The present invention relates to a tray discharge apparatus for storing trays with medicine contained in each of storage areas provided on empty cart.
Conventionally, in the case of transporting medicine from pharmacy department, medicine for one patient contained in a tray which is automatically transported to a nurse station using a transport unit (see, for example, patent document below). As it is in efficient to transport the medicine separately from the nurse station to each patient's room, the trays are once stored in a cart and the cart is transported.
Patent Document 1: JP A 8-310625
However, work for storing the number of trays in the cart is very troublesome. As a construction in which the trays contained in the cart do not drop during transport by the cart is adopted, the trays are difficult to store the cart. Thus, conventionally automatic storage of trays into carts has been needed, though no solution has been found.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a tray discharge apparatus which is capable to automatically discharge and store trays with medicine contained in the cart and align the carts
The present invention provides a tray discharge apparatus as means to solve the problems, comprising:
a cart standby portion for putting a cart transported from a cart supply line on standby;
a tray supply portion having a tray shift unit for sequentially storing trays with medicine contained in each of storage areas of the cart transported from the cart standby portion, the tray supply portion aligning the carts with the trays stored against a tray discharge line juxtaposed with the tray supply line; and
a cart shift member for moving the cart to the tray supply portion from the cart standby portion.
According to this construction, the empty carts are prepared on the cart supply line in advance and then put on standby in the standby portion. When the empty cart is moved to the tray supply portion by the cart shift member, the trays can be automatically stored in the storage areas of the cart by the tray shift unit. The cart with the trays stored can be aligned on the cart discharge line.
Preferably, the tray supply portion is provided with an electromagnetic portion for attracting and positioning the cart moved from the tray standby portion, and
wherein the apparatus further comprises a control portion which drives the cart shift member to move the cart to the tray supply portion from the cart standby portion and then magnetizes or demagnetizes the electromagnetic portion.
According to this construction, position displacement of the cart when storing the carts in the storage areas can be surely prevented.
Preferably, the cart standby portion is provided with a guide portion which ascends when the cart is moved to the cart standby portion from the cart supply line and descends to guide the cart when the cart is moved to the tray supply portion from the cart standby portion.
According to this construction, the cart can be moved to the tray supply portion from the cart standby portion without causing position displacement. Also, during this movement, it is surely prevented that the next cart enters the cart standby portion.
Preferably, the tray supply portion is provided with a guide portion which descends to guide the cart when the cart is moved to the tray supply portion from the cart standby portion and ascends when the cart is moved to the cart discharge line from the cart supply portion.
According to this construction, the cart can be moved to the tray supply portion from the cart standby portion without causing position displacement. It is also possible to prevent position displacement of the cart when the trays are stored in the storage areas.
According to the present invention, the cart is once put on standby in the cart standby portion and moved to the tray supply portion, allowing the trays to be stored in the storage areas. Thus, it is possible to smoothly move the carts aligned on the cart supply line and align the cart with the trays stored on the cart discharge line. It is also possible to promote automation and improve efficiency of the work.
FIGS. 13(a), (b), (c) are front view showing examples of the trays stored in the cart;
1 Supply lifter
2 Tray discharge unit
3 Tray transport line
4 Medicine dispensing unit
5 card rewriting unit
6 Stack lifter
7 Tray
8 Cart
9 Cart transport unit
10 Control unit
11 Flange portion
12 Identification card
13 Cart standby portion
14 Tray supply portion
15 Cart shift member
16 First optical communication portion
17 First guide member
18 Elevation motor
19 Gear
20 Guide piece
21 Tray shift unit
22 Vertical rail
23 Horizontal rail
24 Tray holding member
25 Arm portion
26 Pushing portion
27 Second optical communication portion
28 Electromagnet portion
29 Second guide member
30 Guide roller
31 Guide cover
32 Driving belt
33 Slider
34 Pusher
35 Pulley
36 Gear
37 Shift motor
38 Support panel
39 Leg portion
40 Upper connection portion
41 Lower connection portion
42 Grip
43 Support portion
44 Caster
45 Guide groove
46 Storage area
47 Reflection plate
48 Cart supply line
49 Cart discharge line
50 Wheel
51 Frame
52 Drive motor
53 Detection member
54 Control substrate
55 Grip member
56 Bearing member
57 Drive transmission belt
58 Cart detection sensor
59 Position deviation detection sensor
60 Detection sensor
61 Third optical communication portion
62 Pulse driver
63 Signal converter
64 Grip arm
65 Drive shaft
66 Driven shaft
67 Drive gear
68 Driven gear
69 Support table
70 Sensor dog
71 Position detection sensor
72 Current collecting arm
73 Slit
74 Power supply unit
75 Guide rail
76 Trolley
77 Cover
78 Server
79 Input unit
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The supply lifter 1 stores a plurality of trays 7 in a stacked state and sequentially discharges the plurality of trays one by one to the tray transport line 3. Each tray 7, as shown in
The tray discharge unit 2, as shown in
The cart standby portion 13, as shown in
The tray supply portion 14, as shown in
The tray supply portion 14 is provided with a second optical communication portion 27 which conducts transmission and reception of data with respect to a third optical communication portion 61 provided in the cart transfer apparatus 9 that will be described hereinafter. On the upper portion of the side plate, an electric magnet portion 28 is provided. The electric magnet portion 28 is energized upon the empty cart 8 is transferred by the art transfer member 15 so that the cart 8 is attracted and positioned. This prevents displacement of the position of the cart 8 when the cart 8 is stored in the cart 8. On the middle portion of the upper plate of the tray supply portion 14, as shown in
As shown in
The cart transfer member 15, as shown in
The cart 8, as shown in
The tray transfer line 3 is so constructed that a plurality of rollers not shown is driven to rotate and convey the tray 7 downstream, i.e., to the tray discharge apparatus 2.
