MEDICINE DISPENSING SYSTEM AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF

• US 20150127145A1
• Filed: 04/17/2013
• Published: 05/07/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 04/18/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: JVM Company Limited
• Original Assignee: JVM Company Limited
• Inventors: Kim, Jun Ho
• Granted Patent: US 10,007,764 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/235
• CPC Class Codes: A61J 2205/10 Bar codes
• CPC Class Codes: A61J 2205/60 using magnetic or electronic identifications, e.g. chips, RFID, electronic tags
• CPC Class Codes: A61J 7/0084 for multiple medicaments
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/0092 for assembling and dispensing of pharmaceutical articles medical dispensers for private use, A61J7/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 9/001 Interfacing with vending machines using mobile or wearable devices
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/13 delivered from dispensers
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation

Abstract

Disclosed in the present invention is a medicine dispensing device comprising: a medicine storage portion for storing a medicine; a medicine discharge portion for discharging the medicine stored at the medicine storage portion; a communication module for communicating with a hospital server; and a control portion for controlling the operation of the medicine storage portion and the medicine discharge portion so as to allow the medicine to be discharged on the basis of prescription information of a prescription received from the hospital server through the communication module.

Claims

1. A medicine dispensing device comprising:

a medicine storage part configured to store a medicine;

a medicine discharge part configured to discharge the medicine stored in the medicine storage part;

a communication module configured to communicate with a hospital server; and

a control part configured to control an operation of the medicine storage part and the medicine discharge part to discharge the medicine based on prescription information of a prescription received from the hospital server through the communication module.

2. The medicine dispensing device of claim 1, further comprising an identification means configured to verify an access authorization of an administrator and to allow the administrator having the verified access authorization to access the prescription information of the prescription to discharge the medicine stored.

3. The medicine dispensing device of claim 2, further comprising:

a display part configured to display an operation state and various menus for performing a medicine storing operation and a supplying operation,

an input part configured to input a command to select a menu displayed on the display part and to perform a desired operation, and

a memory part configured to discharge information and store stock information of the medicine stored in the medicine storage part, and access information of the administrator.

4. The medicine dispensing device of claim 3, wherein the medicine dispensing device is communicably connected with one or more sub devices having the medicine storage part therein.

5. The medicine dispensing device of claim 4, wherein the medicine storage part is a receiving container which is removably installed to be slid forwardly from a cabinet forming an exterior of the medicine dispensing device.

6. The medicine dispensing device of claim 1, further comprising

a wrapper providing part configured to provide a wrapper packing the discharged medicine,

a printing part configured to print a notice informing an administration method of the discharged medicine on a sticker,

a collection container configured to collect erroneously discharged medicine, and

a bar code recognition part configured to recognize information of the collected medicine.

7. The medicine dispensing device of claim 1, wherein the medicine storage part comprises a medicine cartridge formed in a box shape of which an upper portion is opened to store the medicine therein and having a discharging port through which the medicine is discharged, and a cartridge installing part having a plurality of installation spaces in which the medicine cartridge is installed, and

the medicine cartridge is removably installed in an installation space of the cartridge installing part to be stacked, and comprises a discharging portion opening/closing part provided at a lower side thereof to open and close the discharging port.

8. The medicine dispensing device of claim 7, wherein the medicine cartridge comprises a cover installed at an opened upper surface to perform an opening/closing operation, a locking means installed at a rear surface of the medicine cartridge to lock and release the cover, and a discharging port opening/closing locking part configured to lock the discharging port opening/closing part and to release the discharging port opening/closing part when being installed at the cartridge installing part so that a locking release member installed at a front surface of the cartridge installing part is inserted therein, and

an insertion hole in which the locking release member is inserted is formed in the rear surface of the medicine cartridge.

9. The medicine dispensing device of claim 8, wherein the medicine cartridge further comprises a locking member configured to pass through a coupling hole formed in the cartridge installing part and to be coupled to a cartridge installation locking part provided at the cartridge installing part.

10. The medicine dispensing device of claim 8, further comprising a medicine refill device separately manufactured from the medicine dispensing device, and configured to open the cover of the medicine cartridge after the valid access authorization of the administrator is verified, when it is necessary to refill the medicine into the medicine cartridge,

wherein the locking means performs a locking release operation only when installed in the medicine refill device.

11. The medicine dispensing device of claim 7, wherein the medicine cartridge has a memory chip configured to store a serial number assigned when the medicine cartridge was first manufactured and information of the stored medicine, and

the cartridge installing part has a memory recognition part installed at a position corresponding to the memory chip of the medicine cartridge, and

the memory chip has a read-only-memory to prevent initially stored information from being deleted or changed.

12. The medicine dispensing device of claim 5, wherein the medicine discharge part comprises a conveying part which is moved up and down to convey the medicine discharged from the storage container to a predetermined discharge position, a gathering part configured to primarily gather the medicine conveyed by the conveying part, a take-out container configured to deliver the medicine delivered from the gathering part to the administrator, and a shutter opening/closing part configured to open and close a shutter.

13. The medicine dispensing device of claim 12, wherein the conveying part comprises a conveyor configured to convey the medicine discharged from the medicine cartridge toward the gathering part, and an up and down moving part which moves up and down the conveyor belt, and

a seat guide is installed at both sides of the conveyor belt to guide the medicine discharged from the medicine cartridge and to seat the medicine on the conveyor belt.

14. The medicine dispensing device of claim 13, wherein a buffer member is provided at at least one of an upper surface of the seat guide and an upper surface of the conveyor belt.

15. The medicine dispensing device of claim 13, wherein an opening is formed at one side surface of the gathering part to receive the medicine from the conveyor belt and to deliver the medicine into the take-out container, and

a transmitting shutter configured to perform an opening/closing operation by the shutter opening/closing part is installed at the opened one side surface of the gathering part, and

a take-out shutter configured to perform an opening/closing operation together with the opening/closing operation of the transmitting shutter is installed at one side of the take-out container.

16. The medicine dispensing device of claim 1, wherein the medicine storage part comprises a drawer in which medicine storage cases having different shapes according to types of the medicine are received, and

a drawer installing part having a loading space in which the drawers are arranged on a plurality of levels to be stacked.

17. The medicine dispensing device of claim 16, wherein a plurality of cells formed according to a shape of the received medicine are provided at the medicine storage case, and

the plurality of cells comprise a door installed at an upper surface of each cell to selectively open and close the upper surface, a door detecting part configured to detect whether the door is opened, a door opening/closing part installed at each cell to open and close the door, and a memory chip configured to store a serial number assigned to each cell when the cell was first manufactured and information of the medicine stored therein,

the memory chip has a read-only-memory to prevent initially stored information from being deleted or changed.

18. The medicine dispensing device of claim 17, wherein a withdrawal detecting part configured to detect a withdrawing state of the drawer is installed at a rear end of the drawer or a front surface of the drawer installing part, and

a fixing means configured to fix the drawer in a withdrawn state is installed at the front surface of the drawer installing part, and

the control part controls the door opening/closing part to open the door of the cell storing the medicine to be discharged, among the cells provided at the medicine storage case according to a detecting signal of the withdrawal detecting part, and controls the fixing means so that the drawer is slid into the drawer installing part, only when all of the doors are closed.

19. The medicine dispensing device of claim 17, further comprising a medicine refill device separately manufactured from the medicine dispensing device, and configured to open a door provided at each cell of the medicine storage case after the valid access authorization of the administrator is verified, when it is necessary to refill the medicine into the medicine cartridge.