Medicine storage apparatus

• US 6,684,126 B2
• Filed: 01/12/2001
• Issued: 01/27/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 01/18/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Tosho, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Tosho, Inc.
• Inventors: Hirobe, Hideaki, Omura, Shiro
• Primary Examiner(s): Crawford, Gene O.
• Application Number:
  US09/758,121
• Publication Number:
  US 20010008984A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,110 Days
• Field of Search: 700/231, 700/232, 700/236, 221/2, 221/6, 221/14, 221/123, 221/129, 221/131, 221/266, 221/279
• US Class Current: 700/231
• CPC Class Codes: A61J 2205/10 Bar codes
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 11/04 in which magazines the articles are stored one vertically above the other
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 11/28 in which the magazines are inclined
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/0092 for assembling and dispensing of pharmaceutical articles medical dispensers for private use, A61J7/00

Abstract

A medicine storage apparatus includes a cassette having an inlet-outlet opening for delivering/receiving items of medicine therethrough and adapted to store items of medicine arranged in array while a force is applied to the items of medicine toward the inlet-outlet opening; a support mechanism for supporting the cassette while the inlet-outlet opening is exposed; and a counting mechanism for counting the number of items of medicine stored in the cassette. A user takes out items of medicine stored in the cassette from the inlet-outlet opening in an arrayed sequence when the medicine is to be used. Among the delivered items of medicine, unused items of medicine are pushed back into the cassette from the inlet-outlet opening.

Claims

1. A medicine storage apparatus comprising:

(a) a plurality of cassette, each cassette having an inlet-outlet opening for removal and insertion of medicine containers therethrough and adapted for storage of the medicine containers arranged in an array biased toward the inlet-outlet opening;

(b) support means for removably supporting said cassette with the inlet-outlet opening of each cassette exposed;

(c) at least one subject-under-detection;

(d) a plurality of sensors, mounted in said support means, for detecting said object-under-detection; and

(e) a controller including arithmetic means for recieving the results of detection from all of the sensors and calculating the number of medicine containers stored in a cassette on the basis of the results of detection from all of the sensors.

2. A medicine storage apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said:

plurality of sensors are arranged in an array;

for detecting a position of a medicine container in one of the cassettes furthest from the inlet-outlet opening of the one cassette.

3. A medicine storage apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said plurality of sensors are arrayed in positions corresponding to each medicine container in one of the cassettes, wherein the number of sensors is greater than the maximum number of medicine containers which can be held by the one cassette;

and wherein said controller receives signals from the sensors corresponding to the arrangement of the sensors and, based on the signals, determines position of a medicine container furthest from the inlet-outlet opening of the one cassette.

4. A medicine storage apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising;

(f) a cassette holder for supporting said plurality of cassettes arranged in an array; and

wherein said support means removably supports said cassette holder.

5. A medicine storage cabinet according to claim 1 wherein the cassettes have openings therethrough at positions corresponding to locations of the sensors.

6. A medicine storage apparatus according to claim 1 further comprising:

(f) a weight serving as said at least one object-under-detection, said weight being slidably disposed within at least one cassette in contact with an uppermost medicine container to force the medicine containers in the at least one cassette to slide toward the inlet-outlet opening; and

wherein said plurality of sensors are arranged in a linear array extending along the length of a row of medicine containers stored in one of said cassettes, said plurality of sensors detecting the presence or absence of said weight at positions corresponding to respective sensors and generating signals indicative of the detections.

7. A medicine storage apparatus according to claim 6 wherein said support means is a shelf inclined relative to horizontal and wherein sensors are mounted in said shelf.

8. A medicine storage cabinet according to claim 6 wherein said weight comprises a permanent magnet and wherein said sensors are magnetic sensors.

9. A medicine storage apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

(f) a medicine storage box for storing items of medicine greater in size than the medicine containers; and

(g) a medicine storage box support for supporting said medicine storage box; and

wherein said arithmetic means also calculates the number of items of medicine of greater size.

10. A medicine storage apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said medicine storage box is removably supported by said medicine storage box support.

11. A medicine storage apparatus according to claim 9, further comprising a drawer mechanism for supporting said medicine storage box in a drawable manner.

12. A medicine storage apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said sensor are arranged in a linear array extending along a length corresponding to that of one cassette and detect the presence or absence of said follower at positions corresponding to respective sensors, and wherein said object-under-detection is associated with a follower mounted in the one cassette for biasing the medicine containers toward the inlet-outlet opening of one cassette.

13. A medicine storage apparatus according to claim 12 wherein said follower is a slidable weight.

14. A medicine storage apparatus according to claim 12 comprising a plurality of said linear arrays of sensors, each linear array positioned to correspond to one of said plurality of cassettes having said follower.

15. A medicine storage apparatus according to claim 14 wherein each of said followers is a slidable weight.