Background Art Since the early 1990s, the inventor has continuously researched in the field of automatic tablet packaging apparatus and filed resultant achievements to acquire intellectual property rights.

The present invention relates to hoppers of the automatic tablet packaging apparatus, in which the hoppers are provided in a dropping unit having a number of cassettes stacked one atop another, and in response to a user input, serve to guide discharged tablets toward a packaging unit having a heating roller.

FIGS. 1 and 2 are schematic front and side elevation views of"Mounting Structure of Tablet Cassettes in an Automatic Tablet Packaging Apparatus", disclosed in Korean Utility Model Registration No. 2002-0276183, May 18,2002.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, tablet cassettes C are stacked one atop another on a slider cabinets 10 and a door cabinets 20 connected with the body via hinges 20a. Tablets discharged from the slider cabinets 10 and the door cabinets 20 is collected through hoppers 41 and 43 and then drops to a packaging unit 30.

Between the slider cabinets 10 and the packaging unit 30, there is arranged a manual distribution tray 31 for allowing a user or pharmacist to manually load tablets which are not contained in the tablet cassettes C into the packaging unit 30, in which tablets are packaged.

Tablets dropping from the body-side hopper 41, the hinged door-side hopper 43 or the manual distribution tray 31 is loaded via a lower hopper 45 provided in the packaging unit 30 into packages so that tablets are packaged by one doses.

The packaging unit 30 includes a printer 34 for printing the name of a patient on a package 32 which is fed via a guide rod 33 from a package roll 32a, a buttom line 35 for continuously folding the package 32 about a longitudinal line for laterally bisecting the package and a heating roller 36 for continuously sealing the folded package. Packaged tablets are finally discharged via a discharge hopper 47.

Generally, in the conventional automatic medicating packaging apparatus as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, only the hopper 41 for connecting the slider cabinets 10 with the

packaging unit 30 is provided when the cassettes are provided only at a side of the body 41 but the hopper 43 for connecting the door cabinets 20 with the packaging unit 30 is also provided when the cassettes are provided at sides of the slider cabinets 41 and the door cabinets 20.

The hoppers may be referred to as'collective hoppers' used for whole discharge passages compared with'separate hoppers'used for respective tablet discharge passages of the present invention. As a problem of the collective hoppers 41 and 43, tablets dropping from passages 11 and 21 of the unit 10 and 20 collide against walls of the hoppers 41 and 43, without losing kinetic energy, and then repeat irregular collision against the hopper walls for several times to fracture itself.

Fine particles fractured from tablets reside in the hoppers and tend to stick to subsequently discharged tablets. Then, the hoppers 41 and 43 and the packaging unit 30 are soiled and undesirable tablet components are contained in a subsequent tablet package.

Further, tablet discharge is delayed while tablets heavily bound from the walls as above, and thus the efficiency of the apparatus is lowered.

Some of conventional tablet packaging apparatuses comprise anti-bounding projections for preventing tablets from colliding against and bounding from the hoppers.

However, the hoppers with the anti-bounding projections have an insufficient buffering ability. Further, since the projections are hardly separated from a tablet package apparatus once installed therein, it is difficult to clean the hoppers and thus to maintain its cleanness.

Disclosure of Invention Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the foregoing problems related to the collective hoppers for connecting the passages of the dropping unit 'with the packaging unit in the conventional automatic tablet packaging apparatus. The present invention has the following objects: First, since dropping tablets may collide against hopper walls while irregularly bounding therefrom to be fractured into small particles, separate hoppers are provided in respective passages of a dropping unit to minimize bounding spaces of tablets thereby rapidly discharging tablets as well as reducing impact energy applied to tablets.

Second, a buffer sheet is provided in each hopper to reduce the kinetic energy of dropping tablets and impact applied thereto.

Third, a detachable hopper assembly structure is provided to facilitate cleaning of the hoppers.

