JP2007244632A - Liquid medicine dispensing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To generate or keep a stirred state by preventing the sedimentation of a suspensible liquid medicine in a liquid medicine dispensing machine. <P>SOLUTION: The liquid medicine sucked from a suction nozzle 24, which is inserted to a liquid medicine bottle 12 placed on a supply stage is dispensed to an administration bottle 42 placed on an administration stage through a discharge nozzle 34 via a tube 30, etc. A stirring mechanism 50 is the mechanism for sucking the liquid medicine from the liquid medicine bottle 12 and returning the medicine to the liquid medicine bottle 12. The liquid medicine in the liquid medicine bottle 12 is stirred by the circulation of the liquid medicine. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a liquid medicine dispensing device, and more particularly to a technique for forming or maintaining a dispersion state of a suspension in a liquid medicine container.

  In hospital dispensing departments and dispensing pharmacies, liquid medicines are dispensed according to prescriptions. That is, the designated liquid medicine is taken out from the liquid medicine container (liquid medicine bottle) by a predetermined amount and injected into the medication container (medication bottle). In order to automate this operation, a liquid medicine dispensing device as described in Patent Document 1 has been proposed. Patent Documents 2 and 3 describe techniques related to dispensing.

JP 2003-325639 A JP 2000-140071 A JP 2000-199719 A

  By the way, some liquid medicine contains a suspension. In the case of such a suspension liquid medicine, if a liquid medicine bottle is left as it is, a suspended component will sink to the bottom of the liquid medicine bottle. If the liquid medicine is sucked in that state, it cannot be sucked in the prescribed concentration state (dispersed component dispersion state). Therefore, the package insert attached to the liquid medicine bottle describes, for example, that the liquid medicine bottle is always inverted and upright at the time of dispensing. In addition, it is also described that if the vial is vigorously shaken, bubbles are generated on the liquid surface, which causes an error in quantitative sampling. It is cumbersome for a pharmacist or the like to stir the suspension, and hinders shortening of the dispensing time. In addition, the liquid medicine dispensing device described in Patent Document 1 does not describe any stirring means.

  An object of the present invention is to enable suction of a liquid medicine in a state where the liquid medicine is uniformly mixed without causing a burden on a person who performs dispensing.

  The liquid medicine dispensing device according to the present invention is a supply stage on which a liquid medicine container is placed, a medicine stage on which a medicine container is placed, a liquid medicine is sucked from the liquid medicine container, and the liquid medicine is injected into the medicine container. A liquid feeding mechanism; and a stirring mechanism for stirring the liquid medicine in the liquid medicine container by suction and discharge of the liquid medicine in the liquid medicine container.

  According to the said structure, the said liquid medicine can be stirred by the suction and discharge with respect to the liquid medicine in a liquid medicine container with an agitating mechanism. Since there is no need to rotate and roll the liquid medicine container itself, stirring can be performed by a simple mechanism without causing a special burden on the dispenser. In particular, since the suspension can always be dispersed and then dispensed, appropriate dispensing can be performed. As a stirring mechanism, a mechanism for circulating or circulating liquid medicine, a mechanism for repeating suction and discharge by a single nozzle, and the like can be used. The speed and flow rate are appropriately determined. Suspending liquid medicine may be constantly stirred or periodically or intermittently stirred. When stirring may affect the dispensing of liquid medicine, the stirring operation may be temporarily stopped during dispensing.

  Preferably, the stirring mechanism is inserted into the liquid medicine container and sucks the liquid medicine, a discharge nozzle is inserted into the liquid medicine container and discharges the liquid medicine, and the liquid medicine is sucked and discharged. A driving source. Desirably, the front-end | tip part of the said suction nozzle is positioned in the vicinity of the inner bottom face of the said liquid medicine container, and the front-end | tip part of the said discharge nozzle is positioned in the upper part of the said liquid medicine container. Preferably, the liquid medicine container is held in an inclined state in the supply stage, and a tip portion of the suction nozzle is positioned in the vicinity of the lowest position in the liquid medicine container in the inclined state. If the liquid medicine container is held in an inclined state, it is easy to suck even if the amount of liquid medicine in the container decreases. If the tip of the suction nozzle is arranged in the vicinity of the lowest position of the liquid medicine container, the circulation can be continuously performed even if the liquid medicine is reduced. If the liquid medicine is sucked from the bottom, even if there are bubbles on the liquid surface, the suction can be avoided.

