JP2019131282A - Tablet cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

To realize a tablet cassette with small fluctuation in a repulsive force and a pressing force when passing through a tablet so that an application range can be expanded even if a partition member is cantilevered.SOLUTION: A double fall prevention member is made of a plurality 10a, 10b of a partition plate 10. Each of the partition plates 10a and 10b is made of an elastic body, and forms a fixed end part 11 for fixing to the container part 41, a swing end part 12 for loosely partitioning a tablet up and down by being inserted above a discharge port 43, and a central flexible part 13 that bends lightly when the swinging end part 12 is pushed in the direction A by the tablet and retracts the swinging end part 12 from a slit 42. Further, the fixed end 11 of the partition plates 10a and 10b is fixed to a holding member 20, and the partition plates 10a and 10b are attached to the container part 41 in a state where the respective swing end parts 12 are connected in the circumferential direction of an annular gap 48 by attaching and detaching the holding member 20 to the container 41.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a tablet cassette which forms a driven part in a tablet feeder for automating dispensing performed in a hospital, a pharmacy or the like, and more specifically, includes a container part for storing tablets and an alignment board in the container part. In addition, the present invention relates to a tablet cassette that sequentially drops tablets from the discharge port of the container while aligning the periphery of the alignment plate when the alignment plate is driven to rotate. The present invention relates to a structure of a double fall prevention part (partition part) limited to one.

Conventionally used tablet feeders (see, for example, Patent Documents 1, 2, 4, and 5) are bases (cassette drive units) that are fixedly arranged on a drawer shelf of a tablet packaging machine for power supply and control. And a tablet cassette that is detachable from the base for ease of tablet replenishment work, etc., and a large number of tablets are randomly stored in the tablet cassette, and the base is operated intermittently or continuously as necessary. It is operated to feed the tablets one by one from the tablet cassette.
In addition, in the independent tablet dividing apparatus (see, for example, Patent Document 3), the above-described tablet cassette is attached to and detached from a main body portion equipped with a base (cassette drive unit) in addition to a tablet cutting mechanism and the like. Some are also available.

  Such a tablet cassette has a container part that accommodates a large number of tablets that are replenished by opening the top cover, and an alignment that is rotatably provided inside the container part and receives the drive of the drive part by the rotation transmission shaft. A partition plate (a double plate) that is provided to face a discharge port formed through the bottom plate of the container part that defines the lower end part of the annular gap between the board and the container part and the alignment board and that partitions a part of the upper end side of the annular gap. Fall prevention member). In addition, in order to divide the annular gap, which is the tablet alignment position, one tablet at a time, a large number of blade-like partition walls protruding at the annular gap are formed on the outer peripheral surface of the alignment board at an equal pitch. The space is a compartment for storing tablets that have fallen from the top of the alignment board one by one. Then, the partition plate is loosely inserted at a position that does not interfere with the partition wall, such as a location above the discharge port and higher than the partition wall, so that the partition plate can be mounted from the outside of the container portion. A slit-like through hole is formed.

Further, when the tablet cassette is mounted on a base or the like (drive unit), the rotation transmission shaft of the alignment board engages with the rotation drive shaft of the drive unit and is driven to rotate.
Then, when the tablet is carried through the annular gap by the rotating aligning plate and reaches just above the discharge port, the drug falls and is discharged from the discharge port, and the drug above the drug is discharged by the partition plate. Since it is prevented from entering the outlet, the tablet is prevented from falling twice, and the medicines are discharged one by one according to the rotation amount.

  In addition, while a container part and an alignment board are made from a hard plastic material, the partition plate for tablet double fall prevention has a metal thing and a soft material. The metal partition plate (see, for example, Patent Document 4) is created by punching or bending a thin metal plate, and extends to the inner space of the container portion and a standing plate portion to be attached to the container portion from the outside. And a horizontal plate portion that exhibits a partition function. On the other hand, a partition plate made of a soft material (see, for example, Patent Documents 1, 2, and 5) is made by plastic molding or the like, and is soft and easily deformed even in a flat plate shape so as not to damage the tablet. Further, the partition plate includes a so-called both-end-supporting type in which both ends are attached to the container part (for example, see Patent Documents 1, 2, and 5) and a so-called so-called cantilever type in which only one end part is attached to the container part. Yes (see, for example, Patent Document 4).