The medicine dispensing apparatus 4 is so constructed that medicines are packed by one dose based on a prescription data inputted from a server 78 or so and dispensed to the tray 7 that is conveyed on the tray transfer line 3. On the lower portion of the medicine dispensing apparatus 4, a stopper (not shown) is provided to once stop the tray 7 moving along the tray transfer line 3 if required.
The card rewriting apparatus 5 is so constructed that a predetermined matter can be printed on the identification card 12 provided on the tray 7 and, if already printed, the content can be rewritten and reprinted.
The stack lifter 6 is so constructed that the trays 7 which have been conveyed with the medicine contained can be stacked to put them standby and then supplied to the tray discharge apparatus 2 sequentially.
The cart transfer apparatus 9 comprises a first cart transfer apparatus 9a for transferring the empty carts 8 aligned on the cart supply line 48 and a second cart transfer apparatus 9b for aligning the carts 8 in which the trays 7 are stored at the tray discharge apparatus 2 with the cart discharge line 49 (the lines on which the cart transfer apparatuses 9a, 9b is disposed respectively are shown by two-dots chain line in
Each of the cart transfer apparatuses 9a, 9b comprises a drive motor 52 (pulse motor), detection members 53, a control substrate 54, grip members 55 and so on which are provided on a frame 51 supported by four wheels 50. The wheels 50 are attached on the both ends portions of the rotation axes rotatably supported by bearing portions 56. A drive power of the drive motor 52 is transmitted to the rotation axes via drive transmission belt 57. As the detection members 53, cart detection sensors 58 on the middle portions of the both sides, a position deviation sensor 59, search sensors 60 and a third optical communication sensor 61 are provided.
Each of the cart detection sensors 58 comprises three juxtaposed optical sensors each having a light emitting element and a light receiving element. A light irradiated from the light emitting element is reflected on the lower surface of the lower connection portion 41 of the cart 8 and received by the light receiving element so that the lower connecting portion 41 is detected. The all sensors are disposed so as to simultaneously detect the lower connecting portion 41.
The position deviation sensor 59 is used to detect the reflection plate 47 provided on the cart 8 and decide whether or not the cart 8 is positioned at the center of the cart supply line 48 or the cart discharge line 49, i.e. whether or not the cart 8 deviates from the center in the direction perpendicular to each line.
As the detection sensor 60, an ultrasonic sensor is used for example. The detection sensors 60 are disposed at total four places on both sides of the both end portions of the cart transport unit 9, respectively to detect the cart 8. For example, the detection sensor 60 is used when accessing the cart 8 in order to grip the cart 8 by means of the grip member 55 which will be described hereinafter, when detecting presence or absence of the cart 8, when transporting the gripped cart 8, when detecting whether or not the cart 8 bumps against the other cart 8 and so on.
The third optical communication portion 61 conducts data transmission and reception with the first optical communication portion or the second optical communication portion 27 provided on the tray discharge unit 2.
The control substrate 54 controls the pulse signal which will be outputted to the drive motor 52 via the signal converter 63 from the pulse driver 62 based on the data received through the third optical communication portion 61.
Each of the grip members 55, as shown in
In the frame 51 of the cart transport unit 9, as shown in
On the floor constituting the car supply line 48 and the cart discharge line 49, as shown in
The control unit 10, as shown in
Next, operation of the medicine supply system having above construction will be described.
