JP3365545B2 - Capsule inspection method and device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention mainly relates to a method for inspecting a capsule in which a capsule filled with a drug is inspected for normality or illegality, and a normal capsule and an illegal capsule are separated and collected. Regarding the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, when inspecting the appearance of capsules, the capsules are taken out from a hopper that stores a large number of capsules, supplied to a pocket provided on a drum or a conveyor, and the capsules in the pockets are laid down when inspected. It is rotated in a state, an image is taken by an optical camera during the rotation, the quality is inspected, and the quality is collected for each quality.

It is known that a capsule is supplied from a hopper to a pocket, a capsule is supplied in an upright state, and a capsule is supplied in a recumbent state. 7-35693, and the type of supplying in a recumbent manner is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 6-55614 or Japanese Patent Publication No. 6-8.
It is described in Japanese Patent No. 8656.

[0004]

The above-mentioned means for supplying capsules vertically or horizontally have their respective advantages and disadvantages. The supply rate is certain in the vertical direction, but the supply rate in the horizontal direction. In the vertical direction, the pockets are opened so that the capsules can be placed sideways, so that the capsules that fall side by side in the chute can be reliably taken out one by one and supplied. Is required,
Without this measure, two or three pieces may fall into the pocket, and there is no guarantee that one capsule will be supplied to one pocket.

According to the present invention, in the form in which the capsule is vertically supplied from the hopper to the pocket, one capsule can be reliably supplied to the capsule, and moreover, the capsule can be normally folded laterally and accommodated in the pocket, and the appearance inspection efficiency can be improved. It is intended to be realized.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The solution according to the invention is such that during intermittent transfer of a pocket, which is shallower than the length dimension of the capsule and which lies sideways in the capsule, to one side, the capsule is stopped at the capsule supply station and inside the pocket. Put the capsule in the upright state, and while holding the upright state and transferring it to one side, lay the capsule sideways in the pocket, then rotate the lying capsule about its longitudinal axis to rotate it. It is characterized in that the appearance of the capsule is taken in as image data by the image pickup means, the image data is compared and calculated with the non-defective product data to judge acceptability, and the non-defective product and the defective product are collected separately.

As described above, since the capsules are inserted into the pockets in the upright state and the pockets are transferred while maintaining the state, the capsules continuously falling to the capsule supply station precedes the pockets. The capsule is inserted into the capsule and is prevented from falling by hitting the capsule held upright, and one capsule is reliably inserted into the pocket.

Further, when the capsules are inserted into the pockets, the capsules are dropped in a row, and during the drop, the presence or absence of the filling material in the capsule is detected and stored by the filling material sensor,
It is characterized in that the empty capsule is discharged together with the defective product in the appearance inspection.

According to the solution of the present invention, the supply drum and the inspection drum are axially supported in parallel with each other, and a plurality of pockets for accommodating the capsules on the outer peripheral surfaces of both the drums are provided, the longitudinal direction of which is the axis of each drum. It is arranged in parallel with the direction and multiple rows are arranged in the circumferential direction.The pocket of the supply drum is formed shallower than the length of the capsule, and intermittent rotation is performed so that both pockets fit on both drums. The driving means are connected to each other, and the supply means for raising the capsules into the pockets in the upper portion of the supply drum and the capsules standing upright and preventing the tilt of the capsules thrown into the pockets are continuously connected. Standing and holding means to prevent supply, fallen means to fall the capsule in the pocket as the feed drum rotates, and the length of the capsule housed in the pocket of the inspection drum.
Capsule rotation means that rotates about the axis of the hand direction
And an image of the appearance of the capsule rotating around the inspection drum.
Import image data and compare with good product data
The imaging means to inspect and the inspected capsule on the inspection drum
Disposal of defective products by separating them into defective and good products during transportation
It is characterized in that it is provided with a discharging means and a non-defective item collecting means .

The standing holding means provided on the supply drum is
A concave groove slit is provided between the pockets that are continuous in the circumferential direction of the supply drum, and an upright guide that projects into the slit from the outside of the supply drum is provided. It is preferable to provide a recess so that the lower surface of the capsule is supported by the circular edge.

Further, the falling means is provided in the upper portion of the supply drum and abuts on a portion of the capsule that is erected and held in the pocket and protrudes from the pocket, and the capsule is placed in the pocket as the supply drum rotates. It is preferable to form it by a reversing guide that is sequentially laid down.

