DK2962956T3 - Storage container for a device for the automated dispensing of individual drug portions - Google Patents

Description

Storage container for a device for automated dispensing of individual portions of medication

The present invention relates to a storage container for individual portions of medication, and particularly a storage container for a device for automated dispensing of individual portions of medication.

Devices for automated dispensing of individual portions of medication, by way of example, individual tablets of a drug, are used particularly in blister dispensers employed in hospitals and at blister centres, with which individual portions of medication are blister-packed for each individual patient as a function of the intake times and combinations prescribed by the doctor. Corresponding blister dispensers contribute to optimisation of medication management and drugs logistics. With modern blister dispensers, the individual portions of medication are blister-packed for each patent speedily and with very few operators.

The various portions of medication blister-packed by the blister dispenser are stored in a number devices for automated dispensing of individual portions of medication, wherein an individual blister dispenser, according to the requirements of the site where it is installed, may comprise several hundred such devices.

The devices for automated dispensing of individual portions of medication normally comprise two main components, namely a storage container for storing the individual portions of medication, wherein this storage container inter alia comprises at least a part of a separation device for dispensing individual portions of medication, and a container receptacle for supporting the container. This container receptacle can similarly comprise parts of the separation device (for example the motors and/or a controller). Normally, the two main components for dispensing individual portions of medication are separate subassemblies, but it is also conceivable for the device to be implemented as one piece.

The device for dispensing individual portions of medication is normally secured via the container receptacle to the blister dispenser. If the storage container has to be refilled or the medications in the storage container need to be changed normally just the storage container is removed from the container receptacle and filled with new medication at a filling station.

When filling the portions of medication in a receiving chamber of the storage container and during the actual separation itself, it is regularly the case that very small particles of the individual portions of medication flake off and, together with other entering or resulting contamination, settle in the storage container as contaminant particles or are entrained during dispensing.

The contaminant particles have an adverse effect firstly on the mechanisms within the storage container and settle in these. Particularly when the type of portions of medication in a storage container has to be changed, care must be taken that this is intensively cleaned, to avoid medication residues from a medication previously stored in the storage container being entrained with another medication subsequently stored therein and, in the extreme case, blister packed with it.

The occurrence of contaminant particles in the storage container is in practice almost impossible to avoid, particularly with those medications that are most in demand. The entry of contaminant particles when refilling portions of medication during normal operation cannot be prevented either. US 2013/0292406 describes a storage container with a separation device.

The object of the present invention is to provide a storage container for a device for automated dispensing of individual portions of medication, by which the burden from contaminant particles is reduced.

This object is achieved according to the invention by a storage container for a device for automated dispensing of individual portions of medication according to claim 1.

The storage device according to the invention comprises a housing enclosing a receiving chamber, the housing having a bottom surface, wherein the individual portions of medication are stored in the receiving chamber. A separation device is arranged on the bottom surface and has at least one channel for receiving at least one portion of medication, wherein the at least one channel has one opening facing the receiving chamber and one opening facing the bottom surface, wherein a contact region arranged on the bottom surface is assigned to the opening facing the bottom surface, via which 5 contact region the portions of medication are guided during a movement of the separation device.

The separation device in the storage container can comprise all components necessary for separation of the portions of medication stored in the receiving chamber. Depending 10 on the precise design of the storage container and a container receptacle supporting the container receptacle, the separation device of the storage container according to the invention can also comprise just a part of the components of the separation device, wherein other components (by way of example the drive and a controller) are arranged in the container receptacle. In the context of this application, the term separation device 15 covers "full" separation devices and just partial separation devices, and so those separation devices which do not comprise all the parts necessary for separation.

The storage container according to the invention also comprises at least one recess arranged in the bottom surface outside of the contact region for receiving contaminate 20 particles present in the storage container.

During separation, the portions of medication pass through the opening of the channel facing the receiving chamber into this and further through the channel to the opening of channel facing the bottom surface, where they rest on the bottom surface in the contact 25 region. If an individual portion of medication is required, the portion of medication arranged in the channel at the opening facing the floor opening and resting on the contact surface, is guided with the separation device over the contact region to an opening (which can also be part of the separation device) into the housing/bottom surface, via which the portion of medication leaves the storage container.

Contaminant particles occur firstly when filling the receiving chamber with individual portions of medication and secondly when separating these if, by way of example, an 30 individual portion of medication during separation strikes the contact region of the bottom surface or is guided over this.

During operation of blister dispensers, particularly during separation, the storage container is constantly subjected to slight vibrations, ensuring that the contaminant particles are constantly moved on the bottom surface. With the movements of the contaminant particles caused by the vibrations, these necessarily reach and enter the at least one recess in the bottom surface in which they are retained. With the help of the recess, it is thus ensured that containment particles unavoidably occurring during operation are constantly "trapped". The contaminant particles retained in the recess cannot be removed from it again or disturb the mechanism, so that the burden from contaminant particles is effectively reduced.

