APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR ROLLING PHARMACEUTICAL STRIPS

Abstract

A pharmaceutical strip into winder includes a variable speed electric drive driving rotation of a forked spindle mounted thereto wherein the forked spindle includes a strip receiving slot formed in and along the spindle, a foot operable remote actuator remote from and cooperating with the electric drive, wherein operation by a user of the remote actuator selectively rotates the spindle at a speed of revolution which is selectively controllable by the user to provide for counting by the user of individual pharmaceutical products carried in spaced apart array along the pharmaceutical strip. The pharmaceutical strip is wound onto the spindle to form a roll.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to the field of devices for rolling or winding elongate, relatively thin and flexible strips or sheets and in particular to an apparatus for rolling such strips or sheets which contain, in spaced apart array therealong, individually packaged or segregated pharmaceuticals.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Retail pharmacies are typically supplied from pharmacy warehouses. Pharmaceuticals are sometimes supplied from the warehouse in long strips or sheets of individual blister-pack or otherwise segregated compartments or packets linked together end-to-end. Sometimes the pharmaceutical strips are for example four rows wide and between fifteen and thirty feet long and come in several different sizes. Presently the conventional way to ship such strips or sheets of individually packaged pharmaceuticals is to manually roll up the strip or sheet and to then ship the roll or sheet to the retail pharmacy.

As applicant understands it, in certain jurisdictions the regulations governing pharmacy and pharmacy warehouses require that each pharmaceutical technician that handles the pharmaceuticals, for example either in shipping or receiving, must account for the type and quantity of the drugs being handled. Thus, each time a pharmaceutical technician touches the drugs, the drugs have to be counted and re-rolled for storage or shipment or for some other step in the supply chain. Consequently, the labour cost for the initial manual rolling, and for the re-counting and manual re-rolling of the pharmaceutical strips, increases the overhead burden of the supply chain and may, at least with employees whose sole job it is to manually roll pharmaceutical strips, cause repetitive strain-type injury.

Consequently what is required, and it is one object to provide, is a variable speed electric drive driving a spindle on to which mounts a pharmaceutical strip, for example at one end of the pharmaceutical strip, wherein the speed of the electric motor may be selectively varied by a user, advantageously by the use of a foot pedal, so to allow hands-free driven rotation of the spindle so as to roll onto the spindle a pharmaceutical strip. The variable speed of rotation of the spindle provides advantages to the user, for example providing for ease of handling of the roll, or allowing for the user to count the pharmaceutical packets as the pharmaceutical strip is rolled on to the spindle.

In the prior art, applicant is aware of U.S. Pat. No. 3,516,618, which issued to Reinke on Jun. 23, 1970, for a Bandage Winder, wherein Reinke discloses the use of a longitudinally elongated and tapered winding fork mounted to an electric motor for rotation of the winding fork so as to engage a bandage in the slot in the fork for rolling of the bandage. The winding fork is a continuation of an output shaft extending laterally from a reduction gear head which receives power input from an electric motor.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In summary, the method and apparatus for rolling pharmaceutical strips according to one aspect of the present invention may be characterized as including a selectively driven variable speed winder having a winding fork containing in one embodiment a longitudinal slot in the fork for receiving therein a pharmaceutical strip or sheet (hereinafter collectively referred to as “strip”), whereby the strip may be wound on to the winding fork when the winding fork is selectively rotated. The winding fork is selectively rotated by a variable speed electrical drive having a remote control variable speed actuator.

The slot in the winding fork is open at the distal end of the fork, that is, the end of the fork opposite from the drive motor. The slot is substantially uniform in size along the length of the fork. The actual opening size of the slot is sufficiently large to accept the web thickness of the pharmaceutical strip, that is, the thickness of the strip at its thinnest, which is typically located between the blister packs or packets containing the pharmaceutical products. Thus the pharmaceutical strip is retained by the slot snugly receiving the pharmaceutical strip web into the slot so that the adjacent thicker blister pack does not pull through the slot. This then secures the pharmaceutical strip as the winding fork is rotated about its longitudinal axis for rolling the pharmaceutical strip into a roll for storage and shipping.

In one embodiment, the electric motor is supported on a rigid base. Advantageously, the electric motor is a variable speed motor such as for example employed in electric hand-operated drills so that the speed of revolution of the drive shaft extending from the motor may be varied by a user according to remote control inputs from the user. The inputs from the user may for example include a foot operated pedal which changes the rotation speed of the motor depending of the position of the pedal as controlled by the user. The drive shaft or output shaft of the electric motor is connected to or mounted to the base end of the winding fork.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the accompanying illustrations forming part of this specification, wherein like reference numerals denote corresponding parts in each view:

FIG. 1 is, in top perspective view, one example of a pharmaceutical strip winder wherein the variable speed electric drive rotating the slotted spindle is provided by an electric hand drill rigidly mounted to a base frame.

