VIAL LID FASTENING DEVICE AND MEDICINE ACCOMMODATING AND REMOVING DEVICE

• US 20100251667A1
• Filed: 07/31/2008
• Published: 10/07/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/03/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Yuyama Manufacturing Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Yuyama Manufacturing Company Limited
• Inventors: Maeji, Yoshinori, Tano, Minoru, Koike, Naoki, Yuyama, Shoji, Imai, Takafumi
• Granted Patent: US 8,381,491 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 53/317
• CPC Class Codes: B65B 5/103 for packaging pills or tablets
• CPC Class Codes: B65B 7/2807 Feeding closures
• CPC Class Codes: B65B 7/2835 applying and rotating preformed threaded caps for bottles or jars B67B3/20
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 11/165 using xyz-picker or multi-dimensional article picking arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 11/42 the articles being delivered by motor-driven means
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 11/44 in which magazines the articles are stored in bulk
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 11/70 in which the articles are formed in the apparatus from components, blanks, or material constituents
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/0092 for assembling and dispensing of pharmaceutical articles medical dispensers for private use, A61J7/00

Abstract

There is provided an improved vial lid fastening device capable of reliably completing lid fastening in a short time. The vial lid fastening device 30 has a lid rotating device 51, a lid placing member 52, 53, a transporting device 55, 56, a first lid body reservoir 115, 116, a vial lid holding and supplying device 57, and a vial discharging device 58. A lid body 3 slides on an inclined flat surface 102 to reach a terminal mechanism part 101, and a stepped section 31 of the lid body 3 engages a stepped section holder 105. The lid body 3 is grasped by chuck claws 35 and is rotated as engaged to the terminal mechanism part 101 of the stepped section holder 105. Then, one of rotation regulating protrusions 28a, 28b of the lid body 3 is allowed to collide with a rotation preventing member 107 of the lid placing member 52. Thus, position determination in a rotation direction is performed with reference to the rotation regulating projections 28a, 28b and such position is maintained fixedly. Thereafter, the lid body 3 is mated with the vial body 2 and then rotated by a chuck.

Claims

1. A vial lid fastening device for targeting a vial having a vial body and a lid body and mounting the lid body to the vial body, the targeted vial including threads engaging each other at the vial body and the lid body, the lid body including a rotation regulating part engaging a portion of the vial body to regulate rotation, comprising:

a vial body holding means for holding the vial body while maintaining a position in a rotation direction relative to a central axis;

a lid holding means for bring the lid body into contact with the vial body while maintaining a position in a rotation direction relative to the central axis with reference to the rotation regulating part; and

a lid rotating and fastening means for relatively rotating the lid body and the vial body.

2. The vial lid fastening device of claim 1, wherein the lid body and the vial body are mated to each other and then are relatively rotated to fasten the lid body, and

wherein a relative position in a rotation direction when the lid body and the vial body are mated to each other is such that when the lid body and the vial body are relatively rotated, a beginning end of the thread of the lid body and a beginning end of the thread of the vial body contact each other at a rotation angle of less than 15 degrees.

3. The vial lid fastening device of claim 1, further comprising

a lid placing part configured to rotatably place the lid body;

a rotation preventing member configured to contact the rotation regulating part in a predetermined rotation position; and

a rotating and positioning means for rotating the lid body with a torque of a predetermined range.

4. The vial lid fastening device of claim 3, wherein the lid rotating and fastening means combines the rotating and positioning means and has a chucking function for grasping the lid body, a lifting and lowering function and a tilting function,

wherein the lid body of the targeted vial has a stepped section and the lid placing part includes an inclined placing surface and a stepped section holder,

wherein the lid body slides down the placing surface and the stepped section holder engages the stepped section of the lid body in a position where the lid body slides down and then stops to prevent the lid body from floating upward, and

wherein the lid rotating and fastening means grasps the lid body by the chucking function and rotates the lid body and then tilts the lid body to move the lid body up in an inclination direction in order to disengage the lid body from the stepped section holder.

5. The vial lid fastening device of claim 3, wherein the lid body of the targeted vial has a concave portion and the thread and the rotation regulating part are situated on an inner periphery of the concave portion, and

wherein the lid body is held on the lid placing part with the concave portion lying prone and the rotation preventing member protrudes toward and is retracted from the concave portion of the lid body at the placing surface of the lid placing part.

6. The vial lid fastening device of claim 3, further comprising a first lid body sensor for detecting whether the lid body is situated on the lid placing part.

7. The vial lid fastening device of claim 6, wherein the first lid body sensor is configured to distinguish a lid body of a diameter larger than a predetermined dimension and a lid body of a diameter smaller than the predetermined dimension.

8. The vial lid fastening device of claim 6, wherein the first lid body sensor includes a plurality of sensors.

9. The vial lid fastening device of claim 3, wherein the lid body of the targeted vial has an exterior contour of a stepped shape, whereby the lid body includes a larger-diameter section and a smaller-diameter section,

wherein the smaller-diameter section has a threaded portion with the thread provided thereon and a flat-surfaced portion, and

wherein the lid rotating and fastening means has a chuck part with three or more holding claws, the holding claws grasping the flat-surfaced portion.

10. The vial lid fastening device of claim 9, wherein a projecting part is provided at the lid placing part with a predetermined height, the projecting part limiting a dimension for permitting the lid body to pass therethrough, and

wherein the dimension is larger than a diameter of the smaller-diameter section of the lid body and smaller than a diameter of the larger-diameter section of the lid body.

11. The vial lid fastening device of claim 1, further comprising:

a first lid body reservoir configured to stock the lid body;

a second lid body reservoir in a middle of a conveyance path wherein the lid body is conveyed from the first lid body reservoir to a predetermined location;

a first conveyor for conveying the lid body from the first lid body reservoir to the second lid body reservoir; and

a second conveyor for conveying the lid body from the second lid body reservoir to the predetermined location,

wherein the first conveyor is configured to remove the lid body out of the first conveyor and convey the lid body one by one and the second conveyor is configured to adjust an inside and outside position of the lid body and convey the lid body to the predetermined location.

12. The vial lid fastening device of claim 11, wherein the second conveyor includes a sharp inclination section, whereby the lid body takes an erected position at the sharp inclination section and the lid body without a normal inside and outside position falls off.

13. The vial lid fastening device of claim 11, further comprising a second lid body sensor for detecting a quantity of the lid body stocked in the first lid body reservoir.

14. The vial lid fastening device of claim 13, wherein the second lid body sensor detects whether a remainder of the lid body exceeds a predetermined quantity and/or whether a remainder of the lid body is below the predetermined quantity.

15. The vial lid fastening device of claim 1, further comprising a conveyor configured to convey the lid body to a predetermined position, the conveyor including:

an erected section for holding and lifting upward the lid body situated at a bottom side; and

a section having an angle of 80 degrees to 100 degrees relative to a horizontal plane at least a portion of the erected section.

16. The vial lid fastening device of claim 1, further comprising a third lid body sensor for detecting whether the lid holding means holds the lid body.

17. A medicine accommodating and removing device, comprising:

a vial body accommodating section configured to accommodate vial bodies of vials;

a medicine stocking section configured to stock different kinds of medicines;

a medicine dispensing means configured to dispense a desired medicine out of the medicine stocking section; and

a vial lid fastening device according to claim 1.