TWI901401B - Improved medication collection facility - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention is an improved medicine dispensing mechanism, which is installed in a storage machine for storing multiple medicines. The improved medicine dispensing mechanism includes: a storage box, which is tilted in the storage machine, and the storage box has a storage space, a bottom plate and a baffle. A first hole and a second hole are formed at the junction of the baffle and the bottom plate of the storage box, and the first hole and the second hole are connected. A medicine outlet is formed between the two sides for the medicine to slide down obliquely; a circulating picking module is arranged in the storage machine and adjacent to the baffle of the accommodating box. The circulating picking module includes two vertically arranged transmission wheels driven by a preset power unit, a conveyor belt capable of transmitting power is provided between the two transmission wheels, and at least one picking rod extending outward is installed on the conveyor belt.

Description

Improved medication collection facility

The present invention relates to an improved medication dispensing mechanism, particularly one in which a lever, inserted into the bottom side of a first hole of a baffle, is displaced downward by the rotation of a conveyor belt. The lever then presses against the top side of a medication adjacent to the baffle, causing the medication to rotate away from the baffle at an increasing angle and move its bottom side toward a medication outlet. Once the lever reaches the second hole, the medication is pushed and dropped from the medication outlet, thereby forming an improved medication dispensing mechanism. The cyclic operation of the dispensing module allows for easy retrieval of a single medication without causing other medications to fall from the container. This helps shorten the time it takes for pharmacists to package medication bags.

According to the data, people may get sick in their daily life due to the influence of diet, environment or climate, which requires medication to relieve the pain. With the rapid development of medical technology and the continuous improvement of medical quality, patients can get better medical effects. There are many kinds of medical supplies, medicines, injections, etc., and their effects are different. Patients must obtain suitable medicines after receiving prescriptions from doctors and pharmacists when seeking medical treatment, so that they can get good treatment. Because there are many kinds of medical supplies, there are many kinds of medical supplies. In the process of storage, placement, use and prescription, the management and monitoring of various medical supplies have become very important issues, because medical supplies are related to the treatment of patients and the control of their condition. Starting from the doctor's prescription to the dispensing pharmacist's preparation of the medicine, and even after the pharmacist's inspection, it is handed over to the patient. The process is checked at every level to avoid taking the wrong medicine, injection, etc., and to prevent patients from taking the wrong medicine, injecting the wrong injection, etc. It is extremely important and must be taken seriously. In the early social environment, when patients went to medical institutions for treatment, they were diagnosed by doctors and prescribed by them, and handed over to nurses. Medication preparation is done by pharmacists or assistants, but errors in preparation or administration of the wrong medication can easily occur, leading to serious consequences such as patients taking the wrong medication or receiving the wrong injection. To address this issue and regulate medication preparation in medical institutions, qualified pharmacists must be employed to prepare medications to prevent the recurrence of wrong medications. However, there are many medicines stored in the dispensing room of medical institutions. In order to gain space, the medicines are usually piled high. When dispensing medicines manually, people use chairs to raise the height or use stairs to go up and down to get the medicines they need. Although this can effectively control the storage of medicines, it also causes inconvenience when taking medicines. Because the appearance and shape of many medicines are very similar, it is difficult to manually get the medicines up and down. When moving up and down, a lot of time is wasted searching for medication, and it is easy to misread the medication. Taking medication from a high place can also easily cause the medication to fall or be damaged. Due to human negligence, the medication preparation process is delayed, affecting the smooth preparation process and even affecting the patient's medication, resulting in errors and omissions. Such errors are caused by manual medication preparation and must be taken seriously and improved.