FIG. 2 is, in perspective view, one example of a foot pedal which cooperates with the variable speed electric drive for remote variable actuation of the rotation of the spindle while winding on a pharmaceutical strip so as to form a roll.

FIG. 3 is, in top perspective view, a pharmaceutical strip winder wherein the electric drive is encased in a rigid housing and only the slotted spindle protrudes therefrom.

FIG. 4a is, in plan view, a partially cut away length of a pharmaceutical strip showing by way of example individual pharmaceutical products carried within blisters on a perforated linear strip of web.

FIG. 4b is the view of FIG. 4a in side elevation.

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic view of the winding on of a pharmaceutical strip so as to form a roll about the rotating forked spindle on which the pharmaceutical strip is mounted.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

In FIG. 1, electric drive 10 is provided by hand drill 12. Hand drill 12 is merely representative of variable speed electric motors generally, which are commercially available and may be substituted for hand drill 12 as would be known to one skilled in the art. Electric drive 10, as exemplified by hand drill 12, has an output shaft 14 to which is mounted a spindle 16 having a slot 18 extending substantially the entire length thereof. Slot 18 may in one embodiment have a uniform slot width “d”, where it is understood that slot 18 extends completely through the diameter of spindle 16. Slot 18 has a distal end 18a which is open, and opposite base end 18b which is mounted to output shaft 14. Output shaft 14 and spindle 16 are coaxial on axis of rotation A.

Power is supplied to hand drill 12 by electrical cord 12a. In FIG. 1, which is not intended to be limiting, hand drill 12 is held rigidly on base 20 by means of a pair of rigid struts 22 which are bolted to the outer casing of hand drill 12. Output shaft 14 in the prototype of FIG. 1 is mounted to chuck 24 and supported for rotation in bearing housing 26. Bearing housing 26 is mounted to support wall 28 which itself is braced by braces 30 mounted to base 20.

Spindle 16 may have a stub axle (not shown) which is mounted into chuck 24 and secured therein. Hand drill 12 has trigger 12b which when depressed in the conventional manner energizes electric motor 12 causing rotation of output shaft 14. Rotation of output shaft 14 results in rotation of spindle 16 in direction B about axis of rotation A.

Electrical cord 12a is electrically connected to foot pedal 12d, seen in FIG. 2. Foot petal 12d is electrically connected (not shown) to mains power. A user depressing foot pedal 12d in direction C causes a downward rotation of pedal deck 12e against the return biasing force of a resilient spring (not shown) mounted in the foot pedal 12e. The amount of power supplied to hand drill 12 is regulated by a user depressing deck 12e, so that the greater the deflection downwardly, the greater the power supplied to hand drill 12, and consequently the greater the rotational speed of output shaft 14 and spindle 16 in direction B. Because the power is regulated by foot pedal 12d, and because in the prototype the electric drive is supplied by hand drill 12, trigger 12b, which in the ordinary operation of hand drill 12 would be progressively depressed to regulate the power to the electric motor within the hand drill, is maintained fully depressed by clamping bracket 12c.

As seen in FIG. 3 electric drive 10 may be housed within housing 32 and rigidly mounted therein by means of further bracing or brackets (not shown) as would be known by one skilled in the art. Advantageously, the interior of housing 32 may be insulated to reduce noise and vibration. Output shaft 14 or a stub shaft (not shown) extending between spindle 16 and output shaft 14 is journalled through side wall 32a and in particular through bearing housing 26. Bearing housing 26 is mounted to side wall 32a by the bolting of flange 26a to side wall 32a.

One example of a form of pharmaceutical strip 34 is shown in the segment of FIGS. 4a and 4b. Thus individual tablets, pills or other pharmaceutical drugs or products 36 are contained in individual blisters 38 carried on or in sheet-like web 40. Web 40 may be transversely segmented by perforated lines 42 so that individual blisters 38 may be separated from one another. As would be known to one skilled in the art, blisters 38 may merely be individual packets or sleeves or envelopes joined along a perforated line 42 so as to provide an elongate pharmaceutical strip 34. Multiple rows of pharmaceutical strips 34 may be joined side-by-side with one another. For example four rows of pharmaceutical strips 34 may form a single elongate sheet for ease of bulk shipping.

In operation, with the web 40 of pharmaceutical strip 34 slid into and along slot 18 in spindle 16, the user actuating foot pedal 12d causes spindle 16 to rotate in direction B as seen in FIG. 5 so as to thereby wind-on the pharmaceutical strip 34 onto spindle 16. As the pharmaceutical strip is wound on to spindle 16, the user regulates the speed of rotation of spindle 16 so as to wind on the pharmaceutical strip at a comfortable speed allowing the user to count the pharmaceuticals 36 as the roll 34a, shown in dotted outline, expands in diameter as more of pharmaceutical strip 34 is wound-on or entrained in direction D.