According to an aspect of the present invention for realizing the above objects, there is provided an automatic tablets packaging apparatus for packaging tablets by one doses under the control of a control unit based upon a prescription, comprising: a dropping unit provided in an upper portion of the packaging apparatus ; a plurality of tablet cassettes arrayed in the dropping unit for discharging tablets; a packaging unit provided under the cassettes; and a plurality of separate hoppers provided in bottom portions of tablet drop passages in the dropping unit, and functioning to guide tablets discharged from the

tablet cassettes toward the packaging unit in order to reduce fracture of dropping tablets owing to collision against a hopper wall.

The separate hoppers may include a bent hopper, which is provided in a side passage and bent toward a final drop position of tablets, and a linear hopper provided in a central passage. Also, the separate hoppers may be provided with buffer members which are projected from inner portions of the hoppers.

The automatic tablet packaging apparatus of the present invention as described above minimizes bounding spaces of tablets by adopting the'separate hoppers'rather <BR> <BR> than the'collective hoppers. 'As a result, even if dropping tablets first collide against the hoppers and then repeatedly rebounds therefrom, fracture of tablets is reduced since its kinetic energy is not so large. The bounding distance of tablets is also shortened to reduce delayed discharge time which is caused by bounding of tablets.

The separate hoppers are small sized, and in combination with a'detachable hopper structure'function to facilitate hopper cleaning and ultimately cleaning of the entire packaging apparatus, thereby assisting to prevent undesirable problems that fine tablet particles scatter undesirably or enter a package, stuck on tablet tablets and so on.

Further, the buffer members are provided in the 'separate hoppers'and/or the connector pipes so that their elasticity may reduce the kinetic energy of tablets before tablets collide against the hopper walls in order to prevent fracture of tablets.

Moreover, the separate hoppers of the present invention are constructed of a detachable type to maintain the cleanness of the tablet packaging apparatus as well as the purity of prepared tablet ingredients.

Brief Description of the Drawings FIGS. 1 and 2 are schematic front and side elevation views of a conventional automatic tablet packaging apparatus having collective hoppers; FIG. 3 is a schematic front elevation view of an automatic tablet packaging'apparatus having separate hoppers in accordance with the present invention; and FIG. 4 is a photograph illustrating a rear side of an actual packaging apparatus having a hopper separation structure for facilitating cleaning of separate hoppers.

Major Drawing Reference Numerals: 10,110 : slider cabinets 20: door cabinets 11,21, Illa, lllb : passage 30: packaging unit 31: manual distribution tray 32: package 33: guide rod 34: printer 35: buttom line 36: heating roller C: tablet cassette 41: body-side hopper 43: hinged door-side hopper 45: lower hopper H1, H2: separate hopper F: flange P: connector pipe A: buffer member Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention Hereinafter a preferred embodiment of the present

invention will be described in detail with reference to the appended drawings.

The same reference numerals are used throughout the specification and the appended drawings to designate the same members of the same functions.

In a tablet package apparatus shown in FIG. 3, a packaging unit 30 has the same structure and function as that shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. So, the packaging unit 30 packages dropped tablets in the same sequence as described above.

Japanese Utility Model Publication Serial No. Sho57- 105201, entitled"Automatic Tablet Distributor", discloses a number of drawable cassettes which are arrayed in a columnar configuration. In the tablet packaging apparatus of the present invention, an slider cabinets 110 comprises total three sets S of cassettes with one set including two columns of cassettes, in which the cassettes are drawn via upper and lower slide packs S1 and S2.

Discharge passages llla and lllb are formed between paired two columns of cassettes C.

However the protection scope with respect to the 'separate hoppers'of the present invention is not limited to the afore-described array structure of the cassettes C.

The'tablet packaging apparatus of the present invention is most distinguished from the conventional tablet packaging apparatus in the'separate hoppers'which replace the conventional'collective hoppers.' In the cassette sets S each having the two columns via the slide packs S1 and S2 as shown in FIG. 3, each of the tablet discharge passages llla and lllb is provided with a hopper. That is, the separate hoppers H1 and H2 are

provided in the tablet packaging apparatus.

The separate hoppers H1 and H2 prevent tablets from colliding against or irregularly bounding from hopper walls so that tablets are not fractured. This is enabled by removing a space which permits tablets to collide against and bound from the hopper after discharged from the cassette.