  Desirably, the front-end | tip part of the said discharge nozzle is positioned in the position higher than the uppermost position of the liquid medicine surface in the said liquid medicine container. In order to enhance the stirring action, it is desirable to drop the reflux liquid onto the water surface. However, you may make it set the front-end | tip part of a discharge nozzle to a position lower than the water surface.

  Desirably, the stirring mechanism is a mechanism for circulating liquid medicine sucked from the liquid medicine container to the liquid medicine container, and the drive source is constituted by a liquid medicine circulation tube pump. If a tube pump is used, the part which a liquid medicine contacts can be restrict | limited in a tube, and also components (tube) exchange is easy.

  Preferably, it includes a stirring control unit that controls the operation of the stirring mechanism, and the stirring control unit controls at least one of an operation period and an operating speed of the stirring mechanism. The operation period may be switched according to the liquid medicine. For liquid medicines that are used infrequently, after instructing the start of the stirring operation, dispensing may be performed after a sufficient stirring state is formed, but so that dispensing can be performed quickly at an arbitrary timing, It is desirable to perform the stirring operation constantly or periodically.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the liquid medicine can be sucked in a state where the liquid medicine is uniformly mixed without causing a burden on the person who performs the dispensing.

  DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a main configuration of a liquid medicine dispensing device. This liquid medicine dispensing device is installed in a dispensing unit or a prescription pharmacy in a hospital. A liquid medicine bottle row 10 is provided on a liquid medicine bottle stage (not shown). The liquid medicine bottle row 10 is constituted by a plurality of liquid medicine bottles 12-22, and each liquid medicine bottle 12-22 is a liquid medicine container in which the liquid medicine is accommodated. In FIG. 1, the liquid medicine accommodated in the liquid medicine bottles 12, 14, 16 is a suspension liquid medicine, and the liquid medicine accommodated in the liquid medicine bottles 20, 22 is a non-suspension liquid medicine. is there. The liquid medicine bottle row 10 includes one or a plurality of liquid medicine bottles other than those shown in the drawing.

  A solution feeding mechanism 23 as a dispensing mechanism is provided for each liquid medicine bottle 12-22. The liquid feeding mechanism 23 provided for the liquid medicine bottle 12 will be described as a representative. The liquid feeding mechanism 23 includes a suction nozzle 24 inserted into the liquid medicine bottle 12 and a tube 26 connected to the suction nozzle 24. And a pump 28 connected to the tube 26 and a tube 30 connected to the pump 28. In the present embodiment, the tube 26 and the tube 30 are constituted by one seamless tube. That is, the pump 28 constitutes a driving source for liquid feeding, and is constituted by a tube pump in this embodiment. As is well known, the tube pump is a pump that transfers liquid by squeezing the tube while sequentially shifting the pressing points.

  A plurality of tubes 30 are connected to the dispensing unit 36. The dispensing unit 36 has a base 32 that is driven in the horizontal direction by the transport mechanism 40, and a plurality of tubes 30 are connected to the base 32, and a discharge nozzle 34 is connected to each tube 30. . A plurality of discharge nozzles 34 constitute a discharge nozzle row 38. The discharge nozzle may be configured as the tube end itself.

