INSTALLATION AND METHOD FOR INDIVIDUALLY TAILORED FILLING OF BLISTER PACKS WITH MEDICATION ACCORDING TO PREDETERMINED PRESCRIPTION DATA
The invention relates to an installation and a method for the individually tailored filling of blister packs (25) with medication according to predetermined prescription data, the blister packs (25) having receiving compartments for respective medication administration units, said compartments being arranged in a matrix configuration in rows corresponding to a number of administration times during a day and columns corresponding to a number of days, for example weekdays. The installation comprises a plurality of medication filling stations, arranged one behind the other, for filling each blister pack (25) with the respective specified medication and a transport device (10) designed to transport the blister packs (25) individually one behind the other in a direction of travel alongside the medication filling stations (40). Each blister back (25) is individually guided in such a way that said pack only approaches those medication filling stations (40) that are required by the prescription data for a filling operation, bypassing the other medication filling stations, and is directly conveyed onwards to the next required medication filling station or to a position behind a preceding blister pack (25) that is currently at a medication filling station (40). The individual guiding of the individual blister packs without a fixed cyclic operation to only those medication filling stations required by the prescription data permits a more rapid passage of the individual blister packs through the installation and thus increased efficiency. In addition, the operation of the installation is not brought to a standstill as a result of maintenance work on an individual medication filling station.
The invention relates to an installation and to a method for individually tailored filling of blister packs with medication according to predetermined prescription data, the blister packs having receiving compartments for respective medication administration units, said compartments being arranged in a matrix configuration in rows corresponding to a number of intake times during a day and columns corresponding to a number of days, for example weekdays.
RELATED PRIOR ARTDE 10 2004 034 024 A2 discloses an individual blister pack for the weekly medication requirement of a patient (weekly blister) who is to take the medication in a sequence arranged according to date, day of the week and time of day (morning, midday and evening and/or night). The receiving compartments of the blister pack for receiving the respective medication are arranged in matrix form with seven day columns each with at least three time-of-day compartments which are sealed overall by a continuous blister film. A box-shaped lid containing the composition of the individual time-of-day compartments and prescription information relating to the respective medication is attached to the blister pack.
For patients who have to take a plurality of different medications on a regular basis, weekly blister packs of this type are an aid, on the one hand, for not forgetting to take important medication and, on the other hand, also for retaining a reliable overview of what medications have already been taken in order to avoid potentially harmful overmedication.
WO 2005 102 841 A1 discloses an installation for filling blister packs of this type tailored to the patient with the desired combination of medications. For each medication an output station is provided, which by means of rams assigned spatially to the receiving compartments of the blister pack conveys the respective medication from a temporary packaging in the form of a blister strip into the corresponding receiving compartments of the packaging unit. All of the blister packs tailored to the patient pass through all of the output stations of the installation in cycles, medication being taken up only at those stations which correspond to the prescription data assigned to the individual blister pack. Packaging units tailored to the patient can in this way be fully automatically filled safely and reliably with a selection from several hundred medications.
Since the medications processed by the packaging installation are prescribed in very different amounts, relatively long “standing times” in the temporary packaging, i.e. the blister strips, may arise in the case of medication prescribed less often. So that the medication does not become unusable due to the penetration of moisture or the like, the blister strips must therefore have good sealing of the receiving space for the medication, in particular against water vapour. On the other hand, this has the disadvantage that when a mechanical force is applied to the medication unit by the ram, the seal does not tear open reliably at the correct place or completely, so that errors may occur in the filling of the blister pack. Since merely incorrect filling of one compartment necessarily causes rejection of the entire blister pack, errors in the “repacking” of the medication from the blister strip into the blister pack are associated with a high outlay and costs. A further disadvantage is that because it is operated in cycles, maintenance of a medication filling station leads to a standstill of the entire installation.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONIt is therefore an object of the invention to propose an installation and a method for individually tailored filling of blister packs with medication according to predetermined prescription data which has improved efficiency and ease of maintenance.
The object is achieved by an installation for individually tailored filling of blister packs with medication according to predetermined prescription data, the blister packs having receiving compartments for respective medication administration units, said compartments being arranged in a matrix configuration in rows corresponding to a number of intake times during a day and columns corresponding to a number of days, for example weekdays, comprising a number of medication filling stations arranged one after the other for filling the blister packs with in each case a particular medication, characterised by a transport device constructed for transporting the blister packs individually one after the other in a direction of movement alongside the medicament filling stations, each blister pack being guided individually in a manner such that said pack approaches only the medication filling stations required in each case according to the prescription data for a filling operation, bypassing the other medicament filling stations, and is directly conveyed onwards to the next required medication filling station or to a position behind a preceding blister pack present at a medication filling station, or up to the point of removal of the filled blister from the workpiece carrier.