The drug handled in such a tablet cassette is a tablet and powder is not a target. As tablets that are often handled, disk-shaped tablets are typical. However, regular polygonal plates and cylindrical capsules are also frequently handled by tablet cassettes.
In addition, a rhombus plate-shaped deformed agent that is not a so-called regular shaped agent, such as a circular shape, a spherical shape, a regular polygon shape, or a regular polyhedral shape, a spindle-shaped deformed agent with a swollen central portion, and a unit that can be taken in units of less than one tablet. A half-tablet made by dividing a lock into two by cutting or the like may be handled by a tablet cassette.

In order to handle such deformed drugs and half tablets, careful adjustments and troublesome preparations that are not required for regular dosage forms were necessary. It has been well received and developed.
That is, to explain in detail step by step, in the case of a tablet cassette using a partition plate, if it is a fixed-form preparation, if one is contained in the compartment between the partition walls in the annular gap between the container portion of the tablet cassette and the alignment plate, Even if other tablets come on top of the tablets that were previously stored in the compartment, the other tablets ride on the tablets and partitions in the compartment and cannot enter the compartment even if only part of them. Even if it is somewhat rough, the tablets are properly partitioned up and down without difficulty, and the sequential drop and discharge of the tablets are reliably performed, so that the adjustment of the partition plate is relatively easy.

  On the other hand, a deformed agent or half-tablet whose end is thin or pointed has a relatively large lower and upper part in the compartment when it enters the compartment of the annular gap, so it is already easy to use. Depending on the posture of the upper tablet that came later, the lower end of the upper tablet may enter the upper space in the compartment, when another tablet comes later on the compartment where the tablet is stored. In that case, since there is no position of the partition plate that can partition these tablets up and down with the partition plate, it is limited to a narrow range. In addition, even if it is found, the position of the partition plate must be strictly adjusted. In addition, when the tablet partially entering the compartment collides with the partition plate, the entire shape of the tablet goes above the partition plate so that the tablet can be completely ejected upward from the compartment. Since it is also important to smooth the cut surface of the part and the half-tablet, it may be necessary to prepare the tablet in advance, carefully cut, or finish the surface.

  In this way, deformed drugs and half tablets are harder to handle than regular drugs, so they are less likely to be handled by fully automatic tablet cassettes and are often used for semi-automatic drug handing devices and manual handling. In many cases, the number of deformed drugs increased as the number of drugs increased, and the number of tablets taken should be finely adjusted according to the weight of each patient in order to suppress side effects. While the prescription for half tablets tends to increase, the demand for automation and efficiency improvement in dispensing operations has increased. To meet this demand, there is a tablet cassette that can be handled easily like regular forms even with deformed and half tablets. It was developed.

Specifically, first (see Patent Document 1), the partition plate is made of a soft member, and the attachment method is changed from screwing to engagement using a plurality of small holes, so that the height of the partition plate can be adjusted easily. There is what I did.
Further, (see Patent Document 2), the double fall prevention member (partition part) for preventing the double fall of the tablet is changed from the above-mentioned partition plate to an endless belt of a flat string shape or a round string shape, so that a deforming agent or a half Some tablets can be handled as easily as regular preparations.

Furthermore (refer to Patent Document 4), for a metal plate member having a horizontal plate portion for partitioning and a vertical plate portion for cantilever, a through hole is formed in the vertical plate portion, and the horizontal plate portion and the vertical plate portion There is also a drug cassette partition plate that can be used for fragile drugs that are durable and durable for long-term use by forming a notch in the connecting part.
Moreover, (refer patent document 5), by changing the double fall prevention member (partition part) which prevents the double fall of a tablet from the above-mentioned partition plate to the combination of a disk-shaped deformation member and a disk-shaped reinforcement member. Some of the deformed drugs and half tablets can be handled easily like regular drugs.

JP 2002-153541 A JP2015-012893A Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2015-077322 Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2006-221183 Japanese Patent Application No. 2006-147719 (Application)

As described above, in the above-described tablet cassette, various measures are applied to the double fall prevention part (partition part, partition plate), so that the double-form prevention agent and half-tablet can be doubled without causing damage. The fall can be prevented.
Nonetheless, these improvements have some special characteristics. Specifically, in the case of a tablet cassette using an easily deformable member for the double fall prevention part (partition member) (see, for example, Patent Documents 1, 2, and 5), the tablet can be selected from various materials having different hardness and softness. While securing the breakage function and mounting adjustment are relatively easy, it is difficult to employ a member with a long life.

