WO2012121565A2

WO2012121565A2 - Drug inspection apparatus and method for an automatic drug packing machine

Info

Publication number: WO2012121565A2
Application number: PCT/KR2012/001740
Authority: WO
Inventors: 김준호
Original assignee: (주)제이브이엠
Priority date: 2011-03-09
Filing date: 2012-03-09
Publication date: 2012-09-13
Also published as: KR20120102875A; WO2012121565A3

Abstract

The present invention relates to a drug inspection apparatus and method for an automatic drug packing machine which inspects whether drugs discharged from a plurality of cassette devices disposed above the automatic drug packing machine are accurately discharged and packed. According to the present invention, the drug inspection apparatus is installed in the automatic drug packing machine for continuously packing a large amount of drugs received in a plurality of drug cassettes for individual doses to inspect whether the drugs are accurately packed. Thus, the drug inspection apparatus includes: a laser sensing part installed in a discharge hole of a hopper unit for collecting the drugs discharged from the drug cassettes to detect the number and shape of the drugs using laser light; and a rotating hopper disposed under the hopper unit to allow the drugs passing through the laser sensing part to temporarily stay therein, thereby transferring the drugs into the drug packing machine or a recovery device according to the inspected results of the drugs.

Description

Pharmaceutical Inspection Device and Method of Pharmaceutical Automatic Packing Machine

The present invention relates to a drug testing device and method of an automatic drug packing machine, and more particularly, a drug testing device and method for inspecting whether or not a drug discharged from a plurality of cassette devices installed on top of an automatic drug packing machine is correctly discharged and packed. It is about.

BACKGROUND ART [0002] Conventionally, automatic drug packing machines have been developed and used to supply medicines from a plurality of cassette devices containing drugs such as tablets and capsules for each type, and to continuously package them one by one.

As a conventional automatic medicine packaging machine, a plurality of cassette devices arranged on the upper portion of the main body and accommodates the drug, such as tablets or capsules of various sizes and shapes, and collects the drugs that are arranged in the lower portion of the main body to be discharged from the cassette devices falling The thing which consists of a hopper, the printing apparatus which prints various information on the surface of the wrapping paper which wraps a chemical | medical agent, and the packaging apparatus which wraps the chemical | medical agent collected by the hopper with the wrapping paper was used.

The medicine packaged by the automatic medicine packing machine as described above needs to be checked whether the correct medicine is packaged in each medicine package. That is, in the automatic medicine packing machine, dozens or hundreds of medicines are contained in each cassette device, and if an incorrect medicine is packaged, there is a risk of weakening accident, so the correct medicine must be checked for packing. .

In addition, it must be checked whether the drugs are discharged and not damaged due to collision with the surface of the hopper during dropping, or if less or more drugs are packed than the number of drugs determined due to an error in the packaging operation.

On the other hand, it is preferable that the packaging speed is not slowed down while carrying out the inspection of the medicine, and therefore, it is necessary to continuously study the medicine inspection apparatus and method that can be performed accurately and quickly.

The present invention to solve the above problems, the drug discharged for packaging passes through the laser light irradiated in parallel to detect the number, size and shape of the drug and compare it with information previously stored in the database to determine whether there is an error It is to provide a drug testing apparatus and method that can examine the.

According to the present invention for achieving the above object, a drug inspection device installed in the automatic drug packing machine for continuously packaging a variety of drugs contained in a plurality of drug cassettes at a single dose to check whether the correct drug is packaged, the drug cassette A laser sensor unit installed at an outlet of a hopper unit for collecting the medicines discharged from and detecting the number and shape of the medicines using laser light; A rotary hopper installed on the downstream side of the hopper unit to temporarily retain the drugs passing through the laser sensor unit and to deliver the drugs to the packaging or recovery device according to the results of the drug inspection; Provided is a drug testing device comprising a.

The laser sensor unit is preferably configured to detect the shape of the drug falling through the hopper unit by parallel laser light.

The laser sensor unit preferably includes a plurality of light emitting units provided in different directions so that a rectangular area of the laser light does not exist, and a plurality of light receiving units respectively disposed opposite the light emitting unit.

The rotary hopper is made of a plurality of receiving portions are arranged at the same angular interval around the center, the receiving portion is preferably configured to be rotated by a predetermined angle.

It is preferable that the said rotary hopper includes the motor for rotating the said accommodating part.

