Medicine supply apparatus and tablet case

• US 20090045214A1
• Filed: 10/10/2008
• Published: 02/19/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 01/27/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: PHC Holdings Corporation
• Original Assignee: Sanyo Electric Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Kobayashi, Koichi, Sakurai, Tetsuo, Maruyama, Toshitake, Hatsuno, Akinori, Haraguchi, Manabu
• Granted Patent: US 8,186,542 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 221/154
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/0092 for assembling and dispensing of pharmaceutical articles medical dispensers for private use, A61J7/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 9/02 Devices for alarm or indication, e.g. when empty; Advertising arrangements in coin-freed apparatus alarms or warning devices indicating the interruption of flow to be metered G07F15/10

Abstract

An object is to provide a medicine supply apparatus capable of reducing a time required for charging medicines without causing any trouble during counting of the medicines, the apparatus comprises: a discharge drum which discharges the medicines from a tablet case; a medicine detecting sensor which detects the medicines discharged from the tablet case, and a control device, and this control device controls a rotating motor for rotating the discharge drum to discharge the medicines from the tablet case, counts the discharged medicines based on a detecting operation of the medicine detecting sensor, and changes a discharge speed of the medicine by the discharge drum depending on a type of medicine in the tablet case.

Claims

1-7. -7. (canceled)

8. A tablet case which contains medicines, comprising:

a storage container in which the medicines are stored;

a discharge drum which is disposed in a bottom part of the storage container and which rotates; and

a partitioning member which is disposed in the storage container and which vertically partitions the inside of the storage container while permitting passage of the medicines.

9. The tablet case according to claim 8, further comprising:

a lid which openably closes an opening of the storage container; and

a locking mechanism which retains a closed state of the lid.