Tablet supply apparatus

• US 8,782,999 B2
• Filed: 09/29/2009
• Issued: 07/22/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2008
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: PHC Holdings Corporation
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Healthcare Company Limited (PHC Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Kondo, Akira, Mori, Takashi, Kobayashi, Koichi
• Primary Examiner(s): Desai, Hemant M
• Assistant Examiner(s): Weeks, Gloria R
• Application Number:
  US12/569,013
• Publication Number:
  US 20100077707A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,757 Days
• Field of Search: 532/42, 532/44, 532/48, 534/68
• US Class Current: 53/247
• CPC Class Codes: B65B 5/103 for packaging pills or tablets
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/0092 for assembling and dispensing of pharmaceutical articles medical dispensers for private use, A61J7/00

Abstract

A tablet supply apparatus including a main body having a case accommodating unit at the upper portion thereof, plural tablet cases that are secured in the case accommodating unit and in which tablets are accommodated, a chute through which tablets discharged from each of the tablet cases drop, a hopper that is disposed below the chute and provided in the main body, a filling device for filling tablets received by the hopper into a container, and at least one tablet feeder for freely putting into the hopper tablets whose kinds are other than the kinds of the tablets accommodated in the table cases. The tablet feeder has an opening for putting tablets, a shutter for temporarily trapping the tables put from the opening and a switch for opening the shutter, and is designed so that the put tablets on the shutter are visually recognizable.

Claims

1. A tablet supply apparatus;

comprising;

a main body including an upper portion and a lower portion;

a case accommodating unit provided in the upper portion;

a plurality of shelves provided in the case accommodating unit, the plurality of shelves configured to be drawn out forward of the main body;

a plurality of tablet cases secured in each of the shelves, each of the tablet cases configured to accommodate a tablet;

a tablet feeder provided on a front face of the lower portion, the tablet feeder configured to open forward of the main body, wherein the tablet feeder includes,

a tablet feeder body including a space formed in the tablet feeder body for putting an additive tablet on a bottom of the space, an opening formed at front of the tablet feeder body and a lid member provided at the opening such that,

the lid member opens forward of the main body,

the lid member is movable between an open state under which the additive tablet is allowed to be put into the space and a close state under which the additive tablet is not allowed to be put into the space,

the lid member is configured to be turnable in a front-and-rear direction around an axis extending in a horizontal direction, and wherein

when the lid member is in the open state, the lid member is set to be inclined to a part of the bottom of the space such that the additive tablet is allowed to be guided along the inclined lid member to the part of the bottom of the space, and

a shutter unit configured in the part of the bottom of the space and configured to open the part of the bottom of the space to drop the additive tablet,

a hopper provided in the lower portion and below the plurality of tablet cases and the tablet feeder, the hopper configured to receive the tablet dropped from each of the tablet cases or the additive tablet dropped from the tablet feeder; and

a filling device provided in the lower portion and configured to fill the tablet or the additive tablet discharged from the hopper.

2. The tablet supply apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the tablet feeder body further includes a slope plate inclined downwardly toward a front side such that the additive tablet is allowed to be guided along the slope plate to the part of the bottom of the space.

3. The tablet supply apparatus according to claim 2, wherein

the shutter unit includes a shutter plate configured to move rearward to open the part of the bottom from a close state in which the shutter plate is forefront.

4. The tablet supply apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a plurality of the tablet feeders provided on the front face of the lower portion, the plurality of tablet feeders configured to respectively open forward of the main body.

5. The tablet supply apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the tablet feeder further includes a switch provided on the front face of the lower portion of the main body, the switch connecting to the shutter unit,

the hopper configured to receive the additive tablet dropped from the tablet feeder, wherein when the switch is pushed, the shutter unit opens the part of the bottom to drop the additive tablet into the hopper;

and

the filling device configured to fill the additive tablet discharged from the hopper.

6. The tablet supply apparatus according to claim 5, wherein

the switch is configured to be in an active state when the lid member is in the close state.