  On the other hand, in the case of a tablet cassette (for example, see Patent Document 4) using a metal member for the double fall prevention part (partition member), it is relatively easy to ensure the member life because there are many members with high fatigue limits. Since the members are hard and the rigidity tends to be high, it is difficult to secure the tablet breakage function with the dual support. In addition, when cantilever support is used to reduce rigidity, both the repulsive force and pressing force fluctuations when passing through the tablet are both supported even if the through hole or notch is formed (see, for example, Patent Document 4). It is difficult to reduce the level to the level of support. For this reason, it is required to use different partition members in accordance with the shape and type of the tablet.

However, in order to properly use such partition members (double fall prevention portions), a large number of partition members that are slightly different in shape and the like are required, and work for checking compatibility between tablets and partition members, inventory management of parts, etc. There is a burden associated with this, so it is desirable to reduce that burden.
Therefore, it is a technical problem to realize a tablet cassette in which fluctuations of repulsive force and pressing force when passing through the tablet are small so that the application range can be expanded even if the partition member is cantilevered.

The tablet cassette of the present invention (Solution 1) was created in order to solve such a problem,
A container portion that can accommodate a large number of tablets; an alignment plate provided in the container portion so as to be axially rotatable; and a plurality of container portions and the alignment plate formed on an outer peripheral surface of the alignment plate. And a blade-shaped partition wall that divides the annular gap into a plurality of compartments at equal pitches, and a discharge port is formed in a part of a bottom portion of the container part that forms the lower surface of the annular gap, and the alignment In the tablet cassette that sequentially drops the tablets that have entered the compartment by rotating the axis of the board from the discharge port,
A plurality of elastic bodies having a fixed end portion for fixing to the container portion and a swing end portion that is loosely inserted above (or directly above or next to) the discharge port to partition the tablet up and down. These double fall prevention members are configured to be attached to the container portion in a state in which the respective swing end portions are connected in the circumferential direction of the annular gap. It is characterized by that.

  Moreover, the tablet cassette of the present invention is (the solution means 2), which is the tablet cassette of the above-mentioned solution means 1, and the adjacent ones (a pair or a plurality of adjacent pairs) of the plurality of double fall prevention members are respectively provided. It is characterized in that it is attached to the container portion with the fixed end portion thereof being the remote side and the respective swing end portions being the close side.

  Furthermore, the tablet cassette of the present invention is (the solution means 3), which is the tablet cassette of the solution means 2, wherein the pair of swinging end portions on the close side are positioned directly above the discharge port. It is characterized by being.

  Further, the tablet cassette of the present invention is (the solution means 4), which is the tablet cassette of the solution means 3, wherein a part of the pair of swinging end portions is positioned vertically. .

  The tablet cassette of the present invention is (the solution means 5), which is the tablet cassette of the solution means 1 to 4, and includes a holding member in which a plurality of holding portions capable of fixing the fixed end portion are formed, The double fall prevention member is attached to and detached from the container part by attaching and detaching the holding member.

In such a tablet cassette of the present invention (Solution means 1), a plurality of double fall prevention members are used, and their swinging end portions are continuous above the discharge port. The role of partitioning the tablet up and down at the time of passage is distributed to a plurality of members according to the passage situation (passage position / passage time). For this reason, since the division range of each double fall prevention member is narrowed, the fluctuation of the repulsive force / pressing force when passing through the tablet is reduced accordingly.
Therefore, according to the present invention, even if the partition member is cantilevered, it is possible to realize a tablet cassette with small fluctuations in repulsive force / pressing force when the tablet passes. And it becomes possible to share with the tablet of the shape and kind which were more various than when the double fall prevention member is single.

