Abstract: The present disclosure provides a printer for an automatic packing machine, which employs a ribbon cartridge to facilitate replacement of a ribbon tape and allows a thermal print head to be lifted or lowered to further facilitate replacement of the ribbon tape. The present disclosure also provides an automatic packing machine including the same. The printer is configured to print medicine data on a surface of a wrapping paper using a thermal print head and a ribbon tape. The printer includes a stationary plate secured to a lower portion of a body of the automatic packing machine, a movable plate disposed to be movable with respect to the stationary plate, and a ribbon cartridge receiving a ribbon tape and detachably mounted to the movable plate.

Abstract: The present disclosure provides medicine management apparatuses that stores various kinds of medicines and permits the stored medicines to be dispensed according to prescriptions. More particularly, the present disclosure provides medicine management apparatuses that ensure stable medicine management and security while providing efficiency in stock management and preparation of medicines. The medicine management apparatus includes a plurality of shelves rotatably coupled to a vertically disposed circular rotary carousel and a plurality of bins seated on the shelves and accommodating medicines. The apparatus further includes a main door that opens and closes an inlet/outlet port formed at a front side of a housing of the medicine management apparatus; and a shelf assistant door that opens or closes an opened front part of each of the shelves exposed through the inlet/outlet port and is provided with a lock.

Abstract: A dispensary management system includes a medicine compounding management unit for managing medicine compounding information and for automatically compounding medicines according to the medicine compounding information and a medicine storage management unit connected to the medicine compounding management for storing residual medicines and, when medicines in the medicine compounding management unit are insufficient, for informing the medicine compounding management unit of a position where medicines corresponding to insufficient medicines are stored. A dispensary management method includes inputting medicine compounding information, determining whether medicines are insufficient based on the medicine compounding information, retrieving a cabinet storing medicines corresponding to the insufficient medicines, filling the insufficient medicines, and compounding medicines according to the medicine compounding information.

Abstract: Disclosed herein is a medicine management system wherein a camera is installed in a camera tube to acquire a good-quality medicine image, thereby improving recognition efficiency. A method of setting the camera of the medicine image capturing device includes extracting a jig block from a medicine image captured by the medicine image capturing device, analyzing image elements of the jig block, and setting a capturing mode of the camera.

Abstract: A method for inspecting manual dispensing tray of the automatic medicine packaging machine that stably inspects dispensing error of the manual dispensing tray due to manual dispensing by a pharmacist and that prevents the inferiority of packaging due to the dispensing error of the manual dispensing tray is disclosed. The method includes step of confirming manual dispensing; step of photographing tray; step of acquiring medication information; step of analyzing information equivalence; and step of displaying dispensing error.

Abstract: Disclosed is an automated medicine storage and medicine introduction/discharge management system, which includes a main body in which a plurality of receiving shelves is arranged, the main body having a door to enable user access, a medicine introduction/discharge unit installed in one side region of the main body to introduce or discharge a medicine product into or out of the main body, a robot transfer unit installed in the main body to transfer the medicine product, introduced via the medicine introduction/discharge unit, to each receiving space of the main body, or to discharge the medicine product received in the receiving space, and a control unit to control operations of the main body, the medicine introduction/discharge unit, and the robot transfer unit. The system is able to store a variety of medicine in a single main body and to achieve enhanced security for special medicine and efficient management of stock.

Abstract: Disclosed is a tablet packaging controller of an automatic tablet packaging machine for recognizing information of tablets accommodated in tablet cassettes and tracking positions of the tablet cassettes. The controller includes RF tags recording tablet information, and tablet information access units receiving the tablet information via a wireless line, to transmit tablet information and identification information of cartridges to a host terminal, or to record new tablet information in the RF tags. The host terminal creates and stores position arrangement information of the tablet cassettes, estimates a quantity of remaining tablets, controls tablets to be discharged in a certain order of tablet cassettes, and controls the tablet information access units to package only the accommodated tablets when the remaining tablets are short, and displays the short tablet on an LCD, and controls the tablet information access units to package the remaining tablets when the short tablets are supplemented.