Further, it is preferable to provide a detector for detecting the presence / absence of the filling in the capsule between the feeding means and the feeding drum by a filling sensor.

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The present invention will be described in detail with reference to an embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, a pair of support shafts 2 and 3 are provided above and below a standing portion of an L-shaped box-shaped frame 1. Is rotatably projected, and the supply drum 4 is attached to the upper support shaft 2.
The inspection drum 5 is fitted on the lower support shaft 3, and the outer peripheral portions of the drums 4 and 5 are provided with pockets 6 and 7 for receiving the capsules C, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 4, a plurality of pockets 6 and 7 provided on the outer peripheral portions of the drums 4 and 5 are arranged in rows so that their longitudinal directions are parallel to the axes of the drums 4 and 5. In addition, the rows are provided in a plurality of rows in the circumferential direction, and the pockets 6 and 7 can be accommodated when the capsule C is laid down sideways, and the capsule C can be accommodated in a state where the capsule C is not exposed on the outer peripheral surfaces of the drums 4 and 5. It has a size, in particular, the depth of each pocket 6 of the supply drum 4 is formed shallower than the length of the capsule C, and when the capsule C is erected and inserted into the pocket 6,
A part of the capsule C is formed so as to protrude from the pocket 6. Although not shown, the drums 4 and 5 are rotated by a motor (not shown) provided in the frame 1 and a driving unit (not shown) including an intermittent rotation mechanism. Moreover, the pockets 6 arranged in the axial direction on the drums 4 and 5, respectively.
7 is adapted to rotate intermittently so as to match vertically, and the supply drum 4 rotates counterclockwise as indicated by arrow A, while the inspection drum 5 rotates clockwise as indicated by arrow B. Has become.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the uppermost part of the supply drum 4 is a supply station S1 for putting the capsule C into the pocket 6, and the station S1 is provided with the supply means 8 and from this station S1. Up to the first pocket 6 on the left side is designated as the laying station S2, and the standing station 9 and the laying means 1 are provided in the laying station S2.
0, and the closest portion between the supply drum 4 and the inspection drum 5 is a transfer station S3 for transferring the capsule C from the supply drum 4 to the pocket 7 of the inspection drum 5. Further, an inspection station S4 is provided on the right side of the transfer station S3 in the inspection drum 5, and a capsule rotation means 11 for rotating the capsule C and an imaging means 12 are provided on the inspection station S4, and the lower right side of the inspection drum 5 is discharged as a defective product. The station S5 is provided with a defective product discharging means 13, the left side of the lowermost end of the station is a non-defective product discharging station S6, and the good product collecting means 14 is provided. Incidentally, it is preferable to provide a recovery station S7 on the right side of the supply drum 4 for discharging the capsule C that could not be transferred onto the inspection drum 5 by mistake.

The supply means 8 is composed of a hopper 15, an oscillating feeder 16, a chute 17 made of a coil, and a capsule guide 18 which is connected to the chute 17 and is provided in proximity to the supply drum 4. The guides 18 are provided in the same number as the number of the pockets 6 in each of the rows extending in the axial direction of the supply drum 4, and by driving the swinging feeder 16, the capsules C stored in the hopper 15 are stored in the chute 17. Fall in the state of standing upright and are guided as they are into the capsule guide 18,
Pocket 6 of supply drum 4 with capsule C standing up
Is to be inserted into.

As mentioned above, the pocket 6 of the supply drum 4 is
The upright holding means 9 is provided so that the capsule C which is uprightly inserted in the above is not immediately fallen down. The upright holding means 9 is provided with a slit 19 on the outer peripheral surface of the supply drum 4 so as to circulate while passing through the intermediate portion in the longitudinal direction of each pocket 6 arranged in the circumferential direction, and inside the slit 19 in the capsule guide 18. The stand-up guide 20 that sticks in is fixedly attached at the portion where the capsule C is inserted into the pocket 6 from the capsule guide 18, that is, at the station S1 where the capsule C is introduced. Since it projects into the annular slit 19, it does not hinder the rotation of the supply drum 4.