The object is furthermore achieved by a method for individually tailored filling of blister packs with medication according to predetermined prescription data, the blister packs having receiving compartments for respective medication administration units, said compartments being arranged in a matrix configuration in rows corresponding to a number of intake times during a day and columns corresponding to a number of days, for example weekdays, which method comprises conveying the blister packs individually one after the other in a direction of movement alongside medication filling stations arranged one after the other for filling the blister packs with in each case a particular medication, each blister pack being guided individually in a manner such that said pack approaches only the medication filling stations required in each case according to the prescription data for a filling operation, bypassing the other medication filling stations, and is directly conveyed onwards to the next required medication filling station or to a position behind a preceding blister pack present at a medication filling station.
The individual guiding of the individual blister packs without a fixed cyclic operation only to the medication filling stations required in each case according to the prescription data permits a more rapid passage of the individual blister packs through the installation and thus increased efficiency. Moreover, operation of the installation is not brought to a standstill as a result of maintenance work on an individual medication filling station.
Preferably, the blister packs are driven by means of a magnetic track with a linear motor, as a result of which individual control and reliable transport of a large number of blister packs is possible. Preferably, workpiece carriers guided in a magnetic track are provided for receiving the blister packs, which workpiece carriers are conveyed in a closed circuit, the blister packs being placed on the workpiece carriers before being filled and being removed again after the filling operation.
To increase the efficiency of the installation, in each case a column of a blister pack corresponding to a number of days can be filled simultaneously in one working step.
Preferably, each filling station has a movable premetering cartridge for filling the blister packs, as a result of which the time-critical operation of filling the blister pack is decoupled from the mechanically difficult operation of ejecting the medication units out of the blister strip.
The installation can furthermore have a camera arranged above the transport device for visual checking of the correct filling of the blister pack according to the prescription data. A plurality of filling stations can be combined in this case to form filling modules, such a camera being provided after each filling module.
Preferably, a clean room region is provided to create clean room conditions during filling of the blister packs.
The method according to the invention preferably comprises the method step of establishing and attaching a documentation carrier on the blister pack, comprising information relating to the individual and/or information on the use of the medication packaged in the blister pack.
In the method according to the invention, the sequence of the blister packs filled in succession can be specified according to the requirements of the recipients of the filled blister packs without a loss in the efficiency of the installation, as a result of which dispatch and marketing of the filled blister packs is simplified considerably.
The invention is described in detail in the following with the aid of embodiments with reference to the drawings.
The installation according to the invention is used for individually tailored filling of blister packs with medication according to predetermined prescription data for a particular person/patient.
With reference again to
Downstream of a filling module 41 a phototunnel 32 with a camera (not shown) is provided, which establishes a visual image of the blister pack 25 after passing through the preceding filling module 41. With the aid of the image of the blister pack obtained by the camera in the phototunnel 32, evaluation electronics can check whether the filling with medication has been correctly implemented according to the respective prescription data of the patient.
An embodiment of a premetering cartridge 50 is shown in a schematic perspective view in
The mechanism for feeding the medication 28 into the premetering cartridge 50 of a medication filling station 40 is shown schematically in
As shown in
Preferably, a medication filling station 40 has at least two sensor devices 47, 48 for checking the correct blister strip-premetering cartridge-blister pack transfer of medication. A first transmitted light camera or light barrier 47 ascertains through the slots 52 provided on the premetering compartments 51 whether a medication is present in the corresponding premetering compartment 51 during the outwards movement of the premetering cartridge 50 and whether it is no longer present therein during the later inwards movement, as a result of which the correct release of the medication units into the corresponding compartments of the blister pack can be validated. In addition, an incident light camera 48 is preferably provided which likewise visually validates the filling status of the premetering compartments 51 before transfer of medication to the blister pack and thereafter, either by means of reflected light or as a transmitted light detector. In the latter case, the base of the premetering cartridge 50 must be constructed to be transparent to light.
Compared with the prior art known from WO 2005 102 841 A1, the use of the premetering cartridge 50 in the filling installation according to the invention ensures that the ejection operation from the blister strip 45 and the filling operation of the blister pack 25 are decoupled from one another. As a result, the filling operation of the blister pack 25 which is time-critical for the efficiency of the entire installation can be optimised with respect to speed, while more time is available for the ejection operation from the blister strip 45, which is mechanically difficult to perform, without the efficiency of the entire installation being impaired.