Further, in the tablet cassette of the present invention (solution means 2), the cantilevered partition member has more pressing force / repulsive force to the tablet as the contact part with the passing tablet is closer to the fixed end. There is a strong tendency for the pressing force and repulsive force to the tablet to become smaller as the contact part gets closer to the rocking end, and the rocking ends of a pair of adjacent double fall prevention members are close to each other. Because it comes to the side, only one double fall prevention member acts at the place near the fixed end where the pressing force / repulsive force is large, and an excessive increase in pressing force / repulsive force is avoided, In the vicinity of the oscillating end where the pressing force / repulsive force is small, both double fall prevention members act to avoid the shortage of the pressing force / repulsive force.
Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to realize a tablet cassette in which the fluctuation of the repulsive force / pressing force when passing through the tablet is further reduced.

  Furthermore, in the tablet cassette of the present invention (Solution means 3), the pair of swinging end portions without lack of pressing force / repulsive force are positioned directly above the discharge port, which is undesirable. Double fall is accurately prevented.

  In the tablet cassette of the present invention (Solution means 4), a part of the pair of swinging end portions that are directly above the discharge port is positioned vertically so that the double fall prevention member Since both members act on the passing tablet immediately above the discharge port, which is an adjacent location, the pressing force and repulsive force against the tablet passing above the discharge port are greatly increased so as not to avoid shortage, Undesirable double falls are more accurately prevented.

  Further, in the tablet cassette of the present invention (Solution means 5), even if there are a plurality of double fall prevention members, they are attached to the holding member and attached to and detached from the container part by attaching and detaching the holding member. By being able to do so, attachment work and position adjustment of each member are diversified, and work such as member replacement can be performed easily and quickly.

About Example 1 of the present invention, it shows the structure of a partition plate as a double fall prevention member and the structure of a tablet cassette equipped with it, (a) is a front view of a sheet metal punching member before being subjected to bending, (B) is a plan view and a front view of the partition plate, (c) is a perspective view of the partition plate as viewed from the upper right to the lower left, (d) is a partially sectional right side view of the tablet cassette equipped with the partition plate, (e) ) Is a partial cross-sectional plan view of the tablet cassette. The operation | movement of the tablet cassette with which the partition plate was mounted | worn, etc. are shown, (a) is a partial cross section right view of a tablet cassette, (b) And (c) is an expanded rear view, such as a partition plate. (A), (b) is a partial cross-sectional top view of a tablet cassette. (A), (b) is a partial cross-sectional top view of a tablet cassette. (A), (b) is a partial cross-sectional top view of a tablet cassette.

About the tablet cassette of such this invention, the specific form for implementing this is demonstrated by the following Example 1. FIG.
The first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 5 embodies all the above-described solving means 1 to 5 (claims 1 to 5 as originally filed).
In these illustrations, for the sake of simplicity, a drive source such as an electric motor, a transmission member such as a gear, a base having an electric circuit such as a motor driver (cassette drive unit), etc. are omitted from the illustration. This figure mainly shows what is necessary or related to the description of the invention. Further, the tablet cassette upper lid is not shown because a known product having a simple structure is sufficient.

  About the Example 1 of the tablet cassette of this invention, the specific structure is demonstrated with reference to drawings. 1 shows the structure of the tablet cassette 40, of which FIGS. 1 (a) to (c) show the structure of the partition plate 10 (double fall prevention member), and FIGS. 1 (d) to (e) The structure of the tablet cassette 40 equipped with two partition plates 10a and 10b using the holding member 20 is shown.

  Specifically, FIG. 1A is a surface view of the sheet metal punching member 8 before bending, and FIG. 1B is a partition plate 10 that is formed by bending the sheet metal punching member 8. FIG. 1C is a perspective view as viewed from the direction of arrow E when the partition plate 10 is looked down from the upper right to the lower left. FIG. 1D is a partially sectional right side view of the tablet cassette 40 to which the partition plate 10 is attached, as viewed from the arrow B. FIG. FIG. In FIG. 1, a dotted pattern is attached to the partition plate 10 for the sake of clarity.

  First, the partition plate 10 (10a, 10b) mounted on the tablet cassette 40 as a double drop prevention member will be described. The partition plate 10 is formed by punching a thin flat metal plate with a press machine or the like, for example. An extraction member 8 is prepared (see FIG. 1 (a)), bent at a substantially right angle at bending portions 8a and 8b, and subjected to deburring, edge rounding, and the like. It is a plate member (see FIGS. 1B and 1C), and two (10a and 10b) are mounted on a tablet cassette 40 described later (see FIGS. 1D and 1E). The partition plate 10b shown in detail in FIGS. 1 (a) to 1 (c) and the partition plate 10a shown only in the mounted state in FIG. 1 (e) are bent in opposite directions at the bending portions 8a and 8b. Thus, the sheet metal punching member 8 having the same shape is formed in a symmetrical shape which is inverted in both end portions in the longitudinal direction.

