Medicine supply apparatus and tablet case

• US 8,186,542 B2
• Filed: 10/10/2008
• Issued: 05/29/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 01/27/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: PHC Holdings Corporation
• Original Assignee: Sanyo Electric Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Kobayashi, Koichi, Haraguchi, Manabu, Hatsuno, Akinori, Maruyama, Toshitake, Sakurai, Tetsuo
• Primary Examiner(s): Waggoner, Timothy
• Application Number:
  US12/285,654
• Publication Number:
  US 20090045214A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,327 Days
• Field of Search: 221/172, 221/197, 221/123, 221/124, 221/126, 221/127
• US Class Current: 221/127
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/0092 for assembling and dispensing of pharmaceutical articles medical dispensers for private use, A61J7/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 9/02 Devices for alarm or indication, e.g. when empty; Advertising arrangements in coin-freed apparatus alarms or warning devices indicating the interruption of flow to be metered G07F15/10

Abstract

An object is to provide a medicine supply apparatus capable of reducing a time required for charging medicines without causing any trouble during counting of the medicines, the apparatus comprises: a discharge drum which discharges the medicines from a tablet case; a medicine detecting sensor which detects the medicines discharged from the tablet case, and a control device, and this control device controls a rotating motor for rotating the discharge drum to discharge the medicines from the tablet case, counts the discharged medicines based on a detecting operation of the medicine detecting sensor, and changes a discharge speed of the medicine by the discharge drum depending on a type of medicine in the tablet case.

Claims

1. A medicine supply apparatus, comprising:

tablet cases;

attaching bases for mounting the tablet cases above an attaching plate, the attaching plate configured to mount all tablet cases in the medicine supply apparatus on a horizontal plane;

a holding device for positioning a medicine bottle and an external driving gear below the tablet cases;

wherein each of the table cases comprises;

a storage container in which medicines are stored;

a discharge drum which is disposed in a bottom part of the storage container and which rotates; and

a partitioning member which extends substantially obliquely from one wall of the storage container towards another wall in the storage container and which vertically partitions the inside of the storage container while permitting passage of the medicines; and

each of the attaching bases comprises;

a chute for allowing the medicines to discharge from a corresponding tablet case substantially vertically downwards from a groove formed in the discharge drum and an engagement gear that protrudes from a bottom side of the attaching base to engage the external driving gear located on the holding device having a motor that drives the drum, the discharge drum being disposed below the partitioning member, and the engagement gear being disposed below the discharge drum in a vertical direction,

wherein the holding device is configured to move horizontally below the attaching plate so as to dispense medicines from each of the tablet cases that are mounted on the attaching plate, the external driving gear engaging an engagement gear of a corresponding tablet case directly below a partitioning member of the corresponding tablet case; and

wherein the engagement gear and the chute protrude below the horizontal plane of the attaching plate via an opening provided in the attaching plate such that when the external driving gear moves vertically in order to mate the engagement gear, the holding device places the medicine bottle below the chute.

2. The medicine supply apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the table cases further comprises:

a lid which openably closes an opening of the storage container; and

a locking mechanism which retains a closed state of the lid.

3. The medicine supply apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein

a gap is formed between the discharge drum and the partition member above the chute in a side of the storage container having the one wall when medicines are stored in the storage container of each of the tablet cases.