Furthermore, to avoid the aforementioned known manual methods of preparing and dispensing medications, which are not only laborious and time-consuming but also prone to omissions and errors in dispensing, the applicant in this case proposed a separate dispensing machine in a previous invention application (publication number TW I749610). The main technical content is to dispense medications through automated mechanical operations, which can significantly reduce the probability of medication errors. However, since the multiple containers of the dispensing machine are formed into a circular rotation through a circulating medication dispensing module, and the containers of the dispensing machine are moved to the position of the medication dispensing space and automatically opened to expose the predetermined medication, the dispensing pharmacist can then remove the medication and package it in the medicine bag. While this method is highly convenient, the pharmacist still needs to extract a single medication from a container filled with multiple medications. This can cause the pharmacist to remove other medications while extracting the medication, and the pharmacist then needs to refill the remaining medications, which increases the time it takes to package the medication bags. These shortcomings are areas that manufacturers in this industry are urgently seeking to improve.

Therefore, in view of the above-mentioned problems and deficiencies, the inventor collected relevant information and, after multiple evaluations and considerations, designed the invention of this improved medication collection mechanism.

The main purpose of the present invention is to provide an improved medicine dispensing mechanism, which is installed in a storage machine for storing multiple medicines. The improved medicine dispensing mechanism includes: a storage box, which is tilted in the storage machine, and the storage box has a storage space, a bottom plate and a baffle. A first hole and a second hole are formed at the junction of the baffle and the bottom plate of the storage box, and the first hole is connected to the second hole. A medicine outlet for the medicine to slide downward obliquely is formed between the first hole and the second hole; a circulating picking module is arranged in the storage machine and adjacent to the baffle of the accommodating box. The circulating picking module includes two vertically arranged transmission wheels driven by a preset power unit, a conveyor belt capable of transmitting power is provided between the two transmission wheels, and at least one picking rod extending outward is installed on the conveyor belt. Through the above, the conveyor belt rotates to cause the lever to extend into the bottom side of the first hole of the baffle and move downward, and the lever presses against the top side of the medicine adjacent to the baffle, causing the medicine to rotate away from the baffle at an increasing angle and move its bottom side toward the medicine outlet. When the lever moves downward to the second hole, the medicine can be pushed to fall from the medicine outlet, thereby forming an improved medicine dispensing mechanism. The action of the cyclic dispensing module can easily obtain a single medicine without causing other excess medicines to fall from the storage box, which is beneficial for shortening the operation time of the dispensing pharmacist when performing the medicine bag packaging operation.

A secondary purpose of the present invention is to provide a pressing member on a side of the container away from the baffle. The pressing member generates a sliding stress toward the baffle by the inclined bottom plate, thereby pressing the medicines toward the baffle. The pressing member is composed of a metal block with a certain weight.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a space sensor on the bottom plate or side plate of the container near the baffle to detect the presence of medicine, wherein the space sensor is an infrared sensor.

Another object of the present invention is that the container box has an appearance of a parallelogram, and the baffle of the container box is tilted so that the medicines in contact with the baffle are also tilted.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned objectives and effects, the technical means and structures adopted by the present invention are described in detail with reference to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, and their features and functions are described below for a complete understanding.

Please refer to Figures 1-6, which respectively illustrate the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth actions of the improved medication dispensing mechanism of the present invention and a three-dimensional external view of the storage box. As can be clearly seen from the figures, the improved medication dispensing mechanism of the present invention mainly includes a storage box 1 and a circulating dispensing module 2, and is installed inside a storage device (not shown) for storing medications 3. Its main components and features are detailed as follows:

The storage box 1 is tilted and arranged in the storage machine. The storage box 1 has a storage space 10 for accommodating a plurality of medicines 3 in an inclined arrangement. The bottom of the storage space 10 has a bottom plate 11 for the medicines 3 to support and slide. The storage box 1 is provided with a baffle 12 on its inclined lower side. A first hole 101 and a second hole 102 are formed at the junction of the baffle 12 and the bottom plate 11 of the storage box 1, and a medicine outlet 103 is formed between the first hole 101 and the second hole 102 for the medicines 3 to slide downwardly.