It is preferable that the bottom of the accommodation portion is configured to be openable and closed so that the medicine contained in the accommodation portion can be delivered to a packaging device or a recovery device.

The rotary hopper is provided with a pair so as to improve the packing speed, it is preferable that the medicine is configured to be alternately accommodated in the receiving portion of both rotary hoppers.

According to another aspect of the present invention, an automatic drug packing machine for continuously packaging a variety of drugs by one dose, comprising: a plurality of drug cassettes arranged on the top of the body and containing drugs such as tablets or capsules of various sizes and shapes; A hopper unit arranged under the main body to collect the medicines discharged from the medicine cassettes and dropped; A wrapping device for wrapping the medicine collected by the hopper unit with a wrapping paper; A drug inspection device disposed between the hopper unit and the packaging device for inspecting whether the correct kind of medicine is delivered to the packaging device by a predetermined number and delivering the medicine to the packaging device only when it is correct; It is provided with a pharmaceutical automatic packaging machine comprising a.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a drug inspection method for checking whether the correct drug is packaged in the automatic drug packing machine that continuously packs a variety of drugs contained in a plurality of drug cassettes by one dose, the drug discharged to be packaged A drug inspection method is provided, characterized in that an image is acquired using a laser light, and the acquired image information is compared with the shape information of the drug in the control unit to check whether the drug is the correct drug.

The image information may include a shape in which drugs overlap each other, and a shape of a gap formed between the drugs and the drugs.

The controller may check whether the medicine is correct by comparing the image information with information already stored in the database in association with a database in real time.

The automatic medicine packing machine is provided at the outlet of the hopper unit where the medicine discharged from the medicine cassette is collected, the laser sensor unit for detecting the number and shape of the medicine by using a laser light, and is installed downstream of the hopper unit The drug inspection device may include a medicine hopper including a rotary hopper to temporarily hold medicines that have passed through the laser sensor and then deliver the medicine to a packaging device or a recovery device according to the medicine test result.

According to the drug inspection method of the present invention, the laser sensor unit transmits the shape information of the drug passing through the laser beam to the control unit, and the control unit compares the shape information of the drug with the information of the medicine to be packaged previously stored in the database. It is desirable to determine whether the medication has been properly discharged.

The rotary hopper may be made of three receiving portions arranged at equal angular intervals around the central portion.

According to the drug inspection method of the present invention, the drug passing through the laser sensor unit is temporarily accommodated in the receiving portion of the rotary hopper, and determines whether the drug contained in the receiving portion is the correct quantity, state and type of medicine, If correct, rotate the rotary hopper by 120 degrees and open the bottom of the receiving portion to deliver the medicine to the packaging device to package the medicine. If not correct, rotate the rotary hopper by an additional degree of 120 degrees and then the bottom of the receiving portion. It is preferable to recover the drug by opening the drug delivery to the recovery device.

According to the present invention as described above, the drug discharged for packaging passes through the laser light irradiated in parallel to detect the number, size and shape of the drug and compare it with information previously stored in the database to check for errors. A pharmaceutical test apparatus and method are provided.

Accordingly, according to the automatic drug packing machine of the present invention, it is possible to quickly and accurately inspect and package the drugs discharged from each cassette device.

1 is a front view of an automatic medicine packing machine having a drug testing device according to the present invention,

2 is a view for explaining a test method of the laser sensor unit of the drug testing device according to the present invention;

3 is a view schematically showing a rotary hopper of the drug testing device according to the present invention,

4 is a view schematically showing a modification of the rotary hopper of the drug testing device according to the present invention,

5 is a conceptual diagram of an automatic medicine packing machine having a drug testing device according to the present invention, and

Figure 6 is a flow chart for explaining the test method of the drug testing device according to the present invention.

Hereinafter, the inspection apparatus and method of the automatic medicine packing machine according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

As shown in Figure 1, the automatic drug packaging machine 1 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, as in the prior art, is arranged on the upper portion of the body 11 to accommodate the medicines, such as tablets or capsules of various sizes and shapes A plurality of medicine cassettes 13, a hopper unit 14 arranged on the lower body 12 to collect medicines discharged from the medicine cassettes 13 and falling, and various kinds of information on the surface of the wrapping paper for packaging medicines. It comprises a printing device 15 for printing and a packaging device 16 for wrapping the medicine collected by the hopper unit 14 with a wrapping paper.