First of all, the empty carts 8 are disposed and aligned on the cart supply line 48. That is to say, each of the carts 8 is disposed so that the lower connection portion 41 is orthogonal to the cart supply line 48 and the both sides of the lower connection portion 41 is substantially equalized with respect to the cart supply line 48. This arrangement may be not so accurate.
As shown in flowcharts in FIGS. 14 to 16, based on the prescription data inputted from the server 8 and so on (Step S1), the control unit 10 drives the supply lifter 1 (Step S2) to supply the trays 7 to the tray transport line 3. In the tray transport line 3, rollers (not shown) are driven to transport the supplied trays 7 to the medicine dispensing unit 4. When the tray 7 is moved to the medicine dispensing unit 4 which is possible to dispense the medicine of the prescription data, the tray is stopped by a stopper (not shown), causing the medicine concerned to be discharged. If all of the medicine can not be dispensed by one medicine dispensing unit 4, the tray 7 is also stopped at another medicine dispensing unit 4 to allow the medicine to be dispensed.
If the medicine is completely dispensed, patient data such as patient name and so on, medicine data such as prescribed medicine name and so on, and address data such as ward name and so on are printed on the identification card 12 attached on the tray 7 by the card rewriting unit 5 (Step S4). If anything is printed, it is rewritten. When printing of the identification card 12 is completed, it is decided whether or not the medicine contained in the tray 7 is a regular prescription (Step S5-1). If it is the regular prescription, the processing is shifted to the next step. If it is decided that the medicine is not the regular prescription but a temporary prescription, the tray 7 is stacked in the stack lifter 6 so as to able to take it out (step S5-2). Thus, even in the case of urgent prescription for a patient whose condition is rapidly changed, it is possible to put the tray on standby in the stack lifter 6 without storing the tray in the cart 8 to promptly cope with the urgency.
In the tray discharge unit 2, the second optical communication portion 27 of the tray supply portion 14 communicates with the third optical communication portion 61 of the second cart transport unit 9b. It is decided based on the detection result of the detection sensor 60 of the second cart transport unit 9b whether or not the cart 8 is positioned at the tray supply portion 14 (Step S6). If the cart 8 is not positioned at the tray supply portion 14, the first optical communication portion 16 of the cart standby portion 13 communicates with the third optical communication portion 61 of the first cart transport unit 9a and the first cart transport unit 9a is moved to the empty cart 8 most close to the tray discharge unit 2 based on the detection result of the detection sensor 60 of the first cart transport unit 9a (Step S7). If is positioned at the tray supply portion 14, the processing is shifted to Step S18 which will be described hereinafter.
In this case, the first cart transport unit 9a is moved at a high speed until it is decided by the detection sensor 60 positioned at the side of moving direction of the first cart transport unit 9a that the first cart transport unit 9a approaches the cart 8 by a distance. When it is decided that the first cart transport unit 9a approaches the cart 8 by a distance, the speed is deduced. In detail, the first cart transport unit 9a is moved at the high speed (constant speed) until the distance to the cart 8 becomes a first set distance; and if the distance reached the first distance, the moving speed of the first cart transport unit 9a is decelerated by one-fourth. When the distance to the cart 8 becomes a second set distance smaller than the first set distance, the moving speed is further decelerated by one-sixth with respect to the moving speed at the high speed.
When a predetermined time has passed while the position deviation detection sensor 59 does not detect the reflection plate 47 (Step S8; NO) , it is decided that the position of the cart 8 is deviated in the direction perpendicular to the cart supply line 48 and an error is informed (Step S12).
When the position deviation detection sensor 59 detects the reflection plate 47 (Step S8; YES), the first cart transport unit 9a is stopped (Step S9). Then, it is decided based on the detection signal of the cart detection sensor 58 whether or not gripping operation of the grip members 55 is possible (Step S10). This decision is conducted in accordance with whether or not at least two optical sensor of each cart detection sensor 58 positioned at both sides of the cart transport unit 9a.
If it is decided that gripping operation of the grip members 55 is possible (Step S10; YES), the motor (not shown) is driven to rotate the grip arms 64a, 64b to grip the lower connection portion 41 (Step S11). At this time, the lower connection portion 41 is guided as the both side surfaces are pushed by the side plate portions 55c of each grip arms 64a, 64b, allowing the cart is corrected even if the cart is positioned so that the lower connection portion 41 is skewed to a certain degree with respect to the direction perpendicular to the cart supply line 48.
If it is decided that gripping operation of the grip members 55 is impossible, that is to say, the skewed angle of the lower connection portion 41 with respect to the direction perpendicular to the cart supply line 48 is too large for the grip arms 64a, 64b to grip the lower connection portion 41 (Step S10; NO), an error is informed (Step S12).
