TABLET SUPPLY APPARATUS

• US 20100077707A1
• Filed: 09/29/2009
• Published: 04/01/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: PHC Holdings Corporation
• Original Assignee: Sanyo Electric Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Kobayashi, Koichi, Kondo, Akira, Mori, Takashi
• Granted Patent: US 8,782,999 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 53/493
• CPC Class Codes: B65B 5/103 for packaging pills or tablets
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/0092 for assembling and dispensing of pharmaceutical articles medical dispensers for private use, A61J7/00

Abstract

A tablet supply apparatus including a main body having a case accommodating unit at the upper portion thereof, plural tablet cases that are secured in the case accommodating unit and in which tablets are accommodated, a chute through which tablets discharged from each of the tablet cases drop, a hopper that is disposed below the chute and provided in the main body, a filling device for filling tablets received by the hopper into a container, and at least one tablet feeder for freely putting into the hopper tablets whose kinds are other than the kinds of the tablets accommodated in the table cases. The tablet feeder has an opening for putting tablets, a shutter for temporarily trapping the tables put from the opening and a switch for opening the shutter, and is designed so that the put tablets on the shutter are visually recognizable.

Claims

1. A tablet supply apparatus;

comprising;

a main body having a case accommodating unit at the upper portion thereof;

plural tablet cases that are secured in the case accommodating unit and in which tablets are accommodated;

a chute through which tablets discharged from each of the tablet cases drop;

a hopper that is disposed below the chute and provided in the main body;

a filling device for filling tablets received by the hopper into a container; and

at least one tablet feeder for freely putting into the hopper tablets whose kinds are other than the kinds of the tablets accommodated in the tablet cases, wherein the tablet feeder has a tablet putting opening for putting tablets, a shutter for temporarily trapping the tablets put from the tablet putting opening and a switch for opening the shutter, and has a tablet putting space through which the tablets which are put from the tablet putting opening and temporarily trapped on the shutter are visually recognizable.

2. The tablet supply apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the switch is provided in the neighborhood of the tablet feeder.

3. The tablet supply apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the tablet feeder has a lid member that freely opens and closes the tablet putting opening, and the switch is a switch interlocking with a closing operation of the lid member.

4. The tablet supply apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the tablet feeders are provided so as to be arranged side by side.