According to the present invention, between the hopper unit 14 and the packaging device 16 of the automatic medicine packing machine 1, the drug inspection for checking and checking whether the correct type of drugs are delivered to the packaging device 16 by a predetermined number The device 20 is arranged.

In the case of the automatic medicine packing machine shown in Figure 1, a pair of door-shaped cassette mounting stand is mounted on the upper portion of the main body 11, both sides of the medicine automatic packing machine having a structure that is opened and closed on both sides while turning around the pivot axis, respectively Although illustrated, this is merely an example, and the present invention is not limited by the appearance or internal structure of the automatic drug packing machine, the arrangement structure of the medicine cassette 13, the number of mounting, and the like.

In addition, in the case of the automatic drug packaging machine shown in Figure 1, the control device 17 that can be made, for example, including a display means, a touch screen, so that the user to control the operation of the automatic drug packaging machine and check the operation state on the front Although illustrated as being installed, this is also not intended to limit the present invention, it may be changed to mount the control device to the arm protruding from the main body.

According to the present invention, the chemical | medical agent test | inspection apparatus 20 is provided in the discharge port of the hopper unit 14, the laser sensor part 21 which detects the number and shape of a chemical | medical agent using a laser beam, and the hopper unit 14 The rotary hopper 25 is installed on the downstream side of the discharge port to temporarily hold the drugs passing through the laser sensor unit 21 and then deliver the drugs to the packaging device 16 or the recovery device (not shown) according to the results of the drug inspection. ).

As shown in FIG. 2, the laser sensor unit 21 of the drug inspecting apparatus drops through the hopper unit 14 by parallel laser light irradiated in a first direction and a second direction that are perpendicular to each other. It can detect the shape of. That is, the falling medicine blocks the laser light instantaneously, and since the laser light is parallel light, the actual size of the medicine may be sensed by the laser sensor unit 21.

To this end, the laser sensor unit 21 includes a pair of light emitting units 22 provided in a direction orthogonal to each other on a horizontal plane, and a pair of light receiving units 23 provided respectively opposite the light emitting units 22. Include. The information obtained from each light receiving unit 23 is transmitted to the control unit so as to confirm whether or not the drug passing through the laser sensor unit 21 is the correct drug to be packaged.

Although only a pair of light emitting units and light receiving units arranged as described above are shown, since there may be a rectangular area that cannot be detected depending on the direction of the laser light, at least one laser sensor unit 21 is installed at the outlet of the hopper unit. Can be. That is, in addition to the laser sensor unit 21 shown in FIG. 2, further light emitting units (not shown) which are additionally installed on the side where the pair of light receiving units 23 are located, and the pair of light emitting units 22. Another laser sensor unit (not shown) may be installed, which is formed of another light receiving unit (not shown) which is additionally installed at the side where the) is located.

As described above, according to the present invention, at least one light emitting unit and at least one light receiving unit may be provided at an arbitrary angle such that the rectangular area of the laser light does not exist as necessary.

As shown in FIG. 3, the rotary hopper 25 of the drug testing device is composed of a plurality of, preferably three, receiving portions 26 arranged at the same angular interval, for example 120 degrees around the central portion 27. The motor 28 is installed in the center part 27, and the accommodating part 26 can rotate by a predetermined angle by this motor.

One of the plurality of receptacles 26 is positioned so as to be able to stand below the outlet 14a of the hopper unit shown by the dotted line in FIG. 3, whereby one or more medications discharged from the medication cassette 13 are hoppers. Once collected by the unit 14 and discharged from the outlet 14a, it can be received in the receptacle 26.

When the medicine for one package is accommodated in the accommodating part 26, the accommodating part 26 in which the chemical | medical agent is accommodated by the motor 28 rotates, for example by 120 degree toward the passage (not shown) connected to the packaging apparatus 16. FIG. Let's do it. At this time, if it is determined that the information of the medicine detected by the laser sensor unit 21 is the medicine of the correct type, number and state to be packed, the bottom 26a of the receiving unit is opened to deliver the medicine to the packaging apparatus. If it is determined that the types of drugs are different, the number is incorrect, or the drugs are broken, the bottom of the container is not opened.

Rotating the receiving portion 26 containing the medicine toward the passage (not shown) connected to the packaging device 16, while another empty receiving portion 26 is located below the outlet 14a to continuously carry out the packing operation. To be done.