In FIG. 3, the separate hopper H is provided in a side passage and bent toward a final drop point of tablets, whereas the separate hopper H is formed linear in a central passage.

Those terms'bent'and'linear'were adopted to express configurations of the separate hoppers which are suitably shaped to deliver tablets from the discharge passages Illa and lllb to an upper portion of a lower hopper, which functions to guide tablets to a packaging position or the final drop point of tablets.

In FIG. 3, the final drop point of tablets is located in the lower hopper 45 which is provided in the packaging unit 30. Of course, the lower hopper 45 may be omitted so that tablets directly drop into a package 32. However, this structure is not preferable since the separate hoppers are to be necessary lengthened thereby causing difficulties in precisely aligning terminations of the separate hoppers.

While the hoppers H1 and H2 are provided for the passages llla and lllb of the slider cabinets 110 as shown in FIG. 3, these hoppers may be also provided for the door cabinets 20 as shown in FIG. 2.

In FIG. 3, top portions of the separate hoppers H1 and H2 are butted against connector pipes P which are provided at bottom portions of the passages Illa and lllb of the

dropping unit 110, and bottom portions of the separate hoppers H1 and H2 are led to the lower hopper 45 which is separately provided in the packaging unit 30.

In these circumstances, means for reducing the kinetic energy of tablets which drop through the passages llla and lllb are represented together with the concept of the 'separate hoppers'of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, each of the connector pipes P is provided therein with projected'buffer members A'so that tablets can collide against the hopper wall with reduced impact. Then, tablets collides against the buffer members A before reaching the hopper wall so that the elasticity of the buffer member decelerates dropping tablets before it collides against the hopper H1 or H2 in order to prevent fracture of tablets.

The buffer members A may be also provided in the hoppers H1 and H2 in addition to the connector pipes P, and are made of elastic cellophane or rubber.

The connector pipes P are provided for the cassette sets S having the slide packs S1 and S2 of the slider cabinets 110. The connector pipes P connect the bottom portions of the passages llla and lllb with the hoppers H1 and H2, and when the cassettes C of two columns are pulled out, the associated connector pipes P are pulled out along with the cassettes C.

While the'separate hoppers'H1 and H2 and the'buffer members'A are provided to minimize collision of dropping tablets against the hopper wall and its subsequent fracture, the hoppers are preferably formed of a detachable type so that even a faint quantity of residual tablet particles may not pollute the tablet packaging apparatus.

In practice, it was difficult to clean conventional hoppers. Considering the fixing position and orientation of the conventional hoppers with respect to the packaging apparatus and their size and configuration, the hoppers are not easily separated from the body.

The separate hoppers H1 and H2 of the present invention are reduced with their size.

FIG. 4 is a photograph of a rear portion of the packaging apparatus, with hinged doors 22a and 22b opened and the cassettes sets S drawn out. At the. top portions of the hoppers Hl and H2, there are provided flanges F which are extended over hopper insertion holes h at a bottom portion of the cabinets and fixed via fastening means B so that the hoppers H1 and H2 can be detached from the cabinets by unwinding the fastening means and lifting the hoppers H1 and H2.

The above structure for separating the hoppers can be modified to various forms by those skilled in the art. For example, the fastening means may utilize bolts or clips to fixing the hoppers. Alternatively, the flanges F of the separate hoppers H1 and H2 can be fixedly fit into associated portions of the cabinets above the insertion holes h.

In FIG. 4, the reference numeral S3 designates a guide rail. The separate hoppers H1 and H2 are made of transparent synthetic resin.

According to the automatic tablet packaging apparatus of the present invention as set forth above, those skilled in the art will apparently understand and contemplate the operation of discharging tablets from the cassettes and detailed operations within a manual distribution tray and

the packaging unit although they are not described as conventional well-known techniques.

While the, features of the present invention have been described in a restrictive manner with reference to the appended drawings, those concepts of'separate hopper', 'buffer member'. and'detachable hopper'may be implemented in various forms of modification and combination by those skilled in the art. It is to be understood that the modifications and combinations are made according to the spirit of the present invention and thus belong to the scope of the present invention.