The separation device can work according to principles known to a person skilled in the art and be constructed accordingly. So, by way of example, it is conceivable for the separation device to have just one channel for receiving an individual portion of medication, wherein the channel can be moved into a receiving position, in which the opening of the channel facing the receiving chamber is released and a dispensing position, in which the opening of the channel facing the receiving chamber is closed and the opening facing the bottom surface is opened towards a dispensing opening in the housing/bottom surface.

While a correspondingly constructed separation device is in fact very easy to design, such a separation device cannot reach the speeds necessary for dispensing individual portions of medication. A preferred embodiment of the storage container according to the invention, therefore, provides that the separation device comprises a rotor, arranged on the bottom surface, having a plurality of channels. Wherein the rotor is arranged in such a way that between the underside of the rotor and the bottom surface a gap is arranged, through which contaminant particles can pass. Due to the plurality of channels in the rotor individual portions of medication are constantly arranged in multiple channels and dispensing of an individual portion of medication can be achieved in that the rotor is simply rotated through a certain angle into a dispensing position, in which an individual portion of medication can be dispensed via a dispensing opening in the housing.

The arrangement of the channels in the rotor depends on the precise structural design of the separation device, but it is preferable that the channels are arranged on the outer circumference of the rotor and are open to the outside, e.g. the channels are formed by a plurality of webs on the circumference of the rotor. In such a case, the housing is adapted to the rotor so that a particular section of the housing is configured to receive the rotor and has a corresponding section with a plain cylindrical form, the diameter of which is slightly greater than the external diameter of the rotor. Channels arranged in this way are easier to clean. Entry of portions of medication into the channels is also simplified by a corresponding configuration of the top of the rotor.

As already indicated above, the contaminant particles are moved by the vibrations of the storage container to the at least one recess in the bottom surface. To assist or steer this movement to the at least one recess and to ensure that a large number of contaminant particles are moved more quickly to the at least one recess, a preferred embodiment provides that at least one section of the bottom surface is configured in the shape of a funnel, wherein the rotor of the separation device is arranged in the centre of the funnel-shaped section and the at least one recess configured in the bottom surface is arranged between the centre of the funnel-shaped section and the contact region. In this embodiment, the at least one recess is thus configured in the contact region with a circular configuration, so that the contaminant particles are moved or guided not just by the vibration of the storage container, but also by gravity due to the inclination of the funnel-shaped section to the at least one recess.

To allow as many contaminant particles as possible to be received by a large area of the bottom surface, a preferred embodiment provides that the at least once recess is configured as a groove coaxial to the rotor axis. Here the precise design of the recess or recesses is dependent upon the particular construction of the separation device. Thus, the recess can, by way of example, have a circular configuration, e.g. a recess configured as a groove fully surrounds the centre of the funnel-shaped section thereby ensuring that as many contaminant particles as possible are received. In other embodiments of the separation device it may be necessary for the recess to be configured just as a circular section with a certain angular range remaining free in which no recess is arranged.

To further assist the movement of the contaminant particles to the at least one recess, a preferred embodiment of the storage container according to the invention provides that the rotor, on its underside facing the bottom surface, comprises a plurality of cleaning means, which guide the contaminant particles to the at least one recess. These cleaning means can, by way of example, be configured as small brushes which can be configured on the underside of the rotor as a function of the direction of rotation of the rotor.

Where the storage container according to the invention has a separation device comprising a rotor, the rotor can, by way of example, be supported on a rotor axis that passes through the bottom surface. To prevent contaminant particles reaching the axial area and causing a mechanical fault, a preferred embodiment provides that on the bottom surface circular projection, coaxial to the rotor axis, is configured, wherein the at least one recess is arranged outside of the bottom surface enclosed by the projection.

To further accelerate the movement of the contaminant particles on the bottom surface towards the recess, and to prevent the contaminant particles settling on the bottom surface itself, a preferred embodiment of the storage container according to the invention provides that at least one section of the bottom surface is covered with a nonstick coating.

As already mentioned, the contaminant particles reach the at least one recess inter alia through the vibrations occurring during operation. To actively assist the transport, by way of example when the blister dispenser is not actively blister packing, a preferred embodiment provides that the storage container contains a vibrator device, which actively subjects the storage container to vibrations, to actively move the contaminant particles occurring during operations to the at least one recess.

In the following, the invention is described in more detail using a preferred embodiment and with reference to the attached drawing, wherein

Figures 1A and IB are oblique views of the embodiment of the storage container according to the invention, wherein Figure 1A shows the storage container obliquely from above and Figure IB obliquely from below;

Figure 2 is a further oblique view of the embodiment of the storage container with the cover left out;

Figure 3 is a plan view of the housing of the embodiment;

Figure 4, 5 and 6 are sectional views of the embodiment;

Figure 7 is a further sectional view, wherein this is rotated through 180° compared to Figure 6;

Figure 8 is an enlargement of a section from Figure 7; and

Figures 9A and 9B are detailed views of part of the separation device and components interacting with this.