If the medicine contained in the receiving portion 26 is a medicine which is different from the packing information, the control unit moves the bottom 26a of the receiving portion when the receiving portion 26 is located in a passage (not shown) connected to a recovery device (not shown). Open the drug to recover. The medicine recovered in the recovery device may be discarded or recycled.

4 shows a variant of the rotary hopper. By using two rotary hoppers of the configuration shown in Figure 3 it is possible to improve the packaging speed because only the rotation angle is rotated 60 °. When two rotary hoppers are used, detailed description is omitted since the operation is performed in the same manner as described with reference to FIG. 3 except that the medicines are alternately accommodated in the receiving portions of both rotary hoppers.

Hereinafter, the drug test method according to the present invention with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6.

The drug inspection method of the present invention acquires an image of a drug discharged to be packaged, and compares the acquired image information with the shape information of the drug to check whether it is a correct drug. That is, the drug inspection method of the present invention is an algorithm for discriminating between overlapping drugs by grasping the shape of overlapping drugs and the gap formed between the drugs and the drugs.

In addition, according to the drug inspection method of the present invention, it is possible to check whether the correct drug by comparing with information already stored in the database, for example, the shape, size, etc. of the drug in conjunction with the database in real time.

The chemical | medical agent cassette 13, the chemical | medical agent test | inspection apparatus 20, the packaging apparatus 16, the collection | recovery apparatus 18, the control part 31, etc. are contained in the chemical | medical agent automatic packaging machine 1 as mentioned above. The device 20 includes a laser sensor portion 21 and a rotary hopper 25. When a user inputs medicine information to be packaged, the packaging of the medicine may be started through the automatic medicine packaging machine.

The automatic drug packing machine 1 of the present invention may further include a database 32. In the database 32, various kinds of information of the medicines contained in the medicine cassette 13, for example, the shape and size of the medicine, are stored in advance.

When the control unit 31 transmits the drug discharge command to the cassette device 13, the cassette device 13 containing the medicine to be packaged is driven from the plurality of cassette devices to discharge the medicine (S10).

The discharged drug is collected through the discharge passage (not shown) and the hopper unit 14 and delivered to the drug inspection device 20. The laser sensor unit 21 of the drug inspection device 20 transmits the shape information of the drug passing through the laser beam to the control unit 31, and the control unit 31, the shape information of the drug, that is, the shape of the drugs overlapping the drug And discriminating the overlapping drugs through information such as a gap formed between the medicines and determining whether the correct number of drugs has been discharged (S20).

On the other hand, in the case of the automatic medicine packing machine 1 further includes a database 32 linked to the control unit in real time, the control unit 31 and the information of the medicine to be packaged previously stored in the database 32 the shape information of the medicine; The comparison may also determine whether the medication has been correctly discharged.

The drug passing through the laser sensor unit 21 is temporarily accommodated in the rotary hopper 25 (S30).

The rotary hopper 25 transmits the medicine to the packaging device 16 or the collection device 18 in accordance with the packaging or collection command determined by the control unit 31. That is, it is determined whether or not the medicine contained in the accommodating part 26 is the correct quantity, state and type of medicine (S40), and if it is correct, the medicine is delivered to the packaging device 16 to package the medicine (S50), and it is correct. If not, the drug is delivered to the recovery device 18 to recover the drug (S60). When the medicine is collected, the same medicine is again discharged from the medicine cassette and packed.

After packing the medicine of the receiving portion 26, it is checked whether the medicine to be packaged remains (S70), and returns to S10 so as to continue the packaging or ends the packaging operation.

3 and 4 disclose a rotary hopper of the type which discharges the medicine to the packaging side or the recovery side while rotating about a vertical axis on a horizontal plane, but according to the drug inspection device and method of the present invention, As a device for discharging to the packaging side or the collection side, a rotary hopper of a type that rotates about a horizontal axis on a vertical plane, or an apparatus for discharging the medicine to the packaging side or the recovery side by opening or closing a passage by a partition or a shutter may be used. .

According to the drug testing device and method of the present invention, it is possible to safely administer the drug to the patient through the packaging of the correct drug, it is possible to accurately and safe drug administration without going through the operator or pharmacist's hands when packaging the drug.

In addition, according to the drug testing device and method of the present invention, it is possible not only to accurately check the number and type of drugs, but also to detect whether the drugs are broken and damaged.

In order to completely guarantee the drug inspection device according to the present invention, the medicine packaging machine may be configured to verify the medicine packaging is completed through the vision inspection device.

