MEDICINE SUPPLY APPARATUS

• US 20100095635A1
• Filed: 12/23/2009
• Published: 04/22/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 02/20/2002
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Healthcare Company Limited (PHC Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sanyo Electric Biomedical Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation), Sanyo Electric Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Nakamura, Shigeyuki, Kobayashi, Koichi, Haraguchi, Manabu, ISHIWATARI, Hitoshi, Uema, Shinya
• Application Number:
  US12/646,946
• Publication Number:
  US 20100095635A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 53/131.2
• CPC Class Codes: B65B 5/103 for packaging pills or tablets
• CPC Class Codes: B65B 61/26 for marking or coding completed packages
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 11/42 the articles being delivered by motor-driven means
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 11/62 in which the articles are stored in compartments in fixed receptacles
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 11/64 in which the articles are individually suspended from stationary supports
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/0092 for assembling and dispensing of pharmaceutical articles medical dispensers for private use, A61J7/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 9/026 for alarm, monitoring and auditing in vending machines or means for indication, e.g. when empty

Abstract

A medicine supply apparatus which comprises, in a case accommodating section 8, a plurality of tablet cases 3 for accommodating medicine and charges or supplies medicine into a bag 72, which medicine has been discharged from each tablet case 3 based on a prescription. An identification code 26 is provided for each of the tablet cases 3 and read by an optical sensor 33 provided inside the case accommodating section 8, whereby discharge of medicine is controlled. A motor 14 for driving a discharge drum for the tablet case 3 is checked for disconnection by being regularly energized. The operating time and the frequency of operation of parts that wear out, such as the motors, are stored for use in failure prediction. Time slots in which medicine should be taken are printed, each in a different color, by a color printing mechanism 73 on the bag 72 into which medicine is charged.

Claims

1-24. -24. (canceled)

25. A medicine supply apparatus which comprises a plurality of tablet cases for accommodating medicines and charges medicines discharged from the tablet cases into a container such as a bag or a bottle, the medicine supply apparatus comprising:

a printer for printing on the container or a label for the container, wherein the printer has a color printing function.

26. A medicine supply apparatus which comprises a plurality of tablet cases for accommodating medicines, discharges medicine from a selected tablet case, and charges the medicine into a packaging container to supply the medicine, the medicine supply apparatus comprising:

a printing mechanism provided so as to print predetermined items about medicine to be charged into a packaging container onto the packaging container, wherein the printing mechanism is capable of printing with two or more different colors.

27. A medicine supply apparatus according to claim 26, wherein the packaging container has a label attached thereto, and the printing mechanism prints predetermined items on the label.

28. A medicine supply apparatus according to claim 26, wherein the printing mechanism comprises ink ribbons holding thermal transfer ink material and prints by heating the ink ribbons to transfer the ink material.

29. A medicine supply apparatus according to claim 26, wherein the predetermined items include indication of time slots in which medicine charged into a packaging container should be taken.

30. A medicine supply apparatus according to claim 26, wherein the printing mechanism prints the time slots in which medicine should be taken with different colors for each of the time slots.