  The transport mechanism 40 is a mechanism for positioning the nozzle 34 corresponding to the liquid medicine to be discharged directly above the prescription bottle 42. In the present embodiment, a prescription bottle 42 as a prescription container is fixedly held on a prescription bottle stage (not shown). On the other hand, the dispensing unit 36 is moved horizontally to perform positioning. It is possible to drop a liquid medicine into the prescription bottle 42. Of course, the prescription bottle 42 itself may be moved in the horizontal direction, and the nozzle 34 that is the discharge target may be positioned directly above the upper opening of the prescription bottle 42.

  The control unit 44 performs operation control of each component included in the liquid medicine dispensing device, and the control targets include the transport mechanism 40 and the pumps 28 and 56 shown in FIG. Here, the pump 56 constitutes a drive source of the stirring mechanism 50 described below.

  In the liquid medicine dispensing device of the present embodiment, a stirring mechanism 50 is provided for each of the liquid medicine bottles 12, 14, and 16 that stores the suspension liquid medicine. In FIG. 1, three stirring mechanisms 50 are provided, and the following description will be made by taking the stirring mechanism 50 provided for the reagent bottle 12 as a representative.

  The stirring mechanism 50 includes a suction nozzle 52, a tube 54, a pump 56, a tube 58, and a discharge nozzle 60. However, in this embodiment, the pump 56 is configured as a tube pump, and the tube 54 and the tube 58 are configured by a single seamless tube. The tip 52A of the suction nozzle 52 is positioned near the inner bottom surface of the liquid medicine bottle 12. A specific arrangement method will be described later with reference to FIG. The pump 56 functions as a driving source for circulating the liquid medicine as described above, and the liquid medicine sucked by the pump 56 is dropped from the discharge nozzle 60. The distal end portion 60A of the discharge nozzle 60 is set at a position higher than the uppermost level of the liquid level in the liquid medicine bottle 12. Thus, the liquid medicine circulated from above can be dropped regardless of the height of the water surface. The liquid medicine is sucked up from below in the liquid medicine bottle 12 and discharged upward to form a liquid medicine circulation cycle, whereby the liquid medicine can be stirred. In particular, in suspension liquid medicine, suspended components settle if left standing, but if the stirring cycle is always performed, the suspension can always maintain a dispersed state. There is. Of course, such circulation may be performed in a necessary period or at a necessary timing.

  According to the stirring mechanism 50 of the present embodiment, there is no need to swing or invert the liquid medicine bottle 12 itself, and thus there is an advantage that a dispersed state can be easily formed by a simple mechanism. Further, since the tube pump 56 is used, even if maintenance is necessary, the maintenance can be performed by replacing the tube portion in the tube pump 50. Of course, other types of pumps can be used as the pump 56. Further, it is possible to form a branch path on the tube 30 exiting from the pump 28, or connect a three-way valve or the like to the branch passage so that the pump 28 can be used as a circulation pump.

  2 to 4 are schematic perspective views of the liquid medicine dispensing device according to the present embodiment. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, a prescription bottle 42 is held on a prescription bottle stage 70 by a holder, and a dispensing unit 36 is provided on the upper portion thereof so as to be movable in the horizontal direction. A pump row 74 is provided in the upper part of the apparatus, and the pump row 74 is constituted by the plurality of tube pumps for liquid feeding and stirring described above. In the middle part of the apparatus, a row of vials 10 is provided, and each vial is held in a slightly tilted state. A projector 80 is provided at one end of the vial stage 70, and a camera 82 is provided at the other end. The projector 80 emits light toward the liquid medicine bottle 42. The camera 82 includes, for example, a CCD device, and the medication bottle 42 having transparency is imaged by such a device. In this case, since the projector 80 is provided on the back side of the prescription bottle 42, the water level in the prescription bottle 42 can be clearly recognized on the acquired image. Incidentally, the holder holding the prescription bottle 42 may be provided with a notch so that the inner bottom of the prescription bottle 42 and the water surface in the vicinity thereof can be clearly recognized on the image.