As described above, the drug inspection device and method of the automatic drug packing machine according to the present invention has been described with reference to the illustrated drawings, but the present invention is not limited to the embodiments and drawings described above, it is seen within the claims Various modifications and variations can be made by those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains.

Claims

A pharmaceutical inspection device installed on an automatic medicine packing machine for continuously packaging a variety of medicines contained in a plurality of medicine cassettes by one dose, and inspecting whether or not the correct medicine is packaged,

A laser sensor unit installed at an outlet of a hopper unit collecting medicines discharged from the medicine cassette to detect the number and shape of drugs using laser light;

A rotary hopper installed on the downstream side of the hopper unit to temporarily retain the drugs passing through the laser sensor unit and to deliver the drugs to the packaging or recovery device according to the results of the drug inspection; Pharmaceutical testing device comprising a.
The method according to claim 1,

The laser sensor unit is configured to detect the shape of the drug falling through the hopper unit by parallel laser light, drug inspection device characterized in that.
The method according to claim 2,

The laser sensor unit includes a plurality of light emitting parts provided in different directions so that the rectangular area of the laser light does not exist, and a plurality of light receiving parts respectively provided opposite the light emitting part.
The method according to claim 1,

The rotary hopper is made of a plurality of receiving portions are arranged at the same angular interval around the center, the receiving portion is characterized in that the drug is configured to rotate by a predetermined angle.
The method according to claim 4,

The rotary hopper includes a motor for rotating the receiving portion.
The method according to claim 4,

And a bottom of the container is configured to be openable and closed so that the drug contained in the container is delivered to a packaging device or a recovery device.
The method according to claim 4,

The rotary hopper is provided with a pair so as to improve the packaging speed, the drug inspection device, characterized in that the drug is configured to be alternately accommodated in the receiving portion of both rotary hoppers.
A pharmaceutical automatic packaging machine for continuously packaging various medications at one dose,

A plurality of drug cassettes arranged on the main body and accommodating drugs such as tablets or capsules of various sizes and shapes;

A hopper unit arranged under the main body to collect the medicines discharged from the medicine cassettes and dropped;

A wrapping device for wrapping the medicine collected by the hopper unit with a wrapping paper;

Any one of claims 1 to 7, arranged between the hopper unit and the packaging device, for checking whether the correct kind of medicine is delivered to the packaging device by a predetermined number and delivering the medicine to the packaging device only when correct. Pharmaceutical testing device according to;

Pharmaceutical automatic packaging machine comprising a.
A drug inspection method for checking whether an accurate medicine is packaged in an automatic drug packing machine for continuously packaging various drugs contained in a plurality of drug cassettes by one dose,

Obtaining an image of the drug discharged to be packaged by using a laser light, and the drug inspection method characterized in that the control unit compares with the shape information of the drug to check whether the correct drug.
The method according to claim 9,

The image information is a drug inspection method, characterized in that the overlapping form between the drug, and the form of the gap formed between the drug and the drug.
The method according to claim 9,

The control unit checks whether the correct drug is compared with the information already stored in the database by interlocking with the database in real time.
The method according to claim 9,

The automatic medicine packing machine is installed at the outlet of the hopper unit where the medicine discharged from the medicine cassette is collected, the laser sensor unit for detecting the number and shape of the medicine using a laser light, and is installed downstream of the hopper unit It is provided with a drug inspection device including a rotary hopper for temporarily holding the drugs passed through the laser sensor unit and delivers the medicine to the packaging device or recovery device in accordance with the drug test results,

The laser sensor unit transmits the shape information of the medicine passing through the laser beam to the control unit, and the control unit compares the shape information of the medicine with the information of the medicine to be packaged previously stored in the database to determine whether the medicine is properly discharged. Pharmaceutical test method, characterized in that.
The method according to claim 12,

The rotary hopper is made of three receiving portions are arranged at equal angular intervals around the center,

The medicine passing through the laser sensor is temporarily accommodated in the receiving portion of the rotary hopper, and determines whether the medicine contained in the receiving portion is the correct quantity, state and type of medicine, and if it is correct, rotates the rotating hopper 120 degrees. Rotate as much as possible and open the bottom of the container to deliver the medicine to the packaging device.If not correct, rotate the rotary hopper by an additional 120 degrees, and then open the bottom of the container to deliver the medicine to the collecting device. Drug testing method, characterized in that to recover the drug.