  Each of the partition plates 10 (see FIGS. 1B and 1C) is provided with a fixed end portion 11, a swing end portion 12, and a central flexible portion 13 connecting the both end portions. Of these, the fixed end portion 11 and the swing end portion 12 are substantially parallel to each other, and the central flexible portion 13 is substantially orthogonal to the both end portions 11 and 12 at the bent portions 8a and 8b. A long hole 15 is formed through the fixed end portion 11 so that the fixed end portion 11 can be fixed to the holding member 20 at the head of a set screw 21 in which the screw portion is inserted into the long hole 15. (See FIG. 1 (e)). On the other hand, the oscillating end portion 12 is not fixed but is supported by the fixed end portion 11 via the central flexible portion 13. Since the central flexible portion 13 is an elongated plate member that easily bends in the thickness direction (A), the swing end portion 12 swings smoothly when pressed in that direction (A).

Further, in the partition plate 10 (see FIGS. 1B and 1C), a notch 14 is formed in a portion near the fixed end portion 11 in a bending portion 8 a between the swing end portion 12 and the central flexible portion 13. Therefore, a portion of the swinging end portion 12 along the notch 14 is easily bent in a direction (D) substantially perpendicular to the central flexible portion 13.
Moreover, since the tip end portion of the swinging end portion 12 away from the fixed end portion 11 is separated from the central flexible portion 13 where there is no bending portion 8a, it is also separated from the central flexible portion 13. It is easy to bend in a substantially orthogonal direction (D).

  The holding member 20 (see FIGS. 1D and 1E) holds the partition plate 10 and is attached to and detached from the container 41 of the tablet cassette 40 (see Patent Documents 2 and 5). A pair (a plurality) of partition plates 10a and 10b are held instead of only one. Specifically, the fixed end portion 11 is held and held by the head of the set screw 21 through the threaded portion of the set screw 21 in the long hole 15 of the partition plate 10, but the holding portion of the partition plate 10a and the partition plate 10b are held. In the state in which the swinging end portions 12 and 12 of the pair of partition plates 10a and 10b that are inverted in the longitudinal direction are directed toward the center of the holding member 20. Both partition plates 10a and 10b are held in a state where the tip ends of the swinging end portions 12 and 12 are positioned vertically.

  When such a holding member 20 is attached to the container portion 41, the fixed end portion 11 of the partition plate 10a and the fixed end portion 11 of the partition plate 10b are fixed to the container portion 41 via the holding member 20 and are in an inverted state. The partition plates 10a and 10b adjacent to each other in a state where the fixed end portions 11 and 11 are remote and the swing end portions 12 and 12 are close to each other. The container portion 41 is mounted in a state of being connected in the circumferential direction of the gap 48. Such partition plates 10 a and 10 b are attached to and detached from the container portion 41 by attaching and detaching the holding member 20.

Regarding the tablet cassette 40 to which the holding member 20 and thus the partition plates 10a and 10b are mounted, the configuration and the mounting state of the partition plates 10a and 10b will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 (d) is a right side view as viewed in the direction of arrow B, with a part of the tablet cassette 40 equipped with the partition plate 10 taken as a longitudinal section, and FIG. 1 (e) crosses a part of the tablet cassette 40. It is the top view of D arrow made into the surface.

The tablet cassette 40 (see FIGS. 1 (d) and 1 (e)) may be a generally known product. Briefly speaking, a container portion 41 having an internal space for randomly storing tablets and a vertical axis in the container portion 41 will be described. It is provided with an alignment board 45 provided so as to be able to rotate, and is used in a state of being mounted on a base (not shown), and the alignment board 45 is driven to rotate when the tablets are discharged.
Since the lower part of the internal space of the container part 41 has a short cylindrical shape, and the lower part of the alignment plate 45 is arranged concentrically there, the tablet cassette 40 includes both 41 and 45. An annular gap 48 is provided between them.

