Medicine supply apparatus
View Patent ↗A medicine supply apparatus which comprises, in a case accommodating section 8 , a plurality of tablet cases 3 for accommodating medicine and charges or supplies medicine into a bag 72 , which medicine has been discharged from each tablet case 3 based on a prescription. An identification code 26 is provided for each of the tablet cases 3 and read by an optical sensor 33 provided inside the case accommodating section 8 , whereby discharge of medicine is controlled. A motor 14 for driving a discharge drum for the tablet case 3 is checked for disconnection by being regularly energized. The operating time and the frequency of operation of parts that wear out, such as the motors, are stored for use in failure prediction. Time slots in which medicine should be taken are printed, each in a different color, by a color printing mechanism 73 on the bag 72 into which medicine is charged.
1. A medicine supply apparatus, comprising:
a plurality of tablet cases, each having an accommodating container of medicine, a discharging device for discharging medicine from the accommodating container by a discharging operation, and a drive motor which is coupled to the discharging device so as to be able to drive the discharging device and which is rotated in a predetermined direction to make the discharging device perform the discharging operation; and
a control device that directs the driving motor to rotate in the predetermined direction for a time interval to perform the discharging operation,
the control device being configured to periodically perform an abnormality detection operation in which an energized current is supplied to the driving motor for driving the driving motor in a direction opposite of the predetermined direction for a predetermined period of time which is less than the time interval to perform the discharging operation, a value of the energized current at the motor is measured, and an abnormality of the motor is detected if the value of the energized current is outside a predetermined range.
2. A medicine supply apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the discharging device is formed in a substantial drum configuration, and medicine is discharged from the accommodating container by the driving motor being rotated in the predetermined direction.
3. A medicine supply apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein abnormality of the motor includes disconnection of the motor.
4. A medicine supply apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the abnormality detection operation comprises a forward rotation mode in which the discharging device is rotated in the predetermined direction and a reverse rotation mode in which the discharging device is rotated in a direction opposite to the predetermined direction, and the reverse rotation mode precedes the forward rotation mode.
5. A medicine supply apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the control device performs the abnormality detection operation for a plurality of driving motors in turn.
6. A medicine supply apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a display device, wherein the control device controls the display device to display information indicating driving motors in which abnormalities are detected in the abnormality detection operation.
7. The medicine supply apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the control device is configured to periodically perform an abnormality detection operation in which an additional energized current is supplied to the driving motor for driving the driving motor forward in the predetermined direction after the previous energized current is supplied to the driving motor for driving the driving motor in reverse in the direction opposite of the predetermined direction.
8. The medicine supply apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the control device is configured to periodically perform an abnormality detection operation in which the driving motor is determined to be disconnected when the value of the energized current at the motor is measured and is outside of the predetermined range.
9. A medicine supply apparatus for use with a plurality of tablet cases each having an accommodating container of medicine and a discharge drum for discharging the medicine from the accommodating container, comprising:
a motor for driving a respective drum; and
a control device for directing the motor to rotate forward for a time interval to discharge medicine from the accommodating container,
the control device being configured to periodically perform an abnormality detection operation in which a first energized current is supplied to the motor for rotating the motor in reverse for a predetermined period of time less than the time interval to discharge medicine, a second energized current is supplied to the motor for rotating the motor forward for the predetermined period of time, a value of the first energized current at the motor is measured, a value of the second energized current at the motor is measured and an abnormality at the motor is determined if one of the value of the first energized current and the value of the second energized current value is outside a predetermined range.
10. The medicine supply apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the control device is configured to periodically perform an abnormality detection operation in which the motor is determined to be disconnected if the first energized current is not applied to the motor.
11. A medicine supply apparatus for use with a plurality of tablet cases each having an accommodating container of medicine, comprising:
a discharge drum for discharging the medicine from the accommodating container and having at least one vertical groove;
a discharge port associated with the discharge drum such that medicine is discharged when the vertical groove aligns with the discharge port;
a motor for driving the discharge drum; and
a control device for directing the motor to rotate forward for a time interval to discharge medicine from the accommodating container,
the control device being configured to periodically perform an abnormality detection operation in which a first energized current is supplied to the motor for rotating the motor in reverse for a predetermined period of time which is less than the time interval to discharge medicine, a second energized current is supplied to the motor for rotating the motor forward for the predetermined period of time and an abnormality at the motor is determined if one of the value of the first energized current and the value of the second energized current is outside a predetermined range.