Apparatus for packaging dosed quantities of medicines and method for operating such apparatus

A method of operating an apparatus for packaging dosed quantities of solid drug portions, said apparatus comprising a plurality of dosing stations for dispensing solid drug portions, a plurality of collectors for collecting dosed quantities of solid drug portions dispensed by the dosing stations and forwarding the dosed quantities of solid drug portions to a packaging station, each collector comprising a guiding duct and an associated collecting receptacle, at least one first conveyor belt for conveying the guiding ducts comprising a plurality of first mounting positions each for receiving one guiding duct, the first mounting positions arranged in a chain extending along a first path of movement of the at least one first conveyor belt, a second conveyor belt for conveying the associated collecting receptacles comprising a plurality of second mounting positions each for receiving one associated collecting receptacle, the second mounting positions arranged in a chain extending along a second path of movement of the second conveyor belt, a controller for controlling the operation of the dosing stations, the at least one first conveyor belt, the second conveyor belt, and the packaging station, and a reader coupled to the controller, the method comprising:

• a) assigning a unique collector identifier to each guiding duct and attaching the unique collector identifier to each guiding duct,
• b) detachably mounting each guiding duct to the at least one first conveyor belt at one of the first mounting positions, and successively reading the collector identifier of each mounted guiding duct by the reader, and associating the read collector identifier to a position identifier of the corresponding first mounting position,
• c) maintaining a mapping of the unique collector identifiers and the associated position identifiers of the corresponding first mounting positions, and
• d) conveying the collector along the dosing stations, so that the collector can receive the solid drug portions dispensed by the dosing stations, collecting solid drug portions by the collector and forwarding the collected solid drug portions to the packaging station.

An apparatus for packaging dosed quantities of solid drug portions, comprising:

• a plurality of dosing stations for dispensing solid drug portions, each dosing station having an outlet;
• a plurality of collectors configured to collect dosed quantities of solid drug portions dispensed by the dosing stations, each collector comprising a guiding duct, an associated collecting receptacle, and a unique collector identifier, the guiding ducts configured to guide the solid drug portions from the outlets of the dosing stations to the associated collecting receptacles;
• at least one first conveyor belt comprising a plurality of first mounting elements at mounting positions arranged in a chain extending along a first path of movement of the at least one first conveyor belt, each guiding duct being detachably mounted to one of the first mounting elements and moved by the at least one first conveyor belt along the dosing stations:
• a second conveyor belt comprising a plurality of second mounting elements at mounting positions arranged in a chain extending along a second path of movement of the second conveyor belt, each collecting receptacle being detachably mounted to one of the second mounting elements and moved by the second conveyor belt beneath the guiding ducts,
• each first mounting element having a position identifier;
• a controller configured to control the operation of the dosing stations, the at least one first conveyor belt, the second conveyor belt, and a packaging station;
• an input device coupled to the controller and configured to input the unique collector identifiers,
• wherein the controller maintains a mapping between the position identifiers and the unique collector identifiers of the collectors mounted to the first mounting elements, wherein the mapping comprises status information associated to each unique collector identifier, the status information indicating an operating status of the corresponding collector.