The circulating picking module 2 is arranged in the storage machine and adjacent to the baffle 12 of the accommodating box 1. The circulating picking module 2 includes two vertically arranged transmission wheels 21 driven by a preset power unit (not shown in the figure). A conveyor belt 22 for transmitting power is provided between the two transmission wheels 21. At least one pick rod 23 extending outward is installed on the conveyor belt 22. The pick rod 23 can be extended into the conveyor belt 22 by rotating the conveyor belt 22. The bottom side of the first hole 101 of the baffle 12 is displaced downward, and the lever 23 is pressed against the top side of the medicine 3 adjacent to the baffle 12, causing the medicine 3 to rotate away from the baffle 12 at an increasing tilt angle and move its bottom side toward the medicine outlet 103. When the lever 23 moves downward to the second hole 102, it pushes the medicine 3 to fall from the medicine outlet 103, thereby forming an improved medicine dispensing mechanism.

In the container 1, a pressing member 14 is provided on one side of the medicines 3 away from the baffle 12. The pressing member 14 generates a sliding stress toward the baffle 12 by the inclined bottom plate 11, thereby pressing the medicines 3 to slide toward the baffle 12. The pressing member 14 is made of a metal block with a certain weight. A space sensor 15 is provided on the bottom plate 11 or the side plate 13 of the container 1 near the baffle 12 to detect the presence of medicines. The space sensor 15 is an infrared sensor (IR The container 1 is approximately parallelogram-shaped in appearance, and the baffle 12 of the container 1 is tilted, causing the medicines 3 in contact with the baffle 12 to also be tilted. By designing the space for storing the medicines 3 in the container 1, the storage capacity of the medicines 3 can be maximized.

The preset power unit is a motor that provides rotational kinetic energy to the drive wheel 21 through a preset speed reduction mechanism. The drive wheel 21 is formed of a roller or a gear, and the conveyor belt 22 is formed of a belt or a chain. The lever 23 is provided with a non-slip sleeve 231 that increases the frictional force in contact with the medicine 3.

When the improved medicine dispensing mechanism of the present invention is actually in operation, the power unit of the circulating dispensing module 2 receives a pulse control signal from a preset micro-control unit (not shown in the figure), and the power unit is activated to rotate at least one of the two driving wheels 21. The rotation of the conveyor belt 22 allows the dispensing rod 23 to extend into the bottom of the first hole 101 of the baffle 12. The side is displaced downward, and the lever 23 is pressed against the top of the medicine 3 adjacent to the baffle 12. Since the medicine 3 is a sheet-shaped medicine packaged with multiple tablets (it can also be a boxed medicine), it is very easy to stack it in an inclined direction, so that the medicine 3 is rotated away from the baffle 12 with an increasing tilt angle and its bottom side moves toward the medicine outlet 103. Moreover, since the medicine outlet 103 is located at the bottom of the baffle 12, the medicine 3 adjacent to the baffle 12 will not fall from the medicine outlet 103 without external force. When the lever 23 moves downward to the second hole 102, the medicine 3 can be pushed from the medicine outlet 103 to the medicine taking space of the storage machine (not shown in the figure), and the medicine 3 can be taken out through the circulation mode. The action of group 2 can easily obtain a single medicine 3 without causing other excess medicines 3 to fall from the container 1, which is beneficial for the pharmacist to shorten the operation time when performing the medicine bag packaging operation. The improved medicine dispensing mechanism of the present invention is applied to the automated medicine dispensing, packaging or dispensing operation and has excellent practicality. Therefore, a patent application is filed to seek patent protection.

The above is merely a preferred embodiment of the present invention and does not limit the patent scope of the present invention. Therefore, any simple modifications and equivalent structural changes made by applying the contents of the description and drawings of the present invention should be included in the patent scope of the present invention and should be disclosed.