In addition, a discharge port 43 that is a vertical through hole through which a tablet can pass is formed in a portion of the bottom plate of the container portion 41 that corresponds to the lower end portion of the annular gap 48, and the discharge port 43 of the side plate of the container portion 41. A slit 42 is formed as a through hole for insertion of a partition plate, which is a horizontal through hole into which the swinging end portions 12 and 12 of the partition plates 10a and 10b can enter.
Further, on the outer peripheral surface of the lower part of the alignment plate 45, a large number of blade-like partition walls 46 are formed in a radial arrangement with an equal pitch, and an annular gap 48 is divided into a large number of compartments 49 arranged in an annular shape. In each compartment 49, one tablet is accommodated.

  When mounting the partition plates 10a and 10b on such a tablet cassette 40, the holding member 20 holding the partition plates 10a and 10b as described above is moved from the front to the back, that is, in the direction C, so that the partition plate 10a , 10b is inserted into the slit 42, and then the holding member 20 is fixed to the container portion 41 with screws or engagement (not shown). Then, the leading portion of the swinging end portions 12 and 12 of the partition plates 10a and 10b enters the annular gap 48 of the tablet cassette 40 and is positioned above the discharge port 43 and lies there. A part of the annular gap 48 is vertically divided while facing the discharge port 43.

  Thus, when the holding member 20 holding the partition plates 10a and 10b is attached to the container portion 41 of the tablet cassette 40, each of the swinging end portions 12 and 12 of the partition plates 10a and 10b Also, it is loosely inserted into the annular gap 48 through the slit 42 in the horizontal state or the horizontal state. Moreover, in the loosely inserted state, the upper and lower portions of the oscillating end portions 12 and 12 are positioned almost directly above the discharge port 43, and as will be described in detail later, the tablets that overlap vertically therewith Are moved up and down by the swinging end 12 of the partition plate 10b, and subsequently, the swinging end 12 of the partition plate 10a is vertically partitioned.

  About the tablet cassette 40 of this Example 1, the use aspect and operation | movement are demonstrated referring drawings.

First, the situation when the tablets 4 and 4 that have been transported in an overlapping manner are partitioned vertically by the partition plates 10a and 10b will be described.
FIG. 2 shows the situation when the upper and lower tablets 4 and 4 are partitioned vertically, (a) is a partial right side view of the tablet cassette 40 as viewed in the direction of arrow B, (b) and (c) It is an enlarged rear view of arrow A which concerns on the partition location (12, 12) above the discharge port 43 among the tablet cassettes. In FIG. 2, a dotted pattern is added to the tablet 4 for the sake of clarity.

  Tablets 4 such as capsules illustrated in the container part 41 of the tablet cassette 40 equipped with the partition plates 10a and 10b (note that the tablets 4a and 4b are the same as the tablets 4, but among the many tablets 4, the following 2 (see FIG. 2 (a)), many of the tablets 4 on the lower side fall into the compartment 49 of the annular gap 48 one by one. The tablet 4 (including the tablets 4a and 4b) that has entered the compartment 49 has most of the tablets 4 (including the tablet 4a but excluding the tablet 4b) with the lower end attached to the inner bottom of the container portion 41. Each compartment 49 is individually accommodated in a stable posture. When the aligning plate 45 is rotated in order to sequentially discharge the tablets, the alignment plate 45 circulates and moves in the annular gap 48 together with the partition wall 46, one by one, and the swinging end 12 of the partition plate 10b and the container one by one. It advances toward the discharge port 43 of the part 41.

If it does so (refer FIG.2 (b)), the upper end of the tablet 4a which is settled in the division chamber 49 and circulates will approach the part near the fixed end part 11 among the rocking | fluctuation end parts 12 of the partition plate 10b.
Then, when the circulation movement of the tablet 4a progresses and the tablet 4 comes to a position below the rocking end 12, the tablet 4a alone inevitably passes under the rocking end 12. However, even when another tablet 4 is overlaid on the tablet 4a (see FIG. 2C), the part on the notch 14 side of the swinging end portion 12 of the partition plate 10b is the lowermost tablet 4a. Since it divides between the tablet 4 and the upper tablet 4, only the lowermost tablet 4 a passes under the swinging end portion 12.

