AN APPARATUS FOR PACKAGING DOSED QUANTITIES OF MEDICINES AND METHOD FOR OPERATING SUCH APPARATUS

摘要

The invention relates to a apparatus for packaging dosed quantities of medicines and method for operating such apparatus, and in particularly to a method with an enhanced operating reliability. The apparatus (1) comprises a plurality of dosing stations (2) for dispensing solid drug portions, and a plurality of collecting means (7, 17) for collecting dosed quantities of solid drug portions and for forwarding the dosed quantities of solid drug portions to a packaging means (3), wherein each dosing station (2) has an outlet (25) and each collecting means (7, 17) comprises an identifier means (71). The apparatus comprises a conveying means (6a, 6b, 15) comprising a plurality of mounting means (8, 16) arranged in a chain, wherein each collecting means (7, 17) is detachably mounted to one of the mounting means (8, 16) and moved by the conveying means (6a, 6b, 15) along the dosing stations (2), so that the collecting means (7, 17) can receive the solid drug portions dispensed at the outlets (25) of the dosing stations (2). Control means (19) control the operation of the dosing stations, the conveying means and the packaging means. Input means (80, 81) are coupled to the control means (19) for inputting the collecting means identifier. The control means (19) is being configured so as to maintain a mapping between identifiers assigned to each mounting means or mounting position and the unique collecting means identifiers of the collecting means (7, 17).