Figure 1A is an oblique view of the embodiment of the storage container 1 according to the invention for a device for automated dispensing of individual portions of medication. The storage container shown is merely one part of the abovementioned device, which comprises a container receptacle as a further component. The container receptacle, however, is not part of the present application and is not discussed in detail here.

The storage container 1, comprises a housing with a plurality of housing sections, comprising an upper storage section 3a, a middle section 3b, with a plain cylindrical, form for receiving part of the separation device, a lower bottom section and a grip section 3d. In the embodiment shown, the upper section 3a is closed by a cover 5.

The oblique view from below according to Figure IB indicates how in the lower section 3c an axis 106 is arranged, which is guided through the opening in a bottom surface 4 of the housing. Coaxially to the axis 106, a projection 7 is arranged along an arc. If the storage container is viewed from above, this "projection" appears as the recess 7 in the bottom surface.

Figure 2 is a further oblique view of the embodiment, wherein in this representation the cover has been left out for better visibility of the inside of the storage container.

In this representation, in the section 3b, with a plain cylindrical form, of the housing a rotor 101 can be identified, that is part of a separation device 100. The rotor 101 comprises (see particularly Figure 9B) a plurality of channels 102 opening outwards, arranged on the circumference of the rotor separated by webs and having an upper opening 103 and a lower opening 104. The rotor 101 itself, as can be seen from Figure 9B, is supported by a rotor axis 106 which extends through the bottom surface 104 (see Figure IB).

In the oblique view of Figure 2, a further housing section 3e can also be identified, which is configured obliquely to the rotor 101. The housing sections 3a and 3e and the rotor 101 define a receiving chamber 2, in which in the operating state individual portions of medication are stored.

Figure 3 is a plan view of the housing of the first embodiment of the storage container according to the invention, wherein with this embodiment parts of the separation device 100 have been left out, including the rotor 101 and the rotor axis 106. Figure 3 indicates how the section 3b, with a plain cylindrical form, of the housing encloses a bottom surface 4 with a central rotor axis opening and a medication dispensing opening 109. In the bottom surface the groove-shaped recess 7 configured coaxially to the rotor axis opening on an arc can similarly be identified.

Figure 4 is a sectional view of the embodiment of the storage container according to the invention. In Figure 4, the housing section 3e inclined towards the rotor 101 can be identified. The bottom surface 4, which in the embodiment shown has a funnel shaped configuration towards the rotor axis opening, connects downwards to the housing section 3b, with a plain cylindrical form. The rotor 101 and the rotor axis 106 are arranged in such a way that between the underside of the rotor and the upper side of the bottom surface 4, a gap 11 is configured, through which the contaminant particles can move to the recess 7, wherein the recess is configured as a surrounding groove coaxially to the rotor axis opening in the bottom surface 4 with a funnel-shaped configuration.

On the left side of the rotor 101, a "cross section" through a channel is shown, and on the right side, a cross-section through a web 108. On this channel 102, the opening 103 facing the receiving chamber 2 and the opening 104 facing the bottom surface can be identified, wherein the opening 104 aligns with an opening 109 in the bottom surface 4. In the position of the rotor 101 shown in Figure 4, the dispensing position is shown, e.g. in this position a separated portion of medication is guided through a correspondingly aligned channel of the opening 109, via which it leaves the device for automated dispensing of individual portions of medication.

From the cross-section through the web on the right-hand side, it can be seen how the web area covers a section of the bottom surface 4, which is free in the area of the channels. In respect of any positions of the rotor 101, in the configuration of the rotor shown, this results in an area with a circular configuration of the outer bottom surface 4, which is merely interrupted by the opening 109. Via this contact region 10, portions of medication located in the channels (during separation) are moved towards the opening 109. With this movement, inter alia, very small particles of medication can flake off from the individual portions of medicine and contribute to the contamination of the storage container. These contaminant particles would be moved solely by the constant vibrations of the storage container ultimately into the recess 7 and retained there. In the embodiment shown the bottom surface, however, has a funnel-shaped configuration, wherein this configuration of the bottom surface contributes to the contaminant particles reaching the recess 7 (through gravity).

The left side also shows retention means 105, wherein a section of these retention means passes through an opening 6 in the housing and partially engages with the channel aligned with the opening 109. At the moment when a separated portion of medication is dispensed via the opening 109, this prevents a further portion of medication slipping through from above and also being dispensed. The result is that in the event that two portions of medication are intended to be dispensed, two rotational steps of the rotor are necessary.