  At that time, even if there is a slight shift in the vertical direction (D) position between the swinging end portion 12 of the partition plate 10b and the upper end of the lower tablet 4a and the lower end of the tablet 4 immediately above it, the partition plate 10b The part on the notch 14 side of the oscillating end portion 12 is in a cantilever state with the first contact portion with the tablet as a free end and is thin in the longitudinal direction (D) and easily bent. Since the first contact portion moves up and down flexibly, the overlapping tablets 4a and 4 are partitioned up and down without difficulty. Then, when the tablet 4a and the tablet 4 thereon move to the position of the swing end 12 of the rear (B) partition plate 10a, the upper and lower partitions of the tablets 4a and 4 are transferred from the partition plate 10b to the partition plate 10a. The lower tablet 4a falls from the discharge port 43, but the upper tablet 4 passes above the discharge port 43, so that an undesirable double drop is prevented.

Next, the situation where the tablet cannot be divided vertically will be described with reference to the drawings.
3 (a), 3 (b), 4 (a), 4 (b), 5 (a), and 5 (b) are all planes as viewed in the direction of arrow D, in which a part of the tablet cassette 40 is a cross section. It is a figure and the condition when the upper and lower tablets 4 and 4 are not partitioned up and down is shown in time series. The tablet 4 is also given a dotted pattern.

One example is that some of the tablets 4b out of many tablets 4 stop falling before reaching the inner bottom by being caught in the middle of the compartment 49, etc., and remain in a halfway position (FIG. 2). (See (a)), it is a case where it came toward the partition plate 10b (see FIG. 3 (a)).
In this case, when the tablet 4b comes into contact with the swinging end portion 12 of the partition plate 10b (see FIG. 3B), the tip end portion on the notch 14 side of the swinging end portion 12 is in the vertical direction (D) as described above. However, there is a limit to this, and deformation that avoids the tablet 4b in the halfway position up and down exceeds the limit. The direction (A, C) contact state continues.

  Therefore (see FIG. 4A), as the partition plate 10b is pushed by the tablet 4b with which the leading end of the oscillating end 12 comes into contact, the arc-shaped deformation in which the low-rigid central flexible portion 13 bends in a bow shape proceeds. The swinging end 12 moves laterally from the inner side to the outer side (A) of the container part 41 and moves away from the alignment board 45. Then, the tablet 4 b is sandwiched between the swinging end portion 12 of the partition plate 10 b and the outer peripheral surface of the alignment board 45 in the compartment 49. At this time, since the central flexible portion 13 is deformed smoothly and the tablet 4b is gently held, there is no possibility that the tablet 4b is broken even if it is brittle.

Then, the circulation movement of the tablet 4b further proceeds (see FIG. 4 (b)), and when the tablet 4b comes directly above or very close to the discharge port 43, the tablet 4b moves to the tip of the swinging end portion 12 of the partition plate 10b. It also abuts on the tip of the swinging end 12 of the partition plate 10a while abutting on the part.
At this time, the pressing force received by the tablet 4b from the partition plate 10b is weakened because the tablet 4b is far from the fixed end portion 11, but the tablet 4b also receives the pressing force from the partition plate 10a, so that it is reliably held. Therefore, the occurrence of an undesired situation of falling toward the discharge port 43 with an unstable posture or uncertain timing is accurately prevented.

Then, the circulation movement of the tablet 4b further proceeds (see FIG. 5A), the tablet 4b leaves the swinging end portion 12 of the partition plate 10b, and among the plurality of partition plates 10, the swinging end of the partition plate 10a. When the tablet 4b comes to contact with only the portion 12, the tablet 4b continues to be sandwiched by an appropriate pressing force due to the flexible deformation of the central flexible portion 13 of the partition plate 10a.
Then, as the circular movement further proceeds (see FIG. 5 (b)), the partition plate 10a is also separated from the tablet 4b when the tablet 4b is surely moved away from the upper side of the discharge port 43. Therefore, the tablet 4b is agitated by the alignment plate 45. Returned to the environment.