  In FIG. 3, the state which looked at the liquid medicine dispensing device which concerns on this embodiment from the front is shown, As mentioned above, the pump row 74 is arrange | positioned at the upper stage, and the liquid medicine bottle row | line | column 10 is provided in the middle stage. It has been. As shown in the figure, the pump row 74 is configured in two stages, the pumps 28 constituting the liquid feeding mechanism are arranged in the lower stage, and the pumps 56 constituting the stirring mechanism are arranged in the upper stage. This has the advantage that the role of each pump can be easily recognized from the outside and the operating state of each pump can be confirmed.

  The mode that the liquid medicine dispensing device concerning this embodiment was seen from the side is shown by FIG. As shown in the figure, each vial is provided on the vial stage 76 while being slightly inclined rearward. In the figure, a vial bottle 12 is shown as a representative of them. Also shown are pumps 23 and 50 connected thereto.

  FIG. 5 shows an example of a liquid medicine bottle provided in an oblique state. Here, the liquid medicine bottle 12 is shown. Two suction nozzles 24 and 52 are inserted into the vial 12, and the suction nozzles 24, 52 are gently bent or curved in the inside thereof, and the tips of the suction nozzles 24, 52 are arranged. The portion is led to the corner portion of the inner bottom of the tilted vial 12. That is, reference numeral 12A indicates the inner bottom, and reference numeral 12B indicates the corner portion. Even when the amount of liquid medicine contained in the liquid medicine bottle 12 is reduced, according to the configuration shown in FIG. 5, it becomes possible to suck the precious liquid medicine almost completely. Incidentally, in FIG. 5, α indicates the inclination angle.

  FIG. 6 shows another embodiment of the nozzle row. In this embodiment, the two suction nozzles 24 and 52 and the discharge nozzle 60 are arranged side by side, and the front end portion of the discharge nozzle 60 is cut off obliquely to form a front end inclined surface 60B. The discharge nozzle 60 is sandwiched from both sides by a pair of suction nozzles 24 and 52, and the liquid medicine flowing out from the tip of the discharge nozzle 60 flows downward along the side surface of the suction nozzle 52, for example. According to such a configuration, even when the liquid level of the liquid medicine is lowered, there is an advantage that unnecessary scattering inside the liquid medicine bottle due to the dropped liquid medicine can be effectively prevented. That is, there is an advantage that unnecessary liquid splashes can be prevented in a state where the liquid level is lowered while the liquid medicine which has been refluxed is discharged back to the upper part of the liquid medicine bottle 12 regardless of the liquid level. . Of course, the example shown in FIG. 6 is an example, and various structures for preventing scattering can be employed.

  FIG. 7 shows various operation sequences. Here, (A1) and (A2) indicate the first sequence, (B1) and (B2) indicate the second sequence, and (C1) and (C2) indicate the third sequence. . In addition, (A1), (B1), and (C1) indicate on / off of the stirring operation, and (A2), (B2), and (C2) indicate the discharge operation of the liquid medicine, respectively.

  In the first sequence shown in (A1) and (A2), stirring of the liquid medicine A is stopped in the period T1 during which the liquid medicine A is discharged (S101). That is, the liquid medicine A is stirred before and after the period T1 (S100, S102). According to such a sequence, there is an advantage that the water surface can be prevented from swelling by stopping the stirring operation during dispensing. For example, when the liquid level becomes very low, if the liquid medicine stirring operation and the liquid medicine dispensing suction operation are performed simultaneously, the water surface becomes unstable and problems such as bubble suction occur. Therefore, it is desirable to adopt such a sequence.

  In the sequences shown in (B1) and (B2), the liquid medicine B is agitated over a certain period every certain period (S103). Here, T2 indicates an interval period. In such an interval period T2, the liquid medicine B is discharged as shown in S104, but when the liquid medicine B discharge and the liquid medicine B stirring period overlap, priority is given to the discharge. The stirring operation may be stopped. Alternatively, the discharging operation and the stirring operation may be performed simultaneously. According to such a second sequence, there is no need to constantly perform a stirring operation, so that an advantage of power saving can be obtained. Of course, the interval period T2 may be appropriately determined according to the nature of the liquid medicine, that is, the degree of suspension. Also, the stirring speed and the like can be set as appropriate.