Abstract: Disclosed is an automatic medicine packing machine having a cleaning device for automatically cleaning dust generated in the packing machine while packing successively various medicines dose by dose. An automatic medicine packing machine includes a plurality of cassettes arranged in an upper portion of a body to receive medicines of various sizes and shapes, a hopper assembly arranged in a lower portion of the body to collect medicines discharged from the cassettes, a hopper mounting unit for mounting the hopper assembly to a lower portion of a frame of the body to be openable, a packing device for packing the medicines collected by the hopper assembly, and a hopper cleaning device for sucking dust generated from the hopper assembly during a medicine packing process to clean an interior of the hopper assembly.

Abstract: Disclosed is a medicine pouch arranging device capable of uniformly spreading tablets of medicine packed in a medicine pouch, enabling inspection to determine whether a correct medicine has been packed in a series of medicine pouches which have been automatically packed on a per dose basis and successively discharged from an automatic medicine packing machine. The medicine pouch arranging device includes a transfer roller to transfer the medicine pouches, a guide plate to support the medicine pouches that are being transferred thereon, the guide plate having at least one opening, a vibrator to vibrate each of the medicine pouches that are being transferred on the guide plate by applying shock or vibration to the medicine pouch, and a sponge roller arranged above the guide plate to press each of the medicine pouches so that some vertically or obliquely erected tablets of medicine packed in the medicine pouch are laid flat.

Abstract: Disclosed is a medicine discharge device of an automatic medicine packing machine, which is used to discharge a medicine, fed from a medicine cassette based on a medical prescription, into a medicine packing device. The medicine discharge device includes a medicine input unit installed under a medicine cassette mount to receive the medicine fed from the medicine cassette, a frame provided with a gate unit, the gate unit including gate members to be opened or closed by a drive unit so as to control movement of the medicine discharged from the medicine input unit, a plate installed under the frame and having an accommodation portion to receive the medicine and a recess to allow the medicine to be moved from the gate members to a discharge passage, a vibrator to vibrate the plate, and a medicine transfer unit to discharge the medicine, having passed through the recess, into a hopper.

Abstract: A medicine packet inspecting apparatus is disclosed. The medicine packet inspecting apparatus includes a transfer conveyer installed on the upper surface of a main body to transfer medicine packets to one side of the main body, a tablet spreading unit installed on the upper surface of the transfer conveyer to uniformly spread tablets within the medicine packets, an image reading unit to capture the upper surfaces of the medicine packets with a camera and to judge whether or not the tablets are defective through comparison of the captured images with information regarding a prescription and the tablets stored in a data storage unit, and a making unit to mark a defective sign on medicine packets if the tablets within the medicine packets are judged to be defective.

Abstract: The present invention relates to an automatic medicine packing machine for packing a variety of medicines dose by dose continuously. According to one embodiment, there is provided an automatic medicine packing machine for packing a variety of medicines dose by dose continuously, including: a plurality of cassette units in which the variety of medicines are accommodated; a hopper for collecting the medicines discharged from the cassette units; a packing unit for packing the medicines collected by the hopper; and a shutter assembly mounted on the hopper to temporarily suspend the medicines discharged from the cassette units, wherein the shutter assembly includes a frame detachably mounted to an upper end of the hopper; an openable/closable shutter unit arranged and mounted on the frame; a driving means for driving the shutter unit to be opened and closed; and an interlocking unit for transferring a driving force of the driving means to the shutter unit to interlock the shutter unit.

Abstract: The tablet cassette includes a division block installed to be rotated by a drive motor to discharge tablets introduced from above through transfer passages indented in an outer circumferential surface thereof. Each of the transfer passage includes a separation recess for downward transfer of the tablets, a lower end of which is blocked by a prop, and a supply recess along which the tablets having passed through the separation recess are moved on the outer circumferential surface of the division block to thereby be discharged downward via rotation of the division block. The tablet cassette further includes a bottom ring provided around a lower end of the division block to transfer the tablets located in the separation recess into the supply recess via rotation of the division block.