The useful speed of rotation while a user is winding-on pharmaceutical strip 34 would be for example in the range of 0 to 150 rpm. This provides for ease of handling of the roll as the strip is wound-on, and provides other advantages such as, for example, in the event the user counts the drugs as the strip is winding-on to form the roll. Other advantages would be apparent to the user or to those skilled in the art. The variable speed of electric drive 10, as regulated by a remote foot controlled actuator such as foot pedal 12d, is important as the user may want to control the speed of rotation to effectively handle the roll as it relatively builds roll 34a during counting of the drugs 36, but may also have need for a high speed winding-on of pharmaceutical strip 34 in certain instances. Advantageously, the entire range of rpm speeds of rotation of spindle 16 are available by the operation of foot pedal 12d depending on the extent of depression of the foot pedal deck. The winding-on of the strip 334 by the user may be performed by as simple an operation as the user holding pharmaceutical strip 34 as web 40 slides over the user's palm.

A typical dimension of the width “w” may be in the order of approximately 3 inches and the length “l” may be in the order of also approximately 3 inches. Each individual pharmaceutical drug, pill or tablet 36 may for example have a height dimension of approximately for example ¼ inch and therefore the height of each corresponding blister 38 may also be approximately ¼ inch.

Applicant has found where for example spindle 16 is made of steel, it is preferred that the shaft of spindle 16, that is, the outer cylindrical surface, is polished so as to avoid pharmaceutical strip 34 rolling on too tightly on to spindle 16 during forming of roll 34a. In one embodiment, not intending to be limited, the diameter of spindle 16 is approximately 5/8 of an inch although other diameters of spindle 16 would also work, and the width the opening of slot 18, which advantageously is of uniform dimension along the length spindle 16, may be approximately 1/8 of an inch although again this is not intending to be limiting and would also work where the slot is merely smaller than the height of blisters 38.

As will be apparent to those skilled in the art in the light of the foregoing disclosure, many alterations and modifications are possible in the practice of this invention without departing from the spirit or scope thereof. Accordingly, the scope of the invention is to be construed in accordance with the substance defined by the following claims.

Claims

1. An apparatus for winding a pharmaceutical strip into a roll, the apparatus comprising:

a variable speed electric drive having an output shaft,

a spindle mounted to said output shaft so as to be substantially co-axial therewith, and co-axial with an axis of rotation of said output shaft,

a strip receiving slot formed in and along said spindle and sized to receive one end of the strip therein, a foot operable remote actuator remote from and cooperating with said electric drive, wherein operation by a user of said remote actuator selectively operates said electric drive and rotates

said output shaft at a speed of revolution of said output shaft about said axis of rotation which is selectively controllable by the user as the pharmaceutical strip is wound onto said spindle so as form the roll.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said spindle is cylindrical.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said spindle has a base end mounted to said output shaft and an opposite distal end, opposite to said base end, and wherein said slot terminates at an open end of said slot at said distal end of said spindle.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said spindle has a long length and wherein said slot extends substantially completely along said length.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said slot has an opening width, and wherein said opening width is substantially constant along said length.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein said slot intersects said axis of rotation.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein said axis of rotation bisects said slot.

8. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the pharmaceutical strip has a web having a web thickness the web having packets formed there along, and wherein the pharmaceutical products are contained in the packets so that the packets have a packet thickness which is greater than the web thickness, and wherein said slot width is greater than the web thickness but less than the packet thickness.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein said remote actuator is a foot pedal.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein said foot pedal selectively actuates and controls said speed of revolution of said output shaft within an RPM range of substantially 0 to 150 RPM.

11. A method for winding a pharmaceutical strip into a roll using the apparatus of claim 1, the method comprising:

a) providing said variable speed electric drive,

b) inserting said one end of the strip into said slot,

c) actuating said remote actuator to selectively operate said electric drive and rotate said output shaft at a speed of revolution of said output shaft about said axis of rotation,

d) selectively controlling said speed of revolution to allow counting of individual pharmaceutical products carried in spaced apart array along the pharmaceutical strip,

e) winding the pharmaceutical strip onto said spindle so as form the roll.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein said spindle is cylindrical.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein said spindle has a base end mounted to said output shaft and an opposite distal end, opposite to said base end, and wherein said slot terminates at an open end of said slot at said distal end of said spindle.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein said spindle has a long length and wherein said slot extends substantially completely along said length.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein said slot has an opening width, and wherein said opening width is substantially constant along said length.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein said slot intersects said axis of rotation.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein said axis of rotation bisects said slot.

18. The method of claim 16 wherein the pharmaceutical strip has a web having a web thickness the web having packets formed there along, and wherein the pharmaceutical products are contained in the packets so that the packets have a packet thickness which is greater than the web thickness, and wherein said slot width is greater than the web thickness but less than the packet thickness.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein said remote actuator is a foot pedal.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein said foot pedal selectively actuates and controls said speed of revolution of said output shaft within an RPM range of substantially 0 to 150 RPM.