  In the third sequence shown in (C1) and (C2), the liquid medicine C is continuously stirred (S106). On the other hand, the liquid medicine C is discharged at a necessary timing (S107). .

  As described above, the three sequences are shown, but one or a plurality of sequences may be appropriately selected according to the target liquid medicine or the operating environment. A plurality of types of sequences may be appropriately combined. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, the first sequence is applied to liquid medicine A, the second sequence is applied to liquid medicine B, the third sequence is applied to liquid medicine C, and each sequence is applied. It is also possible to construct an efficient operating condition by executing in parallel. Moreover, you may make it switch a sequence suitably according to the usage frequency of a liquid medicine. By the way, when the dispensing of liquid medicine becomes necessary, the liquid medicine is agitated by inputting it by the user, and the liquid medicine is dispensed when the stirring state is obtained. May be.

  In the liquid medicine dispensing device described above, a bubble sensor or the like corresponding to each nozzle 34 may be provided in the dispensing unit 36 shown in FIG. In addition to the plurality of nozzles described above, each liquid vial 12 is provided with air holes, which are not shown. In the above-described embodiment, a device for optically observing the liquid level in the prescription bottle is provided, but such a device may be provided as necessary.

It is a conceptual diagram which shows the principal part structure of the liquid medicine dispensing apparatus which concerns on this embodiment. It is the perspective view which looked at the liquid medicine dispensing device from diagonally. It is the perspective view which looked at the liquid medicine dispensing device from the front. It is the perspective view which looked at the liquid medicine dispensing device from the side. It is a figure which shows a liquid medicine bottle and nozzle arrangement | positioning. It is a figure which shows other embodiment of a nozzle row. It is a figure for demonstrating a some operation | movement sequence.

Explanation of symbols

  10 liquid bottle row, 12-22 liquid bottle, 23 liquid feeding mechanism, 50 stirring mechanism, 52 suction nozzle, 60 discharge nozzle.

Claims (7)

A supply stage on which a liquid medicine container is placed;
A dosing stage on which a dosing container is placed;
A liquid feeding mechanism for sucking liquid medicine from the liquid medicine container and injecting the liquid medicine into the medication container;
A stirring mechanism for stirring the liquid medicine in the liquid medicine container by sucking and discharging the liquid medicine in the liquid medicine container;
A liquid medicine dispensing device comprising: The apparatus of claim 1.
The stirring mechanism is
A suction nozzle that is inserted into the liquid medicine container and sucks the liquid medicine;
A discharge nozzle inserted into the liquid medicine container and discharging liquid medicine;
A driving source for sucking and discharging the liquid medicine;
A liquid medicine dispensing device comprising: The apparatus of claim 2.
The tip of the suction nozzle is positioned near the inner bottom surface of the liquid medicine container,
The tip of the discharge nozzle was positioned at the top of the liquid medicine container,
A liquid medicine dispensing device characterized by that. The apparatus of claim 3.
In the supply stage, the liquid medicine container is held in an inclined state,
The tip of the suction nozzle is positioned in the vicinity of the lowest position in the liquid medicine container in the inclined state,
A liquid medicine dispensing device characterized by that. The apparatus of claim 3.
The liquid medicine dispensing device, wherein the tip of the discharge nozzle is positioned at a position higher than the uppermost position of the liquid medicine surface in the liquid medicine container. The apparatus of claim 2.
The stirring mechanism is a mechanism for circulating the liquid medicine sucked from the liquid medicine container to the liquid medicine container,
The drive source is composed of a liquid medicine reflux tube pump,
A liquid medicine dispensing device characterized by that. The apparatus of claim 1.
A stirring control unit for controlling the operation of the stirring mechanism;
The liquid medicine dispensing device, wherein the stirring control unit controls at least one of an operation period and an operation speed of the stirring mechanism.