Therefore, the capsule C dropped from the capsule guide 18 is inserted into the pocket 6 while being guided by the standing guide 20 while standing upright, and the standing guide 2
A state in which the capsule C is held upright by 0, prevents the capsules C from falling in the capsule guide 18 that overlaps and overlaps the capsules C thus inserted, and one capsule C is inserted into one pocket 6. Is.

However, the standing guide 20 and the pocket 6
If the space between the one end faces of the capsule C is substantially equal to the diameter of the capsule C, it may not be inserted into the pocket 6 with certainty at times, and thus the space is set to be slightly larger.
Since the capsule C is placed in an inclined state to be set large and the capsule C on the capsule C may fall down, the capsule C that is inserted upright into the pocket 6 can be securely held upright as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG.
It is provided by. The edge 21 allows the capsule C to be received by circular contact without being received by point contact, and the received capsule C can be reliably held upright.

As described above, the laying means is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the supply drum 4 so that the capsule C standingly held in the pocket 6 and received is laid down in the pocket 6 as the supply drum 4 rotates. 10 is provided. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the lay-down means 10 is such that the supply drum 4 rotates counterclockwise as described above, so that it projects from the frame 1 to the left side in the figure from the station. The inversion guide 2 is provided by the installed inversion guide 23.
3 is a slanted side 2 which is formed by obliquely cutting a part of the plate body at an angle of about 45 degrees.
4 is provided, and the surface of the inclined side 24 is formed as an inclined surface of about 45 degrees, and as the supply drum 4 rotates,
The pocket 6 is installed so as to intersect with the inclined side 24. Therefore, as the pocket 6 moves, the portion of the capsule C projecting from the pocket 6 is sequentially tilted by the guiding of the inclined side 24, and It fits in the state of being laid sideways. In order to prevent the capsule C fallen down in this way from falling out of the pocket 6, the first holding guide 25 is projected from the frame 1 between the upper part and the lower part on the left side of the supply drum 4 in the figure.

As described above, the supply drum 4 rotates so that the pocket 6 having the capsule C reaches the transfer station S3 and then falls, and is inserted into the pocket 7 of the inspection drum 5 in a laid state.

Next, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the capsule rotating means 11 provided on the inspection drum 5 has a spin axis along the bottom of each pocket 7 in a row along the axis of the inspection drum 5. 26, the spin shaft 26 has large diameter portions 27 and thin diameter portions 28 alternately provided, and the pocket 7 of the inspection drum 5 has no bottom. The bottom of the pocket 7 is formed, and the capsule C which is laid sideways in the pocket 7 is supported by the large diameter portions 27, 27 in front of and behind the spin shaft 26. If the spin shaft 26 has the same diameter over the entire length, there is no guarantee that the capsule C will rotate reliably even if the spin shaft 26 rotates. Therefore, the spin shaft 26 is supported by the large diameter portion 27 as described above. The edge of the end of the large diameter portion 27 hits the cap portion and the body portion of the capsule C,
The capsule C can be reliably rotated.

By the way, not all of the spin shafts 26 are rotationally driven, but the spin shaft 26 facing the above-mentioned inspection station S4 is rotated, and its structure is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, pulleys 29 and 30 projecting from the frame 1 are provided on the left and right sides of the inspection drum 5, and
A timing belt 31 is hung on 9, 30 and a roller 32 is provided at an end of each spin shaft 26 facing the timing belt 31, and a running portion below the timing belt 31 is
The uppermost spin shaft 26 that receives the capsule C, that is, the roller 32 on the spin shaft 26 corresponding to the transfer station S3, and the spin shaft 26 on the right side, that is, the roller 32 of the spin shaft 26 located at the inspection station S4. Both spin shafts 26 are in pressure contact with each other, and one of the spin shafts 26 is rotated by rotationally driving one pulley 29 by a motor (not shown). Here, the reason why both spin shafts 26 are rotated is that they are already rotated before reaching the inspection station S4, so that the inspection at the inspection station S4 can be immediately performed.

The image pickup means 12 provided in the inspection station S4 comprises a CCD line sensor 33, an illumination lamp 34, and an image determination device 35, and rotates in the pocket 7 in the axial direction of the inspection drum 5, respectively. The capsules C that are present are inspected at once. A second holding guide 36 is also provided on the outer peripheral surface of the inspection drum 5 from the inspection station S4 to the non-defective item removal station S6 so that the capsule C in the pocket 7 does not fall off.
A window hole 37 is formed in the inspection station S4 portion of the holding guide 36 so that each pocket 7 extending in the axial direction of the inspection drum 5 is exposed.