Below the contact region 10, a vibration device 12 is arranged on the housing, with which contaminant particles can be moved towards the recess 7, by subjecting the housing to vibrations.

Figure 5 is a further sectional view of the embodiment of the storage container according to the invention, wherein in this figure the rotor has been left out. Figure 5 shows the circular contact region 10 on the bottom surface. Figure 5 similarly shows the opening 6 in the housing section 3b.

In the sectional view of Figure 6, the rotor axis 106 is also left out, and it can be seen that coaxially to the central rotor axis opening in the bottom surface 4 a projection 9 is configured, between the rotor axis opening and the recess 7. This projection prevents a situation where if contaminant particles find their way past the recess they are able to reach the mechanically sensitive area of the rotor axis 106.

Figure 7 is the representation from Figure 6, rotated through 180°, and this view shows the section 105 of the retention means 105b engaging in a channel. The section 105b engaging in the channel either has a flexible configuration, so that it is deformed by a web (e.g. brush-like configuration of the engaging section 105b), or the retention means 105 comprise a flexible section, so that the section 105b engaging in the channel can be pushed out of the channel when the rotor moves.

As shown in Figure 7, the recess 7 coaxial to the central opening in the bottom surface, is not completely circular, e.g. without interruptions, rather part of the bottom surface 4 has no recess. The reason for this is that in this area a stop mechanism 107 that interacts with the rotor axis 106 is configured, of which in Figure 7 only stop means 107b are shown, which engage in the area where normally the rotor axis is arranged.

Figure 8 shows the abovementioned details in a detail enlargement.

Figures 9A and 9B show detailed views of part of a separation device and components interacting with this. The separation device comprises, inter alia, the rotor 101 with a plurality of channels 102, separated by webs 108. On the underside 111 of the rotor 101 a plurality of cleaning means 110 are arranged, which contribute to the movement of contaminant particles resting on the bottom surface 4 between the circular contact region 10 and the recess 7 towards the recess, wherein the alignment of the cleaning means 110 is dependent upon the direction of rotation of the rotor.

Figure 9A also shows the stop mechanism 107 which interacts with the rotor axis 106. To this end, the stop mechanism 107 comprises inter alia an arm 107c with at least sections that are flexible, which can engage in recesses of a tooth system 106b configured in the rotor axis 106 (see Figure 9B). This stop mechanism serves to immobilise the rotor in certain operating states, so that an unintended rotation of the rotor is avoided. This avoids a portion of medication being unintentionally dispensed. By way of example, the stop mechanism can immobilise the rotor when the storage container is removed from the container receptacle. To this end, by way of example, it can be provided that when the storage container is positioned on the container receptacle, the stop mechanism 107 via the arm 107c with at least sections that are flexible is disengaged from the tooth system 106b, but when the storage container is removed it engages in the tooth system and thereby immobilises the rotor.

Claims (8)

Storage container for a device for the automated dispensing of individual drug portions A storage container (1) for a device for automated dispensing of individual drug portions, comprising: a housing (3a, 3b, 3c, 3d, 3e) having a bottom surface (4) and surrounding a receiving space (2), a separation device ( 100) disposed on the bottom surface (4) and having at least one channel (102) for receiving at least one drug portion, the at least one channel (102) having an opening (103) facing the receiving space (2) and an opening (104) facing the bottom surface (4), a contact area (10) of the bottom surface (4) being provided with the opening (104) facing the bottom surface (4), over which the drug portions are guided by a movement of the separating device (100), characterized at least one recess (7) arranged in the bottom surface (4) outside the contact surface (10) is provided to receive contaminant particles present in the container. Storage container (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the separating device comprises a rotor (101) arranged on the bottom surface (4) and having a plurality of channels (102), the rotor being arranged in such a way that a gaps are provided between the bottom side of the rotor (101) and the bottom surface (4) through which contaminant particles can pass. Storage container (1) according to claim 2, characterized in that at least one portion of the bottom surface (4) is designed in the form of a hopper, wherein the rotor (101) is arranged in the center of the hopper-shaped section and at least one recess (7) formed in the bottom surface is arranged between the center of the funnel-shaped section and the contact area. Storage container (1) according to claim 3, characterized in that the at least one recess (7) is formed as a groove coaxial with the rotor axis. Storage container (1) according to any of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that the rotor (101) comprises a plurality of cleaning means (110) on its side facing the bottom surface, leading the contaminants to the at least one recess (7). . Storage container (1) according to any of claims 2 to 5, characterized in that a circular projection (9) coaxial with the rotor axis is formed on the bottom surface (4), wherein the at least one recess (7) is arranged outside the bottom surface (4) surrounded by the projection (9). Storage container (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that at least one part of the bottom surface (4) is covered with a non-stick coating. Storage container (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the storage container comprises a vibration device (12).