In summary, the improved medication dispensing mechanism of this invention is capable of achieving its efficacy and purpose when used. Therefore, this invention is truly an invention of exceptional practicality. To meet the application requirements for an invention patent, we have filed this application in accordance with the law. We hope that the Review Committee will approve this application as soon as possible to protect the inventor's hard work. If the Review Committee has any questions, please feel free to contact us with instructions. The inventor will fully cooperate and would be grateful for such assistance.

1: Storage box 10: Storage space 101: First hole 102: Second hole 103: Medicine outlet 11: Bottom plate 12: Baffle 13: Side plate 14: Extrusion element 15: Space sensor 2: Circular picking module 21: Drive wheel 22: Conveyor belt 23: Pickup rod 231: Anti-slip sleeve 3: Medicine

[Figure 1] is a schematic diagram of the first operation of the improved medication dispensing mechanism of the present invention. [Figure 2] is a schematic diagram of the second operation of the improved medication dispensing mechanism of the present invention. [Figure 3] is a schematic diagram of the third operation of the improved medication dispensing mechanism of the present invention. [Figure 4] is a schematic diagram of the fourth operation of the improved medication dispensing mechanism of the present invention. [Figure 5] is a schematic diagram of the fifth operation of the improved medication dispensing mechanism of the present invention. [Figure 6] is a three-dimensional external view of the storage box of the present invention.

1: Storage Box

10: Storage space

11: Base Plate

12: Baffle

13:Side panel

14: Extrusion

2: Cyclic dialing module

21: Drive wheel

22: Conveyor belt

23: Putt

231: Anti-slip sleeve

3:Medications

Claims (8)

An improved medication dispensing mechanism is installed within a storage device for storing multiple medications. The improved medication dispensing mechanism comprises: A storage box, tilted within the storage device, having a storage space within the storage box for accommodating multiple medications arranged in an inclined manner. A bottom plate is provided at the bottom of the storage space for the medications to support and slide against. A baffle is provided on the inclined lower side of the storage box. A first hole and a second hole are formed longitudinally at the junction of the baffle and the bottom plate of the storage box. A medication outlet is formed between the first and second holes, through which the medications can slide downwardly. A circulating picking module is provided in the storage machine and adjacent to the baffle of the accommodating box. The circulating picking module includes two vertically arranged driving wheels driven by a preset power unit. A conveyor belt for transmitting power is provided between the two driving wheels. At least one picking rod extending outward is installed on the conveyor belt. The picking rod can be extended by rotating the conveyor belt. The bottom side of the first hole in the baffle is displaced downward, and the lever presses against the top side of the medicine adjacent to the baffle, causing the medicine to rotate away from the baffle at an increasing angle and move its bottom side toward the medicine outlet. Once the lever moves downward to the second hole, it pushes the medicine to fall out of the medicine outlet, thereby forming an improved medicine dispensing mechanism. As described in claim 1, an improved medicine dispensing mechanism is provided in the container on a side of the medicines away from the baffle. The extrusion member is provided in the container and generates a sliding stress toward the baffle by the inclined bottom plate to squeeze the medicines toward the baffle. The extrusion member is composed of a metal block with a certain weight. As described in claim 1, the improved medicine dispensing mechanism, wherein the storage box is provided with a space sensor on the bottom plate or side plate near the baffle to sense the presence of medicine, and the space sensor is composed of an infrared sensor. As described in claim 1, the improved medicine dispensing mechanism, wherein the storage box has an appearance of approximately a parallelogram, and the baffle of the storage box is in a tilted state and causes the medicines in contact with the baffle to also be in a tilted state. As described in claim 1, the improved medicine dispensing mechanism is provided with a non-slip sleeve on the dispenser rod to increase the friction in contact with the medicine. As described in claim 1, the improved medicine dispensing mechanism, wherein the preset power unit is a motor, and the motor provides rotational kinetic energy to the drive wheel through a preset reduction mechanism. The improved medicine dispensing mechanism as described in claim 1, wherein the transmission wheel is composed of a roller or a gear. The improved medication dispensing mechanism as described in claim 1, wherein the conveyor belt is composed of a belt or a chain.