Specifically, the inspection is performed by setting the outer circumference of the capsule C to 2
A batch is imaged, the captured original image is binarized, each capsule C is divided into three areas, the left end, the central portion, and the right end, and the non-defective product data and the captured data are compared and calculated to make a determination.

Next, in the defective product discharging station S5, the second holding guide 36 is opened, and the defective product discharging means 13 provided therein is arranged in the inspection drum 5 as shown in FIG. For each pocket 7 in the axial direction, the opening / closing shutter 38 is individually provided with a solenoid 39.
The instruction is to drive with an output signal which is a defective product from the image determination device 35. A discharge chute 40 is provided below the opening / closing shutter 38. Not only defective products but also uninspected products are dropped into the chute 40, so that defective products and uninspected products can be separated and collected. A distribution damper 41 and a branch chute 42 are provided at the lower end of the discharge chute 40 so as to be activated by a cylinder 43. It is preferable that the discharge chute 40 is provided with a defective product confirmation sensor 44.

Next, the non-defective item collecting means 14 provided in the non-defective item unloading station S6, as shown in FIG. 9 and FIG.
By the take-out chute 46 that receives the capsules C discharged from the two rows of pockets 7 arranged in the axial direction of the inspection drum 5 and guides them to the container 45, an air nozzle 47 is provided in the take-out chute 46 to stagnate the capsules C. Further, a full detection sensor 48 is provided at the outlet of the chute 46 to detect the state where the container 45 is full and is stored at the outlet of the chute 46.

In the above structure, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 7, in order to ensure the insertion and discharge of the capsule C into the supply drum 4 and the inspection drum 5, as shown in FIGS. , An air hole 49 is provided along the row in the axial direction, and a through hole 50 that communicates the air hole 49 with each pocket 6, 7 in the row is interposed, and as shown by the chain line in FIG.
A portion of the supply drum 4 that receives the capsule C from the supply means 8 is evacuated from the air holes 49, and the inspection drum 5
In the transfer station S3 to, the air is blown on the side of the supply drum 4 and the vacuum is drawn on the side of the inspection drum 5. Air is blown at the defective product discharge station S5 and the non-defective product discharge station S6 to surely discharge the capsule C from the pocket 7.

A supply sensor 51 for detecting the interruption of the flow of the capsules C passing through each row in the capsule guide 18 and the presence or absence of a filling material in the capsules C are detected, and these are detected as defective products. Defective product discharge station S
5 is provided with a light transmission type filler sensor 52 for discharging.

[0030]

According to the method of inspecting a capsule of the present invention, the capsule is inserted into a pocket that is intermittently transferred in an upright state, the pocket is transferred while maintaining the upright state, and the pocket is raised during the transfer. Since the capsule is laid down sideways and stored in the pocket, the capsule following the preceding capsule that has been stood up and put on top overlaps,
Moreover, since the preceding capsules are held upright, two capsules will not be accidentally thrown into the pocket, one by one will be surely thrown in, and each capsule will be accurately and swiftly visible. Will be able to inspect.

In addition, since the body of a capsule for a medicine is generally light-transmissive, the capsules are arranged in a column and sequentially placed in a pocket so that the presence or absence of a filling material can be detected while feeding the column. It can be easily detected by the transmission type filling sensor, and the filling condition can be inspected in addition to the appearance inspection.

According to the capsule inspecting device of the present invention, the pocket of the supply drum is accommodated with the capsule lying down, and the depth at which a part of the capsule protrudes from the pocket when the capsule is erected and inserted. Since it is formed in the above-mentioned manner, the means for laying down the capsule that has been placed upright can be easily performed.

Further, the capsule is vertically inserted into the pocket, and its upright position is held by the upright guide. By providing the pocket with a circular edge, the upright capsule is upright in a stable state by the edge. Therefore, it becomes possible to reliably prevent double injection.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a capsule inspection device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing an outline of the same structure.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing, in a developed manner, a process in which a capsule is put into a supply drum and the capsule is laid down.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line XX of FIG.