If the lower connection portion 41 is held by the grip arms 64a, 64b, the first cart transport unit 9a is moved to the cart standby portion 13 of the tray discharge unit 2 (Step S13). Even when moving to the cart standby portion 13, the first cart transport unit 9a is moved at high speed until the unit approaches to a certain distance; and if the unit has approach to a certain distance 1, the unit is stopped or the speed is decreased. In detail, the first cart transport unit 9a is moved at the high speed until the distance to the cart standby portion 13 becomes a first set distance; the moving speed is decelerated by one-sixth until the distance becomes a second set distance from the first distance; and when the distance becomes the second distance, the unit is stopped. At this time, the pusher 34 of the cart shift member 15 is moved to the end portion of the cart standby portion 13. Also, the guide piece 20 of the guide member 17 is elevated to prepare for moving the cart 8 to the cart standby portion 13. Moving the pusher 34 and elevating the guide piece 20 are conducted provided that the preceding cart 8 is not positioned at the cart standby portion 13. Thus, failure that the carts 8 collide against each other is prevented.
The first transport unit 9a is further driven to move the empty cart 8 to the cart standby portion 13 based on the detection signal of the detection sensor 60. At this time, the pulse number of the applied voltage to the drive motor 52 is controlled to adjust the distance to a distance calculated based on the detection signal of the detection sensor 60.
When the empty cart 8 is positioned at the cart standby portion 13, the guide piece 20 of the guide member 17 is lowered to prevent the cart 8 from deviating at the time of shifting the cart 8. Also, gripping state of the grip member 55 is released and the first cart transport unit 9a is retreated from the empty cart 8. It is decided based on the detection result of the detection sensor 60 obtained from communication between the second optical communication portion 27 and the third optical communication portion 61 whether or not the cart 8 is positioned at the tray supply portion 14. If no cart 8 is positioned at the tray supply portion 14, the pusher 34 of the cart shift member 15 is moved so that the empty cart 8 is moved to the tray supply portion 14 from the cart standby portion 13 (Step S14). The empty cart 8 is moved as it is prevented by the guide member 17 (guide piece 20 and guide roller 30) and the guide cover 31 from moving laterally.
When the cart 8 is moved to the tray supply portion 14, the electromagnetic portion 28 is excited to attract and position the cart 8 (Step S15). Then, the tray shift unit 21 is driven to store the medicine contained tray 7 in the storage area 46 continuously (Step S16). As the cart 8 is positioned by the electromagnetic portion 28 and guided by the guide roller 30, the cart is never displaced during storage work of the trays 7.
The position of the storage area 46 in which the trays 7 are stored can be set, for example, as shown in FIGS. 13(a) to 13(c).
When storage work of the trays 7 into the cart 8 is completed (Step S17: YES), the second cart transport unit 9b is driven through the second optical communication portion 27 of the tray supply portion 14 and the third communication portion 61 of the second cart transport unit 9b to move the cart 8 to the tray supply portion 14 (Step S18). For example, in the storage pattern of
In a similar way, the empty cart 8 of the cart supply line 48 is transported to the tray discharge unit 2 by the cart transport unit 9. After the trays 7 are stored, the cart 8 is moved to the cart discharge line 49. In the cart discharge line 49, the carts 8 may be disposed at even intervals, though it is possible to dispose the carts 8 at different intervals in accordance with the transport address of the carts 8. For example, if there are three carts 8 to be transported to the hospital ward A, these carts are disposed at even intervals. Subsequently, if there are two carts 8 to be transported to the hospital ward B, these carts can be disposed at even intervals and with large distance to the group of carts 8 to be transported to the hospital ward A. This allows the operator to easily discriminate the carts 8 during transportation to each of the hospital wards, which would be convenient.
Thereafter, with respect to all prescription data inputted in the control unit 10, dispensing the medicine to the trays 7 and storing the trays 7 with the medicine dispensed in the cart 8 are completed (Step S21: YES), the processing is terminated. If not completed (Step S21: NO), the processing is returned to Step S1 to repeat the same processing.
The above processing is effective in such a case that the medicines are contained in the trays 7 and the trays 7 are stored in the cart 8 at night or so.
In the above embodiment, the cart transport unit 9 is provided with the detection sensors 55, though it is also preferable to further provide a vibration sensor. Even if the detection sensors 55 can not detect any obstacles, the vibration sensor detects vibration generated when the cart transport unit 9 collides with the obstacle. Based on the vibration, an error is informed and the cart transport unit 9 is stopped. This more reliably prevents any troubles that would be caused during movement of the cart transport unit 9.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
2004-136529 | Apr 2004 | JP | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
---|---|---|---|---|
PCT/JP05/08025 | 4/27/2005 | WO | 5/11/2007 |