream side of a carrying direction of the packaging paper than the sealing part; and

a detecting part for detecting presence of the medicines which are inside the packaging paper and on the upper stream side of the carrying direction than the sealing part;

wherein after the packaging paper is sealed, a part of the packaging paper at a head position of the carrying direction where the medicines are introduced are photographed before the medicines are introduced into the part, and the detecting part can detect whether or not the medicines are present based on the photographed images.

7. The medicine packaging apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the sealing part is used to form a half-bag shaped packaging paper in which a portion of the packaging paper on a downstream side of a travelling direction of the packaging paper which is used for forming the packaging bag is closed by a first vertical seal in a short direction of the packaging paper, form a horizontal seal extending in a lengthwise direction at the opening portion of the half-bag shaped packaging paper, form a second vertical seal and close the packaging paper in the short direction thereof.