5 (a), (b), and (c) are explanatory views showing a step of tilting the capsule into the pocket.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a structure for rotating a spin shaft of an inspection drum.

7 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line YY of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a front view showing a chute portion for discharging defective products.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a portion for taking out a non-defective product.

[Explanation of symbols]

C capsule 4 supply drum 5 Inspection drum 6 Supply drum pocket 7 Inspection drum pocket 8 supply means 9 Standing holding means 10 Means of lodging 11 Capsule rotation means 12 Imaging means 13 Defective product discharging means 14 Goods collection means 19 slits 20 Standing guide 22 recess 23 Reverse guide 52 Filling sensor S1 capsule supply station

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor, Kouichi Kano, Koda-cho, Koto-cho, Aichi-gun, Shiga 2003 2003 Ayaha Engineering Co., Ltd. (56) Reference JP-A-7-35693 (JP, A) 57-3032 (JP, A) JP-A-8-152411 (JP, A) JP-A-8-233744 (JP, A) JP-A-56-7821 (JP, A) Actual development S58-88149 (JP , U) Japanese Patent Publication 6-88656 (JP, B2) Japanese Patent Publication 6-55614 (JP, B2) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G01N 21/85 B65B 57/10 B65G 47/14 B65G 47/84-47/86 B65G 31/04

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. While intermittently transferring a pocket (6), which is shallower than the length dimension of the capsule (C), and which accommodates the capsule laterally to one side, the capsules are stopped in a capsule supply station (S1) and the capsules are cascaded. Fall side by side, pocket (6)
Insert the capsule in an upright state, and during the fall, the presence or absence of the filling material in the capsule is detected and stored by the filling material sensor (52), and the capsule placed in the pocket is transferred to one side while keeping the standing state. During this time, the capsule is laid sideways in the pocket (6) and then the laid capsule is rotated about its longitudinal axis, during which the imaging means (1
In 2), the appearance of the capsule is taken in as image data, and the image data is compared with non-defective product data to judge whether it is good or bad. A method for inspecting capsules, characterized in that the capsules are discharged together with defective products. 2. A supply drum (4) and an inspection drum (5) are rotatably supported in parallel with each other, and a plurality of pockets (6, 6) are formed on the outer peripheral surfaces of both drums (4, 5) so that the capsules can be laid sideways.
7) are arranged in a row with their longitudinal direction parallel to the axial direction of the drums (4, 5) and in a plurality of rows in the circumferential direction,
The pocket (6) of the supply drum (4) is formed to be shallower than the length dimension of the capsule, and driving means for intermittent rotation so that both pockets (6, 7) of both drums (4, 5) match. (8) for connecting capsules and raising the capsules into the pockets (6) in the upper part of the supply drum (4).
And a standing holding means (9) for standing up and preventing tilting of the capsules thrown into the pockets (6) to prevent continuous supply of several capsules, and capsules accompanying rotation of the supply drum (4). Lodging means (1)
0) and the capsule in the inspection drum pocket (7)
Capsule that rotates the tool around its longitudinal axis.
Le rotation means (11) and rotation around the inspection drum
Capture the image data of the appearance of the capsule and
An image pickup means (12) for inspecting the quality by performing a comparison operation, and an inspection
Defective and non-defective products while conveying the capsules on the inspection drum
Defective product discharge means (13) and non-defective product recovery
A capsule inspecting device, comprising: a collecting means (14) . 3. The upright holding means (9) provided on the supply drum (4) has a groove (19) between the pockets (6) which are continuous in the circumferential direction of the supply drum (4). And a standing guide (20) projecting from the outside of the supply drum (4) into the slit (19), and the pocket (6).
At the site on the bottom surface of the
Make sure that the bottom surface of the capsule is recessed (2
The capsule inspection apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising: 4. The falling means (10) is provided at an upper portion of the supply drum (4) and abuts a portion protruding from the pocket (6) of the capsule held upright in the pocket (6), Inversion guide (23) that sequentially lays the capsules in the pocket (6) as the supply drum (4) rotates.
The capsule inspection device according to claim 2, wherein the capsule inspection device is formed of 5. The supply means (8) and a supply drum (4)
The capsule inspection device according to any one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that a detection unit for detecting the presence or absence of the filling material in the capsule is provided by a light transmission type filling material sensor (52).