As described above, the partition plates 10a and 10b attached to the tablet cassette 40 have a central plate with small bending rigidity in the lateral direction (A) when the tablet 4b is sandwiched between the swinging end portion 12 and the alignment plate 45. The bending portion 13 is deformed in an arc shape and is also deformed flexibly and greatly, and the tablet 4b is gently held and passed. In addition, at that time, the partition plate 10b acts in the first half, the partition plates 10a and 10b act together in the middle where the pressing force decreases, and each part functions in a time series in which the partition plate 10a acts in the second half. .
Therefore, even when the tablet 4 is carried in the annular gap 48 at a halfway position, and even if the tablet 4 is quite fragile, the tablet 4 moves safely without being damaged.

Furthermore, although a specific illustration is omitted, a situation in which a part of the upper tablet enters the upper portion of the compartment 49 even if the lower tablet fits in the compartment 49 in a proper posture is concise. Explained.
Such a situation may occur when a tablet that is clearly smaller or thinner than the compartment 49 is accommodated in the tablet cassette 40 for sharing the tablet cassette 40, or a deformed tablet having sharp corners or protrusions such as half tablets. This is likely to occur when stored in the tablet cassette 40.

In such a situation, the upper tablet is sandwiched between the partition plates 10a and 10b and the alignment board 45 in the same manner as the tablet 4b at the halfway position described immediately above (see FIGS. 3 to 5). It passes over the outlet 43 as it is. On the other hand, when the lower tablet is dived under the partition plate 10 b and carried over the discharge port 43, it falls downward through the discharge port 43.
Therefore, also in this case, the double drop of the undesired tablets is accurately prevented, and the tablets are sequentially discharged one by one as the alignment plate 45 rotates.

[Others]
In the above embodiment, the partition plate 10a is installed in the opposite direction to the partition plate 10b. However, the partition plate 10a may be installed in the same direction as the partition plate 10b. As with 10b, buckling of the central flexible portion 13 is difficult to occur.
In the above embodiment, two partition plates 10 are adjacent to each other and only one pair is adjacent. However, three or more partition plates 10 may be arranged, and in that case, there are a plurality of adjacent pairs. However, it is possible to select how many pairs of the fixed end portion are the remote side and the swing end portion is the close side.
In the above embodiment, the partition plate 10 is fixed to the holding member 20 with the set screw 21. However, the fixing method is not limited to screw fixing, and other methods such as engagement may be used.

  The tablet cassette of the present invention is not limited to the capsules exemplified in the above-mentioned examples, and can also be applied to various tablets such as half tablets listed in the background art.

4, 4a, 4b ... tablets,
8 ... Sheet metal punching member (elastic body), 8a, 8b ... bending part,
10: Partition plate (double fall prevention member),
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Fixed end part, 12 ... Swing end part, 13 ... Central flexible part, 14 ... Notch, 15 ... Elongated hole,
20 ... Holding member, 21 ... Set screw,
40 ... Tablet cassette, 41 ... Container part, 42 ... Slit (partition plate loose insertion through hole),
43 ... Discharge port, 45 ... Alignment board, 46 ... Partition, 48 ... Annular gap, 49 ... Compartment

Claims (5)

A container portion that can accommodate a large number of tablets; an alignment plate provided in the container portion so as to be axially rotatable; and a plurality of container portions and the alignment plate formed on an outer peripheral surface of the alignment plate. And a blade-shaped partition wall that divides the annular gap into a plurality of compartments at equal pitches, and a discharge port is formed in a part of a bottom portion of the container part that forms the lower surface of the annular gap, and the alignment In the tablet cassette that sequentially drops the tablets that have entered the compartment by rotating the axis of the board from the discharge port,
A plurality of double fall prevention members made of an elastic body having a fixed end for fixing to the container and a swinging end for partitioning the tablet up and down by being inserted above the discharge port The tablet cassette is characterized in that these double fall prevention members are attached to the container portion in a state where the respective swing end portions are connected in the circumferential direction of the annular gap. .   Adjacent ones of the plurality of double fall prevention members are attached to the container portion with their fixed ends remote and the swing ends close to each other. The tablet cassette according to claim 1, wherein:   The tablet cassette according to claim 2, wherein the pair of swinging end portions on the close side are positioned immediately above the discharge port.   4. The tablet cassette according to claim 3, wherein a part of the pair of swinging end portions is positioned vertically.   A holding member having a plurality of holding portions capable of fixing the fixed end portion is provided, and the plurality of double fall prevention members are attached to and detached from the container portion by attaching and detaching the holding member. The tablet cassette according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the tablet cassette is provided.

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