Abstract: Disclosed is an automatic medicine packing machine having a cleaning device for automatically cleaning dust generated in the packing machine while packing successively various medicines dose by dose. An automatic medicine packing machine includes a plurality of cassettes arranged in an upper portion of a body to receive medicines of various sizes and shapes, a hopper assembly arranged in a lower portion of the body to collect medicines discharged from the cassettes, a hopper mounting unit for mounting the hopper assembly to a lower portion of a frame of the body to be openable, a packing device for packing the medicines collected by the hopper assembly, and a hopper cleaning device for sucking dust generated from the hopper assembly during a medicine packing process to clean an interior of the hopper assembly.

Abstract: A method for preventing irregular packaging for automatic medicine packing machine having a last hopper that contains the tablet just before the tablet is packed, includes steps of sensing whether a tablet is received in the last hopper, sensing and deciding whether the tablet stands vertical inside the last hopper, vibrating a shutter if it is decided that the tablet stands vertical whereby the vertical standing tablet falls down, and checking non-standing of the tablet after completion of shutter vibration. The apparatus performing the method includes a shutter vibrating unit and a standing sensor that is installed on the last hopper and senses whether the tablet received in the last hopper stands vertical. The standing sensor includes a horizontal slot that is formed horizontally at a side of the last hopper at a position corresponding to a vertical height of a tablet and a photo sensor.

Abstract: Disclosed is an automatic tablet packing apparatus having sliding racks, wherein tablets received in a plurality of tablet cassettes are successively packed on a per dose basis based on a medical prescription. Each of the sliding racks includes a pair of left and right partition walls, a tablet discharge passage to guide the tablets discharged from the tablet cassettes being defined by facing inner surfaces of the left and right partition walls. Cassette pedestals are attached to outer surfaces of the left and right partition walls and in turn, the tablet cassettes are detachably arranged on the cassette pedestals. The left and right partition walls are able to be individually pulled out from a body of the apparatus. As the left or right partition wall is pulled out, the tablet discharge passage is revealed to the outside thus enabling easy cleaning thereof.

Abstract: The tablet distribution apparatus includes an apparatus body having a pass-through channel through which an auxiliary tray is inserted into the pass-through channel, a distribution board mounted at the top of the apparatus body such that the distribution board vertically communicates with the pass-through channel, the distribution board having distribution through-holes of the same size and number as tablet receiving grooves of the auxiliary tray, each distribution through-hole being provided at the inside thereof with a lamp mounted therein, a display window mounted at the top of the apparatus body, and a control unit mounted at the apparatus body for selectively lighting the lamps depending upon the number of medicine packs to be prepared by patients according to the information of preparation inputted to a server computer.

Abstract: The tablet distribution apparatus includes an apparatus body having a pass-through channel through which an auxiliary tray is inserted into the pass-through channel, a distribution board mounted at the top of the apparatus body such that the distribution board vertically communicates with the pass-through channel, the distribution board having distribution through-holes of the same size and number as tablet receiving grooves of the auxiliary tray, each distribution through-hole being provided at the inside thereof with a lamp mounted therein, a display window mounted at the top of the apparatus body, and a control unit mounted at the apparatus body for selectively lighting the lamps depending upon the number of medicine packs to be prepared by patients according to the information of preparation inputted to a server computer.

Abstract: According to one embodiment a prescription package supplier is provided for cutting prescription packages successively discharged from an automatic prescribed-medicament packing machine and supplying them, the automatic prescribed-medicament packing machine successively packing medicaments prepared according to a physician's or pharmacist's prescription, dose by dose, and a prescription package receiver for accommodating the prescription packages supplied from the prescription package supplier in a prescription package box. The prescription boxes are then discharged. According to another embodiment, a method for automatically packing prescription packages is provided. According to yet another embodiment, a prescription package box in which separate prescription packages are packed by the automatic prescription package packing apparatus is provided.

Abstract: A medicine management system includes a medicine storage unit, keeping at least one new cassette in which medicines are accommodated; a robot unit including a gripper for gripping the new cassette; an automatic medicine packing apparatus, dispensing and packing medicines from a dispensing cassette thereof, and requesting replenishment of medicines when there is no medicine in the dispensing cassette; and a central control unit, controlling the robot unit to transmit movement control commands to the robot unit upon receiving the replenishment request, to mobilize the robot unit to transfer the empty dispensing cassette to a conveyer and gripping a new cassette in which the corresponding medicines are accommodated from the medicine storage unit and mounted to the automatic medicine packing apparatus.