According to the invention, to convey the workpiece carrier 12 a magnetic rail system 10 with a linear motor drive is preferably provided, which rail system allows each workpiece carrier 20 and therefore the blister pack 25 present thereon to be guided individually. The magnetic rail system 10 has a self-contained guide rail 11, shown in cross section in
An embodiment of the method according to the invention for individually tailored filling of blister packs is explained in the following with reference to
At the start of the filling zone before the first filling module 41 a blister pack feeding station 60 is provided, shown schematically in
In a first method step S2 (
By the individual guiding of the individual blister packs only to the medication filling stations required in each case according to the prescription data, the invention makes possible considerably faster passage of the individual blister packs through the installation and therefore increased efficiency compared with conventional cyclic operation. If a filling station 40 drops out briefly because of maintenance work or changing of the blister strip, this does not require the entire installation to be stopped. Replacement of a defective filling station by a new filling station is also possible without problems, without shutting down the entire installation.
Claims
1. An apparatus for individually tailored filling of blister packs with medication according to predetermined prescription data, wherein the blister packs have receiving compartments for respective medication administration units, said compartments being arranged in a matrix configuration in rows corresponding to a number of intake times during a day and columns corresponding to a number of days, for example weekdays, comprising:
- a number of medication filling stations arranged one after the other for filling the blister packs with in each case a particular medication; and
- a transport device for transporting the blister packs individually one after the other in a direction of movement alongside the medication filling stations, wherein each blister pack is guided individually in a manner such that said pack approaches only the medication filling stations required in each case according to the prescription data for a filling operation, bypassing the other medication filling stations, and is directly conveyed onwards to the next required medication filling station or to a position behind a preceding blister pack present at a medication filling station.
2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transport device is constructed as a magnetic track with a linear motor for driving the blister packs.
3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transport device is constructed for transporting workpiece carriers, which are guided in a magnetic rail, for receiving the blister packs.
4. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the transport device is constructed as a closed track on which the workpiece carriers are conveyed in a closed circuit, the blister packs being placed on the workpiece carriers before being filled and being removed again after the filling operation.
5. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein in each case a column of a blister pack corresponding to a number of days is filled simultaneously in one working step.
6. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein each filling station has a movable premetering cartridge for filling the blister packs.
7. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a camera arranged above the transport device for visual checking of the correct filling of the blister packs according to the prescription data.
8. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein in each case a plurality of filling stations are combined to form filling modules and a camera is arranged downstream of each filling module for visual checking of the correct filling of the blister packs.
9. The apparatus according to claim 1, further having a clean room region for creating clean room conditions during filling of the blister packs.
10. A method for individually tailored filling of blister packs with medication according to predetermined prescription data, wherein the blister packs have receiving compartments for respective medication administration units, said compartments being arranged in a matrix configuration in rows corresponding to a number of intake times during a day and columns corresponding to a number of days, for example weekdays, the method comprising:
- conveying the blister packs individually one after the other in a direction of movement alongside medication filling stations arranged one after the other for filling the blister packs with in each case a particular medication, wherein each blister pack is guided individually in a manner such that said pack approaches only the medication filling stations required in each case according to the prescription data for a filling operation, bypassing the other medication filling stations, and is directly conveyed onwards to the next required medication filling station or to a position behind a preceding blister pack present at a medication filling station.
11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the blister packs are driven by means of a magnetic track with a linear motor.
12. The method according to claim 10, wherein workpiece carriers for receiving the blister packs are provided, which workpiece carriers are conveyed in a closed circuit, the blister packs being placed on the workpiece carriers before being filled and being removed again after the filling operation.
13. The method according to claim 10, wherein in each case a column of a blister pack corresponding to a number of days is filled simultaneously in one working step.
14. The method according to claim 10, wherein the blister packs are filled by means of a movable premetering cartridge.
15. The method according to claim 10, furthermore comprising the method step of visual checking of the correct filling of the blister packs according to the prescription data.
16. The method according to claim 10, wherein the blister packs are filled under clean room conditions.
17. The method according to claim 10, comprising the method step of establishing and attaching a documentation carrier on the blister pack comprising information relating to the individual and/or information on the use of the medication packaged in the blister pack.
18. The method according to claim 10, wherein the sequence of the blister packs filled in succession is specified according to the requirements of the recipients of the filled blister packages.
Type: Application
Filed: Jan 7, 2014
Publication Date: Dec 10, 2015
Inventor: Edwin KOHL (Perl)
Application Number: 14/760,599